text:
Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas that has no smell or taste. Breathing it in can make you unwell and it can kill.
Carbon monoxide (CO) is sometimes referred to as the 'silent killer'. In the UK, more than 50 people die from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning every year, and 200 people are left seriously ill.
A headache is the most common symptom of mild carbon monoxide poisoning. Other symptoms include:
dizziness and nausea (feeling sick)
vomiting (being sick)
tiredness and confusion
shortness of breath and difficulty breathing
Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning can be similar to those of food poisoning and the flu. However, unlike flu, carbon monoxide poisoning does not cause a high temperature (fever).
Read more about the signs and symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Carbon monoxide is difficult to detect because it has no smell, taste or colour. This means you can inhale it without realising.
Carbon monoxide is produced when fuels such as gas, oil, coal, or wood do not burn fully. When a fire burns in an enclosed space, such as a room, the oxygen is gradually used up and replaced with carbon dioxide. The fuel is unable to burn fully and releases carbon monoxide.
After breathing in carbon monoxide it enters your bloodstream and mixes with haemoglobin (the part of red blood cells that carry oxygen around your body), to form carboxyhaemoglobin. When this happens, the blood is no longer able to carry oxygen and the lack of oxygen causes the body's cells and tissue to die.
What causes carbon monoxide to leak?
Incorrectly installed, poorly maintained or poorly ventilated household appliances, such as cookers, heaters and central heating boilers, are the most common sources of carbon monoxide.
Blocked flues and chimneys can also prevent carbon monoxide escaping, allowing it to build up to dangerous levels.
The risk of carbon monoxide poisoning can occur at any time in any home or enclosed space.
Read more about the causes of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Being aware of the signs
It is very important to be aware of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning and to look out for warning signs.
You should suspect carbon monoxide poisoning if:
other people in your house, flat or workplace fall ill with similar symptoms
your symptoms disappear when you go away (for example on holiday) and return when you come back
your symptoms tend to be seasonal – for example, you get headaches more often during the winter when the central heating is used more frequently
Other possible signs of a CO leak include:
black, sooty marks on the front covers of gas fires
sooty marks on the walls around boilers, stoves or fires
smoke building up in rooms due to a faulty flue
yellow instead of blue flames coming from gas appliances
What to do if you suspect a leak
If several people in the same building develop flu-like symptoms without a temperature, and you think it could be linked to a CO leak, you should:
immediately stop using all your cooking and heating appliances that use fuel other than electricity
open all of the windows in your house or building
move away from the source of the CO gas
call the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Gas Safety Advice Line on 0800 300 363 for advice (freephone service)
visit your doctor as soon as possible
If you have a CO leak, ask a suitably qualified engineer to inspect your cooking appliances, central heating and water heating appliances, to check they are safe.
You will need oxygen therapy treatment in hospital if you have been exposed to a high level of carbon monoxide.
Oxygen therapy involves breathing in 100% oxygen through a tight fitting mask (normal air contains about 21% oxygen). Breathing in concentrated oxygen enables your body to quickly replace carboxyhaemoglobin.
Read more about how carbon monoxide poisoning is treated.
The time it takes to recover depends on how much carbon monoxide you have been exposed to and how long you have been exposed to it for.
Between 10-15% of people who have severe carbon monoxide poisoning develop long-term complications such as damage to the brain or heart.
Read more about the complications of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Risk groups
Carbon monoxide is a danger to everyone, but certain groups are more vulnerable. These include:
babies and young children
people with chronic heart disease
people with respiratory problems, such as asthma
Preventing carbon monoxide poisoning
The best way of protecting you and your family is to be aware of the dangers and identify any appliances in your house that could potentially leak carbon monoxide.
Installing a CO alarm will detect a carbon monoxide leak in your home and give out a high-pitched noise when levels of the gas are high. They are available from DIY and hardware stores. However, alarms are not a substitute for maintaining and regularly servicing household appliances.
Read more about preventing carbon monoxide poisoning.
A headache is the most common symptom of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Other common symptoms include:
Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning can be similar to those of food poisoning and flu. However, unlike flu, carbon monoxide poisoning does not cause a high temperature (fever).
Your symptoms may be less severe when you are away from the source of the carbon monoxide.
The longer you inhale CO gas, the worse your symptoms will be. You may lose balance, vision and memory. Eventually, you may lose consciousness. This can happen within two hours if there is a lot of CO gas in the air.
However, symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning can sometimes occur days or months after breathing in carbon monoxide.
Symptoms of CO poisoning that develop later include:
co-ordination problems
High levels of carbon monoxide
If you have breathed in high levels of CO gas, it is likely that you will experience more severe symptoms. These may include:
impaired mental state and personality changes (intoxication)
vertigo – the feeling that you or the environment around you is spinning
ataxia – loss of physical co-ordination due to underlying damage to the nervous system and brain
breathlessness and tachycardia (a heart rate of more than 100 beats a minute)
chest pain caused by angina or a heart attack
seizures – an uncontrollable burst of electrical activity in the brain that causes muscle spasms
loss of consciousness – in cases where there are very high levels of CO gas, death may occur within minutes
At risk groups
Certain people in your household may be affected by carbon monoxide poisoning more quickly than others. Those at particular risk include:
people with heart or breathing problems
Pets may be the first to show signs of carbon monoxide poisoning because they are vulnerable to the effects of CO gas. The smaller an animal or a person is, the faster CO gas will affect them.
If your pet suddenly becomes ill or dies unexpectedly, and death is not related to old age or an existing health condition, you should investigate the possibility of a CO leak.
Carbon monoxide is produced when fuels such as gas, oil, coal and wood do not burn fully. Burning charcoal, running cars and the smoke from cigarettes also produce carbon monoxide.
Gas, oil, coal and wood are sources of fuel used in many household appliances including:
The main causes of carbon monoxide poisoning are outlined below.
Poorly installed or maintained appliances
Household appliances, such as cooking and heating devices, that are incorrectly installed and badly maintained are the main cause of accidental exposure to carbon monoxide. Correctly fitted and well mantained appliances should produce very little CO gas.
Damaged appliances can also produce higher levels of CO gas than normal and become dangerous.
Blocked flues and chimneys
Blocked flues and chimneys are another potential cause of carbon monoxide poisoning because they can stop CO gas escaping, allowing it to build up to dangerous levels in a room.
Enclosed or unventilated spaces
Burning fuel in an enclosed or unventilated space increases the risk of CO poisoning. For example, a car engine left running inside a garage or a faulty heating boiler in a poorly ventilated kitchen can emit potentially lethal levels of CO gas.
A car left running in a closed garage will take around 10 minutes to build up a lethal level of CO gas.
Faulty or blocked car exhausts
A leak in your car exhaust could lead to a build up of CO over time. A blocked exhaust pipe, such as after a heavy snowfall, could also lead to a build up of CO.
Paint fumes
Fumes from cleaning fluids and paint removers that contain methylene chloride (dichloromethane) can also cause carbon monoxide poisoning. When breathed in, methylene chloride is converted into CO gas.
Seek immediate advice from your doctor if you think you have carbon monoxide poisoning.
Your symptoms will often indicate whether you have carbon monoxide poisoning, but a blood sample will confirm the amount of carboxyhaemoglobin in your blood. A level of 30% indicates severe exposure.
Mild carbon monoxide poisoning doesn't usually need hospital treatment, but it is still important that you seek medical advice.
Standard oxygen therapy
Exposure to a high amount of CO gas is treated with oxygen therapy. You will be given 100% oxygen through a tight fitting mask (normal air contains around 21% oxygen).
Breathing in concentrated oxygen enables your body to replace carboxyhaemoglobin more quickly. You will continue to receive oxygen therapy until your carboxyhaemoglobin levels decrease to less than 10%.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) floods the body with pure oxygen, helping it to overcome the oxygen shortage caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.
There is currently insufficient evidence regarding the long-term effectiveness of HBOT for treating severe cases of carbon monoxide poisoning. Therefore, standard oxygen therapy (as described above) is usually the recommended treatment option.
However, HBOT may be recommended in certain situations, such as where there has been extensive exposure to CO gas and nerve damage is suspected. The use of HBOT will be decided on a case-by-case basis.
The best way to protect against carbon monoxide poisoning is to be aware of the dangers and to identify appliances that could emit CO gas.
It is important to be aware of the signs and symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Follow the guidelines below to protect yourself in your home and workplace.
Make sure home appliances are safe and well maintained.
Boilers, cookers, heating systems and appliances should be installed and regularly serviced by a reputable, registered engineer.
Never use ovens or gas ranges to heat your home.
Make sure rooms are well-ventilated and do not block air vents. If your home is double-glazed or draught-proofed, make sure there is still enough air circulating for any heaters that are in the room.
Make sure that all chimneys and flues are swept regularly by a qualified sweep.
Do not use gas-powered equipment and tools inside your home if you can avoid it. Only use them in a well-ventilated area and put the engine unit and exhaust outside.
Always use a safety mask when using chemicals that contain methylene chloride.
Do not burn charcoal in an enclosed space, such as on an indoor barbecue.
Do not sleep in a room that has an unflued gas fire or a paraffin heater.
Fit an extractor fan in your kitchen (if it does not already have one).
Engine exhaust fumes
The following precautions can help to protect you from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by exhaust fumes.
Do not leave petrol-fuelled lawnmowers or cars running in the garage.
Make sure the exhaust of your car is checked every year for leaks.
Make sure your exhaust is not blocked before turning the engine on – for example, after heavy snowfall.
CO alarms
Installing an audible CO alarm will provide an early warning system in case there is a carbon monoxide leak in your home. You can buy one from a DIY or hardware store.
CO alarms give out a high-pitched noise when levels of CO are high. However, a CO alarm is not a substitute for maintaining and regularly servicing household appliances.
When buying a CO alarm, you should make sure that it is approved to the latest British or European Standard (BS Kitemark or EN50291).
Prolonged exposure to carbon monoxide can cause serious complications including brain damage, heart problems and death in very severe cases.
Effects of severe carbon monoxide poisoning include breathlessness, chest pains, seizures (fits) and a loss of consciousness. The severity depends on the amount of CO gas you have been exposed to and how long you have been exposed to it for.
Between 10-15% of people who have severe carbon monoxide poisoning develop long-term complications.
Some of which are described below.
Prolonged exposure to CO gas can cause memory problems and difficulty concentrating. It can also cause vision loss and hearing loss.
In rare cases, it can cause Parkinsonism, which is characterised by tremors (shaking), stiffness and slow movement.
(Parkinsonism is not the same as Parkinson's disease, which is a degenerative neurological (brain) condition linked to ageing.)
Coronary heart disease is another serious condition that can develop as a result of long-term exposure to CO gas.
Coronary heart disease is where the blood supply to your heart is blocked or interrupted by a build-up of fatty substances (atheroma) in the coronary arteries.
If your blood supply is restricted, you may get angina (chest pains). If the coronary arteries become completely blocked, it can cause a heart attack.
Read more about coronary heart disease.
Harm to unborn babies
Prolonged exposure to CO gas can also damage an unborn child. Infants exposed to CO gas during pregnancy are at risk of:
perinatal death (stillbirth and death that occurs within the first four weeks of birth)


The day before Christmas Eve, is something we Swedes like to call Little Christmas Eve. When I was younger this was the day we got our Christmas gifts from our parents, before we changed that to Christmas Day.
Anyhow, we still always do something together on Little Christmas Eve. Today we ate some of the favorites from the Christmas table, and played Bingolotto. This is a bingo game on tv, that is shown every week, but we only watch the Christmas special. We never win, but it's taking part that counts, right? And the best part is that I can crawl up in the couch in my lovely PJ Salvage pj, with Christmas dogs on it, that Martin gave to me when we were in New York.
I also got two little gifts. The first one was a Lush gift box that was given to me from the company I work for. Martin was kind enough to drive by my job to pick it up from my boss. The second gift, from Martin himself, was a big bag of my favorite candy.
My last project of the day was to make knäck for tomorrow. Knäck is a sort of candy that needs to be eaten on a Swedish Christmas. Toffee with almonds, and it has become my job to make it every year. It tastes yummy!
Do you have any traditions for this day of the year?
I've been catching up a bit on my favorite blogs these past days and was inspired to do a Christmas tag. I've seen a few different tags out and about and have picked my favorite questions and mixed them as some answers might explain an answer further down in the tag. Hope you enjoy it!
In Sweden Christmas Eve is actually the big day. For my family it means that we gather with grandparents, aunts, uncles an cousins in either my family's house or at my grandparents, just before 3 p.m. That is the magical time of the year when Donald Duck's Christmas starts. It has been a tradition for generations, and a change in that is a very sensitive subject for all Swedes. During the show we eat all sorts of cookies and mulled wine or a sort of Swedish Christmas root beer. (Or coffee for Grandpa).
When the show is over we talk for a bit during the last preparations for the dinner is being made. Our Swedish Christmas smorgasbord contains pickled herring, salmon, eggs, ham, meatballs, chipolata sausage, potatoes, red cabbage, Jansson's temptation (a gratin of potatoes and anchovy), mackerel in tomato sauce, brussels sprout… The list goes on forever.
After the dinner, Santa usually comes to visit for a few minutes before it's time for the Christmas gift game. (Read about it in this post if you haven't heard about it before) During the game we of course eat all the candy we've made.
When the game is over and all presents are opened, it's time for the rice pudding, hoping to find the almond! I tend to find the almond every year and always win the glory and a box of chocolate. (Last year my grandmother put a second almond in the pudding to give everyone else a chance too. Guess who got both the almonds? Yup, that was me!) Then we just sit for a few hours and talk until everyone is ready to roll home.
Christmas seems to be all about the food, but we do have a lot of fun with all the loved ones as well. I'm sure you all know the drill!
As I just wrote about, Swedish Christmas is on Christmas Eve and that is the time when I get, and give, my Christmas gifts from Grandma and Grandpa. I don't get all of the gifts then though.
On Christmas day it's just me, my parents and my sister and brother. This year my boyfriend will join us too, since he has become a part of the family now. In the morning everyone is laying their last hands on the gift wrapping, maybe writing a last gift poem and such. For lunch/early dinner we eat the left overs from the Christmas Eve dinner and as soon as it gets dark outside we gather around the Christmas tree to give each other our gifts.
For Christmas Eve I always dress up, but Christmas day is usually PJ's all day.
This one is impossible to answer! I love Christmas eve with everyone around me, and I love the quality time I get with my closest ones at Christmas day. But ever since I was a child there has been something special with Christmas Eve, and I do get to meet family that I don't see every day so maybe a little advantage for Christmas Eve.
I did sometime when I was younger. My mother built it and we helped with the decoration. Me and my sister have been talking about building one for years, but we never seem to find the time with everything else that we want to do.
It has been years since I had a Christmas break. Working in a store, Christmas is the most busy time of the year. But since I'm not working this Christmas I look forward to just relaxing, watching movies and I really hope for some snow to play in!
This is a really tough one, but I do love the Christmas ham so I think I'll have to pick that. Or my Father's toffee.
This one was easier! The Grinch! No Christmas is complete without watching it at least once.
Yes, of course! I love building snowmen. One year I built about 20 tiny ones. I wanted to build the whole soccer team that I support.
I think my childhood Christmases over all. When my parental Grandmother and Grandfather was still alive, my cousins' parents were still married and everyone was gathered at our house. At that time when Christmas was only magic, because you weren't aware of all the stress that it can bring as well. I LOVE the preparations and Christmas as it is now, but there's still something special about Christmas as a child.
I've gotten so many lovely Christmas gifts through out the years, but an all time favorite is the season tickets to my football games. It's a gift that lasts for a whole year and bring loads of memories for a lifetime. Also, it's one of my father's favorite gifts to give, for the same reasons, and as happy I am to receive the gift, I am to see the joy in his face as he hands it over.
Well… I guess this is where most people answer a star, or an angel, or a spire. It used to be a star. But this year my dad helped decorating the tree.
I think that the best part of Christmas for me is everything Christmas is supposed to be. With all the tittle-tattle of Christmas gift, the preparations, the food, all family close and the natural joy in everyone's eyes.
Hope you found this post interesting. If you have any special Christmas traditions you'd like to share, I'd love to hear about them in the comments below.
Our lovely days in the woods are now over and it's time to go back to reality again. Christmas have been wonderful and we can't wait for the real Christmas with the whole family.
First night we decorated Gingerbread cookies to hang in the window for decoration during our stay. Everyone enjoyed it and made some beautiful creations. The focus was on top, as you might see on the pictures.
The morning after we got up really early for a few hours drive to a big wholesale store. We did find a few Christmas gifts and some things to M's apartment. I don't know any other guy that would go there voluntarily, and not complain once! M is kind of great, I must say.
For dinner we made a traditional Swedish Christmas table. Or sort of, we took a few of our favorites that was doable at the time. Meatballs, sausages, eggs with mayonnaise and shrimps, potatoes, mackerel in tomato sauce, beetroot salad… And of course a few picks of candy with chocolate, oranges and marshmallows shaped like tiny Santas. It all tasted like Christmas is supposed to do. We only missed the ham, and the meatballs should be home made. And all of Grandma's cookies.
After dinner we played the Christmas gift game. In case you haven't heard about it I'll run the rules quite quick. Every contestant bring one, or a few gifts, for a given amount of money. They should be wrapped nicely. It's more fun to see everyone fight over your gift. Everyone around the table takes turn to throw a dice, a six and you get to pick a gift. Do NOT open now! When all gifts are taken, one person sets an alarm clock on a secret time (usually around 15 minutes or so, depending on how many people taking part). The dice keeps walking around, but now when you get a six you get to steal a gift from someone else. When the alarm rings you get to keep the gifts you've won.
We finished of with some hot chocolate before we went to bed, and today it was time to go home and work for a few hours. Overall it couldn't have been better. It was so relaxing and, I think, very much needed for all of us, I wouldn't be surprised if there was some sort of mini-Christmas again before it's time to celebrate for real.
Hope you enjoyed reading about our little celebration!
Almost done with my packing. Tonight I'm taking two of the people I love the most, my sister and my boyfriend, to our cabin for a few days of Christmas!
In Sweden Halloween is not a very big thing. They sell a few pumpkins in the store for decoration, and there might be a few kids doing Trick or Treat, but not much more than that. The next big holiday here is Christmas and we are excited!
Tomorrow we will go to a big discount store, a few hours by car from the cabin. I think everyone in Sweden knows about this place, and people go there from all over the country. We will see if we can find some things for M's appartment (since I'm pretty much moving in one step at the time) and if we find some Christmas gifts we will purchase them now.
If we find some gifts we will wrap them tomorrow night, watch a Christmas movie, eat Christmas inspired snacks, play the Christmas gift game and just have a cozy time.


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LEGO Media Content
LEGO Discussion
The LEGO Movie Sequel
By jamesster, February 3, 2014 in LEGO Media Content
http://www.hypable.com/2014/04/11/lego-movie-sequel-more-female-characters/
That's certainly gonna make a lot of people happy.
BerixMaster2010 and Pereki reacted to this
Pereki 2,481
pereki.
If they are taking the time to think things like this over, I think we can be reasonably sure that there will be serious effort put into this sequel. I'm excited.
Ben24x7 1,272
Incapable of handling pets
*Removes reply in the event of Offense*
http://comicbook.com/2015/01/07/the-lego-movie-sequel-takes-place-4-years-after-the-first-say-ph/
"Well I don't want to give you spoilers,†Miller said, when asked about what he and Lord are hoping to explore in the sequel, "but we were really interested in what happens to that boy who's in the meta story in the first movie when he's four years older. When he's an adolescent how does that change his point of view?â€
"Emmet, for example, was in an existential crisis of having seen another dimension and was questioning the whole point of his existence,†Miller says.
Quisoves Potoo reacted to this
ProfessorBrickkeeper 595
"Well I don't want to give you spoilers,â€
Well, that was abandoned pretty quickly.
Goodness, so now Emmet is coping with PTSD. To quote Batman in TLM, "Seriously?"
On a side note, my immediate reaction was to skim for mentions of Johnny Thunder.*
*alas, none yet. :(
aidenpons reacted to this
If he was questioning why he was being watched by many people sitting in rows of seats in a dark room I would totally spend my money for this film as that Fourth Dimension magic would be enough to blow my mind.
Ayliffe reacted to this
JimbobJeffers 1,650
Intriguing, it's a concept I hadn't thought to explore. So long as they keep the movie primarily LEGO I'm looking forward to it, it'd be a shame if they brought the reality side of things more and more into the main focus.
They didn't want to go into spoilers, but they did say that they're writing the second Lego Movie right now and that it will focus on Emmett and his sister in a "weird, dystopian version of Bricksburg.†The time frame is gonna be a few years after the events of the last movie as well.
Quisoves Potoo and Ayliffe reacted to this
Emmet and his sister.
Finn and his sister.
Finn gets older, enters his dark ages, and Bricksburg becomes dystopian.
Makes sense, if that's what they're going for.
Pereki and Quisoves Potoo reacted to this
Quisoves Potoo 508
Do I dare disturb the universe?
But wasn't Bricksburg already dystopian, just in a rather insidious manner? The poor city doesn't get any rest, it appears (not that that's terribly surprising, unless Finn is an especially huge fan of City.)
"Toy Story 4 but with Legos"?
Seaborgium 240
Z=Z+Z^2
That's not PTSD. That's having your whole existence put into a different perspective. It could allow for a lot of lampshading and meta-humor, or it could go badly.
Or they could just go whole hog and make Emmet the Kwisatz Haderach
. Of course that would literally make him literally "the special", which is something TLM purposefully avoided.
Ben24x7 and Quisoves Potoo reacted to this
http://variety.com/2016/film/news/gerard-butler-geostorm-lego-movie-2-live-by-light-be-affleck-1201798398/
Delayed, from May 8 2018 to February 8 2019. It was already delayed from May 2017. Guess they're serious about doing the thing justice. And now it comes out on my birthday!
aidenpons and spacepals reacted to this
http://variety.com/2016/film/news/lego-movie-sequel-screenplay-rewrite-raphael-bob-waksberg-1201810241/
The creator of BoJack Horseman has been called on for a script rewrite. I haven't watched the show, but I've heard good stuff about it so this could be neat.
I hate to bump this topic, but we have a logo reveal:
https://twitter.com/TheLEGOMovie/status/998579165832953858
aidenpons, Quisoves Potoo, Shadowblaze and 1 other reacted to this
aidenpons 996
Hover Scout Master
As others have noticed on that Twitter post, "THE SECOND PART" is not made out of Lego bricks...
eagleeyedan 41
Forever a LEGO fan
The trailer was released today! Everything is not awesome since the DUPLO invasion and it looks like the plot is going to revolve around Finn's sister now being allowed to play with the LEGO town, probably grown up out of DUPLO now and is playing with with her minidoll sets.
aidenpons and someswedish reacted to this
We gots another trailer!
How do I know? While bingewatching a YTer this came up as one of the ads. It's the only ad in existence that I haven't either hammered Skip Ad immediately or turned the volume off.
Yes, I have an adblocker, but I turned it off for YT so I could support the three YTers I actually like to watch
Looking cool!
The plot seems to mostly involve invasions of some not-entirely-Duplo aliens (note 1) from OUTER SPEEEEES (note 2) that kidnap Wyldstyle (node 3) and a bunch of the Master Builders.
Note 1: Funny, I was expecting the villains to all be Duplo things. Maybe that's why everybody's basically living in a post-apocalypse that Wyldstyle mentions at the start.
Note 2: Everything's better with speeeeees
Note 3: Apparently now Lucy. Emmet and Wyldstyle seem to be actually quite close. I'm hoping like mad this won't turn into a romcom Com, yes, please yes, but lay off the rom.
EDIT: Oh and note 4, the movie is coming sometime in Feb, not sure when.
EDIT2: note not node ; I've got engineering on the brain
FeebTube 9
Hope the whole movie doesn't take place in "post-apoc land", "space", and "sister's LEGO land"; wonder what locations they aren't showing in the trailer
thunderzizi 5
So uh...anyone wanna talk about it now that it's actually, y'know, out?
Personal thoughts: It's good, I liked Rex Dangervest.
such hotness
4 hours ago, thunderzizi said:
I'm still waiting for the point where it's safe to talk about spoilers (I mean, I know I can use the spoiler tag, but I just want to be on the safe side for now), but I can give you a spoiler-free summary of my thoughts on the film.
For the record, I've watched TLM2 twice in theatres. While this was partially a test to see if the film held up after knowing the plot and all it's twists and turns (it did, and I still had a blast despite knowing the film's story), I wanted to rewatch the film as I was struggling to come to a conclusion about whether TLM2 is better than the original (I mostly thought it was as good as the original, yet every now and again I felt it was better and I couldn't explain why).
To summarise, The LEGO Movie 2 - in my opinion - is a purely fun and entertaining film. There's many jokes appropriate for different age groups, there's references/shout-outs if you're into that sort of thing, it's pure entertainment.
HOWEVER, I personally think the original movie has a better story, structure and a brilliant unpredictable-if-it's-your-first-time-watching-it plot twist.
Not that TLM2 is awful or anything, I still think it's a good film (honestly, I think TLM2 is more fun than the original), but the original film has a better story.
...oh, and the film has two covers of "Everything is awesome" that are, in my opinion, better than the original's version (although that's probably just my musical tastes, as I prefer calmer/quieter music over loud/obnoxious dance music).
...honestly, I'm looking forward to the point when it's safe to post movie spoilers, because I really want to rant/talk about TLM2's plot twist(s).
Just so you all know, TLM2 hasn't come out in NZ yet. The game might have, but alas on this side of the globe we're still waiting until April 11.
That's only over two months since it came out in the US and UK, on February 8.
Anybody have the slightest clue why this is the case? One google search later, apparently it's a) been the case for all the Lego movies,and I just never noticed, and b) supposed to time with the school holidays (as opposed to the post-Christmas period).
This is a rather amusing spin on the issue (spoiler'd as it's big):

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Cover letters usually do not will need to be extended. A letter of petition ought to be written when you are trying to have advice or the help of another individual. Consist of any excess advice the receiver might need to find out regarding your request. Write the 2nd paragraph, which should include of requesting for your distinct request. An important portion of one's introduction must incorporate a question and answer phase in which you know about the consumer's specific requirements and introduce solutions and supply hints. A succinct introduction needs to have a reason why you're applying for the position. This outline could possibly be used As is to get ready some booming program development suggestion. The previous paragraph needs to merely request an interview. Knowing the significance of pay letters, also if they're appropriate, can improve your job-hunting effectiveness. When it has its attention on a particular region of business or perhaps a specific scientist you desire to get the job done together with, your personal reason behind signing up to the program is likely to make your resume cover letter stick out. State exactly where you're attempting to be properly used and in the occasion which you would certainly be glad to proceed for positions he can have out of nation or nation. Nowadays you have the specification to the position for a job shareable option. Discuss what position you are searching for. Condition that you are informed there are not any open places at the present moment, however you'd love to get contemplated for any future openings. For instance, you can state that you intend to telephone to research some additional places. Look through an firm's site whilst to find more on the subject of individuals who may receive your correspondence. From time to time, persons only scan and do not read the full letter. Persuasive letters must adhere to a fundamental business letter arrangement. Protect letters are among the essentials of this job application method. Your portfolio correspondence needs to become generic which means you may later tailor made it to some specific company. Examine to determine if you have to include your GMAT score within the body of your cover letter. On average, the selecting staff will ask if you have any inquiries. Many professionals must draft formal small business letters sooner or later in their own careers. Talk just two to several relevant capabilities or adventures you're going to be able to bring to your own supplier. Find more information regarding the company where you are applying. Over the years, desktop publishing has obtained on several definitions, also lots of are oblivious of its own main use. Cover letters must revolve all over the benefits the business can realize by utilizing the candidate. Exactly the specific same way a cover letter could make you look well qualified for a single position, it might make you seem overqualified to get the following. The most efficient cover letters have been lent to just about every prospective employer for optimum impact. When searching for employment, it is important to be aware of the name of the particular person or people who will examine your own application. If it requests for almost any excess advice, state something, whatever are certain to make you detected. For instance, you can choose to acquire factual statements in regards to a particular company apart from that which is given to their website, or you might have to ask a former employer to furnish a reference for youpersonally. Looking for job in the present competitive market place might be demanding and sporadically appear overpowering.


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5 affordable cities in GTA for first-time home buyers
The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is described as the most populated area in North America, and if you are a first-time home buyer in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), this article will give you affordable cities in the GTA to Read more…
By lady prowess, 1 year January 5, 2022 ago
MEMO: 3rd Annual Nigeria Tech Summit. An initiative hosted by the Global Startup Ecosystem in partnership with Forbes, Google Cloud, AWS, and IBM Cloud
The Nigeria Tech Summit is the most exclusive tech event in the world. It brings together tech investors, entrepreneurs, and influencers building or using platforms to improve Nigeria's future. The summit aims to offer on-site workshop training, networking round tables, Read more…
By lady prowess, 1 year December 10, 2021 ago
Klarna Payment Gateway | Buy Now and Pay Later
OVERVIEW OF KLARNA Klarna is one of the leading global payment and shopping services, founded in 2005 in Stockholm, Sweden. Klarna is a platform for business owners and shoppers that aims to make the online shopping experience easier. It provides Read more…
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MEMO: 2nd Annual Global Health Summit. An initiative hosted by the Global Startup Ecosystem
Memo: 2nd Annual Global Health Summit. a day-long initiative hosted by the Global Startup Ecosystem in collaboration with Google Cloud, AWS, IBM Cloud, Hubspot, Sendgrid, and others, featuring 10 global speakers and 3,000 digital delegates. The Global Health Summit is Read more…
By lady prowess, 1 year October 11, 2021 ago
[Download] King of Boys 2 – Full Movie
King of Boys: The Return of the King Season 1 Episode 1 – 7 (Complete) Full Movie Download Alhaja Eniola Salami starts anew and sets her sights on a different position of power, fueled by revenge, regret and ruthlessness. Cast: Read more…
By lady prowess, 1 year September 8, 2021 ago
Global Startup Ecosystem (GSE) Announces Free Access to Annual "GSE Global Investment Summit" To Connect Founders to Investors
Date: July 30, 2021 Time: 10am-1pm EST ATTN: 2nd Annual Global Investment Summit LOCATION: World Wide – Online The Global Investment Summit is an international program for expert-led debate between global leaders, investors and innovators with the power to shape Read more…
By lady prowess, 2 years July 6, 2021 ago
Hair Steaming for Natural and Relax Hair
Hair Steaming treatment is exactly what it sounds like: applying steam to your hair and scalp. "Steaming is using moist heat to open the hair cuticle to allow benefits of treatments, oils, and masks to penetrate deeper into the hair Read more…
By lady prowess, 2 years June 16, 2021 ago
REASONS WHY SOME WOMEN WILL NEVER GET MARRIED
Getting married to someone is one of the biggest decisions of your life and it's wise to make your choices carefully? Dating or relationships can be pretty tricky if not done wisely. You can end up being with the wrong Read more…
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UceeFresh Jude Biography, Age, & Contact
Uche Chukwu Jude (Also Known as UceeFresh Jude) is a celebrity editor, cinematographer, and photographer who has weighed so many obstacles in life and in his nature of job to attain his status as his work put him behind camera. Read more…
By lady prowess, 2 years April 9, 2021 ago
Official Movie: Acquitted | Out Now
Acquitted: Acquitted is a 2021 Nigerian Dramatic Suspense Movie directed by Don Grapher and Produced by Rockland House TV. The film stars Vina Nelson, Shaggi in the lead roles. The film released today April 9, 2021 and is opened to Read more…
Lady Prowess Blog | Developed by Lady Prowess


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The Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love – Sarvenaz Tash
The Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love by Sarvenaz Tash
The Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love is a fandom-lovers dream, minus the unrequited love. The story takes place predominantly at New York Comic Con, the second largest convention of pop culture fanatics (myself included) in the United States. You can tell that the author is either very familiar with the area from personal experience, or questioned a con-goer to get every detail. She mentions things like the cell service being spotty in the Artist's Alley (it is) and the atmosphere you experience on the way to the Con. It's so fascinating to be walking the streets for a while when suddenly you notice a Spider-Man strolling out of a bakery, not too long after a group of wizards turn the corner and before you know it you're surrounded by a horde of enthusiastic, frequently costumed, nerds, geeks and fans of all ages outside the Javitt's Center, where NYCC is held.
The atmosphere was authentic and made me feel like I was attending the Con as well, although that may be in part because I've attended NYCC before I do believe that any reader will feel just as immersed. The world was the most enjoyable part of the book, as the characters were not as developed as they could have been. There were moments of clarity where you saw more into their motivations, but overall they weren't memorable characters. That's not to say there was anything wrong with them, they just didn't affect me as a reader.
It was an easy, enjoyable contemporary read that I think is perfect for young adult/teen readers who are fans of something and enjoy books that they can relate to on that level. You don't have to be a comic book or superhero fan to enjoy Comic Con, it is a refuge and a consolidation of all fandoms. If you love something, you will find something you can relate to at Comic Con and in this book.
Tagged book, Book Review, contemporary, fandom, review, sarvenaz tash, teen, the geek's guide to unrequited love, ya, young adult
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10 thoughts on "The Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love – Sarvenaz Tash"
I like the comic con aspect, but I don't generally go for love stories… If people happen to fall in love while fighting aliens, okay, but just love… meh.
Yeah, I mean the main character does like a girl and many of his actions revolve around that but it didn't feel like a love story to me.
In that case I may still check it out!
bookprincessreviews says:
Ooooh, I'm super glad that you enjoyed it for the most part, Kyera!! (Although we have to get you out of your four star grouping of books). I really enjoyed this one a lot – but after months of thinking about it, you are quite right about the characters. I can't wait remember their defining characteristics and such. BUT THE PRINCESS BRIDE MOMENT IN THERE MADE ME LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH AND HAVE ALL THE FEELS. Wonderful review, Kyera!!
Oh my gosh yes, I definitely quoted the movie out loud while reading it.
Is it bad? My mom just told me the other day that I'm too generous with book ratings, so I'm trying to be better. I just think of it in terms of a percentage and a 3 or 3.5 is 60-70%, which to me isn't good. I have to have some major problems with a book to rate it that.
Ahahahaha yessssssssssss. My friend read the book before me and she was like, Mandy, when you get to this page number, you need to let me know because it is the most epic thing ever. It was so nicely done. XD
And lol, it's just been entertaining for the past few reviews. I'm like, four stars…four stars…four stars. It's a four star streak. But I don't think it's too generous. You feel what you feel, and I like how you break it down. It totally makes sense.
Aahhh I really want to read it now, I'll probably borrow it from the library when I get home in July.
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"I love the flavour of elderflower and I still remember the first time I tasted it in Switzerland. One of my jobs was to help our Austrian pastry chef pick and sort a whole lot of elderflowers to make fresh cordial. There were many hours spent on this repetitive job alongside someone who didn't really talk much – but well worth it for the result."
For elderflower ice, blend cordial, crushed ice and 150ml cold water in a blender until fluffy. Spoon into chilled glasses and serve with dried coconut, blueberries and coconut cream.


The two days of renewal program for us in our school (Anita Vidyalaya Higher Secondary School Thannipuzha ) by Frs. Anoop M. and Wilson T. was a new God experience for each one of us. Reflecting on the overall planning and presentation of the retreat, contributed significantly in achieving success and trust in God. To design and evaluate leadership and to be a blessing the retreat focused on: Sanctity of life by trusting God, the need for passionate commitment to excellence, the importance of teamwork and the value of self-reflection.
The Word of God, Songs and meditation were a unique experience for us. Creativity, imagination, originality and trust in God– the things you have cultivated in us are not quantifiable or measurable right now. But we are sure that your contribution in our lives will be way more than just measurable. We may not say it out to you aloud, but you make a beautiful impact on our lives without a doubt. We may sometimes behave annoyingly, but deep down in our hearts we know that you helped us to realize that 'we are a blessing.' The short films and the classes were very much touching. The classes on the sanctity of life and respect for parents motivated me to an extend that I could not stop crying. We thank the management, principal and the staff for arrenging such graceful days for us.
Previous articleFr. James Kizhakkayil, C.Ss.R.
Next articleFr. Jobin Vanniamparambil, C.Ss.R.


I come before you in your son Jesus name laying my child on the altar before you. Lord I see all the daily pressures my child faces: pressure from friends, classmates, coworkers, even teachers. Your word says the devil is like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). It's only because of Your grace and mercy that anyone can avoid being devoured by sin. Jesus, please stand in the way of the devil coming near my child and enticing him to lead an unholy life, to take drugs and alcohol, to lie and cheat, to steal, to be involved in sexual perversion, or to commit violent acts.
May my child find the strength, by Your Holy Spirit, to be like the men of Judah, who "remained loyal to their king" when the rest of Israel went astray. Instill within my child the determination to desert the things of the devil rather than the things of God.
More important than being accepted by the "in" crowd is being accepted by You. Please make real to my child a love and acceptance that the world cannot duplicate. May You be the One my child seeks to please.
Please create within my child a thirst for more of You and Your Word. May Your Word be a lamp unto the feet of my child so that he can find his way through the darkness. Bring into his path friends who are sold out for You and who will encourage him in his faith. Lord may he become an active participant in the church.
Popular opinion isn't Your opinion, God, but it's not always easy for a young, impressionable person to see it that way. So make Your way known to him. Give him a divine revelation of Your changeless nature, and let him know You are with him every step of the way.


Decorative vases Nek, Numa and Tiko.
The decorative vases Nek, Numa and Tiko are now available in a handy mini format. They are available in five vibrant colours that can be matched to the flowers as a decorative feature. Creating beautiful effects is easy by arranging flowers in these hand-blown decorative vases. They are also an eye-catcher when combined with other products from this collection or their larger counterparts. Their beautiful packing also makes them ideal to take as a gift to friends or to give to a loved one.


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Blue horse, dirty victim
Harland Braun is Robert Blake's "very, very bright" attorney. Even Johnnie Cochran thinks he's gone too far.
By King Kaufman
Published May 30, 2001 7:00PM (EDT)
Bonny Lee Bakley. Robert Blake's murdered wife.
Quick: What's your mental picture right now?
If the answer is anything like "grifter," "nude pictures," "star stalker" or "used promises of sex to swindle men through lonely-hearts ads in newspapers," then Harland Braun can congratulate himself on a job well done so far.
Braun is the attorney representing Blake, the former movie and TV star who Los Angeles police say is not a suspect in the May 4 killing of his wife, but who also has not been ruled out. He is flamboyant and, in legal circles, famous, having risen to prominence in the '70s by successfully defending Charles Manson prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi in a perjury case. In the '80s he defended movie director John Landis in the "Twilight Zone" manslaughter trial. In the '90s he represented Los Angeles police officer Theodore Briseno in the Rodney King beating, at one point memorably comparing his client's boots to ballet slippers.
Blake hired Braun immediately after Bakley was killed, and within hours Braun embarked on a strategy known in the legal racket as "dirtying the victim."
"She's been involved in these kind of con schemes where you bilk lonely men out of money with ads across the country," Braun was quoted as saying in the initial news reports. "So there could be any number of people that would have had it in for her." In the weeks since, there has been a constant stream of information and evidence from the Blake defense team, and just about all of it has been damaging to Bakley's reputation.
It seems that you cannot talk to a Los Angeles attorney about Braun without hearing the words "excellent lawyer" and "brilliant" and "very, very bright." But if you want to get a handle on just how aggressive Braun's smear campaign on Bakley has been, understand that Johnnie Cochran thinks he has gone too far.
"Braun's an excellent lawyer," Cochran told Greta Van Susteren on CNN May 15. "I'm a little bit amazed, though, even for Harland, the way he's attacked the victim, who's not even buried. I mean, he's attacking her, releasing stuff about her. It's almost like, 'Thou protest too much.' And it's a very strange case. Only in Hollywood that happened. You know, but I -- he's an excellent lawyer."
Bakley, as you must know, was shot in the head as she sat in Blake's car a block from a Studio City, Calif., Italian restaurant where they'd just eaten dinner. (Studio City is, in fact, just over the hill from Hollywood.) Blake says he'd left Bakley in the car and returned to the restaurant to retrieve a legally registered gun he'd left in a booth, and on his return found her slumped over and bleeding. He'd been carrying a gun, he said, because Bakley feared that someone might be stalking her, presumably because of her less-than-savory moneymaking activities.
Here's some of what Braun has said about the 44-year-old Bakley: that the New Jersey native had just completed probation in Arkansas on a conviction for carrying false identification; that she used lonely-hearts ads to get men to send her money in the belief that they would get to meet her; that as part of these scams she sold pornographic pictures of herself and told the men who wrote her that she would have sex with them; that she was obsessed with celebrities and their world, and made it her goal to marry one; that she got pregnant with a child she thought was fathered by Christian Brando -- son of Marlon and a veteran of a previous decade's tawdry Hollywood-fringe scandal -- before DNA tests showed Blake was the father; that audiotapes recovered in her bungalow after her death and turned over to police and the media revealed her talking on the phone with a friend and trying to decide whether she should "go with" Brando or Blake; and that she continued operating her scams after marrying Blake and moving onto his property despite a prenuptial agreement in which she'd agreed not to.
Braun, who didn't return a phone call requesting an interview, has insisted that he's merely trying to get the facts out, trying to force the LAPD to do a thorough investigation. He says the police are focusing solely on Blake and ignoring the fact that "there could be any number of people out there who would have a motive to kill" Bakley.
"Harland Braun is an excellent attorney," begins Gloria Allred, the outspoken feminist lawyer who is even more famous than Braun -- more famous than Blake, really -- and who represents Sondra Blake, a former actress Allred refers to as Blake's "only surviving ex-wife." She calls Braun's strategy "a pretty outrageous example" of dirtying the victim. "It's one of the worst, because I have to believe as an attorney that Mr. Braun would not do this unless he were authorized by his client to do it. So that means Mr. Blake is in the process through his agent, namely his attorney, of smearing the mother of his child, a murder victim," she says. The child, a girl, is now almost a year old.
But Charles Weisselberg, a professor at UC-Berkeley's Boalt Hall law school, points out that Braun's strategy may be an attempt to prevent Blake from being hastily arrested. "He may be doing it because this is a high-profile case and he wants to take some heat off the district attorney, who may be feeling some pressure to go at Mr. Blake," Weisselberg says. "In other words, you've got an elected district attorney in Los Angeles, and an elected district attorney doesn't want the public to feel that he's soft on somebody because of their celebrity status, and this tactic may in part make it easier for the district attorney to go slow with Mr. Blake."
Lea Purwin D'Agostino is a deputy district attorney in Los Angeles who opposed Braun for 10 months as the prosecutor in the "Twilight Zone" manslaughter trial in 1986 and '87. In one famous incident during that trial, an incident D'Agostino says she doesn't remember because it was just one among many, Braun called her "pond scum." Now, she says, they're good friends.
"I certainly know Harland Braun very well, and he's a very, very, very bright man and a brilliant attorney, and if I were in trouble I'd certainly want someone like Braun on my side," she says -- and this is apropos of nothing, but she sounds like Lauren Bacall on the phone. "But you know, do I agree with his policy of attacking a victim and smearing a victim? Absolutely not. But this is something, there's an adage: The best defense is a good offense, and that's what he's doing."
Allred isn't so sure it's a good strategy, though. "I think it's going to have a different impact than it might have pre-O.J. Simpson, when Nicole Brown Simpson was trashed. People are a little bit more sophisticated now," she says, "especially L.A. County Superior Court juries are a little bit more sophisticated about defense tactics, and the attack on the mother of Mr. Blake's child I don't think is going to go over very well. I mean, whatever she did, she didn't deserve to be murdered."
How did it take so long for us to get to O.J. Simpson? Just as the TV show that made Blake a household name in the '70s, "Baretta," was a pale rewrite of an earlier series called "Toma," the matter of Bakley's murder has seemed to exist as a shadow version of the 1994 killings and subsequent trials that held this country riveted in a way that, even just a few years later, seems a little hard to believe.
You have your B-list celebrity, your late-night murder, your strange, hard-to-swallow alibi (why did he leave her alone in that car if they were afraid she was being stalked? Why didn't they park in the restaurant's lot instead of on a dark side street? Allred and the Bakley family attorney, Cary Goldstein, have both used the word "absurd" in describing Blake's story), your high-powered attorneys, your tourists hanging around outside the star's house, your endless nattering on Geraldo Rivera, Larry King & Co. You even have your Italian restaurant where a last meal was eaten.
The football star turned actor turned strange man liable for the wrongful death of his ex-wife and her friend has even weighed in, expressing compassion for Blake in an interview on the TV show "Extra" and urging him "not to watch TV, Robert, whatever you do."
Blake isn't as glamorous as Simpson, who after all was one of the great athletic heroes of his century, and Bakley certainly wasn't as pretty or sympathetic as Nicole Brown Simpson. And perhaps what's really missing is Kato Kaelin, although it could be argued that the Kato character was the victim in this sequel. But even if the Bakley case won't ever rise to the level of "trial of the century" -- only one case in the next 99 years will, right? -- it's still a high-profile case, and that means trouble for everyone involved.
"There's intense press coverage, obviously, and actually that hurts the prosecution in many cases," says D'Agostino, the L.A. prosecutor, speaking generally because she can't comment on the Bakley case, which her office might someday prosecute. "The media, the tabloids, for example, go and seek out witnesses, they interview them and they pay them before they even testify, which of course destroys them as witnesses for the prosecution, and sometimes precludes us from even being able to call them as witnesses."
And then once the case reaches trial, "you know that everything you do is going to be analyzed and second-guessed," D'Agostino says. "As a prosecutor, if you stop and think about it, it isn't a heck of a lot of fun working under the conditions of being second-guessed by, you know, sometimes panels of experts on the boob tube, mostly experts from New York, who don't know California law. And if they do know California law, the bottom line is that none of these experts really knows your case."
Even more troubling for the prosecution in a case that potentially involves a celebrity such as Blake, D'Agostino says, is that it's just plain hard to convict famous people. "We don't have royalty in America," she says, "and movie stars have become our royalty, and it's very difficult. People are very starstruck. Let's not mince words about it, they are, and that makes it hard."
Weisselberg, the law professor, agrees. "With a high-profile defendant, one who doesn't have a criminal record, it seems like the jury really is able to afford the person the presumption of innocence," he says. "And there are many people in the criminal justice system who think that folks with prior criminal records or people represented in run-of-the-mill cases are not looked at the same way by the jury."
Weisselberg says high-profile cases are "just another animal. There's just so much more going on."
One of the things going on, maybe, is the tainting of the jury pool. That's what Braun's critics say he's been trying to do -- plant the idea in potential jurors' minds that Bakley was a tawdry figure, that Blake didn't kill her, someone from her shadowy past did.
If pretrial publicity becomes too heavy, a change of venue can be ordered, usually at the behest of the defense. But that doesn't seem likely in the Bakley murder.
"A typical case with a change of venue might be a high-profile homicide case in a relatively modest-size county, where lots of people in the county knew the victim, or everybody followed the case," Weisselberg says. "It's hard for me to imagine that the level of publicity thus far in the Blake case has tainted a jury in a county the size of Los Angeles to the degree that a fair trial can't be found there. That's kind of hard for me to imagine."
That means prosecutors may someday have to deal with a jury that's been exposed to the L.A. media excitement surrounding the case, which, while not reaching Simpson levels, has been and will likely continue to be formidable. That potential jury will have been worked on by a master in Harland Braun. A Los Angeles Times profile of Braun painted him as something of a loose cannon, prone to saying outrageous things at any time.
D'Agostino says he's no loose cannon. "I think Harland knows exactly what he's doing," she says. "I think because a lot of the comments that he makes are so off the wall, people don't realize how bright he is, and I sometimes think perhaps he does that to mask the brilliance."
Can a jury overcome this sort of thing and reach an impartial verdict?
"They do say that they will only judge a case by the admissible evidence that's presented in a court of law and will remain fair and impartial and try to set aside whatever they've learned outside of the court of law," Allred says. "Having said that, they're human beings, and it's hard to unring a bell once it's been rung. If you've seen an elephant in a room and someone says, 'Forget that you've seen that elephant in the room,' it may be difficult."
That bell that's been rung and can't be unrung is a favorite metaphor for lawyers. D'Agostino uses it too, and she also recalls a movie called "Heat of Anger," in which Susan Hayward played a lawyer defending a prominent client. "She's in front of a jury, and I just always think of this particular line," D'Agostino says. "There was this incredible amount of publicity on that particular case, and she tells all the jurors to close their eyes, and she stands in front of them as only this beautiful Susan Hayward could do, and she says, 'Now I want you to think of anything in the world that you want to think about except a blue horse. Whatever you do, do not think of a blue horse. Whatever you do, do not think of a blue horse.'
"And then she pauses for a while -- of course you can't do this in court -- and she says, 'Open your eyes,' and she looked at them and she started smiling and she says, 'And of course, that's all any of you could think of was the blue horse because I told you not to.'"
Maybe you can't do it in court, but you can still do it. And as Robert Blake waits in seclusion at an undisclosed location, Harland Braun is painting a giant blue horse for some future jury to try not to think about.
"Harland really is an excellent attorney," D'Agostino says. "He truly is."
King Kaufman
King Kaufman is a senior writer for Salon. You can e-mail him at king at salon dot com. Facebook / Twitter / Tumblr
MORE FROM King Kaufman


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Home » Nike Air Griffey Max 1 "Wheat" DO6684-700
Nike Air Griffey Max 1 "Wheat" DO6684-700
April 25, 2022 Sneaker News, Sneaker Release Dates Rae
Several Ken Griffey Jr./Sr. Air Force 1s, including the "Spider-Man Catch" VaporMax Plus and the Jr/Sr Air Force 1, has been released in 2021 to celebrate the MLB's first father/son team. As part of a larger commemoration of the Nike Air Griffey Max 1's 25th anniversary this year, all of this is included. It's time for the Nike Air Griffey Max 1 "Wheat" to transition from summer to fall now that a few OG colorways have reached shops.
There is a Wheat edition of "Flax" for its 20th anniversary this year, which has a shaggier suede top in an even more intense brown shade than the "Flax" version that was served out in 2016. While the white midsoles and gum rubber outsoles are still there, the shoe has undergone a number of significant modifications to set it apart from the previous iteration. The laces and strap clasp, for example, are white, as are the logos on the strap, heel, and Swoosh outlines. The eyelets and Swoosh bellies, as well as the internal Air supports, have a golden-yellow tinge, too.
Take a look below at official photographs of the Nike Air Griffey Max 1 "Wheat" for kids, and keep an eye out for them to arrive in adult sizes closer to the arrival of cooler weather.
Nike Air Griffey Max 1 "Wheat"
Style Code (Adult): DO6684-700
Style Code (GS): DO6685-700
Color: Wheat/White/Gum Light Brown/Pollen
Retail: $170 / $120
Nike Dunk Peaches & Cream DD1503-801
November 28, 2022 Sneaker Release Dates
Nike Dunk Low "Reverse Kentucky"
February 18, 2022 Sneaker News
Air Jordan 2 "Grey Fog"
March 10, 2022 Jordan Release Dates, Sneaker News


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CDI Lier: Looking back to a very successful 2018 edition
The second edition of CDI4 * Lier was a great success! Despite the frost, the conditions for the riders, horses and visitors were excellent. Many international talented combinations came into action during the Belgian four-star event. The spectators, which mostly consisted of Belgians, enjoyed many Belgian victories. Jorinde Verwimp, for example, won the Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Freestyle with her Olympic horse Tiamo. The Grand Prix Special was an exciting battle, which was eventually won by the Spanish rider Sergio Martin Palos. The Belgian Laurence Roos finished in second place.
There was sport at high level in the other categories as well. For example, the Dutch Micky Schelstrate won the Pony Freestyle, the Dutch Danielle Heijkoop took first place in the Prix St. George and the Russian Anna Guseynova won the Junior Freestyle. The German rider Rebecca Horstmann was supreme with the Young Riders. In short: the crowd could indulge with dressage sports of the highest level. In addition to top sport there were also shops where visitors could buy equestrian products.
February 27th to March 3rd 2019
Sports director Wim Verwimp: "We could not have had better dressage sport at CDI Lier. The event was very well received by the public, and the riders were also very satisfied. Despite the frost, the conditions for the riders and the horses were good. The stables were heated and we had a larger warming-up facility than last year. The third edition of CDI Lier will take place from February 27th to March 3rd 2019. "
Even higher level
The organization is going to work hard to take the event to an even higher level in 2019. For example, next year a new hall will be built where the warming-up will be organized. The organization would like to thank the sponsors, riders, exhibitors and visitors for this successful edition of CDI Lier! We hope to see you all again next year. We are already looking forward to the 2019 edition!
https://www.cdilier.be/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/cdi-lier-geslaagd-2018.jpg 667 1000 Equine MERC https://www.cdilier.be/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Logo-CDI-Lier-Menu.png Equine MERC2018-03-05 13:52:492018-03-05 13:56:12CDI Lier: Looking back to a very successful 2018 edition
Convincing victory for Jorinde Verwimp in Grand Prix Freestyle Lier CDI Lier optimizes facilities for competitors


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Join Europe's Society of Rhinoplasty Surgeons
The Rhinoplasty Society of Europe was founded in 2011 by a group of 9 surgeons. The Rhinoplasty Society of Europe is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the open exchange of innovative ideas and techniques concerning plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic rhinoplasty.
The goal of our society is education and exchange of experience. The intention of the Founding Members was that the Rhinoplasty Society of Europe acts as an educational platform for its members, to allow specialized members who have a strong clinical, teaching, and research interest in plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic rhinoplasty to exchange and develop their ideas and to work out problems in a common forum of mutual respect and collegiality.
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Primary rhinoplasty involves removing excess bone or cartilage, augmenting deficient areas and altering the internal nasal structures, thereby improving the structural support of the nose. The final changes may be subtle or dramatic, depending on the needs of the patient. Rhinoplasty can be considered one of the most complex and challenging procedures in cosmetic surgery. The trends over the past decade have shifted away from reduction or division of the cartilage framework of the nose to conserving the native anatomy and augmenting deficient areas to restore balance and structural support.
Primary rhinoplasty refers to first – time nasal surgery, whether for cosmetic or functional purposes, as opposed to secondary rhinoplasty, which indicates the patient has had one or more previous rhinoplasty surgeries.
Primary Rhinoplasty has two major approaches : CLOSED (internal approach) and OPEN (external approach).
In the Closed Rhinoplasty, the nose is approached via an internal incision ( no external visible scars). The surgeon works on the internal nasal structures through this approach. In the Open Rhinoplasty, a very small external incision is made on the columella to open the nose. Most scars resulting from the open rhinoplasty are usually favourable, very rarely conspicuous. This technique allows the surgeon to visualise most areas of the nose and facilitates the procedure, especially in secondary and difficult cases. This approach gives the surgeon a three-dimensional view of the nose, which helps to reorganise the nasal structures.
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Rhinoplasty?
Rhinoplasty (commonly referred to as a "nose job ") is a cosmetic surgery that involves resizing or reshaping the nose. Airway problems due to the deviation of skeletal structures are also be corrected at this operation. Over the past decade, rhinoplasty has become one of the most commonly performed aesthetic surgeries in Europe and the world.
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text:
Q: Groupby() and aggregation in pandas I have a pd.DataFrame that looks like this:
In [149]: df
Out[149]:
   AMOUNT       DATE  ORDER_ID  UID
0    1001 2014-01-02       101    1
1    1002 2014-01-03       102    3
2    1003 2014-01-04       103    4
3    1004 2014-01-05       104    5
4    1005 2014-01-09       105    5
5    1006 2014-01-07       106    7
6    1007 2014-01-08       107    8
7    1008 2014-01-09       108    5
8    1009 2014-01-10       109   10
9    1500 2014-01-09       110    5

and I want to truncate all rows that correspond to the same UID and DATE to one row and use the sum of the values in the AMOUNT column for the one row that remains.
In short, the desired output would be:

In [149]: df
Out[149]:
   AMOUNT       DATE  ORDER_ID  UID
0    1001 2014-01-02       101    1
1    1002 2014-01-03       102    3
2    1003 2014-01-04       103    4
3    1004 2014-01-05       104    5
4    3513 2014-01-09       105    5 ## <- Rows that previously had index [7,9,4] are now truncated to this one row and the AMOUNT is the sum of of the AMOUNT values of those three rows
5    1006 2014-01-07       106    7
6    1007 2014-01-08       107    8
8    1009 2014-01-10       109   10

In essence, what I want to do is 'aggregate' all rows that correspond to the same user UID and DATE to one row and leave all other rows intact.
What I've tried so far is this:
In [154]: df.groupby(['UID','DATE'])['AMOUNT'].sum()
Out[154]:
UID  DATE
1    2014-01-02    1001
3    2014-01-03    1002
4    2014-01-04    1003
5    2014-01-05    1004
     2014-01-09    3513
7    2014-01-07    1006
8    2014-01-08    1007
10   2014-01-10    1009
Name: AMOUNT, dtype: int64

but I'm not sure where to start in order to either go back to original df and remove the 'extra' rows nor how to assign the new sum value of AMOUNT to the one remaining row.
Any help is very appreciated!

A: I think you can aggregate sum and first:
print (df.groupby(['UID','DATE'], as_index=False).agg({'AMOUNT': sum, 'ORDER_ID': 'first'}))

   UID        DATE  AMOUNT  ORDER_ID
0    1  2014-01-02    1001       101
1    3  2014-01-03    1002       102
2    4  2014-01-04    1003       103
3    5  2014-01-05    1004       104
4    5  2014-01-09    3513       105
5    7  2014-01-07    1006       106
6    8  2014-01-08    1007       107
7   10  2014-01-10    1009       109

A: df['AMOUNT'] = df.groupby(['UID','DATE'])['AMOUNT'].transform('sum')
df = df.drop_duplicates(['UID', 'DATE'])
df
Out[21]:
   AMOUNT       DATE  ORDER_ID  UID
0    1001 2014-01-02       101    1
1    1002 2014-01-03       102    3
2    1003 2014-01-04       103    4
3    1004 2014-01-05       104    5
4    3513 2014-01-09       105    5
5    1006 2014-01-07       106    7
6    1007 2014-01-08       107    8
8    1009 2014-01-10       109   10

A: Alternatively you can use aggregate:
In [10]: df.groupby(['UID', 'DATE']).agg({'AMOUNT': np.sum, 'ORDER_ID': lambda x: x.iloc[0]}).reset_index()
Out[10]:
   UID       DATE  AMOUNT  ORDER_ID
0    1 2014-01-02    1001       101
1    3 2014-01-03    1002       102
2    4 2014-01-04    1003       103
3    5 2014-01-05    1004       104
4    5 2014-01-09    3513       105
5    7 2014-01-07    1006       106
6    8 2014-01-08    1007       107
7   10 2014-01-10    1009       109

Assuming you only want the "first" ORDER_ID from your expected output, ie. lambda x: x.iloc[0]

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Preparing for the first plenary session of the Potsdam conference, in the afternoon of July 17, 1945 President Harry Truman received a Top Secret telegram from Washington D.C. indicating the results of the first test of an atomic weapon. The coded telegram indicated that the flash of light could be seen and heard two hundred fifty miles from the Trinity test site. Later that day, reversing policies of passivity, Truman used the successful nuclear test as a stern negotiating tool with Joseph Stalin. Historically, the Potsdam conference would prove to be the seminal moment in the geographical formation of the Iron Curtain - a cartographic division of space between Eastern and Western geopolitical ideologies. Beyond mere historical document, this research contends that post-WWII political and architectural space stem from specific historical conjectures of geographical power struggles. Is it possible that architectural space can be both a symptom of changes in geopolitics while also instantiating changing power structures? Guéorguy Stoilov's Buzludzha Ideological Monument in Bulgaria is the site of this investigation.
During the late-1950s and 60s, hundreds of memorials commemorating World War II called 'Spomeniks' were built throughout the Balkans. Striking monumental sculptures, these memorials were commissioned to commemorate sites where WWII battles took place. Today they are largely neglected and unknown. The Buzludzha Ideological Monument in Bulgaria, albeit different in intent, follows the lineage of these monuments.
Immediately following WWII Europe and Russia spend enormous resources on urban reconstruction with little architectural merit - in particular large scale housing. Furthermore, the Kremlin banned individual artistic expression in architecture with the exception of government assembly buildings. We don't see, therefore, the emergence of significant architectural design in this region until after the death of Stalin in 1953. Soon after there is a sudden rise of memorials constructed, which reaches its climax in 1981 with the Buzludzha Ideological Monument.
Buzludzha is Bulgaria's largest ideological monument to Communism. Designed by architect Guéorguy Stoilov, more than six thousand workers and twenty leading Bulgarian artists were involved in its seven year construction. The building was unveiled in 1981 on the 1300th anniversary of the foundation of the Bulgarian state. One of the last of its type, the Buzludzha Monument is entrenched in a geopolitical global power struggle. While the United Nations Assembly and the Palace of the Soviets have solidified their place within the cannons of architectural discourse, Guéorguy Stoilov's Buzludzha Ideological Monument has largely been ignored. Relatively unknown and understudied, its importance lies as a symptom of a geopolitical cartographic representation.
While the Buzludzha Monument celebrates a political reification of Soviet ideologies, it is moreover an architectural space representative of an emerging global construct. What does it mean to indicate a particular design - or architectural form - anticipates a broader social change? To claim so presupposes a possibility of architecture being before its time - or out of time. How can architecture operate accordingly?
Stemming from radical changes in geopolitics immediately following WWII, architecture became a means of mapping geographical context cartographically. Similar to Henri Lefebvre's theory of social space, which indicates that architectural space both produces and is produced by political space, this dissertation contends that a new global space emerged coinciding with the end of WWII in 1945. The global powers of Russia and the United States came into direct contact at national borders of Europe and Asia - such as the Berlin Wall or the 38th parallel in Korea. Bulgaria itself, however, is a geopolitical border. Its geographical location in between Soviet Russia and NATO Greece make it the perfect case study for such an architectural inquiry. What was the perception of Soviet Russia in mid-twentieth century Bulgaria? What were attempts to resolve the conflicting dilemma of a political construct which supposes soceity of the masses and one that practices oppression and enslavement?
Although the time period immediately following WWII has been chronicled historically, such as Anne Applebaum's Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, it has been little understood architecturally. The few mentions one finds of an architectural history of this time period focuses mostly on provocative endeavors such as the Situationists and the spectacle of Guy DeBord and provocations by Archigram and Superstudio, while leaving serious architectural constructions undiscussed. There is, therefore, a void in the discourse at this time period, which incidentally, marks a seminal moment between modernism and the atomic age - visible in the emergence of new types of geopolitical states such as the People's Republic of Bulgaria.
Borrowing from Lefebvre's spatial historicism, which claims that social space originates from and simultaneously produces political economic conditions, the post-war atomic age of the mid-twentienth century enabled new types of projects such as the United Nations and the Buzludzha Monument. With the emergence of the atomic age and its accompanying fear of annihilation, coupled with the new geopolitical allocation of Europe and the remainder of the world, in 1945 we see the full realization of global geopolitical space. As German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk argues, this new spatial conception was made possible only after the geographical developments of WWII.
A period of flux and transition, 1945-1969 offers a unique spatial conception of the world that is further altered with the social revolutions of 1968, Apollo moon landings, and accompanying Earthrise photograph. Politically, this time period sees the coeval existence of two seemingly disjointed ideologies. On one hand we have an era of optimism for global peace exemplified most accurately by the United Nations, but on the other a fear of instant annihilation brought forth by nuclear weapons. It is our claim that the ostensible optimism of the era merely as a veil for a fear of complete annihilation - made most evident in the architectural space of the Buzludzha Ideological Monument.


Pandora One is an ad-free subscription offered to those who prefer listening without advertisements. You can upgrade to a monthly Pandora One subscription here, to remove all external advertising. Additional benefits include: No Ads; More Skips; Fewer Timeouts.
4 Pandora One gift cards have been redeemed!


Medicines and drugs are the best discoveries that human have ever made. These have, with no doubt, increased the overall life spans of humans as well as of animals. There exists a variety of medicines and drugs in the market, and it, most of the times becomes really confusing for retailers to decide which brand to go with. The medicine drug dealers, medicine suppliers, drug manufacturers, medicine exporters and medicine wholesalers listed here provide better quality medicines at budget friendly prices. Chemists and retailers looking for bulk medicines and drugs can choose this global online marketplace to facilitate contacts of pharmeceutical wholesalers and medicine dealers from all parts of India. It is recommended to browse through different quotations before making the final order.
Buy here, medicines and drugs in bulk from the listed medicine dealers, drug exporters, medicine manufacturers, pharmaceutical suppliers. Smedunia provides solutions to all your bulk medicines and drugs needs in a few clicks.
The Department of Internal Medicines mission is to provide the best care to patients and advance the understanding of human illness and disease through creative and collaborative research.


Revere Projects is a Project Management Consultancy specialising in the management and delivery of multidisciplinary projects.
Obtaining development and operational work application approvals for medium density residential, commercial and land subdivisions.
Preparing, reviewing and awarding of tenders for residential, commercial fit-out and civil construction projects.
Delivering feasibility assessments which enable optimum applications for site and building configurations.
Coordinating and managing subcontractor deliverables on building, civil construction, infrastructure, environmental and renewable energy technology projects.
Integrating and balancing project objectives with indigenous and cultural heritage groups.
Revere Projects provides a complete project management service through identifying client's objectives, managing design and project planning and guaranteeing project completion in a timely and professional manner.
Revere Projects will be able to assist you.


Royal IHC (IHC), the global leader in shipbuilding for the dredging and offshore industries, has reached an agreement to sell 100% of its shares in its subsidiary IHC Sealing Solutions. The new owners are Willem Steenge, who as CEO is partly responsible for the strong growth of IHC Sealing Solutions in recent years, and Rabo Participaties (RaPar).
The sale enables IHC to strengthen its focus on its core business: offering integrated innovative vessels, advanced equipment and life-cycle support to the dredging, wet mining and offshore construction industries.
Bram Roelse, CEO of IHC, said: "IHC Sealing Solutions is a very stable and healthy company that deals with great projects and strong patents. However, its activities are not directly related to IHC's business strategy. IHC Sealing Solutions has been operating independently since 1979 and its target markets are mostly external to IHC's activities."
IHC Sealing Solutions is continuing under the leadership of CEO Willem Steenge, who in the past 14 years has guaranteed strong growth and development for the company. With RaPar and Rabobank as financial partners, a dedicated team has been assembled to serve the market with services that focus on quality, commitment and reliability.
"On behalf of the management of IHC Sealing Solutions, I can confirm that we are very pleased with this acquisition," said Willem. "Together with our colleagues, and supported by RaPar and Rabobank, we have a positive outlook for the future. We will make every effort to continue and improve the service and growth of the company in recent years." The IHC Sealing Solutions management team was advised on the transaction by Menaging, BBT Supportancy and Solon Advocaten.
Rabo Participaties is one of the private equity funds of the Rabobank Group, which supports growing Dutch companies through minority interests. With the successful completion of this transaction, its portfolio has expanded to 11 companies in various sectors.
Bob van der Veen, Director of RaPar, commented: "We are delighted with this transaction. We have been impressed by the experienced management team, led by CEO Willem Steenge, which has helped the company to develop and grow in recent years. IHC Sealing Solutions is a strong brand and, thanks to recent investment in the new plant in Alblasserdam, it will continue to provide high-quality innovative products within strict timelines."
RaPar was advised on this transaction by NautaDutilh, JSA and Sincerius. The transaction was made possible by Rabobank Assen – North-Drenthe, in cooperation with Rabobank Acquisition Finance Regional Team North-East Netherlands, which has provided the bank funding.


text:
Substantive analysis in China's horizontal merger control:a six-year review and beyond
Haixiao Gu and Andrew L. Foster, Journal of Antitrust Enforcement, 0, 1–23, 2015
China has made strides in putting the Anti-Monopoly Law merger control regime to work, especially considering it has only been in force for about six years. Despite absorbing some basic ideals and methods employed by advanced jurisdictions into its legislation and enforcement, China's horizontal merger analysis still has its own idiosyncratic features. This article examines relevant legislation and Ministry of Commerce's analytical methods in practice. It reveals that there is a lack of comprehensive legal standards regarding competitive effects and a tendency towards over-reliance on structural presumptions. For China's merger control to become more effective, it is critical to make strong use of available economic techniques and to resolve the possible tension between competition policy and industrial policy. Cooperation with other mature enforcers will also play an important role in improving the effectiveness of the young merger control regime.


In addition to Kew's Heritage Trees ( 21 February until 9 August 2015) there will be an exhibition from the Shirley Sherwood Collection. The Joy of Spring will display paintings of spring flowers such as snowdrops, magnolias and camellias along with iconic spring blooms of daffodils and bluebells. Paintings and studies from both past and present will sit alongside one another in this exhibition including some of my pieces.


Since beginning my study of the martial arts over thirty years in the past, one of many ideas that has always intrigued me was that of the 'Master'. The cause behind this is that the Master's of Arts diploma is focused on the analysis and dialogue based studying. When it comes to picking a Master's of Science or a Master's of Arts, students must take into consideration their own career objectives, in keeping with the University of Michigan Employers make no distinction between the 2 areas of examine and so they hold the identical prestige.
In order to register for EDUC 508, college students should submit the signed EDUC 508 qualification type to the Education Department workplace (STC 233 or scanned and emailed to [email protected] ). The MLitt is a analysis diploma on the University of Cambridge , where the Master of Philosophy (MPhil) is the identify given to the usual one-year taught diploma with a unique analysis component, in distinction to the use of MPhil at other institutions for a research degree. You can pursue Master of Arts in your respective stream after which can go in for Doctoral and Post Doctoral programs.
Sometimes subjects outdoors the normal Arts and Humanities also award Masters of Arts levels. East Carolina University gives a Master of Arts degree in English with a concentration in Rhetoric & Composition. Explore the history of diplomacy, modern worldwide economics, and the international legislation subjects that define diplomacy within the 21st century. When considering the time span between the two diploma options, the Master's of Arts diploma is usually a two yr possibility. Yet there does appear to be a certain class of one that deserves the title of grasp.
You have to submit the applying form created by the applying portal and all crucial documents as a tough copy to the Master Office; all paperwork must have reached the Master Office latest by the top of the application deadline. Within the humanities, MA degrees are conferred for study of Literature, History, Languages, Religion, Classics, Philosophy, Visual Arts and Performing Arts.
They differ from the Master of Education () diploma, which is often designed for practicing teachers or those who want to serve as counselors (college or otherwise) or as instructional directors. The difference, however, is definitely a lot larger than you might suppose, and figuring out the distinction between a Master of Arts in Teaching and a Master's in Education can steer you within the direction that is best for you.


text:
Fan Focus: Arnold Kidla
Arnold Kidla loves his 2018 Chevy Duramax Silverado. "This is officially the longest that I've owned a truck," says Arnold Kidla emphatically, "and I don't think that I'm going to get rid of it for a very long time. Mother Nature will have to take it away from me, or the wheels will have to come off before I get rid of it. And speaking of nature… we got caught in a sandstorm once with the truck, so I Line-X'd the front end. I'm gonna fight her over this truck."
Arnold, a retired Naval officer and internationally known tattoo artist, uses his truck as a daily driver and to pull his fifth wheel trailer. Every winter he and his wife, a former rock 'n' roll DJ of 30 years, pack up their trailer and head out of Sault Ste. Marie, MI where the snow fall can be incredible. "The snow fall here is one of the highest in the United States, so we head off to Vegas where we stay with family for 6 or 7 months."
He and his wife are fully enjoying their retirement, but Arnold talks fondly about his tattoo shop. "I was a tattoo artist for 20 years. The best part of it was meeting people and finding out why they're getting the tattoo, what's the meaning behind it, and why they got their other ones. It was the best 20 years of my life." Arnold went on to say, "I hated doing names on people and tried to talk them out of it, but sadly some people were really convinced things were going to last forever." He went on to say, "I was featured in about 15 international magazines. It was a great time, but now I'm having a great time with my truck."
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These beasts are a part of clusters of scarabs that are hiding in the sand and ambush you as you progress along the corridor. They're tameable, but if you've done the Harrison Jones quest chain then it's much easier to tame the Turquoise Scarab in the Chamber of Stars, as it shares the same skin and isn't in an instance.
There is a second beetle in this instance called a Jeweled Scarab. The other is an add during the Earthrager Ptah fight, and is a colour-changer when tamed. This one is colour-stable.
This NPC can be found in Halls of Origination (10).


I was quite busy on Saturday. We did housework in the morning, and then I took my eldest daughter to a science class in the afternoon. It was way across town, so I waited there for her, and did some blogging and related tasks on my computer. Then we went home, ate dinner, and hung out reading and watching TV until bedtime.
But I still had more things to do today. There were a few more cleaning tasks, the grocery shopping, and preparation for our Girl Scout meeting on Monday. But I didn't really want to do any of that, and I knew that what I really needed was a Sabbath.
However, I still felt like I needed to do the other things. So I sat around on the computer and didn't really do anything, and felt guilty about the things I wasn't doing. I didn't really either take a Sabbath or get things done; all I did was worry.
Next Sunday, I'm just going to do it. I'm going to take a Sabbath. I'm going to play music and read books and dance with my daughters and not worry about stuff that I "should" be doing.


I know what betrayal personally feels like. I experienced the great pain of very close friends fleeing from Me in the hour of My greatest need. As I walked to Golgotha, I heard the jeers and felt the hatred coming from the very ones who experienced My healing touch and saw My miracles. I learned quickly who I could rely on for strength and comfort... My Father in heaven.
I lived through loneliness in many areas of My earthly walk. Growing up, I knew I wasn't exactly like everyone else; I was peculiar in many ways. However, I desired to fit in, but knew I could never be what seemed normal in the human sense of the word.
I feel your pain as you walk through seasons of rejection and abandonment. The most heart wrenching time in My life was hanging on the cross knowing that even My Father turned His face from Me. "My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?" In that moment, I felt the weight of the world's sin encase My entire being. Though I knew no sin, I became sin that My destiny could be fulfilled. Nothing can convey the horror I felt when I knew the Father could not look at Me because I took on your sin and the sin of every human being.
Yes, I know what you are going through. I identify with everything you experience as a human being and so much more. I am God incarnate. I was fully human and fully God. I am acquainted with grief and suffering, joy and rejoicing. I walked through it all and finished My mission victoriously so I could carry you through to your victorious finish.
In this very moment, My hand extends to you. May I have the pleasure of this dance? I desire to lead you in this dance of life and guide you through the dips and turns along the way. Even when the dance seems to spin out of control, fix your eyes on Me and I will bring you back into step. My Word states, "I will never leave you and I will never forsake you." I Am the Word and I mean what I say!
When you feel lonely, dance with Me!
When you feel rejected, dance with Me!
When you feel abandoned and orphaned, dance with Me!
When you feel betrayed, dance with Me!
Dance with Me and let's dance the night away!
Lord Jesus, it is always amazing how You know just what to say to minister to me each and every day. There are times when the lies from darkness try to encase me in past memories or recent disappointments. Just knowing that Your hand extends to Me any time I need it brings incredible comfort and freedom. I am created to dance; everyone is created to dance. What a wonderful opportunity to accept Your gracious invitation to dance with You. Yes Lord, I accept. You may have this dance!


Blairfindy Castle, near Tomintoul, was closed to visitors after being deemed at risk of falling down and has been derelict for the last decade.
It is a 16th-century tower house built by the Gordons of Huntly, but needs serious renovation in the future.
However, plans to revitalise the historic location were lodged last year and construction is about to begin to stabilise and conserve the site and make it accessible to tourists and the public once again.
The project is being led by Crown Estate Scotland in partnership with the Tomintoul and Glenlivet Landscape Partnership and will cost about £630,000.
Simon Ovenden, countryside manager at Crown Estate Scotland for the Glenlivet Estate, is in charge of the initiative and said he was excited about what the renovation scheme could do for tourism in the area.
He added: "We realised that the castle was continuing to be at risk of falling and breaking apart, so the Crown Estate need to maintain it as well as we can and we couldn't let it continue to deteriorate.
"The castle is part of our national heritage and it used to be open to the public, but it reached a point 15 to 20 years ago where it was deemed unsafe for free access due to the deterioration of the stonework.
As part of the stabilisation project, contractors will start work later this month.
The castle will be covered in scaffolding and work will be done repairing the significant cracks and consolidating the stonework.
Afterwards, an elaborate steelwork will be installed inside the castle at different levels to tie it all together and keep it upright.
A new pathway is also being built between Glenlivet Castle and Blairfindy Castle, with hopes that the project will be fully completed and opened next year.
Mr Ovenden believes it will be a massive boost to have the former tourist attraction open once again.
He said: "Next year, we want to have it open to visitors on a free-flow basis and bring increased levels of tourism interest to the area.