A freshly released IMF's World Economic Outlook brings (yet again, for the eighth year in a row) no comforting picture to anyone within the G-7, especially in the US and EU. The WTO Round is dead, trade wars are alive, GCC is rapidly Pakistanising. Neither confort comes from the newest Oxfam Report – Are 26 billionaires worth more than half the planet?, which the ongoing Davos Vanity Fair known as the WEF tries to ignore.
Will the passionately US-pushed cross-Atlantic Free Trade Area (substituting the abandoned TIPP and compensating for the Sino-US Trade war) save the day? Or, would that Pact-push drag the things over the edge and mark an end of the unionistic Europe? Is the extended EU conflict with Russia actually a beginning of the Atlantic-Central Europe's conflict over Russia, an internalization of mega geopolitical and geo-economic dilemma – who accommodates with whom, in and out of the Union? Finally, does more Ukrainian (and Eastern Europe) calamities pave the road for a new cross-continental grand accommodation, of either austerity-tired France or über-performing Germany with Russia, therefore the end of the EU? For whose sake Eastern Europe has been barred of all important debates such as that of Slavism, identity, social cohesion (eroded by the plunder called 'privatization'), secularism and antifascism? Why do we suddenly wonder that all around Germany-led Central Europe, the neo-Nazism gains ground while only Russia insists on antifascism and (pan-)Slavism?
Before answering that, let us examine what is (the meaning and size of) our Europe? Where, how and – very importantly – when is our Europe? For example, is the non-EU Europe the existent but invisible world, sort of the dark side of the moon? Or, is that something more? Beyond the ancient Maastricht and Schengen: the Roman Hadrian Wall and Limes Line there was no world at all. There was only (an instrument of) the Silk Road – that antique WTO, isn't it? Hence, is this unionistic condominium the best of Europe, or Europe itself?
Is the EU an authentic post-Westphalian conglomerate and the only logical post-Metternich concert of different Europes, the world's last cosmopolitan enjoying its postmodern holiday from history? Is that possibly the lost Atlántida or mythical Arcadia– a Hegelian end of history world? Thus, should this OZ be a mix of the endemically domesticated Marx-Engels grand utopia and Kennedy's dream-world "where the weak are safe and the strong are just"? Or, is it maybe as Charles Kupchan calls it a 'postmodern imperium'? Something that exhorts its well-off status quo by notoriously exporting its transformative powers of free trade dogma and human rights stigma –a modified continuation of colonial legacy when the European conquerors, with fire and sword, spread commerce, Christianity and civilization overseas – a kind of 'new Byzantium', or is that more of a Richard Young's declining, unreformed and rigid Rome? Hence, is this a post-Hobbesian (yet, not quite a Kantian) world, in which the letzte Mensch expelled Übermensch? Could it be as one old graffiti in Prague implies: EU=SU²? Does the EU-ization of Europe equals to a restoration of the universalistic world of Rome's Papacy, to a restaging of the Roman-Catholic Caliphate? Is this Union a Leonard's runner of the 21st century, or is it perhaps Kagan's 'Venus'– gloomy and opaque world, warmer but equally distant and unforeseen like 'Mars'?
Is this Brussels-headquartered construct, the 20th century's version of Zollverein with standardized tariffs and trade, but of an autonomous fiscal policy and politics? Thus, is the EU a political and economic re-approachment of sovereign states or maybe just an(other) enterprise of the borderless financial capital? Ergo, would that be a pure construct of financial oligarchy whose invisible hand tacitly corrupted the Maastricht Treaty as to web-up a borderless, limitless, wireless and careless power hub, while at the same time entrenching, silencing and rarefying labour within each nation state?
Is this a supersized Switzerland (ruled by the cacophony of many languages and enveloped in economic egotism of its self-centered people), with the cantons (MS, Council of EU) still far more powerful than the central government (the EU Parliament, Brussels' Commission, ECJ), while Swiss themselves –although in the geographic heart of that Union – stubbornly continue to defy any membership. Does it really matter (and if so, to what extent) that Niall Ferguson wonders: "…the EU lacks a common language, a common postal system, a common soccer team (Britain as well, rem. A.B.) even a standard electric socket…"? Kissinger himself was allegedly looking for a phone number of Europe, too. Baron Ridley portrayed the Union as a Fourth Reich, not only dominated by Germany, but also institutionally Germanized. Another conservative Briton, Larry Siedentop, remarked in his Democracy in Europe that it is actually France who is running the EU 'show', in the typical French way – less than accountable bureaucracy that prevents any evolution of the European into an American-style United States. Thus, Siedentop's EU is more of a Third Bonapartistic Empire than possibly a Fourth German Reich. The Heartland or Rimland?
After all, is the Union yet another virtue out of necessity, as Brzezinski claimed, that after centuries of colonial overstretch and of mutual destructions (between protagonists in close geographic proximity), Europe irreversibly lost its demographic, economic and politico-military importance, and that the early EU was more of an attempt to rescue a nation state than it was the quest for a true enterprise of the European Community building?
Despite different names and categorizations attached, historical analogies and descriptions used, most scholars would agree upon the very geopolitical definition of the EU: Grand re-approachment of France and Germany after WWII, culminating in the Elysée accords of 1961. An interpretation of this instrument is rather simple: a bilateral peace treaty through achieved consensus by which Germany accepted a predominant French say in political affairs of EU/Europe, and France – in return – accepted a more dominant German say in economic matters of EU/Europe. All that tacitly blessed by a perfect balancer– Britain, attempting to conveniently return to its splendid isolation from the Continent in the post-WWII years. Consequently, nearly all scholars would agree that the Franco-German alliance actually represents a geopolitical axis, a backbone of the Union.
However, the inner unionistic equilibrium will be maintained only if the Atlantic-Central Europe skillfully calibrates and balances its own equidistance from both assertive Russia and the omnipresent US. Any alternative to the current Union is a grand accommodation of either France or Germany with Russia. This means a return to Europe of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries – namely, direct confrontations over the Continent's core sectors, perpetual animosities wars and destructions. Both Russia and the US has demonstrated ability for a skillful and persistent conduct of international affairs, passions and visions to fight for their agendas. It is time for Brussels to live up to its very idea, and to show the same.
 One of the greatest historians of our age, Sir Toynbee, gives an interesting account of our civilizational vertical. He clas-sifies as many as nineteen major civilizations: Egyptian, Andean, Sinic, Minoan, Sumerian, Mayan, Indic, Hittite, Hellenic, Western, Orthodox Christian/Russian, Far Eastern, Orthodox Christian/main body, Persian, Arabic, Hindu, Mexican, Yucatec, and Babylonic. Further on, there are – as he calls them – four abortive civilizations (Far Western Christian, Far Eastern Christian, Scandinavian, Syriac) and five arrested civilizations (Polynesian, Eskimo, Nomadic, Ottoman, Spartan). Like to no other continent, majority of them are related (originating from or linked) to European proper.
Author is professor in international law and global political studies, based in Austria. His 7th book From WWI to www. 1918-2018 is just published by the New York's Addleton Academic Publishers.
Previous contributions:Andrey Kortunov: What Kind of Europe Does Russia Need?


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Cedar Creek Falls Retreat and Conference Centre is the ultimate Conference & Function venue 40 minutes from Brisbane City or Airport. Nestled amongst 260 hectares of native bush land, Cedar Creek Falls Retreat is a unique facility nestled in the rainforest, offering total privacy and exclusivity for your group.
Cedar Creek Falls Retreat allows delegates to escape the urban jungle and retreat to a refreshing, stress free environment, devoid of distraction.
Our conference rooms enjoy spectacular views and natural light with log fires and ceiling fans; catering for groups with a minimum of 10 to maximum 100. Wraparound balconies, courtyards and spectacular decks provide a number of breakout areas.
Delegates can take time out from a busy conference schedule to revitalise with different activities such as golf, 18 holes nearby at Samford, Winery, local shopping at the Samford Village, Skirmish or horse riding.
The golf courses located within 30 minutes drive include Pine Rivers and Keparra, Samford Valley and Wantima Country Club.
We can also assist with professional facilitators, speakers, entertainers and corporate activity co-ordinators to make your conference an even greater success.
Our comprehensive array of equipment makes presentations and discussion groups a breeze.
Conference accommodation packages start with a minimum of 10 guests, up to 28.
Day seminars and functions can cater for 20 to 100 guests.
Guests can choose from 2 separate accommodation buildings with 10 separate rooms and 2 lofts, all enjoy balconies with fantastic views of the surrounding mountains.
Cedar Creek Falls Retreat is Brisbane's newest conference retreat with a capacity of up to 100 people and the flexibility to host smaller conferences and meetings. The unique rainforest setting will ensure a great day /conference environment.
All our meals are freshly prepared on the premises by our qualified chefs.
Homemade quiche, lasagna, savory filo pastries served with a selection of fresh crisp salads.
A breakdown of prices will be sent with your quote on request.
Total exclusivity and re-energising yourself is what Cedar Creek is all about and we look forward to welcoming you soon.


1. Where can I park in Downtown Storrs?
2. Can I park overnight?
3. Are there parking restrictions in the winter?
4. How do I pay for parking in the parking garage?
5. Are there monthly passes available for the parking garage?
6. Who do I call if I cannot get out of the garage after hours?
7. I got a ticket. What should I do?
8. What is the cost of a ticket?
9. What is the deadline to pay a ticket?
10. What happens if I have several outstanding tickets?
11. What happens if my car is towed?
12. How do I appeal a ticket?
13. How do I get back into the garage when the Nash-Zimmer Transportation Center is closed?
Downtown Storrs features several parking options including on-street, lot, and garage parking.
Free, on-street parking is available along Storrs Road, Dog Lane, Royce Circle, and Bolton Road Ext., and Wilbur Cross Way. Parking in these spaces is time-limited as either 30-minutes or 1 hour, as sign posted. These spaces are provided for those who need very short-term parking and their proper use is strictly enforced.
The Dog Lane parking lot, located behind 9 Dog Lane, offers free 2-hour parking. Parking on this lot is provided to accommodate those visiting local businesses. Please note, there are spots in this lot designated for residents of The Oaks on the Square apartments; these spots are clearly signed and are not open to the public.
The Downtown Storrs Parking Garage, located at 33 Royce Circle, offers ample short-term parking and the first two hours are provided at no-charge; a $1/hour fee is charged for subsequent hours ($8/day maximum during the hours of 6:00 AM to midnight, with $2/hour from midnight until 6:00 AM).
Parking is enforced by LAZ Parking, and they have an office on the first floor of the parking garage. The phone number is 860.429.3365 during regular business hours.
Please see a map of parking options in Downtown Storrs here.
Overnight parking is permitted only in the Downtown Storrs Parking Garage. Parking from midnight to 6:00 am is $2 an hour with a $12 maximum fee.
Parking is permitted on the streets in Downtown Storrs and in the Dog Lane lot as signed; parking regulations are enforced 24 hours a day.
There is no parking allowed on Town roads or Town parking lots between the hours of midnight and 6:00 am from November 1 through April 15 OR at all times when there is an accumulation of snow or ice on Town roads or parking areas. This includes Dog Lane, Royce Circle, Bolton Road Ext., Wilbur Cross Way, and Storrs Road in the downtown area so that it can also be cleared of snow and ice. Cars that are found to violate the parking ban or impede parking operations will be towed. The Town of Mansfield Department of Public Works requests that bicycle owners refrain from leaving bicycles on sidewalks or Betsy Paterson Square during snow storms.
It's easy! You will take a ticket when you enter the garage.
When you are ready to leave the garage, you can pay at the pay station located in the first floor elevator lobby. Insert your ticket and follow the directions on the pay station. Credit cards and cash can be taken at the pay station. If you are paying by credit card, you can also pay at the automated gate on your way out of the parking garage. No cash can be taken at the gate exit.
If you are in the garage for less than 2 hours, you can drive out with your ticket and insert it in the machine at the exit gate. The gate will open and you will be able to exit the garage.
There are no monthly passes available in the Downtown Storrs Parking Garage. Residents of The Oaks on the Square may obtain parking passes through the Oaks' leasing office.
6. Who do I call if cannot get out of the garage after hours?
You will need to drive up to the exit gate and press the call button which will connect you to LAZ's customer care center. The operator at the customer care center will assist you with opening the gate and answering questions.
You should pay the ticket within 10 calendar days of the date on which the ticket was issued.
	- Pay online here. There is a $3.50 credit card administrative fee in addition to the ticket fee.
	- Pay by phone at 1.844.299.9209.
	- Pay by mail by sending a check or money order to the Town of Mansfield, 4 South Eagleville Road, Mansfield, CT 06268. A check or money order must be made out to the Town of Mansfield and your ticket and license plate number must be listed on the front of your payment.
	- Pay in person at the Town's Collector's office in the Mansfield Town Hall, 4 South Eagleville Road, Mansfield, CT 06268 during the business hours of Monday – Wednesday from 8:15 am to 4:30 pm; Thursday from 8:15 am to 6:30 pm; or Friday from 8:00 am to 12 noon. There is an after-hours payment drop box for your payment outside the building entrance by the Town Collector's office.
The cost of a ticket depends on the type of violation. It will be printed on your ticket.
See the Town's Parking Violation Fine Schedule for the types of violations and fines in Downtown Storrs here.
Per the Town of Mansfield Motor Vehicle Traffic and Parking Regulations, fine must be paid within 10 days of the date of issue on the ticket. Fines double if the ticket is not paid within 10 calendar days.
10. What happens if I have several tickets?
If you have accumulated three or more tickets, the vehicle is subject to towing, at the owner's expense, and any other related administrative fees.
The Town of Mansfield may also notify the Connecticut DMV of every motor vehicle registered owner who has six or more unpaid parking violations committed within the Town of Mansfield. Upon notification by the Town, the Connecticut DMV Commissioner will not issue or renew a motor vehicle registration in the name of the owner(s) that has been reported.
11. What happens if my car gets towed?
Vehicles that are towed are located at T&B Motors at 460 Storrs Road/Route 195 in Mansfield Center, approximately five miles from Downtown Storrs. The phone number is 860.423.1187.
	- Submitting a written appeal along with a copy of the ticket to the Town of Mansfield, State Troopers Office, 4 South Eagleville Road, Mansfield, CT 06268.
The Downtown Storrs Parking Garage has three entrances and exits independent of the Nash-Zimmer. There is a doorway to the left of the Nash-Zimmer on Royce Circle which leads to the stairway and the elevator lobby. Another door leads to the first floor and the north stairway on the opposite end of the building. Lastly, you may access the garage on foot via the vehicle entrance and exit on Royce Circle. Use caution when walking through the vehicle entrance and exit.


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Circle mentioned in New York Magazine Article "Parents of a Certain Age"
Reproductive technology accounts for the sharp rise in the numbers. Women over 45 who want to carry their own babies most often use donor eggs, though egg freezing, a more cutting-edge method, offers early adopters another option, a kind of reproductive DVR for circumventing the inflexible and often inconvenient schedules handed down by Mother Nature. (Save your shows, and watch them when you have time; put your own eggs on ice, and wait for Mr. Right.) Egg freezing now gets write-ups not just in medical journals but also in Vogue, where a long feature on the technology appeared this past May between articles on avant-garde gastronomy and the fashionable art of mismatching patterns.
But just as important as those medical advances is a baby-crazed, youth-crazed culture that encourages 50-year-olds to envision themselves changing diapers when a decade ago they might have been content to calculate the future returns on their 401(k)s. Nothing—not a sports car, not a genius dye job—says "I'm young" like a baby on your hip. "He's given the house a renewed spirit and purpose," John Travolta told People magazine earlier this year about his new son, Benjamin. Travolta is 57. His wife, Kelly Preston, is 48.
Born before the Stonewall riots, gay men in their fifties never expected to be invited into the ranks of the conventionally domesticated. But thanks to decades of activism, they too have the option of choosing a very traditional path: first love, then marriage, then that backbreaking baby carriage. They realize "that they can have what they always thought they couldn't have," says John Weltman, founder and president of Circle Surrogacy, a Boston agency that matches prospective parents with surrogate mothers. "They're seeing it happen."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Костяне́ць — село в Україні, у Мирогощанській сільській громаді Дубенського району Рівненської області. Населення становить 399 осіб.

Географія
Село розташоване на лівому березі річки Козинки.

Історія
У 1906 році село Варковицької волості Дубенського повіту Волинської губернії. Відстань від повітового міста 14 верст, від волості 5. Дворів 36, мешканців 324.

Примітки

Посилання
 Погода в селі Костянець
 http://www.nbuv.gov.ua/portal/Soc_Gum/Archeolog/2008_11/13Tkach.pdf  Віталій ТКАЧ. АРХЕОЛОГІЧНІ ПАМ'ЯТКИ ВЕРХІВ'Я Р. РОЗИНКИ.
 http://duben.ucoz.ru/_ld/0/2_29_12_05.jpg   Пам'ятки археології села Костянець та їх дослідники

Села Рівненської області

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Soccer Portal
National Team(s)
Overview All Sports
Tennis News Tue, 25 Apr 2017
Setodji advances in McDan Open
Top-seed Thomas Yaka Kofi Setodji yesterday made an impressive start to the 2017 McDan Open Championship, outclassing his Ghanaian counterpart Kwabena Ofosu Bamfo 6-1, 6-1 to progress to the last 16 stage of the tournament.
The power of the serves and the returns of the 20-year old Togolese were too hot for Bamfo, which sent him cruising to victory at the Accra Sports Stadium court for the first match of the main draw against Bamfo, a brother of former McDan Open champion, George Darko.
France-based Setodji looked an early favourite for the men's title on account of his performance, with last year's champion, Nigeria's Michael Moses, who is absent this time.
In the other first round clash, Francis Akpese progressed at the expense of Francis Gbolonyo at the end of two entertaining sets which ended 6-3, 7-6 (5).
In a departure from previous editions of the McDan Open, this year's championship started without an official opening ceremony with players moving directly to the court
The matches were preceded by qualifiers from yesterday which saw eight players joining 24 seeds in the last 32.
Below are the results entire results of the opening day of the 2017 McDan Open Championship;
Source: Graphic.com.gh


Features: Elastic at wrists, ankles and waist. Zipper up to the top of hood.
S 165 cm - chest 100 cm, sleeve length from shoulder 60 cm, inseam 78 cm.
M 170 cm - chest 105 cm, sleeve length from shoulder 62 cm, inseam 80 cm.
L 175 cm - chest 110 cm, sleeve length from shoulder 64 cm, inseam 82 cm.
XL 180 cm - chest 115 cm, sleeve length from shoulder 66 cm, inseam 84 cm.
2XL 185 cm - chest 120 cm, sleeve length from shoulder 68 cm, inseam 86 cm.
3XL 190 cm - chest 125 cm, sleeve length from shoulder 70 cm, inseam 88 cm.
4XL 195 cm - chest 130 cm, sleeve length from shoulder 72 cm, inseam 90 cm.
5XL 200 cm - chest 135 cm, sleeve length from shoulder 74 cm, inseam 92 cm.
Production time of this jumpsuit will be about 3 weeks.


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Home / Supplements and Special Sections / ICON Awards 2018
ICON Awards 2018
Missouri Lawyers Media honors 25 ICONS
Attorneys from across the state gathered June 1 to honor 25 legal luminaries at Missouri Lawyers Media's inaugural ICON Awards ceremony. About 290 people attended the luncheon event at the Missouri Athletic Club in downtown St. Louis. Having sifted through ...
Tagged with: ICON Awards 2018
Michael A. Wolff- Dean Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law; former Missouri Supreme Court Judge
While attending the University of Minnesota Law School, Michael A. Wolff worked from 1967 until he graduated in 1970 as a reporter and copy editor at the former Minneapolis Star newspaper. He loved the work, he said, but "in the ...
Dorothy L. White-Coleman- White Coleman & Associates
One of Dorothy White-Coleman's proudest accomplishments is graduating from law school, especially because most of her closest friends advised her not to go. "They were immediately concerned about me when I was accepted into law school and said, 'Why would ...
Charles Weiss- Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
Charlie Weiss, one of the state's elite litigators, very nearly didn't attend law school. By 1965, he had other options. News reporting was one. He had just earned a journalism degree at the University of Missouri and spent summers writing ...
Mary W. Sheffield- Judge, Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District
Upon leaving law school in Miami, Florida, Mary Sheffield hoped for a career immersed in global treaties and conventions — until she moved with her husband to a small town in Missouri. "It was not exactly a hotbed of international ...
John S. Sandberg- Sandberg Phoenix & von Gontard
John Sandberg is a lawyer who sails part-time. Sometimes, he jokes, he'd rather be a sailor who practices law part-time. As an amateur seaman, Sandberg has logged serious nautical miles. He has hand-steered boats across the Atlantic Ocean twice and ...
Howard F. Sachs- Senior U.S. District Judge, Western District of Missouri
Howard Sachs has dreams about the law. The dreams will persist, he supposes, even after he steps down from his role as Senior U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Missouri. But for now, the 92-year-old wishes to remain. ...
Brendan Ryan- Neutral-Alaris; former Circuit Judge, St. Louis City
Brendan Ryan's original career track did not lead to law school. The St. Louis native had been active in high school sports, and he once hoped to return to that realm as a coach. He'd been studying history and political ...
James A. Polsinelli- Polsinelli
James A. Polsinelli is "Mr. Polsinelli" in every sense of the nickname. Naturally, he prefers to be called Jim. As the tiny firm he founded 46 years ago grew into one of the largest law firms in both Missouri and ...
Rebecca T. Magruder- Rebecca T. Magruder MSW JD
For Rebecca Magruder, earning a law degree wasn't so much about practicing law as it was a means to a different end: that of a mediator who helped others resolve disputes. In 1993, Magruder graduated from Washington University with a ...
Stephen N. Limbaugh Sr.- Armstrong Teasdale; former U.S. District Judge, Eastern District of Missouri
A message that retired U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Sr. would like to impart to all attorneys, young and old, is that obligations come with the practice of law. "I think in addition to providing legal services for hire, ...


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The Best Comics of 2019
Comics gave us everything we needed in 2019. The best ones surprised even us.
By Jim Dandy | December 23, 2019 |
e stand at the end of a decade of massive change, and the comics industry is not immune to those shifts. There are more ways to read more comics about more things than ever before. That's why the best comics of 2019 contains not one, but three Superman books.
I'm joking. There are only two textual Superman books, but they're both wildly different, and they and the rest of the best comics of 2019 are a vastly different set than we would have seen even five years ago. There were some really great comics published this year, so even going to 20 won't catch all of them. And, of course, I'm not independently wealthy or able to manipulate time, so I absolutely missed some great ones that you should feel comfortable yelling at me in the comments about. With that in mind, here are our best comics of 2019!
20. The Lone Ranger
Mark Russell and Bob Q
I could have made this list all Mark Russell comics if I wanted to. Wonder Twins is one of the most pleasant comics surprises I've ever had, and I gushed over Year of the Villain: The Riddler for how it broke out of Russell's comfort zone and gave us a fantastic, relatively straight cape story. But I went with The Lone Ranger over Riddler because Russell sustained his straightforward superhero story for longer here. And also I couldn't care less for any hero than I do for the Lone Ranger.
It's a pretty straightforward western story: big landowners are stealing more land, and the Lone Ranger and Tonto have to stop them. But Russell plays it like a heist movie, having the duo outsmarting their opponents, and infusing it with some sharp populist satire that plays really well right now (for me, at least). Bob Q is a revelation here, too – his art is clean and sharp, with brisk action pacing and the kind of facial expressions and body language you need to sell the hell out of Russell's humor. It's just a really well-made comic from start to finish, and even if you've never cared for the Lone Ranger before, you should give this book a shot.
read The Lone Ranger on Amazon.
19. The Life and Death of Toyo Harada
Joshua Dysart, CAFU, Andrew Dalhousie & others
I think my favorite villain in all of comics is Toyo Harada? I know that's a weird statement to make in a universe with a Jonathan Hickman-written Magneto in stores and a Jonathan Hickman-written Doom on my shelf, but there's a big difference between good big-2 bads and Harada: Harada's right.
read more: The Best TV Episodes of 2019
Harada's goal is to push humanity to a utopia. He's extremely down on the current construct of global governance, so his methods are decidedly authoritarian, but his diagnosis of the problem and his end goal are both 100% correct, and that makes him a fascinating villain. And this book, created by the people who helmed most of the flagship books of the first wave of Valiant comics since it returned in 2013, feels like a way to close off that chapter by putting Harada back in a box for a little while. Every issue of this series has CAFU doing present-day art and an all-star guest (Doug Braithwaite, Adam Pollina) drawing flashbacks to earlier periods in Harada's life. It looks fantastic. And it reads great: Harada is every bit the manipulative bastard he's been since the first Harbinger book rolled out years ago.
read The Life and Death of Toyo Harada on Amazon
18. Coda
Simon Spurrier, Matias Bergara, Michael Doig
God, what a gorgeous comic Coda is. Matias Bergara is well on his way to stardom because of it, and it's well deserved.
Coda is a story about a marriage falling apart, set against a high fantasy backdrop where a catastrophe stripped the world of almost all of its magic. Over the course of its 12 issues, it morphs from a fairly stock fantasy comic with flashes of brilliance in its relationships, into a story about stories that manages not to climb up its own ass and perch on some intestinal pretense. The last quarter of the story is elegant, sweet and earnest, and more than makes up for some dragging in its middle.
read more: The Best Movies of 2019
What keeps the story moving through that middle, and what lands it so beautifully, is Bergara's stunning art. It's more mad and inventive than what the story implies, but bright and clear all the same. It's almost like early period Chris Bachalo but with modern production values. When I first thought this, my inner monologue said it in a hushed whisper, like it was blasphemy. But the further into the book I went, the more confident I was in the assessment. Coda is a moving story that's also one of the best looking comics of the year.
read Coda on Amazon
17. BTTM FDRS
Ezra Claytan Daniels (W), Ben Passmore (A) Fantagraphics
True story: I was about a third of the way through BTTM FDRS and I sat down with a goal of reading 15 or so more pages. I stood up 40 minutes later having ripped through the last 200 pages of the comic, and regretted it from about five different angles. You'll hit a point where you won't be able to put it down. It's a terrific horror story.
BTTM FDRS is transparently a story about how awful gentrification is. Two hipsters move into an old industrial building in a not-quite-yet up and coming neighborhood, and they're pretty shitty. They meet a neighbor, a theme rapper who dresses in colonial gear and calls himself Plymouth Rock. And then they all get trapped in their new haunted house, one that's full of environmental and body horror.
On its surface, BTTM FDRS is extremely not subtle. One of the gentrifiers is wearing one of those hideous 80s cyclist hats that says "RAP" on the bottom of the upturned brim. But at the same time, the horror components of the book are much more subtle about the overall theme. I don't want to spoil it too much, but the monster ties into the gentrification idea very nicely. Passmore does a great oozing monster and outstanding terrified cartoon faces, and the end result is a smart, thoughtful, great looking comic.
read BTTM FDRS on Amazon
16. The Immortal Hulk
Al Ewing (W), Joe Bennett (P), Ruy Jose (I), Paul Mounts (C) Marvel Comics
The Immortal Hulk is easily the best horror book to come out this year. At least the best deliberate horror book, that's not about gross medical malpractice or the hellscape our world has become. It's incredibly fun to watch comic creators jump from good but underappreciated to superstars, and to see two creators do it on the same book is even better. That's what's happening here: Ewing and Bennett are going from "oh man, how great was Ultimates 2/52" to "holy shit I need to buy everything they do."
There's a lot to love about Immortal Hulk – the way Ewing juggles so many characters, or how deliberately paced the story and the additions of new gamma characters is. But the best part is how utterly perfect the body horror is. The Rick Jones Abomination monster is the most disgusting thing I've seen in comics all year. A grasping hand for a face is somehow grosser than those fish with the human teeth that make a mass extinction an okay tradeoff. The way Hulk's powers are played as grotesque metamorphoses is the best I've ever seen it done, and the slow burn mystery of the gamma world is what makes me rush back to this book every new issue.
read The Immortal Hulk on Amazon
15. Excellence
Brandon Thomas (W), Khary Randolph (A), Emilio Lopez (C) Image Comics
Khary Randolph makes some of the most dynamic, visually entertaining comic art in the business, so you can probably guess how fast I jumped at him doing design work and interiors for a magic story. And it was the right call: Excellence is…well…excellent.
Spencer Dales is the son of a prominent ruling magical family who gets his magic late, and as a result watches his father bond with another kid as he teaches his new mentee how to wield mystical power. If you're rushing past it, Excellence vaguely resembles Harry Potter, but it's full of resentment and totally different family drama, and the visuals are much flashier. It's always near the top of my stack to read when it comes out.
read Excellence on Amazon
14. DCeased
Tom Taylor (W), Trevor Hairsine, James Harren & Stefano Gaudiano (A), Rain Beredo (C) DC Comics
I can't believe this worked. I should have seen it coming – Tom Taylor, DCeased's writer, was behind a lot of great comics in the last few years, including several (I'm looking at you, Injustice) that just shouldn't have worked, but did. And yet, I saw "DC Zombies" and I rolled my eyes hard.
I shouldn't have. DCeased is a gorgeous comic that made me cry at least twice. It does a better job of capturing the essences of pretty much the whole Justice League one by one than most of their solo books do: Batman, Superman, Flash, Black Canary, and Green Arrow all get amazing moments. To do this inside a zombie story is extremely difficult, but Taylor's script is emotional and incisive, while Hairsine and Gaudiano work magic with the character acting and the horror of the book. It was so good that there's still a part of me that can't believe how much I want a sequel.
read DCeased on Amazon
13. They Called Us Enemy
George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott (W); Harmony Becker (A) Top Shelf Productions
I'll be honest, I came into this book not wanting to like it. It's a non-comics celebrity airdropping into our medium – it felt a little bit like a stunt. But almost as soon as I cracked it open, I was struck by how much emotion Harmony Becker put into her art. George and his siblings are immediately charming and innocent, so when that innocence is stripped away from them by the way my country's horrific internment of Japanese-Americans hits her, it hit me too, like a wave of shame.
Internment during World War II is one of the most shameful episodes in American history, and even an autobiography that tells that story must walk an incredibly delicate path – too far in one direction, and you're sugarcoating terror; too far in the other and you drown the reader in sorrow and miss some of the human moments that make the story real. They Called Us Enemy walks that tightrope beautifully: throughout the book, you feel what George and his siblings felt. It's a good story well told that is shamefully relevant to our world today.
read They Called Us Enemy on Amazon
12. Second Coming
Mark Russell (W), Richard Pace & Leonard Kirk (A), Andy Troy (C) Ahoy Comics
Second Coming is the other Russell book to make the list because this feels like where his comics career has been going the whole time. It's got the brutal ridicule of modern society that made The Flintstones so amazing, and the incredibly thoughtful take on Christianity that was just beneath the thin veneer of comedy in God Is Disappointed In You. And shockingly, it might also be the nicest comic on the stands.
The hook of the story is exactly what it says on the tin: Jesus is back. Only this time God sent him to live with his brother, obvious-Superman-analogue Sunstar, because he got bullied so hard last time. So Russell, Pace and Kirk are putting a very biblically traditional Christ into a superhero crimefighter story and using both angles to mock (or gently rib, mostly) the other. It is a book that's obsessed with pointing out how much better it is to treat people with kindness, and it's really funny about it. Pace handles the God pages, and does everything with a scratchy, inky sketchiness that I love; he does layouts for the Sunstar pages, and Kirk and Troy finish them, and it's pretty amazing how effortlessly the art goes back and forth between that scratchy 80s indie look and traditional, very good superhero art. Second Coming is a lot of fun to read.
read Second Coming on Amazon
11. Swimming in Darkness
Lucas Harari (W/A) Arsenal Pulp Press
Swimming in Darkness mixes a psychological thriller with a haunted house story, and the result is a haunting, creepy, gorgeous comic that sticks around in your brain far longer than you'll be comfortable with.
Harari's story takes main character Pierre, a French student who left school after a nervous breakdown, to the Vals Thermal Baths in the Swiss Alps. The Baths have a legendary architecture, and a myth around them that every hundred years they eat a foreigner. The book is the story of what he discovers while there.
The book is a lot of sitting quietly in weird architecture – it's all mood and tension, and Harari does a great job with both. The Baths look wonderful, angular and bizarre, and the deliberate pacing goes a long way to making this book so effective.
read Swimming in Darkness on Amazon
10. American Carnage
Bryan Edward Hill (W), Leandro Fernandez (A)Vertigo
American Carnage will go down as the last great Vertigo book. It's just brutal from start to finish.
Hill and Fernandez send Richard Wright, a mixed race ex-FBI agent who can pass as white who was booted from the Bureau for killing a teenager who pulled a cell phone on him, deep undercover to infiltrate the white nationalist army being formed by a California billionaire and his daughter.
This is pure mid-period Vertigo out of the Scalped/100 Bullets mold. Everyone in this comic is an awful person, but they're all terrible for their own reasons. And of course, there's nothing even close to a happy ending. Fernandez's art is a terrific match to the story. He's loose and sketchy but always tells a clear story. American Carnage was an excellent comic. I hope we get Hill and Fernandez working together again soon.
read American Carnage on Amazon
9. Runaways
Rainbow Rowell (W), Kris Anka (A), Matthew Wilson (C) Marvel Comics
I liked Runaways a lot when it was originally created, but I wouldn't call myself a dedicated fan. But I binged Rowell, Anka and Wilson's newest volume, and I was shocked: at how easy they made it to step right into basically an in-progress retcon; at how masterfully Rowell juggles a HUGE cast of characters; and at how much damn fun the book is.
This book is pure teen soap opera. The point of the book is unambiguously the emotions of the characters and not high action and adventure, and Rowell makes each character's distinct voice so entertaining to track through the melodrama that it's now one of the first things I read when a new issue hits. Anka does faces and acting deceptively well for such a fashionable artist, and Wilson is, as usual, amazing. Runaways is a great book; you should definitely think about giving the first volume to comic reading friends as a holiday gift.
read Runaways on Amazon
8. The Banks
Roxanne Gay, Ming Doyle, Jordie BellaireTKO Studios
The best heist stories are a little bit angry, and Roxanne Gay, Ming Doyle and Jordie Bellaire's The Banksgets a family crew together for some purposeful theft that's amazing fun to read. The book sets three generations of women on a path to a big score that takes down some garbage people, including the man who killed the youngest Banks' grandfather.
The heist is fun and tense, but it's Doyle and Bellaire's artwork, and the relationships between the three generations of Banks women that make this comic so good. Doyle tells a hell of a story: the art is crisp and clean and clear, with wonderful subtelty to the body language and really sharp character designs. Bellaire's colors make the book drip with atmosphere. And Gay and the rest of the team do an outstanding job of building conflict into the leads. You ache with them at the murder of Clara's husband, and you feel the anger when Clara and Celia butt heads. That makes the payoff to the story even better: the deeper into the family dynamic you are, the higher the tension is, and Gay, Doyle and Bellaire do a great job of pulling you in.
read The Banks on Amazon
7. Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen
Matt Fraction (W), Steve Lieber (A), Nathan Fairbairn (C) DC Comics
I've already talked at length about what makes Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen so incredible, but I want to bring up one thing I've missed: its fundamental compassion. This book is every bit as hilarious and even a little daring for a mainstream superhero book (not often you get a joke at the expense of the internet's collective foot fetish in a Superman comic), but underneath that, Jimmy Olsen is an incredibly empathetic, compassionate book. Packed in between panels of invisible Jimmy running from monsters and growing tusks at a pie-eating contest, there's one quick panel of an exhausted, broken Jimmy in full fatigues and bullet proof vest, and Clark looking over his shoulder, worried.
Photography in a war zone is an incredibly dangerous job that kills a lot of real world journalists. To slip that in with Clark as the audience stand in completely changes the nature of the book – Jimmy's every bit as tough as Lois and Clark are, dedicated to showing people the horrors of war to the point where he puts his own life in grave danger, and the fact that one time he took a shower in pink Kryptonite doesnt' change that at all. Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen is an amazing, hilarious comic, but it also deeply cares for the Superman universe's mythos and is adding some great stuff to it.
read Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen on Amazon
6. These Savage Shores
Ram V (W), Sumit Kumar (A), Vittorio Astone (C) Vault Comics
I'm constantly looking for something I've never seen before. Ram V, Sumit Kumar and Vittorio Astone gave me that with These Savage Shores, and they did it with some really impressive technical skill.
These Savage Shores is a period piece about a vampire/demon battle that plays out between London and Calcutta via the East India Company. It manages to be a monster story, a period drama, a monster book and a history lesson all at the same time. Ram V balances each piece of the story delicately and makes it really tough to put down.
Kumar's art is a huge draw. This is the first work I've seen from him, but holy socks it's terrific. The figures and backgrounds have a very Bilquis Evely/The Dreaming feel to them, but the layouts are spectacular. The way he uses the nine panel grid is simultaneously deliberate and dynamic. Astone's colors are a perfect pair – London is gray and drab and rainy, while the jungle outside Calcutta is close and sticky and warm. It's phenomenal work.
read These Savage Shores on Amazon
5. Assassin Nation
Kyle Starks (W), Erica Henderson (A)Image Comics
Kyle Starks is great. He's absolutely hilarious, and fills his writing with a surprising amount of heart and an overwhelming amount of imagination. But if we're being completely honest, the guy who wrote Sexcastle is maaaaybe not the most subtle comic talent out there. But to be honest, I didn't realize that subtlety would improve his work until I saw Erica Henderson do it for him, and the resulting comic, Assassin Nation, is brilliant and one of my favorites from either creator.
The book is about the world's greatest assassins – all ranked according to skill and kill counts – and a set up that's causing them to be picked off in large numbers. It's jammed with jokes of every kind – sight gags, satire, inane absurdism (Fuck Tarkington is the breakout character of 2019). Henderson is an absolute wizard. She's such a good storyteller that I'll read anything she does, with any writer and any characters. I knew Assasin Nation would be good when I heard about it, but I had no idea how great it would turn out.
read Assassin Nation on Amazon
4. Superman Smashes the Klan
Gene Luen Yang (W), Gurihiru (A) DC Comics
Gene Yang is one of the best writers working in comics. He's thoughtful and diligent about his characters, which lets him get deep inside their heads and flesh them out fully, both through their actions and how he poses them in the story. And he took an old Superman tale – Superman Smashes the Klan is based on a story from the old radio show – and made a couple of tweaks to it to turn it into one of my favorite character studies of Superman and Clark Kent that I've ever read.
By putting Roberta and Mrs. Lee in the story, we get an entirely different point of entry to the tale, and two new point of view characters to look at Superman through the immigrant experience. I still don't want to spoil anything, more because I won't be able to relay the elegant simplicity of the statement the same way the text does, but it recast, for me, Clark Kent's existence specifically in a way that makes my whole relationship with Superman as a character richer.
Gurihiru is the perfect art team to pair with Yang on this. They make Superman accessible and welcoming, but intimidating and obviously super at the same time. This is a great Superman story told well, and exactly what I want out of the character.
read Superman Smashes the Klan on Amazon
3. House of X/Powers of X
Jonathan Hickman (W), Pepe Larraz/R.B. Silva (A), Marte Gracia (C) Marvel Comics
There's probably not much more that I can say about HoXPoX that I haven't already said. The "two series that are one!" were everything I hoped they would be going in: intricately plotted, skillfully told and wholly different from what came before. I wasn't expecting career-making work out of Larraz, Silva and Gracia, but their art was so good that people will be holding this run up to everything they do in the future as an incredibly high bar for them to hit again. These 12 issues were the best X-Men comics I've ever read as they came out.
I do think the entire experience of HoXPoX changed my expectations from comics. Hickman talked a lot in interviews about giving readers the most bang for their buck, and the care put into every detail on every page made that concern evident. I spent as much time pouring over every page of these comics as I do reading all the rest of my books combined every Wednesday. The data pages were an immersive, interesting way of dropping information on the reader – because they were presented as data collected by the characters, instead of pace-breaking infodumps, they brought you deeper into them. And the internet was legitimately a blast while these comics were coming out. I've never actually had fun on Twitter before, but the X-community made this reading experience even better, and a book that wasn't up to these standards, even if it was still excellent, wouldn't have inspired that.
read House of X/Powers of X on Amazon
2. Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos
Lucy Knisley (W/A) First Second
Kid Gloves, Lucy Knisley's half women's health explainer, half memoir about her pregnancy, was making the list about halfway through the book, when I realized I had ripped through that much of the story in only 20 minutes, and I was retaining just about everything. I knew it was going near the top of the list when I ended the book in tears, muttering "you sue that doctor until he's dead" at it.
Knisley has a gift for conveying information, and the parts of the book that aren't memoir are thoroughly researched, deeply informative and entertainingly presented. Parts of it read as a history of women's health, and parts as an infographic about the current state of it, but all of it will make you mad and want to change things. But the memoir segments are brutally honest about how joyful and shitty and terrifying and mundane pregnancy can be, about how normal the scary parts are and how extraordinary the whole process can be. Kid Gloves was extra real to me because I'm still close enough to my family's experience where it was like a read along, but her honesty and her cartooning skill make it easy to disappear into her story regardless of what you're bringing to it as a reader. Kid Gloves was a delight to read.
read Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos on Amazon
1. The Hard Tomorrow
Eleanor Davis (W/A)Drawn & Quarterly
Eleanor Davis is something else. What she does with pacing and perspective made me feel unlike any other comic I read this year. It's truly exceptional comic art, and even if you don't like the politics of the book, you should pick it up. I promise you won't be able to put The Hard Tomorrow down.
The comic is about Hannah and John, two young lefties living out of a car trying to get pregnant and build their own house. Hannah is a home health aide and a member of a protest group, and John's a stoner who grows weed and trades it to their handyman for his work. The book follows the two of them through their lives as the cops clamp down on the group, and John gets roped into their handyman Tyler's Infowars-ish compound.
About two thirds of the way through the book, it starts barreling towards its climax – a bunch of leaders of Hannah's protest group get arrested, the resulting protest turns into a riot, and the leaders eventually sell the group out to get their families and lives back. Meanwhile, John visits Tyler's compound and gets subjected to Tyler's increasingly deranged worries. Hannah gets a call from one of the freed group leaders and told that they're being hung out to dry, and when that call ends, the panel pulls way back to show Hannah and the woman she's caring for sitting alone, shocked, from a distance. Two pages later, Tyler tries to convince John to learn to shoot and hands him a gun, and we get a full page splash closeup of the handgun in John's hand. This is incredible storytelling – Davis starts really building to the climax with this sequence, and it hit me like a violin crescendoing into a string snapping on a minor chord. She does the same thing with the end, slowing time down and using five splash pages almost like a flipbook animatic to hammer home her semi-resolution. The Hard Tomorrow is an incredible piece of comics storytelling, easily the best comic I read this year.
read The Hard Tomorrow on Amazon
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The historical Old Town is one of the city's most intriguing areas. A stroll down charming streets leads to beautiful examples of medieval Germany's characteristic Fachwerk-style architecture. In this oldest part of Klaipeda, you can also admire fragments of castle fortifications that date back to the 17th and 18th centuries. As you walk along the river Dane and approach Klaipeda's main bridge, you'll come upon the impressive, newly restored Meridianas sailing vessel. A symbol of the city, Meridianas was built in Finland in 1948 and restored in 2014. The ship is now among Klaipeda's most prominent attractions.


text:
Music, Politics, and the Metal Reed
Songs, tunes, and politics served friendly as breakfast.
Award-winning lyricist, published poet, guitarist, fiddler, and concertina* stylist, "Fiddlers for Peace" founder, curator of the "Deep Poetry Project", and founder and editor of the Pepper Spray Times. 2004 honoree by the City of Berkeley for homeless advocacy, 2003 honoree for civil liberties activism through music, humor, and art by the Berkeley Commission on the Status of Women, winner of the East Bay Express' readers' poll "Best Solo Performer" for 2002, and selected as one of the San Francisco Bay Guardian's 2001 "Best of the Bay". Featured writer at the Centre for Political Song, Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland, microradio pioneer with Free Radio Berkeley, etc. Failure to Disperse Acoustic Revolt and Road Show ensemble and solo performances. Spiritual advisor and graphic production for the Best of Blasphemy project in Canyon, California. Published commentator in local and national fora. Proud part of the Folk This! extended family. Winner of the 2009 Oldtime Spirit award from the Augusta Music Heritage Festival, voted best female artist at PirateCat Radio in SF in 2010. Nominated to the Revolutionary Poets' Brigade by former poet laureate of San Francisco Jack Hirschman in 2010. Human Rights editor for Street Spirit newspaper. Inventor of the chairapillar. Crankie innovator. Organizer of the 2012 Olympic Sitting Competition. Contributing writer on the esteemed production of KPFA's TwitWit Radio. Author of "They're Building A Pipeline" song which successfully fought the Dominion pipeline through West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina. Co-founder of the People's Park Historic District Advocacy Group. Performing at Bay Area venues including...
December 18, 2022, 11 am, Sunday, Get Your Tickets To Mars! We are planning to have an event on the madness of Musk and capitalism at San Francisco's Twitter headquarters, 1355 Market Street (at 10th) We have a link to Laborfest.net and link with other groups and organizations. Music by David Rovics, Jimmy Kelley, Carol Denney, poets and art work on the 10th which is also Human Rights Day. We hope to contact laid off Twittter workers in SF and around the world where he illegally laid them off in Japan and other countries and have them participate and speak if they are willing. If you can contact artists, poets, musicians and commedians we can have an powerful event. Also if you know artists in orther countries who want to contribute to this international event. I plan to play Sleeping in my Tesla.
Saturday, November 5, 2022, 7:00 pm - Revolutionary Poets Brigade & others present Women - The First Target featuring Carol Denney and international poets at the Beat Museum in San Francisco highlighting the oppression of women yes, with humor. The Beat Museum is 540 Broadway near Columbus Avenue, only ground floor accessible, Phone: (800) 537-6822 for more information.
(Photo to the left) Jim Nelson, Jack Chernos, and Carol Denney played for the 75th Anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge, then just went down to the water's edge and jammed with the fishes.
They're Building A Pipeline has a page with the lyrics and there's a Youtube slideshow at http://youtu.be/Qx2wFZS5YWM
Help preserve the wilderness in West Virginia by writing a letter to FERC - info here www.augustacountyalliance.org.
... RECORDINGS:,the newest of which is Because We Upon This Earth Are One available from this website and CDBaby.
"Unless Of Course You Die" includes a song called "I Hate Songwriters and I Wish They Were Dead" which is on Youtube at :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvI-xwacKwM
...also a song called "Don't You Want to Live in Yuppieville" is on Youtube at: http://youtu.be/TiGB3e2tXa0
"Privatizing Public Space - the BART Plaza Issue"
Merry Christmas Body Count - a new sing-along Christmas Carol best sung in a broad Scottish accent.
Carol Denney with Frank Buffum at the Freight linked here at https://berkeleycitizen.org/music/music17.htm
...and also a song called "Dump Your Boyfriend at Christmas" --to be used only for extreme cases.
"Where'd the Money Go? the Bailout Song", an ode to the bailout with special thanks to Alan Greenspan, featured on National Public Radio, available for free download for those who just can't help making fun of old Hank Paulson who loves you very much and only wants what's best for you anyway.
VIDEOS: Also:
A book, "The Inner Life of Pumpkins". For the bargain price of $5.95, a serious book which took years to write and research.
Click here for the PG&E song,
alternatively titled Write the Check and Shut Up.
How to Build Your Own Concertina , a step-by-step instruction for beginners.
How to Make a Cardboard Traveling Crankie Theater and delight the world.
Some crankies on YouTube, for frame of reference:
"It's Not Police Surveillance; It's Love"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFrCKeKao3s
"Like a Taser Touched for the Very First Time" Laborfest Video: http://youtu.be/qlJpiRx_gbA
The Pepper Spray Times will make you wise and beautiful.
December 2022 issue of the Pepper Spray Times.
November 2022 issue of the Pepper Spray Times.
October 2022 issue of the Pepper Spray Times.
September 2022 issue of the Pepper Spray Times.
August 2022 issue of the Pepper Spray Times.
July 2022 issue of the Pepper Spray Times.
June 2022 issue of the Pepper Spray Times.
May 2022 issue of the Pepper Spray Times.
April 2022 issue of the Pepper Spray Times.
March 2022 issue of the Pepper Spray Times.
February 2022 issue of the Pepper Spray Times.
January 2022 issue of the Pepper Spray Times.
The Best of Blasphemy, a project carefully guided to fruition by its spiritual advisor and co-writer Carol Denney, is available at http://www.thebestofblasphemy.com/index.html .
Politics gets funnier as it goes along.
Laura Drawbridge's original Free Radio Berkeley transcripts.
Drop the SLAPP-Suit: The Real News About People's Park. The real improvement to People's Park isn't anything physical, and they won't let you talk about it.
Life Is Much Better in Jail
New, Enhanced Rules for People's Park
"Bob's Blankets", A short story in remembrance of Bob Nichols.
"Save the Trains - Stop the Politicians"
"For the Gates, a song for San Quentin"
"Another Puppet Committee, or, The Canary in the Freebox"
Don't think for a minute that Berkeley has free speech...1-17-05
"What's going down now in People's Park: donate clothing, get a ticket - how Berkeley can you be?"
Favorite moments in media.
A Simple Music Lesson.
The Deep Poetry Project...The the money spent on Berkeley's most recent "arts district" project brought about the "Deep Poetry Project", poetry about holes, to highlight the disparity between Addison Street's poetry-pocked sidewalks and west and south Berkeley sidewalks, laden with the essence of evocative art, the hole...
Politics is always worth thoughtful contemplation.
10 Myths About the Freebox in People's Park.
Song for Kevin Freeman, killed in jail for no reason.
Myths about political songs.
The short story of micropower radio.
Don't miss our novel feature, the Poetry Corner.
The Simple Ways to Improve the World page.
"Fiddlers for Peace" page.
Homelessness and the 647j campaign in Berkeley.
Paraleiptic Audio Analysis. The seminar which will change your life, make your bed, and do your laundry.
Observations on World News. Commentary for the bewildered.
The SLAPP-Suit. The People's Park free speech anomaly still unresolved.
Your personal Permit to Stop the War. Be sure your friends have one.
The Pepper Spray Times. The newsletter for the very brave.
Bio of sorts.
Click the writing hand for critics' comments.
Click the concertina for information without which you may well perish.
Some people can't get enough gratuitous commentary.
You can email your orthoepic observations to " cdenney (at) igc.org ."
Photos by Mark Nelson, Michele Thomas, and the Cliff House camera booth.
Pepper Spray Times artwork by Roger Dondis, other artwork by C. Denney


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Use these cards as typical business cards or punch a hole in them and use them with your samples. The back highlights the uses of Lavender Essential Oil. A 1/2" hole punch can be found at AromaTools.com. Collect all four!
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Use these cards as typical business cards or punch a hole in them and use them with your samples. The back highlights the uses of Lemon Essential Oil. A 1/2" hole punch can be found at AromaTools.com. Collect all four!
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Use these cards as typical business cards or punch a hole in them and use them with your samples. The back highlights the uses of Wild Orange Essential Oil. A 1/2" hole punch can be found at AromaTools.com. Collect all four!


text:
Typhoon Haiyan is threatening more than half of the Philippines's sugarcane
Typhoon Haiyan leveled the country's central region on Friday.
Image: AP Photo/Nelson Salting
Gwynn Guilford
Typhoon Haiyan made landfall in the Philippines this morning, lashing the country's central islands with gusts of up to 235 mph (378 kph). The storm is expected to impose $14 billion in losses on the Philippines' economy, less than $2 billion of which is insured, reports Bloomberg.
One of the most at-risk sectors is the country's $1.6 billion sugarcane industry. Sugarcane is the country's fourth-largest crop, after coconut, corn and rice. And of the country's agricultural, forestry and fishing businesses, 16.4% of them farm sugarcane, the sector with the second-most businesses after hog-farming.
Haiyan is at the moment tearing through the Philippines' biggest sugarcane growing islands, including Negros and Visayas. About half of the country's sugarcane growth is in Negros:
Both flooding and strong winds can uproot sugarcane. Even plants that withstand the storm's impact are likely to yield less sugar as a result of flooding, though. Water-logging can also destroy sugar stocks at mills and refineries, many of which are also in Haiyan's path:
Image: Sugar Regulatory Administration
This has happened in the past. In 2012, Typhoon Bopha (aka Pablo) killed an estimated 2,000 people and damaged sugarcane crops in Mindanao, a province of the southern Philippines. The sugar authority received reports of 8-10% sugar loss in one of the key sugar-milling districts. Though it was at the time the strongest storm ever to hit the Philippines, Bopha's winds were only 295 kph, with gusts of up to 314 kph.
The sugarcane industry's structure means any crop destruction from Haiyan will hurt the livelihoods of relatively more people than in more industrialized sectors. Sugarcane farming is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with 90% of sugarcane farms grown on plantations of 10 hectares (25 acres) or fewer. Most of those 62,000 sugarcane farmers are unlikely to have insurance.
Destruction would also be bad for the Philippines government, which sees sugar as an increasingly critical export commodity. The US is the primary export customer of the 2.2 tonnes (2.4 tons) of sugar it produces each year; 70% is consumed domestically. The government wants to up productivity and expand planting, instituting sweeping reforms so that its sugar business can compete with the likes of Thailand and Brazil. Those improvements will also help tamp down on imports of bioethanol, into which sugar is converted, a fuel source the country began shifting toward in 2007. The law now requires at least 10% bioethanol content in gasoline. A lack of distilleries, however—it only has three—means the Philippines has to import bioethanol to meet that goal. Damage to distilleries or to crops could mean it must buy even more bioethanol from abroad.


text:
In New York City, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have a rare "date night": We Don't Go Out Very Much
Harry, 38, said he and his wife were enjoying a rare night out without their two children at the Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award Gala, where they were honoured.
"I actually thought we were simply going on a date night, so I find it pretty unusual that we're sharing the room with 1,500 people," Harry said onstage with Meghan, 41, and Kerry Kennedy.
Further, "Since our kids are little, we rarely go out, so this is unexpected. Thanks for joining date night!"
Meghan and Harry received the Ripple of Hope Award for their work in racial justice, mental health, and social impact.
Through their Archewell charity while Archie Harrison and Lilibet Diana remained at home in California.
Harry's July UN speech on Nelson Mandela Day preceded the couple's trip to New York.
Harry and Meghan spent three days in the city in September 2021, visiting One World Observatory at the World Trade Center
With former Mayor Bill de Blasio, his wife Chirlane McCray, their son Dante, and Gov. Kathy Hochul.
During the trip, Meghan read her children's book The Bench to second-graders at P.S. 123 Mahalia Jackson School in Harlem and visited with U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
"The Future of Our Planet Hangs in the Balance," says Prince William.


text:
Here's what critics are saying about 'South Park: The Fractured but Whole'
Is it a hit?
Nick Reilly
South Park: The Fractured but Whole has finally been released after months of fevered anticipation from fans of the hugely popular TV series. But is the video game game sequel to 2014's The Stick of Truth actually any good?
In short, the critics certainly believe that it is, after dishing a string of largely positive reviews that praised the inventiveness of the game and its strong storyline.
Among the game's biggest fans was IGN's Dan Stapleton, who praised it for being "consistently funny".
"The emulation of the crude animation style is spot-on, the voice acting is all completely authentic, and the writing quality is up to the high expectations. Exploring its expanded map of South Park and its densely-packed references to the show is a treat for fans, even though it's quite similar to what we saw in The Stick of Truth", he wrote.
Similar praise came from WeGotThisCovered's Charles Blades, who hailed the "complex RPG system" employed in the game.
"When it's at its best, it touches on aspects of gaming and superhero culture that make for more evergreen content; poking fun at gaming's silent protagonist trope or Marvel and DC's ridiculous 10 year movie franchise plans", he stated.
"All of these instances go over much better than a lot of the more serious, faux topical, subject matter. While Stone and Parker might not be at the top of their game on The Fractured But Whole, their script is more than serviceable enough to deliver an experience that's still more laugh out loud funny than just about every other game that's come out since the last one."
But the game wasn't without its detractors, with DigitalTrends arguing that it "struggles to capture what's made the show endure for 20 years".
Reviewer Phil Hornshaw wrote: "While The Fractured But Whole improves on video game aspects of its predecessor — combat is deeper and more fun, there's more strategy to gameplay and more to find and explore in South Park — it struggles with the parts that define South Park. More than anything, much of the game struggles to generate laugh."
South Park: The Fractured but Whole is out now on PS4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows.


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T'ara Ceasar steps away from Florida volleyball
The redshirt senior cited her mental and physical health as the reasons for her departure before the NCAA Tournament
By Carson Cashion
Redshirt senior and All-SEC team member T'ara Ceasar has played her last collegiate volleyball match.
She announced she will not compete with the Gators volleyball team in the upcoming 2021 NCAA Tournament on Instagram Monday night.
In her post, Ceasar said she will be departing from the team to focus on her mental and physical health before transitioning out of school.
"My time here has allowed me to build a more robust character, and make some amazing friends and teammates," Ceasar said in the post. "While I will not finish the season, I still want to send love and positive wishes to my teammates and the Florida Gator volleyball family."
The news of Ceasar's transition comes just days before the Gators first match of the NCAA Tournament against the Florida A&M Rattlers Thursday.
Because of the dominance and elite play Ceasar brought to her team, the loss will deliver a blow to Florida's offensive firepower.
Ceasar will finish her collegiate volleyball career with a crowded accolades cabinet. The Panama City, Florida, product earned her first All-SEC nod at the University of Georgia where she competed as a Bulldog for her first two seasons.
After transferring to Florida and sitting out her junior year due to transfer rules, Ceasar picked up right where she left off in Gainesville.
She racked up two All-SEC nominations in two seasons at Florida, as well as two potential American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American team nominations. Ceasar dominated every time she graced the O'Connell Center floor and sits in fifth place on the school's all-time kills per set record books before her second year at Florida.
Head coach Mary Wise will rely on younger outside hitters to make up for the lost points, such as freshman Merritt Beason and sophomore Sofia Victoria. Beason broke out as a starting lineup staple this year, sitting in third place on the team in both total kills and points with 202 and 251.5, respectively. While the freshman from Gardendale, Alabama, already made a name for herself on Florida's squad, her role will only swell with Monday's news.
In the third set of Saturday's match against Kentucky, Victoria scored six of the first seven points for the Gators in Ceasar's absence. She finished the match as the team leader in kills, hitting at a .286 clip. Her deficiency in playing time this season makes Victoria less of a proven talent than Beason, but the flashes of star power offer positive signs for the Gators.
While these options have upside, none of them will fully replicate what Ceasar has done and meant to the Gators this season. With under 72 hours to determine a solution, Wise has a busy week ahead of her.
Contact Carson Cashion at ccashion@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @carsoncashion.
Carson Cashion
Carson Cashion is a third-year sports journalism major at UF, and the sports editor at The Alligator for the 2022 summer semester. A native of Altamonte Springs, Carson spends his free time walking his dog, Baxter, and listening to good music. He is an avid Tennessee sports fan, and eagerly awaits watching one of his teams win a championship for the first time.
Florida volleyball captain Merritt Beason enters transfer portal
Gators downed by Panthers in regional semifinals, fall short of NCAA championship
Fans fill O'Dome for Florida victories in NCAA Volleyball Tournament


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UK: Birmingham-area man claims dog, not copter, was his target; judge disagrees
23 Jul 2011 -- Categories: Aviation incidents | Fines & Jail
A judge rejected the claim that a Small Heath man was trying to attract his dog's attention when he aimed a green laser pointer at a police helicopter flying over Birmingham. Joshua Bough, 28, had admitted endangering the safety of an aircraft in the March 28 2011 incident, but said it was not deliberate. Bough claimed his puppy had run off and "he used the laser pen to attract the dog's attention because sometimes it would get lost and confused in the dark."
Judge John Maxwell said the account was not supported by video footage of the incident. The judge further warned Bough that he should expect a prison sentence.
From the Birmingham Mail
UPDATE August 24 2011: Bough was sentenced to 16 months in jail. Judge Maxwell said the situation was "intolerable" and added "If we are to avoid the terrible consequences that will sooner or later follow if people behave as you did, the court will do what it can to protect the public and punish the offender." From the Birmingham Mail
Tags: UK, Birmingham, Police, Helicopter, Age: 20-29, Color: Green


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Мишель Ломбардо (, 16 сентября 1983 года, Гластонбери, штат Коннектикут, США) — американская актриса и модель смешанного итальяно-ирландского происхождения.

Биография
Родилась и выросла в городе Гластонбери в штате Коннектикут. В школе была капитаном волейбольной команды. В 2004 году Sports Illustrated награждает её статусом победителя нового конкурса «Новое лицо», а в 2005 году она появилась в ежегодном выпуске купальников компании, уже после переезда в Лос-Анджелес в 2004 году, чтобы продолжить свою актёрскую карьеру. Первые роли в кино она получила в 2006 году, сыграв в фильмах «Клик: С пультом по жизни», «All In» и «Dishdogz». Позднее снималась в рекламных роликах Suzuki Forenza и T-Mobile, в телесериалах «Красавцы» и «Californication», а также в интернет-сериалах «» и «».

В свободное время она любит играть в футбол с студенческой командой в Лос-Анджелесе, где постоянно проживает. Работает ведущей на . Член женского студенческого общества Каппа Каппа Гамма ().

Была замужем за Дрю Броудриком () (с 13 октября 2003 года по 21 декабря 2008).

Публикации фотографий
Фотографии Мишель публиковали журналы Playboy и Sports Illustrated.

Параметры в качестве модели
Рост: 178 сантиметров, цвет волос: шатенка, цвет глаз: голубые, размеры (EU): 89-64-91, размер одежды: 36 (EU), компания: Next Model Management.

Фильмография

Примечания

Ссылки

 Мишель Ломбардо на
 Мишель Ломбардо на сайте kinofilms.ua

Выпускники Коннектикутского университета


Bansko, 7, Georgi Nastev Str.
Hotel Tanne, Bansko offers 68 beds in total.
The Tanne resort complex is a 4-star Bulgarian-German hotel de luxe, that works throughout the whole year.
It is situated in the foothills of Pirin Mountain in one of the most beautiful Bulgarian towns, Bansko.
The hotel is constructed in the traditional regional style, offering a homely coziness of stone and wood. The beautiful yard, the numerous verandas and balconies offer open views to 3 mountains - Pirin, Rila and the Rhodopes.
The hotel has 25 double rooms, 5 apartments and 3 maisonettes with open fire, each combining in it the Bulgarian style of the old days with the contemporary luxury and comfort.
There is a TV set with cable and satellite programs, an audio system, a telephone, a mini-bar, a hair-drier, a safe, a luxurious bathroom with a bath in each room.
The cozy atmosphere of the hotel and the 1-st class service guarantee your pleasant stay and a genuine relaxation at the foot of Pirin Mountain.
We expect and welcome you to the hotel Tanne in Bansko!


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your choice of side. Choose from Baked Beans, Green Beans, Cole Slaw or Macaroni Salad.
Try one and you will discover why this is the best burger around!


Verdict: The best tiny speakers we've heard. They produce astonishingly musical and large-scale sound from their colourful cabinets. They're a perfect partner for similarly cut-sized high-end hi-fi, especially kit capable of streaming music.


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The 2001 Festival Of Model Tramways
The Festival of Model Tramways, is Europe's premier event for the model tram enthusiast.
The 2001 Festival was held on 7th/8th July 2001 at the Kew Bridge Steam Museum, Green Dragon Lane, Brentford, Middlesex.
2001 was the centenary of the first electrification of tramways in London. The 2001 Festival of Model Tramways celebrated this event.
On Thursday 4th April 1901 the first electric cars of the London United Tramways replaced horse trams on the routes from Shepherd's Bush to Acton, Shepherd's Bush to Kew Bridge via Chiswick, and Hammersmith to Kew Bridge. On 22nd June 1901 East Ham Council opened a completely new tramway beginning with three routes Manor Park to the Ilford boundary, Manor Park to Beckton Park (Manor Way), and Upton Park (Boleyn) to Barking boundary. On Thursday 26th September 1901 Croydon Corporation commenced its service of electric cars from Norbury to Purley. The 2001 Festival contained features on all three of these systems and appropriately the Steam Museum is close to the original 1901 Kew Bridge L.U.T. terminus.
Click here for List of Exhibitors at the Festival.
Festival Review by David Orchard
Photographs and captions by Bob Appleton
The keynote of the 2001 Model Tram Festival was not only the Centenary of the London United (LUT), East Ham, and the first-generation Croydon systems, but also the evident quality of the exhibits, both in terms of model trams (in all scales) and of the 'tramscape' that goes with them in the layouts and dioramas of streets and buildings in which the models run. Clearly a great deal of work had been done by many layout modellers since this time last year. Certainly the modelling standard in the models Competition has never been higher, which taxed the scrutiny of all three Competition judges. On display was a "not in contest" glass-case model in 1/24 scale (we think) of an LUT W-type bogie car built as long ago as 1910 (again, we think), but its existence demonstrates how long tramway modelling has been going on.
A model inside the real thing. The Kew Bridge 4mm scale layout by the TLRS Thames Area depicts a type 'U' tram of the LUT passing the tall chimney of the Metropolitan Water Board works and about to pass the end of Green Dragon Lane. The buildings are still there as the Kew Bridge Steam Museum, our venue.
What was noticeably different this year amongst the layouts especially was the amount of work that had gone in to enhancing the tramway 'streetscene', background buildings, and general 'atmospherics' surrounding the working trams, in whatever scale (no 1/16 scale track or layout this year, alas, but a lot of 7mm plus 'G' scale, 4mm, HO, and N gauge). It's inevitably invidious to quote examples, but the 4mm layout of Kew Bridge terminus itself in LUT/LCC days by the TLRS Thames area really deserves a prize on its own for the 'Express' pub with complete interior (in 4mm!), the Water Tower we could all see outside the Festival in full size, and an entire diorama of Edwardian London with (incidentally) the two LUT/LCC tram systems interworking in model form, using fine-scale overhead and incorporating some distinctly complex trackwork. What more can one say? This is truly 'state of the art' modelling of the highest order.
A compact and automatically operated circular layout in 7mm ('O' gauge) that was packed into a suitcase and brought specially from Brussels by Belgian exhibitor Paul Penders. The tram shown is a fine model of Birmingham 779.
Another layout - this time in 7mm - which could have got an architectural award was than of Vernon Cunningham, builder of the computer-generated trams. All buildings were internally lit, as well as the trams and the working RT bus negotiating the 'inner circle' of Vernon's '1948 Townscape'. Again, one could have stayed and watched for hours. Ian Druce's 1930s 'Times Square' layout next door was equally atmospheric, as was the Twickenham and District N-gauge industrial landscape with trams and lots of imposing nineteenth-century factory buildings. Peter Fickweiler's 'Peterstown' also featured some very attractive shops and houses along with his 7mm scale tram fleet, while Paul Gumbrell's G-scale 'Edwardian Tramway' showed just what could be done in customising Bachmann off-the-shelf models; I particularly liked one with a working horse!
The 'country end' of the Servern Mill museum tramway in 7mm ('O' gauge) by the TLRS Solent Area Group. This scene shows a Tividale car about to cross the bridge to the terminus.
TLRS West of England had two small but interesting layouts, one in 7mm narrow gauge and one in 4mm, while TLRS Solent had one featuring as many traction engines as trams, and also the 50-year old E1 model (working) from the Roy Hubble collection. Phil Carver managed to fit in no less than three small layouts in N gauge! Paul Penders had brought a portable O gauge layout from Brussels by Eurostar. The Whitley 4mm layout, "Stepley Transport", showed just what could be done with steep gradients and an overall orange livery, while on the balcony was an interesting and lengthy track in 10mm scale featuring the Volks Electric Railway.
The Volks Electric Railway Association from Brighton brought along their intriguing layout in the unusual 10mm scale. The entire Volks car fleet has been modelled.
A last-minute appearance on the balcony was Clive Croome's "true scale" 4mm scale working track in grooved rail to the correct P4 gauge of 18.83 mm, together with his Feltham car built to that gauge and super-fine wheel profile. Not only did it all work perfectly (and, believe me, the main problem in all super-fine scales is persuading the wheels to follow the track!), but it looked super as well. The difference between 16.5 mm standard OO/HO gauge and P4's 18.83mm is very evident to the eye. (this point won't worry HO, 7mm or 1/16 scale modellers, as their track gauge is already equivalent to 18.83 in 4mm, but it might spark a bit of a debate in 4mm circles, as it already has in the model railway world.)
The Souk-el-Khemis steam tramway in the north of Morocco modelled in HOe scale by Frank Saunders. It depicts a typical scene in about 1938 of market day in a small town. ('Souk-el-Khemis' translates as 'Thursday market'). This also shows that, with imagination, any tramway can be modelled.
Frank Saunders' "Souk-El-Khemis" HO narrow-gauge layout evocatively showed us just what could be achieved under the desert sun, while next to it Don Sibley's Arenberg vicinal-type layout in 1/50 scale equally evoked the continental narrow-gauge tramway scene. The Carshalton & Sutton MRC showed their German HO scale layout complete with the ubiquitous tower crane. The Port of Enn Transport Association (Bill Avery) showed us just what diversity could be achieved in 2mm scale, Geoff Sawford's 7mm narrow gauge layout well portrayed the atmosphere of post-war Birmingham, while outside the building the rather larger model trams of the Wootton tramway carried an eager succession of passengers.
The Arenberg metre-gauge tramway in 1:50 scale by Don Sibley. This short operating layout is in two parts that cunningly dovetail together for easy transport by suitcase, in this case by Eurostar train from Belgium. The tramcar on the left is based on a St.Étienne suburban car and the one on the right is modelled on car 5 of Fribourg, Switzerland.
"Croydon Tramways", a 4mm layout part-constructed (but fully operational) by John Clarke, was ambitious in so far as it (a) attempted to replicate most of the entire centre of Croydon, and (b) combined traditional double-deck trams running with modern LRT in the form of the Croydon Tramlink. Buildings that had not yet been constructed were represented by photographs and the scale of the whole thing was truly massive. It certainly had the air of a real town centre, even though as yet unfinished, and it was instructive seeing the modern Tramlink cars running on the same track system as their predecessors; it also made one realise just how physically long the Tramlink cars are (close on 12 inches, even in 4mm scale- rather put me off modelling one in G scale as I had planned!) It also provided what for me was one of the most moving moments of the whole show, when a little girl of five or so in her father's arms, looking at this layout, squealed in delight: "Look, Daddy, that's the tram I go to school on." Of course it was the Tramlink car she was looking at, but it made me reflect: how long must it be since any young child in southern England has said those precise words to its parent? Close on half a century, I'd guess.
Close by was a static display by John Prentice of East Ham tram models in 3/4" and 4mm scales against a backdrop in 3/4" scale representing East Ham Library and Police Station. This completed the third of the "centenary" tramways (LUT, East Ham, and Croydon) all of which were also depicted by photo displays. Other static models were presented by the TLRS West Midlands Area who were accompanied by David Voice and Alan Kirkman with a modelling demonstration stand. Bob Tidball's 4mm London layout also provided plenty of interest, featuring conduit operation as well as overhead.
An active London tram and bus scene in 4mm ('OO') scale by Bob Tidball. In fact, the whole display is two separate circuits linked together.
The "trade" stands of our regular suppliers were all there; Terry Russell had his fine 7mm scale offerings. Ron Leach TLRS Model Engineering Secretary had a full range of 1/16 parts on sale and Phil Elverd of Modern Tramway Systems his range of G scale and 1/16 brass and resin castings - both were offering a completely built-up version of the Brill 21E truck in 1/16 scale for figures from two hundred pounds upwards, which in my view is very good value given the amount of work involved, and will encourage more people to 'bite the bullet' of the Big Big scale. Terry Russell's own superb award-winning London E/3 car in 1/16 scale was on Phil Elverd's stand to provide an incentive.
Roger Crumblehome's range of card cut-outs (Alphagraphix), mainly in 4mm and 7mm scales, for both traditional and modern LRT trams was well set-out and displayed - I myself bought several Croydon Tramlink cut-out kits for various uses. Adrian Swain was also there with his wide range of 4mm white-metal kits (ABS), including the re-introduced Varney Green Goddess Liverpool bogie streamlined car, as was Derek Lambelle with a wide range of HO and 4mm kits, and some very well-finished German plastic models of modern-outline LRT trams: again I could not resist buying one. We also had some very impressive bookstands from the LCC Tramways Trust, LRTA, Middleton Press, OnLine video, John Gillham with his tram system maps, the Electric Railway Society, Rapid Transit Publications, and Squires Models large stand of vital electrical and small mechanical bits and pieces. Ashley Best and his wife Anne showed two of Ashley's superb 1/16 models and a selection of his award-winning tramway paintings and lithographs, several of which provide the covers of recent tramway books. Leaving the quality of the models, layouts, and tramway art aside (difficult to do, I know), the Festival also proved to be a splendid market-place for the new and the dedicated tramway modeller alike.
Ashley Best surrounded by his famous tram paintings, drawings and prints, together with two of his superb tram models in 1/16th (3/4 in./ft.) scale - Manchester 502 and S.H.M.D. car 8.
Overall, a marvellous testimony to 100 years of tram operation in London and close on 100 years of tramway modelling in London too, as the 1910 LUT model on display demonstrated, and thus a thoroughly memorable attestation to the value of our hobby and interest.
Return to Festival of Model Tramways
© Copyright John R. Prentice Software 2001


Like I said a few posts ago, I am eating more the South Beach way these days…. but I have been focusing on having tons of veggies! I wasn't sure what I wanted to make with the yummy eggplants and frozen spinach I bought from Whole Foods the other day, but I knew ricotta had to be involved! I decided to make a spinach and ricotta stuffed grilled eggplant, something I vaguely remember eating when I was little. Do any of you try to remember the tastes of something you ate when younger and try to recreate it? I do, all the time. So here is one of the attempts that went extremely well!
1. Turn your panini maker on high (or grill). Peel and slice an eggplant into thin slices. Salt all the eggplant slices and layer between paper towels. Place a heavy bowl over it to press out the bitterness of the eggplant. After about 10-15 minutes rinse of the slices and grill 4 minutes on each side. Set aside. Set the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat the egg in a bowl, and then mix with ricotta and spinach. No need to overmix.
3. Place a little bit of the mixture at the end of a piece of eggplant and roll up. Place in a greased (I used Pam) baking dish with the open side down. Repeat with all the slices.
4. Top with sauce and the mozzarella and bake for 20 minutes. Enjoy!
It is a nice and light meal that feels like it is so decadent. I would like to submit this to this week's BSI!
Delicious! It looks so fresh and tasty. I would like some right now in fact!
A beautiful dish! I definitely want to try this one.
MM looks so good! I love eggplant!
This looks delicious! I am so impressed.
YUM! i'm definitely keeping a hold of this recipe 🙂 looks amazing!!
incredible! so pretty to look at and i'm sure it tasted amazing!
this looks awesome! i really like the south beach diet concept – it's what helped me learn about nutrition in the first place (good v. bad carbs, fiber, eating good foods and not necessarily the ones with the fewest calories).
Boy does that look delicious!!
yum, i would totally go for that right now!!
Those eggplant rolls look really good!
This meals looks amazing! I am bookmarking it to try soon!