text:
Drama Cleanse: 30 Day Experiment

Enough. This is stopping. If you have been following my blog, you get it. I have managed to spare you the excruciating details- the car accident, the shattered phone twice in two weeks, the neighbors calling the police on me my second night in my new ‘closet’. (I spoke above a whisper ‘disturbing the peace’, was the official complaint… Don’t get me started). It goes on and on.

I declared, when I drove out of Arlington, Texas, no more. I am going back to a place that, yes, has some tough memories, but it is the closest thing I have to home. I have friends there. I know where all of the gems are there. I love the weather there. My dog is there…

This morning I woke up, sad, hungover, depleted and I thought about the definition of insanity (as I often do). We all know it. Doing the same thing over and over…

So I’m trying something different.

I am going to ‘sage’ myself, inside and out. If you are going through similar bullshit and you are ready to stop the madness, you are more than welcome to join. I would actually love the company.

We are going to go beyond ‘self-helping’. This is going to be a complete and total do-over- a deep-cleaning- clean slate- ground zero- do over. Soap, sage, bleach, whatever the fuck it takes.

Starting today (or whenever you are ready). A cleanse. A drama cleanse. Thirty days of all things healthy, nurturing, gentle, relaxing, and fun (quiet fun, the neighbors…).

I’m not sure how this will go down. I have no plan, really. It’s kind of a big, impromptu experiment.

But rest assured, I have done almost every cleanse, read almost every self-help book, memorized almost every inspirational quote and researched almost all of the latest herbal concoctions, meditation methods, and breathing exercises out there.

Okay, ignore the current state of affairs, mine anyway. I clearly have not been implementing any of all previously mentioned. But I have a substantial amount of knowledge to be applied.

So, baby steps, attainable, realistic, baby steps.

I will do my best to not go too ‘esoteric’ on you and keep things grounded and practical. Although, some days, you just need some esoteric. Anyway, will do my best.

So, tomorrow- attainable, realistic, baby steps #1, 2, and 3.

Step #1: Five-minute journal. (App.fiveminutejournal.com) You do it all on your phone. Literally, it takes 5 minutes or less depending on the amount of self-reflection.

Step #2- Podcast of choice (even if just a portion): I’m going with Brene Brown. (will send you link and let you know what I think.)

Step #3. No drinking: I will grab a book, watch my favorite show/movie (happy please), call a friend or invite one over…keeping the noise level to a minimum. (the neighbors…).

I will send out tips and resources, what is working for me, what didn’t, and please do the same!

30 days. You can do anything for 30 days. That is what they say, right, break the old habits that no longer serve us, and formulate new ones that will.

So, here goes…

4 thoughts on “Drama Cleanse: 30 Day Experiment

  1. How is it going for you Natalie? Hey maybe you can include forgiveness in there (if you want to). Love the app idea. Sending you many blessings, and I applaud you exactly where you are right now! ~Debbie

    • Hi Debbie. Things are finally getting to good! It’s a process, no question, but I feel like I’ve climbed my way out of the dark place that was keeping me stuck in the drama and negativity. Again, it’s a process. Thank god I have my writing and this community to get me through this! Thank you for reading and taking the time to respond! I hope you have a beautiful week!

      Liked by 1 person

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6 Content Marketing Strategies to Drive Growth

November 15, 2017

It’s on the lips of every marketer in the world. It’s challenging. It’s effective, and when applied correctly, can drive massive results. Content marketing has been pushed into the spotlight and the light is only growing brighter. A good content marketing strategy can make the difference between growth and stagnation. The trick? Creating content that people want to consume and search engines want to rank.

Easy to say. Hard to do.

So how do you create content that actually drives traffic and generates leads?

Put simply, you get down and dirty with the details. You create content that appeals to the right people at the right time.

Now for the nitty-gritty. Here are six solid content marketing strategies that can help you achieve measurable results.

#1 Use Facebook Analytics to Tailor the Message to the Audience

If you want to appeal to your base, then you need to know who they are,
what they do, and how they react to different types of content.
This helps you build context around your content.Content Marketing Data

Put simply, you need to identify customer personas. Fortunately, Facebook Ads has tools that help you define and refine your target audience by giving you answers to some basic questions like:

  • Who are your potential customers?
  • What are their interests?
  • What solutions are they looking for?
  • What types of content do they like?
  • Where do they live?
  • How much money do they make?
  • What is their highest level of education?

This information will help you brainstorm great topic areas.

#2 Narrow Your Content Topics

Once you know your target audience, it’s time out figure out what type of
content appeals to them.

For that, you can head over to Buzzsumo, the powerful content analysis tool
that lets you find out what’s trending with whom.

Let’s say you’re a mortgage lender who specializes in providing FHA loans to
first-time home buyers. You can use Buzzsumo to discover:

Content Marketing BuzzSumo

  • What’s Trending: Find social sharing stats on the topic of “FHA loans,” specifically how many times each piece of content has been shared on each platform.
  • What Topics Excite Industry Heavyweights: Want to know what Forbes or Investopedia has written on the topic of FHA loans? With Buzzsumo, you can easily find the most shared articles from a particular domain for a specific topic.
  • What Topics Your Competitors Cover: Search your competitors’ sites for related content. Once you know what they’ve said, you can take a different, improved, or even contrary position on the same topic.
  • Who the Major Influencers Are: Use Buzzsumo’s influencer search tool
    to find social media powerhouses who share the most about FHA loans. Reach
    out to them or follow them to stay up on the latest trends.
  • How Trends Have Changed Over Time: In the space of a year, people
    can shift from trusting FHA loans to avoiding them. Watch trends change
    over time using Buzzsumo’s date filter.

#3 Timing is Everything

It’s one thing to know what your audience wants. It’s another thing to know when they want it.

If you haven’t yet mapped your customer journey, then it’s time to get started. you should know
what type of content will move each individual through each stage of the journey.

Let’s say you own an online boutique that sells designer scarves.
You may want to create content that looks something like this: Fashion Content Marketing

  • Awareness: An 18-year-old woman wants to know how to tie a scarf in an ascot-style knot so she searches online. The content you provide at this stage should be informative—a simple how-to with step-by-step instructions.
  • Engagement: The same woman may want to know more about which scarves are good for certain occasions. She found useful content on your site before, so she returns and signs up for your newsletter. Now you can deliver in-depth information straight to her inbox in a timely fashion.
  • Conversion: Our customer is ready to buy a new scarf for winter. A well-timed holiday video promotion can move her from the browsing stage to the buying stage.
  • Loyalty: It’s been a while since she’s visited your site. An Instagram contest that asks her to post pictures of herself wearing her favorite scarf may renew her interest. Continuous nurturing of your client base is an on-going process. Promotions on Instagram and newsletters about the latest fashion trends can remind your customers that you’re a fashion authority and keep you in mind for future purchases. It’s more cost-effective to keep your clients loyal than to gain new clients.

The bottom line? Personalize your content to see better engagement and higher returns.

#4 Don’t Forget About The Keywords!

Your content won’t go anywhere if the right people can’t find it. That’s where keyword analysis comes in.

A key component of SEO strategy, keyword analysis helps you figure out what your audience searches for at each stage of their journey.

At the early stages, people may search for general terms like “How to tie a scarf in an ascot-style knot.” Include those phrases in an informative piece of content to boost brand awareness.

Further on down the road, potential customers might search for “Long wool check-print scarf.” That’s the kind of specificity you want to focus on as you get closer to the buying stage, so be sure to include those phrases in content that’s designed to convert.

In short, use the right keywords at the right time to achieve your goals at each point of the sales funnel.

Adding Context to Your Content

You now know the message, but how do you get it across?

Should you spend time making videos?
Should you write long, informative blog posts?
Should you stick with quick status updates on Facebook?

Generally speaking, the broader your content strategy, the more successful your efforts will be. That being said, it’s also good to focus on promotional activities that fit your brand.

If you sell artwork, you might want to go heavy on the visuals and promote your content on Instagram. If you’re a financial consultant, you might want to promote information-rich articles, podcasts and webinars on LinkedIn.

Fit the content to the strategy, and your chances of success go up.

Setting the Right Tone

Content that touches upon core motivations and basic human instincts tend
to outperform content that just, well, exists. Some of the most successful pieces
fall into one of the following categories: Types of Content Marketing

  • Useful – People eat up informative content. They want tips and tricks that will make their lives easier, and they love to share content that other people may find useful. At the other end of the scale, B2B companies want to know one thing: how to boost their bottom line.
  • Entertaining – We all love a good diversion. Who doesn’t want to laugh, smile, or be intrigued? A good story or a bit of humor can take our minds off the more stressful side of life. Entertain someone, and they’re more likely to reward you with a like, a share, or a follow.
  • Emotional – People respond to emotion. In fact, research shows that the stronger and more energetic the emotion, the more people share. Whether you inspire your audience with a joyful video clip or shock them with a strong, opinionated article on a “prickly” issue, strong emotion will generate interest and engagement.

As long as you’ve done your research, you’ll know which tone of voice has a better chance of striking the right chord with your target audience.

Find Your Path to Success

When it comes to content marketing, there are many paths to success. No matter what your niche, you can find a strategy that appeals to your target audience. Need help refining your approach? Let our content marketing team put you on the path to unchecked growth.

National Positions Content Marketing

What’s the new marketing mindset?

It’s all about growth.
Learn the latest in our new eBook.

Digital Growth In A Virtual Screen

Fill out the form below and one of our Growth Experts will give
you a call to discuss how we can increase your bottom line!
We’ll be in touch shortly.

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Posts Tagged ‘farmers’

Photo by PDI

First thing I read today was the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s shocking banner story “Cory Aquino’s ‘glowing legacy’: Aquino kin back immediate distribution of land”.

The headline somehow makes it appear that land distribution was the intention all along of former president Cory Aquino when she embarked on the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program some 25 years ago. That all this time, the Luisita landlords had the best intentions for the farm workers. And that, by implication, if the first Aquino regime wanted this, then surely the second Aquino regime shared the same vision.

The statements of the counsel for the Hacienda Luisita made me sick to my stomach, as I’m sure it did other farmer advocates.

“The Cojuangco family expresses its full confidence that the Supreme Court decision regarding the fate of Hacienda Luisita is a just resolution for all parties concerned,” said Antonio Ligon, hacienda counsel and spokesperson.

“Now that the high court maintains that land distribution is the only resolution, the Cojuangco family guarantees its full cooperation in the expeditious completion of this process and put all other issues to rest,” he said.

While the family had sought a reconsideration of the high tribunal’s Nov. 22, 2011, ruling, Ligon said the court’s final decision on the decades-old dispute was “a verdict the Cojuangco family embraces.”

“(This) should be a glowing legacy for the late former President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino,” he said.

“It cannot be argued that Mrs. Aquino made decisive moves to place Hacienda Luisita in the 1980s under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program although the preference of farmer-beneficiaries for stock distribution option (SDO) prevailed in at least three referendums over land distribution.”

Now that the farmers are on the verge of claiming the land that is rightfully theirs, the Luisita management wants to rewrite history, give itself a pat on the back, and perhaps make the current president look good in the process. (Why PDI editors dignify and give so much space to HLI’s gratuitous and self-serving statements, I really don’t know.)

“Glowing legacy” ba kamo? How about a legacy of deception and failure? Because that’s what the last 25 years of Mrs. Aquino’s CARP has amounted to for the farmers of Luisita. The way the Luisita management speaks, it’s as if they had the best intentions for the farmers at the onset; that the management, like Cory, really wanted land reform.

Cripes, if this were true, then the farmers were wrong to rise up against the Cojuangco-Aquinos. The strike in 2004 was totally unncecessary. The massacre of strikers and the assassination of farmers’ supporters, all those were for naught because, as Ligon says, Mrs. Aquino had wanted to place the sugar estate under her government’s land reform program from the start.

Wow, that’s even worse than Joel Rocamora claiming that this is a victory for Benigno Aquino’s land reform program. (Isa pa itong mga nakikisakay na tagumpay daw ng CARPER itong Luisita ruling).

Anyone familiar with Cory Aquino’s CARP knows that a provision in the law allowed landlords to retain control of their estates by subjecting these to a “Stock Distribution Option”. Under this scheme, farmers will be given shares of stocks instead of actual land. The scheme ensured that effective control of the land remained with the big landlords. Such was the case in Luisita where the shares of the farmers amounted to only 33% while the Cojuangco-Aquino management was able to bloat its shares to 66%. From that time on, farmers worked in miserable and oppressive conditions.

The failure of the SDO to improve the lives of farmers became the subject of a strike by farmworkers, a decision by the DAR, the PARC and eventually, the Supreme Court. The final ruling of the SC effectively junked the SDO and paved the way for actual land distribution. The SC ruling is a partial rebuke of the SDO of Cory Aquino’s CARP.

Now that farmers are getting their due, the Luisita management wishes us to believe in its benevolence.  HLI tries to assure us of its full cooperation with the decision. It is after all, a decision that the Cojuangco family “embraces”.

The statement that HLI will cooperate is also calibrated to take the heat off President Benigno Aquino III who up to now has not released a statement on the matter. Ligon wants to end public speculation on whether Aquino will press his family to comply with the decision.

For the record, the HLI management has never stopped scheming and maneuvering to retain their vast estate. They are notorious for not showing good faith. One time, it drafted a sham “compromise agreement” and gave token amounts of money to the farmers for them to sign the pact, in order to preempt the decision the High Court. We have not forgotten that. Up to the end, the HLI management even makes mention of three sham referendums that allegedly affirmed the farmers’ support for the SDO.

If there appears to be a change of tone in the statements of HLI, it’s because they know that there a very little legal options left for them at the moment. They know that they have been soundly defeated in the main legal arena. They know that there is overwhelming public support for the farmers of Luisita.

I end this piece by paraphrasing a message from a journalist friend who has watched the legal developments closely. He says that the victory of the Luisita struggle “is a glowing legacy of the national democratic peasant movement” in forwarding the cause of genuine land reform.

This victory belongs to the farmers and the people, and not to any landlord/president, past or present. To those like Ligon and the HLI management who are claiming otherwise, di na kayo nahiya. Ang kupal lang.


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Dr. Carlos Mata

11000 N. Scottsdale Road Suite 100, Scottsdale, AZ 85254
Botox® Image

BOTOX® – Facial Rejuvenation Treatment – Phoenix & Scottsdale, AZ*

54 Procedures ( View All )

At our office, we can delay the inevitable forehead wrinkles and frown lines around the eyes with a dynamic treatment for facial wrinkles called BOTOX Cosmetic, which is Botulinum Toxin. The wrinkle relaxer enables thousands of men and women to restore a smooth and youthful appearance to their faces. Scottsdale, AZ board-certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Carlos Mata, a.k.a. Dr. Scottsdale, can rejuvenate a patient’s skin with this treatment for 3 – 4 months at a time. BOTOX Cosmetic is gently injected into facial muscles, which relaxes them and actually removes wrinkles instead of simply filling them in. The best candidates for BOTOX injections are those who have moderate to severe facial wrinkles and desire a painless, nonsurgical approach to younger looking skin.

Administering BOTOX

Tiny doses of BOTOX are injected into the skin where wrinkles are noticeable. It is $10 per unit and is normally done in the doctor’s office. The procedure may last from 10 mintues – 1 hour. The number of injections and dose amounts administered varies by patient depending on the severity of wrinkles. Patients are first marked with ink prior to the injection so that the practitioner may accurately inject the areas in need of wrinkle softening. This procedure does not create any discomfort other than a normal prick that comes with a small needle. A numbing cream may be applied to help with any discomfort. Patients will be able to go home right after treatment with no downtime from their normal routine.

What to Expect

After treatment, mild swelling and bruising may appear on the injection spots. Patients are advised to limit exercise and to sleep in an upright position the same night as the treatment. The redness and swelling will only last for a few hours, but some patients may experience bruising for several days. There are bruising medications, such as Arnica, that patients may take a week prior to treatment to help minimize bruising. The results from a BOTOX treatment take 5 – 7 days to appear. When they do, the face will look smoother and brighter, and patients will feel rejuvenated by their fresh appearance.

How Safe Is It?

When administered properly, BOTOX rarely causes any complications. With that said, it is still very important to find someone who has experience in handling this medication. Too much of the product may cause an undesirable outcome. A skilled practitioner will use just enough of the medication to effectively freeze the facial muscles that cause wrinkles while leaving nearby muscles unaffected. BOTOX is one of the most popular cosmetic treatments on the market today. It is safe and effective, and approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). BOTOX is also used to treat other medical conditions such as squints, excessive sweating, uncontrollable blinking and migraines.

BOTOX Parties?

There is an ongoing trend where people who wish to have BOTOX treatments will gather together and administer the BOTOX doses themselves called ‘BOTOX cocktail parties’. This is very risky. BOTOX, when administered incorrectly, may paralyze unintended muscles that may result in an abnormal facial appearance. BOTOX treatments should be done in a medical setting with an experienced, skilled injector.

Same As BOTOX?

In recent years, BOTOX has seen some competition as other drugs have been approved by the FDA and introduced to the aesthetic market. Dysport® and Xeomin® are muscle relaxers similar to BOTOX. Each has its specific trending function that may be addressed during the initial consultation. Sometimes, a combination of the drugs is used to treat various areas. For example, BOTOX for frown lines, and Dysport for crow’s feet.

Are Fillers Better?

BOTOX and fillers are both popular cosmetic treatments with the ability to decrease wrinkles and smoothen facial areas. The difference with each is the way the substances function to create the rejuvenating effect. Injectable fillers add volume under the skin to fill hollow areas and decrease the appearance of wrinkles on the surface. BOTOX, on the other hand, relaxes the muscles underneath the skin so that the muscles cannot contract, allowing a softer effect on the surface. It is very common for patients to undergo treatment using both a muscle relaxer and an injectable filler to attain optimal results.

Best Candidates?

Today, practitioners are treating patients of all ages with BOTOX. For some individuals, for example those as young as 30, BOTOX is considered a preventative way to prevent facial wrinkles. For others (i.e. 40 years old and older), it is a rejuvenation effort to smooth the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Older individuals (55 and up) will still receive great benefit from having BOTOX injections, but for some, a facelift technique might be a better option to consider.

How Long Does It Last?

A BOTOX injection will last between 3 – 4 months. The treatment may be repeated every quarter and for most patients who receive this treatment, they usually come back for more. BOTOX is an effective, easy and safe way to minimize the appearance of facial wrinkles. Patients consider it a part of their normal beauty routine.

Request Consultation

Plan Your Procedure

Average Cost
From $10
Recovery Time
1-3 days
Average Procedure Time
10 min - 1 hr
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*Individual results are not guaranteed and may vary from person to person. Images may contain models.


text:
Open Letter Concerning the Traitors at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

Dear Everyone,

I have been hearing about a new set of “Occupiers” in icy remote regions of Oregon. This name so many news sources applied to a group of men invading a small government facility on preserved land is reminiscent of another group of people I half-heartedly gave my allegiance to so many years ago, the Occupiers of Zucotti Park in New York and so many other places across the united states. These original Occupiers had similar gripes; tyranny, corruption, government overreach and incompetence. However, the Zucotti Park Occupiers did not bring guns and did not spew hate. They merely occupied public land whereas these new Occupiers (from now on referred to as Militiamen) invaded and seized public land for themselves, violently. So I ask you to please discontinue, like I have, calling them occupiers.

Calling the Militiamen occupiers obscenely undercuts the severity of the crime they are committing, namely treason. They are not occupying public lands in the same way Occupiers did, they are invading and seizing them from us, the american people, the lawful owners (as opposed to the rightful owners, the Paiute Indians). It is incredibly unjust and ridiculously stupid what they are doing. They claim to be upholding The Constitution while seemingly having only read half of it at a 3rd grade level. They are in many ways opposed to The Constitution and the everyday American way of life and therefore are enemies of the American people.

The occupiers however were a peaceful group of loving hippies who just wanted a better life for themselves and others who had been mistreated by the status quo. Albeit they ultimately accomplished very little other than being beaten and shot by the very thing they were trying to elucidate. They however didn’t bring guns, they were rarely violent, and were very accommodating to anyone who wanted to help or be helped. Many homeless found shelter, food and compassion from these dirty hippies, something they’d been sorely lacking from the government and most of society.

So while friendly and peaceful occupiers were beaten and bruised by police in their various outposts several times, the traitorous and hateful Militiamen continue unabatedly occupying government land. It is offensive to call them occupiers, even militiamen when we should be calling them by their true name, traitors.

Nickolas B.

P.S. The Occupiers were much better prepared with snacks than the traitors have shown to be.


text:
Software Tester

Software Tester

Software Tester

  • Pune
  • Posted 639 day(s) ago
  • Job Views : 118
  • Job Applicants : 0

Job Description

Understand project/software specifications (content, graphics, and functional specifications)
Manually check/test the software/project output against the project checklist(s), and other reference documents provided
Test software on both online and offline servers
Create logs of test results/bugs in the bug tracking tool, and monitor them until closed
Be responsible for the quality of the project

Candidate Profile :
Must have an eye for detail, passion for quality and finding issues/quality defects
Must have good communication skills, written and spoken
Must have the ability to multi-task and adapt to multiple projects

Mandatory Skills:
Experience in software testing for a product development organization
Experience in testing in an agile development environment
Good understanding of software requirements and technologies
Good analytical skills
Experience in manual testing
Experience in using common bug tracking tools like Mantis bug tracker, Bugzilla etc.

(Please mention for reference)

(Please mention for reference)

Interview Location

Location : Pune

Address : Pune

Short Description
  • Job ID:

  • Job Views:

  • Job Type:

    Full Time
  • Number of Vacancies:

  • Industry:

    IT Jobs
  • Functional Area:

  • Job Experience:

    1-4 year
  • Posted On:

    14, Mar 2016
  • Closing Date:

    29, Mar 2016


text:
Exit pursued by a Turnbull…

Around 11.30am yesterday at City Diggers I said to Alex: “Will Tony Abbott be there at the end of the week?” His answer: “No.” Or as Jim Belshaw posted on Saturday: “Even if the Liberal Party holds the seat [of Canning] without the expected swing, the present Australian government is probably just too accident prone for Mr Abbott to survive.”  (Worth reviewing Jim’s posts on Mr Abbott.)

Turnbull ousts Abbott as Prime Minister in late night vote

Updated about an hour ago

Malcolm Turnbull has won a ballot for the leadership of the Liberal Party by 10 votes over Tony Abbott, and will become the 29th Prime Minister of Australia. Mr Turnbull says he’s humbled and he’s looking to lead a conversation that persuades, rather than lectures the public about the future challenges of the economy and the nation. Changes are expected to the Government frontbench, but Mr Turnbull says he’s not expecting to call an early election.

As I write I have – rare for me – breakfast TV on: ABC News 24 of course. Nice cartoon by John Shakespeare:

That heads a Herald piece by former Liberal minister Peter Reith.

What many people may not appreciate is that an important part of John Howard’s success was that he was good with colleagues. Some of them were a pain in the neck but John managed them all. My guess is that Tony was a long way short of John Howard in that department. People management is a key criteria for being a successful PM and hence one reason that Julie Bishop’s name is often mentioned as a future PM and not surprisingly Bishop will play a key role in working with colleagues.

Second, his office still had problems. Tony kept his chief of staff out of a sense of loyalty but there was a bigger loyalty required. Namely his loyalty to his team and supporters.

Thirdly, the reality was that the daily restatement the government has a plan was not in itself enough. The latest unemployment figures were better than expected but they are only part of the picture. There was no excuse for Abbott’s lack of a comprehensive plan. This problem started well before the 2013 election and two years later no one could tell you the government’s thinking on key reforms like federal/state relations, and tax and workplace relations. Instead of making decisions on these vital issues, they have all been shoved off for yet another report.

It is no secret that I have not been Tony Abbott’s greatest fan. Witness this image for example:

Just a couple of points. Last night Tony Abbott said:

The prime ministership of this country is not a prize or a plaything to be demanded. It should be something which is earned by a vote of the Australian people. There will be a party room ballot for both the leadership and the deputy leadership positions later this evening. I will be a candidate and I expect to win.

Others say similar things, but I reaffirm that here in Australia the people do not vote for the Prime Minister. That office is in the gift of whichever party wins a Federal Election: that party’s leader becomes PM. We just vote for our local member of parliament.

Malcolm Turnbull said, among other things:

We need to restore traditional Cabinet government. There must be an end to policy on the run and captain’s calls. We need to be truly consultative with colleagues, members of parliament, senators, and the wider public. We need an open government.

Let’s hope that becomes the case.

Ironically, Tony Abbott’s tenure as PM was shorter by a year than Julia Gillard’s!

One thought on “Exit pursued by a Turnbull…

  1. Like you I watched the endless shots of empty corridors, and beflagged but empty interviewing rooms, and this morning, hovering helicopter shots of cars going nowhere (the benefits of paytv, maybe). Neil I agree with your points re the ‘gift’ of the Prime Ministership, and also the importance of Cabinet decisions, rather than captain’s picks, but I just want to note a small amusement.

    The endless wait outside the GG’s place – around 11.30 this morning: one ‘live cross’ to the reporter mentioned that there were two protesters present. Some guy with a badly drawn sign “Et Tu Turnbulle” (sic) who was filmed and interviewed. And another lost soul called Simon Sheik, who was not.

Comments are closed.


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21 January 2017

Storytelling and Illustration

by Derek Smith, Janitor Supervisor at Nerdz Garage

By way of introduction to this new Nerdz Garage Blog about Storytelling and Illustration, I will say that I love all forms of these two things. That being, I am told, too broad of a topic to cover in a somewhat frequent blog posting I will narrow the focus. Let’s dial it in to the printed arena(with the possibility available to stray into the world of anime as it related to printed series).  Ok narrower still, the focus will be on the medium of illustrated narrative stories.

Graphic Novels.

Periodic tales illustrated in color or black and white.

The line blurs even further as we access Anime and other illustrated video content.

Ok? You get the picture?

I would have said, “Things you find in a comic book store”, but that sort of blows up again into once again too large and unwieldy of a subject matter.

I have always been mesmerized by a good story.  A story with pictures. Now there is something I can get behind. So here we are, blog number one.

Blog is a blunt term, not very sexy.  I think a better term for this narrative commentary might be Nerdz Illustrated #1.

Yeah. OKAY, Here we go…

As far as I am concerned we are living in the golden age of the illustrated medium of Comics, Manga and Anime.  I can go to a regular bookstore, a specialty “comic shop” and of course on The Web to find any number of incredibly crafted examples of great art and story craft.   These are not the days gone by where reading “a comic book” was only for children, and most of the story lines were, well, not very deep. The available choices were limited and reflected or typified the culture of the day.

No, today the freedom of creators to produce publish and circulate what they feel is important seems to be at a pinnacle in history.  Any type, any genre any flavor from stick figures to flowing abstract illustrations combined with storylines that are anywhere from one offs to series with no end in sight, Action Comics, featuring Superman, is nearing 1000 in one series alone. He is a constant. There are so many more, not to be so narrow as just one classic.   The list is endless from new content at the frontier —- space cowboys, spies, future universes and so on.

The access to this content is unprecedented. It is a great time to be a reader, a fan, a connoisseur, a collector and just to be alive.

That is how we at Nerdz see it.

What We are reading at Nerdz Garage right now:

A couple of selections at the top of our list:

Story: Jeff Lemire

Art / Cover: Dustin Nguyen

Published: March 4, 2015-

In the present day, I am fascinated by the Descender series from Image Comics by Lemire and Nguyen. I picked my first Descender book up at Awesome Con this past summer in Washington DC.  It was a random pick from a booth off the main traffic lane on the Con Floor. The cover art jumped out at me, Issue number one of the comic series.

It was not until I was on my flight home after the Con that I was able to dig into this title.  The art style drew me right in as did the story of an android, last of its kind(?), its race having been oppressed to near extermination out of another populations (humanity) fear. The story kicked off and by the end of this first issue, it left me wanting to believe in the good side of humanity and fearing the dark side of it as I reflected on the title of the series, Descender.

The story is powerful and brings to bear many ideas and concepts pertinent to our world today. This alone makes it a valuable comic.  The story set in a future where space has been conquered by humanity and the corporations seem to be kings is always a good place to start a fine sci-fi yarn.

Personally, I prefer to read and handle individual issues as they are released, or as I find them in back issues boxes. However, in this case, as soon as I returned home from the Con I ran straight away to my Local and pulled the available Trade Paperback compilations of Descender off the shelf as soon as I found they had none in back issues. I had to read all of it, right away.

I am not sure how this title escaped me for so long since its first publication in March of 2015, but I am on it now and better for it. And trust me, I have gobbled up thes rest of the series right up to the current edition,  Descender #20! Great stuff!

We give this one Nerdz Love, 5x (out of 5x).

This of course led me, as new finds often do, right down the rabbit hole to another title by Mr. Lemire who teamed up with Scott Snyder for, A.D. AFTER DEATH, BOOK 1.

Story: Scott Snyder

Art / Cover: Jeff Lemire

Published: November 23, 2016

This periodical book comes in a larger than average “prestige” format, magazine size, with a heavy cloth like paper cover. This alone draws me in. When I pulled this from the shelf of my local and opened it, I was instantly mesmerized by both the incredible artwork and the weaving of the story. Crazy good.  There is an eerie sketchbook quality to this piece that really works to its advantage and draws you in.  Art that makes me think and delve deeper into my own thoughts, more than normal, is a sure fire five-star hit.

On the image comics website, the lead for this book is “WHAT IF WE FOUND A CURE FOR DEATH?”

My only misgiving about this masterwork is that it is a limited run of three issues. All good things must end. I guess. I am very much looking forward to what these artists next have in store for us.

Read this Book!!! Nerdz Love 5x+ (out of 5x)(the + indicates an elevated level of Nerdz Love)..

That is all for now. Let us know what you think and by all means, share your comments and let us know what you are reading these days. We will be back soon talking more about Manga, Comics, our “local” and more!  Thanks for checking us out.

Derek and the gang at Nerdz Garage


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What Work Looks Like

I usually spend nights studying for the next school day. I make my notes and place it on my PDA. Some days, I come to school bringing only the PDA because practically everything’s already there.

The work that I put in often seems pointless to my wife, but I swear this work comes in really handy for class. There are times where you will not be called for days for any subject. Those days are bad because there’s a good chance of slacking off.

This way, I get to keep on my toes. Or so I keep telling myself. Posted by Hello

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Book Blitz: Love on the Risky Side by Mariah Ankenman

Love on the Risky Side

GENRE: Contemporary Romance

Falsely accused of the murder of her best friend, Kayla Jenkins is on the run for her life. She ends up lost in dark, snowy woods off some backcountry road in the middle of nowhere. Frightened and colder than she’s ever been in her life, she almost thinks she’s hallucinating when a warrior on a white steed saves her.

In all his years as the sheriff of Peak Town, Colorado, Jake Ryder has never come across a half-frozen woman alone in the woods. She’s terrified…and lying to him, yet something about her calls to him on a primal level.

Even with her trust of law enforcement lower than the harsh temperature, Kayla finds it difficult to keep her secrets hidden from the kind and far too handsome sheriff. But as her faith in Ryder grows, she not only risks the real murderer finding her, but losing the one thing she has searched for her whole life and only just found…love.

Buy links:
Amazon • B&NWild Rose Press

She had to solve this problem on her own. “It’s not safe.”

“I’m the sheriff of this town. It’s my job to handle dangerous situations.”

Still pinned against his chest, she felt the hard edges of his muscles, such a contrast to his comforting hold. The strong beat of his heart beating against her back settled her own into a synchronized rhythm.

Her breath caught in her throat, but not from fear this time. “But I’m not a part of this town. You have no obligation to help me. You don’t even know me.”

Just when she thought she’d gotten through to him, that he was going to let her leave, his voice came as a soft, sensual caress. Dark, like chocolate, and just as tempting.

“I know it’s crazy, but there’s a part of me that feels like I’ve known you forever. Like I’ve been waiting for you. There’s something between us, don’t deny it. I know you feel it, too.”

She sucked in a sharp breath. Yes, she did feel it. She hadn’t realized he did. It was crazy and unexpected, but it was there. A connection apparently neither could deny. It terrified her even as it thrilled her. Unfortunately, this whole thing made her situation that much harder.

Author Bio:

RWA® Golden Heart® Nominated author Mariah Ankenman began writing at the tender age of five. Her first book “George and the Green Glob” received high praise from her mother. Many years, and green glob stories later, Mariah received a playwriting degree from the University of Wyoming. After a few years in Hollywood, working in “the biz,” she came home to the beautiful Rocky Mountains. When she’s not writing Mariah loves to read, crochet, and play her ukulele. She loves to hear from readers.

Social media:

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Birthday Cakes and Secrets

On the first family trip to England, Mum had us pose in front of Buckingham Palace while she attempted to take a picture of Dad, Sister and me against the backdrop of the Changing of the Guards.

The guards had changed and gone their way by the time the picture focused to satisfaction. Sister and I  teased her about it for years to come.

Smile please …

Everyone was using pocket cameras.  Sis and I were embarrassed by the ghastly contraption Mum still wielded with pride!

We flew on to Singapore where Dad bought us girls a Kodak Instamatic with disposable flash bulbs.

Colour pictures … yay, finally!

Shudder to think of the environmental impact from all the used  flash bulbs we gleefully dumped in the trash can.

“Smile please,” for the Yashica, at the Trevi Fountain, Rome.  Me with Dad and Sister (centre).  Have to check if Sis has the Palace picture (without the guards!)
Dad, Mum, me (in rising order) on moving escalator in Zurich, Switzerland.  Instant focus with the new Instamatic captured moving subjects.  A new era in family photography.

Mum discovered the joys of photography around age 12 when she got a gift of a Brownie camera

She still had it when Sis and I were kids …

Kodak Brownie.  A later version of Mum’s camera. (Courtesy Google images)

Mum’s crisp black-and-white photos display an instinct for capturing the ‘moment’ and an unerring eye for placing and composition.

When sister and I were little, Mum acquired the Yashica, also sort of box-camera-ish

Sleeker, less ‘primitive’,  more sophisticated  …

It took ages to focus with Mum staring into the open Yashica ‘box’ in her hands, at an upside down image.

She’d  murmur, “Smile, smile” through fixed grin and puckered brow, our features remaining in frozen limbo until we heard the click and a cheerful ‘thank you’!

Felt like forever!

Yashica_Mat_124G_5033 (1)
Mum’s Yashica (courtesy Google images)
Latest in modern technology! Kodak Instamatic with disposable flash, wrist strap and film

Mum often said she wanted to get an ‘unawares’ shot.

Preoccupied with underwear. What Sis and I thought we heard Mum say.  We’d go into hysterics!

Sister and I heard … underwears!

We hadn’t the foggiest notion what she meant.

She caught us unawares all right.  The delightful album-memories bear testimony to the fact.

Puzzled.  “Okay, so what IS it?”  Little sister and me with oldest cousin, Sri.
“Did you hear that?”  Sister (right) and me
Sheer joy, unawares.  Sister (left) and me with Dad.

Mum’s was the era of stay-at-home mothers. Those who were in the professions were nevertheless the proud masters of the housewifely arts.  They cooked, sewed, hung for hours on the telephone with other women, shared recipes, discussed the current price of important commodities like sugar, rice and eggs, wrote lengthy, polite letters and never forgot birthdays and anniversaries.

At family concerts we kids ‘did’ Mum and aunties talking on the phone …

Me pretending to be Mum on the phone with one of her sisters

When Sister and I got married, we each received a special gift from Mum.    An album of photographs – mostly black and white photos and some washed out Kodak and Polariod colour pictures – each one tailored to document our lives from birth to early adulthood.

All meticulously labelled …

A gallery of our early lives, with love from Mum.

 With Mum’s unexpected passing two years ago, I lost my best friend and discovered a treasure trove of old pictures while cleaning out cupboards and putting things in order for Dad.

Eyes popped out of my head as a pictorial record of family history unfolded …

Who ARE these folks? (Dad has no idea. Dying to know!)

Entered a new realm.  Memories of bygone days surfaced from boxes, dusty files and disintegrating albums.

Mum’s voice recounting fragments of family legends echoing in the recesses of my mind …

The past came alive in a way that didn’t seem possible.  Moments in time frozen on faded bits of glossy paper,  pictures worth  thousands of words.

Family.  Grandpas, grannies, aunties, uncles, cousins …

Cousins might not necessarily be immediate ‘first’ cousins.  Sometimes you might not be quite sure how you’re related!
Me (left) and Sister on a play date with Mali (centre), our THIRD cousin.  Her grandpa and ours were first cousins.
Birthday parties – just the cousins were crowd enough. (Me, a baby in cousin Chris’ arms, far left)

Weddings were a huge deal, grand affairs.  Guest lists could run into the hundreds.  Your parents’ friends and business associates and in-laws’ in-laws might be invited. And the neighbours, of course.

No fib. Honest!

The workers from Mum’s family’s firm at her wedding.  They arrive bearing a gift-wrapped china dinner set  (I own it now and use it on special occasions)
Dad and Mum’s wedding

Little girls were dressed to the nines in scratchy, organdy dresses often ‘smocked’ by hand,  with stiff  ‘can can’ skirts underneath.  A nightmare to sit down in.

Detested those cancans …

Cancans and bows for Aunty Elizabeth’s engagement party.  Sister (left) and me outside Westholme, Kinross Avenue, Mum’s family home.

Engagements were solemn, formal family affairs, with a priest/ minister to officiate.

Pretty much as  binding as the marriage ceremony itself …

All the cousins, uncles and aunts on Mum’s side at Aunty Elizabeth and Uncle Selva’s engagement.  Toddler Sister seated between the couple.  Cousin Shiro the only one still to be born.

You were as important to the aunties and uncles as their own offspring –

The aunties even cared enough to tell  you off as if you were their own!

She does!

Sister (left) and me with Babby (Mum’s younger sister, Elizabeth), my godmother.  I lived with her family for two years while Dad worked in West Africa.  She sewed some of my clothes and treated me as her own.
Uncle Prince, my godfather, recently celebrated his 95th birthday.  (Mum’s sister Ruby’s husband).  He’d always visit, very late in the evening after work at his clinic,for as long as we were laid up in bed with sundry ailments.  He never billed patients who were financially in a bad way.  Treatment was free for clergy of all religions.

Sister and me with Uncle Peter (Mum’s older brother) who lived with us for some of his bachelor years after Westholme, the old family home, was sold.  Sis and I hung around in his room whenever we got into trouble, until the situation cooled, knowing he would intervene if Mum hunted us down!

Chances are your best friend was a cousin, the one closest in age to you  –

Me (lying on mat) and cousin Dileeni.  Besties since we were babes.
Gotta have a sun hat!  Rarely apart.  Dileen (left) and me.

Such secrets you’d share!

And she whispers in mine …
I whisper in her ear …

You both could be flower girls together, several times over –

Two for the price of one!

Little flower girls.  Dileeni (to bride’s right) and me at Babby and Uncle Selva’s wedding.
Flowers girls again!  Me (left) and cousin Dileeni at Aunty Betty’s (Mum’s cousin’s) wedding
… and again!  Dileeni (left) and me, experienced flower girls at our oldest cousin Sri’s wedding.

No need to wonder why Getting Married and Having A Baby used to be our favourite dress up games!

We created our own entertainment, inspired by the Enid Blyton books we devoured. An active imagination and a bunch of henchmen was all a handful of cousins required.

We all loved to read.

No one called you a nerd or geek.  It’s what kids did …

This little girl reminded me of myself as a kid.
Puppy posing with some favourites from my childhood
Sister and me with my doll, Cynthia

Endless doll’s tea parties –

Dileeni (right) and me
Sis and me With Baby Cousin Shiro and my dolls Cynthia, Diana and Minerva (Mum named them, probably)

Never seemed to outgrow the toys and board games.  Played with them for years.

Those were the days …

Me with cousins’ toys.  We all shared.

Don’t recall ever being bored as a child.

Two cousins, Sister and I once crawled into our pretend kitchen, a curtained alcove under a desk space, to melt squares of chocolate over a burning candle.

Melted  chocolate is delicious spread over Marie biscuits …

We could have set the house on fire.

When best friend/ cousin set up a lab at home, you  followed suit.

My lab sat on a rickety table in a corner of the kitchen …

Best friend/ cousin obtained test tubes from her dad’s clinic.  Litmus paper too.  And needle-less syringes.  She always shared.

We performed acid/base watch-the-colour-change litmus experiments with vinegar and lime juice …

There were those school-holiday cousin sleepovers, Monopoly games that went on for days, birthday parties and breathtaking birthday cakes –

Sister and Me with my 7th birthday Humpty Dumpty cake made by Mum.  She handcrafted Humpty Dumpty out of parchment icing and painted him in with food colouring.

Rocking horses and fluffy pets –

Piano lessons and picnics, seaside frolics, Sunday School.  And cousins, cousins, cousins –

A kinder, gentler time, a different world.  No TV.

Innocent and enchanted …

Though a late bloomer, I think I’ve inherited Mum’s love of photography and her desire to record the precious, never-to-be-replicated moments.

And like Mum, I’m in less than a handful of photographs in my immense digital library!

So thankful for this gift of photo-memories from the past.

Much to remember, much to write about.   That’s what next times are for.

So until next time,

Cousin Dileeni (left) and me.  Still close friends though we live at opposite ends of the world.


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Although cycling is a great form of cardiovascular and lower-body exercise, it doesn’t do a whole lot for the upper body. Over the years, various arm-and-leg-powered bikes have been developed, such as the Raxibo. Now, however, retired surgeon Lex van Stekelenburg is hoping to get his own such vehicle into production, in the form of the 4StrikeBike.

Van Stekelenburg came up with the idea for the 4StrikeBike after years of standing bent over in an operating room left him with back and shoulder problems. Over the course of five years, he and a number of volunteers tried out several prototypes. He recently got in touch with Dutch design firm TSG Essempio, in hopes of getting his concept polished up and ready for production.

The new 4StrikeBike concept has a conventional leg-powered drivetrain, although it also has a set of arm-powered pedals/grips in place of regular handlebars. These are turned in circles as is done with a crankset – the Raxibo, by contrast, has the rider “rowing” both arms forward and backward in unison.

A belt drive runs from the 4StrikeBike’s handlebars down to the bottom bracket, where the rider’s arm input augments the power from their legs. A freewheel mechanism allows both drivetrains to be used simultaneously, or either one to be used on its own.

The handlebars are reportedly able to turn from side to side without interfering with the belt drive, plus an integrated “steering stabilizing mechanism” helps keep the hand-pedaling movement from sending the bike off the road. Additionally, both of the hand pedals can be locked into their highest position, allowing for a more stable stance while riding using leg power alone.

TSG Essempio product designer Jan Willem Zuyderduyn told us that at the present time, his company doesn’t have an estimated price or weight for the commercial version of the bike. Industrial partners are currently being sought, and can contact Lex van Stekelenburg via the link below.

Source: 4StrikeBike

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If there's one thing life is good at, it's adapting to new environments, but that's not always a good thing. Bacteria are fast adapting to antibiotics, rendering drugs less and less effective and threatening to cast us back into the dark ages of medicine. Now a research project backed by the European Union is trying to turn that same process to our advantage, with an "evolution machine" that directs the evolution of bacteria by making changes to their environment, guiding them to produce molecules that could one day lead to new drugs.

The evolution machine, dubbed EVOPROG, was developed as part of the European Union's Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) initiative. The system contains bioreactors full of mixed bacteria species and bacteriophages – viruses that attack bacteria and change their DNA, which in this case makes them produce molecules with certain functions.

According to the researchers, EVOPROG functions like an analog computer: To make specific molecules users feed in certain chemicals, cell lines, or other raw materials, and the machine makes environmental changes to the bioreactor to guide the phages and bacteria to produce those molecules.

"Just like computers are programmed to carry out arithmetic or logical operations based on variables for performing different tasks, the new device can be programmed to carry out logical operations inside living cells using DNA as a variable to generate new molecules," says Alfonso Jaramillo, coordinator of the EVOPROG project.

Phages are some of the fastest-evolving organisms, so to make EVOPROG work the scientists engineered them to function like biological versions of the "IF/THEN" statements that are key to programming. Here they've been designed so that "IF" a certain change is artificially introduced into their environment, "THEN" they attach themselves to a certain type of bacteria (which have also been carefully engineered) to produce molecules. Like natural evolution, the most effective phages are then selected for and allowed to replicate.

"The phages interact with certain types of engineered bacteria, according to the types of molecules wanted, and replicate only if the mutated proteins they produce are compatible with the genes and chemicals present in those bacteria," says Jaramillo. "With our approach we can find new antimicrobial molecules by using evolution to kill bacteria. For example, if a given antibiotic molecule enters the bacterial cell and is immediately pumped out of the cell, thus not killing it, we can induce a selection of the DNA content of phages and drive them to block that bacterial pump so that the antibiotic will remain in the cell and kill it."

According to the team, EVOPROG's directed evolution process takes about two weeks to produce the desired molecules, which would allow scientists to experiment much faster than other development methods. And the system could not only help researchers identify new drug targets, but once a recipe has been nailed down it can be shared with other teams to allow them to produce the drug in their own lab. In that same spirit, the bioreactors themselves are 3D printed, so different designs can also be reproduced accurately and inexpensively.

"EVOPROG is an exciting approach to address the present bottleneck of engineering synthetic biological systems," says Baojun Wang, a biomedical engineer who was not involved with the project. "Not only does it have the potential to significantly expand the library of biological building blocks and shorten development time, but it could also lead to programmable, efficient phage therapeutics that may treat the fast-changing human bacterial pathogens in the future."

Source: FETFX

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For years, Lamborghini has been looking to the skies for inspiration. Fighter jets have inspired such releases as the Reventón, Sesto Elemento and even the Aventador. The all-new Veneno takes sharp, angular jet-inspired design to an extreme level. Lamborghini will build only a handful of these hardcore racecars-for-the-road.

If you've been following the evolution of Lamborghini's jet-inspired design, you may have wondered: How far can they take it? Well, it seems that the Veneno provides an answer. At least we hope it's the answer ... the only answer.

While past designs blended sharp, military-like lines with the usual sensuous Lamborghini curves and design sensibilities, the Veneno lets those lines run wild with no particular destination. The Veneno comes across as a visual amalgamation of an F1 race car, a stealth bomber and some type of Dyson-designed air conditioner. Frankly, the whole thing looks greatly overdesigned – if we didn't read the Lamborghini press release, we'd have thought we were looking at a design study from a student with no official connection to Lamborghini HQ.

As it enjoys doing, Lamborghini named its newest concept after a fighting bull, which it describes as one of the strongest, fastest and most aggressive ever. The word also means venom or poison in Spanish, which seems quite fitting for this particular design.

The looks are an acquired taste that we may never acquire, but the design has a purpose that extends well past the eyes. Lamborghini explains that every detail of the car "pursues a clear function - exceptional dynamics, optimum downforce with minimal drag and perfect cooling of the high-performance engine." This is a racing prototype that happens to be homologated for the road.

Lamborghini didn't even need to explain that, as the Veneno tells the story rather concisely. The gaping grille and flaring nostrils are part of what Lamborghini describes as an aero-optimized front-end wing, serving to channel air through the hood and onto the wheels. The air continues over the bulging fenders, along the side sills and into the cavernous side intakes. Out back, a hulking adjustable wing, rear diffuser, splitter and air outlets finish the job. The only area of the rear-end that seals out airflow is the license plate holder. A "shark" fin over the rear engine cover improves braking efficiency and rear-end stability by delivering more downforce at high yaw angles.

Underneath the six cooling ducts of the engine cover, Lamborghini's 6.5-liter V12 engine enjoys a tune of 750 horsepower. That muscular bull pushes the 3,190-pound (1,450-kg) Veneno to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 2.8-seconds – a tick faster than the Aventador but short of the ultralight Sesto Elemento's 2.5 seconds. It also packs the potential for sending the needle spasming to 221 mph (355 km/h). The engine works with a 7-speed ISR transmission, five driving modes and a permanent all-wheel-drive system. A racing chassis with pushrod suspension and horizontal spring/damper units translates all that power into sharp handling.

The Veneno sits on alloy wheels (20-inch front, 21-inch rear). A carbon fiber ring that lines each rim acts as a turbine, shooting cooling air at the carbon-ceramic discs. The exterior is painted in a new metallic grey, save for some parts where Lamborghini let the naked carbon fiber shine through. The Geneva version includes Italian flag accents.

Similar to the Sesto Elemento, the Veneno uses a ton of composite construction. The monocoque chassis and body are made from carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP), and carbon design extends to the interior, where Lamborghini innovations like Forged Composite seats and CarbonSkin trim coat the cabin. The inside is more fully furnished than the minimalistic Sesto concept, but it does include evidence of the carbon monocoque on the center tunnel and sills.

The Veneno is part of Lamborghini's 50th anniversary celebration. Model number 0 makes its debut at the Geneva Motor Show and will remain the property of Lamborghini. Lamborghini has already sold the other three models, each of which will be painted a different solid color from the Italian flag, to a few lucky individuals with the wherewithal to afford the €3 million (that's close to US$4 million) price tag.

Source: Lamborghini

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The spleen’s job is to filter our blood. When people are critically ill or have received traumatic injuries, however, the spleen alone is sometimes not able to remove enough of the pathogens on its own – potentially-fatal sepsis is the result. In order to help avert such an outcome in those situations, scientists from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University are developing a device known as the spleen-on-a-chip.

The patient’s blood is circulated through the device. The process begins with magnetic nanobeads being mixed with the blood. Those beads are coated with a genetically engineered version of a human blood opsonin protein, that bonds with pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi and toxins.

The blood/nanobead mixture proceeds to flow through a series of microchannels, in which magnets are used to pull the beads back out. The beads bring the pathogens with them, leaving all the regular components of the now-cleansed blood (such as the cells and proteins) to be returned to the patient.

Anticoagulants aren’t required to keep the blood from clotting within the microchannels, as their inside surfaces are coated with a super-hydrophobic Harvard-developed material known as SLIPS.

The Wyss Institute (which also brought us the gut-on-a-chip) recently received a US$9.25 million contract from DARPA, to further develop the spleen-on-a-chip. DARPA has reason to be interested in the technology, as it could be used to treat soldiers injured on the battlefield.

Testing on large animals is now being planned, with human trials down the road.

Source: Harvard University


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Boeing's first KC-46A tanker aircraft scheduled for delivery to the US Air Force has completed its maiden flight. At 10:32 am PST today, the two-engine aircraft based on the commercial 767 airframe took off from Paine Field in Everett, Washington, with two company test pilots at the controls for a test flight lasting three hours and 30 minutes.

The KC-46A Pegasus airframe is the seventh to be built and the first scheduled for delivery to the Air Force after is it completes its Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) flight tests sometime next year. After reaching 39,000 ft (12,000 m), the crew carried out a series of operational tests on the engines, flight controls, and environmental systems. It is currently undergoing post-flight ground inspections and instrument calibration.

Boeing says that the previous six aircraft have clocked 2,200 hours in the air and have made 1,600 refueling contacts with F-16, F/A-18, AV-8B, C-17, A-10, KC-10, and other KC-46 aircraft. The company is contracted to deliver 34 tankers – the first batch of 179 aircraft for the Air Force – at a cost of US$147.4 million dollars each. They will replace the aging fleet of 100 KC-135 Stratotankers, which have been in service for half a century. Meanwhile, the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force has agreed to buy three tankers to be delivered in 2020.

The multi-role tanker KC-46 tanker was purchased by the US government after years of delay marked by a controversial procurement process, company protests, and resubmission of bids before Boeing won the final contract. The "NewGen Tanker" combines the 767-200 airframe with an advanced version of the KC-10 refueling boom compatible with all allied and coalition military aircraft, and cockpit displays from the 787 commercial aircraft. In addition, it can carry passengers, cargo, and medical patients.

"We're very proud of this aircraft and the state-of-the-art capabilities it will bring to the Air Force," says Mike Gibbons, Boeing KC-46A tanker vice president and program manager. "We still have some tough work ahead of us, including completing our FAA certification activities, but the team is committed to ensure that upon delivery, this tanker will be everything our customer expects and more."


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In the midst of preparing meals everyday, two of the most-used items in my kitchen are my potholders. They are seemingly in constant demand at the stove, oven, and table. Sadly, they are also one of the last things to get replaced when they wear out! They just seem to escape my notice when I am not using them. As I contemplated my very badly-worn potholders, I decided to make another set of denim potholders that would compliment the one I had already made.

Potholders are very simple to make from old clothing that you have around the house. The only real caution that should be observed when choosing what fabrics to use is that they need to be made of natural fibers. If the tag is missing from a garment you would like to use, test the fiber content by holding a small scrap of it near a candle flame. If the fabric wants to smoke and burn, it should be fine for this project. If it melts, it is made of synthetic fibers and would not be suitable for the high temperatures that a potholder would come into contact with. I chose to work with old denim overalls, parts of felted wool sweaters, and some strips of a man’s dress shirt.

I began by tracing a paper pattern of my current potholders, which were a pocket-style so that there was a place to slide your hand inside. They were a nice size and have worked well, so I saw no need to alter the basic size or shape. The only thing I changed was the front pocket. Since the pair of overalls that I was redeeming had sizable rear pockets, I decided to use those instead of cutting new pieces. (For the sake of clarity, I need to state that I made a new matched set, so my instructions from here to the end of the article will refer to two potholders.) After I had cut the front pockets and the fronts and backs for the back sections out of the denim, I turned my attention to cutting the inner lining (the piece that insulates the hand). As I said, I chose to use felted wool sweater, but if that is not available, other materials like old cotton terrycloth towels or pieces of cotton sweatshirt cut and stacked together should also work. I used the same pattern I had used to cut the outside fabric and cut enough sweater pieces to make reasonably sure that the pad would be thick enough to insulate my hand.

Since I was using the old pockets from my overalls at the front of my new potholders, I wanted to make sure that there was some insulation in them as well as in the back. I cut two thin, felted sweater pieces, enclosed them in the pockets, and sewed the pockets closed. The fronts of my pot holders were pretty much done. Then I turned my attention to the back pieces. I decided to quilt the pieces of denim and sweater together, so I drew some simple lines on the front of the denim in pencil (these are a little hard to see), stacked and pinned all the layers together and stitched along my lines. The multiple layers do want to creep around some, so be sure that you have pinned the pieces well and don’t sew too quickly.

With my front and back sections completed, I needed to have something to cover the raw edges along the sides once I had stitched the sections together. For this I made some homemade bias “tape.” I used the back of a man’s old dress shirt which, though not 100% cotton, was enough of a blend of natural fibers to work as an edging. I like working with men’s dress shirts for something like this because many of them have a plaid pattern, which makes cutting them evenly very simple. They also tend to look the same on both sides of the fabric, making them perfect for jobs like this. Bias tape is made by cutting diagonal strips from the fabric and stitching them together until you have enough for your project. The strips that I cut were about an inch-and-a-half wide. To connect them together they need to be overlapped and stitched together as the above photo demonstrates. After I had stitched all my strips together, I ironed all the seams open and then ironed a quarter-inch fold (towards the side with the seams pressed open) all the way down the length of one side.

With my bias tape made, I was ready to add it to my potholders. I folded over a small flap on the end of my tape (this makes a nice edge on the front when you are through), and starting at the top and matching the raw-edged side of the tape to the raw edge of my back piece, I pinned the tape all the way around and cut off the excess when I reached the top again. Because my overall pocket fronts already had a “finished” edge that I did not want to cover under the bias tape, I only pinned the tape to the back piece. If you are making a single layer fold-over style potholder, you will also be pinning the tape to the single piece. But if you are making a pocket style and your front piece also has raw edges, you need to stack the front and back together and then pin the bias tape on top as shown in the photo. Then I stitched the tape in place. Before I folded the tape to the back, I added my pocket piece to the front and stitched it down. Then I folded the folded-edge of the tape to the back of the holder and hand-stitched it in place.

My final step was to cut a length of one of the top-stitched seams from the overalls and form hanging loops from it to sew to the tops of my pot holders. Because of the overall pockets that I used, my new holders are slightly smaller than my old ones, but outside of that, they are working very well. And they were completely free except for my thread!

This project brought to mind Malachi 4:1&2, “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root not branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings…”. It is comforting to me to think that there is coming a day when evil and wickedness will be no more. At one point in my life, I would have had to fear this day, because I would have had to count myself as one of the wicked. But because I have trusted in the name of Jesus Christ as my Savior, I no longer need fear the penalty of my sin. Like my hot pads absorb the heat from my hot dishes, He faced the heat of God’s judgment for me, and I now stand protected by the sacrifice He made on my behalf. Now I can look forward to the day when the “Sun of righteousness (shall) arise with healing in his wings”!

This entry was posted in New Life for Denim, New Life for Dress Shirts, New Life for Wool Garments and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

  1. Lori says:

    Very cute!

  2. Mary says:

    I like this idea of recycling jeans. Very pretty.

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Tag Archives: Haiti

Dominican sister who serves Haiti’s poor will deliver Commencement address

News release, April 19, 2017

Sister Maria Marciano will also receive honorary degree MILWAUKEE — Sister Maria Marciano, O.P., a Dominican sister from Brazil who serves Haiti’s poorest citizens, will be the keynote speaker at Marquette University’s 136th Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 21. As part of the ceremony, she will also receive an honorary degree. “What difference can one […]


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Name: Dolce Vita

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Newsletter – Lush (Part 2)

Must be time to show the second layout from this range.

Interestingly – in using the Lush collection I have produced layouts that are not what I consider my traditional style. Year of the Rooster is much simpler than most of my work (the girly stuff anyway), and contains a lot more ‘space’ than I would normally use. I have also fallen back into my old habit of using a brighter patterned paper as a frame for the layout.

There is almost a little bit of everything from the range on this layout. Here you can see some of the patterned paper strips from the Maple paper where I have used them to make a nice title strip for my alphas. The green chipboard leaves are from the collection, but the flower and black chipboard pieces are sections cut from a Twiddleybitz branch and butterfly chippy. The rest of it is over on the right hand side of the photo. I will often cut up such pieces to make them better ‘fit’ the way I want to do my layout.

There is also a paper clip from the range, together with some shaped tags from the 6” Paper Pad. The little black chrysanthemum type flower you see is one I made myself from the small 5cm paper flowers Kaiser make. Trudy – who is on the DT there now I think put up how to make them ages ago but I have not had a chance to use them until now.

Aside from admiring my lovely little bronze Asian charm (shhh – it’s a phoenix and not a rooster), this close-up allows you to see the gorgeous shimmer from the spray of Coral Reef Glimmermist I gave to the patterned paper that forms my layout base. The Asian script characters are the stamp from the range and the glimmer on the chipboard flowers is due to some Tim Holtz Rock Candy Distress Stickles.

I originally had another embellishment here, but the chance pick-up of this little Scraplets chipboard fan was too perfect not to use on the layout. This time I muted the Coral Reef by rubbing over it with some white chalk ink, once the Glimmermist had dried. With the fine pattern on the fan I filled in the grooves in the chipboard with my trusty black Signo pen.

In keeping with my theme of little bits here and there- I inked only sections of the Asian script stamp and randomly stamped parts of it here and there on the layout. And yes – I do know that some of them are stamped upside down. It looked better that way – I will just hide this layout from anyone who is able to read it.

The journaling for this layout is popped behind the fan in one of the Maya Road Library Card Envelopes. I Glimmermisted it black to make it blend into the background and although I have not used the library card itself, there are some journaling cards I made in there that talk about how Madame was born in the Chinese Year of the Rooster and what personality traits she is supposed to have as a result. Lmao – supposedly she is honest and forthright, domineering but friendly and loves pretty clothes, talking and shiny jewellery – so maybe there is something in it after all.

Just a close-up of a lovely rubon from the Lush colour rubon pack – again I often cut up my rubons to use in different parts of the layout and this is a partial piece of a larger rubon. The original is simply too large for this little corner, but this snippet is the perfect size. And yes – stitching the fancy border took waaaay longer than it should have.

Oh – I almost forgot – those alphas – aren’t they gorgeous?? From Scrapware – some gothic script. Love em. Almost need to go back for more I have used them so often this month.

I have to find my last Lush layout now. Totally distraught – put it somewhere safe before I took photos and it is sooo safe I cannot find it. There is a card too – so I can put that up tomorrow.

2 Responses

  1. This is just beautifully designed…I especially like the stamping & the fan!

  2. Loving this & all the extra personnal touches !

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Member Preview Day: Magnetic Fields

Join us for a special Member Preview Day as NMWA continues to celebrate its 30th anniversary with this exciting new exhibition!

Magnetic Fields: Expanding American Abstraction, 1960s to Today is the first U.S. exhibition to explore the formal and historical dialogue on abstraction among African American women artists. Featuring work by more than 20 women, including progenitors like Mavis Pusey and contemporary artists such as Shinique Smith, Magnetic Fields is intergenerational in scope and highlights the longstanding presence of black women artists within the field of abstraction in America.

Exhibition tours will be held every half hour beginning at 11:30 a.m.

Free admission for members (with current membership card) and one guest. Members receive double discounts (20%) in the Museum Shop and a special 15% off at the Mezzanine Café.

Not required.

National Museum of Women in the Arts


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Pineapple Chicken Couscous Salad

May 25, 2012 § Leave a comment

E: We made this salad totally on a whim. We had some extra pineapple sitting around from an earlier and unpublished recipe, and decided we wanted something with couscous. Joanna loves couscous, but I often find plain couscous is less interesting than even plain pasta. However, warm couscous salads such as this one have no such issues. We loved this! It is one of our favorites and it is a shame it has gone so long unpublished. The mix of flavors here is really excellent: if you are a fan of pineapple you will love it, but I think the pineapple blends so well into the dish as a whole that it is worth a try even if you don’t love it on its own. We used some Mediterranean-inspired parsley and basil to flavor the chicken, which we thought played off nicely with the sweetness of the fruit, but the chicken could be done in a multitude of different ways.

Toss in some peas and, if you are feeling brave, garnish with some sauteéd asparagus and you have yourself a tasty salad, warm or cold.

this was awesome!

« Read the rest of this entry »

7 Days of the Food Network: Day 2, Robert Irvine

March 27, 2011 § Leave a comment

J:  Robert Irvine is someone I saw for the first time when he appeared as a challenger on an episode of Iron Chef America.  Although he didn’t win, he was utterly charming (what can I say, I have a weakness for British accents), and when I found this recipe for pineapple and artichoke pasta online I knew that I had to try it.

I am so glad I did.  It was amazing.  This is one of the most fun and delicious pasta dishes I have ever had — I never would have thought to combine pineapples and artichokes, but the saltiness of the latter complements the sweetness of the former in a completely delightful way.  Also, this was the first time I had ever worked with fresh pineapple, and although it was a little intimidating at first, I was pretty triumphant when I’d finally managed to reduce it to chunks.  So: give it a shot!  Nothing about it is really terribly difficult, and the end product is absolutely fantastic.

it's so good that it doesn't even need cheese

« Read the rest of this entry »

Grilled Pineapple Swordfish + Smoked Paprika Mushroom Sauté

February 17, 2011 § Leave a comment

E: Hi everyone! If you read through this post, you will discover the delicious results of another experiment in things-I-don’t-make-often. I hope you try it, because I thought it was fantastic and so did everyone else who tasted it.

this really isn't hard, but it looks awesome

Pineapple is one of those things I almost never use. For the longest time I’ve really disliked it, but Iron Chef inspired me to try something just a little bit daring with it. (Spoiler alert:  there will be another recipe that uses pineapple going up on the blog in the coming week or two . . . so if you love this sweet, spiny fruit, stick around!) This whole thing was a bit accidental, because I was going to do something with mangoes. But there weren’t any that were ripe enough to eat when I needed them, so I went with a pineapple instead. So I did a grilled pineapple swordfish with pineapple-ginger purée, and a smoked paprika, mushroom, and onion sauté with brown rice for a side.

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Where Am I?

You are currently browsing entries tagged with pineapple at Nombudsman.


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Nona's Sims

Modding and Troubleshooting The Sims 3

The Big News

That thing I mentioned in an earlier post is actually happening! It’s really big news for me. At the end of April I’m going back to University to work on a Master’s in English.  I’ll be pretty busy studying, so I won’t have as much time for the Sims. But don’t worry, I won’t forget you all 🙂 I’m planning to try to be as active as I can be, without it taking any time from my studies.  ❤ you all 🙂

March 29, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | | 18 Comments

Some people…

I got an e-mail from box 2 days ago that I didn’t even notice until now that somebody reported my ccmerged as COPYRIGHTED material and box deleted it.

Seriously? What is wrong with people? There is no difference in distributing the ccmerged versus distributing a mod. Thanks for making it harder for people to fix their issues with their content, jerk.

March 20, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Trying to Update the Custom Edible Food Wiki

If you use my Script  for Custom Foods mod, you might be aware of my collection of custom edible food links available at my Wiki:

Custom Edible Food

Unfortunately, it is impossible for me to watch the entire Sims 3 community for every single published piece of CC. I’m trying to make sure this list is up to date, so if you know of a piece of custom edible food that is not included in the wiki, please share it with me!

You can share Custom Edible Food links with me by

Alternatively, feel free to update Custom Edible Food Directory yourself. It is a wiki after all 🙂

March 18, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | , , , | Leave a comment

Random Rant

Every single time I post on the official forums, I regret it. Why do I keep going back? You’d think I’d learn my lesson once and for all, but no, I always end up going back to help someone out, or try to explain something.

In the end, if somebody cares to know my opinion, they will probably ask me personally, whether through this blog or some other way. So yeah. I gotta stop posting on the official forums, for real.

In other news, I will shortly be making an update to the Amazing Nectar post from yesterday, where I included some false reports about Amazing Nectar. Truly, I apologize for this. I spent a lot of time making nectar in game, and then I forgot whether some were amazing or not. Instead of making the nectar again, I just used EA’s “Predict Fruit Combo Effectiveness” which, it turns out, can be wildly inaccurate. I don’t remember this being the case in the past, but maybe it’s always been like that. Either way, it looks like that particular interaction is useless because it seems to be wrong, very wrong,  and often wrong. Maybe it’s just wrong about the store fruits though. I might do some testing and look into the code later, if time allows.

One more thing: Maybe you noticed I haven’t been very active after all since I came back from my trip home. I’ve actually been really busy and rather stressed. I don’t want to say much yet because I don’t want to jinx myself, but I’m working hard to get something done and I should know in a few weeks at the latest if I was successful. Cryptic, I know. Sorry! It will definitely take away a big chunk of the time I can spend on the Sims though. Sorry for that, too.

March 15, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Bohemian Fruits and Nuts – Plants Won’t Grow

Help! I bought the Bohemian Garden set form the Sims 3 Store and the Bohemian Fruits and Nuts plants won’t grow! I can’t find the plants at the grocery store, and when I buy the plant from buy debug, nothing happens.

The Bohemian Fruits and Nuts, which are part of the Bohemian Garden set, are Premium Content (for some reason, people don’t seem to consider these plants premium content), and as such, require specific data from the ccmerged.package in the DCBackup in order to function correctly.

Just like the Orange Tree (Grandpa’s Grove), Lemon Tree and Purple Eggplant (Alfresco Set), these plants will not grow if their data is not in the ccmerged. To learn about how to repair the ccmerged (or to download a working one), see: DCBackup, ccmerged.package and Your Premium Content Items

If updating your ccmerged isn’t helping:

  • It is possible for certain types of mods to cause the Bohemian Fruits and Nuts plants not to grow. If you are using a mod that alters the Store Ingredients XML or the Store Plants XML, these mods will cause the new plants not to work. Remove the mod or download an updated version.
  • Make sure you don’t have an old copy of the ccmerged.package hanging out somewhere else in your Sims 3 folder.
  • Did you install the set as package files? (Only applicable to people who did not install the set via the Sims 3 Launcher) The scripts for the Bohemian Fruits and Nuts are located in a separate package file, and you might not have noticed this! Make sure you have included the following package file in your Mods folder:
    • 0xc121afdc04bd47b89e3b5444b35320ef
    • Contains the StoreObjectsStoreHarvestables.dll but several resources are called bedDoubleFairy, making it look like a dummy package at first glance.

Related reading:
What is the ccmerged?

March 14, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | , , | 6 Comments

Amazing Nectar Recipes with the Bohemian Fruits and Nuts Premium Content

UPDATE : This post has been updated to include new recipes, and the recipes have been sorted by quality.

If you bought the Bohemian Garden set from the Sims 3 Store, you might be disappointed that the set does not contain any special recipes. While you can use the new plants to make old recipes (such as a pancakes), you can also use the new fruit to make Amazing Nectar.

Amazing Nectar Recipes with the Bohemian Fruits and Nuts

Here’s a list of Amazing Nectar Recipes I’ve made the Bohemian Fruits and Nuts Premium Content. Some of these recipes may contain Renoit Grapes, or some other fruit. I did not think to record the base value of these recipes at first.

All recipes I make are made with the following:

  • Fruits: Perfect
  • Nectar Maker: L’amour des Fruits Nectar Maker
  • Nectar Maker Upgrade: Improved Pressing
  • Make Nectar Type: Extended Nectaration
  • Nectar Making Skill: 10
  • Nectar Making Skill Challenges completed: Master of Nectar, Flavorful Feet, Mix Master
  • Only Base game fruits, World Adventures fruits, and Bohemian Fruits and Nuts are used for these recipes, unless otherwise noted

Amazing Recipes
Keep in mind that these are really only a few of the thousands of possible Amazing recipes to be made.

  • 5 Cocoa, 5 Strawberry
  • 2 Blueberry, 1 Cocoa, 1 Peach, 2 Pear, 2 Raspberry, 2 Strawberry (§78)
  • 3 Blackberry, 1 Blueberry, 2 Cocoa, 1 Pear, 3 Pecan (§78)
  • 3 Blackberry, 2 Blueberry, 2 Pear, 2 Pecan, 1 Strawberry (§80)
  • 2 Blackberry, 2 Blueberry, 2 Cocoa, 1 Pecan, 3 Strawberry (§79)
  • 1 Blackberry, 1 Cocoa, 1 Pear, 1 Pecan, 2 Raspberry, 4 Strawberry (§79)
  • 4 Blackberry, 1 Cocoa, 2 Peach, 2 Raspberry, 1 Strawberry (§79)
  • 1 Blackberry, 3 Cocoa, 3 Pear, 2 Pecan, 1 Raspberry (§64)
  • 4 Blueberry, 1 Pear, 2 Pecan, 3 Raspberry (§78)
  • 1 Blueberry, 2 Cocoa, 4 Renoit Grapes, 1 Pear, 1 Raspberry, 1 Strawberry ( §91)
  • 1 Black berry, 1 Blueberry, 4 Renoit Grapes, 1 Peach, 2 Pear, 1 Strawberry (§98)
  • 1 Blackberry, 2 Cocoa, 4 Life Fruit, 2 Pear, 1 Pecan (§266)
  • 3 Blackberry, 1 Cocoa, 4 Flame Fruit, 1 Raspberry, 1 Strawberry  (§221)
  • 1 Blackberry, 1 Blueberry, 1 Cocoa, 4 Flame Fruit, 2 Peach, 1 Strawberry (§219)
  • 2 Blackberry, 3 Flame Fruit, 1 Renoit Grapes, 2 Plums, 1 Pomegranate, 1 Strawberry (§230)
  • 1 Blackberry, 2 Blueberry, 1 Cocoa, 4 Flame Fruit, 1 Renoit Grapes, 1 Lime (§236)
  • 1 Blackberry, 3 Flame Fruit, 3 Orange, 1 Pecan, 1 Pomelo, 1 Strawberry  (§215)  **Requires Grandpa’s Grove

Great Recipes

  • 1 Apple, 1 Blueberry, 1 Cocoa, 1 Renoit Grapes, 4 Life Fruit, 1 Pecan, 1 Strawberry (§241)
  • 1 Cocoa, 4 Fame Fruit, 1 Pear, 2 Pecan, 2 Raspberry (§212)
  • 1 Blackberry, 1 Blueberry, 2 Cocoa, 4 Life Fruit, 1 Peach, 1 Raspberry (§237)
  • 1 Blackberry, 1 Blueberry, 1 Cocoa, 4 Life Fruit, 1 Peach, 1 Raspberry, 1 Strawberry (§239)
  • 1 Blackberry, 1 Blueberry, 1 Renoit Grapes, 5 Life Fruit, 1 Pear, 1 Raspberry (§227)
  • 1 Blueberry, 1 Cocoa, 6 Life Fruit, 2 Raspberry (§325)
  • 3 Flame Fruit, 1 Renoit Grapes, 1 Pear, 1 Pecan, 3 Pomegranate, 1 Pomelo (§224)
  • 1 Apple, 1 Cocoa, 3 Flame Fruit, 1 Renoit Grapes, 1 Lime, 1 Plum, 2 Pomelo (§230)

Pretty Good Recipes

  • 9 Life Fruit, 1 Strawberry (§371)
  • 9 Life Fruit, 1 Peach (§360)
  • 5 Cocoa, 5 Raspberry

Not Very Good Recipes

  • 5 Renoit Grapes, 5 Strawberries (§57)
  • 5 Cocoa, 5 Blackberry *
  • 5 Cocoa, 5 Pear
  • 5 Pecan, 5 Strawberry *
  • 5 Pecan, 5 Blackberry *

Terrible Recipes

  • 1 Blackberry, 1 Cocoa, 1 Renoit Grapes, 4 Life Fruit, 1 Pear, 1 Pecan, 1 Strawberry
  • 5 Cocoa, 5 Blueberry *
  • 5 Pecan, 5 Peach *
  • 5 Pecan, 5 Pear *

* Using the “Predict Fruit Combo Effectiveness” interaction predicts these combos will be good, but in fact they are not.

If you really enjoy the Nectar Making Skill, I highly recommend Buzzler’s Nectar Combinatorics mod. There are countless combinations of fruits that can make Amazing Nectar, and Buzzler’s mod will help make your sims’ life easier by doing all the math-y algorithmic parts for them.

I plan to add a section that uses more fruits from other expansion packs later, once my sim has all the plants growing again (she has all perfect plants but stopped growing most of them).

Making Amazing Nectar With Buzzler’s Nectar Combinatorics mod

Continue reading

March 14, 2014 Posted by | Recommendations | , , , , | 6 Comments


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Archive for the ‘Literature’ Category

Bugs Britannica by Peter Marren and Richard Mabey (ed.) published in May

Further info and reviews: Telegraph & Amazon

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For a late stocking filler try the new updated 2009 editon of the Field Guide to the Bumblebees of Great Britain & Ireland, by Mike Edwards & Martin Jenner

Bumblebee Book

Field Guide to the Bumblebees of Great Britain & Ireland 2009

A Photographic field guide for bumblebees of Britain and Ireland. The guide contains a quick identification chart, photographs of both sexes of all British species, information on life history and conservation, a cross-referencing system with symbols to help more accurate field identification and details on how to attract bumblebees to your garden.  108 pages, 90 colour photos & maps.

Updates to the second edition include: a new species account for the soon-to-be-reintroduced Bombus subterraneus; the latest distribution maps; updated Conservation Action section, and revised Quick Identification Chart.

RRP: £11.99. Published by Ocelli Ltd

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The Hymenoptera Aculeata of the British Islands : a descriptive account of the families, genera, and species indigenous to Great Britain and Ireland, with notes as to habits, localities, habitats etc.

Edward Saunders 1896

This book is a classic work on aculeates and contains the only comprehensive work on British solitary bees (Apidae) yet published. It contains many hand coloured plates. The Biodiversity Heritage Library has made this book available to view or download for free online either as a pdf or higher quality jpeg images (large 100mb files):

Copies of the original book are worth several hundred pounds in price so this is a valuable addition to the digital library!

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Daily Thunder Rumblings – 01 August 2017

img_4133-5It’s the first of the month, wake up, wake up, wake up…..Here are the Rumblings for Tuesday.

Is Oklahoma City on the cusp of being the next superteam: “James will once again be a free agent in 2018, and we’ve learned our lesson: Be prepared for anything. It’s time to start sketching the free agency possibilities now and try to map out where the next superteams will be. So, who is most likely to assemble the next powerhouse to challenge the reigning-champ Golden State Warriors? Joining up with ESPN’s Bobby Marks with an eye toward 2018 free agency, we look at the three primary models to building a superteam. This list looks beyond current contenders Cleveland, Houston and Oklahoma City — each of whom already has at least two superstars — to the next generation of potential superteams.”

An article looking at Dakari Johnson being a worthwhile investment: “For starters, Johnson has been developing nicely in the Thunder’s pipeline. He has played three seasons in the Summer League with Oklahoma City and in two G-League seasons. Each year he has shown growth and development, especially offensively. Playing for some loaded Kentucky teams, Johnson never had much of a chance to showcase his talents and flourish. But once he joined the Thunder’s organization, that changed. Johnson increased his scoring output from 12.3 points per game in his first season with the Oklahoma City Blue of the G League to 18.5 per game this past season.”

A look at the enigma that is Kyle Singler: “While the future of Singler and the Thunder remain unclear, what he brings to the locker room is. Singler is a team guy, he puts the needs of the squad above his shoulders. I truly believe this is undervalued in basketball. Sometimes, you just need a guy who’s been in a Championship environment before. Singler has been there with Duke. He may never be able to average more than seven points a game. However he can provide the team with the presence of mind to help them toward a championship.”

Daryl Morey taking the ‘if my guy doesn’t win, nobody deserves to win’ approach: “I don’t know if this is a good process,” Morey told The Crossover. “The ones that are decided by players or executives or media, they all have their strengths and weaknesses. I honestly don’t think there’s a good process. You could argue for eliminating the awards altogether. I don’t really see a good way to do it that doesn’t have major issues. I like clean answers. If there’s not going to be a set criteria and there’s going to be issues with how it’s structured, for me it might be better to not have it.”

Steven Adams might pick up a second job.

Great interview of Patrick Patterson from Slam magazine: “The opportunity to compete for a championship. I saw this as my best chance to get to the Finals, and a chance to play alongside two All-Stars—two Hall of Famers in my opinion—in a great city that breathes basketball. And being in the Western Conference as well, I want to earn everything that I can get.”

The Thunder will host Melbourne United of Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL) on October 8th.

Former Thunder player Jeff Green talks about his heart surgery after getting traded to the Boston Celtics: “In one day, everything I knew about my body had changed. And all the confidence I had felt about maintaining this body had been completely drained. Standing in front of the mirror, I started crying. It was hitting me — this is forever. About a week into recovery, I headed to a physical rehab in Waltham, MA that the Celtics had set me up with. A lot of people there were recovering from various kinds of heart operations themselves — but I was the only person there under 60 years old. I remember this one older man and one older woman who were always on the treadmills next to me. They would be walking for 10-20 minutes at a time, no problem. At that time, in the first weeks after my operation, I could walk for about five minutes on the treadmill, but then I’d be exhausted. My doctor promised me that each day I would get a little bit better, but it was easy to get depressed about my progress. Sixty-year olds were lapping me on the treadmill.”

Apparently, Doug McDermott will be changing numbers next season.

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