an excavator bucket and a truck at exploration field

an excavator bucket and a truck at exploration field blue,bucket,bulldozer,digger,dipper,dozer,dredge,earth,earthmover,excavate,excavation,excavator,grader,ground,industrial,loader,machine,machinery,mining,mover,scoop,sky,transport,transportation,truck,vehicle,workplace,yellow

Today I went to the Northshore Performing Arts Center (NPAC) in Bothell to hear my 9th grade student play with his school group in the “Northshore Jazz Festival.” I sat next to his Dad at the end of the row of seats occupied by their family, including his Mom, siblings, and one set of grandparents.

There were 25 jazz ensembles and bands on the program, some traveling from far away places such as Wenatchee, Langley (on Whidbey Island), Bremerton, Arlington, Monroe, and Snoqualmie. They played from 8 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Each group played three pieces. During lunch, the jazz ensemble from Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA, played a concert. The festival was not a contest. It was a show. Each group got to show how well they’re playing at this stage of the school year, and a group of professional musicians, instructors and conductors critiqued each band. They made written notes and recorded audio comments, as feedback for the band directors and members to consider later.

I started snapping photos with my Blackberry phone camera when my student’s group appeared on stage. They sounded good and were well-rehearsed. Several key players seem to form the core of the group. My student is lead trumpeter. In the middle of the second piece, he improvised a solo! Afterwards, his Dad proudly said to me, “He nailed it!” I gave him thumbs up and a broad smile. Way to go, man!

This afternoon I heard my newest student, the 4th of this school year, play the sweetest tones on his trumpet! Trouble is, he cannot yet read music fluently. He’s sort of stuck at that stage where he still has to think about the name of each note and then recall the fingering. But when he finally blows, his attack is clean and his tone is big, solid, full, round and fat! It’s so natural to him.

He’s been thrown into a 6th grade band class, handed a band book, and told to go learn to play Exercise __ or Song __ on pages __ with little or no guidance or instruction about the horn and technique. It’s forced “do it yourself” learning. Well, with this teaching approach, what results does the band director at this north Seattle elementary school expect?! Struggles, frustration, and a probable band drop-out someday.

It is my pleasure to help this gentle boy overcome these obstacles. Let’s give the kid some successes! and who knows? maybe we’ll be listening to him play in the jazz, concert and marching bands soon…maybe in the symphony or opera orchestras someday…maybe on some CDs or in the movies when he’s that good. Let him dream! Help him dream! Help him achieve his potential. Or maybe he’ll simply enjoy playing in the school band with his friends for a few years and never take it any further…that’s fine, too. You find good people in bands. Good memories accumulate with the many events, and lifetime friendships often form–even marriages!

Thanks to his Mom for giving me the opportunity to help him come to love music and the trumpet. Let’s motivate him to practice more. Let’s have fun while we work hard. Let’s see what he can do, if he really wants to.

The planned construction of an archives facility to store records and the highway superintendent’s attendance at regular monthly board meetings were the main topics of discussion at a well-attended session of the town council meeting last night.

Archive  Project

Superintendent James McNeil reported that there is approximately $180,000 available for the archive project.  He stated that these funds may only be used for archive and records storage purposes.  Two quotes have been received, and both were substantially higher than the approximately $180,000 available.  Each quote was itemized, and Superintendent McNeil noted that there was a possibility that removing certain line items from the project might reduce the overall cost.  He specifically noted plumbing and HVAC as potential areas to be removed from the project as it currently stands, adding during the question and answer period that these items could be phased in at a later date as more funding becomes available.

Councilman Peets said that he had some information regarding an alternate site for records storage.  Superintendent McNeil asked if the information Councilman Peets had included a fire escape and other requirements the facility will need in order to meet building code.  Superintendent McNeil said that he’d been advised that the entire project should be put out to re-bid, and moved that the project be put on hold until next year.  He cited the season, noting that the weather at this time of year is not ideal for construction. Councilman Peets would like the alternate site to also be considered at that time. Councilman Bombard expressed a desire for the council to delve deeper into the numbers being presented by the bidding companies, in order to discern the reason for the different amounts cited for similar line items.

In regards to the fire escape, Superintendent McNeil noted that the current existing fire escape does not meet building code.  A new fire escape must be wide enough to accommodate a stretcher in case of emergency and also be covered.  Concerns were raised from the floor that the new style of fire escape may create a ‘chimney effect’ in case of fire; Superintendent McNeil replied that an uncovered fire escape can be covered with ice and snow.

Superintendent McNeil noted other ways he believed the town could save money on the archive construction project.  These include having the town highway department do some of the preliminary excavation, a plan that he says that heretofore the highway department has failed to cooperate with.  Additionally, Superintendent McNeil noted that the town has an excellent maintenance man in the person of Mr. Kevin Drown, and that Mr. Drown could perform some of the work associated with the project, such as sheetrocking and taping, in his spare time.

Should the Highway Superintendent Attend Regular Monthly Board Meetings?

Superintendent McNeil noted that there had been concerns that the highway superintendent does not attend regular monthly board meetings.  He stated that such attendance and regular reporting is essential for the town board for a number of reasons, including efficient oversight and budget planning purposes.  He noted that after consultation with town council and additional research, a resolution (#34) had been drafted, which would require the highway superintendent to attend regularly scheduled board meetings.

This resolution passed, with Councilmen Peets, Bombard, and DeCoste voting Aye.  Councilman Thibeau dissented, saying there was no reason to put this resolution on the back of the new highway superintendent.  He raised concerns about the enforceability of the resolution — what will happen if the highway superintendent does not attend the meetings now that the resolution is in place? Town Attorney William Favreau noted that enforceability is an issue with any position, but that the town can require reasonable expectations.  Councilman Bombard noted that passing a resolution now may avoid problems in the future.

Councilman Thibeau noted that he would make sure the highway superintendent saw the new resolution.

There were some quiet cheers and nods of approval from the floor upon the passage of the resolution.

At no time was the highway superintendent referred to by name.  At this time, the highway superintendent is Kermit Honsinger.  In January, Bradley Wright will become the new highway superintendent.

Other News

The Supervisor’s Financial Report, Budget Transfers, and Town Clerk Monthly report were discussed. The Ellenburg Depot Fire District has received the requested $10,000 increase.  Copies of these reports will be posted on Ellenburg Community News as they become available.

Councilman Thibeau read notes from the Highway Superintendent’s report.  He noted that 2 plows have been prepared for winter snow removal duties.  Repairs have been made to the grader.  Gravel has been added to the pile and also to some old dirt roads. Some brush has been cut.  This was all accomplished with a small crew due to the holiday season and staff time off.

The JCEO Monthly Report revealed that 94 households received services, 97 received information and referrals, and that 27 medical trips for seniors have been coordinated.  Tina Trombley noted that both HEAP and the Christmas Bureau opened for applications on 11/2/09.  At this point, she reports that 12 HEAP application and 23 Christmas Bureau cases have been addressed.

There had been some concerns raised regarding the condition of the bridge on the McCoy road. Superintendent McNeil reported that some research had been done, and the town does not and has never had a bridge on the McCoy road, and as such, has no obligation to repair or barricade it.

Here is the location of the McCoy Road.

The purchase of the Washbourne property is moving forward, and Superintendent McNeil reported that the closing could occur within a week or so.

Superintendent McNeil noted that the Press Republican reported that Verizon was constructing two cell towers in our area, to improve regional cell service.  One of these towers is located on the Arno Road.  The other is in Churobusco.

During the question and answer period, Judy Baker stated that she’d never seen the town code enforcement officer nor heard his report.  She asked if he ever attended town board meetings and if he spent any time in his office.  Superintendent McNeil replied that the code enforcement officer has been to two or three meetings, and that he does spend time in his office.  He asked if Ms. Baker would like a resolution on this issue, a suggestion that was greeted with some laughter from the floor. Although he was never mentioned by name during this discussion, the town code enforcement officer is James Tourville.

During the question and answer period, incoming Supervisor Richard Pearson asked several questions regarding the administration of Noble money,  and the cost of various projects, including the architectural plans for the archive facility, the engineering study of the old schoolhouse, and the historical markers for cemetaries.  He also asked why these funds do not appear on the town financial statements.  Superintendent McNeil replied that the town does not have direct control of these funds; the town submits invoices to Noble, and they are paid as they are incurred.  He did not have exact figures for Mr. Pearson’s questions, but the approximate cost of the architectural plan, which does not include an estimate, the approximate cost of the engineering study ($7,500) and the approximate cost of the historical markers ($850 each)

The meeting was adjourned shortly after 7:30 pm.

Ellenburg Community News will post the official town council meeting minutes as soon as they become available.

So are lists a practical, necessary piece of functionality?

Is it the golden egg that will monetise Twitter? No. What it is indicative of is Twitter’s desire to bolt on the functionality already offered by the likes of Tweetdeck et al. If you have customised groups in Tweetdeck already it is hard to make a case for Twitter lists adding much more value.

Always last picked…

For many or the more casual user, lists will be to highlight, organise and maintain a following. I fully expect lists to be predominantly used to cream off the followers you wish to actively follow and monitor and I also anticipate, by extension, the new functionality to manifest itself as a further online popularity contest. Breaching an inner circle online is harder than it is in the school playground and certain online communities are hamstrung by cliques. Time will tell with Twitter lists…If your name isn’t down you’re not coming in.

Personal

As a blogger (by no means a Pro with ideas above the station) and someone with a Twitter profile with an intended purpose of sharing and creating great engaging stuff, it is nice to see which categories my followers group me in and confirms I am on track with where I want to be, the online circles in which I wish to move.

What do Twitter lists mean to you?

Steven recieved more votes than any other person on Twitter. His tweets are not censored at all, though a few of his followers seem to think they should be. He says what he thinks and doesn’t really care who he offends. @TheBrandBuilder said “StevenPitts is entertaining. He’s like the anti-twitterati, but I dig that. A lot.”

@StevenPitts Stats as of 1:30PM 9.1.2009

Name Steven Pitts
Location Greenville, SC
Web http://www.stevenpitts.com
Bio: I’ll make you laugh, cry, and wonder why.
If you’re uptight or close-minded, follow/friend me at your own
risk. a.k.a. King of Typos

443 Following
1,927 Followers

According to www.followcost.com Steven has a nuclear follow cost.

Average Updates 16.03 Per Day
Last 100 Updates 50.44 Per Day

According to http://twitter.grader.com
@Stevenpitts is ranked 8,061 out of 3,846,238 users.
@Stevenpitts has a grade of 99.8 out of 100
and is ranked #11 out of all Greenville Twitter users.

If you aren’t following @StevenPitts you should be. http://www.Twitter.com/StevenPitts

Check back tomorrow to see who my second pick is… if could be you. If you have a recommendation @ me on Twitter.

@JamesAkersJr

Tularan nyo ang batang ‘to. Seventh grader pa lang pero

nagda MOVES na siya kay MEGAN FOX!!!

sumikat pa siya dahil sa ginawa nya.

HARVEY KINDLON IDOL !

Jag tror att det ær nærmare tretti grader varmt i luften och solen skiner fast ljuset från den ær svagt så det kænns som om någon sorts lætt dimma eller ett dis vilar øver Frogner nær jag promenerar, på væg till kontoret. Jag antar att det regnade i går, eftersom allt som ær grønt tycks dofta rent och detta skulle också førklara dimman. Min freestyle ær bokstavligt talat skruvad på høgsta volym och Pat Benatar verkligen dånar ur hørlurarna på huvudet, som något slags plastigt och teknologiskt komplement till mina Wayfarers. Jag går och funderar på en drøm jag hade natten tidigare dær jag i ett ændløst vilset led støtte på eller direkt umgicks med mænniskor jag under någon period i mitt liv gått i skolan tillsammans med. Situationerna med de hær mænniskorna ær ofta bisarra eller på ett eller annat sætt sexuella. Jag faller handløst nær golvet under mig førsvinner mellan varje møte och landar varje gång på en ny plats. Køpcenter, parker och motellrum. Det slår mig sakta att drømmen egentligen ær en direkt skildring av mitt verkliga liv. Jag ramlar från plats till plats och påverkas av de olika mænniskorna jag kommer i kontakt med. Marken førsvinner allt før ofta under mina føtter och jag tycks befinna mig på en annan plats, med mænniskor som egentligen ær desamma men i olika skepnader. Kanske som mitt eget underland, med en alltid nærvarande drottning som var gång hon byter skepnad, lyckas med att dekapitera mig. Men det spelar egentligen inte någon roll just nu eftersom den perioden jag går igenom just nu, befinner jag mig fjortfarande på den vansinnige hattmakarens tebjudning..

More than 1,000 followers on Twitter

 

Oceanside, CA, USA | 20 June 2009 - MarketPOWER™, LLC announced it has achieved some online marketing landmarks as it continues to develop ways to build interactive presence and value for its clients. MarketPOWER has raised its Alexa ranking from the top 25% on May 15 to inside the top 10 today: Its Alexa ranking at press time was 2,173,779 (top 7.76%). The firm achieved two top-10 same-search results on Bing and raised its WebsiteGrader ranking from 50 to 74 (out of 100) in just the past week, and MarketPOWER Director Jeff Cotrupe said that Grader score should continue to rise with several pending external linkages and reindexes by July 1.

The story is just as compelling on Twitter, where from a standing start in February 2009 the firm’s Twitter persona has amassed more than 1,000 followers and achieved a TwitterGrader score of 97 out of 100.

“We are understandably proud of our progress to this point,” said Cotrupe, “but while we are as focused as anyone on making those web metrics soar, the next question I ask people is: What impact are you having on the business?” Cotrupe and MarketPOWER have helped employers and clients ring up hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, acquisitions and investment capital, all documented on its site. “One of the links on our home page shows how we’ve been able to position a tiny LLC side-by-side with industry giants including Accenture, Alcatel-Lucent, BearingPoint, Capgemini, Deloitte and TechTarget. We are now listed on global business directories such as Dun & Bradstreet and Hoovers, and local/regional listings including Yahoo!, Google Maps and even Mapquest. I believe that’s what you call interactive success—and branding.”

One factor used by WebsiteGrader works against MarketPOWER and other firms who operate blogs off-site rather than on the core site. “WebsiteGrader does not credit us, nor others who host blogs on world-class blogging platforms such as WordPress and TypePad, with even having a blog,” he said. MarketPOWER hosts its blog and online newsroom on WordPress, and has helped clients host blogs and things like frequent beneficial product updates that way, all linked from the core site and all blogs linked back to the core site as well as crosslinked to each other. “First, we believe no one should be posting news releases and newsletters on static pages anymore. They deserve to be on something like WordPress, which automatically accelerates their penetration out into the blogosphere due to the active role WordPress plays in promoting and sharing blogs across its massive global blogging community. That’s one reason you’re seeing more and more companies dispense with their ‘traditional’ site and move their online presence lock, stock and barrel to these blogging platforms.” Next, he said, MarketPOWER grooms all feeds with FeedBurner [now part of the Google empire] and goes beyond merely offering an RSS feed to providing site visitors one-click access to the top 20+ RSS readers. “If you look at our feeds in a reader, for example Google Reader, which is the one I use most, our blogs and news feeds don’t resemble DOS text; they appear exactly as they do on the page, including the animation inserts.”

Cotrupe said he plans to speak with the HubSpot, which offers various flavors of Graders for websites, Twitter personas, Facebook pages and news releases. “Companies like HubSpot, WordPress, ShareThis, Add To Any, Atomz, and let’s not forget Twitter and Google, are putting miraculous capabilties at all of our fingertips, largely for free,” he noted. “We just want HubSpot to tweak WebsiteGrader to give us all credit for hosting things like blogs and newsrooms on the optimal platform.”

About MarketPOWER, LLC
MarketPOWER, LLC has helped organizations generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, acquisitions and investment capital. The firm deploys expertise in product management, interactive/digital marketing, research & analysis, strategy, public relations and design to help clients compete in technology/B2B markets such as IT, software, telecom/wireless, CRM, SDPs, networking, OSS/BSS and mobile apps, and in consumer markets including automotive, electronics and hospitality. 

website | Skype: jeffcotrupe | +1 760 643 0921

är kladdkaka som består av 100g smör, 3 dl socker, 1 tsk vaniljsocker, 1,5 dl mjöl, 3 msk kakao. Nu står den i ugnen i 200 grader i en fjärdedels timme. Hurra!

There are so many interesting Twitter tools out there that require passwords it’s almost impossible to count them all. If you’re anything like me, you’re always paranoid that your account will get hacked. In fact, the only Twitter tool that requires a password that I use is TweetLater, and that’s all.

And so, 4 Twitter tools that you can use while sleeping soundly at night:

1. TwitterFriends: Basically, this is a Twitter stat tracker. It keeps very comprehensive stats and compares them to Twitter averages. The big thing about this site is that it shows you your network of friends on Twitter, surely a good tool for those with thousands of followers.
2. TweetStats: This breaks down your tweets by density and volume. Maybe not so useful, but it’s kinda cool to see your stats broken down in the way that TweetStats does it.
3. Twitoria: Show you which of your friends have become inactive and boring so that you can kick them. You should check this every few weeks or months so that you can cut people that have quit Twitter.
4. Twitter Grader: Gives you a grade based on tweets, followers, and following. I’m not sure how it’s calculated, but it’s just kinda cool to check.

direct Twitter Grader | Get Your Twitter Ranking.

Fortunately, 13-year-old Esther Park listened to her school’s announcements Friday. Missing them might have cost the Joe T. Robinson Middle School seventh-grader an all-expenses-paid trip to the nation’s capital. On Saturday morning, Esther won the Arkansas Spelling Bee at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock a day after the reminder came over the announcements.

For the third consecutive year, the Pulaski County spelling bee winner will compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. This year’s event is scheduled for May 26-28. While she “kind of freaked out” Friday, Esther’s demeanor remained unperturbed during the event’s 13 rounds as she coolly spelled “ostentatious,” “phenomenon,” “voila” and “fortuitous,” among others.

Esther was one of 62 Arkansas county spelling bee champions who convened at the university’s theater for the state bee, sponsored by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The event, open to students in grades three through eight, started with a practice round to help quell clearly jangled nerves. Students grasped their shirt bottoms, jammed their hands in their pockets or fidgeted with the microphone. During practice, journalism professor Jeanne Rollberg, who served as pronouncer, told Elizabeth Kaffka of Craighead County, “Your word is ‘vendetta.’ Vendetta.

” “Can you repeat the word – oh right – you already did,” the fifth-grader said, smiling, before giving a correct spelling. As in the competition, the students could also ask for alternate pronunciations, definitions, usages or word origins. “I tried to memorize how the words in each language are spelled and just played it by ear,” said sixth-grader Erica Barnett of Columbia County. Alexander Schnable of Lonoke County received “prattle” during practice.

The sixth-grader beamed, clenched his fist and said “Prattle. I like that word,” before correctly spelling it. Chuckles rippled through the approximately 325 people attending. During the bee’s first round, 20 words including “staccato,” “barrage,” “tortoni” – a frozen Italian dessert – and “kabuki” – a traditional form of Japanese drama – along with “intractable” ejected as many students. In the second round, eighthgrader Preslie White of Baxter County carefully considered “chary” – very cautious or wary – before correctly spelling it.

“Ubiquitous” would not be so kind to seventh-grader Aaron Shirley of Monroe County, who said his studying included an online learning program. His strategy was to spell the word “in my head and try to see how it looks.” In round three, eighth-grader Elizabeth Teed of Clark County held her mid-section while getting “visceral,” the Latin origin of which means “internal organs.” Adrianne Freeman, a sixthgrader from Greene County, missed “gynarchy” – rule by women – when 16 females were among the 21 contestants and authorities on stage.

“Mukhtar,” a village head in many Arab countries; “kielbasa,” a spicy Polish sausage; “cacophony”; and “gesundheit” were among the words contestants dealt with in following rounds. Arielle Butler of White County secured third place when she missed “occlusal,” a word relating to teeth grinding she said she had never seen. Because the eighth-grader also garnered third place in last year’s competition, she said she was slightly less nervous this time. Her mother had helped her by pronouncing words for her every night for two months.

Sixth-grader Amos Pierce of Pope County took second place. Esther – who won with “eviscerate” – said that she knew most of her words as a fifth-grader, when she said she won third place in Virginia’s spelling bee. Her family moved to Arkansas because her father became a professor at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, she said. While she used a spelling game on Merriam-Webster’s Web site to study, she steered clear of the physical version.

“I didn’t really study the dictionary because it’s too long,” said Esther, who also won a Webster’s Third New International Dictionary and a $100 U.S. Savings Bond.

Esther said that she had crammed for the event in the last day, forgoing her nightly shower and eating only a cracker.

Video:

Opinion post: there

Twitter Grader logo

http://ping.fm/URbiG is a nice tool that grades your Twitter account based on users, activity, etc. Think Technorati for tweets!

Check out your own or well known tweeters and see how they score: http://ping.fm/t1P52 – not to make too big a thing of the fact Neoco tweets score 90 out of 100 (up from 89 just 2 days ago)!

You can also check out the Twitter elite (http://ping.fm/TAlgctop/countries) for some interesting stats – like Japan being almost 10 points clear of the USA for quality!

If I threw a bowling ball down our street, it would make it all the way to the next intersection.  That is how deep the ice ruts are on the side streets of Saskatoon.  It’s like having 4 gutters instead of a road.  Oh yes.  I know!  I should be thankful that there are no floods or volcanoes or hurricanes or, I don’t know, brush fires!  Well excuse me for sweating the “small stuff”.  I suffer through one of the coldest f@cking winters on the planet in exchange for freedom from natural disasters…but couldn’t the freaking morons to whom I pay my taxes, deign to budget for snow removal?!  It’s not like we might get lucky some year and we might not GET SNOW!  It happens every year!!!

Thank God I’m moving.

I’m not a “sad, sad person” (damn you Michael Arrington; you go do something first and then ruin it for everybody else by claiming it’s sad after you’ve had fun doing it. but i digress). Hubspot just released a “Facebook Grader” tool, see my result above.

Clearly, this grading tool is f****d … I scored 3 points less than Michael Arrington, 13 less than Scoble and 10 less than Loic. I’d love to be, but I doubt I am, as authoritative as those guys.