Shiva, the Limitless and His tranquil Trimbakeshwar!
Ask me what intrigues me the most. My prompt reply would be ‘the transformer, the supreme concept of Lord Shiva‘. I feel that Shiva is there but no where. How simple, soft, compassionate, straight-forward and formless and yet so powerful, infinite and fascinating is He? He is an enigma.
Ask me where I want to go all the time. In my mind there is this ancient stone Shiva temple tucked away in a deep forest and with a river burbling by its side, bringing me a whole lot of tranquility and inner peace taking me far from this tumultuous world. Yet, the question still remains. Can inner peace be achieved only by running away to a serene place? What is the idea of Shiva telling me..to run away or to flow with life? And I think, the answer is this simple – “Sometimes you have to disconnect to stay connected”.
My today’s post is about one of my most favourable places on this earth, the ancient Hindu Shiva Temple and one of the 12 Jyothirlingas, Trimbakeshwar.
Jyothirlinga, the infinite pillar of light means ‘The Radiant Sign of The Almighty Shiva‘. Trimbakeshwar is surrounded by three hills namely Brahmagiri, Nilagiri and Kalagiri. River Godavari originated in these hills and can be seen distantly from the Lord’s abode. A very serene place, it gets more verdant during monsoons. About the temple, read more here on wiki.
It is a very positive experience visiting Trimbakeshwar. You will be given yourself after the visit. You will be left with some new questions in mind and you will get some answers too. You will be left in a unique peaceful state of mind to continue your quest for the light. The simplicity and stillness of the place combined with the aura and holiness of the formless Jyothirlinga radiates good vibes and shows you the right direction.
Let me be frank. I don’t get it when people say what’s in Grand Canyon except for the rock. Personally, I get very philosophical every time I visit it or think about it. May be it’s just me, as it is said ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder‘. So, here is my little ode to this magnificent natural wonder that awe-inspires me every single time I visit it.
Standing royal, the Grand Canyon reiterates the power of nature to us. Every glance at its dimensions takes our breath away and each attempt to peruse it reminds us how tiny we are in this Universe. It inspires us to be undeterred by the trivial problems of life and to stand sentinel to protect ourselves and those who trust in us. Here is my Grand Salute, to The Grand Canyon!
Do share links of your blogs on Grand Canyon, I would love to read!
A happy day with the Arts People!
Last weekend, as the sun shone bright, I reached the venue where I was supposed to volunteer as a Vendor Relief, and was so looking forward to it. With not many expectations in mind, I checked in to the Phoenix Festival of the Arts and took my badge and t-shirt.
Spotting this mom-dotty duo who were volunteering at the entrance welcoming guests and just began to have their lunch, I took a quick chance to approach them and ask for their company as I was already starving. So, that’s how my day began, with very pleasant and welcoming lunch partners. Is this how life feels in a strange land, with strange people? Yeah, I think being in the company of total strangers is one of the nicest feelings in this world. No prejudices, no barriers, no opinions, no distances and no strings attached. We enjoyed lunch together while we spoke about what and why the volunteering, etc. Also, I got to see this Christmas Parade by some pretty children in the Fair Grounds.
My next stop was the beginning of my volunteering. So, this event was an Art Festival held by the Phoenix center for the Arts every year.
First things first. Dressing up to the occasion. Well, it is definitely a choice, if you don’t want to. But, dressing appropriately to an occasion connects you to the event, puts you in the right mood and also changes the way people look at you which is important if you want to ‘connect’.
Since it was an Art Festival, I decided to give an Ethnic touch to my ensemble by wearing a Red Cotton high-low kurti with white printed designs on it that I got in India paired with blue jeans. Wearing an Indian Kurti, when you are in an Art Festival on a Foreign land is for sure trendy and classy, and makes it look unique. I paired this attire with big cream colored Stone ear-hangings, and a knitted scarf to beat the cold in case. But, tee hee..once I got the volunteer t-shirt, I had to layer myself up with it that’s a different story though 😉 To perfectly complement the outfit, I carried my favorite Fossil Explorer Straw Cross Body Bag and wore my perfect colorful Mojdis bought in a craft expo in Hyderabad, India, though replaced them later with my comfy Crocs as my walking time increased. Ta da! Didnt I pretty much nail the outfit?
My first stop was this booth where a lady was exhibiting her hand made jewelry. Call it an act of Universe or not, a particular blue resin pendant caught my attention and it had etched on it, Dancing Ganesha with eight arms. I am a Hindu, and all our prayers and Pujas first begin with praying to Lord Ganesh. You can read more about the significance here. Isn’t it interesting that you are alone on a strange land, with complete strangers around you and how the Universe makes you feel that you are still connected and belonged. I asked her if she needed a reliever, to which she said No and then we had a brief conversation about her beautiful jewelry creations. It was a fun start!
Moving on further, I found this very creative artist Kelly, who is a graphic designer and also creates her own designs and prints. Her designs were beautiful and after discussing about both of our interests and goals in life, what and how etc, I watched her booth for a while and she took a quick break. This meeting is so special to me because of late I was looking for some answers regarding Graphic Design and related fields, and voila I get to meet with this awesome artist specialized in the same field! Visit her website here to know more about her works.
As I kept walking further down the aisles, the talent and creativity of the various artists and artisans enthralled me and the variety of stalls that lined up amazed me. The diversity of arts included Pottery, Canvas Paintings, Glass Art, Hand Made Jewelry, Homemade Bath and Body Products, Arts and crafts made of Recycled metal, Handmade bags, Custom Printed T-shirts, Pashmina Scarves, and what not! There was live music and food trucks served up delicious warm food. Kids played around in merriment. It was a fun-filled warm sunny Saturday.
In another brief meeting, I met this lovely couple from Berrie Creative who were selling their unique and creative vibrant colored lampshades made of glass and wire. And I did not know that a small conversation with them would give me a hope for a life-time! They told me how to never give up on an interest and keep experimenting. Trust me, I have never seen such creative glass art in my life. The lamp shades were mesmerizing.
Later, I relieved a couple of artists so that they have their lunch. They were very kind and appreciated me for helping them out. Isn’t is wonderful when people realize your effort and good intentions and respond back to you positively. Ohh, what would I do without all these beautiful people in my life!
My next stop was Reflections in Metal, a unique art handcrafted out of rolled steel. Their display had amazing pieces of art and in quite large numbers. The vendors were so welcoming and were explaining well about their art to the guests. I couldn’t remember their names, but after talking about their work I took a photograph with them which made them very happy. And when I waved them Goodbye and Merry Christmas, the eldest gentleman of the two stopped me and gifted me a Metal Cross that was among the items being sold! Wow! What was that! Does affection and appreciation has any bounds? I was so elated, particularly when someone fondly gifted me a Cross, and that too during Christmas season…like I always believe, connections don’t happen without a reason. Now, this Cross is in my Puja room along with the other Gods. I am Hindu, and what Hinduism teaches is Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. It is a Sanskrit phrase found in Hindu texts such as the Maha Upanishad, which means “The world is one family”, and I believe in it.
A special mention is needed about ‘Paintings by the disabled’ stall. All the paintings were unbelievably lively and excellent! We bought a miniature Canvas Painting of the Prickly Pear Cactus.
Towards the end, my family joined me in the festival. They enjoyed live music and chilled out on the lawn watching Muralists painting murals under the warm winter sun. The whole environment was fun and frolic lifting up spirits.
And then while finishing up my shift, I met Amelie. With a calm face and a gorgeous smile, she invited me to her booth. Her paintings were so full of life, spirituality and love. I am so glad I got to know her and could make friends with her. Visit her website here to see more of her brilliant and life-changing artwork.
Finally, I wrapped up my evening at the festival by taking my family around. My son goofed around all the while and really enjoyed each and every aspect of it. There were these folks from circus entertaining kids and adults alike, walking around the place.
We came back home after purchasing a lamp shade and a face balm from Flower Song Soaps.The lampshade now lights up our Puja/Meditation room. Every time I see the lamp, I remember that lovely couple, their smiles and the encouragement they gave me. I am using the face balm daily post scrubbing my face, and it gives me the perfect moisturizing for Arizonan winters along with an exquisite fragrance.
So whenever I say I believe in Fairy tales, I mean it. Look what all this love gave me in the middle of an ordinary life – in deed a Fairy tale!
Thank you Phoenix Festival of the Arts for having me and thank you for everything. These moments will be cherished forever.
On a final note, I would like to appeal to you, please encourage and appreciate handcrafts and local made.
Dochu La & Chele La – Bhutan’s sacred mountain passes!
Bhutan’s Thimpu and Bhutan’s Paro.
In this post, I am going to brief about our trip to Bhutan’s sacred mountain passes, Dochu La and Chele La.
When mountains call you, there are no excuses. There is a reason behind it, a purpose behind it. And what do the mountains tell us? To stand still and strong against the blustering winds. Mountains are unyielding protectors, they show us the righteous way of life. They inspire us with their patience and perseverance. They are unconquerable, but they leave the passes for us, humans to go closer to them, and reach them for the fillip. I witnessed the same kind of spirit going closer to the holy Himalayas during our Bhutan trip! We visited Dochu La and Chele La, the two mountains passes in the Himalayas of Bhutan.
Located at an elevation of 3,100 metres, Dochu La is located on the road from Thimpu to Punakha. To the east of the pass, the snow clad mountain peaks of the Himalayas are seen prominently and among them is the Mt. Masanggang at 7,158 metres (23,484 ft) which is the highest peak in Bhutan, known in local language as the Mt. Gangkar Puensum. The road further runs into the scenic Punakha valley.
The environment is calm and religious, with 108 memorial chortens called the Druk Wangyal Chortens built by Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuk, the eldest Queen Mother. There is a monastery called the Druk Wangyal Lhakhang (temple), built in honor of the fourth King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck. Also, there is the country’s first Royal Botanical Park located adjacent to the chortens. While this whole scene on the pass is a colorful feast to the eyes, the backdrop is often claded with a moving blanket of fog obscuring and revealing the Himalayas along with the near-by verdant greens leaving your mind and soul in tranquility.
It is an indelible experience for me to meditate inside and outside the Lhakhang overlooking the Himalayas.
Chele La Pass is one of the highest motorable passes in Bhutan. It is the highest point with an altitude of 3988 metres. The road to Chele La is flanked by dense forests, and the trip to reach the pass takes you on a non-stop jaunt. Chele La, unlike Dochu La is very jagged and is surrounded by hilly terrains covered with vegetation that changes colors with seasons. The pass roughened by the cold gusts signifies a different side of Mother nature. Colorful prayer flags can be seen fluttering on the rough slopes making the view bright and pleasant. On a clear day, there are spectacular views of Mt. Jumolhari, Jichu Drake and adjoining peaks to the North West, as well as the view of the beautiful Haa and Paro valley.
‘The best dreams happen when you are awake’! And yes, my dream to feel closer to the Himalayas came true this way. I will await to witness this heavenly experience once again in my lifetime.
So, did the mountains ever call you? If yes, please leave a comment and tell me all about it. I would love to connect with like-minds.
Thank you for reading. More on our interactions and conversations with folks in Bhutan, and why I think Bhutan qualifies for a happy country in the upcoming posts. Stay tuned, and stay connected. See you later!
Bhutan – The Kingdom of Happiness. (Part 2) In and around Paro!
I hope you have read about our Bhutan travel experiences in my previous blog here. Now, I am going to share with you more details of our itinerary.
After spending in and around the charming Capital city of Bhutan, Thimpu, we moved to Paro for a two day tour. Along with being a picturesque city, Paro is a historic town with structures with traditional architecture. It is also home for Bhutan’s only international airport, Paro Airport.
The main attractions in the city tour of Paro are Rinpung Dzong, Paro Taktsang, Kyichu Lhakhang, National Museum of Bhutan, Paro Airport bird’s eye view and the shopping streets of Paro.
With history beginning in the 15th century, Rinpung Dzong is a large Buddhist Monastery and a fortress that now has various administrative offices of Paro within it. Outside of the Dzong is the Deyangkha Temple and inside are fourteen shrines and chapels. It is quite interesting to go around the Dzong and to soak in all the historical and cultural significance. Below are a few photographs taken in the Dzong.
Paro Taktsang, the very famous Himalayan sacred monastery is perched on the cliffs of upper Paro Valley. It can be reached either through a trek, or a horseback ride. Guru Padmasambhava who brought Buddhism to Bhutan is believed to have meditated there for three years, three months, three weeks, three days and three hours in the 8th century. The monastery has a rich and very significant history related to Bhutan and Buddhism. Read more about the world famous heritage site here.
The Jowo Temple of Kyichu is one of the oldest temples in Bhutan, originally built in the 7th century by the Tibetan Emperor Songtsän Gampo. Read more about it on wiki here.
The museum of Bhutan documents the cultural dances, flora and fauna, and other historical facts of Bhutan. There is a video played in the museum showcasing the different Bhutanese dances and festivals and their significance. It is quite fascinating to go round the museum. Aerial view of Paro valley from the museum offers breath-taking vistas. Photograph below.
Paro Airport is undoubtedly one of the world’s very scenic airports. Nestled in a gorgeous panorama and in a deep valley is the airport adjacent to the banks of River Paro Chhu. The whole scene is fabulous and it stays with you forever.
Last but not the least, shopping! What fun is it when you do world travel and not collect souvenirs? Here is my Bhutan travel haul. I bought most of these things on the street bazaar of Paro. They are going to keep all the memories alive to me.
Bhutan – The Kingdom of Happiness (Part 1). In and around Thimpu!
A few years ago, the topics during a tea-time confab were Gross Happiness Index, Bhutan, Himalayas and Taktsang Monastery. Like a seed planted grows into a tree, this discussion intrigued me a lot and my fascination to witness the Bhutanese way of living increased by the day. All the enthralling aspects of Bhutan and my all time obsession with nature, and mountains in particular, I added Bhutan travel to my bucket list.
Come 2016, life showed a direction towards pursuing my travel dream. And yes, I visited Bhutan, the Kingdom of Happiness.
Pristine landscapes, spectacular views, amicable people and their spiritual way of life, rich heritage, comforting food, and everything else so heavenly qualify Bhutan for a Utopia. Nestled in the Eastern Himalayas, Bhutan is full of never-ending range of hills, verdant plains, meandering perennial rivers, meditative sounds of the Buddhist chants and colorful prayer flags tied everywhere reminding us that nature and spirituality are inseparable.
Though the pictures don’t do justice to the real beauty of this paradise, and my words can’t describe the magical experience, I shall try my best to give a brief of how and what it was. Our tour was of four days covering the two major cities of Bhutan, Thimpu and Paro. A further long stay will give you much time and opportunity to explore the country better.
The Memorial Chorten or Memorial Stupa was built in the honor of the third King of Bhutan Jigme Dorji Wangchuck. It does not contain human remains, but just a photograph of the King. It is circumambulated in clockwise direction like other religious structures. We spent about an hour in the Chorten witnessing the annual recitation of ‘Seven Line Prayer’ to Guru Rinpochhe. The whole milieu was sacred and ingenuous.
We later visited the Great Buddha Dordenma, a 169ft gigantic Buddha statue and the Takin Preserve. Takin is the national animal of Bhutan.
Rest of city tour had viewing gorgeous vistas and visiting the important places of interest like Changlimithing multi-purpose national stadium, National Institute for Zorig Chusum (Arts and Crafts school), Authentic Bhutanese Crafts Bazaar, National Library of Bhutan etc.
National Institute for Zorig Chusum trains the Bhutanese youth in 13 native and traditional Bhutanese arts like wood carving, statue-making, painting, weaving, tailoring, embroidery etc. Some of the finished products are also sold for good prices.
The shops had a unique collection of handcrafted house decors, clothes, book marks, key chains, Bhutanese masks, Bhutanese musical instruments, hand bags, jewelry and many more. The place was a kaleidoscope of colors.
Tashichhoedzong build by the first Dharma Raja, is a Buddhist monastery and fortress on the banks of Wang Chu River. There are thirty temples, chapels and shrines within it. It is the office of Bhutan’s civil government and Kingship together. A few kms near the Dzong is the King’s palace, the Dechencholing Palace. The photograph below is an aerial view of the Dzong and its surroundings.
Coming to cuisine, red rice and buckwheat are Bhutan’s two main foods. Red rice in Bhutan has an earthy flavor. The Bhutanese make soups and stews out of various vegetables and meats (yak meat being a specialty). Ema datshi, which is their national dish, is spicy made with large, green chili peppers in a cheesy sauce. It is one of their major comforting and widely made dishes. Momos (dumplings) are also quite famous. Butter Tea (also called Suja) is made of the Bhutanese Tea Leaves, Water, Butter and salt. The Bhutanese also include various spices like ginger, garlic, turmeric, caraway etc in their cooking.
The National game of Bhutan is Dha or Archery. We made sure we wore the traditional dresses of Bhutan (Gho for men and Kira for women) and played archery amidst the serene hilly terrains.
Traditional Architecture remains prevalent in Bhutan. Throughout its history, Bhutan has mainly followed the Tibetan tradition of Buddhist architecture. Any new structure construction is supposed to abide the rules. Read more on the Architecture of Bhutan in wiki here.
Touring Bhutan is not only a way to escape in the tranquility of nature, but also a fun trip getting to know their unique culture and tradition. It opens your heart to simplicity, variety and spirituality.
Revive your body and awaken your soul, go visit this magical Kingdom.
More on the remaining itinerary in next blogs. I will take through our Paro city tour and the sacred mountainous passes.
Monsoons remind me of Visakhaptnam aka Vizag, my home town. I have lived all my childhood waking up to a kaleidoscope of greens, thanks to my dad, an ardent nature lover who thought we should live as close to nature as possible.
Monsoons in Vizag bring a burst of vibrancy and a splash of lush green to an already verdant view. Our home being at foot hill of the Eastern Ghats and a bit sloped, we experience lovely and fresh water streams gushing on a heavy rainfall day. The sight of monsoon clouds hovering over the majestic hills shrouding and revealing them is in deed salubrious.
And oh, not to forget the tiny pools of water collected on our terrace top, I remember jumping into them and splashing water all over myself. All those little birdies singing at the top of their voice and, freshest flowers and leaves with rain droplets raise your spirits high and make you live in the moment.
Over time I have captured these scenes in my camera and though they don’t do justice to the beauty of this rainy paradise, they keep these special memories alive. So well, I have a lot of rainy tales to tell, but for now please enjoy viewing these photographs.


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Today started out differently than the rest I was looking forward to school. I wanted to see the girl again. Today I wanted to find out her name. I had a smirk on my face today. I walked in class and didn't see her. All possibility of me being happy that day was gone in an instant. I at down and put my head down. And class started but I didn't care. I just kept my head down and zoned out. And suddenly I felt the slightest touch run across my shoulder and down my back. I looked up to see her the girl and a smile came upon my face. I was over joyed. Now all I wanted was for lunch to come. Fourth period couldn't have been any longer. Lunch had finally come and I saw her at the table I sat down and looked at her I saw the cutest smile. And I said hi she said hello I asked her what's your name Ashely. I told her mine and she smiled. We talked and everyday at lunch. I was so happy being friends with her until one say when in she walked on my bus and sat next to me I said what are you doing she said I thought we could chill after school today. I only I can find a way out to stay away from home.


HARTFORD, MICHIGAN (July 28, 2017) – After a tough visit to Canada, the JJR Marshall Racing #41 team trekked back into the State as they found themselves in Michigan for the next scheduled event on the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series event at Hartford Speedway. There were 27 speed competitors lined up in the pit area at the half-mile oval where Shane Stewart waved the checkered flag last year when the tour starts visited for the Battle of Michigan.
Jeremy Schultz, from Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, kicked off time trials as he revved his engine and turned in two good laps around the surface at Hartford. Jason Johnson was already ready in the staging area as he would be the fifth car to push off in time trials aboard the Fischer Body Shop/Kenny’s Components #41 Maxim. David Gravel had raised the bar with a lap of 13.731 seconds, so the Ragin’ Cajun summoned the horses from his Kistler Engines powerplant to get going. The ponies were at full gallop when he took the green flag and his first lap was a good one at 13.855 seconds, which was second quick. He stayed on the hammer and turned in a consistent, but slightly slower, second lap coming in at 13.863 seconds. As he patiently waited for the remaining 22 drivers to complete their laps, the forty-one remained on the board as the second quickest when the final checker flag flew.
Earning the pole position in the second heat race, Philip and the JJR Marshall Racing team went to work to ready the Maxim Racing machine for battle in the eight lap races where the top two go to the Craftsman Club Dash and four more lock into the A-Main. The cars lined up in their traditional two-by-two order with Jeremy Schultz sharing the front row with the Ragin’ Cajun as Brad Sweet, Logan Schuchart, Joe Swanson, Ryan Ruhl, Chad Blonde, Max McGhee and Jason Steinebach rounding out the starting order, When the green flag dropped Jason drove into the lead in his Dissolvalloy Downhole Revolution/Weld Racing entry with Brad Sweet pressing him for the position. Sweet would eventually wrestle it away as Jason was now giving chase with Schuchart running in the show position. Sweet would take the win with Jason coming home second to earn the two spots in the Craftsman Club Dash as Schuchart, Schultz, Ruhl and Blonde secured the final four transfer spots to the feature.
There were six drivers who earned a spot in the 6-lap Craftsman Club Dash at Harford Speedway and Jason Johnson was one of them along with heat race winners David Gravel, Brad Sweet, and Shane Stewart and fellow runner-up finishers Paul McMahan and Jason Sides. An inversion pill of four was pulled which put the driver of the forty-one in the Priority Aviation Services, LLC/Valvoline machine on the inside of row three in the fifth starting position with Jason Sides to the right side of his nerf bar. Polesitter Paul McMahan and fellow front row starter Shane Stewart brought the field to the green with Stewart getting to the clean air first. Jason was running sixth as the dirty air churned with Stewart collecting the win over Sweet, Gravel, Sides and McMahan with Jason claiming the final spot.
There were 30 laps left to race on this night as the track was slicking off and becoming a very technical and tactical surface for the competitors. After the WoO traditional four wide salute to the fans it was time to go racing in Jakob Weaver’s home state of Michigan. Brad Sweet jumped into the lead, but here came the Ragin’ Cajun using what he could find on the topside of the track. He made his way all the way up to second before the traction wore away and he started to get shuffled back in the running order. He ran in the top five for the first third of the race and was just outside looking in over the next ten laps. Enduring numerous cautions and one red flag stoppage the teams were searching for ways to get a hold of the track while positioning themselves to make a passed versus being passed. If you gave up the bottom line you were exposed. Gravel briefly took the lead from Sweet on laps 9 and 10 before Sweet drove the NAPA Auto Parts #49 back into the top spot. Gravel would reclaim the lead on lap 28 and collect the win over Sweet, Schuchart, and Brent Marks with Kraig Kinser driving home fourth. Jason hung on to gather an eleventh-place finish in the Waco Metal/Jonestown KOA #41, his 43rd Top 15 finish of the season – an impressive 72.88% success rate, as the team will now head to Wilmot Raceway for action on Saturday night.


Hi new folks! We recommend doing an #introductions post and putting your neighborhood in your profile (if you're comfortable). Welcome!
@alex that's so cool!! a chicago instance!!!


(dont ask about the thumbnail. I needed one and decided on a screenshot I took of a galaxy drawing I made on Fire Alpaca) Basically, this rp takes place in a giant city where people can have powers, tech has advanced very far, etc.
-please tolerate all sexualities, genders, and races. if you have any problem with this, leave the studio without saying anything.
-feel free to make a character based off a movie character/book character/TV show character/real life person.
-you can rp as soon as you make a bio. don't worry about having to be accepted!
-keep violence and romance to a limit.


This project was made for a Creativity in Advertising class in Fall 2018. The challenge was to name and create an advertising campaign for a new non-toxic and non allergenic liquid fragrance that can be sprayed onto any surface (fabric, wood, counter-tops) or into the air and it will completely eliminate any form of odor. My fragrance comes in two flavors; Rose Garden and Tea Tree.
I designed the logo for the product with Adobe Illustrator, composed all headline and body copy for an AD and social media campaign and designed a print ad that introduces the product and helps to sell it. The colors used for this products are #DD525C #DA4290 #EFAA58. For the logo, I wanted to portray the effect of the liquid fusing with the air to eliminate odor.
JWU Italian Cuisine & Culture.


EXPERIENCE Practicing public accounting since 1983. Have been the Managing Shareholder for my Certified Public Accounting firm since 1994. Practice is devoted exclusively to community associations. Perform independent audits and reviews; prepare corporate income tax returns; offer recommendations for operational enhancement and development of stronger internal controls to better safeguard Association assets.Former shareholder of a Florida CPA firm which also exclusively served condominiums, homeowner associations, timeshares and rental properties.
Extensive knowledge of the Minnesota Common Interest Ownership Act, the law governing community associations.
Author of several articles concerning the Minnesota Common Interest Ownership Act that were published in professional journals and client newsletters.
Conducted numerous educational seminars on accounting rules and tax laws relative to community associations.
Instructor for Conviser Duffy, national CPA Exam review courses. Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.
Adjunct professor of accounting for ten years; teaching principles, intermediate, advanced, fund, cost and tax accounting courses at colleges in Indiana and Florida.
Bearded Oaks Homeowners Association – Past President, Vice President & Treasurer.


When the Indian Mutiny broke out in May 1857, Hall was on HMS Shannon en route to China. She was intercepted and ordered to Calcutta (since renamed Kolkata). A Shannon Brigade was formed of several gunners, sailors, and marines, under Captain William Peel. The ship was towed over 600 miles up the Ganges River to Allahabad. Then the force fought across country to Campbell’s headquarters at Cawnpore and were in time to take part in the Siege of Lucknow.
Lieutenant (now Commander) Young, late Gunnery Officer of Her Majesty’s ship ” Shannon,” and William Hall, “Captain of the Foretop,” of that Vessel, were recommended by the late Captain Peel for the Victoria Cross, for their gallant conduct at a 24-Pounder Gun, brought up to the angle of the Shah Nujeff, at Lucknow, on the 16th of November, 1857.
William Edward Hall was born at Summerville, Nova Scotia, in 1827 as the son of Jacob and Lucy Hall, who had escaped American slave owners in Maryland during the War of 1812 and were brought to freedom in Nova Scotia by the British Royal Navy as part of the Black Refugee movement. The Halls first lived in Summerville, NS where Jacob worked in a shipyard operated by Abraham Cunard until they bought a farm across the Avon River at Horton Bluff. Hall first worked in shipyards at nearby Hantsport, Nova Scotia, before going to sea at the age of seventeen. He sailed first on merchant ships based out of the Minas Basin including the barque Kent of Kentville, Nova Scotia.
Hall is buried in Hantsport, Nova Scotia where his grave is marked by a monument at the Baptist church. The Royal Canadian Legion in Hantsport is named “The Lucknow Branch” in honour of his Victoria Cross action. Hall’s Victoria Cross was repatriated from Britain in 1967 by the government of Nova Scotia and is on permanent display at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax. Hall is also featured in exhibits at the Halifax Citadel and at the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia.
?Canada Post commemorated William Hall on a stamp, first issued on February 1, 2010 in Hantsport, Nova Scotia and officially launched at the Black Cultural Centre on February 2, 2010. Hall was designated a Nationally Historic Person by the Canadian Historic Sites and Monuments Board at Hantsport on October 8, 2010 and a new plaque was unveiled in his honour.


Could a chatbot solve the retirement savings problem?
But according to a paper by behavioral economist Schlomo Benartzi, a Professor of Behavioral Decision Making at UCLA Anderson School of Management and a senior academic advisor to the Voya Institute for Behavioral Finance Innovation, when a chatbot and text messages, as well as targeted e-mails, are combined with the principles of behavioral economics—specifically, nudging people into certain actions—the effects on retirement savings can be substantial.
Digital nudging has two advantages over conventional methods of encouraging people to change their behavior.
First, research can be conducted far faster in the digital space, which helps to identify successful strategies more quickly.
And second, the scale of a digital program can be immense, which results in far more people being affected in a cost-effective manner.
They also looked at robo-savings apps as a means of counteracting how easy it is to spend money online via one-click checkouts and apps like Apple Pay by helping people to save money just as easily.
One method that sought to increase enrollment in an auto-deposit program posed the question to users of whether they’d prefer to save $5 per day, $35 per week or $150 per month.
While just 7 percent opted to save $150 per month, which is essentially the same as $5 per day or $35 per week, a full 30 percent opted for the smaller-sounding, easier-sounding $5 per day.
Then there’s mobile feedback. Testing a mobile app that provides a dashboard showing people “how much you spend at clothing stores and the percentage of income that’s devoted to paying off the mortgage” while they’re actually out spending money “turned out to have a huge impact,” particularly on discretionary spending, “with the average user decreasing their monthly spending by 15.7 percent”—nearly all of which was discretionary spending, such as eating out.
So as research progresses in both behavioral economics and tech tools that can help people better manage their money, retirement savings may come out a winner in the end.
This article was written by BenefitsPro and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.


What did we do before social media? Well I know what we did, of course and what we didn’t do. We didn’t know our friends and acquaintances every move, thought, or action punctuated by a thumbs up or a heart emoji. We never saw thousands of photos capturing life in real time, sharing public and private moments that our friend circle and beyond have shared and shared and shared yet again. Snapchats and Instagram exposes life in instant time. And yet the great irony is that with all of this isolating technology, we do feel connected.
I do know what we did back then although I cringe to hear myself refer to the past as if I were withered with age. Life was just a bit quieter and moved at a slower pace although that just seems so in hindsight. At the time, I felt like life was fast.
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Tina Celentano writes about love, life and lessons from the empty nest. She is a Today Parenting and Red Tricycle contributor and is published in the anthology Once Upon An Expat. In no particular order, she is a friend, mom, film buff, book aficionado, music lover, wife, sister, writer and traveler.


I enjoyed this book. The descriptions were fantastic. I actually listened to the story as an audiobook narrated by Steve West. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fantasy novel in young adult genres that have a bit of an in-depth love story to the plot. Steve West was also an amazing narrator so I would definitely recommend any audiobooks by him.
The author Laini Taylor was amazing at descriptors. The way the scenes and characters were illustrated through her creative writing artistry added so much richness and depth. The imagery was where she was able to shine through her writing talents. They were really the heart and soul of the story. Some descriptions seemed to be taken right out of the book of Revelation which was interesting. There was flowery prose that added value and appeal to the beauty of the writing. I don’t know how it would read though because there were quite a few characters to keep track of with similar pursuits and agendas that would probably be slow and boring to read about, so I’d definitely recommend the audiobook book by Steve West because his ability to bring diversity and life to each character.
I enjoyed the first third of the book the most. After about chapter 18-22, the focus was more on relational development, as in sensual romance that I felt was more about dialectical tensions through a less flowery dialogue between the main characters with glorification of over-the-top eroticism and ‘imperfect situations.’ The very definition of insta-love that is found in a lot of YA fiction. And later there was an introduction of other antagonists and sub characters that also fell in similar circumstance and persona that felt a bit repetitive rather than supportive for the main plot. Basically I just wanted to live in the first third because it was my favorite part.
“In the western outposts of the Elmuthaleth-Alkonost and others-they watched for the heat-distorted silhouettes of camel trains to energy from the emptiness as they always had, but they did not.


An actual estate license can provide the investor and even an industry agent with great advantages. Just like the salesperson examination, dealer candidates must register on the Department of State website and arrange an account with EAccessNY This is the DOS online management system. The state examination consists of a hundred questions damaged up into 45 questions of Actual Property Legislation, forty five questions of Actual Estate Rules and 10 questions of Real Estate Math. Real estate licensure candidates who’re denied a license have the fitting to file an attraction with the DOS. On the Albany Center , I am the net instructor and maintain the required CDEI Certification to teach the programs.
There are multiple-choice quizzes for every session and classroom workouts to permit the coed to display mastery of this real estate course materials. Brokers licensed after January 1, 2001 should complete one hundred-twenty (120) further hours of Fee accredited education earlier than the third anniversary of their broker license. Contact IREC staff for assistance in case you have ever had a felony or knowledgeable license revoked. You’ll receive the all-inclusive courses and supplies to construct your actual estate data and expertise.
Programs must be accomplished at an establishment of higher learning accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges or by a comparable regional accrediting agency recognized by the United States Division of Training, or by a personal real estate college which has had its courses accredited by the California Actual Property Commissioner.
I’m also proprietor of Cram for , a website that provides observe actual estate exams for New York and New Jersey. Our employees features a team of workers which can be devoted to the success of all of our college students in each Allied real estate online programs. At Climer College of Actual Estate, we advise that, earlier than you enroll in actual estate faculty, apply to your Florida actual property license. This 6-course Actual Estate + Prep + Enterprise Etiquette Program is complete with the 6 TREC necessary programs needed for pre-licensing, state examination prep with flashcards, and our 2-day Enterprise Etiquette Program. The actual property standards of observe and code of ethics is emphasised all through every section of business. Larson Educational Providers provides the very best high quality actual estate schooling obtainable.
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Houzez, Actual Locations and WP Pro Real Estate 7” are my favourite themes to create actual property itemizing portal. Real Estate Advertising 360® is the #1 actual estate advertising platform on this planet. Domestic Sale is a website like Craigslist that aims to remove junk entries allowing your professional categorized advertisements to thrive and never get buried under junk. There is a motive why most FSBO’s find yourself working with Realtors after wasting time, vitality, and cash making an attempt the For Sale By Proprietor route. Real Knowledgeable is a premium WordPress theme for actual property or property listing web sites. The XML demo content bundled on this theme allows you to arrange an actual estate website with just few clicks. Also, pop-up home windows are probably the most misused features on actual property websites.
Remember, as a on the market by owner, you should not have a Realtor to be the facilitator and guide you thru the house inspection, radon inspection, termite inspection, appraisal process, underwriting process, and coping with the escrow company to close.
We are in search of knowledgeable real property agent to be an intermediary between sellers and consumers. The word REALTOR® is a federally registered collective membership mark that identifies a real property skilled who’s member of the NATIONAL AFFILIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics. This situation can get murky actually fast, so we have put collectively this text on the whole lot essential you’ll want to know about actual estate agents before making the transfer.
There are important variations between the actions, powers, obligations and liabilities of brokers and estate brokers in every country. These agents have completed additional education beyond that required of brokers and have handed the dealer’s license exam in your state. So the buyer’s agent effectively works for the buyer fee free, so far as the buyer is worried.
Some state Real Property Commissions – notably Florida’s 4 after 1992 (and extended in 2003) and Colorado’s 5 after 1994 (with modifications in 2003) – created the choice of getting no agency or fiduciary relationship between brokers and sellers or buyers.
Some other states have recently eliminated the salesperson’s license and instead all licensees in those states mechanically earn their dealer’s license. Real estate appraisal — in most states, provided that the dealer is also licensed as an appraiser. Often times the seller’s dealer will split the commission with the customer’s dealer.
Find out what utilities can be found to your property, or located close by. In addition, as a result of the true property section of the national papers has articles on market circumstances, ideas for patrons and sellers plus detailed lists of latest sales and auction outcomes, patrons are drawn to the property elevate out also as a research useful resource.
Whether or not you’re using the seven Ps or original 4 Ps, your advertising mix plan plays an important function in ensuring your products reach the appropriate audiences. By way of hard work and keenness for what we do, Photoplan has evolved and organically grown since its inception in 2004 and we are actually one of the UK’s leading property marketing firms.
By constantly adding value to the content material you share with your audience, they may want to hold hearing from you and be very happy to hearken to your provides and new growth announcements as they come. E-mail is one of the most undervalued and important parts of your advertising artillery. We have made a major funding in our property advertising and marketing strategies, increasing volumes of leads and decreasing time-on-market. We work with the top corporations within the property administration industry and rising.
Great property-advertising companies do not just recklessly tag random individuals until they get irritated – they make an effort to make your property something share-worthy and viral. Property Amenitites – We work with all of the prime rental listing websites within the trade to provide you probably the most complete record of facilities so as to add to your property. I know that sounds strange being in a discipline which marketing is paramount however that’s my gut reaction and an trustworthy one.


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Digital Airlines This Big-Data Firm Wants To Stop Flight Delays And Other Maddening Airline Problems Oct 25, 2017 by Maggie Sieger. The scene plays out on Oct. 15 at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, dull, annoying and all too routine.
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We have recently received a remarkably moving note from Paul Fitzgibbon in connection with his father, Albert, who was killed in Tunisia during February 1943 while serving with the London Irish Rifles.
“A twisting pathway of discovery has led me to this amazing website.
A letter dated 20.11.1945 from Edmund O’Sullivan was found quite recently in a battered old brown suitcase, along with letters from my father to my mother, not long before he was killed on 22nd February 1943 near Bou Arada.
The final resting place of Albert Fitzgibbon at Medjez-el-Bab CWGC Cemetery.
Below, we are privileged to share the letter from RQMS O’Sullivan that was originally sent to an officer based in Egypt, who then passed it onto the Fitzgibbon family.
Can anyone help with information on what happened to Rifleman Maher injured in the same attack as my father, did he survive after his evacuation? Any details will be much appreciated. Thank you.


It was early on a recent Saturday morning, and Michael Amend had been on the road for hours, picking up players in a church bus in Greensboro and High Point. He hoped the other volunteer drivers weren’t having trouble finding players’ homes, but he didn’t want to talk on the phone while driving.
The morning’s route and the games that followed comprised a handful of the 25 hours a week Amend spends organizing and coaching soccer teams for students and alumni of the Doris Henderson Newcomers School in Greensboro. And this year his new team of 11- and 12-year-olds has meant an additional workload.
Elsewhere in Greensboro, Moussa Issifou received texts and emails — inquiries for that evening’s game held at a field near Falkener Elementary. Issifou came to Greensboro from Togo in September 2000. Now he’s a professor at NC A&T University, but in the 17 years since his arrival, he has also worked to bring the international community together through soccer — all while enduring unfamiliar restrictions, costs and predispositions.
Narayan Khadka spent the same morning using art to teach English and US citizenship at Greensboro’s Glen Haven Community Center — a welcoming space for support and education located among the apartments of dozens of refugee and immigrant families near North Elm Street and Pisgah Church Road. Khadka arrived in Greensboro from Nepal, and in the years since has pursued an education that would help him unite people and resolve differences. He was waiting to hear about a grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro to revitalize the city’s international soccer league; he was the president during its only season back in 2012. There had been many inquiries by those who want it back — people who said they needed it.
These three organizers of immigrant and refugee soccer matches in Greensboro strive to maintain traditions, to do their part for something that endures so strongly in themselves and those they care for, but that the world around them endangers.
They want to provide something hard to define, but for many of the participants, it’s something akin to feeling wholly alive. Their players seek respite, connection, tradition, home. They find it in soccer.
These are the local stewards of the beautiful game.
As the sun went down on April 4, it cast an amber light on the Bennett College soccer field that borders Gate City Boulevard. Almost 20 players had arrived, but the field was empty. Puddles of that morning’s rain kept them off.
Instead, the young men in their late teens kicked soccer balls around on a basketball court next to the soggy field. The hoops and backboards have been removed, leaving only the metal posts — monuments to past play.
Most of the players wore no shoes, not wanting to ruin cleats on the court’s hard surface. Playing barefoot was nothing new; it’s how many of them learned the game in their home countries from a young age, sometimes playing for five or six hours a day. Without cleats on, they still showed incredible finesse.
Coach Michael Amend watched the players, who make up the Greensboro United Soccer Association’s Global team. They are alumni of the Newcomers School, a magnet for first-year immigrants and refugees. Students remain at the Newcomers School for one year, then transition to various schools in the district.
As the players scrimmaged in two separate games in teams of three or four, Anas Quashie limped off the court, the sole of his foot bleeding onto the asphalt. He found one of his socks and wrapped it tightly around the wound.
After the practice, as players waited for city buses or rides home from Amend and one another, Quashie’s peers chided him.
“You must not be from Africa, bro!” one kidded in good nature, showing the group the callous bottom of his right foot.
Quashie is from Africa. He used to play what he calls “street soccer” in the dirt roads of Togo. His feet have softened, adapted since he moved to Greensboro in February 2016.
Of the many challenges that a young refugee faces in the United States, the ones related to changes in soccer are often no less significant than ones off the field. Playing soccer sustains many of these young men: The game transcends to become symbolic — a connection to a new home and the reminder of an old one.
Quashie said the hardest adjustment in his soccer life has been the difference between the dirt streets of Togo and the large grass fields in Greensboro. The game itself has changed.
Soccer encompasses the cultural differences that all of the young men face. They’ve come from other traditions in Egypt, Congo, El Salvador, Liberia, Iraq and various other countries around the world.
Quashie’s teammate Makryous Kori misses the sand pitches in Sudan, where he grew up. He misses using rocks to mark the goals, and he misses his friends who he occasionally talks with on the phone, who ask him when he’s coming home.
But there are greater differences than a change in the playing surface, and a new prerequisite toward practices and matches might be the most challenging.
“You have to call people in the US to [arrange a time] to play,” Kori explained. In Sudan, he said, everyone played in the streets all day long. Pickup soccer was as much a part of life as anything else.
As refugees acclimate to life in Greensboro, to fresh traditions at the Newcomers School and beyond, changes are inevitable.
The weekly pickup game began before Moussa Issifou arrived, but he was by no means lost or out of luck. His group formed these sides often, and he knew the rule: If you’re married, you’re on one team; if not, you’re on the other.
The division might not have been followed precisely, and the teams were already unbalanced — 11 bachelors against 13 espoused, with Issifou joining the latter. But for Issifou, accuracy carried less importance than a greater goal. He didn’t call them married and unmarried. He called them fathers and sons.
Understandably, the sons want to beat their fathers — the adults or elders. But just as importantly for Issifou, they simply want to play.
Soccer is a tradition — a fact lost to those who don’t include sports in the ranks of language, food, music and dance. Yet like any part of culture, a community’s athletic and sports traditions can falter as the youngest generations of families new to the United States adjust.
Fathers and sons face off at a field near Falkener Elementary in a game Moussa Issifou helped organize.
After the separate sides warmed up — the fathers as a synchronized regiment and the sons in a loose circle of chatter — the sons removed their shirts and the game began.
Players on the field usually range from around 15 to 50. In special circumstances, the fathers allow the even younger kids to join.
This wasn’t the case on April 16. As the big game got underway, some of the youngest kids started a miniature match in an unused corner of the field, while others tore around the parking lot on bikes with training wheels or partook in a large box of Bojangles fast food.
Sometimes when Issifou plays, memories of his own younger days appear.


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If you are in the market for a spacious, fuel efficient, and stylish crossover SUV, there are few options as impressive as the 2016 Volkswagen Tiguan. It's got seating for five and a sporty exterior that makes it stand out from the other crossover vehicles on the road. The 2016 Volkswagen Tiguan is a vehicle unlike any other and we are here to share the incredible design and technology features that make it such a great choice for families and adventurous drivers.
The athletic exterior of the 2016 Volkswagen Tiguan stands as a shining example of the skill and impressive design that Volkswagen has to offer. Clean horizontal lines and a sloping rear end makes this vehicle feel and look aerodynamic and efficient. Under the hood, the standard 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine puts down an impressive 200 horsepower, despite its small size. Modern engineering makes it possible for an engine that gets up to 26 miles per gallon on the highway, to tow up to 2,200 lbs of maximum trailer weight. Versatility comes standard on this crossover SUV that offers more without sacrificing efficiency or power.
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Sitting inside the 2016 Tiguan, you are sure to love the convenient design and luxuriously comfortable seating for up to five adults. Rear folding seats make room for extra cargo, and leatherette seating trim adds to the appeal of sitting inside. Driving becomes more convenient and high-tech than ever before inside the 2016 Tiguan with a first-row LCD screen powered by the all-new MIB II infotainment system. This infotainment system offers easier connectivity for smartphone devices through Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Combined with the eight-speaker audio system and the Bluetooth connectivity, the 2016 Tiguan is a crossover SUV with more than enough convenience and versatility.
If you are interested in taking a closer look at the 2016 Volkswagen Tiguan, give us a call here at Joe Heidt Motors. You can also schedule your test drive appointment online and use our free online tools for a quicker financing process. Our experienced team would love to answer any questions you have during your car shopping process. We look forward to hearing from you soon!


Leussink Engineering has defied “gloom and doom” forecasts for manufacturing in the NSW industrial region of Illawarra and is increasing its apprenticeship quota this year.
The company firmly believes that by training its own staff it will open even greater market opportunities in mining, rail, construction, shipbuilding, energy, materials handling, transport and general manufacturing.
Further, as it has already demonstrated over the last 28 years in apprentice training, by developing a highly technical in-house team it throws open the doors for import replacement deals with large companies desperate for fast turnaround on time-critical jobs and component emergencies.
Company director Jason Leussink strongly believes it is this platform, based on the strength of skilled apprentices, that has protected Leussink’s markets through indifferent times.
He now sees the company expanding into new markets as a provider to some of the biggest companies in industrial Australia.
“We are always bringing through a group of fresh youngsters that are learning new manual skills from ground level before moving onto CNC training,” says Mr Leussink.
“Our apprentice uptake ratio has always been very high. This year, however, we have increased the quota as there are six apprentices to be taken on. In a workforce of 45 employees that is a very high percentage.
“We normally have about eight apprentices on the production floor at the same time. As of 2012 we will have 14. In 1995 we first appointed a dedicated trainer for apprentices and that is all this one particular supervisor does.
“His supervision range is very high because our boys progress quite rapidly and training is intense because most of our equipment is CNC rather than manual.
Leussink Engineering’s business is fairly unique as it is focused on quite small batch quantities – often as small as a single item.
Attention to scheduling and inventory combined with highly trained apprentices ensures these cost effective tiny runs are viable for clients.
“With a plethora of highly trained CNC-savvy young staff on the production floor, we have that solid background to produce these once-off items for a good price and quality because we do it all the time and are very good at it,” says Mr Leussink.
“We have made a lot of refinement to the apprentice selection process over the last five years and over that time we’ve had about 80-100 applicants per intake.
“Our record is excellent, Mr Leussink says. “We retain about 90% of our trained apprentices and our employee age profile is very young. We see these as very strong signs for not just our company but Australian industry in general.


Absolutely. The government has really cracked down on my ability to harm myself - I am left with illegal drugs and riding a unicycle without a helmet around and around the house. My father-in-law said the other day, in reference I think to the warning on the inside of our car door that tells you you might hit your head on it, that 'there is a dangerous trend towards safety'. We had one child (and yes, sad) die on a school trip in a swimming pool when my youngest was in grade 5 - not at our school, or even from our home city, or in our province - and the principal of our school made a rule that no kid could go within 60 feet of the edge of any water. Made our trip to Pioneer Village on the St Lawrence a real hoot. 10's of thousands of kids from Ontario go to Quebec for school trips, and vice versa (because nous parlons le francais, le bas) and they all swim in pools every year. My kid skate boards - and I hate this - he simply won't wear a helmet. Now I could 'make' him, and then he would take it off once he was around the corner. I could take away his skate board - yeah - that would really help him - he lives to snowboard and skateboard - and his marks are great. I could take away his skateboard and he could get hit by an asteroid. When they made better hockey equipment the game got more vicious as well - so minimizing risk maximizes risky behaviour - always a trade off.
so... what's up with all those red candle sticks on the metal charts?
does the EE know that I'll have lots of cash coming in next week? Again.. thank you, dear EE, for giving us so much more time to stack!
Food must not be eaten?
Now that is a warning I did not need! We used to practice getting under our desks in grade school - but they forgot to tell us not to snack! We could all have been killed - but at least we wouldn't have been hungry as we were immolated.
Darn! I was waitin' too!
Off to support the corporate giants. Costco ho - just really for chicken strips for the puppy-pie. And to get some snacks for the nuclear attack - I love nothing better than being a scoff-law! Now where is my Iolite?
Nothing is at it seems. You really think that TPTB dont know that this is all happening? do you really think that the system is going to actually crash?? come on, they know whats going on, they created it!!!! this is all planned to crash, and then the new system (which they have already created) will be slid right into place. they wrote the book, its their game. gold and silver arent shooting to the moon unless they allow it to or want it to. Dont you all realize that this is all planned??
...that Vietnam is still separated by North and South. We're so screwed.


This is of the best activity done with the kids ,as it increases their listening skills, concentration. They get to know more of their friends.
Basically in this they are asked to stand in a circle and one of the child is picked among the group and is blind folded. Then we twist the child in the same place, so that they are not aware of which child sitting in which place.
Then the fun part begins, the child who’s blind folded hears other children speaking or talking something or calling out the child who’s blind folded name, then they have to guess who’s who. Also we make them touch and feel other children and they are suppose to guess..who’s who.


On 9 June 1572, Jeanne d’Albret, the queen of Navarre died.
Navarre was a small, Pyrenean kingdom, nestled between France and Spain, and fiercely holding on to its independence in the face of these two great powers. Jeanne was born at Saint-Germain-en-Laye in France on 16 November 1528 and was a relation of the French royal family through her mother, the sister of François I. Her husband, Antoine de Bourbon, was a prince of the blood and spent most of his life torn between his conflicting loyalties to France and Navarre.
Jeanne inherited the throne from her father, Henri II in 1555. She had been raised a Huguenot (French Calvinist Protestant) and on her accession, declared Protestantism the official religion of Navarre. She was very clever and a shrewd politician. She was well educated and, taking after her mother, Marguerite of Navarre, she was a writer. Jeanne composed and published numerous poems.
Pious and staunchly Protestant, Jeanne was suspicious when, in 1570, plans were formed to marry her son and heir, Henri de Navarre, to Marguerite de Valois (Margot), the daughter of Henri II of France and Catherine de’ Medici. Catherine hoped to bring peace to France, which was again on the brink of a religious civil war, with the wedding. Jeanne suspected a trap but was keen to see her son make such an advantageous marriage.
Two months before the marriage was scheduled to take place, Jeanne died suddenly in Paris. Rumour was rife that Catherine de’ Medici had had her poisoned. Shortly before her death, Jeanne had supposedly received a gift of scented gloves from Catherine’s infamous perfumier, René the Florentine. René was famed for his Italian perfumes and cosmetics, but widely suspected of being the maker of the poisons the queen mother allegedly used to dispatch her enemies.
The marriage went ahead on 18 August 1572, with horrific consequences.
This entry was posted in Henri de Navarre, Infamous Women, Jeanne d'Albret, Marguerite of Navarre and tagged Catherine de' Medici, France, henri de navarre, history, History of Europe on June 9, 2011 by Gillian.
On 5th January 1589, Catherine de’ Medici, the Queen Mother of France died at Blois, possibly of pleurisy. She was 69 years old and had spent the last thirty years fighting to keep the French throne in the hands of her sons, three of whom succeeded their father, Catherine’s husband Henri II, to be king of France.
Catherine had arrived in France from her native Italy in 1534. Pope Clement VII (who famously refused to give Henry VIII his divorce from Catherine of Aragon), her uncle, had used his wealth and power to arrange a most illustrious marriage for her. She was descended from the Medici family but though they had been important in Florence, bankers could rarely expect to marry princes. However, Francis I of France had depleted his treasury in the pursuit of land and glory the Italian Wars and the handsome dowry which Clement promised to send with Catherine, along with an alliance with the Pope, meant that Francis was willing to overlook Catherine’s less-than-ideal pedigree.
That said, Catherine did have a small amount of royal blood. Her mother, Madeleine was related, fairly distantly, to the French crown. Sadly for Catherine, she never knew Madeleine as she had died only a few days after her daughter’s birth. It is thought that she had contracted syphilis from her womanising husband Lorenzo. Within a couple of weeks, he too succumbed and Catherine was left an orphan.
The young girl was raised initially in Florence with relatives and later in Rome, under the care of her uncle the Pope. She was intelligent, witty and lively but never described as a great beauty. Luckily for her, her family wealth and influence would go some way towards making up for such a defect. Many female failings could be compensated for with a heavy enough purse. Various matches were suggested for Catherine but it was the one with Francis I’s second son, Henri Duc d’Orleans, which went to fruition. As the second son, Henri was not expected to become king and so Francis was content to marry him off to the banking heiress.
Aged 14, Catherine set sail for France and was welcomed to Marseilles with great festivity. Soon after her arrival she and Henri married in a lavish ceremony. Henri was a withdrawn youth, scarred by his time as a hostage in Spain. He proved to be a polite and dutiful husband but his affection lay with his long-term mistress, the vampish Diane de Poitiers. Though Henri was distant and disinterested in his plain little wife, Catherine adored him.
Predictably enough, the marriage was troubled and Catherine and Henri’s lack of heir compounded the problem, especially after Henri’s elder brother died making him next in line to the throne. Catherine was in danger of being repudiated and replaced with a more fertile wife (the assumption being that infertility was the woman’s “fault,” particularly after at least two of Henri’s mistresses gave birth to his children.
Catherine reputedly tried all manner of superstitious solutions to her infertility. Eventually, after some medical intervention (the exact nature of which is shrouded in mystery), Catherine finally conceived after ten years of fruitless marriage. She went on to produce ten children in the following ten years, of whom three daughters and four sons survived infancy. Of those sons, three would become king of France.
As dauphine and then queen, mother to the heirs of France, Catherine still enjoyed all but no influence over her beloved husband. Instead, Henri discussed matters of state with Diane and it was with her that wise courtiers curried favour, not the dowdy foreign queen. Diane even encouraged Henri to visit his wife’s chambers in order to have more children with her but after the delivery of twin girls (both of whom died) in 1556 almost cost Catherine her life, she was advised not to attempt to bear more children. Henri therefore never slept with her again.
In 1559 tragedy struck when Henri was injured in a joust. His opponent’s lance shattered on his visor, sending shards through the king’s eye. After several days of agony, Henri died with Catherine at his side. Catherine took her revenge on Diane by barring her from attending to Henri as he lay dying, calling for his mistress. She then ordered that Diane was to return all the jewels that Henri had given her during their long relationship, claiming that they were crown jewels and not Diane’s to keep. She then banished her from court.
Unfortunately for the queen, her grief (for the rest of her life she rarely wore any colour other than black) and desire to extract a petty revenge caused her to miss the more important opportunity which had presented itself. Her eldest son Francis had acceded to the throne on Henri’s death. As Francis was only fifteen years old, a regent had to be appointed. Typically, the Queen Mother would take on this role however Francis was married to Mary, Queen of Scots, and it was Mary’s uncles who held the real power and Catherine was regent in name only. Francis was crowned at Rheims as was customary but within eighteen months he too was dead after an ear infection led to an abscess in his brain. He was succeeded by his younger brother who became Charles IX.
Catherine was not to let this opportunity slip through her fingers. The Guises held no particular power over Charles and Catherine took the reins of government on herself, finally able to exercise some power. During Charles’s minority and beyond, Catherine strove to reconcile the Catholics and Huguenots (French Protestants) and avoid civil war. Catherine was pragmatic on matters of religion and hoped to achieve an accord by extending toleration to Protestants while maintaining the support of the powerful Catholic factions. Despite her efforts, antagonism on both sides spiralled out of control and France was torn apart by thirty-six years of on and off civil war.
The nadir of Catherine’s period of power was the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre which began on 23 August 1572 and led to the murder of thousands of Huguenots. The Massacre followed the marriage of Catherine’s daughter Marguerite (known popularly as Margot) to Henri of Navarre, the Protestant king of Navarre. The marriage, of a prominent member of the Catholic ruling family, to Henri, a Prince of the Blood and a Calvinist, had been designed to unite the quarrelling factions and bring about it a lasting peace. It was not to be: another civil war followed.
Charles IX died only two years after the massacre, reputedly driven almost mad with guilt. He was succeeded by his brother who styled himself Henri III. Although Henri was old enough to rule in his own right, Catherine retained a prominent position at court and Henri left her to deal with the business of ruling which did not interest him, preferring to devote himself to acts of conspicuous piety, such as flagellation.
Though he married, like his brothers before him, he too failed to produce a male heir. The throne to which Catherine had held on so tightly was slipping from their grasp. When Catherine’s youngest son, the duc d’Alençon, the heir apparent, died before his thirtieth birthday, Henri was forced to name his brother-in-law Henri of Navarre as his successor.
The Guises, horrified at the prospect of a Protestant king, rallied their men and took control of Paris. Henri, under Catherine’s advice, fled the city for Blois to regroup. There, he summoned the duc de Guise. It was a trap and on his entrance to the king’s chambers, Guise was set upon by the guard. Catherine knew nothing of Henri’s plan and on discovering what had happened, knew that Henri’s days too were numbered.
Less than a fortnight later, Catherine herself died at Blois. She did not live to see her favourite son murdered and Henri of Navarre’s eventual succession to the throne as Henri IV. He later divorced Margot and remarried and so none of his successors carried Catherine’s blood, nor that of her beloved Henri. It was Henri IV though who brought about the peace which Catherine had tried so hard to effect.
This entry was posted in Catherine de Medicis, Diane de Poitiers, Henri de Navarre, Infamous Women and tagged anniversary, Catherine de' Medici, Diane de Poitiers, France, henri de navarre, history, History of Europe, Loire, mistresses, postaweek2011 on January 5, 2011 by Gillian.


MASA is hosting a campus-wide reception to honor academic staff who have been recognized for their contributions to the University of Wisconsin-Madison during the 2006-07 academic year.
Appetizers will be served and a cash bar will be available. A guided tour of the museum will also be available providing an opportunity to see the 2008 Art Department Faculty Exhibition. Paintings, sculpture, graphics, ceramics, textiles, woodwork, metalwork, glass, prints and photographs, as well as performance, video and computer art, will all be on view.
Please RSVP by February 8, 2008 if you plan on attending and if you are interested in taking the tour. The number of attendees assigned to a tour will be limited. We hope you plan to take this opportunity to recognize the contributions made by the academic staff on our campus.
Please RSVP by contacting Valli Warren, President-Elect of MASA, at 262-3773 or vdwarren@education.wisc.edu.


Imbalances of histone acetyltransferase (Head wear) and deacetylase activity (DAC) that bring about deregulated gene manifestation are commonly seen in leukemias. carcinoma cells and leukemic blasts produced from individuals with AML, it had been found that VPA functions as a DACi . Furthermore, VPA causes selective proteasomal degradation of HDAC2, however, not of various other course I HDACs (i.e., HDAC 1, 3, and 8) . In t(8;21) acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the AML1/ETO fusion proteins promotes leukemogenesis by recruiting course I actually HDAC-containing repressor organic towards the promoter of AML1 focus on genes, seeing that described over. VPA disrupts the physical discussion between AML1/ETO and HDAC1, stimulates the global dissociation from the AML1/ETO-HDAC1 complicated through the promoter of AML1/ETO focus on genes, and induces relocation of both AML1/ETO and HDAC1 protein through the nucleus to Lenalidomide a perinuclear area. Mechanistically, these results are connected with a substantial inhibition Lenalidomide of HDAC activity, histone H3 and H4 hyperacetylation, and recruitment of RNA polymerase II, leading to transcriptional reactivation of focus on genes (i.e., IL-3) in any other case silenced with the AML1/ETO fusion proteins. Eventually, these pharmacological results led to significant antileukemic activity mediated by incomplete cell differentiation and caspase-dependent apoptosis . VPA was lately proven to enhance proliferation and self-renewal of regular hematopoietic stem cells, increasing the chance that VPA could also support development of leukemic progenitor cells (LPC). Certainly, VPA taken care of a considerably higher percentage of Compact disc34(+) LPC and colony developing units in comparison to control civilizations in six AML examples, but selectively decreased leukemic cell amounts in another AML test with appearance of AML1/ETO. These data recommend a differential aftereffect of VPA on the tiny inhabitants of AML progenitor cells and the majority of aberrantly differentiated blasts in nearly all AML samples examined . The brand new hydroxamic acidity derivative, ITF2357, obstructed proliferation and induced apoptosis Lenalidomide in AML1/ETO-positive Kasumi-1 and major blast cells in focus of 0.1?M, whereas AML1/ETO-negative HL60, THP1 and NB4 cell lines were private and then 1?M ITF2357. In Kasumi-1 cells, ITF2357 induced AML1/ETO degradation through a caspase-dependent system and also established DNMT1 efflux from, and p300 influx to, the nucleus. Furthermore, ITF2357 induced regional H4 acetylation and discharge of DNMT1, HDAC1 and AML1/ETO, paralleled by recruitment of p300 towards the IL-3 gene promoter. ITF2357 treatment, nevertheless, did not stimulate re-expression of IL-3 gene. Appropriately, the methylation degree of IL-3 promoter, aswell as of other genes, was unmodified . As VPA and ITF2357 appear to particularly focus on AML1/ETO-driven leukemogenesis, integration of both course I-selective and pan-DACi in book therapeutic techniques for AML1/ETO-positive AML could be beneficial. Single-agent DACi in severe lymphoblastic leukemia The anti-leukemic activity of DACi in every has been analyzed in a small amount of preclinical studies; many of these examined DACi as an individual agent using individual ALL cell lines as versions. An early research compared the consequences from the cyclic tetrapeptide romidepsin (FK228) on individual leukemia/lymphoma cells and cell lines with regular hematopoietic cells . Romidepsin induced G1 arrest and apoptotic cell loss of life at nanomolar concentrations. Scientific samples from sufferers with ALL had been more delicate to romidepsin at medically achievable medication concentrations than either regular peripheral bloodstream or bone tissue marrow mononuclear cells or regular progenitor cells. Manifestation degrees of HDAC-1 and HDAC-3 proteins didn’t correlate using the level of sensitivity to romidepsin. The anti-leukemic activity and setting of action from the hydroxamic acidity derivative, LAQ824 was analyzed using four human being pre-B lymphoblastic cell lines as versions representing different cytogenetic subsets (Sup-B15 and TMD-5, both t(9;22) positive, SEM, t(4;11) positive, and NALM-6 cells). LAQ824 considerably inhibited the proliferation of leukemic lymphoblastic cell lines; this is due to improved apoptosis followed by activation of caspase-3 and caspase-9, cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose)-polymerase (PARP) aswell as by down-regulation of Bcl-2 and disruption from the mitochondrial membrane potential. Remarkably, LAQ824-induced apoptosis was ZC3H13 partly impartial of caspase activation . Panobinostat (LBH589), a broad-spectrum DACi carefully linked to the hydroxamate LAQ824 but with an increase of beneficial pharmacologic properties, potently induced cell-cycle arrest, apoptosis, and histone (H3K9 and H4K8) hyperacetylation in two human being cell line types of Philadelphia chromosome-negative severe lymphoblastic leukemia.
This entry was posted in mGlu3 Receptors and tagged Lenalidomide, ZC3H13 on October 27, 2018 by techbizstrategy.


Use the law and your employer's complaint procedures to protect yourself from on-the-job harassment.
If the harasser ignores your oral requests to stop, or if you are uncomfortable talking to the harasser face to face, write a succinct letter demanding an end to the behavior. Be sure to keep a copy.
If you are concerned for your personal safety or are afraid that the harasser might become more hostile when confronted, complain to a supervisor instead.
Although it is often difficult to make a complaint at work, and you may prefer to skip this step, don't. The U.S. Supreme Court has said that employees who fail to use their employer's internal complaint procedure to make the company aware of sexual harassment, and to give the company a chance to stop it, cannot later hold the company liable in a lawsuit. This means that you are quite likely to lose in court, should it come to that, if you don't complain within the company first.
Even if your company doesn't have a formal complaint procedure, you can put the company on notice of the harassment. You can do this by making a complaint to the human resources department, telling your supervisor (or his or her supervisor) about the problem, or informing a company executive.
It is very important to document what is happening to you, and what you are doing to try to stop it, should you ever have to prove your case to a company investigator, a government agency, or a jury.
Start by collecting as much detailed evidence as possible about the harassment. Be sure to save any offensive letters, photographs, cards, or notes you receive. If you were made to feel uncomfortable because of jokes, pin-ups, or cartoons posted at work, confiscate them -- or at least make copies. An anonymous, obnoxious photo or joke posted on a bulletin board is not anyone else's personal property, so you are free to take it down and keep it as evidence. If that's not possible, photograph the workplace walls. Note the dates the offensive material was posted -- and whether there were hostile reactions when you took it down or asked another person to do so.
Also, keep a detailed journal about incidents of harassment. Include the names of everyone involved, what happened, and where and when it took place. If anyone else saw or heard the harassment, note that as well. Be as specific as possible about what was said and done -- and how it affected you, your health, or your job performance. Keep your journal and notes at home or in a secure location outside of the workplace.
If your employer has conducted periodic written evaluations of your work, make sure you have copies. In fact, you may want to ask for a copy of your entire personnel file before complaining about a harassing coworker. Your records can be particularly persuasive evidence if your employer retaliates against you for complaining -- which is also illegal. For example, you'll want a copy of your records if you've had positive performance evaluations until you complain, and then your employer tries to transfer, demote, or fire you or claims your job performance is poor.
If complaining to your employer doesn’t help, the next step is to go to either the federal agency that enforces Title VII -- the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission -- or to your state fair employment office. If all investigation and settlement attempts fail to produce satisfactory results, you can file a civil lawsuit for damages under either Title VII or your state fair employment practices statute.
You must file a complaint with the EEOC before filing a federal lawsuit. Even if you intend right from the beginning to file a lawsuit, you sometimes must first file a claim with a government agency. For example, an employee pursuing a claim under federal law must first file a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and a similar complaint procedure is required under some state laws.
The EEOC or state agency may decide to prosecute your case on your behalf, but that happens rarely. More commonly, at some point, the agency will issue you a document referred to as a "right-to-sue" letter that allows you to take your case to court with your own lawyer.
Note, however, that there are time limits for filing claims with government agencies and for filing a lawsuit, so be sure not to miss them.


Ice scraper with wiper cleaning profile and extra warm glove - you'll not get frozen hand while cleaning your windscreen.
Kungs is a Finland brand focused on winter products of the highest possible quality. All products are not only tested thoroughly, but due to the rigid nordic winter really explored in challenging everyday conditions. Kungs manufactures its products in its own factory in Finland. This is the best selling brand of scrapers in Scandinavia.


You know that snow? Well, our snow, up here on the edge of England, actually slipped over the eaves and slid down all over Scotland. I know that some places had some snow and some places had quite a lot of snow – and then there were the places that had loads of snow. The wind was just bitterly cold in most places but if you where in one of those places with more snow than we had here, the wind did its best and took the snow and piled it in varying sized heaps for you. I suppose you should have left a note out, telling it where you wanted the snow drifted to.
Personally, well, let me put it this way. You know how, over this last year or so, everyone has become rather grumpy with climate warming overload? And you know how they picked on the Met Office for trying to push the temperatures up? I suppose there is a possibility that someone in the purchasing department there, didn’t realise that there are a hundred and forty four packs in a carton and that snow comes freeze dried (just add water) and then ordered a thousand cartons when they only meant to order a thousand packs.
But it would be easy to think that it wasn’t an accident, wouldn’t it?


Which of Tampa's young controllable starters not named Archer has the most upside?
Would it be possible to punish the Reds if they knew about the Domestic violence case, but pushed the trade on the Dodgers without telling them? Do they need to disclose that info?
So, yeah, the Chapman thing. The Reds were talking about wanting to move him before the winter meetings. Now that sounds like they were trying to get him off their hands before this came out.
Does Dave look on in great disappointment while the rest of his staff slams a 24 pack?
At what level do pitchers go from being the best hitters on their teams (little-league) to the worst (MLB)?
How disappointing is it that we are not getting treated to anything like Preller-mania this year?
Do you think mikes trout has had less success in stealing bases because he doesn't take a big enough lead?
alright guys, I've gotta write. thanks for chatting, as always, and sorry for the questions I didn't get to!


Use Google AdWords advertising to make your company grow!
Google introduced new features into its partner program. Besides specializations for Google partners, there a new Google Premier partner badge has been introduced as well. The new badge has been designed to distinguish those partners that manage large portfolios of Google advertising campaigns and achieve excellent results for their clients. To become a Premier partner, a company needs to meet the criteria for additional certificates and it will be enabled to access broader Google support.
Your company needs Google AdWords? Send us an inquiry.


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Background Observing incongruent actions interferes with ongoing action execution. This ‘interference effect’ is larger for observed biological actions than for non-biological actions. The current study used virtual reality to investigate the biological specificity of interference effects of action observation in autism spectrum conditions (ASC).
Method High-functioning adults with ASC and age- and IQ-matched healthy controls performed horizontal sinusoidal arm movements whilst observing arm movements conducted by a virtual reality agent with either human or robot form, which moved with either biological motion or at a constant velocity. In another condition, participants made the same arm movements while observing a real human. Observed arm movements were either congruent or incongruent with executed arm movements. An interference effect was calculated as the average variance in the incongruent action dimension during observation of incongruent compared with congruent movements.
Results Control participants exhibited an interference effect when observing real human and virtual human agent incongruent movements but not when observing virtual robot agent movements. Individuals with ASC differed from controls in that they showed no interference effects for real human, virtual human or virtual robot movements.
Conclusions The current study demonstrates atypical interference effects in ASC.


The year is almost over and with just few more days left, it's about time to prepare our year-end list. First in our agenda is featuring the best anime opening of 2018 that made our anime-watching habit lit, and even more exciting and enthralling.
We had looked back at some of the best anime opening theme song in every seasonal chart of 2018 and the following entries were the 20 best anime opening of 2018 as per standard of our team at Yu Alexius Anime Portal.
Official Video: Fate/Extra: Last Encore "Bright Burning Shout"
Official Video: Black Clover "Black Rover"
Official Video: Cells at Work! "Mission! Ken Kou Dai Ichi"
Official Video: Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku "Fiction"
Official Video: Overlord II "GO CRY GO"
Official Video: Golden Kamuy "Winding Road"
Official Video: After the Rain "Nostalgic Rainfall"
Official Video: Steins;Gate 0 "Fatima"
Official Video: My Hero Academia 3 "Make my Story"
Song Title: Iwanai kedo ne.
For the scoreboard of our Top 20 Anime Opening list of 2018, please see the image below.
Meanwhile, we also listed the Top 10 anime openings from the 4 seasonal charts of 2018: Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall.
The anime opening from Winter 2018 seasonal chart were led by the beautifully and astoundingly amazing Violet Evergarden which brought to us a magical experience. Coming on second place is the first opening theme of Seven Deadly Sins season 2 which is a great collaboration between Flow and Granrodeo - two of the most popular bands that provide us some of the biggest anime openings of the decade. The cutesy ambiance of Skilled Teaser Takagi-san, After the Rain, Laid-Back Camp, and A Place Further than the Universe also made it in our top 10 list.
The Seven Deadly Sins made a great comeback with Ame ga Furu kara Niji ga Deru from Sky Peace as it hit the skyrocketed 1st place against another great entry this year which is ODD FUTURE from UVERworld of My Hero Academia season 3. Surprisingly, Golden Kamuy reached the 3rd place with its catchy opening from MAN WITH A MISSION. The rest of the entries from Spring 2018 anime lineup were pretty good especially Black Clover's Black Rover - the anime's 3rd anime opening theme and the adorable Tada Never Falls in Love. Tokyo Ghoul:re's ASPHYXIA were also able to secure the 10th place.
Another anime with the most epic OST also returned this 2018 and it's no other than Attack on Titan which brought us Guren no Yumiya and Shinzou Sasageyo. My Hero Academia 3 also continue its streak on the 2nd place with a new song titled Make my Story and I seriously believed that it is adorable beyond reason. Followed by a legendary anime title from Steins;Gate franchise while the obnoxiously fun Grand Blue got the 4th place. Overall, Summer 2018 anime seasonal chart we're filled with anime openings for action-packed series.
In Fall 2018 seasonal chart, the anime opening list is dominated by Tokyo Ghoul:re's Katharsis by a large margin. Well, it's undeniably addicted afterall coming from TK who also gave us the legendary Unravel 4 years ago. Joining its league are several giant anime titles which opening theme this season we're pretty good such as Sword Art Online III and Fairy Tail Season 9 (Final Season). The romance anime also gave us a delightful surprise with Bloom Into You, Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai - both anime having a very cute opening theme.
For refresher, you may also check which anime that aired last year was included in our Top 20 Anime Opening of 2017.
That ends our list of the best anime openings of 2018. Please let us know which one is your favorite or do you have any other entries that you would like to recommend. Don't forget to leave us a comment for your thoughts.


Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word: "It Was A Man's World". The 1970's And Women's Skateboarding.
"It Was A Man's World". The 1970's And Women's Skateboarding.
We have been waiting for this book to arrive! Browsing through the just released "Skateboarding is Not a Fashion" is like a time capsule of skateboarding and what we wore from the 1950's to 1984. But it's not just about the clothes, it's also about why we chose to wear what we did, how we wore it and how it influnces fashion today.
The best part of opening this monster of a book was coming across numerous pages talking about, or featuring the female skaters of the various eras.
We are not going to show you all of those pages because we think this book is well worth shelling out $54.00 on Amazon to buy, but we will show you this awesome 2 page spread where pro skateboarder Judi Oyama talks about why she wore what she did back in the 70's and 80's, how she even made skate shorts for her friends, and you can see her customized denim shirt and track jacket on top right of page.
There is a full interview with 50's skater Pattie McGee, a 2-page spread of 70's pro skater Vicki Vickers and some smaller shots of Laura Thornhill, Robin Logan and others sprinkled throughout the book.
"It was a man's world, and only a few girls could hang in such an environment, not to mention deal with the blows of riding verticle concrete pools. Standout female pro riders of the era include Dogtown's Peggy Oki, Laura Thornhill & Robin Logan of Logan Earth Ski fame, Marina del Rey local Cindy Whitehead, and Judi Oyama from Santa Cruz. The late 1970's competitive female skateboarding circuit was a tight-knit group, rife with heated rivalries."