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Study finds music streaming also outpaces game play

Content owners should be pleased with the results of a study by market research firm NPD Group, which shows that over-the-top video was the most common broadband activity on an Internet-connected TVs. Some 59% of consumers with connected sets watched streamed movies and TV shows, more than triple the 16% who streamed music, the activity ranked second in the study.

These numbers tend to reinforce consumer-spending figures compiled by trade org Digital Entertainment Group. In 2012, says DEG, U.S. consumers spent $2.34 billion on subscription streaming, up almost 46% from the prior year.

Facebook may have a billion active members, but most of them are not friending via their TV sets. According to NPD, only 6% of consumers with Internet-connected TV sets use them to access the world’s biggest social media site. That tied for fifth place, along with shopping and playing free casual games, among uses for the devices.

Why do so many consumers use their Internet-connected television sets only for video? NPD cites two reasons: Many applications, including Twitter, Facebook and Web browsing, are more suited to computers, tablets or smart phones. Also, the plethora of choices can lead to a complex and confused user experience.

As a result, Internet TV gives the upper hand to the activity that has dominated the culture since the dawn of television: sitting and watching.

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Expendables 3 Online Leak Piracy

Films pirated before theatrical debut take revenue hit, according to study

A pirated copy of Sylvester Stallone-starrer “The Expendables 3hit the Internet last Wednesday. There have already been nearly 2 million illegal downloads of the film so far, with its theatrical debut still 16 days away.

Could this — counterintuitively — actually be a boon for the movie’s distributor, Lionsgate, and put more butts in theater seats when it bows Aug. 15? Some argue that piracy, in this case, could be a big win for Hollywood.

“Leaking a month before its release might just be the best thing that ever happened to ‘The Expendables 3,’” wrote The Verge’s David Pierce, who admitted he downloaded and watched a copy of the movie.

The “two-plus hours of near-flawless action porn” is tailor-made to be seen on the bigscreen, so the illicit copies floating around on torrent sites will only drive up ticket sales, in Pierce’s estimation. “I’m already counting down the days until I can see it in Imax,” he wrote. “Maybe one leak will change the industry, maybe it won’t. But it won’t hurt ‘The Expendables 3.'”

However, studies indicate that this isn’t true: Piracy is decidedly not an effective promotional tool.

EARLIER: ‘Expendables 3’ Leaks Online, Pirated Copy Downloaded 189,000 Times in 24 Hours

Indeed, pre-release piracy of this kind has a particularly harmful effect on box office, according to a study by Carnegie Mellon University researchers. On average, movies that are leaked before theatrical debut have 19% lower box-office revenue compared with titles pirated after theatrical release, the study found.

“There might be people who pirated the movie and will go see it anyway — I’m not disputing that,” said Michael Smith, a professor of information technology and marketing at CMU’s Heinz College school of public policy, and one of the report’s authors. “But the main effect is (piracy) hurts sales.”

Illegal downloads of “Expendables 3″ clocked in at 1.89 million as of Tuesday at 6 p.m. Eastern, according to piracy-analytics firm Excipio.

Lionsgate has declined to comment on the leak of the film.

“The huge number of infringing downloads following the leak of this movie shows the extremely damaging impact of pre-release piracy and it reinforces the need for all players in the digital ecosystem to work together to help ensure an Internet that works for everyone,” said Howard Gantman, MPAA’s VP of global strategic communications.

Multiple studies indicate piracy has a negative effect on revenue. In a recent National Bureau of Economic Research book chapter, Smith and his CMU colleagues found that 16 of 19 papers published in peer-reviewed academic journals concluded that piracy harms media sales.

“The notion that piracy hurts sales is very much an accepted truth in the academic world,” Smith said.

The CMU team’s study was accepted last month for publication by Information Systems Research, which Smith said makes it the first peer-reviewed journal article to analyze the effect of pre-release movie piracy. The researchers applied standard statistical models for predicting box-office revenue, adding a variable for whether a movie leaked onto pirated networks prior to its release using data obtained from VCDQ.com, a site that monitors popular Internet file-sharing services.

The study examined 533 movies released between February 2006 and December 2008, of which 52 were subject to pre-release piracy (including movies that were released first in international markets). The few films that were pirated before their theatrical debut anywhere in the world represented a small subset, and included Fox’s “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” as well as “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,” Disney’s “The Avengers” and “Ratatouille.”

SEE ALSO: ‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘Breaking Bad’ Most Pirated TV Shows of 2013

The CMU researchers cautioned that piracy may affect different types of movies in different ways, and that its study relied on self-reported user data from a single website, VCDQ.com. The report also is based on data that is more than three years old; Smith said the research team expects to update the study.

And it’s worth pointing out that when it comes to TV shows, some industry execs have suggested that piracy might have a sliver lining. Time Warner chief Jeff Bewkes last year quipped that piracy of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” was “better than an Emmy,” while “Breaking Bad” showrunner Vince Gilligan claimed that illegal downloads helped the show gain fans.

For TV series, one or two pirated episodes out in the wild would mimic the free “sampling” strategy many networks use to drive up buzz — and might, theoretically, bump up audience overall. But if every episode of every season of “Game of Thrones” or “House of Cards” were readily downloadable in a high-quality format for free, that would likely depress signups to HBO or Netflix to some extent.

The research for CMU’s most recent paper, “An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Pre-Release Movie Piracy on Box-Office Revenue,” was conducted as part of the university’s Initiative for Digital Entertainment Analytics (IDEA), which receives unrestricted funding from the MPAA (meaning the trade group does not have editorial control over any studies).

Smith noted that CMU researchers also have received grants from Google for previous piracy studies, funding that was also unrestricted.

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Carl Pope's Field Notes

The Real Disaster Movie
27, 2004

This Memorial Day weekend marks the opening of "The Day After Tomorrow," the highly anticipated Hollywood action film that's giving the Sierra Club's Global Warming Team heartburn because it's so over the top with its depiction of its potentially devastating effects on the earth's climate.

But we all agree it's a great opportunity to have a conversation with millions of Americans about the real science and consequences of global warming. And it's a great chance to shine a bright light on the Bush administration's bad record and lack of action on global warming.

I have to agree with Dan Becker, Washington Director, Sierra Club Global Warming program when he says, "The real fiction about global warming is coming from the Bush administration," which has put its head in the sand and is ignoring the consensus of the scientific community on global warming.

When the makers of a movie about global warming get their facts wrong, the worst that can happen is you're out a few bucks. But when the Bush administration ignores the science, the results can be disastrous -- and the movie's got that right.

Read more on "The Day After Tomorrow" and Global Warming


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Linnie Marsh Wolfe
Son of the Wilderness: The Life of John Muir

reviewed by Char Miller

(Reprinted from the John Muir Newsletter , Vol. 3, No. 3, Summer 1993)

Linnie Marsh Wolfe
Son of the Wilderness: The Life of John Muir
New York: Alfred A. Knopf

Reviewed by Char Miller, Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas

[Editor's Note: Virtually every student of John Muir's life turns to Son of the Wilderness by Linnie Marsh Wolfe, whatever other biographies of Muir they may read. So it seemed a good idea to have one of today's major environmental historians take another look at the Wolfe biography almost fifty years after its publication.]

Linnie Marsh Wolfe loved John Muir, loved his "flashing blue eyes," his lyrical language, and the wilderness ideals he represented; she also adored the Sierra, that `Range of Light' he did so much to illuminate through thought, word, and deed. Even when she dedicated Son of the Wilderness to her husband, Robert Wolfe, and the shared joy they felt while tramping through "the meadows and groves and along the trails of the Yosemite," she had her mind on that majestic valley's most famed interpreter: in all sorts of ways Muir had made their experiences possible.

Wolfe was nothing if not grateful, as her text amply demonstrates. By immersing herself in Muir's life, for example, by soaking in his correspondence and journals, she was able to craft what amounts to a first-person narrative, the autobiography he never wrote for himself. The book, she believed, would have the added effect of lifting "a few veils that have obscured his rich life among men, thus . . . making him somewhat more than a disembodied voice crying in the wilderness" (vii). For these efforts, Wolfe was awarded the 1946 Pulitzer Prize for biography.

The choice, in retrospect, seems odd, for the book's reception was mixed. Although the Kirkus reviewer found it an "inspiring story," and Richard Hofstadter praised it as the "definitive study of Muir's odd career," many other prominent journals and critics were less impressed. The New Yorker, among others, was disappointed: "Very earnest, very well documented, and considering the material the author had to work with, rather unforgivably dull." More significant still were the concerns about the work's literary propriety and provenance. As Leonard Dubkin observed, "Mrs. Wolfe has let her love for the memory of John Muir overshadow her critical judgement, and the result is none too happy" or could in fact be called an unhappy result, flowing as well from the text's status as an "authorized" life: "one should never write a biography with the subject's daughters looking over one's shoulder." Linnie Marsh Wolfe was a kept woman.

Nearly a half century later, these and other flaws seem all the more pronounced. Wolfe's documentation, for instance, is haphazard -- some direct quotations are cited by sources, many others are not. Was she just sloppy in this respect? Does this signal a protectiveness of her work and her subject? In either event, subsequent historians can neither easily follow nor readily dispute her take on Muir. Then there are the "conversations" she reconstructs throughout the text, as if she had taken dictation while Muir mused upon a mountain top or got down and dirty with his avowed enemies. One stunning example emerges in her depiction of a verbal confrontation between Muir and Gifford Pinchot that allegedly occurred in the lobby of Seattle's Rainier Grand Hotel in 1897, and that she argues not only shattered their friendship but splintered the conservation movement (pp. 175-76). There is one major problem: this epochal moment cannot be confirmed either in Pinchot's or Muir's voluminous archives. In this case, as in others, Wolfe may have been merely repeating dialogue as Muir's aged colleagues (or his children) had remembered it decades later, a careless form of historical research that is compounded when she treated these fragments of memory as if they were as precise and valid as the primary documents she held in her hands. Skepticism was not her forte.

But then Wolfe was dealing with a man who was fast becoming an icon, and whose iconization only intensified following the publication of her generous biography; hoping to humanize Muir, she ended up deifying him. And that may explain this anomaly: despite a number of recent, first-rate studies on Muir, such as Michael Cohen's The Pathless Way and Stephen Fox's John Muir and his Legacy, there has been no full-fledged scholarly biography of him. Wolfe's Son of the Wilderness still casts a deep shadow.

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Cause of Epidemic in Le Roy is Hush-Hush. Are “The Le Roy Twelve” Really Victims of Vaccine-Injury?

January 15, 2012.

“Imagine for one second that your child started exhibiting some unusual behaviors and you or your doctors couldn’t get to the bottom of what was going on…”  This is just what has happened in Le Roy, New York.  Actually, it’s not exactly what happened because it’s not just one child. It’s TWELVE. Twelve girls, to be exact. That changes things. When ONE child develops tics or is diagnosed with the related neuropsychiatric disorder, Tourette’s Syndrome, it can be heartbreaking for both the child and the parents. When TWELVE girls of approximately the same age and attending the same high school develop uncontrollable tics within a short span of time, it’s different. It’s not only heartbreaking, it’s suspicious.

According to the video from WGRZ Channel 2 News , reporting from Le Roy, New York (Genessee County), results of a 3 1/2 month investigation have led health officials to rule out environmental factors, infections, communicable diseases, and illegal drugs.  Possible factors cited by health officials as potential causes are genetics, head trauma, drugs for OCD and ADHD, and antihistimines; all of which are known to cause tics.  The reporter goes on to say “Stress and anxiety make them worse.”  Okay, I’ll buy that.  If we are talking about isolated cases.  But TWELVE girls in the same high school, all of whom suffered the onset of “uncontrollable tics” just after the start of the school year?  It’s a little far fetched to say this is not related to something these girls all have in common; something that HAPPENED to them at roughly the same time. The latest reports circulating indicate the girls are now being treated for conversion disorder, which basically means there is nothing physically wrong with them and “it’s all in their heads.”  Is it?  As many parents of vaccine-injured children will tell you, this “determination” that there is “nothing physically wrong” is not only insulting, it stops progress and decreases the chances of the child receiving an accurate diagnosis and effective treatment.

Why DID the Le Roy Twelve develop strange uncontrollable tics in recent months? There has to be a common factor or factors. So why can’t the officials from the New York State Health Department and the CDC figure it out? Could it be that the true underlying cause of this mysterious outbreak is vaccines? If so, it would not be the first time for state health department officials and the CDC to deny or cover-up this fact.

According to the article from Channel 2 News, Gardasil has been ruled out.  Actually, the article states: “ NYS Health Department spokesman Jeff Hammond also says vaccines such as Gardasil were investigated as a cause and ruled out.”  Here we go again.  Jeff Hammond works for the New York State Health Department.  His salary is funded by the sale of vaccines. Think about it.  What do health departments do?  They admnister vaccines.  They do other things, too, but vaccines comprise a significant percentage of the medical procedures performed by those who work in and for health departments.  Officials who have a monetary interest in seeing that vaccines are widely used have no business investigating or deciding if cases like this are due to vaccine-injury.  That’s a conflict of interest that certainly has the potential to influence Mr. Hammond’s determination.  The fact that Mr. Hammond names Gardasil specifically makes me think this vaccine was at least suspected as a cause.

What do you think?  I have a lot of friends who are talking about The Le Roy Twelve.  The overwhelming consensus among many seems to be that the sudden onset of tics must be a Gardasil injury.  It’s certainly possible, especially since the tics have only occurred in girls.  Gardasil definitely has the potential to cause tic disorders and much worse (103 deaths reported to VAERS so far), so it’s the first thing we think about in this case.

If you are not familiar with Gardasil, and if you have a child approaching age 9 or above, you need to learn about this vaccine.  Attempts are being made to make it mandatory for school attendance in several states.  Here is the manufacturer’s insert for Gardasil.  Merck Pharmaceuticals publishes this document; they’re required to by law.  This is the document you need to read before giving consent for this vaccine.  As you read through the data from the clinical trials you will notice that there are a lot of serious adverse reactions among the trial participants and the reactions that have the highest numbers occur in both the Experimental Group and The Control Group.  In scientific experiments the Experimental Group is the group that gets the treatment (the drug, in this case) and the Control Group gets the placebo.  The placebo is supposed to be something that is benign and will not cause any reactions.  That way you don’t get invalid data.

You will also notice on page 4 of the Gardasil manufacturer’s insert  that in 5 out of 7 clinical trials the Control Group (Placebo Group) was administered AAHS = Amorphous Aluminum Hydroxyphosphate Sulfate.  This is the adjuvent that is used in Gardasil.  An adjuvent is a substance that is added to the vaccine to produce an enhanced response from the immune system.  That’s why it’s there.  Because Aluminum causes alterations in the immune system, it is not a true placebo.  The reason the severe reactions occur in both groups is because the substance in the vaccine that is causing so much harm is the adjuvent.  Aluminum.  THIS is WHY you will hear many of us who study vaccines and vaccine-safety say, “There are inadequate safety studies for Gardasil.”  The studies that are cited in the Gardasil manufacturer’s insert were not safety studies. They could not have been, because there was no Control Group. The makers of Gardasil (Merck) tell you in this vaccine insert that the serious adverse reactions, including deaths, blood clots, loss of consiousness, GBS, seizures, arthritis, autoimmune disease, etc. were determined NOT to be due to the vaccine BECAUSE they occurred equally as frequently in BOTH GROUPS. That’s because the serious adverse events were caused by aluminum – which was given to BOTH GROUPS.  Now pay attention here… It is entirely possible that those health department officials have “ruled out” Gardasil because adverse reactions to this vaccine have been “shown to be no more frequent in those who received the vaccine than in those who received the placebo in clinical trials.” This is standard double-talk from people who either do not know how to read the manufacturer’s insert; do not understand the basic tenets of research; or….. who DO know these things and are counting on the fact that you don’t and won’t question them.

I can’t get Jeff Hammond’s statement off my mind. He says, “vaccines such as Gardasil were investigated as a cause and ruled out.”  Vaccines such as Gardasil? Does he mean vaccines that target HPV? Gardasil and Cervarix?  What’s missing in Mr. Hammond’s statement is any indication that other vaccines – those that are not “such as Gardasil” have been investigated and ruled out. As noted above, we tend to think immediately of Gardasil as the culprit because all of The Le Roy Twelve are girls. We need to ask ourselves, “Are there any factors that might make girls, specifically adolescent girls,  more susceptible to vaccine-injury than adolescent boys?”  The answer is “Yes.”

What things might make girls more vulnerable to vaccine-injury?

  • Weight:  Girls generally weigh less than boys, especially when they get to high school age.  The less a girl weighs, the more potential the damage may be from certain vaccine ingredients; namely aluminum and mercury.
  • Oral contraceptives:  Boys don’t take them.  Girls do.  High school girls may take oral contraceptives for different reasons. Some take them because they have been diagnosed with endometriosis or because they have painful or irregular menstrual periods.  Some girls take oral contraceptives because they have acne.  Oral contraceptives deplete certain vitamins, including B6, which is necessary for the methylation pathway to work properly. The methylation pathway has to do with how the body gets rid of toxins, including things like mercury and aluminum. If the methylation pathway is not working properly because of a B6 deficiency (or other essential nutrient), vaccine-injury is more likely.
  • Diet:  From my experience, both as a therapist and as a mother of two teenaged girls, I can say with some degree of certainty that girls are more likely than boys to adapt a vegetarian or vegan diet, especially when they are in high school.  Meat, chicken, fish, eggs and dairy products are rich in B6 and B12. Eliminating these foods from the diet increases the risk of deficiencies of these nutrients, which are both essential to the proper functioning of the methylation pathway – which is essential for detoxifying.

It could just be my suspicious mind but it almost seems that the officials handling this case WANT us to jump to the conclusion that Gardasil is responsible for the epidemic of tic disorders among The Le Roy Twelve.  It seems strange that they came out in the news stating that Gardasil has been eliminated as a cause. That leads me to believe they may be intentionally planting that seed with the public so they can later come out with the records (they have set the stage for the public to demand this) showing that not all girls got the Gardasil (or Cervarix) vaccine. If this happens it will lead the public to believe that all of our concerns about this being related to vaccines are unjustified. Gardasil is just one vaccine that causes tic disorders. It’s the aluminum in the vaccines that is the most likely suspect. With the push for Tdap boosters in high school kids, AND with the emphasis on no shots, no college, it’s entirely possible that these 12 girls may have gotten any combination of vaccines (single or multiple) and they are experiencing aluminum toxicity.  The fact that the symptoms of  The Le Roy Twelve developed shortly after the beginning of the school year certainly suggests the possibility that they may have received vaccines during the annual media push for back-to-school shots.

How Aluminum Affects Neurological Health:

- Reduces nervous sytem activity by blocking the action potential of nerve cells

- Inhibits enzymes in the brain

- Inhibits the uptake of Dopamine, Noradrenaline (Norepinephrine), and Serotonin (5-HTP) by nerve cells

When the “action potential” is blocked, neurons (nerve cells) do not “fire” correctly. This impacts their ability to transmit messages from one cell to another and between different areas of the brain. Enzymes are catalysts that make things happen. Again, if enzymes are inhibited, things don’t happen the way they’re supposed to. Dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin (5-HTP) are neurotransmitters (brain chemicals) that move between one neuron and another, and are essential for things like attention, impulse control, mood regulation, sleep and wake cycles, hunger and satiety, control of voluntary and involuntary movement, and the fight-or-flight response. When the uptake of these neurotransmitters is inhibited, all kinds of things can (and do) go wrong. Each of the physiological effects listed above leads to ineffective processing of information in the brain;  including sensory information such as auditory and visual input; hence, auditory processing disorder, visual processing disorder, and sensory integration dysfunction.

How Aluminum Affects Behavioral Health:

- Memory Loss

-Loss of Coordination

- Confusion and Disorientation

In the digestive system aluminum causes reduction of intestinal activity and colic (pain in the gut).

Symptoms of Aluminum Toxicity:

~Early Toxicity:  Flatulence, headaches, colic, dryness of skin and mucous membranes, tendency for colds, burning pain in the head relieved by food, heartburn, aversion to meat

 What vaccines contain aluminum? And what vaccines are given to high school students? How can we find out?  Start by opening another tab on your browser so you can go back and forth between this post and the Vaccine Ingredients Calculator.

Click on the link above.  Then Click where it says Use the VIC Now.

Step 1:  Enter first name, weight, and age.  (For the purpose of this example I used “Terry,” 120 pounds, and age 16.)  Click “Select Vaccines” – up pops the CDC’s Recommended Vaccination Schedule for children age 7-18.  In the section for ages 13-18 (high school age), the recommended vaccines for a child on “the catch-up schedule” are:  Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis (Tdap), Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), Meningococcal (MCV), Hepatitis B (HepB), Inactivated Polio Virus (IPV), Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) and Varicella. Yearly Flu Vaccine is also recommended for 16 year-olds.  (Pneumococcal and Hepatitis A vaccines are recommended for certain “high risk groups,” which usually do not include 16 year-old girls living in the U.S.)

Click on these vaccines:  Dtap, HPV, MCV, HepB, IPV, MMR, and Varicella. (all the green ones and the yellow one). Then click “I’m Finished.”

Step 2:  Vaccine Selection:

  • Tdap:  Select either of the first two choices. The others do not contain the pertussis component, so it’s highly unlikely that these girls would have gotten them. For the purpose of this example, Terry is going to get Boostrix.
  • HPV:  Terry is getting Gardasil.  It’s a pretty safe bet that if any or all of The Leroy Twelve were vaccinated against HPV they got Gardasil rather than Cervarix, so click Gardasil.
  • Meningococcal (MCV):  Hover over each of the choices on this one… You will see that they are quite different in their ingredients, depending on if the vaccine is a single-dose vs. a multi-dose vial.  My fictitious 16 year-old Terry is going to get her shots at the health department so she will be getting the MCV from a mult-dose vial. I’m going to click Menomume multi-dose.
  • Seasonal/H1N1:  Again, since Terry is getting her shots at the health department she will be getting the multi-dose version of Fluzone from Sanofi-Pasteur.  Multi-dose vials of the flu vaccine are generally used by health departments. They are also used at “Flu Clinics” and places like Walmart and CVS where lots of people are vaccinated for a low cost (or for free) because multi-dose vials cut down on costs to the vaccinators.
  • Hepatitis B:  On this one it really doesn’t matter which you choose because they contain the same amount of aluminum and they each contain the same amount of yeast protein. Click either one. Terry is getting the Recombivax HB – from Merck.
  • Polio:  Click IPOL. This is the only one that is licensed for 16 year-olds.  You might want to hover your mouse over the other options, though. Especially if you have younger children. Check out the aluminum in those vaccines!
  • MMR II:  Again, this is the only option. Click it.

Now, click the “CALCULATE” button.  Click “OK” in the black box that pops up.

Step 3:  Vaccine Ingredients Chart:  This tells you how much of each ingredient (other than the actual virus or bacteria the vaccine is supposed to protect against) your child, or in this case, our hypothetical 16 year-old “Terry” will receive from this recommended schedule.

  • Aluminum:  865 micrograms (mcg)
  • Bovine Protein:  Unknown amount. This is a protected trade secret. You’re not allowed to know how much cow DNA is being injected into your kids.
  • Egg Protein:  Unknown amount. Another trade secret.
  • Formaldehyde (you know… like in embalming fluid):  200+ mcg
  • Genetically Engineered Human Albumin:  300 mcg
  • Human Protein from Fetal Cell Line WI-38:  Unkown amount. You guessed it… trade secret. And yes, this comes from an aborted human fetus.
  • Human Protein from Fetal Cell Line Wistar RA 27/:  Ditto to above.
  • Mercury:  50 mcg. (Note the small green bar on the right. That’s the EPA “safe” limit for mercury.)
  • Phenoxyethanol:  Just slightly less than 6 milligrams or 600 micrograms
  • Polysorbate 80:  500 mcg.
  • Yeast Protein:  Unknown amount. Trade secret.

That’s a lot of stuff. I could talk for days (I’m sure by now you believe me) on the synergistic effects of toxins. However, for the purpose of this post, we’re going to stick to aluminum. For now, anyway.  Our hypothetical 16 year-old would have received 865 micrograms of aluminum PLUS 50 micrograms of thimerosal if she had received all of these recommended vaccines according to “The Schedule.”

Okay, skeptics. I know what’s coming…. “Most high school students don’t get all those vaccines. If some of The Le Roy Twelve got some of them and not all, and if others got all of them, then they don’t have the same underlying factors.”  This may sound like a confusing and petty argument to you, but I assure you, this is the kind of argument that is often put forth as evidence that vaccines are not responsible when a child has a severe reaction – or dies.

So let’s see what would happen if The Le Roy Twelve or some of them, got fewer vaccines. This time Terry is only going to get the ones that are being pushed the most:  Tdap, MCV, HepB, HPV, and Seasonal/H1N1 Flu.

Guess what?  Terry still gets almost 900 micrograms of aluminum and 50 mcg of mercury.

What if Terry did NOT go to the health department, but was vaccinated in her physician’s office? Then she would be less likely to get mercury from the MCV and Flu shots, right?  Right. So lets calculate that.  No mercury, but Terry still gets almost 900 micrograms of aluminum, and she gets it all in one day.

This begs the question…. How much aluminum can be safely injected into our children through their vaccinations?  The answer is, “We have no idea.” There have been no safety studies indicating that it’s okay to inject high doses of aluminum directly in to the bodies of our children.  This is one of the factors that is used by those who promote vaccines. They will often say, “There is no scientific evidence that aluminum in vaccines is harmful.”  They’re right. There’s no scientific evidence regarding aluminum in vaccines at all. The research has not been done.

Let’s throw in another possible factor:  As noted previously, if The LeRoy Twelve got their recommended flu shots and meningococcal vaccines, and if they got them from multi-dose vials, they got 50 micrograms of thimerosal (50% mercury) in addition to the whopping amounts of aluminum discusssed above.  The effects of mercury and aluminum together are many times more damaging than either of these neurotoxins alone. See this article for some good information on the synergistic effects of mercury and aluminum. Watch this important video from the University of Calgary School of Medicine to see what mercury does to neurons in the brain. Remember that neurotransmitters (dopamine, noradrenaline and serotonin) are damaged by exposure to aluminum. Remember that neurotransmitters are dependent on the synapse (the place where two neurons meet and exchange chemical messengers) in order to work properly. The video you just watched shows the destruction of the synapse.

Tourette’s Syndrome is the DSM-IV diagnosis that carries psychomotor tics as it’s hallmark presentation.  Tics are caused by the disruption of the balance or the inability of the brain to effectively utilize neurotransmitters.  Exposure to aluminum and mercury – alone, and especially in combination with each other, destroys the mechanisms that are required for the balance and usage of neurotransmitters.  This is not rocket science.  It is brain science.  That’s why people who work for state agencies that are dependent on the sale of vaccines should not be the ones determining whether or not vaccine-injuries really are due to “vaccines such as Gardasil.”

For further information about the role of neurotransmitters in tic disorders and Tourette’s Syndrome, please go to pubmed and type in “tics and neurotransmitters” – I just got 505 articles.

For a good review of Aluminum Toxicity, please check out this article.

If you are reading this article and you happen to live in or near Le Roy, New York:  Please try and get a copy of this information to the parents of the girls who have been injured. The sooner their injuries are accurately identified, the better the prognosis is for complete recovery.  The longer it takes, the worse the outcome may be.

Please read this follow-up article, written January 18, 2012:  The Le Roy Twelve:  Gardasil? Mass Hysteria? PANDAS? Aluminum Toxicity? – A Discussion on Environmental Factors, Mitochondrial Damage, and Vaccine-Injury

Add a comment »4 comments to this article

  1. I wanted to share this with everyone, here is the first paragrah that was in an article on the website for this morning. (News10NBC learned from Sunday’s meeting that a boy and another girl were pulled out of LeRoy High School last week from exhibiting similar symptoms to the ones that these other teens have been experiencing.

    But, at this point we don’t know if they are facing the same diagnoses. We also learned is there could be up to 16 students who are now affected.)

    I am a LeRoy mom, I have six children, four whom have graduated from this school between 2008 and 2011. I attended the meeting and asked about gardasil along with a lot of other questions.. At the time of the meeting, I was convinced that the school had done a good job in convincing parents that it was safe to send the children to school. I do not know what to think anymore and I am scared and confused. I was informed at the meeting that not every girl had had the gardasil and that it was not PANDAS. I personally believe that each of the injured students must share some commonality, it is just not yet detected. As far as the conversion disorder, I do not buy it, and would have thought that the investigation would have been more thourough such as do these students share the same PCP, when was their last physical, when was their last vacination, did they all have a flu shot? Was it from the same lot, was it given in combo with some other vacation, now causing this reaction? All I know is I have a 14 year old that this is stressing out because she is so afraid of “being struck next” that it has sent her in to a depression.

    • I am sorry to hear about what your child is experiencing. It is certainly understandable how a young person in that situation could feel as if he or she is about to be struck down at any moment. From your comment, it does appear as though the numbers of students affected are increasing. When we are told by officials that they have ruled out “this” or “that” as a causal factor it increases the fear because those things we might be able to rule-out in our own children remain elusive. If it was Gardasil and your child did not receive Gardasil, you might breathe a sigh of relief. If it was PANDAS and your child does not have a history of chronic strep, you might breathe a sigh of relief. When we don’t know what is causing something to occur it is human nature to look for “THE cause.” That way we can decrease our own anxiety if we are able to differentiate “us” from “them.” This is very similar to what happened in the 1980s with the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It’s also why many people became infected with HIV after they incorrectly decided they were not at risk because they were not gay or using injection drugs.

      First, I want to say that I have it on good authority that PANDAS has NOT been ruled out. From what I understand, the girls’ parents have fired the neurologist who apparently “ruled out” vaccine-injury and diagnosed them with conversion disorder. Dr. Lazlo Mechter certainly could be viewed as having a significant conflict of interest that might prevent him from being totally objective in ruling out both vaccine-injury and PANDAS, since he is one of the physicians who has received very high amounts of monetary compensation (e.g., “bribes?”) from Glaxo-Smith-Kline and Merck Pharmaceuticals. (http://docdollars/top_earners/mechtler-laszlo–3 ) Merck is the maker of Gardasil. Merck also produces MMR, Varicella, HiB, Flu, Menigoccocal, Pneumococcal, Rotavirus, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis A, and Shingles Vaccines. ( ) Glaxo-Smith-Kline makes (and makes a lot of money from) DTaP, Hepatitis B, Flu, Hepatitis A, and Rotavirus vaccines. ( )

      As today’s post here on VaxTruth explains, PANDAS does not rule out vaccine-injury. If anything, the diagnosis of PANDAS points directly to vaccine-injury. Dr. Mechter would certainly know this if he has been keeping up with the latest research on sudden onset of neurological disorders in children and adolescents. Please see my article, “Is PANDAS Really Vaccine Injury” – you can find it under the Articles and Topics link at the top of the page.

      As you will see if you go through the articles I have written about the environment in Le Roy, there are a number of concerns that you should be aware of. Le Roy is one of those places in the country where heavy metals from industrial pollution permeate the environment. This factor does increase the susceptibility to vaccine-injury. Parents such as yourself are right to be concerned.

      My suggestion to you is that you learn as much as you can about vaccines and the interaction of vaccines and other environmental toxins. I also recommend that you study the true risks of vaccines and weigh these against the perceived benefits. There are several articles on this website that will help you in this process. You can find them under the Vax Facts tab on the homepage ( ).

      If I lived in Le Roy or a similar area (I do. I live in SW Indiana, which is “The coal-burning capitol of the U.S.”), I would not panic. I would learn what to do to strengthen my child’s immune system naturally. One of the easiest ways to do this is to be sure your child’s vitamin D levels are optimal. Your pediatrician can check the levels with a simple blood test. As this link ( ) from the Mayo Clinic informs us, Vitamin D deficiencies are associated with a host of illnesses, including infectious diseases and autoimmune disorders. The Mayo article also explains that Vitamin D is the only vitamin that is produced by the body, needing only sunshine for its production. I tend to disagree a bit with this statement. Vitamin D3 (the active form) is synthesized by the kidneys. If the kidneys are overloaded because they are so busy trying to detoxify the body from environmental exposures (including high levels of aluminum from vaccines), then Vitamin D levels will very likely be deficient. The article from Mayo also states very low levels for recommended vitamin D intake through supplementation. These are based on the U.S. Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA). Many people need much higher daily doses of D3 in order to bring their blood levels up. In my family, my children get 2,500 iu of D3 daily. I take 5,000 iu daily. When my daughter contracted H1N1 a couple of years ago, I bumped her D3 up to 20,000 iu/day for 3 days. She got sick over the weekend and was back in class by Wednesday, only missing two days of school. The fears about vitamin D toxicity are greatly exaggerated, in my opinion; but that’s just my opinion. I encourage you to research this for yourself and to have your levels (and your kids’ levels) checked if you are at all unsure about supplementing.

      If I lived in LeRoy I would NOT agree to ANY vaccinations until I learned what was in them, and whether or not they make sense for my child. If you have been told your child cannot attend school without being vaccinated, you have been lied to. New York State residents are legally entitled to exercise their right to religious exemption from vaccination. I suggest you check this information from the National Vaccine Information Center, and share it with others who may be concerned:

      I hope this helps.
      Please keep us posted on how things are developing in your community.
      Our prayers are with you.

    • The link to the information about Dr. Lazlo Mechter and the money he has received from Merck and GSK does not work. Try this one:–3

  2. Sounds a lot like what happened in Salem Massachusetts in 1692

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One thing we bought at Ikea was some frozen tunnbröd. If you bake them in a hot oven for 3 or 4 minutes, they firm up, at which point you can top them with delicious things and throw them back in for a few more minutes. Every one I made was very satisfying, we'll do these again soon. This one is Västerbotten cheese, red onion, chive, and black pepper.

hey i've got an ikea.

Holy fucking shit I went to Ikea today, for the first time ever.

It was for a good cause, I swear. There's a problem we're trying to fix:

Ikea was...not as bad as I expected. I compensated myself for enduring real-live consumerism by hypocritically purchasing a handful of my favorite Swedish food items. Hypocrisy can be delicious.

This recipe isn't ready to be used yet. I thought this was exactly what I was looking for, but then we didn't end up using most of the dressing, so maybe it still needs a tweak or two. But if you're looking for something that tastes exactly like a store-bought honey dill mustard thing, this is it.

mustard-dill sauce for salmon.

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup sweetish mustard
1 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 cup-1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh dill

Above: oliebollen and Crash, a possible first in the history of humanity.

Well, 100M has fallen prey to yet another 2011 head cold, so we are trading out one comfort food plan (duck confit, sauerkraut, and that horseradish/butter/parsnip mash thing) for another: phở.

Bought some chicken to go into this thing, and with some of the non-necessary bits I'm doing two things: wings; and some kind of lettuce-wraps.

But I'm wondering, why did I not document the cooking process for the superamazing wings I made for Mara's birthday last year? I also don't think I documented the cooking process for this amazing phở I made this summer that involved toasted ginger. Why??? WHAT'S WRONG WITH MEEEEEEEEE??????

UPDATE: Everything worked out fine. Turns out that you just cook the wings for like 20 minutes at 350, 20 minutes at 400, and then blast them at 450 til they're the right color. Or slower if you have time. For wings that you're coating in sauce, you can't really dry them out.

For the rest, below: chicken phở with all accompaniments; red dragon chicken/lettuce wraps, kind of a Momofuku thing, not bad; wings.

pan pan.

Above: low-lit butterscotch pudding. Very very good warm.

Something I've never not improvised is a pan sauce for a freshly-cooked steak. Like: you take your steaks, slap 'em up with salt and pepper, toss them in a hot skillet for 2-5 minutes per side, then take them out and let them rest for 10 minutes.

While yr meat is resting, you make a pan sauce. This can go really well or you can end up with something blackly inedible, but somehow I never really considered why my bad ones ended up bad, I just remade them and they'd be OK.

Then I just read something somewhere the other night that said "after your steaks are out of the skillet and resting, let the pan cool off for a minute and then start making your sauce." DUH. And indeed this is why my sauces sometimes fucked up: too-hot skillet vaporizing my liquid instead of reducing it usefully. And by the time I fucked up the first try and started a second one, the pan was much cooler. DUH DUH DUH.

So here what was in last night's sauce, which was great, ALTHOUGH....it's more about the technique and not obliterating your sauce with an overheated slab of cast-iron.

pan-fried steak with red wine sauce.

2 petite steaks
plenty of salt
plenty of pepper

3/4 cup to 1 cup red wine
1 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1-2 tbsp butter, depending

Follow instructions hinted at above, basically after steaks are resting, turn off heat and let skillet cool for a minute or a bit less. Throw everything in the pan on medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes, keeping an eye on it so nobody burns up. Serves 2 or so.

review: fraîche, amsterdam.

You know we don't really do restaurant reviews here in the traditional sense, but if we think there's somewhere worth going, we try to mention it in a findable way. Based on last night's experience, Fraîche is somewhere worth going.

We had a really really nice evening, so I don't want to linger too much on the less-compelling aspects of the operation, but yeah ok: bad news first. Gripe #1 and I guess really my only serious complaint is that their beer selection was severely, depressingly anemic (Brand, Amstel, and Heineken, WTF? none of those are even beer).

And because there was no beer worth drinking, I was forced to interact with the wine list, something you know I would normally never complain about (I would just shut up and drink good beer instead), but: the red wine options were weirdly unidimensionally Italianate/Sangiovese, and our time in Italy cured me of ever purposely, excitedly ordering Sangiovese, so I didn't find much joy there either.

OK, now the good news: booze gripes aside, everything else was thoroughly cozy, efficient, and fun. For an Amsterdam restaurant, if you give me a completely charming and friendly waitstaff (check), plus good-to-great music on the stereo (check), you're halfway there. You almost don't even need to be able to cook: the food just needs to show up in a reasonable timeframe and be edible. If your music playlist includes 20 minutes' worth of Bitches Brew, you get double quadruple one zillion extra points.

The food itself: really carefully done and tasty. Not exactly mind-expanding or anything, but definitely complex, professionally cooked, well-seasoned, and most of all: careful. As in made with care, which is something we don't see a lot of around here.

Our starters were: thin slices of wild boar with cranberry jam and finely diced red cabbage; and I had confit scallop with Israeli couscous and citrus vinaigrette. The scallop was barely cooked (or had the texture of being barely cooked, not sure how a shellfish confit comes into being), the couscous was perfectly done, the citrus-y peppers and shoots on top added a nice mix of textures, and the whole thing was delicate in a way my cooking never is...I liked it very much.

Next up I had "ricotta gnocchi with pickled pumpkin, winter mushrooms, foie gras, smoked pine nuts, cheddar sauce"; ze Mara had "herb-crusted cod with Jerusalem artichoke, parsley root, baby radish, pink grapefruit, tarragon, brown butter." Both were, again, totally enjoyable if not breathtaking...I wish that the non-gnocchi components of my dish had been more assertive (pickled pumpkin + smoked pine nuts, I'm looking at you), and Mara's dish really required every component in every bite in order to really come alive...and almost everything we were served (except my scallop) seemed to benefit from a tiny tiny pinch of the coarse salt that was provided in a little dish before the meal even began, I guess maybe they're undersalting on purpose. In any event: we pretty much licked our plates clean.

Three courses were €35 per person (dessert was a nice white chocolate/mandarin mousse and a petite cheese plate), which is a very very typical price point for three courses in Amsterdam, and this is the important part: I know we've never ever had a meal anywhere else in town with such sophisticated and pretty faultless (and, again, careful) cooking at these prices. I know we'll be back very soon. A brief chat with one of the friendly American chefs revealed a couple of things: 1) that they have all kinds of very exciting plans for new venues over the next few years, and 2) you shouldn't doubt the Duck when it comes to geek knowledge like who's playing soprano on Bitches Brew (it is Wayne).

Oh yeah: Xmas dinner. We're hibernating, as you know. Dinner and a movie for two is the plan. The dinner is: steak with some kind of port/Stilton sauce I haven't decided on; some kind of roasted beet and maybe cranberry relish I haven't decided on yet; garlic mashed taters; roasted parsnips with butter and horseradish maybe; some kind of salad with walnut oil I haven't decided on yet; etc. And something for dessert. That I haven't decided on yet.

Movie: The Godfather.

that's all you had to say.

Dutch racial insensitivity is in the news quite a bit these days, thought we'd celebrate the occasion with a pack of Negroes. Cookies, I mean.

That's it. We're done with "doing stuff" for the year, as in things that involve responsibility. And it is supernice, I must say....my heart goes out to you (metaphorically) if you're not in this kind of luxurious position.

OK I mean sure there are little things to do, like sending mailorder packages, making web pages, updating spreadsheets, and oh yeah trying to get our really expensive accountants to actually finish our taxes. Fuckers.

But mostly the plan is to sit inside and play Scrabble and catch up on unwatched movies and yes, of course, cook. But otherwise nothing. Sleep. It's been a fucking ridiculous year, you have no idea. Or, yes, some of you have some idea, but the point is: this duck needs to get in the Scimulator for a while and redetermine what everything's all about.

hepburn to greenspan to firestone.

Above: peel-and-eat shrimp going into the oven (they're under the lemons, butter, and celery). Below: beet and goat cheese salad with a pomegranate-cumin vinaigrette and pine nuts; then the recipe for and a picture of THE BEST brownies I've had in recent memory. And I looooove brownies. These are Hilly's version of Dorie's version of Katharine Hepburn's brownies and they're perfect. Hilly's modifications were to sub pistachios for the walnuts or pecans, cut back on the cinnamon a little, and serve it with a totally lekker cardamom cream.

caesar salad deviled eggs.

Above: Swami Peter at the Wildeman. +++

Tomorrow it cleans the house and rewards itselves with these.

Wednesday the Mara heads off to the Scotland for a few days and that evening I think I'm cooking Japanese for the Swede. I mean, I'm definitely cooking dinner, I think it will be Japanese. I'm kind of ohhhh "in the zone" with it, and since my rehearsal for tomorrow is canceled, I have a little "extra time" to do geeky prep things like make my own okonomiyaki sauce. For my own reference here are things I'm thinking about doing:

Mini okonomiyaki (okonomiyakini?) or nasu dengaku.
Sake-rubbed roasted chicken (something I made up) with ginger-scallion, octo vinaigrette, and red dragon sauces (all Momofuku).
Quick salt pickles (Momofuku).
Furikake rice (something else that I made up but probably already exists).

Ehhhhhhh....dessert? Maybe green tea ice cream?

on the beet.

Just made something really pretty great that I should make a note about, because I've basically been making variations of it for three days now and they're good every time. It's kind of Momofuku-based, but meatless. Bonus: it was nice with a side of hash browns.

butter-browned tofu and mushrooms with ginger-scallion sauce and quick-pickled beets and cucumbers.

1/2 block firm tofu, cubed
1 cup some kind of mushroom, sliced
an onion of some sort, chopped
1 or 2 tbsp butter
2 tsp gochujang (or sriracha for a different heat)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 or 2 tsp raw sugar
black pepper
1/2 cup scallions, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

from Momofuku:
2 tbsp ginger-scallion sauce
kimchi puree (optional)
quick pickled cucumbers
quick pickled beets

Saute mushrooms in dry pan until nicely browned. Remove. Add butter, tofu, and onion, saute on low heat until tofu is nicely browned. Return mushrooms and add everything else except kimchee puree and pickles. Saute for a few more minutes, adjust seasoning, serve with kimchi puree and pickles as garnish.

round town.

Tonight we got a wild hair and went to four places, count 'em FOUR PLACES for drinks. Brief notes follow.

Bridges is in the space where the old Cafe Roux used to be. When we were at In de Wildeman on Friday, we asked a chef friend of ours if he had any recent eating tips and he told us that Bridges seemed nice and that they hadn't blinked at his shabby attire when he dropped in (though in retrospect it was unclear if he'd actually eaten there or just had drinks), so we decided to check it out tonight since we were kind of in the hood.

The decor (pictured, kind of, above) seemed cold and modern at first but actually kind of grew on me as we sat there. It was not our preferred crowd really, maybe it's that wines by the glass were (by my standards) extremely expensive for Europe, up to 16/glass for reds. I did a flight of Pinot Noir (15 euro), because I am FUCKING SOPHISTICATED (and because it made me feel like my glasses of wine cost 5 each), and it was interesting but I didn't fall in love.

The gratis bar snacks were poorly chosen enough to make me not want to order any other food there: twenty roasted cashews (plus two rogue almonds); four huge green olives; and several sticks of julienned courgette, carrot, and daikon served with a curry aioli, which was just totally ill-conceived and called into question the soundness of the entire menu's Asian fusion-y leanings, especially at these prices (most of the apps were above 20 euro, including a 26 euro miso soup). So we finished our drinks and left.

We went down the street to Van Kerkwijk, which used to be a favorite back when we lived nearby a few years ago. We sat at the bar, and immediately realized that things had changed somehow. They only had Brand and Amstelbok for beer and only merlot by the glass (the horror!, i know, but still), the music was shitty, the bartender half-heartedly tried to wipe off the bar when we sat down, but there was this hardened piece of goat cheese stuck on there and she just mushed it around a little and then kind of shrugged and left the crusty part there. Some limp and boring-looking salads sat at the pass the entire time we were there. I don't know, something was wrong, nothing about it filled us with confidence, so we finished our drinks and left.

By this time we were actually getting hungry, so I suggested that we just find something comparatively cheap and greasy like Pasodoble in the Jordaan. So that's where we went. But on the way there we passed De Zagerij (strangely outdated website, no?), which I thought looked kind of promising, so we went in. The menu looked OK, almost really good, and it was a welcoming room, the music was good (old Elvis [Presley]), but yeah, the bartender was giving off this strangely disinterested vibe (imagine that, in Amsterdam). And the menu wasn't sealing the deal, although the smells from the kitchen were pretty yummy. So we finished our drinks and left.

Our high spirits were somehow undiminished by the time we got to Pasodoble (I think our expectations have been permanently lowered, yay!!!). And if you go there, your expectations should be low, something like "well-seasoned, garlicky, decently-fried food in a friendly setting", and then you won't be disappointed. I don't think you could call the food here anything better than OK, but it made us quite happy at the time, way more than any 26 euro plate of scallops and foie gras would have, IMHFO.

I mean, yes, I'm pretty sure their calamari and patatas bravas come out of a bag from the freezer. But I would SO MUCH rather do this than be disappointed by some sloppy, overcomplicated yet careless, mis-seasoned train wreck for twice the price. And there are some nice things here, one especially delicious homemade-seeming thing we had was a chef's special croqueta di jamon with goat cheese, and their gambas pil-pil were good as always. The wine was surprisingly drinkable, the service was friendly and competent as usual, and so yes overall, mission very much accomplished. And then we finished our drinks and left.

steak ssäm.

It's what we made tonight. Steak. Ginger-scallion sauce. Kimchi puree. Also a buttermilk-sriracha dressing. Also quick-pickled beets and cucumbers. Just look here.

Why did we make all this fun stuffs? We was hung over b/c the Winter of Death made us drink. For those of you not here: it's coooold. And windy. And there's like 3 hours of daylight.

OK more like 6. And it's not even really cold yet. My point is, we went to In de Wildeman (above) with Klary and Zora and Swami Peter and stayed for several hours and now we're hung over so we're inside cooking Momofuku food.

It's weather that's made for being inside. And in this apartment, being inside means not only cooking but also watching movies. We tend to accumulate DVDs in spurts, one side effect of which is that we don't always have time/inclination to watch everything when it shows up at our door. One side effect of which is that we have some pretty great movies just sitting around waiting for us to look at them.

I just went out to Metacritic and looked at their Highest Scores of All Time (which, yes, I realize is not the same as Greatest Movies of All Time, but), and from that list the things we have at home that I've yet to watch is: Fanny and Alexander; Pan's Labyrinth; 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days; Beau Travail; The Lives of Others; Eyes Without a Face; Tarnation; Songs From the Second Floor. Not a bad place to start, and that's just things that have either been released or re-released since 1995 or so.

i reach out from the inside.

If you know me at all, you probably know I don't like telephones.

Illustrative anecdote: It's 10am, I just came in from a long hot shower (our shower is out in the hallway). From upstairs I heard the sound of the white noise generator aka Taifun aka loud-as-hell antique-looking black metal (!) fan, so I assumed the Mara was still asleep.

Suddenly the house phone rings (vs. one of our mobiles), a semi-shocking, impolite, and unmodifiable sound. Roughly five people on earth have this phone number, and at this hour it can/should not be anyone we know unless they've just been shot or stabbed or otherwise intruded upon, but the idea of someone calling us as an emergency measure is pretty tragically misguided.

It rings again, jolting me out of my "who could this possibly be" thoughts. Instead of continuing to think, I immediately execute my default pre-noon phone-ringing behavior, which is to deftly remove the phone cable from the phone, thus returning The Pod to its preferred state in one swift antisocial motion.

A beat of silence, and then from upstairs I hear, "You dipshit, it's me."

This would be an artifact of days gone by, when our house used to be of a size/shape where the person just waking up in the upstairs bedroom would call the already-awoken person downstairs in the kitchen to request delivery of one or more breakfast items (or tiems, as I just typed).

So: pleeeeease. Don't feel bad if you call and I don't answer. It's so not personal.

snert, inburgering, vertrutting, enz.

For a table that consisted of four Americans and one Nederlander, we sure did spend a lot of time talking about all things Dutch last night. And yes, the tone may have been bordering on critical (bordering? critical? one of these words is not quite right), but maybe it's like that situation where, for example, a high school English teacher singles out one student in her classroom to always be Hamlet, or Macbeth, or whatever character has the most lines in whatever play the class is reading aloud, so that he'll (the student) have to stay awake and possibly even learn something about the play. Because she (the teacher) sees amazing potential in him that he is squandering away by enacting all kinds of petty, control-freak laws about where people can drink and smoke, what time of day they can do it, and whether or not they an sit or stand during the act. Etc.

Pre-coffee mixed-metaphor experiments aside, last night's meal was pretty much the best Dutch meal ever, seriously. Plus we got to complain about all kinds of things you're not supposed to be able to complain about, like children and immigrants. Good times.

Above: Hollandse garnalen (tiny Dutch shrimp) with cream and chives in Belgian endive. Below: Goudse kaasbolletjes (Gouda cheese puffs), ambachtelijk osseworst (artisanally smoked beef sausage?), cornichons, and mustard; smoked eel on grilled toast (possibly my favorite bite of the evening); superlatively pork-y split pea soup; a delicious dessert pile-up of stoofperen, boterkoek with ginger, homemade advocaat, and whipped cream. Plus lots of beer and jenever. And wine? Jesus. But I really do feel totally fine today.

P.S: If you've ever wondered what the opposite of sympathy is, it's "fuck you".

burger bar, belated.

Discovering my Prael/Wildeman/BurgerBar pics on my phone made me realize that I never made an original post about the night itself.

Mid-October, the moop and I grabbed the bull by his proverbial horns and had a night out together. A brief but diverting evening of beer ended with burgers at Burger Bar.

I had a vague recollection of having eaten there a year or so ago, but beer was probably also involved then and the details had become extra fuzzy. If pressed, I would say that it wasn't good enough to go out of my way for, and the primary disappointers were the the bun and the condiments.

Having found ourselves at In De Wildeman, and hungry, this seemed an opportune moment to try again. Here's the previously-published picture of us planning our Burgers:

At Burger Bar, you get a choice of four different kinds of beef, and there's possibly one vegetarian option these days, can't 'member. You can also choose four different burger sizes. Here's an old menu, b/c their website is currently unusable.

We went for one Black Angus with blue cheese and bacon and one Irish beef with cheddar and bacon. Here's what they looked like when we got them home:

Note the array of condiments. This is b/c mustard is not on the list of default condiments (WTF). Instead you get something along the lines of a "special sauce" which is kind of like Thousand Island but not really. If you are not doing carefully-composed burgers like Burgermeester, and you are serving nothing but beef burgers and located in the tourist center of a city, I can imagine that you have now had people request ketchup and mustard on their burgers roughly 300,000 times. You should learn something from this: everyone will be happier if you just put it on the menu.

The burgers themselves. Beef fine, cooked nicely medium. Bun? Not quite right, too big, a bit plush and tasteless. Overall, a fine late-night post-beer burger for a city that has very few real burger options, but frankly Burgermeester kicks this burger in the ass, hard, in terms of inspired combinations and general deliciousness. Also? these fries were a waste of time and calories, not crisp enough.

barely manilow.

One of the best things about having a blog that no one reads is that you can start a post with a picture of a chocolate mousse swastika.

Turns out you can't, our in-house censors nixed that shit. The presentation in question was the most conventionally tasteless moment (initialize segue!) of Tuesday's dinner at Johnny and Mila's: the food itself was extremely and surprisingly (sorry Johnny) tasty: habanero-y steak burritos with excellent guac, a roasted tomato/chipotle salsa made by us, and prefect black beans. Really good.

And then came dessert, tasteless presentations, and a Final Tastelessness so gruesome that I can neither say what happened nor show you the one picture I took of it. Way worse than the swastika. It probably suffices to say that if you know Johnny D. then you can imagine how/where things went.


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VKontakte shareholders sue each other as Telegram gets hotter

That the Durov brothers started the Telegram instant messaging service while they were VKontakte executives is enough for a part-owner of VK to lay claim to Telegram, too.

robot spy

New instant messenger Telegram protected even from spy intrusions

Telegram, a recently launched instant messenger, offers users encryption protection too sophisticated even for security agencies to overcome, the Russian business daily Vedomosti quoted Pavel Durov, a prominent Russian businessman, as saying.


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Pioneering CLEAN solutions
from our planet, for our planet.

Green CHEMISTRY by design.

Providing better

Using the POWER of biology
to make a POSITIVE impact on your PRODUCTS.

Verdezyne is an industrial biotechnology company that is leveraging the power of biology to produce chemicals from renewable, non-food sources. We have developed technologies and are commercializing processes that create a positive impact on the environment by replacing important consumer products with sustainable alternatives, at a lower cost.


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Verona United Methodist Church Welcomes You!

VUMC Scenes of People

Whether you are new to our community and looking for a church home, or simply interested in the ministries of VUMC, we welcome you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ! We believe Jesus is the Son of the Living God, born into this world to seek and save the lost. Our greatest desire is to share that message with the world both by our words and our actions.

We invite you to join us on that journey!

Verona United Methodist Church B&W Cropped

         Please do not hestiate to contact us if you have questions:

  • Phone 540-248-7777540-248-7777 (8:00 – 3:00 pm, Monday-Friday)
  • Phone 540-248-7778540-248-7778 (Pastor’s Study)
         Feel free to use this form to share your questions:

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Image Quiz: A cat with a large tail mass

Image Quiz: A cat with a large tail mass

This two-year-old spayed female cat was presented for evaluation of a large (4- x 4.5- x 5.4-cm) tail mass. On palpation, the mass felt turgid and hot, appeared to be causing pain, and had serosanguineous discharge (see photo above). Radiographs revealed a large soft tissue swelling with lysis of caudal coccygeal vertebral bodies (see photo below).

An excisional biopsy, which was palliative, provided a large sample for histopathologic examination. Representative immunohistochemistry fields from the sample are shown below.

What's your diagnosis?

a) Abscess

b) Synovial cell sarcoma

c) Leiomyosarcoma

d) Rhabdomyosarcoma


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Florida veterinarian looks to capture congressional seat

Florida veterinarian looks to capture congressional seat

Republican Ted Yoho relies on business success, conservative values in campaign.
Aug 21, 2012
By dvm360.com staff

Ted Yoho, DVM, of Gainesville, Fla., won the Republican primary for U.S. Congress in Florida’s third district Aug. 14 by slightly more than 800 votes--about 1 percentage point--over 12-term congressman Cliff Stearns, R-Florida 6th. Yoho, a Christian and conservative Republican, has practiced large animal medicine in North Central Florida for 29 years. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), Florida Veterinary Medical Association (FVMA), Florida Association of Equine Practitioners and the Florida Cattlemen’s Association.

In a nod to his experience as a large animal veterinarian, Yoho has run a political advertisement with actors dressed in suits slinging mud. In the voiceover Yoho narrates, "Career politicians: they’re like pigs feeding at the trough.”

As a career veterinarian, Yoho is using his lack of political experience to target those he sees as longtime Washington insiders such as Stearns. “Being a veterinarian and a business owner, I have a different perspective than the career politicians,” Yoho told DVM Newsmagazine. “I’ve been in the trenches on a daily basis.”

Yoho says his experience as a veterinarian to use diagnostics and create effective treatment plans for patients and clients will help him find success in public office. “We need to take that same mentality to Washington,” he says. This also applies to his game plan to help small business owners, including his fellow veterinarians. He says his main objective is “getting government out of the way of business.”

“No. 1--repeal Obamacare,” he says. Yoho believes the Affordable Healthcare Act prevents business owners from creating more jobs. Next, he plans to “help back off the regulations and mandates--they’re killing us.” He also wants to simplify the tax code.

Yoho supports the Fair Tax that plan to replace federal income taxes including capital gains through a single-rate, federal retail sales tax of 23 percent on new goods and services. He feels the elimination of capital gains tax would create an incentive for practice ownership and benefit those selling their practices. “That would be huge to the veterinary practice owner,” he says.

As for other problems facing the veterinary profession such as mounting student debt, Yoho supports public loan forgiveness programs, especially for large animal veterinarians working in rural areas. “I would love to see it dealt with at the state level,” he says. He believes that with a stabilized economy tuition costs will be reduced to the levels seen in the 1980s when he graduated. “I think loans are a valuable resource, but I’d rather see it in the private sector and keep the government out of it,” he says.

Supported by the Tea Party, Yoho lists American energy independence, immigration reform and the repeal of the Affordable Healthcare Act as priorities of his political philosophy. Yoho will face Democrat J.R. Gaillot and independent write-in candidates Kenneth Willey, Michael Ricks and Philip Dodds for the congressional seat.


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Show me the money

Show me the money

Apr 01, 2006

Q: I'm a receptionist and I only earn $1 above minimum wage. Should I ask for a raise?

Lorraine Monheiser List
"While wages for entry level receptionist jobs are often set fairly low, many owners look for your willingness and ability to take on greater responsibility after you complete an initial training period and increase your pay accordingly," says Lorraine Monheiser List, CPA, MEd, a management consultant with Summit Veterinary Advisors in Littleton, Colo.

"Ask yourself whether you're a more valuable employee than you were when you last received a raise," she says. "If you're doing the same job in the same way, it's hard to argue that you deserve more pay." These questions will help you rate yourself:

  • Are you a great client service representative for the hospital?
  • Do you create the best possible experience for clients and pets each time they call or visit?
  • Do you help other employees when they're in a crunch?
  • Are you committed to learning and taking on more tasks?
  • Are you calm in a crisis?
  • Do you deal effectively with angry or upset clients?
  • Are you willing to mentor new receptionists and take responsibility for their training?

"If you're past the initial training period and you've mastered new skills, then your supervisor should be receptive to your request," List says.


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Thursday, March 18, 2010

WIP - daVinci maybe

I am working on a drawing of a piece called 'Profile of a young woman'. I found it in a book about Leonardo da Vinci, but in the caption of the picture it says, "scholars believe that Leonardo did neither the drawing nor the painting".

It is proving to be a fun one to draw. I am trying to draw the shadows rather than shapes and I am liking it so far. It is not an exact copy, but I think that is okay. I like trying to render something close to the original, but I am also interested in working more on the relationship of the parts.

Here is my beginning:

And here is the picture I am using as my reference:

I will share more as I get to it.

A side note: If you were a friend to dear Renee who has traded her awful pain for her angel wings, go to kj's blog to see what she is planning. I so miss Renee and have for some time. Her blog was one of my favorites.

Yesterday I walked on the treadmill for an hour doing two programmed walks. I think that means that I can skip a day, but I am drawn again to it. I do such good thinking and planning while I walk that I actually look forward to it; and I must admit I am in need of dropping a few pounds.

Today the hubster and I are going into town to run some errands and then I hope to get some art done. I think I will work on putting together another new journal using the covers of old books. I am playing with some ideas about the spine and will share when I get it done.

I am tutoring later this afternoon and again tomorrow.

Life is pretty busy these days, but in a good way. I am considering taking a part time job for an artist I know and will fill you in when it comes to fruition.

I need my second mug of coffee and need to get ready to officially start this day.

  1. Hey Vicki,
    This looks like an awesome start on the daVinci (if he did the original or not)! I'm curious to see your progress with it.
    I'm having my third huge mug of coffee (heavily sugared and with loads of cocoa powder to mask the coffee taste *g*) today as I'm writing this, so don't feel bad about your second ;)

  2. You picked a tough one, but you have a great start on it. You got the angle of the head right and you're well on your way to a wonderful drawing! I'm intrigued with your "part time job" remark! hugs, nancy

  3. You asked in you post in EDM for our thoughts - so i'll take the risk of being honest and saying I think you have made a good start and you might like to think about the head being made up of a series of curves and the shadows follow these curves - it'll help give a sense of realism to your girl, I look forward to seeing the results!

  4. It's going to be a gorgeous picture. Good start and great picture to copy.

  5. It's lovely, Vicki.

    Did you know that The Masters taught their apprentices to paint exactly as they themselves did? Then the apprentices were allowed to do commissioned works which The Masters were hired for.

    Only after apprenticing and perfecting the master's style could an apprentice strike out on his own and develop a singular style.

    So you can consider yourself an apprentice of DaVinci!

    P.S. I visited your online store and love the nice clean look and ease of navigation. Best of luck with it!

  6. I could see that it's already a great start as all the proportion is there. :) Can't wait to see the next post!

  7. Hi Vicki,

    Thanks again for choosing me to receive the lovely Kreativ Blogger award.

    I've made my 7 selections and had fun sending the award to the bloggers I love to follow - including you!

  8. Well, oddly the comment I left didn't get posted, so here it is again! I think you've picked a tough drawing to work on, but you've made a terrific start on it. You got the angle of the head right, and I agree with the "series of curves and shadows", etc comment. You're doing great! hugs, nancy

  9. Practise makes perfect - you are definitely improving - well done! I should follow your example, haha, not just with the sketching - the treadmill too!

  10. vicki, this is the sweetest post.

    i admire your sketches and shadows. i am following in your footsteps: this year i will learn to draw in my own style, whatever that will be! (actually, i know: micron pens and colored pencils)

    thanks for the mention about renee. we will do this and it will be good for all of us. knowing that is good fuel for moving things along.

    btw, i start my day with coffee and i love every sip of it. the difference is you are on the treadmill and i am on the couch! i know what you mean about time to think. i've walked a mile and a half a day until this damn mensicus surgery and my poor knee is no longer happy. but i'm working on it.


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Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Programme Nearing completion!

The Programme is nearing Completion! All MAJOR panel items are now in, and although there will undoubtedly be some shuffles, they will most likely be small changes not major ones. I still have a small handful of 1/2 hour programme slots if you want to do ANYTHING! It doesn't HAVE to be Villain themed. It just has to appeal to the Programmer!

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When talking about inequality, sometimes the discussion feels esoteric. Income gaps, wealth disparity, it can become mere words rather than a pressing issue.

But when talk of food comes up, the problem becomes more tangible. Everyone needs to eat to survive. Unfortunately, not everyone in the world has enough to eat. And yet even this feels just a bit out of reach, a headline from a newspaper, or passing glimpse on the news.

On April 30 the Vineyard Committee on Hunger brings the issue to the center of the plate, so to speak, at its annual Hunger Banquet. The dinner reveals the disparity in food security around the world in a simple yet direct manner.

At the beginning of the dinner, participants draw a card and are randomly assigned to a part of the world. Some will sit at a banquet table and enjoy a feast. Others will experience a more meagre offering and sit in a stall or small table. Still others may just get a bit of bread, if anything at all. The result is a real look at the range of privileges and lack of basic necessities around world, all in one place at one time.

Everyone is invited to take part in this free event. The dinner begins at 6 p.m. on April 30 at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. Any donations collected will benefit the Island Community and Oxfam’s work around the world.

For more information, email Betty Burton at burtonsundman@hotmail.com.


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A new neighborhood is quietly taking root in West Tisbury. There’s a house with an older couple living in it, another one with a mom and two elementary school-aged kids, and a third house owned by a couple who has a newborn baby. On any given weekday, the playground at the West Tisbury School seems just a stone’s throw away.

“Do you hear those kids’ voices down there?” developer Jim Feiner said on a recent spring morning. “We have kids in two of these houses, and they’ll be able to walk to their school. That was my inspiration.”

The three homes were built under a new affordable housing plan developed by Mr. Feiner, a Chilmark real estate agent and affordable housing advocate.

After nine years of planning, fundraising and building, Mr. Feiner’s inspiration now has dirt on mudroom floors and kids walking along a path to the West Tisbury School.

The project is the first of its kind in West Tisbury and includes two homes that were restricted to affordable housing and one that was sold at market rate. A town zoning bylaw allows density to exceed minimum zoning by special permit if affordable homesites are involved. The unique model called for the sale of the market rate house to cover the construction costs of the two affordable homes. The two affordable homes were sold for $350,000 to Owen and Erica Maloney, and Patti Roads. The market rate house was sold to Albert and Linda Fischer for $580,000.

The underlying land is held by the Island Housing Trust, which ensures that the restrictions under the bylaw are met.

But getting to this point wasn’t easy. From upset neighbors worried about bringing affordable housing to the area and increased road usage, to environmental concerns and financial constraints, the project proceeded in fits and starts.

“A true success would have been that we built the houses and we would not have lost money,” Mr. Feiner said. “The goal was never to make money but to create good housing opportunities for the least amount of money possible. In the big picture what I think this is saying to people out there is if you have the initiative, there are ways of making things happen.”

The property is 3.1 acres with two of the three acres conserved to protect a frost bottom and rare moth habitat. Mr. Feiner and friend Niki Patton bought the land for $485,000 in 2005. Ms. Patton was to be one of the eventual homeowners in the development but due to various reasons she decided to leave the project.

When Mr. Feiner first approached the neighbors, he thought they would all be on board.

“I said this is what we want to do and I think it’s a great idea,” he recalled. “I was unrealistic about my expectations. I thought the majority of the people were going to be excited, but very few were excited. They were very defensive about putting houses on the road.”

Today, he hopes the neighbors will see that the houses meet a greater good.

“Hopefully at the end of the day they’ll feel like these houses are better than some summer home that doesn’t really address the needs of the community,” he said.

Mr. Feiner did not intend to build the houses himself, but with the ebb and flow of the economy and construction costs, builders were reticent about joining the project. But then Farley Pedler came forward and offered to make it happen at an affordable rate.

“We could have never done this without Farley; he was so much more than just the builder,” Mr. Feiner said. “He was the linchpin.”

Mr. Pedler gave the applicants the opportunity to personalize their houses, which “on the face sounds like a wonderful thing,” but in reality created “a huge level of challenge from a developer and builder perspective,” Mr. Feiner said. “Every decision along the way that we had to make so this could be a little more energy efficient, a little more special, and we almost always said yes.”

Then there was the frost bottom issue.

“People tried to make things difficult for us,” Mr. Feiner said. “A frost bottom was declared on the property so we preserved two-thirds of the three acres and that was expensive and created some challenges. Ultimately it didn’t sink us, but I thought it was going to.”

There was also the financial burden of having to “borrow, beg and steal” to have the houses financed. The project was funded privately by Mr. Feiner and private low-interest loans.

“I have a few private lenders who were really nice to give to this, and I leveraged myself,” Mr. Feiner said. “To have all that debt paid off is wonderful.”

Mr. Feiner said he would develop another similar affordable housing project but only “under the right terms and conditions.”

“I’ve learned a lot from this project,” he said.

Taking advantage of the West Tisbury zoning bylaw is one way of addressing the affordable housing issues on the Island, Mr. Feiner said, but a more comprehensive approach is needed.

“As a community we should find a way of securing some land for our future and we need to be active about it,” he said. “There’s going to be more and more people displaced.

“We need to find a long term solution to the problem of affordable housing,” he continued. “Is it money? It could be. Is our zoning so restrictive we need to find ways to change it? Maybe. It’s one possibility.”

Whatever the answer, action is needed now, he said.

“As a community we need to make some difficult decisions about what we want to see in the future,” he said.


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Donald Frances Mitchell of Vineyard Haven died peacefully at Massachusetts General Hospital on Wednesday, Sept. 25 as family members remained by his side. He was 87.

Donnie was born in the Hancock/Mitchell farmhouse in Quansoo on August 4, 1926, with historic family roots reaching back to John Hancock. He was one of five children born of Delbert Mitchell and Iva Mae West Mitchell. Donnie attended Chilmark School and worked at the Mayhew farm until he was 15. He attended Vineyard Haven High School and worked as a deckhand for the Steamship Authority on the Nobska and the Nantucket for a short time, until he joined the Seabees branch of the naval service at the age of 17.

He met his wife, Hilda, in the Oak Bluffs bowling alley in 1946. After two years she finally agreed to go out with him. They were eventually married in Oak Bluffs. They would have been married 62 years on Oct. 6.

Donnie was honorably discharged from the service in 1946. He returned to Martha’s Vineyard and went to work on the commercial fishing boat the Southern Cross. Donnie later joined the Larsen family to fish on the Christina and Dan, the Chilmark Sword and the Chilmark Voyager. After leaving the commercial fishing business, Donnie also worked as a carpenter, boatyard worker at Maciel Marine and Burt’s Shipyard and maintenance supervisor at West Chop Club.

Donnie is survived by his wife, Hilda Correira Mitchell of Vineyard Haven, and several nieces and nephews. A graveside service was held at Sacred Heart Cemetery on Monday, Sept. 30.

Arrangements are under the care of Chapman, Cole and Gleason Funeral Home in Oak Bluffs.


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Sunday, 22 May 2011

Becca Halcyon Days Collection: Mineral Powder Blush & Automatic Eye Pencil

Becca introduced a new mineral blush formula as part of their Halcyon Days collection. Of the two shades I bought Damselfly (£25).
Damselfly is a coral with gentle golden shimmer. The other shade on offer, Flowerchild, I believe is more pink toned.
Swatches L-R: two swipes of blusher, and one swipe blended in.
The powder is extremely finely milled and feels smooth and lightweight. This is highly pigmented so I apply it very lightly. This lasts incredibly well, in fact I'd go as far as saying this is the longest lasting blusher I own. The formula is faultless and the luminous colour is beautiful.

We also see the introduction of the Automatic Eye Liner in two shades.
I bought Goa (£18), which is a chocolate with a bronzed edge (the other colour is a black). It has a very handy built-in sharpener as well as a smudger. It feels smooth, with no tugging on application and its got good pigmentation.
The best attribute for me is how long wearing the waterproof formula is as I have been having a lot of problems with watering eyes and with this I can feel confident that its going to stay where it is.
Swatches L-R: Liner, one swipe of blusher.

Ingredients of liner:

Becca is really putting out some impressive products of late. When I think of Becca, the words that come to mind are glowing, radiant, natural and flattering, now who wouldn’t want some of that?

I bought these from

  1. The blush looks fabulous! Texture sounds nice too, lots of people seem to be loving BECCA at the mo. :)

  2. Both look absolutely wonderful! I wish Becca had a counter in the States so I could see her products firsthand!

  3. I'm so pleased you like the liner! You've made me with that I'd bought the blusher too, I was dabbling with purchasing that one and it looks lovely. I was very impressed with the texture when I saw them in person.

    I agree with the you regarding the look you can create with Becca products. I think it's why it appeals to me so much as they give a natural but polished look which is exactly the style I'm after.
    Jane x

  4. I really like that blush, but that eyeliner color is gorge!

  5. That liner looks so CREAMY! I'm a sucker for a creamy long lasting liner! Ugghh, I should have never read this! xx

  6. It all looks/sounds dreamy, particularly the blusher. I haven't seen this collection yet in person, but the more I hear the more eager I am to see it!

  7. You've only gone and done it again! I was (vaguely) considered these, and then there's your review, and then there's me going to Fenwick's yesterday to purchase them both...happy now??????? lol
    I had Goa applied in-store and absolutely loved it. Wore it late into the night and it looked as good at 2 in the morning as it did at 2.45 in the afternoon.
    The wonderful SA at the Fenwick counter (her name is Nicky) told me all about the Autumn collection and its fabulous rich brown-toned palette, the video for which has already been filmed for Zuneta apparently...can't wait!
    Nina x

  8. I wish I could get a chance to see the Becca range in person. I have quite a few products but hate always having to buy online. This is where reviews like yours are so helpful! I have my eye on the Halcyon palette from Zuneta but think I can add this blush and eyeliner to my list x

  9. Hi Vintage Makeup,
    It does seem to be very much growing in popularity and I can see why :)

    Hi Hopelessly Devoted To Makeup,
    I wish I could see them in real life as well, mind you I would probably end up buying loads ;)

    Hi Jane,
    I think you might want to add the blusher to your basket next time you do an order ;) I think I am going to get the pinker one as well x

    Hi Zuzu's Petals,
    It is a lovely liner, rich in colour but not too dark.

    Hi Jeanie,
    I think its one to add to your list ;) x

    Hi Meeta,
    I am still debating whether to get the palette, it is a lovely collection. I'll review the nail polish I got from it soon x

    Hi Nina,
    LOL, well I am just glad you like them :)
    The Autumn collection is on their Australian site and I think the palette and nail polishes look like must haves, the blushers look really nice as well, although I'm not sure if they will be too dark for me, at any rate I have a feeling it will be quite a spendy collection for me x

    Hi Lipstick Luvvie,
    Thank you, I am glad its of some help. I buy a lot of my stuff online so blogs are invaluable to me. I do think you would really suit both shades ;) x

  10. They are both lovely but I think the blusher is stand out and on a pale complexion would look absolutely beautiful.

  11. Hello Debbie,
    It is lovely, I am going to have to get the other more pink toned one now I think ;)

  12. If I was going to pick a blush for its formula based on hand swatches alone, this would definitely be among my top 3!!! It looks like a great quality product! The colour is beautiful too!!!
    The fact that the blended swatch sorta reminds me of the Chanel Espiegle promo photos (that I missed out on) doesn't help either!!!

  13. Hi Tina,
    I do really love this blusher, I think the colour would really suit your colouring x

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Antiques in Lancaster PA

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  • 2705 Old Philadelphia Pike Bird-in-Hand, PA 17505
    Old country store is located in the heart of Amish country.  Amish made brooms, belts, bird houses, fresh produce, pumpkins & gourds are all sold here.  Worlds smallest covered brodge...
  • 2014 Old Philadelphia Pk. Lancaster, PA 17602-3413
    Antique quilts, furniture, prints, Christmas collectibles, next to Witmer's Tavern.
  • 207 Georgetown Rd. Strasburg, PA 17579-9779
    Multi-dealer antique shop, 60 dealers, quality country antiques, no junk, open year round everyday but Tuesday. Open from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
  • 23 N. Broad St. Lititz, PA 17543-1024
    Wood Duck Antiques specializes in reproductions of country and Shaker style furniture. They also offer a wide range of other items including candle boxes, utensil carriers, Shaker shelves and...
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