text:
Print on demand.

Our lucrative dropshipping platform allows you to sell your own merch while we print & send it, all without spending a cent.

Step 1

Set up your own  online store & upload your designs

Step 2

Share your designs to make sales & build an audience

Step 3

As your products sell, we print & ship them direct to customers

Step 4

Get paid!

Start Your Online Store

Or keep scrolling to learn more about our Print On Demand service.

How much can you make?

If you sell t-shirts for $25 you will make $6.25 per tee

If you sell t-shirts for $30 you will make $11.25 per tee

If you sell t-shirts for $40 you will make $21.25 per tee

If you sell t-shirts for $50 you will make $31.25 per tee

No minimums & no costs

Because we print every order on demand you don't need to pay for anything upfront. It's literaly free to start your own website. This is perfect if you're a designer, artist, in a band or have your own small business and want to sell your own merch.

Easy & quick to set up

The great part about dropshipping is that you can create designs and go to market quickly. This means you can react to trends and utilise social media to quickly grow your business.  Most people are up and selling their own products within the same day.

Retail quality, award winning printing

We use some of the best printing equipment in the world and have people and processes to match, which is why we are an award winning printer.

Fast turnaround in Australia

Because our printing studio is in Brisbane, we can print and ship Australia-wide within 7 business days.

Huge range of personalised items on offer

We can print mugs, t shirts, tote bags, cushion covers, tea towels, pillow cases and so much more. If there's anything we don't have, just let us know and we'll look into it for you.

Make money with dropshipping

Most of our stores aim to sell an AS Colour t-shirt with a design printed on it for $40. This means they would make nearly $20 per item. And you can sell it for higher or lower as you're in control of how much you sell your garments for. Our pricing is sharp enough that you can make a good margin on the products you sell.

Some recent prints by The Print Bar dropshipping team

Okay, okay, okay, you're ready. Let's get you dropshipping.

Getting Started

Initial considerations

Before you get started, it's important you know what you want to do with your online store. Do you want to set it up as a retail brand, selling set products? Or do you want to sell artwork that people can choose to print on shirts or other items? You can pick one style or offer both.

Signing up

1. Head over to the signup page here

2. Fill out the forms and choose a site name (don't worry, you can change this later)

Creating your first product

Go to decorated products

  • Click on create decorated products

  • Choose a product to start with

  • Click Save and Continue.

  • Click Add Design and upload your artwork (see here for artwork recommendations and tips)

  • Click Save and Continue.

  • Type in a name for your product

# there’s an option called Append Product Name which will automatically add the name of the product next to the name you gave. We would advise against this, perhaps naming your product "my design name mens tee" or “my design name unisex tee” for example.

# there’s an option to allow users to customise the design or not. We recommend selecting ‘do not allow users to customise the design’ for retail stores.

  • Add a product description talking about the design and also the material and size info of the product you chose.

  • Choose a category or make a new category. Some examples could be; new arrivals, winter 2019, popular, mens, womens or anything you want. You can edit and change this later.

  • Click Save and Continue.

  • The next page lets you choose if you want to have multiple colours available for this design you’ve created. Leave it as if you want to allow all the colours available or if you want to only have 1 colour available just untick the all colours box and select the colour you want.

# Be careful that your design looks nice on all colours, i.e a white design will look good on a dark garment but might not look nice on a white t shirt.

  • Click Save and Continue

  • Next check your pricing and you’re done!

#you can edit your pricing by unticking use store markup and typing in the sale price you want (see How to set your selling price for more detailed information)

Repeat this process for each of your designs.

Other tips for creating decorated products

Ticking the featured product checkbox will put this product in the featured product widget, which you can add to your page from the edit website section.

You can use related products to suggest other items for customers to buy, and this displays below a certain product that customers are viewing. To enable thiis on a product, just go to configure product and click related products.

To rearrange the order of products in your store, click on sort/categorize.

Using your own images for products

You can change the default image that shows up for your products easily. To do this you;

  • Go to decorated products

  • Click configure

  • Click listing image

  • Upload a photo

Artwork recommendations

The key to getting a quality print is your design file. It needs to be high-res and crisp. The way to check this is to zoom in on the design on your computer monitor so the design is as big as you want it printed in real life. If it looks neat and crisp (not pixelated) then it will print well. Make sure your files are at least 300dpi, and if that doesn't make sense to you, ask a Graphic Designer to help prepare your files. If you are ever unsure if something will print well or not you can always email the design in to us to check here.

  • 300dpi png files

  • a transparent background

  • Cropped / trimmed to the image

  • Make the image size the size you would like it printed

Editing the website layout

Click on edit website on the left side of your admin screen. From here you can change the branding, colours, text and themes for the entire website by clicking Design. To edit a website individually you just click on the page you want to edit from the pages tab or create a new page or clone an old page. To add photo's, text boxes, banners or video's you click the widgets button on the left.

Editing the menu and removing options you don't need

The templates have all Print Bar's selling options on by default when you start your website. You may want to remove some of the options such as; allowing customers to upload their own designs, swithching off Print Bar's default design gallery, hiding pages, etc.   See this video and the below instructions for turning off some of the features if you want your website to have more of a retail label focus.

To delete the default designs the Print Bar has available

Click on Store Designs, then go to the category you want to delete and click 'delete' or 'make private' if you want to keep it available for the future.

Also if you want to only show decorated products and not show the designs separately you can go to the 'edit website' section and navigate to the Designs Page and turn off this page.

To turn off or hide menus

To hide menu options and pages such as 'Quick Quote, Designs, Create, Designer, etc' you navigate to the page in the 'edit website' section and then untick the 'Show in menu' button.

To switch off the custom design app

Click on Designer Settings, then navigate to 'Allow Online Designer', select 'No'.

Making bank

The best part of our online ecommerce platform is that you're in control of how much you make per shirt.

You set your own sale price above our 'wholesale' prices which are 25% less than our online prices. For example if you sold your garments for $40 it would look like this;

$40 (sale price) - $25 (cost of t-shirt) + $6.25 (25% wholesale discount) = $21.25 profit

Setting your selling price

You can set a default markup storewide by going to Price Settings, most of our stores set this at a fixed amount of $17.04 which makes the AS Colour branded t shirts sell for $40 each automatically. But you can also override this price on a per product basis. This is the final step you go through when you create a product. To change the price you untick use store markup and type in the “ex gst” price. If you want to sell for $40 you need to make sure the ex gst price is $36.36. There’s a handy calculator here to help.

Adding a custom domain name

1. Register a custom domain name with a hosting provider

2. Point the domain to our server using the below DNS settings

Using as an example:

Record Type

Make sure to add your domain twice onto your site, once with www and once without. So that both and work when they are typed into a browser. You should then set the one with www as the primary.

Once you've done this, log back into your website and;

  • click domain settings

  • Type in your domain name and click add

Now your custom domain is all set up and ready to go.

If you already have a website and just want to create a subdomain on your current website such as then you can follow the below steps instead.

Sub domain DNS records

When setting up a subdomain for a site, you'll need to add a single DNS record with your desired subdomain set as the hostname.

Record Type

Once you have done this, then log back into your website and;

  • click domain settings

  • Type in your domain name and click add

Now your custom sub domain is all set up and ready to go.

Common questions

When and how do I get paid?

We pay you commissions that you earn from every sale once per month. This gets paid directly into your PayPal account. You'll see a tally of your sales and outstanding commission payments when you log into the dashboard of your online store. To make sure you receive your commision payments you need to set up a PayPal account and enter the details into the store by following the below steps

  • Click commissions

  • Click PayPal commision settings

  • Enter your PayPal address

How long does it take until my customers get their products?

Your clients will have their items in 7 business days from placing their order.

How do the garments get shipped out?

We ship our products out in plain packaging.

Will my customers know it's from The Print Bar?

No, because we ship our products out in plain packaging your customers won't know that it came from us.

Who handles customer service?

When an order is placed your customers create an account. When they log in to this account there is an online portal where your customers can enquire about their order and our Print Bar sales team will help them out. So you can focus on growing your business and leave all the hard work to us.

What if I have an existing website?

Our system is a completely free hosted website platform with ecommerce. But you are welcome to keep your existing website and there are 3 ways to do this.

  • Embed our store into your website using an iframe (note we do not integrate with Shopify yet but we are working on this)
  • Use a subdomain for the shop. ie.
  • Or use a reverse proxy. See the post about adding a blog to your website for information on how to do a reverse proxy.

How to add a blog to your site?

If you want to add a blog (or any website) to your site and have it display under your domain name, you can by following these steps.

  • Click on Website Pages
  • Click to create new page
  • Click on Advanced Settings down the bottom
  • Click "Page Status"
  • Select "Embed External Website"
  • In External Site URL put the full URL of your external website. i.e.
  • In Your Site URL put the URL that the external website content will appear on your site. i.e. "blog" for
  • Check both Rewrite Links and Rewrite Javascript Links to ensures links in your external embedded site work within our site

It's important that you now block google from indexing and being able to search the original website. This will avoid your SEO being affected by duplicate content.

You need to ensure the original source website is set to noindex i.e. <meta name="robots" content="noindex, follow">. With WordPress this can be done via a plugin or by WordPress settings.

You then want to "remove" that tag from the content shown on our website. Therefore, you go back to Advanced Settings add the following rule in the next section Content Rewriting Filters:

Find: <meta name="robots" content="noindex, follow">
Replace: (leave blank)

Can I have custom labels and tags on products?

Yes you can, to do this you need to order 50 blank t shirts at a time (this can be a mix of different styles) with your labels printed on them. You pay for these blank items upfront so when a sale is made on your site we only take off the 'printing' cost and then the rest of the commission is sent to you.

We keep these items in stock in our showroom and then when your store makes a sale we will print that garment for you and ship it out and it will have your branding on it. When you start to run low on your custom labelled blank shirts you will need to top up and order more.

Can I sell other items in my store that I've already made?

Yes we offer a fullfillment service. So you can add any product you want to your webstore and we can stock it in our warehouse and ship them for you. We charge a $20 set up fee initially per product  to add it to our webstore, and then we charge a $50 monthly fee to stock your items in our showroom. Shipping is charged at $10 flat rate Australia wide.

Do you offer free shipping?

Yes we offer free shipping for orders that are over $100.

Can you do custom promotions for my store?

No, sorry we can't do custom promotions for your store at the moment. i.e buy 1 get 1 free etc. But we do have a discount system in place such as 5 items or more you get 5% off your order, 10 items = 10%, 20 items = 15%, 30 items = 20%

Do you do samples or prototypes?

The way to order prototypes is to place and pay for an order through your store (you will have to pay your retail pricing, but you will get that commision back at the end of the month).

What happens when Print Bar is out of stock of an item?

We take items that are out of stock off the website. In the rare occasion an item is out of stock it is typicaly out of stock for 2 - 3 weeks.

Do you have any examples of stores that we can see?

Yes check out

Start setting up your free dropshipping store and earn commissions now!

Sell your own merchandise easily

We've really made it easy with an online dropshipping platform that you can get up and running quickly. The best parts to dropshipping are that it minimises risks because you have no money to pay upfront. You can offer a wide variety of niche t shirts which will give you an edge over your competitors.

We see great success stories when our shop owners (like you) get to focus on what really matters, such as growing your business & brand. We do all the hard work and you get to do the fun stuff! Such as reacting to trends on social media and the news to really capitalise on things that people are interested in. Or spend your time designing and illustrating rather than focusing on how to ship items around the world.

Your cart is empty


Content-Type: application/http; msgtype=response

WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: text/html

WARC-Type: response

text:
Anita Goodesign Bibs That Go Roar

SKU: 95034

We designed these cute dinosaurs, dragons, tigers, and other creatures to use with textured appliqué fabrics. We used appliqué fabrics like minky and fake fur in pastel colors to make the designs even more cuddly. The project included in this collection is a baby bib, but since the designs come in multiple sizes they can be added to any garment or project.
20 different designs in 3 sizes each (sizes range from 5” x 7” to 8”x 12”).

Collections: Anita Goodesign

Category: Animals, Anita's Playhouse, For Baby, Projects

Type: CD

Related Items

warcinfo:
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2019-30
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for July 2019
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-232-173-83.ec2.internal
software: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/


text:
Tag Archives: u.s. Trading Company

#832: Dragonfly Mee-Goreng Dry Ramen Noodles

Found this the other day at KS Mart in Lynnwood (that’s where I git my kimchi!). This is from China – never had a Chinese made mee-goreng before! Usually I like the Dragonfly stuff though. Let’s give this a go! ...see full post

#653: Dragonfly Instant Noodles Artificial Pork Ribs Flavor

I thought today would be a nice day to have some pork ribs in noodle form! I wonder how it’ll be? I think it’ll pass the test as it’s yet another Dragonfly product. I know it’s wintertime and all but I think that Punksatawnee Phil’s Groundhog Day prediction was incorrect. He saw his shadow, predicting six more weeks of winter. On  the bright side, statistics show he’s been correct  – 39% of the time. ...see full post


text:
11 Gameboy Accessories You Totally Forgot Existed

90s kids remember the basic Gameboy peripherals, but there are some lurking within the depths of gaming history you probably didn't even know existed. Take for example:

The GameBoy Camera And Its Printer:

Selfies have been around long before the invention of the iPhone, but if you took  a picture on your Gameboy there was nowhere to email it to, so you had the option to print the pixelated monstrosity.

The Nuby Sound Amplifier

Via catawiki.com

For the player who needed to hear that 8-bit sweetness, these extra speakers were your best friends.

A GameBoy Radio Tuner

If you don't dig 8-bit chip tunes, this plug-in radio tuner got all your favorite stations.

The Light Boy

Okay, we'll admit you might have known about this magic wonder. It magnified AND lit your screen, perfect for gaming at night. That's right kids, there was no backlight on that sucker.

A Rumble Pack

Via etsy.com

Because gaming isn't real if you can't feel it.

GameBoy Shoes

Who the f*ck thought this was a good idea?

A Singer GameBoy Sewing Machine

Oh my yes, this existed.  It embroidered and you could program (kind of) what you wanted from it.

GameBoy Sonar

This little gadget can detect fish up to 20 meters under the surface, and comes with a bonus fishing game. So you can fish while you fish, yo.

Oh boy. Well if you didn't have the tenacity to invest in literally anything else that was available at the time, the WorkBoy was there for the businessman gamer. It kept appointments, checked the weather, kept your calendar, and had a currency exchange app.

The Pedisedate

Okay this was actually practical. It was meant to distract kids while they were being anesthetized.

And Of Course, The King James Bible

In case you needed a bible quote on the go.

How many of these did you know about? How many did you have? Let us know in the comments on Facebook or by tweeting at us on Twitter!

The Ways Other Countries Keep Their Homes Warm In Winter

More in Buzz


text:
The Ring

Wedding Venues in Fayette County, IA

Fayette County, Iowa is a great location to host your wedding ceremony or reception. TheRing.org only has 1 venue in this county where you could hold your wedding. If you are looking for more options, you can take a look at our pages of venues in Iowa cities near Fayette County. We also offer a search option available for each Iowa county which might yield more results and give you a full view of all the wedding venues available near you.

    Find a Wedding Venue in Iowa by Counties or Cities


text:
Thermo Scientific™

Nalgene™ 4-in-1 EZ Tote™ Bottle Carrier

 Related applications:
Lab Clean Up, Safety and Organization

Transport bottles and other lab essentials safely and easily using the Thermo Scientific™ Nalgene™ 4-in-1 EZ Tote™ Bottle Carrier. Manufactured from 3mm corrugated HDPE plastic, it holds eight 500mL, six 1L, or two 4L bottles. Versatile, durable and lightweight, carriers include partitions and assembly instructions, printed on each tote.

Error loading your content!

  Catalog number Price ({{currency}}) Availability Qty
also known as {{product.formattedSku}}
{{product.availability.message}} Add To Cart

{{addItemToList.successMessage}} {{addItemToList.listName}}

Back to top

  • Reconfigurable partitions make this a versatile tote
  • Holds up to 28 lb. (12.7kg)
  • Stores flat and easy to assemble
  • Note: Carrier is not autoclavable
Limited warranty period: Subject to all warranty requirements and exclusions set out in our Terms and Conditions of Sale, this product is warranted from the date we ship the product and for ninety (90) days thereafter. Disclaimer to internal research use restriction: Any restrictions on the purchaser to utilize the product(s) for internal research purposes only does not apply to the product(s) on the web pages associated with this statement.

Manuals & protocols


text:
LH265E air-cooled condensing unit for greater cooling capacity

BITZER develops new air-cooled condensing unit for use in hot regions

© 2015 Bitzer Kühlmaschinenbau GmbH

Der neue BITZER Verflüssigungssatz LH265E eignet sich besonders für den Einsatz in heißen Regionen © 2015 Bitzer Kühlmaschinenbau GmbH

Compressor specialist BITZER has developed a new condensing unit for high ambient temperatures and greater cooling capacity. Now available, the LH265E is energy-efficient, extremely robust and ideal for the low temperature application in countries with a hot climate.

Particularly in warmer regions such as Southern Europe, Asia and the Middle East, uninterrupted cooling chains are extremely important. But the low temperature application, such as food refrigeration, poses a major challenge there. For this reason, BITZER has expanded its well-known series of air-cooled condensing units to include another construction size: the LH265E. In addition to Asia and the Middle East, the device will also be launched onto the market in Europe.

Powerful and robust

"The LH265E was designed specifically for the low temperature application in demanding conditions," says Dieter Hildebrandt, BITZER Manager World Condensing Unit. "This has allowed us to meet the demand for reliable condensing units in extremely warm countries as well as exploit growth opportunities in these regions." Depending on the refrigerant used, the condensing unit can achieve a capacity of more than 40 kW in the low temperature application. "Even in extremely high outside temperatures, the condenser guarantees reliable operations and maintains the cold store temperature," says Hildebrandt. A robust weather protective housing also makes the device very corrosion-resistant. If required, the condenser can also be equipped with fins coated in plastic.

Different types of compressor

The robust, compact LH265E is flexible in its composition: it can be equipped with all single stage four-cylinder compressors and the single and double stage six-cylinder reciprocating compressors in the BITZER ECOLINE series. The single stage ECOLINE reciprocating compressors boast high efficiency and can be equipped with cutting-edge capacity control. The double stage six-cylinder compressors can also be equipped with liquid subcoolers, increasing cooling capacity and efficiency. The LH265E is compatible with all refrigerants that are authorized for ECOLINE reciprocating compressors, including R134a, R404A, R407A and R407F.

Accessories for greater operating reliability

As it does for all other models in the series, BITZER also offers the corresponding accessories that increase operating reliability for the new condensing unit. Users have the option to equip the LH265E with an accessories package comprising a pressure limiter, oil separator with check valve, and a liquid line with filter drier, sight glass and solenoid valve. The condensing unit can also simply be retrofitted with the corresponding accessories, just like the compressor.

Efficient and eco-friendly

With its impressive capacity, the LH265E is the top product in the new LHE series, which BITZER launched at the end of last year. The condensing units fulfill the efficiency requirements of the current EU Ecodesign Directive and offer much better air cooling than their predecessors. To increase efficiency, BITZER installed the fans in a revised full bell mouth that optimally guides the air stream and thus considerably reduces noise generation. Optional EC fans ensure maximum energy efficiency.

Source: Bitzer Kühlmaschinenbau GmbH


text:
WGN America

Even if it can boast of being a critical darling that’s generated historic ratings for the network, Underground‘s fate at WGN America appears to be all but sealed.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the slave-centered drama, which wrapped its second season Wednesday, will have to find a new home amid a new strategy employed by its new owners, the Sinclair Group, which recently secured WGN America’s owner, Tribune Media. Previously, WGN America had been trying to fancy itself as a new destination for high-quality dramas like Underground and Outsiders. Yet, in April, WGN America axed Outsiders, its top-rated drama, which subsequently sparked talk that Underground would likely go home to TV glory, too.

“It’s a complete pause at WGN America,” an apparent “agency insider” explained to the publication. “It’s unclear if they’ll still have scripted there. I had something being shopped there, and talks suddenly just stalled. They’re figuring out what they’re going to do and if they even continue on with scripted.”

That means WGN America will likely now become home to reruns of procedural dramas already airing on seven damn networks and cheap imports. Hello, Canada. What up, Britain? Hey, hey, Czechoslovakia. Let WGN America air your shit stateside for that low-low.

All hope isn’t lost for Underground fans, though. Its producer, Sony Pictures Television, has been trying to find a new home for the show, which reportedly carries a $5-million-per-episode cost. The show already has an exclusive deal to air episodes on Hulu, so here’s hoping that Hulu will add the show to its roster of original programming. After all, Hulu could use more color in its programming slate.

For those who didn’t take heed to my previous call to watch the show, stop depriving yourselves of greatness and dive in. The second season of Underground is superior to what was already an outstanding inaugural run. And while every cast member on the show is impressive in his or her respective role, Underground has given me a strong and ever-increasing affinity for the talents of Amirah Vann, who plays Miss Ernestine on the series.

While I’ll join fellow viewers in prayers, happy thoughts and wishes upon a star that Underground gets a third season on a deserving network or medium like Hulu, there is another aspect to WGN America’s new owners that ought to alarm anyone who worries about the role that big, conservative-leaning conglomerates have in our collective viewing habits.

Indeed, that same report about Underground ends with the following:

Sinclair will use its newfound heft—the addition of Tribune’s 42 stations gives it channels in more than 70 percent of U.S. households—to launch a competitor to Fox News.

Does the world need a Fox News competitor? Have sensible people not suffered enough? Such questions only make me hear the voices of Celie and Nettie crying out in agony, but they feel differently over at the Sinclair Group.

Last week the New York Times reported on the company’s plans in the article “Fox’s Unfamiliar but Powerful Television Rival: Sinclair.”

Michael J. de la Merced and Nicholas Fandos report on what you can look forward to:

While much of the station’s local news broadcasts are filled with local news, Sinclair also provides commentary and syndicated reports from its Washington bureau that have generally taken stances critical of Democrats and laudatory of Republicans.

Mark Hyman, a onetime Sinclair executive, has a twice-weekly segment on dozens of the group’s stations, promising to take viewers “behind the headlines.” What they find there are reliably conservative arguments on hotly contested political issues like voter-identification laws, the Export-Import Bank and overhauling the Internal Revenue Service.

In the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Sinclair instructed anchors to read statements supporting Mr. [George W.] Bush and his administration’s efforts to fight terrorism, the Baltimore Sun and others reported at the time.

Before the 2004 presidential election, Sinclair drew sharp criticism, including from Sen. John McCain, Republican of Arizona, for its refusal to broadcast an episode of Nightline devoted to reciting the names of every member of the military killed in action in Iraq.

Then, just days before the election, Sinclair aired parts of a documentary critical of the anti-Vietnam War activities of John Kerry, the Democratic nominee. The company had originally planned to air the documentary in full, the Times reported, but pressure from advertisers and shareholders led it to run only excerpts during a program on the election.

More recently, Jared Kushner, Mr. [Donald] Trump’s son-in-law and now a senior adviser in the White House, said at a meeting with business executives that the Trump campaign had reached an agreement with Sinclair to give more access to Mr. Trump and the campaign under the condition that the interviews be broadcast without commentary on the company’s affiliates, according to two people who had attended the meeting but were not authorized to discuss it. Taped in Sinclair’s Washington bureau, the interviews with Mr. Trump were broadcast across several swing states.

Unsurprisingly, without the Sweet Potato Saddam administration, the Sinclair Group would not have been able to take over Tribune Media and thus broaden its reach, since it now controls far more local affiliates. In sum, not only may we lose Underground as a result of this takeover, but we may also find ourselves with yet another major media conglomerate helping to spread the repressive, reductive ideology associated with the modern conservative movement and the conservative-media complex that has helped make it so successful.

It all seems horrifying, but nonetheless, sounds about white, doesn’t it?


text:
Baby’s gender revealed! It’s a…

Well ladies, I have a little secret to share… we found out the baby’s gender!! We had to cancel our appointment last week because we decided to go on vacation last minute but luckily, she called me with a cancellation on Saturday. So what we drove 10 hours straight and barely slept; who needs sleep when you can go take a look at your baby?!
I’ll let you watch this little video and see for yourselves 🙂
We are OVER THE MOON excited and are crossing our fingers it checks out the same at our ultrasound in a few weeks. Of course we’d be just as happy if it says the opposite but hey, I’d be lying if I told you I hadn’t been scoping out nursery themes and baby clothes 😉
Here’s to bows, tutus, headbands bigger than her head, and pure diva! 🙂
We’re having a baby GIRL… EEK!

Baby's gender revealed at 13 weeks.

what do you think?

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.


text:
Gideon Haigh
A Scandal in Bohemia

In 1930-31, the worthy citizens of Melbourne were gripped by a brutal and depraved unsolved murder that filled the tabloids. Mollie Dean, a 25-year-old special education teacher, was sexually assaulted and killed in an Elwood laneway on her way home after an evening at the theatre with friends. Dean was sexy, beautiful and ambitious; a poet, aspiring novelist and artists’ model, and a mistress of Colin Colahan, a prominent Melbourne painter. In this latest addition to his true crime oeuvre, Melbourne journalist and polymath Gideon Haigh attempts to uncover Dean’s life as well as her death.

The facts about Mollie’s life are slim, despite Haigh’s admirable scholarship, and he knows it. “With her solitary photograph, missing detail and reticent family, Mollie Dean felt at times like the chalked outline of her body in that Elwood laneway,” he writes. Sometimes this leads to tenuous links with Dean that appear as wishful thinking on Haigh’s part, such as Bertrand Russell and his book Marriage and Morals, which Haigh introduces with: “One book … that Mollie perhaps borrowed …” Mostly, though, Haigh makes a virtue of necessity by broadening his story in three directions. Even without Dean’s murder as a fulcrum, the book is a fascinating exploration of the strife and allegiances of the Meldrumites, one of Melbourne’s cliquish artistic circles. Haigh also positions Dean’s independent spirit and sexual liberation within a broader context of the struggles of female writers and artists of the day.

The clearest picture of Dean herself appears in reflections Haigh finds in the art of others. As well as Colahan’s paintings, the unpublished novels of Dean’s associates and contemporary fictions such as Katherine Kovacic’s The Portrait of Molly Dean, Haigh finds Dean as Jessica Wray and Colahan as Sam Burlington in George Johnston’s My Brother Jack. Johnston was a long-time friend of Colahan’s and it’s satisfying to read Haigh’s unpicking of all that has been lost in the shift from Dean to Wray.

As the title suggests, the scandal is found beyond Dean – it is in the city’s bohemia, and Haigh’s evocation of ’20s Melbourne is terrific. Also intriguing are the too-slim parts that describe his own investigations. It seems there’s a complete story here as well: perhaps Haigh might consider The Search for a Scandal in Bohemia, à la Grenville, for a future book.  LS

Hamish Hamilton, 320pp, $32.99

This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on Apr 7, 2018 as "Gideon Haigh, A Scandal in Bohemia ". Subscribe here.

Reviewer: LS


text:
music July 20, 2019

Gordon Koang Duoth

On stage and at home with South Sudanese pop star, and refugee, Gordon Koang Duoth.

portrait July 13, 2019

Writer and activist Lamisse Hamouda

A chat with Lamisse Hamouda about how she freed her father from an Egyptian prison.

music June 29, 2019

DJ and sound artist Lucreccia Quintanilla

A walk along Merri Creek with multimedia artist Lucreccia Quintanilla.

portrait July 6, 2019

MONA FOMA and Dark Mofo’s Hannah Fox

A swim, au naturel, with associate creative director Hannah Fox.

music June 22, 2019

Musician Cale Sexton

A visit to the studio of composer Cale Sexton to discuss his commission for the Federation Bells.

portrait February 9, 2019

OzHarvest founder Ronni Kahn

A tour through the headquarters of food distributor OzHarvest with CEO Ronni Kahn.

portrait February 2, 2019

Professor David Lindenmayer

A walk through Toolangi State Forest with scientist and academic David Lindenmayer.

portrait January 26, 2019

Sydney Lunar Festival’s Valerie Khoo

A chat with Australian Writers’ Centre founder, visual artist and curator of the 2019 City of Sydney Lunar Festival Valerie Khoo.

portrait December 22, 2018

Artist Wendy Whiteley

A visit to the home of artist Wendy Whiteley.

portrait December 15, 2018

Artist Oki Sato

A walk through the mind of MC Escher with Oki Sato, from Japanese design studio Nendo.

portrait December 8, 2018

Indigenous fire educator Victor Steffensen

A walk through Kuranda, Queensland, with Indigenous fire practitioner Victor Steffensen.


text:
The Shared Shrimp Tacos by Amy Cantu

It's late. We had just spent three days hoofing it all over Disneyland, (24,600 steps per day, if you're counting,) in extreme heat. We had just arrived in San Diego to visit Grandma Sheryl and Grandpa Bob. My husband pulled into the driveway and began unloading what always turns out to be too much stuff from the trunk of the car, while I gingerly carry each child into the house as quietly as I can. We're exhausted. I feel the blisters on my feet with each step and my legs ache. As I groggily pull open the refrigerator, I start making a mental grocery list of all the things I needed to get from the store before heading to bed, so the kids would have have something that they would eat in the morning. Suddenly I hear angels singing, as I squint through the bright light of the refrigerator. I rubbed my eyes and wondered if I was hallucinating. Grandma Sheryl and Grandpa Bob had us covered - milk, fruit, iced coffee, waffles, bagels, sandwich supplies, and animal crackers - they had stocked up for us, so we wouldn't have to rush to a grocery store to feed ourselves or the kids! Angels!

I know in-laws get a bad rap sometimes, but I won the lottery with mine. Both sets of my in-laws welcome in our family zoo and are always eager to take the kids off my hands and usher me away to take a nap. (How do they know that I ALWAYS need a nap??? Do I look that bad . . . no one answer that. I'm just grateful.) They are early risers, so somebody (not me or my husband!) is always up when our first child wakes at 5:30 a.m. Did I mention angels? They are ANGELS! And so, after a couple days of lounging around with my feet up and calling out, "I don't know, kids, go ask Grandma or Grandpa!" I thought maybe I should repay some of this kindness with a family meal of Mango-Shrimp Tacos with Honey-Lime Slaw. These tacos are special enough to seem like a treat, but easy enough to pull together on a weeknight or just to say, "Thank you for being totally awesome!"

Follow us the recipe:

Mango-Shrimp Tacos with Honey-Lime Slaw


text:
Current visitors

Everyone Members Guests Robots

  1. Robot: Yandex

  2. Robot: Yandex

  3. Robot: Google

    • Viewing thread
  4. Robot: Google

  5. Robot: Google AdSense

Members Online

Online statistics

Members online
Guests online
Total visitors


WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: application/xhtml+xml

text:
Green Day revives rock opera on ‘American Idiot’

Hang on for a minute...we're trying to find some more stories you might like.

Email This Story

Artist: Green DayAlbum:American IdiotGenre: Pop-PunkAlbum Highlights: “Homecoming,” “Jesus of Suburbia”Web Site:

With 16 years of experience backing them up, as well as a legion of bloodthirsty fans willing to defend the trio to the death, the musical sensation known as Green Day is back on the scene. With their newest album having been released Sept. 21, Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and TrÃ© Cool are showing the world once more exactly why it is that they’re considered legends in the punk rock industry.

The newest of the band’s albums entitled, “American Idiot” gives listeners a look into the minds of the group which has brought us such hits as “Dookie,” “Nimrod,” “Kerplunk,” and the lesser appreciated “Warning.” Unlike their previous albums however “American Idiot” brings something fresh to the sound we are so used to hearing from three Berkeley based punk rockers.

Moving into a territory the band has yet to explore the album features 2 tracks entitled, “Jesus of Suburbia,” and “Homecoming,” both of which spanning 9 minutes take us into the world of epic rock opera.

Beyond that, the entire album is a compliment to itself, with many of the songs making mention to other songs also on the disk, it keeps you guessing whether or not you’re listening to the track you think you are, up until the music stops and you never really were sure of anything.

Overall, the album is a very accurate reflection of how the band has grown over the years. Not necessarily leaving behind their old hits that rocked the nation, but definitely mixing things up with a new style that will hopefully continue to rock the nation for years to come.


text:
How to Deal With Leaf Galls

What Are Those Bumps on Your Tree's Leaves?

Leaf Galls

Marie Iannotti. The Spruce, 2006.

Have you ever picked up a leaf that was dotted with bumps or had long protrusions dangling from it? Chances are these are leaf galls.

The appearance of leaf galls is a jarring sight. The bumps can be hard or just hollow protrusions. Your first thought might be that it is a disease or insects have laid eggs or burrowed into the leaf, the way leafminers do. The good news is that the bumps are generally not caused by a disease. They are usually insect damage. However, by the time you see those bumps, the insect has long since moved on.

What Leaf Galls Are

Leaf galls are a frightening sight but are not usually as serious as they appear. These bumps and deformities are generally the results of feeding by insects or some other foreign organism such as bacteria, fungi, mites, nematodes, and even viruses. Whatever the original cause, these organisms are usually not still on the plant leaf. The gall itself is the plant’s response to the irritation. It’s not unlike the bump you get when an insect feeds on you, expect the leaf gall is not going to go away.

Despite appearances, the insect is not living in the gall, and it has left behind no eggs in the gall itself. It is very likely that once you notice the galls, the insects have moved on. Before they do, they can do a lot of cosmetic damage to many plants and in particular trees. Galls can also form on stems and flowers. However, leaf galls seem to be the most prominent and get the most notice.

It is almost always the fresh new, leafy growth that is attacked by the insects and other organisms and then produces the galls. Mature leaves are rarely affected. However many common trees are susceptible to leaf galls, especially when first leafing out in the spring. Maple, oak, elm, hackberry, and others are each favored by a different insect that causes unsightly and intimidating galls.

You should expect that damage will be more considerable following a mild winter since more insects have survived and are hungry. That is true of any insect problem in your yard or garden. While the damage from galls won’t usually kill a tree, it can weaken the tree and may cause early leaf drop. A healthy tree will send out new growth and recover, but the loss of leaves and photosynthesis will, even more, weaken a stressed tree.

What You Can About Leaf Galls

As unsightly as they are, the best thing to do is just let them be. Since the damage occurred before the gall formed, treatment is rarely recommended.

If you have a severe reoccurring problem with the same insect affecting your tree year after year, you can take action to control that insect population in your yard and thereby lessen the severity of the damage to your tree. Contact your local extension office for specific guidelines and recommendations in your area.

You generally spray your trees in early spring, when they are first leafing out, and the insects will be visiting to chew on the tender new leaves. But if you're patient, nature may take care of the problem for you. Gall-making insects tend to attract their predators, and they will stay in the area as long as there is food for them to eat.

The Bottom Line on Leaf Galls

Although leaf galls do not always pose a serious problem for trees, you should not ignore the presence of galls entirely. The formation of leaf galls requires a good deal of energy and nutrients from the tree, as it tries to defend and heal itself. At the start of the growing season, the tree needs all its strength to leaf out, flower and grow. So the formation of galls can stress and weaken the tree itself, as it is coming out of dormancy in the spring. This can happen when there is an unusually high concentration of galls on the plant or when the plant is attacked, and galls are produced several years in a row. If this is the case, you should consider finding out what organism is causing the galls and treat for it the following spring, to prevent further stress and damage.


text:
Get our free email newsletter with just one click

Semele review at Garsington Opera – ‘a triumph’

Heidi Stober and the cast of Semele at Garsington Opera. Photo: Johan Persson Heidi Stober and the cast of Semele at Garsington Opera. Photo: Johan Persson

Garsington’s new production of Handel’s Semele, directed by Annilese Miskimmon (soon to join Oslo National Opera as Artistic Director), is something of a triumph.

There’s immediate appeal in the charming naivety of Jupiter’s realm as Semele sings Endless Pleasure – complete with cloud-forming balloons and hovering doves-on-sticks, in Juno (god of childbirth) singing from her hospital bed while about to go into labour, and in the semi-comatose Somnus (god of Sleep) making an early appearance to administer pain relief to Juno before, in his first appearance proper, his snug duvet is comically subject to magical manipulation.

There are cute children too. Juno’s half a dozen little girls run around periodically, and the climactic birth of Bacchus (son of Semele and the god Jupiter) brings forth a little toddler – aptly the real life-son of Heidi Stober, who sings Semele.

Nicky Shaw’s designs include fitted bright-blue flight crew uniforms for the heavenly attendants and an evocative moonlit backdrop. As the sun sets outside Garsington’s airy pavilion theatre, the stage responds with illuminated moons and a candlelit memorial to Semele.

But even more effective are the strong characterisations of Semele and Juno (Christine Rice). Far from being reduced to putty by Jupiter’s godliness, Semele is guided by her own desires, and Juno – amid the decidedly mortal bloating and wincing – is a force to be reckoned with. Both sing brilliantly, Stober bright-toned and ever-agile, and Rice luscious and effortlessly resonating. Robert Murray as Jupiter is a commanding presence if vocally less competitive and Jurgita Adamonyte as Ino amply balances comic touches with the interior anguish of admiring Athamas from afar.

Under Jonathan Cohen the Garsington Opera Orchestra sparkles and the Chorus makes a strong impression too.

We need your help…

When you subscribe to The Stage, you’re investing in our journalism. And our journalism is invested in supporting theatre and the performing arts.

The Stage is a family business, operated by the same family since we were founded in 1880. We do not receive government funding. We are not owned by a large corporation. Our editorial is not dictated by ticket sales.

We are fully independent, but this means we rely on revenue from readers to survive.

Help us continue to report on great work across the UK, champion new talent and keep up our investigative journalism that holds the powerful to account. Your subscription helps ensure our journalism can continue.

Subscribers to The Stage get 10% off The Stage Tickets’ price
A highly entertaining and brilliantly sung new production of Handel's opera


text:
Mexican director Guillermo del Toro’s new series, The Strain, is probably the most hotly anticipated television debut of the summer season.

But don’t expect del Toro’s fresh take on vampirism, which debuts July 13 on FX Canada, a digital specialty network co-owned by Rogers Canada and the U.S.-based FX Networks — to be anything but bracingly and blood-chillingly original.

“I wanted to go much more beyond the man in the cape with the fangs and the funny accent,” del Toro said, recalling his own youth as a “pale, thin kid” who had a deep fascination with vampires.

Del Toro was speaking at a media briefing at the Rogers Centre Tuesday to promote the series.

The Strain, based on a book trilogy he co-wrote with Chuck Hogan, was shot almost entirely in Toronto, the same city del Toro chose to shoot his big-budget monster-vs.-robots movie Pacific Rim, which hit movie screens last year.

The story begins when a biological hazards team in hazmat suits discover a planeload of apparently dead passengers on the tarmac at a New York City airport who turn out not to be so dead. They’re infected with a parasitic organism that turns them into bloodthirsty vampires. It doesn’t take long for the parasitic infection to become a global crisis.

Del Toro said he’s recently fallen in love with high-quality episodic television and saw it as the right medium to adapt the novels and to flesh out the characters.

“I realized that the long arc allows you to live with the characters in the way that no other medium does. It’s not just a weekly adventure that is opened and closed. But you could actually follow characters for long arcs that last a season, two seasons or more. I was really attracted to that storytelling form,” he said.

Del Toro said he’s also created humans who are all too human in terms of their flaws.

“The idea with The Strain is that the vampires are striving for perfection and unity and uniformity, and the humans are a ragtag band of really marginal characters. I wanted from the beginning for fallibility to be beautiful. I didn’t want the heroes to be great; I wanted them to do things that were wrong,” he said.

Casting of actors, including House of CardsCorey Stoll as Dr. Ephraim Goodweather, a biological hazards expert, and David Bradley as former professor and Holocaust survivor Abraham Setrakian, took close to seven months.

Unexpectedly, there was no shortage of network suitors clamouring to add the series to their schedule, del Toro said.

“Every network we went to wanted the show. I was really, really quite amazed but that is not normal in the life of a storyteller. Usually we get kicked five times, and the one guy that gets it, you find by a pure miracle,” he said.

Not only did FX Networks president John Landgraf have a detailed knowledge of the source material, but del Toro said there was no talk about restraint in terms of expressing the rather graphic elements of the novels, including how the vampires feed on their hapless human victims.

“The way the vampires feed . . . is really, really brutal. It’s not a languishing girl in a nightgown by the moonlight with George Hamilton sucking softly on her neck. It’s truly, truly much more parasitic than that,” del Toro said. Even the promo image for the show, of an eyeball with a tube protruding from it, is chilling.

Eric Schrier, president of original programming and productions for FX Networks, said the series is the “most ambitious” ever undertaken by the network.

Schrier noted that the experience of shooting in Toronto was so positive, the network decided to locate production of another new series, Fargo, based on the Coen Brothers film, to Calgary, and Wayward Pines, which the network is producing for the Fox Network, to Vancouver.

“We had never shot a production in Canada until The Strain and this year, we spent over $100 million in production dollars across Canada. The crews and people here in Canada have been fantastic and we’re looking forward to doing more production here,” Schrier said.


text:
OTTAWA—Transport Canada’s slow-footed response to vehicle safety is putting the lives of Canadians at risk, a new report warns.

In a world of fast-moving technology, federal regulators are getting left at roadside, hampered by poor planning, budget cuts and a reactive approach, according to a damning audit of Transport Canada’s oversight of the safety of passenger vehicles.

While travel by road is safer than ever — fatalities and injuries in 2014 were at their lowest level since tracking began in the early 1970s — Transport Canada could be doing a much better job in ensuring the safety of passenger vehicles, the federal auditor general’s report says.

“Technology is evolving faster than the regulations and standards designed to protect Canadians,” says the report, released Tuesday.

“Transport Canada did not develop motor vehicle safety standards to respond to emerging risks and issues in a timely manner,” it says.

The audit flags concerns on a number of fronts, including inadequate research to back changes; incomplete collision database; and no long-term strategy or funding for motor vehicle safety.

For example, Transport Canada has jumped on the U.S. move to make back-up cameras mandatory, even though it has limited data to show there are any safety benefits, the report found.

But the report also flags federal foot-dragging, highlighting lengthy delays — sometimes as long as 10 years — from the time Transport Canada began work on an issue to when regulatory changes are finally introduced.

“Transport Canada did not maintain an up-to-date regulatory framework for passenger vehicle safety,” it said.

Read the full report here.

A five-year review of changes to the regulations found that Transport Canada waited too often for its American counterpart to introduce safety changes first before taking action here.

By taking their cue from the Americans, the audit suggests that regulators have been slow to implement changes that could improve the safety of Canadian vehicles, auditors concluded.

“This reactive approach created significant delays in implementing new standards, and meant that some passenger vehicles were not equipped with the newest safety features available in other countries.”

It noted that the department too often follows the lead of other countries when modifying Canadian standards instead of using its work to initiate changes. Not only does this cause delays but it also means that conditions unique to Canada — climate, more variable hours of daylight, road infrastructure — are given short shrift, the report says.

It cites the example of “innovative” headlights on European vehicles that dim so they do not affect the visibility of oncoming cars. But Transport Canada said such technology did not meet Canadian or American standards.

Yet the audit found that Transport Canada has been working on new standards for better nighttime lighting on vehicles for the last eight years and the work is still not finished.

Indeed, the audit uncovered other areas where new rules to boost vehicle safety have moved at a snail’s pace, taking between eight and 13 years to complete.

The auditors noted that in 2007, the U.S. implemented a standard for side-impact collisions. It has taken Transport Canada nine years to take steps to update Canadians standards. “At the time of our audit, this standard was still not updated,” the report says.

The report also faults Transport Canada for not doing more to consult with stakeholders such as consumer associations, the insurance industry, police and equipment suppliers prior to proposing regulatory changes.

As a result, the audit said that vehicle makers — who often were consulted — may have unduly influenced the process.

“Because Transport Canada did not engage these groups, it is our view that manufacturers may have exercised disproportionate influence on regulatory decision making and caused delays in updating the regulations.”

As a result, the report said the federal transport department did not act in an “accountable and transparent manner.”

The audit found that the motor vehicle safety branch had no long-term plan for its activities or stable funding for its research and regulatory work.

The audit questioned other budget decisions. Spending on crashworthiness testing was chopped by 59 per cent for the 2016-17 fiscal year yet the department spent $5.4 million on a crash barrier. “We questioned the rational for proceeding with the project,” the auditors said.

Funding was also cut on outreach activities with stakeholders, limiting input on “key safety issues.”

Responding to the findings on Tuesday, Transport Minister Marc Garneau said the department would seek to consult more with stakeholders on regulatory changes.

“We take the point that we need to do more,” Garneau said.

Canadian military has no strategy to recruit more women, auditor general says

Border strategy has had little impact, report finds

CRA taking far too long to resolve tax objections, auditor general says

National Defence needs to clean up recruiting, military maintenance: auditor general report


text:
The perennial push to privatize Toronto Hydro, the publicly owned power provider, appears to be making unprecedented progress. But as the stars align for the sell-off, or perhaps more accurately, are engineered into alignment, the city should proceed with caution.

The Star revealed earlier this year that some of Mayor John Tory’s senior staff and advisers had long been working toward a partial sale of the utility, which could bring in up to $1.5 billion for the cash-strapped municipality.

Last month, Toronto Hydro hired two former senior Tory advisers to lobby council to consider a sell-off. And last week, Calgary-based energy giant Enbridge Inc. hired another former Tory operative to pitch its purchase of part of the energy provider.

Meanwhile, policy-makers sympathetic to the sale have been chipping away at the traditional arguments against. One was that the province would gobble up much of the money through a longstanding transfer tax meant to discourage the privatization of public assets. Premier Kathleen Wynne, perhaps with a potential hydro sale in mind, lowered the levy significantly in her government’s last budget.

Now another anti-privatization argument looks ready to crumble. It has never been clear that the benefits of a one-time payoff would outweigh the sacrifice of annual dividends that flow to the city – a revenue source that has pumped almost $210 million into Toronto’s coffers since 2010. But Toronto Hydro’s board of directors is now looking at ending the subsidy on the grounds that it needs the money to update the city’s dilapidated power grid. (It may or may not have the authority to do this.) By withdrawing the payout, the utility would significantly weaken the case against privatization.

The trouble is the appearance that paving the way to privatization is what this is all about, rather than, say, doing what’s best for the city. Toronto Hydro recently received $2.25 billion earmarked for capital spending from the Ontario Energy Board, a boost that has reportedly contributed to a considerable hike in profits. It’s not at all clear that the dividend is needed to cover the costs of a grid update. Needless to say, the timing is rather suspicious.

Public officials should be facilitating, not manipulating, the debate over privatization. Besides the financial considerations, the sell-off of any public utility raises questions of how best to protect the public good.

Toronto Hydro’s 747,000 customers deserve assurance that they won’t suffer undue effect from a sale, especially if it’s to a private sector operator like Enbridge. Ongoing green initiatives and conservation efforts have to be supported and the city’s say in key decisions at the utility will need protection. The recent history of partial privatization in Ontario – from eHealth to ORNGE – should be read as a cautionary tale.

The allure of a sell-off to those working toward it is clear. Premier Wynne may well hope a sale would provide political cover for her government’s own, unpopular privatization of Hydro One, not to mention a big cash infusion in the lead-up to the election. Tory, who has promised not to raise property taxes and has been reluctant to talk about other revenue tools, is surely enticed by what he sees as a more politically palatable, even if one-time, source of funds. Enbridge is no doubt eager to enter a potentially lucrative new market.

But none of that has much to do with whether selling part of this important public asset would, on balance, be in the best interests of Torontonians. The promise of short-term benefits, whether to our cash-strapped city or to particular politicians, must be weighed against the long-term costs. Selling part of Toronto Hydro may be a wise move. But as long as officials continue to manipulate the debate, the utility’s true owners won’t be able to decide.


text:
CLEVELAND—Where would baseball be without the n-word: numbers.

It’s a sport that often disappears up its own wazoo, fixated with integers and percentages and statistical probabilities.

So there was Russell Martin, in a good mood, all jacked up on the eve of the American League Championship Series, agreeably taking his place at the bistro table marked with his name for the peculiar post-season off-day media ritual of quick-step interviews. Kind of like speed dating — pick your player, ask your questions, move on.

And then some mook inquires about Martin’s unimpressive numbers this season throwing out base stealers. To wit: A very un-Russellian stat of merely 11 base runners mowed down whilst pilfering versus 61 successful steals on his watch. Historically Martin is one of the best throwing catchers in the game, though the evidence for 2016 belies that.

“I feel like numbers lie,” the playoff veteran states flatly.

Yes, they can be duplicitous buggers. But then there’s this straight-up figure: Cleveland stole 134 bases this year. Toronto stole 54. The Indians are rabbits on the basepaths — they led the AL in stolen bases — a talent they’ll doubtless seek to exploit when this demi-pennant series launches Friday night. Their most lethal practitioner of the pickpocket art is ex-Jay Rajai Davis, who was top of the AL heap with 43 this season. Denying the Indians their running game is primarily Martin’s burden.

“Controlling the base paths is something I’ve done my whole career,” Martin reminds. “So it’s exciting for me. I like when people run. It gives me a challenge. I love challenges. I hope they run a lot.” He ponders that comment momentarily, then revises: “Hopefully they don’t run at all because they don’t get on base. That would be great.”

Keeping runners on the bag, making them stay put, is actually a shared responsibility between catcher and pitchers. But the former inevitably wears it.

“That’s a stat that goes against the catcher but it doesn’t always tell the tale,” observes lefty starter J.A. Happ, who’ll start Game 2 on Saturday. “As a pitcher you’re trying to vary your times, vary your looks so that the runner can’t time what you’re doing. And then your time to the plate — if you’re slow to the plate, it makes it really hard on the catcher no matter how perfect the throw he can make to get that runner.”

It’s up to pitchers to vary their times, their deliveries, using slide-steps to fool or disrupt take-offs. “He certainly has the arm,” Happ says of Martin. “We just need to give him enough time.”

As Martin professes, however, he relishes the challenge of nailing these Indians on the paths, should they go mano-a-mano with his arm.

“If they want to take their chances? It’s what I’m best at in life, throwing and catching. I don’t want to sound over-confident but it’s always been part of my game. I feel like, for me, it’s a non-issue. It’s not something I’m going to lose sleep over.”

Martin frowns. This really isn’t a subject he wants to focus on. Which strongly suggests those stolen base numbers actually bother him a lot more than he claims.

“I throw rocket missiles to second base. I’m pretty quick and I’m pretty accurate and I’m pretty consistent. Most of my throws this year have been pretty good throws. I can only control my side. If there’s a misplay or something happens . . . every once in a while a couple of balls slips too.’’ As occurred with a rain-slicked ball chopped in front of home plate that Martin air-mailed into right field in Boston during the final regular-season series last month.

“But I don’t feel like we ever got taken advantage of (this year) by teams stealing bases. Why is it a concern now? It shouldn’t be.”

Uh, because it’s an off-day and baseball is 90 per cent sitting around talking, 10 per cent action?

Manager John Gibbons concedes what the numbers convey in their detached way. “We haven’t done quite as good a job controlling (base stealing) from the pitching end of it, like we did last year.” But he looks back at the games Toronto and Cleveland have played this season “and it doesn’t seem like that was ever a big factor, necessarily.”

Others will admit to a keen awareness and concern about Cleveland’s speed demons. “That’s definitely one of their weapons so we have to be on the lookout and try to neutralize that as much as we can,” says Jose Bautista. “Our pitchers have to make sure they’re quick to the plate and our catcher has to remind them of that. I’m sure that’s already been discussed.”

Adds Marcus Stroman: “You got to do your best job of limiting base-runners because they do run.”

Again, unless it’s a pitcher’s pickoff move that goes wildly awry, the catcher gets tagged for the steal because he’s the only player looking in the right direction. Majority blame, posits Gibbons, rests with the guy on the mound. “Unless you’ve got a catcher who can’t throw a lick.” Which totally isn’t Martin, despite a career-worst 15 per cent caught-stealing record this year.

Of course, the runner has lots to say about it, picking which pitch to run on, an off-speed most fetching for the purpose.

The Jays have rarely employed the pitchout this season to set up the bang-bang caught stealing play. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t do it,” notes Martin.

He’s always thinking behind the plate, with a runner on. “There are ways. I can put a slide-step and ask for a fastball up if I want to, if I feel somebody’s going to steal. Obviously, the quicker you are to the plate, the more of a shot that I have of throwing somebody out. But it’s all about pitch quality. Pitch quality comes before worrying about somebody that’s on the base paths.”

“They don’t have Usain Bolt on the other team. I’m not too worried.”


text:
VANCOUVER—A Victoria woman is raising the alarm after she witnessed private security guards using what she calls excessive force to detain a young man at a Saanich shopping centre on Wednesday.

The incident took place at shopping centre Uptown. In a video shared on Facebook, uniformed security guards from GuardTeck wrestle a young man to the ground. As the man struggles and protests, saying he hadn’t done anything wrong, the guards kneel on his head and twist his arms above his head. A third guard enters the frame and attempts to control the young man’s legs.

Kristy Westendorp watched the takedown and recorded it with her phone.

“It escalated very quickly,” Westendorp says. “Three of them physically held him down.”

In the video, the guards tell the man he is being arrested because he spat on them. The young man repeatedly claims he did not. Westendorp said she did not witness the man spit on or otherwise assault any of the security guards.

Westendorp said she is still in contact with the young man and spoke to him at length after the incident. She did not provide his name. StarMetro was unable to independently verify the young man’s name, though Westendorp agreed to provide him with StarMetro’s contact information and the request for an interview.

Saanich Police confirmed its officers were called to the incident but would not say whether any charges were recommended. In a statement, Sgt. Jeremy Leslie said Saanich Police have a copy of the video and are investigating. No other information is available at the time, Sgt. Leslie said. An email with followup questions was not returned.

A request for comment from Uptown was also not returned.

GuardTeck denied StarMetro’s request for an interview with the employees in question and did not directly answer any questions sent via email. Instead, the company provided a written statement that said it is conducting a full investigation.

“We do know that there was much more to the situation than what is shown in the video,” the statement said.

The young man “has a history of violent action at the mall, including assault, theft, damage to property and mischief. He has been legally banned from the premises,” the statement said, without elaborating.

“Although things escalated, incidents like this are very rare, and we work extremely hard to avoid these unfortunate circumstances,” the statement said.

A woman answering the phone at GuardTeck’s Vancouver headquarters said she did not have contact info for the company’s media-relations department. Requests for an interview and more information were not returned.

Westendorp said the situation began when two private security guards tried to take away a large plastic bag full of cans and bottles that the young man, who she said is homeless, had spent the day collecting. She said the young man had pulled a few cans from a recycling container at the mall when the guards approached. The young man resisted, she said, and things got violent.

“To those of us who are not living in poverty, it’s just a bag of cans,” Westendorp said. “But for him, it was literally 30-degree weather yesterday and he’d spent all day working to collect a handful of dollars.

“This was someone who makes more than that in an hour trying to forcefully take away something he had worked all day for,” Westendorp said.

In the video, one of the private security guards asks bystanders to call 911. Once police arrived, Westendorp said they de-escalated the situation “within 20 seconds.”

“I’m not a huge fan of the police, either, but they were very kind to (the young man),” Westendorp said. She said that, to the best of her knowledge, the young man was not charged with a crime.

Wednesday’s incident has again raised questions about private security guards’ use of force and whether using violence to detain someone accused of a minor crime is reasonable. Earlier this month StarMetro reported a similar takedown by private security guards outside a liquor store in downtown Vancouver. That incident is being investigated by the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch and the security company involved.

B.C. law requires licensed security guards to complete basic security training — a 40-hour course. According to the Justice Institute of British Columbia website, the course focuses on professionalism and ethics, legal studies, report writing and personal safety. Security guards who carry handcuffs must also take the 24-hour advanced security course, which according to the justice institute covers advanced force options theory, introduction to control tactics and the application of restraints.

Jesse Winter is an investigative reporter based in Vancouver. Follow him on Twitter: @jwints


text:
I am still learning every day. Every day I complete the same practice routine that I completed at 18 - scales, arpeggios, thirds and finishing with a Bach suite'

Cellist Pablo Casals speaks about his life and career as his head is sculpted at the age of 94.

Watch: Great players as teachers: Pablo Casals in 1960

Read: Cellist Pablo Casals on expressive intonation


text:
WHEN the family of his elderly neighbour who had recently passed away brought round a plastic sack for his daughter, Owen Williams wasn't prepared for what was inside.

Ken Watson had bought presents for Owen's two-year-old Cadi for the next 14 years. Not only that, but he had also wrapped them beautifully for her.

Ken, who was 87, didn't have grandchildren of his own so would often buy presents for the children of his neighbours in Barry.

But Owen and his wife Caroline couldn't believe that he had been so kind to organise so many presents for their daughter.

Owen said: "We moved to the street three years ago and made a real point of going round and meeting all the neighbours. Ken wasn't in when we first called round, but the next day we heard some banging.

"I went out to investigate and there was Ken in navy overalls bouncing across the face of his house at the top of a 20ft ladder. He was 83 at the time. That just summed him up really, he was a former salvage diver in the Severn Estuary, a seaman, carpenter, baker and he did an aeroplane wing walk when he was 85.

"On that first meeting he gave our dog a chocolate biscuit. She absolutely loved him from that moment on. Really loved him passionately. She would shriek when she saw him, he was such a character.

"He always told us he’d live till he was 100 years old, so these gifts would have taken him up to our little girl’s 16th Christmas."

Ken died in the autumn and his family have been organising his house. Then earlier this week, his daughter arrived at Owen's house with the bag of presents.

Now, they are trying to decide whether to unwrap the presents to work out which ones to give Cadi at the right time in her life, or whether just to try a lucky dip.

Owen said: "My wife and I think it might make a nice Christmas tradition to give our daughter 'a present from Ken' for the next 14 years. Issue is, we really have to open them now. Nobody wants to give a fifteen-year-old Duplo."

But he also said they couldn't resist opening one. Inside was the children's book Christmas Eve at the Mellops by Tomi Ungerer.

Ken's wife, Beryl, died in 2012 at the age of 86. In an interview in 2016, he said: "I can go for up to six days without speaking to anyone.

"After my wife had passed away I took a long time to settle. There’s a space around me. I still hear her voice and speak to her."

Owen Williams's daughter, Cadi, who will now have a gift to open from Ken until she is 16.

He described how, not wanting to sit at home watching TV all day, he had taken up a series of adventurous challenges including wing-walking and sky-diving.

He was also a keen metal detectorist, classical music and opera fan, wood turner, accordion player, election canvasser, and Great British Bake Off viewer.

He said: "I began parachute jumping. I enjoy these sort of things – I feel the rush of the air. The second jump was the best. I thought ‘Gosh, I’m an eagle’.

“Wing-walking isn’t scary. I looked on the computer and it said 63 was the age limit, but as long as you have a medical certificate to say you are in good health it’s all right.

"I think my deep sea diving days helped. When I was considering becoming a diver I remember my wife said, 'If you don’t try it you may always regret it'.”

Spare a thought for Ken this Christmas, and maybe have a glass of sherry for him.

Copy courtesy of Wales Online


text:
Subscription Notification
We have noticed that there is an issue with your subscription billing details. Please update your billing details here
Please update your billing information
The subscription details associated with this account need to be updated. Please update your billing details here to continue enjoying your subscription.
Your subscription will end shortly
Please update your billing details here to continue enjoying your access to the most informative and considered journalism in the UK.
Read the full article
Free for 30 days

Club class

Irish golf star backs the rise of club hire outlets that aims to help enthusiasts combat the taking their equipment on aircraft

Ryder Cup golfer Paul McGinley is backing a new Irish company that plans to revolutionise golf tourism. is a “bricks-and-clicks” rental business that is exploiting the rising cost of carrying sets of golf clubs on scheduled airlines.

The business launched its website and opened its first shop at Faro airport in Portugal last month. There are plans to open an outlet in Malaga, Spain, by the end of the year. Plans are also afoot for kiosks in Dublin and Edinburgh. will hire out top-of-the-range Callaway and Taylormade clubs for €35 per week. Airline fees for clubs can be €80.

The company was established by Tony Judge, a former director of golf at Mount Juliet, and Gerry McKiernan, who runs an optical business in…

Want to read more?
Subscribe now and get unlimited digital access on web and our smartphone and tablet apps, free for your first month.

    You are currently logged out

    Get one month’s free unlimited access

    Unlock quality journalism on the topics that you decide matter most.

    Start your trial

    Keep up to date using Android and iOS apps for Smartphone and Tablet

    Get The International Pack for free for your first 30 days for unlimited Smartphone and Tablet access.

    Start your free trial

    Already a member? Log in


text:
Subscription Notification
We have noticed that there is an issue with your subscription billing details. Please update your billing details here
Please update your billing information
The subscription details associated with this account need to be updated. Please update your billing details here to continue enjoying your subscription.
Your subscription will end shortly
Please update your billing details here to continue enjoying your access to the most informative and considered journalism in the UK.
Read the full article
Free for 30 days

Critical list, Sept 9

The best of what’s on this week

A portrait of war: Under The Wire
A portrait of war: Under The Wire
The Sunday Times,

The work of the late Sunday Times war correspondent Marie Colvin is the focus of this riveting documentary. It draws on interviews with the photographer Paul Conroy, who worked with her in the field. See review, in this section. OR
15, 95 mins

Ian McEwan’s adaptation of his novel is worth seeing
for Emma Thompson’s terrific performance as a High Court judge holding herself together as her life falls apart. TS
12A, 105 mins

Tracing a decade-long romance from Berlin to Paris and Yugoslavia, Pawel Pawlikowski’s film has ravishing surfaces, smoky jazz and compositions as cool as a Blue Note cover. TS
15, 88 mins

Annette Bening leads a crack cast in this lush-looking, loyal screen Chekhov adaptation.…

Want to read more?
Subscribe now and get unlimited digital access on web and our smartphone and tablet apps, free for your first month.

You are currently logged out

Get one month’s free unlimited access

Unlock quality journalism on the topics that you decide matter most.

Start your trial

Keep up to date using Android and iOS apps for Smartphone and Tablet

Get The International Pack for free for your first 30 days for unlimited Smartphone and Tablet access.

Start your free trial

Already a member? Log in


text:
SWE chapter nationally recognized | The Triangle

SWE chapter nationally recognized

Photo Courtesy: Laura Taylor
Photo Courtesy: Society of Women Engineers

Meaghan Paulosky, a senior biomedical engineering major and president of the Drexel chapter of the Society of Women Engineers, recently returned from the organization’s national conference in California along with her officers.

Paulosky saw a flier for SWE in her freshman year and felt that it applied to her major, so she joined. She did not get too involved at first, only attending general body meetings. In her sophomore year, however, she became chair of the chapter’s newsletter. “Newsletter was something I thought I could do, because I really like to write,” she said. Her involvement with the organization nurtured her interest in engineering.

“It’s always exciting, because I get to work with different committees,” she said. “We have 11 different committees, and I have to be aware of what each of them is doing.”

“It’s always exciting when they’re all super-motivated and as enthused as I am.”

The chapter attended the annual conference, which was hosted in Los Angeles, from Oct. 23 to Oct. 25. Paulosky explained that the event was more like a competition rather than simply being granted an award. Chapters are graded on criteria such as how successful they are and how well-attended their events are. “We placed gold for outstanding collegiate section again,” she said, referencing last year’s win. “We don’t do what we do strictly for an award, but it’s really gratifying to see that what we do, we do well.”

A few members also won individual awards. Claudia Gutierrez, who was the president last year, ranked within the Top 10 of a poster competition. Paulosky won a scholarship.

“[The conference] was bittersweet. It was my third one,” she said. “The first time I went … it completely changed my life to meet those motivated and powerful women.”

“This [year’s conference] was everything that I hoped it would be.”

Photo Courtesy: Laura Taylor
Photo Courtesy: Society of Women Engineers

While president, Paulosky’s chapter has had its membership increase by 70 percent, started technical workshops for middle school and high school students, held events about networking and alternative professional skills, ran wellness workshops and acquired a bid to host the SWE meeting for Region E in 2015.

When asked what her proudest accomplishment as president, however, Paulosky could not come up with a precise answer. “That’s really really hard, because we had a really good year.” She noted that the officers were enthused and good at explaining concepts, which led to an increase in members.

The chapter holds weekly officer meetings on Sundays, as well as a wellness event most Tuesdays and various other events during the course of a month. The group has hosted events for middle schoolers and high schoolers such as “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day” and “Introduction to Podcasting.” It also participates in events like Philly Spring Clean-Up Day. Within the chapter, members hold study sessions and form teams for 5Ks. The group also fosters awareness about applying for jobs. Its website includes advice on what not to put on a resume and its LinkedIn group features discussions and practice interview questions.

She also observed that the members develop skills and acquire experience that they can apply to jobs. “It’s kind of satisfying to see that the work we do has value in the end.”

The Drexel SWE chapter has a president, a vice-president, a secretary, a treasurer, seven directors and 13 chairs. The group recently held elections for next year’s directors. The vice-president, Samantha Schneider, will succeed Paulosky as president. Applications for chair positions will be available soon.As previously mentioned, the chapter will host a regional SWE conference in 2015 Feb. 20 to Feb. 22. Paulosky explained that the group submitted a bid to host the event around this time last year. Two other schools were also heavily considered. The remainder of the region’s members voted on which chapter should host the event, and Drexel SWE was chosen.

“On our end, we have a conference chair, junior Jasmin Patel, who’s working extremely hard,” Paulosky said. She added that this conference may be larger than those in previous years, and that the event helps the chapter get more involved with the rest of the region.

Paulosky hopes to revolutionize the medical industry using her biomedicine and engineering skills. In the chapter’s most recent newsletter, she wrote that she is “ready to complete [her] degree at one of the most innovative universities on the planet, in a field [she’s] not only chronically curious about, but one that is growing faster than [she] can anticipate.”

SWE was founded in 1950. Its mission statement promises that the organization will stimulate women to achieve full potential as a positive force in improving the quality of life and demonstrate the value of diversity.


text:
call us on: 02078 662 527

Michael Kors Ladies Kerry Watch MK3397

Code: MK3397

Model: MK3397
Warranty: 2 Years
Case: Rose Gold PVD/Stainless Steel
Strap: Rose Gold PVD/Stainless Steel
Case width: 37mm
Fastening: Push Button Deployment clasp
Movement: Quartz
Gender: Women
In the box: Watch, Michael Kors Case, Manual/Warranty Booklet, Tags, Seals and Box Cover.
Look after me: 5ATM - Water resistant

  • Now $136.27
In Stock Now | Usually dispatched within 24 hours

Ladies Michael Kors Kerry watch is made from rose PVD stainless steel and is powered by a quartz movement. It is fitted with a rose metal bracelet and has a black mother of pearl dial.

Please contact us for our Delivery & Returns Policy

Payment & Security

100% Authentic all our watches are genuine
2 Year Warranty all our watches come with 2 years movement warranty
Official UK Stockist we are a UK watch retailer with UK stock


text:
Currently viewing the category: "Moose"

The Forest Service is currently seeking public comments regarding the development of alternatives for the Forest Plan Revision on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests in North Central Idaho. The deadline is February 28. The new forest plan will guide management direction over the next 10 – 30 years. A Draft Environmental Impact […]

Continue Reading

Elk breeders push to relax rules. Legislature close to rejecting the breeders-

White-tailed deer and the parasitic meningeal worm (Parelaphostrongylus tenuis) coexist fairly well. They have fought each other to a near standstill in evolutionary conflict spanning perhaps a million years. The whitetails rarely get sick from these adult nematode type worms that live in […]

Continue Reading

Wildlife management reform objective one-

Speak for Wolves is an opportunity for the American people to unite and demand wildlife management reform and restore our national heritage. This year’s event is set to take place in the Union Pacific Dining Lodge on August 7-9, 2015 in West Yellowstone, Montana.

Here […]

Continue Reading

How much longer before the feedlots are hit?

Nightmare “mad elk” or “mad deer” disease, the always lethal malady spread by prions (infectious proteins), keeps creeping ever closer the the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem in Wyoming and to the massive elk winter feedlots. In these, it is expected to spread like wildfire in cheatgrass.

According to […]

Continue Reading

The merging of the Nez Perce and Clearwater National Forests offers opportunity to plunder-

Two very important national forests in north central Idaho were recently combined through administrative action. The Clearwater and the Nez Perce National Forests both operate under separate forest management plans, developed after years of analysis and public comment. There was even […]

Continue Reading

Fatal ungulate disease advances as Wyoming game managers continue on in denial-

Our recent story on chronic wasting disease (CWD) in Wisconsin now has a followup in the treasured Greater Yellowstone country. In both places, wildlife managers and politicians continue to take a heedless attitude […]

Continue Reading

Rare Fishers Heavily Impacted

A response to a state public records request, submitted by Western Watersheds Project to the Idaho Fish and Game Department, shows widespread capture and mortality of non-target species related to wolf trapping and snaring in Idaho during the 2011/2012 trapping and snaring season.  For the last two years, since wolves in the Northern […]

Continue Reading

Republican Hill sees wildlife in terms of hunting; Democrat Bullock takes a more expansive view of the value of wildlife-

The view of governors on wildlife makes a big difference because wildlife management is the province of the states except for endangered species and some marine mammals.

Montana’s Democrat  and current attorney general Steve Bullock […]

Continue Reading

Just 9 wolves, one of which is female. It looks bleak-

It’s probably the longest study of wolves in history  (since 1958).  The wolf numbers have been up and down along with the moose they eat many times since then. But now with just one female, it clearly looks like the end of the wolves […]

Continue Reading

Idaho Fish and Games issues warning about pretty exotic evergreen-

A news release with picture of two dead moose leads an important warning about the Japanese yew, an low evergreen with a red berry popular with people during the holidays and as a landscape plant.  The landscape part of the warning is becoming more relevant […]

Continue Reading

July 2019
« Jun

"At some point we must draw a line across the ground of our home and our being, drive a spear into the land and say to the bulldozers, earthmovers, government and corporations, “thus far and no further.” If we do not, we shall later feel, instead of pride, the regret of Thoreau, that good but overly-bookish man, who wrote, near the end of his life, “If I repent of anything it is likely to be my good behaviour."

~ Edward Abbey