Usain Bolt is the world's fastest man and he would like to thank a few people who've helped make it possible. Ashton Eaton is the best all-around athlete in the world and he'd love to do it too. Same goes for world high jump champion Jesse Williams, the world's strongest woman Holly Mangold and nearly every other athlete gathered here to make the Olympics the world's grandest sports show.
As in, they're prohibited. Cut off. Banned. They could be kicked out of the Olympics for talking about the companies that help pay their bills through sponsorships - unless those companies also happen to be an official Olympics sponsor.
In other words, Olympics honchos are censoring free speech to squeeze every penny into their $6 billion industry and away from the athletes who make it popular and who often need second and third jobs to get by.
"The Olympic ideal and the Olympic reality are now different," says American Sanya Richards-Ross, one of the gold medal favorites in the women's 400 meters.
Richards-Ross is among a group of Olympians from around the world who are making their voices heard on this. It started with conversations at meets and in training facilities, got organized with a few meetings in the Olympic village, and is picking up steam this week including a Twitter campaign.
What they want is simple: to be able to publicly thank personal sponsors who make their training possible through social media and other avenues. Leo Manzano, an American 1,500 meters runner, was told by the IOC brand police to remove a picture of his shoes from Facebook.
The athletes' point is impossible to argue against, except with the kind of corporate greed that's especially offensive coming from an International Olympics Committee that pretends to be so pure.
The athletes can't put sponsor stickers on their uniforms? Fine. But for the IOC to prohibit them from thanking sponsors on personal social media accounts? Richards-Ross is being polite when she calls it "an injustice."
Here, we see the IOC exposed as a cold goliath actively limiting its already volunteer workforce's ability to make ends meet. Millionaire stars like Bolt and the USA basketball team are the exception.
This is about IOC president Jacques Rogge and others like him live the life of the elite while wanting to keep every possible penny to themselves and away from athletes who for the most part make less than schoolteachers.
"Our position is clear," Rogge said recently. "We have to protect the sponsors because otherwise there is no sponsorship and without sponsorship there is no games."
Rogge is a functioning adult, which means that by definition he is smart enough to know that "clear" position is a wicked combination of greedy, hypocritical, and destructive. He's running a racket. No sponsorship references allowed for the workforce, only for the 10-figure industry they make so popular.
Richards-Ross says that only 2 percent of American Olympians have IOC or USOC sponsors. That means 98 percent of them are being limited and leveraged by a fat bureaucracy - all in the name of corporate contracts that make Rogge and his minions rich while leaving the athletes who make it all possible on the side of the road.
So good on Richards-Ross and a growing number of Olympians - Manzano, Lashinda Demus, Trey Hardee, Jamie Nieto, Lauryn Williams and many, many others - for fighting the good fight. Hopefully their quest gets the attention it deserves.
The athletes aren't asking for anything special. They're asking for free speech that will help them make a living - and help them make the Olympics even more competitive.
That means Rogge doesn't have to do anything special to make this right. He just has to stop running things like a greedy jerk.
2012年7月31日星期二
2012年7月30日星期一
The clock tower overlooking Horse Guards Palace
Here in London, there is a growing brouhaha over the fact that a bunch of the country’s soccer players have refused to sing the national anthem when “God Save the Queen” is performed before each of the team’s matches.
The issue centers on the fact that while “God Save the Queen” is officially the British national anthem, in soccer—where the four countries that make up the U.K. compete separately—it has been co-opted by the English team, largely because England has no national anthem of its own.
In contrast, the national teams of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland use their own anthems and the idea of belting out “God Save the Queen” is roughly akin to asking American athletes to sing along to “La Marseillaise.”
Ryan Giggs, the captain of the British team, was one of five Welsh members of the team that stood tight-lipped during the rendition of “God Save the Queen” before Great Britain’s 3-1 win over United Arab Emirates on Sunday, while all six of his English teammates belted out the anthem.
Giggs said afterwards that an athlete’s decision on whether to sing the anthem should be “a personal thing.”
But he added: “The British anthem is the same for a Welshman, a Scotsman or an Englishman. It’s difficult.”
Stuart Pearce, the British head coach, said the anthem refuseniks were “not an issue,” but the pre-match rendition could receive an even icier response ahead of Britain’s next match. The British team faces Uruguay in Cardiff, Wales on Wednesday and local fans are unlikely to sing along.
In case you somehow haven’t noticed, NBC has been turning the anxious, twitching, writhing, panic-stricken parents of the athletes into overnight TV sensations.
This year they seem to have an especially promising crop in one particular arena—gymnastics. As Aly Raisman and Jordyn Wieber competed for the U.S. Sunday, their respective moms (and one dad) got quite a bit of attention. So here’s a question: If there was an Olympic medal for TV face-time, whose parents would have won the gold?
By our count, Raisman’s parents (pictured right in a screen grab) got 68 seconds of air time during NBC’s prime-time broadcast. Wieber’s mother graced the screen for a total of 32 seconds.
After Raisman’s routine on the uneven bars, NBC showed her parents for 48 consecutive seconds. In that time, her mother—who looked considerably more anxious than her daughter ever did actually competing—said the phrases “come on” and “let’s go” 12 times apiece. Her father didn’t chime in until the very end, when he blurted out, “Stick it, please.” (Raisman obliged.)
Wieber’s mother, meanwhile, struggled to watch as her daughter performed on the bars—but she erupted with joy after she finished. NBC didn’t show Wieber’s mother after Wieber failed to advance to the individual all-around finals.
There was champagne by the bottle, a pack of royals and dozens of champion horses. All that was missing was the Grey Poupon. And yet, the sell-out crowd of an estimated 50,000 that gathered Monday for the equestrian cross-country competition at London’s Greenwich Park was issued a warning: Please do not climb the trees—they’re historic!
No actual tree-climbing was in evidence, but with horses running at nearly 30 miles per hour through the -mile course, that was maybe not such a surprise. Instead, picnickers sprawled on the nearly 200 acres, sipped rosé champagne at $70 a bottle and cheered on their favorite riders, many of whom faced serious challenges on the difficult terrain.
The course took the riders quite literally over the moon—a sharp crescent-shaped jump placed near the Royal Observatory—and 27 other obstacles. The path led, somewhat unusually, into the equestrian stadium where a full complement of royals turned out. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Kate and Wills), Prince Harry and the Duchess of Cornwall (Camilla) were all on head to watch Zara Phillips, granddaughter of the Queen of England, who wasn’t present for the second element of the three-day Eventing competition.
Rolex is as much a part of Wimbledon as white socks, worn-out grass and strawberries and cream. The watchmaker became the tennis tournament’s official timekeeper in 1978 and has had a ubiquitous presence ever since.
But at the Olympics, Rolex is going down in straight sets.
Swiss timekeeper Omega SA, the official timekeeper of the Olympics, is one of the rare corporate sponsors whose name is allowed to be visible inside Olympic venues on the theory that keeping time is integral to many events. As a result, Rolex-branded clocks around the famed grounds of Wimbledon will be covered up for the duration of the Games.
For Omega, “this is something of a coup,” said Simon Chadwick, a professor of sport business strategy and marketing at the University of Coventry in the U.K. “It is historically an event associated with one of its main rivals. It’s like Nike walking into Adidas’s living room and sitting down and taking his shoes off.”
The issue centers on the fact that while “God Save the Queen” is officially the British national anthem, in soccer—where the four countries that make up the U.K. compete separately—it has been co-opted by the English team, largely because England has no national anthem of its own.
In contrast, the national teams of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland use their own anthems and the idea of belting out “God Save the Queen” is roughly akin to asking American athletes to sing along to “La Marseillaise.”
Ryan Giggs, the captain of the British team, was one of five Welsh members of the team that stood tight-lipped during the rendition of “God Save the Queen” before Great Britain’s 3-1 win over United Arab Emirates on Sunday, while all six of his English teammates belted out the anthem.
Giggs said afterwards that an athlete’s decision on whether to sing the anthem should be “a personal thing.”
But he added: “The British anthem is the same for a Welshman, a Scotsman or an Englishman. It’s difficult.”
Stuart Pearce, the British head coach, said the anthem refuseniks were “not an issue,” but the pre-match rendition could receive an even icier response ahead of Britain’s next match. The British team faces Uruguay in Cardiff, Wales on Wednesday and local fans are unlikely to sing along.
In case you somehow haven’t noticed, NBC has been turning the anxious, twitching, writhing, panic-stricken parents of the athletes into overnight TV sensations.
This year they seem to have an especially promising crop in one particular arena—gymnastics. As Aly Raisman and Jordyn Wieber competed for the U.S. Sunday, their respective moms (and one dad) got quite a bit of attention. So here’s a question: If there was an Olympic medal for TV face-time, whose parents would have won the gold?
By our count, Raisman’s parents (pictured right in a screen grab) got 68 seconds of air time during NBC’s prime-time broadcast. Wieber’s mother graced the screen for a total of 32 seconds.
After Raisman’s routine on the uneven bars, NBC showed her parents for 48 consecutive seconds. In that time, her mother—who looked considerably more anxious than her daughter ever did actually competing—said the phrases “come on” and “let’s go” 12 times apiece. Her father didn’t chime in until the very end, when he blurted out, “Stick it, please.” (Raisman obliged.)
Wieber’s mother, meanwhile, struggled to watch as her daughter performed on the bars—but she erupted with joy after she finished. NBC didn’t show Wieber’s mother after Wieber failed to advance to the individual all-around finals.
There was champagne by the bottle, a pack of royals and dozens of champion horses. All that was missing was the Grey Poupon. And yet, the sell-out crowd of an estimated 50,000 that gathered Monday for the equestrian cross-country competition at London’s Greenwich Park was issued a warning: Please do not climb the trees—they’re historic!
No actual tree-climbing was in evidence, but with horses running at nearly 30 miles per hour through the -mile course, that was maybe not such a surprise. Instead, picnickers sprawled on the nearly 200 acres, sipped rosé champagne at $70 a bottle and cheered on their favorite riders, many of whom faced serious challenges on the difficult terrain.
The course took the riders quite literally over the moon—a sharp crescent-shaped jump placed near the Royal Observatory—and 27 other obstacles. The path led, somewhat unusually, into the equestrian stadium where a full complement of royals turned out. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Kate and Wills), Prince Harry and the Duchess of Cornwall (Camilla) were all on head to watch Zara Phillips, granddaughter of the Queen of England, who wasn’t present for the second element of the three-day Eventing competition.
Rolex is as much a part of Wimbledon as white socks, worn-out grass and strawberries and cream. The watchmaker became the tennis tournament’s official timekeeper in 1978 and has had a ubiquitous presence ever since.
But at the Olympics, Rolex is going down in straight sets.
Swiss timekeeper Omega SA, the official timekeeper of the Olympics, is one of the rare corporate sponsors whose name is allowed to be visible inside Olympic venues on the theory that keeping time is integral to many events. As a result, Rolex-branded clocks around the famed grounds of Wimbledon will be covered up for the duration of the Games.
For Omega, “this is something of a coup,” said Simon Chadwick, a professor of sport business strategy and marketing at the University of Coventry in the U.K. “It is historically an event associated with one of its main rivals. It’s like Nike walking into Adidas’s living room and sitting down and taking his shoes off.”
2012年7月29日星期日
Amara Brown shines at Winter Jazz Festival
who was clad in a red outfit with a zebra motif in front —thrilled the audience with renditions of her late father’s songs like “Tichangoshaina”, “Zindoga”, “Harare” and “Mawere Kongonya”, among others.
The 24-year-old Amara, was making her maiden appearance at the festival, also impressed by showcasing her dancing skills. To many people, Amara is the young girl in a 1990s cooking oil advert in which she appears alongside legendary musician Oliver Mtukudzi with the band Oli and the Vines.
“I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to honour my father. As emotional as it was, I drew a lot of inspiration from him and he was always a pillar of strength for me,” she said. Amara also revealed her interests, which, apart from music, also include dancing.
“I am passionate about music and dance which have taken me to many places around the world. The more that I have travelled around the globe the more I discovered that Zimbabwean artistes like my father, had a lot to offer to the world,” she said. Her control of the crowd was amazing while her vocal clarity was simply out of this world.
“I looked up to my dad and respected him a lot. I was privileged to share the stage with him at one time and I used that moment to learn more about music,” she said.
Born on September 6, 1988, Amara said she has a lot to offer in the music world. “My father might have passed on but his music legacy lives on and I am here to keep the torch burning,” she said.
Meanwhile, this year’s edition of the Winter Jazz Festival opened to a rather slow start but several artistes still managed to give a good account of themselves. Mbare Trio, Jazz Invitation, Summer Breeze and Amara gave the festival a lively feel.
The ceremony had a lot of thrills with Speaker of Parliament Austin Zvoma — who was also the guest of honour — taking time to entertain jazz lovers alongside his longtime friends, Mbare Trio, with the rendition of “Stick By Me” being a crowd favourite.
Despite the old temperatures the “old boys from Mbare” led by Friday Mbirimi were in fine form and showed the younger artistes how it is done.
So thrilling was the performance by Mbare Trio that one fan, Vincent Terera, pledged three pairs of shoes to the group. The group also introduced their new album “Rufaro”. Apart from Mbare Trio, Jazz Invitation and Summer Breeze also thrilled fans with their acts.
The 24-year-old Amara, was making her maiden appearance at the festival, also impressed by showcasing her dancing skills. To many people, Amara is the young girl in a 1990s cooking oil advert in which she appears alongside legendary musician Oliver Mtukudzi with the band Oli and the Vines.
“I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to honour my father. As emotional as it was, I drew a lot of inspiration from him and he was always a pillar of strength for me,” she said. Amara also revealed her interests, which, apart from music, also include dancing.
“I am passionate about music and dance which have taken me to many places around the world. The more that I have travelled around the globe the more I discovered that Zimbabwean artistes like my father, had a lot to offer to the world,” she said. Her control of the crowd was amazing while her vocal clarity was simply out of this world.
“I looked up to my dad and respected him a lot. I was privileged to share the stage with him at one time and I used that moment to learn more about music,” she said.
Born on September 6, 1988, Amara said she has a lot to offer in the music world. “My father might have passed on but his music legacy lives on and I am here to keep the torch burning,” she said.
Meanwhile, this year’s edition of the Winter Jazz Festival opened to a rather slow start but several artistes still managed to give a good account of themselves. Mbare Trio, Jazz Invitation, Summer Breeze and Amara gave the festival a lively feel.
The ceremony had a lot of thrills with Speaker of Parliament Austin Zvoma — who was also the guest of honour — taking time to entertain jazz lovers alongside his longtime friends, Mbare Trio, with the rendition of “Stick By Me” being a crowd favourite.
Despite the old temperatures the “old boys from Mbare” led by Friday Mbirimi were in fine form and showed the younger artistes how it is done.
So thrilling was the performance by Mbare Trio that one fan, Vincent Terera, pledged three pairs of shoes to the group. The group also introduced their new album “Rufaro”. Apart from Mbare Trio, Jazz Invitation and Summer Breeze also thrilled fans with their acts.
2012年7月26日星期四
Bands nationally and locally known will entertain
The good times will roll again for the 16th year down home at Ardenwood Historic Farm in Fremont on Aug. 11, when the park hosts its annual Cajun/Zydeco Music Festival.
Bands nationally and locally known will entertain the crowd with lively music from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Performers will include Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band and Andre Thierry & Zydeco Magic, among many. Southern and Cajun food will be available for purchase. Visitors also can visit the farm animals, shop specialty vendors and take dance lessons.
Advance tickets are on sale online through Aug. 7. The cost is $18 for adults ages 16 and older and $3 for children ages 4 through 15. You can buy tickets online at www.At-the-gate prices are $22 for adults, $5 for children. Kids three and younger are admitted free. Parking is free, too.
Ardenwood Historic Farm is located at 34600 Ardenwood Blvd., just north of Highway 84 in Fremont.
San Ramon: The Tuesday Twilight hike series continues Tuesday with a steep and vigorous hike from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. up Rocky Ridge at Las Trampas Regional Wilderness in San Ramon, led by naturalist "Trail Gail" Broesder.
The hike is free of charge, best for ages 10 and older. The payoff for all the exertion is great views of Bollinger Canyon, Mt. Diablo, and the San Ramon Valley. Meet inside the gate at the north end of Bollinger Canyon Road off Crow Canyon Road in San Ramon. Bring water, a flashlight and snacks to share. Wear layered clothing and good hiking shoes.
LIVERMORE AREA: Snakes will be the timely topic during the Saturday evening campfire starting at 8:30 p.m. Saturday at Del Valle Regional Park south of Livermore. Naturalist "Trail Gail" will preside.
Noncampers are welcome; children must be accompanied by an adult. Please park by the campground store.
OAKLAND: Di Rosario, the supervisor at Redwood Regional Park in Oakland, has declared war on French broom, an invasive though pretty shrub that crowds out California native vegetation in the redwood forest. Di's next broom pulling volunteer workday is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 4. If you'd like to enlist, meet Di at 9 a.m. at the Skyline Gate staging area. It's on Skyline Boulevard a bit south of the intersection with Shepherd Canyon Road.
If you miss the Skyline Gate workday, there's another one at Redwood, starting at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 12. Meet at the Wayside picnic area inside the park's Redwood Gate on Redwood Road south of Skyline Boulevard.
BERKELEY: If you'd like to learn more about California native plants, there are docent-guided tours at 2 p.m. on Saturdays and 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Sundays at the Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley. The 10-acre garden has an extensive collection of native plants from every climate zone in the state.
And for home gardeners, the garden volunteers usually sell plants from 9 to 11 a.m. every Thursday at the garden's potting shed.
The weekend tours are free of charge. The garden is located at the intersection of South Park Drive and Wildcat Canyon Road.
Bay Point: Naturalist Kevin Damstra will preside at another "First Friday Fires" program from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Aug. 3 at Bay Point Regional Shoreline in Bay Point. Bring a lawn chair, relax by the campfire as the sun sets, and learn a bit about the area's natural history. The program is free of charge. Bay Point Regional Shoreline is located at the north end of McAvoy Road next to McAvoy Harbor.
Bands nationally and locally known will entertain the crowd with lively music from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Performers will include Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band and Andre Thierry & Zydeco Magic, among many. Southern and Cajun food will be available for purchase. Visitors also can visit the farm animals, shop specialty vendors and take dance lessons.
Advance tickets are on sale online through Aug. 7. The cost is $18 for adults ages 16 and older and $3 for children ages 4 through 15. You can buy tickets online at www.At-the-gate prices are $22 for adults, $5 for children. Kids three and younger are admitted free. Parking is free, too.
Ardenwood Historic Farm is located at 34600 Ardenwood Blvd., just north of Highway 84 in Fremont.
San Ramon: The Tuesday Twilight hike series continues Tuesday with a steep and vigorous hike from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. up Rocky Ridge at Las Trampas Regional Wilderness in San Ramon, led by naturalist "Trail Gail" Broesder.
The hike is free of charge, best for ages 10 and older. The payoff for all the exertion is great views of Bollinger Canyon, Mt. Diablo, and the San Ramon Valley. Meet inside the gate at the north end of Bollinger Canyon Road off Crow Canyon Road in San Ramon. Bring water, a flashlight and snacks to share. Wear layered clothing and good hiking shoes.
LIVERMORE AREA: Snakes will be the timely topic during the Saturday evening campfire starting at 8:30 p.m. Saturday at Del Valle Regional Park south of Livermore. Naturalist "Trail Gail" will preside.
Noncampers are welcome; children must be accompanied by an adult. Please park by the campground store.
OAKLAND: Di Rosario, the supervisor at Redwood Regional Park in Oakland, has declared war on French broom, an invasive though pretty shrub that crowds out California native vegetation in the redwood forest. Di's next broom pulling volunteer workday is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 4. If you'd like to enlist, meet Di at 9 a.m. at the Skyline Gate staging area. It's on Skyline Boulevard a bit south of the intersection with Shepherd Canyon Road.
If you miss the Skyline Gate workday, there's another one at Redwood, starting at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 12. Meet at the Wayside picnic area inside the park's Redwood Gate on Redwood Road south of Skyline Boulevard.
BERKELEY: If you'd like to learn more about California native plants, there are docent-guided tours at 2 p.m. on Saturdays and 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Sundays at the Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley. The 10-acre garden has an extensive collection of native plants from every climate zone in the state.
And for home gardeners, the garden volunteers usually sell plants from 9 to 11 a.m. every Thursday at the garden's potting shed.
The weekend tours are free of charge. The garden is located at the intersection of South Park Drive and Wildcat Canyon Road.
Bay Point: Naturalist Kevin Damstra will preside at another "First Friday Fires" program from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Aug. 3 at Bay Point Regional Shoreline in Bay Point. Bring a lawn chair, relax by the campfire as the sun sets, and learn a bit about the area's natural history. The program is free of charge. Bay Point Regional Shoreline is located at the north end of McAvoy Road next to McAvoy Harbor.
2012年7月25日星期三
It does not matter why he did it
Oh boy, July is almost over with already, August is just around the corner. Where did the year go? Oh yeah, it’s an election year. I try to ignore the world this time of year.
I doubt that there are many who aren’t horrified at the shootings in the theater in Aurora, Colorado, Thursday night. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. I will never understand why some people do the things that they do. I quit trying to figure it out years ago.
I don’t know if the shooter is nuts or just evil, I guess it really doesn’t matter, he is going away for the rest of his life no matter what. I’m joining with several others in that I will not use the shooter’s name. He doesn’t deserve to be spoken of in human terms, so therefore I will not contribute to his 10 seconds of fame. People like him are dog leavings on our shoes; just a nasty substance that we try to avoid but sometimes can’t.
Some 21 years ago Jeffrey Dahmer’s dinner-to-be escaped his clutches and the cops found Dahmer's stew pot of body parts, leading to weeks of horror stories in the news. I quit watching the news soon after that. I had two little ones and the news was just too depressing, so I stayed away from it until my kids were a bit older. I remember Dahmer though because I was in the hospital after giving birth to Justin and there was the geeky looking freak on the tv news. Here I am, checking out fingers and toes on the most beautiful little boy I had ever seen, and up on the screen the talking heads are chattering with ghoulish delight about this freak who liked to eat young boys. Double YUCK. To make matters worse, if it wasn’t Dahmer on the screen, then it was scenes of little kids' missing body parts in Bosnia. I took a little vacation from the news for a few years over that.
It doesn’t seem like too many years later Jeffy boy died in prison. That story barely registered with me due to the fact that I have always been a firm believer in that people eventually get what’s coming to them, good or bad, and bad things happening to bad people doesn’t bother me one bit. I’m afraid I can relate more to my pagan ancestors than the good Christians. I’m not much on turning the other cheek and while I can accept an apology, I don’t ever forget what landed that person in my bad graces in the first place. Forgive, maybe, forget, not a freakin’ chance.
I doubt that there are many who aren’t horrified at the shootings in the theater in Aurora, Colorado, Thursday night. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. I will never understand why some people do the things that they do. I quit trying to figure it out years ago.
I don’t know if the shooter is nuts or just evil, I guess it really doesn’t matter, he is going away for the rest of his life no matter what. I’m joining with several others in that I will not use the shooter’s name. He doesn’t deserve to be spoken of in human terms, so therefore I will not contribute to his 10 seconds of fame. People like him are dog leavings on our shoes; just a nasty substance that we try to avoid but sometimes can’t.
Some 21 years ago Jeffrey Dahmer’s dinner-to-be escaped his clutches and the cops found Dahmer's stew pot of body parts, leading to weeks of horror stories in the news. I quit watching the news soon after that. I had two little ones and the news was just too depressing, so I stayed away from it until my kids were a bit older. I remember Dahmer though because I was in the hospital after giving birth to Justin and there was the geeky looking freak on the tv news. Here I am, checking out fingers and toes on the most beautiful little boy I had ever seen, and up on the screen the talking heads are chattering with ghoulish delight about this freak who liked to eat young boys. Double YUCK. To make matters worse, if it wasn’t Dahmer on the screen, then it was scenes of little kids' missing body parts in Bosnia. I took a little vacation from the news for a few years over that.
It doesn’t seem like too many years later Jeffy boy died in prison. That story barely registered with me due to the fact that I have always been a firm believer in that people eventually get what’s coming to them, good or bad, and bad things happening to bad people doesn’t bother me one bit. I’m afraid I can relate more to my pagan ancestors than the good Christians. I’m not much on turning the other cheek and while I can accept an apology, I don’t ever forget what landed that person in my bad graces in the first place. Forgive, maybe, forget, not a freakin’ chance.
2012年7月24日星期二
Although the Islanders play their home games in cool Pacifica
The Pacifica Islanders hit the road again as they traveled into triple digit temperatures. This time it was too Roseville, Ca as they took on the current Pacific Coast Football League's (PCFL) champion, the Roseville Bears. The Bears who are two- time league champions and the 2010 national champs proved to be no match for Pacifica as they were handily defeated 40-7.
The Bears had just completed their 11-2 PCFL season defeating the Nor-Cal Knights in the title game 23-21 while the Islanders were a perfect 12-0 in the Gridiron Developmental Football League.
With a kickoff temperature of 99 degrees and a high of 103 the Islanders not only had to battle the Bears but also the heat. The field was a "pro turf" style field which really radiates the heat. These fields get about 10 degrees hotter than the outside temperature as some Islanders can attest too by their partially melted cleats. In fact, it was so hot that the team's videographer Sean Marchetti needed a new pair of shoes by the game's final as his literally had all the glue melt from between the soles and the shoes separated into layers.
Although the Islanders play their home games in cool Pacifica, they were up for the challenge as they have experience playing in these temperatures, having played numerous games in Fresno and Las Vegas. In fact, by observing the players on both sides it appeared Pacifica was more conditioned for the home team's weather as the Bears players looked exhausted as early as the first quarter. The Islanders took the opening kickoff and produced an 86-yard drive that not only took 11 minutes off the clock but also had the Bears gasping for air as quarterback Myles Gates ran in the first touchdown from the Bears six-yard line giving the Islanders the early 7-0 lead.
The Bears first possession was short as they had to punt the ball after only one series. The Islanders marched right back down and this time it was Gates to Gates as Myles connected with his brother Michael for Pacifica's only passing touchdown on the day, a 25-yard pass completion making the score 14-0.
After gaining big yardage from a penalty on the kickoff the Bears took the field at the Islander 50 yard line. After a few failed plays the Bear's quarterback threw a "Hail Mary" type pass that was caught in the end-zone for a touchdown. This catch gave the Bears some needed momentum and seemed as if it would get them back in the game with a score of 14-7.
The Islanders however responded immediately, driving down the field at ease and scoring once again, this time it was running back Sal Washington with a five-yard touchdown run making the score 21-7 with 1:03 left in the half.
With the exception of the penalty on the one kick the Islanders special teams played an excellent game keeping the Bears starting deep in their own territory all day. This along with strong defensive play lead to the Islanders last score before the half as the Bears were forced to punt from their own five-yard line with only 19 seconds left on the clock. The punt was botched and the Islanders recovered the ball at the Bear 15, setting Fletcher up for the easy field goal and giving the Islanders a 24-7 halftime lead.
The second half started with both teams' defenses making big plays and forcing each other to punt the ball away. The first score in the second half would come with 7:54 in the third quarter as kicker Doug Fletcher connected on another field goal from 27 yards making the score 27-7. The Bears next drive was killed by a Paki Gordon interception, one of three on the day for Paki. This set the Islanders up with excellent field position as their offense started their possession inside the Bears territory. Washington broke a 37-yard run down to the Bears five yard line as the third quarter expired. Running back Michael Blocho scored two plays later. The PAT was missed as the Islanders went up 33-7 with 14:06 left to play in the contest.
The Islanders final score was a quarterback sneak from Myles Gates from the Bear's five-yard line with 8:17 left. The rest of the game was scoreless as the Islanders were once again content with running the clock out.
The Bears had just completed their 11-2 PCFL season defeating the Nor-Cal Knights in the title game 23-21 while the Islanders were a perfect 12-0 in the Gridiron Developmental Football League.
With a kickoff temperature of 99 degrees and a high of 103 the Islanders not only had to battle the Bears but also the heat. The field was a "pro turf" style field which really radiates the heat. These fields get about 10 degrees hotter than the outside temperature as some Islanders can attest too by their partially melted cleats. In fact, it was so hot that the team's videographer Sean Marchetti needed a new pair of shoes by the game's final as his literally had all the glue melt from between the soles and the shoes separated into layers.
Although the Islanders play their home games in cool Pacifica, they were up for the challenge as they have experience playing in these temperatures, having played numerous games in Fresno and Las Vegas. In fact, by observing the players on both sides it appeared Pacifica was more conditioned for the home team's weather as the Bears players looked exhausted as early as the first quarter. The Islanders took the opening kickoff and produced an 86-yard drive that not only took 11 minutes off the clock but also had the Bears gasping for air as quarterback Myles Gates ran in the first touchdown from the Bears six-yard line giving the Islanders the early 7-0 lead.
The Bears first possession was short as they had to punt the ball after only one series. The Islanders marched right back down and this time it was Gates to Gates as Myles connected with his brother Michael for Pacifica's only passing touchdown on the day, a 25-yard pass completion making the score 14-0.
After gaining big yardage from a penalty on the kickoff the Bears took the field at the Islander 50 yard line. After a few failed plays the Bear's quarterback threw a "Hail Mary" type pass that was caught in the end-zone for a touchdown. This catch gave the Bears some needed momentum and seemed as if it would get them back in the game with a score of 14-7.
The Islanders however responded immediately, driving down the field at ease and scoring once again, this time it was running back Sal Washington with a five-yard touchdown run making the score 21-7 with 1:03 left in the half.
With the exception of the penalty on the one kick the Islanders special teams played an excellent game keeping the Bears starting deep in their own territory all day. This along with strong defensive play lead to the Islanders last score before the half as the Bears were forced to punt from their own five-yard line with only 19 seconds left on the clock. The punt was botched and the Islanders recovered the ball at the Bear 15, setting Fletcher up for the easy field goal and giving the Islanders a 24-7 halftime lead.
The second half started with both teams' defenses making big plays and forcing each other to punt the ball away. The first score in the second half would come with 7:54 in the third quarter as kicker Doug Fletcher connected on another field goal from 27 yards making the score 27-7. The Bears next drive was killed by a Paki Gordon interception, one of three on the day for Paki. This set the Islanders up with excellent field position as their offense started their possession inside the Bears territory. Washington broke a 37-yard run down to the Bears five yard line as the third quarter expired. Running back Michael Blocho scored two plays later. The PAT was missed as the Islanders went up 33-7 with 14:06 left to play in the contest.
The Islanders final score was a quarterback sneak from Myles Gates from the Bear's five-yard line with 8:17 left. The rest of the game was scoreless as the Islanders were once again content with running the clock out.
2012年7月23日星期一
Please refer to the press release and the risk factors
Welcome to VMware's Second Quarter 2012 Earnings Conference Call. On the call, we have Paul Maritz; Pat Gelsinger and Carl Eschenbach. Following their prepared remarks, we will take questions. Our press release was issued after close of market and is posted on our website, where this call is being simultaneously webcast. Statements made on this call include forward-looking statements such as those with the words will, believes, expects, continues and similar phrases that denote future expectation or intent regarding our financial outlook, business acquisitions, product offerings, customer demand and other matters. These statements are based on the environment as we currently see it and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Please refer to the press release and the risk factors and documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent reports on Form 10-Q and Form 10-K for information on risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in such statements.
In addition, during today's call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures, which are used as measures of VMware's performance, should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for or in isolation from, GAAP measures. Our non-GAAP measures exclude the effect on our GAAP results of stock-based compensation, amortization of intangible assets, employer payroll tax and employee stock transactions, the net effect of amortization and capitalization of software and acquisition-related items. You can find additional disclosures regarding these non-GAAP measures, including reconciliations with comparable GAAP measures, in the press release and on the Investor Relations page of our website.
The webcast replay of this call will be available for the next 60 days on our company website under the Investor Relations link. Our third quarter quiet period begins at the close of business, September 14, 2012. Unless otherwise stated, all financial comparisons in this call will be in reference to our results for the comparable period of 2011. Finally, as a reminder, our Analyst Day will be held August 27 in San Francisco as part of VMworld, which runs August 27 through 30.
In addition, during today's call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures, which are used as measures of VMware's performance, should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for or in isolation from, GAAP measures. Our non-GAAP measures exclude the effect on our GAAP results of stock-based compensation, amortization of intangible assets, employer payroll tax and employee stock transactions, the net effect of amortization and capitalization of software and acquisition-related items. You can find additional disclosures regarding these non-GAAP measures, including reconciliations with comparable GAAP measures, in the press release and on the Investor Relations page of our website.
The webcast replay of this call will be available for the next 60 days on our company website under the Investor Relations link. Our third quarter quiet period begins at the close of business, September 14, 2012. Unless otherwise stated, all financial comparisons in this call will be in reference to our results for the comparable period of 2011. Finally, as a reminder, our Analyst Day will be held August 27 in San Francisco as part of VMworld, which runs August 27 through 30.
2012年7月22日星期日
Getting to the Olympics on borrowed shoes
Hers is an improbable journey. She was the best runner in Junín as an adolescent, but her aspirations never expanded much beyond local races and the small-town recognition that came with it: a bit of cash, pencils or notebooks for school, some running paraphernalia.
Competing professionally was the last thing on her mind. She was the youngest of nine children (three of whom died at birth). Her parents were subsistence farmers who earned income by taking care of others' animals. The four boys and two girls each started working at age 8, selling fruit or helping in the fields. "We didn't have any money," Tejeda says. "We couldn't afford shoes, or plane tickets to compete abroad, or for me to do nothing but run."
Her parents and siblings knew she was fast. Each day the kids had to shepherd cows to grazing areas, an eight-mile round trip. Tejeda always got the job done the quickest. When her mother needed cooking oil or sugar from the store, she would dispatch her youngest "because she would just run, run, so fast," says her mother, Marcelina Pucuhuaranga.
The Tejeda family got its first TV in 2007, and it was the next year that Tejeda learned about the Olympics, watching the Beijing Games. Her older brother Jorge turned to her, as the family sat transfixed, and asked: "Why don't you run in the Olympics?"
It seemed like a preposterous idea. After all, Tejeda, who was 22 at the time, had never competed in a professional race. The longest she had ever run was 50 minutes. Her father had also died and she had quit running for a year. She only started again with the coaxing of co-workers at the flour factory where she worked.
The next year all the local races paid off. In 2009, the reputation of the "girl from Junín" spread, and a Peruvian trainer offered to teach her with a group of other budding marathoners in the state capital, Huancayo, 100 miles away. "I cried and cried," she recalls. "I had never been away from my mother."
Since then, her rise has been breathtaking. She qualified for the Olympics during her first marathon, in Seoul, South Korea, last year, and then captured the bronze medal in the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexi-co. The London Games will be only her third marathon.
"She is an example for the rest of Peru," says Sebastián Marambio of the Olympian Athletic Association of Peru. "Through hard work and discipline, you can overcome any hardship."
Despite not having formal training until 2009, Tejeda believes her life in Junín prepared her well for elite running. Traversing 13,000-foot mountains, in cold air and on icy roads, gave her endurance. And her mother instilled in her an Olympian's discipline. "We always had to be punctual for everything," she says.
This summer, her family will once again be watching the Olympics on TV – this time a flat-screen that Tejeda recently bought – except for Jorge and her mother. They will be in London seeing her compete in person, on their first trip outside Peru, as a result of a program sponsored by Procter & Gamble that highlights the sacrifices mothers make raising Olympians.
"I'm a little nervous," says Tejeda. "But mostly just excited."
Competing professionally was the last thing on her mind. She was the youngest of nine children (three of whom died at birth). Her parents were subsistence farmers who earned income by taking care of others' animals. The four boys and two girls each started working at age 8, selling fruit or helping in the fields. "We didn't have any money," Tejeda says. "We couldn't afford shoes, or plane tickets to compete abroad, or for me to do nothing but run."
Her parents and siblings knew she was fast. Each day the kids had to shepherd cows to grazing areas, an eight-mile round trip. Tejeda always got the job done the quickest. When her mother needed cooking oil or sugar from the store, she would dispatch her youngest "because she would just run, run, so fast," says her mother, Marcelina Pucuhuaranga.
The Tejeda family got its first TV in 2007, and it was the next year that Tejeda learned about the Olympics, watching the Beijing Games. Her older brother Jorge turned to her, as the family sat transfixed, and asked: "Why don't you run in the Olympics?"
It seemed like a preposterous idea. After all, Tejeda, who was 22 at the time, had never competed in a professional race. The longest she had ever run was 50 minutes. Her father had also died and she had quit running for a year. She only started again with the coaxing of co-workers at the flour factory where she worked.
The next year all the local races paid off. In 2009, the reputation of the "girl from Junín" spread, and a Peruvian trainer offered to teach her with a group of other budding marathoners in the state capital, Huancayo, 100 miles away. "I cried and cried," she recalls. "I had never been away from my mother."
Since then, her rise has been breathtaking. She qualified for the Olympics during her first marathon, in Seoul, South Korea, last year, and then captured the bronze medal in the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexi-co. The London Games will be only her third marathon.
"She is an example for the rest of Peru," says Sebastián Marambio of the Olympian Athletic Association of Peru. "Through hard work and discipline, you can overcome any hardship."
Despite not having formal training until 2009, Tejeda believes her life in Junín prepared her well for elite running. Traversing 13,000-foot mountains, in cold air and on icy roads, gave her endurance. And her mother instilled in her an Olympian's discipline. "We always had to be punctual for everything," she says.
This summer, her family will once again be watching the Olympics on TV – this time a flat-screen that Tejeda recently bought – except for Jorge and her mother. They will be in London seeing her compete in person, on their first trip outside Peru, as a result of a program sponsored by Procter & Gamble that highlights the sacrifices mothers make raising Olympians.
"I'm a little nervous," says Tejeda. "But mostly just excited."
2012年7月19日星期四
The District earns a page in campaign-finance secrecy
If D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray and Jeffrey Thompson had just been hip to the latest wrinkles in shadowy campaign finance, they might not be in trouble today.
Gray unseated incumbent Adrian Fenty in a hard-fought Democratic primary in 2010. Thompson is widely believed to have funded a $653,000 secret campaign on Gray’s behalf. Prosecutors haven’t alleged that Gray knew about the campaign at the time but say that at least some of those working for his election did. Three members of the D.C. Council, including one who supported Gray’s candidacy, have called for his resignation as shoes have continued to drop.
Thompson is the businessman behind D.C. Chartered Health Plan, a managed-care company that has the city’s largest single contract, worth more than $300million a year. A longtime Gray associate, Jeanne Clarke Harris, said in court last week that “Co-Conspirator #1” — reportedly Thompson — sought to conceal his support for Gray because, if Fenty were reelected, “he did not want the sitting mayor to find out he was supporting his opponent.”
The campaign that Thompson allegedly financed was distinctly old-school. It paid for yard signs, T-shirts and supplies for precinct walkers that were delivered to Gray’s campaign offices (where, presumably, no one asked where they had come from). There was no independent advertising — that would have called attention to the existence of the shadow campaign.
But then, the whole idea of getting in trouble for concealing donations to campaigns is distinctly old-school, too. In federal elections, thanks to some Supreme Court decisions — most notably in the 2010 case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission — and lower-court holdings, and the eagerness of Republicans in Congress to benefit from such campaigns, concealing donations that dwarf the one Thompson allegedly made is both legal and all the rage.
Playing by the new federal election rules, says veteran campaign finance reformer Fred Wertheimer, Thompson could have hidden his support without fear of legal liability. Funneling equipment to Gray’s campaign would still have been forbidden. But, says Wertheimer, “he could have had someone set up a corporation on his behalf and have it buy advertising in its own name. Corporations don’t have to disclose who gives them money. This would be permitted under Citizens United.”
Or, Wertheimer told me, Thompson could have set up or given his money to a 501(c)4 organization — presumably a “social welfare” organization that is nonetheless permitted to wage political campaigns and does not have to disclose the identity of its donors. Doing just that, Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS has raised and spent tens of millions of dollars on behalf of Republican candidates.
To be sure, Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the Citizens United decision, expressed hope that donors would disclose their identities. And Republican congressional leaders had supported such disclosures, at least in principle. “We ought to have full disclosure, full disclosure of all of the money that we raise and how it is spent,” Rep. John Boehner, now the House speaker, said on “Meet the Press” in 2007. “We need to have real disclosure,” Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell told “Meet the Press” in 2000. “What we ought to do is broaden the disclosure Why could a little disclosure be better than a lot of disclosure?”
But that was oh so then. Now that Republicans are the beneficiaries of secret contributions to groups such as Crossroads GPS, they oppose disclosure. This week, Senate Democrats brought to the floor a bill mandating disclosure of all political donations. They had majority support for the measure, but Republicans, using the cloture requirement for a 60-vote supermajority to consider legislation, blocked the bill from being put to a vote. That wasn’t just some Republicans but all of them, including John McCain, erstwhile campaign finance reformer. McCain is giving situational ethics a bad name.
In defending the right to give and not disclose, Republicans argue that individual and corporate donors should not have to run the risk of offending constituencies and customers who might retaliate by inviting them to fewer parties or ceasing to patronize their products or stores. These donors, in essence, should be held harmless from the negative consequences of their political speech but should be able to benefit from the positive consequences: the changes in policy or government contracts or political access with which they’re rewarded.
Which is exactly what Jeffrey Thompson was allegedly trying to do. If he is brought to trial, he might consider having Boehner and McConnell testify in his defense. A secret mega-donation? What’s wrong with that?
Gray unseated incumbent Adrian Fenty in a hard-fought Democratic primary in 2010. Thompson is widely believed to have funded a $653,000 secret campaign on Gray’s behalf. Prosecutors haven’t alleged that Gray knew about the campaign at the time but say that at least some of those working for his election did. Three members of the D.C. Council, including one who supported Gray’s candidacy, have called for his resignation as shoes have continued to drop.
Thompson is the businessman behind D.C. Chartered Health Plan, a managed-care company that has the city’s largest single contract, worth more than $300million a year. A longtime Gray associate, Jeanne Clarke Harris, said in court last week that “Co-Conspirator #1” — reportedly Thompson — sought to conceal his support for Gray because, if Fenty were reelected, “he did not want the sitting mayor to find out he was supporting his opponent.”
The campaign that Thompson allegedly financed was distinctly old-school. It paid for yard signs, T-shirts and supplies for precinct walkers that were delivered to Gray’s campaign offices (where, presumably, no one asked where they had come from). There was no independent advertising — that would have called attention to the existence of the shadow campaign.
But then, the whole idea of getting in trouble for concealing donations to campaigns is distinctly old-school, too. In federal elections, thanks to some Supreme Court decisions — most notably in the 2010 case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission — and lower-court holdings, and the eagerness of Republicans in Congress to benefit from such campaigns, concealing donations that dwarf the one Thompson allegedly made is both legal and all the rage.
Playing by the new federal election rules, says veteran campaign finance reformer Fred Wertheimer, Thompson could have hidden his support without fear of legal liability. Funneling equipment to Gray’s campaign would still have been forbidden. But, says Wertheimer, “he could have had someone set up a corporation on his behalf and have it buy advertising in its own name. Corporations don’t have to disclose who gives them money. This would be permitted under Citizens United.”
Or, Wertheimer told me, Thompson could have set up or given his money to a 501(c)4 organization — presumably a “social welfare” organization that is nonetheless permitted to wage political campaigns and does not have to disclose the identity of its donors. Doing just that, Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS has raised and spent tens of millions of dollars on behalf of Republican candidates.
To be sure, Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the Citizens United decision, expressed hope that donors would disclose their identities. And Republican congressional leaders had supported such disclosures, at least in principle. “We ought to have full disclosure, full disclosure of all of the money that we raise and how it is spent,” Rep. John Boehner, now the House speaker, said on “Meet the Press” in 2007. “We need to have real disclosure,” Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell told “Meet the Press” in 2000. “What we ought to do is broaden the disclosure Why could a little disclosure be better than a lot of disclosure?”
But that was oh so then. Now that Republicans are the beneficiaries of secret contributions to groups such as Crossroads GPS, they oppose disclosure. This week, Senate Democrats brought to the floor a bill mandating disclosure of all political donations. They had majority support for the measure, but Republicans, using the cloture requirement for a 60-vote supermajority to consider legislation, blocked the bill from being put to a vote. That wasn’t just some Republicans but all of them, including John McCain, erstwhile campaign finance reformer. McCain is giving situational ethics a bad name.
In defending the right to give and not disclose, Republicans argue that individual and corporate donors should not have to run the risk of offending constituencies and customers who might retaliate by inviting them to fewer parties or ceasing to patronize their products or stores. These donors, in essence, should be held harmless from the negative consequences of their political speech but should be able to benefit from the positive consequences: the changes in policy or government contracts or political access with which they’re rewarded.
Which is exactly what Jeffrey Thompson was allegedly trying to do. If he is brought to trial, he might consider having Boehner and McConnell testify in his defense. A secret mega-donation? What’s wrong with that?
2012年7月18日星期三
Super-Rich With One-Of-A-Kind Shoes And Bags
Louis Vuitton is courting China's wealthy with one-of-a-kind shoes and bags it is branding as unique works of art to reclaim its exclusive cachet in the luxury market.
The French luxury brand, a unit of LVMH, is set to open its largest China store in Shanghai on Saturday, complete with a gilded spiral staircase and an invitation-only private floor where big spenders can get their hair done while dreaming up designs for custom bags.
"The made-to-order concept is the ultimate luxury," Louis Vuitton Chief Executive Yves Carcelle told Reuters during a tour of the store, which the company calls a "maison".
"It's the same with art. If you are interested in art, the ultimate is to commission an artist rather than buy a piece that is already done," Carcelle said.
Louis Vuitton routinely ranks among the most admired brands in surveys of Chinese consumers. But ultra-luxury names such as Hermes are making inroads, and some top-tier consumers now look down on Louis Vuitton as too common.
The company hopes to cement its exclusive luxury status with the new Shanghai store, which boasts steel sculptures and carries a wide array of goods ranging from chic coats and hats to brightly colored bags made from python or alligator skin.
It also sells carrying cases for tiles used to play the Chinese game mahjong and made-to-order trunks for tea sets.
China is the world's third biggest market for personal luxury goods, worth at least 160 billion yuan ($25 billion). In the next three years, it is expected to leapfrog over Japan and the United States to take the top spot, with the luxury segment expanding to 180 billion yuan ($28 billion).
BAD TIMING?
The Louis Vuitton maison, one of 16 similar boutiques in the world, is located in Shanghai's address for luxury goods: the swanky Plaza 66 mall, where rival brands such as Chanel and Prada also have stores.
Spanning four levels and with more than 100 staff, the store is currently the only one in China that offers custom bags and shoes. The company declined to say how much it spent on the boutique.
"Being in this made-to-order market needs sophisticated customers who know what they are talking about and own several bags, if not dozens of bags," Carcelle said.
"That's why the haute maroquinerie and made-to-order-shoes... are important to demonstrate in China," he said, using the French word for luxury leather crafts.
"As long as we didn't have this space to show them to our clients, in a world that is changing fast, we were missing our weapons," he said.
Louis Vuitton's timing, however, may be less than ideal.
Luxury spending is softening in China as the economy weakens. Economic growth slowed to its lowest level in three years last quarter. Britain's Burberry said last week its sales had been hit by the slowdown in China.
Carcelle declined to comment on the state of the Chinese economy or its impact on luxury spending, but said he sees more "maisons" opening up in the capital Beijing and Hangzhou, a thriving trade hub in eastern China.
He said Chinese consumers had rapidly matured into luxury connoisseurs, and the company needed to cater to both first-time buyers and sophisticated shoppers.
The French luxury brand, a unit of LVMH, is set to open its largest China store in Shanghai on Saturday, complete with a gilded spiral staircase and an invitation-only private floor where big spenders can get their hair done while dreaming up designs for custom bags.
"The made-to-order concept is the ultimate luxury," Louis Vuitton Chief Executive Yves Carcelle told Reuters during a tour of the store, which the company calls a "maison".
"It's the same with art. If you are interested in art, the ultimate is to commission an artist rather than buy a piece that is already done," Carcelle said.
Louis Vuitton routinely ranks among the most admired brands in surveys of Chinese consumers. But ultra-luxury names such as Hermes are making inroads, and some top-tier consumers now look down on Louis Vuitton as too common.
The company hopes to cement its exclusive luxury status with the new Shanghai store, which boasts steel sculptures and carries a wide array of goods ranging from chic coats and hats to brightly colored bags made from python or alligator skin.
It also sells carrying cases for tiles used to play the Chinese game mahjong and made-to-order trunks for tea sets.
China is the world's third biggest market for personal luxury goods, worth at least 160 billion yuan ($25 billion). In the next three years, it is expected to leapfrog over Japan and the United States to take the top spot, with the luxury segment expanding to 180 billion yuan ($28 billion).
BAD TIMING?
The Louis Vuitton maison, one of 16 similar boutiques in the world, is located in Shanghai's address for luxury goods: the swanky Plaza 66 mall, where rival brands such as Chanel and Prada also have stores.
Spanning four levels and with more than 100 staff, the store is currently the only one in China that offers custom bags and shoes. The company declined to say how much it spent on the boutique.
"Being in this made-to-order market needs sophisticated customers who know what they are talking about and own several bags, if not dozens of bags," Carcelle said.
"That's why the haute maroquinerie and made-to-order-shoes... are important to demonstrate in China," he said, using the French word for luxury leather crafts.
"As long as we didn't have this space to show them to our clients, in a world that is changing fast, we were missing our weapons," he said.
Louis Vuitton's timing, however, may be less than ideal.
Luxury spending is softening in China as the economy weakens. Economic growth slowed to its lowest level in three years last quarter. Britain's Burberry said last week its sales had been hit by the slowdown in China.
Carcelle declined to comment on the state of the Chinese economy or its impact on luxury spending, but said he sees more "maisons" opening up in the capital Beijing and Hangzhou, a thriving trade hub in eastern China.
He said Chinese consumers had rapidly matured into luxury connoisseurs, and the company needed to cater to both first-time buyers and sophisticated shoppers.
2012年7月17日星期二
Players are able to instantly swap between four different dimensions
At first it’s hard not to compare Quantum Conundrum with Valve’s Portal series. Both of these first-person puzzle games take place in mysterious labs where players can bend the fabric of reality in order to safely venture through rooms filled with traps. Although Quantum Conundrum does have some stylistic similarities to Portal, its dimension-shifting gameplay is so endearing that other game developers should be taking notes.
Quantum Conundrum puts players in the shoes of a child visiting the mansion of his mad scientist uncle, Professor Fitz Quadwrangle. Upon arriving at the mansion, it’s discovered that Quadrangle has become trapped in another dimension. And so players are tasked with using the Inter-dimensional Shift Device (IDS) to come to his rescue.
Players are able to instantly swap between four different dimensions. The fluffy dimension makes heavier objects light as a feather, while the heavy dimension does just the opposite. Meanwhile the slow dimension brings flying objects to a crawl, and the final dimension reverses gravity.
Deciding what dimensions are needed to solve a puzzle and being able to swap between them fast enough is the key to succeeding in Quantum Conundrum. For example, you need to be in the fluffy dimension to lift a safe, and in the heavy dimension to allow a cardboard box to break a pane of glass. Things start out simple enough, but Quantum Conundrum later throws in some real brain teasers where multiple dimensions have to be used in tandem with one another. It can make for a headache sometimes, but every time I cracked the solution to another puzzle the feeling was intensely rewarding.
The heavy and fluffy dimensions of Quantum Conundrum are very well realized, both from a game design and artistic standpoint. Changing dimensions also shifts the entire look of the world, as well as the sound. The fluffy dimension turns all objects into plush pink pillows, while the heavy dimension turns the world into a blood-red steelworks factory. Quantum Conundrum’s default reality already has a charming Pixar quality to it, and being able to change it on the fly is even better.
For a downloadable title, Quantum Conundrum is a fairly lengthily game, packing approximately 60 puzzles. Unfortunately the experience doesn’t stay enjoyable the entire time. This is because not all of the dimensions are fun to use.
While the fluffy and heavy dimensions make for great puzzle solving, the gravity reversal and time slowing dimensions reduce the gameplay to platforming escapades. Over the course of the game I also came across a few puzzles which required solutions I’d already used before.
Quantum Conundrum is still an immensely satisfying puzzle game, and one of the best downloadable titles I’ve played so far this year. I’d say it’s a no-brainer for Portal fans, but you’re going to need your brain for this one after all. Yes the final portion of the game is weaker and not all of the dimensions are fun to use, but Quantum Conundrum’s concept is one I’d like to see improved upon. Hopefully we can expect a sequel in the near future, and on this plane of existence.
Quantum Conundrum puts players in the shoes of a child visiting the mansion of his mad scientist uncle, Professor Fitz Quadwrangle. Upon arriving at the mansion, it’s discovered that Quadrangle has become trapped in another dimension. And so players are tasked with using the Inter-dimensional Shift Device (IDS) to come to his rescue.
Players are able to instantly swap between four different dimensions. The fluffy dimension makes heavier objects light as a feather, while the heavy dimension does just the opposite. Meanwhile the slow dimension brings flying objects to a crawl, and the final dimension reverses gravity.
Deciding what dimensions are needed to solve a puzzle and being able to swap between them fast enough is the key to succeeding in Quantum Conundrum. For example, you need to be in the fluffy dimension to lift a safe, and in the heavy dimension to allow a cardboard box to break a pane of glass. Things start out simple enough, but Quantum Conundrum later throws in some real brain teasers where multiple dimensions have to be used in tandem with one another. It can make for a headache sometimes, but every time I cracked the solution to another puzzle the feeling was intensely rewarding.
The heavy and fluffy dimensions of Quantum Conundrum are very well realized, both from a game design and artistic standpoint. Changing dimensions also shifts the entire look of the world, as well as the sound. The fluffy dimension turns all objects into plush pink pillows, while the heavy dimension turns the world into a blood-red steelworks factory. Quantum Conundrum’s default reality already has a charming Pixar quality to it, and being able to change it on the fly is even better.
For a downloadable title, Quantum Conundrum is a fairly lengthily game, packing approximately 60 puzzles. Unfortunately the experience doesn’t stay enjoyable the entire time. This is because not all of the dimensions are fun to use.
While the fluffy and heavy dimensions make for great puzzle solving, the gravity reversal and time slowing dimensions reduce the gameplay to platforming escapades. Over the course of the game I also came across a few puzzles which required solutions I’d already used before.
Quantum Conundrum is still an immensely satisfying puzzle game, and one of the best downloadable titles I’ve played so far this year. I’d say it’s a no-brainer for Portal fans, but you’re going to need your brain for this one after all. Yes the final portion of the game is weaker and not all of the dimensions are fun to use, but Quantum Conundrum’s concept is one I’d like to see improved upon. Hopefully we can expect a sequel in the near future, and on this plane of existence.
2012年7月16日星期一
I had heard about Gabrielle de Polignac
Growing up in Germany, actress Diane Kruger learned the same things about Marie Antoinette that most people did — that she was hated, that the French called her “The Ice Queen,” that when told the French peasants couldn’t afford the bread they needed to survive, that Antoinette quipped, “Let them eat cake.”
Then she was handed the script to “Farewell, My Queen,” and the “Troy/Inglourious Basterds” star did her homework. And the caricature faded away. The real Marie was not the dizzy blonde that history, and the movies paint her as.
“You read in Stefan Zwieg’s biography (“Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman”) that the minute she heard about the Bastille, it dawned on her that this was the end of the life they had known,” Kruger says. “She realized this sooner than the king, faster than many of those at court. And she took more seriously her responsibilities as from that point, too late, as it turned out. She had a moment when she ‘manned up’ and became a real queen.”
That’s the take Kruger went with for “Farewell, My Queen,” which observes Marie Antoinette through the eyes of a favorite servant, a woman who worships her and yet sees that the queen favors another.
“I had heard about Gabrielle de Polignac, her closest friend,” Kruger says. “I read that there were rumors that they might have been lovers. What isn’t a rumor was that Marie got Gabrielle out just in time to save her from the guillotine. She had to worry about her own safety and her family’s safety, but all she seemed to care about was saving her friend or her love.”
The former Diane Heidkruger, 36, is a model-turned-actress who works more frequently in Europe than in Hollywood, with the occasional “National Treasure” movie winning the attention of audiences here.
Actresses have to be gifted mimics, so she has spent the summer mastering a Kentucky accent in preparation for playing Abraham Lincoln’s step-mother in a film for producer Terrence Malick, which she’ll shoot this fall. Kruger is fluent in German and French, lives part-time in France, makes French films and was once married to a French actor (Guillaume Canet of “Joyeaux Noel”). But the language of the 18th century French court was more challenging, even, than the daily grind of corset-costumes/wig and makeup that she endured playing the queen.
“You worry, in something like this, that the costumes will be so imposing to act in,” she says. “I’ve never really done a film with such big costumes ... I couldn’t even lace my own shoes, because of the corsets. Every day, I started with being dependent on other people, just as Marie was, with my most private time invaded, just as hers was. That was very helpful for getting into character each day.”
From her research, Kruger decided that Marie “was borderline schizophrenic,” something that grew the nature of her scenes — scattered, mercurial.
“You don’t see her that often (in the film). Each scene stands on its own, and she is never in the same mood that she was in from her previous scene. That is alarming, playing her at this extreme or that one — she feels betrayed. Now, she’s vulnerable. Here, she’s aloof. I was worried I would never grasp who she was.”
Something must have clicked, because the film, and the “charismatic” (Hollywood Reporter) Kruger in it, have earned rapturous reviews, with the Los Angeles Times praising her way of making Marie Antoinette “quixotic, quicksilver ... a creature of ever-changing whims.”
“I didn’t want to judge her,” Kruger says, and she hopes audiences will do the same. “People-historians — have already done that. This is an attempt at showing an intimate side of the woman. I hope audiences appreciate seeing this moment in history from the other side, for once. This is a new way to look at her, see her as more of a human being and not just another look at this icy queen in an ivory tower, this woman the French hated.”
Then she was handed the script to “Farewell, My Queen,” and the “Troy/Inglourious Basterds” star did her homework. And the caricature faded away. The real Marie was not the dizzy blonde that history, and the movies paint her as.
“You read in Stefan Zwieg’s biography (“Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman”) that the minute she heard about the Bastille, it dawned on her that this was the end of the life they had known,” Kruger says. “She realized this sooner than the king, faster than many of those at court. And she took more seriously her responsibilities as from that point, too late, as it turned out. She had a moment when she ‘manned up’ and became a real queen.”
That’s the take Kruger went with for “Farewell, My Queen,” which observes Marie Antoinette through the eyes of a favorite servant, a woman who worships her and yet sees that the queen favors another.
“I had heard about Gabrielle de Polignac, her closest friend,” Kruger says. “I read that there were rumors that they might have been lovers. What isn’t a rumor was that Marie got Gabrielle out just in time to save her from the guillotine. She had to worry about her own safety and her family’s safety, but all she seemed to care about was saving her friend or her love.”
The former Diane Heidkruger, 36, is a model-turned-actress who works more frequently in Europe than in Hollywood, with the occasional “National Treasure” movie winning the attention of audiences here.
Actresses have to be gifted mimics, so she has spent the summer mastering a Kentucky accent in preparation for playing Abraham Lincoln’s step-mother in a film for producer Terrence Malick, which she’ll shoot this fall. Kruger is fluent in German and French, lives part-time in France, makes French films and was once married to a French actor (Guillaume Canet of “Joyeaux Noel”). But the language of the 18th century French court was more challenging, even, than the daily grind of corset-costumes/wig and makeup that she endured playing the queen.
“You worry, in something like this, that the costumes will be so imposing to act in,” she says. “I’ve never really done a film with such big costumes ... I couldn’t even lace my own shoes, because of the corsets. Every day, I started with being dependent on other people, just as Marie was, with my most private time invaded, just as hers was. That was very helpful for getting into character each day.”
From her research, Kruger decided that Marie “was borderline schizophrenic,” something that grew the nature of her scenes — scattered, mercurial.
“You don’t see her that often (in the film). Each scene stands on its own, and she is never in the same mood that she was in from her previous scene. That is alarming, playing her at this extreme or that one — she feels betrayed. Now, she’s vulnerable. Here, she’s aloof. I was worried I would never grasp who she was.”
Something must have clicked, because the film, and the “charismatic” (Hollywood Reporter) Kruger in it, have earned rapturous reviews, with the Los Angeles Times praising her way of making Marie Antoinette “quixotic, quicksilver ... a creature of ever-changing whims.”
“I didn’t want to judge her,” Kruger says, and she hopes audiences will do the same. “People-historians — have already done that. This is an attempt at showing an intimate side of the woman. I hope audiences appreciate seeing this moment in history from the other side, for once. This is a new way to look at her, see her as more of a human being and not just another look at this icy queen in an ivory tower, this woman the French hated.”
2012年7月15日星期日
Obama, Romney and a turn in the debate on jobs
A week after President Obama came under fire for another disappointing unemployment report, his team has succeeded in turning the focus of the 2012 campaign from jobs in general to a particular job: the one Mitt Romney was or wasn't doing for Bain Capital from 1999 to 2002.
The substance of the dispute is surely a muddle to many voters. Independent fact-checking organizations including FactCheck.org and media outlets such as TheBostonGlobe are at odds over whether Romney can fairly be held responsible for business decisions the firm made during that time, some of which contributed to outsourcing American jobs overseas.
But the political impact of the heated exchanges over that question seem clear. While the attacks open Obama to the charge that he is just another pol - not the agent of hope and change from his 2008 bid - the costs to Romney are more serious. Debate about his tenure at Bain has tarnished his business credentials, his prime selling point, and distracted him from the economic issues he would prefer to press.
"Look, let's be honest, the reason that the Obama campaign wants to do this is because they want to talk about anything but President Obama's dismal record when it comes to the economy," Ed Gillespie, a senior Romney adviser, said during an appearance on CNN's State of the Union dominated by the issue. "And it's working."
"It has been a distraction," acknowledged veteran Republican strategist Mary Matalin on ABC's This Week, though she argued that voters care more about their own financial situations than the one of the likely Republican presidential nominee.
The Romney team dispatched Gillespie, New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte and spokesman Kevin Madden to TV studios Sunday. Their talking points: that Romney left Bain Capital when he took over the troubled 1999 Olympics in Salt Lake City and effectively never returned, even though SEC filings continued to list him as president, CEO and sole stockholder of the private-equity firm. The demands of the Olympics prompted him to "retire retroactively," Gillespie said.
The Obama team fielded Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, strategist David Axelrod and spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter with their talking points: that Romney either misled the SEC about his role when he signed the documents then (that would be a felony, Cutter noted in a conference call with reporters Thursday) or is misleading the American people now.
"He has made Bain Capital his calling card for the presidency and when you look at it, it doesn't measure up to what he claims," Emanuel said. His advice to Romney: "Stop whining."
The subject might seem secondary in a contest with candidates who espouse sharply different philosophies about the role of government and conflicting visions about how best to boost the economy. But both campaigns take it seriously in an election that has less than four months to go and in a race that has been closely divided and relatively stable. Obama now holds the narrowest of leads over Romney, 47%-45%, according to Gallup's rolling seven-day survey.
Democrats are trying to broaden the Bain issue to raise questions about Romney's integrity and his commitment to American workers. They have tied it to their demands that he release more than the two years of tax returns he has promised and they are hammering him for having a Swiss bank account and investing in the Cayman Islands. "His tax filing looks more like an Olympic village than it does a middle-class family," Emanuel said.
The substance of the dispute is surely a muddle to many voters. Independent fact-checking organizations including FactCheck.org and media outlets such as TheBostonGlobe are at odds over whether Romney can fairly be held responsible for business decisions the firm made during that time, some of which contributed to outsourcing American jobs overseas.
But the political impact of the heated exchanges over that question seem clear. While the attacks open Obama to the charge that he is just another pol - not the agent of hope and change from his 2008 bid - the costs to Romney are more serious. Debate about his tenure at Bain has tarnished his business credentials, his prime selling point, and distracted him from the economic issues he would prefer to press.
"Look, let's be honest, the reason that the Obama campaign wants to do this is because they want to talk about anything but President Obama's dismal record when it comes to the economy," Ed Gillespie, a senior Romney adviser, said during an appearance on CNN's State of the Union dominated by the issue. "And it's working."
"It has been a distraction," acknowledged veteran Republican strategist Mary Matalin on ABC's This Week, though she argued that voters care more about their own financial situations than the one of the likely Republican presidential nominee.
The Romney team dispatched Gillespie, New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte and spokesman Kevin Madden to TV studios Sunday. Their talking points: that Romney left Bain Capital when he took over the troubled 1999 Olympics in Salt Lake City and effectively never returned, even though SEC filings continued to list him as president, CEO and sole stockholder of the private-equity firm. The demands of the Olympics prompted him to "retire retroactively," Gillespie said.
The Obama team fielded Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, strategist David Axelrod and spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter with their talking points: that Romney either misled the SEC about his role when he signed the documents then (that would be a felony, Cutter noted in a conference call with reporters Thursday) or is misleading the American people now.
"He has made Bain Capital his calling card for the presidency and when you look at it, it doesn't measure up to what he claims," Emanuel said. His advice to Romney: "Stop whining."
The subject might seem secondary in a contest with candidates who espouse sharply different philosophies about the role of government and conflicting visions about how best to boost the economy. But both campaigns take it seriously in an election that has less than four months to go and in a race that has been closely divided and relatively stable. Obama now holds the narrowest of leads over Romney, 47%-45%, according to Gallup's rolling seven-day survey.
Democrats are trying to broaden the Bain issue to raise questions about Romney's integrity and his commitment to American workers. They have tied it to their demands that he release more than the two years of tax returns he has promised and they are hammering him for having a Swiss bank account and investing in the Cayman Islands. "His tax filing looks more like an Olympic village than it does a middle-class family," Emanuel said.
2012年7月12日星期四
she can give rousing speeches in defense of democracy
Whatever Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is carrying in her attache case as she visits Egypt this weekend, it won't be nearly enough to begin to fix what ails the U.S.-Egyptian relationship.
Beneath the "isn't democracy wonderful (and messy)" platitudes emanating from the State Department, and the diplomatic smiles and niceties surrounding Clinton's visit, three fundamental contradictions are likely to keep America's ties with Egypt in the doldrums for some time to come. We should face up to them sooner rather than later.
First, the democracy problem. The last 18 months witnessed not so much a revolution in Egypt as a regime reconstitution married to a historic opening up of the political system. The good news is that Egypt has competitive politics; the bad news is that the two forces that are competing — the military and the Muslim Brotherhood — are inherently undemocratic, perhaps even anti-democratic, both in structure and philosophy.
Sometimes in competition, sometimes in confrontation, these forces are determined to protect their own interests at the expense of a truly national vision for the country. The casualties in this long game (neither can nor will defeat the other) are Egypt's institutions — the parliament, constitutional assembly and courts — now increasingly delegitimized, and the more secular liberal parties that are too dysfunctional and poorly organized to really compete.
Enter the United States, now caught up in the middle of a game it has a hard time playing. Clinton will say all the right things. However, she's trapped between Islamists whose values she can't possibly share (let's start with gender equality) and generals who she believes are undermining hope of democratic change but whom she needs to maintain U.S. security interests and the peace treaty with Israel.
Yes, she can give rousing speeches in defense of democracy, but the Obama administration lacks real leverage, or at least leverage it's prepared to use. The $1.5 billion in U.S. militaryaid will continue to flow (for now) because without it we'll have no influence; the Israelis want it to continue; and after providing so much aid to authoritarian Hosni Mubarak, how can we now cut assistance as Egypt tries to democratize?
And are we not going to do what we can to support Egypt economically — debt forgiveness, etc. — even if the Muslim Brotherhood's leaders don't quickly become Jacksonian democrats? Let's admit it. We're stuck.
Second, the Israel problem. Let's be clear about one thing. The intimacy of the U.S.-Egyptian relationship began as a direct result of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. Without Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin there would have been no military and economic assistance to Egypt for all those years since the 1978 Camp David accords and the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli treaty. If the Egypt-Israel relationship goes south (and it will), how do we expect to keep the U.S.-Egypt relationship on the rails?
The military will abide by the letter of the treaty, but the spirit — comatose for some time now — may go into complete arrest as Egyptian public opinion plays a greater role in setting the tone on Israel. (See settlements, Benjamin Netanyahu). It was hard enough getting Mubarak to visit Israel or receive Israeli prime ministers. Let's see how newly elected President Mohamed Morsi does. The bet is that as the anti-Israel rhetoric gets hotter, so will U.S. congressional reaction, thereby constraining what we're able to do in assisting Egypt.
Third, the Egyptians-hate-our-policy problem. Under Mubarak we could rationalize the fact that most Egyptians disliked America's Middle East policy. Now that's not going to be so easy. In the latest Pew polls, 76% of Egyptians had an unfavorable view of the Obama administration; poll numbers from Shibley Telhami found only 25% favored Obama's reelection and 85% had an unfavorable view of the U.S. in general.
Not only will the Egyptian rhetoric probably get more strident, there may be more drama, such as this spring's threat to try several American workers — among them the son of a U.S. Cabinetofficial (a case that isn't yet closed) — or Morsi's vow to seek the release from a U.S. prison of the "blind sheik" who was involved in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. U.S. policy on Israel, Hamas, counter-terrorism and Predator drone strikes isn't likely to change. But the support among our politicians and the public for aiding countries that criticize America is going to contract.
U.S.-Egypt relations are in for some tough times. Forget solutions or overcoming these challenges. They're far too entrenched and Egypt's far too much a mess for that. More likely we'll have to do some pretty fancy shuffling and two-stepping just to manage the relationship. So, Madam Secretary, put on those dancing shoes and get ready to hit the floor.
Aaron David Miller, a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, served as a Middle East negotiator in Republican and Democratic administrations. He is the author of "The Much Too Promised Land: America's Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace."
Beneath the "isn't democracy wonderful (and messy)" platitudes emanating from the State Department, and the diplomatic smiles and niceties surrounding Clinton's visit, three fundamental contradictions are likely to keep America's ties with Egypt in the doldrums for some time to come. We should face up to them sooner rather than later.
First, the democracy problem. The last 18 months witnessed not so much a revolution in Egypt as a regime reconstitution married to a historic opening up of the political system. The good news is that Egypt has competitive politics; the bad news is that the two forces that are competing — the military and the Muslim Brotherhood — are inherently undemocratic, perhaps even anti-democratic, both in structure and philosophy.
Sometimes in competition, sometimes in confrontation, these forces are determined to protect their own interests at the expense of a truly national vision for the country. The casualties in this long game (neither can nor will defeat the other) are Egypt's institutions — the parliament, constitutional assembly and courts — now increasingly delegitimized, and the more secular liberal parties that are too dysfunctional and poorly organized to really compete.
Enter the United States, now caught up in the middle of a game it has a hard time playing. Clinton will say all the right things. However, she's trapped between Islamists whose values she can't possibly share (let's start with gender equality) and generals who she believes are undermining hope of democratic change but whom she needs to maintain U.S. security interests and the peace treaty with Israel.
Yes, she can give rousing speeches in defense of democracy, but the Obama administration lacks real leverage, or at least leverage it's prepared to use. The $1.5 billion in U.S. militaryaid will continue to flow (for now) because without it we'll have no influence; the Israelis want it to continue; and after providing so much aid to authoritarian Hosni Mubarak, how can we now cut assistance as Egypt tries to democratize?
And are we not going to do what we can to support Egypt economically — debt forgiveness, etc. — even if the Muslim Brotherhood's leaders don't quickly become Jacksonian democrats? Let's admit it. We're stuck.
Second, the Israel problem. Let's be clear about one thing. The intimacy of the U.S.-Egyptian relationship began as a direct result of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. Without Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin there would have been no military and economic assistance to Egypt for all those years since the 1978 Camp David accords and the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli treaty. If the Egypt-Israel relationship goes south (and it will), how do we expect to keep the U.S.-Egypt relationship on the rails?
The military will abide by the letter of the treaty, but the spirit — comatose for some time now — may go into complete arrest as Egyptian public opinion plays a greater role in setting the tone on Israel. (See settlements, Benjamin Netanyahu). It was hard enough getting Mubarak to visit Israel or receive Israeli prime ministers. Let's see how newly elected President Mohamed Morsi does. The bet is that as the anti-Israel rhetoric gets hotter, so will U.S. congressional reaction, thereby constraining what we're able to do in assisting Egypt.
Third, the Egyptians-hate-our-policy problem. Under Mubarak we could rationalize the fact that most Egyptians disliked America's Middle East policy. Now that's not going to be so easy. In the latest Pew polls, 76% of Egyptians had an unfavorable view of the Obama administration; poll numbers from Shibley Telhami found only 25% favored Obama's reelection and 85% had an unfavorable view of the U.S. in general.
Not only will the Egyptian rhetoric probably get more strident, there may be more drama, such as this spring's threat to try several American workers — among them the son of a U.S. Cabinetofficial (a case that isn't yet closed) — or Morsi's vow to seek the release from a U.S. prison of the "blind sheik" who was involved in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. U.S. policy on Israel, Hamas, counter-terrorism and Predator drone strikes isn't likely to change. But the support among our politicians and the public for aiding countries that criticize America is going to contract.
U.S.-Egypt relations are in for some tough times. Forget solutions or overcoming these challenges. They're far too entrenched and Egypt's far too much a mess for that. More likely we'll have to do some pretty fancy shuffling and two-stepping just to manage the relationship. So, Madam Secretary, put on those dancing shoes and get ready to hit the floor.
Aaron David Miller, a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, served as a Middle East negotiator in Republican and Democratic administrations. He is the author of "The Much Too Promised Land: America's Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace."
2012年7月11日星期三
Having a virtual option means hundreds of people
SMB Nation is taking conference attendees "Back to the Future" with its SMB Nation 2012 Fall Conference. This year's 10th anniversary conference will honor the past while looking to the SMB IT channel's future as it examines the evolution of Windows, cloud computing, mobile technology and both hybrid and on-premises IT infrastructure.
Hundreds of IT professionals and SMB channel community members will attend this year's conference in Las Vegas, but in a first, conference-goers can also attend virtually via live webcast.
"We were floored by the overwhelming response to this past winter's MVP Nation webcast," said Harry Brelsford, founder and chairman of SMB Nation. "So we're doing it again with SMB Nation this fall. Having a virtual option means hundreds of people will be able to attend who otherwise couldn't, whether for logistical or financial reasons."
Conference attendees have the option of focusing on one of three content tracksthe "Geek Speak, business or community track.
The Geek Speak track contains highly technical content with a focus on Windows 8, Small Business Server, cloud computing, mobility, security, BYOD and virtualization. Sessions take a variety of formats, including traditional presentations, expert panels and free-form technical discussion forums that bring together attendees, subject matter experts and Microsoft Most Valued Professionals (MVPs). Specific session topics include a deep dive into Windows 8, troubleshooting Office 365 deployments and SMB mobility technology trends. The topics of this year's technical sessions were determined by a poll of SMB Nation readers.
The conference's business track focuses primarily on sales, marketing and businesses opportunities in the SMB IT sector. Specific session titles include "Fast-Fast Marketing for MSPs," "Sales Training 101" and "Growing a Profitable Service Desk." Harry Brelsford will also kick off SMB Nation's new pocketMBA program at this year's conference. Attendees who enroll as charter students in the pocketMBA program will have all of their conference frees waived.
"SMB Nation truly can be all things for all people," said Brelsford. "This year's conference has top quality technical, business and community content. But I'm especially excited about the pocketMBA 2.0 program. The business community is pushing IT to move beyond the role of mere service providers. They need IT consultants who can take the initiative in developing and integrating solutions that enhance efficiency and productivity. The pocketMBA program is made to help IT pros fill those shoes."
The community track is geared toward channel members who want to network with their colleagues and understand recent developments in the SMB technology channel. This track features a number of SMB Nation community sponsors who will make educational presentations on such topics as business continuity, cloud storage and backup, virtualization and cyber security.
As Microsofts Jon Roskill mentioned earlier this week at WPC in his keynote address, both the business and IT communities are in the midst of major transformations, and its partner organizations like SMB Nation that will play a key role in helping IT professionals make that transition, said Tom Poole, CEO of SMB Nation. Our conference this year is completely focused on helping IT professionals prepare for the changing technological and business landscapes.
Hundreds of IT professionals and SMB channel community members will attend this year's conference in Las Vegas, but in a first, conference-goers can also attend virtually via live webcast.
"We were floored by the overwhelming response to this past winter's MVP Nation webcast," said Harry Brelsford, founder and chairman of SMB Nation. "So we're doing it again with SMB Nation this fall. Having a virtual option means hundreds of people will be able to attend who otherwise couldn't, whether for logistical or financial reasons."
Conference attendees have the option of focusing on one of three content tracksthe "Geek Speak, business or community track.
The Geek Speak track contains highly technical content with a focus on Windows 8, Small Business Server, cloud computing, mobility, security, BYOD and virtualization. Sessions take a variety of formats, including traditional presentations, expert panels and free-form technical discussion forums that bring together attendees, subject matter experts and Microsoft Most Valued Professionals (MVPs). Specific session topics include a deep dive into Windows 8, troubleshooting Office 365 deployments and SMB mobility technology trends. The topics of this year's technical sessions were determined by a poll of SMB Nation readers.
The conference's business track focuses primarily on sales, marketing and businesses opportunities in the SMB IT sector. Specific session titles include "Fast-Fast Marketing for MSPs," "Sales Training 101" and "Growing a Profitable Service Desk." Harry Brelsford will also kick off SMB Nation's new pocketMBA program at this year's conference. Attendees who enroll as charter students in the pocketMBA program will have all of their conference frees waived.
"SMB Nation truly can be all things for all people," said Brelsford. "This year's conference has top quality technical, business and community content. But I'm especially excited about the pocketMBA 2.0 program. The business community is pushing IT to move beyond the role of mere service providers. They need IT consultants who can take the initiative in developing and integrating solutions that enhance efficiency and productivity. The pocketMBA program is made to help IT pros fill those shoes."
The community track is geared toward channel members who want to network with their colleagues and understand recent developments in the SMB technology channel. This track features a number of SMB Nation community sponsors who will make educational presentations on such topics as business continuity, cloud storage and backup, virtualization and cyber security.
As Microsofts Jon Roskill mentioned earlier this week at WPC in his keynote address, both the business and IT communities are in the midst of major transformations, and its partner organizations like SMB Nation that will play a key role in helping IT professionals make that transition, said Tom Poole, CEO of SMB Nation. Our conference this year is completely focused on helping IT professionals prepare for the changing technological and business landscapes.
2012年7月10日星期二
The good shoes are going to be gone
Now that I have effectively gotten rid of any woman who may have stumbled across this article, I can talk directly to the men in private. Men, it is that day again. The day when there is not a single baseball, basketball, football or hockey game (or the Home Run Derby) to be found. Of the 365 days in a standard calendar year, this is only one when God takes away everything that gives our lives meaning. Therefore, it is time to worry about the less important things in our life -- namely, the womens. With this being the third year that I have written this column, it is now The Real Man's Valentine's Day 3.0.
As always, this is our day to step up our game and make our women happy under the false pretense that there is something on TV we wish we could be watching rather than taking the time to make them happy.
The first step is to butter her up. As discussed in last year's article, women respond well to two types of things: the tangible and the visual. These two things are easily addressed with a card and flowers, but you can do one better if you are willing to go to that extra level of cheese.
Here's what you do. Pull out your phone and start to send her a text that says, "Where are you?" but don't send it. Then, print off multiple flyers that say, "Missing: The Most Wonderful Women In the World," with that one picture of you two together that she loves (every woman has one). When she gets home, say "Oh, my gosh. I didn't know where you were. I was going to hang this sign up everywhere." Then show her your text you didn't send and laugh about how it was your mistake. Again, it is cheesy, but this is the one day of the year when normal Man Law doesn't apply.
The next thing all women love is planned spontaneity. Is it true that "planned" and "spontaneity" don't belong in the same sentence outside of an insane asylum? Yes. But is it really crazier than the woman you are trying to make happy? I don't know the specific woman you are trying to make happy, but let's be honest.
An easy way to do this is to pull out a sheet of paper and cut it into eight-12 pieces. On each one, write a different "spontaneous" activity (e.g. go to a movie other than "Magic Mike", take a walk to get ice cream, go to a new/her favorite restaurant, etc.). You should certainly put a few in that are ... for you. With it being left to chance, she will probably let you get away with some things she normally wouldn't. When filling out these pieces of paper, you want to knock a few basic ones out together, like the ice cream and restaurant, but make sure to leave a few that are secret from the other person. She is going to put down one or two things that are for you in order to make you happy (and hope they don't get picked). Now, put the activities in a hat and draw two that you will actually do. (If she read the beginning of this article and wants to go shoe shopping, tell her that you heard reports that 12 women have been to the ER with "heel-related injuries"). Read the rest to see if there is something that you would rather do, again helping your chances of doing something you want. Because of this long charade, she feels spontaneous, even though it is all planned and she is guaranteed to stay in her comfort zone.
Of course, you won't need to check your phone for scoring updates, so it will be easy to feign interest in her the entire night. Sometime after the first activity, make sure you say, "It doesn't matter what we do. I'm just happy spending time with you."
Up to this point, you've done everything you can if you have incorporated a bottle of wine. You seem like the sweetest man alive and she still hasn't realized that you haven't sacrificed anything but more Dwight Howard updates. The only thing left to do is reap the benefits and pray that some sports organization will fill this void before it comes around next year.
As always, this is our day to step up our game and make our women happy under the false pretense that there is something on TV we wish we could be watching rather than taking the time to make them happy.
The first step is to butter her up. As discussed in last year's article, women respond well to two types of things: the tangible and the visual. These two things are easily addressed with a card and flowers, but you can do one better if you are willing to go to that extra level of cheese.
Here's what you do. Pull out your phone and start to send her a text that says, "Where are you?" but don't send it. Then, print off multiple flyers that say, "Missing: The Most Wonderful Women In the World," with that one picture of you two together that she loves (every woman has one). When she gets home, say "Oh, my gosh. I didn't know where you were. I was going to hang this sign up everywhere." Then show her your text you didn't send and laugh about how it was your mistake. Again, it is cheesy, but this is the one day of the year when normal Man Law doesn't apply.
The next thing all women love is planned spontaneity. Is it true that "planned" and "spontaneity" don't belong in the same sentence outside of an insane asylum? Yes. But is it really crazier than the woman you are trying to make happy? I don't know the specific woman you are trying to make happy, but let's be honest.
An easy way to do this is to pull out a sheet of paper and cut it into eight-12 pieces. On each one, write a different "spontaneous" activity (e.g. go to a movie other than "Magic Mike", take a walk to get ice cream, go to a new/her favorite restaurant, etc.). You should certainly put a few in that are ... for you. With it being left to chance, she will probably let you get away with some things she normally wouldn't. When filling out these pieces of paper, you want to knock a few basic ones out together, like the ice cream and restaurant, but make sure to leave a few that are secret from the other person. She is going to put down one or two things that are for you in order to make you happy (and hope they don't get picked). Now, put the activities in a hat and draw two that you will actually do. (If she read the beginning of this article and wants to go shoe shopping, tell her that you heard reports that 12 women have been to the ER with "heel-related injuries"). Read the rest to see if there is something that you would rather do, again helping your chances of doing something you want. Because of this long charade, she feels spontaneous, even though it is all planned and she is guaranteed to stay in her comfort zone.
Of course, you won't need to check your phone for scoring updates, so it will be easy to feign interest in her the entire night. Sometime after the first activity, make sure you say, "It doesn't matter what we do. I'm just happy spending time with you."
Up to this point, you've done everything you can if you have incorporated a bottle of wine. You seem like the sweetest man alive and she still hasn't realized that you haven't sacrificed anything but more Dwight Howard updates. The only thing left to do is reap the benefits and pray that some sports organization will fill this void before it comes around next year.
2012年7月9日星期一
The sale of Duck Dash tickets are returned to the community
After being forced to dump its rubber ducks on the grounds of Haller Park last year, the Great Stilly Duck Dash lived up to its name again this year by sending the ducks downriver on the evening of July 4, albeit reduced from their usual complement of 10,000 to only 150, due to this year's river conditions.
While 8-year-old Hayden Caponey insisted that he would buy "a solid gold toilet" if he won the $5,000 grand prize, the youngest winner turned out to be fellow 8-year-old Sally Jane Pierce, whose grandfather, Doug Newman, purchased the ticket that won her the $2,000 second prize. Pierce promised she would save the money.
Although Pierce and Mitch Rorick, who won the $1,000 third prize, were among the few winning ticket-holders who actually attended the Duck Dash itself, Haller Park was still packed with spectators as the sun set, and their numbers were reflected in the record-breaking $65,000 in proceeds from Duck Dash ticket sales this year.
Arlington Rotary President Linda Byrnes noted that the Duck Dash has been part of Arlington's Fourth of July celebrations for the past 24 years.
"This year's success can be attributed to the many local sponsors who supported the Duck Dash, and the community members who participated," Byrnes said. "We are so grateful for their generosity."
Of the event's other cash prize winners, Chuck Tripp won the $5,000 grand prize, while $100 each went to Linda Buchanan, George Bolton, Bill Blake, John Gralinski, Julie Churchill, Tim Cavanaugh and Cascade Surveying.
All funds raised from the sale of Duck Dash tickets are returned to the community, with an eye toward enhancing the lives of children, seniors and other community members in Arlington, Lakewood and Darrington, as well as around the world. Last year, the Rotary Club of Arlington helped to build a new facility for the Arlington Community Food Bank, gave scholarships to local high school graduates, built a new campsite at Fire Mountain for the Boy Scouts of America, and bought more than 800 pairs of new shoes for Kids' Kloset in Arlington.
"This has given me the opportunity to see the spirit of the community firsthand," said Linda Jenkins, one of this year's costumed ducks alongside Wally Thomas. "You see that the people who live here love to be here. I got all sorts of hugs and high-fives in my duck costume."
"This is America, right here, today," said Dale Duskin, ticket sales chair for the Duck Dash, on July 4. "These proceeds also help fund Arlington's fireworks and parades, and every ticket bought is a winner, because they all include discounts to local businesses who have supported us, so please support them by shopping there.
While 8-year-old Hayden Caponey insisted that he would buy "a solid gold toilet" if he won the $5,000 grand prize, the youngest winner turned out to be fellow 8-year-old Sally Jane Pierce, whose grandfather, Doug Newman, purchased the ticket that won her the $2,000 second prize. Pierce promised she would save the money.
Although Pierce and Mitch Rorick, who won the $1,000 third prize, were among the few winning ticket-holders who actually attended the Duck Dash itself, Haller Park was still packed with spectators as the sun set, and their numbers were reflected in the record-breaking $65,000 in proceeds from Duck Dash ticket sales this year.
Arlington Rotary President Linda Byrnes noted that the Duck Dash has been part of Arlington's Fourth of July celebrations for the past 24 years.
"This year's success can be attributed to the many local sponsors who supported the Duck Dash, and the community members who participated," Byrnes said. "We are so grateful for their generosity."
Of the event's other cash prize winners, Chuck Tripp won the $5,000 grand prize, while $100 each went to Linda Buchanan, George Bolton, Bill Blake, John Gralinski, Julie Churchill, Tim Cavanaugh and Cascade Surveying.
All funds raised from the sale of Duck Dash tickets are returned to the community, with an eye toward enhancing the lives of children, seniors and other community members in Arlington, Lakewood and Darrington, as well as around the world. Last year, the Rotary Club of Arlington helped to build a new facility for the Arlington Community Food Bank, gave scholarships to local high school graduates, built a new campsite at Fire Mountain for the Boy Scouts of America, and bought more than 800 pairs of new shoes for Kids' Kloset in Arlington.
"This has given me the opportunity to see the spirit of the community firsthand," said Linda Jenkins, one of this year's costumed ducks alongside Wally Thomas. "You see that the people who live here love to be here. I got all sorts of hugs and high-fives in my duck costume."
"This is America, right here, today," said Dale Duskin, ticket sales chair for the Duck Dash, on July 4. "These proceeds also help fund Arlington's fireworks and parades, and every ticket bought is a winner, because they all include discounts to local businesses who have supported us, so please support them by shopping there.
2012年7月8日星期日
Somehow we made it through winter without anyone getting sick
I recently went back to a 40-hour work schedule for the first time in more than 13 years. I won't say where I work, but I handle the bank accounts of people who have passed away, giving condolences to grieving family members and information on what loved ones need to do with the accounts.
To put it mildly, I deal with death every day.
I take my job seriously. Sometimes I cry when someone tells me about the loss of a dear family member or friend. I don't like to miss a day of work, and have only recently earned the right to take sick time with pay, whether for myself or one of my children. This might not seem like much, but it can be a stressful decision when two parents work.
Somehow we made it through winter without anyone getting sick and then — whammo! — our daughter got a stomach virus. At 7, she is the youngest and the most active of our three, so it was hard to see her so down.
Day One of the stomach virus went well. Sure, there was "the sickness," but in between we played video games, which I hadn't done in years, and talked. I realized how much I've missed hanging out with my kids since going back to work.
On the second day, her sickness started to subside and she fell into blessed sleep. That was when I turned to cut off her lamp and realized her pet fish of almost two years had died.
Two years! What kind of fish lives for two years, anyway? Don't they usually last about two weeks?
As I mentioned, I deal with death every day, but this was a death in our own home. And why now? My daughter already felt horrible. How could I tell her poor Carly, named for the character on the TV show of the same name, was belly-up in her bowl? Even though this fish lived for two long years, which is like a hundred from what I know about fish, I couldn't help but feel personally responsible.
Had she, too, gotten the stomach virus? Or perhaps we had neglected her somehow?
I immediately start wondering how I would break the news to my daughter when she woke up. My son, age 13, thought I should wait until she was feeling better, but what was I supposed to do, leave Carly there for a couple more days, only to decompose even more?
My husband was at work, and my 17-year-old was off with friends. So I made the executive decision to tell my daughter when she woke up.
She slept for hours. When she finally woke up, I waited the obligatory 15 minutes. "Feeling better, sweetie?" I asked. "Yes," she said. "Can I get you some ginger ale?" I asked. "That would be great," she answered.
"Sweetie, there is something I have to tell you." So I did, and then the tears started. It seemed to go on forever. How could I stop the heartache? "We can have a funeral," I suggested. "Really?" She wiped away the tears, looking interested. "Yes, I'll find a pretty jewelry box. We can put her in it and bury her," I told her. After agreeing that she could pick where we buried poor Carly, we were out the door, big brother in tow.
She picked a spot under a bush in the backyard. There was a stepping stone that one of the kids had made years ago with little gems set into the cement. The dirt underneath was just soft enough to dig easily.
All of a sudden a bird shot out from the bush, flying almost straight into my face. It was a mother bird protecting a nest above where we were burying the fish. My son got a chair to stand on to see into the nest, and confirmed that four Tiffany-blue robin eggs were inside. I suggested moving the burial location of Carly, but my daughter wouldn't hear of it.
To put it mildly, I deal with death every day.
I take my job seriously. Sometimes I cry when someone tells me about the loss of a dear family member or friend. I don't like to miss a day of work, and have only recently earned the right to take sick time with pay, whether for myself or one of my children. This might not seem like much, but it can be a stressful decision when two parents work.
Somehow we made it through winter without anyone getting sick and then — whammo! — our daughter got a stomach virus. At 7, she is the youngest and the most active of our three, so it was hard to see her so down.
Day One of the stomach virus went well. Sure, there was "the sickness," but in between we played video games, which I hadn't done in years, and talked. I realized how much I've missed hanging out with my kids since going back to work.
On the second day, her sickness started to subside and she fell into blessed sleep. That was when I turned to cut off her lamp and realized her pet fish of almost two years had died.
Two years! What kind of fish lives for two years, anyway? Don't they usually last about two weeks?
As I mentioned, I deal with death every day, but this was a death in our own home. And why now? My daughter already felt horrible. How could I tell her poor Carly, named for the character on the TV show of the same name, was belly-up in her bowl? Even though this fish lived for two long years, which is like a hundred from what I know about fish, I couldn't help but feel personally responsible.
Had she, too, gotten the stomach virus? Or perhaps we had neglected her somehow?
I immediately start wondering how I would break the news to my daughter when she woke up. My son, age 13, thought I should wait until she was feeling better, but what was I supposed to do, leave Carly there for a couple more days, only to decompose even more?
My husband was at work, and my 17-year-old was off with friends. So I made the executive decision to tell my daughter when she woke up.
She slept for hours. When she finally woke up, I waited the obligatory 15 minutes. "Feeling better, sweetie?" I asked. "Yes," she said. "Can I get you some ginger ale?" I asked. "That would be great," she answered.
"Sweetie, there is something I have to tell you." So I did, and then the tears started. It seemed to go on forever. How could I stop the heartache? "We can have a funeral," I suggested. "Really?" She wiped away the tears, looking interested. "Yes, I'll find a pretty jewelry box. We can put her in it and bury her," I told her. After agreeing that she could pick where we buried poor Carly, we were out the door, big brother in tow.
She picked a spot under a bush in the backyard. There was a stepping stone that one of the kids had made years ago with little gems set into the cement. The dirt underneath was just soft enough to dig easily.
All of a sudden a bird shot out from the bush, flying almost straight into my face. It was a mother bird protecting a nest above where we were burying the fish. My son got a chair to stand on to see into the nest, and confirmed that four Tiffany-blue robin eggs were inside. I suggested moving the burial location of Carly, but my daughter wouldn't hear of it.
2012年7月5日星期四
The Avon location of the popular bargain designer fashion chain
The T.J. Maxx parking lot in Avon was nearly filled Thursday as shoppers took advantage of closing sales.
The Avon location of the popular bargain designer fashion chain is closing for good on July 14 at 6 p.m., according to signs on the store windows.
"We are always assessing and reviewing our real estate strategies and our decision to close the Avon store reflects that thinking," Sherry Lang, senior vice president of global communications at the TJX Companies, Inc., wrote in an email to Patch.
The Avon store employees have been offered "the ability to work at our other area stores," Lang said.
In order to clear out its remaining merchandise, all items are 20 percent off the regular retail prices through the closing date.
Many customers were in the store the day after the 4th of July, looking at everything from clothes and shoes to sunglasses and kitchenware.
"We are grateful for the patronage of our T.J. Maxx customers in Avon and believe they will continue to find great values at our nearby stores in Granby and Farmington," Lang said.
The next closest T.J. Maxx stores you'll be able to go to after next Saturday are in Farmington, at The Convenience Center on 600 Southeast Rd., and in Granby at Stop & Shop Plaza on 124A Salmon Brook Street.
The Avon site was one of 28 T.J. Maxx stores in Connecticut and the newest is in Southbury.
Bargain shopping is still an option in Avon at Marshalls in Nod Brook Mall at 315 West Main St. (Route 44) and at area boutiques like Jolie Boutique Consignment and A Cool Chick Place.
Lang confirmed that T.J. Maxx will be opening 50 stores nationally and 10 globally in the United States, Canada and Europe, but declined to identify the towns specifically.
About this column: Businesses and real estate are ever-changing. New companies come to Avon and older ones move out. New establishments are built and current ones are renovated. Patch is going to monitor the changes in the Avon business and development world.
The Avon location of the popular bargain designer fashion chain is closing for good on July 14 at 6 p.m., according to signs on the store windows.
"We are always assessing and reviewing our real estate strategies and our decision to close the Avon store reflects that thinking," Sherry Lang, senior vice president of global communications at the TJX Companies, Inc., wrote in an email to Patch.
The Avon store employees have been offered "the ability to work at our other area stores," Lang said.
In order to clear out its remaining merchandise, all items are 20 percent off the regular retail prices through the closing date.
Many customers were in the store the day after the 4th of July, looking at everything from clothes and shoes to sunglasses and kitchenware.
"We are grateful for the patronage of our T.J. Maxx customers in Avon and believe they will continue to find great values at our nearby stores in Granby and Farmington," Lang said.
The next closest T.J. Maxx stores you'll be able to go to after next Saturday are in Farmington, at The Convenience Center on 600 Southeast Rd., and in Granby at Stop & Shop Plaza on 124A Salmon Brook Street.
The Avon site was one of 28 T.J. Maxx stores in Connecticut and the newest is in Southbury.
Bargain shopping is still an option in Avon at Marshalls in Nod Brook Mall at 315 West Main St. (Route 44) and at area boutiques like Jolie Boutique Consignment and A Cool Chick Place.
Lang confirmed that T.J. Maxx will be opening 50 stores nationally and 10 globally in the United States, Canada and Europe, but declined to identify the towns specifically.
About this column: Businesses and real estate are ever-changing. New companies come to Avon and older ones move out. New establishments are built and current ones are renovated. Patch is going to monitor the changes in the Avon business and development world.
2012年7月4日星期三
The Erdeleans happen to run their own adult family home
Biliana and Milorad Erdelean found the 34-year-old man, dirty and disoriented, in their backyard.
“I noticed he had an adult diaper on with no shoes. He had dirty hands and grass in his mouth. That’s when we started getting concerned and called 911,” Milorad Erdelean said.
The man couldn't speak. When police arrived, they took him to Overlake Hospital and sent the media a photo to disseminate in the hope someone could identify him. Later, a detective remembered the man from a previous call and traced his address back to the adult family home.
Once inside, police say they found broken glass everywhere, uncooked food on the floor, clogged toilets and a large knife sitting out on a counter. Bellevue detectives had to wake up the caretaker, Mbichire, who, according to police, registered a blood alcohol level of .138.
Wayne Siegel, whose son is one of three clients who live in the home, said he visits a few times a week and he's never noticed the house to be in that bad condition, but is concerned after hearing about the caretaker's arrest.
“I’ll do some inquiring about it and probably be more observant about what may have been going on or what is going on,” Siegel said.
A person who answered the front door at the adult home said its company, Service Alternatives, should be contacted for comment. According to the company's website, Service Alternatives has operated adult supported living facilities in Island, King, Skagit and Pierce counties since 1983. Phone calls to the company were not immediately returned.
“I hope they come down hard on these people," Milorad Erdelean said, adding that they need "someone to take care of these clients, and if the place is that dirty somebody hasn’t been doing their job.”
The Erdeleans happen to run their own adult family home taking care of seniors, so they said hearing about this story made them even more upset.
The caretaker, Mbichire, was arrested for alleged DUI in King County in 2008, but the charge was reduced to negligent driving. He will be arraigned on the new charge of abandonment of a dependent person on July 12.
Donn Moyer, who is with the state Department of Health, confirmed Wednesday that the agency has opened a complaint file on this case and is investigating the home.
“I noticed he had an adult diaper on with no shoes. He had dirty hands and grass in his mouth. That’s when we started getting concerned and called 911,” Milorad Erdelean said.
The man couldn't speak. When police arrived, they took him to Overlake Hospital and sent the media a photo to disseminate in the hope someone could identify him. Later, a detective remembered the man from a previous call and traced his address back to the adult family home.
Once inside, police say they found broken glass everywhere, uncooked food on the floor, clogged toilets and a large knife sitting out on a counter. Bellevue detectives had to wake up the caretaker, Mbichire, who, according to police, registered a blood alcohol level of .138.
Wayne Siegel, whose son is one of three clients who live in the home, said he visits a few times a week and he's never noticed the house to be in that bad condition, but is concerned after hearing about the caretaker's arrest.
“I’ll do some inquiring about it and probably be more observant about what may have been going on or what is going on,” Siegel said.
A person who answered the front door at the adult home said its company, Service Alternatives, should be contacted for comment. According to the company's website, Service Alternatives has operated adult supported living facilities in Island, King, Skagit and Pierce counties since 1983. Phone calls to the company were not immediately returned.
“I hope they come down hard on these people," Milorad Erdelean said, adding that they need "someone to take care of these clients, and if the place is that dirty somebody hasn’t been doing their job.”
The Erdeleans happen to run their own adult family home taking care of seniors, so they said hearing about this story made them even more upset.
The caretaker, Mbichire, was arrested for alleged DUI in King County in 2008, but the charge was reduced to negligent driving. He will be arraigned on the new charge of abandonment of a dependent person on July 12.
Donn Moyer, who is with the state Department of Health, confirmed Wednesday that the agency has opened a complaint file on this case and is investigating the home.
2012年7月3日星期二
Mom, daughter help homeless people, pets
Lori Rich knows all about food. She owns a made-to-order baking business, Rich Delights, in Riverside.
She knows all about the homeless. For the past few years, she and her 17-year-old daughter, Shira, have been providing goods and services to Riverside’s disadvantaged.
And she knows all about pets. Her family owns four dogs, ranging from 6 to 52 pounds, along with a desert tortoise and three toads.
So it shouldn’t be all that surprising that her commitment to the homeless has evolved into something more. Many of those she calls “the street people” have pets, and they have needs as well.
As Rich, 56, explains on her Facebook page, “We are a mom and daughter team trying to make a tiny difference in the lives of people many never speak to and their pets that do not have a voice in their lives.”
Shira was the impetus in recognizing the role of pets in the lives of the homeless.
“My daughter got me involved with animals running in the streets,” Rich said. “A couple of times we’d be chasing strays, and it didn’t dawn on me that people in the streets had dogs. It’s not easy for them to take care of animals.”
The dogs provide companionship for the homeless, and they also protect them. There can be rivalries among street people, Rich said, and the dogs alert them to trouble, particularly the theft of whatever they own.
Every day — sometimes twice a day — Rich is on the road in Riverside, picking up donated items and distributing them along a route from the Magnolia Center area to 14th Street, then out to Arlington and Van Buren avenues.
The donations come from friends on her Facebook page and from strangers as far away as New York.
“They want to help but some don’t have the time, and others are afraid of these people,” Rich said. “Some of that is justified, but a neighbor could be just as horrible and dangerous.”
Rich’s SUV is filled with donated items, which include blankets, towels, toiletries, snacks, dog food and leashes, cat food, ice water, shoes clothing and fast-food gift cards. The gift cards are as close to cash that she and Shira accept or distribute. They’re not a nonprofit, so donations are not tax-deductible. The gift cards provide assurance that the homeless won’t use the assistance for drugs or alcohol.
Many of the homeless are addicts, but she pointed out, “The difference between an accepted user of alcohol or drugs and a homeless one is four walls and a roof. These are people in a horrible situation. They tell me they’re addicts, but they’ll hug me. They’re a lot more like we are than most of us think. It’s easy to judge people when they have nothing.”
With all the contact Rich has with the homeless — perhaps 40 each week — one thing is clear to her.
“I could never live on the streets. I wouldn’t last. They have the strength to make it and not die. The danger is between themselves and the people who hate them just because they are out there.”
Yet, she said, many homeless display loyalty towards each other.
“There are duos and groups that stick together and take care of each other,” Rich said.
She knows all about the homeless. For the past few years, she and her 17-year-old daughter, Shira, have been providing goods and services to Riverside’s disadvantaged.
And she knows all about pets. Her family owns four dogs, ranging from 6 to 52 pounds, along with a desert tortoise and three toads.
So it shouldn’t be all that surprising that her commitment to the homeless has evolved into something more. Many of those she calls “the street people” have pets, and they have needs as well.
As Rich, 56, explains on her Facebook page, “We are a mom and daughter team trying to make a tiny difference in the lives of people many never speak to and their pets that do not have a voice in their lives.”
Shira was the impetus in recognizing the role of pets in the lives of the homeless.
“My daughter got me involved with animals running in the streets,” Rich said. “A couple of times we’d be chasing strays, and it didn’t dawn on me that people in the streets had dogs. It’s not easy for them to take care of animals.”
The dogs provide companionship for the homeless, and they also protect them. There can be rivalries among street people, Rich said, and the dogs alert them to trouble, particularly the theft of whatever they own.
Every day — sometimes twice a day — Rich is on the road in Riverside, picking up donated items and distributing them along a route from the Magnolia Center area to 14th Street, then out to Arlington and Van Buren avenues.
The donations come from friends on her Facebook page and from strangers as far away as New York.
“They want to help but some don’t have the time, and others are afraid of these people,” Rich said. “Some of that is justified, but a neighbor could be just as horrible and dangerous.”
Rich’s SUV is filled with donated items, which include blankets, towels, toiletries, snacks, dog food and leashes, cat food, ice water, shoes clothing and fast-food gift cards. The gift cards are as close to cash that she and Shira accept or distribute. They’re not a nonprofit, so donations are not tax-deductible. The gift cards provide assurance that the homeless won’t use the assistance for drugs or alcohol.
Many of the homeless are addicts, but she pointed out, “The difference between an accepted user of alcohol or drugs and a homeless one is four walls and a roof. These are people in a horrible situation. They tell me they’re addicts, but they’ll hug me. They’re a lot more like we are than most of us think. It’s easy to judge people when they have nothing.”
With all the contact Rich has with the homeless — perhaps 40 each week — one thing is clear to her.
“I could never live on the streets. I wouldn’t last. They have the strength to make it and not die. The danger is between themselves and the people who hate them just because they are out there.”
Yet, she said, many homeless display loyalty towards each other.
“There are duos and groups that stick together and take care of each other,” Rich said.
2012年7月2日星期一
Detroit’s DJ House Shoes Talks Love
2006 was a year of devastating loss for Detroit Hip-Hop. The sudden but anticipated death of James “J. Dilla” Yancey on February 10, propelled the city’s small Hip-Hop community into a torrent of grief. However, two months later, when DeShaun “Proof” Holton was gunned down at an after-hours club in early morning hours of April 11, grief was too small a word to express the shock that resonated throughout a community. The remnants of that shock remains today, echoing inside empty venues, reflected in the eyes of hometown artists, and depriving a community of its very best friend.
That was the impact that these men had on the small Detroit Hip-Hop community. These few hundred men and women who grew up together, learning and loving this industry together, most with a shared history that extends 20 or so years, of battling a larger city that wouldn’t accept or acknowledge its contributions to music. It is from this small community of people that Eminem, Royce Da 5’9”, Black Milk, and many more artists honed their skills and influenced them to become the artists that they are today.
Within the Detroit Hip-Hop community, House Shoes played an integral part for over 20 years. A DJ at the legendary St. Andrews Hall, as well as numerous other Detroit music venues, “Shoes,” as he is affectionately known, broke records by Detroit artists, and connected countless people and dots with amazing results.
It was Shoes who introduced Guilty Simpson to J. Dilla. It was Shoes who first broke Danny Brown’s music at Northern Lights Lounge. For years, Shoes worked in Detroit for little to no pay, helping others, producing music for free, spinning for next to nothing until 2006, when he experienced his own transition and moved to Los Angeles, and started a family, with a daughter on the way and a three-year old son appropriately named, James DeShaun.
That was the impact that these men had on the small Detroit Hip-Hop community. These few hundred men and women who grew up together, learning and loving this industry together, most with a shared history that extends 20 or so years, of battling a larger city that wouldn’t accept or acknowledge its contributions to music. It is from this small community of people that Eminem, Royce Da 5’9”, Black Milk, and many more artists honed their skills and influenced them to become the artists that they are today.
Within the Detroit Hip-Hop community, House Shoes played an integral part for over 20 years. A DJ at the legendary St. Andrews Hall, as well as numerous other Detroit music venues, “Shoes,” as he is affectionately known, broke records by Detroit artists, and connected countless people and dots with amazing results.
It was Shoes who introduced Guilty Simpson to J. Dilla. It was Shoes who first broke Danny Brown’s music at Northern Lights Lounge. For years, Shoes worked in Detroit for little to no pay, helping others, producing music for free, spinning for next to nothing until 2006, when he experienced his own transition and moved to Los Angeles, and started a family, with a daughter on the way and a three-year old son appropriately named, James DeShaun.
2012年7月1日星期日
Hirsh's Shoes stands apart with its focus on aching feet
Aching feet rarely wait, becoming intolerable quickly, and so Hirsh's Shoes has done a brisk business, even during the recession.
Founded in 1954 as a children's shoe store, Hirsh's now specializes in shoes for sore feet and shoes for dancing.
It has two certified pedorthists on staff to do expert fittings and to modify shoes. Pedorthists, like pharmacists, fill a prescription from a doctor.
One staffer, Beverly Valdez, has specialized in tightly fitting dance shoes for more than seven years.
Even though most customers who walk through Hirsh's doors at 2934 E. Broadway - gingerly, in many cases - come looking for relief, entrance does not necessarily translate into a guaranteed sale.
Some people's feet don't hurt enough, said pedorthist Richard Moran, who has been making custom orthotics for 15 years.
Vanity is perhaps a greater damper on sales than a global recession. Fashionable and strappy shoes are most often made with aesthetics, rather than anatomy, in mind.
That is something that hasn't changed over time, even as shoe materials have improved, said Sid Hirsh, one of the store's original partners.
But fashion isn't what Hirsh's is about - comfort is. Not that style is forgotten. An array of styles and colors lines the walls.
Still, customers buck compromise. "I couldn't wear that" is something Moran has heard many times, even from a customer with tears in her eyes.
"Most people buy shoes for their pocketbooks and their eyes," Hirsh said. "When something hurts, that's what brings them."
That's the case with Edna Lindquist. She came to the store Wednesday because she recently had several foot surgeries.
The strappy black pair she loved most weren't a good fit, but she did find some slip-ons she liked, even if the transition to shoes more about fit than flair was uncomfortable.
"That's what happens when you get older," she said as she walked to the register.
Hirsh's business model is founded upon customer service, high-quality shoes and professional fitting, and it appears to be working.
Last year's sales were back at pre-recession levels, and this year's sales are looking even better, Hirsh said.
That's with a quarter of sales made up of Finn Comfort shoes, which start at about $225. Some shoes sell for as much as $400, and custom orthotics cost about $275.
Over the past few years, Hirsh says, his major competitors have gone out of business, and his business has consolidated since the 1990s from five stores down to one.
His primary competition now is the Internet, where customers don't need to pay the 9-percent sales tax required for in-store purchases.
Hirsh began charging a $10 fee for customers wanting a professional fit on dance shoes, which can take more than an hour.
"I just had to to pay for my workers' time," he said, as many people would leave the store after the fitting and buy the same shoes online.
Hirsh is hoping for legislation that puts online retailers on equal footing with bricks-and-mortar stores.
In the meantime, though, he's not complaining. His business is growing - now at five full-time and two part-time employees - and at 81, he's doing what he loves.
He's no longer hiking - an earlier passion - but he attends the opera in Santa Fe and regularly gives talks titled "All You Want to Know about Shoes."
Founded in 1954 as a children's shoe store, Hirsh's now specializes in shoes for sore feet and shoes for dancing.
It has two certified pedorthists on staff to do expert fittings and to modify shoes. Pedorthists, like pharmacists, fill a prescription from a doctor.
One staffer, Beverly Valdez, has specialized in tightly fitting dance shoes for more than seven years.
Even though most customers who walk through Hirsh's doors at 2934 E. Broadway - gingerly, in many cases - come looking for relief, entrance does not necessarily translate into a guaranteed sale.
Some people's feet don't hurt enough, said pedorthist Richard Moran, who has been making custom orthotics for 15 years.
Vanity is perhaps a greater damper on sales than a global recession. Fashionable and strappy shoes are most often made with aesthetics, rather than anatomy, in mind.
That is something that hasn't changed over time, even as shoe materials have improved, said Sid Hirsh, one of the store's original partners.
But fashion isn't what Hirsh's is about - comfort is. Not that style is forgotten. An array of styles and colors lines the walls.
Still, customers buck compromise. "I couldn't wear that" is something Moran has heard many times, even from a customer with tears in her eyes.
"Most people buy shoes for their pocketbooks and their eyes," Hirsh said. "When something hurts, that's what brings them."
That's the case with Edna Lindquist. She came to the store Wednesday because she recently had several foot surgeries.
The strappy black pair she loved most weren't a good fit, but she did find some slip-ons she liked, even if the transition to shoes more about fit than flair was uncomfortable.
"That's what happens when you get older," she said as she walked to the register.
Hirsh's business model is founded upon customer service, high-quality shoes and professional fitting, and it appears to be working.
Last year's sales were back at pre-recession levels, and this year's sales are looking even better, Hirsh said.
That's with a quarter of sales made up of Finn Comfort shoes, which start at about $225. Some shoes sell for as much as $400, and custom orthotics cost about $275.
Over the past few years, Hirsh says, his major competitors have gone out of business, and his business has consolidated since the 1990s from five stores down to one.
His primary competition now is the Internet, where customers don't need to pay the 9-percent sales tax required for in-store purchases.
Hirsh began charging a $10 fee for customers wanting a professional fit on dance shoes, which can take more than an hour.
"I just had to to pay for my workers' time," he said, as many people would leave the store after the fitting and buy the same shoes online.
Hirsh is hoping for legislation that puts online retailers on equal footing with bricks-and-mortar stores.
In the meantime, though, he's not complaining. His business is growing - now at five full-time and two part-time employees - and at 81, he's doing what he loves.
He's no longer hiking - an earlier passion - but he attends the opera in Santa Fe and regularly gives talks titled "All You Want to Know about Shoes."
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