The Ferrari F-450 will make 585 hybrid horsepower.

Posted on 05.11.2009 15:00 by Terence KeonFiled under: Ferrari 2009 hybrid cars Frankfurt Auto Show sports cars Ferrari F450The future Ferrari F-450 will make its auto show debut this September at the Frankfurt Motor Show in the form of a concept. Compared to the Ferrari F-430, the vehicle it replaces, the 450 will be a little taller, the wheelbase a litte longer and the track a little wider. Even the air intakes in the new fron bumper will grow a little bit. But the news that everyone has been waiting to hear, what's under the hood? Ferrari will use a 4.5 Liter V8 engine that delivers 550 HP. The engine (...) Permalink

let's get this blog back on the road!

Bijou looks on disapprovingly at my lack of blogging.Ok, I've been playing the catch-up game forever! Because of my slowness to post about my travels in Europe, I've also been neglecting the here and now- resulting in a huge blogging backlog which of course makes me afraid to do anything! So resolved, as of today, a schedule for getting this blog back on the road: Saturday, April 4 - BerlinMonday, April 6 - Review of Bryant Terry's Vegan Soul KitchenWednesday, April 8 - Copenhagen and MalmöFriday, April 10 - BelfastSunday, April 12 - England odds and endsTuesday, April 14 - Drawings for 3 prizes, from among those who kindly donated to my charity sky dive way back in September- I have not forgotten!I'm making myself stick to this schedule, and so you can be sure to see all these posts shortly! For all you lovely people who have been gently prodding me in the right direction- thank you!Bijou says "I'll believe it when I see it."

Pampered Mom

Korey and Gabriel are in Limerick again. They left Wednesday in the afternoon and get back around 9 on Friday evening. These pictures were taken on Wednesday morning. As you can see by the picture, Gabriel loves going on these road trips with Daddy. The fact that they ride on two trains (like Thomas the Tank) to get there sure doesn't hurt. Once he was satisfied that I had a picture of him with the suitcase, he wanted to make sure I took a picture of each of his cars (go digital camera, go). Yup, typical boy in some ways, he does love to play "cars and trucks".And that my dear friends, is most likely my last post of the day. I think there's something about the two weeks off coming to an end that makes me realize it might be another few months before I have the energy to blog again and something within me goes crazy wanting to tell you this and show you that before this holiday comes to an end.

CREATE MORE EXCHANGE HOMES AT YOUR DESTINATION

My sister and I are second-generation home exchangers. Back in the 1970's, when we were wee tykes, our parents swapped their second home in New England a few times. My sister and I got to see Colonial Williamsburg and taste Southern delicacies like grits and hush puppies courtesy of a Virginia swap family.These days, sis is an avid scuba diver. She asked me to create a listing for her at HomeExchange.com. She will use it to try to reel in a swap home in a Caribbean dive location like Dominica or the Netherlands Antilles.We searched the main exchange club sites for swap homes in Dominica. We came up almost empty. Each club has one or two homes listed, and some of those may be duplicates. There are very few exchange listings for her first choice get-away. Will my sister be forced to scuba dive in the local rec center pool instead of a beautiful Caribbean beach?It occurred to me that there are a lot more folks renting out their vacation homes in the Caribbean than exchanging them. Many people have rented a condo or house instead of staying in a hotel when on vacation. Few have swapped for the same property, though the benefits are the same -- privacy, more room to spread out in than with a hotel, a homier feel, etc. People who rent their second homes are comfortable having strangers stay there. If they want to visit New York City, perhaps they would consider a home exchange, even if they never did before.I suggested to my sister that she "create" a swap home in her preferred destination by searching for rental properties on vacation rental sites. Since she is considering renting a vacation home if a swap does not come through she can ask if the home is available for rent during her preferred period. She can also broach the possibility of a vacation swap. There is a chance that at least one or two owners of vacation homes might be tempted by my sister's offer. She may be able to create her own swap home in an otherwise sparse area for home exchange. Who knows, she may create new home exchangers where only landlords existed before. You may want to do the same if you are searching for an exchange and coming up empty.SUBSCRIBE NOWYou can subscribe to this blog to receive each day's post. Just enter your email below :Enter your EmailPowered by FeedBlitz

Attend the Gina DePalma Fundraiser on May 18 to Support the Cowgirl Cure Foundation

on May 18 to Support the Cowgirl Cure FoundationFrom Serious Eats: New York There are lots of terrific benefits the food community gets involved in, and we try to tell you about as many of them as we can. But I feel compelled to tell all serious eaters about the cocktail party benefit Mario Batali, his partner Joe Bastianich, and Jim Lahey (of Sullivan Street Bakery and Co.) are doing at Co. on May 18 at 6:30 p.m. to celebrate one of Serious Eats' own, Gina DePalma. This event benefits a truly worthy cause, The Cowgirl Cure Foundation benefiting ovarian cancer research at the Mount Sinai Medical Center. As some of you might know from my James Beard Awards post, Gina is battling cancer. Gina's a fighter, and if anyone can beat back this insanely debilitating disease, it's her. For this benefit, Lahey will be preparing many of his signature pies and spreads, and Batali is going to be rustling up plenty of serious finger food to pass around. Between Lahey's pizza, Batali's food, serious cocktails (and a serious cause), what more could a serious eater ask for? Tickets are $250, and you can buy them here, or even donate money to the Cowgirl Cure Foundation if you can't attend the event. Starting today, May 11, serious eaters can bid on some pretty cool online auction items, like a pizza-making lesson and lunch for six from Jim Lahey, a guided tour of DiPalo Dairy, or even a day at the Guerlain Spa. Hope to see you all there.

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Heroes, 3rd Season finale; "An Invisible Thread" (04/27/2009)

Everybody knows what the TV term "jumping the shark" means....right? This is the point in a TV show or movie series' history where the plot veers off into absurd story lines or out-of-the-ordinary characterizations. This usually corresponds to the point where a show with falling ratings apparently becomes more desperate to draw viewers in. In the process of undergoing these changes, the TV or movie series loses its original appeal. Shows that have "jumped the shark" are typically deemed to have passed their peak.During the 1970's, the TV series, Happy Days had prominent character, Arthur Fonzarelli (aka the "Fonz") ACTUALLY jumping over a penned up shark, while the shows characters were vacationing in California. Of course, the Fonz was doing such a ridiculous thing in response to a dare, but alas, a catchphrase was coined, despite the lameness of the original episode that spawned it.This season has seen more reversals, misbegotten scenarios, and extraneous characters than the previous two seasons combined. They might as well have named this series, The Many Deaths of Nathan Petrelli. And what pray tell, does Claire actually contribute to this storyline anyway? She is cute mind you, but the cheerleader whose salvation was supposed to have saved the world, really hasn't amounted to much of anything. I know the shows writers have long since forgotten this, but Claire's invincible blood would have revived her biological father just fine last night. Don't believe me? Just ask H.R.G.! He took a bullet right through his horned rim glasses, through his eyeball and into his brain last year, and a handy bit of invincible blood had him quickly hopping off the slab in the company morgue pronto. If you want to have Claire continue to hang around just for purposes of eye candy, and nothing else, then have her wear string bikinis and cutesy-pie lingerie. At least then I would understand.I won't miss Nathan much, since his earlier actions had in effect turned him into more of a villain, than a hero. Too bad they didn't dispense with that idiotic Dr. Suresh at the same time and for the same reasons.There was one really, really good moment during the finale and that occurred when Sylar had the tables turned on him by Peter Petrelli in the Presidential limo. It's moments like that that give me some entertainment as a viewer, but as the overall competency of this wayward series has continued to degrade, even stuff like this hasn't led me to expect much going into the summer break.The NBC network executives are in all likelyhood, partially to blame for how badly this show has skewed. Creator Tim Kring obviously didn't have much of a road map to start with, and we have too many aborted plot lines, and too many randomly introduced and rapidly forgotten quest star characters to believe anything else anyway. The originally stated intention of having an evolving cast as the series moved on, was what went wrong here, boys. Sylar just ain't all that! The conceit of hanging onto Zachary Quinto, reminds me of the time when NBC held actor Pierce Brosnan to another year of the faltering series, Remington Steele, just because Brosnan had the inside track to become the next James Bond. Timothy Dalton got the gig instead, but Brosnan eventually got his turn anyway. And there's nothing like having the "new" Mr. Spock in the house, is there? Even when his character has overstayed his welcome.Before season 4 begins filming, I would encourage somebody at the top of the executive food chain to demote Kring to a tertiary position, and let Bryan Fuller either assume full show runner status or simply let the man who helmed Pushing Daisies, hire his own all-new writing staff or have final say on scripts for next year.Kudos for bring back Ali Larter, guys never waste a fine looker like her again. A bonus with her Tracy Strauss character is that she is more interesting than the earlier identify of Nikki-Jessica. Um, don't hesitate to put her in bikinis and lingerie, too.I hope season 4 measures up upon its return - sooner rather than later - because unless it does, I don't think even a cool moment or two is gonna hold my interest further. While we're at it, the Sarah Connor Chronicles is getting axed over on Fox, so Summer Glau is probably going to be available and she has serious genre chops to offer, plus all blonds, all the time, is not the way to go. Trust me!

Act Your Age

Having moved house several times without telling everyone I should have told, I finally caught up with some investments made over five years ago. By an astonishing coincidence, the value of the backlog of dividends and of the investments themselves was sufficient, with enough left over for the running and parking costs for a year, for a second-hand Maserati which I spotted for sale.I was on the brink of trading in the fumiemobile when I remembered that no one looks good driving a sports car except totty. Young guys look like spoilt brats and older guys look like mutton posing (and I choose my words carefully) as lamb. And, as if someone up there was whispering in my ear "Fumie, don't be a prat", I saw a living breathing example driving through Central this afternoon.A greying fellow in an open-topped Porsche (so handy for getting your fill of Hong Kong's pollution, don't you think?), registration number MZ 7980, was driving along Queens Road while reading Hong Kong Magazine, making sure he flipped the pages over so everyone could see how cool he was. Oh, yes, I am sure everyone was mighty impressed by your concern for road safety. To top it off, so to speak, Mr. Mutton had a young kid in the back, ready to be nicely squashed in the event of the accident Mr. Poser was inviting.Nice going!

Death is Afraid of Leningrad

I've written on this subject before, my dad and his Eastern European history loving, East Village living in, eccentric friend.I met my parents for dinner at Katz and my dad's friend joined us. He asked me if I saw the exhibit on German writers in exile at the something something, then about some story in the New Yorker on Gertrude Stein living in Vichy France as she was a right winger. I had no idea what he was talking about, though he is a very nice guy. He makes my interest in Eastern Europe seem beyond amateurish.The exacerberated (sp?) look on my mom's face said it'd been a long day, hanging out with these two sixty something men who quoted obscure movies and made references to things leaving me deep in the dark.It's a window into Toby and my future-our children beffudled, probably embarrassed to some extent and our wives completely lost and certainly exhausted by the immature ramblings, frequently straying into gibberish. This is not to say my dad and his friend speak in gibberish, this is more what Toby and I do, but the parallels are clear.Actual girlfriends have already suffered through some 20-something version. I shudder to think what it will be like when we're in our sixties.No doubt awesome.

Day Ten in Vietnam: 22 May

22 May Hanoi Ha Long Road HA LONG BAY AM: Transfer to Ha Long City through the Red River Delta. PM Transfer to Bai Tho Boat for lunch with fresh seafood, then cruise Ha Long Bay. Stop at Titop Island to relax and swim. “Relax under the starlit sky before retiring to the comfort of your cabin.”Ha Long Bay is one of the most beautiful and romantic sights in all of Vietnam, if not the world. (Liam, we will go back together one day...) As the Lonely Planet guide describes it, "majestic and mysterious, inspiring and imperious..." The name Ha Long means "where the dragon descends into the sea": the Bay and its many islands created from the thrashing of the dragon as it wriggled its way to the shore.We drove from Hanoi early this morning and arrived at the Bay by late morning. We won't be staying near the bay...we'll be staying ON the bay, in a motorized junk By a stroke of luck, our twenty-person party has scored a boat big enough to hold all of us, and small enough not to share with any other groups. So, in essence, Private Cruise on the Victoria 4!!!. A smaller motorized ferry took us out to the main ship.Lunch was a fabulous seafood feast, with a complementary glass of wine (and the prices ensure that this will be our only glass). When they brought out the first course, steamed crab, I nearly swooned (Avie loves her seafood!). Next we had shrimp, then octopus, and finally, broiled fish.The afternoon was spent in gliding around the islands that dot the Bay, and we all piled into the small boat and stopped at one point to explore Sung Sot (“Amazing Cave,”), a large series of caves on one island. Then we returned and after anchoring in a quiet area, we had a swim from the main ship. I must admit I was a bit apprehensive to jump off the second story of the ship--I am afraid of heights and it requires not only the --but I felt I had to keep up the honor of the professors, as Ken had already (literally) taken the plunge.Here is a great photo of the students jumping in:Here is a photo taken from the water (Ken held the camera with one hand as he treaded water!) I am standing to the extreme right (discretely covered with a towel) as I attempt to gather enough courage to make the jump. (There will be no photos of me in my bathing costume...I can't risk becoming an Internet pin-up sensation)The evening was quiet and cool. Sunset came early and the ship dropped anchor for the night. We watched Indochine in the dining room after another seafood dinner that could not be beat. I celebrated with a glass of Jameson's (pretty pricey but worth it!) Our cabins were cozy and beautiful.

Renewing America's Food Traditions

A casual look around our country’s food supply reveals little more than a mix of sprawling, commercialized monocultures. Plants are grown and animals are raised with an eye to efficiency and profit. The nation’s highways swarm with worker-ant trucks that shuttle our agricultural products 1400 miles, on average, between the farm and the plate. But take a close look, and you’ll see something different on the edges: The last remnants of America’s native foodstuffs and our pre-factory-farm agriculture. These are foods with real flavor, not the stripped-down blandness of food raised more for shippability than taste. Heritage turkeys have enjoyed the spotlight of the food press, but these are only the beginning if you know where to look. If you don't know where to look, however, Renewing America’s Food Traditions is a good place to start. The book divides the United States into “food nations” (a practice already in place at Renewing America’s Food Traditions (RAFT) the organization, which birthed the book). A large swatch of California, for instance, is Acorn Nation — a name that rings true to someone like me who learned about acorn grinding holes at summer camp in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Alaska, not surprisingly, is Salmon Nation. The southeastern coast is Crab Nation. And so on. The names evoke the food patterns of the cultures who lived off the native bounty long before semis and trains connected every point in the U.S. with every other point. Each of the book’s small and well-written vignettes focuses on one particular “heritage” food from the food nation that defines each section, focusing on one or two people deeply involved in preserving that food. Some, such as Honey Drip Cane Sorghum, I had never heard of. Some, such as the Olympia Oyster, are treats that I already seek out. Lovely photos and simple recipes accompany each piece. And — you other research-happy food writers will appreciate this — each two-page essay gives a list of resources where you can learn more about the food. But not where to buy it. This is my only complaint about this book, which could live on your reference shelf or your coffee table with equal ease. I can understand why there aren’t instructions for poaching leatherback sea turtles. But where do I buy a Silver Fox rabbit? It could be that the authors don’t want to contribute to the shuttling of food around the country — the editor is locavore founding father Gary Paul Nabhan, after all — but it seems unfair to build up interest in these foods and then snatch away the chance to find them. But this is a must-have book for any food lover who cares about the more interesting ingredients available throughout our country. This book was sent to me for review. Hey all, there’s still room in my upcoming UCB Extension wine class. Sign up soon!

Phoebe crosses the Rainbow Bridge at：2009-05-12 22:43:35 Click: 0 When we came home from vacation we noticed that Phoebe seemed to have lost some w

When we came home from vacation we noticed that Phoebe seemed to have lost some weight. We figured it was probably because the Pig (an aptly named cat) had taken advantage of our absence and crowded his way into Phoebe's food bowl. The house-sitter didn't notice anything wrong with her, so we started feeding her more often and by herself.She didn't gain any weight and seemed to be getting weaker so I took her to our vet on Thursday (the Shabazz-man, as Grendel calls him) and he couldn't find anything visibly wrong; he recommended a blood test.I called him up yesterday to get the results and he said that all her counts were very low and to bring her in for an X-ray. So I did, and when they weighed her they found she had lost another quarter of a pound since Thursday. Not good.I could tell that the Shabazz-man was hoping he's see something obvious in the X-rays, but there was nothing. He decided to give her an antibiotic shot and send her home with more antibiotic and steroid combined, as well as special food, but over the course of the conversation I could tell he was becoming more and more certain that the prognosis was pretty bleak. I asked if there was any specific danger sign to look for, as we did not want her to suffer. He said no, but then said it would be a matter of weeks, not months. It was probably leukemia or bone cancer by how swiftly it progressed.I took her home and she ate a third of the can of cat food. That seemed a good sign. She rested on her blanket on the floor. Before I went to bed I lay down next to her and told her how much we loved her.In the morning it was clear that she was much weaker. That was that, there's no way we were going to let her suffer, so Liam called up the Shabazz-man and was able to bring her right in. I had to go to school to meet with a student. I hated not being able to go with them, but I said goodbye to Phoebe and we loaded her into Liam's car. We were both heartbroken.Liam came into school and said that all went as well as one could expect--she left peacefully and painlessly. The vet agreed it was "an acceptable time" for Phoebe to go.She was a sweet cat, a gentle cat, who never made any trouble. She loved being brushed. We called her "FooFoo," FooFighter" and "Fluffy." She came into our lives suddenly, from a student of ours, D., forced to give up all her cats after a terrible tragedy. She left us too soon.

BMW considering range of two-, three- and four-wheelers for Project i

BMW Clever concept - Click above for an image gallery Back in the summer of 2007, BMW and the University of Bath put their combined heads together and designed a vehicle called the Compact Low Emission Vehicle for Urban Transportation, or Clever for short. Using just 3 wheels and an engine that was designed to run on compressed natural gas, the Clever concept emitted just half the carbon dioxide of normal economy cars.BMW may revisit this design for a future production model under its Project i program, which has the goal of finding new ways to create sustainable models for our transportation needs. The Clever would be just one vehicle in a range consisting of multiple two-, three- and four-wheeled vehicles.As much as we'd love to see a completely electric line from the German automaker, we may be waiting a while. iMotor in the U.K. quotes an unnamed spokesperson for BMW as saying:We are committed to producing a super economical or zero emission vehicle or range of vehicles. However, it's going to be at least five years until we have production models one the road. In the meantime, BMW may be forced to fall back on its motorcycle division to locate a suitable set of powerplants for Project i.Gallery: BMW Clever concept

SharePoint Server 2010 Preliminary System Requirements

We’ve heard loud and clear that you want system requirements information as early as possible to assist in your budgeting and planning, so today we’re happy to announce (and confirm) some preliminary system requirements for SharePoint Server 2010: SharePoint Server 2010 will be 64-bit only. SharePoint Server 2010 will require 64-bit Windows Server 2008 or 64-bit Windows Server 2008 R2. SharePoint Server 2010 will require 64-bit SQL Server 2008 or 64-bit SQL Server 2005. In addition to the requirements listed above we also wanted to share with you some preliminary detail about SharePoint Server 2010 browser compatibility. To ensure the best possible experience across multiple browsers we’re focusing our SharePoint 2010 engineering efforts on targeting standards based browsers (XHTML 1.0 compliant) including Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 3.x. running on Windows Operating Systems. In addition we’re planning on an increased level of compatibility with Firefox 3.x and Safari 3.x on non-Windows Operating Systems. Due to this focus Internet Explorer 6 will not be a supported browser for SharePoint Server 2010. So, what can you do today to get into the best shape for SharePoint Server 2010? Start by ensuring new hardware is 64-bit. Deploying 64-bit is our current best practice recommendation for SharePoint 2007. Deploy Service Pack 2 and take a good look at the SharePoint 2010 Upgrade Checker that’s shipped as part of the update. The Upgrade Checker will scan your SharePoint Server 2007 deployment for many issues that could affect a future upgrade to SharePoint 2010. Get to know Windows Server 2008 with SharePoint 2007, this post is a great starting point. Consider your desktop browser strategy if you have large population of Internet Explorer 6 users. Continue to follow the Best Practices guidance for SharePoint Server 2007. Keep an eye on this blog for updates and more details in the coming months. Info lengkap ada disini

Domestic USAF Operations

If you read USAF news releases, you could be excused for thinking that the Air Force is 100% occupied - and preoccupied - with operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Every other day, regular as clockwork, theres an airpower summary posted, all of which are basically summarized as jets kill insurgents, film at 11. Whats easy to overlook is that there are a sizable number of Air Force assets deployed stateside, and who have nothing to do with the Global War on Terra. The 1st Air Force, also known as Air Force Northern or simply AFNORTH, is the body responsible for all those boring domestic operations like providing support for political conventions, major sporting events like the Super Bowl, and things of that sort. Earlier this year, they produced a nifty handbook detailing their organization, operations, and (airborne) assets, as they apply to the support of civil authorities - i.e. domestic security and disaster-relief operations. Its an interesting look at some lesser-known capabilities of the Air Force, and provides details of both lesser-known assets - RC-26, ARCHER, EO-5, Eagle Vision, anyone? - and better-known systems one might not normally associate with domestic civil support operations - the U-2, E-8, MQ-9, or AC-130, for example. If youre a fan of obscure military aviation trivia, this stuffs for you. Even if youre not so into that stuff, its probably worth downloading; theres a lot of interesting information about, lets be honest, quite a number of things buried in this handbook. (A U-2 mission can cost $12,500 per hour? Crikey. A RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV is a mere $3,400 per hour, and an OH-58 helicopter just - albeit quite precisely! - $942 per hour.) Want a map of the CONUS air defense network? Its there. (No, really - page 91.) The handbook - the 1AF Defense Support of Civil Authorities Air Support Handbook 20093 - weighs in at 5.4MB, and can be downloaded here (Adobe PDF). Enjoy

Dea Double Maduro Rated 91!

Today's Email Specials from: WWW.MDCIGARS.COM These specials are good from May 11th to May 23rd or while supplies last! Click on the link below to see the specials in HTML http://www.mdcigars.com/email_specials.htm Dea Double Maduro was rated 91 by Smoke Mag!As you know MD Cigars created the Dea cigar brand with the goal to deliver a great long fill cigar at a good price. You will not find a better cigar for under $5 I guarantee it!Dea cigars beat out many cigars at twice the price and more! Try the new Dea Double Maduro!Now, for a limited time, Buy any bundle of Dea Cigars and we will toss in a FREE 5-pack! Buy any 5-pack and we will toss in a FREE Dea Cigar!http://www.mdcigars.com/email_specials.htm Buy 2 get one free Trinidad Cigars.Trinidad cigars were rated 92 by Cigar Insider, Trinidad is a limited production cigar with a hearty full flavor.Now, for a limited time, buy 2 singles, 5-packs or Boxes and we will toss in the 3rd for free!http://www.mdcigars.com/email_specials.htm This week’s Friday Night Tasting Special! We always try to give something back to our customers, so every Friday We offer 3 Premium Cigars for only $20 delivered! Plus, if you purchase the Friday special, you eligible for a 15% discount on a box of one of the Featured cigars! Shipping is already included! This week’s featured cigars are: Carlos Torano Noventa LatinHavana Sun Grown ToroIndian Tabac Robusto Grandehttp://www.mdcigars.com/fridaynighttastings.htm Come by the shop, or watch the action on our live web cams! http://www.mdcigars.com/humidor_cam.htm Don’t forget to enter our monthly drawing for a Free Bundle of Cigars! Just Signing up to be on our Email Special List! http://www.mdcigars.com/specials.htm Join our MD Cigars club! You get 5 Great Cigars each month for only $29.95 a month. Being an MD Cigars Club member also gives you an automatic 15% discount on all future purchases at MD Cigars as long as you remain an MD Cigars Club member, Plus your name will be automatically entered into our monthly cigar give-away. http://www.mdcigars.com/cigar_club.htm We accept Visa, Master Card American Express and Discover. Thank you for making MD Cigars your Online Cigar Resource. MD Cigars Http://www.mdcigars.com Customer Service: 928-305-8891 Open: 6 Days a Week. 10:30 to 8 on weekdays and 11 to 8 on Sat. http://www.mdcigars.com

Amy Lee Says Band Is 'Alive And Well'

John LeCompt and Rocky Gray depart after four years; tour will carry on as scheduled, according to Lee.By Gil Kaufman Former Evanescence guitarist John LeCompt Photo: Amy V. Cooper And then there was one. With the recent departure of drummer Rocky Gray and guitarist John LeCompt, Amy Lee is now the only member of Evanescence left who has been in the band since the release of its smash 2003 breakout album, Fallen. LeCompt was either fired by the band or decided to move on  depending which account you believe  while Gray left of his own accord recently, making them the latest members of the group to fall by the wayside. Original guitarist/ co-founder Ben Moody left in 2003 (see "Evanescence Singer Says Split With Moody 'For The Best' "), and bassist William Boyd quit last June after three years in the band (see "Evanescence Lose Bassist; Amy Lee Vows To Stay On Schedule"). Though the group's management could not be reached for comment at press time, promising an official statement later in the day on Monday (May 7), Lee posted an undated explanation of the latest lineup changes on the band's official Web site. In the posting, Lee wrote, "Evanescence is alive and well. John and Rocky were in Evanescence for four years and we shared some great times together playing live, but they were ready to move on and so we have parted ways. Evanescence is something I have loved and nurtured since I was 14, and I will continue to protect and fight for it as I always have." Lee said she and guitarist Terry Balsamo  who replaced Moody in 2003 (see "Evanescence Name New Guitarist")  and bassist Tim McCord  the former Revolution Smile guitarist who replaced Boyd last summer  are "very excited to play live with some amazing new musicians and we will rock harder than ever." Lee did not say who would replace the pair, but promised that no dates on the group's current tour will be canceled. The band is scheduled to play the Rock on the Range hard rock festival in Columbus, Ohio, on May 19 and co-headline the Family Values tour this summer. LeCompt's version of the split was not quite as cheerful as Lee's. According to a post on his MySpace blog, LeCompt said he was informed Friday afternoon that he was being fired from the group during a cell phone call with Lee. "This call wasn't from a friend who appreciated me but from an enemy who was prepared to hurt me and my family. Without any warning or negotiations for my future, I was fired for no good reason," he wrote on his site. "We have not always seen eye to eye on everything, but who does? Our common goal was always the same: To make Evanescence the best rock band it could ever be. I have always given blood, sweat and tears to make that happen but apparently that is not enough. I have now become just another of the people fallen by the wayside on the revolving door of her life." In his own MySpace blog post from Sunday, Gray said he was not able to speak about the split, due to an alleged gag ordered imposed by Evanescence's management. "Amy Lee's management e-mailed me last night to tell me that, in their view, the contract I signed to record, perform and tour with the group says that I'm not allowed to have any free speech in regard to Evanescence," Gray wrote. "The way they spin it, I'm not even allowed to say I quit the group, I guess. But the news is out there, so, there ya go. I need to have a lawyer read over all that mess to tell me what, when and how I can tell you all  the REAL FANS  what really went down, if I ever can, haha." Gray said he is preparing to reunite with his old Living Sacrifice band mate Lance Garvin in the group Soul Embraced, with an album due soon. He said he will also continue to play in the group Machina with LeCompt. Related Artists Evanescence

And Now, an Appeal to You, the Reader

Because Im a history geek, every weekend, I like to browse through Wikipedia and look at the day in history for the upcoming week, to see that, for example, MKULTRA was launched on this date in 1953. (And in slightly-less-recent news, the Fourth Crusade sacked Constantinople on this date way, way back in 1204 CE.) Most of the time, this is fairly useless, but fun. Other times, as is often the case with Wikipedia, I find myself having wasted an hour of my life following links deeper and deeper into the dusty and obscure corners of Wikipedia; its always kind of scary to find pages that havent been edited since 2006& but I digress. I have a favor to ask, that Im hoping one of you great readers can fulfill. I got reading ahead a bit to next week, and was reminded that a week from today is the thirty-first anniversary of the Korean Air Flight 902 incident. That, of course, got me thinking about the much more famous Korean Air Lines incident, Flight 007, which has been surrounded by controversy and conspiracy theories for the better part of three decades. There are a lot of resources on the web about the event, and a great deal of primary and secondary material has been made available over the years. One piece that doesnt seem to be available online is the after action report from Task Force 71, the U.S. Navy search-and-rescue effort that attempted to locate the wreckage of the plane in international waters. It seems to have been made public in the past - its cited in the Wikipedia article, and in several of the books about KAL 007 - but its never been put online, that I can find. About two years ago, I made a FOIA request, hoping to remedy that situation, and was informed, eventually, that the Navy was unable to locate a copy. Make of that what you will. Regardless, now that Ive been reminded of it, Id like to remedy this situation, and make the TF71 report available online, free, for download. So, if youve got a copy, or know someone who does, please get in touch with me so we can work something out. I dont care about proving or disproving this or that theory about the incident; I just want to try and help make a piece of lost history available. Ta, as they say, muchly.

Somethin'

I probably would have written several days ago if I could have come up with an opening line. I still don't have one but I'm tired of nuffin' and want to do somethin'. It's hard to start again after so long, how do you bridge the gap? I don't really know but one thing is for sure, whatever this post is, that's it.Does such a long break require an explanation? Of course the answer is only if I want to give one, which I kind of do. If for no other reason than to organize myself. And possibly bring any lingering readers (there can't be many) in on my story. This is a personal blog after all.I've sort of talked in circles about my "difficult Fall" with regard to stress. It was actually more like a flare up of the anxiety/depression that I've dealt with for many years. Most of the time I manage just fine, my life is not greatly affected by it. But once every 8-10 years something seems to trigger more serious anxiety. That happened for me on September 29. Was just working and a non-issue work situation arose that just triggered panic. I'm still not totally sure why it happened but it has taken months to work out some theories. It's very unfortunate that it was a work related trigger because work is so inescapable. And after I panicked once, I was extremely nervous about it happening again. Which it did...a bunch.It's been my experience that anxiety kind of takes over. When I'm in it, I can't feel happy, love, joy or really anything besides fear. When the fear subsides, I just feel sad for being taken out of my life. This is especially hard as a mom. I generally did a good job with Will but a few times it was clear how clued in he was. One day he asked me why I was so scared. Then he told me it would be OK. He was right, of course. But that made me very sad.From the very beginning I knew I had to face this. My whole life couldn't fall apart, that just wasn't an option. My first step was to begin seeing a therapist. There I began to unravel the larger issues for me. The things that made me so upset at work were all about making mistakes, not doing a flawless job. I was really afraid of being in trouble. I felt overly responsible for things that were outside my control or not even my job. This is not something I've knowingly struggled with at work before though in my life I've always had a hard time with making mistakes. I can be really hard on myself in that way. Therapy has helped me learn to notice the beliefs and thoughts I have about myself, the mean things I tell myself. And it's helping me replace those things with something true.I also decided to stop going to boot camp. After more than a year, I'd lost 40 lbs and essentially accomplished all the goals I had. And I felt that the energy required for that kind of rigorous program wasn't what I had to give, or even wanted to anymore. So instead I began a yoga immersion course - hatha five days a week for a month (my course is over but I am still practicing several times a week). And at the same time I took a meditation class at the local new age bookstore. The idea around both was twofold. First to learn more about controlling my thoughts instead of just letting them carry me a way. And second, to be "in my body" enough to notice that anxiety (for me) is a very physical experience. I generally have a physical sensation first (cold sweats, racing heart, upset tummy), and then my mind begins thinking of ways to justify the feeling. Both practices help me notice the early signs of an anxiety attack and then refocus before my mind and body become entrenched in it.The one area of my life that I did let go was this blog. Throughout I kind of wondered what role this blog may play in my perfectionist tendencies. For certain, it was one more area in my life where I wanted to perform well. And where I held very high expectations of myself. Letting it go was like exposure therapy...what if I failed? But it was also a relief, letting myself off my own hook. In some ways it was just impossible to maintain it. I mean, I really haven't cared about fashion or entertaining at all during this. My interests have gone to the wayside, hard. And I've also felt intensely private and even now, sharing this story is challenging. Even so, I've been hoping that when I began to feel better I would have the space to pick it back up.And I am feeling better. I've come to understand that anxiety/depression is an actual condition I have, like diabetes or asthma. It's been very difficult for me to accept this, it's mental illness after all. Nobody likes that label. But the fact is that it's all over my family tree. Many of us are treating it in healthy pro-active ways and for others it shows up as alcoholism and other addictions. I've spent a lot of time talking to my family about their experiences and symptoms which was great because I ended up feeling less alone and freakish. This also helped me understand that in addition to the spiritual, emotional, and dietary methods I'd been using, I also needed to consider a chemical component. I was just really resistant to using medication but after 4 months, it was clear there was something missing from my treatment plan. After much research and debate, I've been on Wellbutrin for a month and I finally feel like I'm on a well rounded course of treatment. I still have a mountain to climb (we all do) but at least now I have shoes on.So that's my story. I'm on my way to feeling less like this:And more like this:And that's somethin'.

We were what we ate

NEW YORK - After studying the menu at the Gramercy Tavern, a Manhattan restaurant featuring "New American cuisine," writer Mark Kurlansky says, "Nothing screams out '1942,' which may not be a bad thing."There's no Mississippi molasses pie. No Montana fried beaver tail. No Long Island rabbit stew or Nebraska pig fries.But thanks to writers such as Eudora Welty and Zora Neale Hurston, descriptions and recipes of each are found in Kurlansky's The Food of a Younger Land (Riverhead, $27.95, on sale Thursday).It's based on reports, forgotten for more than 60 years, from the Depression-eraFederal Writers Project. Part of the New Deal, it created work for writers, including a few who became famous, such as Welty (The Optimist's Daughter) and Hurston (Their Eyes Were Watching God).One of its last projects, begun in 1939, was a guidebook to local foods and eating traditions. It was to be called "America Eats," but it was abandoned in 1942, shortly after Pearl Harbor, when federal resources shifted from social to military spending.One part of the project was published in 1992 by the University of Iowa Press, an essay on Midwestern foods by Nelson Algren, who wrote the 1950 best seller The Man With a Golden Arm.Nine years ago, Kurlansky, who has written several books on food, including Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World and Salt, was at the Library of Congress, researching an anthology of food writing.He stumbled upon the "American Eats" files, what he calls "a time capsule from 1942, from an America without frozen food or chain restaurants."There were five boxes of unedited manuscripts and correspondence about topics that included "Georgia Possum and Taters" and "A Los Angeles Sandwich Called a Taco," as well as "The Mint Julep Controversy" between the "don't-crush school" and the "do-crush school" when it came to preparing the sprigs of mint.In six decades, the files at the library had been requested only two or three times.Kurlansky, 60, knew what he had: "I like food too much to be a restaurant reviewer, but I have an anthropological passion for food as a trail of clues to society and history."He spent a week reading the files, which was "like tapping into another America."He notes that in a report from Vermont, Mari Tomasi "knew that Italian food was rare enough for her to feel the need to explain what ravioli is."When it came to collecting recipes, few of the writers were as careful or diligent as Welty, who wrote: "Yankees are welcome to make these dishes. Follow the directions and success is assured."Hurston wrote a short story about a mythical African-American land with great barbecue but ran into racism. Kurlansky found a memo from the project's Florida directors warning their staff that Hurston "is given to putting on airs, including the smoking of cigarettes in the presence of white people."If "America Eats" had been finished and published in 1942, Kurlansky says, it wouldn't have been as interesting then as it is now: "Enough time had to go by."Over a lunch of halibut in hazelnut yogurt sauce, he says food wasn't necessarily better then, "but it was local and seasonal. What you ate told you who you were, where you were and what time of season it was."

Huff Thinks Joba Looks Like a Bitch

DMV is a daily roundup of District-Maryland-Virginia (mostly) sporting links. The Os held a meeting to discuss Joba Chamberlains celebratory style. Aubrey Huff then hit a first-inning HR, fist pumping in Jobas direction while rounding the bases. Joba responded by not allowing any more runs, getting the W and saying, Im not here to make friends, you guys. [Daily News] Os pen wastes another good outing from Koji; Yanks win 5-3. [The Sun] Nats lose as the middle of the lineup showed some serious muscle. The pitching staff kept its competence to an absolute minimum. [Nats Journal] Strasburg tosses his first college no-no in his final home start. [Roto Arcade] Caps are 5-1 in six elimination games over the past 13 months. [WaPo] Maryland may be replacing its Fear the Turtle slogan. [Testudo Times] Handicapping right tackle: Heyer vs. Jansen vs. Williams. [Real Redskins] B-Mitch cut from the Thompson Show, replaced by Doc Walker. [DCRTV] Today: Caps-Pens (7), Nats-Giants (10:15) (Grainy Huff Pump screen captures via the Daily News and Camden Chat.)