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{Guest Post+G!veaway} Blissful Lies by Jennifer Brown-Thomas
December 12, 2012	Michelle @ Book Briefs	Uncategorized	3
Welcome to my stop on the Blissful Lies blog tour!
Note: there is mature content in this book. I would call it New Adult
Blissful Lies by Jennifer Brown-Thomas
Publisher: Helm Publishing
Blissful Lies Book Summary:Things are often not what they seem in the decadent lifestyles of the rich and famous. Life can be messy and at times people do what feels wrong, because in the end it may turn out to be the best decision ever made. A close bond between 5 lifelong friends, now of college age, find the limits of their relationships are tested when multiple secrets and lies begin to surface, which ultimately leave them wondering if it is all too much to move forward as the family they once were. Forbidden love, drug dealing, date rape, betrayal, cheating, and more begin to unravel the strong ties between friends. Can they overcome secrets which warrant a very difficult life altering response?
Check out the Book and movie trailer below:
Jennifer's Guest Post:
"It's never too late to be what you might have been" — George Elliot
I often get the question "How do you do it all?" And my response to that is always– 'You just do it. You do what has to be done, you often have to fight for what little sanity you have and at the end of the day you can reflect and take pride in all of your hard work.' Regardless of your dream, it's worth it.
So, ladies, thank all of you for your constant support. You all are incredible. I gave a piece of advice to someone very near and dear to my heart this evening and I feel it's something I should really share with all of you. Something else I get asked a lot is "what is a piece of advice you would give to someone who is trying to break into this business, get acclimated to this industry, revamp their career or just a young person who is trying to follow their dreams." The best piece of advice I can think of, especially in this industry is 'call it like you see it. More often then not, your initial reaction to something or someone is going to be the most appropriate.' This industry is full of people, situations and circumstances that could change a good, warm hearted person to a cold, unforgiving one. Be careful who you trust, but don't allow your caution to interfere with your passion. Remember that for every one person who doesn't believe in who you are or what you can accomplish, there are ten people who do. So put on your boxing gloves and fight for your dreams. Don't sit around waiting for the moment where things could fall apart, kick some ass and take some names because when it's all over it will be the things you didn't do, not the ones you did, that you will regret the most.
Chapter 1 Excerpt:
It was a typical star-studded Los Angeles night; the streets were consumed with the bright lights of aspiring talent, major celebrities and an overall abundance of indulgent taste amongst the people walking in and out of some of the most luxurious restaurants and shops in town. It was typical, however, for everyone except Addison Hamilton. Tonight was a celebration and the night she would publicly accept the great honor of being named the first woman Chancellor of the ivy-league educational institution, Brown-Thomas University, a goal she strived to achieve for most of her adult life. At the age of forty-five Addison was not only successful and brilliant; she was stunningly beautiful, a pillar of her community, hardworking, talented and confidant. She was the kind of person every woman would fail to live up to, and every man would fail to conquer. She married her high school sweetheart and the love of her life, Spencer Hamilton, just out of college. Together they shared one flawless son, Parker. As the limousine pulled up to the grand ballroom and the driver opened her door, she gracefully stepped out and paused for a moment before walking in. She couldn't help but think that every dream she ever had for herself, at this moment, had officially been realized. She entered the ballroom to find herself surrounded by over five hundred people waiting to welcome her into her most recent accomplishment. As she walked in, every guest leapt to their feet and a thunderous applause imploded the four walls of the ballroom. This was it… the perfect night to accompany her picture perfect existence. After a short meet and greet, everyone was asked to take their seats as Dr. Jim Crawford approached the podium. "It's been a long journey for our University, to find the next person who will honor and cherish the value of our institution, as we all do, and hold its future in the highest regard. But we found her." The crowd began applauding again with an astounding amount of support. "With that said, I would like to introduce the new Chancellor of Brown-Thomas University, Dr. Addison Hamilton." Addison emerged from her table of family and friends and approached the stage. "Thank you, Dr. Crawford, and thank each and every one of you for being here with me tonight. It is an overwhelmingly incredible honor to be named the next Chancellor of Brown- Thomas University and one I do not take lightly. From this point forward I will strive to instill in all of our prospective and current students, the true value of an education." She paused for an instant as she noticed her husband eagerly excusing himself from the table to answer a phone call. She wondered, at that moment, what was more important than she was? With the crowd waiting, she continued, "I will dedicate myself entirely to the continued prosperity of Brown-Thomas University as well as its faculty, staff and students. So I'd like to thank all of you again for the opportunity to serve my community, my students and my Alma Mater, Brown-Thomas University. Thank you." She eloquently waved to the crowd and excused herself from the stage, focusing solely on returning to her table to address her husband's brief disappearance. As she sat down to rejoin her group, Spencer kissed her on the cheek. It was obvious to her that something was amiss. After all, they had been married for close to twenty-five years and she thought she knew him better than anyone else. "So? How was I?" She asked with a gleaming sense of attitude, knowing he had missed part of her speech while taking his phone call. "You were amazing honey, we are so proud of you." He smiled charmingly. "So then what the hell was so important it couldn't wait Spencer?" She asked with that Addison Hamilton force and attitude that made grown men instantly long for their mothers. "The office called, I have to be in Boston tonight." He recited with absolutely no remorse for excluding himself from her important evening. "Spencer!" She exclaimed with disgust. "I'm sorry Addison, but this is business. It is not negotiable." An awkward silence consumed the table as Kate stepped up to break the ice. "Hey, um, Kinsley and I are going to do some serious retail therapy tomorrow. Come with us." Addison set her napkin on the table as she responded, "Thanks girls, but I have a lot of work to do tomorrow." She paused momentarily as she glared at Spencer, "If you'll excuse me, this is a very significant night for me and I have guests to greet." She angrily excused herself from the table leaving Parker, Kate and their best friends, Jackson, Kinsley and Leighton sitting to witness this monstrosity of what started out to be such a promising evening. Parker sat in shock of hearing his dads' holier-than-thou attitude, "Dad?" "Parker, do not start with me. I can't help it. I have business to attend to and I refuse to apologize for doing my job." Knowing how important this night was to his mother, Parker excused himself from the table to join Addison in conversing with her guests who were congratulating her on such a brilliant accomplishment, as his best friend Jackson quickly followed. At the table, Kate had taken it upon herself to be offended by Spencer's eagerness to care for his own needs with no consideration for his wife. Kate sat down in the chair next to Spencer and began to let him know exactly how she felt about his selfishness. "With all due respect Mr. Hamilton, tonight was about your wife and she may not know it now, but we all know where you're really going this evening and I hope all the secrets you've been keeping, are worth all the damage you're creating. Your reasons… your justifications for doing what you're doing, they don't matter. This will destroy her. Or do you even care?" She stood up and threw her napkin down on the tabletop, "Have a great time tonight. I hope she's worth it." Kate walked away, disappearing into a sea of people, leaving Kinsley, Leighton and Spencer sitting alone at a once full table in a very long pause of awkward glances and blank stares. "Ladies." Spencer stood up and shamefully walked away from the table, exiting the ballroom. "That might have been the most uncomfortable situation I have ever been in." Kinsley exclaimed while consuming another glass of champagne. "We should tell Parker what's going on," said Leighton. "Why? So he can hate us for telling him? No way." Kinsley brushed off her friend's attempt at including anyone else in what would undoubtedly be an earth-shattering topic of conversation for every Hamilton family member. "He's our best friend Kins, it doesn't feel right… keeping this from him. I would want to know." "Kate's right. This will destroy Addison. His lies are one big ticking bomb… He doesn't need our help to self-destruct. He'll do it all on his own and we'll be there to pick up the pieces." The girls continued to enjoy glasses of champagne and let go of the possibility of bringing all of this up to Parker earlier than necessary. After all, this would inevitably catapult into a life altering situation soon enough without their help. As the girls were deep in thought, Jackson approached the table. "Hey. I think we're going to head back to Parker's tonight just in case Addison wants the company. You coming?" "Yea, of course. Whatever we can do." Leighton answered as if there was more she wanted to say, but couldn't. "Are you two okay?" Jackson suspected something was going on, but had no idea what it might be. "We're fine. It's just been a long day." Kinsley answered promptly. "Okay. I'll let Parker know." Jackson stated, excusing himself from the table to find Parker and Kate. Kinsley, Parker, Leighton, Shaley and Jackson had not only been the best of friends for most of their lives, they were like family. It wasn't until later that Kate came on the scene and immediately conformed to the group. They knew everything about one another and trusted each other with all they had. Understanding that not being friends with one of them meant being friends with none of them was an unwritten rule at Brown-Thomas. The group began with Parker and Jackson's mothers; they had grown up together and were like sisters themselves. This, in turn, led Jackson and Parker to becoming best friends. In the first grade they met and instantly bonded with Kinsley, Leighton and Shaley, and they had been together, relentlessly, ever since. The bonds the five of these kids shared were parallel to none. Their relationship blossomed early and grew stronger with each passing day, almost like they were all psychically connected at birth. Relationships with family paled in comparison to the ones they had with each other, they did everything together and wanted it no other way. Anyone who knew them envied the closeness and friendship they shared and would often fall short of achieving any type of bond near as powerful. After leaving the ball they returned to the Hamilton house, which was something they almost always did. This house was where they gathered for everything… regardless of what was going on in their lives. It was their safe haven… the place where everything always made sense. They flocked to the patio, laughing and contemplating the night's festivities and only imagining what would be next—considering the mother of the group would now head the University where they all attended. This fact left them sure it would negatively impact them somehow. As they continued to drink and laugh hysterically about things only they understood, Addison emerged from the Hamilton mansion to briefly join in on their conversation. "Hey! Join us." Kate pressed for Addison to sit down with them and enjoy her moment in the sun even though Spencer had refused to do the same. "Ah, no thank you. I'm exhausted. I think I'll just go to bed, it has been a long and… eventful evening." She paused briefly, "But I do want to thank all of you for being there with me tonight to celebrate, it meant more than you will ever know." "There's absolutely no way we would have been anywhere else. We are so unbelievably proud of you Addison." Leighton hugged her to avoid getting teary and sentimental. "Thank you." Again she paused, "I'm very lucky to have all of you. Goodnight." She turned around and walked back into the house. Her one of a kind maroon ball gown glistened in the moonlight as she took her last steps inside and the door closed quickly behind her. The group sat in silence for a moment when Kinsley said, "Can you believe your mom is officially the Chancellor of our school?" "Oh my God, don't make me think about it." Parker covered his face with his hands and tried to erase the words from his mind. He stood up and began to un-tuck his tuxedo shirt. "Baby, this is great for her." Kate immediately came to Addison's defense. "Great for her, bad for us. You watch… her success will bite us in the ass. Just wait…" Jackson laughed "Dude, relax. I think I speak for all of us when I say- we are so glad it's your mom and not ours. The group laughed as Parker's face turned red and he argued back, "Screw all of you guys. You'll see… It's just a matter of time." Parker tried to relay the reality of what it really meant for his mom to be in charge of their school, but the group failed to see what he was talking about. They continued to converse amongst each other for a little while longer, laughing and joking and bringing up past events that were still so vivid in their imaginations they seemed as though they had just happened. As the group grew more tiresome they opted for bedtime. Just like so many nights before, they all chose to stay and sleep at the Hamilton house. They always got together for breakfast anyway, so what was the point in going home just to turn around and come back the next morning? Unconventional as it was, the friendships each of them shared were the center of their universe and it didn't need to make sense to anyone but them. The next morning the group gathered in the kitchen discussing plans for the day ahead, eating breakfast, drinking coffee and laughing as they always did. They all gathered around the island in the kitchen, each doing their own thing. Leighton was eating from a bowl of grapes, while Kinsley was making a cup of coffee, Kate was slicing an apple and Parker was eating cereal right out of the box. Amongst the not so quiet chatter, the subject of their annual school trip emerged with negative news attached to it and Jackson walked downstairs in time to join in. "Morning. What's going on?" He was greeted by the rest of the group and filled in on the trip details. "We were just talking about our school trip. I got an email this morning saying it was cancelled." Parker proceeded to break the bad news to his friends. "Supposedly we can't go unless we have another sponsor." Leighton said as they all tried to explain the situation to a late arriving Jackson. "What? How many do we possibly need?" He questioned. "Apparently because it's a school sponsored event we need to have a minimum of four or we can't count it as educational and the school won't pay for it." Kinsley explained. "Which wouldn't be a big deal for any of us, but it is really expensive and a lot of our friends won't be able to afford it, especially on such short notice." Leighton continued. "Okay. So we'll just ask your mom." Jackson popped off with an immediate solution to the obvious problem, laughing in anticipation of Parker's response. "Actually, we were trying to avoid any of us having our parents present on our vacation… Namely – me." Parker quickly responded. "Dude. Your mom is awesome. If any parent has to go it might as well be Addison, right? She'll do it." He took a bite of his apple and Addison entered the kitchen in time to hear the last few words of Jackson's rational solution to their overlying problem. "Addison will do what?" She asked inquisitively as she made her way to the coffee pot. "You look beautiful this morning." Leighton said as she put on her ass kissing face and attempted to butter her up. "Really! We couldn't tell if that was you or Jessica Alba emerging from her morning slumber." Jackson attempted to follow up Leighton's valiant effort at sweet talking Addison. She laughed out loud without hesitation and said, "It's Jessica, with a message from Addison. Whatever you guys want, forget about it." The group moaned with repugnance as she dismissed their need for her help. "Come on Addy, just hear us out." Jackson guided her to a nearby barstool in hopes that she would take a second to listen to their request. "Alright, what do you want?" She conceded to hearing what they had to say. "The University needs another parent sponsor to join us on our trip this year…" Parker began the conversation. "And? You thought I might know someone?" Addison immediately responded. "Come on Addy. If we don't get another sponsor then we can't go." Jackson pleaded. "So why don't you just take a trip together? The six of you are together all the time anyway… Always… Always together." She paused momentarily, realizing for the first time that Shaley wasn't present, "Speaking of six of you, where has Shaley been?" "She's out of town. She'll be back next week sometime, I think. And believe me, we have thought about taking this trip together. We can afford it. But all the students who were counting on the school to pay for it won't be able to go and we would really like to take it with all of our friends since the six of us are together all the time." Leighton tried bringing logic to the table with her side of the argument. "And as Chancellor, isn't it your duty not to disappoint the students of your university?" Kinsley chimed in right away with the guilt card. Addison sighed and rolled her eyes in light of the last remark. "Really Kin? The Chancellor card? It's been all of twelve hours and you're already using it?" "Look. A girl has to do what a girl has to do, and you're being unreasonable." Kinsley offered some justification to her statement. "Well, since you brought it up, and I have all of you here. Shouldn't we implement some boundaries? Guidelines? I'm not just Parker's mom anymore; I'm also the head of the University where you all attend and I would never want to be accused of preferential treatment…" Addison tried to exude some professionalism and reiterate that she was in a different place now than she was before. Although, it was difficult to make her words possess enough meaning to change anything when she was sitting on a barstool in her kitchen, wearing pajamas. Immediately the group became defensive about the subject and Leighton asked, "So by boundaries you mean…?" "I mean, I would never want someone to think I give you all special treatment over the other students simply because you're friends of Parker's." Addison explained. "Oh wait… Wait." Parker stood up and bent over in front of everyone. "Baby, is a piece of my ass missing?" Everyone but Addison laughed at his remark. "I told you this would be bad for us. That it would somehow bite us in the ass. And look. It just did." "I think you're being a little dramatic Parker." She paused for a moment, "All I'm saying is maybe you could spend less time here and more time anywhere else." Addison took a sip of her coffee while awaiting a response. "I see what you're saying. We should have some set of limitations keeping us from getting so close to one another." Leighton offered. "Exactly. I just need to maintain a professional distance… At least until you all graduate." Addison said as she continued drinking her morning coffee. "Well maybe you should have thought about your "boundaries," Leighton put two fingers from each hand in the air to simulate quotation marks and emphasize the word boundaries, "before Kinsley and I found you in the pool last July 4th…" She said with disdain in her voice. Addison's face turned red instantaneously as she pleaded to them with her eyes, in hopes they would not bring up the story that was lurking on the ends of their tongues. "Why would finding her in the pool matter?" Parker asked, a little curious and confused. "Oh see. We didn't just find her swimming in the pool… Did we Addy?" Leighton said with a smirk. "You're serious? I cannot believe you're bringing this up," said Addison, as she tried to hide behind any dignity she would have left after this story was told. "We found her completely trashed. Naked! Swimming all alone." Leighton concluded with a big smile. "WHAT?" Jackson found himself suddenly very interested in the conversation at hand. "Oh yea. Little miss Chancellor- drinking like a fish… Ass out… All by herself. It was epic. Definitely a moment I'm glad I didn't miss." Kinsley laughed aloud as she helped paint a crystal clear picture for everyone. "How did I not know about this?" Jackson questioned. "Everyone stayed out at the lake for fireworks, remember? Leighton and I came back because she had to be somewhere early the next morning." Kinsley explained. "Oh my God." Addison paused, "That happened once. And you promised we would never discuss it again… Ever." "Well. Maybe you should've thought about that before you decided to get all Dr. Big Head on us and start throwing around words like boundaries and guidelines. Parker's right. This is a boundary free zone, it always has been." Leighton concluded. Parker shook his head ardently as if trying to clear his mind and said, "Anyway. Now that I have that disturbing image seared in my brain for the rest of my life, back to the trip." The group tried to move past Addison's "boundary" speech by continuing to discuss the future of their class expedition. After a few more minutes of pretending like she wasn't eventually going to give in and accept the responsibility of needing to be a sponsor, she reluctantly agreed. Addison Hamilton was not the type of woman to be pressured into doing something she didn't want to do, but ultimately she had a soft spot in her heart for every last one of Parker's friends. They had, after all, been in her life for as long as her son had and making them happy was important to her. After verbally agreeing to sponsor the trip she placed her coffee cup in the sink and reminded Parker about a promotional dinner that was on the calendar for a good friend of the family, Dr. Asher Sheridan. "Parker please don't forget about the party tomorrow night for Asher Sheridan's promotion to Chief of Surgery." "Mom?" Parker contested. "I'm sorry honey but you are going." She was not caving on this one. Parker had known Asher Sheridan his entire life and as a tribute to his success, the family would be attending. Parker immediately turned to Jackson in hopes of salvaging a night which was destined to be an utter failure. "Jack. You're my best friend, right?" "Depends." Jackson knew where their conversation was ultimately headed. "Don't you want to enjoy your Friday night at the only party in the city that will make you wish you were somewhere else…? Really dude. Boredom is totally underrated." Parker threw his arm around Jackson's shoulder. "Mom, who's taking you to the party?" Parker asked Addison. "Well, I had planned on your father being here, but since that obviously is not the case, I will be escorting myself." She answered uncomfortably. "See Jack, you can be mom's date." Parker smiled from ear to ear as he successfully roped his best friend into an evening of inevitable boredom. "Parker, I'm capable of going alone. I'm a big girl. Do not make your friends go if they don't want to. And do not put Jackson on the spot like that." "I don't mind it's really no problem." Jackson smiled as he conceded to Parker's request. "That's sweet. Thank you. And girls? I take it no one else is dying to attend such a lavish affair?" Kinsley immediately answered, "I already have plans." "Kate?" Addison questioned. "We have to go to my parents afterward, but I'm okay to go for a while." She responded. "Leighton?" "Sorry Addison, Trevor and I are celebrating our two year anniversary tomorrow and hopefully we'll be locked tightly in a Four Season's suite for the weekend." Leighton said with a big smile on her face. Addison sighed, "Thank you for that image which I will carry around with me for the rest of my life." She paused, "Okay then. Glad all of this is settled, I'll change our reservation to four." Parker looked at his watch, "Oh hey, I'm late, I gotta get going…" He gave Addison a kiss on the cheek, "And I have to take these dorks back, they rode with me yesterday." "Whatever jerk," Kinsley said as she threw a grape at Parker. "Be careful and call me later." Addison said as the three girls and Parker left Jackson and Addison alone in the kitchen. "Thank you for being such a good friend to my son. He's so lucky to have you in his life." She started to make another cup of coffee, "And please don't feel obligated to be my date tomorrow night, you're more than welcome to ride with Kate and Parker. I am fine with going alone, Lord knows I've done it enough lately." "Really Addison, I'm happy to do it." He answered politely and she smiled, remembering what it used to be like to have someone concerned about her feelings and worried about whether or not she was being taken care of. "Well then. I better get going. I need to pick up my dress for the party and get to the office." "I should get going too. Is 6:30 okay for tomorrow night?" He asked. She smiled sweetly at him, "Perfect." As they exchanged brief smiles the telephone rang and broke up the moment of solidarity where it seemed like, just for a second, this young man cared more about her happiness than her own husband did. Jackson whispered, "I'll just see you tomorrow." Addison waved goodbye as she walked into the living room to answer the phone. "Hello?" "Hey Honey," Spencer said gleefully. "Spencer. Did you get to Boston okay?" You could hear the repulsion in her voice as their conversation continued. "I did. I was just calling to tell you, I'll be here for a couple of weeks." Spencer said, sounding as if that shouldn't bother her at all. "Big surprise." Addison said as she sat down on the edge of the couch. "I'm working Addison, you need to realize that and stop being so overly sensitive about everything. It's getting old. Hey I have to go… I'll call you later." He hung up the phone abruptly, giving her absolutely no time to respond. She stared at the phone for a moment, hung up angrily and dialed another number. In the midst of his earlier conversation with Addison, Jackson had walked out of the house accidentally leaving his phone behind on the kitchen counter. As he returned to collect it, he overheard her conversation. Addison waited patiently for Spencer's office to answer, "Harper and Hamilton Law offices." The sweet voice on the other end of the line said. "Gloria. Hi. This is Addison Hamilton, Spencer just called me from Boston but we got disconnected before I could get his contact information. Could you be a dear and get it for me?" There was a silence and then a stammering as Gloria tried to gather her thoughts, "Um. Mrs. Hamilton would you mind holding for just a moment?" "Certainly." Addison answered as she stood up and began to pace back and forth, feeling strangely awkward at the greeting she had just received. A man's voice came to the phone and acknowledged her, "Addison?" "Charles?" She asked in confusion. "Listen. We don't have any contact information for Spencer right now. I'm not even sure where he is to be honest." Charles said in a very matter-of-fact way. "What do you mean? He's working a case in Boston." She said as she paused for a moment to catch her breath. "I'm sorry Addy, but he isn't working on anything right now. He called to say he would be gone for a few weeks. I just assumed it was a long overdue vacation he was taking with you." Charles declared. "Thank you Charles." As she stood in her living room, completely dumbfounded by the news she'd just received. She paused briefly, threw the phone across the room and screamed, "Bastard!" Jackson, who had listened to the entire conversation, rushed in to console her, "Hey. Hey," He wrapped his arms around her as she started sobbing uncontrollably. "What's going on?" Gathering herself she realized who was holding her and how inappropriate it was for him to be the one comforting her, so she quickly composed herself. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and said, "It's nothing. It's nothing. I am so sorry you just saw that. Please, I'm fine. You really shouldn't be here for this Jack, go ahead and go. Please." Jackson guided her over to the couch and they sat down next to each other. "I can't just leave you like this Addison. What's going on?" She hastily stood up and walked over to the bar to pour herself a glass of wine. As she poured she said, "Please Jack. Just go." "Addy. Isn't it a little early?" Addison turned around quickly, "Don't Jackson… Do not go there." "Right… I was just going to say it's a perfect time for a drink. I think I'll have one too." Uncomfortable, he stood up. "Vodka and Tonic, please." She turned back towards the bar and poured him a drink too. As she finished she picked both glasses up and shoved one in his hand as she walked by, making her way back to the couch. Although there was a vast difference in their ages, Jack saw Addison for everything she truly was… a beautiful woman who was in desperate need of someone to talk to. As he sat back down on the couch next to her, he got a slight breath of her scent… He always loved the way she smelled. As he drifted off momentarily to a place where things were easier and only seen in black and white, a place where he could tell Addison that even the way she smelled made his heart flutter, he quickly snapped back to reality and responded to her situation. "Do you want to tell me what's going on?" Addison took a deep breath and started rapidly consuming her glass of wine. After she took a breath she began to tell him what had just taken place. "Spencer is cheating on me. My unbelievably selfish husband is having an affair…" She felt the embarrassment creeping over her and she began to cry again. "What?" Jackson's face sported a shocked look he couldn't even pretend to hide. "Are you sure?" "He called as you were walking out the door to tell me he'd be in Boston for a few weeks… On business. Then he rushed off the phone. I called his office to get his contact information because his cell is turned off." She said, sounding skeptical. "Maybe he's just busy… working?" Jackson searched for realistic reasons of why Spencer would possibly be acting that way. He couldn't imagine anyone thinking they could do better than Addison. She was perfect. If he was cheating on her… he deserved whatever he got. "When I called his secretary she had no idea what to say to me… She sent the call to one of the other partners in the firm who told me he didn't know why Spencer was gone but it was not because of work. He said they all assumed he'd taken a long overdue vacation… with me." "Wow." Jackson searched for the right words to comfort her, but all he could think about was how selfish Spencer was being. He had the perfect life here with Addison, why would he ever risk losing it? "Ya know… it's one thing to think your husband might cheat on you… It's something completely different, knowing that he has." Addison looked hurt in a way that she'd never been before. Her tear stained face left Jack feeling like he was seeing her for the very first time and he felt empathetic in a way he never had before. "Um. I don't know what to say to you right now… I'm searching for the words… but." Jackson stumbled through the verbiage as he tried to come up with something that would make her feel better, so she quickly jumped in, "You don't have to say anything. I'm just going to drink and sulk. And you… should probably go." "I don't think that's the best idea Addy." They both sat in silence contemplating everything that had just occurred. After all Jackson had simply left his phone there by mistake earlier, he hadn't signed up for any of this drama. After he considered, carefully of course, the right things to say he began with, "I know you must be hurting." A raging Addison immediately cut him off. "I am humiliated Jack. I've been here… Taking care of everything and he's been off… Doing God knows what with God knows whom… How could you do this to someone you claim to love?" She leaned back against the couch for a second to think about what her next realistic step would be but she couldn't rationally process everything going through her mind. "I don't know much, but what I do know is this. You just became the first woman Chancellor in the History of our University. You're brilliant, you're beautiful… and those things are yours… he can never take them from you. You don't need him." Jackson felt confident in the words he was relaying to her because he believed them. He had always felt a special place in his heart for Addison… he knew she was worth everything in the world. Spencer had just lost the best thing in his life and he had no idea. "I have to get out of this house." Addison stood up from the couch and started pacing back and forth, trying to decide where to go. "Okay. I'll take you out." Jackson jumped in to rescue her. "Really?" She was surprised at his response. "Absolutely. As long as you promise to try and have a good time." He smiled coyly, trying to remind her that as long as he was there he would try and make a conscious effort to put a smile back on her face. "Deal." Addison agreed, polishing off her second glass of wine. As she walked upstairs to get dressed, Jackson found himself surrounded by feelings he thought were locked tightly away. You see, Jackson had a secret… he had always loved Addison and always secretly hoped they would end up together. But of course everything about their current situation complicated things. The vast difference in age, his relationship with Parker, her relationship with his mother… Nothing about his feelings for her made sense. So he had always hidden them… and tonight wouldn't be any different. Waiting downstairs for her to return he reminded himself this was no time to act on impulse. She was vulnerable and hurt, and no good would ever come of him being inappropriate at this point. He continued talking to himself when the clinking of her heels on the stairs caught his attention. As he turned around, the sheer image of her in a strapless black dress took his breath away and forced his heart to race uncontrollably. "You look amazing." He said, trying to focus more on her eyes and less on her body. But her hopelessly troubled state of mind ensured she was not paying close enough attention to notice his inappropriate glances. "I don't feel amazing." She said as she finished walking to the bottom of the stairs. "Well you can just take my word for it." He smiled adoringly as he extended his arm to her, she took it and for the first time, in a long time, she felt taken care of and important. She felt beautiful. As they left the house and reached the car, Jackson stopped and opened the car door for her. It had been so long since someone had taken the time or the interest to care whether or not she opened her own door. She felt appreciated, in that moment, as the door slammed shut and they drove away.
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Amazon / Barnes and Noble / Nook
Jennifer Brown Thomas's Bio:
At just 25 years old, Jennifer Brown-Thomas is a celebrated book author and movie director. Her first novel, Blissful Lies, combines both of her passions.
At the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, she presented Blissful Lies (the movie) starring Emmy award winning actress, Leann Hunley. YTINIFNI Pictures is working to bring the film to DVD and on-demand television this spring.
Jennifer is a married, Texas Christian University graduate and mother of one. Her newest venture, LBT Enterprises, is set to launch a fragrance, a children's clothing line and more.
Watch for more novels from Jennifer – the next on its way is Vindictive Grounds, the sequel to Blissful Lies. In February, Jennifer will begin directing the film version of this novel. She says, "It definitely has more of the explicit sexual contact comparable to Fifty Shades of Grey."
Jennifer Brown-Thomas's:
Website / Facebook / Twitter / Blog / Goodreads
Blissful Lies:
Goodreads / Movie website / Twitter
Blissful Lies movie poster
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Note: this giveaway is not sponsored by Book Briefs.
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3 Responses	to "{Guest Post+G!veaway} Blissful Lies by Jennifer Brown-Thomas"
Andrea C
Sounds like Gossip Girl on steroids! I'm intrigued. 🙂
Tribute Books
Michelle, thanks for inviting Jennifer to stop by today!
Thanks so much for the post! Love your blog and look forward to chatting with you more in the future. Xoxo!


text:
SYNONYM

#### According to
Index Fungorum

#### Published in
Ber. Tät. St Gall. naturw. Ges. 155 (1862)

#### Original name
Creographa brasiliensis A. Massal.

### Remarks
null

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


This dessert has a crazy name but it is decadent yet not too sweet. I discovered this recipe on the internet and made it for my husband's birthday last night. It bakes into a cake with a gooey chocolate pudding-sauce underneath and homemade whipped cream on top. It was a big hit and really delicious.


According to statistics recently released by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and bank regulator APRA, our national obsession with credit cards may be on the decline.
Figures show that the number of credit card accounts dropped to 15.97 million in November. This is the fewest number of accounts since March 2015.
Also during November, the total value of credit limits dropped to $151.94bn, whilst total balances accruing interest fell to $31.52bn – the lowest since September 2017.
According to Sally Tindall, Research Director at ratecity.com.au, it's a sign that the tighter lending landscape is having a direct effect on both borrowers and lenders. In particular, the new credit card rules which came into effect on January 1st.
"Meanwhile, people applying for a home loan in 2019 might choose to cancel their credit card or reduce their limit in order to get their home loan application over the line," she added.
This is a key point to remember if you are planning to apply for a home loan this year. Being smart about all of your financial decisions, including the management of your day-to-day banking, could help you secure the home loan you want.
Paying off and/or cancelling your credit cards will help keep your credit health looking favourable to lenders. And, of course, the less interest you are regularly paying on your everyday credit cards, the more money you will have available to put towards a deposit, or to paying home loan payments.
Read more about tighter lending regulations here.


Our rates are reasonable and the personal attention from our staff makes staying at The Shaker Inn like staying with friends. Every room is beautifully decorated and includes a refrigerator, cable television and free internet access. During the summer months, enjoy our sparkling pool and complimentary coffee, juice and pastries. Reserve a suite or family suite and enjoy the convenience of your own mini-kitchen in rooms that accommodate up to six guests.
Locally, dial (513) 932-7575 or CALL US toll free to make a reservation at 1-800-752-6151. We look forward to seeing you soon.


text:
UL Receives US Academician
The president of an American-based university-the Savannah State University (SSU), Dr. Cheryl D. Dozier, is visiting the University of Liberia (UL), a press release from UL Relations said.Dr. Dozier's visit to the UL is part of her three-day visit to three institutions of higher learning in West Africa.According to the release, while in Liberia Dr. Dozier and her delegation will hold a meeting with UL president, Dr. Emmet A. Dennis and the staff. The nature of the meeting has not been disclosed, however, following its closure, members of the delegation will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore possibilities of establishing academic and training programs in the country.Dr. Dennis, while visiting the US sometime ago, met with Dr. Dozier where the two academics reportedly agreed on a number of collaborations between their institutions.During her three day visit to Liberia, Dr. Dozier is expected to meet with the president and faculty of the Camp Johnson Road-based African Methodist Episcopal University (AMEU); the U.S Ambassador to Liberia, Deborah Malac; the director for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); Vice President, Joseph Nyumah Boakai, Sr., and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Augustine K. Ngafuan.The SSUThe SSU is an institutional member of the University Consortium of Liberia (UCL), an organization founded by the honorary counsel general for Liberia, Cynthia I. Blandford, and the Liberian Embassy in the U.S. The purpose of the UCL is to institutionalize a framework through which U.S. based colleges, universities and other academic-related organizations can network; exchange information; collaborate on global initiatives and projects; and establish research partnerships, study abroad; experience summer job opportunities, and student and faculty exchange programs.The UCL consists of 20 institutions and organizations including 15 colleges—all based in Atlanta Georgia.Recently, three students of the University of Liberia Student Union (ULSU) government including the president, Patrick Sowah; vice president, Randolph Glee; and student representative, Alhaji V. Kromah returned home from the Savannah State University.While in the U.S., the students, according to the release, visited the campuses of eight other colleges and universities where they held interactive leadership conferences and sought scholarships for their Liberians colleagues. Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) read more
Clampdown coming for unlicensed betting shops
A noticeable increase in betting shops across the country has resulted in efforts to clamp down on unlicensed sites, in a bid to encourage responsible gambling.This was disclosed by Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon on Wednesday during a forum hosted at Herdmanston Lodge organised by the Gaming Authority – a regulatory body for casinos, lottery companies and betting agencies.Director General Joseph HarmonHarmon acknowledged that there has been a multiplication of these gaming outlets and admitted that the Authority will be pressured to ensure that all outlets are in compliance with the requisite licensing. Adding to that, some of these gaming establishments were established in communities which are suffering from socioeconomic constraints."With our economy moving at the pace at which it is moving, I can only anticipate that it is going to be a tremendous pressure on the authority for licenses to open gaming establishments. What I have also seen that there is a proliferation of these betting shops all across Guyana. I trust that the Gaming Authority takes this responsibility of ensuring that these entities are properly regulated and that they operate within the confines of the laws of Guyana because they cannot escape notice that some of these operations are in some of the especially challenged communities of our country," he stated.Chairman of the GamingAuthority, Roysdale FordeThe Director General insisted that operators and consumers of these establishments should be engaged on the negative impacts of betting and gaming sites. Adding to that, frameworks will provide additional support to ensure responsible gambling."The Gaming Authority has a responsibility to ensure that the public and operators of gaming establishments are aware of not only the positive but also the negative impacts that gaming can have on an individual and our society in general. This is necessary so as to assist owners in appreciating the need for a systems and policies that will support responsible gaming and gambling."Harmon insisted that the Authority is staffed with enough persons to warrant adherence to their standards. At present, there is much to be done."In order to ensure responsible gambling in Guyana, all stakeholders within the gaming industry would have to accept their respective roles in upholding the agreed-upon principles and standards. I'm aware that much more needs to be done but I'm confident that we have the right personnel in place to do that job," he said.Meanwhile, Chairman of the Gaming Authority's Board, Roysdale Forde informed that there haven't been any new applications for this year thus far. However, they continue to process those that were delivered prior."We received no new licenses for this year. We're processing applications that were made previously…The Gaming Authority, as a licensing and supervisory authority for gaming in Guyana is aware of the positive and negative effects of gambling and is also aware of the responsibility to bring awareness to all the stakeholders, both the operators and the public, and to put in place measures on agreed principles that would impact and ensure that there is a safe, fair and responsible gaming experience," Forde stated.Last December, the former State Minister had positioned Government's decision to better regulate gaming and betting, as it was concerned over "looseness" in the sector. As a consequence, new legislation was being looked into at the level of the Legal Affairs Ministry.Harmon was at the time being questioned about increases in allocations to the Gaming Authority, under Details of Subsidies and Contributions to Local Organisations, during the first day of scrutinising the budget 2019 estimates.The budget estimates show that the Authority's budget went from $21 million in 2018 to $40 million in 2019. Acknowledging that funding has indeed been boosted for the Authority, Harmon cited examples of persons operating without licenses. read more
Unemployment rate lower than April of 2009
The overall unemployment rate in BC is 7.3% and in Canada the number sits at 8.1%. Manitoba and Saskatchewan have the lowest Provincial unemployment rates in the country at 4.9% and 5.2%. – Advertisement – The unemployment rate in Northeastern BC increased in the last month, but is still lower than April of 2009. The current unemployment rate sits at 5.1% which is an increase from March when the unemployment rate was 4.4%. Even with the increase the number is still lower than in April of 2009 when the unemployment level sat at 6.5% In the latest release from BC Stats the Northeast still has the lowest unemployment rate in the province. By Adam Reaburn read more
Lakers hope `free-fall' is finally over
The 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, coached by Jackson, established the mark for best record in NBA history at 72-10. Asked about the Mavericks, Jackson said, "If we play right, it doesn't matter who we play." But the coach already was looking ahead to three-day breaks in the schedule the Lakers will have in each of the next two weeks. "We have an opportunity to get guys feeling better about their games," Jackson said. The last stop for Kobe Bryant on his visit to Lower Merion (Pa.) High School on Friday was a pep talk for the boys basketball team on the eve of a state playoff game. Bryant walked into the locker room and immediately asked one player a question. "Are you using that in-and-out move I gave you?" Bryant said. In addition to outfitting the Lower Merion teams in Nike gear, Bryant conducted a clinic in the area this summer and came to know several players on the team. "That clinic this summer, he spent a full day just sweating and working with the kids," said Doug Young, one of Bryant's former teammates who now works at the school and is an assistant coach. "They gained a lot and he got to know them. "So when he calls and asks about the team, it's `How's this guy doing? Is he going hard to the rack? Is he finishing his layups? Is he working on his 3-ball?' All that is really important to him. He wants to see these guys develop." ross.siler@dailynews.com (818) 713-3607 160Want local news?Sign up for the Localist and stay informed Something went wrong. Please try again.subscribeCongratulations! You're all set! The Mavericks have won 16 consecutive games and will bring a 51-9 record to Staples Center. The Lakers flew home late Friday after an 0-4 trip and have been "free-falling," in Jackson's words, for the past three weeks. "There's a lot of guys that are challenged in a position where they're not able to answer the challenge right now," Jackson said. EL SEGUNDO – As coach of the only NBA team to win 70 games in a season, Phil Jackson will get a first-hand look today at a Dallas Mavericks team that needs to win 19 of its final 22 games to reach that mythical number. At the same time, Jackson will be staring at the flip side of history as his Lakers need a victory to avoid their second six-game losing streak in a month. No Jackson-coached team had lost more than five consecutive games before this season. The Lakers halted Dallas' 13-game winning streak with a 101-98 victory on Jan. 7 at Staples Center. But the Mavericks have been the NBA's unstoppable force all season and are 24-1 since that loss. They are the first team in history to post three winning streaks of 12 games or more in the same season and haven't lost since Jan. 25 in Chicago. "You hear some players that say the regular season doesn't count at all," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson told the Dallas Morning News. "I disagree with that. "You need the regular season to get in some game situations that you may see in the playoffs. You just can't jump up in the playoffs and be good all of a sudden. "So even though what you do in the playoffs really, really counts, you need to practice what's going to count now. And if you want to be in the rotation in the playoffs, it's a good time to show me you want to be in it now."
THIS COULD BE YOUR LAST CHANCE TO WIN TICKETS TO THE ALL-IRELAND FINAL
There's less than 24 hours left in the Players Fnd competition to win two tickets to the All-Ireland Final.By simply donating €5 or more to the Donegal team and gaelic games in the county, you can be in the draw to win two golden tickets to Croke Park on September 23.The competition gives fans – particularly those overseas – a chance to be there! The draw will be made at 5pm Irish Time tomorrow, Friday.Click on the link below to enter:http://www.donegalgaa.ie/news/161197/ THIS COULD BE YOUR LAST CHANCE TO WIN TICKETS TO THE ALL-IRELAND FINAL was last modified: September 20th, 2012 by BrendaShare this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) Tags:DONATE €5 TO PLAYERS FUND – AND YOU COULD WIN TWO ALL-IRELAND FINAL TICKETS read more
FINN VALLEY'S MCLAUGHLIN PICKS UP MASTERS MEDALS
Finn Valley Athlete Sinead McLaughlin added another two medals to her ever increasing haul as she picked up two bronze medals at the British Masters Indoor Athletics Championship in Lee Valley, London on Saturday last.Representing Ireland, LetterKenny woman Sinead was competing against the best Britain has to offer, winning bronze in the High Jump.Sinead was excruciatingly close to picking up silver in the Long Jump, being narrowly beaten into third place by one centimetre. Sinead has been competing at the top levels of the sport for 3 decades and continues to represent Ireland with distinction.FINN VALLEY'S MCLAUGHLIN PICKS UP MASTERS MEDALS was last modified: March 13th, 2013 by StephenShare this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) read more
Fancy going to The Late Late Toy Show this year?
With Christmas inching ever closer, The Late Late Toy Show have begun accepting applications!Admission is free if you're chosen to attend, and you can get a front-row seat to see Ryan Turbridy showcase some of this year's coolest toys that Santa's helpers are bound to be busy making in preparation for Santa's visit to little boys and girls' houses across the globe on Christmas Eve.An RTÉ spokesperson says; "We would like to mention that demand for tickets is much greater than supply so in the interest of fairness we operate a lottery system for ticket allocation." "Last year we received over 120,000 individual Toy Show ticket applications. We no longer operate a waiting list for audience tickets. Following application, we will contact you with full details if your name is selected for tickets."To enter click here!Fancy going to The Late Late Toy Show this year? was last modified: October 15th, 2016 by Elaine McCalligShare this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) read more
Half-time: Fulham 0 Wolves 0
Fulham were grateful for a glaring miss by Leon Clarke to keep the FA Cup third-round tie goalless at the break.When Bakary Sako's shot on the half-hour mark cannoned back off the post, Clarke looked certain to net the rebound – only to prod wastefully wide of an open goal.It was the clearest chance of a fairly flat first half, in which Fulham strung together some attractive football at times without seriously hurting the Wolves defence.Hugo Rodallega was a thorn in the visitors' side and he was unfortunate to see an overhead kick loop just over the bar on 39 minutes.The Colombian then fashioned an equally acrobatic volley from Seko Fofana's cross just before half-time, but it flew wide.In the last action of the half, Sako sent a free-kick dipping just over Marcus Bettinelli's crossbar.Earlier, Cauley Woodrow squandered the best opportunity of a lifeless first half hour when he blazed over the bar from just inside the box.Lasse Vigen Christensen, who was named in the starting line-up despite having only returned to training on Friday, lasted only 32 minutes before he limped off, replaced by Sean Kavanagh. Fulham: Bettinelli; Grimmer, Hutchinson, Bodurov, Stafylidis; Parker; Christensen (Kavanagh 32), Fofana; McCormack; Rodallega, Woodrow.Subs: Kiraly, Burn, Kavanagh, Roberts, Ruiz, Williams, Dembélé. Wolves: Ikeme; Iorfa, Batth, Stearman, Doherty; Evans, Price, Henry, Edwards, Sako; Clarke.Subs: Kuszczak, Saville, Ricketts, McAlinden, Ebanks-Landell, Jacobs, Dicko.Follow West London Sport on TwitterFind us on Facebook read more
Tata Launching Air Powered Car
Euro 2016: Costa, Mata and Cazorla left out of Spain squad
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque left strikers Diego Costa and Fernando Torres off his preliminary list for the European Championship on Tuesday.Del Bosque said he left Diego Costa off because of uncertainty with his fitness following a series of injuries, and that Torres didn't make it even though he was among the players considered for the tournament.The forwards included by Del Bosque in the 25-player list were 35-year-old Aritz Aduriz, Manuel "Nolito" Agudo, Alvaro Morata and Real Madrid youngster Lucas Vazquez.Young Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez and veteran Villarreal captain Bruno Soriano also made it, but Valencia striker Paco Alcacer was left off, as were defender Mario Gaspar and midfielders Sergi Roberto, Santi Cazorla and Juan Mata.The final squad for the tournament in France must be announced by May 31. Spain has won the last two European Championship titles.Costa hasn't played much for Spain this season because of injuries and is coming off a muscle ailment sustained with Chelsea."We didn't want to have too many players with doubts regarding their physical condition," Del Bosque said.'NEED TO THINK WHAT IS BEST' Torres has been playing well with Atletico and many expected him to return to the national team for Euro 2016. The striker hasn't been called up since Spain's disappointing campaign in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. He was in the team that won the European tournaments in 2008 and 2012, as well as the World Cup in 2010."It's never easy," Del Bosque said. "We have to do what we think it's best for the team."advertisementSpain's regular starters were added to the list, including Sergio Ramos, Gerard Pique and Andres Iniesta.There were no surprises in the goalkeepers picked by Del Bosque, although it remains unclear whether Iker Casillas or David de Gea will get to start in France."We don't have to make this decision now," the coach said.Del Bosque won't have many of his players available for the team's initial preparations because not all teams are done for the season. Barcelona and Sevilla will play the Copa del Rey final on Sunday, and Atletico and Real Madrid will be in the Champions League final on May 28 in Milan."It affects us a bit because we won't be able to have everybody with us until six days before the competition begins," Del Bosque said.The tournament begins June 10, but Spain's first game is against the Czech Republic on June 13 in Toulouse. Its other Group D matches are against Turkey on June 17 in Nice and Croatia on June 21 in Bordeaux.Spain has three warm-up matches scheduled before traveling to its training camp in France. It will play Bosnia in Switzerland on May 29, South Korea in Austria on June 1 and Georgia on June 7 in Getafe.Squad:Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (FC Porto), David de Gea (Manchester United), Sergio Rico (Sevilla)Defenders: Marc Bartra (Barcelona), Juanfran Torres (Atletico Madrid), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Jordi Alba (Barcelona), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid), Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea)Midfielders: Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Mikel San Jose (Athletic Bilbao), Isco Alarcon (Real Madrid), Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea), David Silva (Manchester City), Thiago Alcantara (Bayern Munich), Jorge "Koke" Resurreccion (Atletico Madrid), Bruno Soriano (Villarreal), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Saul Niguez (Atletico Madrid), Pedro Rodriguez (Chelsea)Forwards: Alvaro Morata (Juventus), Aritz Aduriz (Athletic Bilbao), Manuel "Nolito" Agudo (Celta Vigo), Lucas Vazquez (Real Madrid) read more
D-League: AMA recalls Taganas, Cañete
Ateneo boosts confidence after beating NU
Marinerong Pilipino routs Gamboa-St. Clare, gets share of D-League lead

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


From the immensity of Lake Ontario to our north, the Oswego River to our east, the wetlands to our west, and the lakes and streams to our south, the SUNY Oswego neighborhood is surrounded and defined by fresh water. In fact, there is an abundance of water on our planet. And yet the lack of fresh water is responsible for more deaths in the world than war is. Our common investigations and activities are happening at a global tipping point.
For a look at how the campus is engaged, go to the Summary of Fresh Water Activities.
The Grand Challenge Anthology will collect student writing and art from all disciplines that supports the "Fresh Water for All" theme. The Anthology will be published in both print and digital form. Submit work to melissa.webb@oswego.edu by April 1.
Faculty and staff are invited to tackle the topic through student assignments in your courses and co-curricular projects, through connecting your students to performances and speakers across disciplines, and through creating opportunities for your students to give public presentations on fresh water topics. For a useful reference, check out the Penfield Library Fresh Water Resources.
Mini-grants will be given for creative uses of the Fresh Water Grand Challenge in classrooms and co-curricular spaces — especially for collaborative work such as team-facilitating or shared assignment-making across disciplines, civic engagement projects that tackle local fresh water challenges, volunteerism, or applied learning projects.
Solutions to Grand Challenges come together in a variety of ways — from scholarly research and essays to artistic interpretations and media coverage to how and what we teach in our schools and how we run our businesses. Our students' work is crucial to the success of the Fresh Water Grand Challenge.
Students exceptional work will be showcased on the Digital OZ website.
Students in Professor Keli DiRisio's Spring 2018 ART 304 Motion Graphics course skillfully blend research and infographics to create professional videos addressing our Fresh Water Grand Challenge.


Although Jinlu began studying painting at a early age and graduated from the Central Art Institute of China, it was winning an honorable mention in the Chinese competition Creative Oil Paintings by 1,000 People that motivated him to pursue a career. His work focuses on a balanced relationship between the subject and the background. Recently, he has devoted himself to abstract compositions that use color as the vehicle to create a relationship with the viewer.


Ok, so on to the FAQs about the consultation. Please leave any additional questions you may have in the comments and I'll respond to them!
Q: What do I wear to the consultation?
A: For the consultation, wear whatever's the most comfortable, preferably tight-fitting. During the first meeting, we won't have you try anything on so no need for special undergarments, but we will probably take your measurements to have them on file.
A: Don't be afraid to bring pictures! If a friend or celebrity recently wore a wedding dress and you just loved the neckline or embellishments, bring a picture for us to put in our files. We don't want to copy dresses, but we don't feel bad sharing elements and points of view with other designers. No need to bring physical copies, but pictures that you can email to us would be helpful! We'll have light refreshments and don't anticipate most consultations to take more than an hour.
Q: Should I bring my fiancé? Or a friend?
A: Bring whomever you like! We'd love to meet your future partner, but we understand that some like to keep their wedding day attire secret from another. In those cases, bring your mom, your dad, your bestie, your sister. We are here to serve you and whoever you want by your side. We have done a few consultations with two brides who want to match but not MATCH-match. We love these! Let us know before you come in how you want to handle this so we can block off extra time for you and perhaps have two designers working with you so that they understand one another's dress/design without letting you know one another's choices.
Q: Do you work with "non-traditional" couples?
A: We work with any couples who want to have a beautiful wedding with gorgeous attire.
Q: What if I don't feel comfortable or don't want to work with your designers?
A: We understand how big of a decision a wedding dress is. This is why we want to complete a consultation with potential clients before deciding to work together. We may not be your style, we may not be able to do what you want to do, or you may not feel quite right here. We respect and understand that. We will leave it entirely up to you whether you want to work with us and we won't take it personally if you choose not to!
We get this question a ton and I wanted to address it here in case you were going to mention it during your consultation. We don't do bridesmaid dresses in the traditional sense. If you're looking for mostly matching dresses for your nearest and dearest to wear during your nuptials, we would be happy to give you some referrals for stores and styles based upon what you decide for your own dress.
The reason we don't do bridesmaid dresses is that, because we're a recycled dress design company, we can't usually guarantee cohesion between dresses enough for them to work as bridesmaid dresses. We have had the occasional bride who wants a dress made for the flower girl, personal attendant, mother of the bride, or officiant. We're quite happy to work with you to make this a reality!
We don't make wedding jewelry but we understand how important it is to have jewelry that goes well with the dress, the theme, the budget, and of course the ring! This is why we've teamed up with the natural recycled materials jeweler with whom we share a storefront.
If you work in an art gallery, you deserve to sparkle however you feel most comfortable during your wedding!
This is why we believe so strongly in using recycled and eco-conscious practices in both dress- and jewelry-crafting. By sourcing recycled materials, metals, and stones, we are able to use existing materials to create new meaning. Within the studio, we use all eco-responsible lighting, power, and materials. Packing materials are 100% recycled, we do most of our communicating via the shared app as to not waste materials sending letters and physical correspondence.
And we do not believe in using conflict diamonds in our pieces. While we may rehab jewelry made with metals and stones of undetermined background, but we never engage in the buying or selling of new items. We were conflicted about even using metals and stones of undetermined background – but we decided, ultimately, that if a diamond comes from a conflict zone and is ethically questionable, we might as well reuse it and give it a longer life while donating proceeds to a tree-planting service.
So what exactly do we offer? Below is a pretty thorough list of what services we offer. Of course, during the consultation you'll have the opportunity to discuss any considerations that aren't on the list below.
The Dress: Obviously, our bread and butter is The Dress. We salvage used and discarded dresses and turn them into someone else's dream dress. We believe that recycling is important in every aspect, including dressing. And because style evolves, we love using out-of-date elements in new ways.
The Other Dresses: If time allows, we also may provide offerings to do other dresses for the bride. We'll help you put a whole look together – a dress for the rehersal dinner, one for the reception, another for the brunch – why not have a whole cohesive look for the festivities?!
Accessories: Different dresses require different accessories – many of the rescue dresses we take in come with their accessories like veils, belts and shawls that we rehab into modern contemporary pieces. And if you're having multiple dresses made, we'll try to make accessories that go with more than one of them. Cohesion!
Shoes: And finally, we also rehabilitate old wedding shoes. We update them for style and comfort and often do detailing to tie them to the rest of the outfit.
One of the most difficult things to manage when planning a wedding is time. There are so many different timelines to keep straight in the big picture as well as on the day. We will discuss your timeline with you at your initial consultation. It may take 6-8 weeks to schedule a consultation and how long dresses take usually depends on the dress. For this reason, we advise coming for a consultation as soon as you've decided on your style and budget. We will help you from there determine what kind of dress we can put together with the time allotted.


Image Credit: James MacDonald / Flickr. This image has been modified.
A landmark paper in 1953 radically changed our view about the development of heart disease forever. The study looked at a series of 300 autopsies performed on U.S. battle casualties of the Korean War. The average age was 22 years old, but 77% of the soldiers' hearts had gross evidence—meaning visible-to-the-eye evidence—of coronary atherosclerosis, hardening of their arteries. Some of them had vessels that were clogged off 90% or more. As an editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded, "This widely cited publication dramatically showed that atherosclerotic changes appear in the coronary arteries years and decades before the age at which coronary heart disease (CHD) becomes a clinically recognized problem." Follow-up studies on the hearts of thousands of more soldiers over the subsequent years confirmed their results.
How young does it go? Fatty streaks, the first stage of atherosclerosis, were found in the arteries of 100% of kids by age ten. What's accounting for this buildup of plaque even in childhood? In the '80s we got our first clue in the famous Bogalusa Heart Study. This looked at autopsies of those who died between the ages of 3 to 26 years old, and the #1 risk factor was cholesterol intake. There was a dramatic stepwise increase in the proportion of their arteries covered in fatty streaks as the level of bad cholesterol in the blood increased. As powerful as this was, the study only looked at 30 kids. So they decided to study 3000: three thousand accidental death victims, ages 15 through 34.
After thousands of autopsies, they were able to produce a scoring system that could predict the presence of advanced atherosclerotic lesions in the coronary arteries of young people. The higher our score, the higher the likelihood we have these lesions growing in the arteries that pump blood and oxygen to our heart. So if we're young and we smoke, our risk goes up by one point. If we have high blood pressure at such a young age, that's four points. If we're an obese male, that's six points, but high cholesterol was the worst of all. If our non-HDL cholesterol (meaning the total cholesterol minus the good cholesterol) is above 220 or so, our risk increased eight times more than if we smoked.
Let's say you're a woman with relatively high cholesterol, but you don't smoke, you're not overweight, your blood pressure and blood sugars are OK. At your sweet 16 there's just about a 1 in 30 (3%) chance you already have an advanced atherosclerotic lesion in your heart, but if you don't improve your diet, by your 30th birthday, it's closer to a one in five (20%) chance you have some serious heart disease, and if you have really high cholesterol it could be closer to one in three (33%).
In the video, Heart Disease Starts in Childhood, you can see what happens to our risk if we bring our cholesterol down to even just that of a lacto-ovo vegetarian, or if we exercise to boost our HDL, etc. It shows that even in 15 to 19-year-olds, atherosclerosis has begun in a substantial number of individuals, and this observation suggests beginning primary prevention at least by the late teenage years to ameliorate every stage of atherosclerosis and to prevent or retard progression to more advanced lesions.
If we start kids out on a low saturated fat diet, we may see a significant improvement in their arterial function by 11 years old. The study concluded, "Exposure to high serum cholesterol concentration even in childhood may accelerate the development of atherosclerosis. Consequently the long-term prevention of atherosclerosis might be most effective when initiated early in life." And by early in life they meant infancy.
Atherosclerosis, hardening of the arteries, begins in childhood. By age ten nearly all kids have fatty streaks, the first stage of the disease. Then the plaques start forming in our 20s, get worse in our 30s, and can start killing us off in middle age. In our hearts it's a heart attack, in our brains it's a stroke, in our extremities it can mean gangrene, and in our aorta, an aneurism.
For those of us older than ten years of age, the choice likely isn't whether or not to eat healthy to prevent heart disease, it's whether or not we want to reverse the heart disease we likely already have.
Drs. Dean Ornish and Caldwell Esselstyn Jr. proved that we can reverse heart disease with a plant-based diet, but we don't have to wait until our first heart attack to start unclogging our arteries. We can start reversing our heart disease right now. We can start reversing heart disease in our kids tonight.
Heart disease is a choice.
Sounds like the saturated fats are the biggest problem here, and so many parents feed their kids cookies and cakes and sweets dense in vegan saturated fats. Please do more (you do a lot already, thanks you!) to highlight to your viewers, most of whom are vegan, it seems, the harm being done (it seems) by the fat-laden vegan junk food, as well as dairy-fat junk food.
I look at the Japanese eating their fish, and they don't seem to have the heart disease issues we have, but I don't think the culture over in Japan ingests large amounts of dairy fat cookies, cakes, etc. and vegetable-fat-laden cakes and cookies…potato chips, fried corn chips, and other high-vegetable-fat packaged (and baked) goods. USA seems to live on bags of chips and cookies as snack for kids, and many parents think "oh, it's vegan, it's OK." I think getting this vegan message across to your viewers, and future viewers, is where you might provide the most benefit.
If family doctors gave this information to new parents taking babies in for the first year of check-ups, think what a difference it might make. Parents might start feeding their babies and toddlers boiled potatoes and steamed broccoli instead of hot dogs and French fries.
What do you think of the research-based differentiation that many nutrition doctors make about the two kinds of LDL? One particle is large and fluffy and passes through the arteries, and one is small and dense and gets stuck in there, forming plaque. This was on Sanjay Gupta and several other health shows. Also the recent large study that showed that saturated fat intake had no effect on health? It's hard for me to decide what to do when highly respected doctors disagree among themselves. I don't have the advanced medical training.
John S: You are not the first person to ask these questions.B oth Toxins and MacSmiley gave such great answers to the first question that I saved their answers. I copied those answers below for you.
Your second question about saturated fats has also been well answered by other people. If you still have that question after reading through the information and links below, let me know, and I will try to find those answers.
Re Large and fluffy LDL being benign or even beneficial: ALL ApoB-containing particles (found in LDL of all sizes) are atherogenic.
Grammer TB. Eur Heart J. 2014;doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehu055.
Particle type is irrelevant when one gets low enough, this is evident here and has been identified several decades ago, that those who have total cholesterol 150 or below essentially do not develop heart disease.
Again I would encourage you to view the first link I shared in my first post to you.
I've been reading reviews of "The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet" by Nina Teicholz, which seems to refute much of the information found on nutritionfacts.org.
Perhaps the book was sponsored in some way by the meat and dairy industries, but maybe not. I'd like to hear Dr. Greger's and others response to the book.
Thank you, Mike. Very interesting indeed. And helpful, too.
Unfortunately, trials and studies done on foods are inherently very unreliable. Studying one ingredient is useless because ingredients almost never have health impacts (positive or negative) in isolation to other ingredients. Studies on a particular food are also unreliable as there are too many variables involved (both in the food, as well as in the lives of the people taking part in the study).
The more we increase our knowledge about isolated nutrients, the less we seem to know and understand about a particular food(s) as a whole and its impact on our health.
Glad to see some additional sanity on this blog! Those stuck in vegan or pale or other isolated this-food-is-bad ideas just cannot see the big picture. Including Dr. Gregor and total paleo promoting physicians as well.
Bad foods are processed foods and junk and isolated sugar etc. etc. etc. Real food is good food. Whether it contains cholesterol or saturated fat or not.
But yes, modern raised poor quality meat has problems with skewing the essential fat ratios, antibiotics and more. Plus putting children on low fat, low cholesterol vegan diets is dangerous indeed.
White bread, not enough veggies, processed foods, chemical contamination in foods and so much more is involved.
These blogs, while sometimes providing useful information, just don't cut the mustard in trying to put together the bigger picture of foods relationship to disease and health.
This is a well written summary of what the pizza, ice cream, and hot dog diet continues to do to our children. One of mine just had a 10th birthday and annual physical which, of revealed nothing about the state of her arteries.
Is any effort underway to have cholesterol checks performed as part of a child's annual physical ? At least we'd have some idea of the damage that has potentially already been done.
I assume the pediatricians will do it ?
Something even scarier is some kids as young as three have been found to have fatty streaks. It's pretty horrifying considering not even of school age yet.


text:
package bankapp.account;

import bankapp.bank.AccountType;

/**
 * The class Account represents personal bank accounts.
 * @author Samuel Pulfer
 *
 */
public class PersonalAccount extends Account {

	//** The interest rate. */
	private static double INTEREST_RATE = 0.00125;
	/** Constructs a personal bank account.
	 * @param nr the account number
	 * @param pin the PIN of the account
	 * @param balance the initial balance
	 */
	public PersonalAccount(int nr, String pin, double balance) {
		super(nr, pin, balance);
	}
	/**
	 * Gets the type of the account.
	 * @return the account type
	 */
	public AccountType getType() {
		return AccountType.PERSONAL;
	}

	/** Gets the interest rate.
	 * @return the interest rate
	 */
	public double getInterestRate() {
		return INTEREST_RATE;
	}

}


text:
Shooting in Gloucestershire. Shoot report: Pheasant and partridge shooting at the Campden House estate shoot
What's the collective noun for a gathering of shooting instructors? A pattern? A scatter? A covey? Choose whatever seems most appropriate for an amazing concentration of shotgun coaches, assembled on a misty winter morning to shoot on the Campden House estate in the Cotswolds.
In a magnificently generous gesture, the estate's owner, the Hon Philip Smith, had presented a full-scale day of pheasant and partridge shooting to the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust as a prize for its raffle at Gaynes Park in Essex. And this splendid days pheasant and partridge shooting gift was won by Michael Booth, a beanpole of a retired insurance executive, who now works part-time as a BASC-accredited shotgun coach.
He and his friends came from the east. All bar two were from Essex and the exceptions were from Hertfordshire. The party stayed overnight in the neighbourhood but, on the final approach, one carload was undone by its sat nav and became hopelessly lost. More than half an hour ticked slowly away before a rescue team guided them in to the rendezvous at Philip and Mary Smith's house.
For guns from the flatlands, the first drive – Weston Park – was a stunner. As they lined out in V formation in the deep gully of a 180-acre wood, the host remarked that if a pheasant flew at all over this valley, it couldn't help flying really high – to which Michael Booth responded, "Just because most of us are professionally involved in shooting, it doesn't guarantee our performance in the field!"
The 1,500-acre estate already had fine woods when Philip acquired it in 1972 but since then he has greatly enhanced it by planting over a hundred acres of trees in various blocks; and with the help of the headkeeper, Martin Childerley (who once received a CLA 30-year long-service award at the Game Fair), he has built it into a first-class location for pheasant and partridge shooting, averaging 300 head over the season's early days. Of the 2,000 partridges and 4,000 pheasants reared every year, the shoot puts almost 50% in the bag. In spring it seeks to encourage wild birds by late feeding and vigorous vermin control, and it has one special advantage in that it grows a large acreage of peas, which produce the insects needed by chicks.
Down in the depths of Weston Park, bright-green patches of mown grass made a lovely contrast with the grey of the mature ash trunks; but fog was hovering around the tops of the trees, and the birds – which were stratospheric – were hard to pick out until they were almost overhead. At the apex of the line was Michael Alldis, owner of Essex Shooting School, armed with a 1901 Jeffrey hammer 12-bore. An enthusiast for ancient guns, which have no safety-catches or ejectors, he has been three times British Hammer Gun Champion. "I just love the things," he declares. He pointed out that King George V would shoot with nothing else "because he could always see when his gun was cocked".
He has now scaled his personal teaching down but in "the good old days", he used to coach for 40 hours a week, which he described as "very tiring". Doesn't it get boring repeating the same things again and again? "Yes, the lesson does sometimes become a tape-recording – 'make sure the stock's on your face' – but the clients are always interesting. It's gun-mounting that causes more problems than anything else. People don't practise it enough."
Two places to his left in the line was his partner, Sue Hart, also – surprise, surprise – a qualified coach who helps in the shooting school. At 5ft 4in, she was only just tall enough to qualify for the Metropolitan Police but she became a sergeant and, one year, was British Police Ladies' Champion, shooting with a Browning 425 over-and-under 12-bore. Her diminutive size, she says, was never a problem: "You learn very quickly that you have to talk your way out of trouble; you can't use force."
In the past two or three years, she's become a mustard-keen deerstalker and recently took a couple of days around Stonor Park in the Chilterns, where she got one fallow doe, and her friend Shirley Payne shot three. As for these ghostlike pheasants, flitting through the mist at extreme range, Sue reckoned they were the highest she had ever shot and could only describe her method of trying to deal with them as "working on a hell of a lot of lead". Her colleagues were also struggling and in spite of a considerable bombardment, the stand produced only eight birds. But the second drive, Westington Hill, was a complete contrast.
Out in open country, with the fog hovering just high enough not to be a nuisance, the guns lined out in a huge crescent, which curved down a field on one flank of a shallow valley and up the other side, so that everyone was in sight of each other. In front of the line the land rose to a cross-hedge some 300yd away, and beyond that, the tops of game crops were just visible. Altogether it was as grand and spacious a setting as anyone could wish for when pheasant and partridge shooting.
While we waited, it became clear that nobody was more experienced than Roger Hill, yet another professional coach, with bases in Ollerton, Sherwood Forest and Essex. He gives some 600 lessons a year and his wife Chris runs the clubhouse side of the business. Does he never become fed up? "It's a challenge," he admitted. "I've never found anyone to beat me yet. I get them there in the end. I coach internationally as well – a bit in America, a bit in Ireland. I go over for a week at a time. There are two girls in Greece, training for Olympic skeet. One guy drops in from Sweden once a month: flies into Stansted, hires a car, drives to us, has a two-hour lesson, flies back."
When the birds started coming, Roger did not hit all of them by any means. However, he quickly improved and started nailing some crackers, evidently practising what he preaches. "If you start missing, you've just got to forget it and get stuck into the next one. If you wind yourself up, it only gets worse."
Down on his left, Michael Lankshear, proprietor of that dangerously attractive emporium, Field Stream and Covert, was definitely impressive. "Wasn't that beautifully driven!" he exclaimed as the drive finished. "I haven't shot birds as high as that, even in Devon." Everyone agreed that the presentation was first class, with abundant pheasants and partridges, and no big flushes. Only Martin the keeper was not surprised by the phenomenal height that some of the birds achieved. "I never know why they go up like that here," he said afterwards. "There's nothing particular to make them, but they always do."
The Lankshear prescription for successful pheasant and partridge shooting was a substantial amount of clear air ahead of the target. "Pheasants need four or five times the lead of partridges," he reckons. "These birds are coming at 40mph or 50mph; you have to keep consciously changing the picture."
The third drive was Armstrong's, named after Louis Armstrong, who had a phrase – "reaching for the high ones". This nearly did not take place, for as the guns walked steadily uphill on a long grass track towards their pegs, the fog seemed to be closing down. But after several radio consultations squire and keeper decided to go ahead – and another excellent stand it proved, with pheasants rocketing out of a wood high up on a rounded knoll.
John Farley, known as Charlie Farley, is yet another shotgun coach but he's a one-man band. In spite of the general economic gloom and doom, his business is booming. "Last year was amazing," he said. "So many new people are coming into the sport." Occasionally, he finds that beginners are nervous "but you try to encourage them away from that attitude before they ever get near a gun," he explained.
Nerves clearly do not trouble Paul Payne, a former pilot who devoted most of his career to flying for the Dutch airline KLM and finished with two years for Ryanair. "I spent 30-odd years going to Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin and all those places," he says, "but I never really saw anything of Europe." Did he ever give himself a fright? "Heavens, no! It was safe as houses. Otherwise I wouldn't have been doing it." He took up gunnery some 15 years ago and now he and his wife, the dashing stalker Shirley, are keen clay-shooters.
The morning was to have concluded with a big partridge drive. But the combination of fog and the late start ruled that out and the team returned to the house for a perfect shooting lunch: cottage pie, a delicious concoction of apples and raspberries, and then cheese. Everyone tucked in gratefully but by the time coffee came around, several of the guns were surreptitiously glancing out of the windows to see what the weather was doing, obviously eager to be on the move again.
Although the fog had lifted, the light was already starting to fade, and there was only time for one more drive but what a drive it was. For Summerhouse Plantation, a big wood crowning the hill opposite the house, the guns lined out on parkland a long way from the flushing point and well below it, so that the pheasants were again really challen-ging. But, by now, the instructors had got their eye in, and there was some spectacular shooting, especially from Messrs Lankshear and Hill in the middle of the line. Many of their birds were so high that they fell more than 100yd behind, even though they had been killed directly overhead.
The bag for the day was 192 pheasants, 41 partridges, four woodcock and a pigeon. Another drive would have lifted the total close to 300 but any disappointment was erased by the excitement of that last stand. Not even the offer of a final short drive could tempt the guns. "You'll never better that," said one of them. "You might as well just say, 'That's enough, thank you,' and pack it in."
More shooting in The Field
Shooting in Devon. Shoot report: Pheasant shooting at Brownstone shoot in South Devon


text:
Q: Needing a component similar to JTabbedPane I'm looking for a component like "JTabbedPane" in which I can design each tab separately and easily but I don't want the little square buttons with tab names in runtime! Instead, I want to activate each tab panel in my code. In fact, I want to have multiple "JPanel"s with same size and location (they have complete overlap) and I set visibility of each them manually in my code but the most importing thing is that I want to design each panel as easy as possible (like clicking on the tab names in design-time).

A: You could use CardLayout here to create your own overlapping panels as you have described. The visibility of each panel can be programmatically changed.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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text:
Ceezlin EP launch party at Shmooze, Thurs 26 Sept
From a distance, for a few exceedingly wavy moments it seemed from a distance that Ceezlin was, in a sense, a dick-head. Not an actual prick, just someone who wore a hat decorated with penises. Felt penises, possibly, though from a distance it was hard to tell. Up close stood next to the crowd barrier I still couldn't be sure, but it was probably some type of nylon and the odd protrusions weren't dicks, they were birthday candles.
It wasn't until much later I realised how apt that was as a metaphor for how my perception of Ceezlin himself has changed over the last few months. Except in reverse. From a distance he seems like a reasonable kind of guy. Ordinary, even. This is the kind of guy who sings his hooks in a slightly kooky, kind of endearing way even though he can't quite sing. It's almost twee! Sometimes he tries to act hard, and I'm sure he could have me in a fight any day (looking at Rum Committee his mates could have my mates, too) but I'm not fooled. Up close he's…well, less a dick-head more a giant strutting peacock. A right cocky bastard.
Which is, let's be clear, unequivocally a good thing. Being a cocky bastard is an essential qualification for going on stage. Especially in the context I was watching Ceezlin. This was at the Boom Bap Festival in Peterborough a few weekends back, an extraordinary three day feast of British rap music. He was onstage with Rum Committee, except Rag'N'Bone man hadn't made it so up front it was just him and three ageing white rapper lads on the crest of blokehood in identikit UK hip-hop uniform. Sorry, guys, that may sound harsh but you know it's true. And nothing shameful! But when you've got this guy up front with you you've got to accept he's going to stand out. He's Diana Ross. You're his Supremes. He's got red plastic shades, you haven't. He waves plastic firearms, you've only got mics. You wear monochrome t-shirts with no costume changes, his leopard-print tee is revealed a few songs in after he's shed his oversized red and black jacket (and hoodie, and that hat, of course).
To make the contrast even more stark, two of the white guys basically stood rooted to the spot. Gizmo should be given credit here for his presentation but he couldn't really compete with the way Ceezlin was working that stage. Don't get it twisted, they all put in good performances. Kong and Bukioe seemed like they were enjoying themselves. But Ceezlin looked at home, like he lives to perform, like he was feeding off the attention. Climbing in with the audience. Pacing the stage, working up his energy, an honest-to-god striptease building up to his sprinting across the stage, mic in one hand, other hand raised high spinning leopard-print tee round windmill style.
Tonight should be interesting. It's the official launch party for Ceezlin's new EP Snakes N Ladderz. I'm not a fan of the lead track 'Good Time' but it's early days yet. He might yet capture his undeniable talent and attitude into some great records, who knows? In the meantime any excuse to catch him live should be welcomed.
Shmooze is at Madame Geisha's on East Street, starting at 9pm. Entry is free before 11pm, £3 after if you're on the guest list and £4 if you're not. Closing time is 3am. The Snakes N Ladderz EP should be available from midday on SBTV's Bandcamp page.
This entry was posted on September 26, 2013 by Ringo P in 2wo 7even 3hree, Get Your Ass There, Late Night Jams, Live and Direct, Live From The UK, Ringo P and tagged Ceezlin, Rum Committee.
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