THE EPICUREANS / HIGHWAY / THE MURPHY BROTHERS BAND

Por Steve MurphyTHE EPICUREANS Highway e A Murphy Brothers Band compartilham a mesma raiz musical como uma banda da região sul do Minnesota chamado The Epicureans. Nos anos posteriores foram referidos como Fairmont, Minnesota Beatles.Em 1965 Fairmont duas bandas, a Corvairs e o Pacers se fundiram para formar a Epicureans.Em 1966, eles gravaram os primeiros compactos em 45 rpm recorde registrado no IGL Estúdio em Milford, Iowa e liberado em 1969 o seu segundo registro em 45rpm no Áudio Universal Studios em Winona, Minnesota.Nos seus primeiros anos eles se apresentaram em todo o sul e do norte de Minnesota, em Iowa e os seus últimos anos em todo o Midwest.Nos últimos 60's foram atribuídas NBOA um prêmio pela Associação Nacional Ballroom operadores. Foi um prestígio da sentença, dando-lhes um fácil acesso todos os salões da região.Em 2005, o Epicureans foram introduzido no Minnesota A Mid-América Music Hall of Fame.HIGHWAY Em 1971, depois de muitas mudançasde membro, O Epicureans decidiram mudar seu nome para Highay. Naquela época eram cinco membros na banda.A banda vivia em uma fazenda em na area rural de Minnesota. Enquanto estavam tocando em um bar em Minneapolis uma noite, sua casa pegou fogo. Os meses seguintes foram de muita luta. O ex-vocalista começou uma discussão que terminou com Steve Murphy que acabou quebrando o nariz dele.O Steve não não lembra sequer qual o motivo que levou à briga!Dentro de um ano O Highway era um trio que avançava para gravar seu álbum debut Highway.Em 1975, após um baixista jogador mudar, eles gravado a sua auto-intitulado álbum de Westminster A As gravações foram no estúdio Otho, Iowa não muito longe da Fort Dodge.O álbum foi lançado regionalmente e Highway foi abrindo para bandas como Reo Speedwagon, Styx, Bob Seger, Dr. Hook, Cheap Trick e muitos outros.Em finais de 1975, O highway trocou de baixista, ao mesmo tempo acrescentado ex-membro do Epicure/ Highway tecladista, Tim Messerli, e eles estavam de volta a ser uma banda com 4 membros.Em 1976 discoteca estava começando a crescer em popularidade,justo quando o Higway começava a se destacar fo um golpe mortal na banda.Não conseguiam muitas casas para tocar e com poucos rendimentos eles resolveram se separar.Depois de anos vendo muitos caras deixar a banda, Steve Murphy, que tinha sido o único que nunca desistiu. e finalmente fez dissolveu o Highway.É por sorte o Highway gravou vários dos seus espectáculos ao vivo em todo o seu tempo. No futuro não tão distante, o plano é fazer com que essas faixas disponíveis para os seus fãs. THE MURPHY BROTHERS BAND Um Pouco antes do Highway ser dissolvida, Steve Murphy's Brother, Mike, que lhe tinha dado seus primeiros dois violões e foi sua inspiração para tocar guitarra, voltou para Minnesota.Mike e Steve tinha sempre quiseram tocar música em conjunto e mais tarde em 1977, após meses de ensaio, eles começaram O Murphy Brothers.Tocavam como um duo de dois anos e meio. Em 1980, acrescentaram O antigo do Epicure baterista, Dick DUSEK, ex- Highway baixista John Goossen.Havia mais lugares para tocar e agraderam a Dues que a maldita discoteque estava perdendo terrerno e a banda tinha mantido o seu espaço.Mike Murphy Senior tocou com a banda por 10 anos. O filho dele, Mike Murphy, Jr., tomou seu lugar e por 10 anos. Em 2002 a banda fez duas alterações e membros com Greg George na Guitarra e Jason Anderson baixo.Ambos os tinham tocado em muitos grupos diferente, e foram uma grande adição aos Murphy Brothers Band.Por esta altura, de música country era o que era bom para a Banda devido à sua música baseado no Rock.Parecia que mais pessoas entendiam suas músicasar e tornou possível para eles comporem mais músicas no estilo que gostavem de tocar.Em 2007, a banda gravou e lançou seu primeiro CD intitulado "Synergy" e a música parece que a música tenha m evoluído para trás e com a intensidade que eles todos gostavam de tocar. O Murphy Brothers se apresenta muitos festivais e eventos maiores nestes dias. As coisas estão indo muito bem, e a banda já iniciou as gravações do seu segundo CD, que espero que seja lançado ainda este ano. É impressionante a quantidade de chamadas e contactos que têm vindo ao longo dos anos sobre o Álbum do Highway e os muitos CDs que foram vendidos, a partir do E.U.A. Inglaterra, Alemanha, Itália, Bélgica e Brasil.É a banda da esperança e otimismo que os grandes fãs que gostam do material do Highwayl também irá desfrutar O Murphy Brothers Band CD "sinergia". "É uma continuação do mesmo movimento que começou já em meados dos anos 60's, e continua hoje e sobre o futuro.1. THE EPICUREANS 1965 - 19712. HIGHWAY 1971 – 19783. THE MURPHY BROTHERS BAND 1977 – PRESENTSTEVE MURPHY GUITAR 1, 2, 3JERRY CLARK GUITAR/BASS 1TOM BROCKMAN DRUMS 1PHIL MESSERLI KEYBOARDS 1WAYNE WOLTERS BASS 1DENNIS THATE DRUMS 1TIM MESSERLI KEYBOARDS 1, 2DICK DUSEK DRUMS 1, 3JOHN GOOSSEN BASS 1, 2, 3CHRIS SKILLMAN SINGER/ONLY 1, 2SCOTT BODINE DRUMS 1DAN CAMMARATA DRUMS 1, 2TOM OLSON DRUMS 2JERRY BECKLEY SINGER/ONLY 2ERIC BANNISTER BASS 2RON CURTIN BASS 2MIKE VELASQUEZ DRUMS 2MIKE MURPHY SR. GUITAR 3DENNIS DOBIE BASS 3MIKE MURPHY JR. GUITAR 3GREG GEORGE GUITAR 3JASON ANDERSON BASS 3DALE BJORKLUND DRUMS 3 Download

On the death of a child

[I feel like I’ve had too many death posts of late; I apologize, but it's the order of the day.]I don’t use profanity; the gemara is very clear about how repellent it is when a person cannot control his tongue, and uses his gift of speech for base purpose. Presumably, the same applies to the keyboard. So I won’t say what’s on my mind.And there’s nothing meaingful to say, anyway. What would you say?What do you to someone who carries a baby to term, only to discover upon birth that it is not viable? What do you say when you stand there in the NICU and look at a baby, born yesterday, that will not see tomorrow’s sunrise? What do you say afterward, as the body lies, still, on a table designed for serving up life and joy and celebration?Forget what you say to the family, to the mother. There is nothing to say; you’re just there.But what do you say to yourself in order to shut out the image, so that when you look at your own happy children you don’t see those closed eyes, the miniature fist that should be clenched, not lax?What do you say to calm your mind, so that when you look in the mirror you are not awash with guilt for having been spared this calamity?What do you say to relax your nerves so that every pregnant woman doesn’t suddenly seem to be a disaster in the making, so that when you finally drift off tonight – eyes closed like the baby, don’t you know - you won’t see visions of what you saw today?And what do you say to others, to people you meet who waste their breath and time and happy moments on turf wars and pride and who-did-what-to-whom? Or to people who have done nothing wrong, beyond being concerned with a passing, comparatively trivial matter at time when you are enveloped in this? I know pediatricians, hospitalists, NICU personnel; they see this more than I do. I want to ask them, but I don’t want to know the answer. I know many, too many people who have endured this personally and managed to live life, sometimes birthing more children, sometimes adopting, sometimes not, but finding a way to survive.I don’t want to know that you can’t learn to live with it. But I certainly don’t want to know that you can learn to live with it.

Baby Names

You know? None of the eleventeenmillion blog posts I've written in my head in the last couple weeks involved any discussion of baby names whatsoever. But I'm tired and achy and just a little bit blown away by life at the moment. Because dude.I mean, Ish and I moved in together, into this apartment, last February 15. If all goes well, we'll be leaving it soon. And I tell you what. I knew when we moved in that I could not possibly foresee the circumstances under which we'd be moving out again. Would we be moving out together or separately? If separately, would our break-up have been amicable? Or would we be moving together to another apartment? A bigger one? A smaller one? A place we'd...own? Never did I think that just one tiny little year later I'd have left my job and that we'd be moving to a house, in Napa, and that we'd be married and I'd be pregnant.See? Dude.And yes, I am looking forward to it all, of course I am. But it is a lot to take in, and not just because I've come a long way from where I was a year ago. Let's be fair. It hasn't been that long since I was splayed on the bathroom floor in a big stupid house in Connecticut, sobbing hysterically to no one because my husband had left me and my mother was dying and I couldn't envision my future, or any future at all.Which is to say that all these life changes are great and huge and when I start to put them in context, they're even greater and huger and I'd love to have some time to just let it all sink in.Ha! Except!I can't very well just go flitting about, pondering and pontificating and tra-la-la-ing while things magically sort themselves out. (Although that would be cool. I picture myself skipping through a meadow with some ridiculous sun hat on, and when I return from my jaunt I discover that all our stuff got packed up and moved by elves! And there were no issues with the mortgage! And we're settled in our home and oh! The baby was born! Fiddle dee dee!)But right. No. And all this is a very roundabout way of saying that, while I'm busy trying to sort out all the emotional "whoa"ness going on, life isn't getting put on hold.Which brings me -- yay! -- to the point of this entry.The baby is still due in a few months and we haven't bought any baby anything yet. I haven't taken a single class, or read more than a few pages here and there in a couple books. I still mostly think this pregnancy is totally surreal, and I'm in some fairly considerable disbelief about it.Thus this baby most certainly does not have a name yet. So, ah, wanna help?Here's where we're coming from:We are trying to avoid names in the Top 100 most popular lists, and if possible, even names in the top 500. We like a lot of old-fashioned and traditional names, but surprisingly, many of those are on the current most popular lists. (Ex: Isabella)We do like untraditional and interesting names, too...from history, Hollywood, or literature especially. We're very open to last names as first names, and even to boy names.I do not, however, like made-up names. And if it's something you can imagine Britney liking, I will probably hate it. (Anything of the Brayden/Jayden variety is really just not my style.)We don't care if the name is hard to spell.I don't plan to change my last name, but the baby will have Ish's last name of Bartlett.We are primarily of British, Celtic and German descent.I also personally like French names, and I really like names with long and short A sounds.I don't really want to provide examples of specific names we're considering, because I'd prefer not to have them shot down (everyone does it, myself included). But just to give you a small taste, one of my most favoritest names is Ava -- and see? It has both the long and the short A sound. Unfortunately, it's the #1 name for 2008 and also Ish vetoed it. So oh, well.One of our actual still-on-the-list possibilities is the name Maeby. (Yep.)So...any thoughts? Suggestions?We'd love your help!

[Fulltime] - Web (PHP) Developer - MTV Networks at MTV Networks/Neopets

Location: Glendale, CA Position SummaryAs a Web Developer (Technical Development) this individual is responsible for development of internet software products for high-traffic consumer-facing digital properties, with concentration upon development of PHP/MySQL and related LAMP-based web pages, applications and solutions. The Web Developer will be responsible for designing, coding and supporting the development, implementation and execution of all web page, application and software development projects within the Technical Development organization. Responsible for phased design, development, unit & regression testing and version gating of all web and LAMP architecture-based initiatives, including version control, documentation and ongoing administration of web systems ensuring the accurate, timely, cost-effective execution and delivery of all technical programs in accordance with business requirements, marketing & sales goals and objectives, best practices and procedures. The successful candidate must possess strong technical development, communication, organization and project development skills, and must exhibit exceptional follow-through. You must be able to work independently and take action to achieve goals and objectives, while remaining productive and focused in a fast-paced and evolving environment. Most of all, we are looking for candidates who can deliver exceptional technical delivery of complex projects and programs on behalf of the Technology & Product Development organization. Role Requirements (Essential Responsibilities) 2+ years experience in web-based page, architecture, application & systems design  Demonstrated ability to interact with external and internal customers, vendors, and senior management  Excellent interpersonal and problem resolution skills; consistently exceptional oral, written, and presentation skills  Strong technical background in LAMP architecture, open-source technology protocols and languages, multi-tier distributed systems and effective technical project delivery experience is necessary to succeed in this role.  The position will require working closely with related technical design & development teams (including multimedia, database, application & systems) both domestically and internationally  Manage large-scale projects and initiatives that extend and enhance Neopets intellectual properties, including work estimation, resource allocation, architecture review, schedule forecasting, capacity planning, and delivering on near and long-term initiatives.  This individual will tackle configuration and debugging tasks through issue isolation and deductive reasoning, understand technical service interdependencies, drive towards technical solutions for multi-tiered systems and support effective teams.  Web page and application development and integration of end-user digital products  Design, development and administration of PHP/MySQL & LAMP systems architecture  Responsible for analyzing assigned tasks, providing accurate work estimates, and managing own time relative to ensuring that developed projects are delivered on time, to specification and with quality  Code and system documentation experience Technical Skills The Technical Skills sought for this position include:  Subject-matter expert in LAMP, PHP 5, MySQL 5, AJAX, OOP design patterns, Java, JSP, JavaScript, CSS, HTML, DHTML, DOM, LAMP technologies and associated editing programs  Experience w/ Version control (including Subversion)  Linux  Backend administration tools, including ability to work at the command line Creative problem solving ability Ability to work in a fast-paced team-oriented environment and be adaptable to the demands of all levels and types of production duties Capable of leading peer-level developers Solid communication, documentation skills Capable of understanding business objectives and able to translate business goals into technical design A solid understanding and practical application of current online virtual worlds (MMO’s, MMOG’s, MMORPG’s), online games development, web technologies, object oriented languages, service-oriented architectures, distributed computing, and agile development methods would be beneficial Experience Level Minimum 2+ years experience in web architecture, application and page development  Minimum 2+ years of successful track record of commercial web development experience This is a fulltime position. To Apply: Send resume to mia.burgess@mtvstaff.com or visit our jobs page at www.mtvncareers.com. Click here to read the whole listing

Red t-shirts. Some shoes. A few hills, bridges, and Elvis at mile 10.

I hear Elvis himself will sing to us at some point on the Flying Pig half marathon route on Sunday. I hope it's at mile 10. I really do. Because I will be delirious by then and it won't surprise me at all that The King is serenading me, jumpsuit open to there. The t-shirts for the intrepid Life is a Verb Flying Pig half-marathon team were printed just down the street by real people with squeegees and ink. The ones for the 14 members of the team have a flying pig on the right sleeve just to remind us of that glorious day in what might be pouring rain, according to the Weather People.I'll give away a few t-shirts over the next few weeks - the first of which goes to Michelle who left this quote to carry with me: "When nothing is sure, everything is possible." ~Margaret Drabble I'm also giving away a t-shirt to anyone who donates at least $5 a mile (at 13.1 miles, that equals $65.50) to Metropolitan Ministries. You can find out how to do that here. As of today, Mr Brilliant and Tessie won't be there to cheer us on, alas. (She wailed, "I NEVER GET TO GO TO OHIO!" and "I WOULD BE MUCH HAPPIER IF YOU TELL ME I CAN GO!" when I told her, poor thing, breaking my heart). He had a bad fall today and really hurt his ankle, the kind of ouchy ouch that makes you nauseous. And it takes A LOT to get him to that point, so I knew it was bad. But evidently he got his medical degree without telling me, so he refused to go to the doctor. Instead, he prescribed his own treatment: two cooler freezer packs duct taped to his leg. I kid you not. I might need those freezer packs tomorrow. This could be dicey. One more sleep until Cincinnati. No one has stepped forward as my body double, so I guess this is it.[Thanks to Mary Campbell for the t-shirt design and the happy printers at On a Roll for the great job!]

Scott Tower

I Had The Grandest Of Plans Today

I love June Cleaver After A Six-Pack. I mean, we Aussies never got Leave It To Beaver (well, as far as I know, anyway) and I was about thirty years too late to properly enjoy it, even if we were to get it. We had The Sullivans and A Country Practice. But I get the June Cleaver analogy - uber-Mum akin to Mrs Brady but with far less children, right? I just struggle to find an Aussie equivalent, LOL. Now, the above-mentioned blog usually hits the nail on the head with the witty but mortifyingly funny posts. Take this one for example. Laughed till I cried. Then went online to browse Victorias Secret from afar because hello? It is another American Thing we Aussies dont have down here. However, todays post, God&You Are Such A Sly Guy! is only half the truth. That week of bliss of which she speaks? Not one iota mentioned about the flip side to the coin! The one or two days every month that you would willingly carve your own eyeballs out with a rusty spoon if it kept you from having to get up and, you know, actually do stuff. My tum-tum hurts. Sigh. And! Everything in my house is WRONG, just WRONG and must be fixed immediately! The spare room we have been cleaning out for Boof for two years needs to be attacked today! Right this instant! And why is it not done already! And the laundry Ive been cleverly stupidly ignoring since we returned from our trip almost two weeks ago needs to be obliterated! And why isnt the darn iron working! And God? Whats up with this heat? AND WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS CRUMB DOING ON THE BENCHTOP!!! (and trust me, if you knew me personally, you would realise how insanely opposite of my normal demeanour that last sentence is) Im not normally this crazy-obsessive, probably because Im not usually one to suffer that time of the month too badly. Most of the time I barely pause. Today though, Im actually feeling just about lousy enough to say to heck with it all and sleep the rest of the afternoon away. I can plead the my uterus nutured YOUR babies card with Talented Hubby. Ive calculated I can use it approximately 1.4 times per year and Im well overdue. But Im nice, so I wont. Ive done two loads of laundry and about one-seventeenth of the room clean-out. Ill make sandwiches in a moment for The Horde. And later on today I may even get domestic enough to make a menu. Maybe.

Mayday!

Does anyone have experience with backing up a Wordpress blog? I found a plugin to schedule backups but it is coming up with this error message from within the Tools menu (ie, Ive managed to upload the plugin and activate it, but it wont let me go any further): WARNING: Your backup directory does NOT exist, and we cannot create it. Using your FTP client, try to create the backup directory yourself: /home/lizziesh/public_html/wp-content/backup-8e518/ WARNING: Your backup directory is NOT writable! I have absolutely no idea how to create my own backup directory. Halp! The reason for the backup is kind of paramount. It is looking increasingly likely that Lizzies Home will be moving back to Blogger (and therefore will change to www.lizzieshome.blogspot.com as it was originally) when my hosting arrangement expires toward the end of February. But before I make that final decision, I am trying all possible avenues to export FROM Wordpress TO Blogger (theres millions of articles out there on how to export Blogger TO Wordpress, but almost nothing in reverse) I have, however, stumbled across a program which will (in theory) let me at least attempt it, but before I try it, I want to back things up in case my world (ie, the blog) collapses around me. I just dont feel comfortable laying 513 posts on the line if this might work, might not program chooses not to work. The only alternative I have is to manually copy/paste the last 12 months of posts (approx 200) and I want to do that about as badly as I want to stab myself in the eye with a rusty fork. Which I will gladly do as collateral if someone&.anyone!&could help me! So if you have ANY tech-y expertise, I implore you to put your hand up. Or rope your bloggy husbands into the mix. I will sing your praises forever. Because I cannot TELL you how stressed this has made me&

Galileo ICU4J Requirement Is Painful

Projects must use ICU4J if they wish to participate in the Galileo release of Eclipse, due this summer. Though such a requirement may make good sense in theory, in practice adopting ICU4J is painful. Not only does this policy stifle innovation for questionable gain, such a burden makes participating in the Eclipse ecosystem less attractive. ICU4J is designed to be a drop-in replacement for Java classes that perform poorly or behave incorrectly. The idea is that you change your import statements, recompile and everything works. In applying this technique to Mylyn WikiText, I’ve discovered that it’s not that easy.Mylyn WikiText makes use of two classes that are to be replaced by ICU4J equivalents: MessageFormat and ResourceBundle.ResourceBundleResourceBundle conversion should be easy, right? ICU4J provides UResourceBundle, which extends ResourceBundle.... wow, that’s great. All I should have to do is replace ResourceBundle.getBundle() with UResourceBundle.getBundleInstance()... easy peasy. Unfortunately, not so easy.Previously I had used the JDT ‘Externalize Strings’ wizard to externalize strings in my plug-in. The JDT nicely created a utility class Messages.java alongside the resource bundle messages.properties. This worked really well and has been in use for some time. Unfortunately after converting to ICU4J UResourceBundle throws a NoClassDefFoundError because of the presence of the Messages class. It seems that UResourceBundle cannot handle a resource bundle alongside a class by a similar name. While I’ve logged bug 272166 to track this issue and have it fixed, it doesn’t help me. Even if the bug gets fixed in time for Galileo, Mylyn WikiText must work on Eclipse 3.3 and 3.4 as well.It gets worse. Mylyn WikiText is already translated to German and Japanese. Resource bundle message keys must remain relatively stable in order to avoid losing those translations. JDT creates message keys containing dots ‘.’, and the Eclipse externalized string pattern cannot have dots in message keys... so I cannot convert over to the Eclipse externalized string pattern without losing these translations.MessageFormat MessageFormat evolved for Java 5: it’s format() method became a var-args method, meaning that you can pass a variable number of arguments to it. WikiText makes extensive use of this method, so you’ll see code such as this:MessageFormat.format(messageTemplate,arg1,arg2)ICU4J does not have a var-args method equivalent — it seems that ICU4J has not evolved for Java 5. To adopt ICU4J’s MessageFormat, all calls had to be converted as follows:MessageFormat.format(messageTemplate, new Object[] { arg1, arg2 })While the conversion can be achieved using regular expressions, the resulting code is less readable and more prone to bugs. Localization is hard enough as it is without having to jump through age-old languageisms.SummaryWhile converting all plug-ins to ICU4J may make sense for some, making it a requirement for Galileo participation has caused me and presumably others a lot of work. From what I can see ICU4J brings little or no value to the users of my project. This is one case where good intentions with policy have a substantial negative impact. In my case, the time I’m spending converting to ICU4J could have been used to innovate or improve the quality of WikiText. Instead I’m jumping through hoops with no apparent benefit for me, my project or my users.

Unemployment "statistics"

I am so sick of hearing about how the unemployment situation is looking up in the USA. It goes like this: 'Last week there were 674,000 new claims for unemployment benefits and this week there are only 654,000 new ones.'(actual statistics) Supposedly people aren't losing their jobs as fast and some are going back to work-no wait, that's NEW CLAIMS, not people going OFF unemployment. And to boot, some of those job figure included people being hired to take the census in 2010, but what are those people supposed to do for jobs until next year? I think as long as unemployment is increasing at such an alarming rate it is bad. Unemployment at present is higher than it has been in 25 years, so where's the good news?

Ford Football Special showing

Ford Football SpecialFord Football Special, showing Wednesday April 22nd on Sky Sports 1 at 7:30pmChelsea face an uphill struggle in pursuit of their fourth title. With Liverpool recently taking over as the main threat to frontrunners Manchester United, every game is a must-win encounter for Guus Hiddink's side, including their match against Everton at Stamford Bridge. Both teams are in line for a place in Europe next term, with the London club's UEFA Champions League slot all but cemented and the Toffees' in line for a UEFA Cup qualifying position, but anything could happen during the season run-in. The Blues took a point away from Merseyside after a 0-0 deadlock played out between the teams in December. Who can grab victory in the battle at the Bridge? View the full reviewGet a reminder when Ford Football Special starts...

Linstasan Sejarah Angkatan Udara

Tanggal 9 April 2009 segenap insan Angkatan Udara memperingati hari jadinya yang ke-63. Keberadaan Angkatan Udara yang mandiri ditandai dengan berubahnya status Tentara Keamanan Rakyat Jawatan Penerbangan menjadi Tentara Republik Indonesia Angkatan Udara sejajar dengan Angkatan Darat dan Angkatan Laut, yang secara De Jure tertuang dalam Penetapan Pemerintah Nomor 6/SD tanggal 9 April 1946. Bila ditinjau peristiwa masa lalu, perjalanan Angkatan Udara sebagai sebuah angkatan perang, memang terkesan unik. Selain proses kelahirannya yang begitu singkat, alutsista yang dimiliki juga sangat sederhana. Waktu itu Angkatan Udara hanya bermodalkan pesawat-pesawat bekas yang dioperoleh dari rampasan tentara Jepang, seperti Cureng, Nishikoreng, Guntei dan Hayabusha. Jumlah penerbang dan teknisinya pun sangat terbatas. Namun dengan kesederhanaan dan keterbatasan, Angkatan Udara mampu menorehkan tinta emas dalam lembaran sejarah perjuangan bangsa. Mengangkasanya pesawat dengan identitas merah putih yang diterbangkan Agustinus Adisutjipto, operasi udara pertama terhadap kota Semarang, Salatiga dan Ambarawa, operasi lintas udara pertama di Kalimantan merupakan sebagian darma bakti para perintis Angkatan Udara kepada Ibu Pertiwi. Marsekal TNI Suryadi Suryadarma, Marsekal Muda TNI (Anumerta) Agustinus Adisutjipto, Marsekal Muda TNI (Anumerta) Abdulrachman Saleh, Marsekal Muda TNI (Anumerta) Halim Perdanakusuma, dan Marsekal Pertama TNI (Anumerta) Iswahjudi merupakan sebagian nama-nama besar yang ikut andil membesarkan Angkatan Udara. Hadirnya pesawat-pesawat yang lebih modern seperti P-51 Mustang, B-25 Mitchel, B-26 Invander, C-47 Dakota, Mig-15, Mig-17 dan PBY Catalina pada dekade 1950-an telah mengantar Angkatan Udara selangkah lebih maju. Dengan pesawat-pesawat tersebut Angkatan Udara ikut berperan dalam berbagai operasi keamanan dalam negeri seperti penumpasan DI/TII, RMS, PRRI, Permesta, serta berbagai gangguan keamanan dalam negeri lainnya. Dekade 1960-an, Angkatan Udara memasuki masa kejayaannya dan bahkan menjadi kekuatan yang paling disegani di kawasan Asia Tenggara karena memiliki alutsista yang cukup besar dan handal. Angkatan Udara juga berperan dalam pelaksanaan Operasi Trikora, Dwikora maupun penumpasan pemberontakan G 30 S /PKI. Alutsista yang dimiliki pada saat itu diantaranya adalah Mig-19, Mig-21, C-130 Hercules, TU-16/KS, IL-28 Ilyusin, Helikopter Mi-4, dan UF-1/2 Albatros. Kekuatan dan kemampuan Angkatan Udara menurun drastis diawal dekade 1970-an, namun mulai bangkit kembali secara bertahap pada pertengahan tahun . Masuknya beberapa alutsista seperti pesawat OV-10 Bronco, F-86 Sabre maupun T-33 Bird membawa angin segar setelah beberapa alutsista buatan negara timur mengalami kesulitan spare parts. Masuknya alutsista baru tersebut semakin menambah kekuatan Angkatan Udara. Dekade 1980-an kemampuan alutsista TNI Angkatan Udara makin meningkat dengan hadirnya pesawat F-5E Tiger II, radar Thomson dan Plesey, pesawat Boeing 737, A-4 Sky Hawk, dan Hawk MK-53. Apalagi dengan datangnya pesawat Multirole F-16 Fighting Falcon pada akhir 1989 dan pesawat Hawk 100/200 pada pertengahan tahun 1996 menambah keperkasaan Angkatan Udara. Memasuki milenium ke III, Angkatan Udara melengkapi teknologi barat yang sudah ada dengan teknologi dari timur, yaitu dengan hadirnya pesawat Sukhoi SU-27 SK dan SU-30 MK serta pesawat latih dasat KT-1 Woong Bee dari Korea Selatan. Secara bertahap pesawat buatan Rusia ini mewarnai angkasa Indonesia dan tentunya akan memperkuat TNI Angkatan Udara dalam rangka menjaga kedaulatan Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia. Dengan alutsista yang dimilikinya, Angkatan Udara sejak awal berdirinya telah melaksanakan Operasi Militer Perang (OMP) dan juga Operasi Militer Selain Perang (OMSP). Operasi bhakti dan tugas-tugas kemanusiaan di dalam negeri dan luar negeri merupakan darma bhakti TNI AU dalam menyikapi kepedulian terhadap kesulitan yang dihadapi bangsa dan negara lain. Bencana alam tsunami di Propinsi Nagroe Aceh Darusalam dan Sumatera Utara, bencana alam di Yogyakarta dan Jawa Tengah, di Manokwari dan Sorong serta di Pakistan, India dan Philipina merupakan bukti nyata keikutsertaan TNI AU dalam OMSP. Semua usaha yang dijalankan adalah merupakan gambaran nyata sebuah keinginan kuat TNI Angkatan Udara, untuk dapat membangun dan mengembangkan diri menjadi Sayap Tanah Air yang mampu memberikan konstribusi positif, pada upaya pertahanan matra udara maupun kesejahteraan sebagaimana diamanatkan dalam UU RI Nomor 34 Tahun 2004 tentang TNI. (Dispenau, 4/14/2009) Dirgahayu Angkatan Udara!!!

Some Scrapping

I don't think I have a hope in hell of doing a proper 'catch up' post so I think I summarise the last few weeks as follows:Christmas was lovely. Always a joy with my girl. She just lights up and has such a great time. She got a Wii and has had a blast with it - as have I!! Who needs Wii fit - when you can just play Wii sport.School holidays have so far been pretty darn good -my girl and I have been having a great time together. She has spent some time with friends but her two besties are away and I thought this might make life a little hard for her but it has been good - I love that we can spend happy time together.Photography - haven't done that much really...mostly happy snaps.Twilight - my new obsession - the books and movie may be aimed at teenagers but they have captured my imagination like nothing since the Harry Potter series. Well who wouldn't love a sexy young vampire and desperate, dangerous love - sigh!!!! I am reading the whole series for a second time and Bec and I have seen the movie twice.Scrapbooking - yay I have done some of this too - the most I have done just for fun in some time. I have even done two doubles - almost unheard of for me...here are the layouts.Two use song lyrics as titles/journalling - the first (My Light) from an old favourite Sarah McLachlan, she has such a brilliant way of expressing sometimes every day events and feelings.The second -I will Wrap You in My Arms - uses lyrics from a song used in the movie Twilight and sung by one of the stars Rob Pattinson - Let Me Sign. There seems to be some debate over the lyrics and Rob's diction doesn't really make it easier ( I love his music regardless) and this is the way I hear a part of the song. Haunting and beautiful. The words may indeed be "I will wrap you in my arms and know you're safe' or 'I will wrap you in my arms and know you'll be safe'...but the words I have used work for me....I really will try to blog a little more regularly now that I am on holidays.

Now Have A Chance

I am thankful we have chozen the people we put in the White House. We were always told growing up "yes, you can do it"[whatever it was at the time]. This yes we can is so much better! I was a child when they took John Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. away from us, they had opened my eyes to so much that had been brushed under the rug, dressed up to be something it was not, to comfort people who had no real hope, surviving not living. Then the hippy message in the beginning, love one another [rang a bell with me], but something always scrubbs off the gold plate to show the brass under [drugs, organized crime, stupid personal and moral behavior. This is the first real hope I have had since the late 60s early 70s. I don't mean everyone has been bad. I would have voted for Clintion again had it been possable. Mrs. Clintion is no slouch by a long shot, but we had a chance at real hope, and we took it! As it was said, time for a change, and yes WE can! Maybe I'll get to see a people truely together regardless of all the small and petty garbage people use as excuses to divide against one another. It is time to lift up and support to the best of our ability, a man, with real men and women of deeper thoughts than we've been given the chance to get behind, and beside, who will share knowledge and true thinking. Please excuse my spelling, but if you can't figure it out, then you need as much help as any of the rest of us.

dork on the green alert

Francis Revisited, all blocked and ready to wear. The before shot, earlier this month.yarn: Andy's Merino from Farmhouse Yarnsneedles: size us 9 - and I had gauge, spot on gauge, in both stitch and row. Amazing.notes: I've nothing against seaming yet there is something so thrillingly..what's the word..oh yeah, immediate, about a top down raglan. And that gigantic skein? There's a lot of it left. My mom admired the yarn,she has the leftovers to knit a kid's sweater for a fundraiser. I bet there'll still be a hat's worth afterwards. Now that's a skein.The cowl is my favorite part. Loving a cowl again? Who'd have thunk it? I pray the shoulder pad and high waisted jeans won't starting looking good to me again, too.About that title. I ate lunch with my talented friend Edwina in the center of our town (on the green, in local parlance, it's all very New Englandy 'round here). She's a boffo fashion photographer and normally has easier material to work with. I asked her to help me show off FrancisR once we'd polished off our veggie burgers and mutual grousing about The Times We're In. Outside I froze (as you can tell by the handwear) and was acutely uncomfortable seeing as I was on display at noon for all to gawk at. Self-deprecation 'graph: even though the variegation isn't so flattering for the fluffy bodied, and my slumpy-I'm-embarassed-to-be-posing posture isn't showing the fit so well, you can see, I'm happy. I've worn it constantly, in fact, since that top photo.It's a sweater so nice I'm knitting it twice. I just cast on in a solid, drapier yarn. The Shadow wing of NaKniSweMoDo abides!

Here February

So sorry for not posting in a while. One of my goals for the new year was to post more often, but somehow time got away from me and life got busy. Of course life around here has been busy since November. That's why I can't wait til February gets here.Anywho, I'll fill you in on the last few weeks around here. The 16th was my birthday, which I almost forgot. That's how busy and distracted I was that week. I turned the big 3-1. Last year I turned 30 (obviously) which didn't bother me much. But this year I realized I'm one year into my 30's which is a little scary. Where does the time go?!Friday is my hubby's birthday. So for exactly two weeks out of the year we are the same age. To celebrate our birthdays we try to go out to dinner by ourselves the week between, and thanks to some dear friends of ours, we were able to do that. We had a nice quiet dinner and some free Coldstone ice cream afterwards. It was just what we needed.This past Saturday, we went and saw these black and whites at the Lehigh Valley Zoo.We love the Zoo! So much so we get a yearly membership so we can go as often as we please throughout the year. We've never been to the zoo in the winter, so we thought these cute little penquins was a good reason to go. Once we got there though, I realized why we never went before in the winter. It was c-c-c-old! Ironically, it was to cold for this African penquins to be outside. Which actually was a good thing because you got to go into their little house and see them up close. They are so cute, but it did smell a little fishy in there. Abbi and Sarah throughly enjoyed them. Leah not so much. She was too cold. So cold in fact, that during our fast walk through the rest of the zoo all she did was cry and ask to leave. By the time we were ready to leave, we had turned into one of those families with all their kids screaming and crying. Two of them crying to go home and the other crying to stay. Even though I was embarrassed, there wasn't much I could do except get them to the car which was where we were heading.When we got home we all took a nap, even Abbi. That should have been my first sign that something was amiss because Abbi never sleeps during the day. Well we found out later that night when both Abbi and Leah started "tossing their cookies". We were up until 2 AM cleaning and comforting. Seeing how we had church the next day, the only one who made it there was Matt. Thankfully, there was no more sickness. I like when there's only a one time occurrence of vomit. I have a very weak stomach.Well, that's just a snip it of what's being happening around here. I hope to get into a habit of posting more often:)