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Spotlight | Cannes 2009: Stupid, Adjective
By Mark Peranson In Festivals, Spotlight
By Mark Peranson
To begin with cliché: At the same time, Cannes is a physical and a mental place—a dinky fishing village that for two weeks turns into, depending on one's perspective, if not the day, a manifestation of Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory. In 2009, what is regularly a demoralizing fortnight of the year's so-called most important films seemed endless, with the average length of films reaching over two hours, and, factoring in the oppressive humidity, about three. Regular readers will probably have anticipated me writing that this year's Cannes was the "worst ever," but after wading through the blood and the bullshit, the one lesson a critic should have learned from Cannes 2009 is to be careful with words, to understand their definitions, and to operate with precision, without needless hyperbole. Thus, instead, I begin with another proposition, one I have ruminated on for the two weeks following my escape from the Riviera, one only time can confirm or debunk: 2009 was, far and away, the stupidest Cannes ever.
Every year, the stupidity at Cannes begins with the critics. Before the festival began, there was a feature in Indiewire that asked, "Is Cannes still important?" Asking this question is stupid: of course, Cannes is still important, and, of course, it will remain important so long as film festivals exist. But important for whom? Let's be precise: Cannes is important because it presents the critic with perhaps the last remaining opportunity to be in a leading position to set the terms for the discourse about how a film is going to be treated, discussed, and analyzed. Cannes plays into the ego of the critic to be part of something important—a fact made even more crucial at a time when, on a daily basis, the influence of film critics is being hacked away body part by body part, while, paradoxically, there is more film criticism than ever before. At Cannes one is surrounded by literally thousands of people of various degrees of intelligence all eager to make their views well known in as rapid a manner as possible. In other words, a recipe for complete and utter disaster. When exacerbated by technology that enables an even rapider response time than ever before, and a slate of films that insists on poking at one's gray matter with a sharp stick to elicit a reaction, the end result, for me, was a closing-down of sorely needed critical functions. And why bother write anything? It's got to the point that one doesn't even need to go to Cannes to experience it: Cannes has become the most virtual of all film festivals.
At Cannes, stupid critics lose sight of the goals of film criticism—instead, their function becomes the need to make over-the-top, egregious generalizations and pronouncements with as little critical thinking and reflection as possible. Part of this surely stems from the ceaseless waves of projections, one "masterpiece" giving way to another "abomination." Thus, what otherwise, in a different context, might seem acceptable becomes plain-out stupid; what may be a mediocre effort by an always talented auteur—as great filmmakers never make bad films—becomes a high masterpiece. And never the twain shall meet. In this sense, film critics found a perfect match in many of the films in this year's Competition, where many of the auteurs behaved as if they were film critics, in this regrettably undisciplined and self-indulgent mode, beginning with the need to throw up bloated title after bloated title badly in need of paring down, to content, theme, plot, and character that were, how should I say it, stupid.
As much as one wants to escape from this game, far be it from me to be able to step out of this mode of engagement when wading in the murky Competition waters. A deconstruction of what was wrong must begin, I suppose, with Lars von Trier. It would be futile, and, in a way, pointless, in any year to cherry-pick ridiculous observations made during Cannes, but, to begin with a cliché to end all clichés: After the initial screening of Antichrist, a blogger (having read and physically ingested so much about this film I cannot recall who wrote this) stated that he felt he was present for a crucial moment not only of Cannes history, but cinematic history in general. One can only wonder which month of last year this person started to watch film. But, I digress. To discuss Antichrist in such terms—or, indeed, to seek to destroy it—is to play into von Trier's game. Despite having nine of his ten features screen at Cannes (does anyone have a greater batting average?), he's always struck me as an overhyped TV director—his best work remains the first Kingdom—so when he abandons storytelling for disjointed proto-Strinbergian-Norwegian death metal psychohorror, well, the wheels have fallen off Lars' notorious bus. In the context of Cannes, it was hard to completely discount Antichrist: this was, after all, something, or so the argument went. And something is better than nothing.
But, really, is it? Before Antichrist (B.A., a term I hope persists not only in cinematic history but in the history of time itself), the blood already flowed in Park Chan-wook's plain-out stupid stylistic exercise in Korean vampirism, Thirst; Andrea Arnold tried to pass off Fish Tank as something more than a futile take on kitchen sink realism crossed with "So You Think You Can Dance, Britain"; Ang Lee made what probably can be called both the stupidest and gayest film about Woodstock imaginable; Jacques Audiard wowed the adoring masses by daring to present something with a plot; and Brillante Mendoza presented Kinatay, a film Roger Ebert called, apologizing to Vincent Gallo in the process, the worst film ever to screen at the Cannes film festival.
Of course, Ebert is wrong, but suffice to say that even though most films in this year's Competition dropped below the Mendoza line, the passable Filipino director oddly anointed for two years straight also got slipped some stupid pills before rolling the camera. The image of the Cannes critic, especially one who might have been relieved of his or her virginity in 2009, came in Coco Martin's doe-eyed police student turned serial-killers' accomplice in Kinatay (Filipino for "butchered," indeed). No film more faithfully compacts the experience of the 12 days of Cannes than Mendoza's moralistic arthouse shocker, a film that seems disappointing after the bustling familial films of Manila slum-life that preceeded it (but also not nearly as bloody as has been claimed—especially if you've seen, well, any horror film made in the last 30 years). Kinatay's highlights, if you can call them highlights, are a lengthy set-piece of sitting in the dark (in the back of a car), followed by the up-close witnessing of the dismemberment of a stripper-prostitute-drug addict named…Madonna. There's a point to this stupidity: rabble-rousing. Mendoza's sole goal here is viewer-spectator identification, and who could identify more than the Cannes critic? Yet the tale is simple-minded, marred by exceedingly faux-Dardennes' mise en scène (crossed, perhaps, with a poor man's Grandrieux). At its frequent low points we are given close-ups of the back of Martin's T-shirt, its words progressively translated for ironic effect as the ceaseless night of misery unfolds. When Mendoza—or his adept subtitler—at last decides to give us the criminology school's motto, in all of it's glory, "Integrity Once Lost Is Forever Lost," it has become a thudding irony of another order indeed: the hall of mirrors was complete, and the festival wasn't even half done.
Clever scheduling by master sadist Thierry Frémaux—who, after this year, I'm completely convinced includes films in Competition he knows are lousy so as to stack the awards in favour of certain directors—set the stage for Antichrist to dominate the discussion, which it sure did. Having been beaten to the punch by the critics, there's no need to describe what happens in Antichrist at all, nor mention the actors, the style of direction, or the ridiculous dedication at the film's end. I've thought deeply about Lars' spectacle and concluded that his personal demons interest me very little. One mark of an important filmmaker, for me at least, is that as a critic—if not a viewer—one feels engaged, and has a desire to say something, anything, about a film: maybe when confronted by films that go out of their way to attempt to elicit reactions, to spill blood in the guise of art, I'm left feeling cold (cf., the oeuvre of Michael Haneke). Antichrist isn't the kind of film that invite you to share in any experience, and be an active part of it—rather, with its supposed reflective misogyny and mounting stupidity, it pushes you in and pushes you out concurrently. It's a grunge immersiveness that's akin to arthouse 3D, a kind of pathetic attempt to use extreme cinema to keep viewers and critics interested in film at a time when cinema itself has started to mean so very little. I really couldn't care less whether the supposedly chronically depressed Dane is sick or if he's faking it. If he's sick, Antichrist is akin to a sporadic series of infantile finger-paintings; if he's faking it, then, well, he's just a big fake.
Speaking of big fakes, about one week After Antichrist (A.A.) came along a film which proved the shallowness of von Trier's project, but upped the ante on the stupid meter: immediately after sitting through the 2h45 of Gaspar Noé's Enter the Void, I felt like I had seen perhaps the stupidest film I'd ever seen at Cannes; two weeks later, and far, far away, I am not backing away from this statement, and, again, two weeks later, there remains no possible need to describe what transpires in this repetitive, punishing, and alienating experience. (Read the Variety review.) These two empty films made by jokers with stacked decks work as perfect bookends to the Cannes Competition in 2009, and both films end up making the other appear to be worse; whatever one thought of Noé, too, with its uber-Irreversible rotating crane shots and close-ups of aborted fetuses and copulating morons, there was the critical reaction of, well, at least that was something. Yes, it was—something truly, truly stupid, and, as it kept going, a strong contender for this year's Palme de Bore. Entering the void of the cavity that is Gaspar's brain seals the deal that provocation is no end in itself, and, predictably, I vaguely recall a tweet that, too, spoke of this screening as if it was the moon landing. The worst part of this "psychedelic melodrama" shot by way of video-game aesthetics is that someone in Cannes thinks that this is avant-garde filmmaking; Enter the Void occupies the slot that, in better years, is handed over—screaming, I'm sure—to something like Colossal Youth. Rumour had it that someone on the jury wanted to give this a prize—though I doubt it was one of the five women jurors that I saw bailing before the ending to end all endings, having missed both the now-infamous money shot, and the appropriate closing credit: THE VOID. Indeed, another moment of cinematic history, unfolding right before my very dreary eyes, and, by that point, very stupid brain.
Not to repeat myself, but one of the problems with Cannes is that you see film critics everywhere. This is not only restricted to the seats to the right and to the left, but also where it matters most: up on the screen. To show just how thin the ice on which this Competition was skating, what does it say that the smartest film was made by Quentin Tarantino? To begin with a cliché: Years spent in that now-infamous video store have given Tarantino a knowledge of A and B-level film history that exceeds that of many film critics, and Inglourious Basterds, his take on a WWII movie, is predictably as much a film about WWII movies as it is a WWII movie in itself. But in undertaking this potentially meaningless task, Tarantino decided to present a structuralist invention, one where the violence has (mostly) been drained, replacing bullets with precisely formulated speeches. In Death Proof, Tarantino initially experimented with replacing action with words: in Inglourious Basterds, rather than bifurcating the narrative and echoing or mirroring it, he presents a series of (mostly dialogue) tête-à-têtes that up the ante through claustrophobic interiors, moving from invoking spaghetti westerns to the morality plays of Fritz Lang. This is a film foremost about power through language, about assuming control (or assuming that you are in control) through speech—or, in Tarantino's case, the power of the pen; it's no coincidence that in this war film, a spy was formerly a film critic. If the tapis rouge galumphing director did not persist in presenting himself in public as a moron, critics might see his film for what it is.
But, again, stupid: this characterization can also apply to Brad Pitt's lazily acted Lt. Aldo Raine, the commander of the self-titled Basterds, a Southerner who may be playing a gloss on Tarantino's public persona: a flippantly moralistic, wide-jawed Yankee who parachutes into Europe (the film was shot in Germany though set in Nazi-occupied France) and attempts to battle history with an absurd Jew band of Nazi scalpers who, despite their noticeable lack of screen time, provide the film with its misspelled title (another instance of Tarantino, the erstwhile actor, publicly trying to come across as stupid). In opposition, Austrian actor Christoph Waltz's expertly multilingual "Jew Hunter," a perfect evocation of a cartoon Nazi, a man who persists in dominating his opponent through prolonged conversation and weighty pauses even when—as in the prologue—the result of the game has been determined before the first roll of the dice. (The Best Actor prize to Waltz was the only one merited by a severely deranged and likely contentious jury.)
In between the two, there is cinema itself, also presented as an opposition—between the Jewish popular cinema of the time, and the Nazi propaganda being generated by Goebbels at UFA to compete, starring a war hero-turned movie star played by Daniel Bruhl. There's the staging of a film premiere which coincides with not one, but two "terrorist plots" to kill Hitler, one as revenge by the theatre owner named Shoshanna who escaped the Jew Hunter in the prologue, and the other called "Operation Kino," initially led by a German movie star double-agent and a British spy who is quite literally a film critic (a suave Michael Fassbender), with not one but two books on German film under his belt. (Never before, and never again, I'll wager, will there be as many G.W. Pabst references in a feature film.) Inglourious Basterds is a tonic to recent egregious depictions of cinema Nazis, say, Downfall (2004): not only does he kill the film critic as well as Hitler—another plot point by now I would hardly be ruining—but Pitt at one point remarks that watching Eli Roth's bat-wielding "Bear Jew" pummel Nazis is the closest thing the Basterds get to watching movies. But Tarantino doesn't linger on the violence, or really delight in presenting it at all. In spite of, or maybe thanks to, its sparse mise en scène, Inglourious Basterds is the closest that Cannes got to cinema pleasure, two-and-a-half hours of generous talk and intellectual trash that zooms by up until its literal explosion.
Tarantino ends his film with a close up on Pitt staring into the camera (actually, down onto Waltz, on whose forehead he has emblazoned a swastika) proclaiming, "I think this might be my masterpiece." It's a good joke and a great ending, especially considering the symbolism of the source, the sign, and the signifier, but the closest thing to a masterpiece came quite early B.A. in Un Certain Regard. Corneliu Porumbiou's Police, Adjective is certainly the smartest film I've seen this year and continued the Romanian run, winning a jury prize (making it six prizes in Cannes for the land of Dracula in six straight years, the second for Porumboiu after the Camera d'Or in 2006 for 12:08 East of Bucharest). Unlike Tarantino's film, Police, Adjective's smartness never draws attention to itself; it's smart without being clever. Indeed, Fassbender's Pabst scholar is not the last film critic I wish to acknowledge, as there's also Cristi, Porumboiu's vigilant and dolorous cop, who spends two-thirds of Police, Adjective on the streets of Vasilu, walking and watching —seeking out the truth but filtering it through his own perceptions. Seen in long shot for lengthy takes, he's casing out a potential drug dealer, and periodically summarizes what he's seen, highlighting certain things, leaving out others: we literally see the words of his reports appear on screen, the odd typo included. Cristi is also conscience-wracked, having been presented with a scenario that doesn't match his reality—the kid he's tailing is probably not a drug dealer, and to arrest him as such, which he knows will happen if he brings his findings to his boss, would be a step that would lead to pointless jail time.
The richness of Porumboiu's seemingly simple creation allows it to be read as a reverse policier, a social drama, an attenuated art film bordering on parody, a moral tale. The film's intelligence does not drive itself home until in its last remarkable scenes, which present a confrontation between Cristi, his partner, and the police chief (indelibly played with gusto by Vlad "The Abortionist" Ivanov). As will hopefully happen to most of the critics assembled at Cannes who still have paying jobs, the chief balks at Cristi's reluctance to follow the letter of the law, giving Cristi a talking to; in effect he plays the role of a stern, rebuking editor, pulling out a dictionary, and going through, in turn, multiple definitions of topical words, including "conscience" (and, rejecting the one for "police"). The virtuoso scene, illustrated with actual definitions, drives home the importance of knowing the words that you use, and knowing the place in the absurd system in which we all, eventually, even despite our protestations, operate.
The last shot sees Cristi, offscreen, sketching out a storyboard of the location where the sting operation will take place, and Porumboiu lets his climax hang, again insisting on leaving the eventual action—what his film pretends it's building towards—also offscreen, having been subsumed by the power of words. Police, Adjective makes that final step and becomes a film about filmmaking as well, about the moral responsibility of an artist: in the current context, this is a much-needed act of reflection. (And I haven't even mentioned the foot tennis.) Though other films from aging masters and young guns also saved the day, nothing at Cannes was as powerful as the dialogue provided in these two films, and nothing, oddly enough, was as stunning as the scene with three guys, a chalkboard, and a Romanian dictionary.
Spotlight | In the Shadows (Thomas Arslan, Germany) Spotlight | Tony Manero (Pablo Larrain, Chile)


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2009 is just finished, and as I did a year ago with 2008, I've prepared a gallery to describe the last 12 months with 30 pictures related to water. Many of them will remind you 2009 main news items, and, if you're usual readers of this blog you'll probably remember many previous posts too.
When you click that web link a brand-new web page will DadeSchools After that you ought to give the appropriate password.


Brilliantly engineered to compress in the event of a crash, lowering the child's center of gravity to keep him/her safe. Easy installation.
For a middle-of-the-road price, the Chicco NextFit is a strong anchor and a reliable product with a few known peculiarities.
Deep head-wings lined with EPS foam protect from side impact, and a removable infant insert provides even more protection.
Some owners report disappointment that the cup holder cannot accommodate a 12 oz. sippy cup.
A mid-priced model with several nice safety and comfort features and some functional issues that may lead to consumer frustration.
Air Protect cushioning protects rear-facing and front-facing passengers. Thick seat padding and cup holder. Accommodates up to 70 lbs.
Challenging to install, and the straps are difficult to adjust. Some parents gripe about the plastic components feeling "cheap."
A great budget choice that makes absolutely no compromises on safety or performance. Offers the best value for your money.
Provides the same basic safety features as its competitors for a much lower price.
Some users report that this seat is a bit difficult to install.
Less bulky than other seats we've reviewed. Works well in smaller cars.
Installed seat wiggles from side to side a bit, but this slight movement has no effect on the seat's federal safety rating.
A convertible car seat is a great way to accommodate for growing children without purchasing a new seat at each new stage of life. Because they can be set to rear- or forward-facing, they can safely seat infants to older toddlers. You should carefully consider the design and safety features of convertible car seats before purchasing.
The size and weight of convertible car seats may vary, as will the ease of buckling and unbuckling the harness. You should carefully check the safety ratings not only of the seat itself but also of its individual parts. States may have different laws regarding convertible car seats, so you should make sure you are following regulations before you purchase a seat.
If installed properly and used with a child within the weight limit, a convertible car seat can offer comfort and security to your child. Convertible car seats can be somewhat expensive, so it's important to find a model that best suits you and your child.
Both convertible car seats and 3-in-1 car seats will "grow" with your child, but 3-in-1 seats are not suitable for infants.
An infant car seat includes a detachable carrier and a base that buckles into your vehicle. These models can accommodate babies up to 30 pounds.
A convertible car seat can face either the front or the back, providing a seamless transition for children as they grow. New parents set it up in a rear-facing position initially and a forward-facing position later on.
A 3-in-1 car seat has no rear-facing option. These seats are built to fit small toddlers while using a seat insert, large toddlers without an insert, and preschoolers in a backless configuration. Some will even accommodate young schoolchildren.
In this shopping guide, we will focus on convertible car seats, the best of which have passed all federally mandated safety tests and provide passengers with a secure and convenient mode of travel.
We tested convertible car seats at our BestReviews headquarters in order to get a hands-on feel for how these devices work. Through our testing sessions, conversations with Jonas, and additional product research, we comprised a shortlist of the five best convertible car seats on the market today.
You can read about these seats in our product list, above.
Rest assured that we do not accept free product samples from manufacturers. Rather, we use our own funds to purchase the same "off-the-shelf" products that you do. And when we wrap up testing, we donate these products to charities and other non-profit organizations that can use them.
Please read on to learn more about our top convertible car seat recommendations.
Jonas has spent more than half of his life surrounded by children's products. He published a series of baby books called Indestructibles that are designed to take everything a baby can dish out. More recently, Jonas has taken on a role as Marketing Director for ConsumerSafety.org, where he oversees safety campaigns to inform consumers about recalled products. As a father and safety expert, Jonas has a critical eye for analyzing products, and is well-versed in CPSC safety regulations for baby products.
First and foremost, all convertible car seats in our product list have passed or exceeded the minimal safety standards mandated by the federal government. That said, different manufacturers go to different lengths when it comes to the quality and degree of their safety features.
The restraints in a rear-facing seat must be located at or below the baby's shoulders. If they are positioned above the shoulders, they must be adjusted — or the seat should not be used. You should never place an object under your baby to make the fit more snug.
All car seat models, convertible and otherwise, are subject to state laws regarding their safe use. Before car seat installation, parents and other caregivers must understand the regulations that apply to their state. What follows is by no means a comprehensive list, but it's a great place to start. After all, nothing is more important than the health and safety of your precious cargo.
Car seat safety advocates advise parents to keep their convertible car seat in a rear-facing position until the child is two years old — or at least until he/she has clearly outgrown the height and weight ratings for the seat. But this wasn't always the case. For years, parents routinely changed the seat from rear-facing to front-facing when the child turned one. Newer studies suggest that rear-facing orientation is much safer through the age of two.
The passenger side air bag is designed to deploy during a moderate to severe impact. This could be fatal for an infant in the passenger seat.
Most cars have "crumple zones" to minimize the energy of a crash. A baby or toddler in the front seat is in the middle of such a zone. Even a minor accident could severely injure the child.
Newborns may not be allowed to leave the hospital in a convertible car seat. Rules vary from hospital to hospital, but in general, a newborn child cannot be transported home from the hospital in anything other than a rear-facing car seat. Yes, the argument could be made that a convertible car seat meets the safety criteria of a rear-facing infant model. However, most hospitals strictly interpret state car seat laws as applicable only to car seats with no forward-facing capabilities whatsoever.
Parents should never skip the booster seat stage after convertible car seat graduation. Most states allow parents to switch from a front-facing convertible car seat to a belted booster seat after the child has outgrown the convertible seat harness or has reached age four. This booster seat phase is very important in terms of safety and seat design. It should never be skipped in favor of a regular seatbelt.
Police can and will enforce car seat laws as a secondary offense. Harried parents and other caregivers may decide that a quick trip to the grocery store or local park doesn't require bundling the child in a rear-facing car seat and harness. But in the eyes of the law, there are very few excuses for putting a child at such risk. Drivers pulled over for minor traffic infractions can also be ticketed for violating child seat laws if the officer notices an improperly restrained child.
While it only took us about 20 minutes to fit the car seat into our midsize SUV, from taking it out of the box to locking it in, the Britax uses a ClickTight system rather than the typical LATCH system so it takes getting used to. However, after removing and replacing it in the rear-facing position in under 10 minutes, we understand why many customers prefer ClickTight.
While we tested and photographed our car seat for an hour and a half, our three-year-old model stayed cool and comfortable the entire time. His only complaint was how tightness of the crotch buckle, and it took us a few tries to figure out how to to adjust them correctly. But after that we heard zero complaints, the best test result a parent could ask for.
The Britax Advocate uses the ClickTight method of locking into your car, and it really works. No amount of shaking or slamming loosened the seat at all. While we couldn't test an actual accident, there are plenty of customers who have written about serious car collisions where this car seat allowed their child to walk away unscathed.
How easy a car seat is to install, remove, and navigate inside a vehicle are all important considerations when deciding on a purchase. Other important factors include harness reliability, the weight/bulk of the seat, and how much space the seat takes up in various car models.
Always check the fitting of your car seat when you buckle in. Kids grow fast and the straps may become too tight.
Installing a car seat in a tight-fitting backseat can be tricky. The instruction manual supposedly helps, but many parents discover there's still a lot of gray area when it comes to actual installation.
Because convertible car seats require a bit of "elbow grease" to install and remove, Jonas advises that if you plan to alternate driving obligations with someone, you might consider buying more than one convertible seat. This would cost you a bit more upfront, but the time and frustration you save would likely be worth it.
Push the front seat forward as much as possible to make room for the car seat. Front seat adults may be a little inconvenienced, but proper installation is much easier when you have lots of maneuvering room.
Use your full body weight to ensure a tight fit. Don't just use your hands and arms to press the seat into position. Use a knee or your stomach to bear down on the seat before cinching up the first strap. If two people are available, put one on seat-pressing duty and the other on cinching-and-latching duty.
Use a swaying/rocking motion to wedge the car seat between the upper and lower cushions. Simply pushing the back of the car seat into this gap will not secure it. Rock the seat back and forth as you bear down on it. Some people find it useful to position themselves directly in front of the seat for this task, using their belly as leverage.
Get help if you need it. There's no shame in asking for professional help installing a car seat. In fact, it's quite common for parents to seek help, and it's easy to find a technician who will help you. The searchable technician database at SafeCar.gov is a great place to start.
If the child is two years old and has not reached maximum height for the seat, many experts advise parents to continue using the chair in a rear-facing position for as long as needed.
All seats on our shortlist provide a supportive transition from rear-facing to front-facing mode as the child grows. The amount of body weight a car seat accommodates in both modes is an important consideration, as is the seat's ability to recline, its portability, and its cup holder system.
If your child's car seat has been in an accident — or even a drop or hard fall — throw the seat away. It may appear to be structurally sound, but a latch or internal mechanism could have sustained hidden damage.
All car seats should bear a printed expiration date for the owner's reference. In many cases, this expiration date will be around six years from the date it left the factory.
Avoid buying a used car seat which has no visible expiration date or an expired one. Because most children are ready to switch to a booster by age four, this expiration date shouldn't be problematic for new car seats. But it does encourage parents to upgrade to a new model for a second child.
Car seat materials wear down over time. The plastic and metal parts of a 10-year-old car seat aren't as sturdy and safe as the plastic and metal parts of a brand new car seat. And since a quality car seat could potentially save your child's life, it's important to have the best.
Car seats are designed with "best practices" in mind, but these standards evolve over time. What was considered safe in 2000 is not necessarily what's considered safe today. To ensure the best for your precious cargo, it's wise to stay on top of the best technology.
Rescue workers prefer to extract children from independent car seats rather than integrated car seats. That's because the rigid outer shell of an independent car seat can serve as a temporary backboard after an accident.
Convertible car seats range in price from under $100 to over $800. Seats at the higher end tend to offer a glossier look with more bells and whistles, while seats at the lower end tend to zero in on basic functionality and safety without the extra frills.
We love that it comes equipped with durable and environmentally friendly EPP foam (as opposed to the less durable and less "green" foam in some of our other models) and the fact that SafeCell technology actually lowers a child's center of gravity in the event of a crash.
As mentioned above, a convertible car seat is just one of several options you have as a parent.
You could purchase a rear-facing infant car seat for your child and later, when he or she is about two years old, switch to a front-facing seat.
But some people like convertible car seats because they follow the child from babyhood to about age four.
Pro: Convertible car seats provide several years of service, from infancy to about four years old. Children often outgrow a rear-facing infant car seat within six months to a year. Therefore, you might wish to buy a convertible seat for the same reason some parents buy larger clothing sizes: the child will eventually grow into it.
Pro: Convertible car seats will always have the advantage of being convertible. The best infant car seat on the market still cannot become a front-facing car seat at any time. A convertible car seat, on the other hand, can start out as a rear-facing model and then provide at least one or two more years of service before becoming obsolete.
Con: Many hospitals will not allow parents to take their infant home in anything other than an approved rear-facing infant car seat. While some convertible car seats can be modified to accommodate an infant, many are designed for older babies and toddlers.
Con: Many stroller companies make it easy to attach an infant car seat to an existing model. But convertible car seats can be difficult, if not impossible, to unlatch from the rear seat and install on a standard stroller.
The Britax Advocate scores major points with us because it is one of the easiest convertible seats to install. Latch connectors make the process simple and quick, and the seat can be just as quickly uninstalled with the push of a button. The Britax is a larger seat that takes up quite a bit of space in rear-facing position; potential buyers should note the size of their backseat bench before purchasing.
Q. I recently moved to a new state. How can I find out the laws and regulations concerning child car seats?
A. Almost all laws concerning child car seat usage are written at the state level, so you would most likely find the information you seek by searching the official state website and using the keywords "car seat laws" or "child car seats".
Q. I bought a used convertible car seat at a thrift store. The expiration date is still good, and it looks undamaged. How can I tell if it has been recalled?
Furthermore, Jonas says, "There's no way for the company to notify you of a recall." That's because many companies only issue recall information directly to registered owners. Some product safety organizations may have a master list of recalled products, but it is often up to the buyer to arrange for a repair or replacement. Without proof of an original purchase, you'd likely be better off disposing of the recalled model and buying a safer seat.
Q. Why should my child face backwards while riding in a car? I would like to see his face once in awhile.
A. Rear-facing car seats are designed to protect the fragile skeletal and muscular structure of their occupants. When an infant or toddler faces forward during a crash, the head snaps forward, causing softer neck and spinal bones to separate. This is an injury worse than whiplash. A rear-facing car seat is designed to cushion the head and prevent those whiplash-like injuries. Parents may want to have face-to-face time with their children, but safety should be a larger concern when transporting a fragile young passenger in a vehicle.
Q. We're considering purchasing a new van with an integrated child seat. Is this kind of pre-installed car seat safe for a newborn?
A. In terms of meeting safety standards for a child car seat, most integrated car seats pass the test. They are just as safe for older toddlers as a separate car seat. However, they are not designed for infants and young toddlers who need to be in a rear-facing car seat until at least the age of two.


Beyond blissful sunbathing and extravagant parties, Exquisite speaks to the elite insiders to find out why Ibiza remains the undefeated summer destination each year.
A full time resident in Ibiza, Duane Lineker's business portfolio consists of partnership in Ocean Beach, Skinny Kitchen, Kiss My Fairy Ibiza, STK and more. Here's his expert insight into Ibiza this summer.
What's new to Ocean Beach?
This year we have increased the VIP area with the addition of the new Palms area, improved the VIP bathroom as well as introduced the new VIP Veuve Clicquot bar.
We've started working with a new event each Wednesday called Hot Bed, they're very strong promoters in the UK , so it will be interesting to see what they bring. to the club.
Do you have any other changes?
We've added a few new dishes, including some very exciting Sushi and Japanese inspired plates – the Chicken Tempura is already one of my favourites! Also we have some very exciting shows featuring acrobats, dancers and live entertainers!
What are the future plans for Ocean Beach?
As we only opened STK last year, we didn't really need to make any major changes to the restaurant, instead we have just made a few small changes including displaying some great artwork by local photographer Jordi Gomez. The parties have really taken off though, we like to predominately focus on the dinner then get the party started later into the night with guest promoters from all over the world like Sutton Club from Barcelona and Candypants from Dubai to name a few.
What's new to Skinny Kitchen?
We've recently opened in Belfast and made a few changes to the menu.
Our watermelon salad called the summer vibes is a new favourite, but we have still kept a lot of the popular dishes from last season too! We've also signed a deal to open 5 more locations across West London and have a few more sites planned as well.
What's new for Ibiza in 2017?
There is a new Nobu Hotel called Ibiza Bay opening in Talamanca, I have heard some good things about it alrready.
Which restaurants would you recommend?
El Chiringuito in Es Cavallet is not only a great restaurant, it also has its own children's play corner making it perfect for all the family. For couples I'd recommend Lio or Heart and Pastis.
What are the best hangouts for couples?
Spending the day by the Pool at Destino.
What are the events not to be missed?
Hi is a must see this year and El Chiringuito closing party is always a fun day/night!
Fashion Blogger and wife to DJ legend Judge Jules, Amanda O'Riordan gives her island insight into what's hot in Ibiza.
What's the new must visit venue this year in Ibiza?
Hï, the Ushuaïa VIP venue which everyone will want to visit now that Space has closed.
Where is everyone eating this summer?
On a Sunday families are most likely heading to Ca'n Pilot, San Rafael where you can cook your own meat on a bed of salt from the comfort of your table. Can Pujol on the beach in Port Des Torrent and Rita's Cantina, San Antonio are also great for families and have delicious menus. I'd recommend that couples try Sa Capella, the beautiful old 15th century Monastry just outside San Antonio where dinner is served by monks. Or for a romantic dine visit Hostal La Torre, San Antonio where Spanish tapas is served at sunset in the most idyllic setting.
Where would you say is the best Spanish restaurant?
It would have to be Ca'n Pilot in San Rafael – it's constantly full.
Where is the best fusion restaurant?
Bambuddah Grove in Santa Gertrudis – Thai meets Spanish meets Greek.
Where is your favourite Italian restaurant?
The best Italian would be Il Vaticano in San Antonio, just up from the sunset strip.
What are the best beach clubs this summer?
El Chiringuito, Nassau, Cala Bassa and obviously Blue Marlin.
Where are the best hangouts?
For couples it's definitely the sunset strip, from Savannah to Café Del Mar to Mambo – at sunset – there are cocktails in every bar. For families I'd say Salinas Beach, Cala Gracio and Cala Salada, they are clean, safe beaches with great food.
What would you say is the must try new restaurant?
Either STK over in the harbour of Ibiza or The Fish Shack in Talamanca.
What's the island event not to be missed this summer?
Never miss the Radio 1 weekend, every A lister is in Ibiza specifically for this weekend every August Bank Holiday.
Newly refurbished for summer 2017 this relatively laid back destination is the gorgeous sister resort to Ocean Beach Class. Rated 4 star the beauty has extravagant sun loungers for chilling during the day with the sound of resident DJs as well as a luxurious selection of chic rooms.
In addition to island favourites Hed Kandi, Ministry of Sound and DJ Spoony, new music powerhouse Hotbed will be on hand sound residents direct from Ocean Beach's DJ booth this summer. The sister brand of London's legendary event organisers, Abode, you can expect powerful live performances every Wednesday.
Returning with an unexpected twist this year's sell out Pool Party offers all the action of the funfair with live acts from the Balearic Circus and immersive experiences. Featuring contortionists, dancers, acrobats and more this summer is sure to be bigger and better than ever!
As mentioned in Elle, you haven't truly experienced Ibiza without a visit to scrumptious steakhouse STK. High energy and unlike any other dining experience, head over on July 2nd for the wondrous cutting performance of Adam Saaks.
Rapidly expanding, the opening of the family friendly Ibiza Nobu resort this June follows the impressive opening of the new UK branch based in the hip district of Shoreditch. A delightful addition to the Island's vast range of hotels, guests can expect 152 luxurious designer rooms and suites and the scrumptious cuisine of three eateries in addition to the islands first Japanese fusion Nobu restaurant. Situated on the beautiful shores of Cala Talamanca, Nobu Ibiza is located within 5 minutes' drive of the thrilling town famed for wild nightlife and celebrity DJ's. Bringing a balance to Ibiza, the Nobu resort offers a calming escape away from the buzz with stunning views and the islands first blissful six senses spa. A supreme destination for couples and families, the new picturesque resort is perfect for experiencing both sides of the glorious Mediterranean island. With a king size master bedroom complete with rainfall shower en-suite, the Royal suite is ideal for couples. The suite also features state of the art technology such as a dazzling 48inch flat screen TV and Nexus tablet to accompany its vast sea views.
This artistic modern beach paradise provides an enviable backdrop to a tropical getaway, offering breath-taking views of the ocean along with sizzling shows and over 200 lavish rooms. With Tinie Tempah disturbing Ibiza, MTV Chainsmokers and Big by David Guetta among the list of residents, it's easy to neglect the picture worthy rooms with personal Jacuzzi's, game consoles and flat screen TV's in favour of the epic events. Adding to the grandeur, the choice of cuisine on hand feels endless as prestigious chefs prepare steakhouse specials, gourmet dishes as well as both continental and international meals. Serving up flavours that can transport you across the globe, this adventurous haven is well suited to party goers and those seeking a loud stay on the island. The 'I'm on top of the world suite' is a must stay, with its incomparable lavish views and adornments, multiple TV's and sensual bathroom. Extremely spacious the eighth floor suite is ideal for families and groups especially with its grand terrace with sunbeds and jacuzzi.


PSBA's Field Day 2014 will feature both a morning indoor session and an afternoon outdoor session in our apiary; both sessions will feature Dr. Zachary Huang ( as well as other speakers and learning opportunities).
Zachary Huang, PhD Entomology of Michigan State University will cover Honey bee pheromones and relevance to beekeeping; Effects of Nosema on honey bee behavior and physiology, and varroa biology. Event details and registration coming soon – Mark your calendars for this full-day learning event on May 17th, 2014!
Dr. Huang is known for developing the social inhibition model (at UIUC), the mitezapper (MSU), his cyberbee.net (started in 1997 but developed mainly at MSU), and award winning photographs. He was awarded the J.I. Hambleton Award for Outstanding Research by the Eastern Apicultural Society of North American Inc. August 2008.
Morning Session: This session will consist of a presentation by Dr. Huang followed by a Q & A session. Lunch will be provided.
Afternoon Session: This outdoor session in our apiary** will find attendees breaking into small groups which will rotate through a variety of activities.
Please note: Afternoon session will be held in our working apiary. PSBA does not have child-sized protective gear, so please plan accordingly.
** Please bring your own protective gear; PSBA has limited sets of veils, suits, and gloves.
Tickets purchased on-line include payment processing fees that we are charged to help cover our expenses.
Sponsors Needed! Get in touch – Have your logo here!


With 10 years of expert testimony under his belt, broker David O'Gorman knows all the challenges waiting to ensnare mortgage professionals entering that arena.
David has made a great name for himself in this field and he deserves it. A warning to others considering this path of endeavour, its a very small field, David and one other person may be all that is needed in Ontario so no one should likely view this a viable career.
Back to talking to mortgage clients folks.


It is the Board of Directors' objective to offer competitive returns to its shareholders, supported by a high dividend payout ratio. The General Meeting declares the annual dividend based on a proposal from the Board of Directors.
The dividend policy of the Board of Directors is to distribute over 70 per cent of Atea's free cash flow (cash flow from operations after capex) as a dividend to shareholders.
In 2019, the Board proposed to distribute a dividend for the 2018 accounting year of NOK 6.50 per share, to be paid in two equal installments of NOK 3.25 during May and November.
* For Norwegian tax purposes, the dividend shall be considered as repayment of paid in capital.


Gulls or seagulls are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns (family Sternidae) and only distantly related to auks, skimmers, and more distantly to the waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed in the genus Larus, but this arrangement is now considered polyphyletic, leading to the resurrection of several genera. An older name for gulls is mews, cognate with German Möwe, Danish måge, Dutch meeuw, and French mouette; this term can still be found in certain regional dialects.
Gulls are typically medium to large birds, usually grey or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They typically have harsh wailing or squawking calls; stout, longish bills; and webbed feet. Most gulls are ground-nesting carnivores which take live food or scavenge opportunistically, particularly the Larus species. Live food often includes crabs and small fish. Gulls have unhinging jaws which allow them to consume large prey. Gulls are typically coastal or inland species, rarely venturing far out to sea, except for the kittiwakes. The large species take up to four years to attain full adult plumage, but two years is typical for small gulls. Large white-headed gulls are typically long-lived birds, with a maximum age of 49 years recorded for the herring gull.
Gulls nest in large, densely packed, noisy colonies. They lay two or three speckled eggs in nests composed of vegetation. The young are precocial, born with dark mottled down and mobile upon hatching. Gulls are resourceful, inquisitive, and intelligent, the larger species in particular, demonstrating complex methods of communication and a highly developed social structure. For example, many gull colonies display mobbing behavior, attacking and harassing predators and other intruders. Certain species have exhibited tool-use behavior, such as the herring gull, using pieces of bread as bait with which to catch goldfish, for example. Many species of gulls have learned to coexist successfully with humans and have thrived in human habitats. Others rely on kleptoparasitism to get their food. Gulls have been observed preying on live whales, landing on the whale as it surfaces to peck out pieces of flesh.
Gulls range in size from the little gull, at 120 g (4.2 oz) and 29 cm (11 in), to the great black-backed gull, at 1.75 kg (3.9 lb) and 76 cm (30 in). They are generally uniform in shape, with heavy bodies, long wings, and moderately long necks. The tails of all but three species are rounded; the exceptions being Sabine's gull and swallow-tailed gulls, which have forked tails, and Ross's gull, which has a wedge-shaped tail. Gulls have moderately long legs, especially when compared to the similar terns, with fully webbed feet. The bill is generally heavy and slightly hooked, with the larger species having stouter bills than the smaller species. The bill colour is often yellow with a red spot for the larger white-headed species and red, dark red or black in the smaller species.
Gulls that are known to reside in areas where there is a season of plentiful mice have, over the centuries, developed a specialized method of eating them. First, the gull captures the mouse in a field. Next, the gull flies to a convenient body of water. The gull then regurgitates the mouse and dips it in the water. Biologists who first observed this habit observed it between mating pairs of gulls. This initially led them to believe that the female was washing off the mouse after it had been transported to the breeding area. But when lone gulls, both male and female, began to be seen doing this, it was finally concluded that the mouse, being dry the first time it was swallowed, could become lodged in the gull's throat, a conclusion further corroborated when a male gull was seen to struggle with the ejection of the mouse, the mouse being partially ejected before getting stuck in the gull's throat. After 5 to 6 sizable gulps of water, the mouse was sufficiently moistened to allow the gull to completely eject the mouse. By wetting the mouse, the gull ensures that the mouse does not become lodged in its throat.
The Laridae are known from not-yet-published fossil evidence since the Early Oligocene, some 30–33 million years ago. Three gull-like species were described by Alphonse Milne-Edwards from the early Miocene of Saint-Gérand-le-Puy, France. A fossil gull from the Middle to Late Miocene of Cherry County, Nebraska, USA is placed in the prehistoric genus Gaviota; apart from this and the undescribed Early Oligocene fossil, all prehistoric species were tentatively assigned to the modern genus Larus. Among those of them that have been confirmed as gulls, Milne-Edwards' "Larus" elegans and "L." totanoides from the Late Oligocene/Early Miocene of southeast France have since been separated in Laricola.
Two ring-billed gull chicks sitting amongst rocks.
^ a b Pons J.-M.; Hassanin A.; Crochet P.-A. (2005). "Phylogenetic relationships within the Laridae (Charadriiformes: Aves) inferred from mitochondrial markers". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 37 (3): 686–99. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.05.011. PMID 16054399.
^ "Herring Gull". The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 3 August 2011.
^ "AnAge entry for Larus argentatus". The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database. Retrieved 23 November 2008.
^ Harrison, Colin J.O. (1991). Forshaw, Joseph (ed.). Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. London: Merehurst Press. pp. 109–111. ISBN 978-1-85391-186-6.
^ "Gulls and man". The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. 13 August 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
^ Henry, Pierre-Yves; Jean-Christophe Aznar (June 2006). "Tool-use in Charadrii: Active Bait-Fishing by a Herring Gull". Waterbirds. 29 (2): 233–234. doi:10.1675/1524-4695(2006)29[233:TICABB]2.0.CO;2.
^ "Seagull becomes crisp shoplifter". BBC News. 20 July 2007.
^ "Gulls' vicious attacks on whales". BBC News. 24 June 2009.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Burger, Alan; Gochfeld, Michael (1996). "Family Laridae (Gulls)". In del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew; Sargatal, Jordi (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 3, Hoatzin to Auks. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. pp. 572–599. ISBN 978-84-87334-20-7.
^ Dowdey, Sarah (9 July 2009). "How do seagulls drink saltwater?". HowStuffWorks. Archived from the original on 27 March 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
^ Buckley, P. A. (January – December 1966). "Foot-paddling in Four American Gulls, with Comments on its Possible Function and Stimulation". Ethology. 23 (4): 395–402. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1966.tb01603.x (inactive 7 February 2019).
^ Harrison, Craig (1979). "The Association of Marine Birds and Feeding Gray Whales" (PDF). Condor. 81 (1): 93–95. doi:10.2307/1367866. JSTOR 1367866.
^ Ridoux, Vincent (1987). "Feeding association between seabirds and killer whales, Orcinus orca, around subantarctic Crozet Islands". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 65 (8): 2113–2115. doi:10.1139/z87-324.
^ Rafinesque, Constantine Samuel (1815). Analyse de la nature ou, Tableau de l'univers et des corps organisés (in French). 1815. Palermo: Self-published. p. 72.
^ Bock, Walter J. (1994). History and Nomenclature of Avian Family-Group Names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. Number 222. New York: American Museum of Natural History. pp. 138, 252.
^ Liebers, Dorit; de Knijff, Peter; Helbig, Andreas J. (2004). "The herring gull complex is not a ring species". Proceedings: Biological Sciences. 271 (1542): 893–901. doi:10.1098/rspb.2004.2679. PMC 1691675. PMID 15255043.
^ Hayward, Ian (24 July 2009). "Are sea gulls actually called sea gulls or is there another name for them?". The RSPB: Ask An Expert. Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
^ Paton, Tara A.; Baker, Allan J. (2006). "Sequences from 14 mitochondrial genes provide a well-supported phylogeny of the Charadriiform birds congruent with the nuclear RAG-1 tree". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 39 (3): 657–667. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.01.011. PMID 16531074.
^ Paton, T. A.; Baker, A. J.; Groth, J. G.; Barrowclough, G. F. (2003). "RAG-1 sequences resolve phylogenetic relationships within charadriiform birds". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 29 (2): 268–278. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00098-8. PMID 13678682.
^ Thomas, Gavin H.; Wills, Matthew A.; Székely, Tamás (2004). "A supertree approach to shorebird phylogeny". BMC Evol. Biol. 4 (1): 28. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-4-28. PMC 515296. PMID 15329156.
^ Pietri, Vanesa L. De (2011). "A revision of the Lari (Aves, Charadriiformes) from the early Miocene of Saint-Gérand-le-Puy (Allier, France)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 31 (4): 812–828. doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.586663.
Bonaparte's gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia) is a member of the gull family Laridae found mainly in northern North America. At 28 to 38 cm (11 to 15 in) in length, it is one of the smallest species of gull. Its plumage is mainly white with grey upperparts. During breeding season, Bonaparte's gull gains a slate-grey hood. The sexes are similar in appearance.
For the common gull butterfly, see Cepora nerissa.
The common gull (Larus canus) is a medium-sized gull that breeds in northern Asia, northern Europe, and northwestern North America. The North American subspecies is commonly referred to as the mew gull, although that name is also used by some authorities for the whole species. It migrates further south in winter. There are differing accounts as to how the species acquired its vernacular name (see Etymology section below).
The European herring gull (Larus argentatus) is a large gull (up to 26 in (66 cm) long). One of the best known of all gulls along the shores of western Europe, it was once abundant. It breeds across Northern Europe, Western Europe, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia and the Baltic states. Some European herring gulls, especially those resident in colder areas, migrate further south in winter, but many are permanent residents, e.g. in Ireland, Britain, Iceland, or on the North Sea shores. European herring gulls have a varied diet, including fish, crustaceans and dead animals as well as some plants.
The glaucous gull (Larus hyperboreus) is a large gull, the second largest gull in the world. It breeds in Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and winters south to shores of the Holarctic. The genus name is from Latin Larus, which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird. The specific hyperboreus is Latin for "northern" from the Ancient Greek Huperboreoi people from the far north "Glaucous" is from Latin glaucus and denotes a bluish-green or grey colour.This gull is migratory, wintering from in the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans as far south as the British Isles and northernmost states of the United States, also on the Great Lakes. A few birds sometimes reach the southern USA and northern Mexico.
The gull-billed tern (Gelochelidon nilotica), formerly Sterna nilotica, is a tern in the family Laridae. It is now considered to be in its own genus. The genus name is from Ancient Greek gelao, "to laugh", and khelidon, "swallow". The specific niloticus is from Latin and means of the Nile.
A gull-wing door, also known as a falcon-wing door, is an automotive industry term describing car doors that are hinged at the roof rather than the side, as pioneered by the 1952 Mercedes-Benz 300SL race car (W194) and its road-legal version (W198) introduced in 1954.
Opening upwards, the doors evoke the image of a seagull's wings. In French they are portes papillon (butterfly doors). The papillon door, slightly different in its architecture from a gullwing door – designed by Jean Bugatti in 1939 Type 64, 14 years before Mercedes-Benz produced its similar, famous 300SL gullwing door – is a precursor, but is often overlooked when discussing gull-wing design. Conventional car doors are typically hinged at the front-facing edge of the door, with the door swinging outward horizontally.
Apart from the Mercedes-Benz 300SL of the mid-1950s and the experimental Mercedes-Benz C111 of the early 1970s, the best-known examples of road-cars with gull-wing doors are the Bricklin SV-1 from the 1970s, the DMC DeLorean from the 1980s, and the Tesla Model X of the 2010s. Gull-wing doors have also been used in aircraft designs, such as the four-seat single-engine Socata TB series built in France.
The laughing gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) is a medium-sized gull of North and South America. Named for its laugh-like call, it is an opportunistic omnivore and scavenger. It breeds in large colonies mostly along the Atlantic coast of North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. The two subspecies are: L. a. megalopterus – which can be seen from southeast Canada down to Central America, and L. a. atricilla which appears from the West Indies to the Venezuelan islands. The laughing gull was long placed in the genus Larus until its present placement in Leucophaeus, which follows the American Ornithologists' Union.
The little gull (Hydrocoloeus minutus or Larus minutus), is a small gull that breeds in northern Europe and Asia. The genus name Hydrocoloeus is from Ancient Greek hydro, "water", and koloios, a sort of web-footed bird. The specific minutuscode: lat promoted to code: la is Latin for "small".It also has small colonies in parts of southern Canada. It is migratory, wintering on coasts in western Europe, the Mediterranean and (in small numbers) the northeast United States; in recent years non-breeding birds have summered in western Europe in increasing numbers and in 2016 they successfully nested for the first time in Great Britain at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds reserve at Loch of Strathbeg reserve in Aberdeenshire. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus. It is the only member of the genus Hydrocoloeus, although it has been suggested that Ross's gull also should be included in this genus.
This species breeds colonially on freshwater marshes, making a lined nest on the ground amongst vegetation. Normally 2–6 eggs are laid.
This is the smallest gull species, with a length of 25–30 cm (9.8–11.8 in), a wingspan of 61–78 cm (24–31 in), and a mass of 68–162 g (2.4–5.7 oz). It is pale grey in breeding plumage with a black hood, dark underwings and often a pinkish flush on the breast. In winter, the head goes white apart from a darker cap and eye-spot. The bill is thin and black and the legs dark red. The flight on rounded wings is somewhat tern-like.
The Pacific gull (Larus pacificus) is a very large gull, native to the coasts of Australia. It is moderately common between Carnarvon in the west, and Sydney in the east, although it has become scarce in some parts of the south-east, as a result of competition from the kelp gull, which has "self-introduced" since the 1940s.
Much larger than the ubiquitous silver gull, and nowhere near as common, Pacific gulls are usually seen alone or in pairs, loafing around the shoreline, steadily patrolling high above the edge of the water, or (sometimes) zooming high on the breeze to drop a shellfish or sea urchin onto rocks.
Gull Lake No. 139 is a rural municipality of 221 rural residents (2006 census) in the southwestern region of Saskatchewan, Canada. The RM was incorporated January 1, 1913. Other urban municipalities in the area include the Town of Gull Lake, and the Village of TompkinsA rural municipality is an administrative district consisting of an elected reeve, councillors, and administrator who provide essential services within their area.
The Sabine's gull (Xema sabini), also known as the fork-tailed gull or xeme, is a small gull. Its generic placement is disputed; some authors treat it as the sole species in the genus Xema as Xema sabini, while others retain it in the genus Larus as Larus sabini.The Sabine's gull breeds in colonies on coasts and tundra, laying two or three spotted olive-brown eggs in a ground nest lined with grass. It is very pelagic outside the breeding season. It takes a wide variety of mainly animal food, and will eat any suitable small prey. It also steals eggs from nesting colonies of Arctic terns.
The silver gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae or Larus novaehollandiae) is the most common gull seen in Australia. It has been found throughout the continent, but particularly at or near coastal areas.
The silver gull should not be confused with the herring gull, which is called "silver gull" in many other languages (scientific name Larus argentatus, German Silbermöwe, French Goéland argenté, Dutch zilvermeeuw), but is a much larger, robust gull with no overlap in range.


Hey, it's that time of year again! Hollywood's awards season has kicked off with The Golden Globes and all the movie stars finally get to see if the decision to do that one critic-bait movie last year will pay off with accolades and praise.
If you haven't watched The Golden Globes yet, you can catch up on all the winners from 2015 in Kervyn's wrap up here. Some of the awards were fairly predictable, like Richard Linklater's Boyhood getting three well-deserved awards, while others were a bit out of left field, like Amy Adams winning for Big Eyes.
Personally, I didn't think How to Train Your Dragon 2 was deserving of a win, in my opinion it wasn't as good as The Lego Movie, and Birdman didn't get nearly as many awards as I thought it would. But what did you think of the winners? Was your favourite snubbed, or did the Hollywood Foreign Press Association get their choices right this year? And what could this all mean for The Oscars next month?
Here are the 2019 Golden Globe Awards winners!


The Salomon Icemania Pants keep snow out and warmth in. Complete with waterproof stretch fabric, warm insulation, climate control air vents and hem powderskirts for storm-ready ski comfort.
These waterproof and warm Salomon Ski Trousers are built with four-way stretch for an excellent fit and flexibility of movement, enabling you to ski exactly how you choose. Whether that's carving strong arcs on a groomed piste or tackling a challenging mogul field, the Salomon Icemania Pant keeps snow out and warmth in. Complete with climate control air vents and hem powderskirts for storm-ready ski comfort.
The Salomon Icemania Pant's AdvancedSkin Dry 10/10 4-way stretch fabric has a waterproof membrane at its core. The membrane's microscopic pores, which allow moisture vapor to pass through, facilitate an even climate inside the Ski Trousers, ensuring non-clammy comfort. The membrane's pores are too small for water molecules to enter, thus preventing snow, sleet and rain penetrating, which combined with 100% seam taping makes the Salomon Icemania Pants fully waterproof and windproof. Four-way stretch helps the Ski Pant to fit neatly and greatly improves flexibility for extended motion.
Wearing a pair of insulated Ski Trousers eliminates the need to use multiple bulky under layers to maintain warmth in cold conditions. The Salomon Icemania Pants feature AdvanceSkin WARM Insulation 60g/m2 - a warm, soft, light, compressible and comfortable filling - whose FibreFill fibres retain body heat and deal effectively with moisture.
Equipped with MotionFit Technology, Salomon Icemania Pants allows excellent freedom of movement for agile skiing down which ever piste you take. Black, red, blue or green, Salomon's MotionFit uses patterning and a specific cut to provide articulation and the internal space needed to ski fluidly over varied terrain. Adjustable wait tabs accommodate varying under layers.
Powderskirts at the hem of these Salomon Ski Trousers prevent snow migrating from outside in, keeping feet dry all day long; vital for skiing powder. Thigh vent zips can be undone to circulate fresh air cooling you down quickly, and the wicking lining deals effectively with moisture build-up. The Salomon Icemania Pants have two zipped hand pockets and a rear zipped pocket.
Formed with plenty of features for day long comfort in storm conditions, these waterproof and warm Ski Trousers' stretch fabric keeps the fit neat and flexibility maximized. The Salomon Icemania Pants allow the freedom to ski as hard as you like in all weathers, on all pistes.
Salomon Men's Sizing Chart in cm.


Gevora Hotel in Dubai has been crowned the tallest hotel in the world after it opened for business last Monday. The Hotel is located on Sheikh Zayed Road, on the doorstep of the Dubai Marina and a short drive away from The Palm, Dubai Mall and the World Trade Centre. The hotel, which is 357.8 metres high, takes the title from a local neighbour – the JW Marriott Marquis, which is just a metre shorter.
Though officially a four-star property, the Gevora hopes to compete with some of Dubai's top hotels. Guests will enter the Gevora Hotel through solid gold revolving doors and will also have access to four health clubs and two luxury restaurants.
The 75-floor all-gold hotel is 50 metres taller than the Shard in London and 56 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower. Dubai is also home to the world's tallest building, Burj Al Arab (828 metres) which also houses a hotel. It stands almost nine times higher than Big Ben.
Once checked in, butlers will whisk them to one of the property's 528 bedrooms, the smallest of which is 46 square metres (some two-bedroom suites go up to 85 sqm). Its highlight is a 12th-floor health club with sauna and steam rooms, plus an outdoor pool deck with a hot tub. Go up to the spa on the 71st floor and you can expect treatments with a view.
In terms of culinary offerings, there are five restaurants, including Gevora Kitchen, an all-day international buffet, Level Twelve, serving a Middle Eastern-inspired menu, and Highest View Restaurant which – no surprise – is located on the rooftop, where you can enjoy Arabic dishes and shisha.The hotel does not have an alcohol license, there is only a coffee and cake shop. Gevora rates are competitive and start from Dh650 a night to Dh2,000 for a two-bedroom unit.


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Tan Hiep Phat, Vietnam
Founded in 1994, Tan Hiep Phat Beverage Group (THP) is Vietnam's leading FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods) business. Beyond developing and producing some of the country's most popular beverages, THP distributes product throughout all of Vietnam's 63 provinces as well as to 16 other countries. Some of the company's best-selling drinks include its Zero Degree Green Tea, Dr. Thanh Herbal Tea, and Number 1 Energy Drink. Wanting to enhance its meeting hall with top-notch audio technology, THP required a new audio system that offered excellent sound reinforcement for lectures, seminars and other events.
Building an ideal business space, THP selected a state-of-the-art HARMAN Professional audio solution that delivers pristine sound, crystal-clear speech intelligibility and an elevated meeting experience. Offering unmatched sound performance with consistent coverage throughout the hall, the system features JBL VRX932LAP powered line array loudspeakers and CBT 100LA-1 line array column loudspeakers. The installation also includes VRX918SP powered flying subwoofers, which provide accurate, authoritative low-frequency response, while PRX815W and PRX812W full-range PA speakers serve as floor monitors. Powered by Crown XTi 4002 amplifiers, the solution is optimized and controlled through the dbx DriveRack PA2 loudspeaker management system. For audio mixing and source connectivity, the system features a Soundcraft Si Expression 2 digital console and Mini Stagebox 16R.
"The client wanted a premium audio system installed in the meeting hall, which can accommodate up to 1,000 people. After thorough consideration, our team designed and installed a HARMAN Professional system that seamlessly delivers clear, high-fidelity audio throughout the facility," said a spokesperson for the partner. "The installed system is easy-to-use and can produce exceptional sound clarity without any signal interference."
"We wanted to create a future-forward meeting space," said a spokesperson for Tan Hiep Phat. "We are pleased and impressed with the HARMAN system. The technologically-advanced audio system undoubtedly adds sophistication to the meeting space. We are thankful to the team for putting the system together, delivering powerful audio during lectures, seminars and small performances."
dbx DriveRack PA2

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


There are significant funds and a large amount of help available to make the project happen by setting it up as a 'Social Enterprise'. Major funders are The Big Lottery and the European Social Fund. A recent eBulletin from DCA highlighted this opportunity, and published this link www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/global-content/press-releases/uk-wide/010714_uk_vsos_enterprise-in-rural-communities for further information.
This is a BLF scheme to improve the ability of voluntary sector organisations to access social investment; This is where organisations use invested funds to meet social targets, e.g. reduced offending or homelessness, as well as offering a financial return. Eligible organisations can access specialist support from programme partners to help them bid for grants between £25,000 and £75,000. This will fund more in-depth investment readiness work done by one of Big Potential's approved providers. A grant from the fund will help VCSEs, at the very beginning of their social investment journey, to get specialist and tailored support to become investment ready.


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The Pirate Bay Open to SQL Injection Attacks?
This from an old friend of mine on the private "guys list" mailing list.
So, I was trying to get a couple of E-books from the pirate bay.
The pdf I downloaded did not work, so I put up a comment and I noticed they were not un-escaping single quotes.
So I tried a double quote in the comment and it gave an error.
And it didn't break. I'm pretty sure it selected all the users. Didn't print them out, but it selected them.
So, what I'm saying is. Thepiratebay.org is currently wide open to sql injection attacks.
Have fun, let me know what you do.
Is this news? Maybe not. This article outlines how TPB was hacked over a month ago. Close the door man! It's wide open.


We are so fortunate that there are so many destinations to explore for every budget. One of these being Italy. Italy is a must-visit country, and one of the most-popular destinations in Europe. Italy features on most people travel bucket lists because the historic cities, snow-capped mountains, delicious cuisine, pristine coastlines and endless museums.
I visited Italy as a child and for my next trip there, i intend to appreciate more than the endless variety of gelato!
Wine tasting in Tuscany is on my bucket list. Chianti, Brunello, Super Tuscan,Vino Nobile, Vin Santo, Vernaccia are some of the most famous Tusan wines. I would also love to stay at one of the beautiful Tuscan coast villas with a private swimming pool overlooking beautiful view over the Tuscan countryside.
Depending on what part of Italy you visit, there's something for everyone. Rome is beautiful no matter when you visit! Ensure you walk the streets and get a little lost, you never know what views you might find. Enjoy a gondola ride through the canals of Venice during the day for a fun-filled family outing.
And of course there are the beaches, Tropea is perfect for a family day out and has a stunning coastline. And don't forget the lively beach clubs in Marina Piccola where all the beach clubs have restaurants where you can people watch with a glass of wine.
Even if at the very least you only master "hello" and "thank you", knowing a little basic Italian can go a long way.
Italians possess one of the best lifestyles and quality of life of any European country. They are very family orientated, generous and hospitable. Italy is celebrated for it's simple, relaxed way of life, warm personal relationships and time for others.
We cannot talk about Italy and not bring up football. They have some of the best teams in the world Juventus, AC Milan, these are just a few of the most famous names you'll hear. Whilst in Italy, try to attend a football match and embrace yourself in the atmosphere.
A large part of the Italian experience is without a doubt the food. Italians love to eat (but don't we all?!). A great tip is to try no to eat at any restaurant named after a monument, city or famous artist as these are usually geared toward tourists. The best way to eat in Italy is to eat where the locals do. The focus in Sicily is on seafood, Piedmont has many creamy French-style dishes, whilst cuisine in the Tyrol region has a considerable Austrian influence.
Make sure you experiment with different dishes, meats and cheeses. No trip to Italy is complete without having a Gelato, No matter where you are in the country you will not be disappointed with the vast choice of flavours! It's the perfect treat regardless of the weather. And always go for the local wine, it's delicious and cheaper.
The best months for visiting much of Italy is from April to June and then mid- September. Temperatures are comfortable, reaching highs of 30 degrees. If you are not a fan of the heat avoid August as that's when temperatures reach their highest for the year.
Most cities in Italy are less than a 3hr flight from the UK, which is perfect if you are looking for a weekend city break, travelling with kids or suffer from chronic illnesses which make travelling for a long perio.
Because Italy is a popular destination, there are many deals and cheap flights available throughout the year.
So, have I tempted you to visit Italy?


The Cozad Board of Education meets at 7:00 pm on the second or third Monday of every month at 1910 Meridian. In-service sessions are usually scheduled for 6:30 pm. The public is urged to attend. The meetings of the Board are conducted for the purpose of carrying on the business of the schools; they are not public hearings, but meetings held in public.
Board of Education link to Sparq Data Solutions meetings public portal site to view meeting agendas and minutes. Click here.
The Board Meeting Notices, Superintendent Pay Transparency Notice, Agendas before March 2015, and Minutes can be viewed by clicking here.


This provocative, rollicking tale is the much-anticipated new novel—the first in over a decade—from acclaimed writer Bobbie Ann Mason. In An Atomic Romance we meet Reed Futrell, a horny, considerate hero who grapples with radioactive infection, a midlife trouble, and string theory—all whereas falling in love.
Reed is an engineer at a uranium-enrichment plant close to a riverside urban in heartland the United States. He has deep roots during this group: He used to be raised there; his father labored on the exact same plant ahead of him. And it used to be the following that Reed met, married, after which divorced his spouse. Reed spends numerous nights camping out at a neighborhood natural world shield, looking at on the stars, fishing and hunting—that is, till deformed frogs are came across on the web site. although his father used to be killed in a sad coincidence on the atomic plant years in the past, Reed remains on, proud to accomplish difficult and hazardous paintings for the advantage of the state. As for the radioactive "incidents" he has persevered, Reed prefers to consider different things—Hubble pictures of far away galaxies, Albert Einstein, his dog.Reed's informal perspective towards threat infuriates his on-again-off-again female friend, Julia, up to his quirky brain and muscular physique intrigue her. Julia, a biologist, is actually Reed's match—or might be greater than his fit. They either are witty, curious, and serious about technological know-how. certainly, their courtship begun with banter approximately Stephen Hawking's theories of space-time, and ever because it has been an up-and-down event of sexual charm, highbrow game-playing, and lengthy silences while Julia refuses to come back Reed's calls. while information stories show proof of radioactive pollutants within the land surrounding the plant, Reed and Julia's courting faces an unparalleled challenge.
In An Atomic Romance, Bobbie Ann Mason offers a super novel set opposed to a backdrop of atomic energy: a love tale among a motorcycle-riding loner and an self sustaining, strong-minded biologist; among the peaceable found in a regular American group and the nation's violent nuclear earlier; and, eventually, among an exceptional guy and the paintings he's taking delight in, although it can be placing his existence at risk.
Listed below are the interlocking affairs of 4 males: Robin Woodfield, an architect in his overdue forties attempting to construct an idyllic existence in Dorset along with his younger lover, Justin, a would-be actor more and more disappointed with the nation-state; Robin's appealing and dangerously unstable twenty-two-year-old son Danny; and Justin's former boyfriend Alex, whose existence is suddenly reworked by way of an evening of condominium track and a tab of ecstasy.
During this riveting, formidable novel from James A. Michener, the popular chronicler of epic historical past turns his amazing mind's eye to an international he knew larger than somebody: the realm of books. Lukas Yoder, a novelist who has loved an extended, profitable profession, has entire what he believes to be his ultimate paintings.
A unmarried suicide be aware that spans a century . ..
Meet the regulate sisters: woman, Vee, and Delph. those 3 mordantly witty, advanced girls proportion their family's residence on Manhattan's higher West part. They love one another fiercely, yet being an adjust isn't effortless. undesirable success is of their genes, handed down throughout the generations. but it doesn't matter what curves lifestyles throws at those siblings—and it's hurled plenty—they constantly have a wisecrack, and one another.
In the waning days of 1999, the trio makes a decision it's time to shut the circle of the regulate curse. yet first, because the international counts right down to the sunrise of a brand new millennium, woman, Vee, and Delph needs to write the ultimate bankruptcy of a saga lifetimes within the making—one that's inexorably intertwined with that of the 20th century itself. Unspooling threads of heritage, own reminiscence, and relatives lore, they weave a captivating account in their lives that stretches again a long time to their great-grandfather, a super scientist whose specialist triumph turned the sinister legacy that defines them.
Funny, heartbreaking, and totally unique, A Reunion of Ghosts is a powerful novel approximately 3 unforgettable girls sure to one another, and to their impressive kin, throughout the benefits and the burdens bestowed through blood.
It's 2006 within the big apple of the younger and glamorous. cash and sophistication are colliding in a urban that's approximately to head over a monetary precipice and take a lot of the rustic with it. At 26, brilliant, humorous and socially nervous Evelyn Beegan is set to carve her personal course in existence and unfastened herself from the effect of her social-climbing mom, who propelled her via prep tuition and onto the higher East facet.
It seemed to me that the definite break with him, which I noticed she never mentioned, had had the effect of releasing her to revert to her own personality, which, I thought, must have suffered and shrunk in the course of her relationship with Sigismund; and it seemed to be a symbol of this that she had completely changed her style of dressing and her way of doing her hair. The last time I had seen her she had been wearing the short skirt of 1926, and she had at one time bobbed her hair, which had made her head a little too mannish; but now she had been letting it grow, and, parting it in the middle and brushing it over her ears, had coiled it at the back of her head and stuck a comb at an angle behind it, and she was wearing a white shirt-waist with full sleeves and a long green-and-black plaid skirt, which were old-fashioned but very becoming to her.
I had the impression that the trees and the shrubbery had also been lately pruned; and the sails had been put back on the windmill, which was turning in a chilly wind that came up suddenly as I entered the driveway. Ellen herself I found rejuvenated in a most surprising way. She no longer had rings under her eyes, and she displayed a kind of nervous vitality which I thought at first was overwrought but which I presently came to feel as natural. The rather recessive attitude which had grown on her with her alienation from Sigismund seemed to have given way to a readiness to meet and taste life.
She was certainly not bad-looking now and she could never have been so homely as she imagined; but she was short and did have rather a large square head on a neck that was a little too small for it-physically, she resembled the doctor-and I could see that, with her precocious intelligence, she might not have been a belle. But her magnificent agate-green eyes must at any age have been arresting: they seemed to concentrate the light of the intellect as a powerful lens does the sun, and in this intellectual quality they suggested the eyes of a remarkable man; yet they were also extremely feminine and responded to everything that met them as the eyes of men seldom do.


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Infrastructure:
Julia Stewart of IHOP: Making the Partnership Work
By: | 5,427 Reads | 507 Shares
Julia Stewart is a very persuasive woman. As president, CEO, COO and director of IHOP Corp., she is, she says, using all her skills as a communicator, persuader, and collaborator, to revitalize one of the oldest and best-known foodservice brands.
Her whole career has been designed to put her in this position. She actually started out in high school as a server in an IHOP in her native San Diego. Her degree at San Diego State University was a BS in communications with minors in marketing and business-a degree that has raised a few eyebrows over the years.
But really, Stewart says, it's a perfect degree for her career.
"I had lunch the other day with the president of SDSU, and I said, 'I'm your best student because I use my education every day'," she says. "Think about it: I have a vision and a mission, and my job is to convince 420 franchisees, 55,000 field employees, a couple hundred corporate employees, a board of directors, and Wall Street that you've got to go in this direction."
Her first job was with a local advertising agency, a two-year stint that ended because of a serendipitous plane ride.
"I was flying to a presentation with a client, and I ended up sitting next to Carl [Karcher, founder of Carl's Jr.] on the plane. And the man kept trying to read my Wall Street Journal," she laughs. "Finally we struck up a conversation-we are dear friends to this day-and he said, 'You are just the type of person I need to meet. I very much want to have you come to work for me.' From that moment forward I have done nothing but be in the restaurant business."
Although she didn't necessarily intend to be in the restaurant business, she certainly had a major goal form the very beginning: "Even working as a server I made the decision that some day I would run a company because, she says. "I just knew it."
Much of her early career was spent building brands, not something that the industry was attuned to in the early '70s. After generating campaigns as a marketing manager for Carl's Jr., she took the chance to work for Burger King. She held marketing jobs, starting with the west coast, and adding the Pacific rim, and finally much of the U.S. "I was there five years, had five jobs, and moved five times," she says. "It was a wonderful time. I was learning about the business, leadership, about working with franchisees. I just loved working with franchisees, that whole idea of creating partnerships and teamwork."
That collaborative style was not celebrated or, as Stewart says, "wasn't viewed as much of a point of difference as it is today."
After Burger King, she had a chance to work for Saga Corp., owners of a number of restaurant concepts, including Spoons Grill & Bar and Stuart Anderson's Black Angus/Cattle Company Restaurants.
Saga had just acquired Spoons, and Stewart got the job of designing the UFOC. But the company decided she would be more valuable in the larger unit, so she took the job of vice president of marketing and research for Black Angus.
It was a major challenge; the chain had 10 years of negative growth, and was about to get out of the beef business since all its research had showed that beef was out and healthy eating was in. Stewart thought differently, and was able to persuade the company to do a 180: "I celebrated beef, and created these ads that won every award. It was just a series of marketing activities, but always working in conjunction with the operators. Even though it was not a franchise I spent 50 percent of my time convincing the operators that we had to work together. So even then I was using my collaborative skills to build a brand." The strategy worked.
Marketing has not usually been the career path for a CEO, however, and Stewart knew it. She had also done everything in marketing, at least as a prime responsibility, that she wanted to do. :I got to the point where I didn't want to produce another ad, I didn't want to write another business plan, I had sort of exhausted my career, made all the big leaps, and I really wanted to run something."
Her first step was to talk to the head of Black Angus.
"I went to the chairman and said, 'OK, I've turned it around, and I really want to expand my opportunities. I want to run a company or at least get into operations, because I know I'll never be a CEO until I have P&L experience. So I want you to get me out of marketing and into operations.' He looked at me and said, 'You must be joking.' I said, 'No, I'm serious; I'll start at the bottom and work my way up, but I really want to get into operations.' He thought I was crazy, and said I made too much money for him in marketing. I said if you don't let me go into ops, I'm going to get bored to death and I'm going to find somebody who will."
It was no idle threat, and Stewart is not one to sit quietly when she could be exercising her skills of persuasion where they could do some good. In an interview with Nation's Restaurant News, she mentioned her ambition to run a company. The vice president of human resources for Taco Bell read the story.
She got her wish to start at the bottom: as an assistant manager working the night shift in a Taco Bell. It was, of course, the fast track, but it was starting in operations, and she worked her way up quickly, and within a year was vice president of company operations for the west, and eventually national vice president of franchising and licensing with responsibility for all 5,800 restaurants.
She loved it, but she had not set aside her desire to, as she says "run the whole enchilada." The chips didn't fall that way at Taco Bell, and after a run of eight years, an executive recruiter steered her to that top job, at Applebees.
There she did many of the things she had done at Black Angus: finding a new agency, collaborating with franchisees, building a new menu, figuring out what it would take to move the business. One of her major changes was where the chain advertised. All of it was local advertising when she took over, and she convinced the franchisees to go with network advertising.
"That was a major turnaround," she says, "because it provided them awareness they'd never had before. That was in 1998."
After four years, she was president of Applebees' domestic division, and the CEO's job was still not hers. Then came what she calls "the opportunity of a lifetime" to be CEO of IHOP.
The additional attraction was a chance to move from Kansas City back to her home area of southern California. She had had the distinction of being the oldest woman to give birth in Kansas City (to her second child, Aubrey). "I got bored on the first day I delivered, so I was looking at my chart on the edge of the bed, and on the top in big bold letters, it said 'geriatric pregnancy'," she says. "It's funny now, though it wasn't then. It made me realize I had pushed the boundaries in a million different ways."
She regarded IHOP as a 45-year-old American icon, but in need of being reenergized. She spent months visiting with franchisees and employees, and came up with a new business model for the company. Up until last year, the company had bought the real estate, built the building, and then found a franchisee for the location. Under the new model, the franchisee acquires the real estate and builds the facility.
The results have been dramatic. Saving cash, reinvesting it in the business, buying back stock, and declaring a dividend have all pushed the stock value up 62% in a year. And Stewart's rallying cry is to make the chain No. 1 in the family dining segment. "And it's not just the number of units, but number one in the consumer's eye, the best operation, the best training, the best marketing, the best menu."
After the company announced that IHOP could support 400-600 new units in the U.S., the first 200 went to existing franchisees. Stewart says franchisees are still lining up to take the new locations.
"We're also looking at folks who are not IHOP franchisees, but are franchisees of other concepts," she says. "I like people who are on the ground who know their restaurant general managers' names, who've got infrastructure, who are involved in their business every day."
As for the future, Stewart says the important thing is to get the chain built out, and along the way her team will decide what new directions will work, whether international expansion or the acquisition of a second concept, or something else. But she doesn't see herself going anywhere: "This is a perfect match between me and the brand." Her method will continue to be collaboration and consensus-building.
It is, she says, the ideal way to approach franchising: "People don't understand first that franchising is highly regulated by the U.S. government, and secondarily that it's much harder than running a regular company. I don't demand or dictate anything: I influence, I collaborate, I persuade."
It amuses her that she hears from many other business leaders (mostly male, certainly, though she doesn't say that) that they don't know that they could do her job. "I know people in the restaurant business today who are highly successful guys running businesses, and they literally tell me they couldn't do what I do." That includes on chairman and CEO of a major restaurant chain, who says he tells people what to do. He says he could not deal with having to persuade.
It is a characteristic that she says women bring to their jobs, and that makes franchising an idea fit. She is a founding member and past president of the Women's Foodservice Forum.
She is aware of her role as a trailblazer for women: "To this day when I go into an IHOP, I get food servers coming up to me and saying, 'You give me hope.' It's wonderful.
"I really do believe in encouraging advancement of women and minorities, and have been a mentor throughout my career for both women and men. I want to become more involved in helping, mentoring, and coaching. There are a lot of women out there who still need a lot of coaching and are not getting it in their own organizations. I think it is sad, and it's disappointing to me that I am the only woman to run a publicly held restaurant chain. I can honestly tell you we've come a ways but we have a long way to go."
She considers the skill set that women bring to business a potential great advantage for franchising. "Franchisors need to be mindful of the partnership," she says. "At the core of being a franchisor, you'd better desire to be a partner. If you don't want to be a partner, it will never work."
In that, she says, IHOP has done a great job over the years. "A lot of our franchisees started 20-30 years ago as a cooks or servers and are millionaires today. That's what franchising can do for you."
Published: February 15th, 2004
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