Ground Preparation and Warm Season Grasses

<h4>This is the fifth article in a series on WILD School Sites, or outdoor classrooms. WILD School Sites are locations that can be used by students, teachers, and the school community as places to learn about wildlife and the environment. The first thing to do when developing a site is to formulate a plan. You can contact your district <a href="http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/ContactUsStandIn/tabid/18270/Default.aspx" target="_blank">Wildlife Communication Specialist</a>, who can walk you through the process to help ensure success.<o:p></o:p></h4><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /><h4>So what type of project should you do?<o:p></o:p></h4>Remember, no two sites are the same, so each site will consist of different projects. Available resources, such as time, money, space, and labor, will also play a role in what projects are chosen. Last month’s article focused on stepping stones, animal track plots, and yearly maintenance. This month we will look at a few more projects which can be started this time of year.<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /><h4 class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance<o:p></o:p></h4><br />As springtime arrives, our thoughts begin to wander toward working in the soil. After developing a working plan for your WILD School site, now is finally the time to dig in, literally, right? Well, almost. Preparing the soil before planting can alleviate a lot of problems later on and reduce maintenance requirements.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgti3ihqaEw7ICRw9JoTuwnQJudE1FxYFsGA3lZeUn4mKOPSieJfEriw6Rp9bCTMyBBDqL0dxB0grZYPLyvFkdXW1MZsAFYH7Vms15M0fCwAQXn6jkJaDWnwJjP2VlY8bXDlTDjG3DS_g5d/s1600/planting43.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgti3ihqaEw7ICRw9JoTuwnQJudE1FxYFsGA3lZeUn4mKOPSieJfEriw6Rp9bCTMyBBDqL0dxB0grZYPLyvFkdXW1MZsAFYH7Vms15M0fCwAQXn6jkJaDWnwJjP2VlY8bXDlTDjG3DS_g5d/s320/planting43.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>The type of preparation really depends on what status the ground is currently in. If you are going to be building a raised bed (which can even be constructed on blacktop), you will have less soil preparation and more construction involved. Have your students calculate the amount of soil needed. Calculate the length, width, and soil depth (remember to account for settling) to determine how much cubic material you will need.<br /><br />If you are planting into a yard or field, some extra work may be needed, depending on conditions. If you are planting into existing vegetation (grass or weeds), you will want to eliminate the old vegetation so it doesn’t compete with your new plants. This can be achieved mechanically, chemically, or both. Remember; never work the ground when it is wet. Contact your district communications specialist for more guidance on soil preparation. Either way, a soil sample is highly recommended to optimize soil conditions for plant growth.<br /><br /><h4>A Planting We Will Go…<o:p></o:p></h4><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj83K1jNnZiGxqAI3iai5Ts_bk0uRiEjTSYnMhsjakCnvktjGiAqNYIck3aDtaQGhWdAUvlFUJo3LTgR-0odbEhfVOUGZKpiO4iPGUjBDcbnFlQEGPWIqQduoSMkjVgVDHsI3Rlrpkx2-xp/s1600/kids+tracking219.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span>Although it is still a bit early to plant some species, now through the beginning of June is the perfect time to plant prairie grasses, also known as warm season grasses. Warm season grasses are native grasses which were once found throughout the prairie regions of the country, including portions of Ohio. These native species of grasses are more beneficial to wildlife than the non-native cool season grasses commonly found in lawns and along roadsides.<br /><br />When planting warm season grasses, shallow depth is critical. For most soils, try to plant the seeds to a depth of 1/4” or less. The seeds should barely be covered, and up to 1/3 of the seeds may not even get covered at all. Another mistake beginners often make is planting into soil that is wet. As wet soil dries, it contracts and leaves the seeds exposed to dry out.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIBKrIM7A5_AOiSY9nn6_Wb-95nDZA1tsWFtDwZ6xBAjlnUE2o-leni4KbaWcXmQdiB9FpgQtLbGESPcGSbYNO-ihDkZFwJJXDLUq1ChL36IXxTTLU7aTKjHd85bQBOlgl7_ufVhlU9XLM/s1600/Indian+grass+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIBKrIM7A5_AOiSY9nn6_Wb-95nDZA1tsWFtDwZ6xBAjlnUE2o-leni4KbaWcXmQdiB9FpgQtLbGESPcGSbYNO-ihDkZFwJJXDLUq1ChL36IXxTTLU7aTKjHd85bQBOlgl7_ufVhlU9XLM/s320/Indian+grass+(2).JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Indian grass is a warm season grass</td></tr></tbody></table>After planting, reducing competition is a critical step. Warm season grasses, as the name implies prefer warmer weather than their cool season counterparts. Because of this, warm season fields can easily become choked by cool season vegetation during the first two years. Depending on species, there are several options for chemical and mechanical control. If weed competition becomes a problem in your field, be sure to contact your district communications specialist for guidance.<br /><br /><br /><b>A Final Thought</b><br /><h4 class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><o:p></o:p></h4>Although most WILD School Sites contain multiple projects that can take years to develop from start to finish, now is the time to begin breaking ground and getting some plantings in. As the weather begins to warm, this is the time of year to take students outside and get started on your site. For more information about these projects or other WILD School Site projects, contact your district’s<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/ContactUsStandIn/tabid/18270/Default.aspx" target="_blank">Wildlife Communications Specialist</a></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span>

Ground Preparation and Warm Season Grasses

This is the fifth article in a series on WILD School Sites, or outdoor classrooms. WILD School Sites are locations that can be used by stude...

Read more »

Today's archidose #678

Here are some photos of the <a href="http://www.tchoban-foundation.de/">Tchoban Foundation - Museum for Architectural Drawing</a> (opening June 4, 2013) in Berlin, Germany, by <a href="http://www.speech.su/">SPEECH Tchoban&Kuznetsov</a>; photographed by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bcmng/">bcmng</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bcmng/8758008359/" title="Museum for architectural drawing Berlin by bcmng, on Flickr"><img alt="Museum for architectural drawing Berlin" height="972" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8559/8758008359_43718afcff_b.jpg" width="648" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bcmng/8759133942/" title="Museum for architectural drawing Berlin by bcmng, on Flickr"><img alt="Museum for architectural drawing Berlin" height="972" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3748/8759133942_2c50351291_b.jpg" width="648" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bcmng/8759133204/" title="Museum for architectural drawing Berlin by bcmng, on Flickr"><img alt="Museum for architectural drawing Berlin" height="972" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3716/8759133204_ae7930ae89_b.jpg" width="648" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bcmng/8758007241/" title="Museum for architectural drawing Berlin by bcmng, on Flickr"><img alt="Museum for architectural drawing Berlin" height="427" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7457/8758007241_92e93d488a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bcmng/8758006969/" title="Museum for architectural drawing Berlin by bcmng, on Flickr"><img alt="Museum for architectural drawing Berlin" height="972" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7408/8758006969_1412a62efb_b.jpg" width="648" /></a><br /><br />To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just:<br /><blockquote>:: Join and add photos to the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/archi-dose/">archidose pool</a>, and/or<br />:: Tag your photos <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/archidose/">archidose</a></span></blockquote>

Today's archidose #678

Here are some photos of the Tchoban Foundation - Museum for Architectural Drawing (opening June 4, 2013) in Berlin, Germany, by SPEECH Tcho...

Read more »

Put your school in the spotlight! Apply to be a Microsoft Innovative School

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9w_N7vGNPoe0bNi0ySnHYnTenSnqLQRUo-Mejfr5YVvC3xbdVRSI-0D55c4nRjzlF1nTBzE1GUwgmdiuDpUaR9e8RK_MtQ4zK_XwOkAKVEvh69-lR6Nsz4dd22zFr9OknK-XboPLz-FQ/s1600-h/image%25255B2%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="109" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9vru3nzSDG-JPaSoAtHNXUCR_-cSIOl10IMm5dH0NbnZ5VdVHvIAkaVHWoNqNXj416e6I-wIV26bwVcGLbV9EgdU1vTk6aMAbUIBRqbO-i5HM-vVhIwg88iN5xunqyEA_TktYFEdXQ7w/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></div><br /><i>submitted by Megan Rademeyer</i><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Applications are currently open for the  Microsoft Innovative School’s programme. <span style="background-color: white; color: #786a6a; font-size: 16.363636016845703px; line-height: 21.988636016845703px;">The Microsoft Innovative Schools program i</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">s "a leading change management program for district and school leaders to drive their own innovation processes while identifying partners, technologies and environments that further improve student learning."</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Schools with a track-record of inspirational leadership, innovation and successful implementations of change are invited to apply to become </span><a href="http://www.pil-network.com/schools" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US">Microsoft Innovative Schools</span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">. Through this programme, schools have an opportunity to learn from other schools’ successful implementations of technology; leaders will learn strategies for building capacity to improve teaching practices; and practical strategies for reaching learner goals will be shared.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a member, participants will become part of an exclusive one-year program recognizing educators and  school leaders who are using technology to transform education. This programme connects school leaders and educators in South Africa with other school leaders and educators from around the world. Application deadline is September 30, 2013. School leaders who are selected will also have the opportunity to attend the <a href="http://www.pil-network.com/Forums">Partners in Learning Global Forum</a>, our premier event bringing together more than 600 of the most innovative educators, school leaders, education leaders, and government officials from 80 countries.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Eunice High School in Bloemfontein</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is what Paul Cassar Principal of Eunice High School in Bloemfontein, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">first Microsoft Innovative School in South Africa </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">says: </span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">“Participating in the Microsoft Innovative Schools program inspired us as a learning community and enabled us to reach out to other schools.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheoGLWQV93mb4cWuzVFVSFNV27B5yMTxURwaru72T9h6xfZodRAsYpo4Gd24jUIlOA_jijLhVj53gSoIlfvCEhKcPVDbIFIHiMaLZ2Q3NZbEVTo8hhrScRAxt2uNfQaJNQ8c3CM7vm69I/s1600/Paul_Cassar.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheoGLWQV93mb4cWuzVFVSFNV27B5yMTxURwaru72T9h6xfZodRAsYpo4Gd24jUIlOA_jijLhVj53gSoIlfvCEhKcPVDbIFIHiMaLZ2Q3NZbEVTo8hhrScRAxt2uNfQaJNQ8c3CM7vm69I/s400/Paul_Cassar.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paul Cassar on the left</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Download the brochure here</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Read more here: </span><a href="http://www.pil-network.com/schools" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.pil-network.com/schools</a><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The brochure about the innovative schools programme can be found at this link:</span><br /><a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7qOnpaO5hRlN0pJRk5oZ3NwVDQ/edit?usp=sharing" title="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7qOnpaO5hRlN0pJRk5oZ3NwVDQ/edit?usp=sharing"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7qOnpaO5hRlN0pJRk5oZ3NwVDQ/edit?usp=sharing</span></a></div>

Microsoft Put your school in the spotlight! Apply to be a Microsoft Innovative School

submitted by Megan Rademeyer Applications are currently open for the  Microsoft Innovative School’s programme.  The Microsoft Innovative Sch...

Read more »

Join the TeachMeet at Elkanah House in Cape Town Saturday 8th June.

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLgqFhW4qKM98RJEEf7o_B2bGX1vxTpUCOi-96GCombYjV3zdP1GCTRV84jcwaxL2dhXD3hHotpQ8WJHRGYSikQgmBKRj8IBpa24Qe09_2IuT6MHzko8mMVKIhIWH4p2S309ZZ2ZhyWTI/s1600/Teachmeet.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLgqFhW4qKM98RJEEf7o_B2bGX1vxTpUCOi-96GCombYjV3zdP1GCTRV84jcwaxL2dhXD3hHotpQ8WJHRGYSikQgmBKRj8IBpa24Qe09_2IuT6MHzko8mMVKIhIWH4p2S309ZZ2ZhyWTI/s1600/Teachmeet.JPG" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">TeachMeets are short two-hour events  where teachers teach teachers about what they are doing in their classes to promote technology. This could be a lesson or idea where they use iPads, tablets or PCs. We love to keep track of where this happens in South Africa on our TeachMeet-South Africa wiki (<a href="http://teachmeet-southafrica.wikispaces.com/">http://teachmeet-southafrica.wikispaces.com/</a>) so that we can promote the TeachMeet and follow the event on Twitter. Consequently we would like to advertise the 17th TeachMeet in SA (to our Knowledge) which will take place at Elkanah House in Cape Town Saturday 8th June.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can sign up for the TeachMeet on Linda Fowlkes Teachmeet wiki (<a href="http://elkteachmeet.pbworks.com/">http://elkteachmeet.pbworks.com</a>) </span><br /><br /><br />  <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfIoFSsVPvVLTAVpZzdoksGh40tqDaYMBlr5vk5KbmqjAs5Ui2UWaCsvQQqXGOtx_5jkx8oohnzSKjorN1NEn50zGt3DLZqbSriZNTHvlU15mY-juZ18BeUBX9jtD6VywZRbtOxa6cjUk/s1600/TeachMeet-8June13+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfIoFSsVPvVLTAVpZzdoksGh40tqDaYMBlr5vk5KbmqjAs5Ui2UWaCsvQQqXGOtx_5jkx8oohnzSKjorN1NEn50zGt3DLZqbSriZNTHvlU15mY-juZ18BeUBX9jtD6VywZRbtOxa6cjUk/s400/TeachMeet-8June13+(1).jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is a little summary of a TeachMeet given by Linda</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><br /><b><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">What is a TeachMeet?</span></b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 19px;"></span></span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">A tiny professional development “un-conference” where teachers get together to simply share ideas or lessons using ICT as a tool using different devices. If one cannot attend but would like to share…why not Skype or submit a video which I will present for you.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 19px;"></span></span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">How long is a TeachMeet?</span></b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 19px;"></span></span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">2 hours [if you only have an hour, that’s ok!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 19px;"></span></span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 19px;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What happens at a TeachMeet?</span></b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 19px;"></span></span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">On sign-up one indicates whether to attend as:</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">1. Keen Bean – prepare and share a 3 min idea or lesson</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">2. Enthusiastic Lurker – relax, learn and absorb!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 19px;"></span></span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>How do I sign up?</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 19px;"></span></span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">1. Email <span style="color: #1155cc;"><a class="wiki_link_ext" href="mailto:teachmeet@elkanah.co.za" rel="nofollow" style="background-image: url(http://www.wikispaces.com/i/a.gif); background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding-right: 10px;" target="_blank">teachmeet@elkanah.co.za</a></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">2. Visit the TeachMeet website on: <span style="color: #1155cc;"><a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://elkteachmeet.pbworks.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-image: url(http://www.wikispaces.com/i/a.gif); background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding-right: 10px;" target="_blank">http://elkteachmeet.pbworks.com</a></span></span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: white;">3. via the Faceboolk event: </span></span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"></span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/425599134202560/">https://www.facebook.com/events/425599134202560/</a></div></div>

teachmeets Join the TeachMeet at Elkanah House in Cape Town Saturday 8th June.

TeachMeets are short two-hour events  where teachers teach teachers about what they are doing in their classes to promote technology. This c...

Read more »

Ice cubes!

<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">How do you make your ice?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I have noticed when I go to the States that there seems to be a national obsession with cold drinks. Here in Ireland we are not too bothered.  In bars, the mixers are kept in little glass bottles (sometimes in fridges but generally on shelves).  When you order your drink you get a few cubes of ice (about 3 maybe 4) in the alcohol and then the glass bottle is served on the side at room temperature or maybe a little colder.  In Florida, I've seen the glasses being stored in fridges before being filled!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-VSaFfjrtv0dfOchLx6eKpyPcRpZPM2S-7WWcOa8yRzhLl9OBgLKWwYi5L7kFVGjjKLDlK8dCJQwYY-zTYhZPj_U6UqPauH8mRC97T7dpTAVvC_TK2kFq5fE_lhe2tfcOFvpPAQJ_B8Xr/s640/blogger-image--435361388.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-VSaFfjrtv0dfOchLx6eKpyPcRpZPM2S-7WWcOa8yRzhLl9OBgLKWwYi5L7kFVGjjKLDlK8dCJQwYY-zTYhZPj_U6UqPauH8mRC97T7dpTAVvC_TK2kFq5fE_lhe2tfcOFvpPAQJ_B8Xr/s640/blogger-image--435361388.jpg" /></a></div>These are fun ice cube bags.  They make ice in the shape of bottles!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-mi9svbK-iHBf07tQpYuEEZBro8uMMEAK4Dfr7v69iRpLUjoPpOHl8ixp3X5NJCirkbqJt1HSK6IzYZ0UlAb6rkdThkNrAG1fUqqy98JAJmNFMGNX3-1thTIy1LgHKZOe6wrYQh8yhJdB/s640/blogger-image--1154508819.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-mi9svbK-iHBf07tQpYuEEZBro8uMMEAK4Dfr7v69iRpLUjoPpOHl8ixp3X5NJCirkbqJt1HSK6IzYZ0UlAb6rkdThkNrAG1fUqqy98JAJmNFMGNX3-1thTIy1LgHKZOe6wrYQh8yhJdB/s640/blogger-image--1154508819.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div>

Ice cubes!

How do you make your ice? I have noticed when I go to the States that there seems to be a national obsession with cold drinks. Here in Irela...

Read more »

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 05/22/2013

<ul class="diigo-linkroll"> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://theoatmeal.com/comics/mantis_shrimp">Why the mantis shrimp is my new favorite animal - The Oatmeal</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">This great cartoon can be used to talk about eyes and color but is also funny. You might want to share this with students if your class talks about these topics. Wow, the Mantis Shrimp has the ability to see this many colors?</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/cartoon">cartoon</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/science">science</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/color">color</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/eyes">eyes</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/biology">biology</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/20/15-incredible-cat-photobombs_n_3293511.html">15 Incredible Cat Photobombs (PHOTOS)</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">If you need a laugh for the end of the year, the 15 incredible cat photobombs are great for a laugh.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/humor">humor</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://trunk.evernote.com/app/anchornote/iphone">Anchornote - iPhone - English - Evernote Trunk</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Another award winner - this is a cool app to plan your trips. You'll be reminded when you get near something what you want to do there. Very cool. (You can also import foursquare lists.)</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/productivity">productivity</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/travel">travel</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://trunk.evernote.com/app/signeasy/ipad">SignEasy - iPad - English - Evernote Trunk</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Sign easy just won an award for being the simplest way to sign docs on the iphone and ipad. It links with most cloud services like Dropbox, Box and Evernote.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/productivity">productivity</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edu_newapp">edu_newapp</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://trunk.evernote.com/app/hellofax/web-apps">HelloFax - Web - English - Evernote Trunk</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">You can send and receive faxes into an Evernote notebook using HelloFax. Very interesting productivity tool.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/productivity">productivity</a></p> </li> </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='https://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher'>here</a>.</p>

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 05/22/2013

Why the mantis shrimp is my new favorite animal - The Oatmeal This great cartoon can be used to talk...

Read more »

Indian Company LAVA launches a new cheapest smart phone in india wtih latest android jelly bean

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUhwvOI8gSYk6bDnnipRToq8ZOt3SemxcD6cerRXQpRZ0GFRrKI2EdovJByVrR-FsLHwMS8z-IDOu89rAGbPIh4UCk2vgS_rNrM1Dy0fKXCsY_-E7n0O5PTjBccbYhwBkSrnrxz5kPlUs/s1600/5879_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUhwvOI8gSYk6bDnnipRToq8ZOt3SemxcD6cerRXQpRZ0GFRrKI2EdovJByVrR-FsLHwMS8z-IDOu89rAGbPIh4UCk2vgS_rNrM1Dy0fKXCsY_-E7n0O5PTjBccbYhwBkSrnrxz5kPlUs/s320/5879_0.jpg" width="320" ya="true" /></a></div><br />Lava company launches a new smart phone with high features such as quad-core processor . Lava add new features in own iris series mobile and launches new 458Q mobile in indian market . It has some specific featues which is not less to other android mobile.<br />That feaures are:<br /><ul><li>Latest Android Jelly bean Operating system.</li><li>Better Opearting Spped.</li></ul>in current market there are many compititor in mobile field when that launches high features mobile handset with lowest prices. It is a great concept of attracting gadget lover to mobile world.</div>Published by <br /><a href="https://plus.google.com/109838201058606610638" rel="author">Narendra Saini</a>

458q android gadgets jelly bean Lava smart phone Indian Company LAVA launches a new cheapest smart phone in india wtih latest android jelly bean

Lava company launches a new smart phone with high features such as quad-core processor . Lava add new features in own iris series mobile and...

Read more »

Calling all innovative teachers! Apply to be a Microsoft Innovative Educator: Expert

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglccb4hiDPUPh3_BuYR4zJLeLABdaMLPhbgadBWjTDM_ly0tWpIpE50UK12Qp2P6Mh4SGdduA1carl9pBD3r6iiFFK8ihWW9NaQfBaHBcwP3H0JzyHBCE03OPRN-ian4UEFO0Eclvdy2U/s1600/PIL+advert.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglccb4hiDPUPh3_BuYR4zJLeLABdaMLPhbgadBWjTDM_ly0tWpIpE50UK12Qp2P6Mh4SGdduA1carl9pBD3r6iiFFK8ihWW9NaQfBaHBcwP3H0JzyHBCE03OPRN-ian4UEFO0Eclvdy2U/s320/PIL+advert.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Submitted by Megan Rademeyer</i></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Teachers from South Africa and Lesotho are invited to apply to be </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.pil-network.com/expert" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1155cc; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Microsoft Innovative Educator: Experts</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> to stand a chance of winning a trip to the Partners in Learning Global Forum. To do this you will need to fill in the online application form and upload a learning activity which includes a two-minute video describing how you used technology to enhance a lesson or project to the </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.pil-network.com/" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1155cc; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Partners in Learning Network</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">From the applications that are received by 3 June 2013, fifteen teachers will be selected to attend the </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://schoolnet.org.za/conference_2013/" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1155cc; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">SchoolNet SA ICT in the Classroom conference</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> that is being held in Bloemfontein from 2 – 4 July 2013. At this conference these fifteen teachers will have an opportunity to share their learning activities, network with like-minded teachers, and learn more about using technology to enhance teaching. Later in the year, at least one of these fifteen teachers will be selected to attend the Global Partners in Learning Forum which will be taking place in a not-yet-decided international destination in March or April 2014.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFxoVMXVcsk0-G1Hp42-YQPKgRftMox_WxJEhNEOZlEangQBwq-BLRo7_24sYzW_HtAzIgJ3xXfYqjPSlvZtwZzHNu577z-kUXxFqQPfGB-cxTgvKuK3gObWa746GhA_fvqoaBHBjyhbQ/s1600/2013+Innovative+Teachers+in+Prague.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFxoVMXVcsk0-G1Hp42-YQPKgRftMox_WxJEhNEOZlEangQBwq-BLRo7_24sYzW_HtAzIgJ3xXfYqjPSlvZtwZzHNu577z-kUXxFqQPfGB-cxTgvKuK3gObWa746GhA_fvqoaBHBjyhbQ/s320/2013+Innovative+Teachers+in+Prague.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2012 Innovative Teachers and School representatives from SA in Prague</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The final closing date for Microsoft Innovative Educator: Expert applications has been extended to 30 September 2013. This means that teachers who apply after 3 June 2013 are still eligible to win a trip to the Global Partners in Learning Forum even if they did not have an opportunity to attend the SchoolNet SA conference. We look forward to seeing the creative and engaging learning activities that South African and Lesotho teachers have developed, and seeing our most innovative teachers being recognized for their hard work and creativity.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Find out more on the Partners in Learning Network at:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.pil-network.com/Discussion/488ae828-fa68-4ef5-83a0-faa249c866c4" style="background-color: transparent;">http://www.pil-network.com/Discussion/488ae828-fa68-4ef5-83a0-faa249c866c4</a><br />(You might need to join the PIL Network as a member first - a free membership)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div></div>

Microsoft Calling all innovative teachers! Apply to be a Microsoft Innovative Educator: Expert

Submitted by Megan Rademeyer Teachers from South Africa and Lesotho are invited to apply to be  Microsoft Innovative Educator: Experts  to s...

Read more »

Is the Internet making us dumber?

<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKaWJ72x1rI&feature=youtube_gdata_player">Watch "What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains [Epipheo.TV]" on YouTube</a></p><p>I'm off to read a book!!<br></p>

Is the Internet making us dumber?

Watch "What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains [Epipheo.TV]" on YouTube I'm off to read a book!!

Read more »

Sony Launches Xperia UL with HD display

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguqYfUIu6d356Wz_P9camu-7LAwi9GoYanRQCUIzOtjzHHjU5hez8kLv_BDJqevwAj07k6yx4WIhwt-1R_QZM3xaVSR9bOoQXZYIoV-qbH8PXxLjUf4_hSc9LBHj1sFKDt52WOtnnVfmc/s1600/Sony_Xperia-UL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguqYfUIu6d356Wz_P9camu-7LAwi9GoYanRQCUIzOtjzHHjU5hez8kLv_BDJqevwAj07k6yx4WIhwt-1R_QZM3xaVSR9bOoQXZYIoV-qbH8PXxLjUf4_hSc9LBHj1sFKDt52WOtnnVfmc/s320/Sony_Xperia-UL.jpg" width="320" ya="true" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sony  recently launched Xperia A and Xperia ZR, this phone is also water and dust resistant and can withstand 1.5 metres of still water for 30 minutes.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sony has launched the<strong> new smartphone Xperia UL in Japan</strong>. Xperia UL sports a 5-inch Reality display with a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels packing in 443 pixels per inch incorporating Sony's mobile Bravia engine 2 for better looking images and videos. It's powered by a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 APQ8064 quad-core processor and has 2GB of RAM. It runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The smartphone features a 13.1-megapixel rear camera with Exmor RS for mobile and a VGA front facing camera. It offers 16GB of internal storage expandable up to 64GB via memory card (microSD / microSDHC / microSDXC ). The phone features NFC, 3G, Bluetooth 4.0, Infrared and 4G LTE connectivity options. It has a 2300mAh battery. The phone will be available in White, Pink and Black colours and will be available starting May 25 in Japan. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sony Xperia UL key specifications:-</span></strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><strong>   *</strong> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">  Colour - Pink,White and Black. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">   *   5-inch full-HD reality display with a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">   *  1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 APQ8064 quad-core processor</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">   *   2GB RAM</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">   *  16GB internal storage expandable up to 64GB via memory card</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">   *  13.1-megapixel Exmor RS autofocus camera with LED flash</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">   *   VGA front camera</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">   *   3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, LTE, NFC, Infrared</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">   *   Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">   *   2300mAh battery</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div>Published by <br /><a href="https://plus.google.com/112865615030946176397" rel="author">Priyanka</a>

Dispaly gadgets galaxy HD news Revews Sony Sony Launches Xperia UL with HD display

Sony  recently launched Xperia A and Xperia ZR, this phone is also water and dust resistant and can withstand 1.5 metres of still water for ...

Read more »

DIY ribbon trim curtain panels

So since my <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/05/healing-and-blog-party.html" target="_blank">wrist has been giving me troubles</a>, I've had a chance to catch up on other things; like gardening, reading, butter churning. You know, vintage pre-computer things. I even got out my old design binders. Those glorious files of tear sheet after tear sheet stuffed into six (yes six) binders. Basically the paper version of <a href="http://pinterest.com/ladybaum/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyKpdSzNUU4oA0n8Lplwk23P13fKu9wp2UzzVVRrokLzOzwA7595sycwEOE634U4Rcf5cFyoOzc5TZ56Q5tyCZlD-kRduRXVWlab3arOq1TRT7WCUHCY1DpI4zGhIZzZkvkdqNTeuAfMZE/s1600/pinterestinspiration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyKpdSzNUU4oA0n8Lplwk23P13fKu9wp2UzzVVRrokLzOzwA7595sycwEOE634U4Rcf5cFyoOzc5TZ56Q5tyCZlD-kRduRXVWlab3arOq1TRT7WCUHCY1DpI4zGhIZzZkvkdqNTeuAfMZE/s320/pinterestinspiration.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />And while searching thru my old piles of inspiration I found this.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx8z3QrRepMru3j4TPnkoqQ1GN7lyFC5IgUKbAHcehQqMscCtOFLMHCKN6HK8XAet3bwhQhxXPHRMqGt1Po8v_c7X3QaIBv3hdocd11IOwMUDghIpL4nEW-kjl7C4g7g2g4FgusSey-JMq/s1600/ec34f54811a64c0bfb6022bb843ece57.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx8z3QrRepMru3j4TPnkoqQ1GN7lyFC5IgUKbAHcehQqMscCtOFLMHCKN6HK8XAet3bwhQhxXPHRMqGt1Po8v_c7X3QaIBv3hdocd11IOwMUDghIpL4nEW-kjl7C4g7g2g4FgusSey-JMq/s320/ec34f54811a64c0bfb6022bb843ece57.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/6896205652027787/" target="_blank">source</a></td></tr></tbody></table>An image from one of my all time favorite articles on Fran Keenan in <i>Cottage Living</i> (hand over your heart. How I miss that magazine). I have been looking for a way to spruce up my plain white curtains in the dining room since, oh the day I got them. I'd even toyed with adding ribbon along the leading edge of the curtains, but it just looked dinky so I never went thru with it.<br /><br />But this looked more... substantial. And big key, simple(ish) enough to attempt. I tried several different sizes of ribbon from my stash (c'mon, like you don't have a ribbon stash?!) to figure out how big the ribbon needed to be. 1" was too thick and 5/8" was too small, leaving lucky 7/8". Before I knew it I was putting the girls in the car and we were off to Michael's to buy a 20 yard roll of 7/8" navy grosgrain.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl9_YHhlljbQdhZ16A5PDbTJUd6KxCK0pZvpVE-AvmTDaTiQx7MwSZEpbiDsll7lxkBsvvPrcUGfD2FvRSE7UJlo02a93pwwP8dPIHbe6YZ-cSvsMPNFWmfjcQDccXSOFDXfLvzvuSle_t/s1600/ribbontrimprogress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl9_YHhlljbQdhZ16A5PDbTJUd6KxCK0pZvpVE-AvmTDaTiQx7MwSZEpbiDsll7lxkBsvvPrcUGfD2FvRSE7UJlo02a93pwwP8dPIHbe6YZ-cSvsMPNFWmfjcQDccXSOFDXfLvzvuSle_t/s320/ribbontrimprogress.jpg" width="264" /></a></div><br />This project went down so quick I didn't take many pictures of the process but I will tell you it is as simple as making an X with two ribbons, repeating it about 50 times and then trimming the whole thing with more ribbon. I just tried out a few different size Xs to see what I would like best and then once I found the right length, I cut 24 strips in that length to make the Xs. I glued down each one and then finished them off with trim at the top and bottom of the X and along each side of the drape. One thing to note, this takes A LOT of ribbon. My 20 yards wasn't enough and I had to go back and buy another 13. Crazy, I know.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqQVT3Myg0hA6TpmCVg4vUtw-kS6esi0aeHpZwH-T1_O32xJlO6YCPRPYkBFasgyIbuSy-AMxD1nnY2vVXRWCEmyyma9JasQQR2L2qXVYDl5a9mrUecIFlhiZ1BUn_ZNSWpb2IbQFV-5LE/s1600/ribbontrimcloseup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="523" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqQVT3Myg0hA6TpmCVg4vUtw-kS6esi0aeHpZwH-T1_O32xJlO6YCPRPYkBFasgyIbuSy-AMxD1nnY2vVXRWCEmyyma9JasQQR2L2qXVYDl5a9mrUecIFlhiZ1BUn_ZNSWpb2IbQFV-5LE/s640/ribbontrimcloseup.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span id="goog_779550328"></span><span id="goog_779550329"></span><br />Very simple and a great detail against the white curtains. I knew I kept all of those old magazines for a reason!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiraW6lu-mO-i5FV-qTI7rziG12r93UjgRx6aPdb_bXQE_4oEUkDLFyl7vtG9diJCfthg7MmscVzdkoa2FIcJzqOdvZFoXyFaeL8FP6BMXcplBo9hvMbDwRjpeqqfvNhWM1T2h5wG0FYOMO/s1600/ribbontrimcurtains.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiraW6lu-mO-i5FV-qTI7rziG12r93UjgRx6aPdb_bXQE_4oEUkDLFyl7vtG9diJCfthg7MmscVzdkoa2FIcJzqOdvZFoXyFaeL8FP6BMXcplBo9hvMbDwRjpeqqfvNhWM1T2h5wG0FYOMO/s640/ribbontrimcurtains.jpg" width="579" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-B9sPjmqRicLzE_dhSmRJSNsE6CpZsHjbzAbw0N_QjIOK7Gk1zif3E-94cWTnzla2bfy3-GoPEe4bvg-LBGpjd0kMVX0eJUisY00zQK4FqhDUEgD-gDm3V7pvrQAIQOZFRd3tepvwEOwt/s1600/ribbontrimcurtain3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-B9sPjmqRicLzE_dhSmRJSNsE6CpZsHjbzAbw0N_QjIOK7Gk1zif3E-94cWTnzla2bfy3-GoPEe4bvg-LBGpjd0kMVX0eJUisY00zQK4FqhDUEgD-gDm3V7pvrQAIQOZFRd3tepvwEOwt/s640/ribbontrimcurtain3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV1tDxvZ32IFXl_u6jA9QlTvA4tvlYV3C9_D5YlNWgl1REM7D_qNmycPyxD4hn9hb5jYkG1BIZBnQafXq9RbFpb6EyXIHQKjFvtj0PHiU0INdgTZ2TjCSj3H6E-XEh32tNCADNd_DNLWFq/s1600/bluediningroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV1tDxvZ32IFXl_u6jA9QlTvA4tvlYV3C9_D5YlNWgl1REM7D_qNmycPyxD4hn9hb5jYkG1BIZBnQafXq9RbFpb6EyXIHQKjFvtj0PHiU0INdgTZ2TjCSj3H6E-XEh32tNCADNd_DNLWFq/s640/bluediningroom.jpg" width="628" /></a></div><br />Can't show you the right side of the dining room as there are some other projects over that'a way that I'm finishing up. Soon enough my friends.<br /><br />So spill it. Have you been so inspired by an image that you needed to create something right away? Is there an old magazine article that is burned into your brain? Have you ever used 33 yards of ribbon?

DIY ribbon trim curtain panels

So since my wrist has been giving me troubles , I've had a chance to catch up on other things; like gardening, reading, butter churning....

Read more »

Emeril and Jay's Chicken White Bean Sausage Rice Stew

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div class="MsoNormal">Hola and welcome to Chez Jay’s! On tonight’s menu is my version of Emeril’s Chicken, White Bean, Sausage and Rice Stew. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEWvLY_3i2pz3-wHnPhqm_DifR_invuz1ECbbfJC2rMbXhLstynVgxev95MxYg6Va_knuLgnBsYEpBdehlpj1gSiKsIQIdBaM1z_lhjf5XYFRXjkIbM4EJtcR_wYKAPhD_vpaFOLg_QBc/s1600/Emeril-Jay-Sexy-Chef-Cook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEWvLY_3i2pz3-wHnPhqm_DifR_invuz1ECbbfJC2rMbXhLstynVgxev95MxYg6Va_knuLgnBsYEpBdehlpj1gSiKsIQIdBaM1z_lhjf5XYFRXjkIbM4EJtcR_wYKAPhD_vpaFOLg_QBc/s320/Emeril-Jay-Sexy-Chef-Cook.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">The first thing to do is soak the white beans for at least three hours. The longer the better though so I pour them in the pan to soak right before bed and let them soak overnight.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWWIFJ-cWJ7nWGGrWXNTILUMkbIgBSn35IQYDKJUP-vK-I9c5hrg95l8AXDCpytO41lLtB0rnAVVr-Vm4Qb75aYni_IMYMSA_rhEz6b_nC8_dEsXuOCl3ay5DtGxnsYUn47baPiU6x208/s1600/beans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWWIFJ-cWJ7nWGGrWXNTILUMkbIgBSn35IQYDKJUP-vK-I9c5hrg95l8AXDCpytO41lLtB0rnAVVr-Vm4Qb75aYni_IMYMSA_rhEz6b_nC8_dEsXuOCl3ay5DtGxnsYUn47baPiU6x208/s320/beans.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">When it comes time to make the stew, pour just a bit of Olive Oil in the bottom of a big pot that’s been heated up on medium. Then put our four skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts seasoned with a little Cavenders (or Emeril’s Essence if you prefer) and maybe a little salt and ground pepper to taste in the hot pan skin side down. They cook for about 5 minutes or until they’re brown. Then turn them over and cook the other side also until brown.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMtfTmnaYCojGkVL4IBBK-bL56TOdkfACwP7LC-QWHLUIROXUfibIcplKP80OTIS0ZNbr7kg_da8HPYSzKyuP0YrG9wWgdZHDGzbXmyps0YxQ8gCVzOr846i2m8lU9LZZcrQKsH_AkqgQ/s1600/chicken.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMtfTmnaYCojGkVL4IBBK-bL56TOdkfACwP7LC-QWHLUIROXUfibIcplKP80OTIS0ZNbr7kg_da8HPYSzKyuP0YrG9wWgdZHDGzbXmyps0YxQ8gCVzOr846i2m8lU9LZZcrQKsH_AkqgQ/s320/chicken.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Then remove the chicken and put about one pound sliced smoked sausage (or Andouille if you prefer) in and cook it until it’s well caramelized. Then throw in the chopped onion, green pepper and celery and let them cook until soft. Then some minced or chopped garlic. Only let the garlic cook for about 30 seconds or so cause you don’t want it to burn.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi85R6aL4CF3TwYQSAl5z2mb8AfJIE1uvIC__O3T_3q8xHeTlNKpBtuXDi1ysVhUyy-xBZSs7nTSlOPpvnXVE_b6Z9SCKB0eiBtIdlw0dPG0DZ2nCjTF_n0yISnCsb4f_ITR1phZfNQ05A/s1600/Ingredients.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi85R6aL4CF3TwYQSAl5z2mb8AfJIE1uvIC__O3T_3q8xHeTlNKpBtuXDi1ysVhUyy-xBZSs7nTSlOPpvnXVE_b6Z9SCKB0eiBtIdlw0dPG0DZ2nCjTF_n0yISnCsb4f_ITR1phZfNQ05A/s320/Ingredients.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Now pour 64 ounces of chicken broth, the beans (drained), some thyme and a bay leaf in there and bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer or small boil and cook for ONE HOUR.<br /><br />Now put the chicken back into the pot with all the ingredients in there getin’ happy! You can toss in a little more salt and pepper or more Essence if you use that or even Cavenders here if you want.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw1yFTYiTkGwXfUmg-5rgyE4DQp9sJpAI2WXUoN_bhLppcflEiwvyLNxAeqDXzxjxVksBBc91WO1f-wqU3EP472wWIaSml6BncgxMDLVUu5eNM7MOjqmMgVwSGMaGl7P-NhssmLCBd5Dw/s1600/chicken+broth+ingredients.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw1yFTYiTkGwXfUmg-5rgyE4DQp9sJpAI2WXUoN_bhLppcflEiwvyLNxAeqDXzxjxVksBBc91WO1f-wqU3EP472wWIaSml6BncgxMDLVUu5eNM7MOjqmMgVwSGMaGl7P-NhssmLCBd5Dw/s320/chicken+broth+ingredients.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Cook for another hour then make sure the chicken is cooked all the way through and the beans are soft and tender. (If the beans are not soft, cook a little longer, but since you DID remember to soak the beans overnight that shouldn’t be problem, right?)<br /><br />When the stew is done make some rice. I just use the minute rice, but you can make whatever you like.<br /><br />Then serve the chicken and stew over rice and ... <b><i>BAM!</i></b> You have my version of Emeril’s Chicken, White Bean, Sausage and Rice Stew!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVAFHR2tAsnFegGyS-n5s8FbnlTxEGeLQCpp11698gkS0OPpJ1itYRjLZUwlB5guMUwhuVddmkQH9vRUyrIcTrHiIJj3JMp0zdojl_yBqrE6zbbWRhuU8ZdRTLLYzaUhmhQInIe4VgJq4/s1600/chicken-white-bean-sausage-rice-stew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVAFHR2tAsnFegGyS-n5s8FbnlTxEGeLQCpp11698gkS0OPpJ1itYRjLZUwlB5guMUwhuVddmkQH9vRUyrIcTrHiIJj3JMp0zdojl_yBqrE6zbbWRhuU8ZdRTLLYzaUhmhQInIe4VgJq4/s320/chicken-white-bean-sausage-rice-stew.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">If you want, you can always pull all the cooked chicken breast meat off the bone and kind of shred it up and throw it back into the pot. Then toss some rice in there instead of cooking it separately. Maybe ½ cup? 1 cup? Not too much or it will soak up all your liquid! Then you could serve it in bowls like a real stew. Just play around with it and be creative! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:Jayman3768@gmail.com">Jayman3768@gmail.com</a><br /><a href="http://facebook.com/Jayman68" target="_blank">Facebook.com/Jayman68</a><br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/jayman_iws" target="_blank">@Jayman_IWS</a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div>

Emeril and Jay's Chicken White Bean Sausage Rice Stew

Hola and welcome to Chez Jay’s! On tonight’s menu is my version of Emeril’s Chicken, White Bean, Sausage and Rice Stew. The first thing to d...

Read more »

Senior Algorithm Engineer ( C++/OOD/ Algorithms / Mathematics / Computational Electromagnetics ) (#109416)

<font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10pt;"> <div><b>Position</b>: Senior Algorithm Engineer<br> <b>Location</b>: Milpitas, CA <br> <b>Duration</b>: Full time<br> <br> <b>Job Description</b>:<br> The Film and Scatterometry Technology (FaST) Division provides industry leading metrology solutions for worldwide semiconductor IC manufacturers. The FaST Division portfolio of metrology products includes hardware and software solutions for optical film thickness, optical critical dimension (CD), composition, and resistivity measurement systems. These products are essential for the IC manufacturers as they provide critical metrology capabilities for the development and implementation of their advanced IC processes. The FaST division is committed to support our customers to achieve performance entitlement of our solution and we effectively partner with our customers from their early research and development phase to the high volume in-line manufacturing implementation specific for their process needs. The division consists of a global team located in US, Israel, China, and India.<br> <br> <b>Responsibilities:</b></div> <div>Demonstrate ability in scientific programming; strong background in applied mathematics, computational electromagnetics (field theory), and knowledge of optical modeling especially as applied to scatterometry and thin film metrology.  Knowledge of reflectometry and spectroscopic ellipsometry a plus.</div> <div> </div> <div>Works on complex problems that impact the design success of current products or addresses broad design issues of future products or technologies. Tasks include: define future product development strategy, develop a problem statement, research into particular solutions, develop code, and test prototypes; design, code, and test/integrate into tool product software. The candidate will be responsible for developing and improving algorithms, measurement capabilities, system optical models, calibrations development, and analysis tools for optical metrology applications.</div> <div> </div> <div><b>Preferred Qualifications:</b></div> <div>PhD in Computational Physics highly desired with 9 yrs industrial experience.</div> <div>Proficiency in computational methods, C++, and object oriented design.</div> <div> </div> <div><b>Minimum Qualifications:</b></div> <div>PhD in Physics with 9 yrs industrial experience.</div> <div>Proficiency in C++, and object oriented design. <br> <br> Kindly send your resumes to<font color="navy"> </font><a href="mailto:Sivaram.bose@kla-tencor.com"><font color="navy"><u>Sivaram.bose@kla-tencor.com</u></font></a></div> <div style="margin-top:5pt;margin-bottom:5pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size:12pt;"> </span></font></div> <div style="margin-top:5pt;margin-bottom:5pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size:12pt;"> </span></font></div> </span></font>

Senior Algorithm Engineer ( C++/OOD/ Algorithms / Mathematics / Computational Electromagnetics ) (#109416)

Position : Senior Algorithm Engineer Location : Milpitas, CA Duration : Full time Job Description : The Film and Scatt...

Read more »

H.P.P.D.: A Trip That Doesn't End : The New Yorker

Early one night in the fall of 1987, a college freshman ate half of a microdot of lysergic acid diethylamide on his way to a party. He was young, but more than a little familiar with mind-altering chemicals: LSD, mescaline, psilocybin, and other, less common psychedelics. This trip, by comparison, turned out to be only a "mild experience." The tingling euphoria, splendid visuals, and sudden bursts of insight mostly wore off by the time he retired to his dorm. But the following morning, some effects still remained.<br /><br><br /><br>"I opened my eyes to see what time it was," he said, on the condition of anonymity. "As I looked away, I immediately realized that the light from the digital clock was streaking." Throughout the day, other signatures of the hallucinogen high struck him. When he shifted his gaze from a page he was reading, a ghostly afterimage of the text materialized in the air, hanging legibly for a few moments. When he turned a page, a long cascading series of replicas trailed behind, like a stroboscopic photograph.<br /><br><br /><br>The streaking and trailing and after-imaging persisted for days. He began to panic. "I really lost it," he said. "I was sitting in one of my first college classes and, like, hallucinating." He met with psychologists, who could discern little. He called his parents, who could discern less. He became unhinged, wandering campus in a daze, squinting at the world as if through a kaleidoscope. "I broke down," he said. "I could no longer go to class. I couldn't do anything." He quit school, moved back home, and entered rehab. His search for a diagnosis came up empty: no underlying medical condition, nor had the drug been laced with something sinister. Weeks, months, then years went by. The trip just wouldn't end.<br /><br><br /><br>Psychedelic lore is littered with cautionary tales. But it remains to be seen whether reports of hallucinogen persisting perception disorder—quite literally, the persistence of hallucinogen-induced perceptions—should count among them. Hallucinogens are enjoying something of a revival: the drugs are being tried recreationally by nearly one in five American adults(approaching that of the nineteen-sixties), while being tested empirically for their powers to heal alcoholism and other addictions, anxieties from impending death, P.T.S.D., major depression, and even cluster headaches. Reading too much into H.P.P.D., some say, could squelch the renewed intrigue—even though, to some extent, the risk factors, causes, and effective treatments remain a mystery. Others, though, suspect that unraveling this mysterious disorder could reveal clues for the more familiar ones. According to Dr. Henry Abraham, a lecturer in psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine who privately sees patients with substance-related disorders, neurophysiological shifts observed in H.P.P.D. patients "may yield useful models for anxiety, depression, psychosis, and even addiction."<br /><br><br /><br>A chronic and debilitating condition, H.P.P.D. warps the perceptual faculties: the external senses are marred by a constellation of mostly visual distortions, while the internal ones are paralyzed by a concoction of dissociative symptoms, panic attacks, and depression. The doors of perception are not so much cleansed, as Aldous Huxley famously found after his first experience on mescaline, as they are cracked open and left askew.<br /><br><br /><br>H.P.P.D. does not generate hallucinations, technically speaking. Sufferers can appreciate that their perceptual aberrations are unreal—that their surroundings only appear blurred by afterimages (palinopsia) and trails (akinetopsia); shimmered by sparkles and flashed by bright bolts of light; interrupted by transparent blobs of color floating around; electrified by visual snow; magnified or shrunk by "Alice-in-Wonderland" symptoms; adorned by halos around objects, around people's heads. The pseudo-hallucinations are ultimately unconvincing, if deeply unsettling.<br /><br><br /><br>Eventually, a sense of permanent unreality casts a pall over the acid-fuelled dreamscape, and sufferers disassociate—from the world, due to derealization, and from themselves, due to depersonalization. At a recent Society of Biological Psychiatry conference, Dr. Abraham presented findings, later published in the S.B.P. 2012 supplement, that suggest up to sixty-five per cent of H.P.P.D patients chronically endure panic attacks, and fifty per cent, major depression. Some patients feel their only relief is suicide.<br /><br><br /><br>The cluster of symptoms first appeared in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1986. Ever since, the official diagnosis has been lumped together with "flashbacks." Brief fragments of a trip that occasionally bubble up to one's consciousness, flashbacks may arise from sudden spikes in the cerebral cortex—stirring perceptions, sensations, or emotions mimicking those of the hallucinogen high, in the absence of any chemical. But as the term has been popularized, flashback has been rendered "virtually useless" diagnostically, writes Dr. John Halpern, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and lead author of the most recent literature review of H.P.P.D. In the review, published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Dr. Halpern reasons that by conflating two distinct diagnoses, a strict definition of H.P.P.D. has remained elusive, leaving its prevalence obscured. Yet, "it seems inescapable," he concludes, based on twenty related studies dating back to 1966, "that at least some individuals who have used LSD, in particular, experience persistent perceptual abnormalities reminiscent of acute intoxication, not better attributable to another medical or psychiatric condition."<br /><br><br /><br>Peer-reviewed accounts of drug users whose world had been transfigured permanently can be found as early as 1983, prefiguring the initial D.S.M. entry. In a case-control study of a hundred and twenty-three LSD users, Abraham was among the first to catalogue reports from those who flashed psychedelic and never turned off: a struggling shoe salesman whose dark-brown pairs bled into the navy-blues; a confused student whose text jumbled into "alphabet soup"; a distracted office worker whose flower pot slid back and forth along the windowsill. "This isn't flashbacks," said Abraham. "We have to call it what it is: a persisting perception disorder."<br /><br><br /><br>Preliminary estimates of the prevalence of H.P.P.D. dismissed the disorder as an outlier, implicating as few as one in fifty thousand hallucinogen users. The most recent large-scale survey, questioning nearly twenty-five hundred users, found that over one in twenty-five were considering treatment for H.P.P.D.-like symptoms. But because participants, recruited from the popular drug information Web site Erowid, did not represent the average dabbler, and because only a small portion of them had actively sought medical care, the tally remains somewhat inconclusive. "Unfortunately," writes Halpern, assessing the scant literature, "the data do not permit us to estimate, even crudely, the prevalence of 'strict' H.P.P.D."<br /><br><br /><br>If "strict" cases of H.P.P.D. turn up only rarely in scientific journals, though, at HPPDonline.com, a Web forum tracking research developments and connecting sufferers, nearly nine thousand monthly visitors give some indication of what lies beyond the academic purview. They report burning and throbbing and numbing and tingling. They claim that surfaces undulate ("breathing walls"), objects vanish ("they mix with the floor"), and beams of light splinter into shards of extended rays ("star-bursting"). They share encounters that seem inexplicable—"fluids flowing down from my left temple," "a chemical aftertaste"—and plead for the group's insight. They raise suspicions: "Every time I walk past a certain type of tree the leaves begin to shake." They despair: "I hear my brain."<br /><br><br /><br>And they may be making their symptoms worse. While H.P.P.D. sufferers do misperceive their environment, some researchers suspect that severe anxiety—perhaps an underlying condition—aggravates those misperceptions. As noted by Matthew Baggott, a postdoctoral fellow in psychiatric genetics at University of Chicago, fMRI studies generally show close links between the attention and visual systems.<br /><br><br /><br>Such observations have raised doubt over whether hallucinogens are the root cause of the disorder, and even whether H.P.P.D. is a bona-fide diagnosis. "The more you focus on the condition, the more it spirals out of control," said Halpern. "So sufferers must practice letting go, which most Americans tend to struggle with." In one study of five hundred Native American Church members, each of whom had taken peyote hundreds, even thousands of times, no H.P.P.D.-like symptoms were reported. "Our culture is still evolving to deal with what it means to be intoxicated by these substances," Halpern reasons. "H.P.P.D. may be an incomplete description of the syndrome."<br /><br><br /><br>But if H.P.P.D. is to some extent self-perpetuated—perhaps by a naïve culture, perhaps by anxiety-prone individuals—it is not self-induced. Running a battery of standard neurological tests on dozens of H.P.P.D. patients throughout the nineteen-eighties and early nineties, Abraham and co-authors Dr. Frank Hopkins Duffy, a neurologist, and Ernst Wolf, a neuroscientist, found evidence suggesting the flow of impulses through the central nervous system has been chronically altered. When a light is flipped on, the brain still registers darkness for a while; when a light flickers, it registers a steady beam; when an array of colors is presented, it confuses those in proximity. Jennifer Groh, a professor of psychology and neuroscience and the director of the Neural Basis of Perception Lab at Duke University, has extensively investigated the visual-processing system. While she has not studied H.P.P.D. specifically, Groh has found that the brain is generally unable to distinguish stimuli according to their source; even a single stimulus, artificially induced over and over, is treated as genuine and novel. The so-called staircase-of-eye-movements effect, Groh reasons, would predict some of the symptoms—at least the trailing, after-imaging, and poor darkness adaptation—observed in H.P.P.D. patients. "Their brain may not recognize the stimuli as simply the same repeated request," she says.<br /><br><br /><br>Consistent with Groh's findings, Abraham offers his own account of why H.P.P.D. causes sensory input to linger within neural circuitry, firing even after the stimulus is gone. "What we have proven through psychophysics, electrophysiology, and quantitative analysis," said Abraham, "is that when the brain of an H.P.P.D. person is stimulated by some perceptual force in the environment, mostly visual, the stimulus is disinhibited." Objects of perception, in other words, are not readily disengaged, breaking up an ordinarily seamless flow of conscious experience. If the brain is like a paintbrush, then H.P.P.D. appears to make the bristles sticky, and the old stimuli—colors, shapes, and motions—muddy the new.<br /><br><br /><br>Frank Durgin, a professor of psychology and the director of the Perception and Cognition Lab at Swarthmore College, affirmed that Abraham's theory holds promise. "The disinhibition hypothesis is pretty safe as a generic account," said Durgin. "There is a lot of inhibition involved in normal perception. Failure to distinguish and inhibit noise signals is a reasonable first guess about a variety of hallucinogenic effects." The theory seems to be consistent with the current science of perception, according to Irving Biederman, a professor of neuroscience and the director of the Image Understanding Laboratory at the University of Southern California. A healthy brain, Biederman explained, is bathed in inhibitory neurotransmitters—gamma-aminobutyric acid, primarily—in order to mute mild perceptual noise (like visual distortions), and ultimately to safeguard against full-blown cacophony (like seizures). H.P.P.D. patients, he offered, might have "done something structurally to those interneurons, causing perceptual noise to exceed the threshold." (According to some scientists, most psychoactive drugs, including psychiatric medications, can alter the brain's neural structure.) While neither Durgin nor Biederman study such rare perceptual disorders as H.P.P.D., their expertise is illustrative: the symptoms of H.P.P.D. are just the kind of perceptions ordinarily present in the brain, only occluded—or inhibited—from consciousness.<br /><br><br /><br>What is least known about H.P.P.D. is treatment. "Unfortunately," Halpern writes, "the literature on this point remains largely anecdotal." Options are limited: palliative care from more drugs (benzodiazepines and anti-epileptics), adjustment through psychotherapy (of the cognitive-behavioral or straight-talking variety), a pair of sunglasses. While the college freshman, now middle-aged, is celebrated by his psychiatrist as "the poster child for healthy adaptation to the disorder," healthy adaptation is no cure.<br /><br><br /><br>One day several years ago, he was taking a draw from a cigarette after work when he noticed, for the second time, a sudden shift in his vision. He had finally gotten his life on track—securing a degree, starting a family, building a career—and had managed to bury his past. He occasionally struggled to read fine print, especially late at night, and became disoriented by lane markings, especially on an overcast day. ("And when I smelled pot, I ran for the hills," he said.) But if his inner life was disfigured, few—not even his wife—could tell. Until, he recalls, "something clicked."<br /><br><br /><br>What happened next was a blur. "The visuals got ramped up, like somebody raised the volume," he says. "I was sent back immediately into panic mode, going through the emotional roller-coaster ride that I did back in college." Tremors of panic that had been stamped out were swiftly rekindled. "I fell off the grid for a week," he says. He began fearing, perhaps as many others with mental illness do, that the spectre of madness can be raised without warning, that "you may never make it out."<br /><br><br /><br><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/05/a-trip-that-lasts-forever.html">http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/05/a-trip-that-lasts-forever.html</a>

H.P.P.D.: A Trip That Doesn't End : The New Yorker

Early one night in the fall of 1987, a college freshman ate half of a microdot of lysergic acid diethylamide on his way to a party. He was y...

Read more »

Library Media Specialist .5 FTE - Wilton High School

<strong>Library Media Specialist .5 FTE - </strong><strong><strong><span style="color: #48286d;">Wilton High School</span></strong></strong>. Position Type: High School Teaching. Closing Date: until filled. Date Available: 7/1/2013. Strong information and technology literacy skills. Experience managing Destiny, Overdrive and web pages. Collaborative approach to working with certified and classified staff. Experience working with high school students preferred. Appropriate CT certification required.

Library Media Specialist .5 FTE - Wilton High School

Library Media Specialist .5 FTE - Wilton High School . Position Type: High School Teaching. Closing Date: until filled. Date Available: 7/...

Read more »

Tuesday, Tuesday

<span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.archidose.org/wp/">A Weekly Dose of Architecture</a> Updates:</span><br /><br />This week's dose features <a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2013/05/21/the-public-theater/">The Public Theater</a> in New York City by Ennead Architects:<br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2013/05/21/the-public-theater/"><img alt="this week's dose" src="http://archidose.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/May13-20.jpg" title="This week's dose" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The featured past dose is <a href="http://www.archidose.org/Feb05/022105.html">Clinton Library</a> in Little Rock, Arkansas by Ennead Architects:<br /><a href="http://www.archidose.org/Feb05/022105.html"><img alt="this week's dose" src="http://www.archidose.org/Feb05/clinton1.jpg" title="featured past dose" width="640" /></a><br /><br />This week's book review is <a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2013/05/21/where-are-the-utopian-visionaries/"><i>Where Are the Utopian Visionaries?: Architecture of Social Exchange</i></a> edited by Hansy Better Barraza (L):<br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2013/05/21/where-are-the-utopian-visionaries/"><img alt="this week's book review" height="300" src="http://archidose.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/book-utopians.jpg" title="This week's book review" /></a> <a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2004/07/19/the-illegal-architect/"><img alt="this week's book review" height="300" src="http://archidose.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/illegal.jpg" title="This week's book review" /></a><br />(R): The featured past book review is <a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2004/07/19/the-illegal-architect/"><i>The Illegal Architect</i></a> by Jonathan Hill.<br /><br />: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">American-Architects <a href="http://www.american-architects.com/en/pages/50x50">Building of the Week</a>:</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.american-architects.com/en/projects/project-current-review/41320_robinson_nature_center">Robinson Nature Center</a> in Columbia, Maryland, by GWWO Inc./Architects:<br /><a href="http://www.american-architects.com/en/projects/project-current-review/41320_robinson_nature_center"><img alt="this week's Building of the Week" src="http://c214210.r10.cf3.rackcdn.com/files/projects/41320/images/900:w/Robinson2.jpg" title="Current Building of the Week on american-architects.com" width="640" /></a>

Tuesday, Tuesday

A Weekly Dose of Architecture Updates: This week's dose features The Public Theater in New York City by Ennead Architects: The feature...

Read more »

Of New York History and New Hollywood Horror...

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga0aa1gh5c1QXIN9iQIsZOvSiTfHBznDie3PU3XTw0ywJu2Mmv196jexj33piC22oqrfuqiYnyNl6iTfG8tso1uZqDmSkR8BZRqsQP6i9KoxY0xUma2WsPe1DSWUU4BXm4mYhPpLWVp-Y/s1600/dakota_nighttime2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga0aa1gh5c1QXIN9iQIsZOvSiTfHBznDie3PU3XTw0ywJu2Mmv196jexj33piC22oqrfuqiYnyNl6iTfG8tso1uZqDmSkR8BZRqsQP6i9KoxY0xUma2WsPe1DSWUU4BXm4mYhPpLWVp-Y/s1600/dakota_nighttime2.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span id="goog_365158183"></span><span id="goog_365158184"></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #660000;">EDWARD CLARK'S "FOLLY"</span> </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The address, One West 72nd Street, may not register with <span style="font-size: small;">many who live outside the city of New York, but the name of the building a<span style="font-size: small;">t the corner of 72nd Street and Central Park West is more familiar.  The Dakota, a famed luxury co-op on the <span style="font-size: small;">Upper West Side, has been home to many high profile luminaries, served as<span style="font-size: small;"> the setting for one of Roman Polanski's best known films, and was the site of a<span style="font-size: small;">n</span> infamous murder in 1980<span style="font-size: small;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Posh apartment houses designed expressly for the well-heeled were rare in New York in 1880, when construction of the Dakota began. Apartment housing at that time and place was mainly associated with tenements and lower class living, but in the late 1860s the <a href="http://www.nyhistory.org/community/first-apartment-building"><span style="color: red;">Stuyvesant</span></a> building opened. It attracted the reasonably well-to-do in droves and soon more such residences were in the works.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipDCy4g6JWMMwMiTgVMyyEOQ1KSIxoT0o3XT2w_iOSXraMSWa6zb80NGoSQQRoDIdU6w0y3fuMmYakiVjc-tW72hjZ1P8op8_iratc7wixfwypywbsS0yE-F-2jg4Y6MX5_FVCpKSBdKk/s1600/Dakota_by_Richard_Britell2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipDCy4g6JWMMwMiTgVMyyEOQ1KSIxoT0o3XT2w_iOSXraMSWa6zb80NGoSQQRoDIdU6w0y3fuMmYakiVjc-tW72hjZ1P8op8_iratc7wixfwypywbsS0yE-F-2jg4Y6MX5_FVCpKSBdKk/s400/Dakota_by_Richard_Britell2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The Dakota by Richard Britell</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">The lot on which the Dakota would stand was in an area that was then largely undeveloped - both far north and west of what was considered the city's boundaries. And though the building would face Central Park, that region of the park had yet to be landscaped or developed. In fact, the street that was to become Central Park West was still but a dirt road. Astonishingly, all 65 of the Dakota's 4- to 20-room apartments were rented by the time its doors opened in late 1884; from that day until the stock market crash of 1929, there was not even one vacancy in the building.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><div style="text-align: right;"></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEkXAZpIe3oSEEHTlsUw03YJf-z2TaRqidn5c2u4MNomRaf8AjB3XEwwc-lepp5ZHNWK-F3cl_FCVh6_5xQbA1JVVTjJeYrLRl6PIKDy0gbiFqRTDZX-78EQhWo4Q521hc7Pgq3-u95w4/s1600/dakota_railing_detail.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEkXAZpIe3oSEEHTlsUw03YJf-z2TaRqidn5c2u4MNomRaf8AjB3XEwwc-lepp5ZHNWK-F3cl_FCVh6_5xQbA1JVVTjJeYrLRl6PIKDy0gbiFqRTDZX-78EQhWo4Q521hc7Pgq3-u95w4/s320/dakota_railing_detail.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Dakota railing detail</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Edward Clark, an attorney who made a great fortune as partner to Isaac M. Singer in the Singer Sewing Machine Company, conceived and built the Dakota. He hired architect Henry Hardenburgh (the Waldorf-Astoria, the Plaza Hotel), then early in his career at age 32, to design the building. The project would establish Hardenburgh's reputation. Massive and extravagant, the Dakota's e<span style="font-size: small;">xterior<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>was an</span> eclectic interpretation of German Renaissance style while the interior reflected French architectural influences then popular in New York. In his 1970 illustrated novel <i>Time and Again</i>, </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6944.Jack_Finney"><span style="color: red;">Jack Finney</span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"> <span style="color: black;">wrote of the Dakota's "pale yellow<span style="font-size: small;"> brick handsomely trimmed in chocolate-colored stone," of its roof "li<span style="font-size: small;">ke a miniature town<span style="font-size: small;">...<span style="font-size: small;">of gables, turrets, pyramids, towers, peaks" shingled in copper-trimmed slate and "peppered with uncountable windows, dormer and flush, square, round, and rectangular." Sadly, Edward C<span style="font-size: small;">lark would not live to see the completion of the Dakota<span style="font-size: small;"> and his own sumptuous apartment in the building would be bestowed upon<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> his 12-year-old grandson and heir. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlKSuc8OrLhy4AvnX05a9ks_it4d6iFF2eSyLoBikx996s3CZb5hJLiZzLgXx6Rmsk1d1u0Ax_IomW_CgwBU2YGg0_nzAOOkKi1LzjPEz8QJPROR1P8q7KtRw9wHsvMgF3wvH-T0QY3do/s1600/Bernstein%2527s+Piano.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlKSuc8OrLhy4AvnX05a9ks_it4d6iFF2eSyLoBikx996s3CZb5hJLiZzLgXx6Rmsk1d1u0Ax_IomW_CgwBU2YGg0_nzAOOkKi1LzjPEz8QJPROR1P8q7KtRw9wHsvMgF3wvH-T0QY3do/s1600/Bernstein%2527s+Piano.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Leonard Bernstein's piano in his Dakota apartment</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0o4djfHfufSJh7zr1hoh3tFGu7g9NenANkDjsstdo07h0YiWZhKWIBSLNG0bMp2PXXic47l_IsTTZwb0t0auepBhiZCNkJ71TYZ8gyKnAeSgb-WewrGLfmtBrnCUg5gQhe2kaSHGct_g/s1600/Robert+Ryan+at+the+Dakota+1969.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0o4djfHfufSJh7zr1hoh3tFGu7g9NenANkDjsstdo07h0YiWZhKWIBSLNG0bMp2PXXic47l_IsTTZwb0t0auepBhiZCNkJ71TYZ8gyKnAeSgb-WewrGLfmtBrnCUg5gQhe2kaSHGct_g/s320/Robert+Ryan+at+the+Dakota+1969.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Robert Ryan in his home at the Dakota (later</span><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">purchased by John Lennon and Yoko Ono) </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Once the Great Depression took hold following the market crash, several of the Dakota's large apartments were broken up into smaller ones and years later, in 1961, the building became a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/realestate/the-idea-behind-the-co-op-building.html"><span style="color: red;">co-operative</span></a>.  Over its long history, the residence served as home to many notables of  stage, screen and other lively and literary arts. The first actor to move into the Dakota came in the late '30s; he was William Henry Pratt, better known as Boris Karloff. Others would include Lillian Gish, Judy Garland, Lauren Bacall (with and without Jason Robards, Jr.), Judy Holliday, Jose Ferrer and Rosemary Clooney, Teresa Wright, Robert Ryan, Zero Mostel, Jack Palance, Gwen Verdon, Zachary Scott and Patrick O'Neal. Composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein lived at the Dakota, as did dancer Rudolf Nureyev, playwright William Inge, director John Frankenheimer, <a href="http://www.classicfilmtvcafe.com/2010/12/ted-ashleywarner-brothersand-new.html"><span style="color: red;">Warner Bros. exec Ted Ashley</span></a>, CBS News legend Edward R. Murrow, singer Roberta Flack, feminist/writer Betty Friedan and interior decorator Syrie Maugham, one-time wife of author W. Somerset. John Lennon, founding member of the Beatles and beloved cultural icon, is perhaps the most widely known of all the Dakota's famed residents.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7vOIS1rxClW94f85JwDq2JR3GPEJiVD4wbXgcKbhCnTMGx4rMVZ_lkCe52YX-Q3CsZGe_j52SLSsiQsthMOp6l2X3q93M9ycy4ASnBcp8HjOqQZQt7FKPiuS9GJx04h5AcPK1jrVOvHY/s1600/john_sean_dakota.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7vOIS1rxClW94f85JwDq2JR3GPEJiVD4wbXgcKbhCnTMGx4rMVZ_lkCe52YX-Q3CsZGe_j52SLSsiQsthMOp6l2X3q93M9ycy4ASnBcp8HjOqQZQt7FKPiuS9GJx04h5AcPK1jrVOvHY/s320/john_sean_dakota.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">John and Sean Lennon in their Dakota kitchen</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As with many structures of gothic appearance, the Dakota weathered rumors of supernatural incidents and ghost stories. Movie critic and Dakota resident Rex Reed recalled that a doorman warned him early on to expect to see Boris Karloff's ghost. Strange and unexplained events were witnessed below ground, in the basement and, for a brief period, a so-called "Phantom of the Dakota" vandalized the building and spooked its inhabitants. But it was only with the release of Roman Polanski's <i>Rosemary's Baby</i> (1968), set and partially shot at the Dakota, that the building's reputation for quirkiness and opulence took on a decidedly dark facet. With the deadly 1980 shooting of John Lennon at the building's front gate, the incomprehensible and horrifying became real.</span> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFovWMtn0aKaKW52EABAdmeCOqOzR_YWszXwwKvUm8WwcmXHDfd_moy0usbfS4KB8uqCgfLdXDGu2IxEZex0Jrs5vu4Hs49i9sei-J7ipwFadRoidRAZjwh4-1XgMtfECCjUzx5QN1YFE/s1600/Lauren+Bacall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFovWMtn0aKaKW52EABAdmeCOqOzR_YWszXwwKvUm8WwcmXHDfd_moy0usbfS4KB8uqCgfLdXDGu2IxEZex0Jrs5vu4Hs49i9sei-J7ipwFadRoidRAZjwh4-1XgMtfECCjUzx5QN1YFE/s320/Lauren+Bacall.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Long-time Dakota resident Lauren Bacall at home in 2011</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">ROSEMARY'S BAB<span style="font-size: small;">Y</span> </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlK43rxxt3i6t8F5NOeXuGjFW0b5yTNqiP4MIjjUKcJ6AN5txZrtrzy8ADmyyucabman24-F9vpzDxQ8jeobN73wIJvIspfUfjztfDp2FYv4LM4ZboChkduuK0ggAVigzvTYpx5xNDGL8/s1600/rosemary_new.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlK43rxxt3i6t8F5NOeXuGjFW0b5yTNqiP4MIjjUKcJ6AN5txZrtrzy8ADmyyucabman24-F9vpzDxQ8jeobN73wIJvIspfUfjztfDp2FYv4LM4ZboChkduuK0ggAVigzvTYpx5xNDGL8/s320/rosemary_new.jpg" width="260" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When Roman Polanski walked into the office of newly appointed Paramount Pictur<span style="font-size: small;">es production head Bob <span style="font-size: small;">Evans for the first time in 1967, he thought he was there to discuss directing <i>Downhill Racer</i>, the project Evans touted when he asked for the meeting. Instead, Evans quickly admitted that, knowing Polanski loved to ski, he'd used the project, the story of a U.S. Olympic team skier, as a lure. What Evans really wanted to talk with Polanski about was directing a film adaptation of <a href="http://www.iralevin.org/"><span style="color: red;">Ira Levin</span></a>'s soon-to-be-published horror thriller, <i>Rosemary's Baby</i>. Evans gave him the printer's galley proofs to take home and look over. In a sitting, Polanski read through Levin's chilling tale of a contemporary Manhattan couple who move into a fabled apartment building - with<span style="font-size: small;"> terrifying<span style="font-size: small;"></span> consequences. He quickly agreed to direct.</span></span></span></span></span><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUkJgm6zBBlMZr2seTo_xnQPgsjH7stbX6pr2xfPB2PC7NalIypmbgXz7BPuOe08U4HMgPdPkLlcnHH2NadCPCdTWkFoZHQeGw6nVeSdksZsNqpTa2uirhJYc_JG_MGI6BKXc7jWnbnLg/s1600/evans_polanski.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUkJgm6zBBlMZr2seTo_xnQPgsjH7stbX6pr2xfPB2PC7NalIypmbgXz7BPuOe08U4HMgPdPkLlcnHH2NadCPCdTWkFoZHQeGw6nVeSdksZsNqpTa2uirhJYc_JG_MGI6BKXc7jWnbnLg/s320/evans_polanski.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Bob Evans and Roman Polanski</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Why was Evans <span style="font-size: small;">intent upon hiring</span> Polanski <span style="font-size: small;">to direct</span> <i>Rosemary's Baby</i>? William Castle, producer/director of low-budget horror movies, had optioned the screen rights for the book<span style="font-size: small;">. Castle, who had an exclusive contract with the studio, hoped to direct the film himself</span></span></span></span></span></span>.<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> But<span style="font-size: small;"> Evans wasn't interested in making the grade "B" genre fare Castle turned out, pictures like <i>The Tingler </i>(1959), <i>13 Ghosts </i>(1960) and <i>Strait-Jacket </i>(1964). Evans, destined to become a legendary figure in the New Hollywood era, saw <i>Rosemary's Baby</i> as a director's film and his interest was piqued by the Polish director of what he called "three <i>really</i> offbeat thrillers," <i>Knife in the Water </i>(1962), <i>Repulsion </i>(1965) and <i>Cul-de-sac </i>(1966). <i>Knife in the Water</i>, a<span style="font-size: small;"> taut psychological</span> drama that marked Polanski's feature film debut, brought an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and international acclaim. <i><span style="font-size: small;">Repulsion </span></i><span style="font-size: small;">starred Catherine Deneuve and <i>Cul-de-sac </i>starred her sister, <a href="http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-birthday-tribute-to-francoise-dorleac.html"><span style="color: red;">Francoise Dorleac</span></a>; both were moody, surreal films that won international a<span style="font-size: small;">wards. Evans believed Polanski's iconoclastic vision might conjure something special and unusual out of Lev<span style="font-size: small;">in's sly, dark fiction<span style="font-size: small;"> and was able to convince Castle to confine himself to the role of producer. Polanski thought Levin's book a "well-constructed thriller," cinematic in nature, and immediately began work on the script, writing from da<span style="font-size: small;">wn</span> to dark for days on end.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBaVn2eJqcRISHjn2q1UmqjvwTLcgcyx4ovqf3e_gNfUOHQeSSFhTpAkDlVB1o4o2od0xibpD11V1zQh1wPDP00f9sBmpZbbZeNO11D_YI2nG9Y6zBgNVp8Ac-ksFxW7KJg4xzlBBou7o/s1600/Ira_Levin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBaVn2eJqcRISHjn2q1UmqjvwTLcgcyx4ovqf3e_gNfUOHQeSSFhTpAkDlVB1o4o2od0xibpD11V1zQh1wPDP00f9sBmpZbbZeNO11D_YI2nG9Y6zBgNVp8Ac-ksFxW7KJg4xzlBBou7o/s320/Ira_Levin.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Ira Levin</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">In the meantime, <i>Rosemary's Baby </i>was published and became a #1 best-seller. The <i>National Observer </i>called the book "the best chiller to come down the gooseflesh trail in many a moonless night." Even the <i>New York Times </i>review was a rave and anticipation for the film adaptation ran high<span style="font-size: small;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxkoIVewWthh1Pp27g-i3-jSW2eXZtxH05OInyPqSTtM9KnD1F0_AkPv_YpcnpJC_QCaqpO1jhCUV8epxqw6evzWkLj5Gm0E3KiNVf1-37t_88JpeLki_ALmHTSBY8eL21ctzabHa3kBs/s1600/weld_redford.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxkoIVewWthh1Pp27g-i3-jSW2eXZtxH05OInyPqSTtM9KnD1F0_AkPv_YpcnpJC_QCaqpO1jhCUV8epxqw6evzWkLj5Gm0E3KiNVf1-37t_88JpeLki_ALmHTSBY8eL21ctzabHa3kBs/s400/weld_redford.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Tuesday Weld and Robert Redford</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Polanski originally planned to cast the lead roles with actors who possessed the All-American good looks and energy depicted in Levin's book, and favored Tuesday Weld for Rosemary and Robert Redfor<span style="font-size: small;">d as her husband, Guy. When Bob Evans suggested Mia Farrow, the director at first thought her too waif-like and ethereal for the title role. But after meeting and discussing the role with her he hired her without so much as a screen test. Robert Redford became unavailable and Warren Beatty turned down the role of Guy, so Polanski turned to John Cassavetes, an intense, charismatic actor who was also making a name for himself as an independent filmmaker.<span style="font-size: small;"> The hand-picked supporting cast included Hollywood troupers Ralph Bellamy, Patsy Kelly and Elisha Cook, Jr., as well as stage and screen veterans Maurice Evans, Sidney Blackmer and Ruth Gordon. Uncredited in the role Polanski characterized as "the real star of the picture,"  the Bramford apartment building, was the Dakota. Exteriors were shot on-site and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0843129/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1"><span style="color: red;">Richard Sylbert</span></a>, Polanski's production designer, scrupulously recreated the Dakota's interiors (off-limits to movie-makers) in Hollywood. <i><span style="font-size: small;">Rosemary's Baby </span></i><span style="font-size: small;">would begin and end with <span style="font-size: small;">aerial views of the imposing structure.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM22K5PRntLkmzjSj1nUt0JW8KQ45ssjKuXshryClPYe1qEWf2rXC0KRrYjwvpv5h4sFpfNUknrb4m55muyDrfxj3bl4pIqcCUuLJa5o-CVkXNjmgOQvs95dUtyQL4kSuWeGOFAkRZnHg/s1600/Dakota_sketch_by_Sylbert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM22K5PRntLkmzjSj1nUt0JW8KQ45ssjKuXshryClPYe1qEWf2rXC0KRrYjwvpv5h4sFpfNUknrb4m55muyDrfxj3bl4pIqcCUuLJa5o-CVkXNjmgOQvs95dUtyQL4kSuWeGOFAkRZnHg/s400/Dakota_sketch_by_Sylbert.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">"Bramford"/Dakota interior sketch by Richard Sylbert</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Production was underway for only a week when Charles Bluhdorn, Paramount's new owner, began to have second thoughts about Polanski, whose<span style="font-size: small;"> focus on artistic values and fine details he viewed as unreasonable perfectionism. </span>One day while on the studio lot Polanski ran into filmmaking legend<span style="font-size: small;"> Otto Preminger<span style="font-size: small;">. Dejected, he told the <span style="font-size: small;">older director there was talk he was going to be replaced on <i>Rosemary's Baby</i>. </span></span></span>Preminger asked if the studio was happy with the rushes and when Polanski told him it was, he said: "Roman, remember this: You can go over budget as much as you like<span style="font-size: small;">, provided the rushes are good. They only replace a director when the dailies are lousy." What Bob Evans saw in Polanski's dailies was an "ominous sense of fright" <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">- and it thrilled him; he <span style="font-size: small;">told Paramount, "If he goes, I go." Both stayed.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYTvFWhe5M4BgufMTVknCiXeUzKl595mSt_WfEKfsF15CmV05RRY-41stsDFluhzkADJFJstMVqbJo_wP6UrY18VA5pbu3YNwHJ8FC035atm_PfX12q0TdzsViwy1ceJY12-JdXwsdvTI/s1600/mia_roman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYTvFWhe5M4BgufMTVknCiXeUzKl595mSt_WfEKfsF15CmV05RRY-41stsDFluhzkADJFJstMVqbJo_wP6UrY18VA5pbu3YNwHJ8FC035atm_PfX12q0TdzsViwy1ceJY12-JdXwsdvTI/s320/mia_roman.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Mia Farrow and Roman Polanski on the set</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">P</span>olanski was determined to recreate <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">the exact time<span style="font-size: small;"> frame in which the <span style="font-size: small;">story was set, mid-1965 to mid-1966, just two years before the film was made. Trends had shifted in<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>that brief period;<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>by 1968<span style="font-size: small;"> style<span style="font-size: small;">s</span> had begun to swing from the influence of all-things-English ushered in with "the British Invasion" to a more <a href="http://www.silverscreenmodiste.com/2013/05/bohemian-style-in-film-art.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SilverScreenModiste+%28Silver+Screen+Modiste%29"><span style="color: red;">bohemian</span></a> sensibility reflecting the "flower power<span style="font-size: small;">"/"hippie" phenomenon. His insistence on authentic detail drove costume designer Anthea Sylbert<span style="font-size: small;">'s meticulous replication of mid-'60s fashion. She captured the look of the moment with Rosemary's Mod-era </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">shifts, mini-dresses <span style="font-size: small;">and attire like a red chiffon pants suit<span style="font-size: small;"> to be worn on<span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">a romantic evening at home. </span>Other <span style="font-size: small;">time-specific</span> touches include Rosemary's decision to <span style="font-size: small;">have her pageboy tresses snipped into a <span style="font-size: small;">short Vidal Sassoon cut, Rosemary relaxing on the sofa with Sammy Davis, Jr.'s book <span style="font-size: small;"><i>Yes, I <span style="font-size: small;">Can </span></i><span style="font-size: small;">(a 1965 best-seller), a glimpse on TV of the Pope's October 1965 visit to New York<span style="font-size: small;">, and <i>Time</i><i><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">magazine's </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">famous "Is God Dead?" issue <span style="font-size: small;">(April 8, 1966) conspicuous among the reading material in her doctor's w<span style="font-size: small;">aiting room.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_b7lmbdLf5-WrwYygiJ6viVRPzhGdysWyMkWXYCpeuN4TQU3H7tfNdQjhnRPBGMvvyymDbzjKG_OdrY7rOaVKYeKnO4lwbIw_AsWNVOJSHeoRX2_ITIVlH4M-IMMSepJPt-F80pWHROc/s1600/Sylbert2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_b7lmbdLf5-WrwYygiJ6viVRPzhGdysWyMkWXYCpeuN4TQU3H7tfNdQjhnRPBGMvvyymDbzjKG_OdrY7rOaVKYeKnO4lwbIw_AsWNVOJSHeoRX2_ITIVlH4M-IMMSepJPt-F80pWHROc/s1600/Sylbert2.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Costumes by Anthea Sylbert</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Pola<span style="font-size: small;">nski later said t</span>he story line of <i>Rosemary's Baby</i> had posed one problem for him<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">, </span></span>it conflicted with his own worldview. He didn't believe in Satan. So he decided, "for credibility's sake," to add an element of ambiguity suggesting the possibility that Rosemary's imagination was the source of her fears. With careful camera placement<span style="font-size: small;"> and the use of special lenses,<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span>Polanski presented the st<span style="font-size: small;">o<span style="font-size: small;">ry</span></span> through Rosemary's eyes. D<span style="font-size: small;">rawn into Rosemary's point of view, the audience<span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">easily relates to her confusion, feelings of vulnerabi<span style="font-size: small;">lity and increasing <span style="font-size: small;">fright</span>. Like Rosemary, the v<span style="font-size: small;">iewer is</span> aware of lurking danger but wavers<span style="font-size: small;"> between believing what she begins to suspect is happening or accepting the rational explanations offered by others.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI3HHEM3YQcQOz7-CeVKQvp97-epy0g5wgqCwtv0IlFDeIVpp5xMAN9WJSQ-CplmOVW7F1QaJMNW7FIk2zfEd-3NahBXnu0VMFnLuGBtAxxeGvvWqxX5195TjLQybeh2OPa1WgJzP5yNw/s1600/bellamy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI3HHEM3YQcQOz7-CeVKQvp97-epy0g5wgqCwtv0IlFDeIVpp5xMAN9WJSQ-CplmOVW7F1QaJMNW7FIk2zfEd-3NahBXnu0VMFnLuGBtAxxeGvvWqxX5195TjLQybeh2OPa1WgJzP5yNw/s400/bellamy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Mia Farrow and Ralph Bellamy (Dr. Saperstein)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">While Rosemary remains constant as a naive and mostly defenseless <span style="font-size: small;">young wife, those who inhabit her shrinking world are more enigmatic - from her ambitious actor husband and intrusive neighbors to her wise and kindly old doctor. Ironically, <span style="font-size: small;">some of the characters who are revealed to be most wicked are also the most comically grotesque. I</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">n keeping with Polanski's bran<span style="font-size: small;">d of humor, <span style="font-size: small;">t</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">he film is laced with darkly comic moments:</span></span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rosemary and Guy dine at the home of her friend Hutch (Maurice Evans). As Hutch carves a lamb at table<span style="font-size: small;">, he relates the gh<span style="font-size: small;">oulish history of the Bramford - which included a pair of sisters <span style="font-size: small;">who, it <span style="font-size: small;">was later charged, devoured children...</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li></ul><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK9VZgCD0UWSkegMWI5MtJXAQc0PVOVzlOQe-YEcO-JSh_36V2W-b7PXHdi_6X3zjuqiVldSiit-qjqJQvErLuzOqaptOj7XJlf4-KcejvLW4a8jUdQuk_Y86R2cZoVfHVkkg1m2-9pd8/s1600/meeting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK9VZgCD0UWSkegMWI5MtJXAQc0PVOVzlOQe-YEcO-JSh_36V2W-b7PXHdi_6X3zjuqiVldSiit-qjqJQvErLuzOqaptOj7XJlf4-KcejvLW4a8jUdQuk_Y86R2cZoVfHVkkg1m2-9pd8/s320/meeting.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Rosemary and Guy meet The Castavets</span></td></tr></tbody></table><ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">The aftermath of a shocking suicide introduces the Castevets, Minnie (Ruth Gordon) and Roman (Sidney Blackmer), a pair of elderly oddballs who arrive on scene decked out as if fresh from the vaudeville stage<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rosemary sees her baby for the first time and, uncomprehending, shrieks, "What have you done to its eyes?" Roman Castevet crows happily, "He has his<span style="font-size: small;"> father's eyes!"</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li></ul><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">W</span>ith<span style="font-size: small;">out resorting to<span style="font-size: small;"> genre gimmickry</span></span>, Polanski crafted a tight, stylish <span style="font-size: small;">p</span>sychological thriller. And a blockbuster. The last auteur-directed shocker to create such a box office sensation had been<span style="font-size: small;"> Alfred</span> Hitchcock's <i><span style="font-size: small;">Psycho</span></i><span style="font-size: small;"> in 1960. <i><span style="font-size: small;">Rosemary's Baby</span></i><span style="font-size: small;">'s success</span><i><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></i><span style="font-size: small;">would go on to inspire the wave of lavish A-budget horror films to come, notably William Friedkin's <i>The Exorcist</i> (1973) and Richard Donner's <i>The Omen </i>(1976). It would b<span style="font-size: small;">ring an Acad<span style="font-size: small;">emy Award to Ruth Gordon for her supporting performance and a nomination to Roman Polanski for his adapted screenplay.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Considered a genre-transcending classic today, <i>Rosemary's Baby</i> remains a landmark of modern horror, as capable of jangling <span style="font-size: small;">nerves<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>and inducing chills as it was in its infancy 45 years ago.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NoXLXMbOgiU" width="560"></iframe><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Rosemary's Baby </i>is available on Blu-Ray and DVD from the Criterion Collection. This special edition contains many <span style="font-size: small;">extras, including: a documentary featuring Pola<span style="font-size: small;">nski, Mia Farrow and Bob Evans; an interview with Ira Levin; a documentary on the life and work of composer Krzysztof Ko<span style="font-size: small;">meda (who died 10 months after the film was released) and other special features.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">~ </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u>Notes</u>:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Life at the Dakota </i>by Stephen Birmingham, Syracuse University Press (1979/1996) </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Roman by Polanksi</i>, William Morrow & Co. (1984)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The Kid Stays in the Picture</i><span style="font-size: small;"> by Robert Evans, Hyperion (1994)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>

Bob Evans Roman Polanski Rosemary's Baby The Dakota The Lady Eve (author) William Castle Of New York History and New Hollywood Horror...

EDWARD CLARK'S "FOLLY" The address, One West 72nd Street, may not register with many who live outside the city of New York, b...

Read more »