Americas Choice Commercial Building Inspections, LLC is your professional inspection company serving the Carolinas. Before signing on the dotted line, request an inspection. We'll arm you with the facts so you can make a wise offer — or not. Read our reviews and then call us at (704) 624-8444 today. We also have a sister business for residential inspections.
Owner Arvil Price has been working in the industry since 1990 and is certified by the American Society for Testing and Materials. He is also a licensed commercial building contractor and a licensed Realtor. In addition, he's working on his CCIM designation to become an expert in commercial and investment real estate. Safeguard your financial future with Arvil and Americas Choice.
Owners and investors — If you are an owner or investor in the industrial, hospitality, condo, or other commercial market or are considering becoming one, it's important to order a comprehensive property condition assessment (PCA). Don't settle for just an environmental inspection, structural assessment, or roof assessment — get the full picture, not a snapshot of one part of a complicated structure.
Tenants/users — The ideal time to schedule an assessment with a building inspector is prior to signing a lease. Don't move a business into a building until you know its current condition and any projected capital replacement costs.
Facility manager — Managers need to keep informed of any present or future repairs or replacements. Customer, tenant, and employee safety and security should always be top priority. In addition to a property assessment, you can also order environmental assessments and testing to check for mold, lead, radon, and other hazards. Running short on time? Ask how we can help with facilities management too.
Commercial Lenders — Banks and other financial institutions often order building inspections as part of the loan approval process.
Americas Choice will collect some preliminary information about the building that will be inspected. After that we'll prepare a detailed proposal that includes the price of the inspection, a tentative start date, and an expected finish date. On the finish date, you will receive a detailed report explaining our assessment. The inspection assesses the following things: structure, exterior, roof, plumbing, HVAC, electrical, interiors, vertical lift system, and life/safety/fire protection equipment.
For more information about us or to schedule a commercial property inspection, contact Americas Choice at (704) 624-8444. Rest assured that we'll put our experience, knowledge, and consistency to work for you in the Charlotte area and beyond, including Raleigh and Asheville.


From April 18 e-border guard procedures will be carried out around the clock at seaports.
E-border guard procedures will be carried out around the clock at seaports from April 18, pursuant to Prime Ministerial Decision No. 10 dated March 3 and be under the management of the Ministry of Defense's Border Guard unit.
As soon as the portal for e-border guard procedures at seaports is connected with the national single-window portal, anyone carrying out procedures is required to make e-declarations and submit an e-dossier to the border guard station at the seaport.
The border guard stations will complete e-border guard procedures at the seaport under the regulations on e-procedures applicable to vessels calling at or leaving seaports and offshore oil and gas ports via the national single-window portal.
When a breakdown occurs in the national single-window portal the procedures will be carried out via the portal of the seaport.
The new regulation applies to Vietnamese vessels on entry or exit, foreign vessels and crews on entry or exit, in transit or navigating between seaports (including oil and gas exploration and exploitation service ships operating offshore, foreign vessels having domestic transport permits issued by the Ministry of Transport, and Vietnamese-owned vessels flying foreign state flags of foreign nationalities), and foreign nuclear-powered vessels and vessels carrying radioactive substances.
Foreign vessels arriving at Vietnamese seaports to carry out scientific research, fisheries, salvage, sunken property recovery, marine facility construction, and natural resource surveying, exploration and exploitation activities in Vietnam's sea areas and having permits or written approval from competent Vietnamese agencies are also obliged to comply with the PM's Decision.


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Adult Summer Classes
Angus L. Graham Fund
In Honor of Peg Malloy
Giana Grossman
Giana received her BFA in ceramics and has been a ceramic artist for 25 years, specializing in teaching students with special needs. Originally from New York, Giana is currently a studio artist and teacher at the Carbondale Clay Center.
Stephanie Seguin
Stephanie Seguin is an Artist in Residence at Carbondale Clay Center, as well as Faculty at Colorado Mountain College. She received her MFA from Pennsylvania State University in 2017, and her BFA from Minnesota State University, Moorhead in 2009. Having worked globally; including Italy, the Caribbean, and Northwest Montana, Stephanie's love for discovery and newly acquired knowledge continues to drive her practice.
For more info visit Stephanie's Website.
Savanna LaBauve
Savanna LaBauve is an artist from Baton Rouge, Louisiana who recently earned BFA from Louisiana State University, concentrating in ceramics and painting. Growing up in her parents' retail store, Lezárd Rouge, Savanna was always surrounded by artists and their creative endeavors. During undergrad at LSU, Savanna sought out unique opportunities to grow both professionally and as a student of the arts. This included pursuing the Printmaking in Florence program where she spent one month studying printmaking with LSU faculty. Furthermore, she was accepted into the National Student Exchange Program which took her to University of Hawaii for one year. Balancing academia with community based learning, Savanna sought additional opportunities to learn from practicing artists at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and Penland School of Crafts. Savanna is currently a resident at the Carbondale Clay Center, where she continues her investigation into patterned installation ceramic work.
For more info visit Savanna's Website.
Frank McGuirk
Frank McGuirk is a full time studio potter. He completed the full undergraduate curriculum in Ceramics at Colorado State University and worked as a potter in the 1970s. Frank then went on to earn a PhD in psychology in 1974. In 2006, he realized a long held ambition by returning to ceramic work full-time. He makes hundreds of utilitarian pots each year. Many of McGuirk's recent works are in private and corporate collections. He also has shown in Colorado galleries and in numerous shows and exhibitions. McGuirk's ceramic pieces are functional and architectural. Most of his work is wheel thrown with some hand building and a mix of surface treatments. Frank has also taught ceramics classes over the past several years.
For more info visit Frank's Facebook Page.
Kaitlyn Getz
Kaitlyn Getz is an artist living in Carbondale, Colorado and working for artist Alleghany Meadows, the Artstream Nomadic Gallery, & the Harvey Preston Gallery. She holds a BFA from Ohio University and a Post-Baccalaureate from Pennsylvania State University. Before moving to Colorado she was previously a Program Assistant at the Haystack Mountain School of Craft in Maine as well as an Educational Assistant at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. Her work has been exhibited nationally as well as internationally at the International Ceramics Studio in Hungary. She can now be found at the Studio for Arts + Works, inside the Artstream, or out climbing the Rockies.
For more info visit Kaitlyn's Artstream Page.
Just Emerson & Jen Arnold
Jennifer Arnold was born and raised in Jonesboro, Arkansas. She received her BFA in ceramics from Penn State and her MFA in ceramics from Alfred University. Jennifer has been traveling almost non stop since graduating in 2014, teaching, participating in residencies and starting her own business. She currently resides in Carbondale ,Colorado making work at SAW studios.
Name: Just Emerson
Previous name: John Emerson
Same art, different name.
For more info visit Jen's Website & Just's Website.
Follow them on Instagram @booandfinni & @jenarnold.xoxo
Matthew Eames
Matthew Eames is a ceramic artist born on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In 2007, he received his BFA in Ceramics from the University of Hartford. After graduating, he took a residency position at the Worcester Center for Crafts and a year later he began working as a Studio Resident Technician. Matthew then attended a post-baccalaureate program at the University of Arkansas and went on to earn his MFA in Ceramics from Wichita State University in 2013. After graduate school, he moved to the Aspen Valley for the Carbondale Clay Center's Residency, which transitioned into a full time position as the Studio and Gallery Manager. Matthew has had the privilege of exhibiting in many national shows, including a solo exhibition at the Ulrich Museum of Art in Wichita, Kansas, and an installation for NCECA's Project Space at the 2017 conference.
For more info visit Matthew's Website.
Sandie Gardner
Born and raised outside of NYC, Sandie graduated from Syracuse University with a BFA in Fine Arts and Graphic Design. Prior to moving to the Roaring Fork Valley with her husband in 1997, Sandie taught ceramic classes to adults with challenges. Sandie has been teaching with the Carbondale Clay Center for more than 20 years and finds that her most rewarding experience comes from teaching children.
Lisa Ellena
Lisa Ellena is a Colorado native, and first became obsessed with ceramics when she began taking clay classes at Front Range Community College in the 90's. From there she went on to study art at the University of Wisconsin in River Falls where she completed a BFA, then later at San Diego State University where she earned a MFA degree in ceramics. In 2010 Lisa moved back to Colorado to participate in the artist-in-residence program at the Carbondale Clay Center. She maintains her studio practice at S.A.W. (Studio for Arts and Works) where she continues to make pots and sculptural paintings on clay. Lisa teaches ceramics at both the C.C.C. and Colorado Mountain College's Aspen campus. The joys of supporting students in their explorations of clay, both on and off the wheel, keeps her coming back to the classroom.
For more info visit Lisa Ellena SAW Page
Jenn Weede
Jenn Weede spent much of her career globetrotting as a fashion editor and adventure travel writer before landing in Colorado where clay grounded her. She has sold her ceramics at boutiques, galleries and studio tours throughout Colorado since 2006. Her love for children includes mentoring, volunteering and fostering children, as well as parenting. Now based in the magical Crystal River Valley, she plays with clay and words and enjoys sharing the power and joy of creating with kids at the Carbondale Clay Center.
For more info visit Jenn's Website.
Sarah Meyer
Sarah is an artist from Massachusetts who moved to Carbondale two years ago. She received her BFA in studio art from Wheaton College in 2011 where she concentrated in painting and developed a love for printmaking. She loves working in watercolor and oil and likes to explore themes of light, landscape, and place in an attempt to better understand her connectedness to wherever she is. Sarah is more or less a self-taught ceramicist who has had the opportunity to teach ceramics over the eight years that she has been a high school art teacher. She took a clay workshop at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine as well as some clay courses at Fontbonne University in St. Louis upon graduating from college, both of which sparked her curiosity for the medium. So, while it is not her main medium, Sarah enjoys the opportunities that clay offers her as a teacher. She also enjoys how the three-dimensionality of clay allows her to expand her understanding of the world.
For more info visit Sarah's Website.
Matt Johnson
Matt spent his high school years here in Carbondale, which is also when he became enthralled with ceramics. He went on to study Ceramics, Painting and Drawing at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA, and then returned to the Roaring Fork Valley and was the director of the Woody Creek Ceramics Studio, a non profit with COMPASS and the Community School. After nearly five years teaching wheel throwing and sculpture to ages from Kindergarten through adult, Matt became a teacher at the Waldorf School on the Roaring Fork, where he taught many subjects including arts, woodwork, stone carving, and more academic classes as well. He spent the last three years delving into furniture design with his father, a long time furniture maker and woodcarver. Matt has continued to weave ceramic work into his practice and has done some mixed media projects with wood and clay as well.
The Carbondale Clay Center exists to enrich lives through the ceramic arts.
Carbondale Clay Center welcomes all to explore the art of ceramics, from the casually curious to the established artist. Clay is a universal language connecting us to people, cultures and world history. Knowledge of ceramic processes is shared through class and workshop offerings, residencies, lectures, gallery exhibits, and programs that reach out to schools and special groups. The Center is committed to a learning environment that is supportive and exciting.
Carbondale Clay Center
info@carbondaleclay.org
OFFICE & GALLERY HOURS
Saturday 11am - 3pm*
*Memorial Day - Labor Day
FIRST FRIDAY HOURS
First Friday of each month,
IN KIND DONATION

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Roger Lyndon's father was Percy Lyndon, the Unitarian minister in the town of Eastport, a small town built on islands on the Bay of Fundy, Maine, where the family lived. The Lyndon family originally came from England where the name (meaning the dweller by the lime-trees) went back to the Middle Ages. Percy Lyndon's father, Roger's paternal grandfather, was born in England but came to the United States as a baby. Roger's mother was Ann Aymar Milliken and the Milliken family had been residents of Maine since Ann's father had moved from Louisiana to Maine where he owned a wharf on the Bay of Fundy. Sadly Roger's mother, Ann Lyndon, died when he was two years old and his family, now consisting of Percy, Roger and his sister, moved to various towns (such as Massachusetts and New York) so, as a consequence, Roger's education took place at a number of different schools. He graduated from Derby School in 1935 and entered Harvard University with the aim of studying literature so that he might become a writer. However, he discovered that, for him, mathematics was easy and required little effort while he had to spend long hours learning literature. The move to mathematics was made and he graduated from Harvard in 1939.
... the problem of computing the cohomology groups of a group extension in terms of the cohomology groups of the factors of that extension. It turned out that in many cases one could not completely compute the whole cohomology group. Now we know that the difficulty lies in the additional invariants presented by the spectral sequence of that group extension.
Interestingly Lyndon's first publication was not in any of the topics that we have mentioned above but rather was The Zuse computer (1947). In the paper he described the Z4, Zuse's relay-type digital computer which was discovered by advancing British and American troops,The nearly completed computer had been hidden by Konrad Zuse in the cellar of a house in the small village of Hinterstein in Bavaria. Lyndon's second paper The Cohomology Theory of Group Extensions was based on his doctoral thesis and appeared in print in 1948. In the following year the paper New proof for a theorem of Eilenberg and Mac Lane appeared, then, in 1950, the paper The representation of relational algebras which resulted from his early interest in that topic.
After attending a course by Alfred Tarski, Lyndon and Tarski became good friends and Lyndon was later to work on model theory as a result of attending these lectures. For two years after completing is doctorate, Lyndon worked for the Office of Naval Research in London. Returning to the United States in 1948 he decided that to make further progress in cohomology theory he needed to learn more about current work in topology and clearly Princeton was the leading institution for research in that area. Accepting a position as an Instructor in Mathematics at Princeton, he attended a course on knot theory by Ralph Fox and from this his interest was aroused in combinatorial group theory. Kurt Reidemeister was at Princeton for a year in 1948 and again this was a major influence on Lyndon to work on group presentations. Lyndon's first work which came out of these discussions with Reidemeister was published in 1950. In it Lyndon investigated one-relator groups. In particular he computed their cohomology groups.
In 1953 Lyndon left Princeton, where he had been promoted to assistant professor, and took up an assistant professorship at the University of Michigan where he remained throughout his career except for a number of posts as visiting professor at Berkeley, Queen Mary College, London, Montpellier, France and Picardie, France.
Lyndon produces elegant mathematics and thinks in terms of broad and deep ideas.... I once asked him whether there was a common thread to the diverse work in so many different fields of mathematics, he replied that he felt the problems on which he had worked had all been combinatorial in nature... one would certainly have to put him in the very first rank of those who have used combinatorial techniques in the last forty years.
Lyndon made numerous major contributions to combinatorial group theory. These include the development of 'small cancellation theory', work on Fuchsian groups and the Riemann-Hurwitz formula, his introduction of 'aspherical' presentations of groups and his work on length functions in free products of groups.
The book contains a concise and clear exposition of basic notions of mathematical logic. More specifically, the author deals with the first-order logic with symbols for relations and functions.
As should be clear from this description, the book is intended as a text to enable a mathematically well-trained reader to acquaint himself quickly with the basic results of logic. Owing to the clear plan, concise style and well-chosen exercises, the book meets its objectives excellently. In the reviewer's opinion the book has set a new standard for texts in mathematical logic which will not be easy to supersede.
This book is a very readable introduction to group theory, geometry, and the connections between them. It is aimed at advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students. The emphasis is on the classical two-dimensional incidence geometries and their associated groups. The geometries studied include Euclidean geometry, affine geometry, projective geometry, inversive geometry, and hyperbolic geometry. In addition, there are three optional chapters, treating plane crystallographic groups, tessellations in dimensions greater than 2, and Fuchsian groups.
I fondly remember my experiences working as a thesis student in the years 1957-59. My conversations with Lyndon often took place in the newly established common room, which was supplied with a large coffee percolator. As a "morning person," I would want to discuss my work with Lyndon as soon as he arrived at Angell Hall. It soon became clear to me that no mathematical discussion was possible until he had consumed at least two cups of coffee, so during my last two years of graduate work I was the unofficial coffee preparer for the common room.


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City of Lubbock Releases Declaration of Disaster, Clarifies 'Nonessential Business' Closings
Justin Massoud Published: March 24, 2020
Topher Covarrubio
The City of Lubbock has further clarified its closure of nonessential businesses with a FAQ sheet as part of Monday's disaster declarations -- the city's fourth.
In the declaration, which Mayor Dan Pope touched on in a press conference Monday evening, all nonessential businesses in the county are being ordered to close at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 24th. The order lasts until 11:59 p.m., April 3rd, 2020.
The City of Lubbock clarified that while restaurants' dining rooms will be closed, owners can offer drive-thru, pickup/takeout and curbside options. Other essential businesses are: grocery stores, pharmacies, package stores, pet supply stores, veterinary clinics, healthcare providers, vehicle fuel stations, banks and financial institutions, daycare centers, and critical infrastructure businesses.
Related: A list of Lubbock restaurants offering drive-thru, curbside & takeout
Businesses including hair salons, barbershops, hair stylists, nail salons, tattoo parlors, piercing businesses, tanning salons, hair removal/waxing businesses, retail businesses that don't sell or provide essential services, commercial amusement and entertainment venues, enclosed shopping malls, group meeting spaces (meeting rooms, ballrooms, event spaces) will be closed.
Here are other businesses/organizations and how they're affected:
Churches & Places of Worship – open to staff and available to perform functions necessary to support online, telephone, email and other services, including production of services and related items.
Landscape Services & Landscape Supply – open, subject to social distancing and occupancy limits as appropriate
Construction Trades – open, subject to social distancing and no gatherings greater than 10
Recovery Support Groups – open, subject to social distancing and no gatherings greater than 10
Janitorial Services – open, subject to social distancing and no gatherings greater than 10
Outdoor Entertainment & Recreation – closed under the current Declaration
Golf Courses – club house, restaurant & related closed. Course can remain open
Computer Support Services – open to provide support services, retail is closed to customers and available through pickup, delivery, curb-side, etc.
Auto Sales – closed to retail. Available through on-line and related transactions with pickup. Service, parts & related open
You can see both pages of the declaration of disaster below, or view it here.
City of Lubbock
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6th Annual MY*Tri Official Results are in!!
Fully edited pictures coming soon!
Our first sample of edited pictures is in. Thank you Steve Montalto for sharing your talents with us! We are grateful!
Register NOW for the 6th annual MY*Tri scheduled for Saturday, September 8, 2018 at Miller's Landing Resort on Bass Lake.
We offer an outstanding venue, with spectacular courses for ages 5-17yrs. Whether this be your 1st triathlon or an opportunity to beat your personal record, all are welcome to join the mountain community for a day of fitness and fun!
Ready for a fun filled day on Bass Lake?


Our client aspired to move his chiropractic practice from a rented space into an office of his own. Our architectural firm designed a new chiropractic clinic in retail space vacated by a restaurant.
Wiberg Architecture converted the former restaurant into a spacious and functional therapeutic treatment center. The existing kitchen was ripped out and replaced with an examination and x-ray room. The former dining area was transformed into a patent waiting area with additional examination room. Other changes included exchanging the dated service counter with an elegant reception counter. Wiberg Architecture coordinated the design of the new exterior canopies to match the existing structure's texture, color and details, thereby bringing it in harmony with the original building.


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Twins Notes: No Relief, More Kubel, Tons of WBC
Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the Twins pulled out of contract talks with Eric Gagne "just when Gagne was ready to meet their price." Back in November one of my entries listed Gagne among a handful of low-cost bullpen targets and suggested offering him a one-year deal worth "$3 million plus incentives." It turns out that was right on the money, because Christensen notes that Gagne "was willing to sign a one-year, $3 million deal with about $500,000 in incentives."
Failing to sign Gagne is far from the end of the world, but dating back to the middle of last season the Twins' refusal to add even one capable reliever has been maddening. The bullpen unraveled after Pat Neshek was lost for the season in May and completely collapsed down the stretch, ultimately costing the Twins a trip to the playoffs. Not only did the Twins fail to fill an obvious hole via trade, they've since watched as quality setup men come off the board cheaply all offseason.
Christensen speculates that the Twins are "exploring trade options for bullpen help" after failing to sign Gagne, so there's still hope that Smith will add a useful reliever. In the meantime he's missed out on myriad chances to address a weak spot for a fraction of the Twins' unused payroll. Along with Gagne, my November entry about low-cost bullpen targets suggested Jeremy Affeldt, Brandon Lyon, and Will Ohman while noting that Russ Springer and Bob Howry would be worthwhile if not offered arbitration.
Gagne and Ohman remain unsigned, but none of the four who have been snatched up received more than $4.25 million in guaranteed money for 2009 and guys like Takashi Saito and Joe Nelson signed for much less. For around $4 million the Twins could have added a capable veteran to a bullpen that struggled mightily for most of last season and that may haunt them unless Smith pulls off a good trade in the next month. Considering that Smith's next good trade will also be his first, I'm skeptical.
Jason Kubel's contract extension finally became official more than a week after first being reported, so we now know that he'll make $2.75 million this year and $4.1 million in 2010, with the Twins holding a $5.1 million option or $350,000 buyout for 2011. This offseason the market for corner outfielders and designated hitters has seemingly dried up quite a bit as teams perhaps realize that the combination of a non-elite bat and limited glove can be fairly easily replaced.
With that in mind two of my favorite analysts, Rob Neyer and David Cameron, have suggested that the Twins are making a mistake by locking up Kubel. Neyer and Cameron are correct that it isn't especially tough for most teams to find a reasonably priced corner outfielder or designated hitter who can post an .800 OPS in a semi-platoon role, but finding Kubel-caliber hitters has been tougher for the Twins than most teams and there's also a very real possibility that he still has plenty of room left to grow.
A two-season, $7 million commitment to a 27-year-old who's emerged as the team's third-best hitter is hardly a big risk. Plus, having the option to keep Kubel around for his age-29 season will come in very handy if he bumps up his production, and even if he stays in the .800 OPS range a $5 million price tag will be reasonable (and tradable) in 2011. He's bounced back from a major knee injury to become an asset in a power-starved lineup and the Twins did well to cheaply extend his time under their control.
Even with Joe Mauer declining his invitation to catch for Team USA the Twins lead baseball with 18 players on provisional rosters for the World Baseball Classic. Phil Miller of the St. Paul Pioneer Press has the full list, which includes major leaguers Justin Morneau, Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano, Jesse Crain, and Nick Punto, and top-40 prospects Jose Mijares, Luke Hughes, and Carlos Gutierrez. Punto was born in California and has lived in America his whole life, but will play for Team Italy.
Miller notes that Carlos Gomez showed some signs of improved plate discipline while playing in the Dominican Winter League, walking 10 times in 21 games after drawing a grand total of 25 free passes in 153 games last season. Winter league performances aren't especially meaningful to begin with and anything can happen in what is basically one month's worth of games, but Gomez is also saying all the right things about becoming a more patient hitter:
I'm getting more patient. Take more pitches. I practice. I take pitches. I stand and take 60 pitches, then swing at one. Don't swing for 60 pitches. I watch a pitch and tell, "Strike, ball, high or low." When I'm ready to swing, I have more discipline to wait.
Talk is cheap, of course, and after posting a 142-to-25 strikeout-to-walk ratio Gomez has a long way to go just to have decent plate discipline. Still, it's encouraging that he's working on what is undoubtedly his biggest weakness, because without at least some semblance of strike-zone control all the physical tools in the world will go to waste. I'm not yet convinced that Gomez will be an impact hitter, but a great glove means that it won't take much offensive improvement to make him a top all-around center fielder.


At the junction of U.S. 550, toward Ouray, and Colorado 62, heading to Telluride, Ridgway marks that moment when the San Juans begin to reveal their remarkable size and beauty.
In the late 1800s, Ridgway was a link along the Rio Grande Southern Railroad's route to Durango, and later a miner's supply town and cattle ranching hub. In the 1970s the film "True Grit" was filmed in this classic Western spot; the True Grit Cafe was later opened in its honor.
Just two miles north of town is Ridgway State Park, which encompasses a 1,000-acre reservoir off the Uncompahgre River. Camping, boating, picnicking, hiking and fishing are all popular pursuits at the park. A visitor's center can point you in the right direction or offer a nature program.
At nearby Orvis Hot Springs, you take your pick from several soaking pools; some come in natural outdoor settings and one is inside.
The Ridgway Creative District is also one of the state's first Certified Colorado Creative Districts, thanks to its historic theater, galleries, studios and full-moon arts outings.


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How to solve a Champions League problem?
By Danny Pugsley Oct 2, 2014, 9:55pm BST
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Alex Livesey
Not wanting to hijack what is an excellent comment threads from Tuesday night both on the match report and five thoughts (great to see plenty of new faces chiming in too) tackling the issue of City in the Champions League, specifically the accusations of apathy from the fans towards the competition.
This was sparked initially by Paul Scholes' comments ahead of the game (which sent the press box into somewhat of a tizz) and later on Rio Ferdinand's tweet. It is a shame that both were lumped together as as asinine as Ferdinand's comments were there were some genuine questions posed by Scholes, which got lost in the 'empty seats' narrative generated by Ferdinand.
There are already a couple of very good pieces online touching on this issue, one by Howard Hockin and one by Paul Wilson. A lot of reasons have been put forward: cost, FFP, the lack of interest in the group games to name but a few. There is undoubtedly an issue between fans and the competition, my own belief that there is a lack of resonance with the competition.
Look at the Premier League. City routinely sell out games and with the expansion plans there is already a 7,500 waiting list for season tickets. On the face of it then a visit by Stoke or West Ham for instance is more attractive than a European night. It shouldn't be forgotten that this is City's fourth season in the competition, put simply there hasn't been the opportunity to foster the kind of 'European nights' that Scholes referenced.
Hockin also put forward the argument that there is in effect no identity for City fans with the competition, citing that "we've had success thrust upon us that we thought would never be experienced and the success has been domestic and this still captivates us." This hasn't happened in the Champions League, and City again face a tough (but not impossible) task to qualify through the group stages. A return of one point from the first two games is a position City have become accustomed to.
City have been handed difficult group after difficult group, the one exception last year was when they cruised through with ease, and there feels like an anxiety at the European games with players and fans alike, that the club has yet to settle into the competition despite its domestic success, which in turn does not help generate that attraction.
Would though a genuine run deep in the competition help? The group games do not fire the imagination that derby or a visit from Chelsea attract, and the 'European nights' Scholes talks about invariably occur in the knockout rounds (think of those Liverpool-Chelsea battles under Benitez and Mourinho) and you can't escape the feeling that this is what City desperately need; a long run in the competition whereby top European names are dispatched along the way in memorable games. This would provide a real focal point for the club to rally around, generating confidence on the pitch and emotion off it.
As much as continued domestic success is required, Europe though is as important to the hierarchy for the clubs future. Tangible success, meaning semi-finals and finals, is required sooner rather than later. One point from six so far puts City in a spot but back to back games against CSKA provide an opportunity to turn things around and then a final two games against Bayern and Roma could have genuine meaning (a reprise of the Hamburg game from a few seasons ago, the nearest to a 'European night'?), which could be taken into the knock-out stages.
Wishful thinking it may be but could the low point of Tuesday night kick start a genuine relationship with the competition?
Ederson Breaks Another Record


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Serving you as my client is about creative problem solving! What's your situation? I can help!
John A. Silva, a sales associate with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties in La Mesa, Calif., became a short sale specialist to survive the down market when he entered the business in 1992.
This entry was posted in Foreclosure, Homeowners, Homesellers, Interesting News, Mortgage, San Diego, Short Sale and tagged agents, foreclosures, homeowners, homes, houses, housing market, housing markets, John A Silva, John Silva, mortgages, properties, property, real estate market, Realtors, residential, San Diego, San Diego county, San Diego real estate market, short sales on November 6, 2013 by John A Silva.
All foreclosure sales and pre-foreclosure sales (including short sales) in the United States showed an increase, according to a recent article by Realty Trac. REO properties declined in the 4th quarter of 2012.
With this report and the strong showing of short sales overall for the year, there should be a steady stream still of short sales still coming; however, a decline and a future decline in REO sales.
All this means is that inventory is expected to remain relatively low, and for you sellers out there looking to upgrade or scale back in your home's size, NOW is the time: this is the year!! Having confidence in buying a home now has never been higher and sellers really hold the key to their destiny.
I expect to see more contingent sales for sellers to sell their homes, then find their dream home at their own pace with values continuing their increasing ebb. This scenario causes no rush to sell, and when a contract is properly written up as a seller, you can literally make even more money on your property selling. I know the best way to structure your sale to make even more money than you thought–even if you take several months to find another property.
Call me today for your professional analysis of your property. Thank for reading–all the best!
This entry was posted in Foreclosure, Real Estate Market, Short Sale and tagged 4th quarter 2012, distressed sales figures, distressed sales for 2012, housing inventory 2012, housing inventory 2013, non-foreclosure, pre-foreclosure sales, real estate stats, REO properties, REO sales, short sales on March 7, 2013 by John A Silva.
Tax Time: Is a Short Sale Covered?
Considering selling your home as a short sale or have you started the process? You will want to know the consequences regarding the amount forgiven by your lender(s). Federal law has extended the forgiveness of tax liability; however, as of this writing, California tax law extension is pending. For those of you outside the state of California, it is imperative you contact your local experts regarding the short sale of houses and debt forgiveness.
With real estate values on the rise, you're probably thinking you will be okay and your home will have equity shortly. Not so fast! I suggest you have your specific situation evaluated by a qualified short sale agent expert to calculate your home and all the trends for your area.
As always, I recommend seeking out a qualified CPA accountant familiar with these laws. For any further questions or help regarding this issue, feel free to contact me.
A short sale, where the lender agrees to reduce some or all of the outstanding debt, may give rise to forgiveness of debt income (also called cancellation of debt" or COD income). The amount of the debt that the lender agrees to write off is treated as "ordinary income" (as opposed to capital gains income, which is taxed at a lower rate). Even though the lender may be taking this action to facilitate the sale by the owner who is under a notice of default and facing a foreclosure, the agreement between the owner and the lender is considered voluntary and the amount of the loan written off by the lender is treated as forgiveness of debt (cancellation of debt – COD). The taxpayer will generally receive a 1099 tax form from the lender in the amount of the cancellation of debt.
This forgiveness or cancellation of debt which is treated as "ordinary income" under certain circumstances may or may not be subject to taxation.
The cancellation of debt is Qualified Principal Residence Indebtedness** under IRC Section 163(h)(3)(B).
The indebtedness is discharged after January 1, 2007 and before January 1, 2014. (The end date was increased by three years from 2010 to 2013 pursuant to H.R. 1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and extended to 2014 by H.R. 8, American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 signed into law January 2, 2013 by President Obama).
**Qualified Principal Residence Indebtedness is a loan secured by the residence used to acquire, construct or substantially improve the residence. The income relief provided is capped at $1,000,000 in the case of a married person filing a separate return and $2,000,000 for all others.
Any reduction of indebtedness excluded by IRC §108(a)(1)(E) will be applied to reduce the basis of the taxpayer's principal residence, but not below zero. This could result in a higher amount of capital gains tax owed by the taxpayer.
(3) California's debt relief statute applies to property sold on or after Jan. 1, 2009 and before Jan. 1, 2013.
California has not currently passed a law which extends the California debt relief statute to bring it into conformity with the federal law which extended the federal debt relief statute to January 1, 2014 (see above). C.A.R. has sponsored SB 30 (Calderon, D-Montebello) to extend California's debt relief protections which are currently pending. The proposed law would be effective retroactive to January 1, 2013. Information on the status of the bill can be found at www.leginfo.ca.gov.
This entry was posted in Government Laws, Real Estate Advice & Tips, Short Sale and tagged amount forgiven by lender, cancellation of debt, Federal Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief, short sale taxes, short sales, tax season, taxpayers on March 1, 2013 by John A Silva.


Aw! Can you believe beautiful cashmere and wool Chocolate Angel Pony is only $26 reduced from $35?
Yes! It's the super SALE at LullabyLily. Hand knit original toys stuffed with pure wool, gorgeous! And every one is on sale; ponies, one donkey, slugs, piggies, cats – magificent! Be quick, go to the LullabyLily etsy shop here and see who is left.
Who knew? Custom Order Feng Shui Slugs for a lovely lady in Belgium.
Passion/ Love Slug, Yin and Yang Slugs.
The Passion/Love Slug is gorgeous in rich, red and super-soft yarns. I used a scarlet red chenille yarn that has amazing tiny flickers of sparkly red through it – like the sparks of passion!
I also used another shade of red chenille yarn and a yarn made up of loads of fiery red threads.
I noticed (and you can see it in the photo) one of these threads made a little loop outside the knitting and was about to tuck it in neatly when I thought it was like being 'undone' in passion so I have left it! LOL.
The white and silver Slug is knit with pure white bamboo yarn with white wool mix yarn and a beautiful silver fibre yarn. The fibres look white in the photos but they are actually silver white. I stuffed this one lightly so it is soft and more feminine.
The black and gold one I made with black bamboo yarn with bright gold lurex yarn and a dull gold fibre yarn. I stuffed it more firmly and made it slightly bigger than the white and silver slug.
What a joy – these Feng Shui Slugs practically made themselves! Beautiful energy.
The thing I really love about donkeys is their VERY LARGE EARS. Darling De la Creme Donkey is an excellent listener for little ones. And he's warm and comforting being stuffed with pure wool.
Hand made hedgehog, rear view!
Don't get me wrong, I am not against polyester in any way and definitely not against polyester filling; it has a lot of benefits not least affordability. But, hello, there is just no comparison (em, let's leave the easy laundry factor to one side for a minute!) with pure wool as a filling for natural hand knit toys.
I only use pure wool stuffing like Merino roving for all LullabyLily knit darlings. It sculpts beautifully, has a warmth to it, it is cosy and dense but squishy too. It was once a living fibre. It is comforting. And at LullabyLily we like comforting.


Trail-Gear is proud to be the first in the industry to develop a series of Tacoma SAS Kits for 95-04 Tacomas that are complete, user friendly, and affordable.
Full Hydraulic steering kits for 1995-2004 Toyota Tacomas are now available from Trail-Gear. This kit uses all of our trail tested full hydraulic components designed to fit on 2.7L, and 3.4L applications. All mounting brackets are included and have been specifically designed for ruggedness and ease of installation.
Do you want low gears without the hassle of rebuilding your transfer case? Let Trail-Gear install our 6.5 transfer case gear set into your 1986-1995 Suzuki Samurai transfer case. We dissemble your t-case, clean and scrub everything. We clearance the housing as needed and install our 6.5 gear set.


text:
Q: How to implement onActivityResult within RecyclerView Fragment I am trying to have a button within a Tab which is part of an activity for uploading images, when clicking the button inside one of the 2 Tabs presented in the activity ( Tab 1 pics, Tab 2 Vid ) the user could choose an image from the device.
My problem is implemneting the onClick Listener and onActivityResult which is not being used when placed after onClick, plus the @Override is being underlined as an error.
I guess i am not implementing the onClick the right way and not sure how to activate onActivityResult the proper way, i would appreciate any guidance;
MainActivty;
   public class upload extends AppCompatActivity {

public String UserID;
private static final int REQUEST_SIGNUP = 0;

private DrawerLayout mDrawerLayout;

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.upload);
    Firebase.setAndroidContext(this);

    // Adding Toolbar to Main screen
    Toolbar toolbar = (Toolbar) findViewById(R.id.toolbar);
    setSupportActionBar(toolbar);
    // Setting ViewPager for each Tabs
    ViewPager viewPager = (ViewPager) findViewById(R.id.viewpager);
    setupViewPager(viewPager);
    // Set Tabs inside Toolbar
    TabLayout tabs = (TabLayout) findViewById(R.id.tabs);
    tabs.setupWithViewPager(viewPager);
 }
  private void setupViewPager(ViewPager viewPager) {
    Adapter adapter = new Adapter(getSupportFragmentManager());
    adapter.addFragment(new UploadPictures(), "Pictures");
    adapter.addFragment(new UploadVideos(), "Videos");
    viewPager.setAdapter(adapter);
}

static class Adapter extends FragmentPagerAdapter {
    private final List<Fragment> mFragmentList = new ArrayList<>();
    private final List<String> mFragmentTitleList = new ArrayList<>();

    public Adapter(FragmentManager manager) {
        super(manager);
    }

    @Override
    public Fragment getItem(int position) {
        return mFragmentList.get(position);
    }

    @Override
    public int getCount() {
        return mFragmentList.size();
    }

    public void addFragment(Fragment fragment, String title) {
        mFragmentList.add(fragment);
        mFragmentTitleList.add(title);
    }

    @Override
    public CharSequence getPageTitle(int position) {
        return mFragmentTitleList.get(position);
    }
}

And here is the Fragment Code;
   public class UploadPictures extends android.support.v4.app.Fragment {
   @Override
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container,
                         Bundle savedInstanceState) {

    final RecyclerView recyclerView = (RecyclerView) inflater.inflate(
            R.layout.recycler_view, container, false);
   ContentAdapter adapter = new ContentAdapter(recyclerView.getContext());
    recyclerView.setAdapter(adapter);
    recyclerView.setHasFixedSize(true);
    recyclerView.setLayoutManager(new LinearLayoutManager(getActivity()));

    return recyclerView;

}

 public class ViewHolder extends RecyclerView.ViewHolder implements View.OnClickListener {

    public ImageView picture;
    public EditText tagEditText;
    public Button tagCurLoc, choosePic, uploadContent;

    public ViewHolder(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup parent) {
        super(inflater.inflate(R.layout.pictue_upload, parent, false));

        picture = (ImageView) itemView.findViewById(R.id.imgToUpload);
        tagEditText = (EditText) itemView.findViewById(R.id.tagEditText);
        tagCurLoc = (Button) itemView.findViewById(R.id.tagCurLoc);
        choosePic = (Button) itemView.findViewById(R.id.choosePic);
        choosePic.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                Intent galleryIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_PICK, MediaStore.Images.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI);
                startActivityForResult(galleryIntent, RESULT_LOAD_IMAGE);

            }

            protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
                if (data == null) {
                    onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
                    Toast.makeText(getActivity().getApplicationContext(), "Canceled ", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();

                } else {
                    if (requestCode == RESULT_LOAD_IMAGE) {
                            Uri selectedImgPath = data.getData();
                            picture.setImageURI(selectedImgPath);
                            RealFilePath = Uri.parse(String.valueOf(selectedImgPath));
                            Toast.makeText(getActivity().getApplicationContext(), " " + RealFilePath, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                    }
                }
            }
        });

        uploadContent = (Button) itemView.findViewById(R.id.uploadContent);
    }
}

/**
 * Adapter to display recycler view.
 */
public class ContentAdapter extends RecyclerView.Adapter<ViewHolder> {
    // Set numbers of List in RecyclerView.

    private Context mContext;

    public ContentAdapter(Context context) {

        this.mContext = context;
    }

    @Override
    public ViewHolder onCreateViewHolder(ViewGroup parent, int viewType) {
        return new ViewHolder(LayoutInflater.from(parent.getContext()), parent);
    }

    @Override
    public void onBindViewHolder(final ViewHolder holder, int position) {

    }

    @Override
    public int getItemCount() {
        return LENGTH;
    }

}

Not sure if the onClick listener for the button should be implemented in the Adapter or the View holder, and from there the issue of onActivityResult cant be used ?

A: Weel, solved after some more reading and few try outs.
The onClick listener should be implemented at the ViewHolder class followed by
 @Override
  onActivityResult.

within the onClickListener onActivityResult invoked by;
 startActivityForResult(intent, RESULT_LOAD_IMAGE);

and within onActivityResult;
 onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);

Considering all of this taking place in an activity extending Fragment.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: Convex Functions: Property Proof Let $f\colon S\to \mathbb R$ be a $C^1$ function on a convex domain $S \subseteq \mathbb R^n$.  Show that if $f$ is convex then $(\nabla f(x) - \nabla f(y)) \cdot (x-y) \ge 0$ for all $x,y \in S$.
My intuition is that since $f$ is convex we have that $f(y) \ge f(x) + \nabla f(x)(y-x)$ and that $f(x) \ge f(y) +\nabla f(y)(x-y)$ and I'd like to use these somehow but I am not sure what the best approach would be.  Is there a good geometric intuition for this statement, and any major ideas that might help me in tackling proofs of further properties?
Thanks!

A: If $\phi$ is a differentiable convex function of one variable then $\phi'(t) \geq \phi'(s)$ whenever $t \geq s$.
Now let $\phi(t) = f(y + t (x-y))$, compute $\phi$ and apply the above result to $\phi'(1)$ and $\phi'(0)$.


text:
Star Trek: Duet
Episode: "Duet"
Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Original Air Date: June 13, 1993
A Cardassian arrives at the station with a disease he could only have contracted at a Bajoran labor camp during the occupation. Major Kira leads the investigation to find out who he is: Aamin Marritza, a blameless file clerk, or Gul Darhe'el, the camp's commander and a war criminal.
"Duet" marks the point when Deep Space Nine goes from good to great. For the first time, a Star Trek series sits with the problems of a single planet over time rather than scuttling off at the end of the episode. The real world parallels for the Bajoran struggle against the Cardassians are many, in this case most clearly evoking the Nazi Holocaust, though just as easily the Japanese and British imperialism of the same era in other parts of the world. Once again, Kira is placed in the position of having to come to terms with the horrors of the past as she interviews Marritza/Darhe'el. While the question of identity is resolved by story's end, the deeper resentments clearly are not. This is new and refreshingly uncomfortable ground for the franchise. Problems are going to take more than 42 minutes to fix.
"Duet" is a low-budget bottle episode to boot, a reminder to all storytellers of how much can be done within strict limits.
Acting Notes
via Ghostbusters Wiki
Harris Yulin played the role of Marritza/Darhe'el. Yulin was born November 5, 1937 in Los Angeles. He made his New York stage debut in 1963, hitting Broadway with Watch on the Rhine in the '80s.
Film credits include Scarface, Clear and Present Danger, The Hurricane and Training Day. Beyond Trek, he has appeared in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Rubicon, Ozark and Frasier, for which he received an Emmy nomination. Also an accomplished stage director, he won the Lucille Lortel Award for The Trip to Bountiful in 2006.
Labels: comics, DS9, family adventures, film, good reading, sources, star trek
On the Coffee Table: Takashi Hashiguchi
Title: Yakitate!! Japan, Volumes 2 & 3
Writer and Artist: Takashi Hashiguchi
The adventures of young baker Kazuma Azuma continue as he works to establish himself in the highly competitive world of Tokyo bakeries. The storylines revolve around Iron Chef-esque showdowns.
There's some fun character development in the two collections I've just read:
Kazuma is impulsive, ready to run off (literally run) to distant provinces for unusual bread ingredients: fresh wasabi, for instance.
Tsukino (fellow baker/love interest?) has more than a casual interest in the success of the bakery where they work. It impacts her inheritance.
Kawachi (fellow baker/inferior rival) emerges as a more sympathetic character than early chapters suggested.
Kenoshita (fellow baker) does all the work in the shop though he's only ever tangentially connected to the main narrative. He's good comic relief.
The books remind me of Japan's more unusual bread concepts: bread with bean paste, for instance. Let's just say I'm not a fan. Cream-filled bread comes up, too. I don't remember that. Too bad - I think I would have preferred that to the beans.
There is an anime series and I am curious. I'm interested to know how the almost superhero-ish flash of the panels translates to the screen.
I have four more volumes on my shelves. I'm looking forward to them.
Labels: Asian Lit, children's literature, comics, family adventures, food, food books, good reading, trades
On the Coffee Table: The Way We Eat Now
Title: The Way We Eat Now: How the Food Revolution Has Transformed Our Lives, Our Bodies, and Our World
Author: Bee Wilson
Food writer Bee Wilson tackles the eating habits of 21st century society. Unsurprisingly, there's a lot of alarming news. To be sure, we live in an age of unprecedented abundance and less of the world lives in on the brink of starvation than at any point in history. But that's not to say we're eating well. The reach of over-processed food produced by global corporation is ever growing, spreading American-esque obesity trends wherever it extends. We don't eat sit down meals any more. We don't even necessarily set aside time for meals any more. Fad diets do little to actually make us healthier. It's all pretty grim, especially for the poor.
And yet, there is hope. Eating patterns evolve over time and Wilson offers plenty of thoughts on how to encourage the evolution in healthy directions. Furthermore, as global habits trend away from a healthy acquaintance with our food and its sources, many - my wife, for instance - are making the deliberate choice to cook more of their own food. The author also includes an epilogue with practical advice for simple, manageable ways one can improve personal habits. One bit of advice she didn't include so I will: if you care about the way people eat, give thought to how you vote, both with the ballot and with your wallet.
I started the book during Thanksgiving week, a time when Americans celebrate abundance with excess. It reminded me of how grateful I should be for the life I have. We eat well and we're lucky to live in Vermont, a state that takes farm to table principles seriously. I'm certainly lucky to be married to a woman who, in addition to being an exceptional cook, works hard to find and use local ingredients. Compared to the average person, I don't eat much processed food - thanks more to her habits than my own. That's not to say I don't have room for improvement because I certainly do. It all falls apart when she's out of town. But overall, I'm extremely fortunate.
This is my fourth Bee Wilson book and I always learn a lot from them. Highly recommended.
Labels: family adventures, food, food books, good reading, non-fiction books, science books
Squid Cooks: Prunes in Armagnac
Armagnac was another of my big finds at State Street Wine, Beer & Spirits. Armagnac, like cognac, is a variety of brandy. It is made from a grape blend whereas cognac is made predominantly from Ugni blanc grapes. Armagnac is distilled in column stills rather than the pot stills of its more famous cousin.
One fun thing to do with armagnac is to soak prunes in it. David Lebovitz's recipe, from Drinking French, also includes water, sugar, vanilla and orange zest in the soaking mixture. You put everything in a jar and let it sit for two weeks or even several months, shaking every few days. While the recipe calls for the scrapings from a vanilla bean, I went with vanilla paste - same stuff and much cheaper. Finding the right prunes was a bit of a challenge, too. The recipe calls for unpitted prunes - they probably hold together better in the soaking.
We tried them after two weeks. They're nice - definitely boozy. I'll be interested to see how they age, presumably soaking up more of the armagnac over time. Ultimately, they'll end up in a cocktail, of course. Stay tuned.
Labels: cocktails, family adventures, food, food books, good reading, non-fiction books
Star Trek: Timescape
Episode: "Timescape"
Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation
While returning from a conference in a runabout, Picard, Troi, La Forge and Data encounter time distortions. When they get back to the Enterprise, the ship is completely frozen in time - mostly, anyway. They appear to simultaneously be dealing with a Romulan attack and a warp core breach.
As is well established, I'm not a fan of time travel in Star Trek so I won't dwell on it. All of the backwards, forwards, slowing down, speeding up timey-wimey business feels like narrative cheating to me. That's not to say there aren't a few clever elements I enjoy. The truth behind the Romulan "attack" is satisfying. There's humor, too: Riker's fear of Data's cat, Data stepping out of the way of a crewman walking in rewind, Picard unfaltering politeness to a time-frozen Worf, etc.
So while I could never count such an episode among my favorites, I can understand how someone without my hangups might like it.
via Breaking Bad Wiki
Michael Bofshever played an unnamed time travelling aliens disguised a Romulan. Bofshever was born October 12, 1950 in Brooklyn, New York. "Timescape" was his second of two Trek appearances. He had been in DS9's "Progress" just the month before. He also performed as an engineer in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, though his part was cut from the final film. Other television work includes guest credits for both Six Feet Under and Breaking Bad.
Labels: comics, family adventures, film, good reading, sources, star trek, TNG
Squid Mixes: Tailspin
A Tailspin is a minor variant on the Bijou Cocktail. Both combine gin, green Chartreuse, sweet veremouth and orange bitters (though some Tailspin recipes include Campari instead of the bitters). According to The New York Bartender's Guide, it's just the proportions that differ. Bijou is 3:2:2 while Tailspin is 4:3:3 (gin:Chartreuse:vermouth). In effect, that means more Chartreuse and vermouth per volume which, for me, enhances the anise flavor of the drink. I imagine Campari would bring more bitterness and a more reddish tint. The recipe calls for lemon twist and cherry for garnish. I went with orange instead of lemon as it was readily at hand.
The Tailspin is one of many aviation-inspired drinks invented in the 1910s and '20s. It was a coincidental and perhaps strange choice on an evening when roads were slippery with snow.
Star Trek: Dramatis Personae
Episode: "Dramatis Personae"
Original Air Date: May 30, 1993
A Klingon attack cruiser returns from an expedition through the wormhole but explodes before it can dock with the station. A single officer manages to escape in the transporter, then dies on the pad in Ops, his final word, "Victory!" Soon after, the DS9 crew splits into factions, turning on one another. Sisko leads one side, Kira the other. Thank goodness, Odo is unaffected by whatever has infected the crew and is clever enough to save them all.
"Dramatis Personae" gives the actors some room to flex their thespian muscles. Avery Brooks, especially, gets to have some fun as he swings between paranoia and a quieter madness. In addition to guarding against Kira's mutiny, Sisko inexplicably builds a beautiful clock. Writer Joe Menosky intended to evoke Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II, evidently a mad tinkerer in his spare time. There are some especially tasty Odo-Quark and Kira-Dax exchanges, too. The story dips the series's toes in the Mirror, Mirror concept, one they'll explore more later.
Food Notes
In an early scene, Quark serves Dax a Modela aperetif, the beverage's first appearance in the canon, leaving me impressed by the mixological skill Armin Shimerman had to learn for the show. [Or did he get some prop assistance for this one?] The drink rekindles my own layered cocktail ambitions. Surprisingly, I haven't seen any recipes for this particular concoction online.
Tom Towles played the roll of Hon-Tihi, the lone, briefly surviving Klingon officer. Towles was born March 20, 1950 in Chicago. Before jumping into acting, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps. His career began on stage with the Organic Theater Company.
Towles broke through as Otis in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, a gig that earned him an Independent Spirit Award nomination. Other films included Night of the Living Dead, The Rock and Dr. Doolittle. Television appearances included Seinfeld, Malcolm in the Middle and Firefly. "Dramatis Personae" was his first of two Trek appearances.
Towles died in 2015 of complications following a stroke.
Labels: cocktails, comics, DS9, family adventures, food, good reading, sources, star trek
Squid Mixes: Fresh Hanky
A Fresh Hanky is my own variation on David Lebovitz's Suzy's Hanky (in turn, Lebovitz's variation on a Hanky Panky), swapping out the sweet vermouth for dry, necessitated by the fact that I had run out of dry. Though, to be honest, once one hits a flavor note - bitterness in this case - pursuing that note to the extreme is always an intriguing adventure.
I initially suggested Dry Hanky as the name but my tasters (wife and English Prof) were unimpressed. I decided Fresh Hanky is more appealing - evoking clean linens still warm from the dryer. Tasters approved. The drink itself was a hit, too.
My Fresh Hanky recipe:
1.5 oz London dry gin
1 oz dry vermouth
.5 oz Suze
.5 oz Grand Marnier
Orange twist
Stir all but orange with ice to chill. Strain into a serving glass. Garnish with the orange twist.
Labels: cocktails, designer cocktails, family adventures, food
Star Trek: Second Chances
Episode: "Second Chances"
Will Riker meets his doppelganger. Evidently, there was a transporter mishap during the evacuation of Nervala IV eight years before and Will was essentially split into two beings. One is the character we have known on the Enterprise. The other was marooned on Nervala IV, no one knowing he was there. This second Will, who eventually decides to go by Thomas, has an understandably rough readjustment to life in Starfleet. The presence of Deanna Troi aboard the Enterprise complicates matters for all involved.
"Second Chances" is a strong Riker episode and it plays on the very issue I have perceived with the character: the writers never seem to know quite what to do with Will. By rekindling the Will-Deanna love affair, the story circles back to the beginning of the series when the two are first reunited. We weren't given much to go on in the pilot regarding their past together, though there clearly was one. NextGen doesn't develop the romance as much as it could have and for the most part, that's probably a good thing. But questions linger. A lot of those questions are answered in "Second Chances" and that's satisfying to a point. And also very sad, especially for Deanna.
In a sense, we get to see who Will is through who he isn't. Thomas fell in love with Deanna and stayed in love. Will didn't. His ambitions took precedent. But maybe we see in this story the limits of those ambitions. Perhaps the romantic within Will helps to explain why he has repeatedly chosen staying on the Enterprise over accepting his own command. The Starfleet flagship offers the greater adventure. Maybe Deanna factors in his desire to stick around more than we've been led to believe.
The best "Second Chances" story of all may be a behind the scenes one. Dr. Mae Jemison plays the role of Palmer, a transporter tech. In 1992, not even a year before the episode aired, Jemison became the first black woman to travel to space. She was a mission specialist on the Space Shuttle Endeavour.
Typical of astronauts, Jemison's bio is extraordinary. She was born October 17, 1956 in Decatur, Alabama and grew up in Chicago. She graduated from Stanford with two Bachelor's degrees, one in chemical engineering, the other in African and African-American studies. After earning a Medical Degree from Cornell, she joined the Peace Corps, serving as a doctor in Liberia and Sierra Leone. After working for a time as a general practitioner, she applied to NASA.
Jemison was a huge Star Trek fan, Nichelle Nichols's performance as Uhura, in particular, inspiring an interest in space from an early age. Bringing all full circle, Nichols was invited to the set during the filming of "Second Chances" in order to meet Jemison. On top of everything else, Jemison is an accomplished dancer and choreographer. She has also written several children's books, including a memoir and other books about space.
Labels: children's literature, comics, good reading, non-fiction books, science books, sources, star trek, TNG
Squid Mixes: Suzy's Hanky
Suzy's Hanky is David Lebovitz's variation on a Hanky Panky. He takes out the Frenet-Branca and adds Suze and Grand Marnier (or Cointreau or triple sec). Lebovitz published his recipe in Drinking French.
Suze is the star here. It's a gentian liqueur, providing a bitter flavor with citrus notes. The intense bitterness is reminiscent of Campari, yet somehow lighter. Both my wife and English Prof were impressed with the cocktail.
Star Trek: The Forsaken
Episode: "The Forsaken"
A delegation of Starfleet ambassadors pays a visit to the station, including our old friend Lwaxanna Troi. The daughter of the fifth House, holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx, heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed takes a shine to Constable Odo. Unfortunately, there's also a less welcome interloper in the form of an alien computer program which infects DS9 operations.
The Troi/Odo story is the primary narrative. "The Forsaken" represents a turning point for both characters. As I have written several times, I'm not a fan of Lwaxanna. She grates. But in this story and in her next (and final) TNG appearance, we see a genuinely vulnerable side that makes her considerably more likable. The
"You are not at all what I expected."
"No one's ever paid me a greater compliment."
exchange between Odo and Lwaxanna is simply lovely, allowing an insight into her zaniness we've not been previously afforded. For Odo's part, the vulnerability begins with the physical. We watch him literally melt as he approaches his solid state limit. He reveals more once he recognizes Lwaxanna is someone he can trust.
Constance Towers played the role of Taxco, a high-maintenance Arbazan ambassador. Towers was born May 20, 1931 in Whitefish, Montana. She also spent parts of her childhood in Kalispell, Montana, Moscow, Idaho and Seattle where she worked for a few years as a child radio actor. Eventually, her family settled in New York City when her father took a job as a pharmaceutical executive. She studied music at Julliard, then acting at American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Towers was discovered by a film agent while she was at Julliard and soon signed a contract with Columbia Pictures. Fittingly given her name, Towers is on the tall side at 5'9", a fact that held her back from finding lead roles initially. Eventually, she was cast in a few: The Horse Soldiers, Sergeant Rutledge and The Naked Kiss. In 1965, she resumed a stage career with her Broadway debut in Anya. She also led Broadway productions of The Sound of Music and The King and I. Daytime television has been especially kind with long runs on both Capitol and General Hospital. She made her most recent appearance on the latter this year. Towers has two Emmy nominations: one for General Hospital as "America's Favorite Villain" and one for Best Actress in 1974's Once in Her Life.
Squid Mixes: Mon Nouvel Ami
Mon Nouvel Ami is David Lebovitz's variation on the Old Pal Cocktail, substituting Dolin red for Campari. Lebovitz published his recipe in his Drinking French book. The result was a less bitter drink. My wife described the Dolin as more botanical in flavor.
Largely because of the Lebovitz recipe, I've had my eye out for Dolin for a while. Technically, it's a vermouth, though more flavorful - and more expensive - than the usual offerings. It's not available in Vermont liquor stores so I always keep an eye out for it when we're out of state. Wouldn't you know, I'd find a gem of a liquor store in Northampton, Massachusetts: State Street Wine, Beer & Spirits. I was able to cross off a decent portion of my wish list so stay tuned.
Star Trek: Rightful Heir
Episode: "Rightful Heir"
Worf visits the monastery on Boreth in order to reconnect with his Klingon spiritual roots. He experiences a vision of Kahless the Unforgettable. Except it's no mere vision. Miraculously, it would seem Kahless has returned in the flesh after fifteen centuries. The resurrected hero has a plan for rebuilding the Klingon empire.
In the beginning, the story is a bit hokey. It gains strength as our heroes and their Klingon guests seek to verify Kahless's authenticity. Gowron - always a welcome visitor, at least for the audience - and entourage are on board to see if Kahless is the real deal, hoping he isn't, of course. In the end, questions arise over the value of a spiritual leader serving alongside an established secular leadership structure. It's an issue with relevance in 2022. I highly recommend John Oliver's recent rant about the relevance of the British monarchy for a contemporary perspective.
Klingon warnog, a traditional Klingon beer, is featured for the first time in this episode. Tin Man Brewery produced an officially licensed Klingon Warnog, beginning in 2014. Unfortunately, the product was not successful enough to keep the company afloat as they have since gone out of business.
Kevin Conway (Kahless, top photo) was born May 29, 1942 in New York City. He studied the craft at HB Studio. He found success on stage as both actor and director. He received a Drama Desk Award in 1974 as an actor for When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder? and was nominated as a director for the same in 1980 for Mecca.
Films included Slaughterhouse-Five, Funny Farm and Gettysburg. He also directed the independent film The Sun and the Moon. Television work included recurring roles on Oz and The Good Wife.
Conway died of a heart attack in 2020.
Labels: comics, family adventures, food, good reading, sources, star trek, TNG
Squid Eats: Moshi Moshi
Moshi Moshi is how one answers the telephone in Japan. It's also the name of a sushi restaurant in Northampton, Massachusetts. We recently went for lunch.
Moshi Moshi occupies a tiny space on a street corner by the railroad bridge, barely room on the ground floor for a short bar and a single table - there's upstairs seating, too, fortunately. Service was friendly and quite attentive - hard not to be in such a small space.
Most importantly, the food is good.
That's a California roll, avocado roll, tuna roll, salmon roll and unagi (eel).
Apparently, Moshi Moshi was a favorite of children's literature titan Eric Carle, a longtime Northampton resident:
Labels: children's literature, eating out, family adventures, food, good reading
Star Trek: If Wishes Were Horses
Episode: "If Wishes Were Horses"
Everyone's dreams, both good and bad, come true. An alien species invades the station by taking the form of beings of our heroes' imaginations: Rumpelstiltskin for Molly O'Brien (or is it for Miles?); Buck Bokai, a fictitious 21st century baseball legend for Jake Sisko; a nauseatingly affectionate version of Dax for Julian; etc. Harmless fun? Not so much. Imagined disasters like a spatial rift are also becoming all too real.
Fantasies becoming reality: this is well-traveled ground for Trek in such episodes as TOS's "Shore Leave" (arguably the precursor to Holodeck episodes) and TNG's "Imaginary Friend." "If Wishes Were Horses" is not the strongest installment but I always appreciate when the tables are turned on our adventurers, in this case the observers becoming the observed. A relevant behind the scenes note: according to Terry Farrell (Dax), this was the episode in which the ensemble cast hit their stride in working together.
via Young Justice Wiki
Keone Young (Buck Bokai) was born September 6, 1947 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He has had a long, extensive career in television both as a live actor and, especially, as a voice actor. His biggest on-screen gigs were on Kay O'Brien, Deadwood and The Young and the Restless. On the mic, he has had principal roles on Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi and American Dragon: Jake Long as well as numerous recurring roles on high profile series such as Teen Titans, Batman Beyond and Star Wars Rebels. "If Wishes Were Horses" is his first of two Trek appearances. He plays Hiroshi's father in Enterprise.
Labels: children's literature, comics, DS9, good reading, sources, star trek, Star Wars
Squid Eats: Herrell's
via Herrell's
Herrell's is a Northampton, Massachusetts (NoHo) food landmark. Tell anyone you've visited the town and they're sure to ask if you've been to Herrell's. We went for the first time in August, then returned a couple weekends ago.
Confession time. I'm an ice cream snob. My offspring says so and I'm inclined to agree. Ice cream is my favorite food in the world and I am convinced that I live in the greatest part of the world for eating it. Sure, you know all about Ben & Jerry's, the local independent gone global, now comfortably in Unilever's portfolio. But great Vermont ice cream extends far beyond B&J. First, there's creemies, soft-serve ice cream to the rest of you. It's both ubiquitous and delicious around here in the summer time. There's plenty of great hard ice cream, too: Lake Champlain Chocolate, Wilcox, Island Homemade, Kingdom Creamery, Sisters of Anarchy. It's all yummy.
So, if I'm going to stand in a long, winding, confusing line for a cone, as we did at Herrell's in August, it had better be pretty darn good. I honestly can't remember what flavor I got in the summer - the shop has 40 at any given time with 400+ in rotation. It was fine. Not great. Fine. Not worth standing in line.
As a result, I've been less inclined to go in subsequent visits to NoHo. It's possible I even rolled my eyes when our progeny suggested it, prompting the ice cream snob accusation. Nonetheless, we agreed to go during our most recent visit if the line wasn't too long.
I got rum raisin this time. It was pretty darn good. Rum raisin was my go-to Baskin-Robbins order back in the day. I don't get it too often any more. To be fair, one doesn't see it so much. Herrell's was nice - truly rummy and creamier than what I remember from B-R in my childhood. Is it as good as Vermont's best? Probably not. But definitely worth a stop if the line's not too long.
This ice cream snob will be back.
Labels: eating out, family adventures, food, ice cream
On the Coffee Table: The Sandman
Title: The Sandman, Volume 1: Preludes & Nocturnes
Writer: Neil Gaiman
Artists: Sam Keith, Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III, Dave McKean
Title: The Sandman, Volume 2: The Doll's House
Artists: Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III, Chris Bachalo, Michael Zulli. Steve Parkhouse, Dave McKean
The Sandman is widely considered one of the masterpieces of the comic book genre. Neil Gaiman teamed up with a small staff of master artists to tell the tale of Morpheus, King of the Dreamworld. Morpheus had been held captive for several decades. Now that he's free, he must clean up the mess created by those who have sought to fill the void in his absence. The story shifts not exactly seamlessly between demon-world, dream-world and real world.
As I have written before, though not for several years, Gaiman's work is hit-or-miss for me. I can't deny his command of language or narrative skill. The Graveyard Book is one of my favorites. But Gaiman often tends too far in the horror direction for my tastes. I first tried Preludes & Nocturnes several years ago and was deeply turned off. Maggots in people's eyes? A diner full of people being manipulated into killing each other? No thanks.
The new Netflix series sparked my wife's interest. She'd never read the comics before but is now eagerly seeking them out. She suggested I read the second book, The Doll's House, as a book swap. I needed to re-read the first volume to get oriented.
After being freed, Morpheus sets out to gather his dream-manipulating objects: a gas mask, a bag of sand and an amulet. All have fallen into the possession of unsuitable owners. I can't say I liked the story any better with the second reading. Still hauntingly beautiful at times? Yes. Still frequently gross and off-putting? Most certainly.
The Doll's House is better. The broad arc follows a mortal, Rose Walker, a young woman whose family has been torn apart. As she works to gather them all back together, she learns of the role she plays, unwittingly, within the dream world. Once again, some of the stories are lovely. The prologue is set in the African desert, a man relating a rite of passage tale to his grandson after the latter's ritual circumcision. In Part Four, Morpheus makes a friend in 14th century England. After granting him immortality, Morpheus visits his pal every hundred years to see how he's doing.
But there are also truly sickening moments over the course of the story. Maybe this is the trade off I have to accept with the Sandman series if I'm to continue with it. And I think I will. Eventually. Gaiman is a genius. If I can endure his horror stories, I will be rewarded with occasional elegance. Even Rose's story, while frequently disgusting, is beautiful in the end.
The artwork is undeniably brilliant. With several different artists come a variety of styles. Sometimes, panel sequence gets confusing, which annoys me. But overall, the visual presentation is top-notch. Even the gross stuff.
I don't know if I'm interested in the TV series or not. I suppose I am curious to see how it all translates to screen. If I do watch, I may occasionally need to remove to another room from time to time.
Labels: comics, family adventures, Family Book Swap, food, food books, good reading, trades
Star Trek: Suspicions
Episode: "Suspicions"
Dr. Crusher becomes the sleuth in a murder mystery. She invites a group of scientists aboard the Enterprise so one of them, a Ferengi, Dr. Reyga, can demonstrate metaphasic shielding to the others. One of them, a Takaran, Jo'Bril, dies in a test flight, then Reyga himself. turns up dead. Crusher gets in hot water herself when she violates both the Captain's orders and medical ethics by performing an autopsy on Reyga.
As a mystery story, "Suspicions" is pretty good, with a satisfying twist at the end. But I have a hard time getting past the ethics violation by Beverly. Detectives in stories bend the rules all the time to get what they want. I get that. It's one of the tropes. The title character does it all the time on House, MD. In this case, I object to it on Star Trek terms. It is such an obvious violation of the Prime Directive - it went against Ferengi burial rituals - and as usual, our hero gets away with it. Why? Because in the end, through Crusher's efforts, Reyga was vindicated? Maybe. That bit's not ever explained.
For all its trumpeting for the cause of tolerance, there is a shameful arrogance to Trek sometimes. The (Western) human perspective is still valued over others. In this case, the disrespect for another culture was forgiven and forgotten because Crusher was "right." This moral perspective plays out over and over again within the franchise. In the real world, it's a prevalent, though infrequently acknowledged, perspective of white American liberalism. We love your simple primitive ways until they get in our way in the search for a singular truth.
Tricia O'Neil played the role of Kurak, a Klingon scientist. O'Neil was born March 11, 1945 in Shreveport, Louisiana, though she spent much of her childhood in El Paso, Texas. She graduated from Baylor in 1968.
She started in modeling, then found work in commercials. She made her Broadway debut in 1970 in Two by Two, a part that won her a Theatre World Award. Films include The Gumball Rally, Brave New World and Titanic. TV gigs include Barney Miller, Murder, She Wrote and The A-Team. "Suspicions" is her second of three Star Trek appearances.
Squid Eats: Bueno Y Sano
Bueno Y Sano (translates as good and healthy) is a small, regional Mexican food chain. There are seven locations in Massachusetts plus one is in Vermont. We recently visited the one in Northampton, Mass. The atmosphere is a cut above fast food, though not quite a sit-down, table service restaurant.
The menu is mostly burritos, tacos and quesadillas. I went with the Local Beef Chili Burrito, the "local beef" sourced from Roaming Farm in Deerfield, Mass. It was serviceable, though short of spectacular.
After (well, midway through):
I added a pico de gallo-esque chunky salsa. If we go again - and given the location, price and speed of service, I expect we will - I might try the "medium" salsa for a bit more heat. Unfortunately, there's nothing hotter on offer. The East/West Burrito, an Indian-Mexican fusion concept, and the Korean BBQ Tacos will also be worth trying sometime.
Overall, it's not bad, though I'll take Vermont's Mad Taco any time.
Labels: eating out, family adventures, food
Star Trek: Progress
Episode: "Progress"
Original Air Date: May 9, 1993
Kira is put in a tricky spot. One of the Bajoran moons is being converted into a massive power plant and one farmer, Mullibok, refuses to evacuate. Kira goes down to convince him. Unfortunately, she develops deep sympathy for him, complicating matters for both of them.
The Kira thread, maybe the best arc in DS9's early going, finally kicks into gear. We already know that the former freedom fighter is having a difficult time adjusting to her new role, not to mention the new state of affairs on her own world. The enemy she devoted her life to fighting, the Cardassians, are gone and her administrative duties on Deep Space 9 keep her pretty far away from any potential action anyway. In "Battle Lines," we were able to see the spiritual side of her adjustment. "Progress" tells of a more emotional struggle, and a test of her loyalties.
The episode draws obvious comparisons with TNG's "The Ensigns of Command," being a similar story about evacuating a planet. "Progress" is considerably superior, largely because it is a more personal story for both Kira than it could ever be for Data (built-in character limitation, I know, but most of the principals in DS9 are more interesting than Data - there, I said it). For Data, the story was a chance to learn about human nature. For Kira, it's a challenge to come to terms with herself. That's a more compelling narrative anytime.
Brian Keith (Mullibok) was born November 14, 1921 in Bayonne, New Jersey. His parents were both actors: Robert Keith, who had a successful film career, and stage actress Helena Shipman. After high school, Brian Keith joined the Marines, serving for three years during World War II. He received an Air Medal.
Keith had a long, successful screen career. Films included The Parent Trap, Johnny Shiloh and The Wind and the Lion. Television was especially kind. Keith had the lead in four different series: Family Affair, Hardcastle and McCormick, The Brian Keith Show and Heartland.
Keith was married three times and had seven children, three of them adopted. In 1997, at age 75, he committed suicide after years of struggling with lung disease, financial troubles and depression. His youngest daughter Daisy, also an actress, had also committed suicide just two months before.
Squid Flicks: Y Tu Mama Tambien
Title: Y Tu Mama Tambien
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Two teenage Mexican boys take an older (by ten years or so) Spanish woman, Luisa, on a road trip to the beach. By initial appearances, it is a coming of age story for the guys (Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna) as they brag about their sexual exploits to each other and to her (Maribel Verdú) as part of their clumsy effort to seduce her. Luisa, however, is working through her own struggles, including a failed marriage.
Now that our progeny is off to college, my wife and I have a new system for picking movies: brackets. Here's how it works. One of us (taking turns, of course) picks eight films and sets them in a tournament-style bracket. The other chooses a winner from each pairing, creating a second round. The first person picks winners from those match-ups to create a final. The second chooses the winner and that's the one we watch. Here's our Y Tu Mama bracket (set by my wife) as an example:
This way, we both get a say in which movie we watch on a given evening - reasonably fair and good, wholesome fun. We must credit The Playwright and English Prof with the idea.
Y Tu Mama is a beautifully shot film. Writing and acting are both strong. We get glimpses of the political and economic realities of Mexico in the early 21st century, though for the most part, the travelers are shielded from it. The narrative cleverness is revealed in hindsight. The final twist suggests that Luisa was the true protagonist all along rather than the boys.
Generally, the movie gets rave reviews for being "sexy" but whether or not it actually merits the description is debatable. There's plenty of nudity, both male and female, and loads of sexual content but none of it is exactly sensuous. It doesn't help that the boys are complete idiots. So, maybe sexy but not erotic?
Labels: family adventures, film
Star Trek: Frame of Mind
Episode: "Frame of Mind"
Realities are blurred for Riker. His consciousness keeps shifting between the Enterprise and "Ward 47" in a mental hospital on an alien world. Further confusing matters is his role in a stage play in which he plays a mental patient.
Is the entire series a delusion? Interestingly, the episode doesn't answer that question right away. "Frame of Mind" tends to rank high on best-of lists. I admire its production quality. There's also a wonderful scene in which Riker classifies projections of Troi, Worf and Picard as representations of his own psychological aspects, just the sort of exercise this blogger enjoys (see here). Overall, I prefer the similar "First Contact." The fourth season episode feels more connected to the broader series concept. "Frame of Mind," while clever, feels less Trek to me.
It's a decent Riker story. While I haven't written as much about it recently, I still wonder about the Riker character in general. What is his broader narrative purpose on NextGen? Couldn't this episode just as easily have been a Picard story? Don't misunderstand: I like Riker and I like Jonathan Frakes. And he serves as an important template for the series moving forward, especially for Chakotay on Voyager. My question is whether or not he's entirely necessary. Of all the seven principals, despite his second billing, I still see him as the most expendable, six seasons in. I am sure that was not the intention.
David Selburg plays the role of Syrus, Riker's psychiatrist in Ward 47. Selburg was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, December 17, 1948. "Frame of Mind" was his second of four Trek appearances as four characters in three different series. Other television gigs include Hill Street Blues, The Wonder Years and ER. Big screen work includes The Man with One Red Shoe, Species and The Bourne Identity.
Labels: comics, good reading, sources, star trek, TNG
Squid Mixes: Cider Battles VI, Unified Press
Unified Press (UP) is Citizen Cider's flagship product, by far the one most likely to be found in Vermont bars. It's marketed as "semi-dry" which places is it on the sweet end of the company's standard offerings. Welcome to the arena, UP...
Citizen Cider Unified Press vs. Citizen Cider The Dirty Mayor (DM)
First, the Swizzle comparison. As pleasant as The Dirty Mayor's ginger kick is, it complicates matters in a mixed drink. Ginger is always a flavor heavyweight so it's not so great if you want to taste other ingredients. As such, the Unified Press works better here. It's also more apple-y, something my wife in particular has been seeking in these tastings and, until now, not finding.
Winner, Swizzle Category: Citizen Cider Unified Press
In the Sipping battle, we had, for the first time, a difference of opinion. Given her love for ginger, I fully expected my wife to prefer the DM but, in fact, she liked the UP for its stronger apple flavor. I guess it all depends what you're looking for in a given situation.
I still prefer the DM. The ginger provides more body and dimension, thus a more satisfying overall experience. Plus, the UP has a similar funky aftertaste to the one I described in Pearsecco. Both the ginger in the DM and the other ingredients in the D-Day Swizzle seem to take care of the problem.
Winner and New Champion, Sipping Category, Her Preference: Citizen Cider Unified Press
Winner and Still Champion, Sipping Category, His Preference: Citizen Cider The Dirty Mayor
Labels: cocktails, family adventures, food
Star Trek: The Storyteller
Episode: "The Storyteller"
Dr. Bashir is summoned for a medical emergency in a Bajoran village. Commander Sisko sends Chief O'Brien with him. It quickly becomes obvious that O'Brien doesn't like Bashir much but the latter does his best to make pals anyway. It's a good thing Miles was along for the ride, though. The village's spiritual leader, the Sirah, is dying and picks O'Brien as his successor. As might be expected, that doesn't work out too well.
I've been waiting for an eye-roller and I believe this one is it. The role of the Sirah is to fend off an energy cloud from attacking the city by telling stories which inspire the villagers to resist. It's pretty hokey - original series-level hokey.
And yet, once again, even a DS9 clunker has merit. The episode marks the beginning of one of the more endearing series threads: the close friendship between Julian and Miles. "A bromance is born," our progeny said in our recent rewatch. And the B-plot is surprisingly sweet. Tetrarch Varis Sul, the 15-year-old leader of another village, represents the interest of her people in tense negotiations with a neighboring community. The young woman draws the interest of Jake and especially Nog. The story provides a nice glimpse of the elder Sisko's leadership. From the beginning, he takes Varis seriously, even as she frustrates his efforts to make peace. For her part, Varis warms to Ben as she comes to see him through Jake's eyes.
The O'Brien as Sirah story is based on Rudyard Kipling's "The Man Who Would Be King."
Lawrence Monoson played the role of Hovath, the more worthy successor as Sirah. Monoson was born August 11, 1964 in Yonkers, New York. Films include Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, Mask and the HBO movie And the Band Played On, for which he received a CableACE Award nomination. He had recurring roles on several television series, including Prince Street, ER and Resurrection Blvd. "The Storyteller" is his first of two Star Trek appearances on two different series.
Labels: 19th century stories, Asian Lit, comics, cultural fiction, DS9, good reading, sources, star trek


Founded by MacArthur Fellow and Harvard Professor in Practice Jeanne Gang, Studio Gang is an architecture and urban design practice committed to creating innovative buildings—like Chicago's award-winning Aqua Tower—that enhance public space. Among the firm's current projects are residential towers in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto, and Amsterdam, the new United States Embassy in Brazil, and an expansion of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The studio's work has been widely honored and exhibited, including at the Venice Architecture Biennale, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museum of Modern Art.
London-based Michaelis Boyd is an award-winning firm with a reputation for sophisticated architecture and interiors emphasizing sustainable materials and building techniques. The firm's global portfolio encompasses high-end residential and commercial projects, including luxury hotels, private members' clubs, and chic restaurants and bars. Among Michaelis Boyd's well-known works are Sandibe, a sustainable safari lodge in Botswana, Soho House outposts in Berlin, Los Angeles, and the English countryside, London's famed Groucho Club, the Williamsburg Hotel in Brooklyn, and residences at the Sugar Beach resort in St Lucia.
One of America's most celebrated landscape architecture firms, New York City-based Hollander Design is known for gardens with unexpected textures, colors, and sounds that respect the site's natural, architectural, and human ecologies. Hollander Design has created gardens and landscapes at every scale, from country estates and urban terraces to some of the nation's leading cultural institutions. Their award-winning work has appeared in numerous books as well as in the New York Times, House Beautiful, and Architectural Digest, which included the firm on its prestigious AD 100 list.
Tishman Speyer Properties is a real estate investment firm engaged in the ownership, development, fund management, and operation of retail, residential, and office properties. Its services include acquisition and development, design and construction, fund management, leasing, and property management. Founded in 1978, Tishman Speyer Properties is based in New York City, with additional offices in the United States, Brazil, England, Spain, Germany, France, India, and China.
Vanke US is a trusted capital partner to American real estate developers on both commercial and residential projects. The Vanke US' portfolio currently consists of residential and commercial projects in New York, San Francisco, and Seattle. Vanke US' parent company, China Vanke, is one of the world's largest real estate developers and is #332 on the Fortune Global 500. China Vanke began property development operations in 1988 and has since expanded to 71 cities across Mainland China and to overseas markets in the U.S., Singapore and the U.K. In 2017, the company generated sales of $78+ billion, and its stock is traded on the Shenzhen and Hong Kong stock exchanges.


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text:
Der BNP Paribas Showdown war ein Schau-Turnier, das von 2008 bis 2017 jährlich im New Yorker Madison Square Garden stattfand. Zusätzlich wurden in den Jahren 2013 und 2014 auch Turniere in Hongkong und London durchgeführt. Das Einladungsturnier diente als Eröffnung der Tennis-Saison in Amerika und wurde jeweils vor den Masters-1000-Turnieren in Indian Wells und Miami ausgetragen.

Name, Format und Modus des Turniers veränderten sich beinahe jährlich. In seiner ersten Austragung 2008 hieß das Turnier NetJets Showdown und war mit Roger Federer und Pete Sampras ein Schau-Match zwischen Spielern unterschiedlicher Spielergenerationen. 2009–10 wurde das Turnier unter dem Namen Billie Jean King Cup zu Ehren der ehemaligen US-amerikanischen Tennisspielerin Billie Jean King veranstaltet; hierbei wurden jeweils die vier Siegerinnen der Grand-Slam-Turniere des Vorjahres eingeladen. Im Halbfinale wurde nur auf einen Gewinnsatz gespielt (und ohne Einstand), das Finale spielte man jedoch im klassischen best-of-three-Format.

Seit 2011 fand das Turnier unter dem Namen BNP Paribas Showdown statt; zu der 2011er Austragung wurden aber im Gegensatz zum Vorjahr keine Damen mehr eingeladen, sondern mit Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe, Andre Agassi und Pete Sampras Legenden des amerikanischen Herrentennis, der Modus war hingegen derselbe wie in den beiden Jahren zuvor. Von 2012 bis 2016 fand jeweils ein Damen- und ein Herrenmatch statt. Im letzten Jahr der Austragung spielte eine Weltauswahl angeführt von Kapitän Lleyton Hewitt gegen eine von Andy Roddick angeführte amerikanische Auswahl. Das Turnier wurde nach dem Rückzug des Sponsors BNP Paribas eingestellt.

Siegerliste

New York

Hongkong

London

Weblinks

 Offizielle Website

Einzelnachweise

Madison Square Garden
Erstveranstaltung 2008
Letzte Veranstaltung 2017
Sportveranstaltung in Manhattan

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia