Maine Teen Camp > MTC Blog > Are You Uncomfortable? Excellent!
A few recent conversations with camper and potential camper families got me thinking about an important concept at camp, and how we address it says a lot about what MTC is all about.
It's the idea of comfort, and how a camper's experience of comfort while at camp is a useful way of framing their summer.
When a camper first arrives at camp, especially those who don't know any one else at camp, it is natural and expected that they are going to feel quite uncomfortable and uncertain. Our immediate job is to work on the aspects creating that uncertainty and remove them as quickly and fully as possible.
We spend a lot of time in the first 3 days of camp getting to know each other, getting to know the camp facility, getting to know the activities, and getting to know where and when we are meant to be at the different times of day – easing the uncomfortable. It's always so much easier to feel comfortable and self-assured when you know where you are sleeping (and that's there no spiders in your bunk); when dinner is; who your bunk mates are and where they are from; and where you are showering (and that there's no spiders in the shower stall)!
Once a camper can feel confident in knowing the where and when part of camp, they are hopefully relaxed enough to start going beyond the basics of getting to know their cabin mates. Instead of just knowing someone's name and where they live, campers spending time together start learning about each other's background, their goals for the summer, what they are nervous about, and so on. Acquaintances soon become fast friends. Combine these friendships with the campers growing understanding of the entire camp culture – knowing and trusting staff; recognizing the importance placed on personal and social safety; the acceptance of individuality – and campers start to feel confident and significantly more comfortable.
So why do we want to make them uncomfortable all over again?
There is enough variety and depth of instruction in camp activities that there are multiple opportunities for everyone to do something that they just aren't very good, or very experienced at. Of course, when we try to learn a new skill, or put ourselves in a new situation for the first time, it can be deeply uncomfortable. Getting up on stage with a guitar in your hand. Trying a new style of dance. Jumping off a zipline platform 40' in the air. Using fire and hammers to create art. Jumping high in the air with a wakeboard strapped to your feet. Swimming across a lake further from shore than you've ever been. There are two courses of action available to address this discomfort. Avoid the situation entirely, which leads to no new learning, no discovery of new capabilities. Alternatively, we can work to overcome the discomfort. That work will usually involve some instruction or guidance from trusted teachers or supervisors; it will probably involve practice, and probably some frustration or fear; and it will involve discovery of new or expanded capabilities.
And then, just like that, the discomfort fades again. The experience that previously caused anxiety or stress is now just another "thing I can do". The best part is that it doesn't end there. Because now there is a new thing that will make you uncomfortable. You played guitar in public? How about playing a song you wrote? Now how about recording that song and sharing it with the wider world? The uncomfortable, just keeps building the confidence.
Camp is a place to grow. But it doesn't happen all by itself, all at once, or without effort. Camp can't do it for a camper. Only the camper can choose to put themselves through a challenging, uncomfortable experience. Our job is to help them choose that challenge. Choosing MTC is a first step. Going to a place you don't know anyone else is not an easy choice to make, and not a choice that every teenager is capable of making. But for those who do, it's a big first step to truly discovering some of the other remarkable things that they are capable of doing.


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Book Spotlights 1994 Portage Disappearance & Murder
Russell Smith plead guilty to the murder of Khristine Smith
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It took years for investigators to uncover the truth of what happened to Khristine Renee Smith. To this day her remains have not been located and her husband, Russell L. Smith remains incarcerated.
Russ and Khristine Smith seemed like an ideal couple to those looking in from the outside. Married for 8 years, the two shared a daughter who neighbors said, Khristine doted on.
On September 28, 1994, Khristine Renee Smith disappeared from Portage, Michigan. Her husband, Russell Smith, told everyone she had left voluntarily with another man. Khristine's loved ones did not believe him. They did not think she would have abandoned her then seven-year-old daughter.
It wasn't until 1998 that Russell pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in connection to Khristine's case. He confessed that after they put their child on the school bus, they began to argue and Khristine threatened to leave with their daughter. Russell said he retrieved a gun then shot Khristine twice in the head killing her. Russell later agreed to help detectives find her body, but searches of the lake turned up nothing. He was sentenced to 35 to 70 years in prison for his wife's murder.
Author Patricia Springer, a former North-Texas-area newspaper reporter and radio news director, takes a look at the case in her book "Murder So Cold: A Father's Deadly Rage".
A synopsis of the book:
Brings to life the disturbing true story of Russ Smith, who, unbeknownst to his neighbors and friends, murdered his wife of eight years, but told everyone, including his young daughter, that she ran away with another man--a crime that remained unsolved until "cold case" investigators discovered the truth.
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Filed Under: book, Cold Case, commerce, murder, Portage

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Live Updates: Two Dead, Others Injured at Saugus High School Shooting in Santa Clarita, California
By Asher Stockler On 11/14/19 at 11:35 AM EST
U.S. Shooting Guns Breaking News
Breaking News Newsweek Photo Graphic
Two people are dead and many others injured after a gunman opened fire at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California, Thursday morning.
Update 3:01 p.m. EST: A second shooting victim, a 14-year-old male student, has died, the sheriff's office announced during an afternoon news conference.
Update 2:46 p.m. EST: Captain Kent Wegener of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department confirmed the death of a 16-year-old female student. Speaking at a news conference Thursday afternoon, he also said that four other students were wounded: a 14-year-old female, a 15-year old female and two 14-year-old males. The shooting suspect, identified as a 16-year-old male student, is in detention at a local hospital. He is being treated for a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head.
Sheriff's deputies arrived on the premises after responding to a call of a possible shooting at 7:38 a.m. local time. Wegener said that a .45 caliber semiautomatic pistol was recovered at the scene and that on the quad, deputies discovered several injured students, including the suspect.
Update 1:53 p.m. EST: A weapon connected to the shooting has been seized by law enforcement. The remaining lockdowns on Saugus High School and nearby Arroyo Seco Junior High School have been lifted.
Update 1:35 p.m. EST: Los Angeles County Undersheriff Tim Murakami tweeted that there were "rumors" the suspect may have used social media to "post threats" prior to the incident. His department is investigating these rumors, though they have not been confirmed.
Update 1:10 p.m. EST: A female patient has died as a result of the shooting, Henry Mayo Hospital announced. She had been in critical condition. The hospital has three other male patients, two of whom are in critical condition, and the other is in good condition. The female victim's age is unknown, as is information about whether she was a student.
#saugushighshooting: update: one female deceased patient. Two critical male patients. One male patient in good condition.
— Henry Mayo Hospital (@HenryMayoHosp) November 14, 2019
Update 12:50 p.m. EST: Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva tweeted that the suspected shooter is in police custody and is being treated at a local hospital.
Update 12:35 p.m. EST: Nearby Henry Mayo Hospital tweeted that it currently has four patients, "three male and one female." The female patient and two of the male patients were said to be in "critical condition." The remaining male patient was listed as in "good condition."
Update 12:30 p.m. EST: The William S. Hart Union High School District tweeted that all school lockdown notices have been lifted except for Saugus High School and Arroyo Seco, a nearby middle school.
Update: With the exception of Arroyo Seco and Saugus, all schools lockdown have been lifted. We will send regular updates and encourage you to go to https://t.co/liRFKCD1E9
— William S. Hart UHSD (@HartDistrict) November 14, 2019
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department was looking for an individual Thursday morning they suspect opened fire at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California.
"We believe at this time that there is only one suspect but we are actively investigating and following all leads," the sheriff's office tweeted.
We believe at this time that there is only one suspect but we are actively investigating and following all leads.
— SCV Sheriff (@SCVSHERIFF) November 14, 2019
The department described the suspect as an Asian male wearing a dark hat and dark clothing.
The high school is on lockdown, as are nearby high schools.
The Santa Clarita outpost of the sheriff's department tweeted that the fire department is on the scene and multiple units were "responding from other sheriff's stations to assist."
Rosedell and Highland Elementary are two of the other nearby schools that have been placed on lockdown.
The sheriff's department tweeted instructions to avoid the area, telling anyone in the neighborhood to "lock doors and stay inside."
If you live in neighborhood s anywhere near Saugus High, PLEASE LOCK DOORS and stay inside. If you see suspect, male dark clothing, in backyards, etc. CALL 911
Undersheriff Tim Murakami tweeted that "several" people have been injured, although their status is not currently known.
The undersheriff retweeted a Twitter account called LA County Scanner which stated that students will not be released to their parents "if they were a verified witness to the shooting."
Saugus High School is home to about 2,400 students and is located in the heart of the Santa Clarity Valley, near Interstate 5.
Former Congresswoman Katie Hill, who represented Santa Clarita in the U.S. Congress, tweeted that she was "praying for all."
"We have so many campaign interns and volunteers who go there," she said. Hill is a Saugus High alumna.
Nearby Henry Mayo Hospital tweeted that they had received two patients in critical condition, and three more were en route.
The Los Angeles division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said Thursday that they have "responded" to the incident are were on scene.
California Senator Kamala Harris tweeted:
Heartbroken and praying for Santa Clarita. I'm incredibly grateful to the first responders who are on the scene of this active situation. If you are near the area, please listen to law enforcement.
Our children and communities are being terrorized. We can't accept this.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) November 14, 2019
This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available.


WASHINGTON (AP) — A landmark $25 billion settlement with the nation's top mortgage lenders was hailed by government officials Thursday as long-overdue relief for victims of foreclosure abuses. But consumer advocates countered that far too few people will benefit.
It's unclear how much the deal will help struggling homeowners keep their homes or benefit those who have already lost theirs.
"The total number of dollars is still small compared to the value of the mortgages that are underwater," said Richard Green, director of the University of Southern California's Lusk Center for Real Estate.
Federal and state officials announced that 49 states joined the settlement with five of the nation's biggest lenders. Oklahoma struck a separate deal with the five banks. Government officials are still negotiating with 14 other lenders to join.
The settlement ends a painful chapter of the financial crisis, when home values sank and millions edged toward foreclosure. Many companies processed foreclosures without verifying documents. Some employees signed papers they hadn't read or used fake signatures to speed foreclosures — an action known as robo-signing.
President Barack Obama praised the settlement, saying it will "speed relief to the hardest-hit homeowners, end some of the most abusive practices of the mortgage industry and begin to turn the page on an era of recklessness that has left so much damage in its wake."
The deal, reached after 16 months of contentious negotiations, is subject to approval by a federal judge. It's the biggest settlement involving a single industry since the $206 billion multistate tobacco deal in 1998.
"Two thousand dollars won't cover my moving costs," said Brian Duncan, who was evicted from his Tempe, Ariz., home last April.
Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who led the 50-state talks, said the $2,000 checks represent the homeowners' best hope of being reimbursed for any amount. They would have had trouble winning settlements in court because of the time-consuming complexity of litigation, Miller said.
Mike Heid, president of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, said the agreement "represents a very important step toward restoring confidence in mortgage servicing and stability in the housing market."
Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities, said the settlement may help the housing market in the long run. That's because it lets banks proceed with millions of foreclosures that have been stalled. Many lenders had refrained from foreclosing on homes as they awaited the settlement.
"We've got a lot of issues to work our way through in the housing market," Vitner said. "What this settlement does is allow that process to get started."
"It's really a wash," said Paul Miller, bank analyst at FBR Capital Markets. "A billion dollars is nothing for these large trillion-dollar banks."
The bulk of the settlement will go toward reducing underwater mortgages and refinancing some of them. But the banks had realized they weren't going to collect the loans and had already written down their value, Miller noted.
The deal requires banks to make foreclosure their last resort. And they can't foreclose on a homeowner who is being considered for a loan modification.
Still, the federal government has a dubious track record of enforcing such rules. The Obama administration's signature foreclosure-prevention program has failed to help more than half of those who have applied to have their mortgage payments lowered permanently. Many have complained that the program is a bureaucratic nightmare.
The deal is "another sad example of Wall Street not being held accountable for fraud, perjury and crimes that created the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression," said Dennis Kelleher, CEO of Better Markets, a group that advocates stricter financial regulation. "The math does not add up in a massive 'robo-signing' scandal that is nothing more than systemic criminal conduct."
Associated Press Writers Michael Virtanen in Albany, N.Y., Pallavi Gogoi in New York and Ben Feller, Christopher S. Rugaber and Marcy Gordon in Washington contributed to this report.


This is a simple to use voice recognition module which works on UART protocol.
You can record 15 commands in the memory of this module and detect the command whenever the same sound is captured on the microphone.
This enables you to add voice control features to any of your embedded projects.


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Medium Happy
IT'S ALL HAPPENING!
May 29, 2015 by John Walters	| 6 Comments
by John Walters
Starting Five
1. Vote For Roger — or Davo!
As we wonder whether Sepp Blatter's Panic Room will eventually be a U.S. jail cell….
As we speak, Blatter is running (figuratively, not literally — although I would pay to watch a foot race) against Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan for the FIFA presidency. Ali has pledged universal health care if elected.
Below, the guy I'd nominate to be the next FIFA prez…
2. Caste, A Spell
Your co-champions (co-champions? When did the Big 12 take over this event?) for the National Spelling Bee are Vanya Shivashankar of Olathe, Kans., and Gokul Venkatachalam of Chesterfield, Mo. Well, they are both from Big 12 country, as it turns out.
The last words that each spelled correctly — "nunatak" and "scherenschnitte" — are Inuit and German, respectively.
Mr. Trilby finished 3rd….
3. Pre Destined
Steve Prefontaine in high school….
Tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of the death of Steve Prefontaine, one of the true legends of American sport. The annual Prefontaine Classic will be held at Hayward Field tomorrow in Eugene. I'm rooting for Emma Coburn and Jenny Simpson in the women's 1500 because they're cool.
Tough Buffs: Coburn (L) and Simpson (Not L)
4. Met-a-Physics
The Mets signed Syndegaard after the History Channel granted him an unconditional release from Vikings.
I kind of like that the New York Mets pitching staff now has not one but two dream boats (Matt Harvey and Noah Syndegaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaard) but that its staff ace, and one of the best pitchers in the N.L. this spring, is Bartolo Colon (7-3, tied for most wins in NL).
How can you not love this guy?
5. Stairway to Heaven?
Behold, the Half Dome Cables Trail in Yosemite National Park, which is a 45-degree, 600-foot climb to the top of Half Dome. People do this every summer. Are they nutso? Have you done this? What was your experience, if you did? Panoramic photo below….
Posted in: Current-cy	|
May 28, 2015 May 28, 2015 by John Walters	| 5 Comments
Thanks to a GFOB who prefers to remain nameless, we now have our very own Medium Happy Twitter account (@MediumHappy88). The app and memorial sandwich are still in the offing.
The Baur au Lac hotel had quite a few sudden checkouts on Wednesday morn.
1. Going Down, FIFA?
This was from Sam Farmer:
Early May: Under-inflated bladder.
Late May: Over-inflated Blatter.
Yesterday was a great day for justice. It takes more than just being on the side of justice. It takes people to do the dirty work to rectify injustice, to pay no mind when cynics say a corrupt system cannot be changed. Good for you, Loretta Lynch. You're no coal-miner's daughter any more.
Here's Dan Wetzel's column, which was well done. And here's mine, which was medium rare but came with a side.
2. The Rookies
For the first time ever, the NBA Finals will feature a pair of rookie coaches. So take a bow, Steve Kerr and LeBron James.
Oh, that show above was popular in 1975, the last time the Golden State Warriors won the NBA championship. And yes, that's Kate Jackson….before Charlie "took her away from all that" (ask your mom or dad).
Didn't you like Klay Thompson's explanation last night: "I did feel dizzy, but there was no concussion so we had no need to go through the concussion protocol." (In so many words). That's like when FIFA said, "Sure, there were ethics violations, but it didn't affect the integrity of the vote."
3. Amy Schumer Explains the Universe
I still find her show hit-and-mistress — she's a naughty girl, that Amy Schumer — but this bit with Bill Nye the Science Guy is why she's elevated herself into the Tina Fey realm. Apricot Puggle? That's good.
This was Schumer's coming-out party on Comedy Central a few years ago at the Charlie Sheen Roast. She swung for the fences here. This could have been a career-ending set, but she rode that wave home.
There's talk of Schumer being the next Bachelorette. God help those men.
4. Alcohol = Truth Serum
Sherman will also be starring in the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre production of "The Passion" this summer.
While James Harden was committing 13 turnovers in Game 5 last night, another bearded 'baller was making news with his tweets. Former Michigan State and Notre Dame center Garrick Sherman, currently deployed in Georgia (the country), spewed out some after-hours tweets relating to how he helped a former Spartan teammate beat a drug test and ridiculing the NCAA. The entire spree seemed unsolicited. This is what happens when you smoke a bowl in a small former Soviet republic by yourself in the pre-dawn hours. C'mon. We've all been there.
5. Is This Really Her?
I know. I know. I'm worse than Dave Grohl. But is that really Taylor Swift on the cover of Maxim? That looks like the Taylor Swift stand-in you use for birthday parties and bar mitzvahs. Or a budding Russian tennis prodigy who's currently ranked 91st in the world. I'm not trying to hate ("hate hate hate hate") but she really appears to have shaken it up with her look.
Swift a couple of weeks ago with another multiple-time host of SNL.
Turn It On Again
A couple of favorite Genesis songs: this one and Follow You, Follow Me. Released in 1980 off the album Duke, this tune never climbed higher than 58th in the U.S., but made it to No. 8 in the U.K. However, the video for the song did appear on MTV's first day of broadcasts in that same year.
"Turn it on again," by the way, refers to a television.
Remote Patrol
NBC Sports 7 p.m.
I'm not sure that this is a new episode, but Lord I hope so. These are the two gents who, during last year's World Cup, would constantly say, "Well done, FIFA," when something that appeared to have come straight out of a script occurred. Give Michael Davies and Roger Bennett an hour to opine on the FIFA kerfuffle (kerFIFAle?) and that's restaurant-quality television.
Alex Morgan, Sepp Blatter, and a French actor who was once considered tres sexy (about 2,00 croq monsieurs ago)
1. Fee, FIFA, Foe, Fumble
Last week: U.S. soccer goddess Alex Morgan reveals that FIFA president Sepp Blatter had "no idea who I was" when this picture was taken and she was one of three women up for the World Player of the Year Award.
This week: the U.S. sends out an indictment that leads Swiss officials to raid FIFA's offices and arrest six high-ranking members of FIFA (but not Blatter) on charges of corruption, racketeering and, I assume, flopping.
The 2018 World Cup is scheduled for Russia. The 2022 World Cup is scheduled for Qatar. Here's hoping at least the latter Blatter venue is scrapped.
2. Dewey Defeats Harden
The Cavs overcame the cover jinx last night. And the Warriors probably will do the same tonight.
Before either conference finals series is put to bed, SI puts Cleveland's LeBron James and the Warriors (see: bold print) on its cover for this week. This could be the first SI cover jinx in my memory that jinxed a team before it even played in the series SI was touting.
A motivator for the cover, besides the fact that LeBron sells on the newsstand, is that senior editor Mark Bechtel is from Cleveland and senior writer Chris Ballard hails from the East Bay.
Meanwhile, a senior editor who oversees hockey is probably wondering what more exactly the NHL has to do this spring to make the cover.
3. The Oakland E's
Take cover in the first five rows: Marcus Semien leads the majors in Errors with 17. The A's have committed 50 Errors, while the next worst team in baseball has committed 40.
If you're taking stock, the Oakland A's no longer have….
A.) Yoenis Cespedes.
B) Jon Lester, who was the reason they jettisoned Cespedes
C) The best record in baseball, as they did last July 31 (66-41) but rather now have the worst in the American League (17-31).
As Cespedes, now with the Detroit Tigers, said earlier this week, " (Former A's pitching coach Ariel) Prieto would tell me Oakland is a place where they develop players, then let them go.
"Then, why operate?" asked Cespedes. "Don't they want to win a championship?"
I believe I've heard someone wonder that before…
The funny thing is, Oakland's pitching and hitting is in the top third in baseball. Its fielding, however, is A'trocious, as the A's have committed 50 errors, or 25% more than the next-worst ball club, which has committed 40.
Every game in Oakland is a giveaway day.
4. Comic-Car
Jerry. Elaine. Coffee. "Don't you two realize you belong together!?!"
"If they were really doughnut holes, wouldn't the bag be empty?"
That's gold, Jerry!
The sixth season of Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee premieres soon, with guests Jim Carrey, Stephen Colbert, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Steve Harvey, Bill Maher and the next Jon Stewart, whatever his name is. Here's the teaser/trailer.
I think we all know what the series finale will be: a fiery crash involving our host and the chairman of Crackle, Dick Corcoran.
5. Lettermania
A new recurring item in which we pay tribute to Dave. You got a problem with that?
Here's Howard Stern on Late Night in October of 1984. Probably his second appearance.
Also, intern Caroline Schaper, 22, wrote two of the final 10 jokes for the final Top 10 List. If you look at her Twitter feed, you can sense a sharp sense of humor…
One Hand In My Pocket
I'm high but I'm grounded/I'm sane but I'm overwhelmed/I'm lost but I'm hopeful, baby
In the summer of 1995 Jagged Little Pill exploded on radio (and on the MTV), making an international star of 21 year-old Canadian Alanis Morissette and practically kick-starting the Lilith Fair era. The first hit, You Oughta Know, was a nasty kiss-off to Joey from Full House (really) and the third hit, Ironic, got everyone debating on the true meaning of the word –no it's NOT like rain on your wedding day. Thank God Twitter was not around at the time.
The second hit, Hand In My Pocket, was always my favorite. Also, its lyrics actually featured multiple examples of irony. Isn't THAT ironic?
Game 6: Ducks at Blackhawks
Citizen Kane: tonight on NBC Sports
Granted, this will likely go into overtime — there have already been six OT periods in the first five games. So feel free to watch Game 5 of the Rockets-Warriors first (ESPN, 9 p.m., or 6 p.m. locally at tipoff — enjoy that rush hour traffic, GSW fans) first or the Airplane! marathon on Encore!
1. Hero Takes a Fall
Which is the most provocative "Steph Curry Goes Ass-Over-Teakettle" photo? Is it the one above? Or is it this one? Okay, this one certainly has more of an air of panic to it because you can see Steph's expression….
Or how about this one? I refer to this as the "Sully Sullenberger" photo: "Brace for impact."
Curry wasn't too much of factor after this — cut to shot of him running in a hallway in the bowels of the Toyota Center — and the Rocketx extended the series to a fifth game.
2.Toews of Glory (see, cuz you pronounce it "Taze")
Toews (19) attempted and buried the shot from here….
Anaheim led 3-0 and the Honda Center (Honda Center, Toyota Center) after one period. The Western Conference final series was tied 2-2 and both of Chicago's wins have come in overtime.
So what happens? The Blackhawks trail 4-2 with less than 4 minutes to play. Then Jonathan Toews scores to make it 4-3. A little over a minute later, he scores again on the hockey equivalent of shooting it from the corner and banking it off the backboard. I still don't understand how that puck went into the net.
So, overtime. Blackhawks win? Nope. Anaheims scores :45 in to to up 3-2. That was the sixth overtime session in five games this series, though.
3. Honorary Dr. Lou
Former Notre Dame coach and certifiable living legend (as a public speaker of course) Lou Holtz received an honorary doctorate from Steubenville University, not far from his place of birth, Follansbee W. Va., and then he addressed the graduates. A Lou Holtz speech will have a few old (but good) lines, but it's still a good listen. My favorite: "They called it 'Catholics vs. Convicts.' I didn't like that. Because not everyone on our team was Catholic."
4. House of Plane*
And suddenly it was a pent-house
*The judges will also accept "Air BnB"
A bouncy house with three kids aboard in Fort Lauderdale makes a brief, unscheduled flight to a slightly more western section of Fort Lauderdale. There were a few broken arms, but nothing worse. I think most kids would say, "Do it again! Do it again!"
5. Cersei's Unhappy Hour
What time is happy hour in prison?
Everyone's favorite diabolical and incestuous queen mother, Cersei, is imprisoned on Sunday's Game of Thrones (making it an incarceration hat trick for the Lannister kids). Although I imagine she feels that any place that does not serve Prosecco is prison enough.
Rising: Tyrion, Ser Jorah, Jon Snow (even if he does know nothing)
Falling: Cersei, Bronn, Sansa
Cersei (played brilliantly by Lena Headey) has long been the Don Draper of GoT: do we love to hate her or hate to love her? Sure, she's flawed –and, okay, far more ruthless than Dick Whitman — but something within her still makes me feel empathy. There are days when I even wish I were related to her.
A review of Sunday night's episode by Andy Greenwald of Grantland….
The Tracks of My Tears
So take a good look at my face/You know my smile seems out of place/If you get closer it's easy to trace/The tracks of my tears.
(A few) Motown acts of note:
The O'Jays: a 3-man vocal group.
The Four Tops, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: 4-man vocal groups. (Diana Ross & The Supremes, a four-woman vocal group.
The Spinners, The Temptations, the Jackson Five: 5-man vocal groups.
Very similar templates, just different numbers of members.
Back in the Sixties, when scoring a Top 5 hit on the Billboard chart was akin to winning the SEC West, this all-time classic rose as high as No. 16. That's it. It also made a wonderful cameo in the 1986 Best Picture winner, Platoon. There's a future Best Actor winner in that scene, too, but you'll have to find him.
Game 4: Hawks at Cavs
TNT 8:30 p.m.
Someone on Twitter wrote the caption, "Jesse Pinkman and Walter White." Yup.
All offseason long, I've worked behind the scenes to enlist TNT to create a Susie B.-cam for Cavs games. They've told me, "No dice, as long as she continues to refer to him as 'Sweet Pea.'" I can respect that. It was a nice run, Atlanta. There will be some lovely parting gifts for you.
May 25, 2015 May 25, 2015 by John Walters	| 1 Comment
Did the Hawks really expect to win with Mike Scott attempting a pair of 26-footers in overtime ("That's what she said")?
1. Cavs Overcome LeBron's 23 Missed Shots To Beat Hawks
Cleveland's recidivist Cavalier, LeBron James, missed 23 shots — hmm, 23….where have I heard that number before in relation to the Eastern Conference finals? — but the Cavs were able to outlast the Predatory Avians Species in overtime, 114-111. LBJ did score 37 points, grab 18 rebounds and dish out 13 assists.
So the Cavs and Warriors are both up 3-0….that's going to make Adam Silver's nuptials this coming weekend go that much smoother.
2. Festival Time Across the Pond
Sunset over Norwich….
The first big summer festival in Europe took place over the weekend in Norwich, England. BBC Radio's Big Weekend drew a 2-day lineup that included (Saturday) Florence and the Machines, Fall Out Boy, Muse and David Guetta and (Sunday) Imagine Dragons Taylor Swift and Foo Fighters, who closed this show, too.
This was also the last weekend of Premier League play. It's as if the powers above needed to have something ready to sate the masses who were on the cusp of football withdrawal.
Drama? About an hour before T-Swizzle took the stage, London native Rita Ora performed. Ora's ex, Calvin Harris is A) Swift's current boyfriend (TRUE) and B) A former defensive back for the Dallas Cowboys in the Seventies (FALSE). Ora took a mild swipe at Harris (who will be lucky to make it through the summer with Swift, predicts I) but the only Bad Blood was Swift's song, which she would later include in her set.
Here's her set in total. Nice sunset at about 20:00. WARNING: I'm beginning to be over Taylor's entire boyfriend drama. It's almost as tiresome as my entire girlfriend drama. Almost.
p.s. Her songwriting is regressing and becoming increasingly self-absorbed. There, I said it.
3. The Dean of Daring
Potter working with no nets, no ropes, in Yosemite…
I didn't know much about Dean Potter when I learned of his death last week during a BASE jump in Yosemite National Park. We'll all have to wait for the inevitable 24-page Jon Krakauer story to come, to be followed by the best-selling Krakauer book, to be followed by the Krakauer film, but Potter wast truly an original. And truly fearless.
Watch this 2006 ascent of Heaven in Yosemite, the first free-solo climb of this face ever made. This "freebase" jump from Switzerland will also rattle your cage some. Potter's mantra with freebasing, in which you free climb with a parachute so that when/if you fall you'll be okay was "Fly or Die." Last week he got the latter.
4. Pop Culture Leftovers from Last Week*
Dave. Back home again, in Indiana
David Letterman taped his final show on Wednesday, May 20th. But, as you know, Late Show ordinarily ran Monday through Friday. Why did Dave cut short his final week? Was it because he wanted to get to the Indianapolis 500 early? Or was he all too aware that his hero, Johnny Carson, aired his final Tonight Show on May 22, 1992? In other words, had Letterman's final show aired last Friday, it would have been 23 years to the date after Carson's. And would Dave have wanted to appear that presumptuous?
Note: Carson was 66 when he retired; Letterman, 68.
Mad Men: On at least three of the final seven episodes of this half season, the last scene is of Don Draper all by himself (I can't account for the other three, which I haven't seen). That's no accident. In the final scene of the series, Don is not alone. He is sitting in the lotus position, in the midst of a multi-cultural, multi-racial, coed meditation group. Notice, what are they doing? Singing, in perfect harmony….
*Heat at 350 degrees for half an hour, then serve.
5. Melisandre the Giant
On Game of Thrones, Melisandre wants to sacrifice the daughter of her king/lover to the Lord of Light. Ehhh, wouldn't you rather just have a new leather bodice? Oh, it's easy to root against Carice Van Houten's character, but face it, you'd take her to the prom if she wanted you to.
Happy Days/Get Happy
The Judy Garland Show (CBS) lasted just one season and 26 stormy episodes in 1963-64, but that's what happens when you go up against Bonanza's time slot. And yet, this duet between the host and a young Barbra Streisand is legen — wait for it, later CBS show catchphrase –dary. This show was taped on October 4, 1963, and aired two days later. Six weeks later, happy days would be gone for a long, long time…
Game 4: Warriors at Rockets
ESPN 9 p.m.
As ESPN2 runs a marathon of "30 for 30" counter programming, ESPN will be running the Stephen Curry Show, which could mean, as it did on Saturday evening, "30 for 40."
Apologies for not posting earlier. After the exoduses (exodi?) of Don and Dave (we are in Year 1 A.D., "After Dave"), I required a day of mourning. Or at least a morning of mourning, since I was in a daze all morning. And when did Steve Rushin hijack the blog? Anyway, I'm back, a little bit sadder and a little bit older…but aren't we all?
Show 6,028
1. A Long Dave's Journey Into Night
Dave bids us "thank you, and good night" and with that, after 33 years of never intruding upon our time before 11:30 p.m., he is gone. Here's my write-up on the finale and here's an outstanding and information-packed piece by former Late Night/Late Show staffer Daniel Kellison ("Ringo doesn't count") for Grantland.
If you missed the final Top 10 list, here it is. Jim Carrey and Julia Louis-Dreyfus got the best lines.
And this is why I love Jim Carrey….
By the way, Dave's retirement was the ONE thing that inspired Bill Simmons to break his social media silence, as he posted a "Thank You" photo of Dave and Paul on Instagram yesterday.
2. When You Say Bud
Bud's actually more comfortable fishing and hunting than he is talking football….
Spent last Saturday at the Bloomington, Minn., home of Bud Grant, a day I will never forget. What a legend. Bud's 88 and still eagle-eye sharp and lucid and I bet he could still take the Vikings to the playoffs this season if he accepted the gig tomorrow. As you may or may not know, he's also the only man ever to play in both the NBA and the NFL.
3. James Addiction
Steph Curry, 33 points. James Harden, 38 points. The Warriors win by one when Houston fails to get off a shot on its final possession. Maybe it's just me, but it felt like the first time all quarter (the only quarter I watched was the fourth) when Harden didn't drive to the hoop.
He pulled up at the arc, got double-teamed by the Freres du Splash, dished to an open Dwight Howard, only he was himself above the arc ("like a fish needs a bicycle…"), passed back to Harden, who was then guarded by the Smother Brothers. No shot.
Golden State up, 2-0. But Houston can hang with 'em. Hoping this goes 7.
4. Portraits by Katie
So, I was able to invade the home of spend some time with Mike and Katie McCollow last weekend in Minneapolis. If they gave out Kennedy Center honors for personality, those two would be honorees. Anyway, Katie is the epitome of the idiom ("epidiome?") "more talent in her one little finger…"
This is a portrait she did of her youngest child, Molly. She does them for anyone (for a price, of course). Visit katiemccollow.com to learn more. And if you tell Katie that you learned about her site by reading this blog, she'll knock a dollar off the price (won't you, Katie?)
5. Will These Ruins Soon Be In Ruins?
Apparently, ISIS has taken control of the Syrian city of Palmyra, and while you probably were not headed to Syria on holiday this year (good thinking, you), it is possible that these dudes who put the "-hate" in caliphate could destroy the ancient ruins. It feels as if ISIS will not be satisfied until the entire planet looks like a vacant lot in Odessa, Texas, which, if you've been there, you know what I'm talking about….
Hate To Say I Told You
Do you remember the turn of the century? Garage rock made a brief and stunning comeback thanks to White Stripes, The Vines, The Strokes and this band from Sweden, The Hives. The lead singer was "Howlin'" Pelle Almvqvist and the album was titled Veni, Vidi, Vicious. Yes, they were Julius Caesar's favorite band. Too bad we never heard from them again on this side of the North Sea….
(We're just going to leave this space empty for a few days)
Call the kids, wake the neighbors! It's Dave's final show…..
Thank you, Dave
May 19, 2015 May 19, 2015 by John Walters	| Leave a comment
The suspects are from five different gangs, but now they all wear the same colors…
1. Sons of Sons of Anarchy
Nine dead and 192 arrested after five biker gangs basically reenact the network affiliate melee from Anchorman at a Twin Peaks breastaurant in Waco, Texas. Don't fear, David Koresh: your record still stands.
Some women who look like this will soon be unemployed….
Word is, the entire fracas started over a parking spot in the mens' room (the parking spot wasn't in the men's room, silly) and much of the fighting took place inside,
2. @POTUS Arrives
So, apparently, the president of the United States got his own Twitter account on Monday and began tweeting. This is a real thing. "Hello, Twitter, it's Barack. Six years in and they're finally giving me my own account."
Granted, it's not, "Watson, come here" but it is a landmark moment in politics and communication. I'm assuming that @realDonaldTrump has already blocked him.
Cue Sean Hannity wondering why the Commander in Chief is wasting his time on social media instead of defeating ISIS.
3. What's Next? "Norman D Invasion" for Oklahoma Football?
Behold , today's Daily Harrumph. While I completely understand the furor (wanted to be sure I spelled that word correctly) over the production and sale of this T-shirt by Under Armour — a company whose very name commodifies sports as combat — why is this any worse than a college team donning "Pro Combat" gear before a game? Or camouflage unis?
Doesn't all of it have the same effect: trivializing war?
4. Sylvan Sunday Splendor
Spent part of Sunday afternoon tramping around the 1,137-acre Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, which is probably a lot like what heaven looks like, if there is one. Thought for the day: Go outside and play. Feel cold. Feel hot. Feel exhausted. Feel a little bit scared. Feel lost. Just…feel.
We live in an age where people think that easier and more comfortable is better. Occasionally, yes. But as a highest goal in all things, it's a terrible life strategy.
5. 12 Angry Men, One Funny Schumer
If you missed this, Amy Schumer rounded up a sausage-fest of talent to shoot a 12 Angry Men parody in black-and-white. The accused? Schumer. The case? Whether or not Schumer is hot enough to be on basic cable TV. The episode-long bit featured Dennis Quaid, Jeff Goldblum, Paul Giammatti (excellent as usual, doing his Pig Vomit mien) John Hawkes, Vincent Kartheiser (Pete Campbell) and Nick DePaolo, the last one truly playing it straight and dramatic (and furious). If nothing else, the bit introduced the term "reasonable chub" into the lexicon.
Warning: NSFP.
You hold the key to love and fear/All in your trembling hand/Just one key unlocks them both/It's there at your command
Before they were a pair of starters on some terrific Los Angeles Ram defenses* of the early 1970s, The Youngbloods reached No. 5 on the Billboard charts in 1969 with this tune. They'd originally released it two years earlier and it never climbed higher than 62. Who can figure taste? This remains one of the signature songs of the Sixties.
Talking Jack and Jim Youngblood, of course. Not really musicians. Nor relatives. The former was a seven-time All-Pro, though, and is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The latter was pretty damn good himself.
Late Show
CBS 11:35 p.m.
Surprise. What did you expect? The show's finale is tomorrow night — Helen Slater takes Dave to an encounter group — but tonight is the final show with a guest and of course it's the same man who was there with Dave from the very beginning: Bill Murray. One of the many things I love about Dave is that he appreciates Murray as much as he does, and obviously the feeling is mutual.
And if you missed Norm Macdonald's send-off to Dave on Friday night, here it is.
1. Ommmm, I God
Quick thoughts on the Mad Men finale….
— Six phone calls, two of them person-to-person. I counted Don-Sally, Don-Betty, Peggy-Joan, Joan-client, Don-Peggy, Peggy-Stan. I understand that sometimes this can't be avoided within the plot, but a surfeit of calls made me want to hang up on the finale. When you've got actors as talented as Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss, you put 'em in a room together and watch them make sparks.
— Brief Mad Men series finale review: "Joan snorts coke, Don saves Coke."
The dude on the left was actually once married to Elisabeth Moss (Peggy)
— When Stephanie greets Don in California, she says, "What are you doing here?" Was this another episode of SNL's "The Californians?"
I sure hope Don breaks the land-speed record inside the Colosseum….
— The hunky red-headed dude who wanted to chase the land-speed record? That's Spencer Treat Clark, whom you may remember as Lucius from The Gladiator (was also the boy who got kidnapped in Mystic River).
–I loved Meredith's final scene: "I translated your speech into pig Latin." Roger: "That was a joke." I think this will be the beginning of Alan Sepinwall's review…(Update: Yup, it was).
–Yes, that was Helen Slater, a.k.a. Supergirl, to those of us over 40. Still hot. Don, stay at the ashram and try out a few yoga poses with Helen. May I suggest, "Downward Don?" That's your best gambit.
–Speaking of that retreat center, am I the only one whose mind immediately went to Paul Rudd and Steve Carell dancing to "Age of Aquarius?"
— Roger and Marie Calvert are perfect for one another. I just wanted him to pull out an Addams Family reference and say, "Morticia, you spoke French." Gomez Addams was a thing at the time.
— The total unknown who was given that monologue in the series' final five minutes? Well, he was intentionally forgettable. And yet, that monologue was as moving as any pitch Don Draper ever gave to a prospective client. The difference was that, as Don had always said, the key to advertising is "happiness" whereas this pitch was emptiness. And that the man described himself as an item on a shelf in a refrigerator… he was simply an unwanted consumer item.
Also, I love how Matthew Weiner wrote in the first guy to speak and then gave us the pause. We all expected Don to get up and confess next — so did Supergirl — but then Weiner threw us that curve.
Betty: Forever smoking, hot.
— That final scene with Sally and Betty in the kitchen is haunting, especially to anyone who has ever lost a parent.
— The Don-Peggy phone call. My favorite moment. It reminded me of the time when Radar O'Reilly gave Hawkeye the what-for. Favorite moment-within-the-moment? When Peggy lowers her voice and says, "Don. Listen to me. What did you ever do that was so bad?"
— The "When Stan Met Peggy" phone call. Who let Nora Ephron into the writers' room?
— The final scene. First, genius to end with a close-up of Don's face. It was always THAT FACE that made life both so easy and difficult for Don. That face closed more sales, both in the boardroom and the bedroom, than Don's words ever did. An iconic final moment.
Second, I guess there's no ambiguity to it, is there? Don's catharsis at the seminar leads to an inner harmony, which leads to the epiphany on the cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, which leads to him dreaming up the campaign for Coca-Cola, one of the greatest ad campaigns of all time. There were moments of foreshadowing earlier in the episode — Joan snorting coke and Peggy asking, "Don't you want to work on Coke?" — as well as all season long.
Aw, sugar sugar….
The final irony? Mad Men began with Don saving his firm by saving the Lucky Strike account, by advertising for cigarettes. But, 55 years later, we know that while BIG SODA is not AS bad as BIG TOBACCO, it's almost as bad. Soda is the cigarettes of our generation. Some day your kids will tell their friends, "Yeah, my dad (or mom) drank pop" with the same pitying look we display when we tell our friends that our parents smoked.
As for the song choice, well, we kind of nailed it….
2. Confetti-cini Alfredo
This was the scene after the Houston Rockets won Game 7 of the NBA Finals Western Conerence finals a second round playoff series at the Toyota Center. Go nuts, kids.
Our republic is doomed.
3. Day of Yore
On this date 69 years ago Reggie Jackson was born, 45 years ago Tina Fey was born, and 35 years ago Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis hanged himself. Also on this date, 50 years ago, the fathomably talented Bill Hubbell, MH's DoY scribe, was born. Happy birthday, Bill.
4. Rule No. 1
Potter: Until he died, he really lived….
What's Rule No. 1, kids? That's right "Gravity always wins."
Legendary climber and BASE jumper Dean Potter, 43, died while attempting an aerial descent from Taft Point in Yosemite National Park… which prohibits such acts of derring do. Also dead, 29 year-old Graham Hunt.
5. Louie, Louie
Comedian Louis C.K. hosted the season finale for the 40th season of Saturday Night Live. For his opening monologue C.K. did a set that touched upon "mild racism," the Israel-Palestine conflict, and child molestation. It's hilarious to watch and listen to how he loses the audience on the third topic. I kinda feel that it was almost done on a dare, like that time on Seinfeld when Jerry had to open for Kenny Bania and just decided to bomb as badly as possible.
Yesterday was 5, 15, 15, a perfectly palindromic day. Sorry I missed you. But, you know, the Cavs had played one night before and life's more fun when I am frustrating Susie B. Please enjoy this edition of Medium Tardy.
Don, looking Draper-y
1. The Last Don
"Everything was good. Now everything was bad. I knew I'd pay for this."
That's Peggy Olson, who hooks up with Abe for the first time only to come into work the following Monday to learn that Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Pryce has lost the Lucky Strike account. But that's life (that's what people say).
Having spent more than half my career based out of the same Time-Life Building as SCDP, I have found myself catching parts of the Mad Men marathon (AMC) and thinking of this essential truth: Life is a constant battle of ups and downs, personally and professionally. Sometimes you are your best — and/or only advocate — and sometimes you are your own worst enemy (Please tell me why my car is in the front yard…). Sometimes others are your greatest ally (Peggy) or your worst nemesis (usually, Pete).
The biggest difference is there's a lot less Scotch in my (and, I assume, your) life.
2. "Take One Last Look"
As the final scene of Mad Men would have fittingly been Don at that bus stop outside Alva, Oklahoma, last Sunday night (finally at peace, waiting to board a bus to his next chapter), this brand new Tom Waits tune from Thursday night could have worked as the final moment from Letterman. Earlier in the show, Waits sat on the couch and was quite funny, talking about people in Manhattan who wait in long lines for lunch salads ("I felt embarrassed for them, to be honest") and about wanting to attend a rally to "free the Glutens."
Dave, taking the James Corden route
That interview was enhanced by the fact that George Clooney was handcuffed to Letterman and listening in, but Clooney was only seen in profile.
3. One Seeds Hold
DeMarre Carroll scored 25 points in the Hawks' closeout win and will likely draw LeBron James in the EC Finals.
Both Atlanta and Golden State found themselves trailing in their respective series, to Washington and Memphis, two games to one, a week ago. Both then finished off their opponents with three straight victories. It was a lot hairier for the Hawks, who needed seven games in the opening round to slip past the Brooklyn Nyets. Atlanta won the final three games versus the Wizards by a total of nine points.
So it's 1 versus 2 (Cleveland) in the East and it could be 1 vs. 2 (Houston, who hosts the Clips in Game 7) out West, but I see the Clippers advancing in Houston in a rare Game 7 matinee.
4. Mad Men? No, Mad Max
And he doesn't have "accident forgiveness."* *the judges will also accept, "Halt and catch fire."
Two years ago Tom Hardy starred in a film titled Locke, whose plot revolved around him driving non-stop from Birmingham to London (it would have made an even better film if that Birmingham were the Alabama one, not the English one). Now he's back in another starring vehicle in a quasi-reprise of the original 1979 Mad Max film.
Charlize (right). There really are not enough shower facilities at Coachella
I haven't yet seen Mad Max: Fury Road, but the critics are agog. Seriously: agog. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 98%. Meanwhile, there are reports that the film is being boycotted by "men's rights activists." There are men's rights activists? Man-child, please.
5. Soooeeey, Sandi!
It has been awhile since the inter webs went full-on bonkers about a female collegiate (or prep) pole vaulter (Jason, you are losing your touch). This is Sandi Morris of Arkansas, the reigning NCAA Indoor Champ who just emerged as the SEC champion in that event yesterday. On to the NCAA Outdoors in Eugene (no better place to stage 'em, every year) from June 10-13. By then I do believe her inter webs fame will be fully BLOWED UP (a little credit to the kid, here, please) and she'll be an ESPN or FOX sideline reporter by 2018.
So many roads to choose/We'll start out walkin' and learn to run
I was searching for songs from 1971 that could work as the curtain-closing tune for Mad Men tomorrow night. So many good songs. American Pie, arguably THE signature tune of American pop, is an obvious choice. There are other classics such as Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven, John Lennon's Imagine (I mean, what a year), Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, George Harrison's My Sweet Lord and Carole King's It's Too Late. But I'm going to guess Matt Weiner, if he even stays in 1971, strays a little from the obvious. And so I'm going to go with this tune from The Carpenters, We've Only Just Begun (even if it was actually released in August of 1970). It hit No. 2 on the Billboard charts.
p.s. Okay, I think Weiner will go with American Pie. Those rights won't be cheap.
Mad Men Marathon & Finale
AMC Now 'til 10 p.m., Sunday
Good morning, yesterday/You wake up/And time has slipped away… AMC is slaying me with that promo using the Paul Anka song from my youth. I've wanted to go out and purchase a Kodak camera at least half a dozen times in the past few days. This is our final partners meeting with Don, Roger, Pete, Joan (and Peggy). I have absolutely no clue as to what will happen in the final, other than Matt Weiner left the door open for a jump forward into the future or to focus on just one character. As much as I'll miss them, we really have no pressing reason to see Roger, Peggy, Joan, Pete or Betty again. Oh, and in a list of the top 50 Mad Men characters from last week, Rolling Stone put Pete at 14th –he's no lower than 5th, at the very least — and didn't even include Bob Benson. What do I think of that list? "Not great, Bob."
Bright and Shiny New Dimes
Current-cy
The Ruth, The Whole Ruth, and Nothing But The Ruth
Whoa, Nelly
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We have all repeated a phone number in our heads until we punch it into a phone. We may have even said the number out loud as we mentally carry the digits for a brief period of time. Once we successfully transfer the number to the phone the information, and the memory, is gone. If you have ever stopped to ask for directions, you have used your short term memory to carry out the sequence of directions. Passing on a message, using a recipe, finding a specific book in the library are examples of how we use short term memory every day. By rehearsing, or saying the numbers to ourselves, we extend the length of time that we can hold the information in our short term memory. Strictly speaking, short term memory is defined by the length of time that one can hold a bit of complicated without rehearsing. Short term memories are held for a matter of seconds.
How Much Short Term Storage?
The duration of the memory is limited, but also the amount of information that can be stored (and successfully recalled). Humans can store about seven numbers, six letters or five short words in short term memory at any one time. Memory for words depends on the length of the words and curiously, the amount of time required to say the word out loud is more important than the number of letters in the word. These amounts are the average for college students (as this seems to be the groups traditionally studied in psychological experiments) and can vary based on age and individual aptitudes.
The way that memory is defined and studied varies widely. Neuropsychologists have various theories and definitions to explain different domains of memory, what parts of the brain are used in each domain and the capacity of each type. The study of memory can get quite complex very quickly; however, some concepts about memory are intuitive and common to the human experience. For example, we all know that there is some inherent difference between long and short term memory. I can remember the name of my third grade teacher but I cannot recall what I had for dinner on the third of last month. There is obviously some difference between the way that we remember some things as opposed to others. Why we form long term memories with some information and not others is straightforward in some respects and puzzling in others. Presumably we place information that is important to us into long term storage but "erase" that information which is not useful or we do not need to remember. We were told it was useful to remember our multiplication tables as children so we committed them to long term memory. Yet the level of importance does not explain how some short term memories become long term memories. For example, knowing the number of stairs in The Washington Monument is of absolutely no consequence yet some can regurgitate useless facts such as these at will.
You can expand the capacity of your short term memory to a certain degree by using it. Challenge yourself by storing as much information in your short term memory as you can. Avoid rehearsing as much as possible. By expending the capacity of your short term memory it will be ready to serve you when the need arises.


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Carriera

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Si forma nella selezione calcistica della Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, di cui risulterà il miglior giocatore del 1969 e nel quale sarà inserito nel famedio dell'istituto nel 2007.
Nel 1972 viene ingaggiato da , squadra dell'American Soccer League.

Nel corso dell'anno passa al , con cui raggiunge la finale della North American Soccer League 1972, pur non giocandola, persa contro i .
Nelle due stagioni seguenti, Howe con gli Stars non supera la fase a gironi del torneo nordamericano.

Nella stagione 1975 passa ai , con cui ottiene il terzo posto nella Central Division della Western Division.

Nel campionato seguente passa ai , con cui raggiunge la finale del torneo, che giocherà subentrando al sudafricano Patrick Ntsoelengoe, persa contro i canadesi dei .

Allenatore
Lasciato il calcio giocato ha allenato varie rappresentative universitarie come i , il , i  e i .

È assistente allenatore nei  e direttore esecutivo dello sviluppo dei giocatori per il Woodson City Rangers.

Howe è stato uno dei fondatori del Scott Gallagher SC.

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Collegamenti esterni

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


A big, moist and yummy muffin that's great for Weight Watchers.
Combine dry ingredients in large mixing bowl. Stir in grated carrot to coat, breaking up lumps.
Beat egg and combine with milk and applesauce.
Bake in paper cups at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes.
Makes 6 large muffins or 12 small muffins.
Note: Splenda packets can be substituted with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of granulated sweetener.
124 members have added this recipe to their cookbook.
Just made these and they turned out great & were easy to make. I used 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 packet truvia, added a splash of vanilla, and did not use ginger. I ground Oat Bran cereal b/c I didn't have oat bran. My kids just scarfed these up. It feels good to have such a healthy snack for everyone that tastes good too.
I changed up the spices a bit - I deleted the ginger and double the cinnamon to 2 tsp. I like the taste even better!
These sound wonderful!! I will definately try these. Thanks!!
I eat more sodium than that anyway. Not everyone has to have perfect levels of everything every day, my goodness! 633 mg is only 30% of Dv, that's not that bad.
This recipe has 655 mg of sodium per muffin...Wow that's a lot for just one little muffin...You're not supposed to consume more than 1000 mg according to healthy guidelines and this takes more than half of that... Not to mention that you have to eat throughout the day and you will definitely eat past the 1000 mg mark.
This was yummy! I did leave out the Splenda and it still tasted wonderful!
There are 147 calories in 1 serving of Oat Bran Carrot Muffins.
Calorie break-down: 12% fat, 73% carbs, 16% protein.


Are you struggling to create decent looking pages on your website?
Or feeling so frustrated that you're considering hiring a web designer?
Thrive Architect, the new WordPress plugin from Thrive Themes could be the answer to your problems.
In this review, we'll take a look at how easy it is to create visually impressive pages (and posts), without wasting a load of time and money.
Creating pages with the WordPress editor is like going to the dentist. You never know how it's going to turn out.
At best, it's an anxious wait. At worst, it's painful.
While WordPress is a great blogging tool, it was never intended to build professional looking web pages. It's something the WordPress developers are looking to address with their Gutenberg project.
Meanwhile, you need a WYSIWYG editor that let's you build pages painlessly.
Thrive Architect is a visual page builder plugin for WordPress that helps you create great-looking, conversion-focused pages.
It's the fastest and most intuitive visual editor for WordPress.
The idea is to let you build your pages as fast as possible using the drag-and-drop editor so that you don't spend endless hours fiddling around with shortcodes, CSS and HTML.
Create a Homepage using one of the pre-designed Templates or adding elements like Icons, Buttons or Columns to your current theme.
Build Landing Pages with built-in Lead Generation elements to help grow your mailing list.
Format Blog Posts with features like Content Boxes and Styled Lists to make them stand out from the crowd.
Create Sales Pages, Webinar Pages, Product Launch Pages, and more.
There are two ways to build a page with Thrive Architect. You can use a pre-designed Landing Page Template, or you can start from scratch with a Blank Template.
Both ways are valid. You just need to decide which one you want.
At the top of the Page is the default header menu and page title that you'd expect to see from your theme.
Click on the '+' button icon on the right-hand side of the page and the Thrive Architect menu will appear.
So, let's take a look at how that works.
Thrive Architect includes hundreds of pre-designed landingpage templates. The beauty of these pages is that you could almost publish them straight away. You'll have to dive in and edit the copy to suit your business, but at least you have the foundation for a quick start. By clicking on the 'cloud' button icon a template window will appear.
Thrive groups their Landing Pages in Template Sets. At the time of writing, there are 40 Landing Page Template Sets in their library, with more coming soon.
Each set of pages uses the same design components to create a consistent look-and-feel.
Once you've chosen a Landing Page Template, you can start customizing it with the WYSIWYG visual editor.
Each page consists of elements; for example, Heading, Text, Button, Icon, etc. As soon as you select an element on the page, its editing options appear in the sidebar menu.
Note: Thrive Architect labels the element in several places on your screen, so you can be sure you're editing the right content.
In just a few clicks you can adjust the page to fit in with your style and branding. Plus you can save your version of the template to use again.
What's important to remember is that all of these changes are immediately visible on the editing screen. You can switch to preview mode if you wish, but there's really no need as you can see everything right in front of you.
Thrive Architect is a genuine WYSIWYG visual editor.
Sometimes it's more appropriate to build your page from scratch, starting with a clean canvas. For instance, you may like the design of a page you've seen on another website and decide to have a go at building something similar.
Let's take a look at three of the powerful and flexible design elements you can use to build your page.
Adding a full-width background might not seem like a big deal, but you won't find this feature on all page builders.
The key setting here is the "Content covers entire screen width" as it allows you to have a full-width background no matter what WordPress theme you're using.
There are a couple more settings that I've used to create this background. First, I've added an image as a base layer and then I've applied a solid color layer on top. This helps when you want to start adding text like the heading below.
You can add as many layers as you like to create the effect you want. Other layer options include a gradient color, a pattern, and a video background.
Once you have your vertical split layout, you can add different content elements. For example, you could have image and text, video camera and video screenshot, plus many other combinations.
The Content Box is a dual-purpose design element in Thrive Architect. It serves as a content container for holding multiple elements you want to treat in the same manner, plus you can use it to highlight important parts of content.
But, using the drag-and-drop handle, you can move the Content Box onto the background section.
When you've created a content box that you think will be useful again in the future then Thrive Architect lets you save it as a Content Template. It's all part of their Rapid Implementation ideology.
Chic Light uses two columns for the Image and Text. You can drag-and-drop the column widths to fit your image and text as you wish.
The right-hand column contains two Text/Paragraph elements, each with a different font and size. Whilst the left-hand column has three Icon/Image you can edit.
Using this template you can change column widths, colors, images, icons, positioning, and more.
Most landing pages have one goal in common: to generate leads.
Thrive Architect has two types of lead generation that you can use on your landing page.
The default Lead Generation method is the 1-Step Opt-in.
If you're creating your own landing page, you can drag-and-drop the Lead Generation element from the sidebar onto your page.
You can choose to stack the fields vertically or have them running horizontally. Plus you can customize other features like colors and text.
The second Lead Generation method available in Thrive Architect is the 2-Step Opt-in, which uses the built-in Thrive Lightbox feature.
Like all pages in Thrive Architect, you can customize the Lightbox design with the visual editor.
Whether you use the 1-Step or 2-Step method to capture email addresses, you'll need to connect the Lead Generation form to your email service.
Every page you build with Thrive Architect, whether you start from scratch or use a template, is mobile responsive. But the plugin has three extra mobile responsive features that help you build unique pages.
For any element, or any Content Box with multiple elements in it, you can decide whether it will be shown or hidden. In this example, you can see that the Icon element will be visible on Desktop and Tablet, but hidden on Mobile.
As more and more people are browsing the web with a mobile device, it makes sense for your site to be mobile responsive. With Thrive Architect, you can provide the best experience, regardless of screen size.
You've already seen many of the main page building elements in Thrive Architect. But let's take a quick look at a few more.
Styled Lists – Use bullet point lists with custom icons and styling to present your selling points concisely.
Content Reveal – Hide content blocks until a certain amount of time has passed. Perfect for sales videos, where you can reveal the purchase button when you reach the "pitch" part of the video.
Credit Card Icons – Fully scalable credit card icons give your visitors a clear signal for a purchase and create trust.
Click to Tweet – Encourage social sharing within your content.
Google Map – Embed a Google Map on your site; great for local businesses.
Post Grid – Display a grid of blog posts or WooCommerce products.
Social Share – Add social share buttons and choose to hide share counts until above a certain number.
Table – Take advantage of the intuitive HTML table builder and editor.
Table of Contents – Automatically generate a table of contents for your page with anchor links that jump to each section.
Video – Embed YouTube, Wistia, Vimeo or self-hosted video into your page.
WordPress Content – Convert existing WordPress content into Thrive Architect content and manage it inside a self-contained block.
You can get Thrive Architect for a one-time fee of $67.
The price includes 12 months support with the option to renew each year, but you always get unlimited updates.
Alternatively, try Thrive Membership for $19/month, which includes all the current and future themes and plugins from Thrive.
Thrive have released an add-on to Thrive Architect that allows you to run a/b split tests without messing around with any code. It's called Thrive Optimize.
Running split tests means you can test to find what converts best on your landing pages. This means you'll get more conversions and ultimately more customers.
Click here to find out more about this add-on.
Since this add-on only works with Thrive Architect, you can buy both as a bundle using the link above. But if you already own Thrive Architect, there's an option to buy just Thrive Optimize (the link for this is just below the pricing table).
Having pioneered the page builder market with Thrive Content Builder in 2014, Thrive has set a new benchmark with Thrive Architect.
The new visual editor is both intuitive and fast. And the results are impressive.
Creating beautiful, engaging and visually striking content in WordPress has never been easier.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means we may make a small commission if you make a purchase. This doesn't cost you any more but it does help us to continue publishing helpful content – thank you for your support!
Some of the Landing Page Templates look a little dated.
Not all of old elements from Thrive Content Builder are present in Thrive Architect yet; for example, CTA's, Pricing Boxes, and Guarantee Boxes.
Summary: Thrive Architect is perfect for anyone who wants to build custom pages and make their content stand out. Use it to create landing pages, squeeze pages, sales pages and more – it's fast and efficient.
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From ancient Venetian beads dating back to 3,000BC to the sale of the Caithness Glass Factory Museum's paperweight collection, Mellors & Kirk's auctions offer antique and collectable glass of every type and period.
Quarterly Fine Art Sales usually include examples of traditional collectors' glass such as 19th century French paperweights, Lalique and Gallé and other Art Nouveau/Art Deco cameo glass. Specialist collections are also offered in these sales, examples being the Tetley and Henzell Collections of fine 18th century English drinking glasses.
Antique Glass is included in both our fortnightly Antique & Collectors Sales and our quarterly Fine Art Sales.


Oops! How did that get posted 3 times? Sorry!
Yes, HLA is right. Butter well. You can also use liners, but the brownie bites might stick to them.
I'd butter then dust the tins with some cocoa powder.
If I make financiers double the size of the recipe should I adjust the time and temp?


text:
What Is A GIF Image?
gif- king answered
Graphics Interchange Format (GIF), An image file format that's most popular on the Web. A GIF image is a
compressed version of an original image based on a a smaller palette of
colors.
Sudipa Sarkar answered
GIF image is a popular type of image used on both Internet and offline setting. This is available in two formats – static as well as animated. GIF images support 256 colours at its maximum. So they are basically not suitable for photographic images. The essential feature of GIF image is the ability to compress colours and pixel areas of a given image in accordance with the large pixel area of that particular image. The most prevalent method of performing the reduction encompasses the method of reducing the number of colours available in a palette. By default, the GIF image uses LZW compression scheme to make the image as small as possible without loosing any quality of the image. One of most important characteristics of GIF image is its ability to become transparent, that is, it synchronize smoothly and perfectly with the background colour irrespective of its fore-colour. Second important characteristic is its ability to interlace which enable the image to load faster.
Lovika Grover answered
Gif refers to Graphics Interchange Format. It is a bitmap image format of 8-bit-per-pixel. It uses a palette up to 256 colours of distinct nature from 24-bit RGB colour space. The introduction of the format was done by CompuServe in the year 1987. Since that time, it has been used widely on the World Wide Web. It offers a wide support and also has the capabilities to support animations.
There is an employment of lossless data compression in the gif image. This helps in reducing the file size of the image without causing any sort of harm to the image's visual quality. There is one constraint to this that the image should be rendered within the 256 colours.
What Is The Meaning Of Image Frequency?
Image frequency is defined as an undesired carrier frequency that differs from the frequency to which...
What Is JPG Image?
JPG or JPEG, stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, is the exquisite format that has a great importance...
What Is The Best Way To Enlarge Digital Images Ensuring High Image Quality When Printed?
Dear friend, the first thing one should know when dealing with digital images is the number of pixels,...
What Is Image Recorder?
Image recorder is basically an interface on the cd/dvd burn software Nero. Nero doesnot recognize the...
On Tinypic.com When You Upload A Gif What Option Do You Press?
You use the "Images" option. Even though it's not an image it still works for .gif...
What Is A Drama Still Image?
Still image is wene a group of people tell a story through diffirant positions...
What movie is this gif from? http://i.imgur.com/C3lfE.jpg
Film & Cinema
The scene shown is from Italian Spiderman, which is a Youtube video from 2007.Originally, it was just...
What is a gif?
It is a format for images that supports both animated and static images.Full form is: Graphics Interchange...
Anyone know a good website with a wide variety of FREE and royalty free images to use for a blog? Also, what about sites for creating memes and gifs?
High resolution and beautiful images for your blog: https://www.pexels.com/ or https://unsplash.com/Imgur...
What is the funniest gif you have ever seen? (gif = moving image)
Unfortunately we're not going to get a .GIF to print on Blurtit, but I thought this one was great. It's...
How Do I Insert A Gif Into Facebook?
How To Put Animated Gif On Facebook?
How Do I Insert An Animated .gif Into An Email Message?
How Do I Insert An Animated Gif Into Hotmail So The Animation Plays? Attaching The File Doesn't Work.
How Do You Turn A PDF File Into A Gif Or Jpg File?
How can you put a moving picture onto your xat profile pic?
How To Make A Spear?
What Does WAP Stand For?
What's the best place to move to?
Does Anyone Know A Code To Redeem Your Meez Card?
Is it a mistake to sleep with your female friend?
Can One Bad Scene Ruin A Whole Movie?
What Are Boobs?
Where's the best place to bring up a family in Southern California?


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PR Tips
Crack down on energy brokers means justice for UK businesses
August 6, 2020 By Katie Harding
Callum Thompson, MD at Business Energy Claims
THE UK's leading organisation in tackling energy broker mis-selling, Business Energy Claims, is delighted to announce energy regulator Ofgem has vowed to crack down on 'unscrupulous' UK energy brokers.
Ofgem has this week announced its commitment to taking action against the overcharging of small businesses through inflated, and often undisclosed commissions and hidden fees.
Callum Thompson, MD at South Tyneside-based Business Energy Claims, has lobbied tirelessly to bring transparency and justice to the industry in a bid to tackle the unregulated market of commercial business energy.
Callum said: "The multi-billion-pound problem of energy mis-selling is a reflection of decades of bad practice from a number of suppliers, brokers and consultants. This has allowed the commercial business energy industry to adopt inappropriate behaviours in the marketplace including misguided advice to businesses, with regards to their energy contract choices."
High margins, hidden commissions and significant cash advances have allowed the ongoing exploitation of business customers over the years. Representing businesses across the UK from their North East base, Callum and the Business Energy Claims team welcome the long overdue intervention by Ofgem.
"The key to unravelling this widespread injustice is appropriate legislation and regulation" exclaimed Callum.
He added: "The real and negative impact on businesses across the UK has seen them overpaying to the tune of hundreds of millions of pounds. When we were approached by Ofgem to assist with research and evidence into the extent of the mis-selling problem in the energy market, we were happy to assist."
According to Ofgem*, businesses, charities and public bodies spend £25 billion per annum on energy[1]. A significant per centage is often made up of the undisclosed fees that are stinging UK businesses year after year.
A detailed report submitted by Business Energy Claims has helped to shape this week's Ofgem announcement as they found that an estimated 90% of microbusinesses using an energy broker are likely to have fallen prey to one or more forms of mis-selling as a result of the lack of official regulation to protect them.
Ofgem's plans include stricter monitoring of brokers' conduct through clear responsibilities for energy suppliers. This aims to ensure that those who sell the deals are cascading information transparently and that costs to business customers are not unfairly inflated.
The plans include new responsibilities for energy suppliers to monitor the conduct of the brokers that sell their energy deals, to ensure that key contract details and commission fees are more transparent.
Callum concluded: "With energy commissions occupying up to a staggering 50% of energy costs, Ofgem's review of the energy broker market confirmed our existing knowledge of the deep-rooted issue of inflated energy deals sold on behalf of major energy suppliers across the UK. We are pleased Ofgem are now addressing the issues of harm to microbusinesses, although our experience tells us this can extend to non-micro businesses to almost the same extent."
"We have the knowledge and experience to assist businesses large and small across the country to reclaim money lost as a result of these extravagant commissions and fees. This is perhaps even more relevant now than ever, as businesses strive to emerge post-Covid-19 after a difficult operating period."
A recent success story features County Durham-based manufacturer, North East Sheets & Panels, who is one of Business Energy Claim's clients for whom the team recovered approximately £8,000 from its business energy broker as a result of mis-selling.
The successful win followed an energy efficiency audit which was carried out by the Business Energy Efficiency Project (BEEP), who are part of Durham Country Council, which highlighted a discrepancy in their bills and identified that their contract may have been mis-sold. It was quickly identified by the Business Energy Claims' team that substantial sums of hidden commission had been included by the broker within their energy contracts with SSE and Npower.
Richard Williams, Managing Director at North East Sheets & Panels, said: "The team was quick to spot the potential mis-selling within our contracts, explained the next steps and got to work immediately on processing our claim, keeping us updated at every stage.
"I would highly recommend Business Energy Claims to anyone for their truly professional and efficient service."
The Business Energy Claims team of experts have a wealth of industry knowledge. They continue to put their collective expertise to good use by exposing those misleading and overcharging their customers as they make strides towards their goal of reconfiguring the energy market for a more transparent and ethical future.
Get in touch with the team and find out more about their services at https://businessenergyclaims.co.uk/
*https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/system/files/docs/2019/11/20191030_state_of_energy_market_revised.pdf
Thousands recovered from energy mis-selling for North East manufacturer
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