Ann: What do you want from Phoenicia ?

Nate: Beef pho

Ann: FAIL!!! It’s a GREEK place.

Nate: It had “pho” in it so I assumed it’s a pho restaurant. It’s justifiable.

I <3 the page already!!! But seriously, I need a tutorial! This is NOT self-explanatory!

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. – St. Ambrose

On the Internet, does everyone eventually wind up trolling?  This seems to be precisely what has happened in a recent fracas involving anime blog critics Colony Drop and review-cum-streaming site Anime News Network.  Editor Zac Bertschy took aim at the Gundam-named site:

Can’t wait for the next article about an 80’s OVA everyone’s fucking sick of hearing about from bloggers exactly like you!

Either way the fact that you’re jerking yourself off to slamming Casey Brienza is sad.

Colony Drop wasted no time firing back:

Does it make you feel good to defend shit content? You have an opportunity to do something respectable w/ ANN, but you’re wasting it

Asked by ANN to elaborate on “respectable,” CD clarified,

Reviews that don’t suck. Using your site’s prominence to actually improve the quality of journalism in this industry.

ANN was unsatisfied:

Second one I’ll take, first one is lazy bullshit. “reviews that don’t suck!!” is code for “reviews I didn’t write”.

In fact that’s your response every time.”Legitimate criticism!!” even though you sound like a giant trolling douche every time.

Colony Drop claimed victory through relevance:

Today’s experiment in creating stupid drama was a resounding success. Thanks to everyone for being part of this.

Furthering the argument that this was a bid for attention, they even threw in a shoutout to ensure coverage:

Where oh where is @moritheil to blog about all this drama!

This is far from the first exchange between ANN and the self-appointed critics, who claim their site underlines all that is gone wrong with anime blogging.  ANN previously admitted that some Colony Drop writers would be considered professionally employable if not for their tendency to deliberately offend.

@colonydrop I’d hire you as a writer if I didn’t think you were going to be cranky, mean and combative toward me and my staff.

CD, for their part, have consistently maintained that almost the entire anime blogosphere consists of detritus, and have not been shy about letting people know. ANN is, of course, far from the only site CD has targeted.  Their twitter history and blogging are a fusillade of insults:

@ANNZac Instead of worrying about this fansub crap, how about worrying about getting some competent reviewers?

@BradleyCMeek What this “community” needs is more brutal honesty, less of your hall monitoring TBQH.

@animealmanac That review is astonishingly bad and at times outright wrong. You should grow a pair and allow comments on your posts, too.

LOLing at the Otaku Elimination debacle. Guys, if you have an anime blog just assume that it sucks. Easier that way.

Of course, while it would be easy to dismiss Colony Drop, their non-trolling posts display insight.   The fact that their criticisms can be at times articulate and dead-on makes them all the less palatable to their targets. And while it would be equally easy to dismiss ANN’s attack on them as mere bitterness over being targeted (as Colony Drop has suggested), it is true that Colony Drop is virtually universal in its condemnation, making it useless as a guide for determining the best of the blogosphere.

Though CD and ANN were the primary actors in this clash of wills, they were far from the only ones: Anime3000 got involved, with Zac accusing them of sensationalism:

@Anime3000 No offense but a lot of what you’ve been publishing recently seems like copycat attention-grabs rather than legit content.

@anime3000 Really? Because it seems like a transparent “me too” thing to pull right after it became clear how popular the OEG thing became.

They put up a subsequent article on the Twitter drama, an unprecedented meta move for a first-hand review site.

The truth, ultimately, may be the one thing that CD and ANN can agree on: internet drama is silly.

Det regner i dag.. og det er søndag.

Jeg burde rydde op..

-men i stedet tager jeg i biografen med Magnus, mor, far, Ann, Eva og Laura for at se OP.

Jeg glæder mig til at se den igen!

—–

-”..mit knæ gør ondt!”

-”Hvilket knæ?”

-”Min albue gør ondt!”

—–

//M.aya

By Cara Sulieman

A GROUP set up in memory of Brandon Muir are to have their child protection petition heard before a committee of the Scottish Parliament.

Calling on the government to set up a Safe Guardian scheme, they hope that children who are suffering from suspected abuse can stay with a safe family member while social services investigate.

RealJustice4Brandon claim that Brandon’s life might have been saved if he had been able to stay with his grandparents instead of returning to his mother’s house.

The tragic tot from Dundee died from a ruptured intestine just hours after his mother’s boyfriend, Robert Cunningham, assaulted him.

Allan Petrie from the campaign group hopes that the petition – which will be heard by the Public Petitions Committee on December 1 – will bring in a law to help protect Scotland’s children.

“Wake up call”

And he hopes that the politicians will take the opportunity to improve child protection in Scotland.

He said: “Every time there is a child killed at the hands of their parent or someone with responsibility over them – who are usually under the influence of illegal drugs – we hear from politicians that it is a wake up call but then they seem to hit the snooze button till the next time.

“We have produced proposals that we think will not only help save lives and stop children from being abused but also break the cycle of drug addiction in this country by removing children from a drugs environment, which they are being introduced to as normal way of life, whilst keeping them within the family network.”

The Safe Guardian proposal the group have put forward involves placing the child with family members who live in another house and who has undergone police background checks.

Allan believes that it is the best way to ensure that the child is kept safe with the least disruption to their life as possible.

“Less traumatic”

He said: “We believe that keeping the child within the family network is important for the child.

“It would be less traumatic for the child to go and live with a family member and, where there is an investigation into alleged abuse, the child would be in a safe zone.

“If the allegations were false then there would be less of a stigma for the child in returning home as they have only been spending time with a relative – something which is normal in many families.”

With 380 signatures on the petition, Allan is hoping that it has enough clout to persuade the MSPs on the committee to look further into the issue and lead to it being debated in the parliament.

He said: “We hope that with the support that has been shown for our proposals the Petitions Committee will support the Safe Guardian Law’s inclusion for debate within the Scottish Parliament.

“These proposals would be inexpensive to implement and ease the extreme pressure on the social services and foster care system allowing them to pick up the children who have no extended family to act as safe guardian.”

“Rethink care system”

As well as the Safe Guardian Law, the petition proposes a number of steps that local authorities could take to help mothers who are addicted to drugs.

It suggests that mothers who are known to be users of drugs be monitored and helped to kick their addiction. If they are still using when they give birth, then the baby would be placed with a “safe guardian” until she has overcome her addiction.

Barnardo’s Scotland said that they had been campaigning for the government to “rethink” the way the care system works.

SallyAnn Kelly head of children’s operations said: “We need to have a straightforward and coherent system which supports children at risk

“This will require political dialogue at UK, Scottish and local level to agree a route forward. I strongly support the strengthening of the systems that are in place to protect children.

“This can only be achieved by the public, politicians and professionals supporting each other to highlight theses issues in this very complex and difficult area.”

Robert Cunningham was found guilty of culpable homicide and sentenced to ten years in prison in March.

Brandon’s mother, Heather Boyd, was cleared of all involvement in his death.

See more of our pictures at our Flickr site and videos at our dedicated channel,  Deadline TV.

The second morning was better. And worse. Better because Ann knew that she was at the critical point. From here on, exercise would become easier until it was pleasure not pain.

Worse, because for the moment, it was pain.

She’d been here before. The aching muscles, the complaining joints, the burning lungs. All signposts on the road, and as Ann climbed the long hill up Monash Drive, she took it steadily, imagining one of those curvy athletes from the Thirties jogging along in front of her. She’d gradually catch up, lose the kilos, become the woman she’d been not too long ago.

And then, she’d be imagining one of those hard bodies from the same Olympics jogging ahead in firm masculinity. She’d catch him. And keep him.

She thought of Tom for a moment, tanned and taut and terrific. But Tom was gone and Ann was here. Maybe her clock was running out, but Ann wasn’t sure she wanted a family. Not children, anyway. Someone to share her life, her flat, her bed. Someone that wasn’t a cat.

These were good, positive, motivational thoughts, and they carried her up the hill. The current pains of her body would, in due course, give way to other sensations. Her burning thighs, for example, not to mention the tightness of her chest.

Just listen to me, she thought. She’d be reading romance novels next. Or worse, writing them.

“Softly, yet firmly, the eager lips of the Greek tycoon sought those of the bookseller. Slowly, gently, her reluctance melted. She sighed as his tongue met hers in bilingual embrace.”

Ann groaned in disgust at her thoughts. There was a certain sort of woman who bought romance novels. She had a bookcase set aside near the front door, and the old dears bought them a dozen at a time. And sold them back to her at half price. A nice little money-spinner.

The rest of her circuit was downhill or level, and she relaxed, even walking for a few hundred metres occasionally. The building site, when she turned onto Constitution Avenue, was looking even more desolate. Piles of earth were appearing as yellow-painted machines tore into the ground. The magpies were enjoying it all. For the time being.

She had given in to temptation yesterday. Sometimes it felt good to succumb. She didn’t expect a result, not today, not yet, but maybe…

Quint was again visible in his window, staring dolefully out. Again she waved, but this time he waved back, smiling at her. Good old William – he had his moments, but he was a rock, when you knew how he worked.

A final rush up the little hill, almost burning up as she reached Legacy Park, and then she was warming down, slowing up, bending to pick up The Canberra Times from the front yard, opening the door and ignoring Grace’s hungry miaows.

Shower and coffee before she dared open the paper to the Letters page. And there it was! Her impulse acknowledged, printed in black and white, just like the magpies she wrote about. Trivial, she knew, but who else would stand up for the birds?

She read it again when she arrived at it in legitimate progression. It still sounded clever and sincere – the effort of a concerned member of the community.

She lingered over breakfast. Wednesdays she opened late. It was her day for bookscouting on her own accord, and today she was on a winner. One of the suburb’s oldest residents was moving out of her house to a retirement unit and she wanted to sell her library of books. It was a familiar story: how to fit a lifetime accumulation of possessions crowding a big old family home into the small bedroom and lounge that made up a retirement flat. It couldn’t be done.

Ten o’clock, and she walked up to a split-level Sixties house in Spanish Mission trim, patches of exposed bricks, wooden beams and red tiles. Once it must have been the coolest house in Canberra, now it just looked tired.

But it had a fantastic view over the lake through mature trees. Galahs clustered around a feeding bowl, while king parrots waited their turn. And a silver-haired old lady opened the door and smiled her inside.

“Ann Ounce,” Ann said, mentally chiding her stepfather for her whimsical name for about the millionth time. “You dropped in last Thursday to make a time to view your library?”

“Of course! Violet Campbell, but you wrote my name down.”

“Any relation?”

“Robert Campbell was my great-grandfather,” Violet stated. “They say I’ve got his eyes. And some of his books.”

Campbell the suburb was named after Campbell the squatter, who had first farmed here. The military college of Duntroon was the old homestead, named after Campbell’s Scottish birthplace.

The Campbell eyes were twinkling, and Ann warmed to the old lady. It was never easy selling a lifetime collection of books. Many would be old friends, others would have memories attached, and some would be the childhood possessions of sons and daughters, far too precious to throw out.

“I’d be especially interested in the older books, Mrs Campbell. Have you done any sorting at all? You know, pulling out the ones you want to take with you?”

“They can all go. Might as well say goodbye to them now. I won’t be around forever, you know.”

Ann privately doubted this. Violet must have been well over eighty, but she seemed as trim and agile as any schoolgirl, bright and alert. So many old people lost heart, especially when their spouse died, and they just marked time until it was their turn.

“Nonsense! You’ll be getting a telegram from the Queen before you know it. I hope I’ll be as energetic as you when I’m your age!”

“Oh, I’ve got a while to go yet, dear. I’m ninety-two, would you believe it?”

Ann shook her head in disbelief. “And still living by yourself! You’re a wonder!”

“My son comes in now and then. He’s a good boy. He gives me a hand around the house.”

Any son of Violet’s would be a senior citizen in his own right, Ann thought.

“I see so many retired people,” she said, “and most of them can barely get up in the morning. Sick or crippled or bedridden…”

“Oh, I’ve been bedridden! Hundreds of times. And once in a taxi!”

“Ah,” Ann sighed. “I’d best take a look at these books.”

“Oh, they’re just through here. Would you like a cup of tea? I’ve already got the kettle on for this nice young man.”

Ann nodded. There, sitting at a heavy old table, surrounded by piles of books, was Quint. This was going to be tricky.

Copyright © 2009 Peter Mackay

I arrived home to a message on the answering machine  from NCO.  Generic.  They didn’t even leave a name of whom they were calling for.  I almost didn’t even bother returning it.  Estate is closed.  I’m not responsible for anything that doesn’t have my name on it.

The collection calls make me angry and upset me.  I can just feel my blood pressure raise and the anger pulsate through my body when I have to deal with them.  I had been having a good day and wasn’t in the mood to have it ruined.

I think I get upset because John and I worked so hard to have excellent credit.  While the news was busy reporting about the terrible economy and  how credit wasn’t being given we had taken out a home equity loan with no problems whatsoever.  John and I always had fun seeing which of us had the higher FICO usually we both were between 790s and low 800s.  It was usually a toss up as to which of us was higher.  Usually it was, John since he had more credit and a longer history.  Funny, how having less credit owed and fewer accounts can lower a score.

I HATE to think of him getting collection calls.  I would hate to see what his FICO would look like now.  But he’s dead.  FICO’s don’t matter anymore.  If I was terribly bothered I could have paid the bills, but I’m not responsible.  His debts died with him.  I have a large mortgage and a son to raise.

The register of wills had warned me and I already knew that credit card companies would be more than happy to let me assume the debt.  She had let me know that I was NOT responsible.

Chase asked me up front.

NO!!!  NO!!! NO!!!

I wonder how many people in their moments of grief or confusion, say yes.  I hate when people try to take advantage of widows and I’ve already had a few occasions that I’ve felt that way.  Being a young widow sucks- a long lonely life ahead of me and having to be a single parent- but at least I have all of my senses with me- I’m not confused or gullible (or no more so than I was when I had John around) or senile.

The first collection agency call that I returned was from Chase.  I was rather abrupt with the lady.  I told her that I’d already notified Chase and they had the information.  I had told them that the estate was closed.  I told her that I knew it was not my responsibility.  I told her I’d lost my husband- the love of my life- to cancer and how terrible that was.  Nathaniel wasn’t happy and was screaming in the background.  I think she just wanted me off of her line.  She told me that she’d take care of it and I confirmed that I would not receive any more calls.  Thus far, I have not.

Today, while I was feeding I returned the call to NCO.  My policy has been that if the company can’t bother enough to leave a name- I can’t be bothered enough to return a call, but; I figured if I didn’t, they’d keep calling and I need my sleep.  I also figured that I had horses to feed and if I could multitask it would be done and over with before grain was dispensed.

The first lady that answered the phone asked for the reference number.  I told her I didn’t have it.  She looked up the account by the phone number.  She said she was calling for John Smith.  I said, “He’s dead.”  The line went dead.  I assume she hung up as I was on the land line.

I called back and the next gentleman, Frank, saw instantly that John had passed away and said that it would be taken care of and I would not receive any calls.  I asked where the bill was from.  It was a co-pay from Hopkins.

It felt greedy to me that they would bother sending a co-pay to a collection agency after all of the thousands of dollars that they got from Care First.  John’s IL2 treatments were about 100,000 alone.

Dr. Sharfman gave up on John months ago and wanted him in hospice.  He didn’t even care enough to call with condolences, come to the services, send flowers, or send a card.  Instead all I got- like 6 weeks after John had died- was a form letter that wasn’t even folded straight.

I pictured the death notification getting put in a pile on somebody’s desk and it getting handled when there was time.  Of course, why would John’s death be important to Dr. Sharfman?  His life certainly wasn’t.

I feel like there was a lot of John’s care with Dr. Sharfman at Hopkins that was “put in some pile.”  It was known that John had cancer in his bones, but they never put him on medication to combat that (the orthopedic doctor was surprised and surprised that John didn’t have an orthopedic doctor as part of his care team).  John also got one treatment to boost his blood count and was supposed to get it with every chemo, but he didn’t (it was painful and I knew John didn’t want it, so I never pushed the issue.)  Then there was the time that I practically had to throw a fit to get a damn x-ray of his hip that was causing John constant pain.  That hospital doctor irritated me to no end- standing there watching John writhe in pain, but doing nothing for it.

The most important lesson that I learned through John’s illness is that you have to stand up for your own care… nobody else is going to stand up for you.  You are your own health care advocate.  The doctors and nurses have other rooms to go to, other patients to visit.  The patient has one life and it is his/hers alone to live.  The patient must cope with pain, with disabilities, etc and find a way to continue living.  The doctors- they move on- it’s not his/her body or his/her pain.  (I certainly don’t want to slam the medical community because there are excellent doctors and nurses out there- we had some.  Dr. Sharfman was just not the right doctor for us.  He is known for being a whiz at IL2 and does come  highly regarded.  I also do know that we aren’t alone in our dissatisfaction.)

I know there are probably critics out there that would say, you just don’t like the man because your husband died.  I would beg to differ.  I realize that everybody can’t be saved.  We were fighting a losing battle, we knew the odds were stacked against us.  A little compassion goes a long way and we needed a doctor who was realistic, but willing to support us and be our commander for our battle.

We still respected Dr. Khatri after Ann died.

Although I’d admit, I wouldn’t send my worst enemy (if I had a worst enemy) to Dr. Thresher after he misdiagnosed Ann (sinus infection was diagnosed as sinus cancer), Dave (I was told that John’s father also had the same misdiagnosis sinus infection was later correctly diagnosed as  lung cancer), & myself (I was basically told that my pain that was later diagnosed as interstitial cystitis was all in my head and that I should swim to help my muscles).

In my experiences, Dr. Foster, our cat vet, did the best job of handling impending death.  We had taken Stray Grey (Toby) to him after he had been attacked by something.  Dr. Foster examined him and found his injuries to be life ending.  He called and compassionately explained the extend of the injures.  Dr. Foster explained the injuries without belittling my intelligence and simultaneously not speaking over my head.  His professional opinion was that he recommended euthanasia.  He offered the option that we could send him to a specialist at Penn State, but that it was highly unlikely that he’d survive and given the fact that Toby was a stray and not used to human handling it would terrify him and he would probably fight any efforts to heal him.  He thought about the patient and didn’t want Toby to experience fear or terror since he already distrusted humans.  I gave him the okay to euthanize and felt confident knowing I’d made the right decision.

More about Toby later…

I know that Hopkins was just doing business.  Writing off and clearing their bad debts.  It breaks my heart to think of John as a “bad debt.”

But, I guess in a way, I’m just doing business too.  The law says I’m not responsible.  Somebody else can take the loss… I’ve had enough.

It seems that earnings season is winding down, but next week we have many of the key retail and apparel players reporting earnings.  Saks Incorporated (NASDAQ: SKS), BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. (NYSE: BJ), Gymboree Corp. (NASDAQ: GYMB), and Ann Taylor Stores Corp. (NYSE: ANN) are all reporting next week.  Next Thursday may feel like a retail and apparel earnings bonanza as we have Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS), Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL), Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS), Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD), The Children’s Place Retail Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCE), Wet Seal Inc. (NASDAQ: WTSLA), and Zumiez, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) all reporting earnings in one day.

We have provided estimates from Thomson Reuters, recent sale store sales data, share performance, and added color on what else to consider where applicable.

Saks Incorporated (NASDAQ: SKS) reports on Tuesday.  This is still deemed the troubled and challenged of the higher-end retailers, and it is after the sell-off seen so far in Nordstrom.  Earnings are expected to be -$0.12 EPS and $621.95 million in revenues.  The problem is that analysts still see a loss for the ever-important Q4 period of -$0.04 EPS and $792.7 million in revenues.  Investors are not exactly keen on retail plays that lose money in the holiday quarter.  That being said, it may take a “we should be profitable in Q4″ statement to garner much excitement.  Another issue is that Saks is expected to lose money not just for fiscal Jan-2010 but also for Jan-2011.  The good news is that Carlos Slim invested in it and it recently showed October same-store sales were up 0.7%.  At $6.00+ today, its 52-week range is $1.50 to $7.45.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. (NYSE: BJ) is on deck next Wednesday, and we have already seen Wal-Mart and Costco data.  Estimates for the big box-club retailer are $0.45 EPS and $2.48 billion.  For the Q4 period the estimates are $0.97 EPS on $2.76 billion in revenues.  A significant problem for many investors is that BJ’s stock has been range-bound for some time despite some gains it has made.  The company’s same-store sales were -1.1%, but that included gasoline. At $36.50, the 52-week trading range is $27.26 to $40.77.

Gymboree Corp. (NASDAQ: GYMB) is also on deck for earnings on Wednesday.  The special situation and turnaround kid’s retail destination is 20% off of a recent 52-week high, but is still up about 200% from its 52-week low.  Earnings estimates are $1.10 EPS and $270.8 million in revenues.  For the holiday quarter those estimates are $1.12 EPS and $302.2 million in revenues.  While this is not quantifiable without seeing it, the notion that this is for kids does put its swine flu risks higher than most companies elsewhere in the retail stocks reporting next week.  Same-store sales were also down 4% for October.

Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS) is on deck next Thursday, Nov. 19.  Estimates are $0.08 EPS and $957.6 million; estimates for the holiday quarter are $0.56 EPS and $1.26 billion in revenues.  With shares at $24.00, its 52-week trading range is $9.21 to $26.00.  A look at forward annual earnings estimates of $1.11 EPS for Jan-2010 and $1.26 for Jan-2011 will bring up some of the same valuation concerns we have seen elsewhere in retail.

Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL) is reporting next Thursday and estimates are $0.13 EPS on $1.19 billion in revenues.  For the holiday quarter ahead estimates are $0.28 EPS and $1.29 billion in revenues.  The stock is probably not overly expensive at $10.80 at 17.7-times the $0.61 EPS target for FY Jan-2010 and 14.5-times the $0.74 EPS target for FY Jan-2011.  They are not exactly cheap either.  The 52-week trading range is $3.65 to $12.95.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) is also on deck next Thursday.  The new CEO has really gotten this longstanding turnaround candidate turned around and heading in the right direction.  We are not even calling Old Navy by the name of ‘Old Lamie’ any longer.  Estimates are $0.44 EPS and $3.57 billion in revenues.  Next quarter estimates are $0.43 EPS and $4.15 billion in revenues die to higher inventory costs.  The CEO deserves praise, but the question here is one of how to value Gap shares.  It is mature and no longer the great growth story.  Estimates are $1.50 EPS for FY Jan-2010 and $1.65 EPS for FY Jan-2011.  With a $22.20 price, Gap trades at 14.8-times this year’s earnings and trades at 13.5-times next year’s expected earnings.  That is not expensive in the current climate, particularly when you consider that it has provided an upside surprise for each of the last four quarters.  We don’t expect it to come any time soon, but we have always had Gap as a break-up candidate where it could break the three major brands apart.  October same-store sales rose by 4% and the total sales rose 5% led by gains at Banana Republic and Old Navy, and dragged by Gap.

Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) is due next Thursday from Eddie Lampert and friends.  The shares are up massively, yet Eddie’s minions at the retail giant keep showing dull earnings.  Estimates are for another loss at -$1.09 EPS on $9.89 billion in revenues.  For the ever-important holiday quarter the estimates are $2.64 EPS and $12.6 billion in revenues.  This has a huge premium at over 70-times this year’s expected earnings of $0.85 EPS and about 50-times FY Jan-2011 estimates.  The premium is because there is a huge asset play here for Lampert’s real estate under the stores.  Investors are probably betting that Lampert traded well in investments too.  So the traditional P/E ratio here doesn’t matter.  At $72.40, the 52-week trading range is $26.80 to $79.35.  Sears has a history of very spotty earnings, yet shares are up significantly from lows and went well above our “stocks to double” price target.

The Children’s Place Retail Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCE) is also on deck next Thursday.  We had a severe discrepancy in estimates here when we were looking them up, so we are not going to provide that data on this stock.  Sorry.  We recently saw October sales metrics down 2%, but online sales were up 36% in October.  Again, the unquantifiable risk here is what happens in flu season because of the kid factor.  With shares around $35.00, and the 52-week trading range is $16.45 to $37.68.

Wet Seal Inc. (NASDAQ: WTSLA) is on deck as a young women’s apparel retailer.  Normally, we might not cover this one, but it is a retailer that has been very range-bound because of a turnaround and because of its mixed performance metrics.  Estimates are $0.03 EPS and $139.79 million in revenues for the past quarter, yet the coming holiday quarter-end estimates are $0.08 EPS and $155.19 million in revenues, yet the company gave guidance of $0.04.  We will hold off on forward valuation multiples because each penny in an EPS scenario for a $3.36 stock will skew the ratios.  October same-store sales were down 1.3%.

Zumiez, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) is the last of the retailers we track for next Thursday.  As much as you have seen “Thursday” you may have figured that was never-ending.  Estimates for the action sports equipment and apparel retailer are $0.14 EPS and $111.89 million in revenues for the last quarter.  For the important holiday quarter-end ahead the estimates are $0.24 EPS and $130.97 million in revenues.  Before last quarter, Zumiez had a habit of beating estimates handily. Unfortunately, its same store sales in October were off by -8.9%.

Ann Taylor Stores Corp. (NYSE: ANN) is on deck next Friday morning.  Estimates are $0.06 EPS and $476.2 million in revenues.  Shares are just under $13.00 and the 52-week trading range is $2.41 to $17.50.  While shares have recovered handily from 2008 lows, this one has never recaptured its mojo from when it lost its growth trajectory from 2000 to 2007.

Again, these estimates are likely to change slightly ahead of the actual earnings report next week.  This is also not every single company in the retail and apparel sector with earnings on deck and it follows a sloppy reaction from the retail and apparel reports from many peers this week.  The notion that many CEOs and CFOs this week have not been very clear on what to expect for the holiday season leaves us with even more pause after the significant stock runs we have seen.

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) is also on deck next Tuesday.  That one is large enough compared to the rest of the crowd that we are holding to give a very detailed analysis and preview on Monday.

JON C. OGG
NOVEMBER 13, 2009

(First, props to Hao for the link).

Anyway, seems like Anime News Network released their survey results for the top 10 anime brides/grooms 2009 (“The Character I Want to Be My Bride/Groom”):

Interesting results.

Looks like for the brides, K-ON! dominated the list, taking 3 spots out of 10, with 3 out of 5 of their main characters.

So the list is as follows:

1. Mio Akiyama – K-ON!
2. Hinaguku Katsura – Hayate the Combat Butler (previously, rank 1)
3. Taiga Aisaka – Toradora!
4. Rukia Kuchiki – Bleach
5. Yuki Nagato – The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
6. Azusa Nakano – K-ON!
7. Chrome Dokuro – Katekyo Hitman Reborn! (previously rank 10)
8. Sheryl Nome – Macross F
9. Yui Hirasawa – K-ON!
10. Asuka Langley Sohryu – Neon Genesis Evangelion

No surprises with Mio – but I am surprised with Taiga, personally I would’ve thought there were more Ami/Minori fans out there (Toradora! reference).

Rukia, as a wife? Haha. Yuki I can understand, but Rukia?!

Anyway.. I’ll move onto the Grooms:

1. Kyouya Hibari – Katekyo Hitman Reborn! (previously, rank 1)
2. Gintoki Sakata – Gintama (previously, rank 2)
3. Toshiro Hitsugaya – Bleach (previously, rank 8 )
4. Mukuro Rokudo – Katekyo Hitman Reborn! (previously, rank 4)
5. Sougo Okita – Gintama
6. Date Masamune – Sengoku Basara (LOL!)
7. Tsunayoshi Sawada – Katekyo Hitman Reborn! (previously, rank 6)
8. Ichigo Kurosaki – Bleach (previously, rank 10)
9. Sebastian Michaelis – Kuroshitsuji
10. Toushirou Hijikata – Gintama

So it would seem like Katekyo Hitman Reborn! and Gintama dominated for the Grooms – not that I’ve seen much of either animes haha!

Not surprised to see Toshiro up there, but quite surprised about Ichigo.. hmm..

Otherwise, apart from Bleach and a TINY bit of Gintama, I wouldn’t know much more about the animes listed!

Interesting list none the less.

(source: ANN)

Ann’s week began with a visit to the supermarket, where she bought an electric kettle and a large jar of instant coffee. Facing Ben the barista for her caffeine fix wasn’t something she relished quite so much now.

She priced the books Quint had brought her, noted the amounts on the list he had left, totaled them up, and put the money into an envelope. It would have been simpler to make a direct deposit into his bank account, but Quint didn’t work that way, and keeping him happy and productive paid dividends.

There were other bookscouts who came in with boxes of treasures, and people off the street would bring in boxes of what they hoped were treasures, but nobody had the touch for books that Quint had.

She was checking a box of so-called treasures now, in between sips of instant coffee. It wasn’t so bad, really, and she was saving four dollars with every mug. One or two reasonably good books in the box, but most of it was dross. People might pay thirty-five dollars for a hardcover copy of Dan Brown’s next thriller, but it halved in value the instant they bought it, and twenty years later it was worth nothing.

“It’s a first edition!” they would say, pointing this out, and yes, this was so, but when a first edition sold in the hundreds of thousands, it was never going to be rare and valuable. The firsts of authors who later became famous, whose first books had print runs in the hundreds, these were the ones to look out for and treasure.

As for paperback thrillers, known in the trade as airport books, the value was even less. Sure, she might have Tom Clancy or Ian Rankin lined up on her shelves, but they sold very poorly. In her back room she had a pile of these things taller than she was, from people clearing their own shelves of unwanted books. She’d pick out the few she really wanted, and then put the rest aside, to supply the box of fifty-cent specials outside her door.

Or she would register them on BookCrossing.com. In fact, she had a dozen or so that should really go on her OBCZ shelf, but she couldn’t bring herself to enter Heartbake just yet. Maybe when she finished her jar of instant coffee. It was a very big jar.

She’d tried contacting Tom. Looked for him on chat, hoping for a heart to heart that might lead into a satisfying chatsex session, but his name was greyed out.

So was Ann. She poured her heart and yearnings into a long, torrid email, poised her finger over the “Send” button for an instant and then deleted the whole thing.

If Tom had wanted to get together with her, he’d have found a way. The same could be said for herself, she supposed. Did she love Tom enough to move to New Zealand and spend her life bouncing around the ocean on tiny yachts?

Not likely, Ann considered. She liked her little bookshop, she liked Campbell with its tree-lined streets and comfortable middle-class residents, and she loved Canberra.

Nowhere else in the world was quite like Canberra. A planned city, laid out in broad avenues and calm circles, plentiful stretches of parkland with grand public buildings rising from gardens. Newcomers found it confusing, with roundabouts of all sizes, suburbs that all looked exactly the same, and amenities such as petrol stations, hotels and schools carefully hidden away out of the general gaze.

Heavy retail and light industry were tucked into districts away from residential suburbs. Fyshwick was located on the other side of the railway, and you’d find car yards, hardware shops, and brothels located in seedy harmony.

Campbell itself was a model suburb. Close to Civic, bounded by Lake Burley Griffin on one side and the bushland of Mount Ainslie on the other. The broad ceremonial axis of Anzac Parade made a clear division between Campbell and the adjoining heritage suburb of Reid.

Now, with the leaves gone from the trees, it might seem a little bleak, but it also meant that the prospects were longer. If she cared to walk along Monash Drive to the lookout at Legacy Park, she could see the suburb revealed to her gaze, looping streets and houses, tiny parks, schools and shops and flats in the centre. Beyond the lower streets the Parliamentary Triangle began, based on Constitution Avenue, the two bridges carrying Kings Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue across the lake converging on Parliament House on the summit of Capital Hill, the masts of the flagpole lifting the eye to the flag fluttering in the cold wind.

When she had first moved here, Ann had delighted in walking along the grand avenues, along the lake front, up to the War Memorial, where kangaroos grazed on the lawns.

But, like her life, she had grown too comfortable. Maybe it was time to shed a few kilos. Tight t-shirts were all very well, but to be honest, when the top came off and Ann regarded herself in a mirror, there was a lot more of her than there used to be. Bookselling wasn’t the most active occupation in the world.

Maybe it was time to take up walking after work, or before it. A couple of kilometres a day, a major cutback on the chocolates and cake. That’d do it. The cold air of morning and evening would help strip away the fat, her body burning up calories to heat the core.

On second thoughts, a gym might be better. A gym where she might see and meet men, sweat glistening their trim torsos and pumping legs.

Ann snorted to herself at the direction her thoughts were taking. She’d have to do something or surrender entirely to the triple comforts of chick-lit, Cadburys chocolate and her couch, curled up in company with her cat.

The German book of Olympic stills was close to hand on the rare and collectible shelf beside her, where she could keep a close eye on the more valuable books in the shop. She drew it out carefully, leafing through it for the images of the female athletes, comparing her own body with those on display. The athletes of the 1930s had been built along different lines. Not the super-lean bodies of today, every gram of fat stripped away. No, these were more rounded, more comfortable, more womanly shapes.

She’d begin tomorrow.

She traced the feminine contours on the images, imagining herself looking so good, looking fit and sexy, feeling someone’s fingers stroking her flanks, looking at her, loving her.

She looked up to see a man looking at her.

Copyright © 2009 Peter Mackay

A timeline of the events surrounding Lindsay Ann Hawker’s murder in Tokyo, Japan…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: ancient japan. The blog is also related to: tourist japan.

Adventures in the Aviation Hub in Campus with Mecha Musume Tsukasa.

Spent some time inside the aviation hub over at the School of Engineering as the plans for a outdoor shoot was scrapped due to bad weather =/

Before you even enter the area, you’ll be greeted with this Plane! No idea what plane this is though.

Soaring indeed! i caught no ball in there!

The hub sure ain’t lacking anything to teach the students or even the visitors about the operation of air planes.

Talk about 1/1 Scaled Landing gear!

Some engines lying around.

The fancy designs are not just there for show. The students will do some complex operations on the gear which are actually displayed in the area.
Talk about efficiency!

0_0! I was just as confused as Tsukasa while i was in there.

The place is seriously overflowing with the jargon of aerospace junkies!

Apparently the students study charts of airplanes and whatnots. Above is the chart of an Airbus A380.

Part of an Airplane aluminum body.

As much as Tsukasa is a Mecha Musume, her Klutz-lessness ensures that she does not know how to disarm the armor without permission! ;P

Blending the background a little ^^;

Tsukasa on the controls

Posters of cockpits on the wall couldn’t stop me from defying gravity!

As far as model planes go, they too have quite alot of them! Need to get my hands on some of these in an attempt to improve my Girls!

No! Tsukasa! no!!!

DON’T DRAIN OUT OUR AIR! *Dies*

Spent the rest of the time with Scorch&Roses in multiple attempts to slay a HR 9 Rathalos – Failed in every single attempt though!

This is Part of the “School Life in Singapore” Series.

01 – Back to School

02 – Greenery in School

03 – The School’s Library

BAM!
I Juust Got This ThingyMaahBobber!
And So!
IDK HOW TOO WORKS IT! (:
WOOO!
Lalala!
Okay Soo!
Imma See If I Cans Keeps This Up Too Date!!!
Think I Can?
Comment And Tell Me Your Answer! (:
thankkkyouuu(:

Las redes neuronales o neurales artificiales (ANN) (no sé qué termino es más correcto o está más de moda) son un campo fascinante. Os animo a echarle un ojillo a algún artículo sobre ellas. Sin duda nuestro futuro estará plagado de estas cosillas.

Hoy no voy a darle vueltas a si la conciencia puede surgir de manera natural en un sistema suficientemente complejo o cosas así…

Hoy quiero hablaros de “fronteras”.

Uno de los problemas a los que se aplican las ANN es la clasificación.

Digamos que tengo un conjunto de elementos y quiero separarlos según cierto criterio. Por ejemplo, los que sean blancos y los que sean negros.

Para esto se construye la red “más adecuada” y después hay que “entrenarla” con un conjunto de datos de características conocidas, para que la red “aprenda” y pueda luego clasificar con el suficiente éxito datos nuevos que se le presenten.

Imagina que la “realidad” que queremos conocer es un rectángulo cuya parte izquierda es blanca y la derecha es negra. La figura 1.

El conjunto de entrenamiento son unos cuantos puntos que sea una muestra representativa (si se escoge bien, estarán repartidos aquí y allá). Lo representado en la figura 2.

Al entrenar el sistema irá localizando dónde está la “frontera”, que he pintado en azul en la figura 3.

A veces si nos excedemos en el entrenamiento, la red cree entender que la frontera está delimitada justo por los datos que conoces y produce información falsa, generaliza mal. Entendería que la frontera es la línea verde de la figura 4. A esto se le llama “sobre-entrenamiento”.

Si sobreentrenamos una red, al intentar clasificar datos próximos a la frontera cometerá errores, porque no “generaliza” bien.

La clasificación en las fronteras es complicada… más aún si tenemos en cuenta que las fronteras suelen estar llenas de “grises”.

Os preguntaréis a qué viene todo esto.

Tiene que ver con la vida cotidiana.

A veces porque nos gusta etiquetar… a veces porque necesitamos por fines prácticos etiquetar… el caso es que andamos todo el día clasificando.

Con mucha frecuencia nos focalizamos en lo complejo que es definir límites y lo subjetivas que a veces son las valoraciones.

En esos casos estamos hablando en realidad de lo complejo que es definir las fronteras, las zonas grises.

Pero al concentrarnos tanto en la frontera podemos caer en cierto relativismo y olvidar que hay grandes zonas donde la cosa está más que clara.

Quizá haya un pueblo en plenos Pirineos en el que un habitante se siente más español que francés mientras su vecino piensa al contrario, y que en la práctica sean las guerras las que hayan trazado la frontera que puede ser bastante arbitraria. Pero los simpáticos lugareños del Cabo de Gata en Almería no dudan si son franceses… ni los parisinos si son españoles.

No sabría deciros si lo mejor es dormir siete horas y media u ocho, o si depende de la persona… ahora bien, dormir dos horas es dormir demasiado poco y dormir quince tampoco debe ser muy sano.

Permitidme un ejemplo más.

Que la prensa sea perfectamente objetiva es imposible pero, ¿es imposible que lo sean un poco? ¿o que lo intenten? (Dejando fuera a los buenos periodistas que se esfuerzan en hacerlo bien en un entorno tan hostil. Seguid así, por favor, que si no estamos perdidos del todo).

Resumiendo, es difícil trazar fronteras, pero hay grandes “llanuras” en las que nuestro sentido común nos guía con buena fiabilidad.

Una vez más el sentido común y el pensamiento científico se dan la mano arrojando luz sobre la ciencia y la vida cotidiana.

Fuente de la ilustración: El Paint y muy poca vergüenza

Former Miss Teen USA, Kari Ann Peniche visited the Howard Stern Show Monday morning to talk about her history of sex addiction and her participation in Dr. Drew Pinsky’s latest reality show Sex Rehab. This past summer she had a sex tape pop up that included her, Eric Dane (Grey’s Anatomy) and Rebecca Gayheart. Howard Stern Show on November 9, 2009.  Get it at http://howardstern.com.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

]]> http://leakycreek.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/forever-35/ Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:45:23 +0000 Mary K. Smith http://leakycreek.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/forever-35/

Today, would have been John’s 36th birthday, but instead he’ll forever remain 35.

I don’t quite know what I have planned for the day.  I plan to get some yellow roses to take to the cemetery.  It may seem silly, but I picked out a birthday card for John.  Nathaniel was eying the balloons in Martin’s, so maybe we’ll get a balloon, too.

I took the day off of work… actually the week off of work… I can’t anticipate my emotions for the day, so I think I’d be better off not working.  Wed is Veteran’s day and I’m off, so I figured… why not take off Tuesday and Thursday as well and call it a week…

In some ways it seems odd to be “celebrating” a birthday for my dead husband.  In other ways, it seems like something that I need to do make me feel good.  I also want Nathaniel to remember John’s special day.

On Ann’s (John’s mother) birthday, I always go purchase spring flowers.  It is April 14th, so sometimes it is a little too early to plant them, but it’s become my tradition to select one or a few on her birthday.

I hope I can come up with a tradition for John’s birthday.  I think it will help to bring me peace, but I also think it will be great for Nathaniel.  I’m just not sure what to do, yet.  We’ll see what strikes me- in the daylight..

We usually didn’t do much for our birthday’s- I’d usually get him a card and usually some sort of a gift- but sometimes just a card.  Usually, we’d go out to dinner- Outback was usually the choice.

I think last year I got him a Homedics Sound Spa Clock.  When Nathaniel was a newborn, he slept in the pack and play in our room (it had a bassinet attachment).  His pack and play had a sound machine that attached to it.  John got used to listening to the white noise- birds, crickets, frogs, etc.

When Nathaniel moved into the crib in his room, John missed the white noise.  He told me he even had trouble falling asleep.  Sometimes, if he was sleeping when Nathaniel wasn’t, he’d bring the sound machine to our room.  So, I thought the clock would be perfect for him.

It was actually a gift that John appreciated and used.  Usually, he didn’t seem to appreciate my gifts much.

Funny thing was, it drove me crazy.  I’d lay their awake listening to it repeat it’s loop.  I didn’t like any of the sound choices.  I tried to get used to them, but it didn’t work.

I never told John that I didn’t like hearing it.  I knew he liked it, so I dealt with it.  I can tell you that the outdoor temperature comes in quite handy, but I don’t think I’ll ever listen to the sound spa part.

Of course… what I wouldn’t give now to have John alive and well, back in our bed with that annoying white noise playing…

“Happy Birthday, John… Love Always…”