New Handmade Luxury Jewelry.
Hot Chocolate Art Felted Recycled Mink Necklace

Available at my Etsy shop:
Magical Laboratory of Fashion
© COPYRIGHT NOTE: All of my designs, photos and descriptions are protected by copyright. They may not be duplicated, copied, reproduced and/or republished without permission or notice. All rights are reserved.

This is my latest creation out of old minks. I have three and they are $50 each. Email me for order info.

Here are my finding (weirdly, all from ebay.co.uk)

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Look for black appliques on, e.g., Etsy. You can sew of glue (glue gun) the applique to the dress to make it look more like Blair’s.

The cuff:

Etsy

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Dijo que su mamá la odia, que la abandonó cuando tenía seis años. Quien sabe, la verdad es que a Sharon le encanta hacerse la víctima. Pero en su boda… qué guapa se veía. De su padre heredó los ojos turquesa y la nariz de porcelana. De la madre, la locura y la delgadez.

Fue esa noche la primera vez que vi a su mamá: un esqueleto vestido y con el cabello gris brujesco. En ella se conjugaba la impresión de una calaca vieja y una muñeca fina. Me sorprendí pues durante el mazal tov no bailó con su hija, la devoró con la mirada. Sus pestañas se abrían como cortinas de abajo hacia arriba frente al vestido entallado de Sharon. Sonreía de tal manera que no se veía ni rebosante de alegría ni tampoco de tristeza: la psicosis se le salía por la retina.

Reconozco que un mes antes declaré públicamente que no iría a la boda porque no soporto a Sharon. Pero esa no fue la razón por la que casi no me presento. La verdad es que la belleza suele irritarme.

El sábado, después de la carrera nocturna de diez kilómetros, me puse mis mejores garras, me aplasté el pelo con gel  y me pinté los labios con el bilé rosa indeleble que no me gusta pero dura bien. Vestida al estilo Morticia, parecía que iba a un entierro… Me acordé del espeluznante disfraz de Halloween de cadáver de novia. Visualicé a una niñita toda de blanco, el rostro pintado, y dos círculos negros alrededor de los ojos que me miraban fijamente y decían con voz tierna: “¿me das mi calaverita?”

Cuando saludé a Sharon noté que estaba enojada conmigo. Ni modo, no era el momento de explicarle mi ausencia en las celebraciones anteriores ni el rollo del cadáver de la novia. En esta boda sí que había huesos vivientes, me quedó claro después de conocer a la madre de Sharon.

Durante la cena, nadie efusivo, todos cordiales. Estaba impresa la elegancia en cada movimiento: desde levantar la copa de vino para el brindis hasta sujetar la servilleta para esconder un eructo involuntario. La gran mayoría de las invitadas se presentó con altos peinados, maquillaje profesional, zapatos del mismo tono que el vestido de satín y las uñas pintadas al estilo francés. Se cuidaron de no cenar mucho para que no reventara la faja.

Cuando se abrió pista la música estuvo fenomenal, al menos eso explicaba la cantidad de gente que estaba bailando. No me paré. Con las ampollas a punto de reventar entre los dedos preferí quedarme con los pies descalzos bajo la mesa y la mirada clavada en la pasta con crema de champiñones, un menú barato para la cantidad de dinero que tiene el padre de Sharon. Pero eso no importa, lo que sí es que me tragué hasta el último espagueti y eso que no iba con hambre. Tampoco con ganas de platicar con mis ex compañeros de la prepa sobre por qué, después de cinco años de haber salido, aún no quiero tener hijos.

Que si estoy embarazada, le preguntaron a Ariela refiriéndose a mí.  No sé quién fue más ojeta, si Chikik por indagar o Ariela por repetir. “Dile a esa puta que si me ve panza es porque estoy gorda, no preñada y que si tiene tanta duda por qué no me lo pregunta para que vea qué bien le contesto”. Tragué un caballito de tequila que lo único que logró fue recordarme la gastritis.

Mi reloj indicaba que aún faltaba mucho para los chilaquiles. Pensaba en la comida después de que acababan de decirme gorda. Pero, si no es a tragar ¿a qué demonios se va a las bodas?

La fiesta estaba prendida. Me dio gusto por Sharon, aunque es el tipo de persona que jamás está feliz. Es hermosa pero no alegre ¿y quién demonios es alegre? Nadie lo es, y quien lo aparenta miente, incluso en una boda como ésta. Sharon es una falacia, Rilke mintió al decir que la belleza es promesa de felicidad. Cuando me percaté de ello, la boda ya se había convertido en un carnaval. Entre máscaras y globos el ambiente me gritaba que debía de manifestar euforia. La elección se hacía inminente: mimetizarme o abandonar. Opté por un refugio más neutral: pararme a la barra de dulces. No hubo nada que se me antojara. Nada que me endulzara ni siquiera por una fracción de segundo. Agarré un puñado de piñas enchiladas, pensé en llevármelo a la boca, pero por las agruras preferí guardarlo en la bolsa de mi saco imitación de mink, ese maldito abrigo que se empeñó en regalarme mi suegra a pesar de que rechacé uno legítimo. Le preocupaba que no cumpliera con el código de vestimenta de lucir pomposa con un cadáver encima.

Decidí que mi presencia y la imitación ésa abarataban el ambiente. De la mesa, tomé las llaves del auto; no traía bolsa de noche. Era largo el camino que tenía que manejar sola. Marcos me estaba esperando en casa.              

Sara

Len Mink with "Gospel Duck"

Excerpts of Len Mink on Saturday night.

091121_lenmink.mp3

From movie “Chalo Ishq Ladaye”

My friend Evan pointed out some surprising facts last week.  At least they were surprising to me.  Did you know that PETA has killed thousands of animals?  That is, at least according to this source (and it does cite its sources).*

Here are some more facts:

—According to PETA—this is a quote—“Silk Production Causes Painful Death for Insects”.  Ergo, “Don’t buy silk....”

—Another PETA Web site admonishes us, “don’t buy wool.”  (Evan says, “ask any shepherd what happens to a sheep that doesn’t get sheared for the summer”.)

—PETA further admonishes, “Never patronize zoos.”  (If you read the rest of that page, for balance, also read at a minimum a commentary by the president of the Saint Louis Zoo.)

—A blog that PETA’s search feature points me to (and that’s owned by PETA, in any event) at least implies that the blind and other handicapped shouldn’t have the benefit of assistance animals.  (“Why can’t these assistance dogs be replaced with humans who are paid for their services...?”)  Sure enough, further investigation reveals that a writer for the The New Yorker interviewed the president and co-founder of PETA, Ingrid Newkirk, and learned that

She regards the use of Seeing Eye dogs as an abdication of human responsibility and, because they live as “servants” and are denied the companionship of other dogs, she is wholly opposed to their use.  She has had at least one dog taken from its owner.

(This and other highly interesting excerpts are available here; an article abstract is available on The New Yorker’s own Web site here.  The New Yorker site won’t let you see the whole article unless you have a subscription, but I have access to a Lexis-Nexis subscription, and I’ve confirmed that these words are indeed contained in that article.  The article is “The Extremist: The woman behind the most successful radical group in America”, April 14th, 2003, page 52, by Michael Specter.)

Here’s another interesting fact.  As it happens, this is the next sentence in the article:  “Among her most frequently cited statements is: ‘When it comes to feelings like hunger, pain, and thirst, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy.’”**

Huh.  Isn’t that interesting?

Look, I’m as much in favor of preventing cruelty to animals as the next guy, and if it seems appropriate to the majority in any given state to pass laws saying that cows can’t be kept in a pen so small they can’t sit down, chickens have to be able to flap their wings, etc., that’s fine.  It’s one thing to be in favor of treating our animal chattels humanely, but it’s quite another to say that animals are morally or metaphysically our equals.  They’re not.  I won’t try to get into that whole discussion here, but I will ask, for anyone inclined to go down PETA’s path, how far are you willing to go?  If meat is murder, and killing silkworms is murder, is stepping on an ant or a worm on the sidewalk murder?  If a worm is on the same level as a human being, why limit your compassion to the animal kingdom?  Isn’t that just another arbitrary boundary?  Is baking bread murder?  It slaughters billions of innocent yeast cells.  What about washing hands and killing all those bacteria?  If meat is murder, do we have a moral obligation to send police out into the African veldt to keep the lion from preying on the zebra?

Or think of it this way.  Maddox (formerly of maddox.xmission.com) once pointed out—in what may be the only time he has ever seriously cited a source—that modern harvesting equipment kills huge numbers of field animals every year.  (Warning: Maddox is funny but vulgar.  Here’s his article about whether vegetarianism is murder.  The source he cites is Time magazine, this article, on this page.)  Anyway, do we need a source?  Long before modern farming machinery, Robert Burns famously described inadvertently almost killing a mouse while plowing a field, in his ode “To a Mouse”.  Do you believe that agriculture is a grave societal evil, on the order of genocide or slavery?  Should we ban the motorized combine, and even the simple eighteenth-century plough, with all deliberate speed?

Perhaps the most surprising fact was that there are also objections to PETA that properly have nothing to do with animal “rights”.  At some point, Evan asked, “Is it a victory to get people to reconsider eating meat if you treat women like pieces of it?”  It sounded as if PETA had made a practice of exploiting women (and men’s lust) to sell their product, so to speak (the product being their mad ideology).  Sure enough, the same New Yorker article confirms in plain terms, “Naked women also play a central role in PETA’s demonstrations and advertisements....”

I had never heard of any of this, but the very next day, I went downtown and happened to see two of these PETA girls standing on the street corner.  They were holding signs saying “Leather is a fashion felony” (or something like that) and wearing “police” uniforms, faithfully reproduced right down to such authentic details as fishnet stockings.  (Even if you’re OK with the objectification of women, shouldn’t PETA picket itself for promoting fishing or something?)

OK, so PETA wants to change the rules, to “think outside the box”:  Instead of a rational appeal (animals are humans’ equals; therefore you shouldn’t kill them for leather) or even a straightforward emotional one (look at this cute animal; therefore you shouldn’t kill them for leather), PETA tries to hitch its crusade to men’s sex drives.  In response, I have a modest proposal.  Let’s change the rules.

Maddox once suggested (again, warning: vulgarity), “sponsor a vegetarian”—if you commit to eating three times as much meat as you normally would for as long as your friend is vegetarian, in theory, you can completely neutralize his efforts to reduce the slaughter of animals.  I don’t recommend that.  More modestly, my suggestion is that every time you see a PETA publicity stunt involving girls who look as if they should be told to go put some clothes on, instead, go out and get some new clothes for yourself, made of leather or other “felonious” materials.  If successful, such a plan would cause every such PETA stunt to lead to more, rather than less, material support for the leather industry, the fur industry, etc.

Because I saw those girls downtown, today I bought myself a shiny new leather jacket (well, shiny used leather jacket).  I’ve never owned a leather jacket before (unless you count my leather-sleeved high-school letter jacket), but I think I’m going to like it.  What will you buy the next time you see unethical advertising for the ethical treatment of animals?

Being ethical doesn’t have to be painfully expensive, either.  There’s no reason you have to purchase the most expensive leather jacket you can find (or even the second-most-expensive); apparently you can get new leather jackets that look pretty sweet for under two hundred dollars, or even forty if they’re really on sale.  Also, thrift-store buys totally count.

It doesn’t have to be a leather jacket, of course; even a leather watchband would do (and again, no need to get the most expensive one you can find; apparently even a basic ten-dollar watch can meet your cow-killing needs).  Correction (November 16th, 2009): An alert reader points out that the band of that watch, upon closer inspection, is made of faux leather, but apparently you can still kill cows with a watch under twenty-five dollars (with a band made of “genuine pink leather”, whatever that is).  At that point, though, you’re not getting many square inches of cowhide per dollar; for just thirty dollars more, you can have a whole fedora made of leather, and really get your money’s worth.

There’s also no reason it has to be leather.  We all know these PETA types would disapprove of your buying fur at least as much.  Maybe there’s a lady in your life who would enjoy a new mink coat? 

If we take PETA at their word, silk must be just as good as leather and fur—it’s all murder, right?  You could buy a silk coat, or a silk scarf, or a silk necktie.

For that matter, according to PETA, wool is out, too, right?  Which means it’s in.  There may not be a more inexpensive way to be ethical than by buying a warm woolen coat, hat, scarf, or other article.

The possibilities are endless.  Use your imagination!

Finally, here’s another surprising fact:  People pronounce PETA’s name “pita”—not “pet-a”, which is how I always assumed it was pronounced until I actually heard it pronounced.  It’s funny, they actually make the “E” in “PETA” lowercase in their logo, as if to help people get the pronunciation right—but if all the other letters are capital and the “e” is lowercase, if anything, doesn’t that suggest a short “eh” sound?  Also, apparently they don’t like the word “pet”—again from the New Yorker article: “At lunch, dozens of employees slip out to spend some time with their companion animals.  (Nobody at PETA would ever use the word ‘pet.’)”—but they sure have them; so why not call their organization “pet-a”?  The alternative—“pita”—is halfway to a delicious, lamb-filled gyro.

* In an effort further to evaluate the credibility of the source, I tried searching for it on PETA’s Web site, peta.org—to see whether PETA had responded to the accusation—and found it only in users’ discussion forums (all trace of which seems to have been erased from the PETA Web site itself) and in PETA’s “PETA in the News” section.  The latter links us to this news story, which mentions petakillsanimals.com and says, “PETA isn’t shy about responding on its own Web site, consumer deception.com....”  (On the contrary, I would say that PETA is shy—it responds not on its own Web site, peta.org, but on a separate Web site created for the purpose, consumerdeception.com, which nowhere mentions that it has any connection with PETA, much less that it is PETA’s “own Web site”—but never mind.)  Take a look at PETA’s anti-anti-PETA Web site yourself, but it looks to me like exclusively ad hominem attacks on the guy who apparently runs petakillsanimals.com—in other words, no substantive response to his actual criticisms of PETA.

After more searching, I was finally able to turn up two pages where PETA responds generally to the criticism about its killing of animals, without naming the critics.  (Warning: These pages include very disgusting photographs of animals.)  On these pages (here and here, if you want to see them—you’ve been warned), PETA says or implies that the reason it kills so many of the animals it takes in (more than 90% of them, according to petakillsanimals.com) is that “most” of them “come from miserable conditions”—they’ve been starved, they have various disgusting wounds and diseases, etc.—and are essentially unadoptable.

** With the qualifier “When it comes to...”, that sentence could be interpreted as making a very narrow statement about whether animals feel pain, etc., but the rest of the paragraph, and what Miss Newkirk says elsewhere in the article, confirms that she considers animals to have just as much moral worth as people, if not more.

Winning still top priority for MinkNovember 14, 2009

by Warren Kosel || AHL On The Beat Archive

Football legend Vince Lombardi once said: “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all-the-time thing. You don’t win once in a while, you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.”

In the realm of professional sports, and in this case, hockey, the success of a team is not measured through ticket sales and revenue generation. Success, by many, is purely perceived by how talented the on-ice product is and ultimately how many victories comprise the win column at the end of the season. Some critics and sports enthusiasts claim that’s a common misapprehension in terms of determining the overall success of a team, but for new Amerks forward Graham Mink, it’s the only way.

“It’s why we play the game,” said Mink, who last season helped the Hershey Bears clinch their record-setting 10th Calder Cup, more than any other franchise in American Hockey League history.

“I am a very competitive person and winning is everything to me. I have been lucky enough to be on two teams that have had a lot of success and it was a lot of fun. It definitely gives you a lot more energy and makes the game more fun when you win.”

Of course he is referring to the two seasons spent in “Chocolatetown,” the home of the oldest and most distinguished team in minor professional hockey. Last season alone, before capturing its second Calder Cup within the last four years, Hershey went on to claim the Eastern Division, the Eastern Conference regular-season and the Eastern Conference playoff championships.

Additionally, the Bears produced the top two scorers in the league in Alexandre Giroux and Keith Aucoin. Both were named to the AHL First All-Star team, and Giroux was last season’s scoring champion and proclaimed league MVP. Not to mention Hershey was backstopped by playoff MVP goaltender Michal Neuvirth.

So where does Mink fit into all Hershey’s success last season?

The answer: right up there with everyone else.

Mink, in his second stint with the Bears, completed the 2008-09 regular season scoring a career-high 32 goals along with 59 points in 68 games to finish second and fourth on the team, respectively. He also ranked second with a plus/minus rating of plus-26.

He continued his offensive output during the playoffs doing more of the same as he did in the regular season, finishing the postseason second on the team with seven goals and fourth with 15 points while skating in all 22 games.

On top of that, Mink saw action in two contests with the Washington Capitals, Hershey’s National Hockey League affiliate.

• Pistilli already an off-ice presence  

• Moose gearing up for Super Skills  

• Addition brings knowledge, success to Hartford defense  

• AHL ON THE BEAT ARCHIVE  

Mink made his presence felt four years ago when he first came on the scene with Hershey. Since then, his style of play has not changed. In his first season with the Bears in 2005-06, the 30-year-old Vermont native registered 40 points (21+19) in 43 games and went on to finish tied for fourth in goals. He also recorded 11 power-play goals, third-best on the team. During the playoffs, he averaged a point-per-game, collecting 21 points (8+13) in 21 games to finish third on the team and 10th in the league to help guide the Bears to the Calder Cup championship. He even made his NHL debut that season with Washington, seeing time in three games.

So what’s next for Mink you ask?

“Plain and simple, I want to win another championship,” said the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Mink, who played three seasons of college hockey at the University of Vermont. “I am going to do everything I can to bring another championship here to Rochester.”

“Team-wise, I think anything less than a championship will be disappointing, added Mink. “I’m excited reading the headlines and seeing all the players that Florida (Panthers)/Rochester has signed for this season. I think we’ll be a very competitive team and a very fun team to watch.”

In 2009-10, Mink will join a group of offseason signees the Amerks and Florida Panthers have brought in primarily to bolster Rochester’s lineup and reinvigorate an offense that was, for the last few seasons, far inferior to its opposition. He, along with veteran forwards Chris Taylor, Mike York, Jamie Johnson and Jeff Taffe and defenseman Clay Wilson, will have the responsibility of restoring the pride and tradition in Rochester and once again make the Amerks a winning team.

A daunting task to most, but Mink is ready for the challenge and is not phased with the transition to a new organization, especially to one similar to Hershey.

“I’m going to play the same way I’ve always played and that’s by going into the front of the net and playing hard in the corners. I like when things get a little physical and hopefully I can build on the success that I had last season and win another championship.”

Coming from Hershey, a team also known for its storied past comparable to that of Rochester, Mink had the opportunity and the honor to play for the cornerstone franchise in the 74-year history of the AHL. And now with his arrival to upstate western New York, the historical significance of the team may be different, but the honor will always remain the same – something Mink truly values.

“I love playing for teams that have a sense of tradition and pride,” said Mink. “We had that in Hershey and I’m sure it’s going to be the same way in Rochester. When you play for a team that has been around for a long time, there is a strong emotional connection with the fan base and I like that. They (the fans) are hard on you when you don’t have success, but when you do, it’s a great feeling for everyone.

“I think this coming season is going to be the polar opposite of the last two years in Rochester, so I have no worries or concerns,” said Mink, referring to Rochester’s last-place finish in 2007-08 and just a step up in 2008-09. “I feel all the pieces are in place to make a serious run at the title.”

The fans of Rochester certainly got to be happy that winning is still the top priority.

Former foes now teammates and friendsRaul wants Euro success

by Carl Strang

I’ll conclude the summary of my first year at Mayslake Forest Preserve with an ecological sketch. The preserve has diverse plant communities, some high in quality thanks to the restoration efforts I described yesterday. There are lakes, a stream, savannas, prairies, a couple small marshes, European meadows undergoing succession, a degraded former garden at the friary and brushland areas dominated by Eurasian species of shrubs, as well as lawn areas around the mansion and friary grounds.

This habitat variety leads to the diversity of plants and animals I mentioned a couple posts ago. Strongly reproducing populations of cottontails, squirrels and other small mammals, as well as various small birds, support a suite of predators somewhat surprising for such a small preserve: a pair of great horned owls, a pair of coyotes, a couple mink, Cooper’s hawks and, in winter, red-tails.

Of course, these predators do not limit their activities to the preserve’s borders. White-tailed deer pass through the preserve regularly, but Mayslake is not quite large enough at 90 acres to hold many or to be more than an occasional center of activity.

This summary of course hides a lot of detail, some of which I observed and reported here over the past year. I will continue to do so as the details and patterns of that place change over time, keeping it refreshingly interesting.

TV2-bossen Merete Eldrup har været ude og kommentere på Operation X’ minkavler-udsendelse. Jeg synes, at det er både glædeligt og rigtigt af hende at komme på banen i denne sag. En chef skal udvise ansvar, og det gør hun. Men jeg er ikke helt enig i de synspunkter, som hun giver udtryk for i TV2-top presset i pelsdyrsag.

Pelsdyravlerforeningen gjorde modstand

Vi kunne jo se, at der blev brugt pressionsmidler for at få sagen til at handle om journalistiske værktøjer snarere end indholdet af udsendelsen. Det er en debat, vi gerne tager, men det er ærgerligt, hvis det fjerner fokus fra det reelle indhold.

Det er ganske rigtig ærgerligt, når form bliver vigtigere end indhold. Især når det gælder journalistisk formidling. Men når man dels vælger at skrue Operation X-udsendelserne sammen på den måde, man gør, og når man dels vælger at lade stråmænd indhente sin dokumentation på åbenlys ulovlig vis, ja så beder man i den grad om, at der bliver stillet spørgsmålstegn ved måden, de journalistiske værktøjer anvendes på.

Jeg synes ikke, at Pelsdyravlerforeningens tiltag i denne forbindelse var hele vejen igennem vellykkede, men jeg har stor respekt for, at de ikke bare lægger sig ned og tager imod.

Brugen af aktivister

Det kan altid diskuteres, om det er i orden at bruge aktivister, og om vi overhovedet skulle have ladet dem komme til orde. Men vi har et regelsæt, der siger, at skjulte optagelser kan bruges, hvis vi ikke kan dokumentere hændelserne på anden vis, og det kunne vi ikke i dette tilfælde.

Dette citat illustrerer på bedste vis kernen i problemstillingen. Og her er min holdning klar: Målet kan aldrig hellige midlet. Man kan ikke forsvare understøttelse af strafbare handlinger (såsom indbrud og hærværk) med, at det journalistisk set var en nødvendighed. For mig er denne form for logik lige så ugyldig som det, at man er ved at komme for sent til en aftale, giver en lov til at køre over for rødt.

Se også: Mink, form og etik

Se også: Svindel-program under anklage

Cuối năm 1990, Minsk là đại diện duy nhất cho dòng xe mô-tô 125 cc tại Nga. Mặc dù mờ nhạt với giới trẻ châu Âu song Minsk vẫn đóng vai trò rất quan trọng trong lịch sử cơ giới hóa hàng loạt tại xứ sở bạch dương.

Những ngày đầu mới thành lập

M1A – anh cả của gia đình Minsk.

Nhà máy Minsk (tên chính thức là MMVZ, Minsk Moto-Velo Zavod) do người Đức xây dựng tại thành phố Belarus  năm 1945. Mục đích ban đầu của Minsk là sản xuất mô-tô và xe đạp. Liên kết với hãng Moskva, Minsk cho ra đời mẫu xe đầu tiên mang tên M1A tại Matxcơva. Về cơ bản, chiếc xe này là một bản nhái lại “đàn anh” DKW “RT 125″ (mẫu mô-tô Đức đã từng truyền cảm hứng cho rất nhiều hãng tại Italia, Anh, Nhật…). Phiên bản M1A sau này được trang bị thêm bộ giảm xóc trước kiểu ống lồng.

M1A phiên bản thể thao cuối những năm 1940.

Thêm vào đó, “cậu cả” M1A còn truyền cảm hứng để cho ra đời nhiều phiên bản xe đua trong những năm 1948-49 với hệ thống làm mát bằng nước, bộ tăng nạp thể tích, công suất 16,5 mã lực và tốc độ 123 km/giờ. Năm 1951 chứng kiến những cải tiến mới trong loại xe M1SHCH Moskva khi động cơ 125 cc được thay thế bằng động cơ DOHC bốn thì. Đến năm 1958, Minsk trình làng M-101 mang kiểu dáng cách tân hơn hẳn so với “tiền bối” M1A mặc dù vẫn giữ nguyên động cơ.

Aist 125 – quả bom tấn tại thị trường Nga một thời.

Sau sản phẩm đầu tay M1A, “đàn em” Aist 125 cũng “nối gót” ra đời. Nếu không có gì nhầm lẫn thì cái tên “Aist” có nghĩa là “con cò”. Động cơ đi kèm Aist 125 hiển nhiên là động cơ hai thì, không có van cánh hoa, chạy bằng dầu hoặc hỗn hợp nhiên liệu, làm mát bằng không khí, hộp số 4 cấp và công suất tối đa 10 mã lực. Đánh lửa điện là điểm cải tiến duy nhất tìm thấy trong Aist 125. Ngoài ra, bộ yên thanh lịch cố định bằng đinh tán có khả năng gây ấn tượng mạnh cho bất cứ ai ngang qua. Tại Nga, Aist 125 có thể đứng ngang hàng với “quả bom tấn” RS 125 của Aprilia khi mới xuất hiện trên thị trường.

Sputnik hay đơn giản là Aist 125 phiên bản hiện đại.

Tuy nhiên, người dân xứ bạch dương lại chuộng Minsk hơn bởi đặc tính đơn giản và dễ sửa chữa rất phù hợp với thị trường Nga. Bên cạnh đó, những sản phẩm mang nhãn hiệu Minsk còn mang đến những chiến tích rất nổi bật như leo lên sông băng Fedscenko nằm giữa dãy Pamir trên độ cao 3.000 m. Không chỉ sản xuất mô-tô, hãng Minsk còn chế tạo cả động cơ. Một trong những sản phẩm có tiếng trong làng động cơ của Minsk là LMS 3.752 xuất hiện năm 1979 với trọng lượng nhẹ (55kg) và chuyên dụng cho các giải đua không chuyên nghiệp. Các loại động cơ do Minsk sản xuất còn được trang bị cho những chiếc go-kart trong giải vô địch USSR. Ngày nay, những loại động cơ này chỉ còn xuất hiện trong các giải đua không chuyên do sự có mặt của nhiều “hậu duệ” hiện đại hơn.

Những mẫu xe hiện đại

Phiên bản bốn thì mới trình làng

Trong suốt những năm 1980, nhà máy của Minsk đạt được sản lượng kỷ lục: 240.000 chiếc/năm. Sau khủng hoảng kinh tế hậu xã hội chủ nghĩa, con số đó dừng lại ở mức khiêm tốn 40.000 chiếc/năm. Từ lúc thành lập, tổng số sản phẩm xuất xưởng lên đến 6.000.000 chiếc mô-tô và 20.000.000 chiếc xe đạp. “Ngôi sao” Aist (hay còn gọi là Sputnik hoặc Lider với những phiên bản khác nhau) đã được nâng cấp với thân xe bằng sợi thủy tinh và một vài cải tiến khác (như hệ thống tra dầu tự động). Thậm chí, nhiều phiên bản còn được trang bị kính chắn gió. Đến thời điểm này, những chiếc xe mang nhãn hiệu Minsk vẫn rất thịnh hành tại Nga và nhiều nước khác. Thậm chí, tại Việt Nam còn có hẳn một câu lạc bộ Minsk với website riêng do một người Anh làm chủ. Mới đây, Minsk vừa công bố một phiên bản bốn thì hoàn toàn mới ứng dụng động cơ sản xuất tại Trung Quốc.

*************************************************

Nhân anh em bàn về anh bạn cũ Minsk của VND cũng ngồi tìm tòi và viết một chút. Cậy còn sót mấy chữ Nga cộng với mấy chữ tiếng Anh vụn xin được tóm tắt từ một số trang web ra đây chia xẻ với những người đã từng coi xe Minsk như một người bạn
Nhà máy sản xuất xe Minsk đầu tiên tại nhà máy sản xuất mô tô Московский Мотоциклетний Завод – (ММЗ) viết tắt bằng chữ la tinh MMZ. Nhà máy này nằm tại Mát-xcơ-va bắt đầu sản xuất sản xuất những chiếc xe M-71

Xe M-71

Đây là phiên bản copy của xe BMW R71 của Đức

Trong chiến tranh thế giới thứ 2 nhà máy này chuyển về Irbit (Ирбит) một thị trấn vùng Ural và dổi tên thành nhà máy “IMZ” (ИМЗ) hay Irbitskiy Mototsikletniy Zavod (Ирбитский Мотоциклетний Завод) sau này sản xuất dòng xe Ural nổi tiếng ( số phận các nhà máy Nga sản xuất xe 3 bánh sidecar cúng khá long đong khi rỗi có thể tập hợp thêm). Năm 1946 nhà máy được xây lại tai Mát-xcơ-va (coi là một bồi thường chiến tranh của Đức cho Liên xô) sản xuất ra mẫu xe M-1A. xe hai thì dung tích xi lanh 125 cc

1951 ngày 12 tháng 07 năm 1951 chiếc xe M-1A với tên Minsk ra đời trong năm đầu có hơn 30 nghìn xe được sản xuất;
1956 Dòng xe M-1M ra đời thay thế dòng xe M-1A. Cùng thời này các xe M-201K và M-201M ra đời như các dòng xe thể thao
1957 Kể từ năm 1951 ddeeens 1957 hơn 100.000 xe được bán ra
1961 Ra đời loại xe hành trình (Cruise) M-101, và loại xe thể thao M-203-K với xi lanh 250 cc
1962 Hai loại xe kế tiếp xe hành trình M- 103 và xe thể thao M-205 dung tich xi lanh 250 cc
Từ năm 1951 đến 1962 nó đã được bán ra hơn 500 000 xe máy
1964-66 Các dòng xehành trình (Cruise) M-104 và M-105 được ra mắt
1965 Bắt đầu xuất khẩu sang Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Ai Cập, Yemen, Li-bi, Thổ Nhĩ Kỳ.
1967 Đã bán hơn 1 000 000 xe với nhãn hiệu Misk. Cho ra đời xe địa hình thể thao F-207K và xe đa chức năng M-207M cùng các phiên bản nâng cấp M-207KU, M-207MU.

1968 Xe gắn máy thể thao thi đấu M-209.
1970 Kể từ 1951 đã bán hơn 1,5 triệu xe gắn máy.
1971 Xe hành trình M-106.
1973 Xe thể thao 3.214. vào năm 1975 nó đã được conquered của lần thứ 5 diễn ra trong USSR của xe gắn máy cho boys.
1974 Xe loại 3,111 ra đời
1977 Xe đua 3,216.
1979 Xe dân dụng 3,112 loại
1983 Một thỏa thuận về các liên kết trực tiếp và hợp tác với Việt Nam sản xuất xe mins.
1986 35 năm, trên thị trường. với 20 mẫu xe, đã bán hơn 4,5 triệu xe
«Minsk» 3,11211 ta gọi là Minsk lùn ra đời và bán mạnh sang : Bun-ga-ri, Hung-ga-ri, Việt Nam, Cuba, Lào, Mông Cổ, Rumani, Serbia, Syria, Czechoslovakia.

Tổng hợp từ

http://www.minsk-moto.com/ru/content/brend/history/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMZ_(motorcycle)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minsk_(motorcycle)

Xe Minsk đã ngừng sản xuất tại Nga, và Bạch Nga từ lâu hiện nay nhà máy chuyên sản xuất động cơ. http://www.po-mmz.minsk.by/
VND có quen mấy đại gia từ Nga về những năm 1990 họ duy trì nhà máy lắp xe minsk ở Việt nam đến giữa những năm 1990 thì dùng. Nhưng những tay lang thang người nước ngoài ở Hà nội đã khoác cho xe MInsk hình ảnh tên bụi đời và các bác nông dân miền núi đã đem vào xe Minsk cái lam lũ, cần mẫn trong cuộc mưu sinh. Đến nay xe Minsk đã trở thành một thú chơi âu cúng là đền đáp cho một dòng xe với quá khứ vẻ vang của mình

Theo: vndrake

Hitt’s Midwoods are always a hit — I believe that his editor at the time, Elaine Williams, tightened his manuscripts up and removed the repetition he sometimes has in his books with Kozy and Chariot. His Beacons are edited well, too, but with THE CHEATERS and HIRED LOVER, and now this one, the dialogue ix extra clipped and hardboiled.

On the Hitt scale, this one is a 9. I strike a point because it opens exactly the same as The Cheaters — the protagonist, Frank Kane (an obvious nod to James) and his girlfriend, Sally, have left the gossipy judgmental eyes of their family from the farm area on New York to seek a new life. He’s 30 and she’s 24. They are living in a cheap hotel room and are running out of money; they both need jobs fast. She gets one as a waitress and discovers she’s pregnant — this exact same set-up as The Cheaters is a little annoying.

The writing and the rest of the story, while familiar, is top-notch. Familiar: Frank gets a job on a game farm, run by the farmer’s younger, hot wife and her sister. Their main income is raising minks, but they deal with a lot of other animals, which Frank tends to and cleans, etc.

It doesn’t take long before he starts a thing with the farner’s wife, Lana, and her sister, Gloria. In true heel fashion, he dumps his pregnant girlfriend, Sally, in favor of the forbidden fruit of the blonde wife and the possibility of money.

Both the farmer, Al, and his wife come to him with murder plot details: the wife, of course, tells him that they will have the farm, the money, and a life insurance policy if the farmer is knocked off. The farm has a pit of dangerous snakes, and if Al were to “accidentally” fall into it…

Al comes to him with two propositions: take Lana to a hotel where a detective can take photos, this way Al can divorce her and not have to give her half his wealth; for this, Al will give Frank $5000. Or Frank can push Lana into the snake pit, and Al will give Frank $25,000 for this.

Gloria proposes that she and Frank run away somewhere, Canada or west, and forget the farm and the money, they can live on love…she seems sincere…

When Al slips into the snake pit and dies, the cops start digging around, and Frank discovers, listening one night, that and Gloria are not sisters but lesbian lovers, and they had set up Al all along: marry a rich farmer and eventually take over or bump him. All they needed was a patsy like Frank.

The problem: Gloria has truly fallen for Frank, he has made her a whole woman, and she wants to repent from Lesbianism and be with Frank…

The two girls get into a bad fight and the truth comes out…

But there’s a happy ending, as we expect — Frank can let Sally have the baby alone, and after being double-crossed by the “two of a kind” gals, he knows the error of his ways…

Really, even with some of the same plots and themes, this is a damn fine and fine-tuned novel, sporting another fine Paul Rader cover…

Recommended.

My neighbor Ken and I recently headed to the Wiconisco Creek near Millersburg for some late season trout fishing.  It was some of the toughest fishing of the year, as we made a lot of casts with very few hits.  The last hole we fished—a long, deep, slow pool—proved to be the most interesting.

The highlight was when a nice-sized mink swam across the creek just upstream from us.  It was swimming furiously to get away, and scurried into the brush as soon as it reached the opposite shore.  Of course, like most cool wildlife sightings, the camera wasn’t easily accessible at the time.

Ken caught a very nice fallfish, which he quickly photographed before its release to prove to Brenda that he really was fishing, and actually caught something.  I managed one rainbow trout that sported a beautiful pink gill plate and stripe.  Normally, a 12-1/2-incher would feel kind of hefty.  But this one looked a little malnourished.  Regardless, it felt good to catch an October rainbow.

BEFORE

AFTER

All photographs and text are Copyright © 2009 David Deppen, all rights reserved.  They are not in the public domain and may not be copied, used for derivative works, or used in emails, websites, blogs, or any other media, or for any other purpose, without explicit advance permission from David Deppen.  Please use links to website pages to share content with others.

Posh i pels

Dita von Teese i pels

En af de helt store trends denne vinter er pels. Lad mig med det samme sige, at jeg ikke fik set tv programmet om minkavl og jeg er stor tilhænger af at dyr skal leve frit og vildt i naturen! Men derfor kan man jo godt hoppe i en dejlig varm pels her til vinter – og gerne en fake én af slagsen. For 4 år siden investerede jeg i en dejlig råhvid fake pelsfrakke, og den har jeg da bestem tænkt mig at hive frem fra gemmerne… Taadaa, frem fra gemmerne kom hele to styks pels:

Pels fra Soaked in Luxury 700 kr.

Pels købt for 7 år siden (kan dog hverken huske mærke eller pris)

Her til aften har der været en meget omtalt udsende på tv2, nemlig Operation X: Pels på vrangen.

En kort beskrivelse af udsendelse kommer her:

Operation X” og Morten Spiegelhauer afslører chokerende forhold på danske pelsdyrfarme. Mink med store åbne sår og ræve med bylder og manglende ben er blot nogle af de overtrædelser af dyreværnsloven, som dokumenteres, når en dyreværnsforening besøger 32 pelsdyrfarme rundt om i Danmark med et kamera.

De chokerende optagelser bliver forevist både de kontrollerende myndigheder og eksperter i dyrevelfærd, og konklusionen er klar: Der foregår dyremishandling i den danske produktion af pelsdyr. Branchen selv er dog ikke meget for at forholde sig til kritikken. Med en produktion til en årlig værdi af fem milliarder kroner, er der tilsyneladende så mange penge på spil, at branchen vil tage alle midler i brug for at undgå fokus på problemerne.

Operation X” og Morten Spiegelhauer afslører chokerende forhold på danske pelsdyrfarme. Mink med store åbne sår og ræve med bylder og manglende ben er blot nogle af de overtrædelser af dyreværnsloven, som dokumenteres, når en dyreværnsforening besøger 32 pelsdyrfarme rundt om i Danmark med et kamera.
De chokerende optagelser bliver forevist både de kontrollerende myndigheder og eksperter i dyrevelfærd, og konklusionen er klar: Der foregår dyremishandling i den danske produktion af pelsdyr. Branchen selv er dog ikke meget for at forholde sig til kritikken. Med en produktion til en årlig værdi af fem milliarder kroner, er der tilsyneladende så mange penge på spil, at branchen vil tage alle midler i brug for at undgå fokus på problemerne.

Nu er minkfarmerne så gået i oprør! På deres hjemmeside har den administrerende direktør lagt en fin video op, hvor han fortæller om hans morgen, den kan du se her:

Der ud over optræder de også alle sammen på den forholdvis nye hjemmeside, den2side.org hvor “tiltalte” har mulighed for at komme med deres version af historien.

I aften ruller Operation X over skærmen med et program om minkavl – lavet i samarbejde med Ekstra Bladet. Det er sjældent, at et tv-program får så meget opmærksomhed allerede før det bliver sendt. Men minkavlerne har rullet det store arsenal ud – med forsøg på fogedforbud, helsides annoncer i medierne og en hjemmeside, hvor minkavlerne fortæller den anden side af historien.

Jeg skal ikke tage stilling til, om den er gal med dyretikken hos minkavlerne. Det ved jeg nemlig ikke ret meget om.

Men vi ved allerede nu, at den i hvert fald er gal med etikken hos journalisterne. Det afslørede manden bag udsendelsen Miki Mistrati i Mennesker & Medier i sidste uge.

Dele af udsendelsen er nemlig skabt ved, at dyreaktivister er klatret over hegnet hos minkavlerne og har fotograferet minkene. Det er ulovlig indtrængen, og det er strafbart.

Journalister er underlagt de samme regler som os andre. Journalister skal, i deres arbejde, overholde straffeloven, ligesom os andre.

Undtagelsesvis må de bryde reglerne, men det kræver to ting:

1. At forbrydelsen sker, fordi journalisterne ønsker at afdække vigtige samfundsforhold. Det er nok tilfældet her.
2. Og, at man har forsøgt at afdække forholdene uden brug af strafbare og uetiske metoder.

Det er på det sidste punkt, udsendelsen har et problem. I Mennesker & Medier siger Miki Mistrati således, at rækkefølgen er ligegyldig. Altså, at man først har researchet med uetiske – og muligvis strafbare – metoder, og så har forsøgt at afdække forholdene med almindelige journalistiske metoder.

Men faktorernes orden er altså ikke ligegyldig. Man skal forsøge den etiske vej først.

Problemet er i virkeligheden, at Operation X har en bestemt form, hvor Skjult kamera er en integreret del af programmet. Derfor er det uinteressant, hvis man ikke kan præsentere kornede, rystede billeder. Det er bare ikke en undskyldning.

Og det er et problem, når journalister og medier på den måde springer over hvor gærdet er lavest. De etiske regler omkring journalistik er lavet for at beskytte os alle sammen mod overgreb fra medier. Ligesom de dyreetiske regler er lavet for at beskytte dyrene mod overgreb fra minkavlerne.