Can I Make It Any Plainer?

At the VOTER49 party I talked briefly with Don about my concern that no one in the Chicago political elite has stepped forward to do a risk analysis. We chatted a bit as to why that was, and then he suggested we could, if we put the nation's resources to work on it, solve this problem in 5 years.Uhhhhh.......no Don. We won't.Let's start with the Hirsch Report of 2005, which makes it plain that

OK -- I'm In

I went to the V.O.T.E.R 49 bash at Michael Harrington's place this afternoon. While the turnout was not overwhelming, it is a committed group of people. I met Michael in person, as well as his partner. Spoke with Don and his wife, Eva, Eileen Foxman and her husband, Toni (who was Pretty in Pink), Carla, and others whose names escape me. Chef Didier Durand showed up with wonderful French bread

Travel Follies

Nothing like going into the office on a Friday and finding out you need to be somewhere on a Monday! So I am back from DC and the travel regime is finally firing up. I am back in the travel saddle and August in DC is not necessarily my idea of a good time. On the bright side, looks like I'll be keeping my frequent flyer status up to date after all.Comment moderation turned off so as not to

Tips and Suggestions on Planning Your Living Room

By Lester Fong

More than any other room, there are no fixed rules when it comes to designing the living room. A living room includes a bit of everything. It’s where you relax, watch television and socialize, so it can take on any shape depending on what you choose to focus on. Here’re some tips and suggestions on planning your living room.

After deciding on your objectives for the living room, plan the crucial features that you want to work your design around. For example, if the television set is the focus, its size and shape will also determine the design of the room. A regular set may require just a console, while a plasma set may need a false wall to hide the cables. Seating in the room will also revolve around the television. By keeping the focal points in mind, the other furnishings will fall into place more easily.
Layout is an important part of planning the living room. Work out the placement of the furnishings by observing how the traffic will flow, and work with the space accordingly.
Plan special features such as a water fountain or feature wall in areas of heavy traffic for maximum impact, but move the chill-out areas to quieter parts of the room.

Storage is another essential factor in the home. Unless you’re blessed with huge storeroom or have few possessions, you’ll need to work cabinets and other nifty clutter-busters into your living room too.

Hiring a carpenter is the most popular option. Chic design-integrated, built-in cupboards are the storage area of choice these days. The big bonus is that they are perfect for dead space in awkward or irregular corners of the room. If built-in cupboards are too permanent for your liking, there are also modular options from furniture retailers that you can mix, match and change around whenever you like.

One tip when planning the living room for a big family, is to focus on storage, so something for everyone will be available when needed. This might mean a row of floor-to-ceiling cabinets with built-in niche, and a custom-built coffee table with hidden storage panels to help display as well as keep away the family’s belongings.

For a retro-themed living room of a young couple, the sofa set can be made redundant with padded half-walls and building booth seats for the dining area. Framed vintage fabric panels wrap up the theme, and add interest to the plain walls.
Lester Fong

http://www.unique-home-decor-ideas.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lester_Fong

Crime and Cops

Second City Cop has a post about this survey. Seems like a good opportunity to weigh in on the issue of crime, even if the survey is flawed.Those of us at the most recent 2422 CAPS meeting will recall the comments about the 911 calls and how they are worked. I recognized what was being said since I work with a service desk that dispatches calls for technology problems. SCC offers up this take

Doing the Math

Toni has broken out the calculator in regards to the infamous Pink Postcard Affair from the election. D-2s are a wonderful tool and Toni points out the postage expenditures that occur immediately prior to the April 12 and April 13 stamping of the postcards:But if we take the total spent $798+$360/.24 we get a total number of postage allowed at 4963 postcards of which more than 600 were

Looking to the future

Always in motion is the future: YodaAn interesting take on the future, courtesy (again) of Toni. And some more cogent points:49th Ward (Rogers Park): When a well known, outspoken, supposedly "independent" 16-year alderman squeaks to victory by 247 votes, getting just 50.9 percent of the votes cast, it's hospice time. The condition is terminal, so bring on the morphine and plan the funeral.Joe

Political Winds

Following Toni's lead I came across this. The most important comment, IMHO is this:49th Ward (Rogers Park): These words describe David Fagus: Irrelevant, obscure and politically impotent. As the ward's Democratic committeeman, he can take about 1 percent of the credit for re-electing Alderman Joe Moore.In the highly transient ward, Moore, who has been an alderman since 1991, won in April by just

An Assessment of the NPC Report

Gail Tverberg offers up her assessment of an American Petroleum Institute (API) sponsored conference call (PDF Warning) that discussed the NPC report. Gail strikes me as a reasonable, and very analytical, person who doesn't jump to conclusions. This analysis does not disappoint.

Gordon's Suit Dismissed

I was at Toni's blog and found this. Westgard has already weighed in on it. I am sorry that Don lost because that means events like like this will never get fully aired and assessed.I don't trust Joe Moore. I simply do not trust any politician who stoops to blatant cheating to win. That report is evidence of blatant cheating and evidently he will not be called out on it. He'll do it again

It's Going to Get Ugly

You all know by now that the subject of Peak Oil can get me wound up tighter than a tick on a hound dog's ear. These past two-three weeks have really been eye-poppers.Reader's Digest Condensed Version1. 6/28/07 - We now have the full translated interview from Le Monde of Fatih Birol, the economist from the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris. He speaks to supply problems in the near

What Have We Here?

I am not sure if this kid is as foolish as he writes. If he is, then he has a come-uppance headed his way. It's just a matter of time. Spell his blog name the 'normal' way and you come up with Satan Lucifer, which leads me to wonder if this is middle-class skinhead wannabe. All the mouth without the tats. Or maybe he has them but hidden under his shirt.

Things To Consider For A Functional Living Room Design

By Shrinivas Vaidya

Amazingly most people starting out have no idea how they would like their living room design to turn out. In fact, most people buy a home on the looks of the kitchen, and the bathroom according to popular consensus. So what does this say about living room design? It says that people are not thinking about it enough, and thus find themselves without a viable living room decorating plan at move in time.

When planning for a living room design treatment, think of the entire family's needs. If you are single, it would be an easy thing to do to think of your needs, however, most homeowners have some type of family, or roommate situation to consider. Thus, it is first necessary to look at their needs, before designing your idea of a perfect living room.
Questions to consider when developing a plan for your family living room design include use, space, and location.

Some living room design elements are basic due to the lack of use of the room. We've all seen those living room design elements with one sofa, covered in plastic that almost never gets touched. If this is your proposed use for the room, keep the design basic, and costs low. If, however, you are truly going to live, in the living room, it is important to look at the space itself before doing a final living room design.

Space can be defined as the parameters of the room in terms of length, width, and height. Most living rooms are large, sometimes the largest in the house. Therefore plan accordingly for the size of the living room when doing your living room design.
Location is another important element to think about when doing a living room design. If the room is located between two bedrooms, this might be reason not to install the surround sound that your child wants. Or if the room is located near the backyard, it may not make sense to install white carpet. Whatever the case, think carefully about the location of the living room, before performing a living room design plan.

Copyright Shrinivas Vaidya

Shrinivas Vaidya is the webmaster of http://www.livingroomdatabase.com Visit today to get more free living room design tips to decorate a beautiful and charming living room of your wildest dreams.

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Bite Me!

Ok, I'll give Vick the benefit of the doubt, until we see where the legal system takes this one. At the very least he is a gullible idiot, but I have a hard time believing that he was clueless in Virginia about the dogs on his property. We'll see how quick he settles up on this.

The Cost of 80 Jobs

British Petroleum (BP) runs a refinery in Indiana, and just won state approval to dump more contaminated sludge as well as ammonia into Lake Michigan. Out of this largesse, Indiana can say that BP is creating 80 jobs and helping make our oil supplies more secure.In response to public protests, state officials justified the additional pollution by concluding the project will create more jobs and

Cars Before People?

Toni asks some very pointed questions of The Powers That Be (TPTB) regarding the proposal to turn the site of the North Shore School into a parking lot. With all the moaning about gentrification (and Bastille Day at Taste surely was a reminder that it is occurring) one would think an effort would be made to focus on housing for those who can't afford market rates.On top of that, Tom Mannis

What's Up With DevCorp North?

DevCorp waits until the day before the event to promote the Bastille Day party over at Taste. Check the posting date, I am not making this up! I'm sorry but even I, a person of limited marketing skills, understands the value of getting your message out early and often. THE DAY BEFORE?! Come on! DevCorp was the sole beneficiary of the take at the door at $20/person. This is the best they can

Is Trilby For Real?

TOD posted a link to an interview with Trilby Lundberg. What has got the Drummers collective panties in a bunch is the very last question, pointed out by Professor Goose, regarding conservation, supply and American demand for oil.I have to ask: what planet is this lady living on?

A New Wind in the Catholic Church

I remember Vatican II and the excitement surrounding what seemed to be a sea change in the Catholic Church. The Church hierarchy appeared to be charting a new course towards community with the faithful, rather than standing separate and apart as ordained intercessories. However, Benedict XVI appears to have turned back the clock. Sister Joan comments on the reinstatement of the Tridentine Rite

Bastille Day @ Taste

I must be the only one who has noticed, or the only one who is talking about it. I was at Gruppo di Amici over the weekend and saw signs in the window at Taste advertising a Bastille Day event on Saturday, July 14, from 5-9:00 PM, including live gypsy music starting at 7. Cost is $20.00. Call 773-761-3663.What is really interesting to me is that this is being done in partnership with DevCorp

Staying the course

Paradise asks about Staying the Course. Here's this woman's view:LISTEN TO THE IRAQIS!!!A podcast by National Catholic Reporter with an Iraqi Dominican nun who has a very relevant viewpoint. In addition, Sister Joan Chittister reports on the Women's Global Peace Initiative conference with Iraqi women.Stay the course? In the view of these women, maybe we should, assuming we can figure out what

Cheap Living Room Furniture

By Eddie Tobey

The word cheap is a rather subjective word, because living room furniture that seems cheap to one person may be considered expensive to another. On the whole, the main reason one opts for cheap living room furniture is because one is on a tight budget, and cannot spend too much on living room furniture.

When buying cheap living room furniture, it will usually be secondhand furniture. It will be the furniture one person is selling to buy new living room furniture. So logically, the best place to look for cheap living room furniture will be secondhand shops. It is college students and the first-time buyers who usually buy cheap living room furniture for their home, to make their living room comfortable.

Another good place to look for cheap living room furniture is in consignment shops. This is the place where private owners sell their used furniture. These shops have become more and more popular, with the increase in the demand for cheap living room furniture. The inventory here will be unique, with only single pieces of furniture being sold, so there is no chance of someone else buying the same piece. It is always better to get to know the manager of a consignment shop, as he will then tell you when the sort of cheap living furniture that you are looking for comes in. Sometimes the cheap living room furniture may not look good or attractive at first. However, a little refurbishing will make it look more appealing. There are also some people who enjoy painting old furniture. After painting, this cheap living room furniture then becomes attractive and beautiful, to brighten up the living room.

Living Room Furniture provides detailed information on Living Room Furniture, Cheap Living Room Furniture, Discount Living Room Furniture, Contemporary Living Room Furniture and more. Living Room Furniture is affiliated with Upholstered Ottomans.

Chavez vs Big Oil

Another interesting post by Robert Rapier regarding the nationalization of the oil industry in Venezuela. He's expecting a tit-for-tat battle since Citgo is owned by Venezuela's national oil company and has refineries here in the US. Chavez may have outsmarted himself.

How Hot is Your Gas?

Not as hot as you might think. Robert Rapier comments on a lawsuit over 'hot' gas. Some folks think the retailers are ripping them off at the pumps. Robert explains why that is unlikely to be true, and what the real impact is if it is in fact true.

Blogging and You

Jocelyn is working up an article about blogging and is looking for your insights. We do a lot of blogging in RP, why?

The Morning After The Night Before

Early yesterday afternoon I was strolling along the beach, taking in the sights and sounds of families enjoying the holiday. There were all manner of sun shades, ranging from a simple tarp tied to tree limbs, to rather extravagant looking tents. One enterprising soul commandeered two trees for hammock duty. Children were playing in the sand, there was a multi-ethnic/racial soccer game going on

One Man's View

I was appalled by the commutation of Libby's sentence. I am not alone.

Another Development?

Although not in the 49th. The property leased by Dominick's down on Broadway may be up for sale and redevelopment. The future status of the Dominick's is not certain.

Living Room Furniture

By Eddie Tobey

The furniture that you place in the living room reflects your style and taste. Living room furniture consists of sofas, coffee and side tables, display cabinets, dressers, futon chairs and beds, and bean bags and bean chairs. It is always better to plan and set your budget when decorating your living room, as you may otherwise go overboard in expenses.
The furniture you place in the living room depends on the size of the living room. It is only when you have the exact measurement of the room that you can decide what size of sofa and other living-room furniture is best suitable for your living room. If you have enough space in the corner to keep a corner sofa, you might as well keep one there. However, if there is little space, a normal sofa accompanied by decorative stands and plants enhances the beauty of the living room.

When buying living room furniture, make sure that the color of the walls match the color of the furniture or at least have matching shades with the furniture. Check for a warranty on the furniture, especially expensive teakwood tables and leather sofas. To get the best rate, it is always better to check out a clearance sale. Lighting is another important point of enhancing the look of your living room furniture. The living room has to have proper lighting to give a soothing feeling.

Placing decorative plants and stands in corners enhances not only the living room, but also its furniture. Cleaning the living room furniture is very important to present a lively look to the furniture. So it is better to vacuum the sofas, carpets and curtains at least once a month. To enhance the look of the living room, you could also place matching paintings on the wall.
Living Room Furniture provides detailed information on Living Room Furniture, Cheap Living Room Furniture, Discount Living Room Furniture, Contemporary Living Room Furniture and more. Living Room Furniture is affiliated with Upholstered Ottomans.

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And we have a winner!

I barely get this post up and rattln along shows up with the correct answer. Who knew I was read in Texas! But that's a long ways to go for a drink pardner. You will have to wait until I get there. Live near Dallas? I'll be there in September. Our local, I think, winner is Sofi who will need to contact me if I am going to make good on my challenge. kheris at kheris dot net.For the rest of

Theatrics Part Deux

Went to Stage Left Theater for Leapfest and have a report on the 3 staged readings I saw. The readings come from Stage Left's program to develop playwrights and their plays. Whether or not they will actually be produced is another question altogether.Day of Knowledge - David Alan Moore.Based on the Chechen attack on the Russian grammar school, this play is about the grief and pain from horrific

Mimosas!!!!

That's what the man said. Mimosas!!!!!!!! Coming to Gruppo di Amici in August, we hope. Oh and why mimosas? Seems that Sunday Brunch is on the menu, the specifics are being worked out as to what will be served. However Jimmy sees mimosas in my future. Pays to get to know the guy behind the bar.Mimosas on Sunday, a delightfully decadent way to enjoy the day.