First off, a Thanksgiving news alert:  I don’t plan to post on Thursday, November 26 or Friday, November 27.  I’m headed off to visit my in-laws in Detroit, and they have these crazy ideas about people sitting in the same room and enjoying each others’ company.  :)

It’s been a quiet week as the US readies for the holiday.  

Well, not entirely quiet.  The second Twilight flick,  New Moon, premiered.  Names spotted among those turning out for the festivities included designer Rachel Roy brought her 10 year old daughter Ava.  Rachel and husband Damon Dash also have a toddler called Tallulah Ruth.  (via Celebrity Baby Blog)  It’s interesting to see parents who embraced Ava ten years ago, when she was still on the rise, using Tallulah more recently.  Anyone else think that the once-outlandish name that had everyone abuzz when the Moore-Willis clan used it will go mainstream?  And if a search for “baby names Twilight” brought you here, check out this post: Not Just for Vampires Anymore.

In other celeb news, Tiffani Thiessen tells Extra that she and her husband aren’t considering “any freaky names.”  She doesn’t mention whether going through life as Tiffani-Amber colored her view.  We’ll have to wait and see.

On to some real life name-spotting:

• I just returned from Target.  I was buying toddler tights while another mom was trying to persuade her daughter to try on a coat, but the daughter?  Was fleeing to the just-steps-away toy department.  The name the mother was calling?  ”Miracle!  Miracle, come back here!”  Insert your own joke about it-taking-an-act-of-God to distract a 3 y.o. from the toy department here;
• Bewildertrix has spotted Leonidas George.  My baby brother swears Leonidas will be the name of his firstborn son, should that happy event ever come to pass.  She also uncovered an Elisabetta Ivy.  And a Zuma.  (No Gwen Stefani isn’t in New Zealand – he’s Zuma Louis, a non-celeb baby brother for Ava and Remi.)
• For Real Baby Names spotted Dafne.  It may be a valid foreign variant, but to me it is like Jorja/Georgia - this one just looks better as the more familiar Daphne. 

Now for two Language Lessons from that sage font of wisdom, Nancy:

• Hard G vs. Soft G – Sometimes they’re interchangeable – as in Jorja/Georgia – but other times, swapping a J for a G leads to confusion;
• Doubling consonants – Ditto doubling a consonant.  It’s another popular way to make a name “unique,” but it can also cause confusion.

Truly unusual names are always found at Nameberry, and this week’s posts were no exception.  Check out the Lost Boys’ Names of 1880.  Why aren’t more boys named Zeb?  Or Hardy?  Others – including titles like Squire and Commodore – are best left to history.  (I work with a man in his 50s named General.  I don’t get the impression that he thinks much about his name one way or the other.)  For a change, the girls’ list is almost less interesting – maybe because I wouldn’t raise an eyebrow if I met a 2 y.o. called Mahala or Texas. 

Let’s end on a controversial note: the shortcomings of the Baby Name Wizard.  I recently noticed a post on Swistle (a big BNW adherent) that troubled me.  Just a few days earlier, Nancy recounted a similar story on her blog.  

An expectant mother, mom to Sophia, wrote to Swistle about the name Allegra.  She and her husband loved the name Allegra.  Loved the way nicknames Allie and Sophie sounded together.  But she worried about the allergy medication association.

Swistle wrote: “I love the name Allegra—and every time I want to suggest it, I back away because of the allergy medicine. I’m ANGRY at the company that stole it.”

Swistle’s poll was evenly split: 52% no to Allegra; 48% yes.  But here’s the thing: Swistle’s framing of the question – “Is the name Allegra too associated with allergy medication to be used for a baby?” made it pretty clear that she thought Allegra was beyond consideration.  (Swistle is usually so judgment-free that I was really surprised by that.)

The mom herself recently wrote in:

“We ended up naming our daughter Lucy. I love her name, but I regret not being gutsy enough to go with Allegra. Personally, I’d encourage anyone considering the name to go for it. No matter what name you choose some people will like it and others will hate it.”

Lucy is a fine name.  I like it lots.  But how sad that much naming advice often tends to push parents to the middle, rather than embracing the names that we really love. 

I suspect the allergy medication reference is fleeting.  When the blogger at For Real Baby Names spotted a Dexy Adelaide, I mentioned the 80s pop hit “Come On, Eileen” – and sent ForReal running to Google.  Dexy, it appears, no longer means “one-hit wonder responsible for lodging the phrase too-rye-aye in my brain.”  And it hasn’t been that long.  It makes me think Allegra will be free of medication association by the time Allie hits the teenage years, if not sooner.

Thanks for reading!

Winterthur has a small collection of fall-flowering camellias in bloom along the north side of the Cottage. It has been a special treat watching the new plants establish and produce their delicate, wax-like flowers. Right now several of the plants are in flower, including:

The pink-tinged Camellia ‘Mason Farm,’

Camellia ‘Survivor’ with its rosy buds,

Camellia ‘Snow Flurry,’

and our original plants of Camellia sasanqua × Camellia oleifera.

Many gardeners think of camellias as southern plants, but there are selections and hybrids that will survive and perform well in our climate. Perhaps the most famous popularizer of these cold hardy camellias is Dr. William L. Ackerman. His selections of tea oil camellia hybrids (tea oil camellia is Camellia oleifera) have re-defined hardiness in this wonderful group of plants. For information about Dr. Ackerman’s selections and growing hardy camellias visit the American Camellia Society website.

My thanks to Linda for taking the photos that appear above.

Adobe Air is a new software platform from Adobe which mixes JavaScript and Flash technologies to enable developers to make rich Internet applications that can run on desktop computers. It is remarkable in the world of proprietary applications in the sense that it has included Linux support early on.

My previous post about Twitter clients might have hinted that I have had bad experience with Air applications in general. In this post I will vent of some of the grudges I have with this new platform on Linux.

This, again, not a very fair review. I have not taken the time to investigate the odds and ends of the platform and will overlook the developer’s point of view on the platform. I have heard over the tubes that programmers working on applications for the Air platform appreciate it, but that’s as far as my investigation (or lack thereof) have taken me.

Air applications aren’t so cross-platform

I have tried 5 Adobe Air applications, mostly Twitter clients: Spaz, TweetDeck, Seesmic Desktop, DestroyTwitter, Tumbleweed, Twhirl. Of those 6 applications only the later 3 worked out of the box on Ubuntu Hardy. The fact cross-platform compatibility isn’t guaranteed by using Air seems to be well-known of developers and most some them will not officially support Linux as an operating platform. This is a very bad average for a technology that is supposed to be cross-platform.

Air applications don’t fail gracefully

The failure mode for each of the non-working applications in also needs to be taken into account when judging quality of the cross-platform Air applications. The behavior of the applications I have tried is less than stellar. TweetDeck is supposed to work on Linux but in the cases where it fails, it shows a semi-helpful error message. Earlier version of TweetDeck failed in the same with Seemic Desktop fails. Seemisc Desktop works partially but the mail display of the application stays empty. SpaZ shows anything usable. Applications failing to work in such a way are very frustrating for the users because they are left to figure out how to use applications that are put in a undetermined state because of holes in the runtime.

Air applications that work on Linux won’t work on all desktops

Adobe Air doesn’t support anything but GNOME and KDE. I usually have the core components of both KDE and GNOME installed on the computers I use, so running applications relying on either desktop environment is not a problem. This is not the case with Adobe Air applications since they apparently rely on some specific features of GNOME or KDE window managers to work properly. This is something that is very seldom seen in the world of X-Window applications. X-Window Applications relying on components of either desktop will usually be happy running on any window manager.

Despite this, Twhirl will work okay-ish in OpenBox with only some graphical glitches to show for.

Adobe Air requires a compositing manager to decent.

I will admit that I’m rather old school and I have not joined the Compiz bandwagon. I did not use any compositing manager on any desktop I use. That means that all Adobe Air applications that use shaped windows, ie: all the ones I have tried, looked awful until I caved-in and enabled the limited compositing feature of KDE 3.5.

Air applications tend focus on the look

Look and feel was never a strong point of Adobe Flash. Flash based application usually don’t try to blend in in the rest of the system. In Adobe Air, Adobe are obviously trying to enforce some Feel in applications, but on the Look side, a lot still leaves to be desired. All Air applications I have tried put a very strong emphasis on design and not so much on blending with the user’s desktop. DestroyTwitter had been designed with fonts a lot smaller than the default size on my desktop. On my CRT screen, it made the application hardly usable. Even the option to use larger font in DestroyTwitter did not do anything to improve the situation.

The worst offender in that category in the applications I have tried is without a doubt Tumblweed, an offline client for the Tumblr web blog system. I had hoped this application would be nicer than editing blog entries through a web site, which is something I dislike. I was mistaken…

The application was removed after a few seconds as it obviously did not focus very much on making editing pleasant.

Okay, I swear this will be my last Twitter inspired post…

Couture and Vera at the Weigh-ins

This past weekend was UFC 105 at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester.  On the card was a number one contender fight between Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy and Mike “The Quick” Swick with the winner to take on GSP as soon as he becomes healthy.  The Co-Headliner for the night was a light heavyweight bout between Randy “The Natural” Couture and Brandon “The Truth” Vera.  Also on the bill where fellow Brits Ross Pearson and James Wilks who were making their UFC debuts since winning the Ultimate Fighter Finale back in June.  Lastly UFC 105 had the return of Michael Bisping to the octagon after being knocked out cold by Dan Henderson at UFC 100.  Let’s see how I made out in my predictions.

The first fight of the night was Ross Pearson vs Aaron Riley.  This fight was definitely a test for Pearson and he passed it with flying colours.  Pearson managed to take control of the first round by allowing Riley to be the aggressor, patiently waiting for Riley to attempt his strike before moving inside and landing some solid punches.  He was also able to dominate in the clinch and mix up his strikes very well between kicks and punches.  The first round easily went to Pearson 10-9.  In the 2nd round we saw more of the same, while it was clear that Riley knew he had to step it up if he wanted to win the fight. Pearson was able to complete a repeat the performance of what we’d seen in the first round.  Near the end of the 2nd round Pearson landed a devistating knee, badly cutting Riley.  After the referee stopped the fight so that the cut could be inspected, it was quickly decided that Riley could not continue, giving Pearson the win.

The 2nd fight of the night was between TUF season 9 welterweight winner James Wilks and season 6 contestant Matt Brown.  The first round of the fight basically set the tone for the rest of the fight.  Being a very well rounded submission specialist it was no secret that Wilks wanted to take this fight to the ground. Wilks, however, was largely unsuccessful in his attemps to take Brown to the ground in the first round.  This first round was really tough to score but in my opinion Wilks came out on top barely taking the round 10-9.

The 2nd round started off with a little bit more action when about 30 seconds into the round Wilks was hit with a big knee from Brown, which looked like it could have been the beginning of the end for him. Somehow though, Wilks was able to escape the threat but at a visible cost.  From this point on it seemed that Wilks had lost a step and Brown more than took advantage.  With just over a minute left in the fight Brown was able to use his superior striking skills and land a series of strikes which forced Wilks to take the fight to the ground.  The round ended with Wilks being saved by the bell after getting caught in a late-round triangle.  This round went easily to Brown, 10-9.  With both fighters in a deadlock at 19-19 the 3rd round was do or die.  Unfortunately for Wilks it was obvious that the 2nd round had taken a lot out of him and Brown was able to capitalize.  Mid-way through the round Wilks attempted desperately to land a Kimura leaving him vulnerable to a full mount and the eventual end to the fight via strikes.

The 3rd fight on the card was one that one that many people were anticipating , the highly publicized return of Michael Bisping to the octagon for the first time since his UFC 100 beatdown at the hands of Dan Henderson.  One thing that I noticed right off the bat was that Bisping didn’t look as lean coming into the fight, an indication that he might be getting more comfortable fighting at 185.  His opponent Denis Kang is well-known in MMA circles outside of the U.S. and would prove to be a big test.

Bisping throwing a high leg kick

In the first round just 90 seconds into the fight, Bisping was quickly put to the test after being knocked down by a hard right from Kang.  Bisping; however, was able to recover and gain his computure, putting on a clinic on how to execute transitions while on the ground.  Kang was able to pass Bisping’s guard on more than one occasion but almost as soon as he passed, Bisping would get back into half guard and soon back into full guard.  The round ended with Kang securing an edge on the hometown hero, 10-9.  The 2nd round was a different story.  Bisping came out like a man on a mission, quickly taking Kang to the ground, showing just how relentless he can be with the ground and pound technique.  After Kang made it back to his feet, Bisping took him down agains, this time causing more damage than the first time he’d taken the Canadian to the ground.  Although Kang was able to get up from the attack once again he was cut badly and was visibly shaken up by the on-ground exchanges.  The third time Kang was taken to the ground would be his last.  Bisping made sure that he wouldn’t get up again, landing punches until the referee was forced to stop the fight and award Bisping the victory on home turf.

The 4th fight of the night was, as mentioned, a number one contenders match between Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy and Mike “The Quick” Swick.  The fight started with Swick going hard at Hardy and paying for it, getting caught by a right hand that made him buckle.  The rest of the round was more or less uneventful with both fighters grappling up against the cage trying to get position over the other.  Although the round was very close I had to give it to Hardy 10–9 as a result of the initial exhange, though it could have just as easily been 9-9.  The 2nd round saw Swick get hit hard and for a 2nd time had him buckling at the knees.  It was clear he was hurt, but the warrior pushed on.

Dan Hardy

Surprisingly it was Hardy that then pushed Swick up against the cage in an attempt at a take down.  Swick was able to stop Hardy’s attempts and looked much better than the previous round, landing three straight right hooks on Hardy before getting caught with a left.  The round ended with Swick taking the brunt of the damage giving Hardy the edge once against 10-9.  The 3rd round was a must-have for Swick who probably needed a knock out to win the fight. The round started with both fighters standing toe to toe and exchanging strikes back and forth before Swick got caught again allowing Hardy to take him to the ground.  The rest of the round worked in Hardy’s favour ensuring him a title shot against GSP.  The decision in the end went to Hardy (30-27,30-27,29-28) making him the first Brit to fight for the title in UFC History… good luck with GSP.

The 2nd headlining fight of the night was a light heavyweight fight between Randy Couture and Brandon Vera.  A victory for either fighter would put them both on the road towards a title shot.  The fight started with Vera landing a nice head kick but Couture was able to implement his strategy and grapple and wrestle with Vera up against the cage, which is more or less where the fight would stay until the end of the round.  The round was pretty even, but the decision went to Couture, 10-9, for successfully implementing his game plan.  The 2nd round was a different story.  After the fight continued up against the cage again the referee separated the fighters and Vera was able to land a vicious kick to the body followed by knees that caused Couture to back away and drop to the ground.  Vera dropped into Couture’s guard, but was unable to do much before eventually bringing the fight back to their feet.  The round ended with Vera securing a 10-9 over Couture.  The third and final round was much like the first with the fighters grappling against the cage, but this time Couture was able to land some good punches and elbows to the face of Vera.  After they are separated, Vera was once again able to land a number hard kicks to the body and with minutes left in the round took Couture down to the ground, where the fight ended.  Although it appeared that Vera had done enough to get the victory, in the 2nd event in a row the judges appear to have taken a win away from Vera, awarding the fight to Couture.  Although the night did end in some controversy, the event did have some very good fights and was a welcome warm up for UFC 106 scheduled for this upcoming weekend.

Look for my predictions on UFC 106 soon.

This Saturday the UFC will return to Manchester with UFC 105. Although UFC 106 is right around the corner, this live to air event on Spike TV has some pretty interesting fights. Although there are no titles on the line for this event, there are some new up and coming fighters on the card, and some who have a lot to prove.

Peason vs Riley: To open up the night is TUF Season 9 winner Ross Pearson, who is returning to the octagon for the first time since he won the six figure contract fight. He is set to face off against Aaron Riley who more or less ran over Shane Nelson in his last fight in a unanimous decision victory. One thing that Riley has is much more experience than Pearson, with almost forty professional MMA fights on his resume. In my opinion what will be the key to winning the match for both fighters will be the stand up game. For both Pearson and Riley, the majority of their wins have come via submission. Unless one fighter feels they have the advantage on the ground, look for this fight to stay standing. To predict a winner for this fight I’m going to have to believe that experience is going to get the better of Pearson. Riley has had fights against some of the best names in the lightweight division (Spencer Fisher, Chris Lytle) while Pearson has yet to go up against a premier fighter. Look for this fight to go the distance with Riley getting the decision.

James Wilks vs Matt Brown: This welterweight matchup is one that should be fairly entertaining. Wilks, who is also a TUF Season 9 winner is coming off a very convincing first round victory over DaMarques Johnson. Wilks is a fighter that loves to take the fight to the ground, but also if need be can put forth an effective striking fight. Matt Brown is coming into this fight after taking some time to rest up nagging injuries. It’s been eight months since he’s stepped in the octagon and I can guarantee that it will take some time for Brown to get comfortable and find a groove. That being said, Brown has looked good in the octagon and has only lost one fight to Dong Hyun Kim, which was a controversial loss at that. It would be smart for Wilks to take advantage of any discomfort that Brown may have early in the fight and put the pressure on early in the fight. When all is said and done, I think that Wilks will win this fight via submission, probably in the second round.

Michael Bisping vs Denis Kang: This is a fight that I will be looking forward to considering Michael Bisping was embarassed by Dan Henderson at UFC 100. As far as I’m concerned Bisping has yet to come up big when being challenged in a fight. When he has had fights against top competitors (Henderson, Evans) he has not had what it takes. What I also noticed about Bisping’s last fight was that he looked a little bit too small, which was odd considering he was fighting as a light heavyweight. If Bisping is going to have a chance against Kang on Saturday he’s going to have to come into the Octagon a little bit heavier just to avoid getting pushed around by Kang who is a big Middleweight. What Bisping also has to watch out for is the punching power of Kang who has racked up 12 knockouts throughout his career. Look for Kang to get the victory in this fight for one of two reasons. The first is that Kang boasts more experience and second, I am not convinced that Bisping has yet to prove hes is a serious competitor in the UFC. With the likes of Marquart, Belfort, Silva, I really don’t thing Bisping has a chance of competing in this division. Bisping has had a way of putting togethering knockouts in the octagon, but unfortunately I don’t see it happening this time against the Canadian Kang.

Dan Hardy vs Mike Swick: This fight will probably shape up to be one of the top fights of the night. The winner of this fight will go up against Georges St-Pierre in a Welterweight title fight. Both fighters like to keep the fight standing, so I’d be surprised to see anything else. With Mike Swick, you know that hes going to let his fast hands fly and try to go for that early knock out. He has to let his hands go and just bombard Hardy since it is his specialty. For Hardy he’s got to stay patient, be smart and selective with his strikes. I think that if he uses his kicks effectively and stays on the outside he can neutralize the threat of Swicks punches. In terms of a winner it is tough to decide, I’m personally a Dan Hardy fan since I like what he has to offer. Call me biased, but I think Hardy is going to come out on top. In no way is it going to be an easy win.

Randy Couture vs Brandon Vera: Finally we have our headliner, Randy Couture drops down to 205 to face off against Brandon Vera. This fight is important to both fighters for different reasons. Brandon Vera is eager to prove himself. After going 4-0 in his first 4 UFC fights he went on to lose 3 of his next 4. Two of those fights, while he was still a heavyweight. Vera has admitted that he didn’t really take his trainning seriously and he now understands what he can do in the octagon when he gives 100%. That being said, he will have to be on top of his game if he’s going to get the best of Randy “The Natural” Couture. Everyone knows what to expect when Couture steps into the ring. He has top knotch wrestling skill, the ability to stick around and take a beating.

I think that Vera will get the best of couture in this fight for one of two reasons. First, Vera has way more to lose than Couture, this will be the biggest fight in his career and he knows that it is a must win for him. Second, Couture is 46 years old and is in one of the most psyichally demanding sport there is. He has lost his last two fights against Brock Lesnar and Antonia Rodrigo Nogueira, in what could be the beginning of the end of a very long and prosperus UFC career. Will Couture retire from UFC if he loses to Vera in this fight? Not likely since he has aleady stated that he wishes to fight Brock again and is showing no signs of stopping. When all is said and done I think that Brandon Vera will get the best of “The Natural” via knockout, in the 2nd round.

Predicted Results

Pearson vs Riley: Riley (Decision)

Wilks vs Brown: Wilks (Submission)

Bisping vs Kang: Kang (TKO)

Hardy vs Swick: Hardy (TKO)

Couture Vera: Vera (TKO)

Results to follow after the event

The Whalers teams were up in Port Hardy for the weekend playing in the Port Hardy Wild Wedding tournament. The Whalers had two teams entered in the tournament with the full-time players playing under the Whalers name while the part-time players played under the Orcas name. Both teams had a very successfull tournament playing and winning both their games on Friday night. The winning streak continued on Saturday for the Whalers with two more wins while the Orcas split their games with one win and one loss. After the round robin play, the Whalers and the Orcas were seeded first and second therefore lining up against each other for the final. The final game took place Sunday at noon, with fairly depleted rosters on both sides due to injuries and sickness. It was a cleanly fought game with a lot of outstanding plays coming from both teams. The Whalers came up on top with a 3-1 victory. Congratulations to all!

Game MVPs: Tera Kasubuchi (2), Debra Lacroix, Marianna Stephens

If anybody has more details, please let me know. Working off my memory which is still a bit foggy…

Click here to view professional photos of the tournament.

Novelist John Irving holds forth on Big Think on an array of writing issues in short videos excerpted from a long interview. He discusses his working habits—eight to nine hours a day writing in longhand in lined notebooks, seven days a week—and the deep rifts in America that trouble him. He talks about using post-it notes, the long process of revision, achieving syntactical unity throughout a long work, and the glory of the long, lavishly detailed, plotted, visual nineteenth-century novels of Dickens, Hardy, Melville, and Hawthorne. The tidbits are worth a listen.

Our G. racemosa at the entrance of the driveway

If you love bright yellow flowers, Genista racemosa can be the plant for you to grow. Last year’s long drought in Victoria (Australia) did not affect the performance of this tough plant. Now during the Australian spring time,  it is showing off masses of pealike blooms that cover the whole plant. I have shaped it into a rounded topiary and year after year it awards me with a showy display of golden colour.

This hardy evergreen plant is also known as Sweet Broom, Canary Island Broom or Cystisus spachianus. Originally it is from Canary Islands. A very quick growing plant which can grow up to 2 meters (6 ft) high. It is perfect to make a topiary. It has a small compound leaves which consist of three oval leaflets. Best grown in warmer area and it needs very low maintenance. Will do well in average well drain soil with full sun position and it hardly needs any fertilizer.

It is said that this plant is regarded as an invasive weed, so it will affect the market availability in some area. However, I have grown G. racemosa for many years and I have never had any problem with growing seeds that invade my garden bed at all. In comparison, I have continuous problems with next door loquat tree (Eriobotrya japonica) where the seeds of the mature fruits grow everywhere in my garden bed and I have a problem of pulling them off the ground.

Useful Hint: If you have already planted it and you have problems with invasive new shoots around your garden bed, it is better to prune the finish flowers as quick as possible before the pods are mature. This way the possibility for the seeds to fall and to grow out of control will be completely reduced. Pruning and shaping G. racemosa after flowering will also give the plant a nice and compact shape and more flowers in following spring time.

Happy gardening.

yesterday we basically had a 25 hour day and i spent my extra hour sleeping …
i love switching to winter time.
here’s a winter themed photo (cross processed in photoshop) despite the fact that i took it a couple of weeks ago – we’re experiencing a moody autumn here in Romania.

P.S.: I’m reading The Mayor of Casterbridge and I never thought i could empathise with such characters as Henchard and his wife. I feel sorry for both of them, their lives are so sad and it’s so tragic just because you know that they did it to themselves. It kind of makes me wonder if in our ignorance we do things to hurt ourselves – and what’s more tragic is do we realise it? And if yes, can we live with it? If no then what do we do…

Prince Charles and Winston Churchill. Jude Law and Muhammad Ali. Ian Fleming and Daniel Craig. The common thread among this eclectic list of gentleman is the one holding together their bespoke shirts from London’s famous Savile Row.

Built in the 1730s, Savile Row is named for Lady Dorothy Savile, wife of the 3rd Earl of Burlington. The majority of the architecture on the street is the work of Henry Flitcroft, although several architects have had their hands in designing the 19th century houses that line the street. Originally, the homes were occupied mostly by military officers and their wives. By 1803, however, some of the custom tailors that occupied streets around Burlington Estate were beginning to gain popularity and began moving to the residences on Savile Row.

In 1846, Henry Poole opened a second entrance to his father’s tailoring shop on Savile Row, however there a few custom tailors occupying the street prior. Henry Poole and Company originally made military uniforms, but the company is credited with the creation of the Tuxedo. This is still a family run business today.

Other occupants on Savile Row include the Hardy Armies fashion House. Although no longer owned by Hardy Armies, who retired in 2001, Hardy Armies was the official dressmaker to Queen Elizabeth II. Armies was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, and his fashion creations were used in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Holding a number of Royal Warrants, Gieves and Hawkes dates back to the 18th century, having been merged from separate tailoring houses Gieves and Hawkes. Considered one of the original bespoke tailoring houses, they now offer ready to wear options as well as military styles, and they have several outlets throughout the world.

Nutters of Savile Row is a relatively new entry to the group of bespoke tailors at the Savile Row location, opening in 1969. Nutters went a long way in modernizing the concept of the Savile Row tailors by featuring open windows with elaborate displays. The customers of Savile Row have included Mick Jagger and the Beatles as well as Lord Montagu and the Duke of Bedford.

The most recent entry to Savile Row is Ozwald Boateng, a Ghana born designer who began making bespoke suits in 1990. Boateng is the first tailor to have a runway show in Paris, and the fashion forward Boateng has appeared on a reality television show as he made attempts to bring his couture custom clothing to the United States. His famous clientele include Samuel L. Jackson, Russell Crowe and Will Smith.

There are just 19 tailors remaining on Savile Row, and the cost prohibitive real estate may force more of them out of the area. In 2005, the Savile Row Bespoke Association was formed, and efforts are underway to help maintain the reputation and integrity of Savile Row.

I’m reworking my home network, and playing with a VirtualBox image of Ubuntu 8.04 LTS that is acting as my DNS server and DHCP server. This is an attempt to deal with the frustrations of my Netgear gear not doing what I want re: IP addressing, and to simplify accessing servers and other devices by name on all my various IP-enabled equipment.

I’m still getting to the bottom of all this DNS stuff, but a couple of key links I don’t want to forget are:

• The Perfect Server at howtoforge.com
• DNS server Setup using bind in Ubuntu from Ubuntu Geek
• Make your DHCP server dynamically update your DNS records on Ubuntu Hardy Heron

If we talk of Ed Hardy Creations, then the first thing that strikes our mind is the legendary figure of the world famous tattoo artist Don Ed Hardy. It all started in the year 1960, when a young Ed Hardy began his career as an amateur artist before using his creative imagination to form the world renowned Ed Hardy Creations. His tattoos are custom made and are readily available for sale and purchase.

What makes an Ed Hardy Creations different from others? Well, all creations look alike but each has a story of its own. For example if you compare an Ed Hardy Tattoo, to say, a relatively unknown professional, the signs would be clearly visible. For example, the first generation process from the 70’s which results in poor images would never be visible in an Ed Hardy Tattoo, while, the colors would be richer and true to life owing to the arduous color correction process. Besides Ed Hardy Creations never use FDA-approved, non toxic, hypo-allergenic material but state of art technology which is safe and secure.

Most of the designs featured in the Ed Hardy Creations line are based on the great mid-twentieth century American tradition. They range from badges, animals, tokens of love, reminders of mortality (skulls, etc.), decorative floral motifs, through humor and cartoons.

The brand is renowned the world over for its unique style and quality. At the same time Ed Hardy has never once failed to satisfy its consumers with its unique ability to enhance and improve the available products to a level which matches the likes of all who wish to be in sync with the latest in fashion. So, it would not be incorrect to say that the wonderful creations from Ed Hardy, which include, clothes and related accessories are comparable to the best in the industry and that they have all the ingredients which are required to make a lasting impact on the minds of all who care to make a difference in their otherwise dull and listless lives.

Listed below are some of most sought after items from the world famous Ed Hardy Line and the most amazing feature about these is that this authentic range can be yours at a fraction of the original cost. The items displayed below are being offered at a discounted price.

Whenever the topic of discussion revolves around Ed Hardy, then the first thing that strikes our mind is the beautifully hand crafted tattoos which adorn each and every item in the list. The clothes are simply adorable and have everything to offer from style, class, elegance to perfection.

The shapes and styles are simply phenomenal and care is taken to ensure that the range is always in sync with the latest market trends. Therefore, if you had any doubts about the authenticity of the product’s fashion quotient, quit worrying and be assured that you would get a product that is comparable to the best in the industry and capable to carry forward its image as a leading trend setter. So, go right ahead and browse through the list which starts right under the last line of this paragraph.

Lucius Apuleius, The Golden Ass

I think patience truly is a virtue. In general I would say I have more than my fair share of it and really can’t complain. It’s a common occurence, especially among others I know who work in high stress jobs, to have semi-regular pseudo-breakdowns over details that go awry, people who drive them completely up the wall with daily incompetencies, or a long and seemingly insurmountable list of tasks that must be completed.

This comes to mind in particular today since I’ve been reading Lucius Apuleius’ Metamorphoses, otherwise known as The Golden Ass; in particular the section concerned with the marriage of Cupid and Psyche. As a story it doesn’t contain much of Apuleius’ humour (which is seen throughout the book), but it does contain plot points that, had I been Psyche, I’m sure I would have just had sat down and laugh myself silly over.

The poor woman, though she’s been blessed with beauty that rivals that of Venus herself, is miserable throughout. First she is so beautiful (read goddess-like) that all men are scared to death to have anything to do with her beyond just standing there and gawking, somewhat creepily I might add. She can’t marry, which we know in all great past literature is the end goal of life for a woman, at least in the sexist, traditionalist way of looking at things. So she’s nothing but miserable. Venus hates her for shifting the spotlight from god to mortal. Psyche ends up lucking into (read plunges horribly into) a marriage with a god, Cupid no less. You’d think she’d be happy with this, but the arrangement falls utterly apart due to her own mistrust and silly habit of listening to her jealous sisters (another necessary relationship in great works). Left to roam the country looking for Cupid in order to persuade him to take her back, Psyche is on the run from Venus. Eventually she is caught/gives herself up and is tortured (because, really, Venus is a small and bitter deity) and given numerous tasks to complete, each with increasing difficulty that I imagine would take months to complete (though characters in antiquity tend to have a direct line to the underworld and manage the round trip in what seems like minutes). In the end she manages to complete her divine orders with some help and, when it’s all said and done, is rewarded for her trials and tribulations by chugging down a goblet of ambrosia and becoming a goddess herself. Tada!

If I had to jump through these hoops and live an entirely worthless life for as long as Psyche I would just have to laugh at it. How that much misfortune can make it into one person’s life is beyond me, but it is not beyond literature it seems. At this point I feel like speaking to Hardy’s Jude the Obscure, but even thinking about that is depressing. The patience needed to live through the ordeals of great literary works is truly divine. It’s a lovely touch to reward some of these characters (I can’t imagine poor Jude could get a break in any reality) as it brings a catharsis which is certainly relieving.

If nothing else I feel somewhat better about the impatience and lack of good luck I seem to be having at the moment. Anyone who says literature doesn’t provide therapeutic release needs to read more.

At work, linux machines running the standard linux installation support kerberos token forwarding via ssh. This is very convenient as it allows to obtain a kerberos ticket and then e.g. run scripts which run on my desktop and the login to the computer farm to perform some tasks. However, this does not work out of the box with Ubuntu (at least not with Hardy Heron). I’ve been looking for a solution since a long time (I even copied the ssh executable and dependent libraries from a node with the standard installation to my desktop but obviously this is not a very elegant solution).

Now I finally found out how to make this work ! (amongst others thanks to this page). In fact, I compared the output of ssh -vvv between logging in from my desktop and logging from in from a node where token forwarding works. I noticed that at some point (when logging in from Ubuntu), I see:

debug2: we sent a gssapi-with-mic packet, wait for reply
debug1: An invalid name was supplied
No error

On the link mentioned above I saw that there is an option

GSSAPITrustDNS=yes

which one could give to ssh (either with -o on the command line for testing or in ~/.ssh/config once one wants to use the option permanently). Indeed, this solved the problem (it seems to work around a bug of ssh with round robin DNS hosts, i.e. several hosts sharing the same host name alias where load balancing is implemented by the domain name server). The above error message in the debug output disappears. In order also to have access to my afs directory on the destination host, I also needed to add the option

GSSAPIDelegateCredentials=yes