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Il doppio maschile  del torneo di tennis Estoril Open 2007, facente parte dell'ATP Tour, ha avuto come vincitori Marcelo Melo e André Sá che hanno battuto in finale Martín García e Sebastián Prieto 7-6(4), 1-6, [10-4].

Teste di serie

  Mariusz Fyrstenberg  /  Marcin Matkowski (semifinali)
  Simon Aspelin /  František Čermák (primo turno)

 Leoš Friedl  /  David Škoch  (primo turno)
 Eric Butorac  /  Jamie Murray (primo turno)

Tabellone

Collegamenti esterni

Estoril Open 2007
ATP Tour 2007

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


When I wrote this piece all the way back in January, I was expecting yet another admission price increase at the Disneyland Resort for the year. It was only a matter of time.
My view on the price increases themselves are that it is justified in being that it is very much an issue of supply and demand. The only legal way to keep the crowds manageable and services enjoyable for anyone who visits, tourist or local, is to raise prices…or offer entirely new offerings aka a new theme park). Call it elitist, unfair, "not Disney", etc. The reality may not be a 'dream come true', but it is very much a reality we must all face.
That said, I still believe in the fact that going to Disneyland and moreover being a Disney Parks Annual Passholder is a privilege (not an entitlement). Over the years, it seems to have grown from just a privilege to more of a status symbol; one that identifies with a new generation that makes going to Disneyland "cool" which will grow into the future…and probably even through more price increases.
I was in elementary school and I recall talking amongst my friends at the time about things we could do to hang out. Nearly every single one of those conversations had me interjecting with the idea of going to Disneyland. I was an Annual Passholder at the time (thanks to my Disney-fied parents) and I wanted to go as much as possible, which at the time seemed to be every day.
But even with that much enthusiasm, my friends were quick to shoot down the idea of going. Although the reasons varied, the one that seemed to be the same for all my friends in elementary school was that "Disneyland is for kids." In an effort to be a good friend that would try and keep his fellow friend's self-esteem in tact, I didn't mention to said people that they indeed were kids.
Fast forward a decade and I'm now in middle school. The same "hangout idea" conversations were still prevalent and Disneyland was still my response in each of them…but things were on the verge of changing. My parents and I were still passholders and it wasn't long after my first days in middle school did I find out that some of my fellow classmates were too! The following Saturday, we all went.
We spent the whole day there, from opening to closing. We rode a lot of attractions and walked around quite a bit, too – all standard things you do at Disneyland. We enjoyed our time together so much that we went consecutively every weekend for a long period of time. We didn't really care if we rode the same things or ate at the same places – we just liked going because we were still "older-kids" and Disneyland was for us, too.
The year is now 2014.
I'm about to graduate from Cal State Fullerton and my parents and I still hold the keys to the Magic Kingdom as passholders. Having groups of friends are a little bit harder to come by as everyone wants to just go to class and just go home. In the rare occasion that I do have my group of friends together, I certainly still bring up Disneyland as the hang out venue of choice. The funny thing for me to hear are the responses I get now.
Over the course of a little less than 3 decades, I was surprised by the changes in responses. If anything, I thought it would indeed be the total opposite where Disneyland (or any Disney Park for that matter) would remain a place run over by families and "kids". That just simply isn't the case anymore.
The moment I have that cast member scan my pass and I walk through those turnstiles, I'm meet with those who once were kids aka EVERYONE. From young couples going on dates to 80-year old widowed dancers who've made it a point to swing dance until they can't anymore, Disneyland is filled with everyone and then some. I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see my elementary school friends amongst the thousands that visit every single day.
With many of those thousands one of the 1 million+ passholders that the Disneyland Resort alone has (with that number steadily growing), it's clear that Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Parks are the place to hang out nowadays.
My cousins and I are proud passholders.
To be a card-carrying member to one of Disney's Magic Kingdoms is no longer frowned upon, but looked upon. It's a status symbol. You're in an elite group like those who've won a game show. You're proud to tell your friends and family about it and you're ever eager for them to get a pass as well if they don't have one already.
How can this be? Place it on the never-ending new experiences or the creative and engaging marketing. It just all seems to be working for everyone and perhaps even into the next Disney enthusiast generation as well.
As we approach the holiday season, will you be considering buying yourself or your loved one(s) an Annual Pass to your Disney Park? If you currently have one, will you renew? Why or why not? What does being a Disney Parks Passholder mean to you? Comment below!
Hi, Notice that this OP almost two years old and no comments.
I worked at DL CA for short time in 1993. I've had annual passes off and on for 20+ years. I live in Fullerton so "qualify" for So CA Select pass – at $299 plus parking $79(?). So for me, wife, and grand daughter it goes from about $2,300 to about $900 ($1,000 with parking). We are in the $900 bunch. Even $900 is not "pocket change" for me.
for our/my So CA Select pass. Why is this do you think? To discourage So CA pass holders from renewing? That parking is limited so they must insure that one-time daily visitors can park? Will daily parking now at $17 go up to $25? If so then an annual pass for 10 visits will cost me $550.
So it seems to me that DL and CA Adv is becoming so popular that it will be affordable only by that 1% of the richest population (world wide). Well, I'm for free enterprise, so that's what happens.
For my family, DL has almost priced itself with all daily entrance costs and annual prices out of reach. Too bad, my first visit was in 1968 from Chicago. I was delighted when I moved to CA in 1982 to be in Orange County within easy reach of DL. Now at age 73, this year could be my last at DL. Hope not, maybe I'll win the lottery!!!
ps – annual pass has never been a "status symbol" for me, just an affordable way to enjoy DL.
Next story The Next Chapter of Frozen – Literally!


Commissioner Rob Manfred has done everything but absolutely say expansion is coming, and has said another franchise is needed in the west.
Personally, I'd like to see Major League Baseball expand to San Diego.
Too rough? Ah, well, that's a shame. If it was OK to say it in 1968, why not 2018?
All kidding aside, the mere thought of baseball expanding is enough to give me one of those "what-the-hell-are-they-thinking?" slaps to my forehead.
It's the human equivalent of intentionally extending your waistline hoping it becomes a health risk.
Other than greed, there can be no logical reason for baseball to expand from 30 to 32 teams. But talk of it is so strong — and not just Unsocial Media-strong, which would make it meaningless — that I can't help but believe it's going to happen.
Baseball can't expand. It mustn't. But it will. One of these days. Probably sooner than we think.
He has said another franchise is needed in the west. And Montreal, which already has lost a team, and Nashville, may be an ingredient in the bloating recipe.
Portland seems to be a safe wager and is planning accordingly (the A's may move there before anything happens). That city's Diamond Project, with former Nike exec Craig Cheek the tip of the javelin, has made offers on two parcels of land that would hold a new baseball stadium and huge housing development.
Was it not in 2001 when then-commissioner Bud Selig was considering contraction rather than addition? Bud, who didn't always have the best ideas — season — may have had something there.
The targets for contraction were the Minnesota Twins and Montreal Expos (who eventually dissolved into the Nationals).
Reports at the time said it was "all but a done deal," and Selig "had the votes" to do it.
The big problem is — as it is in the NFL and NBA — there are not enough major league caliber players to go around with 30 teams, let alone two more.
So what happens? The product is affected, and not in good way.
Rounding off attendance numbers, Miami averages 11,000, Pittsburgh 14,000, Tampa Bay 15,000, Cleveland 16,000, Cincinnati 17,000. Many are below 20,000.
Apathy has a strong WAR.
We are living in an age in which people want to be entertained for their dollar. Players are striking out at record rates swinging for fences over shifts, and facing multiple relievers throwing in the high 90s after starters are pulled for pitch counts.
Baseball is doing its best to dull its knife, which once was scalpel-sharp.
Manfred seems to think speeding up the game will help. It will not. Games have been too long for too long, but that ain't it. Baseball never was meant to be NASCAR.
Adding two new teams with more players who don't know what they're doing isn't going to make baseball more exciting.
Gwynn also never struck out 10 times against any pitcher. Nolan Ryan got him the most., at nine.
We owe mothers much too much for them ever to be fully compensated. Happy Mother's Day.


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CrossFit Games Open WOD 14.4: Advice From Chris Spealler
by Christopher Hunt
The CrossFit Games Open continued as Games coordinator Dave Castro announced workout 14.4 from CrossFit Bellevue in Seattle, WA. We've been enlisting six-time CrossFit competitor Chris Spealler on his best plan of attack for each week's Open workouts—here's what advice he has for us this time around.
Open Workout 14.4
40 wall ball shots (20 lbs. to 10-foot target)
30 cleans (135 lbs.)
20 muscle-ups
Men's Fitness: That's a hell of a chipper WOD, what sort of strategy would you say is best for tackling this?
Chris Spealler: It really all depends on the athlete and where their strengths and weaknesses are. For the most part you'll want to set a strong pace on the rower but be able to get into the toes to bar quickly. Small sets with short breaks will be the key for most on the toes to bar in order to keep moving. The same will go for the wall ball and quick singles on the cleans. Work to avoid too much negative on the muscle-ups with lowering yourself slowly and try to drop to the ground and do singles when you start to fatigue.
MF: Muscle-ups are a game changer. As one of the hardest movements in CrossFit, do you think that this was thrown in during the 4th week to serve as a major separating factor for athletes?
CS: The way all the workouts have been set up allow anyone to compete. I think it's more the placement of movement. They come at the end of the chipper when most will be drained from the previous work. Those with good capacity with the muscle-up will separate themselves from those that struggle with the movement technically. Any one of the workouts this year can have athletes making a big separation depending on how far they get… this is no different.
MF: How long would you say an elite athlete like yourself would take to get through a single round?
CS: We saw Josh [Bridges] and Scott [Panchik] both get back to the rower with around 2 min left. That is definitely quick and I think the 12- to 13-minute range is going to be around when most of the heavy hitters finish one round.
MF: If someone was worried to even do 14.4 because he doesn't have muscle-ups, what would you tell him?
CS: Don't underestimate the rest of the workout. It's easy to look ahead to some of the movements that we're intimidated by when we need to compartmentalize the workout. One piece at a time. And 50 toes to bar is not a small amount so buckle up… you may not have to worry about those muscle-ups.
MF: 50 T2B are no joke, either. How would you recommend breaking those up?
CS: It depends on an athletes preference and strengths. Some will prefer a bigger set from the start and others may like to break things up early if it's a difficult movement for them. I've seen some people do sets of 5 and get done faster than most athletes with sets of 50 like this. The key is having short breaks either way.
MF: What are your final predictions for 14.5?
CS: Thrusters and burpees. We haven't seen the thruster or the burpee yet and if you've never done that combo you're in for a treat. I'm guessing the time will be around the 7- to 10-minute mark, and it's going to be a smoker. Eyes on 14.4 though… one movement and one rep at a time.
CrossFit Games Open WOD 14.3 Advice With Chris Spealler>>>
Topics: athletes CrossFit Training Tips

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Living Without Restrictions? - YouGov Survey
Exactly two years into the pandemic, and many of the restrictions that were forced upon us are gradually starting to ease. Our favourite places are open, we can visit our beloved family and friends, gradually get back to the office and lastly international travel is opening up again. With the excitement of getting 'back to normal', comes some questions, with one of the biggest daily impacts of the Coronavirus, the wearing of face masks.
Though perhaps not a legal requirement anymore in some parts of the US, we are still seeing many people wear them. We were keen to find out where people stand on the wearing of masks, at this stage, and so we commenced a YouGov survey to delve deeper into the thoughts of the general public.
As many of you will be aware, AirPop masks have been around since long before we'd even heard the word COVID, their use primarily to protect from pollution in cities. Having lived through the last two years though, will the higher uptake of mask use continue over the coming months? If so, why - what are the key drivers for continuing to wear a mask - protecting yourself? protecting the vulnerable? - these were the questions we were keen to get feedback on.
Our survey, looking at consumer thoughts and behaviours reached over 1000 people across the US.
Why do people wear a mask ?
Firstly we wanted to ascertain the overall thoughts on face mask use. Only 29% of respondents reported that they are no longer wearing a mask as it's no longer in the rules to, 14% don't wear a mask as they disrupt their breathing, with 5% saying they've never worn one. So 52% of our respondents are wearing a face mask because they want to, let's delve into that.
43% of respondents said they wear a mask because they care about others, this figure increases to 53% in the 35-49 age bracket. 31% of respondents say that they wear it as an outward sign that they care about others. 36% of people stated they wear a mask because they are worried about catching Coronavirus, and 29% of respondents said they will continue to send their children to school with masks.
The Elderly and Vulnerable
During the pandemic, it has been widely documented that our elderly and vulnerable people are most at risk, with harrowing headlines regarding deaths in care homes and in hospitals, especially in the earlier months of lockdown.
As a caring nation, unsurprisingly 77% of people said they would always or likely wear a face mask when in close proximity to the elderly or vulnerable. Almost 40% would always wear a face mask, 22% would be extremely likely to wear one, and a further 17% likely to wear one. 89% of respondents 29 or under said they were likely to wear a mask around the elderly or vulnerable, showing that the young care.
With the wearing of face masks no longer required in shops, what are thoughts about wearing them in those places?
41% of people said they would always wear a face mask while shopping at a retail or grocery store to protect themselves. This increases to over 47% in the over 65s. 12% of people also said they would wear a mask in a shop if it made others feel comfortable, in fact 59% of respondents 19 or under said they were likely to wear a mask while shopping to protect themselves or to make others feel comfortable.
What about in the workplace? As we are aware some professions and key workers such as our hard working nurses and doctors still have to wear them (24% of respondents said they had to wear a mask at work), others perhaps in offices don't have to. It has been widely documented that the wearing of face masks has made some people really think about what they are breathing in before having to wear one, be it pollution, dust, potential pathogens etc, and this may change their behaviour going forward.
The results are more evenly distributed when it comes to wearing masks at work, perhaps with people feeling they are more able to socially distance themselves, or are mixing with less people. However the interesting finding is that over 29% of people would wear a mask in the workplace to make others feel comfortable. 18% said they would occasionally wear a mask at work to protect themselves and less than 21% said they would never wear a mask at work.
Public transport generally involves large numbers of people in enclosed spaces, and though not the law, it is one area where the guidelines still recommends the wearing of face masks to minimise the spread of the virus.
The findings from the survey revealed 55% of people will always wear a mask on public transport, with 18% saying they wear it to make others feel comfortable. This latter figure increases to 36% in the 18-29 age group, again showing the empathy of young adults in wanting others to feel comfortable.
Bars, Restaurants and Shops
One of the things we missed the most during lockdown was socialising with family and friends, and out with houses, this tends to take place at restaurants and bars. What are feelings towards mask wearing in these venues, where you are choosing to go for leisure, as opposed to work or the grocery store.
We broke the questioning on this into two sections - face mask use by employees in those venues and mask use by customers.
The stand out figures regarding employees wearing face masks were that 45% of people felt protected and comfortable when employees are wearing masks and 36% said that they feel that they are taking care of their staff. Again showing that an important factor is care of other people rather than just themselves.
When it comes to other customers wearing masks in the establishment, 48% of people said they feel more protected and comfortable and 35% said they would be more likely to revisit the venue.
Another important point to pick up here is that only 16% of 18-29 years olds said it was unnecessary for people to wear face masks in bars, restaurants and shops (compared to 25% of 45-64 year olds).
Having broken down mask use in the various areas, we wanted to look into which elements of pandemic enforced behaviour our respondents would be continuing with in the future. Of the six behaviours listed - social distancing, wearing face masks, frequent handwashing, avoiding crowded spaces, regular testing and increasing ventilation, wearing face masks was rated fourth, to handwashing (78%), social distancing and avoiding crowded places (both 56%). Almost 50% of respondents stated that they planned to wear a face mask in the future.
Confirming the data drawn from the initial questions, when looking into where the respondents planned on wearing masks going forward, by far the highest category was on public transport (68%), followed by sporting events and concerts (52%) and indoor crowded environments - hospitality such as bowling, cinema, restaurants and malls (48%).
The pandemic has affected some people terribly, losing loved ones, not seeing family for months/years, losing jobs and many struggling mentally across the age ranges. In fact, almost 50% said it will have a lasting effect on them emotionally, and 22% physically. Financial impact through job loss, furlough or future uncertainty has been a major factor, and 27% of respondents said it will continue to affect them financially. Interestingly, 19% stated the pandemic had not affected them and 14% said it had actually had a positive impact on them and their lifestyles - things like working from home, spending more time with the family and perhaps 'resetting' and allowing them to see what is most important to them.
It is clear from the survey results that the pandemic really has changed our behaviours and affected our thoughts about the future.
It is evident that even with the lifting of restrictions and the world gradually returning to the new normal, in general people still plan to protect themselves and others by wearing face masks, especially on public transport and in crowded indoor places and when in close proximity to the elderly and vulnerable.
With this long-term planned use, it becomes imperative to invest the time and money into a comfortable and sustainable option. AirPop provides a wide range of quality assured face masks for both adults and children, with award winning features and design.
From the Which Best Buy awarded Pocket Mask, to the Original and colourful kids mask, all our masks are designed around leak free comfort, advanced filtration and easy breathing. Washable and recyclable, they are an environmentally friendly sustainable option as well.


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'Summer by Ali Smith is exquisite. Smith is in a class of her own and the culmination of her remarkable seasonal quartet proves it.' Nicola Sturgeon
2020 Book of the Year according to The Spectator, TLS, New Statesman and the FT
The unmissable finale to Ali Smith's dazzling literary tour de force: the Seasonal quartet concludes in 2020 with Summer
LONGLISTED FOR THE HIGHLAND BOOK PRIZE
In the present, Sacha knows the world's in trouble. Her brother Robert just is trouble. Their mother and father are having trouble. Meanwhile the world's in meltdown - and the real meltdown hasn't even started yet. In the past, a lovely summer. A different brother and sister know they're living on borrowed time.
This is a story about people on the brink of change. They're family, but they think they're strangers. So: where does family begin? And what do people who think they've got nothing in common have in common?
'The first great coronavirus novel - a book to savour, a literary tour de force that captures the nation's psyche exquisitely' Evening Standard
'An astonishing finale to a prescient series . . . Ali Smith brilliantly weaves strands of joy and celebration to end her Seasonal Quartet' Irish Times
'A maestra's portrait of her age . . . remarkable' Guardian
The Accidental
Public library and other stories
How to be Both
Kasia Boddy
There but for the
The First Person and Other Stories
Sunset Song
Lewis Grassic Gibbon
The Collected Stories of Katherine Mansfield
The Hearing Trumpet
Other Stories and Other Stories
The Whole Story and Other Stories
Hotel World
The Member of the Wedding
Seasonal Quartet
In defence of the exclamation mark! Literature's most-snubbed punctuation
Scott Fitzgerald ruled them out, Virginia Woolf adored them. In the internet era, is it fair to still snub the 'fun uncle' of grammar?
Editor's picks: the best books to transport you
A selection of reads that will take you to different lands and time periods, all from the comfort of your favourite reading spot.
Atwood at 80: How her work shaped the lives of authors and activists
As Margaret Atwood turns 80, we asked some of our favourite writers and activists about how they discovered her work. They told us how her writing influenced them and which of her books are closest to their hearts.
The book that changed my summer
From otter-spotting in Scotland to monsoons in Kolkata, here Ali Smith, William Boyd and nine other Penguin authors share their favourite holiday reading memories.
The classics we fell in love with, as chosen by our authors and readers
This summer, we're celebrating the individual books that readers have fallen in love with. We've sought submissions from authors to artists, musicians to booksellers, and from you, Penguin Classics readers. Each book you've shared tells a story of its own, through its cracked spine, dog-eared pages, scribbled margins or its missing cover. And because the most beautiful books are the ones that have been well-read, we'd love to see yours. Look out for the posters across the UK and share your own Classics with us on Facebook and Twitter, using the hashtag #HappyReading.
Ali Smith returns with Spring: 'We must look to ourselves for hope'
Spring, the third novel in Ali Smith's Seasonal Quartet, tells the impossible tale of an impossible time. Here she dicusses what we can expect from the next installment in her remarkable, once-in-a-generation masterpiece.
Ali Smith on the post-truth era: 'There is still a light'
Set against a backdrop of seismic societal change, the prize-winning author's second novel in her acclaimed Seasonal cycle offers a glimmer of hope in these uncertain times. She talks to Anna James.
Ali Smith and Mohsin Hamid make the Man Booker Prize 2017 shortlist
Works from Mohsin Hamid, Arundhati Roy, Ali Smith and Zadie Smith selected for Man Booker Prize 2017 longlist
Ali Smith on Autumn, Brexit, and the shortness of life
Ali Smith speaks with book blogger Eric Karl Anderson about her moving and inventive novel, Autumn
Public Library and other stories by Ali Smith
Read an extract from Smith's inspiring and inventive new collection of stories
Ali Smith was born in Inverness in 1962. She is the author of Spring, Winter, Autumn, Public library and other stories, How to be both, Shire, Artful, There but for the, The first person and other stories, Girl Meets Boy, The Accidental, The whole story and other stories, Hotel World, Other stories and other stories, Like and Free Love. Hotel World was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Orange Prize. The Accidental was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Orange Prize. How to be both won the Bailey's Prize, the Goldsmiths Prize and the Costa Novel of the Year Award, and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Autumn was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2017 and Winter was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize 2018. Ali Smith lives in Cambridge.


Jordan Spieth hasn't been as sharp as we've come to expect since a dominant win in Kapalua to kick off 2016. However, he can still do things most people couldn't dream of to a golf ball. And to a marshmallow.
Spieth couldn't keep his balance on the celebration, but it we'll give him a pass for pulling off the sweet flop.
A native of Dallas, Spieth made his PGA Tour debut at his hometown event as a junior in high school. That week Spieth was tied for seventh heading into the final round before finishing T-16 at age 16.
This week, all eyes will be on Spieth again as he tries to bounce back from a missed cut at the Players that followed the sour taste left in his mouth from a back-nine collapse at the Masters. If Tuesday's trick shot is any indication, the world No. 3 doesn't seem too concerned.


The model is a size 8 and is 180 cm tall with a, 88 cm chest, 62 cm waist and 90 cm hips.
A fluid dress with a narrow V neckline by BOSS Womenswear. Cut for an easy silhouette in satin-back crepe, this dress is designed with a pleat in the front for soft movement. Complete with a detachable long belt for individual styling, this feminine piece pairs effortlessly with tonal BOSS pumps.


Built in 1974, Oak Hill Apartment Homes is a 72-unit community in historic Davidson, North Carolina, just minutes away from Lake Norman and only 20 miles from the city of Charlotte. Sixty-six units are rented to households at or below 60% average median income, and six units are devoted to the North Carolina Key Care Program serving individuals and families with disabilities with incomes at or below 30% of area median income. In 2012, CHP upgraded the interior and exterior of the community, improving the functionality, energy efficiency and aesthetics of the property.
Return the completed application along with supporting documents and application fee to the Leasing Center. To facilitate the quickest processing, we recommend that you schedule an appointment with us to review your application at time of submission. You may reach us at 704-892-1859.


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603-271-7200 info@volunteernh.org
NH AmeriCorps Programs
Resources for Program Directors
AmeriCorps VISTA
News and Opportunities
New Hampshire Launches One of Four AmeriCorps Pilot Programs in United States to Address Hunger
Stephanie Lesperance
Campus Compact for NH
lesperance@compactnh.org – 603-493-6446
AmeriCorps, the federal agency for volunteering and service, announced the launch of a new food security initiative to create a comprehensive and collaborative approach to hunger. New Hampshire is one of four states selected to launch a project to combat the growing hunger crisis. The New Hampshire Food Insecurity AmeriCorps program brings together partners from across the state to address hunger.
"New Hampshire continues to manage the many ways that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our communities, and this unique program through AmeriCorps provides yet another tool to do just that," said Governor Chris Sununu. "The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified food insecurity in New Hampshire, but by bringing together partners and key stakeholders from across the state, I know that this program will make a significant impact."
The project will place 20 AmeriCorps members serving as VISTAs in communities around New Hampshire. Partners for the project include:
Volunteer NH: The state's leader in volunteering and service, Volunteer NH will be providing statewide direction for the project
Campus Compact for New Hampshire: A current AmeriCorps grantee, Campus Compact of New Hampshire will act as the fiscal agent and coordinator of the project
The New Hampshire Food Bank: An expert in addressing food insecurity, The New Hampshire Food Bank will deliver training and ongoing support for the project
"The pandemic has exacerbated food insecurity for Americans," said Desiree Tucker-Sorini, director of AmeriCorps VISTA. "The VISTA program is primed to take on this issue, and I am honored to lead our members in this effort. Through these statewide initiatives, we will identify solutions that work, enabling communities to replicate the program across the country so that families no longer have to experience the pangs of hunger."
Since the spread of COVID-19, approximately one in seven men, women, and children in New Hampshire are food insecure, meaning they do not know when or where their next meal will come from. A projected 71,000 additional people are food insecure and, in total, more than 197,000 across the state, a 57% increase. In New Hampshire, an estimated 21-23% of children are living in food insecure environments due to COVID-19. "The New Hampshire Food Bank is excited to work with our partners to support this program in the Granite State," said Eileen Liponis, Executive Director, New Hampshire Food Bank. "We look forward to working together to support individuals and families who do not have access to the nutritious food they need during COVID-19."
During their service, the AmeriCorps VISTA members will organize community coalitions, sharing information to break down silos between service providers; develop surveys and mapping tools to help local leaders better address food insecurity in an area; write grants and cultivate new relationships with private sector partners to support food banks; recruit and train volunteers to help with food delivery programs; and develop outreach and social media tools to help increase awareness and SNAP enrollment. "Our AmeriCorps members will be working to make long-term impacts and develop sustainable solutions to food insecurity in New Hampshire" said Debby Scire, executive director of Campus Compact for New Hampshire. "We are proud to be able to collaborate with our partners to address this critical challenge facing New Hampshire communities."
The AmeriCorps VISTA program has a strong track record of supporting food security initiatives. Each year, roughly 20% of AmeriCorps VISTA's 8,000 members serve in roles dedicated to address issues of food insecurity. "National Service programs in NH support the state's highest needs and make a huge impact," said Gretchen Stallings, Executive Director of Volunteer NH. "We are thrilled to be able to lead this innovative project that shall place national service members in positions to provide food banks and pantries with much needed help and to support access to nutritious food for NH communities in the face of increased demand." Campus Compact for New Hampshire has begun recruiting for the new positions announced today. Individuals interested in serving in this new initiative can learn more at AmeriCorps.gov/VISTA.
About AmeriCorps
AmeriCorps, a federal agency, brings people together to tackle the country's most pressing challenges through national service and volunteering. AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers serve with organizations dedicated to the improvement of communities. AmeriCorps helps make service to others a cornerstone of our national culture. Learn more at AmeriCorps.gov.
About Campus Compact for New Hampshire
Founded in 1997, Campus Compact for New Hampshire (CCNH) is a statewide consortium of college and university presidents and private-sector partners who are united in their commitment to the civic purposes of higher education. As part of a national coalition of college and university leaders, CCNH serves as a catalyst to integrate community service and civic responsibility throughout academic and student life. CCNH is part of the national Campus Compact organization, which encompasses more than 1,100 college and university presidents representing some 6 million students. For more information, see www.compactnh.org.
About the New Hampshire Food Bank
The New Hampshire Food Bank, a program of Catholic Charities New Hampshire, has been working to relieve hunger in the Granite State since 1984. While the New Hampshire Food Bank does not generally receive federal or state funding for food distribution, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the New Hampshire Food Bank received one-time funding through the recent federal CARES Act. Since the spread of COVID-19, there are approximately one in seven men, women, and children in New Hampshire who are food insecure, a projected 71,000 additional people and more than 57% increase. In 2019, as the state's only food bank, the New Hampshire Food Bank efficiently procured and distributed more than 14.2 million pounds of food to people in need through more than 400 non-profit registered agencies. Agencies include food pantries, neighborhood centers, low-income housing sites, senior nutrition centers, family crisis centers, hospices, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, after school programs, and day care centers. For more information about the New Hampshire Food Bank, please visit www.nhfoodbank.org. Find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
About Volunteer NH
Volunteer NH's mission is to promote the tradition of service in NH by supporting and sponsoring National Service initiatives and provide training, recognition, and a central site for volunteers and volunteer programs to help them strengthen their communities. Designated as the State Service Commission for New Hampshire, Volunteer NH has almost two decades of experience in service. Volunteer NH holds annual volunteer recognition and training conferences, boasts an AmeriCorps portfolio of more than 2.7 million dollars in federal funds, has a statewide, online volunteer opportunity database (known as "Get Connected"), and also oversees a cohort of organizations seeking to increase their capacity through a Volunteer Generation Fund (VGF) grant. For more information visit www.volunteernh.org.
Donate to VNH
Volunteer NH relies on federal and private funding to support diverse, high quality service and volunteer opportunities across the state of New Hampshire.
Find Volunteers in NH
Attract, manage and report on volunteer activities in your organization with Get Connected, an online hub for volunteerism in New Hampshire.
Volunteer NH is a 501(c)3 organization with a mission to promote the tradition of service in New Hampshire. To continue this mission we depend on donations and any amount helps! Donations to Volunteer NH are tax deductible
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Lessons: We offer lessons for all ages and abilities from four years upwards. Progressing from walking to trotting and later cantering and jumping, each individual develops at their own pace. Stable management is incorperated into some lessons and anyone over the age of eight is welcome to come early or stay late in order to find out more about looking after horses.
Private: We also offer Private Lessons for anyone who feels they would benefit from one to one tuition in flat work, jumping, lateral work and dressage, in hand and training the young horse.


Who Are Your Neighbors Anyway?
Local couple Brad and Sheri Winterset consider themselves to be a wealth of parental advice despite the fact that they don't have any children.
Screaming, crying and carrying-on is something of a specialty for Barrett Jones, Jr. Fueled with an unfocused rage, the tyrannical two year-old was throwing a first class fit at the McDonald's on 84th Street last Wednesday at 12:22 pm for apparently no reason at all.
Ellen Jones, his mother, loudly announced that she'd "had it up to here" with his behavior and that Barrett could look forward to a nice long nap as she removed him from his booster chair and made her way toward their car.
His half-eaten Filet of Fish was left at the restaurant.
Brad Dickson, the Omaha World Herald's "comedic" commentarian, hit a wall last Thursday while working on his latest compilation of zingers for "Breaking Brad," his daily deluge of quips on current events.
With a renewed vigor and a self-imposed commitment to making his comments actually funny or at least insightful, he wound up staring at a blank screen for 45 minutes before giving up entirely.
Adams said she and her cousin, Sandra Lewis, hoped to raise awareness about the disparity of wealth in this small Midwestern town of less than 3,000 residents. "We had really high hopes in the beginning, but all we got were stares," she said, adding that they were secretly hoping for a confrontation with law enforcement. Instead all they received were puzzled looks and a plate of cookies from Edna Wilson, who lives next door to the post office. Wilson also let the girls use her bathroom, Adams said.


Coffee has a language of its own. To help you find your way around the world of coffee, here are a few terms that the coffee experts use to define different coffees.
The smell while the coffee is brewing. It is produced by aromatics developed during the roasting process.
The sensation of weight and texture in the mouth.
This is a positive term. Without acidity, coffee would taste flat and be without its brightness and liveliness.
Flavour combines the aroma, body and acidity.
Balanced – a well balanced "round" coffee contains all the key characteristics in the right amounts.
Winey – a positive term which describes a fruity flavour, similar to the taste of a mature red wine.
Buttery – a rich, oily flavour.
Richness – indicates the complexity and development of the flavour.
Strong – this refers to the amount of flavour and aroma in the coffee.
Mild – this applies to washed Arabica with its delicate flavour.
Clean – used to describe fine washed coffee with no "off" flavours.
Mellow – a gentle combination of flavours.
Caramelised – a toasted, sugary flavour.
Spicy – an aroma or flavour reminiscent of sweet wood spices.
Chocolatey – this applies when a coffee has an aromatic aftertaste of unsweetened chocolate or vanilla.
Full – a combination of intensity, body and smoothness.
Point – lively flavour and acidity as found in the best Kenyan coffees.
Sweet – a smooth coffee without any harsh flavours.


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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Releases Notices of Proposed Rulemaking on Payday Lending
February 11, 2019 / Source: CFPB
Washington, D.C. — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today is proposing to rescind certain provisions of its 2017 final rule governing "Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans." Specifically, the Bureau is proposing to rescind the rule's requirements that lenders make certain underwriting determinations before issuing payday, single-payment vehicle title, and longer-term balloon payment loans. The Bureau is preliminarily finding that rescinding this requirement would increase consumer access to credit.
In October 2018, under the leadership of then-Acting Director Mulvaney, the Bureau announced that it would issue Notice of Proposed Rulemakings (NPRMs) to reconsider the rule's mandatory underwriting requirements and to address the rule's compliance date. The proposals the Bureau is releasing today fulfill that commitment.
The Bureau's proposal suggests there was insufficient evidence and legal support for the mandatory underwriting provisions in the 2017 final rule. Additionally, the Bureau is concerned that these provisions would reduce access to credit and competition in states that have determined that it is in their residents' interests to be able to use such products, subject to state-law limitations. The NPRM proposing to rescind the mandatory underwriting requirement is open to public comment for 90 days.
In a separate notice issued today, the Bureau is also proposing to delay the August 19, 2019 compliance date for the mandatory underwriting provisions of the 2017 final rule to November 19, 2020. The NPRM proposing the delay is open to public comment for 30 days.
Today's NPRMs do not propose to reconsider the provisions of the 2017 final rule governing payments, including reconsidering the scope of their coverage. The payment provisions prohibit payday and certain other lenders from making a new attempt to withdraw funds from an account where two consecutive attempts have failed unless consumers consent to further withdrawals. The payment provisions also require such lenders to provide consumers with written notice before making their first attempt to withdraw payment from their accounts and before subsequent attempts that involve different dates, amounts, or payment channels. These provisions are intended to increase consumer protections from harm associated with lenders' payment practices.
"The Bureau will evaluate the comments, weigh the evidence, and then make its decision," said Kathy Kraninger, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. "In the meantime, I look forward to working with fellow state and federal regulators to enforce the law against bad actors and encourage robust market competition to improve access, quality, and cost of credit for consumers."
The NPRMs can be viewed here: https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_payday_nprm-2019-reconsideration.pdf and https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_payday_nprm-2019-delay.pdf


Cattle want to see you. They want to be around you and also with other cattle. We manage our cattle strategically. Low stress animal handling is sound practice and the standard at the Dawson Creek Cattle Company. Thought goes into moving the cows between pastures. Working with cattle this way takes patience. We believe the results are worth it and hope you will too.
The Dawson Creek Cattle Company is a grass roots business in every sense of the word. We understand creating something from the ground up. That's why we take pride in growing the highest quality grass for our cattle. Quality in. Quality out.
We're proud to live & work in America. Land of the Free, home of the Brave. We extend those inalienable rights bestowed upon us by the creator to our cattle because it's the right thing to do.


These attempts were unsuccessful and celebrations continued to be held on that day; classic songs celebrating mothers remain famous to this day.Kyrgyzstan has recently introduced Mother's Day, but "year on year International Women's Day is certainly increasing in status".67 The French government made..
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They also do a good job of saving your coffee table from condensation stains.
Bluetooth Ottoman Speaker, this speaker takes up no extra room because it is built right into an ottoman, so you can use it in two ways at the same time.
50 DIY Gifts for Music Lovers Handmade Vinyl Record Book This book takes vinyl records and repurposes them into a book.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below JBL Charge 3 Waterproof Portable Speaker Price: 119.95 Buy: Amazon These days everyone has some sort baked christmas gifts martha stewart of portable speakerespecially music lovers.In-ear headphones need to be something you try on yourself, test out a little bit.Vintage Suitcase iPod Speakers These iPod speakers are made using a vintage suitcase.But, if you have someone who spends long hours listening to music on headphones while working or for just a little bit of solitude, then a good pair of wireless over-the-ear headphones are pretty easy to pick out as a gift.But, everyone can use a better speaker.Plus, the 8-10 sessions per charge will work for any lengthy outing.Thankfully, no matter who youre buying for, the Bose QuietComfort 35 Series II have excellent soundespecially for wireless headphonesalong with an impressive 20 hours of battery life and access to Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa.Same goes for workout or commuting headphones.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Mophie Powerstation Plus XL Price:.99 Buy: Amazon Okay this looks like a nerdy tech-dad gift at first glance, but anyone who listens to a lot of music using their phone knows its absolutely necessary.
32000 iPod Table Top Jukebox, this jukebox doesnt need nickels, quarters, or dollars, it connects to your iPod and plays songs from your playlist with the press of a button.
Music Themed Card This card is cute, and is made from washi tape, so its not hard to make it turn out just like theirs does.This is the perfect clock for someone that still prefers to listen to their music on vinyl.This is super easy to make, and a great gift for the piano player in your life.Price:.99, buy: Amazon, whether they want to dabble in making beats or just mess around, the Teenage Engineering arcade synthesizer module is a stripped-down, easy to use synth that can go pretty much anywhere.If someone already has a sound system, they can still use Sonos for music in a different room.Meet Me in the Bathroom tells the story of the rebirth of the New York rock scene in the artist's own wordsfeaturing The Strokes, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, LCD Soundsystem, Interpol, and Vampire Weekend.Choose your shipping destination: AustraliaNew ZealandUnited KingdomUnited StatesHong KongSingaporeJapanChina and and HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBrunei DarussalamBulgariaBurkina VerdeCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) the Democratic Republic of theCook IslandsCosta RicaCote D'IvoireCroatiaCubaCyprusCzech RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial Islands (Malvinas)Faroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern Island and Mcdonald IslandsHoly See (Vatican.18.00, repurposed Coin Guitar Picks, these guitar picks are made out of quarters, so theyll definitely be sturdy and last as long as you want them.


GBJ Faceting Accessory ordering: sold as a retrofit accessory installed by John at the Gems by John workshop, not available as a do-it-yourself kit. The installation requires precision mounting and calibration allowing for variations of faceting heads.
If needed, the GBJ Faceting Accessory Dial Gauge can be removed quite simply by removing the machine screws that mount the accessory hardware to the faceting head.
GBJ Faceting Accessory Dial Gauge can be added to any new or old Graves Mark IV, Mark I, or Mark 5XL faceting machine. The cost includes installation by the innovator, John Wright, who will mount the accessory on to your faceting head.
Standard turnaround time is 5 working days to complete the installation.
The cost is $225 for a new GBJ Faceting Accessory Dial Gauge which includes mounting on your Graves faceting head. Retrofit work included to mount the GBJ Faceting Accessory Dial Gauge on your faceting head will be performed by John Wright, owner and innovator of this GBJ Faceting Accessory Dial Gauge.
Normal turnaround time is five working days to complete the work needed to mount and calibrate the GBJ Faceting Accessory Dial Gauge to any old or new Graves Mark I or Mark IV faceting head.
The GBJ Faceting Accessory Dial Gauge product is warranted for ninety (90) days from the date of purchase for material and workmanship. Gems by John LLC, maker of the GBJ Faceting Accessory Dial Gauge retrofit accessory for all Graves Mark I and Mark IV faceting machines, is in no way affiliated with The Graves Company, maker of the Graves Mark I, Mark IV, and Mark 5xl faceting machines.
Every GBJ Faceting Accessory Dial Gauge (Product) is warranted to the original purchaser only to be free from defects in material and workmanship. Subject to certain exceptions, Gems by John LLC will repair or replace any part on the Product which, after examination, is determined by Gems by John LLC to be defective in material or workmanship for a period of ninety (90) days after the date of purchase. Return the product and a copy of Proof of Purchase to Gems by John LLC, freight prepaid and insured. This warranty does not apply to damage that Gems by John LLC determines to be from repairs made or attempted by anyone, misuse, alterations, abuse, normal wear and tear, lack of maintenance, or accidents.
Warranty Registration is not necessary to obtain the applicable warranty on a Gems by John Dial Gauge Accessory Product. The manufacturing date of the product will be used to determine the warranty period if no proof of purchase is provided at the time warranty service is requested.
Gems by John LLC does not cover freight or labor charges associated with the inspection and testing of the Product that are found by Gems by John LLC not to be a valid warranty claim. A valid warranty claim must be substantiated by the discovery of defective material or workmanship by Gems by John LLC.ACCEPTANCE OF THE EXCLUSIVE REPAIR AND REPLACEMENT REMEDIES DESCRIBED HEREIN IS A CONDITION OF THE CONTRACT FOR THE PURCHASE OF EVERY GEMS BY JOHN LLC PRODUCT. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THIS CONDITION, YOU SHOULD NOT PURCHASE THE PRODUCT. IN NO EVENT SHALL GEMS BY JOHN LLC BE LIABLE FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY COSTS, ATTORNEY FEES, EXPENSES, LOSSES OR DELAYS ALLEGED TO BE AS A CONSEQUENCE OF ANY DAMAGE TO, FAILURE OF, OR DEFECT IN ANY PRODUCT INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY CLAIMS FOR LOSS OF PROFITS. THIS WARRANTY IS EXCLUSIVE AND IN LIEU OF ALL OTHER WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS, WRITTEN OR ORAL, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, GEMS BY JOHN DISCLAIMS ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR USE OR PURPOSE, AND ALL OTHER WARRANTIES.
and non-warranty service on a Gems by John LLC Product.


Eye pillows are fantastic. For years I've neglected the joy of using them in my relaxation. Partly because I haven't got one at home, partly because I've been using my beloved platypus as my eye pillow instead.
But lying in my supta baddha konasana today, I couldn't help but wished I had a little something heavy that really melts me down. So that poor person in me expanded her creativity and went into my sock drawer and made my own damn eye pillow.
So get your sock and put it in your container. Stretch out the opening so you can pour easily.
The next is easy and very obvious. Pour, tug, tie. The only trick is making sure the place you tie is quite a lot higher than where the level of your beans (or rice) is. The pillow should drape and not be a solid sausage form.
Next postSo you don't have time for yoga?


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Division Of Health
Home / Division Of Health
By Jill T Frey April 1, 2018
The newest information in Healthcare IT – straight to your inbox. By Bassett Healthcare Community's weight-loss program, Cheryl Irvin had gastric sleeve surgery that has assist her flip a brand new leaf in her life. Enter your main care physician's title to search out pressing care centers in your community. Information previously closed to the public reveal intimate details of the lives of individuals underneath the care of Victoria's psychological health system within the early Nineteen Forties.
Kristen Herbst, DO, who's board-licensed in orthopedic surgical procedure, has joined Bassett Healthcare Network. After more than a year hiatus, Bassett Healthcare Community's mobile mammography and cancer screening program is again on the road. Bassett's faculty-primarily based well being program has been granted a $4,000 Community Health Award by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield.
Regionally, Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown and ' Connor Hospital in Delhi are taking part on this pilot program developed by the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) and the New York Product Stewardship Council (NYPSC). Little Falls Hospital's purpose of growing a new major care health center in Dolgeville is one massive step nearer to becoming a reality.
Jim Tyler's story of being one of many first sufferers at Bassett Cancer Institute to obtain a brand new immunotherapy drug. Bassett Medical Middle provides stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) – a non-invasive form of radiation remedy used to deal with tumors on the mind, spine and lungs. My Brain Robbie, a unbelievable new initiative to promote brain health amongst school going children, has been launched via the Pilot Awards for World Brain Health Leaders, an initiative of the Global Brain Health Institute, Alzheimer's Association and Alzheimer's Society UK.
Bassett Healthcare's Dr. Michael Hodgman of the Emergency Division shares his ideas. Cooperstown High College seniors Sierra Kitson and Maria Noto have been lately each awarded a $500 scholarship by the Charles H. Bassett Youth Foundation, in partnership with The Neighborhood Basis for South Central New York. The surgeons they trained will extend the attain of the Bassett venture by training fellow African doctors on this more advanced surgical approach, which is anticipated to result in expanded access to such a surgical procedure for the poor, shorter hospital stays and higher outcomes.


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The Oscars – Best Picture Awards – Film Quiz
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Best Director Awards
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#1. At the 45th Academy Awards in 1973, which film by Francis Ford Coppola won the award for Best Picture?
The Godfather won three Oscars in 1973, Best Picture, Best Actor (Brando), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Puzo and Coppola). Chinatown, directed by Roman Polanski, was nominated at the 47th Academy Awards. That year the Best Picture Award went to The Godfather Part II.
#2. Which film directed by Steve McQueen won the Best Picture award at the 86th Academy Awards in 2014?
Beasts of the Southern Wild
12 Years a Slave is a 2013 historical drama film and an adaptation of the 1853 memoir of the same name by Solomon Northup. It is the third feature film directed by Steve McQueen written by John Ridley. In 2014, the film was awarded the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama, and won three Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Nyong'o) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Ridley).
#3. Which of these films won the Best Picture Award in 1982?
Gandhi, Tootsie, The Verdict, ans Missing were all nominated at the 55th Academy Awards. Gandhi written by John Briley, produced and directed by Richard Attenborough, and with Ben Kingsley in the title role won the Award. Gandhi was nominated in eleven categories, winning eight, including Best Director for Attenborough and Best Actor for Ben Kingsley.
#4. Which was the first film of Oliver Stone's trilogy about the Vietnam War, awarded with an Oscar in 1987?
Heaven & Earth
Born on the Fourth of July
Hamburger Hill
Platoon is the first film of a trilogy of Vietnam War films by Oliver Stone (followed by 1989's Born on the Fourth of July and 1993's Heaven & Earth). The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 59th Academy Awards in 1987. It also won Best Director for Oliver Stone, as well as Best Sound Mixing and Best Film Editing.
#5. From which Oscar-winning picture is this quote: Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.
The quote is from Forrest Gump, 1994. The film won the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director for Robert Zemeckis, Best Actor for Tom Hanks, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Visual Effects and Best Film Editing.
#6. Mel Gibson produced and directed this Academy Award winner from 1995:
The Man Without a Face
Braveheart won five awards, including Best Picture, at the 68th Academy Awards ceremony in 1996. The film was directed and co-produced by Mel Gibson, who portrays William Wallace, a late-13th-century Scottish warrior.
#7. In what year were these films nominated for Best Picture: The Deer Hunter, Heaven Can Wait, and Midnight Express?
Five films were nominated at the 51st Academy Awards in 1979. Two of the films, Coming Home and The Deer Hunter, were anti-war films that reflected the nation's growing resentment over the Vietnam War. The other three nominations were Heaven Can Wait, Midnight Express, and An Unmarried Woman. The Deer Hunter won five awards, including Best Picture and Best Director (Michael Cimino).
#8. Which film by the Italian director Federico Fellini won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1975?
The 47th Academy Awards in 1975, Amarcord won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, and was nominated for Best Director and Best Writing (Original Screenplay). Scent of a Woman was directed by Dino Risi and nominated for an award in 1976.
#9. In 1993, the winner of Best Picture is about retired Old West gunslinger William Munny, who reluctantly takes on one last job. The film?
The Crying Game
At the 65th Academy Awards in 1993, Unforgiven won four Oscars out of nine nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.
#10. Which remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs won four awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Martin Scorsese in 2007?
The Blood of Yingzhou District
The Departed won four awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Martin Scorsese. It was Scorsese's first Oscar after eight nominations. The Departed is a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Wahlberg.
This Best Picture Awards Quiz
Do You Remember Which Films Got an Oscar?
This quiz with 10 questions and answers takes you back in time to some of the most influential films and the ones that were awarded with the Best Picture Award.
The winners aren't always what experts anticipated, many great films and actors have been ignored. Still, the Oscars have a great impact on the movie business. An Oscar or a nomination gives a film or an artist's career a real boost, and regardless if an Oscar is well-deserved or not, the films that have been awarded an Oscar for Best Picture are all worth seeing.
How many of them do you remember?
The Oscars – Best Actor Awards – Film Quiz
The Oscars – Best Director Awards – Film Quiz
The Oscars Quiz – Random Academy Awards Questions
The Oscars – Best Actress Awards – Film Quiz


The Miami Heat might have already settled their contract dispute with Chris Bosh, but the $36 million question still lingers: How can Pat Riley upgrade his current roster without losing Dion Waiters and James Johnson this summer? In an article by NBA insider Barry Jackson in the Miami Herald, he discussed the ramification of Bosh's pact with the Heat and how it would affect the team's plan in free-agency.
Although Bosh's impending release will permanently remove $52.1 million from the Heat's books, Jackson explained that it has little effect on the team's financial flexibility this summer.
$36 million is the projected starting cap space for the Heat this off-season, and the figure is expected to dwindle down once Riley works out new deals with Waiters, Johnson and Willie Reed.
"The removal of Bosh from the cap will leave the Heat with just over $36 million in cap space this summer, not counting Dion Waiters and Willie Reed, who are expected to exercise opt-outs, and Wayne Ellington, whose $6.3 million salary will be guaranteed only if he's on the Heat's roster after July 7," according to Jackson.
The Heat's limited cap space might very well put them out of contention for Utah Jazz's Gordon Hayward, who is listed as the best free-agent small forward outside Kevin Durant this summer. Gordon may have missed the All-NBA team, but he's still eligible for a starting salary of $30 million per year. Obviously, the Heat doesn't have the cap space to absorb such huge deal, but they can find a way to lessen their payroll through trades or waiving players via stretch provision.
NBA writer Zach Lowe of ESPN reported that McRoberts picked up his player's option for the 2017/18 season worth $6 million. The 30-year old McRoberts once again missed a major bulk of the Heat's regular-season games last season due to a foot injury. He averaged 4.9 points and 3.4 rebounds in 22 games.
In an interview with Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel, McRobert's agent Mike Conley said his client has long planned to opt in given the fact that he never had a chance to put up strong numbers for this year's free-agency.
Out of the 246 possible regular-games since signing a three-year deal with the Heat in 2014, McRoberts only played 81 of those games due to various injuries.
Although a healthy McRoberts can provide quality minutes off the bench, Winderman believes the Heat will still waive his contract via stretch provision. By doing so, the Heat will get an annual cap hit of $2 million over the next three seasons and obtain an addition $4 million in cap space this summer.


Pre-booked cruises are the most popular means to see the Islands and are commonly booked from the mainland. They are perfect for those with only a short vacation time but can also be the most expensive.
Booking a Last Minute cruise when you arrive on the islands is more suitable for long term travellers or those with plenty of available time. The cruises are up to half the price of a pre-booked cruise but there may be some wait before departure day.
Island hopping is possibly the cheapest means of seeing the islands and can be tailored to however long you have available. They take more work to organise and you can't get to some of the more distant islands the cruises can take you to.
For my trip to the Galapagos, I simply flew to the Islands and booked a Last Minute 4-day cruise. The cruise started several days after I booked it, giving me time to explore parts of Isla Santa Cruz and Puerto Ayora.
The day began early with myself and my Uraguayan friend leaving the hostel at 7a.m., having a quick breakfast in town before catching a taxi to the bus terminal. After a 90-minute mixed bus and ferry ride we arrived at the airport where we met our tour guide and some of the other passengers. We were taken to the boat, the Estrella del Mar – Star of the Sea. The boat's passenger capacity was 16 and my friend and I were the oldest of the group.
Onboard the Estrella del Mar we were given a delicious lunch and as we sailed to our first destination, Isla Bartolomé, had a chance to get to know the other passengers. As we travelled the choppy seas and the rocking of the small boat caused me to feel a little sick, so I took some sea sickness pills I had left over from my Antarctic cruise.
We arrived into the calm waters of Bartolome Island in the early afternoon and donned our wetsuits. We were dropped off on the shore and snorkelled for an hour around the pinnacle – a large piece of weathered rock sticking up at the edge of the beach.
While there wasn't any coral, there were plenty of fish. As we swam we located several Galapagos Penguins hanging out on the rocks and the occasional Galapagos sea lion doing the same.
There were also plenty of small colourful crabs climbing the rocks so I swum in for a closer look. As I got nearer to the shore, I went underwater and came face to face with a White Tip Reef shark sleeping in a small cave under the rocks. While they aren't usually aggressive, I was still cautious for the few minutes I watched it. I did eventually get a shot of the colourful rock crab.
After returning to the beach, we were taxied to the boat where we changed before being delivered to another part of the island, to hike to the top of a volcanic hill. There were great views and our guide was very knowledgable about the formation of the islands.
After the hike, we returned to the boat for dinner while it headed north. At about 11p.m. we cross the equator.
Our cabin was on the lower level at the front of the boat. So, while we were in motioned overnight, the cabin was very hot even with the air conditioning on.
In the early hours of the morning we arrived at Isla Genovesa, an extinct volcano where a massive sinkhole had filled with water to form a natural harbour. After a large breakfast, we were taken in the zodiacs to the beach, where we went for a short walk around the beach and a small patch of mangroves. This allowed us to see several nesting species of birds, black Marine Iguanas and fur seals, including this cub.
We then changed into our wetsuits on the beach before heading into the water. We snorkelled for about an hour in the fairly murky water. We saw plenty of fish similar to yesterday, but little else. We were taken back to the boat briefly before being taken across the bay for more snorkelling. This is the only spot on our cruise where Hammerhead sharks are commonly seen but after an hour in the water we had no luck. I had fun swimming a little way down the shelf that drops off to a depth deeper than the ships sonar can see, making it more than 350m deep.
Back on the boat, we had lunch and relaxed for a couple of hours. Many of us napped after a long morning of swimming. When we were ready, a small group of us were taken to third spot in the bay for yet more snorkelling. It was calmer and warmer in the water as the sun had broken through the clouds during lunch. We swam along the wall of the bay, the rocks climbing up about 20 metres. We were joined by a couple of sea lions, but they only played for a few minutes before heading back to their rocks. We snorkelled on, but saw little more.
After the hike, we were taken back to the boat for dinner and an early night following a very busy day. During the night we headed back across the equator and it was again very rocky aboard.
Overnight the rocking of the boat caused me to feel very sick, but only in my cabin, so I forwent my usual evening movie and just went to sleep. And this was after having taken seasickness pills. I awoke in the morning to calm seas and felt much better.
After a hearty breakfast, we set about getting ready for our first activity, a short hike across South Plaza Island to see some wildlife.
We started on the beach where many fur seals were sleeping.
We then walked along the rocky trail stopping for photo opportunities and discussions about the flora and fauna. Among the various species of birds we spied a land Iguana. This one is a metre long.
…and the 10cm long gecko.
Then, it was back to the boat to change into our wetsuits in preparation for our final snorkelling session of the cruise. Swimming in the bay at Isla Santa Fé makes me want to buy an underwater camera. Firstly, there were playful sea lions and I finally found my first coral in the waters. It wasn't very colourful, but some coral is better than no coral. Then, as we snorkelled across the small bay, we were joined by sea turtles and stingrays sucking at the sand on the bottom. All in all, an excellent snorkelling session for our final day.
Back on the boat, we set sail for Puerto Ayora harbour where we dropped anchor for the evening.
The final day on the cruise was a little disappointing. When booking the cruise, we enquired if they would be going to either the Giant Tortoise colony or to Charles Darwin Research Station, where they look after the young animals. We were told the cruise would finish at the Research station, so prior to the cruise, my Uraguayan friend and I headed up to see the Giant Tortoises. As it turned out, the group was taken to see the Giant Tortoises. But instead of seeing them again, we called an end to our trip and headed back to the hostel.
Overall, the cruise around the Galapagos Islands was great. While the islands don't feel as tropical as other Pacific Islands, the diverse species of animals, especially the ones that are native to these islands were amazing. A most enjoyable cruise.
After a couple more days in the Galapagos Islands, I fly back to Quito.
The Galapagos Islands is an archipelago of volcanic islands about 1,000 kilometres off the coast of Ecuador. While they're technically Pacific Islands, they don't have the same tropical islands feel like that of Tonga or Fiji. There are no palm trees here, for example.
Most people travelling to the Galapagos come for a cruise to see the diverse animal species. Most cruises are organised from the mainland before arriving and can be expensive. So, I decided to book a flight to the islands and to look for a 'last minute' deal when I got there, like I had for Antarctica 7 months ago. If you have time to spare, this is the cheaper way to go.
After an hour in a taxi from the hostel to the airport, a 30 minute stop off in the port city of Guayaquil and a 90 minute flight, I finally arrived on the islands. The airport is situated on a desert island, not the sandy romantic type, but a more rough dry vegetation type. What they don't advertise is the US$100 entry fee into the National Marine Park – which covers all of the islands. Luckily, I had just enough on me, otherwise they would have taken my passport and I would have had to pay and collect it somewhere in town.
At the hostel I met a Uraguayan guy, Ernesto, who I ended up hanging out with for the rest of my time on the islands. We were greeted by the owner Kevin, from the US. Kevin took us on a free tour of the town introducing many of the aspects that were useful to know. At the end of the tour, Ernesto and I booked a 4-day cruise at a fairly good price. It was a couple of days away, so we explored some parts of the island.
At the top of the island is a sanctuary for the massive giant tortoises that can only be found on these islands. They wallow in mud, chew grass and take very leisurely strolls down the side of the main cross island road. While fencing is used to separate properties on the islands, the tortoises are allowed to go anywhere they want, albeit slowly.
A taxi to anywhere in town is US$1 by law, but to get to the Giant Tortoise sanctuary it costs US$30 and the driver who takes you up there becomes your impromptu tour guide – thankfully Ernesto could translate. At the end of the tour, the driver takes you to several other places before dropping you back at your hostel.
The reserve on Santa Cruz Island isn't large but we met many of the tortoises who were just sitting around munching grass or drinking muddy water. The very large ones are the males (some 1.5m long) while females are smaller. There were several young aged 3-5 years, which were about the size of normal turtles. You're not allow to approach to within 2 metres of the animals, but even at 5 metres some of them pull in their heads and hiss. They could no doubt give a nasty bite, so we kept our distance.
After visiting the tortoises, the driver took us to a large lava tunnel and dropped us at the start before going to wait for us at the exit. Stairs descend into the tube, which was slightly taller and wider than a train tunnel. The tube is nearly 500m long and is lit by sporadic lights.
Near the end the tunnel roof descends, giving only a crawl space for about 2 metres. After crawling through on our bellies we met the taxi and were taken back to town.
While it's not steaming hot in the islands, it can be a little muggy first thing in the morning. The day before the cruise was cloudy but warm, so we decided to find the swimming hole we'd been told about. Just prior to leaving, an English couple arrived at the hostel and we invited them to join us.
From the pier at the centre of town a water taxi takes us across the small harbour for 60 cents, zig-zagging through the yachts.
We then walked across volcanic rock for 20 minutes to a natural fissure in the rock about 40 metres deep. The bottom 10 metres is filled with water.
A pair of bikini clad girls from Florida at the edge of the swimming hole told us the water was cold. Of course the best way to get into cold water is to dive. But, the water wasn't as cold as expected and the four of us ended up swimming for an hour, occasionally climbing up the sides and jumping from the rocks.
Puerto Ayroa has plentiful restaurants and being in the Pacific, seafood is common. For the three nights we stayed we ate in three different places. Firstly, at the pier where the boats bring daily fresh catches. In the morning they sell their catches of fish and crayfish, then in the evening they have a cheap seafood fry up. Very tasty.
On night two, we discovered a street where all the small restaurants block the road by setting up plastic tables down the middle. At one particular restaurant, I ate a local fish dish – Caviche – where they slowly cook raw fish in a lime throughout the day. Yum!
Day three, with our new English friends, we ate at a normal restaurant. Boring, but still tasty.
Lastly, on returning from the cruise, we decided to head to Tortuga Bay beach, a 30 minute walk along a 2.5km path. The day we went was warm but very cloudy and when we arrived at the beach it was beautiful but rather cold.
As evening approaches, the Iguanas head a special location and pile on top of each other to conserve heat during the night. The Marine Iguanas are the only species of in the world that do this, and at a half a metre long each, that's a big pile.
Next, the 4-day cruise around the islands.
Máncora is the second most popular tourist destination in Peru, with Cusco / Machu Picchu the first and Arequipa / Colca Canyon the third. While most of Peru's tourist destinations have plentiful tours – hiking, boating, climbing, rafting and the like; Máncora is different. There are tours, but the main attraction is the sand and the amazing beaches.
My original plan was to skip Máncora on the way to Ecuador. But the bus from Lima to Quito is nearly 2 days long, so to break it up, I decided to wait for the bus to pass through by hanging out at the beach for a few days. Sounds horrible, I know, all that waiting.
Máncora has a local population of just over 9,000 people and has an average altitude of 11m above sea level. This is of interest because I've spent most of my time in Peru at 3,000m and above.
On arriving in the town, the first thing I noticed was the number of Tuk Tuks on the main street.
As I stepped off the bus I was accosted by the usual taxi drivers but made sure I booked my ticket to Quito first. Then it was a mad dash on a slow Tuk Tuk to my hostel, which was right on the beach front.
My cabaña was a two level dorm with 5 beds and a balcony which looked out of the Pacific Ocean, only 20 metres away. The golden sand is hot and the sun blaring, but what do you expect from the beach?
While I went into town a couple of times; once for dinner at one of Máncora's many amazing restaurants, and once for a look around. But I didn't find much there as it's a beachside town and people don't visit for its shopping. So, for most of the four days I was in town, I just lay around on the beach, wrote, or swapped movies. It seemed that everyone staying at the hostel had a hard drive. So, while we were sitting on the beach, our computers were copying our selections. Honestly, what else is there to do on the beach? Such a hard life!
Then at the end of the 4 days, my bus arrived and I was off again to Quito.
After four days walking the Santa Cruz trek in Cordillera Blanca, I returned to Huaraz and tried to book a bus ticket to Equador. I discovered that there's only one bus to Quito and it leaves every Wednesday, which is great, as it was Wednesday. The problem is it leaves from Lima 8 hours away. With no possibility of catching it, I decided to head back to Peru's capital for a couple of days.
Last time I was in Lima, I stayed in the suburb of Miraflores and found it very touristy. This time I decided to see the real Lima, so I booked a hostel in Centro – downtown. When I arrived, I marvelled at the streets, roundabouts, parks and tall buildings. It's not a mass of skyscrapers concentrated in one central place like Buenos Aires or Rio de Janeiro, the buildings are more spread out.
I dropped my bags off at the hostel and went out to have a look. It was after dark in the city, but at 8pm on a thursday there are still large numbers of people walking around. I headed along the road and across a park with – surprise surprise – a fountain! They are very common in Peru. (Pictures were taken the next day).
Something else that's very common in Peru are the Public Displays of Affection. There are always couples everywhere cuddling and canoodling. They can't seem to keep their hands off each other. You do get used to it.
I kept walking and found a shopping mall with a food court. The peruvians love their 'Chifa' – Chinese food so I decided to get some. After dinner, I went for a long walk though the streets. Lima Centro is full of amazing architecture and building design. I walked several blocks to San Martin Plaza. The plaza is a beautiful square with fountain in the centre and is entirely surrounded by well maintained, architecturally beautiful buildings.
Along one side of the plaza is an open air shopping mall. None of dirty markets of the other cities, this is a street with plentiful clothing and food stores. At the end of the street is another plaza, with another fountain more beautiful than the others, and is also entirely surrounding by well maintained, architecturally beautiful buildings.
Lima Centro is definitely a place for lovers of awesome buildings, and is something about cities I do enjoy.
But a couple of days in Lima was enough me and I began planning my way north, first to the beachside town of Mancora, and then on to Equidor.
While there are many hikes in the Cordillera Blanca, the Santa Cruz hike is the most popular, and is usually done with a guide. Hiking with a guide doesn't feel like true hiking, especially when they carry half of the equipment, set up tents and prepare your food. So, I decided to do it without one. As it happens, four Americans at my hostel were also planning to go guideless. And while I prefer to hike alone, I wouldn't be totally alone in the mountains… We booked a bus to the start and prepared to leave early the following morning.
Not having a good night's sleep the night before a hike is a bad thing. I discovered this on the Colca Canyon hike and well, it seemed to happen again!
After an hour the bus was fixed, but only enough for it to return to base leaving us to wait for another one. Three hours later it arrived and we were on our way again. Three hours of jaw rocking dirt road meant no napping for me!
We were delivered to the small village of Yanama and discovered a group of three girls and a french couple who were also doing the hike without a guide. While the french couple were quite typical of many french people I've met in South America so far – they treated us like we didn't exist and totally avoided us – the three girls decided to join the group. With eight of us, and two particularly chatty girls, my hike was going to be noisier than I wanted. So, I let the other seven head off and dropped to the back to walk alone.
The first part of the hike leads out of Yanama and down the hill via a steep dry track, crossing one dirt road on the way and eventually the river via a concrete bridge. I headed left as the trail widened leading through a couple of villages where every small child ran up and demanded bon-bons. Never give the kids bon-bons!
Finally, I came to my first climb of the day. It wasn't a large one but my lack of sleep caused me to struggle up it. I met the others at the top and stopped for a rest as they headed off again. I was hoping there wasn't going to be many more climbs as the direct sunshine on top of my tiredness was draining. But there were a few. Eventually, I rounded a bend in the valley and saw a group of tents a couple of kilometres away and figured this was my companions. I set out towards them, making slow progress across some small hills.
I was getting close to the tents when I came across a pair of cows on the trail, staring me down. Did you know that more hikers are killed every year by cows than anything else? It's true! Google it. Not wishing to be trampled to death for getting too close, I went around, through a boggy area of ground. Exhausting!
I finally made it to the tents to discover it wasn't my group but a guide and his party. He pointed me further along the trail, so I struggled on. After another kilometre I still hadn't located my amigos and with the trail leading up some hills, I picked a spot for a camp near the river and set up my tent. After cooking dinner and getting ready for the next day, I slumped into my sleeping bag and slept.
From my planning, I was aware that Day 2 was the most difficult day of the hike. From my camp at 3,800 metres (above sea level) I would walk 13 kilometres and climb nearly a kilometre to a pass called Punta Union at a height of 4,750 metres. Followed by a further 3 kilometres down the other side.
While The Choro trek in Bolivia began 50 metres higher, I only had to climb 100m total before descending on that hike. If that 100m was hard because of the altitude, this one was going to be a very difficult day indeed fighting the altitude the entire way.
I packed up and left my camping spot. After a fairly good sleep, I had more energy, so I set off along the trail with more vigour. But while climbing hills was still hard, it was easier than day 1.
After a kilometre, I found the empty campsite where the other seven had camped. I headed along the valley slowly climbing as I went. As the day progressed I climbed higher along the valley. I consider any height above 3,700m to have a thin atmosphere – with less air pressure. Being a large framed, large lunged person, the higher I went the more trouble I had getting enough air and spent a lot of the time out of breath. There was a point where I had to take a break to catch my breath after every 10 steps; but only when climbing.
I climbed slowly over small knolls and past several tarns – small mountain lagoons, with towering snow covered mountains and glaciers across from me. I came over a knoll to see the ridge line I still had to climb, with the small gap at the top that was the pass.
I continued on and the higher I went, the harder it became. Every five steps I had to take a rest to get my breath back. I even took my pack off every 100m or so for a longer break. As I climbed, my rate got slower and with only about 50 metres to the gap I slowed to only 3 steps before resting. Then for the final few metres it was only one step before resting. So…slow… But I did have a good view back along the valley.
…and above an azure mountain lake.
I could see tents in the distance and marched on feeling more energised that I was no longer climbing. I stopped only once before I arrived at the tents 2-3 kilometres from the gap only to find it was another tour group. So, I walked on across the flat river plains following the river.
Eventually, passing another guided group, I found the tents of my group and set up camp.
The main part of Day 3 takes only 3 hours, so to extend it most people climb to Laguna Arhueycocha.
We started the day climbing slightly to a higher valley. Slightly is still difficult at 4,000m.
On reaching the valley we left our packs with covers on as it had rained overnight. Even walking along the high valley without packs wasn't easy and after a couple of kilometres I arrived exhausted at the base of the wall that climbs up to the laguna. The rest of the group decided to climb it, but I opted to stay at the bottom. I've seen plenty of glacier lakes in this trip, so decided to save my energy.
There were some buildings nearby, so I decided to investigate those instead. They were only 50m away, up a climb of about 5 metres, but even that was exhausting. The buildings were empty, but looked to have been a camping area with a place for donkeys. While I was there it began to snow a little.
When the group returned, we headed back down the valley – an easier walk – donned out packs and climbed back down to the main valley. For the rest of the walk, we followed the valley and river along, firstly through a dry river bed thick with sand.
Sand is difficult to walk on carrying a pack. We climbed about 10 metres up the other bank and followed the trail that undulated as it went. We passed along the side of a large laguna and took a break for lunch at the other end as we looked along the valley.
We were to pass another laguna, but it turned out to be little more than a marsh. Perhaps it's larger in the rainy season. Cows, ponies, horses and donkeys were everywhere as we walked along the sometimes sandy, sometimes rocky trail. Eventually I saw the campsite ahead and marched off, arriving to a set of rocky walls at a place called Llamacorral. I pitched my tent as the others arrived and we began preparing dinner when we got a visit from a pony who decided he didn't want grass for dinner.
Later, we made a fire in a deep rocky fire pit and sat around talking for the evening.
The sky was clear the next day, so after breakfast I packed up my things and headed off, walking ahead of the group for a change. Most of the day saw me walking the rocky track along the side of the valley as the river snaked its way through the landscape. There wasn't much to see as I walked and after 90 minutes I took a short break off the trail. When I was putting my pack back on, I saw the group go past.
I marched after them, I saw a waterfall opposite which marked the halfway point of the day. For the rest of the walk, the trail descended following the river down through the gorge. With the sun high in the sky and the sandy trail, it was very hot. A distinct contrast from the day before with its slight snow.
An hour later, I rounded a bend to find my group stripping down to their underwear at a nice spot in the river. The gingerly got into the freezing water. I was steaming hot, so I stripped down and threw myself into the river. No wading here, boys and girls, the only way into a freezing river is as quickly as possible. I was out just as quickly though and drying on the side.
Then, we were off again and 20 minutes later arrived at the end of the trail after passing a group of larger people heading back the other way. I wondered how they were going to manage the climbing. They were part of a guided group, so weren't carrying much gear, but they didn't look as fit as my group, and we struggled at times.
Five minutes after we'd signed out of the trail, we were walking past a house and the owner rushed out offering us cold soft drinks and beer. He told us he'd call a Collectivo – mini van – for us. It would take us to a larger town where another Collectivo would take us back to Huaraz.
As we were driven away in the van, we could see the gap from which we'd exited the hike and the surrounding landscapes.
Because the trek was at such altitude, it goes down in my books as being the most difficult hike I've ever done. With day 2 being the most difficult day's hike, even more difficult than day three of the Colca Canyon hike. Did my week in Lima at a low altitude cause me to lose the acclimatisation I'd previously gained in Bolivia and Northern Peru? Probably. I should have given it a couple of extra days in Huaraz before I did the hike. But these are the things you learn.
Next, I'm off north to the beach city of Mancora in far northern Peru before crossing the border into Ecuador. I'll see what adventures await me there.
In the mountains of Central Peru is the small city of Huaraz, pronounced Wa-ras (with a rolled r). An 8 hour bus ride north of Lima, and at just over 3000m above sea level, Huaraz is the 22nd largest city in Peru with 120,000 people. The main attraction of Huaraz is not the city itself – which is very much like many of the other peruvian cities, markets, plazas, fountains and even a cathedral. The main attraction is, of course, the mountains of the Andes.
Running along one side of the city is a mountain range called The Cordillera Negra, literally The Black Range. It's described as having several 'hills', the tallest of which is over 5,100 metres!
Cordillera Blanca is a hikers paradise and while Huarez is not as set up for hiking as many other cities in the Andes, the fewer number of tour operators gives the mountains more of a wild feeling. The most popular hike in the ranges is a 4 day, 3 night hike called the Santa Cruz trek. While Peruvian law apparently says you must hire a guide to do the trek, many hikers forego this for a sense of freedom.
Lima is the capital of Peru and with 9 million people, is by far the largest city in the country. It's a popular starting point for people with only a limited time to travel and who only really seeing Peru, Bolivia and the top of Argentina. Beyond this, I've been told not to stay too long as there isn't much to do in the city. So, with low expectations I decided not to spend too much time wandering the city and more time writing.
The outskirts of Lima reminded me of Arequipa or La Paz, with half built brick buildings and dirt roads. This is the way they build houses here, instead of taking out mortgages and building a house. They build part of a house with the money they have and live in it until they have enough money to build more.
When I arrived at the bus terminal, I caught a taxi to Miraflores, a trendy suburb not far from the beach. Miraflores reminded me of the centre of a many cities in the West, with all the fast food restaurants, the clothes stores, restaurants and malls. I guess in this way it feels very touristy and not like a South American city at all.
Overall, I would say that Lima seems like a nice city, but if you're looking for something not so touristy, then Miraflores is not for you. I've heard there places in Centro worth seeing, with museums and likely more fountains, since Peru does them so well.
Next, I'm off to Huaraz, back into the mountains, to prepare for a hike in Cordillera Blanca.


Trees for Others Honor your friends and loved ones with the gift of trees. Your donation plants trees in one of our nation's forests.
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The Original Buddhist Psychology: What the Abhidharma Tells Us About How We Think, Feel, and Experience
Beth Jacobs Ph.D.
The Abhidharma, one of the three major text collections of the original Buddhist canon, explores the critical juncture of Buddhist thought and the therapeutic aspects of the religion and meditation. It frames the psychological system of Buddhism, explaining the workings of reality and the nature of the human mind.
Composed of detailed matrixes and lists that outline the interaction of consciousness and reality, The Abhidharma explores the essence of perception and experience, and the reasons and methods behind mindfulness and meditation.
Because of its complexity, the Abhidharma has traditionally been reserved only for academic or monastic study; now, for the first time, clinical psychologist Beth Jacobs makes this dynamic, important text and its teachings available to general readers, using practical explanation, personal stories, and vivid examples to gently untangle the technical aspects of the Abhidharma.
Jacobs' work illuminates this classic of Buddhist thought, highlighting the ways it can broaden and deepen our experience of the human psyche and offering profound insights into spiritual practice.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Original-Buddhist-Psychology-Abhidharma-Experience/dp/162317130X
Authors: Beth Jacobs Ph.D.
Topic: abhidhamma-abhidharma


« Huda Kattan Reveals Her Skin Secret!
Check out the takeover here!
Matrix launches their new Biolage range, SugarShine and takes over Professional Hairdresser online.
Biolage SuperShine features five new products ready to guarantee you that "brilliant shine" everyone is looking for.
Matrix are a leading professional hair care and hair color company in the United States and are part of L'Oreal USA's Professional Products Division. The brand was founded in 1980 by husband and wife hairdressing team, Arnie and Sydell Miller. Since then the Millers' original ideas are still standing, and their brand is committed to the development of the salon professional, offering a wide range of hair care, hair colour and texturizing products.
The pre-existing Biolage Collection focuses on finding hair care products that work with and improve your natural hair type. Their current product ranges include but aren't limited to: HydraSource for dry hair, KeratinDose for damaged hair and SmoothProof for frizzy hair. The SugarShine range is introducing five new products to this existing line. The SugarShine Polishing Scrub will aim to remove dulling impurities and offer your hairdresser an ideal base to work with, the SugarShine Shampoo will give your hair a thorough clean and the SugarShine Conditioner will give a silky soft finish. Both the Shampoo and Conditioner are silicone free, replacing the silicone element with sugar, which Matrix claims removes the build up of product that the use of silicone brings. The range also includes: SugarShine Illuminating Mist which provides up to 450 degrees of heat protection (that's 230°C here in the UK!) and the SugarShine Mega Gloss Treatment, this is for professional use only and will provide a high gloss shine treatment.
Matrix's Biolage SugarShine range is affordable and apparently quite worth the hype. Is this a product you would be interested in?
This entry was posted on Monday, April 18th, 2016 at 9:24 am	and is filed under Beauty, Hair, Inspiration. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.


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Home National New entertainment platforms recognising raw talent: I&B Minister
New entertainment platforms recognising raw talent: I&B Minister
NEW DELHI, Nov 28: India has always had the talent, it just needed an opportunity to be seen without gatekeepers where the audience determined its success, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said on Monday, referring to the popularity of new entertainment platforms such as OTT.
Addressing the closing ceremony of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Panaji, Thakur said the world of cinema is bustling with raw talent, finding its voice from theatre schools, small production houses and the hinterland of India.
"The platforms are new, whether it is short films on our mobile devices, movies on the go, or binge watching on OTT (over-the-top). We are seeing incredible talent being recognised, enthralling audiences and doing great business too," he said, drawing similarities with sports leagues that have brought raw talent to the fore in cricket, kabbadi and hockey.
Thakur said the advent of different streams of cinema propelled by affordable handsets and cheaper data prices was leaping ahead on sheer individual talent to showcase powerful and captivating stories to the world.
"Not only are the audiences enjoying a plethora of regional content, but also foreign content dubbed in Indian languages," the minister said at the star-studded closing ceremony of IFFI.
Thakur said IFFI had opened up a nuanced world of cinema for audiences across the region, both young and old, new and festival veterans.
He felicitated Dadasaheb Phalke awardee Asha Parekh, actors Chiranjeevi, Ayushmann Khurrana and Akshay Kumar during the closing ceremony.
Thakur also acknowledged the presence of the actor and writer of Israeli series "Fauda" — Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff — in the audience.
"The Netflix series Fauda has been a hit in India and received a thunderous reception during the IFFI premiere of their fourth season. Israel and India can be leading partners to propel the creative economy sector," he said.
Thakur said Israel and India were leading start up destinations of the world, especially in the technology sector.
"In the times ahead, I am confident we will see collaborative productions, untold captivating stories and cutting edge innovation emerging. This is just the beginning for our creative economies. When hearts and minds meet, a thrilling story awaits us," the Union minister added. (PTI)
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