David Bowie 1972 The Year of the Spiders BBC Sessions Various Dates & Location @ 320

THE SOUND OF THE SEVENTIES WITH BOB HARRIS (18th May 1972)[Maida Vale Studios, London, UK]1. Hang Onto Yourself2. Ziggy Stardust3. Waiting For The Man4. Queen Bitch5. Five YearsTOP GEAR TV SHOW WITH JOHN PEEL (16th May 1972)[Maida Vale Studios, London, UK]6. White Light White Heat7. Making Believe8. Hang Onto Yourself9. Suffragette City10. Ziggy StardustTHE JOHNNY WALKER SHOW (22nd May 1972)[The Aeolian Hall, London, UK]11. Starman12. Space Oddity13. Changes14. Oh You Pretty ThingsTHE SOUND OF THE SEVENTIES WITH BOB HARRIS (23rd May 1972)[Maida Vale Studios, London, UK]15. Andy Warhol16. Lady Stardust17. White Light White Heat18. Rock'n'Roll Suicide http://rapidshare.com/files/100792105/Bowie1972p1.rarhttp://rapidshare.com/files/100794648/Bowie1972p2.rar

2009-2010 Social Studies/History Curriculum (Ages 7 & 9) and Free Story of the World Journal Sheet

We will be finished with our state studies by June. Consequently, I in heavy analysis mode to figure out how we will structure our group time for next year. My husband and I have discussed the fact that I need something more pre-planned to lighten my load. The curriculum we both liked was K-12's online history courses. Unfortunately we think that is a little out of our price range. So I have looked into a number of other alternatives. Some of the programs I have considered include:Evan Moor's History PocketsPandia Press's History OdysseyMystery of HistoryThe Story of the WorldMr. Donn's World History lesson plansMy Father's World Exploring Countries and Cultures or Creation to the GreeksBaltimore Curriculum Project's Core Knowledge Lessons After each curriculum I look at, I return to The Story of the World. It just seems like the best fit for our family's style. In going through the activity book, I have come up with a routine that I believe will work for us. Each week we will do two days of history. The first day, we will read a section from Story of the World, volume 1. While I am reading, the girls will color the coordinating coloring page from the The Story of the World Activity Book 1. When I finish reading, we will work on a journal page that I designed for the girls. Here is a sample completed page:On the journal page, the girls will write in the time period we are studying on the title line. They will then color in the appropriate years on the timeline. I will then give them their vocabulary word. These are words I will be choosing each week from our reading. They will need to write the word down, look it up in the dictionary, write the definition and then use it in a sentence. They will then draw a picture to illustrate the word. This journal sheet along with their coloring sheet will go into a binder that each girl will make so that by the end of the year, they will each have their own "story of the world". The following day we will start with review questions from the activity guide. We will then complete the coordinating map. When the map is complete it will also go into each girls' history binder. We will then do a read aloud of one of the supplemental stories recommended in the activity guide. We will finish up by doing one of the hands on activities from the guide. Each week, I will try to order as many related books as I can find and will put them into a book basket in our classroom but these will only be for the kids independent exploration. Art, science, and literature will all be studied as separate subjects next year. If you are interested in downloading a copy of my Story of the World Journal Sheet-Ancients, please click on the link which will provide with a full size .jpeg for your to download and print off. Please don't forget to visit my terms of use if you plan on using this printable for anything other than personal use.

2006 Gulf Man Festival in Galveston

More like a impromptu practice tri than a real race....I think I was the only one that had not heard the news, of how therace was given up by one race director and picked up by another, justweeks before the event. There was somewhere in the realm of 50 peoplethat did not show because they heard it was going to be a TOTALCLUSTER.The day before the race nobody knew1. how many laps around the lagoon we would have to do. It looked likea mile, with the bouys, but we heard it was 2 laps around. We were scared.2. where the race dinner was. We ended up at some bar that didn't evenserve food. Wrong advice or a bad April Fool's joke.3. How the transistions were going to work. We had to place our bikeat T2 with the expectation of riding our bikes, the next morning, withall of our wetsuits, goggles, helmet, sunglasses, race number, shoes,to T1, 2 miles away. (I didn't bring a bag so had to use a trashbag). swim/runDay of raceThey are running behind. I ask the race director (THE DIRECTOR) howmany laps around the lagoon. He still doesn't know. I don't find out till I am about to enter the water that it is 1 lap. whew!We ride our bikes, me with my trashbag, everyone else with duffles,trashbags, semi-suitcases...whatever they could find to stuff theircrap in, to T1. I stuff myself into my wetsuit while they are sendingthe 1/2 group off on the swim. We are running about 30 minutes late.(which you think is no big deal but you have to realize the longer youwait to start the hotter you can guarantee the finish to be)I notice that the 1/2 group is struggling to swim the first 50 metersbecause the water is so shallow. So, when I get in and the horn goes to bike transitionoff, I run the first 50 meters. Let me just say I was almost in firstplace when I finally started swimming. I have never almost been infirst place in any swim. (of course it didn't last long) It was funnyto be running alongside the chick who was swimming out front. The swim went great. (Thanks Ryan and Lauren).Got out of the water, stripped down to my tri-suit, shoved everythingback into the bag and took off on the bike. Crappy thing bout thisrace is they add the transisiton times to the swim and run so I won'treally know how I did on my swim.The bike was great. The wind was more from the side, so I never got ahead or tailwind and the roads were smooth and flat. The only thing ofnote was the turn around. We had to ride off the road, onto Beach runkinda-sorta sand, under a bridge, where there was standing water, andthen back onto the road. My back tire slid out twice. I keptrepeating..."don't fall little bike...don't fall little bike".Got off the bike feeling great and took off on the run. That is when Ifound out, for the first time, it was a beach run. Beach runs are onlyromantic and cool in books. In reality, the sand is too soft for goodpurchase, there are sandcastles and children building sandcastles, tododge and holes (dug by those same kids) to jump over. Oh...and therewas no water. They had water stops ever 1.8 miles. That aint much on ahot beach. We did run off the beach, through the RV park and then backonto the beach. There was one waterstop the whole time. I looked at mywatch and it was sitting at 12 minutes, when I hit the first waterstop. I asked one of the volunteers what mile he was and I gotback..."oh 3 or 4". Wow! I was flying! (yeah right)Heading back to the beach, one kid had told me to go over the bridgeand take a left (or was it a right). I run up to this girl, who isgoing in the opposite direction, and ask her....have you seen anyrunners going this way. She assured me that, "yes, she had". I tookoff again. At minute 22 I see the finish line and I am thinking...okwe run past it and up the beach and then will turn back around. Thisguy is waving to me....Your done! Your done! I run up to him and stopand tell him, "I can't be done...I missed a turn"! I am so upset. Hethen informs me that they decided to turn it into a 5k. ughI finish and then use all of my mental will power to turn around andgo do the loop, again, so that I get the right distances for mytraining tri. (Ruth...I hope you are proud of me for that)I spend the next 5k playing Santa Clause and telling all the tiredpeople that, instead of a 10k, they are only having to run a 5k. Ihave never been the cause of so much happiness.There was hardly any water at the finish and a few bananas andoranges. I want everyone to say thanks for the many well run tris,here in Austin, that we might take for granted (and the beers, andbands and hoopla that can make em so much fun)Results were posted a month later and they were iffy at best. I won 2nd woman overall and was told I would receive my medal in the mail. I'm still waiting.

Oland over Toler

I've been on a Charlie Chan movie kick for the last two weeks, watching literally a dozen of them in that time. I haven't seen any since I was a kid, and they were being shown every Sunday morning on WGN, in tandem with Abbott and Costello pictures and the Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock Holmes pictures. And I've discovered a strong preference for the original Chan, Warner Oland, over his replacement, Sydney Toler. As detective stories, the films are pretty standard and often predictable. But Oland is far more charming and, shall we say, joyfully devious than Toler. It's the charm that offsets how offensive the racial sterotypes are - and I'm not only speaking about Chan, because the charcter actor known as Stepinfetchit shows up in these films (in CHARLIE CHAN IN EGYPT he's called Snowshoes). Part of this is my obsession with the pop culture of the 1930s and 40s, from my unhealthy addiction to Swing music to the lost WB cartoons. But part of it is also my fondness for Law and Order-type shows, which is really what these were. As there was no tv, these types of shows were the familiar touchstones, the water-cooler conversations sparks. So, as cultural phenomena, as bizarre retro chic, as nostalgia, these films are my current joy.

Google Spring Training

Dennis Yu is CEO of BlitzLocal.com, a leader in local search engine marketing. He can be reached at dennis@blitzlocal.com if you have any questions. We went to the Google Spring Training together in San Fran and he was nice enough to write a guest post on what was covered. Hes done some crazy things with PPC campaigns, so Id take his advice. Paul, Larby, and I attended a spring training session for large advertisers at Google yesterday. Besides the free Google goodies, we learned some interesting facts and ways to grow our campaigns: 54% of all content revenue on the web comes from just 4 sites: MySpace, Yahoo, AOL, and YouTube. But these sites comprise only 22% of all pageviews. Niche site traffic is not only cheaper, but far more engaging to users and more likely to convert. 15 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. In fact, based on searches, YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine in the US. Have you tried sponsored videos and overlays on YouTube? You cant buy it via AdWords and there are unique ways to target. For example, you could potentially target an artists video and show a ringtone ad for their name in an overlay. YouTube Insights will even tell you how engaged visitors are at each point within your video. 36% of searchers who see a display ad then did a search on line. In other words, if you are building a brand, using display and search in combination will lift sales. Further, using paid search to augment organic brand traffic on average drives 23% more visitors than using organic alone. Thus, there is measurable value to brand bidding. Googles Display Ad Builder will help you create static and flash ads in minutes easy and powerful if you dont have the money to hire professional designers to make ads in multiple formats. Try it! 30% of people who are watching TV are also on line at the same time. Use whats popular on TV to gauge what may be popular on-line, too you can ride that wave to your advantage. 193 million folks in the US are on line. Of these, 64% have broadband. The average American now spends 16 hours on line per week. Though the overall economy is hit like never before, 25% of companies say they are increasing their spend online, while only 13% say they will spend less on line now. The unspoken statistic how much did Google spend on this training event? They had free booze, food, shirts, books plus had on hand product managers from Google Local, YouTube Insights, Google Analytics, Google Classifieds, Search Insights, and other groups. If youre an affiliate, youll want to grow your knowledge beyond Affiliate Summit and Ad-Tech come to events such as these. Build your relationships with folks at the search engines, too as they can help you improve your campaign performance. I met other advertisers there who market health supplements, insurance, and online dating. What are you missing out by not being there?

Money, relationships, compromise - figuring it all out

Last night, on a lark, I decided I want to go out of town for a getaway this weekend. I thought itd be a good way to get some R&R and go on a little adventure. I bought up the idea to CB, who did not share my enthusiasm. Part of the reason is that I currently have more discretionary income than he does, and part of the reason is that I tend to do things more spur-of-the-moment than he does (but I still google for coupons, no matter how spur-of-the-moment! ). To be honest, I was disappointed. There goes the romantic weekend escape. I try to think about how I’d feel if the situation were reversed. Might I feel uncomfortable that my significant other offered to pay for the bulk of the vacation? Might I feel that the trip, on such a short notice, wasn’t well-thought out? I might, and CB probably does. The rule of personal finance is that you cant have everything you want, every time you want it. The rule of relationships is that you cant have everything you want, every time you want it. (Hey! They sound suspiciously alike&). So, Im trying to deal with this situation, well, in a constructive manner: acknowledge my disappointment, empathize with his situation, work out a suitable compromise that will be fun and budget-friendly, and then move on. After talking about it, we decided to go for a day trip instead. The good thing is that this weekend just got MUCH cheaper. Still traipsing around the beach. Still kayaking. Still having fun in the sun. Just minus the two nights of hotel and the additional food expenses. This little exchange just clarified what a messy topic money can be in relationships. And this is only one weekend that were navigating. How do people do it with much bigger decisions - Should one parent stay home? What sort of protection will the primary caregiver receive in exchange for giving up his/her earning ability? What house to buy? Which set of in-laws will get more help? How should inheritance be treated? Should there be a prenup? Whats a fair way to set up a prenup? So many questions. So many minefields! Share your experiences on money and relationships in the comments!

One Flake Remains

SnowflakeAll the snow has melted; only one flake remains. If you know how to scratch a cat chin, play with string, and toss crinkle-balls, and if you don't screech when you see His Fuzziness walk through the room or chase after him with heavy-footed glee, you'll have a friend.I've never had a part-Siamese cat before. His body build is different from the rest of our cats--he has a tall, lean look about him. His face is chiseled differently, too, with a distinctively-shaped muzzle. His claws cannot completely retract, so he cannot play with a soft paw (something very important to know when tantalizing him with a string). On the ends of each of his hairs is a small barb--which means the fur does not easily brush off of your Sunday-best clothing (or anything else...like the bedspread). I once read that the Siamese is half dog and half monkey--meaning he has the personality of worshiping you at your feet and never outgrowing the crazy kitty-like play. Yup. He wanders around the house, following me like a puppy. If I sit down, he often chooses my lap for his nap. My bed is his bed. Worship.And then the monkey side. Did I ever tell you that he fell into a deep depression when I stole his play mice? I found those brightly colored scraps of fur with tails in a puddle of tipped-over water dish while making may way through the dark one too many times. For whatever reason, he cannot remember that he has a mouse in his mouth when he wants a drink of water...and then, SPLASH! Mouse is floating in the water! And OF COURSE he has to go digging for it, tipping the water dish over and creating the perfect scene for mom to find as she walks through the house at night with bare feet. One night I plopped those little mice on the shelf to dry and forgot about them. His tail all but dragged on the floor. He stopped eating. He stopped purring. I took him to the vet, and we had no idea what was wrong with him. A few days later, I found his mice and dangled them in front of his nose. The tail went up. He pounced. He played. He purred. He skidded around on the floor chasing and leaping and LAUGHING as only a white Siamese can laugh. Oh, great cat. Your mice and crinkle balls are collected, replaced, and guarded with near-holy religiosity...And so. How do we put those two words together? Dog + Monkey...already have a do-nkey (well, we have two of them). Mong? Dogkey? or...Flake. Fits him well.