Create a blogging culture in your English classroom

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Recently I created a Slideshare called ‘Your blog can be a fantastic teaching tool’ and I wrote from the standpoint of the teacher using a blog to teach.  </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">I posted this in an earlier blog post. Here it is just as a reminder. </span></span><br /><br /><div id="__ss_10644966" style="width: 425px;"><b style="display: block; margin: 12px 0 4px;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal/a-blog-can-be-a-fantastic-teaching-tool" target="_blank" title="A blog can be a fantastic teaching tool ">A blog can be a fantastic teaching tool </a></b> <iframe frameborder="0" height="355" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/10644966" width="425"></iframe> <br /><div style="padding: 5px 0 12px;">View more <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/" target="_blank">presentations</a> from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal" target="_blank">fionabeal</a> </div></div><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Today’s post examines how a blog can be very beneficial to the students in a classroom, and in this case, an English classroom.  </span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Create a blog for yourself and for your students</b></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">One of the best ways to start transforming your classroom is to first create your own blog and then let the students create theirs. Link their blogs to yours by using a blog roll</span>.  <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Look at the example from Mrs Albanese's class. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">Here is the perfect example of the students blogs listed down the side. This is very important because often you want the students to comment on each other’s postings and this way is easy because they simply visit your blog and easily find the rest of the students' blogs. <br /><a href="http://mrsalbanese.edublogs.org/">http://mrsalbanese.edublogs.org</a></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIPw1ufNvOVH7oy8VyRoQw8K1UW2Hcj-6kloR56cI7kk4wFuQ2Pr7OEjNzwtIZ0zttVSg2QIeDkalu7ii63pKbWxnPRoq0lBM9PDokdq_EQcJonBV3LaMq2ZgXjg0jT0zhS_pKYEd-SBE/s1600-h/image16.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV1VIGRvAzXMOe65ThWjKzYiC_RX_dttpcxBpZEQwkqHwZ3LgiTyGgyBtXOCUOswT49qV1eeHDEASLvr_6igL736iHdpwx0rvQxCeo8XD6qwTj5g2vkRfREmPQlGJNCz6SOlX5CTgW8hw/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br /><br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Which blogging platform?</b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Naturally you want to use  platform that is safe, economical, spacious and attractive.There are many options but I will just mention four. </span></div><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><b>Edublogs</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Now that Edublogs no longer has advertising on it it is a much better proposition to use. Edublogs provides a very small amount of storage space, so I pay for extra space yearly. You can then create student blogs yourself using something called <i>the gmail hack</i>, so that you have access to passwords. (The </span><span style="font-size: small;">Edublogger </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">is a great site with plenty of tips and tricks on how to do things like that) The only <span style="font-family: inherit;">problem is that Edublogs doesn’t allow much space on their free blogs for the learners. But it would probably do for a year of work.</span></span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://bellbulldogreaders.edublogs.org/" style="font-family: inherit;">http://bellbulldogreaders.edublogs.org/</a></span></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfXHVJPTmqUi4eis99Mlm71PTssSB7BiGWRdnJOM81rtvf39RUxRgbnHlsGftEVLYlUSZ5c0XK6Uc6JNBbjP0xBgE5ORPSM5358OuBO1JNXap-wsCurbtax9t3ivQ7h1vIL-lhuTYHUAk/s1600-h/image40.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ3bGVuKU5bqXsB0fgHSRipc5OAjwFF7CdtU_2KsKA2mQo-ff7gf_tWAaItUKoh4pINi90UBfLN4RcIv1DmZd_m0jHfI-EiUxeg7DljS2slond23nK1KFrF0BIEehqfbUKCSgwHjZdAaA/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Blogger<br /></b>I particularly love using Blogger for myself because it gives loads of free space and has a nice feel and touch. The templates are also very attractive. However, it is often felt to be unsuitable for students because of “the next blog” icon at the top. <br /><a href="http://mediaspecialistsguide.blogspot.com/">http://mediaspecialistsguide.blogspot.com/</a></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLu5kabwLa7IhZkclcgAo25bGsFtqIqOq1Uyz3dxXSAUr5uAnqD_68ygoAcHf_6xKQ9uao7PyQ8tzX5aHQkgnWEJvF5lxR4XzOddFVK-b81l06KT24-UO7FeM9FLMM_VEEoKIFTNKKBmg/s1600-h/image27.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvmXpZpfrfYfnXu7D62e6_XXBnznIIggixCVaV6IeEU0lwFMsJx5NDjKcVkTl7czHwTrGx9Q4Budm_xXZnjkqNOcPm3akMT4DamGB06bH6-_Rm4VgVv_PENZJvicpwuNoSNQWxUX98kJU/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Posterous</span><br /></b>Some people rave about using Posterous blogs for collaborative projects. The reason for this is that you can send an email from anywhere to your posterous blog. It then becomes a draft ready for you to edit and publish. To get details for this look at: <a href="http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/28413/blog-from-anywhere-instantly-with-posterous/">http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/28413/blog-from-anywhere-instantly-with-posterous/ (</a>I have since discovered that you can also post to your blog using Blogger.) Here is an example of a posterous blog used for a global collaborative project.<br /><a href="http://kstadler.posterous.com/">http://kstadler.posterous.com/</a></span></div><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Kidblogs<br /></b>There has been a lot of talk about Kidblogs being a safe and simple platform. The Kidblog ‘About page’ says “Kidblog allows teachers to monitor and control all publishing activity within the classroom blogging community.” </span><span style="font-size: small;">I haven’t personally used Kidblog, but it is supposedly really easy for creating a class blog and blogs for your students. Here is a post that tells more about the pros and cons of using Kidblog: <a href="http://blogallaboutit.edublogs.org/2010/04/23/kidblog-an-easier-alternative-to-blogging-with-elementary-students/">http://blogallaboutit.edublogs.org/2010/04/23/kidblog-an-easier-alternative-to-blogging-with-elementary-students/</a><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here is an example of a kidlog <br /><a href="http://kidblog.org/MrsKolbertsClass2011">http://kidblog.org/MrsKolbertsClass2011</a></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7TolFNtLTtLOZTzKi_cVKy6nRWmQuHayvh7PXuiZHhIaRYB15yBtoUZbzl8JPEgV5gh7G3IAJrTUiOZAkJzUYRyCw-be1Wx18rv6pw9HJ0ELmd8kyPpmmNHsnY_E4aRmGJ0EpaD3CnLA/s1600-h/image30.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg4D68tNAFR5rE2x4CETqpz9fIGRDjbZGOVBzxBaopku-TiOfaLMbu_DviLg8EXmNwgE8cC3eyyj5JzbmZRi0Ir3ensc7n-R5rM5i3598u9WEsllG1igob1nMD4aihS7wmwl_AXvKjuVY/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Well, whatever platform you use, just do it! </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Can a blog really benefit an English class?</span><br /></span></b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">A blog can benefit any class...any subject. But today I am going to focus on English. I was quite inspired by a post I read recently on an English Teacher's blog (</span></span><a href="http://shelleywright.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/life-in-an-inquiry-driven-technology-embedded-connected-classroom-english/">http://shelleywright.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/life-in-an-inquiry-driven-technology-embedded-connected-classroom-english/</a>)<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"> - and this caused me to think about writing this post. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Well, I am sure you have plenty of ideas of what you can do with a blog in an English class. I will add ideas to these further along in this post.  It is certainly a fantastic way to get your students writing. To start off take a<b> </b>look at Mr Miller’s blog and see how he uses his blog for his English lessons. I like the way he also has a wiki to support the blog. In my thinking the two go together…<br /><a href="http://millersenglish10.blogspot.com/">http://millersenglish10.blogspot.com</a></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://mrsalbanese.edublogs.org/"></a></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: yellow; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white;">Notice how the teachers in these blogs give regular detailed instructions to their students.</span><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://student.sheboyganfalls.k12.wi.us/kajohnson/">http://student.sheboyganfalls.k12.wi.us/kajohnson/</a></span><span style="font-size: small;">  (her Grade 9 class)<br /><a href="http://msjohnson12.anewecology.com/">http://msjohnson12.anewecology.com/</a></span><span style="font-size: small;"> (Her Grade 12 class)<br /><a href="http://hoodsenglish.blogspot.com/" title="http://hoodsenglish.blogspot.com/">http://hoodsenglish.blogspot.com/</a></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiqMfnIIGiACUaZ4YWjRNScP1OYDsNPfnHkCwj6Tx-ioSkArjTcCjYbhiLEGCTWsOvoHjc-b2bDzZTQkkLniN0zm3v95U0VWcpm0yl2jaobPyHdYXs1O2WnEa04OPVRKo7xqYojCMvFRE/s1600-h/image33.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieHIfnB4vpdn3pzp_pBs7lhOpSnY_evUSGxR50nu-zXSuwDXBlYvTVxIxSNJERuPYaLpOYXFbpisJP7Eyag83EaVqhMQXvJiZxgyEkFUHJaGy-qF0E_SezIg17GM8EaltD98eMLqFRor4/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">This teacher directs her students to using web tools. <br /><a href="http://thelamppost.ca/" title="http://thelamppost.ca/">http://thelamppost.ca/</a></span></div><br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>What activities can you do on a blog in an English class?</b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">As you know English has four main strands – reading, writing, language and listening and speaking.  </span><span style="font-size: small;">These can be beautifully incorporated into blogging. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">1. Let your learners answer questions and respond to prompts online. You could set a question on your blog and the learners can answer the question in your comment box. Notice how <i>The Hawks Talk</i> does this. <a href="http://stgeorgesenglish.com/"><span style="background-color: white;">http://stgeorgesenglish.com</span></a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"></span> <span style="font-size: small;">They can then extend the conversation by answering your next question or prompt and then post comments on each others blogs.</span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">2. For literature lessons, invite an author to post on your blog and let the learners comment on this post.  This is a great way to have book discussions online. You could even try and organise a Skype interview with the author and let the slearners summarise this afterwards. There must be plenty of examples of Skype chats with authors, but here is a post about one with  Scientist.<br /><a href="http://techblog.stcyprians.net/index/skype-chats-with-scientists-by-ms-n-wallace">http://techblog.stcyprians.net/index/skype-chats-with-scientists-by-ms-n-wallace</a> </span><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">3. The learners identify and discuss the major points of a book, article, speech etc. </span><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">4. The learners write good book summaries and assess others summaries using a rubric.  <br /><a href="http://lhsblog.edublogs.org/" title="http://lhsblog.edublogs.org/">http://lhsblog.edublogs.org/</a></span> <br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvsDBcgSUCkK6wl5d-aXiS7-S12NThPI-nh9O3Nabe16I4_cKWGys8RD1xz6_8fNrp81zL4vNKi0X13GjZY93TIn6iK2nN0N4HgFkcavlzPgSC5P7GNdmT-7pSHJl9aqw-mcWxHB8v-D4/s1600-h/image43.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix3moahLiXNQDo74h4_VOscur19fUa1HWaciuJq33GZk1awdNBEAs4RH25dwSl1jDOW-mIDlDBIFrnU3gv33mPGT6KzTjsIkq8Ucm8qFpYQq3-J6khxrPSeQC1b0iF9E8q9w_jr6y2m6o/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;">5. Let the learners post reviews of movies, books, concerts, games etc regularly.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span> <br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">6. Use a blog to archive daily class notes. You (or someone in the class) could post summaries on to your class blog. This will be helpful to students who may be absent.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">7. For listening and speaking activities learners could use a MP3 player, read into it and then post it on the blog. They could concentrate on voice modulation, inflection, and tempo. The learners could then listen to each others’ speaking activities. You can virtually put anything on a blog. There’s a programme called embedit.in which gives anything the necessary HTML code which is necessary if you wish to include it on a blog or wiki</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">8. The learners could make presentations on different things and then embed their presentations on webpages. My Slideshare above mentions how useful Box.net is for this. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">9. They could learn about language conventions and then practise using the example on your blog.  You could post weekly exercises for them to do. The following is an old blog but it gives some ideas like this.</span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://hargraves12.wordpress.com/">http://hargraves12.wordpress.com</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: small;">You could take this further and ask them to make podcasts and even slideshows of difficult conventions.</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT5E9VuH1A41ytnGYVjrHHvdTU5mYlOb6f8iSr1DcJ5-FPzfA-30LxrsRS7xbt7P1fclBCZ8zVGLKZV_g9Hzr3FzRNH9pdYIbnWIl9DVyD9TXbCK1di6wfU7_8xzFBibSHVellYEQ2dFc/s1600-h/image46.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD-NRlqxNo2WtA7YB6tlsHXrRC9tookHsqBERInaZh8gSGyQnpLKOfPzC_XSktFHWD1gJVAccAvg8W_GSr2hp0fR0TLwtiMGdhJQse9AgM6Eg3dwrcs4uV_WYY_QG0SQba2dywpB0tocY/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">10. As they read a novel prescribe blog prompts for them to respond to. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">11. They could paraphrase sections that you post on the blog.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">12. You could teach the learners the structure of workplace documents and let them analyse them in terms of heading, font, pictures and readability etc. </span><span style="font-size: small;">They could make suggestions on how to improve them. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">13. When starting a new theme create a “<a href="http://teachinghistory.org/teaching-materials/teaching-guides/21806">KWL chart</a></span><span style="font-size: small;">” on your blog. Have students blog about what they know, what they want to know, and eventually what they have learned. Students will be able to see other posts and scaffold their learning off the responses of others. As the educator, you can quickly assess, focus, and possibly redirect your unit to meet the specific needs of your students.<a href="http://teachinghistory.org/system/files/KWL+Chart+with+Knowledge+Questions.pdf">http://teachinghistory.org/system/files/KWL+Chart+with+Knowledge+Questions.pdf</a></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">14. You could link documents to a folder in Box.net (also a free programme). </span><span style="font-size: small;">Notice how Mrs Lesniak does this. <a href="http://lesniakenglish.blogspot.com/" title="http://lesniakenglish.blogspot.com/">http://lesniakenglish.blogspot.com/</a></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglkdBtQ0oxrall9VJcOuJE2AyADJ3usv9r2WMUXGuNMBcxCLXiJdrcUCJmRejkvbrXsUD2DuMlFKd4FRvhiJjLWYq6luTm6uIs1syZbRV7Cpw7922n2sdG_0hJ4pHGdahwgY-5-4L-r-k/s1600-h/image49.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMfwZU43_53AasQsjMk6KaGNrSb3wYGYym8uvQe5MupowYCRGe5qi0DDcsTW5k3fJ0YSVSsC2MqfR09V5Qb3BYApTyJtO2fSC3mT5m0IqeGyb2q16OSKn1LTdB7Y5VOoW4T3MamH2Aq1w/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">15. On your blog you could communicate with parents about classroom news, policies and events. You could publish commendable student work, writing, photos, video etc.<br /><a href="http://bgenglish.blogspot.com/" title="http://bgenglish.blogspot.com/">http://bgenglish.blogspot.com/</a></span> <br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyFeMhBGlb92rwg9mUuxGASbJdEmXBHx7Hk1Ks-XLblVVFGkNeMTj1Two2Q0fkikp1NyhxUucDdCd9wwDQ_M-I5Nne0eSIjeyKdi5hMiHG9nQ23ByGk8nGDBc5QH4bbb-Eb9bPw2O4GuU/s1600-h/image52.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRYyyhaoRsE-n494i6ABtUGQ53rAeZI2LaCDx7TCnjlwSuZETaZkdcX_gW4lS4a6D38A_Hmm5iEl5HVAc-hbxyGY6I7JJZrxy5uNtLEkYGa0XP8EBhNA_sjtw4ZYh6X6JJPheDSauobuM/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">16. You could use your blog as a place to reflect as well.<br /><a href="http://jimburke.typepad.com/" title="http://jimburke.typepad.com/">http://jimburke.typepad.com/</a><br /><a href="http://mtnbrookseniors.blogspot.com/" title="http://mtnbrookseniors.blogspot.com/">http://mtnbrookseniors.blogspot.com/</a></span> <br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span> <br /><span style="font-size: small;">17. Your blog could be a blog of ideas for English teaching.<br /><a href="http://catlintucker.com/">http://catlintucker.com/</a></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgypJyGIVIhw-cqlY04Bl7wrXp5sAofLaveeaxNldnnxqyMa4JXOSw5p4zSaI7GME5UG_dzhTRE-ykz2ku4jzVA0MFzwBZ8H4bXqiI4U1pcV_-tfgBwsEEk8mmk_7JaGSw-e3uCb3kBGGU/s1600-h/image56.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_5-ZzDIfO57Bfa25-FZBGcMB1MNMnGZnmH-YE0U9gL4pXtpSP100OCyiQWn59T_10EtTMNnpPYXC_LjtQiV8O7Q7clRXHs7I7_a8FdAtKFWsPUoEvNn1nO340WK9-d4xjK9ViG7mQpaU/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="242" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">18. The learners can write journal entries, essays and poems in their blogs. They could also write book reviews<br /><a href="http://josephr4.edublogs.org/2010/07/19/my-report">http://josephr4.edublogs.org/2010/07/19/my-report</a></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3BCfIxaKMWt3PgWpXWbbEEw2g8Kc69IL4Ns5mzhHfNDqd9Hgclt7gCwUfuRQYtljUCDDcFKLFSXY4kS7qAUMbrSvKCxhDusdgVg4mP1laZSY-PE92AnA23YR6pdYKrEUu9YolsMcZCFw/s1600-h/image8.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP-5ldpQ0h3iQff2TUFrypch9tYhgdu_fBgU5XcjVAMuosFy-00Cc5Ai8whwMLrJ9zwO1gHtdP2epmEakb0u064Wa9k8MGkFFm8YcJio36GV_t-HxRhQ3z2TI562pqktFLL8cMur6n2EU/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Further down in the same blog – he relates his book review.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivLjcbQII82OH6xom0h6IVVqBRYed1tnU_L1hxGuZ2-52tnzGQuODg1Kx_njobhyphenhypheno7alHlYGonTbpiBfD2pCjcBU9vDyLcPSlZ5YXHF9wX-2ZL2SjxiT2vCKsMKWSTZ_FhbIb8vIo6rsE/s1600-h/image11.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizR14-VYGU7vciuMf432CcQtCtTyWC85GLBdYj8yV5XO8R80InbjlIJDvkW_gGenCCX1JcY6DRA3-hy0KRsnqDWWCj59y32k2FQhyphenhyphenUy6iS96Itr3nByTdfg_isLaKURerlH1eisHxyzDU/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here are another two posts that give a lot of ideas about book reviews. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://mrschureads.blogspot.com/">http://mrschureads.blogspot.com/</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://theapple.monster.com/benefits/articles/8529-10-technology-enhanced-alternatives-to-book-reports">http://theapple.monster.com/benefits/articles/8529-10-technology-enhanced-alternatives-to-book-reports</a></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHcp92-YyqTqwoEmkhSLRkZDP03X9gmUjfKlpw2tZz5ofdyY7SE_2oCz4oQFjECV0XLiK2Y7Jxqfo6IM5qZXIcx3pRquK70b8_F6kdvVuttG5HJLcpJFZkO2hg-Kvc7HKztIJE_z6Y3Qw/s1600-h/image20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir-eq-Ci-NqTakonuZhG7IIN0EDSpp_XMF93eLvTqBDDF2QXUWqDnMOudwFY7M05UrBqDEL9PC6upS5cS42th-UpUiSXEXcG6SmTz1mBWnGAilEGwI5tbQ_H3vtXDS1dC_tShWNta0FVs/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="242" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">19. Illustrate to the students how they can use technology on their blogs. You can do this by using screencasts on your blog or just be blog posts.<br /><a href="http://shelleywright.wordpress.com/">http://shelleywright.wordpress.com/</a></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">20. Post homework in your blog. <a href="http://student.sheboyganfalls.k12.wi.us/aeharter/">http://student.sheboyganfalls.k12.wi.us/aeharter/</a></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">21. I love the way this teacher posts lesson ideas in his English blog<br /><a href="http://tefltecher.wordpress.com/">http://tefltecher.wordpress.com/</a></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYTJ5s3c-SYomq0bskwqkp2aM_Zc6jAOPNE1DjLrVP5zWSjNJc8qQ8SSAZHXh19G-wIEVwgxIimrsafwTqnK1YNpDGZ18iOrSWaTiVH-WOCzkUIXNJrxi-dG3lSVKK1eiUg29WlGhozQo/s1600-h/image23.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtjy7m-vh_OTexebAF6AteroNvcFpPqUP1zrEYGLSXevAwNUrIc9BVd4PA8ViUvotgXsrkaWyw17TArs3cSI5-_UFSEprREEdKclWvY67sFfmVqzyQmBMZHA31v7l6v4-VxfxlXZwyuEQ/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">22. One teacher I know of got her class to write a novel on a blog. This was eventually published. <br /><a href="http://5bwrites.blogspot.com/">http://5bwrites.blogspot.com/</a></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg88cxHvWRN0-uAcc3wXqDCHXl45qJowIB8yIuDzWqvr4tFiIDsIsDjG_MCVxddjoKkm0YK4_tQ1QII4mwXSZ6q1bEnBHiIDy5Y9mIGk4ncvsINoazax2cHjrvHxC-fUqoauo9D_uc3D-U/s1600-h/image2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIhKbRgzPMy8DDQq2CQG-BOz6TbGuzZ7iZfpVuPicUn_ZcdWfNqzsb6cGXzE0yy_az0_3m6pFYpTZ6uRCmV25seKJwjOhlQ0Ke_JdGUEmInc0jsI8hjHaF55AYo9r4vzZ18hWoHmrxx98/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">23. They could create book trailers for their blogs.<br /><a href="http://www.booktrailersforreaders.com/Home+Student+Book+Trailers">http://www.booktrailersforreaders.com/Home+Student+Book+Trailers</a></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ0KNrvksSOag-vAxpIPmu7wVuTRdfHLnmWd10s7_ruVXyNcwN_qZBM76NCpSdDEhVSP6H9RJ664WVbjJjAkS7l6IkS8phMaLcZsvXcV7fE7IVt6bX82q8XUStY5bxl2b-t_EiLKfdKHg/s1600-h/image5.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCSVXkVlmHucWBXsphV3vjCSF_xIk3H47Eq7JY8BKU_WKyoTL49imaJVMs1iiH0C33hLAflhARuLOm9klqYSYnNGuOF_ANwVY_QjuE8D0AZiLurQzZOukxUx5H_2l4zri10aBL1K3DXZE/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Literature blogs</b><br /><a href="http://www.thebookchook.com/">http://www.thebookchook.com/</a><br /><a href="http://www.zencollegelife.com/50-best-childrens-literature-blogs/" title="http://www.zencollegelife.com/50-best-childrens-literature-blogs/">http://www.zencollegelife.com/50-best-childrens-literature-blogs/</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><br /><a href="http://www.webenglishteacher.com/litcircles.html" title="http://www.webenglishteacher.com/litcircles.html">http://www.webenglishteacher.com/litcircles.html</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><br /><a href="http://teachwithpicturebooks.blogspot.com/" title="http://teachwithpicturebooks.blogspot.com/">http://teachwithpicturebooks.blogspot.com/</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><br /><a href="http://msdegenhardt.com/">http://msdegenhardt.com/</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">(I like this teacher’s collage of books in her header)</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrZORvrtpGZXkDYDoD7RvGRiWDfPb1phvzNdcuawTlEPPeRKZe7OZplyhfTQ2gHiLWzqWzg7gV3ldv4YsG68uO54AyYDPb4NmpHgZ8RDiDiB4bQYAbiWJjwqeeHZ0ucuhr78V-aZUi9bg/s1600-h/image60.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsTeNaOZBKF0yWqMna78qrNQdakoy_mPIvG-yy_alodTGwMfdnAmxkRkcA3aBJm9FjICRWCmm4vHFhgQVAInICJlSLHZz9zELzHDDMa1jEG0CcUfJuWIcqxVGvOwKWgjv7TmV2l6lTV1E/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="242" /></a></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">24. Don’t forget about using a fake facebook page (template in Google Docs) which could be then embeeded into the blog. This teacher created a fantastic template last year in Google docs that he is willing to share.<br /><a href="http://www.teachthecloud.com/2011/02/historical-facebook-tutorial.html">http://www.teachthecloud.com/2011/02/historical-facebook-tutorial.html</a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0B3uy2d7pI5K6cMsvjFCtlEfxZYBl0qikhdJ3bufrw-dQK-0kAv9tBZky-xxphnB24thWwj8NwvAbCjzijIMW7dYoUu3xm6APg7w5N5z__EkAbehrt_hXJGAB7I5Ve61wS82qgTP10No/s1600-h/image%25255B4%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdFIvBq9DQF61KZ-HBxKxYR4U6qcgDoPjezKQen3BWX8QH3mB6vbcaDOiKDi6vARVSZIy6DtNJL3rlShQqHA_wcO2VdMyDrU_oUrJtza0KXD6P-VEMe0dX3IzIYfbcucOSi8129FBZ4_E/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Other useful links</span></b></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br /></b><a href="http://blogallaboutit.edublogs.org/2010/04/23/kidblog-an-easier-alternative-to-blogging-with-elementary-students/" title="http://blogallaboutit.edublogs.org/2010/04/23/kidblog-an-easier-alternative-to-blogging-with-elementary-students/"></a><a href="http://supportblogging.com/Links+to+School+Bloggers" title="http://supportblogging.com/Links+to+School+Bloggers">http://supportblogging.com/Links+to+School+Bloggers</a><br /><a href="http://student.sheboyganfalls.k12.wi.us/dehogue/">http://student.sheboyganfalls.k12.wi.us/dehogue/</a><br /><a href="http://englishwithlaura2.blogspot.com/" title="http://englishwithlaura2.blogspot.com/">http://englishwithlaura2.blogspot.com/</a><br /><a href="http://englishwithlaura4.blogspot.com/" title="http://englishwithlaura4.blogspot.com/">http://englishwithlaura4.blogspot.com/</a><br /><a href="http://englishteachinglab.blogspot.com/" title="http://englishteachinglab.blogspot.com/">http://englishteachinglab.blogspot.com/</a><br /><a href="http://www.huffenglish.com/" title="http://www.huffenglish.com/">http://www.huffenglish.com/</a></span><br /><br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">A great source of ideas for English teachers</span></b></div><span style="font-size: small;"> <br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And to end off this post here is a fantastic Ning for English teachers which will undoubtedly have plenty of resources and ideas.</span><br /><a href="http://englishcompanion.ning.com/" title="http://englishcompanion.ning.com/">http://englishcompanion.ning.com/</a></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfxE9lizA2t68P_Ejqpp220wAOwhTR7wMOupfjcLCz6e6nBn4q6L9NY5ctU_EJYwPdh_OXhyLaj0-Z2wTp3E-qmdrwRllysBIfqM1R1eZuqUN3zcJNdATvfZ2WqYezDOiasZRX7uiG3BM/s1600-h/image37.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_XtdJ3QgPhvFPgWXxeMeREJVnI7YBweDBFbG-qIUXOvHjQI2u5rO0NbC3nFBE7Gy7wt1vpVI5jLHZZtb7x7l9rh1BrXeOIYhBhshfh1G_ejwS7faO4gBbiEHR7ZGXS_hnhil05iLxSxM/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="242" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>

Blogging English Technology integration Create a blogging culture in your English classroom

Recently I created a Slideshare called ‘Your blog can be a fantastic teaching tool’ and I wrote from the standpoint of the teacher using a b...

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Let there be light!

After 54 hours without electricity, we spotted the Puget Sound Energy trucks at the end of our street around 6 p.m. yesterday. It was cold, dark and wet out but there they were, restoring electricity to our street. I seriously love those guys. They were working around the clock, 24/7, restoring power to over 300,000 homes in the area. It was a cold and rough 54 hours without power, but we made it.<br /><br />Funny story, about three hours before the power came back on, my husband hooked up our generator. We plugged in the refrigerator, the coffee pot and we had TV. While my husband was at the store to buy more gas for the generator, the power came on. I knew as soon as he hooked up the generator, we'd get power. He should have done it three days ago!<br /><br />Thank goodness for our gas fireplace which kept the family room warm and toasty, and our gas hot water heater so we could still take showers. I even washed my hair and then sat by the fireplace trying to dry it. You don't realize how much you rely on electricity until it's gone.<br /><br />I couldn't even go to the gym because because their power was out too even after the streets cleared up. I thought that was a pretty good excuse for not working out.  <br /><br />We were house-bound Wednesday and Thursday because the snow was so bad we couldn't get out of our driveway. My husband has a four-wheel drive truck so he could have made it, but he decided it wasn't worth dealing with all the other drivers and the mess out there. When the ice storm hit on Thursday, I'm not sure the 4x4 would have done him that much good.<br /><br />It was truly an amazing sight this past week. Here are a few pictures from the Snowpocalypse or Iceaggeddon (everyone had a name for it). Most of the ice and snow are gone now with temperatures in the 40's, but it was fun while it lasted.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">My car, encased in ice. I had chipped the ice off the back and side windows, but I couldn't get the doors open because of the 1/4 inch of ice had frozen them shut. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd9JGTR8Ep9ytksUYmiiApCdvACjPslfqStofzUzXSvEnICfTTvNe9eZcVmmK5eO6UIe7DDiMvSHdN6APaxuN7TVBUAIYKRJlp6vHN0IGzptil3DFCHV9_-zoAGO6e_zzFTzVcddeQ1Hto/s1600/my+car.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd9JGTR8Ep9ytksUYmiiApCdvACjPslfqStofzUzXSvEnICfTTvNe9eZcVmmK5eO6UIe7DDiMvSHdN6APaxuN7TVBUAIYKRJlp6vHN0IGzptil3DFCHV9_-zoAGO6e_zzFTzVcddeQ1Hto/s400/my+car.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;">A Tree in front of L.A. Fitness</span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpyRJ1J9K6F86hJwBAURj32Y5rHEivBJK7c6xk161zKsY1ZDaICLEfhuyION_VUopT-OiuXs3m64v26t0Z1dUzfKuwzo34EYDjoPeyJjltzS5HOM-vmV5T2507OLuvaTUFmyGDymeg00pA/s1600/Evergreen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpyRJ1J9K6F86hJwBAURj32Y5rHEivBJK7c6xk161zKsY1ZDaICLEfhuyION_VUopT-OiuXs3m64v26t0Z1dUzfKuwzo34EYDjoPeyJjltzS5HOM-vmV5T2507OLuvaTUFmyGDymeg00pA/s400/Evergreen.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">The parking lot at Fred Meyers (grocery store that was open).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPFgrp9B5DDrroywVaUgokX-rEEw7UaGUKirULRqWWMORQC0QMcKvy8x5AuVorOG22KcSg1dI-8SoCPknKlL-1e6_tE_3HFdJl4M-gpebeiebfN8UWTjzzFhPFKEPGTpewr-J6S7mVVtT6/s1600/Fred+Meyers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPFgrp9B5DDrroywVaUgokX-rEEw7UaGUKirULRqWWMORQC0QMcKvy8x5AuVorOG22KcSg1dI-8SoCPknKlL-1e6_tE_3HFdJl4M-gpebeiebfN8UWTjzzFhPFKEPGTpewr-J6S7mVVtT6/s400/Fred+Meyers.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">A tree in front of Fred Meyers </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWDa5BmMdpke3-RIoX5oXcRpgfwbuJxNCUz7CvE_azojuUUa3aNO_J1yPdtqSVhln5nxYxKG2Ql41zMW20q9-4p5UNS0VUTvilZUt6mtzeL7BT9ghMC3dLho28XtBIEYB44lutjanQDp1c/s1600/Ice+Tree+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWDa5BmMdpke3-RIoX5oXcRpgfwbuJxNCUz7CvE_azojuUUa3aNO_J1yPdtqSVhln5nxYxKG2Ql41zMW20q9-4p5UNS0VUTvilZUt6mtzeL7BT9ghMC3dLho28XtBIEYB44lutjanQDp1c/s400/Ice+Tree+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Another ice encrusted tree </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif78_wBumfBo9z-6mhM58cztgPhPKbr4ohN2EZo-0V39l19P3JKm5W3Xp6T0pLJJdnwjWtAaIc_wOVO-AH_cpCd34qS5eG1-qIhJ7Mw0WWoMOojrk7GKqqE9pH_GPLW0K2qaBZn5LRb1_h/s1600/Ice+tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif78_wBumfBo9z-6mhM58cztgPhPKbr4ohN2EZo-0V39l19P3JKm5W3Xp6T0pLJJdnwjWtAaIc_wOVO-AH_cpCd34qS5eG1-qIhJ7Mw0WWoMOojrk7GKqqE9pH_GPLW0K2qaBZn5LRb1_h/s400/Ice+tree.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Close up of the ice on branches - it was just beautiful </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyQkPczAIPWixYBb1Ob55EnC7cCDVyXK0HJKUZ2yryeJhWXKSGZEQZ0i_TfT2G4O7JYnawf0pcJE2hAIzB0kWcdGdL-_pO4TJxgdpZFV3AlLCYQuW-1P2Imhi2VMNUvoUtsj7934u2ySUg/s1600/Ice+Trees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyQkPczAIPWixYBb1Ob55EnC7cCDVyXK0HJKUZ2yryeJhWXKSGZEQZ0i_TfT2G4O7JYnawf0pcJE2hAIzB0kWcdGdL-_pO4TJxgdpZFV3AlLCYQuW-1P2Imhi2VMNUvoUtsj7934u2ySUg/s400/Ice+Trees.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Our Japanese maple tree in front of our house </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTqizOTP_P6gtGBvQS3lysIzpAvWa-BrxMaOxClsSolcSrsa7u51g18VMkgNQ-cde68W6WNTqb4JACJ7iptfYY6b8OZ39gN8l-3kqhg0zafbQLlAg9C2QEWfNEf7NlF75pIgc36DofHdt3/s1600/maple+tree+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTqizOTP_P6gtGBvQS3lysIzpAvWa-BrxMaOxClsSolcSrsa7u51g18VMkgNQ-cde68W6WNTqb4JACJ7iptfYY6b8OZ39gN8l-3kqhg0zafbQLlAg9C2QEWfNEf7NlF75pIgc36DofHdt3/s400/maple+tree+5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">View down our street. My husband was trying to get his truck cleaned off so he could take me to work on Friday. It took him about 20 minutes. Luckily he has remote auto start so it could thaw from the inside out or he might not have been able to open the doors because of the sheath of ice covering it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBXvtjxXGyu8gKrDNGD5AmPwourb2Twjs_cs8_-Ed5jPWCm0jS__WA8dKoIYvzwDAZ04IHdEmwZLG6WZMDvUYYbXp_0GATPE0ftS9zf-ROCjkcYTJ_gCrswZ_esuPod9q1zNGU-5Gp_T1m/s1600/our+streeet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBXvtjxXGyu8gKrDNGD5AmPwourb2Twjs_cs8_-Ed5jPWCm0jS__WA8dKoIYvzwDAZ04IHdEmwZLG6WZMDvUYYbXp_0GATPE0ftS9zf-ROCjkcYTJ_gCrswZ_esuPod9q1zNGU-5Gp_T1m/s400/our+streeet.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">More ice encrusted branches on our Japanese maple. I had a fascination with the ice. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbJ_flOaSycnisMzrxOb9jVv6tG-dYmGwDfnRV7lfeRo9qEHFNR5rQGCoE4SfNUYyQNYVuZ4Xi0LNIshlh5yoLPkgthVoL7ESjLM51yuM8nd1TKavgnRU_mRJNcMXgTN3xHEbin21Tq1sh/s1600/Japanese+maple+tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbJ_flOaSycnisMzrxOb9jVv6tG-dYmGwDfnRV7lfeRo9qEHFNR5rQGCoE4SfNUYyQNYVuZ4Xi0LNIshlh5yoLPkgthVoL7ESjLM51yuM8nd1TKavgnRU_mRJNcMXgTN3xHEbin21Tq1sh/s400/Japanese+maple+tree.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">The bamboo in our front yard. It's usually about 15 feet tall and completely blocks the view of our neighbor across the street. Now it's only about three feet tall since the ice made it fall, and we can see our neighbor from our front window (which I hate). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhzErwGsi_GRf9VuhEPxTqSAKIDHXQKGb1m8abfYy_QzLq8yN4YOE4dMSfocCUPJVBHtp4qxK0pBCdbleD0v_sEVCCeI2-K2ypINmrsMyoRW1iujaf5GLLqVvpP7NcmiWa_UCq8J5KGpQV/s1600/Bamboo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhzErwGsi_GRf9VuhEPxTqSAKIDHXQKGb1m8abfYy_QzLq8yN4YOE4dMSfocCUPJVBHtp4qxK0pBCdbleD0v_sEVCCeI2-K2ypINmrsMyoRW1iujaf5GLLqVvpP7NcmiWa_UCq8J5KGpQV/s400/Bamboo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />I made it to the gym yesterday, but my eating hasn't been stellar these past few days. A lot of eating out which I'm not accustomed to doing, and sometimes I didn't make the best food choices. We went to the movies Friday night and I had  popcorn <u>and</u> candy. I haven't done that in years and my husband was shocked. I told him to leave me alone, I was going through a bad spell. The whole sister/niece thing, and now the storm and no power, who gives a shit anyway about what I eat. I know. Silly me. Of course <u>I</u> care. Now it's back to the grindstone, eating right and exercising. Life goes on.

Let there be light!

After 54 hours without electricity, we spotted the Puget Sound Energy trucks at the end of our street around 6 p.m. yesterday. It was cold, ...

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VERTIGO, the Bit Players

<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>by guest contributor Allen Hefner</i></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; 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/AVvXsEhip_lxNFq1CMQ2im21bCjekjW1rA2yDPu2mBF-T-Zf1DE1-Uq_gFHeTOOTnIGfIzzggFZMEOnLEX3CHjkfNJ40qujo6HQl8PWsh8waHHO4_8vffXHpNZO1-ox3gikqtv1ye-i3PIZvgZAB/s1600/VertigoMadeleineGavin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhip_lxNFq1CMQ2im21bCjekjW1rA2yDPu2mBF-T-Zf1DE1-Uq_gFHeTOOTnIGfIzzggFZMEOnLEX3CHjkfNJ40qujo6HQl8PWsh8waHHO4_8vffXHpNZO1-ox3gikqtv1ye-i3PIZvgZAB/s400/VertigoMadeleineGavin.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Kim Novak with Tom Helmore in </span><i style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Vertigo</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="color: black;"></span></i></span></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;">A movie as incredible as <i>Vertigo</i> (1958) is a collaboration of many parts.  Even an actor as talented as James Stewart can’t carry a film of this complexity by himself.  The locations, scenery, costumes, set decoration, lighting, music, bit parts and even the cars are important to make any film a success.  </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I enjoy looking at the Bit Parts in a movie…seeing where the Bit Actors came from and where they went after a successful movie.  Most of them didn’t get paid much, but the good ones put their whole heart and soul into each role, whether it was a small part in a television western or an opportunity to supply an important plot element in a movie like <i>Vertigo</i>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Let’s look at some of the larger Bit Parts in <i>Vertigo.</i>  I have listed them in order of the number of roles they have played during their career. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></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/AVvXsEg8apcW-IaxPkvOpRhb0QyakpzYi4J-9iWClvhJkU7BO9k_iHMAqTAa7CzkhRaaDlYksrBDEtwi20wkAE2ZLau3sh2tm4z6q47BsgNnYpjdqY-aqHe1hcGi20xTjGQ8oidQMxHZMfWMw7ug/s1600/Corby+Bit+Part.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8apcW-IaxPkvOpRhb0QyakpzYi4J-9iWClvhJkU7BO9k_iHMAqTAa7CzkhRaaDlYksrBDEtwi20wkAE2ZLau3sh2tm4z6q47BsgNnYpjdqY-aqHe1hcGi20xTjGQ8oidQMxHZMfWMw7ug/s320/Corby+Bit+Part.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Ellen Corby and James Stewart</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>Ellen Corby</b></i><i> </i>(1911 – 1999)  238 titles are listed on IMDb for Ellen.  She worked with Alfred Hitchcock in <i>Vertigo</i> as the McKittrick Hotel manager, and also in several of his TV shows.  Her first movie was <i>Rafter Romance</i> (1933) starring Ginger Rogers, released just before Rogers teamed up with Fred Astaire in <i>Flying Down to Rio</i> the same year.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Corby’s next film was <i>Sons of the Desert</i> (1933) starring Laurel and Hardy.  She would make two other L&H films, <i>Babes in Toyland</i> (1934) and <i>Swiss Miss</i> (1938).  Her first pairing with James Stewart was in a little film called <i>It’s a Wonderful Life</i> (1946).  She plays a Bailey Savings and Loan customer who withdraws just $17.50 during the run.  Stewart didn’t expect her to say that small amount, so he kissed her!  I guess Frank Capra could get as much out of his actors as Hitchcock.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Most of Corby’s roles through the 1940s were uncredited, but she continued to get better and better parts.  Look for her in <i>Mighty Joe Young</i> (1949) the <i>King Kong</i> send-up, <i>The Gunfighter</i> (1950) with Gregory Peck, <i>Angels in the Outfield</i> (1951) with Janet Leigh, <i>Sabrina</i> (1954) with Humphrey Bogart, and <i>Night Passage</i> (1957) again with James Stewart…all before <i>Vertigo</i>, and all great films.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Corby’s television career is another long story, but it took her from being Mother Lurch in “The Addams Family” to Esther Walton on “The Waltons,” a role she played in the series and many of the Walton’s specials. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeYUW0Z4Wd72IAq2pZJoiyVCIJj03Ob8ZTHTg2S1YWsYXnpu3AMu830l94hO8iXeCr992AlNgA2YgqbGsHOTNX_0pgJaWGSIBd9eHPyDJH4anx39N9n2w-SG8OaH9uF_YKYnUsmq1HS2F4/s1600/Henry+Jones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeYUW0Z4Wd72IAq2pZJoiyVCIJj03Ob8ZTHTg2S1YWsYXnpu3AMu830l94hO8iXeCr992AlNgA2YgqbGsHOTNX_0pgJaWGSIBd9eHPyDJH4anx39N9n2w-SG8OaH9uF_YKYnUsmq1HS2F4/s320/Henry+Jones.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i>Henry Jones</i></b> (1912 – 1999), shown at right, has 202 titles listed and is certainly one of the most recognizable Bit Actors in cinema.  He was born in Philadelphia, so I like him even more.  His first film was <i>This is the Army</i> (1943) starring George Murphy and featuring Ronald Reagan.  </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jones moved straightaway into television in 1950, and his second appearance on TV was with George Burns and Gracie Allen.  In the early days, television was considered a step down from acting on film, just as 50 years earlier acting on film was less desirable than being on Broadway.  Television appearances in the early days were much more frequent than movies, so all those kids (myself included) who were glued to the TV set until the next Saturday matinee at the local theatre would have the faces of those actors and actresses burned into their subconscious, only to resurface 50 years later and be written about on the Internet.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jones continued making movies during his television work.  In 1957 look for him in <i>Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?</i> with Tony Randall and Jayne Mansfield, and then in <i>3:10 to Yuma</i> starring Glenn Ford, and of course in 1958 as the blue-suited coroner in <i>Vertigo</i>.  </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In 1969 we see Henry in <i>Support Your Local Sheriff!</i> with James Garner, and as a bicycle salesman in <i>Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid</i> with of course, Paul Newman and Robert Redford.  Later in his career he continues mostly on TV, but look for him in these great films –<i>Nine to Five</i> (1980), <i>Deathtrap</i> (1982), <i>Dick Tracy</i> (1990), and his final film <i>The Grifters</i> (1990).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></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/AVvXsEgWRXBS3wXHr7L3XzXYOQjAIUxVcfxeOGZQeWNbgGPiup3DFH8vXSEOLLg9kVr_29x1feFhawFdHulBM44JXKXwGQDmkbmc1x6tqjwui3r8JawwoLORNhRMHeGik1B6kxbO5drwX60TbI2d/s1600/Raymond+Bailey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWRXBS3wXHr7L3XzXYOQjAIUxVcfxeOGZQeWNbgGPiup3DFH8vXSEOLLg9kVr_29x1feFhawFdHulBM44JXKXwGQDmkbmc1x6tqjwui3r8JawwoLORNhRMHeGik1B6kxbO5drwX60TbI2d/s320/Raymond+Bailey.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barbara Bel Geddes and Raymond Bailey</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>Raymond Bailey</b> </i>(1904 – 1980) is best known as Milburn Drysdale on “The Beverly Hillbillies.”  However, that came near the end of his career of 146 titles that started in 1939.  His first dozen years on the big screen went largely uncredited.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Television again allowed Bailey to find good work as an actor, but it wasn’t until the 1960s that he had a regular role in “My Sister Eileen,” a show I have never seen.  </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In the movies he has quite a long list, but many are forgettable films with second tier stars like Jock Mahoney, Jeff Chandler, and Tab Hunter.  He appeared in <i>Band of Angels</i> (1957) which came near the end of Clark Gable’s career.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1958 may have been his finest film year, with appearances in <i>Darby’s Rangers</i>, <i>Lafayette Escadrille</i>, <i>Vertigo</i> (a small role as Scottie’s doctor), <i>No Time for Sergeants</i>, <i>The Lineup</i>, <i>King Creole</i> and <i>I Want to Live!</i>  Quite a year for him, and for us.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then, more TV, more TV, and in 1960 <i>The Gallant Hours</i> starring James Cagney and <i>From the Terrace</i> with Paul Newman…and more TV.  Finally, Jed Clampett makes him a famous Beverly Hills banker and the rest is history.  His final films were <i>Herbie Rides Again</i> (1974) and <i>The Strongest Man in the World</i> (1975).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><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/AVvXsEhI9Pqo-tB9eUheKe3jyjcXvGdjyxTw99SRppySMODeAeJndfAX7VTNt7xwhMZ437WBmFRfcWmFXmNG3qIjGeZ7HAwKB24xrTVuXnTx42YHrSFUJmg4xmpFH8rQs3BYyxd2a7sW6xhLi_Bd/s1600/Lee+Patrick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI9Pqo-tB9eUheKe3jyjcXvGdjyxTw99SRppySMODeAeJndfAX7VTNt7xwhMZ437WBmFRfcWmFXmNG3qIjGeZ7HAwKB24xrTVuXnTx42YHrSFUJmg4xmpFH8rQs3BYyxd2a7sW6xhLi_Bd/s320/Lee+Patrick.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">James Stewart and Lee Patrick</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>Lee Patrick </b></i>(1901 – 1982) was the lady who is mistaken for Madeleine at her car.  Her role in <i>Vertigo</i> was small, but it helped fill in some questions in Scottie’s mind.  Of course to me, Lee Patrick will always be Henrietta Topper of the television series “Topper” starring Leo G. Carroll as Cosmo Topper.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Lee has 104 titles listed on IMDb starting in 1929.  Her first major motion picture, though not a starring role, was as Effie in the Bogart classic <i>The Maltese Falcon</i> (1941).  In a Hitchcockian (is that a word?) twist, her final film was <i>The Black Bird</i> (1975) and she played the same part.  I am sure that was a forgettable movie, where George Segal plays Sam Spade’s son, still looking for the elusive Falcon.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In between those films you can catch her in <i>Now, Voyager</i> (1942), <i>George Washington Slept Here</i> (1942), <i>A Night to Remember</i> (1942), <i>Jitterbugs</i> (a not so great Laurel and Hardy film in 1943), <i>Mildred Pierce</i> (1945), <i>Vertigo</i> and <i>Auntie Mame</i> in 1958, <i>The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao</i> (1964), and a bunch of television.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></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/AVvXsEjurmNY6mg64YidLLBDYEGWscFSaVg1nVmsuFQ6LSwhQbaKGGL_TASknK0CkAlfrkdbYu_kfgm5hI1nxXyjOXHgdeNvii7t5h6TxL_LB6WxMpgfpW_7vSNg-DTn7b0sBBge9kwhcr9tYiF7/s1600/Tom+Helmore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjurmNY6mg64YidLLBDYEGWscFSaVg1nVmsuFQ6LSwhQbaKGGL_TASknK0CkAlfrkdbYu_kfgm5hI1nxXyjOXHgdeNvii7t5h6TxL_LB6WxMpgfpW_7vSNg-DTn7b0sBBge9kwhcr9tYiF7/s320/Tom+Helmore.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tom Helmore with James Stewart</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i>Tom Helmore</i></b> (1904 – 1995)  Even though Gavin Elster (the real Madeleine’s husband) was a focal point of the mystery in <i>Vertigo</i>, I must include Tom Helmore as a Bit Player in a supporting role.  He really doesn’t have much screen time.  But he has 72 titles on IMDb.  And he appears in two earlier Hitchcock movies, <i>The Ring</i> (a silent film from 1927) and <i>Secret Agent</i> (1936) with John Gielgud.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">There’s not much to write about in his other work.  Of note is an appearance in <i>The Tender Trap</i> (1955) with Frank Sinatra, <i>The Time Machine</i> (1960) with Rod Taylor, plus some good television work.  The last movie he worked in was <i>Flipper’s New Adventure</i> (1964).</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYxSLWBZeuJi9FqSZtiAXNwyoEJ5nyC29sv7wlTsZDo4QLIlLHgVXdLuMdJoqcslxIW0vBf6k__nFHrbnGPwjXiQNZGnCrcNdRoZh5-GXVM93HW0tam97KnHzbw5HcAOqW12CMttoi_9KV/s1600/Konstantin+Shayne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYxSLWBZeuJi9FqSZtiAXNwyoEJ5nyC29sv7wlTsZDo4QLIlLHgVXdLuMdJoqcslxIW0vBf6k__nFHrbnGPwjXiQNZGnCrcNdRoZh5-GXVM93HW0tam97KnHzbw5HcAOqW12CMttoi_9KV/s320/Konstantin+Shayne.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Konstantin Shayne</span></i></b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> (1888 – 1974), shown at right, certainly sounds like a Russian cowboy.  Shayne played Pop Leibel, the bookstore owner who fills in the missing story about Carlotta Valdes.  Again, a very small part but integral to understanding the plot.  </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Shayne has 49 titles listed on IMDb, starting in 1938.  His performances of note were in <i>None But the Lonely Heart</i> (1944), <i>The Stranger</i> (1946) and <i>The Secret Life of Walter Mitty</i> (1947).  You can also see him in small parts in a Bulldog Drummond film and in <i>The Falcon in Hollywood</i> (1944).  He appeared quite a few times on TV in the 1950s, and his final movie was <i>Joy in the Morning</i> (1965) starring Richard Chamberlain.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></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/AVvXsEj1Y3AfJaikBnrsARN6ux8EQNBFA1OFSaIG6Vki-E4CqYM35mwyFREWgBanC1x5iqRlMDf5OhiA8wPAAC5b58aH4LP9qnRyBV1EUkNW_8LVmNUaT3XwKr5Ou7hy51UAGBmNGlWvqdgcYvCf/s1600/Margaret+Brayton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Y3AfJaikBnrsARN6ux8EQNBFA1OFSaIG6Vki-E4CqYM35mwyFREWgBanC1x5iqRlMDf5OhiA8wPAAC5b58aH4LP9qnRyBV1EUkNW_8LVmNUaT3XwKr5Ou7hy51UAGBmNGlWvqdgcYvCf/s320/Margaret+Brayton.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Margaret Brayton and Kim Novak</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i>Margaret Brayton</i></b> (1907 – 1992) played the saleswoman in the dress shop that Scottie and Judy went to.  While it may not seem like it was important to have this scene in <i>Vertigo</i>, it does serve to highlight the extent of Scotty’s obsession with turning Judy into Madeleine.  </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">She has 48 titles on IMDb from 1934 to 1959, mostly uncredited, with maybe five television appearances.  Another of her other well-known films was <i>Who Done It?</i> (1942) with Abbott and Costello.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i>Molly Dodd </i></b>(1921 – 1981) was the beautician who also worked over Judy to recreate Madeleine.  I loved it when she told Scottie that she knew what <i>HE</i> wanted, as though everyone in San Francisco was tired of his fantasy.  Her 40 titles on IMDb include only four movies and <i>Vertigo</i> was her first.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><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/AVvXsEgaIZO55b_hMuvy5ILSbXwr2SLsgc-TbN6Ybm7S0iCo0peoUoz-tMaF33v1_TaJQYbeu6qAAZDJZ2UUmZNvBz1L9nzxS_n9twCayZ78ykYufJ6FnDkvPQRAWUUWuGVkzEDpwbv-swCs4e1K/s1600/Molly+Dodd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaIZO55b_hMuvy5ILSbXwr2SLsgc-TbN6Ybm7S0iCo0peoUoz-tMaF33v1_TaJQYbeu6qAAZDJZ2UUmZNvBz1L9nzxS_n9twCayZ78ykYufJ6FnDkvPQRAWUUWuGVkzEDpwbv-swCs4e1K/s320/Molly+Dodd.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Molly Dodd and James Stewart</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Look for Molly in many of the sitcoms in the 1960s.  In 1976 she was also in a few episodes of “The Waltons” with Ellen Corby.  Her last movie was <i>Harper Valley P.T.A.</i> (1978).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And finally, there are the cars…Scottie’s <b><i>1956 DeSoto Firedome</i></b>, Madeleine’s <b><i>1957 Jaguar Mk VIII</i></b>, and Midge’s (Barbara Bel Geddes) <b><i>1956 Karmann Ghia</i></b>.  I have written before about cars in cinema and I am sure there are volumes available on the topic.  </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></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/AVvXsEhjmVkF3HvhBNrSZ9HQ6pvUUUG_Oe5wntukVEm939JIEkOruXTok2SMMc96VaMdXHmyq761NVg284gLK8HYXQBZ-gnq92ET2TpoX4gg5SLROfRCRRdcrtn-GTS_Cl5Q_neYlxIhnp6RpOPB/s1600/Madeleine+in+green+jag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjmVkF3HvhBNrSZ9HQ6pvUUUG_Oe5wntukVEm939JIEkOruXTok2SMMc96VaMdXHmyq761NVg284gLK8HYXQBZ-gnq92ET2TpoX4gg5SLROfRCRRdcrtn-GTS_Cl5Q_neYlxIhnp6RpOPB/s320/Madeleine+in+green+jag.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Madeleine' in her 1957 Jaguar Mk VIII</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The two main cars in <i>Vertigo</i> are more than obvious as plot vehicles  (Sorry!  I couldn’t resist).  They are as distinctive as the characters they belong to.  It was important for the cars to be instantly recognizable to avoid confusion in the film.  While Scotty is following Madeleine, you need to be able to pick out her car in the traffic.  You see it later at his apartment, and again after Madeleine’s staged death in the scene with Lee Patrick.  </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It is also interesting that the three cars match their owner’s personalities perfectly.  I can see each one of them picking out their car at the dealership.  Of course, it wasn’t the Kim Novak Madeleine who bought the Jag, but it would fit the real Madeleine’s station in society.  Scottie would be matter-of-fact in his purchase, buying a car big enough for his needs, with a powerful V8.  And Midge would have chosen her Ghia because it was so cute!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><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/AVvXsEjTj2o_4VJP_jK0fG_HTyXF8pzoToYUriPZKpuVPgFv_dE-zUkcki_ZuQPXNMT3CSPos8MTA9FUoDhEmK4C0XSfCgBMHUbS0UNkvSlTVx8dHiRb2Pr5YKwRO33VscPFDuqIusXlIn5qWmTM/s1600/Midges+Ghia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTj2o_4VJP_jK0fG_HTyXF8pzoToYUriPZKpuVPgFv_dE-zUkcki_ZuQPXNMT3CSPos8MTA9FUoDhEmK4C0XSfCgBMHUbS0UNkvSlTVx8dHiRb2Pr5YKwRO33VscPFDuqIusXlIn5qWmTM/s400/Midges+Ghia.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Midge' in her 1956 Karmann Ghia</td></tr></tbody></table><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hitchcock thought of everything, right down to the cars.  His penchant for perfection is showcased in <i>Vertigo</i> and its excellent cast of Bit Actors.  And I’m sure you’ll agree that these parts helped make <i>Vertigo</i> the great classic film it is.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Many thanks to Eve for hosting this month long tribute, and to all the other writers who have put so much effort into the project.  I hope you enjoy every entry.  And please stop by my <i style="color: #990000;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1165593110" style="color: #990000;">Bit Part <span id="goog_1165593107"></span><span id="goog_1165593108"></span></a><a href="http://bitactors.blogspot.com/" style="color: #990000;">Actors</a> <span style="color: black;"></span></i>blog for more great profiles.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">~</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>Allen Hefner</b> of </i>Bit Part Actors<i>, the blog he launched in May 2010, is from Pennsylvania and has been interested in movies from an early age. He recalls attending Saturday matinees at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA, every Saturday of his youth, “when 50 cents bought you a two reeler (usually The Three Stooges or Laurel & Hardy), a few cartoons and a feature film.” Allen is a member of the famed Laurel & Hardy fan organization, <a href="http://home.earthlink.net/%7Esons_secretary/" style="color: #990000;">The Sons of the Desert</a>, and has, over the years, met and enjoyed the company of many film buffs and performers of days gone by including Margaret Hamilton, William Windom, Penny Singleton and others - as well as Stan Laurel's daughter, Lois, and </i>Sons of the Desert<i> founder (and cartoonist) Al Kilgore.</i></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFuSNbYZlKY1BikJfcsUG5dyumissZhgxhCEsE_2UFxBkaU7j4Qb_9yXhyphenhyphenbvigmbAucfoEjRSGSFOoQ0hJ01fhhN58Jax-v6RdzmuJuf3E3POAjnhIKrpdTu2-4H886CLPT2UCBW-lLjk/s1600/Bit+Part+Actors+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFuSNbYZlKY1BikJfcsUG5dyumissZhgxhCEsE_2UFxBkaU7j4Qb_9yXhyphenhyphenbvigmbAucfoEjRSGSFOoQ0hJ01fhhN58Jax-v6RdzmuJuf3E3POAjnhIKrpdTu2-4H886CLPT2UCBW-lLjk/s400/Bit+Part+Actors+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><i></i></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="color: black;"></span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div></div>

A Month of Vertigo Alfred Hitchcock Allen Hefner Ellen Corby Henry Jones Konstantin Shayne Margaret Brayton Molly Dodd Raymond Bailey Tom Helmore Vertigo VERTIGO, the Bit Players

by guest contributor Allen Hefner Kim Novak with Tom Helmore in Vertigo A movie as incredible as Vertigo (1958) is a collaboration of many ...

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TOTAL CONTROL

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqXG5cdbYZik9Sq4sQ6xW-gDZJ5dxnv6tR6i-lL4I6Y0QFhIJRl0toIw1GxJ1qVB2XvzPGnZ0GHLGPT0VRPd3EGJm2klZC3wzuI0_jRniywU_F-DlDtUNl963yEStm6nmzuCtSxBF4QShK/s1600/tumblr_ltc80aTrJP1qzl9q0o1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqXG5cdbYZik9Sq4sQ6xW-gDZJ5dxnv6tR6i-lL4I6Y0QFhIJRl0toIw1GxJ1qVB2XvzPGnZ0GHLGPT0VRPd3EGJm2klZC3wzuI0_jRniywU_F-DlDtUNl963yEStm6nmzuCtSxBF4QShK/s400/tumblr_ltc80aTrJP1qzl9q0o1_500.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: x-large;"><b>Deutschland: Ab August 2012 wird Bargeld schrittweise abgeschafft</b></span></div><br />Bericht von Christine Rütlisberger, Kopp Online<br /><br />Für Banken, Sparkassen und Geschäfte ist der Bargeldumlauf ein Kosten- und Risikofaktor. Und auch das Finanzamt betrachtet Bargeld zunehmend skeptisch. Bargeldzahler werden in Deutschland nach einem von langer Hand geplanten EU-Vorstoß nun bald pauschal zu Verdächtigen.<br /><br />In Deutschland sind Scheine und Münzen bei Einkäufen das mit Abstand meistgenutzte Zahlungsmittel. Gemessen am Umsatz liegt der Bargeldanteil bei rund 60 Prozent. Das soll sich nach dem Willen von Politik und Banken schnell ändern. Auch in Deutschland wird nun eine in weiten Teilen der Bevölkerung noch immer unbekannte Richtlinie der EU-Kommission umgesetzt, an deren Ende die Abschaffung des Bargelds steht. Mit der EU-Geld-Richtlinie (2009/110/EG) soll der Weg frei werden für »innovative und sichere E-Geld-Dienstleistungen« ohne Bargeld.<br /><br />Die EU fordert für alle Bürger der Mitgliedsstaaten die »elektronische Geldbörse in Form einer Zahlungskarte oder einer anderen Chipkarte« sowie »als Speichermedien für E-Geld (…) außerdem Mobiltelefone (mit denen auch bezahlt werden kann) und Online-Zahlungskonten«. Es gibt mehrere solcher EU-Richtlinien. Fasst man sie zusammen, dann wird das Bild klar: Schritt für Schritt wird Bargeld in der EU abgeschafft oder das Bezahlen mit Bargeld sogar verboten.<br /><br />In Italien dürfen beispielsweise seit dem 4. Dezember 2011 Beträge über 1.000 Euro nicht mehr bar bezahlt werden. Der neue italienische Ministerpräsident Mario Monti treibt den bargeldlosen Zahlungsverkehr unter Hochdruck voran. Monti war zuvor zuständiges Kommissionsmitglied für Finanzdienstleistungen der EU und arbeitete schon vor der Einführung des Euro an den mittelfristigen EU-Plänen, einen beträchtlichen Teil der Barzahlungen in der EU durch Chipkarten und kontrollierte Finanzflüsse zu ersetzen. Alle EU-Staaten setzen die Geld-Richtlinie der EU derzeit unter Hochdruck um.<br /><br />In Belgien dürfen etwa von sofort an Waren, die mehr als 5.000 Euro kosten, nicht mehr bar bezahlt werden. Der für Steuerbetrug zuständige Staatssekretär Crombez bestätigte Mitte Januar entsprechende Presseberichte. Schrittweise wird die Bargeldsumme, mit der Bürger noch bezahlen dürfen, immer weiter abgesenkt. Das alles wird auch in Deutschland vorbereitet: Im August 2012 geht es los. Lesen Sie, worauf Sie sich jetzt vorbereiten müssen.<br /><br /><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;"><b>Germany to Begin Abolishing Cash Transaction in August 2012 Step by Step</b></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqM6D9Jeq0Pd6msHj0w_F4Z_h5L3ToQ-OyKz0y90Br3PUqmeyInmZfJKgBEF9HP0MPb2rb1o24ZczqJbsoF9HgIGPz6oBLoXk7d_Y9J_N-Dm8SnFqU3lOnLlJWDM8nclIifak_PYQy-xGd/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqM6D9Jeq0Pd6msHj0w_F4Z_h5L3ToQ-OyKz0y90Br3PUqmeyInmZfJKgBEF9HP0MPb2rb1o24ZczqJbsoF9HgIGPz6oBLoXk7d_Y9J_N-Dm8SnFqU3lOnLlJWDM8nclIifak_PYQy-xGd/s320/images.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Germany will begin to abolish cash transactions step by step from August 2012, putting the EU directive 2009/110/EC (PDF) into practice. Germany is the next country after Greece, where the ECB recommended such cahs payment limits in May 2010, and Italy, where cash transactions above €1,000 have been limited since December 4, 2011.<br />While the official reasoning says this is to combat tax fraud, it is actually another step towards total surveillance in the European Union. All forms of electronic payments can be traced completely.<br />Ironically a study from the German Bundesbank (PDF) from 2009 arrives at the conclusion that cash fulfills all functions of a payment device in the best way. Germans still conclude 60% of their transactions with cash.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: orange;"> </span></b></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: orange;">HOSTILE “BANKSTER “TAKEOVER</span> </b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Italy, Greece now possible Slovenia governed by Bank technocrats</b></span>………<br /><br />Is Europe slowly becoming a colony of the FEDERAL RESERVE and its BANKSTER FRIENDS? Will a FEDERAL RESERVE ECONOMIST become the next Prime Minister of SLOVENIA after the GOLDMAN SACHS colonization of the ECB (DRAGHI), Greece (PAPADEMOS) and Italy (MONTI)?<br />Austrian daily "KURIER" had a snippet in last week’s edition, saying that Slovenian Fed economist EGON ZAKRAJSEK is at issue to become Prime Minister. The paper did not cite a source but reasoned that the stalemate between leftist election winner Zoran Jankovic and conservative Janes Jansa has sprung calls for a "third man."<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Via The Prudent Investor</span>

TOTAL CONTROL

Deutschland: Ab August 2012 wird Bargeld schrittweise abgeschafft Bericht von Christine Rütlisberger, Kopp Online Für Banken, Sparkassen und...

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SCARE TACTIC: HAIR LOSS ON THE HCG PROTOCOL

I've observed over one thousand hCG protocols and personally assisted over 500 people through multiple rounds. From what I've observed with patients, daily administering 125 iu of hCG with Dr. Simeons' very low calorie protocol, only 4 people have brought to my attention their hair loss. The first was a trans-gendered woman (male to female). The second was a woman who lost hair during pregnancy and wasn't worried as she knew her hair would grow back. The third patient had a sensitivity to dry climate (after adding back conditioner her hair stopped falling out). And the fourth, started her second round of the protocol while experiencing debilitating stress and depression, she eliminated both proteins from her diet, and she cheated consistently each week with sugar. Needless to say, if we had known the mental state of this fourth patient, we would not have prescribed her a second round of the hCG protocol.<br /><br />The question I'd like to ask is why are there so many people on the Internet discussing fear of hair loss during the very low calorie protocol? I'm not saying that it doesn't happen, especially when people don't have the appropriate dosage of hCG, when they don't take adequate breaks between rounds, if they don't use nutritional supplementation, if they cheat with sugar type foods, or if they reduce or restrict protein intake to what is less than prescribed. There are great risks for hair loss with such drastic reductions in food intake. However, it is NOT caused by the caloric value of food, but rather abrupt hormonal shifts that may occur, especially when they eat the very low calorie diet without adequate hCG, or if the patient cheats.<br /><br />There are a couple of issues I will assume happens when someone cheats during the protocol, specifically with a sugar based foods. First, the abrupt rise and fall in leptin would cause a similar reaction to the thyroid and thyroid hormones. This will not help a hair loss matter. Second, the rapid rise in insulin with leptin, creating an increase in testosterone. This might cause androgenic alopecia. Over time, and repeated bouts of cheating during the hCG protocol, the polar shifts in leptin and resulting hormonal dysregulation and inflammation could increase the risk of hair loss for both reasons. On the other side, if hunger is tolerated and persists, sustained drops in leptin causes a rise in cortisol, which would increase the risk for the most aggressive form of hair loss: telogen effluvium.<br /><br />Because 98% of my observations have been with prescription hCG protocols, I haven't been able to compare the prevalence of hair loss to homeopathic hCG protocols. But one thing I know for sure, because most skeptics of the hCG protocol have no idea how hCG prevents starvation, they assume the typical symptoms of starvation are the risks. However, if hCG stimulates adequate leptin to reduce the risk of starvation, and the very low calorie protocol reduces the risk of problems caused from excess leptin, we could safely assume (when combined with a good multi-vitamin) hair loss associated to hormonal extremes of binging and starving would be minimized.<br /><br />I've come to believe that in my opinion, people are sensationalizing the risk of hair loss to scare people out of doing the hCG protocol, or they want to manipulate the consumer to do the protocol differently than Simeons suggested. But, I'd like to know what others have observed.  Dr. Simeons discussed the small risk he observed in <em>Pounds & Inches, </em>but I agree with his point of view. The hormonal ramifications of keeping fat are far worse then the risk of keeping hair.<br /><br />Until we have proper laboratory research we are all speculating, including myself. However, what I do have to use as a reference point are the 4 people who have lost hair, compared to the thousands who haven't.<br /><br />WHAT HAVE YOU OBSERVED? IF YOU HAVE LOST HAIR, DID YOU CHEAT? DID YOU EXPERIENCE SEVERE HUNGER? DID YOU LOAD PROPERLY? DID YOU ELIMINATE PROTEIN INTAKE? DID YOU TAKE A MULTI-VITAMIN? <br /><br />Please comment if you've experienced hair loss and what was your experience.<br /><br /><br />

SCARE TACTIC: HAIR LOSS ON THE HCG PROTOCOL

I've observed over one thousand hCG protocols and personally assisted over 500 people through multiple rounds. From what I've observ...

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VIEW FROM THE “OPPOSITION”

<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/AVvXsEjEEUOzZoQ-4tXDGVkbAT2sFQK3OAXr9SJ59fuDwyWcsaAq68yP3J0NP4ZpBpvisMLjW633tHuCD53SMoAeNNT6zntIqmrZvizdkeZocq48t1z4u9-vnlIvCaYSo-g0NRYGHtbkrJ9sTO_A/s1600/T1100503-Crude_oil-SPL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEEUOzZoQ-4tXDGVkbAT2sFQK3OAXr9SJ59fuDwyWcsaAq68yP3J0NP4ZpBpvisMLjW633tHuCD53SMoAeNNT6zntIqmrZvizdkeZocq48t1z4u9-vnlIvCaYSo-g0NRYGHtbkrJ9sTO_A/s320/T1100503-Crude_oil-SPL.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>This is Russia’s and Iran’s stance on current EU and USA embargo: from your own opinion  </b></div><br /><div style="color: blue; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">'Oil plot': US embargo on Iran targets Europe?</span></div><br />TEHRAN believes that WASHINGTON is trying to deal a blow to debt-ridden EUROPE by forcing it to join its embargo on Iranian oil imports. Doing so would be “suicidal” for EUROPE, IRAN says.<br />IRAN’S Foreign Ministry said the US wanted to drag EUROPE into joining the sanctions imposed in December because it would make the EU less competitive.<br />The diplomat called on EUROPEANS not to act as AMERICA’S client and instead to pursue their own interests in the conflict.<br />Meanwhile, Iran’s OPEC governor said it would be “ECONOMIC SUICIDE” for EUROPE to join the sanctions amid the crisis.<br /><br />“Regarding the economic crisis in the EUROZONE, imposing any sanction on Iran's oil will push EUROPEAN countries into a deeper crisis,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson was quoted saying. “The European currency is already under pressure because of debt and financing problems facing some of its members.”<br /><br /><b>DOUBLE-EDGED EMBARGO</b><br /><br />EUROPE is a major importer of IRANIAN oil, the others being CHINA, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA and INDIA. Southern European countries like ITALY, SPAIN and GREECE buy some 13 per cent of all crude they consume from Iran.<br />The EU’s current plan is to join the oil embargo in a matter of months. The grace period is needed to find a replacement fuel source, which may be AMERICA’S close ally, SAUDI ARABIA, which has said it can boost domestic production to compensate for the shortage.<br /><br />CHINA, which is the largest buyer of IRANIAN oil, said last week it would not uphold any sanctions against the Islamic Republic unless they are imposed by the UN Security Council. INDIA came up with a similar statement on Wednesday.<br /><br />SOUTH KOREA and JAPAN both voiced their readiness to boycott IRAN’S crude, but did not indicate when such a measure might come into force. JAPAN is particularly vulnerable to energy shortages after the devastating earthquake and tsunami which hit it last year, destroying the Fukushima power plant.<br />The sanctions are meant to force TEHRAN into making its nuclear program transparent to foreign inspectors. IRAN insists that the program is purely civilian, but many Western nations say it is ultimately pursuing nuclear weapon capabilities. No hard proof of such intentions has ever been produced. <br /><br />IRAN  confirmed that it is ready to restart talks on the issue and is waiting for the group of six nuclear mediators to set a date for a meeting.<br />The Council for the National Interest think-tank, believes Iran is buying time, basically saying: “There is a high level of belligerency right now, but if we buy time, possibly that will change.”<br />“The resolve of the European powers to push on this Iranian nuclear issue is higher now,” Giraldi explained. “But if there is a genuine threat to possibly raise oil prices through closing the Strait of Hormuz, then the Europeans who get quite a lot of this oil would begin to reconsider what they are doing.”<br /><br />Via RTV

VIEW FROM THE “OPPOSITION”

This is Russia’s and Iran’s stance on current EU and USA embargo: from your own opinion  'Oil plot': US embargo on Iran targets Euro...

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Weigh In & Other News

Good Friday morning!<br /><br /><b style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: #674ea7;">Weigh In Results</span> </b><br />If a Friday is your weigh in day as well, I hope it went as well for you as it did for me!  I've known all week that the scale was moving in the direction I wanted, but I can honestly say I didn't expect to be in a new decade come today!<br /><br />I have now entered the 230s and weighed in this morning at 239.4!!!!!!!  That means that I am down 2.8 lbs from last week, and I'm just 0.6 lbs away from meeting my next <a href="http://the-big-weight.blogspot.com/p/goals.html" target="_blank">goal</a>!  LOVE it!<br /><br /><b style="color: #674ea7;">How I Did It </b><br />So, as my WW leader always asks us - what worked this week?<br /><br />It is a rare week when I follow WW exactly to a tee {this wasn't one of those weeks either!}, so that is not the reason why I had a tremendous loss.<br /><br />In fact,  just last weekend I made Oreo truffles, and it was Sunday night when I went a little overboard with them {I'll share the recipe!}.  They are 2 PointsPlus each - even using reduced fat Oreos and the WW cream cheese block.  Lord!  So anyhow, that plus an unplanned night of eating out with Joel.... having a VERY delicious basil fried rice.... I thought I was doomed. <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/AVvXsEjCoIgUdPaygKaCjlLPilFyjtEOQtRv0cYcAiluLmdU2Fv0wZAmdR87_OewcmuE5d5clGRvcK4Usso3wpiuHEVibX9pJJ7DASL5wSAYVHmIMBB1CU6ffdT9unSJlsOmN1ZM5Nv6YK_eOi4/s1600/basil+fried+rice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCoIgUdPaygKaCjlLPilFyjtEOQtRv0cYcAiluLmdU2Fv0wZAmdR87_OewcmuE5d5clGRvcK4Usso3wpiuHEVibX9pJJ7DASL5wSAYVHmIMBB1CU6ffdT9unSJlsOmN1ZM5Nv6YK_eOi4/s400/basil+fried+rice.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">from Pho Thom - next to Univ. of Maryland</td></tr></tbody></table><br />But here's what I suspect contributed to the 2.8 lbs removal of lard:<br /><br /><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><ol><li><b>Filling breakfasts + lots of fruit daily.</b> I had that amazing <a href="http://the-big-weight.blogspot.com/2012/01/papa-bear-oatmeal-some-housecleaning.html" target="_blank">oatmeal</a> this week, and getting that fiber from the oatmeal plus the fruits had to have made all the difference!  Let's just say it added some much needed "regularity" to my daily routine.  TMI?  Oops.  Honestly, I'm terrible at getting in my fruits/veggies every day because those are things that I just don't crave {or want}.  BUT, this week's loss is a prime example and reason why I need to keep up these good habits.  That oatmeal kept me full from 7 AM to 12 PM every single morning this week. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzrP0VkBoSiPHDhsQN9tn9peY8lHxS8-fv_WIdoBOchElf7b_zXuoKkPVLkqmornRJxbOnG9W6eQ_IE0vJqxfsV7Oo7fslzjlBKxuwNNzI0gFkA7-ZUB8NhzropjUpAs9q6-S197aKp2k/s1600/oatmeal.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzrP0VkBoSiPHDhsQN9tn9peY8lHxS8-fv_WIdoBOchElf7b_zXuoKkPVLkqmornRJxbOnG9W6eQ_IE0vJqxfsV7Oo7fslzjlBKxuwNNzI0gFkA7-ZUB8NhzropjUpAs9q6-S197aKp2k/s400/oatmeal.JPG" width="400" /></a></div></li><li><b>Sharing my journey with others.</b>  I spent about 4 hours on Saturday with my friend Ang and ventured over to her house for lunch.  Ang is already a very health conscious person, so I didn't for one minute think she would be serving up greasy delicacies.  Still, I wasn't prepping lunch, she was, and that means I didn't really have control over the situation.  However, we enjoyed little pizzas made on pita bread, complete with turkey pepperoni and 2% cheese.  A perfect WW lunch!  Thank you Ang! <br /><br />Additionally, as nervous as I was to ask at first, I simply said: "Hey Ang, do you mind if I take a pic of the nutrition facts on those pitas so I can figure out the PointsPlus later?"  Of course she didn't mind!  <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmEFKfWJ7nxgqBUBvDn8vLoakeHFdQQWI2lRxLWOw4rCf7TvMYlUy-eOdEnhNN8BYFTRAuWKjVpRgiAkbsH7Ts2RBqefb7zkOyTaSzaEjktLGOdDFhaPopThgHYZCfT3oa5kWe2DWpeAg/s1600/pita+nutrition+facts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmEFKfWJ7nxgqBUBvDn8vLoakeHFdQQWI2lRxLWOw4rCf7TvMYlUy-eOdEnhNN8BYFTRAuWKjVpRgiAkbsH7Ts2RBqefb7zkOyTaSzaEjktLGOdDFhaPopThgHYZCfT3oa5kWe2DWpeAg/s320/pita+nutrition+facts.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><a href="http://the-big-weight.blogspot.com/2011/11/part-1-how-i-approach-ww-in-public.html" target="_blank">In the past</a> I would have never even attempted to ask this question - I would have rather kept everything a big secret.  But, asking that one simple question helped me stay on track the rest of the day - because I was able to definitively calculate the PointsPlus value of that mini pizza and not stress about "estimating" it.  <br /><br /></li><li><b>Exercise.</b>  Unfortunately, as much as I wish this wasn't the case, I've never been one of those WWs who can <i>really </i>lose without exercising.  Sticking to my 2 days/per week commitment has definitely contributed to my losses.  Not only that, but I've been inadvertently adding little lunch walks 1 day per week with my coworker, Meghan.  Meghan and I just chit chat about wedding stuff and the time FLIES by!  <br /><br /> </li><li><b>Plenty of sleep.</b>  I normally always get 7 hours of sleep every night.  Sleep is just not something I am willing sacrifice.  I know I can be fully functional on 7 hours.  This week, however, I was getting upwards of 7.5 to 8 hours of shuteye, which makes life<i> even better </i>for me!  Did this added rest allow me to burn more calories?  I hope!</li></ol><b style="color: #674ea7;">Other News</b><br />My plans this weekend include meeting with the caterer on Saturday to go over food options for the wedding.  I also plan to get started on the wedding website.  I wasn't planning on doing this but someone already asked if I had one, so I figured I'd better throw one together.  Do you ever use these when you've been invited to a wedding?  I'd also like to throw together a few posts for next week.  I have a few more recipes to share with you that I think you'll like!  Oh yeah, and then there's that <a href="http://the-big-weight.blogspot.com/2012/01/papa-bear-oatmeal-some-housecleaning.html" target="_blank">school</a> thing.  <br /><br /><b style="color: #674ea7;">What's on your agenda for the weekend?</b><br /><ol></ol><br /><ol></ol>

Deen Family Cookbook goals Loss Weight Loss Weight Watchers Weigh In & Other News

Good Friday morning! Weigh In Results If a Friday is your weigh in day as well, I hope it went as well for you as it did for me!  I've ...

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