The finalists for Australia’s premier speculative fiction awards, the Aurealis Awards, have been announced on the website.

Great to see some new names in the mix as well as the stalwarts, and Brisbane’s Peter Ball running for the greatest over-achiever award with his swag of nominations.

The winners will be announced in Brisbane on January 23, which will mark the end of Fantastic Queensland’s tenure as hosts of the awards. No word yet on who will be taking over the prestigious but invidious task.
]]> http://venomfireworld.wordpress.com/2009/12/05/sounds-fx-from-venom-catalogue/ Sat, 05 Dec 2009 22:58:18 +0000 venomfireworld http://venomfireworld.wordpress.com/2009/12/05/sounds-fx-from-venom-catalogue/

reggae sound fx <<<CLICK to Download

Check out the Sound FX i Have uploaded bless up.

Leave a comment if the link doesnt work.

So how long since I’ve written the last post? I’ve been busy with my work and just got time this weekend to post you another Rainmeter skin. It’s raining outside and boy it’s cold in this room. Anyway, I made a Rainmeter skin of another demon girl (At least I thought her as a demon with horns on her head). Unfortunately, I don’t know what anime or game she is from so a little information will be appreciated.

Skin Name: Demon Girl 2 Calendar

File Size: 148 KB

Color Theme: Pink

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/file/zmtzmdlyjtj/DemonGirlCalendar2.rar

Note: A Rainmeter application can be downloaded in my previous post. Don’t forget to extract and move the folder to your Rainmeter skin directory. Happy downloading!

to live in the blind
design
to die
on a bridge in time.
so,
send my final effects with magellan around capes horn and hope.
toss all my lover’s final pain on that ship
and if it sinks?
the moments remain.

2003 – Wanderszeit
2004 – Der Forst im Frühjahr
2005 – Jahreszeiten
2006 – Die Kraft Der Szenarien :
2008 – Naturkraft

Manche Raritäten sind online einfach nicht zu haben. Bei einem Besuch in Wien, Innsbruck oder Graz sollte man es daher nicht verabsäumen, dem jeweiligen Store von Petz Hornmanufaktur seit 1862 in Wien einen Besuch abzustatten.
Absolut modische Gliederketten aus Horn, edel in Verarbeitung und Design, sind der Hingucker zum fashionablen Outfit 2009/2010 und sehen vor allem zu schwarz umwerfend lässig aus.

Petz Hornmanufaktur seit 1862 in Wien

CC Skye Black Horn and Gold Chain Bracelet

This beautiful black horn and gold chain bracelet is the epitome of CC Skye and is the perfect accessory.  I love the usage of two completely different materials to create a stylish item which supposedly brings you good luck.  Who doesn’t want good luck when it comes in a chic bracelet like the above.

CC Skye Black Horn Bracelet found at Style-Treasure.com, click here.

Alright, here is the second part of the blog about signs. This will finish them up for this time at least until I find more that I can share with everyone. Have fun!

Please comment I would love the feedback

If it is not in use, then why is it there?

if there is a sign, is there not already a problem?

invisible what? People?

hahaha wow

where are we not supposed to swim?

where am I supposed to park my flying car?

what to say about this one...?

100...mph?

to..ease congestion?

keep left...when there is a huge hole there?

have fun with this one

hahaha wow

evil construction workers..

even though this is not a sign, it is still amazing

how do I get in?

better hope it is not to serious

I am glad they made it plain

watch out for those dangerous gravestones

All customer complaints should be taken care of this way

I hope they have a cell phone

Thanks to whoever made this bilboard

poor cockroaches...:(

what is this gate guarding?!

does this guy still have his job?

bummer, I wanted to cross when cars were moving

does the local trafic have flying cars?

only in America

but...I don't speak dog!

but I already gave my arm and leg last time I got gas!

can buggies go 55?

fine failure

Part I talked about the fun and benefits of working together with another player, as coaches, mentors, and playing partners, especially in playing duets with the great benefits of sight-reading and transposition, among others.

There is another kind of duet and another kind of benefit to be had if you make up the duets yourselves. That is: improvising them.

Improvising means “thinking in music,” something that is nearly never done is traditional pedagogy of horn or any other instrument. More’s the pity. Now, why would you want to do something like that?

One great thing about improvisation of any kind is that brings together all elements of music: performance, theory, history, composition, ear training – you need it all to invent music on the spot.

What, me, improvise? [you say] I can’t do that! I can’t play 16th notes at MM=220!

Neither can I. But what I can do is revise my definition of what improvisation is so that I can do it.

First of all, improvisation does not have to be jazz. I’m not a jazz player. I’m a classical player. So I’ll play something that is like the stuff I play all the time. You don’t have to be able to play Donna Lee to make up your own music. A sarabande will do just fine. Start with some long tones. Start with one long tone. Listen to it. See where it wants to go next. As a duet, perhaps start with a common scale and listen to the interval between the two voices. Consonant or dissonant? If it’s dissonant, hold it a moment, then resolve it up or down. If it’s consonant, hold it until you take a breath. Then pick a new note and start again.

You very quickly find out two things when you do this: 1) It’s easy. 2) It’s fun.

And perhaps 3): why didn’t I do this years ago?

You discover that improvising duets is like having a conversation, except in music. You use what you know to discuss subjects that interest you in ways that are familiar and comfortable. Conversing doesn’t have anything particular to do with playing fast; if it did, auctioneers would be the most sought-after conversation partners. It just matters that it’s interesting and that it makes sense. If you recite something, you just need to know how to pronounce the words. If you converse about something, you also need to know what the words mean, both individually and in context, and you can use everything you know – vocabulary, grammar, history, jokes, expressive speaking ability, etc – to make your content and delivery more interesting. In a conversation you must also listen, and spontaneously react to and develop what your partner comes up with in the moment. It’s really fun, and improvising music is just like having a conversation except that at no time in our music training did anyone every give us training or encouragement to have a musical conversation.

But you don’t have to wait for someone to give you either permission or training.

Just do it. And get in on the fun and musical and technical benefits of making up your own stuff.

Making up your own duets is a perfect complement to a session of reading duets, both musically and technically. Here are a few more ideas to get you started:

•Player 1 (P1) plays some kind of I-V repeated bass (like an oom pah tuba) and P2 makes up a march. Here and forever more, always switch parts and do it again.

•P1 plays one low long tone – a drone. P2 experiments with making melodies using one scale above it. Start with the drone being the tonic, then see what’s like for the drone to be other scale degrees.

•Pulse the drone: give it a rhythm. Put some pep in your step!

•P1 plays a simple bass line, e.g. C-B-A-G, or in minor: C Bb Ab G. P2 solos over it.

•Players make up a piece based on the rhythm of their names.

•Players choose a familiar (and simple!) tune and figure out the melody via ear & error. After you can play it in C, play it in all other keys. Then repeat in minor. Then repeat, with P1 on the melody and P2 on 1) harmony 2) chord roots 3) countermelody.

•Just start playing: there are always rules, but here you have to figure out the rules as you go. Hint: arrive at a common pulse and key as quickly as possible. Hint #2: Recycle material. Find one simple, strong idea and develop it in all kinds of ways.

If you need more ideas, check out my book, Improvisation Games for Classical Musicians (GIA).

Have fun!

This is a hip hop scratch track.  It was made on a mobile sampler in the back of a van.  The sample is from Fela Kuti.  Loved Fela’s politics, but then again, I also have the benefit of being male.  I wonder what his mom would think.

I’ve been away too long and have missed writing in my blog.   I have been wanting to write this post for several weeks…

Disrupting Class, the revolutionary book by Clayton Christensen and Michael Horn, has been one of the “hot” books about education this past year.  In it, Christensen and Horn make a compelling case for the role of disruptive innovations in changing the pace of innovation, often causing rapid change in industries.  The book describes how companies often become so large and ingrained in their system that they are unable to construct a truly innovative change, one that changes the status quo and shifts the market, over time, away from their model.  As a result, systems become very good at sustaining current innovations, but not very good at creating (or reacting to) innovations that either shift the market or create a new one.  They outline the evolution form departments stores, to large chains (Walmart) to online retailing.  Each step along the way marked by a innovative change that often began not as competition over current innovations, but instead changing the market all together.  A great example of this not mentioned in the book is the Sears catalog.  During the early 90’s, Sears began to see a decline in their catalog sales.  Trying to increase sales, Sears asked their customers what they wanted, to which they collectively responded, “more catalogs.”  Sears complied.  At the same time, however, a small company called eBay was beginning to attract a different market – those interested in buying and selling goods online.  Admittedly, the Sears customer was not same as the eBay customer, but eBay had caused a disruption and shifted the market away from the catalog.  Of course, now there is no Sears catalog and eBay sells billions of dollars worth of merchandise annually.

Recently, I had the chance to meet and listen to Michael Horn at the Wentworth Institute of Technology (That’s me with Michael to the left – Thanks to Stephanie Cheney for the invitation).  During his talk, Horn commented that maintaining innovations lead to failure, that systems need disruption, which made me think of the Sears catalog.  Sears was willing to appease their customer base, but wasn’t able to see and/or take advantage of the disruptive force that internet commerce presented.  In fact, Horn commented, “customers hold innovation back.”  Sears asked its customers what they wanted and it led to the ultimate failure of its catalog.

All of this makes me think of our customers?  Are they our Parents?  Students?  Community?  Well, probably all of the above, but more to the point, do they hold back innovation in education?  Educational systems have a tendency to survey constituents when making change, but is that prudent?  (Perhaps from a political perspective, but from the perspective of affecting change is it?)  Don’t constituents simply want more of the same?  How often do we hear, “Back when I was in school…” when folks talk about innovation in education?  For example, we know from Howard Gardner’s work that different children learn differently, but the movement to enact meaningful change for atypical learners is often meant with resistance because, “back when I was in school, we didn’t have…”  or “when I started teaching we didn’t have to worry about…” Despite mountains of research to suggest that innovations often lead to increase student performance, educational systems are loath to change – or perhaps it is more accurate to suggest that they can’t change.  Horn made the claim in our discussion that the interdependency of school systems creates standardization, thus not allowing schools to customize and personalize their program.  In effect, making them rigid and change adverse.

Which is why I am so excited about the prevalence of online schools.  (In the interest of full disclosure, I work part-time at the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School -VLACS.)  The online environment, if established properly, can provide students with the individualization and customization that they desire.  With open enrollment and any time, any place learning, online schools have the flexibility that well-established systems seem unable to provide.  In the book Christensen and Horn make a compelling case for online learning being  a disruptive innovation in education, much like my example of eBay being the disruptive innovation to the Sears catalog.  How disruptive could online education be?  Christensen and Horn predict that by 2019, 50% of high school courses will be offered online.  That percentage hovers around 6% now.

Finally, Horn predicted that the next disruptive innovation will be the modularization of the curriculum.  New Hampshire may be uniquely qualified to take advantage of this innovation if it comes true.  With state mandates effectively eliminating the Carnegie unit and moving toward a competency-based credit system, NH high school may be able to develop systems which would allow students to complete course modules according to their needs and or passions.  VLACS has recently developed its Personalized Pathway program.  Designed to help student meet competencies toward high school credit, Personalized Pathways has the long-term flexibility to allow for the customization and personalization of a high school program as students will be able to develop “courses” by building modules from a variety of disciplines.  In the end, students could be able to earn all of the competencies required for graduation, but not necessarily in the packaged courses offered in today’s high schools.

Isn’t that what we want?  Students standing up and saying, “This is what I am passionate about, so this is the way that I am going to show competency and earn my diploma.”

I’m anxious to read your remarks, so feel free to comment below.

Today is Monday!  As such, I had horn club tonight.  We had six people there tonight, so we were able to play lots of different kinds of music.  I was having an especially fun time since I was trying out a new (to me) horn.  While mine is injured (:()  (that’s a frown in parentheses, not a monkey), I’m borrowing Mar’s horn.  I borrowed her horn a couple of years ago while mine was being cleaned, and at that time I wasn’t terribly enamored with it.  This time, however, I quite enjoyed myself.  I’ll have to see if that enjoyment continues while my horn is being repaired.  It goes in to my trusted repairman tomorrow.

Also, since today is Monday, here’s the pushup count!

Week 2, Day 1:  14,14,10,10,15   (the last set was kinda painful today.)

I made it to Ohio all in one piece last night.  Unfortunately, my horn was a bit damaged.  Once I get back to Wisconsin, I’ll put up some pictures of the damages, but for the time being, I’ll describe what happened.

The last time I tried to fly with my horn, I found a hole in one of the tuning slides.  At the time, I thought that it must have been from the TSA guy who insisted on inspecting my horn closer, but now I think it may actually be from my horn being in its case and being thrown around.  There’s a hinge on the inside of the case that could hit the tuning slide if the case was thrown against something with a decent amount of force.  A hole is really pretty easy to temporarily repair, so I’m not too worried about that.  The last time this happened, it cast about 30 dollars to repair.

The bigger issue is in the bell of my horn.  Somehow the bell got a small crease in it which is causing the part where the bell screws on to no longer be round.  Since the screw is no longer round, I can’t screw the bell onto my horn.  Having never had anything like this happen, I have no idea how much it will cost to repair, if it can be repaired.  I think it is fixable, but I won’t really know for sure until I get it to my trusted repairman in Wisconsin.

And if there is no room here, what’s outside?
“A black horn twenty stories high, above a black

Sea that is sheltered by three dimensional stars,
Connected squares and symbols” Symbolizing what?

“The night that fathered nothing,” your younger sister said,
“A dream of the evening that ends the world.”

I shuddered. Were we already atop the horn?
I felt very high, poorly balanced, ready to give in.

Yesterday was both a frustrating and then a very rewarding day. My practice session in the morning was pretty bad. My warmup routine was okay but it usually is. Then I rested for 20 minutes and began practicing the etudes I’m working on. This week they are in the Preparatory Melodies book by Pottag. They don’t look hard but I always struggle through them. Yesterday I couldn’t play the stacatto notes cleanly and I just missed more notes than I got.

After the etudes I moved on to the Gliere Concerto in Bb. I’m about 1/3 through the first movement. Usually I don’t have range issues with this piece but I could barely play the E at the end of the opening arpeggio and the F at the beginning of the main theme just wasn’t happening. After that it only got worse. I moved on to working on scales and even they went poorly. I took another 20 minute break and then persevered playing in the middle range to get my hour in.

I wasn’t expecting much for my afternoon session but what a surprise. I played better than I have since I started playing again, maybe even better than I used to play. Every note was clean. Range was no issue. I got to the D above high C pretty easily. I was able to actually play musically instead of worrying about just getting the notes. I always try to play musically but when I’m constantly splatting notes it’s pretty hard to play a nice phrase. I can’t believe I’m saying this but the part of the Gliere I’m working on was almost easy. I moved on to Strauss 1 with similar results.

I’ve had my share of horn misery over the past two months but it’s rewarding practice sessions like this one that keep me going. I know that someday I will play like I did yesterday afternoon more often than not. I just hope that ’someday’ comes sooner than later.

Passing on –>

the bag-carried charms of lonely school-girls

blue crushed dreams drowned at noon-day

vented fortunes melted and re-created

morphed laughters reflected in a magenta pool

shadowy remains of the over-large green lantern

vultured skulls swinging by their guitar strings

music honeyed lions pondering the dancing stars

there a stare – here a smile – everywhere death

paper-thin mannequins feasting on shrimp salads

oceanic largesses buttoned and stored sideways

sun-dried tomatoes drank with overmuch salt

zion led saints proportioning those fairly decked nuns

swing crushed remains – the bread cracks of yore

the vegan induced convulsions of some carnivore

emperor dreamed lords dressed in nakedness

street whispered symphonies overtaken with sun-dried laughters

slithering oysters wrestling with some stranded toe

darling buds gnashing their teeth as they gently kiss those receding winds

suffocated wedding bands recalling past conquests

suffused pleasures desiring a proper vessel

the sweaty palms of boys chained in boarding schools

green sullied roof tops laced in brown jacaranda leaves

death masked violins overran with a craving for strings

there be but a remainder of mats – herded feet whistling their displeasure

overmuch excitement – the sure emblem of lovers at war

gloried bosoms rounder than the fairest august apple

middle apportioned fortunes starved of the seasons fallings

i pose a conundrum – suppose i cared

those circular yearning s teasing the pathetic fortunes of our failings

trombone led bands cowering beneath flute dresses

museum honeyed murals of masters unknown

leather clobbered loins remained upon the chiefest lizard cliffs

shop stewed beans rustling in their metal prisons

willows distantly dancing a fresh of the flowing muds

the punished sounds of choirs hanged at dawn

boot driven passions remained on a plastic plate

a loose lip here – a shoe there – everywhere death

numidian mushrooms sheltered beneath kilimanjaros shoulders

kissed birds overcome with grief

the booked imaginings of shy pupils giggling in rain

pampered lobsters sunbathing in their coffins

oiled thighs standing erect besides michelangelo’s david

yellow scented lusts of husbands given over to theatre

comedy driven longings – the perpendicular stares of wronged lover

the karoo streams – kalahari basins – toureg chants – gorgon encampments

they all be but simple venison servings

table laid charms bottled in salt

how fair are those dancing bears – even the same fur-less devils

suspended aloft that soon disappearing iceberg

night stars rushing purposefully to their deaths

sychellian crustaceans wallowing in grief

the bushveld  tropics leaning gently upon fair mozambique’s cheeks

soon-approaching monsoons announcing their arrival in himalayan chants

train hurried suns murmuring for a lack of attention

the haired touching of lovers stranded at and in the sea

easterly badlands housed in some papal estate

toe-tugged yearnings elegantly decked in straw skirts

of epher’s children – salute them with a gentle tug in either direction

craven red shoes seated upright in some rainy mud hut

of mau mau and his abandoned harlots – whistle only and touch not

burning forests housed wholly in her mouth

olympian straits considered and rejected

righteousness forced upon unwilling saints – they chose sin instead

snow-covered churches overcome with laughter

coat pocketed jealousies of rivals resorting to righteousness – dueling

scorched lands immigrating downward and into hell

cherry scented mustangs awash in fresh aloe

dew carried feet refusing the flung serving of fresh boots

the remaining african horn fed to the nomadics of eritrea

diseased waters bottled and sent to epher’s descendants

soap deprived ankles painted in valley yellow

dark suns prejudiced at the sight of blue oranges

suited bullfrogs desiring an audience with the priest

mournful dirges of some tragic anthem lorded over the plains

serengeti woodlands teaming with overmuch grasshoppers

lateral – dental – palatial

the rice grown hatreds of aphrite’s rude cousins

millet rinsed touchings of loves and lovers clothed in burnings

sight condemned ancients rehearsing their final movements

hurried motionings of sharks harpooned at the high deserts

drunk instructors condemned to the wine cellars

drought moustaches grown arrogant with the occasional brush

ankle dipped hands dancing on freshly painted ceilings

roman centurions sheepishly waiting upon the priests

the back covered lashes of whips crying at dawn

zebra teethed lions lying sideways – the feed was much

meditating monks nightly preaching patience as they doubt its efficacy

rib jointed searchings of parents transfixed upon some tragic statute

guitar stringed understandings of lovers soon to be loosened

hurricane gales refusing freely gifted medications – they instead desire destruction

church chimed machinations – the loud shadows of sarcadortal hems

leather-covered sweaters speaking of soon returning father abraham

marsh covered bibles resurrected to their mournful parents

papered lips pretending to care yet found out

fortuned souls buried in moses’ bosoom

piano starved school children emaciated and in need of fresh cassava

drunk pilgrims desecrating their holy places

curses courtiers given over to overindulgence

pleasured hips forgetting how to dress

earth abused servants despising their hoes

equator neglected bears doubly aggrieved

polluted musics distilled in yellow barley

tomato crushed dreams of lovers separated by war

tributaries of untamed passions spewing from eva’s bosom

tribal instincts of mothers caressing their pops – confused loves

crucified sailors condemned for purity of passions

the yellow ribbons circling about in their blue trousers

bus driven fears of known futures

boiled mannequins cascading in sheltered rage

the oiled ankles of lovers destined to fail

teaming marshes pregnant with the anticipation of your impending hanging

what would shylock do

such purity contained in those unassuming holy loins

not a penny more or less

the weighty pendulums of earthly expectations placed shoulderwise

upon such lowly flesh – pray for his rich poverty

freely consider the run – jonah did

circular chains layered outwardly upon her cheeks

wandering stares of the decomposing tortoise

craged backs of prisoners rejoicing at the sight of a whip

unseemly lovings of the nile priests

snow married rains competing for the mastery

roaming preachers begging for fresh underwear

any recall the simple pleasures of death

hyacinth troubled waters refusing to suffocate

consider the daffodils and their fair cousins – the black mamba

following – continue your runnings

street dancing muses overtaken with giggling willows

haggard poets taking up whistling

layered burnings of victims returned from their nightly flames

the bleached denials of lovers untrained in the art – of lying

caressed lips of saints hanged and burned by the eclipse

green creeks snaking around eva’s proud towers

ever populated with the bagged trifles of smiles sealed and delivered

expected rains falling only the honest sinners

touch not but freely reach

the flasked remains of wars forced upon the innocent

dirt condemned shoulders praying for rain

honeyed nights scribing the moanful chants of reunited lovers

built ruins of some ancient king – god

boot-straped cowboys jeaned and straightwith saddled

onion ringed stairs of pilgrims unfurling their carpets in prayer

stoned devils loosened on an unassuming friday afternoon

the shamelessly chanted charms of choirs rehearsing compassion

free range grains frustrated at the sight of a sickle

garden manufactured sandals covered in cassava peelings

the red vases of fortunes’ train soon approaches

temple plundered riches housed in some temple

boat driven suspenders tugging the wily doe

arabian summers spend it hibernation

square run destinies married to music slithered hands

love-worn seagulls taking up residence on greenland’s beaches

the pilgrim stares of submerged penguins

superfluous gains of tormentors destined to burn

collected unicorns aimlessly peddling their air cycles

terrace covered nakedness of summers spent at the arctic

zerubabel conducted symphonies arrested by the passing eclipse

the retrograde joys of past loves recalled in regret

of pains  known and grown out of – try harder

vase-shaped frustrations – even the same man nurtured

sandals of ambitions dead at birth

any care pass along the rope – how make you a proper noose

how sweet the contradiction daily raping humanity

baleful mourns of innocence hushed in the still of the night

bewildered stares fixed upon the priestly robes of the temple vultures

scavengers given over to overmuch prayer – before consuming their flesh

teeth mapped meats shaking with fear

with love and for love yet always serving self

hades scented saints marching triumphantly towards their sabbath pews

those proper passions gently housed in some harlots bosom

care consider her kind

rude awakenings of skirts hugged one upon another

round fingers – the meandering coins emblazoned with sea fortunes

sword kissed deaths transfixed upon some tragic mount

that they too desire to commune with father moses – any care find him

knee-nursed yearnings of some crawling pop

kettle-whispered lovings of mothers overcome with joy

loves journeyed in darkness only to be condemned by the searching light

some waffled longings of imprisoned cousins – twice removed

fortunes plundered and straightaway surrendered to mightier foes

watched yearnings of those round face anthills

care imitate the socialized hatreds of the sheppard

joyous singings at the news of the stranded winters upon the seas

today be the burial of some tragic figure – some son of three parents

scared remains of lovers burned in love – rather it be love that burned then -

or love caused these burnings – love burned them – in a word: they be dead

the dragon costumes singularly common yet without a mother

companies of soldiers bewailing their blood-muddied swords

pure-bred expectations of fathers married to daily runnings

parisian harlots – even those decadent damsels of notre dame

lamp lighted walkings of some painted corridor

symphonic laughters given over to overmuch prayers

recall the butterfly laced travels of righteous odysseus

the drought peopled apartments quietly screaming for chardonnay

touched purities of priests aggrieved in spirit yet glad in the flesh

palm lined libraries of cairo giddily seated adjacent jerusalem’s famous lamps

summer covered carpets laced with gerbera ferns

nightly runnings of forbidden lovers conspiring their next escapes

apostolic sureties of saint eva – blessed be her musical loins

poems collected in empty wooden wine skins

coerced laughters masked in the lying giggles of the anaconda

prayerful knees of the arabian monk wrestling with an empty sea shell

rehearsed returns of the blue women of the green lagoon

liberian tiles refusing their ordained marriages to cuban cements

any care hear of the loud shrills of the debauched crickets

plimsol expectations of princes ignored in plain sight

the returned piercings of lapped waters dancing in a great danes mouth

restrained sheep recalling their wild histories as dakota mustangs

of sacrifices a dove yet wholly unrepentant

rosy mornings carried in an empty jar

that the sistine chapel was erected by a harlot – aye even eva

that most righteous and upwardly decked saint of the weeping sheets

known of most for her convulsing inducing hands

virgin pilgrims remained upon their store-bought piety

some raisin cured yawns of the whited sepulchers housing her blessed remains

glass layered centuries of accusations returned and loosened

sweet-honeyed chirpings of the wooly mammoth

crane-spoted hyenas jumping rope in the serengeti plains

crowned turtles desiring the company of boiling lobsters

any recall the tearful repentances of proud nabucco

slaves become masters and enslaving their fellow slaves

how that in running – they instead lost themselves

have a care

Home Controls is now carrying Elk’s 15 watt (ELKSS15) and 30 watt (ELKSS30) sirens.  The ELK Products Self-Contained Exterior Siren can be used indoors and outdoors.  It features a dual tone (Yelp and Steady) and is pre-wired for easy installation.

Features

• Two Tones, Yelp & Steady
• Pre-Wired for Easy Installation
• Easy To Mount
• Interior or Exterior use

ELKSS30 – 30 Watt Siren Specifications

• Operating Voltage: 6 – 14 Volts DC
• Sound Level: 120 db @ 1 meter, 13.8vdc
• Current Draw: 1.1A @ 13.8vdc
• Size: 8″ x 4.7″ x 9.6 deep” (200mm x 120mm x 245mm)
• Color: White

ELKSS15 – 15 Watt Siren Specifications

• Operating Voltage: 6 – 14 Volts DC
• Sound Level: 110 db @ 1 meter, 13.8vdc
• Current Draw: 500mA @ 13.8vdc
• Size: 5.25″ dia x 6″ (135mm dia x 150mm)
• Color: White

The best part about these sirens is that they come with a Manufacturer’s Lifetime Limited Warranty.  Get yours today!

This is a really cool cake, check it out at Coco Cake Cupcakes.

I really love how the piping for his hair isn’t all one color. It makes the cake look way more interesting. I also love the cute ribbon at the bottom. I wish I could make stuff like this!

And here is a cupcake tower made by someone else:

This male rhino had his horn cut off because he killed the female elephant in the safari park. The male elephant was angry at this and killed the female rhino as retaliation. Who says humans are bad? The safari park got the rhino another female. The elephant has not got a new female yet because he is gone really bad tempered. His favorite past time now is shredding tractor tires. Those are some seriously big tires to shred. You don’t want to get on his bad side!!

Let’s look at the Tomato Hornworm!

The Tomato Hornworm

This big green caterpillar LOVES tomatoes! It’s a big green caterpillar with these cool shaped markings on its side and has a black horn on its rear.

Imagine how this little creepy crawler affects farming, and your local grocery store. They are so hard to spot because of their green colour. They hide right under branches close to the truck, commonly attacking tomato, eggplant, pepper and potatoes.

One way to reduce the population of tomato hornworms is by planting Marigold flowers!

The Tomato Hornworm

Did you know?

Pupa. Don’t call your friends this, but a pupa is basically the life stage of insects that undergo TRANSFORMATION! They go through 4 stages: from the embryo, larva, pupa then imago (adult stage).

These guys, morph into a HAWK MOTH! Yes a HAWK MOTH. Hawk moths are sometimes mistaken for hummingbirds. Some are capable of flying at over 30 miles an hour!

Friday’s project here at Rennen Autohaus was to replace the horns on a Cayenne Turbo, which is made slightly more difficult because of the intercoolers found only on the turbo models.  The horns are a common failing point on the Cayenne and on the N/A cars it’s a fairly simple job to replace them.  You can go in through the wheel wells and get access to the pair of horns, one on each side of the car; however on the Turbo trucks the entire front bumper must be removed to gain access.

In order to do this there are a number of screws to remove in each wheel-well, as well as above and below the bumper.  After that you’ll need to remove the head lights using the Porsche supplied tool (or a deep socket) and there are a pair of securing tabs that will need to be depressed as the bumper is slid out-of-place.  It’s best to use a friend at this point to be safe as the front bumper is quite heavy and it’s a handful to depress the tabs, support the bumper and coax it out-of-place all while not scratching anything.

After the bumper is removed it’s a simple 2 minute job, unscrew the old horns and unplug then reverse the process to put everything back together.

This truck is running Fabspeed’s complete exhaust and Cat By-pass system so I’m not sure why the horns are even needed… If he want’s attention it’s a simple matter of the pedal on the right!