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Distinct Roles for Ceramide and Glucosylceramide at Different Stages of Neuronal Growth
Andreas Schwarz and Anthony H. Futerman
Journal of Neuroscience 1 May 1997, 17 (9) 2929-2938; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.17-09-02929.1997
1Department of Membrane Research and Biophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel
Anthony H. Futerman
Sphingolipids (SLs) are important structural and regulatory components of neuronal plasma membranes. Previous studies using fumonisin B1, an inhibitor of the synthesis of ceramide, the precursor of all SLs, demonstrated that ceramide synthesis is required to sustain axonal growth in hippocampal neurons (Harel and Futerman, 1993; Schwarz et al., 1995) and dendritic growth in cerebellar Purkinje cells (Furuya et al., 1995). We now show that ceramide plays distinct roles at different stages of neuronal development. (1) During axon growth, ceramide must be metabolized to glucosylceramide (GlcCer) to sustain growth. Thus, whereasd-erythro-ceramide, which is metabolized to GlcCer, is able to antagonize the disruptive effects of fumonisin B1 on axon growth,l-threo-ceramide, which is not metabolized to GlcCer, is ineffective. (2) The formation of minor processes from lamellipodia can be stimulated by incubation with short-acyl chain analogs of ceramide that are active in ceramide-mediated signaling pathways, or by generation of endogenous ceramide by incubation with sphingomyelinase. However, GlcCer synthesis is not required for this initial stage of neuronal development. (3) During minor process formation and during axon growth, incubation with high concentrations of ceramide or sphingomyelinase, but not dihydroceramide, induces apoptosis. Together, these observations are consistent with the possibility that minor process formation and apoptosis can be regulated by ceramide-dependent signaling pathways and that the decision whether to enter these diametrically opposed pathways depends on intracellular ceramide concentrations. In contrast, axonal growth requires the synthesis of GlcCer from ceramide, perhaps to support an intracellular transport pathway.
sphingolipids
glucosylceramide
axon growth
neuronal differentiation
Sphingolipids (SLs) are enriched in neuronal plasma membranes, although their precise functions in neurons are not known (Ledeen and Yu, 1992). To resolve this issue, we have initiated studies examining the effects of manipulating SL metabolism on neuronal development.
These studies have been performed with well characterized cultures of hippocampal neurons that develop by a stereotypic sequence of events (Dotti et al., 1988; Goslin and Banker, 1991), permitting analysis of the role of SLs in defined stages of development. In the initial stage of growth [stage 1, Dotti et al. (1988); see also Fig. 3 in this work], hippocampal neurons are characterized by the presence of many lamellipodia around the cell body that display intense pseudopodial activity. The second stage of development is marked by loss of lamellipodia and extension of a number of short processes, designated "minor processes" (stage 2, see Fig. 3). After some hours one of the minor processes starts to grow rapidly (10–15 μm/hr) and develops axonal characteristics (stage 3, see Fig. 3). Axons form branches as collaterals, and as each new branch emerges, the growth cone of the original axon loses its lamellipodial appearance and elongation stops (Dotti et al., 1988).
Morphological characteristics of hippocampal neurons. Shown are camera lucida drawings of representative cells at 12 and 24 hr in culture after addition of C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer immediately after cells were placed in multiwell dishes. The developmental stages of some cells are indicated. Scale bar, 50 μm.
To date, most of our studies have focused on the role of SLs during axon growth (stage 3). We originally demonstrated that incubation with fumonisin B1 (FB1), a specific inhibitor ofN-acylation of the sphingoid long chain bases dihydrosphingosine (sphinganine) and sphingosine to dihydroceramide and ceramide, respectively (Merrill et al., 1996), disrupted axon growth during the early part of stage 3, between days 2 and 3 in culture (Harel and Futerman, 1993). Subsequent studies using two other inhibitors of SL metabolism,d-threo-1-phenyl-2-decanoylamino-3-morpholino-1-propanol (d-PDMP), which inhibits glucosylation of ceramide to glucosylceramide (GlcCer; Radin and Vunnam, 1981; Inokuchi and Radin, 1987), and conduritol B-epoxide (CBE), which inhibits the lysosomal degradation of GlcCer to ceramide (Legler, 1977), suggested that ongoing synthesis of GlcCer, rather than ceramide, might be required for axonal growth in stage 3 (Schwarz et al., 1995).
The reason that ongoing SL synthesis is required for axon growth is not known, but SLs play important regulatory roles in at least two intracellular processes. First, SLs are involved in regulating intracellular transport via both the exo- and endocytic pathways (Simons and van Meer, 1988; Lisanti and Rodriguez-Boulan, 1990;Rosenwald et al., 1992; Rosenwald and Pagano, 1993; Chen et al., 1995;Futerman, 1995). In addition, SLs and SL degradation products act as second messengers in signal transduction pathways (Hannun and Bell, 1989), with ceramide participating in growth inhibition, in induction of differentiation, and in programmed cell death (Kolesnick, 1992;Hannun, 1994; Hannun and Obeid, 1995; Hannun et al., 1996).
In the current study we have further analyzed the roles of ceramide and GlcCer at different stages of neuronal development by using various stereoisomers of ceramide in combination with d-PDMP and FB1. Our data indicate that ceramide and GlcCer play distinct roles in the same neuron at different stages of growth, presumably because of their involvement in distinct intracellular events at each developmental stage.
Materials. FB1 was obtained from the Division of Food Science and Technology, CSIR (Pretoria, South Africa).d-PDMP,N-hexanoyl-d-erythro-sphingosine (C6-d-erythro-Cer),N-hexanoyl-d-threo-sphingosine (C6-d-threo-Cer),N-hexanoyl-l-threo-sphingosine (C6-l-threo-Cer),N-hexanoyl-d-erythro-dihydrosphingosine (C6-d-erythro-dihydroCer), andN-{6-[(7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl)amino]hexanoyl}-l-threo-sphingosine (C6-NBD-l-threo-Cer) (Table 1) were obtained from Matreya (Pleasant Gap, PA). Neutral sphingomyelinase (N-SMase) (Staphylococcus aureus) was obtained from Sigma (St. Louis, MO).N-{6-[(7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl)amino]hexanoyl}-d-erythro-sphingosine (C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer) was obtained from Molecular Probes (Eugene, OR). All other chemicals were obtained from Sigma, and solvents (analytical grade) were obtained from Bio-Lab Laboratories (Jerusalem, Israel).
Stereoisomers of C6-Cer, their metabolism, and their biological activity
Hippocampal cultures. Hippocampal neurons were cultured at low density as described (Goslin and Banker, 1991) with some modifications (Harel and Futerman, 1993; Schwarz et al., 1995). Briefly, the dissected hippocampi of embryonic day 18 rats (Wistar), obtained from the Weizmann Institute Breeding Center, were dissociated by trypsinization (0.25% w/v, for 15 min at 37°C). The tissue was washed in Mg2+/Ca2+-free HBSS (Life Technologies, Gaithersburg, MD) and dissociated by repeated passage through a constricted Pasteur pipette. Cells were plated in minimal essential medium (MEM) with 10% horse serum at a density of 6000 cells per 13 mm glass coverslip (Assistent, Germany) that had been precoated with poly-l-lysine (1 mg/ml). After 3–4 hr, coverslips were transferred into 24-well multidishes (Nunc, Roskilde, Denmark) containing a monolayer of astroglia. Coverslips were placed with the neurons facing downward and were separated from the glia by paraffin "feet." Cultures were maintained in serum-free medium (MEM) that included N2 supplements (Goslin and Banker, 1991), ovalbumin (0.1%, w/v), and pyruvate (0.1 mm). In some experiments neurons were removed from multidishes containing glia and placed in new dishes that contained fresh medium but did not contain a glial monolayer.
Neurons cultured at high density (230,000 cells per 24 mm glass coverslip in 100 mm Petri dishes) were used for biochemical analysis (Schwarz et al., 1995; Hirschberg et al., 1996).
Analysis of neuronal morphology. Stock solutions of FB1 or d-PDMP were dissolved in HEPES buffer (20 mm, pH 7.4) and added to cultures to give final concentrations of 50 and 250 μm, respectively. C6-ceramides were dissolved in ethanol and added to the culture medium so that the final ethanol concentration did not exceed 1%; control cultures were treated with 1% ethanol. C6-NBD-ceramides were added to cultures either in ethanol or as complexes with defatted bovine serum albumin (BSA; Pagano and Martin, 1994).
For morphological analysis coverslips were removed from the 24-well multidishes, and neurons were fixed in 1% (v/v) glutaraldehyde in PBS for 20 min at 37°C and mounted for microscopic examination in 50% (w/v) glycerol in PBS. Neurons were examined by phase-contrast microscopy with an Achroplan 32×/0.4 numerical aperture (NA) phase 2 objective of a Zeiss Axiovert 35 microscope. Neuronal development was analyzed via the developmental criteria of Dotti et al. (1988). The following parameters of neuronal development were measured (Schwarz et al., 1995). (1) The number of cells in stage 1, 2 and 3: a cell was considered to be in stage 3 when the major axonal process was ≥30 μm [i.e., ∼10 μm longer than the next longest minor process (Goslin and Banker, 1989)]. (2) The length of the total axon plexus, which includes the length of the parent axon and all axonal branches: for 3-d-old neurons, only those cells in which the whole axon plexus could be delineated unambiguously were measured; for 1-d-old neurons, the length of the axon was measured only in cells that had entered stage 3. (3) The number of axonal branch points per cell: an axon was considered to branch when the process to which it gave rise was >15 μm long. Thin filopodia, which occasionally were observed along the entire length of the axon, were not considered as branches. In all cases values were pooled from a number of separate cultures, and statistical analysis was performed by the Student's t test.
Analysis of neuronal apoptosis. Neuronal apoptosis was detected with two methods. (1) Chromatin staining of neurons with Hoechst 33342 (bis-benzimide): coverslips containing neurons were washed in HBSS, and neurons were fixed with 4% formaldehyde for 30 min at 37°C and washed in HBSS for 10 min. Then neurons were incubated with 1 μg/ml Hoechst 33342 stain (Sigma) for 10 min and washed with HBSS. Cells were observed with a NeoPlan 40×/0.75 NA objective of a Zeiss Axioskop microscope and an appropriate filter for UV light. (2) Annexin V-binding and propidium iodide labeling: neurons were washed in HBSS and incubated with either fluorescein-conjugated human annexin V or propidium iodide (Apoptosis detection kit; R & D Systems, Minneapolis, MN) for 10 min at room temperature; subsequently, neurons were observed with a NeoPlan 63×/1.40 NA oil objective of a Zeiss Axiovert 35 microscope with appropriate filters for fluorescein and rhodamine (propidium iodide) fluorescence.
Analysis of C6-NBD-Cer metabolism. High density cultures (Hirschberg et al., 1996) were incubated with 5 μm C6-NBD-ceramides. After 24 hr cells were removed from the coverslips by scraping with a rubber policeman into distilled water and lyophilized. The dried material was extracted by the procedure of Bligh and Dyer (1959). C6-NBD-SLs were separated by thin-layer chromatography, using CHCl3/CH3OH/9.8 mmCaCl2 (60:35:8, v/v/v) as the developing solvent, and identified using authentic standards. For quantification of NBD fluorescence, lipids were recovered from the plates by scraping, followed by extraction (Bligh and Dyer, 1959) and NBD fluorescence (λex = 468 nm; λem = 530 nm) measured with a Perkin-Elmer Instruments LS-5B luminescence spectrometer (Oak Brook, IL).
GlcCer synthesis is required for axon growth during stage 3
We previously demonstrated that both FB1 (10 μm) and d-PDMP (50 μm) disrupt axon growth in hippocampal neurons between days 2 and 3 in culture by affecting the formation or stabilization of collateral axonal branches (Schwarz et al., 1995). Addition of C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer (5 μm) to hippocampal neurons, together with FB1(10 μm), antagonized the disruptive effects of FB1 on axonal growth (Harel and Futerman, 1993); similarly, C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer reversed the inhibitory effect of FB1 on dendritic growth in cultured Purkinje neurons (Furuya et al., 1995). In contrast, we now demonstrate that C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer was completely ineffective in reversing the effects of d-PDMP on axonal growth in hippocampal neurons; the number of axonal branch points per cell was 1.7 ± 0.2 on day 3 in untreated cells, but in cells treated on day 2 with either d-PDMP (250 μm) or d-PDMP (250 μm), together with C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer (5 μm), the number of axonal branch points per cell on day 3 was 1.0 ± 0.1 and 1.1 ± 0.1, respectively. These data are consistent with the suggestion (Schwarz et al., 1995) that C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer must be metabolized to C6-NBD-d-erythro-GlcCer to support axonal growth during stage 3.
To corroborate this suggestion and to exclude the possibility that the ability of C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer to reverse the effects of FB1 is attributable to a ceramide-mediated signaling pathway (Hannun et al., 1996), we tested the ability of various stereoisomers of ceramide to reverse the inhibitory effects of FB1 on axonal growth. Naturally occurring ceramide occurs in the d-erythro- configuration, but three other stereoisomers exist, some of which are metabolized to GlcCer and some of which are active in ceramide-mediated signaling pathways (Table1). For instance, exogenously addedl-threo-Cer is not metabolized tol-threo-GlcCer in cultured cells (Pagano and Martin, 1988) or by purified GlcCer synthase (Paul et al., 1996), but it does activate intracellular signaling pathways (Bielawska et al., 1993; Fishbein et al., 1993).
Only the d-erythro forms of ceramide (C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer and C6-d-erythro-Cer) were able to reverse the disruptive effects of FB1 on axonal growth between days 2 and 3, but C6-NBD-l-threo-Cer and C6-l-threo-Cer were essentially ineffective, as were C6-d-erythro-dihydroCer and C6-d-threo-Cer (Fig.1). During this period 42 ± 4% of C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer was metabolized to C6-NBD-d-erythro-GlcCer, but <1% of C6-NBD-l-threo-Cer was metabolized to C6-NBD-l-threo-GlcCer. None of the stereoisomers was able to reverse the inhibitory effects ofd-PDMP on neuronal growth. Because C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer is metabolized in hippocampal neurons only to C6-NBD-d-erythro-GlcCer and not to higher order C6-NBD-d-erythro-glycolipids (i.e., C6-NBD-d-erythro-gangliosides; although small amounts of C6-NBD-d-erythro-lactosylceramide are formed, <2.5% of the total recovered NBD fluorescence) or to C6-NBD-d-erythro-sphingomyelin (Harel and Futerman, 1993), it seems that GlcCer itself is able to sustain axonal growth between days 2 and 3 without the need for metabolism to higher order glyco-SLs or to sphingomyelin.
The ability of ceramide stereoisomers to reverse the inhibitory effects of FB1 on axonal growth. Neurons were incubated with FB1 (50 μm), together with ceramide stereoisomers (5 μm) on day 2, and the number of axonal branch points per cell was measured on day 3; the number of axonal branch points in untreated cells on day 3 was 1.67 ± 0.07. Each error bar is the mean ± SE of measurements of 200–450 cells from seven separate cultures.
To determine whether the glial cells present in the multiwell dishes (see Materials and Methods) might be contributing to the ability of FB1 to disrupt neuronal growth and of C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer to antagonize the effects of FB1, parallel experiments were performed on neurons cultured between 60–66 hr (Schwarz et al., 1995) in multiwell dishes containing fresh medium but not containing a glial monolayer. FB1 inhibited neuronal growth in the absence of glia to a similar extent to that observed in the presence of glia (Fig.2), and C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer reversed the inhibitory effects of FB1, although at a lower concentration than those effective in the presence of glia (Fig. 2). Moreover, 5 μmC6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer caused apoptotic cell death in neurons grown in the absence of glia (see below), although it had no effect on cell viability of neurons grown with glia, where it antagonized the disruptive effects of FB1 on axonal growth (Figs. 1, 2).
Comparison of the ability of C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer to reverse the inhibitory effects of FB1 on neurons growing in the absence or presence of glia. After neurons were cultured for 60 hr in multiwell dishes containing a glial monolayer (see Materials and Methods), coverslips were removed, placed in new multiwell dishes that did not contain a glial monolayer, and incubated with FB1(50 μm) together with increasing concentrations of C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer. The number of axonal branch points was measured at 66 hr for neurons grown between 60 and 66 hr without glia (□) and compared with neurons grown between 60 and 66 hr with glia (▪). The dashed lines show the number of branch points in untreated control cells at 60 and 66 hr. Each point is the mean of measurements of 100–150 cells from two separate cultures; the SE for each point varied between 0.09 and 0.15.
Ceramide stimulates the transition of neurons from stage 1 to 2
In contrast to their inhibitory effects on axonal growth between days 2 and 3, neither FB1 nor d-PDMP had any effect on axonal growth during the first 24 hr in culture (Table2), even at fivefold higher concentrations than previously used (Schwarz et al., 1995). However, incubation with C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer caused a 40–50% increase in the length of the axon plexus during the initial 24 hr in culture (Table 2) and an increase in the number of cells in stage 3 after 24 hr (Fig. 3).
The effects of C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer, FB1, and d-PDMP on neuronal development between day 0 and 1 in culture
Neither d-PDMP nor FB1 could block the stimulatory effects of C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer (Table 2), demonstrating that C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer stimulates axonal growth during early stages of development independent of its metabolism to C6-NBD-d-erythro-GlcCer. The inability of d-PDMP to block the stimulatory effects of C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer on axonal growth during the first day in culture was not attributable to altered efficacy of the inhibitor at different stages of development, because incubation with d-PDMP inhibited the metabolism of C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer to C6-NBD-d-erythro-GlcCer to a similar extent between days 0–1 and 2–3 (Fig. 4).
The metabolism of C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer. Neurons were incubated with C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer (5 μm) added as an equimolar complex with BSA, in the absence or presence of FB1 (50 μm) ord-PDMP (250 μm, from days 0 to 1 or from days 2 to 3. The metabolism of C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer is expressed as a ratio of the amount of C6-NBD-d-erythro-GlcCer formed/C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer remaining. Each error bar represents the mean of two (days 0–1) or three (days 2–3) experiments.
The effects of ceramide stereoisomers on axon growth during the first 24 hr in culture were consistent with the notion that ceramide mediates its effects at this stage of development via a signaling pathway and not via a process that depends on metabolism to GlcCer. Both C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer and C6-NBD-l-threo-Cer stimulated growth between days 0 and 1 (Fig. 5), as did their nonfluorescent, short-acyl chain counterparts (Fig. 5), albeit to a smaller extent. However, whereas 45 ± 1% of C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer was metabolized to C6-NBD-d-erythro-GlcCer during a 24 hr incubation from day 0 to 1, only 1% of C6-NBD-l-threo-Cer was metabolized to C6-NBD-l-threo-GlcCer. C6-d-threo-Cer also stimulated growth (Fig. 5), but C6-d-erythro-dihydroCer, which is totally inactive in signaling pathways (Table 1), had no effect (Fig.5).
The effects of ceramide stereoisomers on neuronal development on days 0–1. Neurons were incubated on day 0 with ceramide stereoisomers (5 μm) added from a stock solution in ethanol, and axon lengths were measured on day 1 for stage 3 cells. Each error bar is the mean ± SE of measurements of 400–500 cells from five separate cultures.
The increased axon lengths observed after incubation with ceramide for the first 24 hr in culture could be explained by two possibilities. Ceramide could accelerate the rate of transition from one developmental stage to another; or alternatively, it could have no effect on the rate of transition but, rather, could accelerate the rate of axon growth once cells have entered stage 3.
Analysis of the number of neurons in each developmental stage during the first 24 hr in culture demonstrated that minor process formation, i.e., the transition from stage 1 to 2, was accelerated by treatment with C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer and that this effect was not blocked by d-PDMP (Fig.6). The average time that 50% of control cells remained in stage 1 before entering stage 2 (t1/2 stage 1) was 18.6 hr, whereas thet1/2 stage 1 for C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer-treated cells was 13 hr (Table 3). However, the ratio oft1/2 stage 2/t1/2 stage 1and oft1/2 stage 3/t1/2 stage 2was identical for both control and treated cells (Table 3). This demonstrates that the number of cells in stage 3 is related directly to their rate of transition from stage 1 to 2 and not to differences in the time they spend in stage 2 or differences in their rate of transition from stage 2 to 3. Therefore, the increased axon lengths observed after incubation with C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer for the first 24 hr in culture are a result of their faster rate of exit from stage 1 and the corresponding increase in the amount of time they spend in stage 3 before measurement, and not the result of an increase in the rate of axon growth once the cells enter stage 3.
The effect of C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer on the transition of neurons from stage 1 through 3. Neurons were incubated with C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer (○) or C6-NBD-d-erythro-ceramide, together with d-PDMP (□), and the number of cells at each developmental stage was compared with untreated cells (•). Each point represents the mean ± SE of measurements from two separate cultures in which 100 cells per coverslip were analyzed for two individual coverslips per treatment.
The transition of hippocampal neurons from stages 1 through 3
C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer also stimulated the transition from stage 1 to 2 when cells were cultured in the absence of glia, but at much lower concentrations than in the presence of glia; incubation with 5 μmC6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer resulted in a 50–60% increase in the number of stage 3 cells at 24 hr in the presence of glia (Fig. 6), but in the absence of glia a similar increase in the number of stage 3 cells was obtained by using 0.05–0.1 μmC6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer (data not shown). The concentration differences required to see an effect were not attributable to the uptake of C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer into glia when neurons were cultured with a glial monolayer and, thus, a reduction in the effective concentration of C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer in the medium, because similar amounts of NBD fluorescence were recovered from the culture medium of neurons grown with or without glia. Similar to observations during days 2–3, incubation with 5 μmC6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer caused cell death in neurons grown in the absence of glia between days 0–1 (see below).
To determine whether endogenous ceramide also could stimulate neuronal development, we incubated neurons cultured in the absence of glia with N-SMase. Incubation with 50–75 mU/ml resulted in an increase in the percentage of neurons in stage 3 after 24 hr (Fig.7A) and in an increase in the length of the axon plexus (Fig. 7B). At higher concentrations (>250 mU/ml) N-SMase induced cell death and hence a reduction in the number of cells in stage 3.
The effect of N-SMase on neuronal development. Neurons cultured in the absence of glia were incubated with various concentrations of N-SMase on day 0. After 24 hr, the percentage of cells in stage 3 (A) or the length of the axon plexus in stage 3 cells (B) was analyzed. Each error bar is the mean ± SE of measurements of ∼500 cells from three separate cultures.
High concentrations of ceramide induce apoptosis
Many previous studies have demonstrated that generation of ceramide by incubation with N-SMase, or addition of short-acyl chain analogs of ceramide, induces apoptotic cell death (Hannun and Obeid, 1995). In hippocampal neurons neither C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer nor N-SMase affected cell viability at low concentrations (see above), but at higher concentrations, both induced cell death at early (days 0–1) and at later (days 2–3) stages of development. Thus, when 2- to 3-d-old neurons were incubated with 5 μmC6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer or C6-d-erythro-Cer for 6 hr in the absence of glia, chromatin condensation was observed (Fig.8A) and plasma membrane asymmetry was disrupted, as detected by annexin V-binding (Kroemer et al., 1995) (Fig. 9A,B). Similarly, 5 μmC6-l-threo-Cer induced apoptosis, as did >250 mU/ml N-Smase. However, in the presence of glia, 5 μmC6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer had no effect on cell viability (Fig. 9C,D), but concentrations of 15 μm and above did induce apoptosis. When 0- to 1-d-old neurons were incubated with C6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer, C6-d-erythro-Cer, or C6-l-threo-Cer, cell death was observed at 24 hr; for neurons incubated with glia, concentrations of >15 μmC6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer affected cell viability, and in the absence of glia, concentrations of ∼1–3 μm caused apoptosis. In contrast, incubation with 5 μmC6-d-erythro-dihydroCer on day 0 or on days 2–3 had no effect either on chromatin condensation (Fig.8B) or on membrane asymmetry (data not shown) in neurons grown without glia. Finally, we confirmed that cell death was attributable to apoptosis and not to necrosis, because cells were not labeled by propidium iodide, a vital stain for necrosis (Kroemer et al., 1995).
Chromatin condensation in neurons treated with ceramides. Neurons cultured in the absence of glia were incubated with 5 μmC6-NBD-d-erythro-Cer (A) or 5 μmC6-d-erythro-dihydroCer (B) at 60 hr in culture and examined for chromatin condensation at 66 hr. Scale bar, 10 μm.
Annexin V-binding to neurons treated with C6-d-erythro-Cer. Neurons cultured in either the absence (A, B) or presence of glia (C, D) were incubated with 5 μmC6-d-erythro-Cer at 60 hr in culture. Annexin V-binding was examined between 63 and 64 hr. Theleft panels are phase-contrast micrographs, and theright panels are fluorescence micrographs. Scale bar, 10 μm.
In the present study we demonstrate that SLs play three distinct roles in regulating neuronal development (Fig. 10), namely that (1) ceramide enhances the formation of minor processes from lamellipodia, that (2) GlcCer synthesis is required for normal axon growth during stage 3, and that (3) at both of these stages ceramide can induce apoptotic cell death at high concentrations.
Fig. 10.
Demonstrated are the roles of ceramide and GlcCer at different stages of neuronal development. See Discussion for further details.
A signaling role for ceramide in minor process formation and in apoptosis
The lack of specificity of ceramide stereoisomers in regulating the transition from stage 1 to 2 and in inducing apoptosis, together with the lack of effect of dihydroceramide (Bielawska et al., 1993), is consistent with the possibility that ceramide acts via an intracellular signaling pathway in the regulation of these events. Moreover, the decision of whether to enter either of these diametrically opposed pathways seems to depend on ceramide concentration.
In proliferating cells, ceramide suppresses growth and stimulates differentiation (Pushkareva et al., 1995). For instance, ceramide inhibits proliferation of neuroblastoma Neuro2a cells and induces their differentiation (Riboni et al., 1995) and stimulates T9 glioma differentiation and processes formation (Dobrowsky et al., 1994). However, ceramide cannot act via arrest of proliferation and stimulation of differentiation in hippocampal neurons, because these neurons are postmitotic at their time of removal from the hippocampus (Fletcher and Banker, 1989). Rather, ceramide acts by accelerating the transition from stage 1 to 2 (Fig. 10).
During this transition there are major changes in the organization of the actin- and microtubule-based cytoskeletons. After neurons attach to poly-l-lysine-coated coverslips, motile lamellipodia develop around the cell periphery (stage 1; Dotti et al., 1988) that resemble the regions of the ruffling membrane associated with migrating cells. Lamellipodia contain a predominance of actin filaments, mainly concentrated in the radial regions (Goslin et al., 1989), and unoriented microtubules (Dotti et al., 1988). During minor process formation (stage 2) the lamellipodia break up into discrete, motile patches at intervals along the cell periphery, and neurites arise preferentially at these sites (Dotti et al., 1988; Deitch and Banker, 1993). Minor processes form from lamellipodia via an intermediate stage of "wide minor processes," in which microtubules are aligned along the plasma membrane but exhibit a more random orientation within the center of the processes (Deitch and Banker, 1993). These wide minor processes become narrower over time, eventually forming minor processes with highly aligned microtubules and with polymerized actin concentrated in growth cones (Goslin et al., 1989).
We do not know the molecular mechanisms by which ceramide accelerates changes in the cytoskeleton. However, both sphingosine and ceramide stimulate actin stress fiber formation and focal adhesion assembly in Swiss 3T3 cells as a result of tyrosine phosphorylation of p125FAK and paxillin (Seufferlein and Rozengurt, 1994), which are early events in the action of diverse signaling pathways that lead to alterations in cytoskeletal organization.
In addition to its role in suppressing growth and inducing differentiation, ceramide also induces apoptosis in differentiating cells (Hannun and Obeid, 1995). In hippocampal neurons ceramide also induces apoptosis, although at higher concentrations than those that induce the transition from stage 1 to 2. Interestingly, neurons grown in the absence of the feeder glial monolayer are far more sensitive to ceramide than neurons grown with glia. It is known that glia play an important role in sustaining neuronal growth and survival (Oppenheim, 1991; Raff et al., 1993), either by absorbing toxic substances secreted from neurons or alternatively by the provision of secreted trophic factors required for neuronal survival. Trophic factor deprivation induces apoptosis in neurons (Dugan et al., 1995), and our data suggest that neuronal death can be accelerated by ceramide upon deprivation of trophic factors.
A role for GlcCer in axon growth
During the transition from stage 1 to 2, SL synthesis can be blocked completely with no obvious effects on neuronal development. This implies that there is a sufficiently large intracellular pool of SLs at this stage to sustain growth and development. In contrast, during stage 3 ongoing GlcCer synthesis is required for normal growth (Fig. 10); we also recently have shown that ongoing GlcCer synthesis is required for basic fibroblast growth factor and laminin to stimulate axonal growth in hippocampal neurons (Boldin and Futerman, 1997). Similarly, phosphatidylcholine (PC) synthesis is required for the growth of sympathetic neurons (de Chaves et al., 1995). PC comprises ∼40–50% of total neuronal membrane lipids (Siegel et al., 1994), whereas SLs comprise between 15–20%. This might imply that inhibitors of PC synthesis act by blocking the delivery to the membrane of "bulk" membrane material that plays a structural role (discussed inFuterman and Banker, 1996). In contrast, inhibitors of SL synthesis might act by disrupting one or other regulatory roles in which SLs are involved. One interesting possibility is that ongoing GlcCer synthesis is required for intracellular protein transport. In this regard it has been proposed that GlcCer and other glyco-SLs are transported preferentially to the axonal membrane (Dotti et al., 1991). Although there is no direct evidence for the preferential sorting of GlcCer and glyco-SLs to axons (for review, see Schwarz and Futerman, 1996), it may be more than a coincidence that the requirement for ongoing GlcCer synthesis arises before the time that the polarized distribution of axonal membrane proteins is first observed (Dotti and Simons, 1990;Fletcher et al., 1991). Ongoing GlcCer synthesis could be required for the delivery to the axonal membrane of a protein that is essential for axon growth. In Chinese hamster ovary cells inhibition of GlcCer synthesis blocks the delivery of a viral protein to the cell surface (Rosenwald et al., 1992), although these effects subsequently have been attributed to the accumulation of ceramide [Rosenwald and Pagano (1993); see also Chen et al. (1995)] and not to the depletion of GlcCer. This cannot be the reason for the disruption of axonal growth observed in hippocampal neurons, because exogenously added ceramide does not disrupt growth, and ceramide must be metabolized to GlcCer to support growth.
In summary, we have shown that ceramide can play distinct roles in the same neuron, depending on its concentration and on the stage of neuronal development. As a second messenger, ceramide presumably acts at the level of the plasma membrane in transducing external signals, but as a possible regulator of intracellular transport, ceramide must be metabolized to GlcCer in intracellular membranes (Futerman, 1994). Future studies will need to address the regulation of the enzymes of SL synthesis and degradation during neuronal development.
This work was supported by the German–Israel Foundation for Scientific Research and Development. A.H.F. is the incumbent of the Recanati Career Development Chair in Cancer Research. We thank Rivi Zisling for expert help in preparing and maintaining hippocampal cultures.
Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Futerman at the above address.
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You are going to email the following Distinct Roles for Ceramide and Glucosylceramide at Different Stages of Neuronal Growth
Andreas Schwarz, Anthony H. Futerman
Journal of Neuroscience 1 May 1997, 17 (9) 2929-2938; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.17-09-02929.1997


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Contagious Covid Comedy – PR Fire
By PR fire
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (June 26, 2020) – KeithFromUpDaBlock's new comedy album The Covid Theory is an audio visual diary of paranoia, social distancing & activism through a comedic lens. Parodies of Prince, Bill Withers, Dr. Dre, Eminem, MC Hammer, Men With Hats, Lil Nas X & A Tribe Called Quest provide an eclectic blend of funky, soulful, thought provoking, funny jams written, produced & mixed by Keith himself while in isolation due to the Corona Virus Global Pandemic. Keith says "I wanted the album to sound old, tangible, frequently played & classic . I had to make this album because it was the only thing that kept me sane."
Everything about "The Covid Theory" is executed for levity & insight during this particularly stressful moment in history. On track #4 titled "Forgot About A.I.D.S" he transforms Dr. Dre & Eminem's Hip Hop masterpiece "Forgot About Dre" into commentary about Police brutality, The Tuskegee Experiment, Racism, Homophobia & parallels between the Covid-19 Global Pandemic of today & The A.I.D.S Epidemic of the 80's & 90's. On track #1 titled "Can't Touch That" he sets his sights on M.C. Hammer's smash hit "Can't Touch This" & breaks down the various things you shouldn't touch & one thing you should touch – The $1200 Stimulus Check. As intelligent as his perspective is, it is also masterful by capturing the original songs cadence & rhyme schemes while interjecting facts & funny punchlines.
This is KeithFromUpDaBlock's 9th studio album & possibly his best work to date. He is a Philadelphia born Creative & Performing Artist, Producer, Comedian & Arts Educator whose credits include opening for Jay-Z, Kevin Hart, J.B Smoove, Deon Cole, Hosting the popular Philly Music Video Show Urban X-Pressions, Racking up millions of views on Youtube, Vlad TV & Worldstar Hip Hop, Dancing for The Philadelphia 76er's NBA team, Founding Philadelphia Comedy College along with appearing on The Dr. Phil Show, MTV's Ridiculousness, VH1 's Undateable, Mindhunter on Netflix & performing a piece he wrote alongside Triumph The Insult Comic Dog on HULU. In January of 2021 he will appear as Frederick Douglas in CNN's "Lincoln: An American President"
If you would like more information please contact
Vernon K Ruffin Jr. – RuffinVision@gmail.com or (267) 471-2303
The Covid Theory by KeithFromUpDaBlock is now available on all digital download/streaming platforms.
Artist: KeithFromUpDaBlock I Album Title: The Covid Theory I Record Label: Ruffin Vision Records Release Date: May 30, 2020
Tags: comedyContagiousCovidFire
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UK-based Consent Management Service calls for a rethink of online privacy
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Tobacco Road is a band that existed in its original form of three of the current members, performing the live pub and club scene in and around Birmingham from 1994 to 2007.
It was re-formed last year (2010) as a full 5-piece, adding a drummer and bass guitarist to replace the backing track.
The group comprises of five experienced musicians who have known each other and have been good friends for almost 30 years.
The band specialises in performing hits from the sixties with songs from well known artists from that era such as The Beatles and Rolling Stones and is an ideal choice for functions and private parties providing live music covering that era.
Sixties Hits - Live covers band (5 members)
Birmingham, West Midlands, B32 2PP


4 tbsp chopped fresh herbs – basil, parsley, cilantro, use your favourite!
•	Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, and sauté garlic about 1 minute.
•	Mix in chicken broth, wine, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and pepper.
•	Reduce heat, and simmer until liquid is reduced by about 1/2.
•	Mix shrimp, butter and herbs into the saucepan.
•	Cook 2 to 3 minutes, until shrimp is opaque.
•	Stir in zucchini noodles, and continue cooking 2 minutes, until well coated and the zucchini is cooked.
Makes 4 servings; count each serving as 2 proteins, 3 fats and 1 fruit.


It might be one of the most natural bonding processes between mother and baby, but for many mums the 'breast is best' message is not always as easy to follow as people would have you believe.
Many new mums struggle to breastfeed their babies for a variety of reasons, but face pressure on a daily basis, because it is seen as being best for your baby – and those that are happily breastfeeding, face another set of challenges from the public.
NHS Breastfeeding Advisor Amber Taylor has worked with many of mums who struggle to breastfeed and she joined with benenden health for a special, live stream breastfeeding show where she gave advice as well as taking questions live.
She was joined by Karen Reekie and Clare Levett, two mums who have faced breastfeeding struggles as they shared their stories and gave their own advice for overcoming the problems faced by many new mothers. Enjoy the show.


text:
Q: How to delete duplicate cbperipheal devices(BLE) from array having different CBPeripheral id but same identifier in iOS

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I have 3 objects in an array but first two are same identifier (same device) so i need to remove any one from array.Can anyone help me out.

A: Use CBCentralManagerScanOptionAllowDuplicatesKey in option to remove the duplication of devices.
NSDictionary *scanOptions = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObject:[NSNumber numberWithBool:NO] forKey:CBCentralManagerScanOptionAllowDuplicatesKey];
[centralManager scanForPeripheralsWithServices:nil options:scanOptions];

And you have your device UUID then use it in place of nil by giving in NSArray format
scanForPeripheralsWithServices:nil

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Home > Calendar of Events
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Events for the month of August 2019
The Amazing Travelling Comedy Tour
Award winning stand ups are coming to Knox!
The Amazing Traveling Comedy Tour (TATCT) is a partnership formed to bring Australia's best new comedic artists to audiences outside major cities.
They are Australia's only dedicated stand-up comedy touring company focused on regional audiences, and the only multi-performer tour to visit regional towns other than the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow.
This event will feature five outstanding comedians, including some of Australia's best established and up and coming comedians.
Knox Community Art Centre, 790 Mountain Highway Bayswater
www.knox.vic.gov.au/kcac
Oh Carole! The Songs of Carole King and Neil Sedaka
They were two of the biggest hit-makers of the 60s and 70s -and they dated in high school! Yes, Neil Sedaka hired a tux, borrowed his dad's car and drove Carole King to the prom!
They never wrote a song together but continued to support and inspire each other as they worked side by side in New York's legendary hit factory, The Brill Building.
'Oh Carole!' is a toe-tapping tribute to the most joyful era of pop music and two of the greatest songwriters of all time.
Their hits include 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow', 'Calendar Girl', 'Natural Woman', 'Stupid Cupid', 'The Locomotion', 'Breaking Up Is Hard to Do', 'Love Will Keep Us Together', 'I Feel the Earth Move', 'You've Got A Friend', and many more!
The Piano Men - The Songs of Elton John and Billy Joel
Superband presents a tribute to two of the greatest Piano Men of all time – Billy Joel and Elton John.
Jason Dean and his star studded Superband will take you on a musical journey from the early years right through both of these incredible singer/songwriter's greatest hits!
Out of this world production and a full 7- piece live showband, 'Superband Presents - The Piano Men' is a celebration of the greatest songs of all time! This show of non-stop hits comprises of 2 Sets featuring 60 minutes of Elton John followed by 60 minutes of Billy Joel.
Featuring Uptown Girl, Only the Good Die Young, Piano Man, My life, New York State of Mind, I'm Still Standing, Bennie and The Jets, Rocket Man, Tiny Dancer and many, many more!
Knox Community Arts Centre
arts@knox.vic.gov.au


Download Fundamentals of Geometry PDF Book by Oleg A. Belyaev. Soft Copy of Book Fundamentals of Geometry author Oleg A. Belyaev completely free.
Inside this book –Fundamentals of Geometry PDF Book by Oleg A. Belyaev – A continually updated free online book devoted to rigorous axiomatic exposition of the basic concepts of geometry. Self-contained comprehensive treatment with detailed proofs should make this book both accessible and useful to a wide audience of geometry lovers – from high school and college students to university teachers and other geometry professionals.


Save an extra CDN$ 15.51 (33%). Buy the Kindle Edition instead.
Comment: Very Good Condition. Pages are clean with no markings. Ships direct from Amazon!
Start reading The Black Swan on your Kindle in under a minute.
5.0 out of 5 starsWell done Taleb!
This book offers tremendous perspectives for those of us who earn our living by creating, financing and growing new ventures. Market and economic projections are integral to our entrepreneurial endeavors. Taleb provides multiple intellectual perspectives for shaping and discussing our essential assumptions about future conditions; the performance projections we perform; and for interpreting and presenting this work.
I consider myself an innovator in economic projection disciplines - having created the world's first computer-based real estate investment analysis software decades ago - and I've always been aware that the only thing certain is that real life will be quite different from any projection I make. The best outcome from my projections will be a bracketing of what the future will hold. And, having 50 years experience in the real estate investment and development business, I've my own stable of ugly black swans that have kicked the hell out of my best laid plans and projections.
Well done Taleb! I am personally and professionally better for reading and considering your fine work!
I simply love it. It is so unconventional and still so realistic. Besides explaining the black swan concept, it shows another point of view on the world and what we expect from the future. Nassim is already very well-known for his views and theories and he doesn't need more explanations. It is definitely a must, no matter if you are an MBA graduate, student, or interested in financial market, statistics or simply philosophy. .
Taleb`s main idea, is that we do not live in a linear world. Many people prefer to believe, that we do live in a linear world. In fact, it is a much more comforting way to go through life. The idea of not being able to fully comprehend a particular subject, is rejected by a lot of people. Most of the time, people search for a simple black and white answer. Taleb wishes to challenge readers into, "having the guts to admit, they just don`t know". Yes there are ideas out there, that are beyond our current understanding.
Talib labels these surprise revaluations;Black Swans. These are game changing ideas. Things that in the past, could never be considered possible.
Talib lists all sorts of examples of Black Swans. Most of the examples, will make for very good reading.
This was a very interesting book. Talib however, does have some very sharp opinions. Talib appears to suffer from some form of arrogance. It is quite possible, that the perspective reader may be offended.
2.0 out of 5 starsArrogant book!
This book is the epitome of self-aggrandizement. The author dismisses entire professions, e.g., philosophy professors and most academics in general, arguing that no patterns in history or the sociopolitical process are discernible. The implication is that nothing is knowable. Here is a typical passage: "I felt in my spine the weight of the epistemic arrogance of the human race." In reality, it is the epistemic arrogance of the author that strikes me as the point of this book. Only he knows it all, which is a paradox because he claims that knowing it all is impossible. He looks down on puny humans who try to make sense of their lives.
Despite my criticism, the author does make some interesting points about unpredictable events and randomness. To be sure, randomness, chaos and freak accidents do affect history and our daily lives, but to say that this is all there is... The narcissistic tone of the book overshadows much of what the author tries to communicate.
Finally, he overuses cute (and often contrived) stories as examples instead of sticking to his points directly. I am disappointed. The Wisdom of Crowds is a far better pick on a related topic.
Mr. Taleb is disagreeably enamoured with his own intellect and rather disdainful of that of the rest of us. He presents as the living embodiment of the "Master of the Universe" persona depicted by Tom Wolfe in "Bonfire of the Vanities." Apparently such massive egos really do exist.
I suppose Mr. Taleb deserves kudos for tackling a topic, probability and statistics, which is most easily described in mathematical terms without once resorting to mathematical formulae and for minimizing the use of figures and graphs but any benefit is quickly nullified by Mr. Taleb's opaque writing style and his tendency to wander off into unrelated side issues. That wandering feels suspiciously like padding.
Happily, arrogance and abstruse writing does not mean Mr. Taleb is incorrect or does not have something important to say. He does. His main point, that the Gaussian (or Bell) Curve is overused which leads to damaging errors, is well taken and we can all profit from the knowledge. Plus there are a few other nuggets such as his discussion of common shortcomings in critical thinking. I might have nudged my rating up to four stars if Mr. Taleb had managed to include a few concrete examples of applying his black swan model to real, everyday situations but, alas, with one or two exceptions, they are conspicuously absent; surprising, perhaps, from an author claiming to be a "bottom-up" sceptical empiricist.
I wish I could recommend an alternate author or book that covered Mr. Taleb's topic more agreeably but I can't. Proceed with caution.
Refreshing to read an author that just DGAF. Although I may not agree with everything Taleb has to say (or the way he says it) his conviction is refreshing. We need more people who speak their mind!
Taleb is one of the best thinkers alive right now. Sadly, geniuses are only recognized long after they're gone. Buy it, you're sure to love it!
Initially a bombshell and now a classic .


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Nicky Byrne performed 'Sunlight' LIVE for a first time!
ImageEurovision 2016IrelandMediaNews
By Jan Vehar On Feb 14, 2016
Few weeks before the official announcement, there were some rumours about possible participation of Nicky Byrne in the following Eurovision Song Contest. Former Westlife singer was later also announced as its representative with a song "Sunlight".
So, this weekend was very exciting for Irish Eurovision fans, as Nicky Byrne performed his Eurovision entry for a very first time LIVE in The Ray D'Arcy Show, after he was announced as Irish act and his song as Irish entry at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, which will take place later this May in capital of Sweden, in Stockholm. Take a look at his performance below & let us know – what do you think – did Byrne prooved that he can sing live?
Nicky Byrne is first internally selected artist, which will be heading for Eurovision, representing Ireland, since 2007, as they always choose its artist in their national slection, called Eurosong. Ireland is, to date, a country, who won Eurovision Song Contest, since its first participation in 1965, most, seven times. Ireland is known as one of the most successful countries in Eurovision, Sweden is right behind them, as they won six times to date.
Last year Ireland was represented by Molly Sterling, who performed her entry "Playing with Numbers". She performed in second semi-final, but finished 12th and unfortunately didn't proceed into the Grand Final.
Do you like this year's Irish Eurovision entry? Do you think that Nicky Byrne will bring Ireland to the Grand Final this year? Tell & share your opinion with us in comments below!
eurovisionIreland 2016Nicky ByrneSunlight
Jan Vehar 236 posts 2 comments
'Thunder and lightning it's getting exciting'
I remember living the Eurovision bubble at the very place for the first time in 2014, when Emmelie De Forest brought the Contest to Denmark, and I love and loved every minute of it. One of my favorite Eurovision songs is probably "You Are The Only One" by Sergey Lazarev, of course among many others. #teamSLO
Win a copy of the A Dal CD signed by the finalists!
Francesca Michielin will represent Italy in Eurovision 2016!


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Sylvia Lee
Sylvia Lee, 87, beloved wife, mother, sister, grandmother, educator, and master blueberry pie baker, died peacefully on Sept. 18, 2022, at Cove's Edge Nursing Home, in Damariscotta, Maine.
WALDOBORO — Sylvia Lee, 87, beloved wife, mother, sister, grandmother, educator, and master blueberry pie baker, died peacefully on Sept. 18, 2022, at Cove's Edge Nursing Home, in Damariscotta, Maine. She was the daughter of Henry H. Thompson and Julia (Dolly) Philbrook. The cause of death was progression of Alzheimer's Disease.
Sylvia is survived by her three sons Craig, Kevin and Eric; her grandchildren Adam, Stephanie and Daisy; her great-grandchildren Sienna and Arthur; her sister Joyce Morrill; her stepsisters, Nancy Winchenbach and Kay Pelletier; her nephews, Gregory Hodgman and Shawn Morrill, and her many nieces, nephews and cousins in her family and her late husband Frank Lee's family.
Sylvia spent her childhood in Friendship, Maine, was salutatorian of her high school class of '52 and received her teaching degree from the University of Maine at Orono. She began her teaching career in South Portland, Maine and in 1965 she and her husband moved to Ayetoro, Nigeria. Frank was under contract with Aid for International Development (A.I.D) and later the Ford Foundation. Sylvia homeschooled Craig and Kevin while Frank taught industrial arts.
When they returned to the U.S., Sylvia continued to teach in East Barre, Vermont, Trenton, Maine and Brunswick, Maine. A great cook and master baker, Sylvia entered Union Fair's blueberry pie contest and won first prize. She and Frank loved to travel and visited East Africa, Switzerland, England, Holland, South Korea, the Panama Canal, New Zealand and Australia.
For many years she raised monarch butterflies, tagged and released them to Mexico as part of the international effort to protect them from extinction. Her beloved students remember her for this as well as her dedication to their health through nutrition and yoga, and her bright and fanciful necklace and earring combos. She was a past president and longtime member of Phi Mu Sorority and Delta Kappa Gamma.
Services will be private, and a Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.
Contributions in her honor can be made to the Alzheimer's Association, 383 U.S. Route One, #2C, Scarborough, ME 04074, Monarch Joint Venture https://monarchjointventure.org or to other organizations of your choice which support endangered species, early childhood education and educators, her lifelong passions.
Hall's of Waldoboro has care of the arrangements. To extend online condolences to the family or to share a story or picture visit Sylvia's Book of Memories page at www.hallfuneralhomes.com.
Dale Gardner service notice
Gene Burch


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NMSU symposium celebrates undergraduate students' research
By cobadmin | Published April 9, 2009
April 9, 2009 by Margaret Kovar NMSU News Center
The 14th annual New Mexico State University Undergraduate Research and Creative Arts Symposium (URCAS) will be held from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. April 17 in the Corbett Center Student Union.
About 90 students will present their work at this year's symposium, which is the oldest student research and creative arts symposium at NMSU. The URCAS gives students an opportunity to showcase their work and learn how to present academic research in a formal setting.
"The symposium is a way to celebrate undergraduate students' research and creativity and the mentoring relationship between the students and the faculty. It also gives them valuable professional experience," said William Eamon, dean of the Honors College.
The poster session is scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon on the second floor of Corbett Center, and the paper sessions will take place from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Luna, Socorro and New Mexico rooms.
Students participating in the URCAS come from majors across campus, including animal and range sciences, civil engineering and art, and their projects cover a diverse range of topics, from arsenic removal for potable water, to the war on terror, to pesticide contamination.
A luncheon is scheduled from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the west ballroom. Constance Falk, a professor in the department of agricultural economics and agricultural business, will speak at the luncheon. Her address is titled, "Sustainability and Resilience: What does it mean for agriculture?"
The symposium is sponsored by the Honors College, the Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE), the New Mexico Alliance for Minority Participation (AMP), the Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC), the College of Engineering, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Office of the Vice President for Research.
For presentation times and project information, visit http://honors.nmsu.edu/urcas/.
This entry was posted in News and tagged Alliance for Minority Participation, AMP, College of Engineering, Faculty, Honors College, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, MARC, Minority Access to Research Careers, NMSU Office of the Vice President for Research, Research, Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement, RISE, Students, Undergraduate Research and Creative Arts Symposium, URCAS, William Eamon. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Comments are closed, but you can leave a trackback: Trackback URL.
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HomeTRENDINGDecember global holidays : Google Doodle marks holidays around the world this month, here is when they fall
December global holidays : Google Doodle marks holidays around the world this month, here is when they fall
Today's Google Doodle celebrates the start of December, with the help of a small yellow bird wrapping fairy lights around its logo.
December global holidays
Christmas is now just around the corner, with families preparing to celebrate in a very different manner from usual.
Hannukah is also celebrated in December, as are Kwanzaa, Yule and for fans of the sitcom Seinfeld, the slightly less wholesome tradition of Festivus.
Here is a calendar of the month's festivities.
Hannukah (10-18 December)
Hannukah is an eight day Jewish festival that traditionally kicks off on the 25th day of the month of Kislev in the Hebrew calendar. This year, that falls on Thursday 10 December.
Hannukah commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem during the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire.
the others, holds the candle that is used to light the other eight, one of which is lit each night.
Some Jewish people like to celebrate Hannukah in a similar way to how Christians celebrate Christmas, feasting and giving gifts. Oil-based foods such as latkes are popular.
Yule (21 December-1 January)
Yule, also known as Yuletide, is celebrated by Germanic people. It has pagan roots, particularly to the Norse god Odin and the Anglo-Saxon festival of Modraniht.
These days it is more similar to Christmas, with people congregating for meals and gift giving. Indeed, it has spawned a number of Christmas traditions, such as the yule log.
It is mostly celebrated by people in Heathenry and other forms of Neopaganism.
Festivus (23 December)
Festivus entered popular culture in 1997 thanks to the Seinfeld episode "The Strike".
The parody holiday is a resistance to the consumerism of Christmas, and is celebrated by standing around an unadorned aluminium pole, as opposed to a decorated tree.
Traditions include the "airing of grievances" and "feats of strength", while people also make reference to "Festivus miracles", which are actually easily-explainable events.
Christmas (25 December)
Most of the world celebrates Christmas on 25 December, marking the birth of Jesus Christ.
This date was picked because it corresponded with winter solstice in the Roman calendar. In actuality, the date of Jesus' birth is unknown.
Some people celebrate Christmas on the 24th, and certain cultures even celebrate in January.
People give gifts, shares feasts with family and decorate trees in their homes.
A Christmas tree lit up in Poxing Day (26 December)
There are competing theories for how the day after Christmas got its name.
One is related to alms boxes, which were given out to poor people by churches after Christmas, in a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages.
The Oxford English Dictionary says it refers to "the first weekday after Christmas Day, observed as a holiday on which postmen, errand boys, and servants of various kinds expect to receive a Christmas box" as recognition for their year of service.
Kwanzaa (26 December-1 January)
Kwanzaa is a celebration of African-American culture that lasts for seven days. It ends on 1 January with the giving of gifts and sharing of a meal.
The festival was created by Maulana Karenga, a festival of Africana studies and an active member of the Black Power movement, and first celebrated in 1966.
He started it after the Watts riots to "give Blacks an alternative to the existing holiday and give Blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and their history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society".
New Year's Eve (31 December)
New Year's Eve celebrations will be far less raucous this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, many will undoubtedly be happy to see the back of 2020 and welcome in 2021, particularly with the possibility of a vaccine on the horizon.


I've been reading all of the posts with regards to the Kenwood KCA-IP500 - it looks like I need this to be able to run (and control) my Ipod through the standard head unit in my car.
I spoke to one retailer, and he told me that the CD changer connector on my head unit would operate a Kenwood CD changer, but it wouldn't operate an Ipod.
If you can use on of these, any ideas on the best place to get one from?
Does anybody have any clear advice? I really don't want to change my head unit !!


Are you searching for an instructor who can help you become better in a certain subject? If this is the case, you need to make sure that you choose the right person for this job. There are many tutoring services today. As a result of this, it is easy to come across a certain service that does not offer the best quality as far as training and tutoring is concerned. Here are some of the things you need to consider when choosing Thinkster Math tutor.
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Online tutoring has today become big with the various digital platforms that allow distant learning to become a reality. If you are interested in learning a subject you no longer have to call in the tutor to your home or go to theirs. You can meet online. This is safe, flexible and simple to do.
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Next, you need to know how experienced your tutor is. With an experienced tutor, you are likely going to be able to grasp the concepts faster and easier. In fact, an experienced tutor does not just know how to teach the students, they also know how to handle students that have a difficult time learning a particular subject like Math for example. For more facts and information about education, visit http://www.huffingtonpost.com/section/education.
Finally, when choosing a tutor, it is important that you check out their reviews. This is true whether you are working with an individual or a platform that offers you, tutors. A review allows you to know the reputation of an organization that provides the tutors. It gives you the power to learn about the types of tutors you are likely to work with, and what they have to offer you. In addition to that, you can use reviews to help you know about the quality of work you need to expect once you start working with MIT and Harvard tutor.


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Serena and Venus are the best siblings in sports history
No one else has come so far and dominated so completely
Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia – 28/1/17 Serena Williams of the U.S. hugs Venus Williams of the U.S. after winning her Women's singles final match. REUTERS/Jack Thomas/Pool
By Mike Wise	@MikeWiseguy
Venus and Serena Williams broke the record long ago for sibling supremacy in sports. Between where they came from, the privileged sport they dominate, and how long and fabulously they have played, we will never see the likes of the Williams sisters again – in any athletic discipline.
Sad but true: We almost take for granted the grinding consistency of both – in matching braids and white beads during their teens, now seen-it-all worldly at 35 and 36. But just step back and marvel at their 30 combined Grand Slam singles titles after Saturday in Melbourne, Australia. Or the consistent drama of minute-long, tiebreak volleys against yet another pigtailed European or Canadian upstart whose parents would die happy if their tennis-academy-schooled scorpions could only once break Serena's service or Venus' will, preferably in Paris or Flushing Meadows in New York.
Crazy, no? Serena with 23 singles titles and Venus with seven, have combined for almost half of the 67 Grand Slam titles they've both competed in since 1997. Two sisters have kept all that hardware and prize money (more than $100 million between them over their careers) in-house for two decades and counting.
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What kind of train transports two little African-American sisters from the 'hood to the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club? And what's the chance of anything like that happening again? Platform 9-3/4 at London's King's Cross station can take you to Hogwarts; it can't get you to wear-only-white Wimbledon from Compton, California.
That's why Venus and Serena are the greatest siblings in all of athletic competition, their shared accomplishments grander and harder to come by than any of the rest.
Better than every set of biological brothers (or six, like Darryl Sutter and his hockey-lifer brethren), who played many years and won many championships; every brother-and-sister tandem like Reggie and Cheryl Miller who rose, released and fired from 20 feet and beyond; every Felipe, Matty and Jesus Alou, who overcame poverty in the Dominican Republic to thrive as Major League ballplayers; even Vince, Dominic and Joe DiMaggio, who shared 4,853 hits and, heroically, six years of World War II military service.
For social impact, the only pair who come close are Jackie Robinson and his older brother Mack, who many forget blazed around the oval in Berlin, winning a 200-meter silver medal in the same 1936 Olympics that Jesse Owens shamed Adolf Hitler's "master" race.
The coaching Harbaughs who ended up on opposite sides of the same Super Bowl is a nice tale. So is the one about the Mannings, two homespun Mississippi quarterbacks who followed their daddy to the NFL and combined for four Lombardi trophies and at least a half-dozen decent commercials.
But like NASCAR's Waltrips or Henri and Maurice Richard helping their respective NHL teams win a combined 19 Stanley Cups, Eli and Peyton Manning can't approach the importance and improbability of the Williams sisters.
Think about the odds Venus and Serena had to overcome to stand across the net from each other Saturday in Melbourne.
Leicester City was said to have a 0.3 percent chance of winning the English Premier League title last season, their 5,000-to-1 odds longer than the most ridiculous things you could wager on in Britain betting parlors, such as Kim Kardashian becoming the U.S. president (2,000-to-1).
The Little Football Club That Could, at least statistically, was more of an underdog than the greatest of American Cinderella stories –1980's Miracle on Ice (1,000-to-1), Buster Douglas knocking out Mike Tyson (42-to-1), and Greco-Roman wrestler Rulon Gardner beating three-time Russian gold medalist Alexandr Karelin at the 2000 Sydney Games (2000-to-1).
And yet, all of those improbable stories had a better chance of happening than this one. Two African-American sisters, born a year apart in one of the most gang-ridden, impoverished parts of Los Angeles – growing up amid Bloods and Crips in the 1980s and early 1990s? Straight Outta Compton was neither a movie nor an N.W.A. album to Venus and Serena; it was their life.
Serena Williams of the United States poses with the Daphne Akhurst Trophy alongside Venus Williams of the United States after the Women's Singles Final on day 13 of the 2017 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 28, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia.
Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
They somehow learned to play the game on public courts, where weeds poked through the cracked concrete. This is as far as one can get from Nick Bollettieri's famous Florida tennis academy or paid lessons with a country club pro.
Oh, and they grew up in and dominated women's tennis, a sport whose racial breakdown lies somewhere between Downton Abbey and really, really, really light-skinned, where the only black woman to win a Grand Slam before them, Althea Gibson, last did it in 1958.
Sustained success may be their most impressive trait. Advances in racket technology and players' fitness have helped gradually kill the women's serve-and-volley game. Yet power in the serve has meant shorter points and longer expiration dates on ligament and cartilage: Five of the seven oldest women to win Grand Slams have done it in the last 11 years. In 2000, just two women over 30 were ranked in the top 100. Today, more than two dozen players are over 30.
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No one has played more brilliantly so late in her career than Serena. Consider that Steffi Graf, whose Grand Slam record 22 titles was eclipsed by Serena in Saturday's win, was 30 when she retired. Serena won 10 of her 23 Grand Slams after she turned 30.
What's more, Venus and Serena's excellence has set the stage for more women of color to climb the sport's ladder. Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens are just two of a half-dozen African-American women to be ranked in the top 100 in the past decade.
I rooted for Venus to beat her younger sister in a Grand Slam final for the first time since 2008. She was the prohibitive underdog, the 13th seed, going up against the most accomplished women's player of all time.
Serena Williams of the United States poses with the Daphne Akhurst Trophy after winning the Women's Singles Final against Venus Williams of the United States on day 13 of the 2017 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 28, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia.
Michael Dodge/Getty Images
But either way, a Williams sister would win again and become the oldest player to win a Grand Slam women's singles title in the Open era. The odds of that happening for two girls born and raised in Compton? Considerably more than 5,000-to-1.
They played Saturday on the same Melbourne Park courts where they first competed against each professionally in 1998. Two decades later, #BlackGirlMagic has morphed into #BlackWomenMajesty.
Mike Wise is a former senior writer and columnist at The Undefeated. Barack Obama once got to meet him.
This Story Tagged: Serena Williams Tennis Venus Williams Australian Open


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W e l c o m e A b o a r d D u n w i s h i n
N a v i g a t i o n
E r r a t a
Being Out There video web site
S/V Dunwishin
Down East 32
Michelle's Cruising Journal
select pix of life aboard
voyaging the web
ship's archives (really old)
email the crew
Standing on the Cusp of a New Adventure
Go to www.cruisenews.net (one of my favorite surf sites), click on Voyage Logs, scroll down a bit and select a few that look interesting to you. Chances are, you'll find a bunch of pages that no longer exist.
What happened to the stories? Where are the boats and the cruisers? Over the past decade, I've found that in the cruising world, many things just fade away. People go on to new things and the stories of their lifetimes disappear with the expiration of their free websites or domain names. Unfortunately, there is rarely an epilogue - rarely do we find out what happened next.
That is effectively what has become of us, the former crew of Hetty Brace, then Hetty B. Moving to Iowa last year meant that very little time was spent on the boat. Yes, you can reach the ocean from Iowa via the Mississippi River, but the reality of that is not so clean cut. Eventually, we settled in here, I started a business and, the economy being what it is, we sold Hetty B to help pay for the expenses of that new business. Suddenly, I was boat-less. Worse, upon being without a boat, I found that my life was rudder-less.
For weeks prior to the sale of Hetty B, I began scouring Yachtworld for something, anything, to fill the huge void I could see looming in my existence. The economy downright sucks but if you have the cash, this is the time to buy - since my obsession with blow boats began in the late 80's, I've never seen prices this low. And it's not just boats - used boat stuff is plentiful and relatively low-priced for the most part.
Most of the cash of the sale of Hetty B went to pay the bills - but a bit of it was squirreled away. Today, even that money is gone. In its place is a Down East 32 named Dunwishin. And with that, Michelle and I stand on the cusp of a new adventure.
Dunwishin is a 1979 Down East 32 cutter. She was owned by an 80-year-old gentleman who put some serious miles under her keel according to some old log books I found aboard. Unfortunately, age apparently caught up with him as boat maintenance took a back seat over the past several years. Dunwishin is in some serious need of attention.
Now she will get the attention she deserves - and in return, I have a new rudder for my life. Since she is way up in the Northeast, she'll have to wait a few months for winter to blow by but I have a feeling the months will pass quickly - there is a lot to do. We have a deadline from the yard, we have to be in the water by a certain date early in May - which means I will have to be working to get her ready several weeks before that.
I can't wait - I also can't believe I'm about to say this: I missed being in the boatyard. There, like while cruising, my responsibilities were clear - I knew what needed to be done and how to do it. And so it goes today.
From the Northeast, we'll sail Dunwishin south - how far, I can't say. I have no idea. But then again, how much of an adventure would it be if we knew everything in advance?
All I can say is... It's good to be back.
MItch (click here to email)
Being Out There video site: www.sailingmovie.com
A Sailor in a Sea of Corn (or snow, as the case may be)
Michelle and I have opted for a slight change in course recently. After briefly flirting with the idea of selling Hetty B, we decided against continuing that moment of insanity. Actually, what happened was a broker brought a potential buyer for a look. We gave them a full tour, explaining every detail and the couple seemed impressed. They started asking the broker about surveyors and such. That was too much. Later that afternoon, we called the broker to tell him that Hetty B was no longer for sale.
But for the first time in many years, she is out of the water and taking an opportunity to dry out a bit. Michelle and I decided last year that our adventure in Florida was coming to an end. Things had changed much in our 13 years there - and to us, few of those changes were for the better.
We are now sailors in a sea of corn. We purchased an old house in a small Iowa town and have set to work building a community newspaper that we started from scratch. It's been a lot of work, but a lot of fun, too. Living in a small Iowa town is incredibly much like it was living in our Florida marina - you know everyone and there's something wonderfully quirky about it.
The plan is to be able to enjoy the wonderful summers this area offers and live our dreams during the winter cruising on Hetty B. Should that work, it is truly the best of both worlds.
We'd love to hear from you - feel free to email us at anytime. If you'd like to check out the news from the hill country of Iowa, check out the East Iowa Herald.
Fair Winds!
It was late May in 2000 – Michelle and I had just spent a glorious day flying a spinnaker across the Bahamas Banks. As we approached South Riding Rock on our westbound trek, I said to Michelle, "I think we should turn right."
From South Riding Rock, we had the option of continuing on across the Gulf Stream towards our marina in Tampa Bay or we could turn right and let our cruise continue just a bit longer for a sail up the East Coast.
We continued on. It turns out, that was a pivotal moment.
Is it hard to quit cruising? For some, apparently, it is not. I read stories all the time of people who go out only to return and sell their boat. I couldn't imagine it – I still can't. We pulled into a slip only a few feet from the slip we had left several months before. I tried to resume a life but generally failed miserably. It literally took me a year until I was somewhat comfortable with the idea that we were back at the dock again rather than cruising.
We talked about getting out again – we were going to shoot for the next fall. September 11, 2001, changed all of that. We didn't leave that year – or the next – or the year after that. It turns out, in retrospect, that not turning right may have been a really bad choice.
Someday, I'll share my story with you. I wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year! I hope to see you out there.
Mitch (click here to email me)
We managed to travel to what some describe as the most dangerous place in the Western Hemisphere and we didn't get kidnapped - not even once! What we found in Colombia was a beautiful country with friendly people - and a place in which we felt safe.
Apparently things do change and there has been a lot of change lately in Colombia.
Obviously, we didn't travel to Bogota on the boat. Sitting at an elevation of 8,600 feet, there's not a lot of water to be found in the area - except for that which comes from the sky, of course. But our experience is applicable to cruisers because from what we've been told, the situation has changed not only in Bogota but also in the Caribbean cruisings areas of Colombia.
Colombia has made a significant investment in security over the recent few years - and it is apparently paying off. We felt far safer walking around neighborhoods in Bogota than we have in other major cities of the world. It helps, of course, that there were military guys with machine guns every couple of blocks.
Colombia is a beautiful country with incredibly friendly people. Problems still exist, of course, but much is being done. For cruisers contemplating a visit to the area, research the web, take in some of the advice you read and take the horror stories with at least a small grain of salt.
As North Americans, most cruisers will always be percieved as being wealthy - and therefore a possibly easy mark. For us, the best way to go has always been to try to fit in a little. Learn some of the language, dress like the natives - but always dress respectfully. In Colombia, that sometimes means you have to leave the grubby t-shirt and flip flops on the boat. And it always means you should leave the Rolex behind.
You can't always believe what you read - the only way to know is to find out for yourself. We did that in Colombia and found a beautiful country that we will return to someday soon. That said, no matter where you are, try not to make yourself an easy mark. Not only will that reduce your chances of finding trouble but it will also enhance your visit - and a visit to Colombia is well worth the time.
Be careful out there & fair winds!
Happy New Year, y'all! I'm sitting here on the computer wearing a coat that is a remnant from another life in Minnesota - it's cold in Florida! Actually, it's not that bad but it's supposed to get worse - and I'm ready for it.
Hetty B is hard aground in the backyard (the tide is seriously low). We gave up on marinas here in Tampa Bay and, after a long and painful search, found a place with a dock. It's kind of cool. I bought Michelle an old, abandoned bass boat for her birthday - that's hanging in the little lift next to Hetty. The bass boat - known as The Pony (because of Michelle's expression - "It's almost like getting a pony!") - will also function as our dinghy for a while. Our air floor West Marine dinghy - now just out of warranty - no longer has a floor. Or rather, it is now literally an air floor dinghy because the bottom fell off. That's right - it just fell off. It's nice to watch a $1,500 investment just disintigrate like that. I spent a few weeks trying to glue the stupid thing back on but you can probably guess how successful that was.
So for the moment, we'll look like the Redneck Family as we tow a 15 foot bass boat behind Hetty.
A few weeks ago we motored The Pony into our old marina. It was an even sadder sight from the water. The development there is a nightmare. It's been nearly three years since they started tearing up that little piece of paradise and still no one lives there. But then again, who would want to? It is literally the definition of Construction From Hell. Incredibly, there are a few liveaboards there - but that's only because they drove most of them out of the neighboring marina (that they are now starting to destroy as well). The boatyard is already gone - just a few weeks ago they took apart the Trav-L-Lift and shipped it off.
The days of waiting lists for a slip there are long over.
Another nearby marina was recently purchased by a developer and - it's unbelievable - they actually seem to plan to keep it a marina! Who would a thunk it? Perhaps they took a peak down the road to see how the one developer is literally bleeding cash - they drove a few million in slip fees out by treating them like crap and now have a development that no one wants to live in. In other words, they are not on the road to profit. Apparently the next marina developer decided that keeping those slip fees is actually not a bad thing. Regardless, I'm glad to know that not all of the marinas are going condo around here.
Being Out There is selling well - in fact I think we have now sold in every state except North Dakota (Utah was also on the list - but a few sales came in over the past few weeks). I think we've even managed most of the Canadian Provinces (at least those that have people in them). If anyone reading this lives in North Dakota and would like a cruising video that show what's it's like to be out there - shoot me an email. I'll cut you a serious discount just to complete the states. Besides, it's got to be what? Minus a billion degrees there? Even for non-sailors some scenes of the Bahamas couldn't hurt when enduring that.
My feet, legs and brain are all numb - Michelle is afflicted in much the same way. We just survived four days at Strictly Sail in St. Petersburg, FL - a boat show in which we sold our video. It was fun but, wow - we are worn out. More often than not, however, I managed to sneak out to watch the sailboats come and go into the basin or to chat with Eileen Quinn (who was there selling her CDs). Of course that meant leaving Michelle to handle the booth alone. Incredibly, she never once tried to kill me when I would say, "I'll be right back..."
Bob & Jody Bitchin of Latitudes & Attitudes magazine seemed to literally own the show - as big a presence as the boat manufacturers had, the Lats & Atts tent was always jamming. On Saturday night, they threw a pizza party after the show ended - it was packed. From their beginning not all that long ago, they have really had a major impact on the sailing industry. For any vendors at the show wondering where the people were with fistfuls of cash, all they had to do was check out the Lats & Atts tent.
Next week we are going to be at the SSCA GAM in Melbourne - we've gone several times over the years but this will be our first as exhibitors. I love going to the GAM - it's a great time with great people. It is really hard, however, to see all of the cruisers anchored out in the ICW across the street from the convention center - and knowing that we are not out there with them. Hopefully next year - or the year after that...
Meanwhile, back in the formerly small and quiet town of Ruskin, the weather has taken a turn for the beautiful. Just after Hurricane Wilma blew by to our south, it was as if someone had flipped a switch labeled "Autumn." OK, so the temps still have been climbing into the 80s but they don't stay there too long - and the nights have been wonderfully cool.
And speaking of Ruskin, we may have found a solution to our disappearing marina problem. No, the marina is still disappearing - in fact it is doing so much faster than we had expected. But we may have found a new home for Hetty B. We'll hopefully know very soon. I am literally in shock as to the rate at which marinas are being paved over in this state. I am certain that there are going to be very long-term ramifications for everyone from boat manufacturers to retailers. Not to mention all of the people hoping to move to paradise and have a boat - it will be a rude shock to find out there is no place to keep one. Some communities are starting to figure it out and there is some great news. This county, however, has a big time bulldozer mentality. Pave The State is their motto and they are going to stick with it.It's too bad. But I have a feeling that more than a few developers are going to find that not everyone is interested in a 1,000 square foot cheaply built condo for a half million bucks. Maybe when that starts to happen, some sanity will return. At least I hope it does...Take care everyone & fair winds!
It's been a bit busy lately. Our new DVD is getting ready to go up for sale at West Marine stores, it's already up on Amazon.com, Target.com and on our own website. We are also getting ready for the Strictly Sail sailboat show in St. Petersburg on the first weekend in Nov. - and we'll have a booth at the SSCA annual party in Melbourne the following weekend. It's been a lot of work, a lot of fun but I'm not convinced yet that this is going to be a means for us to cruise for six months, make videos for six months - but I'll keep my fingers crossed. Fortunately, living aboard the boat is a more simple, less expensive way of life than living in a house. Even with today's marina prices.
We're still trying to find a new home port for Hetty B. We really, really, really want to get back aboard but the marina situation in Tampa Bay is not good. In fact, it's now so bad that the nearest haul out location is in Charlotte Harbor - a day's sail away. I can't believe what is happening here - virtually all of the marinas are being developed (destroyed) and project-style condos are going up for a bazillion dollars each. It is really a shame to see what's happening to this great way of life.
Fortunately some places are starting to fight back - a few communities in Florida are putting a moratorium on marina development and others are considering it. There are a whole lot of businesses in this state that depend upon the wave of cruisers coming down each year - and those businesses are starting to hurt. I'm hopeful that coastal communities will wake up to the fact that few jobs are provided by the condos - but a whole lot of jobs are created by the visiting cruisers.
Maybe I'm naive but I'm hoping that things will change. In my own little town near Tampa, the public outrage is rising - and the residents are beginning to fight back through letters to commissioners and attending county commission meetings. There's a glimmer of hope that they may be successful - I just hope it's not too late.
I really miss the life we had. But I'm determined to find it again - I know that it's out there somewhere.
UPDATE: For nearly a year now we have been working on a new venture - a production company to make DVD videos of the cruising world - both boats and motorcycle. Our first production is now complete!Being Out There is a feature length video about cruising and life in paradise. It includes great imagery from around Florida and the Caribbean and also includes fantastic music from recording artist/cruiser Eileen Quinn. If you get a chance, please stop by the movie website at www.sailingmovie.com.
The video incorporates some of the stories from Michelle's 2000 cruising journal. It also gives you at least one good reason to stay at a marina in Nassau...
Months have passed by like glimpses out of the corner of my eye. I don't know where the time has gone.Nor do I know where we will go. The last time I updated, we had two boats in the yard - our true home, a Catalac 34 catamaran and an old, beat-up Hunter 27. The Hunter has been sold and our Catalac, now renamed "Hetty B", is in the water.
Unfortunately, we don't know for how long.
Development and destruction have taken hold in this part of the world. The waterfront, it seems, is rapidly becoming the exclusive domain for those who can afford it - the "dirty people" in the marinas will soon no longer be welcome. Our original home marina, one in which we spent eight years and have racked up thousands of great memories, is already almost empty. Apparently the boats and liveaboards do not create a desirable view for the smarmy developers and sales people hoping to fleece the wealthy into buying cheaply built project-style housing for huge bucks.
The horrible bottom line is this: What was once a vibrant, friendly, happy community of liveaboards has forever ceased to exist.
So we, too, are leaving - hopefully before we are forced out. I don't know where we are going yet - hopefully there is still a place where decent people can live quiet, simples lives afloat.I think it's all over in Florida. The laid back, semi-tropical lifestyle that attracted so many is rapidly being replaced with wonder-bread generic planned developments. The life we had here is gone - it is just taking us some time to admit that to ourselves.We are facing north right now. M&MP.S.
Check back soon - I will be updating this site. And this time I mean it.
It has been months now and we still have two boats in the boatyard. Needless to say, we are still living on the poorly anchored, odd-shaped vessel on land (otherwise known as a house).
In some ways, that might be a good thing. I am involved in a video production project for cruisers and everyone who loves the ocean and the freedom of wandering the seas. All of the computer equipment involved in this project would cause a serious list even to our catamaran.
For the moment, we'll just bite down and live with it. Both Michelle and I know that soon we will be back aboard and living the life that we love so much. In the meantime, our yardboat Hunter 27 (now named Orion the Hunter) will soon splash and we will at least have something with a mast waiting at the slip. Orion was seriously neglected and it has been a serious project bringing her back. When the travelift finally lowers her into the water, I'm sure that I won't begin breathing again until I see for myself that the ocean won't be rushing in to destroy all of our hard work.
Speaking of work, I really will try to get this site updated with pictures and information about our upcoming documentary. Thanks for stopping by - we'll see you out there!
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