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Saturday, January 31, 2015

UniqueToys O-02 Alberich Video Review

Check out the video review for UniqueToys O-02 Alberich, the second member of the Ordin Combiner. Get yours today, by clicking on the main image or using the form below to order.

Iron Factory IF-EX03 Armed Intelligence Squad - Sonictech, Rhinobass, and Leotreble - Production Images.

Here are some of the Production and final picture for the IronFactory IF-EX03 SonicTech and Fellows - Armed Intelligence Squad. Includes Sonictech, Rhinobass, Leotreble, and two drones. Make sure to get yours by clicking on the main image or by using the form at the bottom. We should have this in stock soon. For now enjoy the pictures.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Guild of Concoctionous Intent - Aster Blades

Check out the latest pics for the GCI Aster Blades. We are expecting these blades to be available for customer shipping next week. Get your figures ready. If you haven't pre-ordered, click on the main image above or use the form at the bottom. For now, enjoy the pictures.

Xovergen TF-02 God Armor Production Images

Xovergen has just posted some production version pictures of their TF-02 God Armor. It's looking good. We are looking forward to having this in stock. If you haven't pre-ordered yet, please go and click the main image above or use the form below to reserve your slot. Take advantage of the Prime Directives!

For now, enjoy the pictures.

Early Bird Pre-orders for FansToys FT-09 Tesla is up by the end of the month.

Please note that the early bird pricing for FansToys FT-09 Tesla is ending by January 31st. After that, the price will go up by $10 more. Get your pre-order now and reserve your slot. We have a no-upfront-payment option. Click on the main image above or use the form below.

Takara Transformers Unite Warriors UW-01 Superion

We have some snippets from Magazine scans for the upcoming Takara Transformers Unite UW-01 figure set. This is the Takara equivalent of the Hasbro Combiner Wars Superion. There are slight differences in colors, like that of the combiner hands and feet as well as those of the individual figures. The set will include the original 5 members of Superion. Namely: Silverbolt, Skydive, Firebolt (Fireflight), Air Rider (Air Raid), and Sling (Slingshot).

Go ahead and click on the main image above to get your pre-order slot taken care of, or use the form at the bottom of the post. For now, enjoy the pictures.

Stock photos courtesy of E-Hobby Japan.

Update on Roller's Stash

We continue to make improvements to the site to make the user interface better. We've heard your feedback and we appreciate everyone's patience and will continue to work hard to make the buying experience better and better. What's new? We know that Roller's Stash is great way for our customers to combine their orders and be able to save up on shipping costs. One issue was that when you've already have an order in place and would just like to add it to your stash, you got charged for shipping costs. Well, we've now fixed that for you.

Just go through the normal process and at the portion just before you select the payment options, click on Roller's Stash to not get charged for adding it to your previous order. Try it out and lets us know.

Thank you.
Brandon Weik
The Chosen Prime.

Prime Spotlight: UniqueToys O-02 Alberich

Prime Spotlight presents:

UniqueToys O-02 Alberich

Bottom Line (*** 1/2 stars- <out of a possible 5>)

By Stygian360

I’ve been following Unique Toys Ordin since before they released their first robot for this set.  I had been wary of UT due to some lackluster construction on their attempt at Predaking, but they very quickly dispelled these fears with their follow-up effort- Mankia King.  I couldn’t believe both products came from the same company!  Obviously they took a look inside of themselves and their production pipeline and decided changes were in order, and thank the Gods they did because as they’ve gone along each successive release eclipses the quality and play value of what came before it; which brings us to Alberich.  Having not had much interest in the Terrorcons as a youngster I wasn’t sure what to expect from this set.  I had no overt attachment to the characters, so was concerned about whether I was going to care about what Unique Toys was up to with Ordin.  Well as it turns out I care a lot.  So, does Alberich do a good job of evoking the ‘terror’ he’s meant to?  Let’s find out.

Alberich poses like a dream thanks to useful articulation throughout.  If you own Troll you know what you’re getting as far as articulation as both Troll and Alberich seem to be built with a similar aesthetic, which includes articulation in both modes.  His head is on a ball-joint as are his shoulders and legs.  Everything swivels and adjusts appropriately and there are no concerns with clearance issues due to parts banging into one another or wasted opportunities to get just a little bit more posing out of his design.  His alt mode is also appropriately articulated; including a neck cowl which provides a needed cover for his robot head and allows the alt mode head to pivot down.  And unlike Troll (which was annoying beyond belief) Alberich has an actual opening alt mode jaw- for proper tearing and slicing!

The paint applications overall on Alberich are minimal but what’s here is solid.  Knock on wood I couldn’t locate any major flaws- overspray, paint drip, scratches, etc.  This just goes to show how far Unique Toys has come since War Lord.  Yes, someday I will let go of my dislike for UT’s earliest effort, but unfortunately I’m still feeling the sting, so for now please forgive me.

The transformation is solid and fairly straight-forward.  Fold down a few panels, swing back a few panels, tab in a few panels, swing down his tail piece (on a nice double hinge joint- think Uranos Phantom) and he’s pretty much done.  My only concern once he’s in alt mode are the soft ratcheting hips, which to me seem like they could wear down over time making standing at any but the most acute angles difficult.  But fortunately out of the package he’s nice and tight and I see no issues.  Also some may take issue with the visible gap between the legs and upper torso in alt mode.  For some reason UT chose to lengthen the entire ‘beast’ causing this gap; which is probably to help better accommodate the overall aesthetic in limb mode.  Overall I found his transformation fun if not complicated, and for me complicated does not equal better, so that’s a good thing.

Bottom Line:
Ordin is going to be a huge monster of a gestalt!  That’s pretty much the conclusion I’ve come to.  Oh, and pardon the pun, sorry about that.  Personally I cannot wait to complete this guy as UT quickly moves through the various limb bots to polish this guy off in style.  Speaking of; sometimes these gestalts feel like the sum of their parts and it’s inherently difficult to get equally excited about each and every limb.  That said Alberich is a very solid action figure in his own right and well worth a purchase even as a stand-alone collectible.  But why anyone would want to get Alberich and none of the other Ordin bots is a mystery, but to each their own style of collecting.  Anyway, Alberich has solid if not mind-blowing transformation, great paint, great articulation and overall is a very handsome edition to any shelf.

Bot Mode:

Beast Mode:

Combiner Limb Mode:

Alberich and Troll:


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The Cinema Cafe

Serving Cinema's Tastiest Treasures

Top Ten Treasure Maps: Best Movie Trailers Part 3 Dark Passage

Top 10: Best Movie Trailers

These previews entice viewers of the feature-length wealth to come.

The choices are by Mr. X.

#8. Dark Passage (1947)

This Trailer was chosen for its unique way of highlighting the Bogart-Bacall on and off screen romance that was blazing away at the time. This was the third film in which both appeared, and their most heartfelt at its conclusion; this after To Have and Have Not and The Big Sleep. Their last on screen appearance together was Key Largo.

(Part 4 is here.)

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David Hockney interrogates space and time

Installation view of David Hockney: Current at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. © David Hockney Inc.

David Hockney interrogates space and time

When a living treasure like David Hockney visits our shores, it might be tempting to hold a blockbuster retrospective. Instead, the NGV, in collaboration with Hockney’s studio, has chosen to comprehensively explore Hockney’s works of the past decade.

This reflects the fact that Hockney continues to be a prolific picture-maker, constantly evolving and incorporating new mediums into his artistic oeuvre. The NGV exhibition boasts a huge collection of Hockney’s digital drawings, as well as photography, video works, and paintings.

Self-portrait, 25 March 2012, No. 2 (1233) iPad drawing. Collection of the artist © David Hockney

Hockney has neither rested on his substantial early laurels, nor is he currently quite the innovator he is frequently labelled as. The technology that allows one to draw on the iphone and ipad is available and widely used even by children, and I find it slightly patronising and ageist to suggest that merely by engaging with this technology, Hockney is an innovator.

Where Hockney is innovative and pivotal in current artistic discourse is in his ongoing explorations of perspective, time and space – themes he has explored throughout his career through a variety of artistic mediums, often embracing new technologies.

Hockney first drew on a room-sized computer in 1986, waiting two minutes for the lines to appear. Since then, he has used faxes, photocopiers, Xerox machines and polaroids, before adopting the iphone in 2009, and then the ipad in 2010.

Embracing these latter with the exuberance of a digital native, he has created thousands of artworks, memos, emails and greeting cards (although I’m not quite sure why so many cards and emails are displayed in this exhibition).

He has also used digital technology to help construct what is possibly one of the largest en plein air paintings ever completed, Bigger Trees near Warter, comprising 50 oil on canvas panels. Donated to the Tate in London, it now occupies a huge wall in the NGV, flanked by two reproductions on paper on the adjacent walls, designed, apparently, to create an “immersive experience”.

Bigger trees near Warter or/ou Peinture sur le motif pour le nouvel age post-photographique 2007. Tate, London. Presented by the artist 2008. © David Hockney. Photo: Richard Schmidt

Although the experience is immersive, it owes little to the addition of the copies. The huge painting becomes immersive because it is impossible to take it in at a glance. The eyes must scan back and forth, and up and down, even when standing back. Walking along the image, moving through the landscape and continually adjusting your view, facilitates a lived experience in both time and space.

This meticulous exploration of time and space unifies this somewhat disparate and visually overwhelming exhibition. Hockney claims that painting will never be replaced by photography because the slick, flat surfaces and frozen instants of time in photographs do not represent the reality of what the constantly scanning eye sees (try showing a photo to a dog – it won’t recognise the subject matter).

Yosemite I, October 16th 2011 (1059) iPad drawing. Collection of the artist © David Hockney

Two series of digital drawings, Yosemite (National Park in California), and The arrival of spring in Woldgate (the Yorkshire landscape), show the landscapes as constantly in flux, blooming, cascading, puddling and filled with ever-changing light.

Hockney has used the Mac facility for “playing back” the drawing to highlight the passage of time by animating the process of the creation of the piece, showing his landscape come to life over time.

Many of the Yorkshire landscapes feature roads leading off into the distance or through natural archways of vegetation. When reproduced at large scale, the eye journeys down the roadways and meanders through the trees at the side. The animations enhance this, the flickers of movement caused by emerging details catching the eye and pulling it around the picture plane.

The arrival of spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011 (twenty eleven) – 31 May, No. 1 (900). iPad drawing printed on 6 sheets of paper. © David Hockney Photo: Richard Schmidt

Another immersive installation, The Four Seasons, Woldgate Woods, articulates this theme further. A darkened room houses four large panels, each with nine high-definition video screens. A car rigged with nine video cameras, all set at slightly different zooms and angles, was driven slowly through the Woldgate landscape, capturing an identical trip in each of the four seasons.

Displayed simultaneously on panels placed around the room as if at the cardinal points, the idea is simple. But the result is mesmerising and soothing, forcing you to step back from your hectic routines and contemplate the notion of movement through open space and cyclical time from which we are increasingly alienated and dislocated in the contemporary world.

A further highlight with a genesis in a tragic death is 82 portraits and 1 still life, comprising 82 acrylic on canvas portraits of Hockney’s family, friends and associates. Viewed by Hockney as a single work, each portrait is the same size with a similar coloured background, all sitters occupying the same elevated chair.

Barry Humphries, 26th, 27th, 28th March 2015. acrylic on canvas. © David Hockney Photo: Richard Schmidt

The works are displayed chronologically in an elongated room that must be circumnavigated to view them. By controlling the major elements of location, Hockney invites us again to contemplate both space and time.

Over the precisely three days of sitting, each sitter came to own and claim the space uniquely and each portrait is vital and brimming with character. The importance of time is highlighted in the title of each piece which, along with the name of the sitter, records the dates of the sitting.

Talking to NGV director Tony Ellwood, Hockney emphasised that both people and trees are individuals. I was initially taken aback at these seemingly self-evident remarks.

But perhaps in our alienated and disconnected world, where life is increasingly experienced through the camera lens of the phone and ipad, we need to be reminded of nature, trees, the passage of time, shifting perspectives and to live life with exuberance.

David Hockney: Current is at Melbourne’s National Gallery of Victoria until 13 March 2017

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The blue marble

The blue marble

Environment Day 2013: Caring for Country, including Sea Country, brings value to society

The Commonwealth and Northern Territory Governments announced last week, during the celebration of Reconciliation week, a major expansion of the Dhimurru Sea Country Indigenous Protected Area (northern tip of the Gulf of Carpentaria). Sea Country Indigenous Protected Areas are essentially agreements between Indigenous communities and various Government parties guided by Sea Country plans, which are prepared by the relevant Indigenous communities. These plans set out the aspirations of the communities as well as Indigenous laws and worldviews relating to Sea Country.

The expansion of the Dhimurru Sea Country Indigenous Protected Area is a fantastic step forward which all should celebrate, and a major achievement for the community after a long campaign and much hard work and determination. But the broader fight is not yet over as the Commonwealth Government’s website indicates that Sea Country Indigenous Protected Areas have “no legal implications”.

“Legal implications” are certainly not a fix-all, and sometimes non-legal mechanisms can be just as or more effective, but law can provide a vital backbone to ensure a basic framework for much needed community involvement in sea country governance.

In February of this year, the High Court of Australia heard the largest native title claim to Sea Country in Australia’s history. We now await the High Court’s decision. This claim, known as the Torres Strait Sea Claim, was lodged in 2001 and has now been through two Federal Court decisions before its appeal to the High Court.

The Torres Strait Sea Claim area is approximately 44,000 square kilometres of Sea Country seaward of the high water mark around the islands of the Torres Strait in far north Queensland (and included beaches, reclaimed areas and intertidal zones). Broadly, the claim relates to rights to enter, remain, use and enjoy the area and rights to access and take resources. These were claimed on a non-exclusive basis, meaning that the claimants (the Sea Claim Group) did not seek to control access or conduct of others in the area. It is important to note that the original claim did seek exclusive control, but that was abandoned due to a High Court case in 2001 called Commonwealth v Yarmirr. Yarmirr was the first native title claim to Sea Country and it was held that native title over the sea could not be exclusive because it was inconsistent with public rights to navigate and fish.

In 2010, the Torres Strait Sea Claim went before the Federal Court for the first time. The Judge held that the Sea Claim Group did enjoy non-exclusive native title rights to access, remain in and use their maritime areas and to access and take resources for any purposes. The phrase ‘for any purposes’ included commercial purposes. This finding, amongst others, was appealed to a full bench of the Federal Court. Two of the Judges overturned the decision in relation to commercial rights, whilst the third Judge upheld this aspect of the original decision. This commercial aspect has now been appealed to the High Court.

While the commercial issue is incredibly important in this case, and has been the aspect that has attracted the most attention, in other respects it is a small part of the claim. Much of the large claim that was awarded in 2010 has not been appealed. In many ways, the hard-fought victory of the Torres Strait Sea Claim is already won – a huge credit to the Torres Strait community. The more important aspect to take away from this case is that due to the limitations on native title, whichever way the High Court decides, native title is not the answer to achieving broader Indigenous governance of marine areas. Communities are recognising this and seeking other ways to be actively involved in caring for Sea Country, such as Sea Country Indigenous Protected Areas mentioned above.

The on-going reconciliation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aspirations to be involved in the stewardship of Sea Country is part of a broader convergence of views between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Two hundred years after the European colonization of Australia, Western Science has come to converge with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and values to acknowledge that caring for country brings value to society.

Whereas generalisations on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture risks oversimplifying its impressive diversity, we contend that it is reasonably safe to assume that the statement that caring for country brings value to society represent, with different formulations, a unifying element across most cultural groups.

The translation of this concept to Western Science came over a decade ago through the concept of ecosystem services, that refer to the benefits people obtain from ecosystems, including provision of resources, regulation of processes, cultural services and the support of processes fundamental to life. This concept is now a fundamental underpinning of ecosystem assessments, such as the Millennium Assessment of the UN.

Yet, recognizing the important benefits that ecosystems services bring to society is insufficient in western systems, as the term “value” must often be explicitly attached to a dollar figure if it is to be taken seriously. Hence, the second development in Western Science that has rendered this reconciliation of views possible is progress in the valuation of non-market goods and its application in resource economics, allowing to assign a $ tag to ecosystem services.

The first assessment of the global value of ecosystem services by Costanza and co-workers (1997) came to a value of 33 trillion $ (1997 $) for the global value of ecosystem services, or twice the global GDP. This implies, not surprisingly, that there is no GDP in the world to replace by artificial processes the services nature provides for free. The corollary is that proper stewardship of ecosystems – caring for country – is economically cost-effective, as it is much more expensive to replace the necessary services of damaged ecosystems by artificial processes.

Indigenous groups see caring for country as part of their laws and have fought hard to see their rights recognized. In their wiser understanding of country, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders do not consider that country ends at the water’s edge or the low water mark. This is sensible, as seagrass, salt-marshes and mangrove forests are, in the assessment by Costanza et al. (1997), the most valuable ecosystems on earth. For instance, these ecosystems protect the coastline from sea level rise and surges, providing high value to Australia (Bell and Lovelock 2013), and are important carbon sinks. The value of the carbon sinks and associated stocks of Australian seagrass meadows could represent in the order of 43 billion dollars. Hence, it is only natural that country must include Sea Country.

Australia’s Sea Country can also benefit from the stewardship that responsible community managment can deliver (Photo: Carlos M. Duarte)

So now, Western science and Indigenous communities must explore legal and governance mechanisms to achieve this reconciliation. Participatory mechanisms to empower communities to manage common goods, such as air and the ocean, are important as a way to break through the so-called tragedy of the commons. The key to solve this problem is to empower people, not necessarily government, to govern shared resources (e.g. Ostrom 1990). Indeed Elinor Ostrom was presented with the 2009 Nobel Award in economics for her contribution to proposing participatory mechanisms to govern shared resources. Drawing on Ostrom’s ideas, the development of community-based management of fisheries resources has been successfully introduced in laws across the world, starting in Chile, and have proven very effective.

As we leave Reconciliation Week to enter Environment Day, it is appropriate to ponder how Australia can enshrine recognition of Indigenous stewardship rights over Sea Country thereby bringing value to society by empowering Indigenous communities and breaking through the environmental tragedy of the commons.

This piece was co-authored by:

Lauren Butterly Faculty of Law, The University of Western Australia

Carlos M. Duarte The UWA Oceans Institute and School of Plant Biology, The University of Western Australia

Blaze Kwaymullina Terra Rosa Cultural Resource Management Inc.

Bell, J., & Lovelock, C. E. (2013). Insuring Mangrove Forests for Their Role in Mitigating Coastal Erosion and Storm-Surge: An Australian Case Study. Wetlands, 1-11.

Costanza, R., d'Arge, R., De Groot, R., Farber, S., Grasso, M., Hannon, et al. (1997). The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature, 387: 253-260.

Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the commons: The evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge university press.

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Why children need social media lessons

Why children need social media lessons

It has given a voice to a generation, and helped unite people and communities far and wide. But social media is not always used as a force for good. In recent years, the misuse of social media has resulted in children and young people becoming both the perpetrators and victims of crime. As can been seen in the recent case of Felix Alexander – a teenager who took his own life after being bullied online.

Cyber-bullying is not, currently, a specific crime. But depending on the circumstances, and the age of the defendant, it can potentially be tried in a Crown Court – with a maximum sentence of two years’ imprisonment.

Online mob-type behaviour has also been the target of recent Crown Prosecution Service guidance – whereby inciting people to harass others online, known as virtual mobbing, could result in individuals being charged with encouraging an offence. If found guilty, they could be sent to prison.

Have a voice?

As predicated by US supreme court Judge Justice John Paul Stevens back in 1997, social media has allowed anyone to become a “town crier, with a voice that resonates further than it would from a soap box”. But social media users are not subject to the same “filters” as the traditional media – meaning there is often little, or no editorial control over what is published.

This can mean that what was once a casual comment or expression of emotion – shared with friends or family – can now become formalised and permanent, blurring the boundaries of online and offline life.

Employers now routinely “screen” applicants’ online profiles before deciding to hire candidates. So for young people, who have grown up with social media and a “life online”, this can mean their childhood activity could influence a future employer’s recruitment decision. Despite this, it is clear that social media users are increasingly oblivious to the risks generated by their relationship with it.

Social media lessons should start in schools from an early age. Shutterstock

This is illustrated by the case of Paris Brown. Aged 17, Paris was the first Youth Police Crime Commissioner. But after just six days on the job, she resigned from her role over comments she had posted on twitter when she was as young as 14 which critics claimed could have been interpreted as homophobic and racist.

In an interview, she admitted to having “fallen into a trap of behaving with bravado on social networking sites”, but denied she held these views. A Google search for “Paris Brown” today still lists, within the top five results, a Daily Mail article from 2013 calling her “foul-mouthed” and “offensive”. This could follow Paris for the rest of her career.

Socially aware

Given all of this, it is my belief that social media education should be treated with the same level of importance as sex education. And as adults, educators, and employers, we need to take some responsibility in educating our children on the “birds and the bees” of social media use – because it has the potential to do serious damage to young people’s future’s and prospects.

Most children start using the internet at around the age of three. Shutterstock

Children today engage with social media at a young age, so the responsible use of it needs to be built into the curriculum at primary school level. As children progress through their education – what they are taught can evolve.

This means that from being made aware of issues such as their personal security and safety, they can move on to learning about how they could find themselves on the wrong side of the criminal and civil law for what they post or tweet. And how their online profiles can influence their job prospects – both negatively and positively.

Because in this modern age we live and work in today, this type of training could make a real difference to the futures of children and young people – both online and off.

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Can Chahal And Kuldeep Replace Jadeja And Ashwin In ODIs And T20Is?

The Indian cricket team is one that has conquered in all formats off late and have shown that they have the skill to take on the best in the world and beat them. While the batting has been splendid, the bowling too have not lagged too far behind.

chahal and kuldeep

The emergence of Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar in the shorter formats of the game coupled with the new-age spin dup of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have shown that they have what it takes to succeed.

However, the arrival and rise of the latter has led to another debate – Have Ashwin and Jadeja been relegated to substitute statuses in the shorter format of the game?

Youth over experience:

While Jadeja and Ashwin are still India’s best spinners by a mile in the longer format of the game, they have been omitted from the Indian team for T20s and ODIs right from the Sri Lanka series. The reason given back then was that they wanted to rest the duo and try out newer options against a weaker opponent.

Credit must be given to Yadav and Chahal for stepping up against the Lankans and providing India with crucial blows and getting themselves noticed. The young duo managed to split the wickets between them, bowling superbly while the seamers took a break.

However, when it seemed that India would revert to their old warhorses for the Australia series, they decided to continue with these two. It sends out a message that the Indian team want to start investing in youth before the 2019 World Cup.

Mixed signals:

ashwin jadeja

What this does however, is create an air of mixed signals in the minds of the more experienced duo. Jadeja and Ashwin have not performed too shabbily in the shorter formats. Jadeja especially is a real asset when it comes to his fielding abilities as he is one of the best in the world on the ground.

This does not mean that it is the end of the road for the two seniors in the squad. It does look like the younger duo are given preference but when Jadeja and Ashwin as back-ups, it is not a bad headache to have.

However, Kohli knows that he has a tricky situation that needs to be addressed. With the two players obviously wanting to play all formats, India must find an effective rotational policy that works for everyone.

Try them as batsmen:

chahal kuldeep

With Manish Pandey not being able to cement his spot in the side, the time is ripe for someone like Ashwin or Jadeja to possibly try their hand at being a useful batsman. This means that they can still contribute with the ball with their batting skill coming in handy.

It is an advantage that the two have, being all-rounders over Chahal and Yadav. Their bags of experience also will help and this could be the trigger to move Dhoni up the order and ask one of them to fill up the lower middle order slot that he would vacate.

Let’s see how India handles the situation and if Ashwin and Jadeja make it for the New Zealand series. Until then, it is a good headache to have and shows that India are in good form and shape.

By Rohit Nair


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Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Breaking The Chains That Bind

As we watch events unfold around the world today, celebrating the forty-fifth anniversary of Earth Day, we have to admit that we understand the feeling so many environmentalists often express: That our politics and media in the United States are too often chained down, with no significant hope visible, and no positive change likely in the foreseeable future.

Right now, in America though - especially in the fields of politics and media - this is not one of those times.

The current media landscape, across the board, is really nearing a tipping point of serious change. Ken Vogel & Mackenzie Weigner of Politico, as well as our friend Rick Ungar of Forbes, both pointed out last Friday that those who privately subsidize right-wing media - from Rush Limbaugh all the way to Fox 'News' - are beginning to make one thing clear: The days of millions of dollars of money for next-to-no-return at the ballot box will likely soon be coming to an end.

That certainly won't mean an end to right-wing hate media. There has always been an audience, however small, for the kinds of divisive political hate media that fills the airwaves today. If the political left has one lesson in business for the political right that its learned over the past decade, it's that when talented, motivated people are given even small opportunities to capitalize on a small audience, they can still be successful - or at least pay the bills.

Of course, Americans all over the country would be able to pay their bills better if our country's "minimum wage" was really a living wage - and not a way to keep people chained to their current economic status. Raising the federal minimum wage to a living wage is a concept the majority of Americans support - and it would certainly break those chains. With right wing hate-media collapsing, maybe there's finally a chance for those of us who exist in the political center to finally push through legislation supporting what the true majority of Americans want.

Sadly, though, we have a feeling that such a movement may take longer than usual reaching into some corners of America. Oklahoma for example, where the Governor recently chained minimum wage workers to a below poverty pay level, effectively declaring with a sneer, an ideological war against the working poor.

In case you missed it, Republican Governor Mary Fallin signed a law last week banning any city in Oklahoma from passing its own higher-than-state-level minimum wage. The new law also banned any city from enacting its own laws about paid sick days or vacation requirements.

If the tea party nuts on the far right truly believed the anti-big government slogans their extremist right-wing media pushes them to chant, you might expect there to be rallies against this kind of state government overreach. After all - nearly 75% of Americans support a higher minimum wage.

That support doesn't just come from the political left and center either.

This past week, a group of local Christian pastors in Florida stood up against the kind of dismissive and disgusting hatred of the poor that's pushed so often in the right-wing hate media. This occurred after a Republican member of the U.S. house sneered in a dismissive way towards one of his own minimum wage earning constituents at a public town hall meeting.

Indeed, on issues from the minimum wage, to universal background checks, to getting money out of politics, the overwhelming majority of Americans from the progressive center left through the moderate center right agree.

That same majority of Americans also seem to be coming to a realization: That as long as we stay exclusively in our own ideological camps, and refuse to work together, the oligarchs - the richest Americans, who consider themselves above both the left and the right - will use our divisions to keep us all chained down like slaves.

If right-wing hate media truly does begin to fail, as it seems set to do, maybe the moderates on the right really could join together with progressives on the left to make a moderate amount of progress for us all.


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Beaches That Brunch

CulinaryIsland LifeResort LifeBay Life

Whether you’re excited by the gleam of a new dawn or still coping with the fact that you’re awake after a late night out, there is no better way to begin your day than with a feast that only Virginia Beach can provide. No matter which of our three beaches you are enjoying, rest easy, because brunch is served!

For soul-satisfying fare that gives a nod to our Southern culinary roots, look no further than the Resort Beach, where you’ll find Doc Taylor's. This one-time doctor's home serves up delicious comfort breakfast and lunch food, Bloody Marys and mimosas. This spot is such a locals' favorite, that the menu features several items named for regular customers. When you’re living the island life in Sandbridge, stop by Margie and Ray’s for the Back Bay Benedict. Served with two crab cakes instead of the traditional Canadian bacon, this is a mouthwatering local twist on a classic brunch staple. If you’re near Chesapeake Bay Beach, head to Dish Restaurant and dig into fresh, seasonal food inspired by Swedish and new American cuisines and crafted from locally sourced ingredients. Treat your taste buds to the house-cured Venison Benedict Florentine or the tasty Swedish pancakes, with Chantilly whipped cream and fresh strawberries, for a sweet start to your day.

Raise your mimosas high to our favorite meal of the day. With so many great brunch spots from which to choose, you can’t go wrong at any of our beaches -- no matter what time you roll out of bed.

Beach Bites: Bay Local Eatery's Bloody Blue

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  • Tiffany M. Russell
  • Vice President of Marketing Communications
  • Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau
  • 757-385-6628


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Meet the Chef: Bay Local Eatery

CulinaryBay Life

Bay Local Eatery serves up one-of-a-kind breakfast and lunch dishes in the heart of the Chesapeake Bay Beach. Hosting a menu inspired by family recipes and locally inspired culinary treats, visitors and locals alike can savor a distinct taste of the bay life, as well as cold-pressed cocktails and an unlike-any-other, soft-shell-crab-topped “Bloody Blue Mary.”

Beach-Style BBQ

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Media Contacts

  • Tiffany M. Russell
  • Vice President of Marketing Communications
  • Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau
  • 757-385-6628


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Disneynature “Born in China”

Disneynature "Born in China"
Maria H. (ndm#130) (2245 Posts)

A Disney blooded, crafty, fun-lovin’ wife/mom/organizer/planner, etc who is obsessed with all things Disney 🙂 Maria grew up with the Magic Kingdom and has loved watching WDW evolve into what it is today. A firm believer in the Power of Pixie Dust, she is the owner of The Disney Driven Life – A Community for Neurotic Disney People & a d.i.y. crafty blog, Carousel of Projects – create~inspire~share.

Character: TaoTao – Golden snub-nosed monkeys

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A blood soaked Arthur IS RISING

Gonzo journalism and fiction is a tricky mix.... Welcome to my razor's edge.

I am an elf in the attic making mind toys with sharp edges; an educated writer who gets good reviews, who you can read for free in the rough form of first drafts on the web, or purchase in a book form.
The best soldier does not attack. The superior fighter succeeds without violence. The greatest conqueror wins without struggle. The most successful manager leads without dictating. This is intelligent non aggressiveness. This is called the mastery of men.

Welcome to you, I am John Scott Ridgway, Novelist, Poet, Blogger, Radio and TV writer and actor... five books, also paint in oils and acrylics. I am poet warrior of sorts, a non violent radical, personally, though understanding of those who choose other paths IN THE EIGHTY PLUS COUNTRIES AT LAST COUNT THAT came in this blog ...

The predicted revolutions in the USA and around the would are going to

be violent in the next twenty years, is what the CIA says. I want them to stay peaceful, which is the only way to win this struggle between haves and have nots. They have more guns, we have more people,, and they include the mothers and sisters and brothers of the people they will ask to fight us.... I think they underestimate the police.

NEVER ACCEPT APPEASEMENT OVER JUSTICE. By any means necessary is the reality. . . the USA can be spared stupid wars, but other countries. . . need different solutions. . .

The number of Countries that have come in to have a look at this blog humbles me. Thank you very much.

PROFESSIONALS, HOPEFULLY, like the police, military, etc...

understanding that violence is sometimes needed

does not mean I like anything about the sound

of fists hitting faces

Boxing is too much for me

make me feel like I am watching

dog fights with toothless pitbulls

"I am an artist first, and a politician second," as John Lennon said.

My intentions are to stop the violence from entering into

revolutionary wars

the CIA

will break out in the next twenty years all over the

world, including here...

But Ill tell ya,

if there is not some redistribution of

wealth here there and everywhere

My intentions is to keep these protests peaceful

so we can win

without bloodshed

Total War for Total Peace

Never incites violence

or destroys property

you should be able

to go to protests with strollers and babies

parents feeling as safe as the police

Now, poetry...

I am too far out into the battlefield to retreat. This CHARGE is win or die...

A blood soaked Arthur has risen

be aware

be very aware

total war
for total peace
is being fought

THERE will be many ways to die
and only one to live
give and give and give
until the worlds downtrodden and oppressed
can begin to forgive
before things get bloody and ruthless
My Peace sign shot full of holes
and my reason ignored
drowned out by the roar of machine guns

You cannot break the golden rule
all the time and not expect
consequences from nature

we will fight for our right to thrive as well
we do not accept your sentence
to poverty so you can earn more
by shipping the factory off to China

nothing this mindgame in america can do to us
can destroy this thing inside that yearns for freedom
enough to die in the name of JUSTICE
generation after generation
from time

No more hyper-reality FOR US. We have already spent too long in an oasis of belief where nothing is wrong, folks... Now, we must face this was all a mirage... and try like hell to get out of this desert... or resolve ourself to the fact that we will leave our children to starve in the barren sands.

There are better ways to defeat an enemy than an outright fight, especially if you are vastly outnumbered, like the Elite. MSM PSY-WAR allows them to control our actions through our thoughts, and basically stop our FORCE from activating. I am not saying we should fight just because we can win, I am just saying we should fight before we lose, if no other option is left us.... because a world is at stake.

  • You are a spark in dry timber, stopped from becoming a roaring flame
    They SET UP LAWS THAT ALLOW THEM TO STEAL. MURDER. BRAINWASH THEIR CRITICS. We must begin to feel challenged now to stop them. Or WE WILL LOSE EVERYTHING. PERIOD. THE SKY, OTHER SPECIES, OUR WATER... OUR MINDS. No more hyper-reality for us... too long in that oasis where nothing is wrong folks... we must face this is all a mirage.
    • OUR LACK OF RESOLVE TO CHANGE OUR WORLD MUST PUZZLE THE GODS THEMSELVES.... how can we be this collectively dum? And if we are....then the brains will be looked to as potential saviors.... when all too often they are just psocyo-paths and stooges and scared folks under the gun who are ALLOWED to CON EVERYONE... FOR THE GOOD OF A

A cruel slap woke me to the PAIN
at the moment of birth;
My first cry was NO
buried in unintelligible screams.
I am a man now.
Now I catch your hand and break all the fingers.

the promise

You must be whoever the enemy fears the least
or fears the most.

No other position is saf

da general

Welcome to the spark that inflames TOTAL WAR FOR TOTAL PEACE.

I am too far out into the battlefield to retreat. This CHARGE is win or die...

THE ELVES ATTIC is stories, poetry, essay's, peculiar events in my life . . . oil painting, articles.

Your patience for bearing with me on my first drafts is a much appreciated kindness. Your worldwide interest is my muse . . .Lately I have been writing a book called Gangsta General x, about a revolutionary in the USA, who is fighting to keep the revolt peaceful as things spin out of control in the states after a famine gets the populace hungry enough to change their society once and for all....

HOW TO USE THIS BLOG: There is a black and white jukebox in the right column that you can shut off, or find songs on.... To listen to the COMEDY SKITS FROM THE SHOW PEACE AND PIPEDREAMS... turn off the black jukebox, and turn on the Green one. I play Moon Bong Haze and Jesus...

I have five majors, five books, two tv shows, a radio show, 76 countries at last count on this site alone, and over a million online readers to my credit. I can't thank any of you enough for all of your help and encouragement over the years; the favors and aide that has been offered me, the trust in my leadership... you are all SACRED TO ME ... even you folks I tend to hate.

Thank you.

the charge of the bright brigade

This is a new poem I am working up for Waking Up Jesus...

the son God rises in another mask
takes his part in the pageantry
 unaware that locked inside him is a spiritual seed
a bomb that will explode the careful paradigms of academia he has created in his mind

the big bang
blowing bits of himself all over the universe
ripping open a tear in the day to day and seeing endless stars
a path
I have traveled before
at the behest of prayers and pleas

this cannot be true screams the flesh
patient the spirit waits
for the inevitable

today Jesus was asked why he does not preach in this life
he says he is just waiting now for the fires
his part comes in when the dead have gathered to journey home

The Christians want to be buddy buddy with the Big Guy
Will claim themselves prepared by following the dictates of the priests
absolved by kneeling in a booth and confessing
others claim they followed God when they were merely brutal
the hatred brought flesh that misses the word LOVE
the only word their God has ever spoke to them
the crusaders against witches and gays and rock n roll and pleasure, itself...
the perverts who used the word of God to lay with Children and believed
truly believed/an infection that took down every one around them

I am known I am known as the angel by those who know
The God of lightening strikes and deafening thunder

How can I take my word for anything?
The studies in school gave me one way of seeing the world
then the visions of a mad man showed me another path less chosen
a walk toward a Calvary that is well traveled

wanting none of this my humility is deceiving
only a man would want to be Jesus carrying the scythe of the Reaper

The last days surround us
Hotter and hotter the world grows as the fires seen by the prophets of old
consume the visions of the future
point them all toward the same conclusion
man is living in a manner that is killing his planet and he just can't stop
addicts to luxury
we'd rather die stoned
 than live straight

Why wouldn't I appear now?

what you want and what you get
are the same in the end
getting there requires a blind run through a field of flesh shredding thorns

find hope sinners and atheists in my words
find a God who believes in redemption
or find horror here
the horror you created for yourself

my Father decides your faith
I am the open gate
he is the gate keeper
the bible says I take 144,000
the fundamentalists wonder who they will be
if this alien from Heaven even gave these words to the bible
or if they a number just high enough to seem enormous when first scribed?

God weaves through the lies and myths in his book
lurks in the blank spaces of the page

a garbled message from a creator who is simply too different to understand
your every prayer/your lives barely exist to him
he see's you as golden light
the holy ghost
that gives birth to your soul
the creature that will fly off into the cosmos

who would want to expose themselves to the masses
knowing war and madness would follow
I entered the public arena and felt like I was tearing the world apart

Never before in my life had the world come to me
Before I was alone in my illusion that I was normal
not watched and evaluated and speculated on as the child who grew wings
the angel
miracles began to surround him as he grew up
real ones
scientifically quantifiable
as if God himself was making sure the Wise Men Knew To Gather

this time they were the Large Countries, after WW 2, Russia, China, the States
coming up with a plan
on how to deal with their discovery
Christ was returning

Prophets all over the world were having strange visions
the presidents themselves seeing angels in their dreams

When they found a child growing wings in rural Indiana
who just so happened to be the end of an ancient line of kings
who could possibly be the lost tribe of Israel

They knew from their bibles that Christ would not know who he was until late in life
they watched and waited and tried to provide security but even in the worst jams'
He got out unscathed
After awhile they understood he was protected by greater forces than they could muster
The CIA surrounded the child with operatives
cameras in his cabs to record what the Christ was doing
working close with the Mafia, they kept their cards close to their chests
still others found out, the Masons and the Mormons --  who The FBI had been recruiting for years because no one else could pass their 'never having smoked pot,' disclaimer
recently knocked down because of me
Jesus in the FBI
oh, wouldn't they love that

Don't kid yourself
I am a weapon
the arms race they tried to hide from the public was shown to me
Russia took my poem extolling their dream of communism to mean this was where my heart was
and sure, it is
just got a heart bigger than that
I don't want the government to make all the decisions for people
freedom to work for yourself

It's part of this culture
that is diseased
not dead
in my opinion

give people an honest chance to work for a buck
and they should be able to spend it how they want
small businesses men need to be applauded you know
why not?

Still...  when it comes to the irrational numbers of how much is hoarded at the top
I can't see without that capital spreading out across the masses how we will recover
from the horrible gaps developing in our lifestyles
People who make themselves kings and queens in this world
should realize that Royalty always falls first
when the people decide they have had too much

the gathering masses will double in my life time
I sit the stage now to preach to the ones who are not yet even alive
I can see their desperation, how difficult their lives will be
I won't betray them by pretending the future does not exist
which is just the american way
fuck it
if we can get away with it
let's do it

kill all the Indians?  Fine.
Pull a coup in Chili?  Fine
Try to kill Chavez?  Fine

oh, man, how do you even begin to justify what you have become?

What you think is pathetic is celebratory/glorious/the reason we wear this flesh
in the first place

earth can be the playground of the Gods or a trip into Hell
depending on the day, age, state of health
a moment by moment surprise of joy's and horrors
encapsulated in the most mundane of moments
the time that passes un-noticed
taken away on a light breeze, blown unheralded down the street

living without eternity in mind in an intentional blinding
fear of the unknown/a sense of the dangers that lay down that path
you decide to walk with the Angels and you get noticed by the Demons

speak up and sooner or later someone will try to shout you down
some will never stop
you have to stand alone with your opinions/dependent on no one for truth
knowing truth is just what  a 'belief'' tells you is true and most 'beliefs' are based
more on faith than anything else/

want to know who really runs the world
the facts are few and the puzzle isn't about
to let itself be solved

want to know if there is a God?
The facts are few and everyone's puzzle is different
pieces are missing
guessing is required

and what do you do with it when the puzzle is done?  Hang it tackily on the wall?
a silver cross that shows someone can identify with your suffering
someone knows your pain and cares
whether you deserve it or not

even pedophiles pray
murderers pray
madmen pray
I tune out their words...  they mean to pray to my Father...
another mistake of the priests...  I never told anyone to pray to me
Always told them I am the servant of my father

I said Father back then because gender was important to the tribes
God has no sex
sex is an animal duality that is immaterial on the spiritual plane

the freedom of all desire is the offer
heaven nirvana
of beinglessness
a traveler as un-noticed as the wind
forged into individuals by the long circles through life
angelic now in your independence
graceful in your humility before God

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one of my very sorry little attempts to show my oil paintings, pets, girl...

a new mural in rodgers park... and picking up poo and sniffing pee

m and i take a trip down to the bean sculpture... here in Chicago...

Click on the side of the videos and it should take you to utube, where you can view the entire video.

Ruby dog fights the mighty dash... click on video to watch at utube

Thank YOU for over a half million hits at my various sites ... new counter.

one war

The collected john scott ridgway

The collected john scott ridgway
a demented little entry into philosophy, humour and redemption.,

the elves attic

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Holiday Inn Express

Holiday Inn Express

7701 Washington Village Dr., Dayton, OH 45459 |
Holiday Inn Express Team | 937.938.9550

Click any image to view gallery.

The New Eco-Friendly Holiday Inn Express® & Suites hotel in Dayton, Ohio invites you to experience our superb guest service, gracious hospitality and outstanding quality.

Whether you are planning a fun-filled family vacation, business trip or a relaxing getaway, our Dayton area hotel is the place to stay. We are very close to many area businesses, including the office parks of Teradata, Lexis Nexis, Metlife, Motoman and GE. This hotel is also located just 15 miles from Wright Patterson Air Force Base.

Located off I-675 with easy access to I-70, I-75 and US 35, our Dayton, Ohio hotel’s location is convenient for leisure travelers as well. We are only 10 miles from the University of Dayton and less than 5 miles from many popular Dayton area attractions. Enjoy shopping at Dayton Mall, the Greene Towne Center, spend an exciting day exploring the National Museum of the United States Air Force, or really get your adrenaline going by having a fun filled day at Kings Island Amusement Park located less than 25 miles from our hotel.

Besides a great location, guests staying at our hotel enjoy great amenities. Relax in the indoor pool and hot tub or keep in touch with friends and family using the free Wi-Fi access. We also have a fitness center, convenience store, complimentary hot breakfast bar and complimentary shuttle service. Hotel also features Solar powered hot water heating, and extensive energy management system, and a building that is made of recycled materials.


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Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Cold Days Ahead...

Cold weather is inevitable this time of the year.  Trying to stock up on winter essentials early isn't going to work this year with the ever-expanding bump, so here you have it- a few new items every so often is how I'm keeping cozy...

All New Arrivals (F21)

Thanks for Reading!

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Thanks for Commenting Dolls :)
If you like what you see, follow me on: Facebook, Bloglovin', or Twitter :D


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Thursday, February 19, 2004

This Blog

The refrigerator door...
... reveals the daily pulse of the household. Sometimes content changes constantly; you can see immediately what is important.

Things go up; things come down. Grocery lists, recipes for chicken soup, that great magnet from the place you swore that you'd move to, even though the winters are insanely cold.

The really important stuff stays up for months. Photos start to fade and the edges of the newspaper clippings start to curl, but you can't bring yourself to take the artifacts down.

That's what this blog is like.


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Weekly Menus June 2015

Your weekly menus June 2015 as always include delicious, easy and frugal recipes. You will find vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, beef, pork, chicken and fish recipes and suggestions. If there is something you do not like please make sure to visit the website and pick what you want from over 1200 recipes.

Seared Scallops with Pasta
Vegetarian Quesadillas
Balsamic Glazed Shrimp with Salad
Chicken Vegetable Stir Fry with Rice
Smothered Pork Chops

Monday’s meal is very simple to make and can be on the table in under 30 minutes. You can make the sauce while the pasta cooks and then simply mix it all together. Please make sure to dry the scallops very well before you sear them. This will render you deliciously browned morsels of perfection.

Tuesday’s quesadillas can be made in a skillet or in the oven. The beautiful sautéed veggies can be placed in between the tortillas or on top. I prefer the latter. This filling can also be used as a fajita rolled inside a tortilla to keep the meal vegan.

Wednesday’s meal is also very easy. It will take you no time to cook the shrimp so make sure you have your salad ready before you start. This is a healthy meal that is very satisfying. All I can recommend is that you do not overcook the shrimp as it will make it rubbery. Actually, I would also like you to make sure the shrimp has been deveined and cleaned well.

Thursday’s stir-fry will be ready in a snap once you start cooking it so be absolutely ready for it. The longest you are going to spend making this is chopping your ingredients. You will not have any time to get ingredients once you start cooking this. Serve it with some steamed rice for a complete and wonderful dinner.

Friday’s pork chops cook for three hours in a very low oven. You can make these a day ahead and simply heat them if you like. These chops are extremely tender and flavorful. Serve them with some mashed potatoes or sweet potato fries.

Print Your Weekly Menu Here

Ham, Mushroom and Spinach Quiche
Orzo Salad
Marinated Beef on a Garden Salad
Stewed Chicken with Chipotle with Turmeric Rice
Baked Fish with Blue Cheese Sauce

Monday’s quiche is quite easy to make. You can go ahead and use store bought pie dough if you would like to expedite things. Once you have that making the filling is really not all that complicated. We are going to use ham, mushrooms and spinach in our eggs but you can pretty much use any other vegetable that you prefer such as zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower or asparagus.

Tuesday’s orzo salad can be made with any type of small pasta that you like. You can also add some chicken or beef pieces to this if you do not want it to be vegetarian. Go ahead and chop your veggies while the pasta cooks. If you have any left overs this packs beautifully in lunch boxes for school or work. You might have to doctor it with a little more dressing.

Wednesday’s meal requires some planning ahead as you will have to marinate the beef. This can be done in as little as 30 minutes but can also be done overnight. If you do it overnight your beef will be more tender and flavorful. It will also make prepping dinner a snap as all you will have to do is cook it and make your salad. This is a delicious low carb and low calorie meal that will satisfy everyone.

Thursday’s stew can be frozen so you can make it a few days ahead and simply thaw it. The rice is pretty simple to make as well. You can definitely make it the day before.

Friday’s fish will be ready within 30 minutes. It is a classic dish that delivers tons of flavor. The fish will be baked in the oven and the sauce made in a small pot. All you need to do is pour it over the fish and serve. You can use trout or salmon for this.

Print Your Weekly Menu Here

Chipotle Turkey Burgers
Shrimp Skewers with a salad
Grilled Cheese with Caramelized Onions, Spinach and Tomatoes
Beef Fajitas
Tomato and Garlic Pizza

Monday’s burgers can be made in advance and frozen. They can also be made with plain ground beef or chicken. These burgers are incredibly flavorful and can be served on a salad or as a sandwich with lettuce, tomato, red onion and pickles. Whatever you like.

Tuesday’s skewers can be cooked on a grill or in a skillet. We are going to skewer the peeled and deveined shrimp and then prepare the marinade. The marinade will be poured over the shrimp which will then be refrigerated for about 30 minutes. Shrimp cooks very quickly so once it is ready to cook your meal will be on the table in minutes.

Wednesday’s grilled cheese sandwiches are delightful. The longest that you will take is caramelizing the onion which can be done the day before and stored in the fridge in a closed container. Once that is ready the sandwich will be ready very quickly. This is a vegetarian sandwich that is very satisfying.

Thursday’s beef fajitas also require marinating. Go ahead and marinate the beef the night before. Frankly, this is the longest process in this recipe. Once it is ready the fajita will come together very quickly. You can serve these fajitas with Mexican rice and refried beans if you like.

Friday’s pizza can be made with homemade dough or store bought. This is a very simple pizza but it is truly delicious. The tomatoes and garlic will turn sweet as they cook at high temperature. This pizza does not have cheese but you can certainly add some if you prefer. As a matter of fact if you want to add meat to this that will be perfect as well.

Print Your Weekly Menu Here

Linguini and Clams in Creamy White Wine Sauce
Chinese Chicken Salad
Pita Bread Pizzas with Portobello Mushrooms
Peanut Marinated Chicken Wings with Asian Cole Slaw
Cobb Burger

Monday’s linguine is very easy to make. It is certainly not health food but it is a meal that adults and kids love. You can use canned clams for this recipe is you like.

Tuesday’s Chinese chicken salad can be made with rotisserie chicken pieces in order to save time. The wonton strips can be substituted with crispy chow Mein noodles. Those are the two things that take the longest in this recipe. The rest requires chopping and making your dressing. This salad is fantastic.

Wednesday’s pizzas require some marinating of the mushroom. You can marinate as little as 20 minutes or up to overnight. This is a super easy meal that is light and delicious. Use store bought pita bread for this.

Thursday’s wings need to be in the fridge overnight. One thing I have to recommend is that you be generous with the salt when prepping the peanut sauce. Once you have them all flavored all you have to do is remove them from the marinade and bake them. These go beautifully with Asian Cole slaw which you can make a couple of days ahead.

Friday’s burgers can be grilled or fried. You will need cooked bacon for this and avocados. Talk about a delicious and perfect burger.

Print Your Weekly Menu Here

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Episode #120: Project Check-in

Episode #120: Project Check-in

Dirk, David, and Rob take a moment to check in on their respective projects. Rob details his long and illustrious career as the head of marketing for his game company while David checks in with an update on Star Trek Timelines. Meanwhile, Dirk’s Kickstarter for Tesla vs. Edison is ready to go live and the question of shipping costs rears its ugly head.

Contact Information

Dirk Knemeyer – @DKnemeyer, www.artana.com, Dirk@Knemeyer.com
David Heron – @DavidVHeron
Rob Daviau -@RobDaviauGamer, rob.daviau@ironwallgames.com

Episode Outline

  • 0:00:33 – New York Toy Fair

  • 0:08:22 – New roles and marketing

  • 0:14:38 – PAX and Star Trek Timelines

  • 0:23:24 – Star Trek Timelines demo

  • 0:43:47 – Tesla vs. Edison

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The GeeksverseStan Lee’s Soldier Zero #7 – Advanced Review

Stan Lee’s Soldier Zero #7 – Advanced Review
Published on Monday, April 18, 2011 by

Written by: Dan Abnett And Andy Lanning
Art by: Javier Pina
Colored by: Archie Van Buren
Lettered by: Ed Dukeshire
Cover Art: A- Trevor Hairsine w/ Archie Van Buren; B- Kalman Andrasofszky
Editor: Bryce Carlson

This is a well paced issue. The way the opening narrative lays out and is scripted is excellant, DnA at their height. The narrative is about Gershon, the original host of the Soldier Zero biosyte, telling Stewart how the biosyte came to be on Earth and wounded. It’s an interesting told tale, the script definately carries across an alien mind. It’s got a different structure and feel, different cadence.

The origin also ties in with the other two Stan Lee books. I was wondering if this was going to happen. I remember reading that Soldier Zero and Starborn were connected, but wasn’t sure if Traveler would be as well. I’m still not sold on the connection to the Traveler, even if it’s only a single panel mention, it still feels like it was forced into the story. The Starborn connection on the other hand feels right and natural.

The rest of the story is about Stewart and Application Nine trying to figure out where they are after the Clowns transported them at the end of last issue. Application Nine knows alot about whats going on and as much as he tries to come across as the good guy, I have a feeling this is going to be a “shades of gray” kind of book with neither App Nine’s benefactors or the government being totally good or evil.

DnA have gotten a good grip on the story in a short time. I wonder how much of the plot was laid out by Paul Cornell and how much is DnA? Was Application Nine and the Clowns their contribution or was that something that would have been in the story if Cornell had still been writing?

Pina’s art is starting to get some more flash to it. It’s hard to tell what the difference is but it’s not as bland as it was before. The linework and storytelling have always been good, but the overall work lacked excitement. But this issue has a bit more life to it.

The backgrounds and some of the details, like Application Nine, are still on the plain side, but the work is starting to improve.

Stan Lee’s Soldier Zero #7 receives:
4 out of 5

Well paced and crafted story by DnA.

Go to the Pryde’s forums and share your thoughts on this issue.

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The GeeksverseHasbro Transformers Prime – Just Listed

Hasbro Transformers Prime – Just Listed
Published on Tuesday, November 8, 2011 by

Hi – we’ve just listed the first waves of Hasbro’s Transformers Prime line of figures! An important note about this line that we’d like you to pass on to your readers. This ‘First Edition’ line is a specialty market exclusive with limited distribution. BBTS will be carrying the full lineup, get your preorders in and you can count on us to fill your order.

Listings include:

Entertainment Pack:

Deluxe Wave 1 and Wave 1.5

Voyager Wave 1

Role Play Blaster

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The GeeksverseLeaving Proof 186 | School’s Out: The lessons of Ball State University and Christy Blanch’s Gender Through Comic Books course

Leaving Proof 186 | School’s Out: The lessons of Ball State University and Christy Blanch’s Gender Through Comic Books course
Published on Saturday, May 25, 2013 by
Ball State University and Christy Blanch’s Gender Through Comic Books SuperMOOC course ended last week. So what did we learn?

ball_state_gender_thru_comicsIt’s been a week since Ball State University adjunct professor Christy Blanch’s “SuperMOOC” class Gender Through Comic Books concluded and I’ve been spending the past few days reflecting on what I’ve learned from it. Of course, what a person takes away from any formal instruction will vary depending on one’s goals for signing up for the course, one’s expectations, one’s prior knowledge and experiences, and one’s level of engagement with the material, so it goes almost without saying that the lessons I took away from Gender Through Comic Books might be unique to my experience and may neither be representative of the general sentiment of the class’ student body nor indicative of the instructor’s aims for the course.

I won’t even try to summarize the details of what we covered in the six weeks the online class ran. There’s just too much material. But here’s a list of the week-by-week modules, readings, and live interviews to give you an idea of what we read and discussed:

  • Week 1
    • Module: What is gender? Theories and views.
    • Readings (comics): Strangers in Paradise Vol. 1, #1–3 (Abstract Studios), Strangers in Paradise Vol. 2, #1–9 (Abstract Studios), Rachel Rising #1 (Abstract Studios)
    • Readings (article): “Night to His Day”: The Social Construction of Gender by Judith Lorber
    • Live interview: Terry Moore
  • Week 2
    • Module: Gender and Culture: How we learn our gender.
    • Readings (comics): Superman: Birthright #1–12 (DC Comics), Action Comics (1938) #1 (DC Comics), Action Comics (1938) #267 (DC Comics)
    • Readings (article): Doing Gender by Candace West and Don Zimmerman
    • Live interview: Mark Waid
  • Week 3
    • Module: Who is producing comic book culture?
    • Readings (comics): Captain Marvel (2012) #1–7 (Marvel Comics), Ms. Marvel (2006) #1 (Marvel Comics), Ms. Marvel (1977) #1 (Marvel Comics), Daredevil (2011) #1 (Marvel Comics)
    • Readings (article): How Comics are Made (website)
    • Live interview: Kelly Sue DeConnick, Steve Wacker, Sana Amanat
  • Week 4
    • Module: Femininity
    • Readings (comics): Wonder Woman (1942) #1 (DC Comics), Wonder Woman (2011) #7 (DC Comics), Secret Six (2008) #1–7 (DC Comics), Birds of Prey (1999) #56 (DC Comics), Batgirl (2011) #0 (DC Comics)
    • Readings (article): Spice World: Constructing Femininity the. Popular Way by Dafna Lemish
    • Live interview: Gail Simone
  • Week 5
    • Module: Masculinity
    • Readings (comics): Batman (2011) #0 (DC Comics), Swamp Thing (2011) #0 (DC Comics)
    • Readings (article): Comic Book Masculinity and the New Black Superhero by Jeffrey Brown
    • Live interview: Scott Snyder
  • Week 6
    • Module: Gendered Spaces and consuming comics.
    • Readings (comics): Y: The Last Man #1–6 (DC/Vertigo Comics), Saga #1 (Image Comics)
    • Readings (article): Gendered Spaces: Gym Culture and the Construction of Gender by Thomas Johansson
    • Live interview: Brian K. Vaughan
Devin Grayson (Nightwing, X-Men: Evolution) was just one of many industry professionals in the class.

Devin Grayson (Nightwing, X-Men: Evolution) was just one of many comics industry professionals enrolled in the Gender Through Comic Books course.

Besides the above modules, comics, articles, and interviews, each week also included a cache of optional, supplementary reading and viewing material. Many of the online class discussions were also quite educational and illuminative in their own way, providing insight into how gender portrayals in American comics are perceived and interpreted by a culturally and demographically diverse array of readers: The class numbered some 7,000 students at the course’s outset that included learners from every inhabited continent and many comics industry professionals who’ve done work for top American comics publishers like Marvel, DC, Image, IDW, and Dark Horse. (Keep in mind however, that course completion rates for MOOCs are estimated to be anywhere from seven to nine per cent, according to Coursera co-founder Daphne Koller.)

So, what lessons did I take away from the Gender Through Comic Books experience? One of the primary questions I had going into the course was “What are the implications of gender-awareness and gender-inclusiveness for the comics industry,” so let’s approach the issue from that angle.

First, let’s list what a gender-aware and gender-inclusive comics industry doesn’t mean. Gender-awareness and gender-inclusiveness in comics should not be about censorship (even self-censorship) based on arbitrary, external moral presciptivism. It shouldn’t be about promoting notions of false equivalence in certain gender issues, even if the equivalence is born from well-meaning intent.

Carol Danvers, the latest to take on the mantle of Captain Marvel, has become one of the most prominent characters on the Marvel roster and is a leading player in the publisher's current summer crossover event.

What a gender-aware and gender-inclusive comics industry is about is creative and artistic freedom. When the comics industry promulgates stories and art that feature only calcified gender and gender issue portrayals—such as women in marginal or objectified roles—despite an expressed desire and the ability by the producers of comics content to create more diverse material, then freedom of artistic and creative expression is curbed. And yes, that freedom means that there’s also a place in a truly inclusive industry for gender views and portrayals in comics that some, or even many, readers may find vulgar, ignorant, insensitive, at odds with popular and accepted socio-politics, or even outright morally reprehensible (to a reasonable degree, of course, and depending on context): Freedom of creative expression that is afforded only to those who exhibit a certain prescribed moral or cultural grounding is no freedom at all. Inclusiveness means the acknowledgement (if not necessarily the agreement) of more perspectives, not less, and it shouldn’t be simply the substitution of one monolithic and inflexible view of gender and gender issues in comics storytelling for another, similarly dogmatic one.

A gender-aware and gender-inclusive industry also means better art, better stories, and more interesting character designs. How many times have we heard older comic book readers complain that all superhero comics art looks the same, or that superhero comics all have the same stories, or how characterizations fall into boring cookie-cutter molds, or how certain superheroine designs defy credulity and physics, even within the fantastical reality of superhero fiction? When the industry sticks to tried-and-true, occasionally exploitative gender portrayals that have found purchase in the heterosexual teen/adult male reader population, then there exists the very real possibility of homogenization of content and an accompanying decline in reader engagement over time. What is “tried-and-true” can very easily turn into “tired-and-trite,” with readers feeling that they’ve read and seen it all before and creators feeling hamstrung by the conventions and traditional tropes of the genre.

Design Progress: Uncanny X-Force artist Kris Anka on the thinking behind his redesign of Psylocke's costume: "I wanted to have her covered because I felt that a character who is performing stealth assassinations would want as little wound-able flesh showing." (click image to view in larger size)

Uncanny X-Force artist Kris Anka on his approach to the redesign of Psylocke’s costume: “I wanted to have her covered because I felt that a character who is performing stealth assassinations would want as little wound-able flesh showing.” (Click image to view in larger size.) The reference to a consistent and reasonably plausible character design logic helps define a more coherent look for the popular mutant that nonetheless maintains the character’s recognizability.

Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ Saga seamlessly broaches gender issues within its entertaining, transgressive, and sprawling space opera. The first issue has gone into multiple printings and the series is nominated for both the Best Continuing Series and Best New Series in this year’s Eisner Awards. Vaughan is also in the running for the Best Writer award.

A gender-aware and gender-inclusive industry also just makes common business sense. In major continental markets for Western comics such as North America, South America, Western Europe, and Australia, women outnumber men. A 2011 study conducted by the University of California School of Law’s Williams Institute cited that 3.8% of the adult U.S. population—an estimated 11.7 million Americans aged 18 and older at the time—self-identify as members of the LGBT community (the actual number of LGBT adult Americans is almost assuredly bigger). The comics industry would be doing itself a huge disservice and would be leaving money on the table, so to speak, if it were to exclusively put out material that appeals primarily to the heterosexual teen/adult male readership. An informal study conducted in 2011 by Graphic Policy’s Brett Schenker indicated that at least among Facebook users in the United States who describe themselves as “comic book fans” (a population of over 1.2 million individuals), the comics industry still has a lot of work to do when it comes to getting the proportion of female comics readers to reflect general demographic ratios. Schenker’s study showed that in the population examined, only 25% were women. Of the members of the study population who indicated sexual preference in their profiles, 5.28% self-identified as being sexually attracted to members of the same sex, which rather aligns with the numbers of the Williams Institute study, but keep in mind that this type of self-identification data carries with it a degree of unreliability.

Situated as it is in the crossroads of art, pop culture, and commerce and given its somewhat surprising resiliency in the face of competing media, the comics industry is in a position to promote gender-awareness and gender-inclusiveness, not (solely) because of some socially-minded and progressive imperative, but also because it just makes for better-looking, more engaging, and more profitable comics, and that’s a prospect any comics fan and industry professional can get behind.

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Ian Jack

Ian Jack in Converation wiht SB Veda at Satyajit Ray Studio, iLead College, Calcutta

It was a pleasure to have the celebrated journalist, author and editor, Ian Jack with us in our studio. This interview took place when Jack was in Calcutta during January, 2014 for Kalam – a literature festival held at Victoria Memorial and other historic venues in the city. Having lived in the Calcutta in the 1970s, he had not been back to the city in years. His book, Mofussil Junction: Indian Encounters 1977-2012 was published by Penguin India during the prior year. For our review, see Ian Jack’s Indias.

Part 1
Ian Jack talks about the Calcutta he knew compared to the Kolkata of present day, how some characteristics have resisted change, remaining as they were, and the ways in which the city has developed. He remarks on certain immutable aspects of its British character and the appeal this might have to his compatriots, touching on the history of Europeans in Calcutta from the second world war on. They largely left after Calcutta’s economic decline began, making it an even more ‘remote’ place. But, says Jack, it is this character, which made Calcutta appealing to him as a location to land and base himself. His descriptions of the tram and its decline can be seen as a metaphor for the city…

Part 2
Jack discusses changing identity and culture – how middle class Bengalis used to contribute so substantially to Calcutta’s cultural identity and to Indian intellectual life. He remarks on the change in recent years, Calcutta’s loss of place. He touches on how leftist culture in the city led to the rise of the first middle class in Asia as well as the growing consumerism since. He observes that markets haven’t taken hold of politics, just yet, stating that it was only when the Marxists tried to emulate the Chinese industrial model that they were defeated: they were unable to ride roughshod over the masses because the notion of social empowerment had become, by then, too deeply embedded in the collective consciousness.

Part 3
We move to Delhi, Jack’s time as a foreign correspondent in the capital beginning with the last days of the emergency under Indira Gandhi. Despite the suspension of democracy and implementation of autocratic rule by Congress, he lauds the relative openness even at that time to journalists compared with other societies. Jack didn’t feel threatened the way journalists are imperiled in so many places throughout the world, today. Veda and Jack discuss the assassination of Indira Gandhi and the law and order breakdown in Delhi that led to the massacre of Sikhs in 1984. Recent allegations that the British government aided in Operation Bluestar (the controversial military campaign to unseat Sikh terrorists from the Golden Temple of Amritsar) serve as a transition to discussing Britain’s role in international affairs over the past decade from David Cameron back to Tony Blair.

Part 4
Veda asks Jack about the notion of being ‘British’ in the multicultural UK of the 21st Century. Jack talks about the both the fragility of the term among those whose roots go back for generations and the affinity that so many immigrants have for it. He remarks on the benefit of it as an anti-nationalist label. Then the conversation comes full circle, evolving into a discussion of globalism and how it relates to a Calcutta identity – how the city’s character attaches to those in whose lives the place has existed in some form or another. In his own case, he mentions Satyajit Ray’s film Charulata as an example: how having watched it, enjoyed it and related to it, this classic Bengali film set in Calcutta connects him to those who bear such ostensible difference from him in terms of looks, language and history. In that way, Ian Jack unmasks with both sense and sentimentality, the Global Calcuttan in him.

©The Global Calcuttan
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Monday, February 4, 2008

The Merchants Of Venice

Visiondivision came out as a prize winner in the 2G-Competition for the Venice Lagoon with over 560 proposals.
The proposal will be published in the 2G Magazine and at the Biennale this summer.
Assertion from the jury report with Anne Lacaton as the jury president:

"The forcefulness with which the proposal re-posits the rules of the competition in terms of a critical pragmatism of those rules, one that is aware of the flows of capital."

See the final outcome and download the posters at, print them and put them on your wall.

Above: The posters
Click on the following images to read full story.

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Monday, January 11, 2010

Feliz Cumpliaños a mi madre...Feliz cumpliaños!!!

Hola mi familia,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!! I WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, I LOVE YOU!!! Muchas gracias for your emails this week Mom, Dad, Stefi, and Nikki. And thanks for the photos dad (you´re missing about half your email dad, but you can make it up next week.) That is sure a change in scenery for your engagement photos Nicks, from palm trees to snow. I like the palm trees, but the new one is cute.
Well, this past week has defintely not been dull. We had the baptism of Nancy, which was really nice. We spoke again, she wanted it the exact same as her sister. But it was really good and she was excited (in her own way, in her pictures she doesn´t smile) But we had a few investigadors come and they really enojoyed it. Also, this past week and well today, I have fleas. My comp touches every four legged creature, but I am the one with fleas. It is very uncomfortable, I have bites all over my body. It´s like the chicken pox but worse. I´ve cleaned and cleaned and then I called Hna Da Silva and she has a spray for me. But last night I didn´t get any new bites so I hope it´s working. I don´t know if I`ll make it out of here alive to be honest between the sun, mosquitos, ants and the fleas. But it´s just another summer in uruguay. Today we had pday and we went to my old zone close to La Paz and we played basketball with the elders it was fun. There was a lot of elders there from the MTC and so we all know each other well and it was really fun. Me and Hna farnsworth were the captains and my team won. (of course..haha) It was a 3 zones activity and I saw Hna Yeates (poor girl is so ready to leave). But she told me some sad news, all the people that were baptized while I was there are inactive and it´s the same with Minas too. You know that story of the water bucket and how when the hand swishes it around it does something, but then when the hand leaves the water goes back to the way it was. That´s basically how I feel. They are awesome people who now have a covenant they aren´t keeping. And it´s really sad. I don´t know if I really want to go back to my areas. Maybe we can see other stuff. We had quite the experience, I thought I have seen it all in Progreso. But not quite. Yesterday, we had fairly normal church meetings and then we go to sacrament and it was normal and then the high counciler speaks. Normal talk, but I look back and there is this kid that I´ve never seen, looked like he´s going to the beach standing just talking to one of the recent converts and she then digs through her purse and he gives her money and she sells him cigarettes. RIGHT IN SACRAMENT MEETING!!! Can you say crazy. This recent convert sell cigarettes at her home to support her grand daughter and we tried when I first got here to explain she can´t do that, but the branch president said he didn´t want us to say anything and he would look into it. Well, and so she still sells them and now in church. And then the kid took his cigaretts and leaves. Like a normal day of business. ABSOLUTELY NUTS!!! But anyways, just another week in progreso! Let´s just say we´re never not entertained. But I´m excited, because the president is letting us plan a temple trip with the recent converts in a couple of weeks. And people are getting excited for that. I don´t think this branch has gone in at least a year, and they live 40 minutes away, and so it will be a very good and necessary thing. Well, I´ll talk to you next week. Thanks so much for everything. I love you all. And happy birthday again mom!!
con amor, Tiffani

P.S. Quick explanation of the fotos. The one is of a chef that makes super good food in la paz that we visited and he´s awesome. And then another is of us with a recent convert and us eating pizza to help brighten his day. He´s great. And then one is of a car with a bottle on top, if you need to sell your car just put a bottle on top it. It´s how they advertise here. I´m serious. HAHA. Uruguay´s great!!! love ya.

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Friday, March 27, 2009

"Let them be little..."

Some days I'm tired (okay most days I'm tired) and I often overlook the seemingly insignificant Jack’s wonderful hands, or his chubby feet, or his perfect little face with beautiful eyelashes...and I realize, that he won’t be this little ever again.

It’s easy to let the trials of the day overwhelm me…and to get frustrated when Jack throws food, or doesn’t want to take a nap, or spills his drink on the new floor, or smudges little hand prints on the clean glass…but it’s in these moments that I must slow down, and enjoy him being a messy, determined, funny little boy!

So here is my homage to little, 15 month old Jack…(I never want to forget him being little…)

This made me think of a poem that my Mom has hanging in her house, Wet Oatmeal Kisses:
One of these days you'll explode and shout to all the kids, "Why don't you just grow up and act your age!" And they will...
Or, "You guys get outside and find something to do -- without hurting each other And don't slam the door!" And they don't.
You'll straighten their bedrooms until it's all neat and tidy, toys displayed on the shelf, hangers in the closet, animals caged. You'll yell, "Now I want it to stay this way!" And it will...
You will prepare a perfect dinner with a salad that hasn't had all the olives picked out and a cake with no finger traces in the icing and you'll say, "Now this is a meal for company." And you will eat it alone...
You'll yell, "I want complete privacy on the phone. No screaming, Do you hear me?" And no one will answer.
No more plastic tablecloths stained. No more dandelion bouquets. No more iron-on patches. No more wet, knotted shoelaces, muddy boots or rubber bands for ponytails.
Imagine.... a lipstick with a point, no babysitters for New Years Eve, washing clothes only once a week, no PTA meetings or silly school plays where your child is a tree, no car pools, blaring stereos or forgotten lunch money.
No more Christmas presents made of library paste and toothpicks, no wet oatmeal kisses, no more tooth fairy, no more giggles in the dark, scraped knees to kiss or sticky fingers to clean.
Only a voice asking, "Why don't you grow up?" And the silence echoes: "I did".

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Flayed Ones

have to admit, the original Flayed Ones never did it for me.  They felt like a unit that was missing something, both in their rules and their backstory.  I still think their rules are a little off (they’re a bit pricey, I think, and Rage or Furious Charge would’ve given them more flavor) but I think their fluff is fantastic now.  They’re essentially mechanical zombies, mindless eating machines that get nothing from what they eat.

And zombies have a special appeal to me.

Alas, nine dollars per model is a bit too steep for my taste, especially for the points cost.  Considering you need to use at least ten Flayed Ones to make a decent unit, they’re just too expensive.  And, I have to admit, it does grate on me a bit that Games Workshop theoretically created Finecast as a money-saving move, then refused to pass those savings on to the customers.

So... cheap Flayed Ones.
Some of you may remember from a while back, I’d lucked out and found a bunch of Necron Warriors in my local gaming store’s bits bins.  A lot of them were broken or poorly assembled.  Some had thick, gloppy paint jobs.  A few were missing arms or heads.  But I realized they’d make a good base to start from.  Heck, even if I had to buy a box of brand new Warriors for this project, it’d still make them less than half the price of the same number of Flayed Ones models.

First step was to cut off the weapons (assuming they hadn’t been broken off already).  I tried to save as much of the hand as possible, but didn’t worry about it too much if the arms ended at the wrist.  This gave me a basic Necron figure.

Some of these guys needed feet, too.  I think the thin ankles are tough for some younger Overlords to work with.  Since the Flayed Ones are supposed to be a bit deformed, I just built new feet from a few pieces of card and some small bits of sprue.  I added in some plastic rod in places where the break made them too short.

Helpful Hint – The easiest thing to do was just cut a pair of triangle This gave me a foot that looked a bit like a mechanical claw, and that works great for Flayed Ones.

Next was repositioning.  By nature of holding a rifle, all the Warriors are in more or less the same stance.  I cut some arms in the center of the upper arm and rotated them a bit.  This gave them wider and more dynamic poses.  I also cut a few Warriors across the thin part of the back, filed them a bit, and then re-attached them to give the figures a bit more of a hunch.  This helped with some of the models that had been assembled looking up at the sky.

Helpful Hint – Don’t worry too much about things lining up when you reposition them.  You want it to be solid, yes, but any odd seams can either be written off as part of the Flayed Ones mutated forms or it’ll get hidden by folds of skin (as explained in a bit).

A few of them needed arms, too.  I had a few spares that I’d picked up here and there, and in one or two places I found arms from Lychguard or Immortals that fit fine (if they looked a little oversized or distorted... all the better).  Some are Fantasy skeleton arms.  I even made one set from a zombie scythe handle and another from a skeleton spear.  I know they look really crude like this, but they’re going to be fine by the end of this.

The hands were the next part.  They are kind of the defining feature of a Flayed One.  On the old models they had very Freddy Kruger-ish fingers, but these new ones are a bit more random.  It fits their twisted, mutated nature and it makes for easy scratch-builds.

Two or three of these guys have elaborate hands made out of blades.  Some just have a scissors-like arrangement.  A few just have one big cutting blade, set up either like a sword or a scythe.  I tried to space these out between models so the different arrangements felt a bit random.

Helpful Hint – There are tons of knives and blades kicking about the GW lines.  Tons.  Space Marines of all flavors and allegiances, new and old, come with knives.  Kroot come with extra rifles that are covered with blades.  Dark Eldar have some nice ones.  Heck, if you saved any old Dark Eldar figures, there were blades on everything (even their pistols and helmets).  This doesn’t even count the number of things you can find in the Fantasy line--swords, daggers, spears--all sorts of nastiness.

I also really like the art in the new codex that shows a Flayed One with a small forest of spikes or blades growing out of its back.  I used a few more blades for those.  These helped reinforce the spine where I’d cut it, too.

Next week I’ll add some details to the base, some skin to the spikes, and some paint to the whole model.

  1. Nice work. I did something similar. I hated the new ones they looked...well, I made a bunch out of warriors and converted them with plastic card s\and stretched GS over them to simulate flaps of skin.

  2. Hey, Zab. Thanks for the kind words. I'm going to be doing something similar with green stuff (I hope...).

    I like the new Flayed Ones model a lot more than the old ones, but for a unit that's very limited on the battlefield, the models are just so damned expensive (money-wise). If I'm going to drop fifty dollars on a five-model squad, it better be a great overall unit, not something with such a narrow range of use. :(


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The History of Byzantium

Nicephorus stays at home to administer his realm and manages to alienate every strata of society.

Direct download: 138_Abhorring_the_Palace.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:47am EST

Nicephorus leads the armies in person against Tarsus and Mopsuestia, bringing Cilicia and Cyprus back into the Empire.

Direct download: 137_Cilicia.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:30pm EST

We discuss Nicephorus' life and career and what his rise meant for Romania.

Direct download: 136_The_White_Death_of_the_Saracens.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:35pm EST

We catch up on what Romanus II and Sayf were up to during the Cretan expedition. Then we move forward with Nicephorus Phokas as he sacks Aleppo.

Direct download: 135_Triumphal_Procession.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:07pm EST

With Nicephorus Phokas in charge of the military the Romans win a string of victories against Sayf al-Dawlah. Constantine VII decides to attack Crete again but dies before the expedition sets off.

Direct download: 134_Third_Times_the_Charm.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:53pm EST

An interview with Eric McGeer about his book "Sowing the Dragon's Teeth" which charts the changes in the Roman army as it moved to an offensive deployment in the 10th century.

Direct download: 133_Sowing_the_Dragons_Teeth_with_Eric_McGeer.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:25pm EST

948-954. We return to the frontier where the Phokas family inflict a series of sharp defeats on Sayf al-Dawla. Sayf starts again by restoring his border fortresses and driving off Roman attacks. When Constantine Phokas is captured alive the war begins to escalate.

Direct download: 132_Escalating_Violence.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:05am EST

Constantine VII seeks peace in the east but Sayf al-Dawla is not interested. The Emperor presses on with the attempted pacification of Crete.

Direct download: 131_False_Economy.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:29pm EST

An interview with Professor John Haldon about his book "The Empire That Would Not Die: The Paradox of Eastern Roman Survival, 640-740." In particular we discuss environmental research which helps us understand important changes in Anatolia. I think you'll be fascinated by what it can show us.

Direct download: 130_John_Haldon.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:31pm EST

Episode 129 is available

Direct download: 129_is_live.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:40pm EST


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Tuesday, 15 May 2012

Walking on Sunshine!

After the rain and hiatus from riding with my course time for work, I finally had a chance to swing back up in the saddle!  Went for a great ride this past Saturday with the BO through the fields, checking out new tracks that we can take, winding between the different crops and dugouts.  I'm finally getting to really see my new home through my horse's ears, and it's pretty incredible.

During the ride I did put in my time for the baseline of the twopoint challenge (for more info, check out SprinklerBandit's blog!).  Made it to 8 minutes, then absolutely HAD to sit.  While I was riding, I had my cellphone tucked into the inner pocket in my breeches, and the SO kept texting me about our evening plans.  Of course, I'm not wanting to answer, but after a while Koda is just walking along, April is chugging along behind us with her mare, ponying her gelding Mik, and I'm just chilling in my two-point, so I pull my phone out to send a quick text saying, yes/no, am riding,etc.  It was kind of hilarious simply because there I was, balancing in two-point, texting the SO while my new horse who I haven't ridden very much is just plugging along at a nice open walk along the crop field edge.  SUCH a difference from when I was riding Celtic!  This ride really drove home to me - this is going to be a good one.

The point that really drove it home was when we were exploring around the dugouts.  April and I were chatting away, and a partridge (?) flew out from almost underneath Koda's hooves.  I started, April jolted, Koda and the other horses Did. Not. Bat. An. Eyelash!

Very cool :)

  1. I added your start time to the challenge. Koda sounds super. :-)

  2. Thanks! Round three is coming tonight