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Seventy-one-year-old Russ Bevans from Eagles Landing along the Yentna River has a special reason to be thankful this holiday season. He is alive, and he owes it to the hard-headed persistence of a friend who would not allow the Alaska wilderness to kill Bevans.
On Monday, Bevans was snowmachining with 65-year-old neighbor Dave Luce when both sunk their snowmachines in a slough along the river. What followed was a grim ordeal to survive.
Long in the country and expert in the ways of winter travel, Luce knew that with the snowmachines sunk, and the survival gear they carried gone with them, the men had to keep moving until they found shelter. They were both soaked to their armpits. The temperature was 33 degrees. Snow mixed with rain was pouring out of the sky.
Luce was wishing he’d never left the popular lodge he runs about eight miles up the Yentna from the Susitna River confluence. It is a warm, comfortable place with a nice bar popular with snowmachiners, fat-tire winter bicyclists and the occasional dog musher.
“I feel foolish,” Luce said from there by telephone Wednesday night. “I got talked into going downriver with a neighbor.”
Luce had reservations about the trip. Winter was young and the ice on the Yentna was questionable, as it always is this time of year. On top of that, a massive push of warm air had swept across the state, bringing a thaw and rain to the Yentna and Susitna river valleys. But Luce figured that if he didn’t go along with Bevans, the older man might go by himself.
So they hopped on their Skidoos and made the 7.5-mile run to Scary Tree, a snag on an island in the delta where the Yentna and Susitna join, to check trail conditions. The trail was fine to that point, Luce said. And that led the men to make a fateful decision to head west and check out what Luce calls the “cutoff trail.” It was a bad move.
“I fell through the drink,” Luce said.
When Bevans circled around to try to get to Luce to help him, his snowmachine also broke through the ice.
“You don’t know what a sinking feeling it is to sit on a snowmachine” going down, Luce said. Both quickly slipped out of sight beneath the water. The men themselves were lucky to be able to haul out onto firm ice.
“Then we had to hoof it about 7.5 miles to fish camp,” Luce said, “and Russ is not in good shape. It took us 15 hours to go 7.5 miles.”
‘Keep moving to stay warm’
The snowmachines went in the water at 1 p.m. The two men reached the nearest cabin at 3 a.m. For Luce, the hike was painfully slow. For Bevans, it was just painful.
But there was no choice.
With their survival gear sunk, with no way to start a fire in the cold, and their clothes wet, the men could walk to shelter or they could wait to die of hypothermia.
“I kept telling (Bevans) we had to keep moving to stay warm,” Luce said. He would walk 100 feet, stop, turn and urge Bevans on. Luce remembers repeating over and “c’mon, c’mon, let’s go. Russ c’mon. We gotta keep going.”
Read the rest of this story at AlaskaDispatch.com

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www.twitter.com/alaskadispatch

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

My grandmother, Ann Fineman, was a stylish woman in her way. She had a big bouffant of blonde hair and a ready laugh. We have a black-and-white snapshot of her and my grandfather, Max Fineman, on Broadway in New York in the late 1940s. They owned a clothing store in our hometown of Pittsburgh, and they were in the Big City for a buying trip. He’s wearing a snap-brimmed hat and a coal-black Ronald Coleman mustache and is smiling confidently as he strides along the avenue; she is proudly on his arm, wearing a vaguely Hollywood aura, a sly smile and a tight skirt.
So Ann was not, at first glance, a central casting, Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving grandma. But she cared about making and serving the meal with a fervent devotion that bordered on the religious.
The turkey, she declared, had to be a fresh (never frozen) young hen with short legs. She insisted that male turkeys were too tough and long-legged females too active: apparently, in her mind, they had run around too much and were given to carousing in a way that made them unfit for human consumption, at least on the Holy Day.
There were other rules, from the proper kind of stale bread for the stuffing (the whiter and more pedestrian the better; the exact reverse of her usual preference) to the amount of milk to mix into the mashed potatoes (almost none).
As for the apple pie, you had to scour the grocery store bins for the tartest possible apples and then add a lot of sugar to them. The amount of tongue/torque thus created was almost (but not quite) painful. She did it in part, I always thought, because Max had grandly sworn off the knowing consumption of sugar in 1943 as a patriotic gesture during World War Two. It was Ann’s job to preserve this fiction by quietly dumping tons of sugar into the mix when Max wasn’t looking.
Once she had orchestrated the launch of the meal — as traditional as they come — she would leave the kitchen and take her seat while Max carved. She sat at the edge of her chair, watching with an eagle-eyed stare as everyone began to consume her handiwork. At first she would take nothing for herself. She refused to eat until she had been assured — again and again — that the (short-legged female) turkey was moist and tasty and good.
And then she’d take a small slice, picking at it cautiously. Once she did so we all laughed, and she did, too. She had finally partaken of her own sacrament. We praised her for her success and her bravery. And in our laughter was an offer of thanks — for her devotion, for the blessed well-being of our family, and for the city and country we all loved.

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

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Canadian Orthodox archbishop charged with sex assaults
The head of the Canadian diocese of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) has been charged with two counts of sexual assault.
Police in Winnipeg, Manitoba, said Archbishop Kenneth William Storheim had been released on bail.
They said the archbishop had turned himself in on Wednesday.
The OCA said he had taken a leave of absence from his post in October after an investigation into the allegations was launched.
Reports said the allegations concerned young boys and dated from the 1980s when he was the rector of a Winnipeg parish.
His official title in the church is His Eminence, Archbishop Seraphim.
The Orthodox Church in America was originally founded as a mission of the Russian Orthodox Church, before eventually becoming self governing.
It has hundreds of parishes in Canada, the United States and Mexico.

Source:BBC

By Connie Lawn and Charles Sneiderman
From tragedy can sometimes come great achievement and beauty. This is the case for thousands of wounded warriors and their friends or families. Those who are able can have the opportunity to attend many wounded warrior recuperative events around the nation. Two of the biggest take place in Colorado. The Hartford Spectacular is held at Breckenridge in early December. The major organizer is Disabled Sports USA and the majority of the funding is provided by the Hartford Financial Services Group.
The other major event is held in late March and early April in Aspen/Snowmass. It is largely sponsored by the Veterans Administration, with some help from volunteers and private organizations. Unfortunately, the number of wounded is increasing constantly. So, wounded warrior events can be held in many areas throughout the United States. The snow ones, which we attend, focus on skiing and snowboarding, of course. But other events include golf, fishing, horseback riding, water sports, running, and a host of other sports, which help to rebuild body and soul. These warriors are truly amazing! Kirk Bauer is the founder of Disabled Sports, USA. He lost a leg in Vietnam. This summer, he and two other younger amputees climbed up Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. They only had one live leg between the three of them, but they survived the painful journey.
This is the spirit of the warriors. In the winter, they subject themselves to the coldest temperatures and conquer the steepest runs. The athletes suffer from lost limbs, brain injuries, blindness, hearing loss, or a plethora of other problems from their war experience. But, they can still out-ski and out-snowboard most of us.
The athletes come racing down the mountains on sit skis, or standing skis or snowboards. Sometimes they use poles with little skis on the bottoms. Some ski or ride with their artificial limbs; other put them aside and manage to balance on one ski. They are good and fast – don’t get in their way! During white-out conditions, blind skiers have the advantage. Sometimes we try to follow them down the mountain by listening to the commands of their instructors. It is scary! Try to ski for a few minutes with your eyes closed, and imagine their challenge. Yet we have seen races where the blind skiers were the fastest on the mountain. They were so fast, they overtook their guides and felt the snow on their own.
Of all the memorable experiences we have had with our warrior friends, the most inspiring was meeting “Swifty,” or Darren Swift of Cumbria, in the UK. He lost both his legs about the knees in an IRA bombing. Swifty comes to Breckenridge with the British group, called BLESMA, or the British Limbless Ex Service Members Association. Swifty is smart, funny, and one heck of a snowboarder. He rides his board on the stumps of the legs. At the top of the ski lift, he throws the board on the snow and does a handstand to get off the lift, and then get onto his snow board. What a man! We are proud to call him our friend.
There are so many experiences and so many memories. One morning, at breakfast, we heard a soldier tell his mates, “I had 17 surgeries.” His friend said, “I had 23, and am still going!”
During our first event (we have gone to four in Colorado), Connie slipped into a steel pipe and got a black eye. It looked dramatic, and lots of jokes were made. But the soldiers also said “we were so worried about you.” Connie could not believe it – they were worried about her, after all they had gone through!
You might hate these wars, but you have got to love these warriors. When you see them on the mountains, or anywhere else, thank them for their service and try to help them, if they need it. You may find they will help you more than you help them.

Follow Connie Lawn on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/connielawn

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

1. My Dog Belinda survived pneumonia.
2. My husband of 21 and half years is funny.
3. My grandchildren are fabulous and funny.
4. Obama was elected and will be again–despite all the kibbitzing.
5. I remember everything but forgive anyway.

This Blogger’s Books from
Seducing the Demon: Writing for My Life
by Erica Jong

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

Governor Sarah Palin recently claimed that First Lady Michelle Obama’s childhood obesity prevention campaign inappropriately usurps the role of parents in making food choices for their children. Her critical comments fail to recognize that, in too many instances, parents have become prisoners of school and community environments that restrict their child’s access to healthy food and physical activity options.
A recent report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Bridging the Gap program found that schools contribute to the childhood obesity epidemic by continuing to offer mostly high calorie food of low nutritional value in cafeterias and in vending machines and by providing too little time for recess or physical education.
Other studies have shown that communities can contribute to the epidemic by failing to embrace policies that increase access to affordable and fresh fruits and vegetables and to amenities that promote physical activity, such as parks, open spaces, connected sidewalks, bicycle lanes and trails.
With nearly one in three children and adolescents in the United States either overweight or obese, more than 23 million young people nationwide, childhood obesity has become a national threat.
Research shows that obese children are at increased risk for becoming overweight and obese adults and that they are more likely to develop serious chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, asthma, cardiovascular and renal disease. As a result, many experts predict that our nation’s children will pay a steep price by living sicker and shorter lives than their parents.
Additionally, it is estimated that childhood obesity costs up to $14 billion each year, and adult obesity up to $147 billion each year in direct medical expenses alone. The cost to our nation can also be measured in terms of reduced or unrealized productivity, lost wages and economic stagnation.
Precisely because the stakes for our children’s health and the country’s fiscal outlook are so high, our federal, state, local and school leaders must be at the forefront of addressing the childhood obesity epidemic by advancing policies and programs that make it easier for parents and caretakers to help children be physically active and consume nutritionally-balanced foods.
Many people call Governor Sarah Palin a defender of freedom. So she must know that there is no freedom where there is no choice. Given the circumstances, it should be clear that the First Lady’s initiative and other efforts like hers are not about limiting parental control or individual liberties but about ensuring that parents and their children have more opportunities to make healthier choices.
Instead of being critical, I hope that Governor Palin joins with Mrs. Obama in the national effort to support parents, kids and communities in their efforts to become healthy.
Maya Rockeymoore is President and CEO of Global Policy Solutions, a social change strategy firm based in Washington, DC, and Director of Leadership for Healthy Communities, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Follow Dr. Maya Rockeymoore on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/mayarockeymoore

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

On this holiday weekend I give thanks to 12 of my Austin, Texas peers for doing the right and just thing and finding Tom DeLay guilty of money laundering and conspiracy. But even more so, I thank the lamentably neglected hero of this case: former Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, whose dogged pursuit of political corruption is the key factor in the DeLay conviction.
That is not at all to discount the lawyers and office Earle left behind when he retired in 2009 after 33 years of truly honorable public service, no indeed. To defeat Dick DeGuerin, DeLay’s lead defense attorney, is almost akin to Sisyphus finally getting that damned rock to remain atop the mountain. DeGuerin is, after all, the guy who recently got singer-songwriter Billy Joe Shaver off the hook for pulling a gun in a barroom dispute and asking the man just past the end of the barrel, “Where do you want it?” and then firing.
Yep, DeGuerin is that good. And Texas sure loves its crafty defense lawyers who win seemingly open and shut cases as much as its outlaw country troubadours like Shaver (so much as to wink at the transgressions of the latter). They are Lone Star State folk heroes. And similar admiration for wily politicians who can bend and break election laws with brass and canniness — even begrudging from the opposition — is yet another proud Texas tradition. In this here republic unlike any other of the 49 states, a bit of populist frontier sun always shines through most any cloud over those wheelers and dealers with a genuine streak of roguish lan (and one well beyond anything Sarah Palin has a clue about when it comes to truly going rogue).
It was all but obvious what DeLay was up to when I reported on the case for Salon in 2006, yet his conviction was anything but a foregone conclusion. The corruption of the democratic process with corporate cash rocketed to disturbing levels in the recent election cycle following the Supreme Court’s shameful Citizens United decision last January. This conviction is a heartening counterweight.
Earle drew a line in the sand by indicting DeLay. It is emblematic of the former district attorney’s modesty that the first news accounts of the verdict have not credited Earle’s role. But make no mistake: Earle is the one to thank as much as anyone if not more so for the gavel of justice slamming down on The Hammer. And as I say my grace before my turkey dinner, I will give thanks for such a man of quiet integrity. And pray that more good men will similarly come to the aid of this country.

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

Disappointing news this Thanksgiving Day, as human rights activist Simon Deng received an update that the Sudan Peace and Stability Act, sponsored by Senator John Kerry, is “on hold.” Kerry’s office did not share the reason.
“We have no idea regarding Kerry and the bill. It was supposed to be introduced [by now],” says Deng. “Now they say they appreciate my efforts but it’s “on hold.’”
Nevertheless, Deng continues to call upon President Obama and U.S. legislators to support the results of an upcoming January 9 referendum to take place in South Sudan. It will allow South Sudan’s people, many of them Christians, to gain national autonomy.
Last week, Deng, a Christian human rights activist who was kidnapped and enslaved as a child by an Arab Muslim family in Sudan’s North, completed an historic barefoot walk to all 535 offices of the U.S. Congress. He presented legislators with a letter calling for the U.S. to hold Sudan’s government accountable for upholding its commitments as part of a 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that declares the South an independent nation if its people vote for autonomy in January.
He walked barefoot to emphasize the suffering of Christians and practitioners of native religions in the South.
“[We are] asking the President, tell Khartoum, ‘You can’t tamper with the agreement,’” he said. “The international community is part of it. Tamper with this agreement and there will be consequences.”
January’s vote is stipulated by the CPA, which was drafted by the Bush Administration, and stipulates protocols for border demarcation and wealth sharing. The CPA allows the North a share of oil wealth that is concentrated in the South and drops Sudan from America’s list of terrorist states.
In 2005, Bashir agreed to abide by the CPA and respect the results of the vote. But recent indicators – including his failure to adequately abide by tenets that call for border demarcation, security, and wealth-sharing – suggest Bashir may not respect the vote and may even call for violence, according to Deng.
Other ominous indicators include the North recently bombing the South, according to Deng. And in another recent attempt at provocation, Khartoum recently demanded that the South Sudanese “hand over” desperate refugees from Darfur who have fled to South Sudan. If the South Sudanese do not hand them over to Khartoum, Bashir has threatened it will be viewed as an “act of war” by his government.
“They are trying to drag the South Sudanese into conflcit,” Deng says.
Since the 1950′s, mass slaughter, forced conversion to Islam, and withholding of food aid have been perpetrated against Sudan’s indigenous peoples in the country’s heavily Christian South by the extremist Muslim government based in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum. The Khartoum government has killed three and a half million Southern Sudanese since the 1950′s, according to Deng. Since 2003, this government, currently led by Omar al-Bashir, has also perpetrated violence in Darfur against black Muslims that has killed an estimated 400,000 and displaced millions.
Deng, a Christian, in 2006 helped spearhead the effort to raise awareness about the killing and abuse of Muslims in Sudan’s Darfur region. To bring their plight to national attention, he walked 300 miles from the United Nations building in New York, his home city, to the Capitol in Washington D.C. His historic “Freedom Walk” captured the attention of then-New York Senator Hillary Clinton, who met him on Capitol Hill when he arrived.
Having the support of individual U.S. legislators this time around will make a difference, Deng believes. Although he hopes to gain support from President Obama and the democrats, he says he is heartened by support he has already received from individuals like Rep. Trent Franks (R-Arizona).
Franks has pledged to write a letter calling upon Sudan’s Khartoum government to abide by its word and respect the outcome of the vote. Such support means the world to the people of South Sudan, Deng says.
“We need U.S. support,” he says. “The people of South Sudan need U.S. leaders to say openly and publicly, ‘We support the South Sudanese.’ They need someone to support them, even morally. So far, I’m not seeing it coming from the White House.”

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

I’m not a lawyer, but by the time we were done, my divorce attorney told me I should become one. And while no one person’s experience can apply to everyone’s, there are a few things I learned that I think can be helpful:
Figure Out The Settlement Terms ASAP
1 of 6
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Step-Mom Success: How To Deal With The Ex-Wife
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Six Things Remarried Dads Owe Their Stepmom Wives
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Divorce Books for Kids: 5 Pitch-Perfect Picks
Divorce Facts: 7 Oddball Divorce Research Findings
One mistake I’ve seen women make over and over again is waiting too long to figure out terms. I think this applies to whomever in the couple makes the least money–i.e. the person who is hoping to receive a settlement, either alimony or a lump sum payment. In most situations, there’s barely enough money to go around, and turning one household into two feels like a financial impossibility, but you can do it, and you will. What helps though, is hammering out the terms while the decision is still fresh. There’s a big difference between what he’s willing to pay when the realization that you’re splitting up is just sinking in, and everyone is feeling guilty and sad and scared, and a year down the road when he also wants to pay for vacations with his new girlfriend or maybe buy a new house, and everyone’s gotten used to the split. Sorry to sound mercenary, but you want to strike while the iron is hot.
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Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

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US 'honeymoon killer' Watson indicted for murder

Today we are celebrating my favorite holiday of the year. To me, Thanksgiving signals the smell of nutmeg and cinnamon in the air, spending time with my family, and baking some delicious, sweet and savory fare.
Yet, if we take a peak underneath the modern-day Thanksgiving hood, the food on the table is a far cry from what was served at the first Thanksgiving of 1621, or even Thanksgivings of 30 years ago. Instead of thoughtfully dining on local and wild foods, today we’re accustomed to store-bought pumpkin pies, canned cranberry sauces, Kraft’s Stove Top stuffing mix, and other packaged, nutrient-deplete foods made in factories, and not in Grandma’s kitchen.
We need to bring Thanksgiving back to its roots! This year lets take on the challenge of making this holiday a more conscious one. Its not every day that the stars align where we’ve got time off from life’s daily grind and the family all together in one place. Next week is the perfect opportunity to show off your culinary skills and put some homemade, nourishing food on your table.
Here are three mindful tips to spice up your 2010 Thanksgiving. I’ve also added two of my natural, whole foods recipes to get you started and hopefully inspired!
Tip 1: Get Smart About What’s Really in the Foods You’re Purchasing
Few of us have the time to cook a Thanksgiving feast from scratch. That means many dinner tables next week will be topped with at least some food items that have been pre-baked, pre-mixed, pre-seasoned or prepared, at some level, by someone you’ll never see along the food chain.
If you have to take the shortest, quickest route, you may opt to buy a dessert, order a pre-cooked turkey and whip up some gravy with the help of a dry packaged mix. But just take a walk down the aisles dedicated to Thanskgiving at your grocery store and you’ll find most sauce packets, stock cubes and premade pie crusts, are full of hard-to-pronounce, factory-added ingredients, like “partially hydrogenated soybean oil,” “disodium inosinate” and “thiamin mononitrate.” Taking the time to find more natural versions of these, or, better yet, making simple dishes from whole and pure ingredients can be a great first step.
Here’s a list worth thinking about: pan-roasted brussel sprouts, herb-roasted root vegetables or grilled polenta. These will take you less than 10 minutes of prep time.
Tip 2: Try Making Healthy Modifications to Conventional Recipes You’re Cooking
If you’ve decided you’re going to make most of your feast from scratch, you’ve already guaranteed yourself a healthier, more delectable meal! However, there are still some things to think about because many ingredients, although more whole, will still have origins in an industrial food chain. In their conventional forms, cream, milk, butter and eggs (essential ingredients for pumpkin pies and gravies) won’t be free from antibiotics, hormones or pesticides unless they’re from local, organic or non-factory farms. Similarly, wheat flours and breads (used for stuffings and cornbreads) will on most occasions be made from refined, nutrient-deplete grains.
But there are plenty of alternatives. Here are some healthy ingredient modifications to some Thanksgiving favorites:
Pumpkin Pie: If you want to make a pumpkin pie filling from scratch, try pureeing pumpkin or choose a canned pure pumpkin puree that has no sweeteners or extra ingredients. Choose organic eggs (or pasture-raised, even better!), butter and milk if your budget allows. And substitute the large amount of refined table sugar with a smaller quantity of less refined sugars. My favorites are coconut and palm sugars (or a combo of the two), date sugar or maple crystals. In terms of the crust, a non-dairy alternative can be made with olive or coconut oil and whole wheat pastry flour can be substituted for refined and bleached wheat flour.
Cornbread and Stuffing: With these items, try reaching for a non-GMO cornmeal as well as an unbleached, organic flour or a bread consisting of more whole grains for your stuffing recipe. The more whole grain you can use, the more nutrient-rich your recipe will become.
Turkeys: There’s still some time left to find locally raised, wild and/or heritage breed turkeys from smaller, non-industrialized farms. The more naturally and ethically raised your bird, the more delicious and healthier for you and our planet! Explore some options at Dartagnan, HeritageFoods, and SlowFood Dallas.
Tip 3: Think Outside the Box and Explore
Finally, don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Thanksgiving doesn’t always have to be defined by turkey, stuffing and gravy. Use this day as an opportunity simply to cook more, explore different recipes, enjoy a sit-down, slow meal with your loved ones, and go vegetarian if you want to. Below I’ve included two tasty recipes: one is a savory and nutritious lentil soup, and the other is a simple, low-sugar cranberry sauce.
Finally, you can weave mindfulness not only through your food choices, but also through your entire routine! Try start or end the day with a walk or hike outdoors, taking the time to get in tune with the day, the season and the present. Or throw the football around outside before the games start on TV. Whatever we end up doing, lets make it a goal to truly honor the abundance in which we live now in comparison to the days of yore. With small changes, it’ll be easy to make your 2010 Thanksgiving a more conscious, healthy and meaningful one. Enjoy!
***
Pooja’s Recipes:
Natural and Spiced Cranberry Sauce
Yield: 2 cups
Ingredients:
1 12-ounce bag cranberries
2/3 cup water
Juice of one large orange (about 1/3 cup)
Zest of one large orange (about 1 tablespoon)
cup unrefined coconut sugar or palm sugar
1 cinnamon stick
teaspoon ground nutmeg
teaspoon ground allspice
pinch sea salt
Procedure:
Combine ingredients into a heavy sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower heat and simmer, uncovered, for fifteen minutes, making sure to stir occasionally as sauce thickens. Remove from heat, transfer to a clean vessel, discard cinnamon stick, and refrigerate sauce until cold. Enjoy!
Savory Cumin Lentil Soup
Yield: Five 1 cup servings
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced into inch cubes (about 7 ounces)
2 ribs celery, roughly diced into inch cubes
1 carrot, peeled and roughly diced into inch cubes (about 5 ounces)
2 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
teaspoon cayenne pepper
teaspoon turmeric
1 cup red lentils, rinsed thoroughly and drained
4 cups vegetable stock or water
3 ounces collard greens (3 leaves, stems removed), chopped into bite-sized pieces
Procedure:
1. Add oil to a large sauce pan over medium heat. When warm, add onions, celery, carrots and garlic. Sweat until unions become translucent.
2. Stir in salt, cumin, coriander, cayenne and turmeric.
3. Add lentils and 3 cups stock or water. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, covered.
4. Uncover and add 1 cup remaining stock or water. Simmer another 5 minutes uncovered.
5. Stir in collard greens and cook until tender – about 5 to 10 minutes.
***
Pooja Mottl is a healthy living advisor, candidate of the Chef’s Program at the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts (NGI) and an NSCA-CPT-certified fitness professional. Connect with her on Twitter and Facebook.

Follow Pooja R. Mottl on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/poojamottl

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

I love golf. And since the age of seven, golf has been an integral part of my life. I took up the game largely to be with my father. He, too, was an avid golfer. And like all boys of seven, I wanted to be around my dad as much as possible, I think we all suffer a bit of hero worship for our fathers at that age.
Though companionship was my motive for playing, I soon found that the game had a much greater reward: the self-confidence that comes with mastering a sport or other endeavor. The fact that I had a natural ability helped. Any sport is more fun if you are a decent player, and with some hard working lessons from Dad, I was playing fairly well fairly soon. Of course, watching my father and his friends play every weekend gave me a bit of a head start. I was able to observe and imitate how they went about playing, and it paid off when I was able to put his lessons to work and hit the ball in the general direction that I intended.
As I got more proficient at the game, I was invited to play increasingly often. This meant that I could spend time with my father, and we both enjoyed what we were doing. Looking back, I’d like to think he would have spent his time with me no matter what. The fact that I could join him in his love of the game and play relatively well only made it easier for him to make the commitment.
As time went by, I kept improving. By the time I was named number one on the high school golf team, my ability had become a sense of pride for my father. Later, when my family blew up due to divorce, golf may have played a role in delaying his abandonment of me as well.
Golf remained a steady presence in my life. Though my working career went different directions and I had some success at the career I had chosen, I came back to playing seriously as I was about to reach the right age for an attempt to play on the Champion’s Tour. But there was one obstacle that would keep me from competing successfully: I had a balky ankle.
I had two choices. Have an ankle reconstruction operation or give up the dream to play and compete. I decided to have the surgery. Unknown to me at the time, this would profoundly affect the rest of my life, but at the time, the risk seemed plenty acceptable. There was a very high percentage of a good outcome from the operation. And I was seeing a well-respected orthopedic surgeon who had done work for several professional athletes. The prospects were good, and I was due to recover in plenty of time to brush up and get ready to compete.
I was one who suffered a negative outcome from the surgery. I’ll never forget one of the most painful conversations ever, when I asked my doctor if I was now permanently disabled. He answered that my disability was probably permanent. You see, the wound healed but the pain never stopped. And the bad reaction to antibiotics right after surgery resulted in a lengthy hospitalization. My discharge came with a lengthy period of steroid treatment and a diagnosis of Crohn’s Disease. Nevertheless, I still held out hope that I could recover. It was only after trying to play golf again and having to quit during the first few holes that led to the painful discussion with my doctor.
Needless to say, I entered a fairly serious depression. Suddenly at 50 years of age, not only did my dream of competitive golf disappear, but so did my expectation of a normal life. That was a very trying time, and without the support of my wife and family, I might not have made it through.
Now, as Thanksgiving arrives, it is several years later. I have come to grips with my misfortune. In fact, in the spirit of this Thanksgiving, I am actually thankful for my disability. It has opened my eyes to a completely and previously hidden reality. One filled with compassion and appreciation for things I had never even noticed when healthy. And though not a preferred path to revelation, a late-life onset of a disability forces one to live differently. It forces one to enjoy the small things and to appreciate aspects of my surroundings that never before even caught my attention.
So on this Thanksgiving, I am thankful for the opportunity that disability has given to me. I believe that I am a better person.

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

Capital Shopping Centres' (CSC) plan to buy a UK shopping mall has led to US shareholder Simon Property revealing itself as a possible bidder for CSC.
CSC said it had received a letter from Simon Property, which holds 5.6% of its shares, regarding CSC's 1.6bn plan to buy Manchester's Trafford Centre.
The US firm asked it not to proceed any further with the deal until it could present a potential cash offer for CSC.
But CSC said it would proceed with the Trafford deal.
“The letter did not contain any offer or indicative offer, nor provide any certainty that an offer would be made,” CSC said in a statement.
“The board of CSC has concluded that it is not in shareholders' interests to delay the placing and has determined to proceed with the acquisition and placing.”
Shares in CSC rose 14.5% to 386.3p.

Source:BBC

The holiday season is a time of hope, a time of compassion and a time to be thankful. The Feeding America network is especially thankful for the individuals, grassroot groups and business organizations that give of their time and resources daily to make it possible for us to keep up the escalating fight to irradiate hunger among Americans in our lifetime. It is your hard work, commitment and generosity that enable Feeding America to help feed millions of people across the country. Without you, our task would be insurmountable.
The heart of the work in our collective effort to end hunger begins in each of your communities, through the dedication and targeted focus of food banks, pantries and soup kitchens. You help us at the national level to extend a familiar, human touch to reach the child, family or other individual who has fallen upon uncertain times and may be reluctant to seek assistance from an unknown source. To date, I have visited more than 170 of our food banks where the impact of volunteers’ and workers’ familiar faces, warm smiles and extended hands is evident and effective to meet the urgent need we face to feed those in need- some for the first time in their lives. It humbles and inspires me, particularly, during this time of year to see so many giving selflessly of their precious family time off from work to extend a hand to a child, man or woman who’s present circumstance has left them in fear of where their next nutritious meal will come from. And, the bountiful coordination of food drives across our great nation are a testament to our collective human spirit , guided by unyielding compassion and dedication.
During a recent trip I made to a school hoping to participate in the Kids Cafe and BackPack programs, I met Max. Max is an 8-year-old boy who walked into the principal’s office with a bag of toys. The principal later informed me that Max’s mother had just lost her job, and he wanted to know if he could sell his toys to help his family.
As I make my way through the holiday season, Max and his situation will act as a constant reminder as to why our work is so important. I am grateful that the Feeding America network is able to feed 37 million people including 14 million children, and while that does not solve the solution, it is does put food on the table for families who didn’t necessarily know where they would find their next meal.
Hunger should not be here in America, nor should a child ever go hungry, but it will be evident on Thanksgiving day across the country and every day thereafter unless we continue to rally strong. It is time for our country to seize the opportunity to end child hunger by making child nutrition reauthorization a top priority. Congress must quickly fund and pass a stronger child nutrition bill so that all of America’s children have the healthy start they deserve.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I ask that you take note of the neighbor down the street, or a former co-worker who got laid off, or a member of your place of worship. You just don’t know — they may be in need of food, and if they are — it is my hope that they know there is a food bank, pantry or soup kitchen nearby that can nourish them. Or, perhaps you could extend a helping hand.

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

Talking about your travel debacles is about as appealing as talking about your dreams. So I’ll be brief. I missed my flight the night before last, a late-night flight from Salt Lake City, after two prior flights, en route to Montana where I live. They shut the door in my face. There was crying and swearing involved. One of the lovely things about living in a town with a small airport: they hold the last plane of the evening. They know their passengers have paid their dues in high prices and multiple flights to get to that last leg over the Rockies, which will certainly go bumptey bump in the night. And they’re decent human beings about it. Usually.
This was the day before the busiest travel day in the United States. This was after a week of being gone from my family on a business trip in Miami, which is a great place for a business trip, so I’m not complaining. Put it this way: I’m just glad that the biggest Book Fair in the country isn’t in Fargo. But if it had been, I likely wouldn’t have been wearing sandals to lunch earlier that day, and I wouldn’t have forgotten to change into shoes, which I wouldn’t have packed in my roller bag and checked.
I wouldn’t have been getting into a cab in a balmy 10 degrees with my homemade pedicure showing, heading to a Comfort Inn. I would have been wearing winter boots. Which would have been a good thing, since the Storm of the Century was inching its way into Utah, according to the Haitian cab driver, who seemed to be less worried about being cold and understandably more worried about things like cholera. I asked him if he had family back in Haiti.
“Yes,” he said. I asked him how he dealt with it.
“Day by day,” he said.
I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself. I had a voucher and a room waiting for me and the hope of a metal flying machine taking me home tomorrow.
“What time is your flight?” he asked.
“Two thirty,” I said. I saw his head shake.
“Is there a problem?” I said, afraid.
“The storm is coming in right around then. You might be spending Thanksgiving in Salt Lake City.”
I started feeling sorry for myself again. Who was going to make the organic bird with the organic cranberry relish and the gravy that wins my children’s hearts every year even though they’re in their disgruntled teen and pre-teen years? Who was going to turn on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and put the cloves in the oranges and set it in a huge pot of apple cider? Who was going to make sure that classical music resounded through the house while the turkey cooked? Who was going to polish my grandmother’s silver and make sure the good linens found their way to the table for their first of three annual appearances? Would they eat at the kitchen table? Would there be television involved? Would they forget to read Truman Capote’s “Christmas Memory” at the table? Would they say grace?
I was not going to spend Thanksgiving in a Comfort Inn in a blizzard in Salt Lake City in my frigging sandals.
But then I remembered — cholera. Homelessness. Haiti. My little family would be just fine without me, truth be told. And if that happened, I would have the opportunity to practice thanks, not for shining silver and a legacy in linens, but things like warmth and safety.
The next morning I turned on the Weather Channel. I have an obsession with this station, and I promise myself that I will not watch it prior to airplane travel, as all it does is get me worried. Who am I to know what airplanes can handle in the way of wind sheer and gusts and blizzard conditions and winter storm warnings? But I did it anyway. I watched the damn Weather Chanel for a solid four hours, fretting and updating my Facebook Page, wanting somebody to cyberly hold my hand. Should I stay or should I go?
The storm was supposed to hit exactly as I was to leave. The plane would be small. The turbulence would be fierce. Two things I loathe — small planes and turbulence. I would have the chance to practice all that I’ve learned in the way of fear-busting and inner calm. I’d use that I’m-a soldier-being-rescued-from-the-jungle-fronts-by-helicopter frame of mind I’d procured in hours of therapy. I would breathe, and I would practice being in the moment in gratitude.
But damn. “If there’s one place you don’t want to be in the country today, folks, it’s Salt Lake City.” The anchor man was, in fact, standing at the airport holding onto a pole of some sort, grounding himself from the wind.
I went into warrior mode. “I have a date with a bird,” I said out loud. And I got in a cab, the power lines and Christmas decorations blowing above the streets of Salt Lake. This time the driver was from Sudan, Africa. His country divided in war. Half his family back home.
“How do you handle it?” I said. “One day at a time,” he said.
I’m not kidding. Both cab drivers.
So when I got to the airport and raised my hands over my head at security in the pose that the media have been ranting and raving about for weeks, I said, “Thank you.” I smiled at the security guy. “That wasn’t so bad,” I said. “It’s a privilege to fly, after all.”
“We haven’t had one complaint,” he said. “People want to be safe.”
It’s true. People want to be safe. And when we took off into the wind, bumptey bump over the Rockies, I gave my true thanks. I didn’t need a bird on the table to deliver it.
Happy Thanksgiving.
These Here Hills

This Blogger’s Books from
This Is Not The Story You Think It Is: A Season of Unlikely Happiness
by Laura Munson

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

A Texas jury decided to nail the hammer to the wall. After less than twenty hours of deliberations, twelve citizens, six men and six women, convicted former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of illegally directing $190,000 in corporate political donations to Republican candidates for the Texas State Legislature. DeLay faces up to ninety-nine years in jail.
DeLay, always the optimist, stated that he would be cleared of these money laundering charges at trial. He contended that his indictment was politically motivated and has plans to appeal the conviction. Prosecutors deny that the charges have anything to do with partisan politics.
Tom “The Hammer” DeLay first caught the nation’s attention when he swept into power in 1994 as a principal player in the Republican Revolution. DeLay, no stranger to controversy, has also been under investigation for his relationship with infamous lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty to charges of bribery, tax evasion and fraud.
His trial gave the public a glimpse into the sometimes unseemly campaign finance practices of Washington, D.C. Jurors were regaled with tales of huge sums of corporate money flowing freely throughout the political system. The jurors heard stories of meetings members of congress agreed to have with lobbyists in return for large contributions.
So what’s the problem? Doesn’t money always flow relatively freely in the political system? Yes, but the problem in this case is that Texas has a century old law prohibiting corporate contributions to candidates. Prosecutors charged DeLay with funneling nearly $200,000 in corporate contributions through the Republican National Committee to state legislative candidates.
Prosecutors, however, did not prosecute DeLay for violating that law, finding that there was no way to charge someone with conspiracy for such a violation. Prosecutors instead opted to charge DeLay with money laundering.
The evidence, consisting almost exclusively of circumstantial evidence, was enough to convince the twelve jurors of varying political affiliations.
The difficulty of this prosecution and the harmfulness of the underlying facts to the integrity of the electoral and political processes give fuel to an argument that at least eight members of our Supreme Court seem to agree with: disclosure of campaign funds is vitally important. Disclosure not only tells the public where candidates and committees are getting their money from, and hence to whom they may be responsive, but also helps to detect violations of existing laws.
The Disclose Act now stands before our lame duck Congress. While it would not have affected DeLay’s trial, it is an important step toward trying to repair public confidence in a representative democracy too often shaken by political scandal. Let’s throw a little sunlight into the sometimes dark world of financing political campaigns.

Follow Jessica Levinson on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/levinsonjessica

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

Thanksgiving feels empty with my brother Josh still sitting in Evin Prison in Iran for no good reason. Rather than wallow in his absence I want to reflect on some of the amazing people I’m thankful for. Without them living life amidst this peculiar international crisis would not be possible.
* My many friends – for supporting my nomadic lifestyle with an air-mattress or pullout couch and cups of tea.
* Mom and Dad – for being strong enough to sit around the dinner table and laugh at the absurdity of the situation. The laughter covers up the pain and frustration for moments that I wish could last longer than they do.
* My basketball hoop – for being the best therapist ever.
* @farah_way (aka Farah Mawani) – for becoming a master tweeter and organizing an amazing social media team (@freethehikers, Free the Hikers on Facebook) making sure the campaign doesn’t stop even when mainstream media fixates on balloon boy.
* Shannon Bauer and Nicole Lindstrom (Shane’s sisters) – the two other people who know what it’s like to have a brother pointlessly imprisoned in Iran. I am continually touched and impressed by their emotional intelligence.
* Desmond Tutu – for making four statements calling for Josh, Shane and Sarah’s freedom and continuing to embody peace and reconciliation.
* Alita and Rene Holy and David Marcus – who are oh so gracious about being woken up at any hour to update freethehikers.org and keep the site humming.
* Sarah Shourd – who walked out of 410 days of solitary confinement and into an intense limelight and made it look easy. I am thankful for Sarah’s freedom, her giddiness after a long day of meetings, and her anecdotes about Josh.
* Ban Ki-moon – for adding his voice to the call for Shane and Josh’s freedom
* The guy who ran past me the other day while I was shooting baskets and shouted “we’re all praying for you” – for not plying me for the latest on the case but sharing his prayers.
* Cindy Hickey (Shane’s mom) – for piquing my interest in the wonders of Minnesota and volunteering to host the first of the many homecoming celebrations (hopefully soon).
* Everyone who has made banners and signs to ‘Free Shane and Josh’ and sent in pictures, from Berlin to Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul to Bogot.
* Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International – for pointing out the irregularities, peculiarities and straight-up injustices in the case.
* Bob Dylan – for writing “Mississippi,” “I Shall Be Released,” “Every Grain of Sand,” and “Lord Protect My Child.”
* Jeff Kaufman and his team – for making a compelling documentary that brings you to the beauty of Ahmed Awa and clarifies the circumstances of July 31, 2009.
* Gloria Blier (signatory 1602 of the new petition for Josh and Shane’s release) – for writing “It’s a nice time of year to show compassion, and would resonate loudly to a lot of people.” I never met Gloria but I couldn’t agree more. Whenever my spirit flags I read the petition comments and take solace in the fact that thousands and thousands of people are pulling hard for Josh and Shane.
* World leaders and men and women of goodwill – whose quiet outreach will hopefully help us fast-forward to the happy ending.
* Habichuela Steele – for being born with a Ph.D. in friendship.
* Josh and Shane’s lawyer Masoud Shafii – for his valiant struggle for justice.
* Harvard University – for understanding my peculiar circumstance.
* Samantha Topping for her selfless support in handling the many-headed hydra known as ‘the media.’
* Al Bauer (Shane’s dad) – for teaching me what a Bobcat is, building one from scratch and raffling it to raise money for the campaign.
* Mairead Maguire (Nobel 1976) and Noam Chomsky – for standing up for causes such as the rights of the people of Gaza, criticizing many elements of US foreign policy, and calling out for Josh and Shane to be free and able to return to their families.
* Pari and Shirin – for the late nights and early mornings spent translating the calls to Josh and Shane’s lawyer.
* My extended family and Shane’s and Sarah’s – for keeping us well supported in often-invisible ways.
* Safe World for Women – for continuing to call out for Josh and Shane’s freedom even though they’re not women.
* Everyone who has organized an event or vigil, lit a candle, or said a prayer for the hikers and our families – for keeping our spirits up and sending positive energy through the stone walls of Evin.
To everyone mentioned above and countless others, I give thanks for you. You have made each day Josh and Shane are not free more bearable. Hopefully there aren’t too many more barely bearable days left.

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

And we’re off and running. Thanksgiving, the kick-off for the holiday season, is here. Some of us will spend the most time we’ve ever spent all year round in our kitchens basting, chopping, stirring and hoping that it all turns out well. We thought we’d whip up some dos and don’ts for both hosts and guests.
For hosts:
Be honest. If a guest asks what they should bring, tell them. There’s nothing worse than seeing your supply of wine and champagne dwindle, sparkling cider just isn’t the same.
Be ready to receive guests; they shouldn’t see you sweating over the bird. Don’t make them feel compelled to help out with the dinner — they came to eat, not prepare.
Try not to give a blow-by-blow of the dinner’s preparation (e.g., “I made the stuffing at midnight! I got up at the crack of dawn to boil the sweet potatoes”). There is an excellent book, “Timing Is Everything,” by Jack Piccolo.
Speaking of timing, if you’ve asked guests to come at 5 p.m., don’t make them wait until 7 p.m. to eat.
Plan a balanced, well-rounded menu. You want your guests to have enough food, but 10 different things to eat could turn into a mishmosh of mismatched flavors and actually begin to look like mush on a plate.
Let guests eat in peace. No need to keep asking them if they need anything.
Be gracious when your cooking is complimented. No one will know you left out the thyme unless you tell them.
If you discover that someone is a vegan, don’t make a big deal out of it. They’ll know to skip the macaroni and cheese.
When it’s time to clear the table, try not to enlist the help of every guest at the table. And don’t disappear into the kitchen to wash the dishes. This looks like you’re trying to get a leg up on things. That’s rude. (If you have a small kitchen, loading the dishwasher is okay but don’t run it.)
Toast your guests, thanking them for being part of the day.
Try not to yawn in front of your company. This may look like you’re bored or sleepy.
For guests:
Don’t be late. There is no excuse.
Even if your hosts said they don’t need anything, take a bottle of something or a small gift.
If you’ve offered to bring a dessert, bring dessert, not a platter of deviled eggs as a surprise.
We like flowers but if you’re being hosted by someone who’s doing all the work, consider an arrangement so that they won’t have to stop and tend to the flowers.
Offer to help, but don’t barge into the kitchen and start doing things.
Don’t just grab a seat at the table; your host may have a seating plan.
Before the meal, wash your hands without making a general announcement.
Turn off your cellphone.
Don’t talk about how much you love dressing with oysters when there is no oyster dressing on the table.
If you have dietary restrictions, let your host know in advance.
Don’t talk about your diet and how you’re being a bad girl as you butter your second roll.
Dress appropriately; not every day is a jeans day.
If you have a lonely friend with no place to go, don’t invite them along hoping that your host will understand. Your friend will only feel lonelier when there’s no seat for him/her at the table.
Give thanks and toast your hosts.

Follow Yvonne Durant on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/twinmanners

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

For over three decades, John Nelson has specialized in making impossible images seem real. The University of Michigan graduate has worked on films ranging from The Pelican Brief, In the Line of Fire, I, Robot and Iron Man. One of his more memorable effects can be seen in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, where animated the moment where Robert Patrick’s head recovers from a shotgun blast. Nelson has even won an Oscar for his work on Sir Ridley Scott’s Gladiator.
Because he’s made a career of making both subtle and spectacular effects look effortless, he was an ideal choice to supervise the visual effects in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray on November 30. The film stars Jay Baruchel as Dave, an NYU student who reluctantly becomes the pupil of a master sorcerer named Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage). The two have to defeat Balthazar’s arch rival Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina) in order to prevent New York from experiencing an apocalyptic meltdown.
Balthazar (Nicolas Cage) demonstrates how to form a plasma ball. Photo by Robert Zuckerman – Disney Enterprises, Inc. and Jerry Bruckheimer, Inc. All rights reserved.
For the film, Nelson and his crew had to make the bronze statue of the bull on Wall Street, an eagle from the Chrysler Building and a Dragon in a Chinatown parade come to life. In a virtual roundtable held on November 18, Nelson typed back answers to questions other journalists and I submitted through a private chat room. Even though he’s worked with state of the art equipment for companies like George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic and Sony Pictures Imageworks, he’s consistently quick to acknowledge how his forbearers like Ray Harryhausen (Jason and the Argonauts) have influenced him.
What’s most difficult to create and animate: fire, fluid water or creatures like that tiny animated dragon?
Animated characters like the little dragon need to act and are animated by character animators. Fire, water and the like are done with a technique known as fluid dynamic simulations. The simulations are tricky because they are not animated but governed by constraints and you can get everything right and then change one of constraints and have it look completely different.
For the little dragon, the challenge was to get the performance of the little guy while also keeping the metal looking like metal and not have it turn into plastic. I think he looks like real metal and gives a good performance.
Would you say that today’s CG FX are more dependent upon a supervisor’s technical knowledge, artistic knowledge, or a third field I haven’t even thought of?
Being a good filmmaker is the most important as you will know what will work cinematically. Next, knowing what you what creatively from the effect and how to achieve it technically. Finally, knowing the latest techniques and knowing what process is best to achieve your goal is also important (in addition to about a thousand other things).
When you’re animating something as high-tech looking as The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, do you ever think back to the Ray Harryhausen era and marvel at how far visual effects have come? What would you say is responsible for the biggest leap in the creation of visual effects?
I am amazed all the time at what Ray did with his way of doing thing with little more than himself shooting actors and then animating stop motion characters in front of those rear projected backgrounds. I think many in this field were inspired to do what we do by seeing Ray’s films and films like 2001.
When I am tired from working 18 hours a day and a bit down, I often think of the fact of how easy I have it because I have all these tools, tools that the old masters like Ray did not have. Creative solutions never go out of style. That is why Ray’s films still captivate audiences. I look at the old films like Tora! Tora! Tora!, Darby O’Gill or The Wizard of Oz and still love them.
Of the movies you haven’t worked on, which do you think contain the most enviable visual effects, and why?
I loved 2001, Star Wars, Close Encounters, Spartacus, Darby O’Gill, The Aviator, Pirates (of the Caribbean: At World’s End)” (Davy Jones’ face!), District 9, Inception, Avatar, in addition to many others, both old and new.
What makes me like a film with VFX (visual effects) is when I see clever filmmaking combined with realistic visual effects in a package that is solid storytelling. That can mean using an old effect in a new way or using a new effect to show something that hasn’t been seen before. The key is to be like a master musician and play just the right notes at just the right time.
Roger Ebert singled out the scene where the dragon in a Chinatown parade and a steel eagle on top of the Chrysler Building come alive. Can you talk about the strategies and/or challenges of creating those scenes?
The Chinatown dragon was hard because of the crowds involved and the magic we were doing had many forms. First, the sorcerer Sun Loc had to come out of the grimhold as a thousand butterflies that formed his body, then he had to bring the dragon on his breastplate to life and make it crawl off the breastplate and under his skin, then the paper dragon with people holding it had to turn into the real dragon, then the dragon had to chase Dave throughout Chinatown.
Balthazar (Nicolas Cage) gets ready to hitch a ride on a metal eagle. Photo by Robert Zuckerman – Disney Enterprises, Inc. and Jerry Bruckheimer, Inc. All rights reserved.
For each of these steps, our approach was to shoot our background plates with the actors as quickly as possible and also shoot references of what the real dragon skin might look like, in addition to clean plates and high dynamic range stills (and do all that as quickly as possible!). That way, when we go to create the VFX in the computer we have all the tools and photographic reference to achieve realistic images.
Beyond that it is the acting experience of the animators that bring the digital characters to life. The process was similar with the Chrysler eagle, but its surface was metal and needed to appear as metal and not bend like skin or plastic.
Could you explain how you put together the Tesla coil scenes?
We reviewed real Tesla coil footage and even shot some ourselves. Next, we picked a song that the coils were to fire in sync with. Next we rigged a computer controlled lighting rig to fire interactive lights in sync with the music. Then we shot our backgrounds with the actors in that interactive light and went into post production.
In post production, we animated the Tesla coil arcs to match the music and interactive lights. We had to change some of the timings to make it work but because we shot clean plates and had a complete digital copy of the set it was possible to do this.
What was your contribution to Iron Man?
I was the Senior Visual Effects supervisor and responsible for every visual effect in the film. I had the same role on Sorcerer’s Apprentice.
Can you talk about the intersection of visual effects, acting, and direction?
The director directs all components of the film including visual effects. Directing the actors in a big visual effect sequence is demanding though in that you need to explain what the actors can see and what they can’t see–but will be added later so they can have a complete understanding of what it will ultimately look like. I particularly like to work the effects off the physical actions of the actors. It makes the effects more organic and character driven.
Do you ever worry that the explanations you provide for the effects, like the ones we’re watching now from the DVD, might reduce a viewer’s awe at seeing a metal bull or a dragon?
Sometimes I feel like a magician giving away the secrets but I feel the people who view these explanations want to see what goes on behind the Wizard of Oz’s curtain.
The vehicle chases in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice look pretty complicated, too. Where they tough to pull off?
We had to shoot all of the car chases going no more that 25 MPH because on our first night of shooting a car had a slight mishap and one of our cars slid into sandwich shop window at midnight. No one was seriously hurt.
What we had to do was speed up all the chase stuff after that and add digital cars and props where necessary. In some sequences, we created totally digital sections of New York so we could destroy it and when necessary reverse explosions, etc. Mirror world was particularly difficult in this way.
It was a tremendously complex task that worked upon the stunt driving of George Ruge’s stunt team driving backgrounds and that were passed off to the talented animators at Asylum VFX (where lots of fully digital shots were added) to pull it off.
How many of the effects in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice were CGI and how many were on-set practical effects and which type of effect do you prefer to work with?
I love to mix up practical effects with visual effect (usually made from CGI). The mix gives the effects more realism and uses the best parts of each technique to make the finished effect more real while also being able to achieve the fantastic.
With Terminator 2, you were one of the pioneers with using CGI. How has the technology evolved?
Computer generated imagery is much more real now. With the advent of image-based rendering (where we shoot high dynamic range stills of each background and used them to light the CG objects), realism has taken a large step forward.
I assume, when you started your career, you were mostly dealing with practical effects, because of the given technical options. Does that experience influence your approach in your work as a VFX supervisor today?
I really have been doing computer graphics for visual effects since 1983 so my career has paralleled the advance of CGI in our industry. I feel CGI can do anything but it is also the most complex and expensive way to achieve something. I come from being a cameraman so I like to photograph things. The easiest way to get a photoreal picture is to photograph something. That is why I like to use as many real photographic elements as possible and only use CGI to get to achieve the stuff I can’t photograph.
What type of special effects do you specialize in?
I love the ones that are real and also elegant in the way they achieve their goals. History and comic books have always been an interest of mine, so comic-related and history-related projects have always gotten me going. Really good stories get me going.
One of the things I love about my job is that I get to research the reason why an effect might be useful to a story and then incorporate that reasoning into the way the effect works. In Sorcerer’s Apprentice, we did this by saying the electrical charges the sorcerers can conjure are an extension of their neurological system which is electrically based. It is how we send signals from our brain to move our feet, etc. The only difference is that for our sorcerers, their neurological system is highly refined to channel large amounts of electricity.
The Pelican Brief and In the Line of Fire don’t come to mind as special effects movies. What sort of effects did you work on for these films?
For Pelican Brief, we did a Lear jet in the clouds at night (something that would be hard to photograph) and for In the Line of Fire, we shot political rallies of Bush and Clinton, removed Bush and Clinton, and added Clint Eastwood and other characters from our story. People said these rallies looked real because they were real.
What did you first think you might do when you got this job to do VFX on this film and what changed from that in the final filming? Is it normal on all films to change ideas as you film or do you always have a good hand on what you will do before you shoot the first scene?
The script is always changing but the ideas behind the script tend to be somewhat constant. You read the script and design the VFX work to satisfy the needs of the script and prep with all the other departments (stunts, camera, art dept, practical effects) to be ready so when we shoot the pages of the script all the components work together to work as well as possible and be shot as quickly as possible.
In post production, we will add what we need to but with each day of principal photography costing so much money, we try to get as much in the camera as we can! It is important to define what is important about the effect and have a firm idea of how to achieve that so when the specifics change you will be able to quickly re-organize your mind to get the correct photographic plates (background with actors).
You can draw it or pre-visualize it and all of that helps especially for extremely complex work. The actual shots are defined when the director sees the actors rehearse their actions and then everything is adjusted to work how he wants to cover it.
Balthazar (Nicolas Cage) and Dave (Jay Baruchel) attempt to stop a real dragon running amuck in Chinatown. Photo by Robert Zuckerman – Disney Enterprises, Inc. and Jerry Bruckheimer, Inc. All rights reserved.
1251 VFX shots seem impressive — do you know which movie is the record holder in that department at the time? How many VFX shots were in that record and what’s the average of VFX shots per modern theatrically released movie?
In the old days a 400 shot show was a lot of VFX shots. Now the big films usually have over 1000 shots. The biggest ones are shows like Lord of the Rings or the new Star Wars films which have 1600 or more. Of course, Avatar reached new heights as every shot was a visual effect shot.
Why do some CGIs look convincing while others look as if they’ve been made from a PlayStation 2?
Usually realism depends on how well the backgrounds (and what reference) were shot combined with using CG techniques such as advanced lighting models that use high dynamic range imagery for image based rendering. Getting the spectacular reflections (the sheen reflected off the surface of an object) correct is the most important thing in making a CG object look real. Also keeping the digital camera moves looking like something a real camera could do is very important.

Follow Dan Lybarger on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/danlybarger

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
–Anonymous
There are brief moments lately when I start to feel like I am returning to a normal routine after my son’s near miss with tragedy. He has also returned to his normal routines and is seemingly stronger than before. His recent fall feels more like a dream now, and I am noticing how easy it is for the miracles that bless us to fade over time. The further I get from the experience, the more I wonder about what happened, the more incredulous it seems that everything could just be as it was before. I want to hang on to the gratitude and faith that this experience has instilled in me. I want to learn to live with the intention of taking nothing for granted.
During these weeks I have also encountered many life stories that didn’t share the grace of a near miss: the story of the mother whose child died suddenly, the woman I sat next to on the plane whose child developed severe autism and the nurse whose husband died from a fall of the same height as my son. Tragedy, by contrast to the near miss, has a vice-like grip over reality that is inescapable, even in our dreams. Life rarely finds its old routines after sustaining meaningful losses.
Before his untimely death, Robert Kennedy said, “Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by which to live.” Finding the openhearted courage to let go of the life we thought was ours and the will to move forward with the gifts of love that were shared is a leap of epic proportions. Many people get stuck in their loss. It isn’t so much that they don’t trust life, as they don’t trust their own hearts to open to life. It is another kind of miracle to embrace the chrysalis of transformation that tragic loss demands.
Although we usually don’t look down to acknowledge the cracks under our feet, experiencing loss or even dancing at the edge of it makes you clearly realize how tenuous and fragile our life and relationships are. It makes every moment of health and loving connection precious. Hanging on to that clarity after a near miss or moving towards it after loss is the grace of making gratitude routine in life.
The mother I sat next to on the plane was telling me about the years of work to get her daughter verbal again. “Really, she is teaching me much more than I am teaching her,” she said. Instead of being bitter, she saw her daughter and her issues as a gift. This is the gratitude that lets life be what it is, and keeps our heart open to what it can become. Moving on after tragedy, not letting it be our guide but taking its wisdom into our next experience of love, is the practice of routine gratitude.
This is a practice of retraining our eyes to see though our hearts. It hones the eyes to rest on beauty and acknowledge it, whether in changing fall colors or an exchange of affection with nearby strangers. It is a practice of letting go of the annoying aspects of relating and reaching to the core of what is lovable in your partner, kids and neighbors.
It is a practice that filters every moment with the very real possibility that this is the last time you will ever see, speak, hear or love this person again. It trains you to take nothing for granted.

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

The United States speaks boldly of women’s rights in Afghanistan, about liberating Arab women in the Middle East and about Mama Grizzlies and Supermoms on the home front. But when it comes down to codifying our commitment to women’s equality in the law… we’ll get back to you.
As the Senate bailed on the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would have strengthened critical anti-discrimination protections, lawmakers again locked horns on gender equity at the international level, in a debate on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
Along with Sudan, Iran and Somalia, the U.S. has yet to formally ratify the United Nations’ CEDAW since it was launched over three decades ago. (It hasn’t even been a century since the 19th Amendment, so conservatives understandably need a little more time to adjust.) The CEDAW is associated with campaigns against gross human rights violations like human trafficking or systematic violence against women. But the Convention is also a versatile framework for measuring equality in many arenas, including the global economy and the workplace.
Article 3 provides for equality in the “full development and advancement of women,” especially in the “political, social, economic and cultural fields.” Such words may prompt the same red flags that conservatives waved when fighting the Equal Rights Amendment (“by ‘equality,’ they mean mass abortions and the demise of the American family!”). But the text articulates a vision of gender justice that draws upon decades of feminist discourse.
Article 11 not only sets a standard of gender non-discrimination in employment, but also bars bias on the basis of marital or maternity status, which in theory decouples a woman’s freedom to earn a living from her ties to a spouse or family planning decisions.
Article 10 ensures equal educational opportunity for women, including job training, which may undercut structural barriers that exclude women from certain sectors or higher-skill positions.
Other provisions guarantee equal access to financial resources and credit, give rural women a voice in community development planning, ensure equality before the law in terms of contracts and property holding. The Convention also enshrines equality before the law without regard to gender.
You could argue that an “advanced” society like the U.S. needn’t bother with CEDAW, a treaty that seems geared toward countries like Morrocco and Kuwait, which struggle with severe restrictions on women’s political and economic activities.
But understanding how gender equity plays out in America requires reading between the lines. For example, the Senate would have a lot to answer for if it were really bound to certain provisions of Article 11:
Sadly, the Senate’s failure on Paycheck Fairness appears to be entirely consistent with our global outlook. In terms of the overall safety net, social security, unemployment benefits, and paid medical leave, have all been stifled or threatened by deficit hawks in recent months.
Research indicates that the lack of such benefits hurts workers overall, but disproportionately punishes lower-income mothers and families. But, as we’ve reported before on this blog, initiatives on the federal, state and local level to provide paid sick leave — a benefit that millions of workers lack despite widespread public support — have confronted militant resistance from the right.
Many of the controversial family-friendly policies are of course taken for granted in Western Europe, where the welfare state is not (yet) politically taboo. But even so, the European Union continues to reflect CEDAW’s guiding principles in ongoing efforts to close the gender wage gap and expand political participation.
The Convention has enjoyed only a brief flash in the Washington spotlight at a Senate hearing last week. As the Iowa Independent reports, the CEDAW has languished on the Senate’s backburner for years despite the broad support from current and previous administrations, together with a slew of other national and international human rights, legal advocacy and community organizations.
Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large with the State Department’s Office of Global Women’s Issues, testified before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights and Law:
While U.S. hypocrisy is exposed when addressing the most blatant human rights crises on a global scale, the everyday injustice that women face in the American workplace displays a subtler paradox: hegemony is not leadership. In fact, it might just mean you never have to explain why you lag so far behind.
Cross-posted from In These Times.

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Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

It is the season of gratitude, the time of year when people pause, look at what they have in life and give thanks. Whether the thanks is to other people, to the universe or to God, gratitude abounds during the holidays. But these days there’s a new trend toward thinking about gratitude year-round, not just when it’s time to say grace or carve the turkey. Gratitude journals, online and offline, are one such way people are expressing their gratitude on a daily basis. At the online gratitude community, Thankfulfor.com, gratitude is a 365-day-a-year activity.
Like the popular site PostSecret.com, Thankfulfor.com encourages the most personal of posts. There is something slightly voyeuristic about reading through the “public stream of thanks,” yet unlike the posts at PostSecret.com, which are often sad or even worse, the posts at Thankfulfor.com range from funny to uplifting, inspiring and extremely touching.
What do most people write about in their gratitude journals? If you’re a cynic, it may surprise you — money and possessions do not top the list. People do. Family and friends, even strangers that touch us randomly in our lives, rank highest, according to the 2010 Gratitude Index just released by Thankfulfor.com. While there are still plenty of posts like “I am thankful for Bud Lite,” material things ranked below people, personal experiences, self and life. Perhaps even more surprisingly, “money/work/jobs” came in ninth place out of the 10 total overarching categories. Activities, nature, feelings and technology/entertainment all ranked higher (although, if you dig into the granular data, money and jobs do rank pretty highly).
So, overall, what can this data tell us about ourselves? Perhaps it’s a deeper understanding of those around us. As one reads through the list of public journal entries, there is an instant recognition and understanding that the little things that make up our daily lives are pretty similar. The comfort of morning coffee or afternoon tea, heat that keeps us warm in the winter, our pets, the sound of birds chirping, an easy commute to work, nice coworkers, long weekends, good times with friends and family, health, love — these really are the things most of us are grateful for. These common, everyday things.
I’m partial to this site because I’m its co-founder. People always ask us why we built it. I could talk about how Oprah started the gratitude trend several years ago, and the growing self-improvement audience, etc. But the bottom line is that it was deeply personal. The second the idea came to us, we knew we had to do it and that it had a larger purpose. Sometimes you start with a gut feeling, and then later get the validation. Just recently, e-mails have started pouring in to our team, e-mails describing the impact of our site on individuals. I’d like to share one such story with you.
Last month a man emailed me describing how for the last 10 years, his family has been torn apart by a number of things, including devastating health conditions that meant loss of work, loss of income, loss of autos, loss of home and loss of general happiness. All this loss was dwarfed by the sudden loss of their only child. As he said in his email:
He went on to say the following:
Holidays can be a tough time of year for many people, and according to positive psychology research, gratitude can be a useful tool to work through it. During this holiday season, I hope you’ll take a few moments to reflect on what you are thankful for — and perhaps consider making it a year-long habit. Next year at this time, as you have your entire 2011 journal to look back upon, you’ll be thankful you did.
Read the entire 2010 Gratitude Index report.

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Source:www.huffingtonpost.com