Proving there is no shortage of great music festivals happening in Canada this summer, the Winnipeg Folk Fest has rolled out its 2016 lineup. And as could be expected, there are a lot of big names hitting up the 43rd edition of the annual event.
Taking place at Birds Hill Provincial Park from July 7 to 10, the festival will welcome the likes of Ryan Adams, Sam Roberts Band, the Head and the Heart, Basia Bulat, Cœur de pirate, Loudon Wainwright III, Lord Huron, Milky Chance, the Wainwright Sisters, Andy Shauf, Twin Peaks, Jennifer Castle, and Jim Bryson.
On July 8, there will also be an appearance by the Bluegrass Situation North, who promise to be "a festival within a festival" with the help of the Punch Brothers' Noam Pikelny, the Foggy Hogtown Boys, the Infamous Stringdusters and the Wild Reeds. The bands plan to cap off the day with a performance of the Eagles' Hotel California with an "American twist."
Also, Grammy-nominated Native North American curator Kevin Howes will be hosting a showcase of Canadian indigenous music on July 9, when Willie Thrasher, Willy Mitchell, Duke Redbird and Eric Landry will all play. And among the other special events, Loudon Wainwright III will not only being playing the fest but receiving the Winnipeg Folk Festival's Artistic Achievement Award.
Tickets go on sale tomorrow (March 11), and you can get more information here on the festival website.
Down below, you can see all the artists set to play the 2016 edition of the Winnipeg Folk Fest. There's also an announcement video at the bottom of the page.


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AED 86/2019: The good adult educator
AED 85/2018: Role and Impact of Adult Education
AED 84/2017: Inclusion and diversity
AED 83/2016: Skills and Competencies
AED 82/2015: Global Citizenship Education
AED 81/2014: Communities
AED 80/2013: Post 2015
About AED
Editions / AED 62/2004 / Shekor (The Roots): Lessons from the Urban Literacy Materials Development Project in Bangladesh
Probak Karim
The increasingly difficult situation of the rural population is leading to extensive urban migration, which creates in turn a greater need for literacy projects to respond to the new circumstances. Probak Karim describes how the Experimental Literacy Project in Bangladesh, aimed at developing an urban version of rural literacy materials, produced a "new set of materials based on new pedagogy and teaching- learning process". The author has been working in the field of adult and primary education in Bangladesh for more than a decade. His current areas are decentralized development of the curriculum and of community-based learning structures. He is presently working as a Community Learning Specialist at the Country Office of Plan International in Bangladesh, Dhaka, and can be contacted at probak@bangla.net
Shekor (The Roots): Lessons from the Urban Literacy Materials Development Project in Bangladesh
Poverty, river erosion, destitution and expectation of better opportunities force a large number of villagers to migrate to cities with an increasing realisation that without acquiring appropriate survival skills in the new context, they cannot settle down in the urban environment. While looking for odd jobs in the widening service sector in the urban areas, most of the adult migrants, both male and female, realise the market value of literacy. A workshop conducted in 1996–97 by the Friends in Village Development Bangladesh (FIVDB), a NGO engaged in the adult literacy movement in the country, to assess the nature of literacy needs in the capital city Dhaka and other urban areas, revealed a wide spectrum of diversified literacy needs linked with domestic service, garment factories, transport like rickshaw pulling, peddling and small business. There has not been much effort in Bangladesh to understand the real needs of these people and to address them within any large-scale adult education initiatives.
Through its Urban Literacy Materials Development Project, FIVDB initially developed an 'urban version' of its traditional rural literacy materials. However, from a critical analysis of learners' achievements and expectations, an in-depth investigation of the teaching-learning process and pedagogy, and the bottom-up nature of the process later facilitated the development of a more innovative and effective set of materials.
In the early 1980s, FIVDB developed a set of basic literacy materials for the non-literate adults they had been working with. Gradually, other NGOs started using those materials in their own areas. In the early 1990s, FIVDB came to support more than 200 NGOs in terms of providing materials and training for implementing their literacy programmes. The literacy learning materials that were initially developed by FIVDB for its own programme became so popular that they were adopted by most agencies all over the country.
It was only in the mid-1990s that several NGOs in Bangladesh started working in urban areas. Some of these NGOs had adopted an adult literacy programme in support of their other development activities. One of the major problems that these organisations faced then was the non-availability of appropriate literacy primers for urban adult learners. By default, almost all of these agencies had to use or adapt literacy material originally designed for rural learners in their urban literacy programmes. It became apparent that there were many problems in these programmes at that time because of those inappropriate materials. While these organisations experienced severe constraints relating the content and vocabulary used in the rural literacy material to the urban context, they had practically no other options.
At the request of some of these organisations, FIVDB decided to undertake the challenge of designing literacy primers for urban learners essentially as one of their ongoing research and development activities. FIVDB had generated technical expertise while providing support services to its field units in a wide variety of rural and semiurban literacy programme settings and also to its partner NGOs, and this expertise contributed to this venture. The Bangladesh country programme of Plan International came forward in 1996 to fund this initiative. Plan International Bangladesh also shared the experiences of its field unit engaged in running adult literacy centres in Dhaka with FIVDB. This arrangement motivated FIVDB to a great extent to set up a Materials Development Unit in Dhaka and initiate an urban literacy materials development project.
The FIVDB team of curriculum and materials developers started their activities with an in-depth evaluative study of adult literacy programmes in Dhaka. The key findings from this study were:
Almost all adult learners in these urban programmes had some sort of literacy experiences before joining the literacy centre.
In most adult literacy centres, the social awareness component of the programme remained unaddressed.
Most adult learners found the duration of the daily lesson (2 hours per day) to be too demanding in the light of their other livelihood commitments.
The learners also considered the duration of the course (six months) to be too long for them to commit at a stretch.
The rural context of the lessons was not appreciated by the learners.
What Motivates Adults to Learn?
The urban literacy materials development team followed up the above study with an assessment of learning needs as perceived by adult learners. The key objective of the process was to identify not only problems, issues and topics of immediate interest to urban learners, but also the possible literacy methods which might accelerate the process of acquiring literacy and numeracy skills, taking advantage of their exposure to the world of writing in the urban context. In order to accomplish this task, the team started an informal and intimate interaction with urban slum dwellers. This was accompanied in parallel by a structured survey of the perception of non-literate and semi-literate urban adults.
The reports of both the informal-qualitative and formal-quantitative surveys were placed before urban literacy workers in a workshop in Dhaka. The workshop made an attempt to cluster the perceived learning needs of the prospective learners under the following broad areas:
Measurements and calculations related to jobs in garment factories
Domestic work in middle-class urban households
Communication with relatives left behind in the villages through exchange of letters
Money transfers through post office and bank
Reading road signs and addresses
Starting small businesses and bookkeeping
Reading immunisation cards of mother and child to identify the day of the next visit
Labels of medicines in order to be able to take the doses appropriately
Payment slips of the garment workers
Reading newspapers
Providing some measure of support to school-going children etc.
The FIVDB urban materials development team also separately undertook a survey of the speech pattern of Dhaka slum dwellers develop a list of the most commonly used words in these slums. This vocabulary was supplemented by standard Bangla words and phrases widely used in road signs, banners, posters, newspapers, and television and radio programmes. The compilation of these words was titled, Nittay Kotha (most frequently used words) and was used for the development of urban literacy learning materials.
Implications for Materials Development
One of the major intentions of the materials development team was to create space for the learners to determine what they wanted to learn. It is often said that the learners are the most untapped resources for curriculum development. The materials development team did not want to repeat that. So instead of developing a full set of materials first and then asking the learners what they had liked or disliked about them, the team decided to develop the materials on a weekly basis. Seven literacy centres were organised in the Agargoan neighbourhood (the biggest slum in Dhaka city). The materials developers used to assemble at a literacy centre every day. They observed the class, assisted the shebok/shebika (facilitator) and the learners, collected feedback about the method and the contents of the materials, and evaluated the teaching-learning strategies etc. They also used to ask the learners and the facilitators about what they would like to learn next week. As learners from different backgrounds joined these centres, their interests were also diversified. The team systemically analysed the observational data collected by it from the experimental centres each week with a view to developing follow-up contents and teaching-learning strategies for the next week. This practice continued for six months and concluded with an assessment of the learning achievements of the learners' learning outcomes.
Despite the above efforts made by FIVDB and Plan International Bangladesh, the achievement of the learners in terms of the levels of literacy finally acquired was not significantly better than that of the centres run with rural materials. Besides the achievement scores, the literacy workers collected feedback, formally and informally, from the learners about their overall performance in reading and writing.
The broader picture that emerges from the above assessment data, formal and informal feedback from the learners and facilitators, and from the literacy workers and materials developers indicates the following:
The literacy levels attained by the learners were not sustainable.
'Look and say' or 'word method', a locally adapted version of the whole language teaching method, could hardly be implemented by the facilitators following the desired methods and strategies.
While most of the learners could recite some of the texts from the primer, they could not independently decode simple words from outside such texts.
Almost all the facilitators being adolescent boys and girls, their capacity to adapt different methods and materials in the actual class transactions was very limited.
The teachers' guide became a tool for limiting the creativity of the facilitators.
The numeracy lessons did not take into account the functional computing ability of urban adult learners.
As one of the key purposes of collecting the assessment data was to identify the areas for improving teaching and learning, the team tried to identify the pedagogical implications of these data. This process was facilitated by an international consultant.
Reflecting Critically
The team started interpreting the available data in order to identify the areas of improvement in the materials. But this critical analysis ultimately led the team to come up with developing new teaching-learning strategies as well as contents based on some new insights. The initial objective of the project was to develop 'an urban version' of the rural literacy materials, but during and after this review process, it ended up with a new set of materials based on new pedagogy and teaching-learning processes.
The new strategies that evolved from the critical analysis of that data were:
One of the major objectives of the materials would be to help the adult learners become 'independent readers'.
Social awareness on some selected issues' should also be supported by developing 'critical thinking ability' among the learners.
There was a felt need to introduce appropriate instructional strategies for promoting decoding skills in the existing primers to hasten the development of independent reading and writing competencies within a short period to develop self-confidence among the learners.
A basic reader could be used for accelerating the reading process, while widening the relevant knowledge domain of learners.
Emphasis should be given to achieving higher numeracy skills, taking advantage of the existing mental computing skills.
Too many instructions for the facilitators to conduct the discussion part of the adult literacy class so as to raise social awareness in fact serve to limit the ability or scope of the facilitators to create an environment for learners to engage in meaningful dialogue.
Based on that finding, the team agreed to be 'less instructive' to the facilitators and to create opportunities for them to be creative.
Experience of other experiments indicated that within a very short period of time, if the learners could achieve the decoding and encoding skills in Bengali language (along with limited sight vocabulary), that would increase the motivation level of the learners to a great extent, while it was also important to continue to build on those primary literacy skills.
On the basis of those experiences, the whole literacy course was divided into three major parts. Part one was to be a programme to learn the alphabet and signs and develop the basic skills of decoding and encoding. Part two would be basically for consolidation of those skills; and Part three would be the rapid expansion of literacy skills building on the strengths of the previous two stages. The third part would be more learner-centred; it would be expected that the learners would be able to participate in the reading, writing and accounting tasks mostly by themselves while the facilitators would provide and evaluate tasks and off-course support, if needed.
The materials were thus divided into three parts. The first part called Shekor (The Roots) would be for 24 days; second part named Ankur (The Bud) would be for 30 days; and the third part named Bistar (Growth) would be for 51 days.
Need to Learn from the Learners
As the team came up with an almost new set of materials, it was suggested that there should be scope for field-testing of these materials. Though FIVDB did not have any programme of adult literacy learning at that time in any urban areas, it was decided that at least two literacy centres would be established in a slum for adults. The materials would be field-tested in these two centres.
The initial results of this field-testing turned out to be extremely encouraging especially in terms of academic achievements. Following that experience, the materials were modified further. However, before these materials were offered to other organisations, it was suggested that one of FIVDB's partner organisations that had an urban literacy programme should implement this material on an experimental basis. A NGO called ARBAN agreed to take on this experimental programme and implemented it in 50 literacy centres in different slums of Dhaka city.
The urban context of literacy programmes is quite different from the rural context, and the idea of a special programme for urban dwellers is also a new concept in Bangladesh. The experience of developing Shekor, which happened to be the first experiment of that kind in Bangladesh, had some significant implications. The project demonstrated higher achievement by learners in reading, writing, accounting and social awareness.
The facilitators strongly appreciated the strategy of giving them freedom to be creative.
This approach also proved to be effective for the learners who were identified as 'semi-literates', who normally were excluded from any literacy programme.
In addition, it successfully demonstrated what others have also found, that the more adults see a purpose in learning literacy and are able to connect it to the literacy practices they go through in everyday life, the more they are motivated.
However, one of the major limitations of this project was to try to develop literacy teaching-learning materials without connecting them with any kinds of income-generating or vocational education programmes.
While it was a significant experiment in the emerging context of urban literacies in Bangladesh, it was later realised that it is important to have thorough documentation of the project and the processes involved. This was probably the weakest area of the project.
Urban literacy programmes should not only be regarded as adapted versions of rural programme, for this had proved not to be effective. Therefore it is important to consider urban literacy programmes as a new phenomenon.
The newly adopted mixed method for literacy learning seems to upset most of the literacy experts in Bangladesh, who tend to confine themselves to the 'single method' ('word' or 'sentence' method without linking it with the development of phonemic awareness and phonics) as the best method for literacy learning, ignoring the fact that they live in a changing world.
However, one of the most important lessons this project taught us is that a successful literacy learning programme does not only depend on good materials. Integration, organisation, supervision, training, monitoring and evaluation etc. are very important factors in a successful literacy programme. While Shekor was an important experiment in materials development, other areas still remain unexplored.
You can search for articles in our article index (sorted by authors, issues, year, regions and countries). It also provides a full text search.
Karim, Probak - Shekor (The Roots): Lessons from the Urban Literacy Materials Development Project in Bangladesh
Raj, Aditya Raj, Papia - Linguistic Deculturation and the Importance of Popular Education among the Gonds in India
Knani Gsouma, Mohamed - Education for Adults in Tunisia
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Do you know what is traditions shock? Perhaps you have had experienced that? People become accustomed to live nicely place at the same nation. It is pretty good to be surrounded by family members, close people, in addition to friends. There is nothing wrong anytime someone attends the same church, buys general stuffs additionally supermarkets, as well as drives exactly the same buses. Might be found make living comfortable. For many people it is very hard change the host to living as well as say 'good bye' in order to friends and home. Societal shock is the most important problem of which face individuals when proceed to another united states. It is the complex of negative feelings. With this Culture Coursework we will discuss exactly about the idea.
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Witold Brochwicz-Donimirski (ur. 1 grudnia 1874 w Ramzach Wielkich koło Sztumu, zm. 6 grudnia 1939 zamordowany w niemieckim obozie koncentracyjnym Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg) – polski działacz polityczny, społeczny i oświatowy.

Życiorys
Był synem Zygmunta i Walerii z Pruskich. Po ukończeniu gimnazjum w Chojnicach, rozpoczął studia prawnicze w Berlinie i rolnicze w Halle. W 1900 r. został właścicielem majątku Czernin, który odziedziczył po babce Bogumile.

Jako właściciel doprowadził majątek do rozkwitu i stanowił przykład dla okolicznych rolników. Halina Donimirska-Szyrmerowa opisuje to:
Po uzdrowieniu gospodarstwa ojciec zajął się zaniedbanym dworem w Czerninie. Założono centralne ogrzewanie, przebudowano wnętrze i doprowadzono do łazienki ciepłą wodę...

W 1910 r. ożenił się z Wandą Sikorską, wnuczką Ignacego Łyskowskiego, wybitnego działacza niepodległościowego na Pomorzu.

Brał udział w założeniu Banku Ludowego w Sztumie, w plebiscycie i działał w licznych polskich organizacjach. W 1939 r. aresztowany przez Gestapo i osadzony w obozie koncentracyjnym Sachsenhausen.

Jego synami byli Stanisław i Olgierd Donimirscy.
Więcej:

Ludzie związani ze Sztumem
Ofiary KL Sachsenhausen
Polskie ofiary niemieckich obozów koncentracyjnych
Polscy działacze społeczni
Polscy rolnicy
Urodzeni w 1874
Zmarli w 1939

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Found 10 records similar to Forest Percent Above Mean 2015
Forest Percentage Above 2m 2015
Forest Percentage Above 2m 2015Percentage of first returns above 2 m (%). Represents canopy cover. Products relating the structure of Canada's forested ecosystems have been generated and made openly accessible. The shared products are based upon peer-reviewed science and relate aspects of forest structure including: (i) metrics calculated directly from the lidar point cloud with heights normalized to heights above the ground surface (e.g., canopy cover, height), and (ii) modelled inventory attributes, derived using an area-based approach generated by using co-located ground plot and ALS data (e.g., volume, biomass).
Formats: WMS PDF HTML ZIP
Keywords: Forests
Forest Elevation(Ht) Mean 2015
Forest Elevation(Ht) Mean 2015Mean height of lidar first returns (m). Represents the mean canopy height. Products relating the structure of Canada's forested ecosystems have been generated and made openly accessible. The shared products are based upon peer-reviewed science and relate aspects of forest structure including: (i) metrics calculated directly from the lidar point cloud with heights normalized to heights above the ground surface (e.g., canopy cover, height), and (ii) modelled inventory attributes, derived using an area-based approach generated by using co-located ground plot and ALS data (e.g., volume, biomass).
Forest Elevation(Ht) Stddev 2015
Forest Elevation(Ht) Stddev 2015Standard deviation of height of lidar first returns (m). Represents the variability in canopy heights. Products relating the structure of Canada's forested ecosystems have been generated and made openly accessible. The shared products are based upon peer-reviewed science and relate aspects of forest structure including: (i) metrics calculated directly from the lidar point cloud with heights normalized to heights above the ground surface (e.g., canopy cover, height), and (ii) modelled inventory attributes, derived using an area-based approach generated by using co-located ground plot and ALS data (e.g., volume, biomass).
Forest Lorey's Height 2015
Forest Lorey's Height 2015Lorey's mean height. Average height of trees weighted by their basal area (m). Products relating the structure of Canada's forested ecosystems have been generated and made openly accessible. The shared products are based upon peer-reviewed science and relate aspects of forest structure including: (i) metrics calculated directly from the lidar point cloud with heights normalized to heights above the ground surface (e.g., canopy cover, height), and (ii) modelled inventory attributes, derived using an area-based approach generated by using co-located ground plot and ALS data (e.g., volume, biomass).
Forest 95th Percentile Elevation(Ht) 2015
Forest 95th Percentile Elevation(Ht) 201595th percentile of first returns height (m). Products relating the structure of Canada's forested ecosystems have been generated and made openly accessible. The shared products are based upon peer-reviewed science and relate aspects of forest structure including: (i) metrics calculated directly from the lidar point cloud with heights normalized to heights above the ground surface (e.g., canopy cover, height), and (ii) modelled inventory attributes, derived using an area-based approach generated by using co-located ground plot and ALS data (e.g., volume, biomass). Forest structure estimates were generated by combining information from lidar plots (Wulder et al.
Forest Basal Area 2015
Forest Basal Area 2015Cross-sectional area of tree stems at breast height. The sum of the cross-sectional area (i.e. basal area) of each tree in square metres in a plot, divided by the area of the plot (ha) (units = m2ha). Products relating the structure of Canada's forested ecosystems have been generated and made openly accessible.
Forest Gross Stem Volume 2015
Forest Gross Stem Volume 2015Gross stem volume. Individual tree gross volumes are calculated using species-specific allometric equations. In the measured ground plots, gross total volume per hectare is calculated by summing the gross total volume of all trees and dividing by the area of the plot (units = m3ha-1). Products relating the structure of Canada's forested ecosystems have been generated and made openly accessible.
Forest Total Aboveground Biomass 2015
Forest Total Aboveground Biomass 2015Total aboveground biomass. Individual tree total aboveground biomass is calculated using species-specific equations. In the measured ground plots, aboveground biomass per hectare is calculated by summing the values of all trees within a plot and dividing by the area of the plot. Aboveground biomass may be separated into various biomass components (e.g.
Harvest Year/Mask 1985-2015
Annual mapping of national level forest harvesting for Canada detected inclusive of 1985 to 2015 from Landsat satellite imagery. This dataset is composed of two layers: (1) binary harvest mask, and (2) year of harvest disturbance detection. The information outcomes represent 31 years of harvesting activity in Canada's forests, derived from a single, consistent, spatially-explicit data source in an automated manner. Time series of Landsat data with 30-m spatial resolution were used to characterize national trends in stand replacing forest disturbances, including those attributed to harvest for the period 1985–2015 for Canada's 650 million hectare forested ecosystems (Hermosilla et al.
Formats: WMS HTML ZIP
Keywords: Forests, Harvest
High-resolution binary wetland map for Canada (2001-2016)
High-resolution binary wetland map for Canada (2001-2016). Wetland map for the forested ecosystems of Canada focused on current conditions. The binary wetland data included in this product is national in scope (entirety of forested ecosystem) and represents the wall to wall characterization for 2001-2016 (see Wulder et al. 2018).
Form Descriptors


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Similis In Terra - Part Two - Random Musings
Similis In Terra - Part Two
Similis in Terra – Part 2/5
"What?" Chris couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What the hell do you mean – seventy-two hours? You said this thing doesn't work!"
"The timepiece doesn't work. Or, at least, it didn't until tonight." Steve rubbed a hand across his face. "From all our studies, Jensen has seventy-two hours to get back from where he is or he'll die. And we don't know what effect that will have on the world where he went." Steve's face was grave. "We've never been able to send a human across the portals before."
Steve typed in a few codes on his laptop and pulled up a screen. The title read Similis in Terra Simulation He turned the screen towards Chris.
"What we've been able to determine is that the walls between parallel worlds can be breeched at specific places, or portals. We're not sure why – maybe the separation is thinner there." Steve pressed a button and Chris saw the simulation of what looked like Terra in the middle and other spheres radiating away from it. The worlds touched each other briefly and moved away in an intricate dance.
"Also the portals aren't open all the time so it's not like someone can cross over at the same time and place."
"So cut to the chase, Carlson. Why does Jensen have seventy-two hours -," Chris checked his watch. "Make that sixty-eight hours and thirty-seven minutes - to make it back here or he'll die?"
"While the supermarket rags might have let on that we were studying the parallel world idea, what they didn't share was that we were able to access them with a stationary location."
Another click on the computer and an image of what looked like an upright tanning booth appeared.
"We were able to send inanimate items through the portals without a problem. It was the biologicals that became an issue. They all returned at the seventy-two hour mark –." Steve paused, his face grim. "Let's just say that they didn't return in the best condition."
"What's that mean?" Chris felt a wave of nausea wash over him.
"They came back altered." Chris knew what that meant. They came back as good as dead. Steve closed the laptop. "And we have no idea what will happen when a human comes back. If they can come back."
"Fuck, Steve." Chris stared at the man. "What do we do?"
"Before the seventy-two hour mark we locate Jensen, find a portal and bring him back home."
Jared pulled the motorcycle over onto the gravel shoulder and killed the engine. "Okay, get off."
"What?" Jensen was surprised. "What do you mean, 'Get off'?"
"Off the bike. I know you speak English." Jensen could hear anger and fear in the man's voice. He slid off the back and watched as Jared set the kickstand and threw his leg over the side.
"I'm not going anywhere until I get some answers." Jensen saw that the aftermath of emotion was kicking in by the look on Jared's face and the way he was standing, arms crossed, shoulders locked. "Where the hell did you and those – goons – come from?"
Jensen considered his answers. "Well, it depends on where we are now as to where we came from." That seemed innocuous enough. He tried a grin. "So…where are we?"
"Not funny!" Jared started pacing. "You appear out of some crazy blue light, I get chased by some guys because of a pocket watch, said guys shooting at me with laser guns from Halo 3, you burn my place of employment down…right now I really don't have a sense of humor."
Jensen sighed. Jared was ramping up, he could see that. He needed to keep him calm so he could figure out what happened and plan his next step.
"Okay. I'll tell you, but I was serious about asking you where we were."
Jared stopped and was regarding him. "Seriously? You don't know where we are?"
"I wouldn't ask if I knew." Jensen felt he was pointing out the obvious, but he cut Jared some slack. He'd probably be this riled up if he were in Jared's position. "Care to share?"
"Um, Richmond. Virginia." Jared was worrying his bottom lip like he was concerned Jensen would do something if he didn't give the right answer.
Focus, Ackles! Jensen tore his eyes away from Jared's mouth and looked at a point over his shoulder. He didn't need the flight or fuck instinct to be kicking in right now. He thought about the name Jared gave him. Richmond didn't ring a bell.
"Do you have a map?" Maybe if he had a visual he'd get a better sense of his location.
"I can get one on my phone." Jared dug his phone out of his pocket, swiped his finger across the screen, typed in a few words then handed it to Jensen. "There."
It was a city map. Not going to help. And he'd never seen a phone like this before so he wasn't sure how to navigate it. "I need something less detailed. Like a country map."
"That's easy." Jared leaned in and showed him how to zoom out to a larger map. Jensen prided himself on not leaning back even though every muscle in his body wanted to. "Here's a map if the U.S. We're here." He pointed to a blue pin.
U.S. Unified States? No. According to the display, he was in a country called the United States. Which looked exactly like his country.
Shit The timepiece worked. He was in a parallel world. Without backup. Except for the tall, handsome guy standing next to him.
Jensen knew he shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning.
"Is that what you were looking for?" Jared's quiet voice broke through Jensen's thoughts. He raised his eyes to the younger man. "You looked lost for a minute. Not that you're not – lost I mean. Like really lost…" Jared's voice trailed away.
"Yeah, it kind of helped." Jensen rubbed the back of his neck. "Look. This is more complicated than I realized. Can we go somewhere that's not the side of the road and in the open and discuss it? Please? I promise I'll tell you what I can."
He realized he probably sounded pathetic but he was tired and concerned that Sheppard and his men had found transportation and were headed this way.
"You're right. God, how stupid!" Jared turned to the bike. "I'm an idiot."
"Wait." Jensen grabbed Jared's arm to stop him. "You're not an idiot. You just wanted answers. I would have done the same thing. Only probably not as calmly as you did." He chuckled, strangely pleased as he saw a smile flash across Jared's face. "So, you got a place we can hole up?"
"Yeah, my apartment's just up the road. We can go there." Jared climbed on the bike and tilted it up, waiting for Jensen to slide on behind him. He started the engine, and as they pulled out, Jensen heard him say, "I hope you like dogs…"
Jared's apartment was on the ground floor of a converted warehouse. There were days when he mentally commented on the fact that he worked AND lived in a warehouse. When he mentioned it to Misha once, his friend just gave him a fortune cookie line and offered him a beer.
He and Jensen pulled up to the side and he motioned for Jensen to hop off. Turning off the motor, Jared slid off and walked the bike underneath a small overhand his landlord had built for him to store his bike. Jeff was a bike nut and refused to let Jared's ride be left to the elements.
Putting on the spare cover, he warned Jensen. "Now my babies are really friendly once they get to know you. Harley's loud and slobbery and Sadie's a sweetheart but shy so don't be offended if she doesn't warm up right away."
As Jared unlocked the main door, he could hear Harley woofing and Sadie's nails scrabbling across the floor. "Calm down! We've got company!"
He blocked the dogs with his leg and gestured for Jensen to enter. He expected to feel Jensen slide past him. What Jared didn't expect was a tiny jolt of - something – as he felt Jensen's body brush against his.
He shook it off and quickly closed and locked the door. Turning around, he saw Jensen sitting on the floor, his hands in Harley's fur, the dog licking his face. Sadie was just out of reach, observing the scene.
"Oh, man, I'm sorry. Here let me grab his collar."
"No don't. I'm good." Jensen's grin was blinding. "He's a great dog. Aren't you, boy? Yes, you are!" Jared swore he heard kissy-face noises. "I haven't had a dog in a while. Missed how much fun they are."
"I'll leave you to your mutual admiration society for the moment. After tonight, I need a beer." Jared headed to the refrigerator. Opening the door, he spied a Corona on the shelf. "Want one? Got no limes sadly."
"That sounds fantastic." Jared grabbed another one as he heard Jensen get up off the floor. He handed it to Jensen and watched as the man studied it for a moment.
"Where I'm from, we have Corola. Logo looks just like this." Jensen took a drink. "Tastes just like this too."
"Okay. I think we need to talk." Jared headed to the couch. Grabbing his usual spot he waited for Jensen to sit. "First – is your name really Jensen Ackles?"
"Yeah. Commander Jensen Ackles."
"Commander? You're military?" Jensen nodded. Jared wasn't surprised. After everything that happened at the warehouse, the strange laser guns, the blue light, it couldn't be anything but. "Wait, which country?"
"That's the tough part." Jensen stared at the beer bottle for a moment. "Okay. What I'm going to tell you is gonna sound really weird, so please just bear with me and try not to freak out."
"No promises. Go ahead."
"Fair enough." Jensen paused. Jared could see him debate with himself as to what to say. "How much do you know about parallel universes?"
Jared choked on his beer. "You're kidding me, right? Misha put you up to this!" Jared immediately rejected that thought. "No he couldn't. He'd never burn the warehouse down."
"Who's Misha?"
"My best friend." Jared shook his head. "He tried to fix me up with his cousin who swears that parallel universes are real and Area 51 has technology that can send humans through portals. I told Misha his cousin was crazy and that Misha was an asshole for setting me up with him…" Jared trailed off as he saw Jensen's amused expression. "His cousin's not crazy, is he?"
"'Fraid not."
"And you're one of the Area 51 guys."
"Well, see. That's where it gets weird."
Jared snorted. "Don't you mean weirder?"
"Okay – weirder. Can we continue?"
Jared waved his hand. "Please do." He was pretty sure he heard Jensen mutter 'smartass' under his breath before he spoke again.
"So – weirder. I'm not part of your Area 51. Actually, I'm not part of your world at all."
Jared's brain short-circuited for a moment. "Wait, what?"
"I'm pretty sure that the blue light you saw was a portal that dumped me and the guys that were chasing me into your world. And that timepiece you still have in your pocket is the cause."
Jared had forgotten that he still had the timepiece. He dug it out of his pocket.
It looked harmless enough. The old brass casing was slightly dented and scratched from being tossed about. Buttons on the top reminded Jared of a stopwatch. There were several watch faces on the front and back – some stationary, others whirring rapidly. He dropped it on the coffee table like it would burn him if he held it any longer.
"So what proof do you have other than this watch thing that you're from another world? And why were those guys after you?"
Jensen sighed. "Nothing really. You can look at my driver's license. My phone obviously doesn't work here so I can't call up anything on it." He was quiet again. "And those guys were after me because they stole the timepiece from the military and it was my job to get it back. I did, but they cornered me in an alley."
Jensen held out his hand for the timepiece. Jared picked it up and gave it to him, watching as he turned the object over in his hands. "It wasn't supposed to work."
"What do you mean?" Jared was confused. "If it doesn't work, how'd you get here?"
"That's just it. I don't know!" Jensen huffed in frustration. "We were told it was just a prototype and that it wasn't active. Whatever happened in the alley was not supposed to happen."
Jensen tossed the timepiece on the coffee table and got up to pace. Jared could see the tension in his walk. He could also see how the black cargo pants cupped his ass and the slight bow in his stride when he crossed the room to stare out of the window. For a moment he allowed himself to really look.
The man in front of him was stunning. Golden brown hair, spiked in a messy way, deep, moss green eyes, black boots, pants and t-shirt pulled tight over broad shoulders. If Jared ever admitted to having a type, Jensen was it.
Of course he also knew that in a regular situation, someone like Jensen wouldn't even bother to give him the time of day.
"Stop thinking so loud." The laughter in Jensen's voice broke through Jared's thoughts.
"I can hear you thinking all the way over here. What's on your mind?"
Jared scrambled for something other than, I was thinking how hot you are. "Uh, just trying to wrap my head around all this."
"Yeah, me too."
"So what do we do now?"
"You believe me?" Jensen left the window and sat back down on the couch next to Jared.
"How can I not? You have a laser gun." Jensen stared at him for a moment and then burst out laughing. It was an incredible sound and Jared wanted to hear it a hell of a lot more. "What?"
"A laser gun?" He sounded incredulous.
"The only people who have those in real life are the military and aliens. And you're kind of both, so yeah, I believe you."
"An alien?" Jensen quirked an eyebrow at him.
"Are you from another planet?" Jared finished his beer.
"Then you're an alien." He grinned at Jensen's flabbergasted look.
"You know, you're dealing with this pretty well, all things considered." Jensen picked up their bottles and took them to the kitchen. "I'm impressed."
"Don't be - I'm freaking out on the inside," Jared responded dryly. Before he could say anything else, he heard a beeping sound coming from the timepiece. "Uh, Jensen, this thing is beeping. It's not going to blow up, is it?"
"How the hell should I know? It's not supposed to work, remember?" Jensen strode into the living room. Jared watched him pick up the timepiece and turn it over.
"Wait – turn it back over. There's a button glowing." Jared pointed. When Jensen flipped the piece over, one of the buttons on the side was glowing green. "Should we push it? I mean, we don't know what it does or anything."
"Might as well try." Jensen pressed the button and the beeping stopped. There was silence for a moment and then Jared heard a voice come out of the item in Jensen's hand.
"Jensen? Can you hear me?"
"Chris?" The relief on Jensen's face was palpable. "Is that you?"
"Yes!" Jared could just make out what seemed to be cheering in the background. "Thank God!"
Jensen was focused on the voice coming out of the timepiece. It was obvious to Jared that he knew the guy on the other end. "How'd you know to use this as a communicator?"
"Carlson said it was initially designed for that capability and since the timepiece seems to be working, we've been attempting to contact you."
"Yeah, well, sorry I missed your call. I've kind of been a bit occupied." Jared snickered at Jensen's eyeroll, but immediately sobered when he saw Jensen flip back into his professional mode.
"Chris, what the fuck happened?"
"You managed to make it through a portal."
"Well, no shit, Eisenstien. I kind of figured that. Where the hell am I?"
"Best Carlson can figure out is you are on Terra 576."
"That doesn't help me at all, Chris. I need more information."
Jared's phone took that moment to ring. He looked at the caller ID. Misha. Shit! He'd totally forgotten about meeting him. He held the phone up indicating to Jensen he needed to take it.
Jensen nodded and Jared moved into the kitchen, wondering how in the hell he was going to explain this to his friend.
Jensen watched him walk into the other room, trying not to admire the way he moved. He needed to focus. He turned his attention back to Chris. "Dude, this thing was not supposed to work."
"I know, but somehow it did. You okay?"
"A bit beat up. Sheppard and his boys came over with me." Jensen rubbed the scrapes on his palm. "But I managed to get away and only blew up one warehouse in the process."
"Only one? The humor in Chris's voice helped settle him. If anyone could get him out of this mess it was Chris. "Yeah – we saw the videotapes of your disappearance."
Jensen took a breath. He seemed to be doing that a lot tonight. "Okay, give me the details and tell me what I'm looking at." Chris was silent. "C'mon, Chris. No bullshit."
You have sixty-seven hours and change to find a portal and get back here."
Jensen's chest tightened. "Or what?"
"Or you're probably going to die." Jensen could hear the unspoken words. If he didn't get back, his death would not be pretty. Fuck.
"Okay…okay. So find me a portal and zap me back."
"It's not that easy, Jen. Finding a portal isn't like going to the local Zal-Mart and picking up batteries. Steve's trying to calculate the closest one in the window of time that we have. Once we find it, you're going to need transportation to get there. Can you steal something?"
Jensen's eyes settled on Jared. The man was pacing and looked like he was arguing with his friend. "Won't need to steal anything. I've got a ride."
"How'd you manage that?"
"Made a friend." Jensen smiled. If almost getting blown up in a warehouse in a parallel universe constituted friendship then he and Jared were BFFs.
"Oh crap, Jen! Why the hell did you do that? We have no idea what your being there will do to the local population! You didn't tell him anything, did you?" Jensen heard the anger in Chris's voice.
"Kind of had to, Chris. We popped in on him and, well, set his warehouse on fire." Jensen paused. "He saved my life, Chris."
"Well, shit. Can't change things now." Jensen almost felt the breath that Chris blew out, signifying that he was thinking. "You think he'll help?"
"Yeah, I think I do. He's a good kid, Chris." Jensen chuckled, watching Jared make faces at the phone and put it back to his ear. "Hasn't freaked out much yet. Plus he's got dogs."
"Which naturally is the benchmark for ANY operation we run."
"Don't be pissy."
"I'm allowed to be. You're off gallivanting on some planet we've never heard of and Aldis screwed up the Korig again. The boy needs to be leaving my coffee alone!"
"Tried to supersize it again, huh?" Jensen smiled. "Chris, you don't have to cover. I know how serious the situation is. But thanks.
I know, but it makes me feel better. Jensen, we WILL get you home. I swear."
"I know, brother. I have complete faith in you and the geek squad." Jensen was about to continue when the timepiece began beeping again. This time, green light appeared on the face. "Chris, what the hell's going on? This thing is beeping again."
"What? Hang on." Jensen heard Chris shouting at someone in the background that he thought sounded like Steve. "What do you mean he's being tracked? Who the fuck would be tracking him other than us?"
More shouting and Jensen heard Sheppard's name being taken in vain. Moments later Chris was back. "Okay, here's the fresh hell. It seems as though the timepiece has a tracking component and Sheppard's got it. Steve says that a green light means he's not pinpointed you yet, amber means he's within a mile or so and red – he's right on top of you. At least that's what's supposed to happen. Steve said they're not sure of the accuracy because it's never really been tested."
Fantastic. Another wrench in an already crap situation. Jensen closed his eyes for a moment to process. When he opened them again he was looking at a glowing amber light.
"Fuck, Chris – it's amber."
"Get out of there, Jensen. Now!" Chris's voice was frantic.
Jensen flew off the couch. "Jared! Get your ass in gear! They're coming!" He grabbed the bike keys off the front table, hoping that Jared knew what he meant. "We've got to leave NOW!"
Heading to the front door, he eased it open and slipped out. Scanning the area didn't turn up Sheppard or either of his guys. He hurried toward the Harley and had just pulled the cover off when Jared was right behind him, a backpack in his hand.
"Computer," he replied to Jensen's head tilt. "Thought we'd need it." Jensen was impressed with his thinking. Most people wouldn't be planning that far ahead in a situation like this.
"Let's go. We need to stay on the move to keep them from finding us." Jensen took the backpack and thrust his arms through the straps.
"Where are we going?" Jared looked at him questioningly.
"No clue, but we need to put some distance between us and Sheppard and his guys."
"Then I need to make a stop. It's important." Jensen studied Jared for a moment, then nodded.
"Okay, let's go." They climbed on the bike and headed out, avoiding the main roads as they sped to Jared's destination.
Sheppard was furious. He lost Ackles and his large new friend in the chaos of the warehouse fire. They were able to hotwire a car and disappear before the authorities questioned them.
He cursed the tracker – it was worse than useless. Whatever had transported them to this parallel world had damaged the calibration on the unit and he couldn't get a solid fix on the timepiece. He just knew that when it was green they were close. Its only saving grace was that it beeped when they were within a quarter mile of the timepiece.
After tracking them to a converted warehouse, they'd lost the signal. Sheppard had them pull over in the parking lot so he could regroup.
Getting out of the car, he pulled a cigarette pack out of his pocket. Flicking the flint on the lighter, the end glowed as he put flame to it. Clicking the lighter closed, he inhaled slowly, allowing the slight burn in his lungs to calm him. It killed the taste of burning insulation and siding from the warehouse explosion.
The warehouse was a disappointment. After regaining his equilibrium, he'd hoped to make short work of Ackles, retrieve the timepiece and determine a way to get back home.
Too bad the moose had to fuck things up and help Ackles escape. When he caught up with them, Sheppard was going to do extensive damage to the man helping the Commander.
He took another drag off the cigarette and contemplated his next move.
"Excuse me, can we help you?" A couple had come out of the main door of the warehouse.
"Actually you can." Sheppard put on his most confused expression. "This sounds silly, but I was almost mugged today and a nice young man helped me out. I didn't get his name, but someone said he lived here." He blinked innocently at the girl. "I wanted to give him something for helping me. He's very tall, brown hair, rides a motorcycle…"
"Oh you must mean Jared." The boy nodded. "He's always doing stuff like that."
"Yes, Jared." Sheppard spread his hands out in a 'there you go' gesture. "But he doesn't seem to be home."
"He's probably at Morgan's. That's his usual hangout. Do you know where that is?" When Sheppard shook his head, the boy searched his pockets and came up with a scrap of paper and a pen. Scribbling down directions, he handed them to Sheppard. "There you go."
"Why thank you." Sheppard smiled. "I'm sure Jared will thank you when I give him his reward." He watched as the couple got into their car and left.
Leaning into the window of the car, he spoke. "Gentlemen, it looks like we are going drinking tonight."
The gravel lot of Morgan's was packed as Jared drove up. He found a parking space close to the door and killed the engine.
As he got off the bike he saw the angry look on Jensen's face.
"A bar? This is the important stop?" Jensen waved an arm at the building. "We don't have time to grab a beer and hang with your friends, Jared!"
"Yes, this is the important stop." Jared headed toward the door. "And we're not here to drink. I need to give Misha the key to my apartment so he can take care of the dogs. You can wait by the bike if you want." He pulled the door open, probably a bit harder than was necessary. He was tired, sore, been shot at, and was covered in soot. He was in no mood for attitude.
As he entered the bar, he felt Jensen grab his arm. "Hey."
"What?" He kept going.
With a growl, Jared stopped and whirled around. The comment he was about to make died on his lips when he saw Jensen's face. The older man gave him an embarrassed smile.
"Look, I'm sorry." Jensen's eyes met his. "I forgot for a minute that this is totally messing with your life." He sighed. "I know you have responsibilities here. You don't have to go with me if you don't want to."
Jared blinked. It had never even occurred to him that he wouldn't go with Jensen.
"Um, can we discuss this somewhere that's not right at the door?" Jared scanned the room and saw Misha, Sandy and Genevieve at a corner table. "There's Misha. C'mon." He led them over.
Pulling up a couple additional chairs, he motioned for Jensen to sit. "Jensen, these are my best friends Misha Collins, Sandy McCoy and Genevieve Cortese. Guys, this is Jensen Ackles. I'm kind of…helping him."
"So this is the guy that blew up your warehouse?" Sandy glared at Jensen before turning to Jared and smacking him on the arm. " Why didn't you call us? Do you know how worried we were?"
"Ow!" Jared rubbed the place where she'd hit him. "I'm sorry. I was kind of busy.
"But you're okay, right?" This from Genevieve. Even though they were no longer together, Jared knew she worried about him.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He gave her a smile that he hoped reassured her.
"So what happened?" Sandy snagged some of the leftover fries that were in the basket on the table. "We saw the news report on the bar TV and Misha said you were fine. And that you were with the guy that caught the place on fire."
Jared didn't know exactly how much to tell them. Or how much they'd really believe. "Um…"
"Actually, Jared saved my life." Jensen interrupted. "I can't tell you much, but basically, some bad guys were after me, we wound up in Jared's warehouse and they accidentally set it on fire…" Jared listened as Jensen spun a tale that he almost found himself believing.
The grin Jensen gave him had Jared's insides twisting in a funny way. "…and then he roared up on his motorcycle and rescued me."
"Aww." Genevieve sighed. "Wow. Were you scared?"
Jared glanced at the girls and did a double-take. They were gazing at Jensen like he was a rock star. Or that guy they liked from the show about those two brothers.
Really? He couldn't believe it. Genevieve was flirting with Jensen.
"I need a beer." Jared got up and headed to the bar. He knew he shouldn't drink, but the flash of jealousy he felt when Jensen was telling his story to the girls unsettled him. He'd known this guy less than three hours – what did he have to be jealous about?
"It's always unnerving to have a visceral reaction to another human being, isn't it?" Misha had followed him and was leaning against the oak counter. "One always wonders if said reaction should be underplayed or taken advantage of."
"Been talking to your marketing department again?" Jared motioned to the bartender and mouthed 'Coke.' He figured better safe than sorry.
"Nope. That's all me." Misha held up two fingers. He leaned against the bar and motioned to their table. "Interesting fellow you picked up there."
"You don't know the half of it," Jared muttered.
"So tell me." The bartender handed them the two sodas. Misha took a drink, his eyes never leaving Jared's. "What's so special about him that's got you practically growling at the girls?"
"I wasn't growling."
"Jared, if you were Harley, you'd be foaming at the mouth." Misha paused. "There's more to the situation, isn't there?"
Jared sighed. He never could keep anything from Misha. It was unnerving, actually. "Would you believe me if I told you he was an alien?"
"Probably. No one that attractive could ever be human. It's no wonder you want to fuck him."
Jared choked on his drink. "Misha!" Coughing, he tried to catch his breath as he glared at his friend.
Misha just shrugged. "What? I'm straight and I want to fuck him."
"Would you keep it down!" Jared looked around the bar, hoping no one had heard them. He wasn't a prude, but his momma taught him some manners.
"Fine. No more talk of fucking." Misha finished his drink. "But what makes you think he's an alien?"
"Well, not like the little green men alien. But he's from another world. A parallel one to ours."
"And you know this how?" Jared could see that Misha was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"Because he appeared out of a glowing blue light." Jared ran a hand through his hair. "And he has this pocket watch thing that I guess is a transporter. And the guys that were after him had laser guns. That's what caught the warehouse on fire."
Jared quickly told him the uncensored version of the evening's events, including the communication with the people back on Jensen's world. "And so he needs help getting to one of the portals so he can get home."
Misha was quiet for long moment. "Okay," he said, finally. "I believe you."
"You do?" Jared was shocked. He barely believed it himself. To have Misha say he believed him went a long way in reducing his stress level.
"Yeah. No way you could have made up all that. Plus, you wouldn't have burned the warehouse down intentionally." Misha sighed. "You know what this means don't you?"
Jared shook his head.
"It means my cousin was right." Misha's face broke out in a big grin that Jared couldn't help but return. "But I'm not going to tell him because I'll never hear the end of it."
They stood in silence for a moment.
"So…" Misha's voice was quiet. "You're going with him, then." It wasn't a question.
"Yeah." Jared looked at the table where Jensen was laughing with Sandy and Genevieve. "I guess I am."
"Do you know where you're headed?"
"Nope. His people haven't figured that out yet."
"You'll need money." Misha reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. Digging through the cards, he took one out. "Take this. It's got a two thousand dollar daily limit."
"Misha – I can't." Jared began to protest but Misha cut him off.
"Yes, you can. You'll need it." Misha pressed the card into Jared's hand. "It's what I can do. Please."
Jared stared at his friend. "Okay." He looked at the card. "Wait, it's got my name on it. Mish?" He searched his friend's face.
"It was for when you wised up and came to work for me." Misha had a sheepish look on his face. "But I think your direction may not be in the herbal drink business after all." He tilted his head towards the table.
"Someone's looking for you." Jared turned back and saw Jensen watching him over Sandy's head.
Not taking his eyes off the other man, Jared leaned in to his friend. "Misha, am I crazy? I've known him less than three hours."
"No." Misha smirked at his friend. "You're just twitterpated."
"I am not Bambi." Jared protested, but he knew Misha was right. He was hung up on the guy.
"Jared." Misha tapped his arm. "Sometimes you just have to close your eyes and jump," he said quietly. "And something tells me Jensen is worth jumping for."
Jared grabbed his friend in a tight embrace. "Thanks."
"You're welcome." Misha hugged back then slapped his shoulder. "Now let's get back to your boy before the girls steal him."
They headed back to the table just in time to hear Jensen telling Sandy and Genevieve a complicated story that involved superglue, a pineapple and a catfish.
Jensen paused and smiled at Jared. "You guys okay?"
"Yeah." Jared smiled back, thinking of what Misha had said about jumping. "We're fine."
"Did you give Misha your key?"
"Oh, crap, yeah. I need you to watch my babies." Jared dug his keyring out of his pocket and quickly pulled the key off. "There's a full bag of food in the pantry. If you have to buy more, keep the receipt."
"Not a problem." Misha attached the key to his keyring. "I'll make sure they're taken care of."
"We need to head out, Jared." Jensen had risen from the table and was about to head to the door when Jared heard him utter a curse. "Fuck, Sheppard's guys just walked in!" He grabbed Jared and pulled him into the corner. "Is there a back way out of here?"
"Through the kitchen, but that's on the other side of the bar."
They were stuck. Jared felt his blood run cold. These guys wouldn't hesitate to shoot up Morgan's if it would mean they got the timepiece.
"I have an idea. Sit down." Misha shoved Jared down onto a chair and motioned for Jensen to do the same. He turned to the girls. "We need to hide them. Pretend you're on a date and sit on their laps now." Sandy and Genevieve quickly moved from their seats and plopped on each man's lap.
"Now kiss them so you can hide their faces while I figure out a way to get them out of here." Misha tossed the comment over his shoulder as he hurried toward the front door. Jared got a glimpse of him talking to Clif, the bouncer, before Genevieve wrapped her arms around him, whispered 'sorry' and locked lips.
It was the weirdest feeling ever. Like kissing his sister. Which explained one of the reasons they broke up.
Jared couldn't help himself. He glanced over to where Sandy was kissing Jensen.
Jensen was staring at him, his eyes clouded with what looked like lust. And it was directed at him. Jared felt like he'd been punched in the gut. He squirmed in his seat, half-hard, trying not to let Genevieve know he was aroused.
A commotion at the door grabbed their attention. Clif and the other bouncers were manhandling Sheppard's men out the door, yelling something about drugs and fake IDs.
Misha was back with two of the regulars in tow. "This is Todd Scott and Mike Carpenter. They're gonna help us. Now give me your coats."
"Why?" Jensen had stopped kissing Sandy and she slipped off his lap. "What do you need our coats for?"
"Todd and Mike are going to be you." He motioned to the the two men. "They're about your height and coloring and with your jackets on they should pass well enough to give you some lead time." Jared shrugged out of his coat and handed it to Mike. He saw Jenson do the same to Todd.
"Oh, and Jared, I need the keys to the Harley."
"Wait, what?" Jared was confused. "What do you need my keys for?"
"Because they are going to ride off on your bike." Misha rolled his eyes at Jared. "Hello – decoy." Misha grabbed the keys out of Jared's hand and gave them to Todd. "I figure it'll take about forty-five minutes before they realize that the guys on the bike aren't you."
"Make sure you stay ahead of them," Jensen warned. "Sheppard is dangerous."
Jared watched Todd and Mike put on their jackets, grab the bike helmets and head out the front door.
"Okay, so how are we going supposed to get out of here?"
"I have transportation ready." Misha's smile scared the shit out of Jared. He stared at his friend as realization dawned.
"Oh no. No! We are NOT taking the Love Mobile."
"It's gassed up and out back." Instinctively Jared caught the keys that Misha threw at him. "No one will give it a second look."
"That's because they'll be too busy laughing at the first look." Jared grumbled to himself.
"Um, what's the Love Mobile?" Jensen looked concerned.
"It's Misha's ride," Jared said shortly. "It's – well, you just have to see it for yourself. Let's go."
He grabbed Jensen's hand and pulled him towards the kitchen.
"Keep in touch," Misha called after them. "Oh, and don't touch the stash under the third seat. I've got plans for that."
Jared shook his head. He loved Misha dearly, but there were times….
They quickly zigzagged through the staff in the kitchen and made their way out the back door. Jared rounded the corner, Jensen close behind. He stopped and pointed.
"That, sir, is the Love Mobile."
He heard Jensen gasp, "You have GOT to be fucking kidding me!"
Under a dim streetlight sat Misha's vehicle. Iridescent purple paint covered most of the body, with swirls of green and orange from tip to tail. The top was sunny yellow.
"Nope – Misha's pride and joy." Jared began walking towards the vehicle.
"That's…that's…" He heard Jensen trail off.
"An abomination. Otherwise known as a VW Bus." He turned to see Jensen's face.
"It's purple." Jensen stood there staring.
"And green." Jared unlocked and opened the door. "And it's our ride. Get in." He slid behind the wheel and reached across the seats to unlock the passenger side.
Opening the door, Jensen climbed in. Shutting the door behind him, he noticed the stick shift. "Uh, Jared." He motioned in between them. "What's that?"
"The gear shift. Why?" Jared pulled the seatbelt across himself and clicked the latch.
"Because we don't have that where I come from and I have no clue how it works."
Jared wanted to hit his head against the steering wheel. "I'll drive. It's probably better that way anyway."
"Sorry." Jared glanced at Jensen. He looked upset and stressed and Jared could see that not being able to control the environment was taking its toll.
"Hey." He touched Jensen's shoulder to get the other man's attention. "It's gonna be okay."
"Yeah." Jensen didn't sound convinced. As he buckled in, Jensen sniffed the air, his nose wrinkling. "What's that smell?"
Jared sighed. "You really don't want to know." Starting the engine, he put the bus into gear. With a spray of gravel, they pulled out of the parking lot and headed down the road.
GO TO PART 3


What can the Catholic Church offer me?
How does a person become a Catholic?
Who will accompany you on the Journey?
Bishop Timothy James Harris was born in Brisbane on 29th October 1962, the son of James and Shirley Harris, and brother to Jennifer.
He was educated to primary level at St Joseph's Primary School at Nundah and at the Virginia State School, and to secondary level at St Joseph's Nudgee College, and then joined the Bank of New South Wales at its head office for five years.
In 1986 he entered the Pius XII Provincial Seminary and was ordained Deacon in 1992 serving his transitional diaconate at Surfers Paradise parish and being ordained a Priest on 18th November 1992.
Fr Harris served as assistant priest in the parishes of Grovely and Caboolture before his appointment as parish priest of Graceville, and parish priest of Corinda in 1996, leading the union of the two parishes to form Corinda Graceville Parish. He served as parish priest of Corinda Graceville until 2010. He was then appointed as Parish Priest of Surfers Paradise until 2017.
Fr Harris has served in various offices as Vicar Forane of the Brisbane West Deanery, member of the Council of Priests, the Personnel Board and the Clergy Appointments Board and until his appointment as bishop, he held the office of Vicar Forane for the South Coast Deanery of the Archdiocese of Brisbane.
He obtained the degree Bachelor of Theology from the Brisbane College of Theology.
Fr Harris was appointed sixth Bishop of Townsville in the Province of Brisbane by Pope Frances on 8 February 2017.
The Episcopal Ordination took place at the Emmaus Hall, Ryan Catholic College on Wednesday 3 May commencing at 10.30am.


text:
Q: Updating phonegap app's assets without resubmitting to store Updating app's assets without resubmitting to store
Is there some known solution for updating app (app's assets), so that if we want to have changes in apps logic, we would not need to resubmit app in store again?
In other words is there hydration like solution for production?
I tried to google but didn't find one.
If i'm not mistaken it is not against stores rules (app store, play store) to update the apps assets if app actually doen't change its initial purpose.
If so I wonder why there is still no known working solution?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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We are seeking an Assistant Sales Strategist to join the team that sells advertising on PerezHilton.com. Someone who, like us, is passionate about pop culture and digital media.


GIGABYTE Tech Daily: GIGABYTE & LAB501 P67 Overclocking Party on New Year's Eve!
GIGABYTE & LAB501 P67 Overclocking Party on New Year's Eve!
Lab501 and GIGABYTE had a cool overclocking party recently. Lab501 is the home of current world champion overclocker Matose crowned the winner of GOOC2010 at the end of last year.
Did I mention they were benching on Xmas and New Year's Eve too, LOL! Actually I should be more precise, they stopped benching 16 minutes before New Year's Eve hahahaha! That's dedication right there. Check out the little Xmas tree at the back of the first photo.
HWBOT Country Cup in action!
Matose and Monstru in the drivers seat!
Man these Romanian blokes know how to have fun don't they!


So carefully conceived and maintained are the images of the world's most famous artists and entertainers that it's truly disarming to see them as children, long before they invented their trademark visual brand.
Indeed, to see David Bowie, John Lennon, Marilyn Monroe, Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt and many others circa their kindergarten days is a strange and fascinating thing.
View more photos at Vintage Everyday.
Denis Vejas/VICE SpainThe Global Rainbow Gathering in Mexico, which took place between December 2012 and January 2013.
Denis Vejas first heard of the Rainbow Family Gatherings when a group of Italian hippies picked him up while he was hitchhiking. They told him that these annual hippie meet-ups are run without any real rules, and are notoriously difficult to find — unless you know someone that knows someone.
There is no entry fee, and no organization controlling the gatherings. The only emphasis, they claim, is on freedom and love.
Vejas managed to go to four different Rainbow Gatherings — in Mexico, Guatemala, Russia, and Morocco — between 2011 and 2014. Check out what he saw for yourself at VICE.
Denis Vejas/VICE SpainThe Rainbow World Gathering in Guatemala, November 2012.
Vintage EverydayGillette safety razor, 1905.
Sometimes, advertising is a droll stroll down memory lane, a lighthearted reminder of how we've changed. But sometimes it's a jarring sign that we've changed much more than we realized, and that our forebears had some ideas that are nothing short of shocking today.
This collection of ads — some more than 100 years old — aimed at children no less is full of notions that would raise more than a few eyebrows today.
See more at Vintage Everyday.
Vintage EverydayIver Johnson revolvers, 1904.
Was Rasputin Actually The Sanest Man In Pre-Revolution Russia?


text:
Home Truck Accidents Truck Accident FAQs
Truck Accident FAQs
If you or your loved one was severely injured in a truck accident, you may have questions that need answering. We know how a truck accident can devastate a family, and leave you struggling to figure out how to carry on with your lives. Here, we have answered some of the most frequently asked questions regarding truck accidents.
What Damages Can I Claim for a Truck Accident?
How Common Are Big Rig Crashes?
Do Many Truck Accidents Happen in California?
Are Commercial Truck Drivers Subject to Different Regulations Than Other Drivers?
Who Is Liable for My Injuries Sustained in a Truck Accident?
How Many Large Commercial Trucks Are on the Roadways?
Should I Accept a Settlement for My Truck Accident Damages?
A crash with a large commercial truck can cause significant losses. Therefore, it is critical to have an experienced lawyer by your side, fighting for full and fair compensation. Damages you may be entitled to claim after a truck crash may include medical expenses related to your injuries, lost income and loss of future income due to your injuries, and pain and suffering, both emotional and physical.
Large commercial truck accidents occur more frequently than you might suspect. Big rigs can cause serious or even fatal injuries when they collide with passenger vehicles. 4,761 people were killed in large truck crashes in the most recent year for which fatality statistics are available from The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Of the people who died, 72% were occupants of smaller passenger vehicles, and 10% were pedestrians or bicyclists. In the most recent year for which injury statistics are available, a total of 116,000 people in the U.S. were injured in traffic crashes involving large commercial trucks.
Yes. In fact, according to FMCSA, California ranked second among the top ten states in the nation for truck and bus fatalities during 2015-2017. In California, 361 people were fatally injured in truck accidents involving semi-trucks in a recent year.
Yes. Commercial truck drivers and trucking companies are subject to federal regulations issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). These regulations cover everything from hours of service, to how the truck is maintained and loaded, to drug and alcohol testing for drivers. Violations of any of these safety standards can help support your claim for compensation after an accident involving a big rig.
Truck accidents are complex cases involving multiple, potentially responsible parties. Depending on the circumstances, liability for your truck crash injuries may be assigned to the:
The trucking company that hired the driver
Truck or parts manufacturer (if the crash was caused by a defect)
Cargo loading company (if improper loading of the cargo contributed to the crash)
The company responsible for maintaining the truck (if equipment failure caused the accident)
Our experienced Orange County truck accident lawyers can thoroughly investigate your truck accident to determine fault and liability.
Semi tractor-trailers, 18-wheelers, and other big rigs are everywhere on U.S. roadways. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) reports that nearly 12.5 million large commercial trucks and buses were registered in a recent year, logging more than 300 billion vehicle miles.
You should never accept a settlement for a truck accident without first speaking with an experienced personal injury attorney. An offer that may appear reasonable may not come close to covering all your losses. Our Orange County auto accident lawyers at Allen, Flatt, Ballidis & Leslie will be happy to meet with you in a free consultation to answer any further questions you may have.
Our experienced trial lawyers can assess the full extent of your losses and negotiate a settlement on your behalf. We can also fight for your rights in court if the settlement offer is insufficient. Call us today at (949) 752-7474 to find out how we can help after a serious truck accident.
Failure to Maintain Truck
Jackknife
Overloaded Truck Accidents
Trucking Rules and Regulations
Underride Accident


I just met this family and I love them already! Some of their comments during this sweet newborn session had me laughing for hours after. At one point I asked the mom if her baby liked being on her tummy. She looked at me blankly and said matter-of-factly, "I have no idea. I've only owned her for a week." HA HA HA! It's still making me laugh. A short while later the dad walked in and said, "How's she doin'?" and we replied, "Great!" He came back with, "Her furry back keepin' her warm?" Tell me that isn't funny. Hilarious! This sweet little baby was a dream come true (and not that hairy for the record). For real. She was so peaceful and sleepy the whole time. Her "older" sister (14 mos) was the challenging one. But what can you expect? She's a baby herself! No matter…they were all adorable and I am honored to have captured these images at this time in their lives. And I'm so in love with these photos!


Looking in the mirror I feel confident, more confident than taking selfies of myself at an outdoor location but I feel like that is why I did this photo shoot in the first place. Taking photos of yourself is fun, however finding different angles you don't usually take was difficult to accept at first, rather than when you just pose in a mirror. After 30 minutes of playing with the camera I started to feel natural with the positions and camera angles and it felt fun to see myself so free. I definitely feel more positive and comfortable in being naked.
Why i shot myself: To build up my confidence.


Wow! Showed it to wife and we are so gonna do this. She does the inside part and I do the outside part with beer and fire.
i followed the recipe but it needed more spice, i think i will marinate the chicken first then do the flour dip.
I couldn't remember who or which thread it was mentioned in but several people recommended Kentucky kernel flour for the chicken. I used It this time around and you guys didn't let me down. What a difference, it was fantastic! Thanks for the tip. I brushed with oil, dusted with Tony's, and rolled them in Kentucky kernel. Baskets in the middle with kbb took right at an hour for 12 legs on the 22. That was longer than I anticipated but it was cold and windy. I did half without flour because my wife and daughter are doing the low carb thing. They tasted darn good as well.
Would the char holders in the centre work as a vortex? Or would it not get hot enough?
Hell yes it works. That's what I use. I don't have a vortex but from reading others experience with them, cook times are similar. My chicken turns out as crispy as can be with baskets.
Phenomenal. I guess I need a Vortex now.
Gonna try it as well!!
Gonna hafta add the vortex to my wish list, right after the cast-iron rack and the slow n sear plus. Wow that chix looks good.
Curious...how long was the chicken on the grill and what kind of dome temps were you getting?
When I use a medium vortex filled with KBB, I peg the temp gauge at 550 plus At 40 minutes from frozen, wings are nice and crispy.


Description: Runner rug in Bright color combinations of: Blue, Lime, White, Pink, Yellow, Purple, Orange and many more. Texture & density created by selvage of upholstery fabric. Approximately 1/2" thick. Hand-woven in Iowa.


Nika Kryzhanivska tells a story of a talented and promising ballet dancer.
Khrystyna Shyshpor is a ballet star. She has won prizes at many international ballet contests. Among her awards are The Rudolf Nuriev Medal collected from the Rudolf Nuriev International Ballet Contest (Budapest, Hungary), and the Bronze Medal from the International Classic Dance Contest in Sanct-Pelten, Austria. At the very end of 2003 she performed in Vienna. Even for a person who has been on stage for many years such a list of achievements would look impressive enough, but the thing is Ms Shyshpor is only seventeen.
They say that shortly before they die, many people recollect all the events of their life in a matter of seconds. It could be true but I don't know anybody who died and then came back to verify it. Strangely enough, after I met Khrystyna Shyshpor and learnt more about her, I thought of those moments before death during which people supposedly see their entire life in a flash. Her father was drafted into the Soviet Army and was sent to Afghanistan. He came back alive but his health was ruined, and he died quite young. He wanted his daughter to become a ballet dancer and probably as he lay dying he visualized his daughter dancing on the stage of a prestigious theatre to the ovation of the ecstatic audience. The power of his vision must have had so much energy that it propelled his daughter to fame. Two weeks before her father died, Khrystyna, then seven years old, slender and surprisingly graceful for her age, wearing the tutu and ballet slippers, danced the Flowers Waltz in the hospital ward in front of her dying father, other in-patients, nurses and doctors. Her father, proud and moved, could not take his eyes off her.
Khrystyna is a person whose nature is woven of sunshine, sparkling joy, ebullience, tenderness and overpowering energy. She was born out of the Great First Love. Her mother says Khrystyna was conceived on the Night of Ivan Kupaylo when she and her husband went looking for a fern flower (Ivan Kupaylo is an ancient mid-summer feast of pagan origin which has become over the centuries merged with the Christian feast of John the Baptist; Ivan Kupaylo was an orgiastic feast; one of the feast's night rituals was the search in the forest for a fern flower — from the botanical point of view, an impossible thing — was supposed to bloom, if at all, only during that night; the one who discovered the magical flower would have all his or her wishes fulfilled — tr.). The green-eyed Khrystyna was the couple's fern flower. But their happiness did not last long — Khrystyna's father left for Afghanistan and during the long months of his absence it was only his voice coming from the telephone's earpiece that reminded Khrystyna and her mother of his existence.
Several days before her father's death, Khrystyna had a dream at night in which she saw fighting and death. She woke up, breaking out into a cold sweat and screaming, Daddy!
Ever since her father's death, Khrystyna felt his invisible presence at her side, supporting her at hard moments and giving her strength. Once, on stage, she lost her balance performing a difficult pirouette, and fell flat down on her face. She froze, sprawled on the boards and the audience froze too. Her immobility and disorientation and darkness lasted a fraction of a second but it seemed to her it lasted for ages. And then she felt as though some powerful force brought her back to her feet, gave her strength to continue as though nothing had happened, filled her with warmth that infused her entire being. And she finished her dance to the enthusiastic applause, knowing it was her father who was her guardian angel.
Her favourite fairy tale is The Beauty and the Monster which she read in her early childhood. She says she was so sorry for the Monster that she wept reading the tale. But at the same time she came to believe in miracles — a miracle of love transforming ugliness into handsomeness. Another miracle happened when at an early age she was recognized as a ballet prodigy — by the age of ten she was regularly performing and touring in Ukraine and abroad, winning prizes, admiration, presents and large bouquets of flowers.
As a child, Khrystyna had so much energy to burn that she danced and jumped not only on the floor but on her bed and chairs and tables so vigorously that even the sturdiest pieces of furniture were soon reduced to an irreparable condition. It was decided to turn this overabundance of energy to a better use, and Khrystyna was taken to a ballet school. Her first ballet slippers were made by her grandma at home. Khrystyna failed her audition. Since she did have a good ear for music, she was advised to join a violin class instead.
And she did. A sixteen-year old girl, Khrystyna Shyshpor, performed solo parts on the stage of the National Opera and Ballet Theatre, the first time in the history of the theatre such a young ballerina was entrusted with performing solo in classical ballets.
Soon after she turned sixteen, Khrystyna Shyshpor took part in the prestigious Serge Lifar International Contest held in Kyiv (Lifar, Serge, 1905–1986, Russian-French dancer and choreographer of exceptional stage presence, who revitalized the Paris Opera Ballet and was the primary figure of modern French ballet; born in Kyiv, he was premier danseur in the ballet company of the Russian impresario Sergey Diagilev before becoming director of the Paris Opera Ballet in 1929 — tr.). Dancers competed in several age groups. Hers included a hundred dancers from many countries of the world. There were four stages of competition through which only a handful got to the final stage. Khrystyna Shyshpor chose to perform the parts of the Black Swan from Swan Lake, Esmeralda, and a part from The Corsair, and a modern dance, Inspirations. During one of the performances, one of the reinforced toes of her ballet shoes got misplaced, but luckily at that very moment her partner appeared on the stage. While he was performing his solo part, she rushed backstage, had a shoe replaced in several seconds, and though it was not her size which caused a lot of inconvenience, she finished her performance with flying colours, performing several fouettes. It earned her an ovation and the gold medal.
On her later visit to Paris, she had the honour of meeting Lifar's wife and touching the gold ballet shoe from his museum. Khrystyna took a tour of the places where Lifar lived and which he visited; she went up the Eiffel Tower, took pictures. Of all that she saw in Paris the Church of Notre Dame made the greatest impression on her. It could be expected since her favourite ballet part was that of Esmeralda.
"For the first time in my life I appeared on the stage of the Opera House when I was ten. There was a festival held then, Children and Stars, and I danced, with other girls, "The Flowers Waltz" from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. We danced to the music of a live orchestra. I performed 32 fouettes which is a difficult thing to do even for an experienced ballerina. The conductor himself and the first violin applauded me and it's a great honour for a dancer to earn such applause. And what a great bouquet of flowers I was given! I hid my face in it and thought, Yes, ballet is my destiny. I was so happy then.
It was the first time I fully realized what I actually wanted to do in life most of all. Before that I had never thought in terms of devoting myself fully to dancing. It just came to me, little by little, gradually.
Performing on stage is like living in a different world which I enter without any fear — I never have stage fright — and with elation. Nothing else remains — but the stage. I feel confident I'll do fine — without such confidence it's pointless to appear on stage. You must not think, like, Sorry, could I dance for you? You must think very positively, I'll show now what I can do, and it's up to you to decide whether you like it or not.
Khrystyna Shyshpor radiates so much joy, enthusiasm, cheerfulness, energy, vigour and youth that even being by her side makes the world look a better place. I did feel she was born out of love, love that abides forever.


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No. 11 Michigan State squeaks by Penn State
TIM MARTIN
Michigan State still has a shot at sharing the Big Ten title. Barely.
The 11th-ranked Spartans survived an upset scare from Penn State on Thursday night, pulling out a 67-65 victory in front of a nervous crowd at Breslin Center. The Spartans let a 10-point, second-half lead slip away before holding off the Nittany Lions.
"Somehow, thanks to a couple of guys, we found a way to win the game," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "But I'm not happy with the way we played."
Raymar Morgan, who finished with 16 points, hit two free throws with 12 seconds left to give Michigan State (23-7, 13-4) a 66-62 lead.
Chris Babb hit a 3-pointer for Penn State (11-18, 3-14) to cut the lead to 66-65. Michigan State's Kalin Lucas made one of two foul shots for a 67-65 lead with 5 seconds remaining.
Penn State's Talor Battle couldn't get a shot off before the buzzer. The loss, in many ways, summed up the season for the Nittany Lions.
"It's been a very tough year for us, and this is kind of how the games have gone, what you saw this evening," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. "But our kids have fought and played hard and continued to execute."
Battle and Babb led Penn State with 16 points each.
Michigan State can earn a share of the Big Ten title for the second consecutive season with a victory against Michigan on Sunday. No. 6 Ohio State already has clinched a share of the championship, and No. 7 Purdue can share it with a victory over Penn State on Saturday.
Penn State refused to fold despite trailing by 10 points midway through the second half. The Nittany Lions took a 62-60 lead with 2:32 remaining on two free throws by Babb.
"We just let that 10-point lead dissolve in a matter of ... it seemed like seconds," Izzo said. "Maybe it was minutes."
A dunk by Michigan State's Draymond Green, who finished with 14 points and nine rebounds on his 20th birthday, tied the game at 62. Morgan hit two free throws with 1:24 left to give Michigan State a 64-62 lead.
David Jackson missed a 3-pointer that could have given Penn State the lead with 52 seconds remaining.
"We score on that play and it's a different game," DeChellis said.
A mad scramble and a Penn State foul put Morgan back on the line to secure the victory.
"It's that time of year when you have to step up," Morgan said. "But they (Penn State) wouldn't quit. They made some big shots."
Michigan State had lost its previous two home games to Purdue and Ohio State, in large part because of sluggish starts. The Spartans avoided a rare three-game skid at home.
Entering Thursday's game, Penn State had won three of its last four Big Ten games after losing 12 straight to start the conference season. The Nittany Lions have improved with Battle helping to get other players involved in the scoring.
Depth was a huge advantage for Michigan State with the Spartans' bench outscoring Penn State's 26-1.
Michigan State outrebounded Penn State 39-26.


Experimental music group S.C.U.M are artists in residence, January and February at the Maurice Einhardt Neu Gallery, Redchurch St, London.
The democracy of personal and shared knowledge.
The dynamic of group activity.
The claustrophobia of incarceration as creative force.
specifically relating to their surroundings.
The concept that familiarity breeds contempt / contempt breeds emotion/emotion breeds creativity.
place, an unfertile sense of being. A process in the weather of the heart.
society . cutting . up . men .
purging force destroying convention, physically turning music inside out.
factions of old and new, sowing the seeds of what is to come.
Horrors was released on Loog Records in September 2008.