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Maj. Dean Eckmann is a soft-spoken North Dakota native whose lifelong love for military aviation transformed him, in one profound moment on September 11, 2001, into what he acknowledges to be „an eyewitness to history, to the day that changed all of America, forever.”
On the morning of 9/11, Eckmann, 36, was with his Fargo-based 119th Fighter Pilot Wing at Virginia’s Langley Air Force Base for a routine week-long ‘alert dispatch’ to protect seven American sites tagged, in „post-Cold War and pre-9/11 naivete,” he says, as potential targets.
At the unmistakable blare of a Klaxon horn, he abandoned his scheduled training mission and was ordered to his fully armed fighter jet, and became the first pilot scrambled to fly over — just 700 feet over — the flame-engulfed Pentagon just about four minutes after terrorists attacked.
He and two wingmen spent more than five hours that day, securing and protecting miles of Washington D. C. airspace, the White House, Washington Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Capitol Building and other American landmarks, from the ground up to 30,000 feet in the air.
His perspective of the horrors of that tragic day, viewed from the cockpit of his F-16 fighter, has been captured for future generations and history books in the Air Force-commissioned painting, „First Pass: Defenders Over Washington” by artist Rick Herter.
Herter, 44, has also completed for the Air Force a painting entitled, „Ground Zero, Eagles on Station,” a re-creation of the scene of the terrorist attacks on New York’s World Trade Center Twin Towers.
The pilot, the artist and prints of the paintings have toured the country to rave reviews, giving Americans a bird’s-eye view of the magnitude of the tragedy of that brilliant September morning.
The original oil renderings of both scenes hang in the halls of the refurbished Pentagon in Washington D.C., alongside many other original art treasures depicting famous battles and events in American military history.
The Art of Combat
Herter’s mother, Diana, is president of the Dowagiac (Michigan) Art Guild who describes her son as „an artist with the soul of a pilot.” As a member of the elite Air Force Art Corps, he spent two weeks flying with combat missions in Iraq as research for paintings of current military actions.
The fighter pilot and the artist are now good friends, but they didn’t know each other until the Air Force called Herter in November 2001 and inquired about his interest in painting the official 9/11 scenes.
Although he gives all of his Air Force-commissioned paintings to the government free of charge, Herter said he never hesitated when asked if he would speak with the pilots, research the events and commit the September 11 attacks to canvas.
„I jumped at the opportunity. I knew this was history,” he said, pointing to the „Defenders Over Washington” painting, with its mountainous clouds of black smoke billowing upwards from the Pentagon to nearly touch the underbelly of Eckmann’s F-16.
September 11: A Normal Morning
The morning of 9/11 began „so normally,” Eckmann says. „I was getting ready for a training mission when the Klaxon alarm went off and we scrambled to our ‘hot’ (armed) planes. When you’re scrambled, you get to your jet and do what you’re told.”
He’d heard that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center, but assumed it was „a puddle jumper, a tourist plane, that lost its way and had an accident.” As a former commercial pilot for Northwestern Airlines, Eckmann said the idea that a fully loaded commercial jet could be plunged into an occupied building was „inconceivable.
„We all had a false sense of security,” he says. „Even on alert, before 9/11, we were focused on a danger coming in to us from outside, not coming the inside as it happened that day. To take a commercial airliner full of people and force it into a building? No one in America could imagine anything so evil.”
Eckmann says he was originally ordered to „heading 010,” and immediately recognized it as New York. In retrospect, although he was unaware of it at the time, he says at the moment he took off from Langley, a second airliner was plowing into the second tower at the WTC.
En route to Manhattan, Eckmann received a revised order and a new heading, which he recognized as Washington D. C. Still, he was relatively unworried, he says, still being 75 miles away and with no smoke yet visible on the horizon. He associated only the apparent trouble in New York with his new heading and assumed he’d be „flying CAP” — Combat Air Patrol — over Washington as a preventive measure.
At 50 to 60 miles out of Washington, Eckmann got his first sight of smoke — thick black smoke — pouring across the Potomac.
„The black smoke worried me. Usually, you’ll see grey smoke or white smoke in a typical accident or industrial fire. Black smoke means very bad things.”
The Smoke’s Source: The Pentagon
Flying high, still miles out and unable to make out buildings or structures, he searched his memory, he says, to identify the smoke’s source. At 35 miles out, as oceans of smoke continued to pour from the site, he realized the unknown horror was taking place somewhere near the Pentagon: „an accident at Reagan National Airport, perhaps,” he says.
„At 20 miles out, I knew it was the Pentagon, and I’m thinking: truck bomb,” he said. „That’s what we thought most of the day, in the air. I thought, ‘we’re at war.’ But even flying at just 700 feet, I couldn’t — no one could — see that an airliner was burning inside the Pentagon. The smoke was too thick and, no one could conceive of that.”
That initial perspective, and his bird’s-eye view of the flaming Pentagon, with so many historic American sites in the background, is the focus of Herter’s painting.
Two subsequent orders confirmed Eckmann’s fears of an attack. The first was to confirm the Pentagon was burning. The second was to identify two unknown aircraft in flight toward the Pentagon. Those two aircraft turned out to be „good guys,” Eckmann says, one a Medi-Vac helicopter and one a chopper from the local police, heading in to try to assist Pentagon victims.
Eckmann immediately set off to „buzz the Mall,” he says, or overfly the Washington government complex. His eyes scanned the ground, searching for a yellow truck or anything that might be another truck bomb heading for another landmark.
He and his wingmen maintained skywatch over Washington for nearly six hours, refueling twice in-flight, until being returned to Langley for just an hour before heading out again.
A Final Shock
At Langley, he heard the mechanics expressing shock and horror at „what happened to the World Trade Center towers.
„I still didn’t know at that point,” he said. „I said, ‘What towers? What happened?’ And they told me the towers had collapsed, that someone had flown commercial airliners into them. I couldn’t believe it.”
At home, his wife had spent the frantic day fielding more than 50 phone calls from friends and relatives wondering whether Eckmann was flying that day, and if so, in what aircraft and for which employer, the U. S. Air National Guard, or the commercial airline industry.
Both Herter and Eckmann say they’re awed by the notion that what they’ve seen and done will inevitably become as much a part of the American historical fabric as the scene of George Washington crossing the Delaware River, or the first film footage of the attacks on Pearl Harbor.
„This is what no one else saw and could not see,” Herter says. „Only a handful of people ever saw the immediate aftermath of the Pentagon attack and this is the first sight of it. There are no aerial photographs of the Pentagon burning, because Dean (Eckmann) and his fighters did their jobs — protected the nation’s capital, secured the airspace. No one else got in, thanks to them.”
Maj. Dean Eckmann is a soft-spoken North Dakota native whose lifelong love for military aviation transformed him, in one profound moment on September 11, 2001, into what he acknowledges to be „an eyewitness to history, to the day that changed all of America, forever.”
On the morning of 9/11, Eckmann, 36, was with his Fargo-based 119th Fighter Pilot Wing at Virginia’s Langley Air Force Base for a routine week-long ‘alert dispatch’ to protect seven American sites tagged, in „post-Cold War and pre-9/11 naivete,” he says, as potential targets.
At the unmistakable blare of a Klaxon horn, he abandoned his scheduled training mission and was ordered to his fully armed fighter jet, and became the first pilot scrambled to fly over — domki holenderskie just 700 feet over — the flame-engulfed Pentagon just about four minutes after terrorists attacked.
He and two wingmen spent more than five hours that day, securing and protecting miles of Washington D. C. airspace, the White House, Washington Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Capitol Building and other American landmarks, from the ground up to 30,000 feet in the air.
His perspective of the horrors of that tragic day, viewed from the cockpit of his F-16 fighter, has been captured for future generations and history books in the Air Force-commissioned painting, „First Pass: Defenders Over Washington” by artist Rick Herter.
Herter, 44, has also completed for the Air Force a painting entitled, „Ground Zero, Eagles on Station,” a re-creation of the scene of the terrorist attacks on New York’s World Trade Center Twin Towers.
The pilot, the artist and prints of the paintings have toured the country to rave reviews, giving Americans a bird’s-eye view of the magnitude of the tragedy of that brilliant September morning.
The original oil renderings of both scenes hang in the halls of the refurbished Pentagon in Washington D.C., alongside many other original art treasures depicting famous battles and events in American military history.
The Art of Combat
Herter’s mother, Diana, is president of the Dowagiac (Michigan) Art Guild who describes her son as „an artist with the soul of a pilot.” As a member of the elite Air Force Art Corps, he spent two weeks flying with combat missions in Iraq as research for paintings of current military actions.
The fighter pilot and the artist are now good friends, but they didn’t know each other until the Air Force called Herter in November 2001 and inquired about his interest in painting the official 9/11 scenes.
Although he gives all of his Air Force-commissioned paintings to the government free of charge, Herter said he never hesitated when asked if he would speak with the pilots, research the events and commit the September 11 attacks to canvas.
„I jumped at the opportunity. I knew this was history,” he said, pointing to the „Defenders Over Washington” painting, with its mountainous clouds of black smoke billowing upwards from the Pentagon to nearly touch the underbelly of Eckmann’s F-16.
September 11: A Normal Morning
The morning of 9/11 began „so normally,” Eckmann says. „I was getting ready for a training mission when the Klaxon alarm went off and we scrambled to our ‘hot’ (armed) planes. When you’re scrambled, you get to your jet and do what you’re told.”
He’d heard that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center, but assumed it was „a puddle jumper, a tourist plane, that lost its way and had an accident.” As a former commercial pilot for Northwestern Airlines, Eckmann said the idea that a fully loaded commercial jet could be plunged into an occupied building was „inconceivable.
„We all had a false sense of security,” he says. „Even on alert, before 9/11, we were focused on a danger coming in to us from outside, not coming the inside as it happened that day. To take a commercial airliner full of people and force it into a building? No one in America could imagine anything so evil.”
Eckmann says he was originally ordered to „heading 010,” and immediately recognized it as New York. In retrospect, although he was unaware of it at the time, he says at the moment he took off from Langley, a second airliner was plowing into the second tower at the WTC.
En route to Manhattan, Eckmann received a revised order and a new heading, which he recognized as Washington D. C. Still, he was relatively unworried, he says, still being 75 miles away and with no smoke yet visible on the horizon. He associated only the apparent trouble in New York with his new heading and assumed he’d be „flying CAP” — Combat Air Patrol — over Washington as a preventive measure.
At 50 to 60 miles out of Washington, Eckmann got his first sight of smoke — thick black smoke — pouring across the Potomac.
„The black smoke worried me. Usually, you’ll see grey smoke or white smoke in a typical accident or industrial fire. Black smoke means very bad things.”
The Smoke’s Source: The Pentagon
Flying high, still miles out and unable to make out buildings or structures, he searched his memory, he says, to identify the smoke’s source. At 35 miles out, as oceans of smoke continued to pour from the site, he realized the unknown horror was taking place somewhere near the Pentagon: „an accident at Reagan National Airport, perhaps,” he says.
„At 20 miles out, I knew it was the Pentagon, and I’m thinking: truck bomb,” he said. „That’s what we thought most of the day, in the air. I thought, ‘we’re at war.’ But even flying at just 700 feet, I couldn’t — no one could — see that an airliner was burning inside the Pentagon. The smoke was too thick and, no one could conceive of that.”
That initial perspective, and his bird’s-eye view of the flaming Pentagon, with so many historic American sites in the background, is the focus of Herter’s painting.
Two subsequent orders confirmed Eckmann’s fears of an attack. The first was to confirm the Pentagon was burning. The second was to identify two unknown aircraft in flight toward the Pentagon. Those two aircraft turned out to be „good guys,” Eckmann says, one a Medi-Vac helicopter and one a chopper from the local police, heading in to try to assist Pentagon victims.
Eckmann immediately set off to „buzz the Mall,” he says, or overfly the Washington government complex. His eyes scanned the ground, searching for a yellow truck or anything that might be another truck bomb heading for another landmark.
He and his wingmen maintained skywatch over Washington for nearly six hours, refueling twice in-flight, until being returned to Langley for just an hour before heading out again.
A Final Shock
At Langley, he heard the mechanics expressing shock and horror at „what happened to the World Trade Center towers.
„I still didn’t know at that point,” he said. „I said, ‘What towers? What happened?’ And they told me the towers had collapsed, that someone had flown commercial airliners into them. I couldn’t believe it.”
At home, his wife had spent the frantic day fielding more than 50 phone calls from friends and relatives wondering whether Eckmann was flying that day, and if so, in what aircraft and for which employer, the U. S. Air National Guard, or the commercial airline industry.
Both Herter and Eckmann say they’re awed by the notion that what they’ve seen and done will inevitably become as much a part of the American historical fabric as the scene of George Washington crossing the Delaware River, or the first film footage of the attacks on Pearl Harbor.
„This is what no one else saw and could not see,” Herter says. „Only a handful of people ever saw the immediate aftermath of the Pentagon attack and this is the first sight of it. There are no aerial photographs of the Pentagon burning, because Dean (Eckmann) and his fighters did their jobs — protected the nation’s capital, secured the airspace. No one else got in, thanks to them.”

London Euston Station is located on Euston Road, in London, UK. The post code or zip code for the station is NW1 2RT.
Several national car rental companies have car hire desks situated on level five of London Euston Railway Station Mitystry Car Park. Customers can pre book from this location or walk in and try and arrange car hire when they arrive at the Euston from their destination. In peak periods such as Easter, Christmas and Bank Holidays, it is advisable that drivers book their car rental in advance to avoid disappointment.
There is a post box inside the train station. This is handy if you wish to post mail while you are going to work or form work. The post box is ideal for tourists who may wish to send post cards home to loved ones.
Wifi BT Open Zone hotspots can be found in and around Euston. A good reception area is located in The Café Nero and other coffee shops inside the railway station.
Pay phones are doted around the station. This would be a good idea for anyone who has ran out of battery charge or money on their mobile. The pay phones are useful for any overseas visitors who have just arrived into the UK and have not yet purchased a UK style mobile network.
You can withdraw money from the various ATM’s located around Euston. The currency which will be dispensed out of the machines would be pound sterling. There is no currency exchange centre at the moment in the station.
Passengers can find trolleys and toilets conveniently situated around the station.
Passengers will find various seating areas doted around Euston with waiting rooms available for travellers.
If you would prefer light refreshments then head over to the Britannia Pub. A first class coffee lounge is opened from eight in the morning until nine thirty in the evening. This service is available for persons who have purchased tickets from Advanced First Ticket, Virgin and First Open.
If travellers wish to park their cars they can do so at the train station. As underneath Euston passengers will find a car park which is secure and is readily accesses by vehicles from Melton Street in London. Passengers can use the stairs to reach the platforms.
Hopefully you will find the tourist information of value to you and your friends. When you next visit London in the UK.
London Euston Station is located on Euston Road, in London, UK. The post code or zip code for the station is NW1 2RT.
Several national car rental companies have car hire desks situated on level five of London Euston Railway Station Mitystry Car Park. Customers can pre book from this lokaty location or walk in and try and arrange car hire when they arrive at the Euston from their destination. In peak periods such as Easter, Christmas and Bank Holidays, it is advisable that drivers book their car rental in advance to avoid disappointment.
There is a post box inside the train station. This is handy if you wish to post mail while you are going to work or form work. The post box is ideal for tourists who may wish to send post cards home to loved ones.
Wifi BT Open Zone hotspots can be found in and around Euston. A good reception area is located in The Café Nero and other coffee shops inside the railway station.
Pay phones are doted around the station. This would be a good idea for anyone who has ran out of battery charge or money on their mobile. The pay phones are useful for any overseas visitors who have just arrived into the UK and have not yet purchased a UK style mobile network.
You can withdraw money from the various ATM’s located around Euston. The currency which will be dispensed out of the machines would be pound sterling. There is no currency exchange centre at the moment in the station.
Passengers can find trolleys and toilets conveniently situated around the station.
Passengers will find various seating areas doted around Euston with waiting rooms available for travellers.
If you would prefer light refreshments then head over to the Britannia Pub. A first class coffee lounge is opened from eight in the morning until nine thirty in the evening. This service is available for persons who have purchased tickets from Advanced First Ticket, Virgin and First Open.
If travellers wish to park their cars they can do so at the train station. As underneath Euston passengers will find a car park which is secure and is readily accesses by vehicles from Melton Street in London. Passengers can use the stairs to reach the platforms.
Hopefully you will find the tourist information of value to you and your friends. When you next visit London in the UK.

Sporting dark eyes circles suddenly? Most of us experience this whenever we stay late at night working on a project or having DVD marathon. However, our habits should not be attributed to these dark eye circles. There is more to this than meets the eye, no pun intended.
Actually those raccoon eyes form similarly to how bruises form on our skin. Recognize that the skin around our eye area is thinner than the skin found in the other parts of our body therefore it is prone to damages. When the tiny blood vessels found in this area of the skin pile up, it causes hemoglobin to happen, thus the distinctive darkness in this part. Hemoglobin is broken down eventually but it leaves a dark tint behind that looks much like that of a bruise.
It helps a lot if you try to protect the blood capillaries of your skin. Not rubbing your eyes when it feels itchy will prevent the abnormal flow of blood. Also, an effective eye cream will help your cause immensely.
This is the best time to start scouring for effective creams you can put around the eye cream. It would be best if you look for something that can strengthen not only blood vessels and capillaries but also skin tissues in order to ward off other forms of skin weaknesses.
Look for Haloxyl first. This has the ability to widen blood vessels and allow better circulation in the skin that surrounds our peepers. In many studies conducted to test its efficacy, this ingredient has been proven effective in reducing the dark tin that hemoglobin leaves behind when it is broken down by our inner functions. This way, dark under eye circles can be greatly reduced.
Also look for Eyeliss. This ingredient is comprised of peptides. Natural peptides help us a lot in strengthening skin tissues. This is the one that can help thicken up skin cells and prevent the damages done to skin tissues. Also, your dermis is better off when Eyeliss is paired with CynergyTK.
CynergyTK functions well in the regeneration of collagen and elastin. This is a very important ingredient that can ward off the appearance of not only dark circles but also wrinkles and crow’s feet. Lighten dark eye circles with this very easy method. You need only to find the product with such ingredients, apply it on your skin and you are good to go. The rest of the work will be done by the product you are using.
Sporting dark eyes circles suddenly? Most of us experience this whenever we stay late at night working on a project or having DVD marathon. However, our habits should not be attributed torby papierowe to these dark eye circles. There is more to this than meets the eye, no pun intended.
Actually those raccoon eyes form similarly to how bruises form on our skin. Recognize that the skin around our eye area is thinner than the skin found in the other parts of our body therefore it is prone to damages. When the tiny blood vessels found in this area of the skin pile up, it causes hemoglobin to happen, thus the distinctive darkness in this part. Hemoglobin is broken down eventually but it leaves a dark tint behind that looks much like that of a bruise.
It helps a lot if you try to protect the blood capillaries of your skin. Not rubbing your eyes when it feels itchy will prevent the abnormal flow of blood. Also, an effective eye cream will help your cause immensely.
This is the best time to start scouring for effective creams you can put around the eye cream. It would be best if you look for something that can strengthen not only blood vessels and capillaries but also skin tissues in order to ward off other forms of skin weaknesses.
Look for Haloxyl first. This has the ability to widen blood vessels and allow better circulation in the skin that surrounds our peepers. In many studies conducted to test its efficacy, this ingredient has been proven effective in reducing the dark tin that hemoglobin leaves behind when it is broken down by our inner functions. This way, dark under eye circles can be greatly reduced.
Also look for Eyeliss. This ingredient is comprised of peptides. Natural peptides help us a lot in strengthening skin tissues. This is the one that can help thicken up skin cells and prevent the damages done to skin tissues. Also, your dermis is better off when Eyeliss is paired with CynergyTK.
CynergyTK functions well in the regeneration of collagen and elastin. This is a very important ingredient that can ward off the appearance of not only dark circles but also wrinkles and crow’s feet. Lighten dark eye circles with this very easy method. You need only to find the product with such ingredients, apply it on your skin and you are good to go. The rest of the work will be done by the product you are using.

You may be surprised to learn some fascinating facts about plants. Plants are so common that they are often taken for granted. However, their importance to all life on this planet cannot be understated. You may have glossed over the chapter on plants in your Environmental Studies text in elementary school with perhaps somewhat of a passé attitude toward the process of photosynthesis and related topics, but it’s time to take another look. Indulge me here for the remainder of these paragraphs. I promise, you won’t be disappointed.
You may be surprised to learn some fascinated facts about these under-valued organic wonders. Who knows, brings some of this information up at your next social function and you may be the life of the party.
The greatest varieties of plants are called „autotrophs.” Autotrophs are simply organisms that obtain energy from sunlight or organisms that make their own food. The process they use to accomplish this is called photosynthesis. Photosynthesis occurs the chloroplasts of plants. A chloroplast is a specialized component of certain cells that contains chlorophyll and is responsible for photosynthesis. The process of photosynthesis is defined as a process in which organisms, with the aid of chlorophyll (green plant enzyme), convert carbon dioxide and inorganic substances into oxygen and additional plant material, using sunlight for energy. When you think about it, the action converting carbon dioxide into oxygen is quite amazing. All life on this planet needs oxygen to sustain itself. Without the life giving by-products of photosynthesis carried out by all green plats, this would not be possible. In a plant the sugar and starches it needs to survive comes from sunlight.
Another significant aspect of plants is that they are constantly shedding leaves and bark which then mix with the waste of living forest animals and the carcasses of dead ones to form a rich layer of humus on the forest floor. All the gardeners reading this will know that humus is the brown or black organic part of the soil resulting from the partial decay of leaves and other matter. This rich black soil is best for growing thing and the organic compounds are extremely beneficial. Plants are very shade tolerant but growth is slower in dense shade. This means that a number of conditions must come together ecologically in order for plants to thrive so they can reduce carbon dioxide and release oxygen which we all need to survive. Collective humanity needs to that their colloquial „lucky stars” that plants do what they do.
You may not have thought about it, but Plants are cost effective in comparison to complex air conditioning filter systems and provide a means for discreet implementation of a solution to an environmental problem. Because, given the right conditions plant growth are sustainable and renewable, plants are a great means providing an environmental filtering system. Nature’s way is always better than anything humanity can devise. It is much more efficient, does not break down and need repair like anything mechanical and is much more cost effective.
One example of a very important plant for more than just the benefits described above is aloe. Aloe is a softer product with bactericide properties, and even broad bean stem is strongly anti-fungal. It is used externally to treat a number of skin irritations. It has antiseptic and antibiotic properties that make it highly valuable in treating cuts and abrasions. This amazing plant is also used primarily as a beverage in different parts of the world. Aloe is effective for many inflammatory conditions of the digestive system and other organs. The healing properties of this plant have long been documented. Additionally, aloe an effective treatment for wounds, eczema, ringworm and poison oak and poison ivy rashes. Post pregnant woman can also be thankful for the aloe plant because it is one of the main ingredients in products to treat stretch marks, wrinkled skin and pigmentation.
Plants also play a substantial role in many economies. In Vietnam for example, the rural economy is provided with basic needs of food, fuel and shelter. Australian tree species, notably the acacias, casuarinas and eucalypts have become a common feature of Vietnam’s rural landscape and provide considerable economic, social and environmental benefits.
In contrast to plants, weeds harm our environment significantly. Weeds degrade natural environments. This occurs in all areas from urban bush land to National Parks and wilderness areas by competing with and displacing native vegetation and indirectly affecting the fauna of invaded ecosystems by altering habitat opportunities. Fauna is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora. Weeds can be significant at a property, local, regional, state and/or national level based on their impact or potential impact.
It is clear that plants are an important natural resource that need to be protected, cared for, nurtured and replenished in a timely fashion if we are to survive and thrive, we are dependent on these wonderful organisms which are themselves living things that need to be treated with respect and not removed indiscriminately with little thought to the environment, micro and macro ecosystems and humanity in general. That is why, around the world specialized systems are being developed to help further this task. One example is a screen house that is fitted with interior, retractable, aluminum curtains at varying degrees of light emission, a fully automated irrigation system, a contained drainage system and air extraction fans. Such technologies in the care and preservation of plants abound. This is only one example.
So plants not only obtain their own foot using photosynthesis, but they also provide oxygen that we all need to survive. They provide filtering systems and shelter and they also contribute to the production of mineral and nutrient rich soil, which is need in agriculture and food production and growth in general. Plants are also essential in the economy and have healing and regenerative processes as has been seen. After reading this, perhaps you won’t take plants, „nature’s wonder” for granted. Clearly more than five things you didn’t know about plants are outlined here, but this is far too important a subject to shorten or condense. It is hoped you have leaned something that will help you today. You can find information about this and other subjects and the websites given at the bottom of this article.
The miraculous properties of a vast variety of flora make our world a better place, contribute significantly to all life and exhibit healing and restorative elements, but they also make our world a much brighter and more beautiful place. The colours and textures are so amazing and varied. Bright vibrant colours and a panorama on a tropic rain forest, for example, make plants truly remarkable.
You may be surprised to learn some fascinating facts about plants. Plants are so common that rzeczoznawca majątkowy they are often taken for granted. However, their importance to all life on this planet cannot be understated. You may have glossed over the chapter on plants in your Environmental Studies text in elementary school with perhaps somewhat of a passé attitude toward the process of photosynthesis and related topics, but it’s time to take another look. Indulge me here for the remainder of these paragraphs. I promise, you won’t be disappointed.
You may be surprised to learn some fascinated facts about these under-valued organic wonders. Who knows, brings some of this information up at your next social function and you may be the life of the party.
The greatest varieties of plants are called „autotrophs.” Autotrophs are simply organisms that obtain energy from sunlight or organisms that make their own food. The process they use to accomplish this is called photosynthesis. Photosynthesis occurs the chloroplasts of plants. A chloroplast is a specialized component of certain cells that contains chlorophyll and is responsible for photosynthesis. The process of photosynthesis is defined as a process in which organisms, with the aid of chlorophyll (green plant enzyme), convert carbon dioxide and inorganic substances into oxygen and additional plant material, using sunlight for energy. When you think about it, the action converting carbon dioxide into oxygen is quite amazing. All life on this planet needs oxygen to sustain itself. Without the life giving by-products of photosynthesis carried out by all green plats, this would not be possible. In a plant the sugar and starches it needs to survive comes from sunlight.
Another significant aspect of plants is that they are constantly shedding leaves and bark which then mix with the waste of living forest animals and the carcasses of dead ones to form a rich layer of humus on the forest floor. All the gardeners reading this will know that humus is the brown or black organic part of the soil resulting from the partial decay of leaves and other matter. This rich black soil is best for growing thing and the organic compounds are extremely beneficial. Plants are very shade tolerant but growth is slower in dense shade. This means that a number of conditions must come together ecologically in order for plants to thrive so they can reduce carbon dioxide and release oxygen which we all need to survive. Collective humanity needs to that their colloquial „lucky stars” that plants do what they do.
You may not have thought about it, but Plants are cost effective in comparison to complex air conditioning filter systems and provide a means for discreet implementation of a solution to an environmental problem. Because, given the right conditions plant growth are sustainable and renewable, plants are a great means providing an environmental filtering system. Nature’s way is always better than anything humanity can devise. It is much more efficient, does not break down and need repair like anything mechanical and is much more cost effective.
One example of a very important plant for more than just the benefits described above is aloe. Aloe is a softer product with bactericide properties, and even broad bean stem is strongly anti-fungal. It is used externally to treat a number of skin irritations. It has antiseptic and antibiotic properties that make it highly valuable in treating cuts and abrasions. This amazing plant is also used primarily as a beverage in different parts of the world. Aloe is effective for many inflammatory conditions of the digestive system and other organs. The healing properties of this plant have long been documented. Additionally, aloe an effective treatment for wounds, eczema, ringworm and poison oak and poison ivy rashes. Post pregnant woman can also be thankful for the aloe plant because it is one of the main ingredients in products to treat stretch marks, wrinkled skin and pigmentation.
Plants also play a substantial role in many economies. In Vietnam for example, the rural economy is provided with basic needs of food, fuel and shelter. Australian tree species, notably the acacias, casuarinas and eucalypts have become a common feature of Vietnam’s rural landscape and provide considerable economic, social and environmental benefits.
In contrast to plants, weeds harm our environment significantly. Weeds degrade natural environments. This occurs in all areas from urban bush land to National Parks and wilderness areas by competing with and displacing native vegetation and indirectly affecting the fauna of invaded ecosystems by altering habitat opportunities. Fauna is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora. Weeds can be significant at a property, local, regional, state and/or national level based on their impact or potential impact.
It is clear that plants are an important natural resource that need to be protected, cared for, nurtured and replenished in a timely fashion if we are to survive and thrive, we are dependent on these wonderful organisms which are themselves living things that need to be treated with respect and not removed indiscriminately with little thought to the environment, micro and macro ecosystems and humanity in general. That is why, around the world specialized systems are being developed to help further this task. One example is a screen house that is fitted with interior, retractable, aluminum curtains at varying degrees of light emission, a fully automated irrigation system, a contained drainage system and air extraction fans. Such technologies in the care and preservation of plants abound. This is only one example.
So plants not only obtain their own foot using photosynthesis, but they also provide oxygen that we all need to survive. They provide filtering systems and shelter and they also contribute to the production of mineral and nutrient rich soil, which is need in agriculture and food production and growth in general. Plants are also essential in the economy and have healing and regenerative processes as has been seen. After reading this, perhaps you won’t take plants, „nature’s wonder” for granted. Clearly more than five things you didn’t know about plants are outlined here, but this is far too important a subject to shorten or condense. It is hoped you have leaned something that will help you today. You can find information about this and other subjects and the websites given at the bottom of this article.
The miraculous properties of a vast variety of flora make our world a better place, contribute significantly to all life and exhibit healing and restorative elements, but they also make our world a much brighter and more beautiful place. The colours and textures are so amazing and varied. Bright vibrant colours and a panorama on a tropic rain forest, for example, make plants truly remarkable.

The Casio CTK-2100 is a low-cost keyboard with a 61 piano-style key layout. It includes a USB port for general MIDI support. This keyboard is aimed at beginners, with a Step-up learning system that gives instructions on how to play.
The positives:
Plenty of features and functions for the price. 150 rhythms, a sampling function, a voice pad function, and the ability to connect a CD or MP3 player via the audio input so that you can play along to your favorite song on the keyboard. It has a step-up learning system that makes it easy to hear the progress made in your playing skills.
It has hundreds of pre-programmed songs that break down and show you how to play them exactly, note by note. A really great teaching aid.
New Voice Pad function
New 48-note polyphony AHL sound source
400 Tones, 150 Rhythms
New StepUp lesson system
Sampling Function, Audio-in Terminal for mp3-Player
The negatives:
This is a beginner keyboard at a budget price. Therefore the key weight is light. You may hear noise from the keys when you press them. You cannot affect the tone by pressing the keys hard or easy – as with a real piano or more expensive keyboard. But this is not a big deal to most people buying a keyboard in this price range.
The headphones can be difficult to figure out (premium package).
The stand can be difficult to put together (premium package).
The LCD is not very bright which requires good lighting to see.
Occasional packaging issues.
The Casio CTK-3000has a 61 Key Piano Style Touch Sensitive Keyboard, 400 total onboard Tones, 150 Rhythms and Digital Effects. It has the Step-up Lesson System, audio inputs for a MP3 player, USB port for MIDI implementation and a pitch wheel.
The positives:
The touch sensitive keys makes it more like playing a real piano and therefore a good value for the price.
Plenty of onboard tones, rhythms, and effects for the price.
Digital readout is easy to see.
The negatives:
The keys are light and can be prone to noise, as with any inexpensive keyboard.
The holder for the music on the keyboard isn’t the greatest.
Does not come with a/c adapter.
The Casio CTK-4000 is an affordable instrument with a 61 Key Piano Style Touch Sensitive Keyboard, 570 total onboard Tones, 180 Rhythms and Reverb plus Chorus Digital Effects. Packed with great features such as Casio’s famous Step-up Lesson System, audio inputs for a MP3 player and a USB port for MIDI.
Featuring a 61 note keyboard with Piano Style, Touch Sensitive keys, 570 sounds, 180 rhythms, Reverb and Chorus Digital Effects, built-in USB and an audio input for an MP3 player.
The positives:
Doesn’t feel as cheap as some of the more inexpensive models.
Quality digital sounds
Plenty of volume with a full, rich and improved sound than lesser models (AHL and arpeggiator).
Velocity sensitivity aka Touch response (note that velocity sensitivity is the speed with which you hit the keys, not the pressure with which you hit the keys).
48 note polyphony (24 note for dual-layer tones like Strings Piano)
Split function: divide the keyboard into 2 zones, anywhere. Supports octave shift (1 octave) of each zone.
Layer function: layer 2 sounds for a rich effect. Layer effects on only right-side zone if split function is active. If using Dual-layer tones, up-to 4 instruments sounds are produced simultaneously.
Adjustable Reverb (10 levels), Chorus (5 levels), Key Transpose (12 notes), Octave shift (2 octaves) Pitch tuning (approx 100 cents), preset scales (16 scales)
Auto-Harmonize function: 12 types, adds additional notes to your playback, active only if auto-accompaniments are active.
90 Arpeggiator Patterns: Up, Down, U/A Type A, U/D Type B, Random. Arpeggio Hold function.
305 Music Presets: Based on popular songs, the tone(s), rhythms, tempo and other settings are available as presets on the keyboard. Just select the preset and start playing. Songs include Careless Whispers, How Deep Is Your Love, Killing Me Softly
One-Touch Rhythm Presets: Upon selection of a rhythm, activate Rhythm preset to automatically select the suitable tempo and tone. Very useful if you are moving from Trance (140 bpm) to Slow Jazz (80 bpm) and don’t feel like hammering the tempo button 60 times or pressing multiple keys to change the tone from Synth to Sax.
Full Range Chord: In this mode the keyboard recognizes and plays the chords if any 3 keys are pressed anywhere on the keyboard. Selecting chords is not limited to the Left-zone of the keyboards anymore. Very useful for Harmonium players of India who typically play melody using chorded formation.
Indian tones (15) & rhythms (7 types)
Great training features and onscreen help.
The negatives:
No weighted keys
No pitch wheel
No stored settings of music can be saved.
The Casio CTK-5000 is the flagship of the CTK-series. Featuring a 61 Key Piano Style Touch Sensitive Keyboard, 670 total onboard Tones, 200 Rhythms and Reverb plus Chorus Digital Effects. Packed with great features such as Casio’s famous Step-up Lesson System, audio inputs for a MP3 player, pitch wheel for additional expression over sounds, Line Outputs and a USB port for MIDI. All this makes CTK-5000 more realistic and expressive than ever before at this price range.
Featuring a 61 note keyboard with Piano Style, Touch Sensitive keys, 670 sounds, 200 rhythms, Reverb and Chorus Digital Effects, built-in USB, line outputs, a pitch wheel for greater expression and an audio input for an MP3 player.
The Positives:
Better action on the keys than from the lesser models. Keys seem to be somewhat weighted. Keys are less noisy than the lesser models.
Acoustic sounds are realistic.
Speakers are great – very loud with no noise.
Great ability to layer sounds.
A fantastic selection of 90 harmonies & arpeggios.
Full range chord feature (keyboard automatically selects the right chord).
32 Registration Memory (store keyboard settings like Tone, Style, Tempo, Layers and recall at the touch of a button.
800+ sounds.
XLR outs.
Recorder: 6 tracks x 5 songs, 1 lesson song, approximately 12,000 notes total.
Metronome.
Pitch wheel added.
The Negatives:

Time consuming access and programming.
Manual is not entirely clear on some subjects.
The Casio CTK-2100 is a low-cost keyboard with a 61 piano-style key layout. It includes a USB port for general MIDI support. This keyboard is aimed at beginners, with a Step-up learning system that gives instructions on how to play.
The positives:
Plenty of features and functions for the price. 150 rhythms, a sampling function, a voice pad function, and the ability to connect a CD or MP3 player via the audio input so that you can play along to your favorite song on the keyboard. It has a step-up learning system that makes it easy to hear the progress made in your playing skills.
It has hundreds of pre-programmed songs that break down and show you how to play them exactly, note by note. A really great teaching aid.
New Voice Pad function
New 48-note polyphony AHL sound source
400 Tones, 150 Rhythms
New StepUp lesson system
Sampling Function, Audio-in Terminal for mp3-Player
The negatives:
This is a beginner keyboard at a budget price. Therefore the key domy z bali weight is light. You may hear noise from the keys when you press them. You cannot affect the tone by pressing the keys hard or easy – as with a real piano or more expensive keyboard. But this is not a big deal to most people buying a keyboard in this price range.
The headphones can be difficult to figure out (premium package).
The stand can be difficult to put together (premium package).
The LCD is not very bright which requires good lighting to see.
Occasional packaging issues.
The Casio CTK-3000has a 61 Key Piano Style Touch Sensitive Keyboard, 400 total onboard Tones, 150 Rhythms and Digital Effects. It has the Step-up Lesson System, audio inputs for a MP3 player, USB port for MIDI implementation and a pitch wheel.
The positives:
The touch sensitive keys makes it more like playing a real piano and therefore a good value for the price.
Plenty of onboard tones, rhythms, and effects for the price.
Digital readout is easy to see.
The negatives:
The keys are light and can be prone to noise, as with any inexpensive keyboard.
The holder for the music on the keyboard isn’t the greatest.
Does not come with a/c adapter.
The Casio CTK-4000 is an affordable instrument with a 61 Key Piano Style Touch Sensitive Keyboard, 570 total onboard Tones, 180 Rhythms and Reverb plus Chorus Digital Effects. Packed with great features such as Casio’s famous Step-up Lesson System, audio inputs for a MP3 player and a USB port for MIDI.
Featuring a 61 note keyboard with Piano Style, Touch Sensitive keys, 570 sounds, 180 rhythms, Reverb and Chorus Digital Effects, built-in USB and an audio input for an MP3 player.
The positives:
Doesn’t feel as cheap as some of the more inexpensive models.
Quality digital sounds
Plenty of volume with a full, rich and improved sound than lesser models (AHL and arpeggiator).
Velocity sensitivity aka Touch response (note that velocity sensitivity is the speed with which you hit the keys, not the pressure with which you hit the keys).
48 note polyphony (24 note for dual-layer tones like Strings Piano)
Split function: divide the keyboard into 2 zones, anywhere. Supports octave shift (1 octave) of each zone.
Layer function: layer 2 sounds for a rich effect. Layer effects on only right-side zone if split function is active. If using Dual-layer tones, up-to 4 instruments sounds are produced simultaneously.
Adjustable Reverb (10 levels), Chorus (5 levels), Key Transpose (12 notes), Octave shift (2 octaves) Pitch tuning (approx 100 cents), preset scales (16 scales)
Auto-Harmonize function: 12 types, adds additional notes to your playback, active only if auto-accompaniments are active.
90 Arpeggiator Patterns: Up, Down, U/A Type A, U/D Type B, Random. Arpeggio Hold function.
305 Music Presets: Based on popular songs, the tone(s), rhythms, tempo and other settings are available as presets on the keyboard. Just select the preset and start playing. Songs include Careless Whispers, How Deep Is Your Love, Killing Me Softly
One-Touch Rhythm Presets: Upon selection of a rhythm, activate Rhythm preset to automatically select the suitable tempo and tone. Very useful if you are moving from Trance (140 bpm) to Slow Jazz (80 bpm) and don’t feel like hammering the tempo button 60 times or pressing multiple keys to change the tone from Synth to Sax.
Full Range Chord: In this mode the keyboard recognizes and plays the chords if any 3 keys are pressed anywhere on the keyboard. Selecting chords is not limited to the Left-zone of the keyboards anymore. Very useful for Harmonium players of India who typically play melody using chorded formation.
Indian tones (15) & rhythms (7 types)
Great training features and onscreen help.
The negatives:
No weighted keys
No pitch wheel
No stored settings of music can be saved.
The Casio CTK-5000 is the flagship of the CTK-series. Featuring a 61 Key Piano Style Touch Sensitive Keyboard, 670 total onboard Tones, 200 Rhythms and Reverb plus Chorus Digital Effects. Packed with great features such as Casio’s famous Step-up Lesson System, audio inputs for a MP3 player, pitch wheel for additional expression over sounds, Line Outputs and a USB port for MIDI. All this makes CTK-5000 more realistic and expressive than ever before at this price range.
Featuring a 61 note keyboard with Piano Style, Touch Sensitive keys, 670 sounds, 200 rhythms, Reverb and Chorus Digital Effects, built-in USB, line outputs, a pitch wheel for greater expression and an audio input for an MP3 player.
The Positives:
Better action on the keys than from the lesser models. Keys seem to be somewhat weighted. Keys are less noisy than the lesser models.
Acoustic sounds are realistic.
Speakers are great – very loud with no noise.
Great ability to layer sounds.
A fantastic selection of 90 harmonies & arpeggios.
Full range chord feature (keyboard automatically selects the right chord).
32 Registration Memory (store keyboard settings like Tone, Style, Tempo, Layers and recall at the touch of a button.
800+ sounds.
XLR outs.
Recorder: 6 tracks x 5 songs, 1 lesson song, approximately 12,000 notes total.
Metronome.
Pitch wheel added.
The Negatives:

Time consuming access and programming.
Manual is not entirely clear on some subjects.

The topic of aging skin is usually addressed only when someone is trying to sell you something. Talk of the natural changes that occur in our largest organ often get drowned out in this age of Botox and lasers. As we age, we see and feel certain changes in our skin. The skin becomes drier, wrinkled, also spots and warty growths appear. People use terms like „liver spots” and „barnacles” to describe them. Skin bruises easily and heals much slower than in younger years. These changes are a normal part of aging.
As our skin ages, changes are inevitable. They can cause distress in even the most healthy adults. Most of these changes are inescapable and unwelcome but harmless. Unfortunately some can be itchy or painful, even cancerous and require medical attention. Many of these skin problems can be prevented. Many cannot. Hopefully this article will help you make sense of what you observe happening with your skin. It is however no substitution for the trained eye of a dermatologist.
„I just barely bump myself and I get these!” one of my favorite elderly patients gasped in frustration as she showed me her bruised arms. Quarter sized purple and red bruise were scattered over her hands and forearms. „It looks like my husband beats me!” she joked. Purpura, or bruise, is the name given to the appearance of blood that has leaked out of damaged vessels into the skin. As we age our skin grows thinner and more fragile from years of sun damage. The underlying fatty layers and collagen that normally cushion and protect the blood vessels also will decrease; making the shallow vessels in your skin more prone to injury. As my patient experienced, even the slightest little bump against your skin can cause massive bruising. Often the visible appearance of the bruise is out of proportion to the injury, or the injury is simply not remembered because it was so minor. Medications like aspirin or blood thinners can make this worse. I’ve heard vitamin C and Co enzyme Q10 recommended over the years but have yet to really observe it working for anyone. Although it can be alarming, skin bruising is a normal part of the way our skin ages and does not specifically indicate any other medical condition.
„Doctor, I just itch all the time and my skin is dry.” This gets said at least daily in my office. As we age, our skin becomes drier. This can result in flaky and itchy skin, especially in cold, dry, windy climates. The skin does not hold in moisture as well as it once did. Elderly patients often are not as active as they had been previously. But many still bath as frequently as when they were active. Bathing daily is not absolutely necessary if you are not soiled in sweat or filth. I often have people just use a gentle, non fragranced soap on only their armpits, buttocks and genitals in the shower. To put a cleanser on larger areas like your arms and back often causes them to dry out easily and itch. With the loss of the fatty layer we discussed earlier, people get cold more easily and crank up the heater in the wintertime. Since this is such a dry climate that only exacerbates the issue for them.
Just like an untended garden sprouting weeds, our skin grows all sorts of harmless but unsightly lumps and bumps. Small red dots on the skin are called angiomas and are a result of a superficial blood vessel in the skin that does not know to stop growing. They cause people some concern but are also part of the aging process. 85% of them occur on the torso. Your dermatologist can easily treat these if they bother you. Flat brown or fawn colored spots are usually harmless but should be checked before you embark upon any treatment for them. The medical term for these is lentigo, but they are referred to as „liver spots” by most people. Fortunately, they have nothing to do with the health of your liver; but are a result of sun damage (which tends to be a reoccurring theme in dermatology).
Perhaps the growths that cause people the most concern are seborrheic keratosis. A similar sounding entity call actinic keratosis is pre-cancerous unfortunately. Often people will just say „I had a keratosis” and not know if it was pre-cancereous or not. The seborrheic keratosis can be a variety of colors from flesh-colored to brown to black. Most of them tend to be raised and crusty, resembling a giant wart. Men love to absentmindedly pick at them while watching the ballgame on TV. Women usually cringe at their appearance. These seborrheic keratosis may look dangerous but there is no reason to be alarmed most of the time. They do serve a useful purpose in the world however; they get people in the door of their dermatologist’s office. While people’s attention is focused on the big, ugly, warty, black lesion, they may be ignoring the tiny little melanoma next to it that escapes their notice. Seborrheic keratosis know no boundaries and can occur anywhere on the body, including the face and scalp.
It is sometimes hard to ascertain if a spot is cancerous or not. A simple biopsy is often needed to delineate between what bugs you and what can kill you. Every dermatologist who has been practicing long enough has a horror story of a spot that looked 100% benign but came back a cancer. The skin is sneaky and cancer can be a great mimicker of benign spots. So while these harmless skin growths discussed here are a natural part of the aging process, so is cancer. Skin cancer almost seems like a rite of passage now it so common. A yearly skin exam by a dermatologist and high index of suspicion on your part will go a long way to catching cancers early and ease your mind.
The topic of aging skin is usually addressed only when someone is trying to sell you something. Talk of the natural changes that occur in our largest organ often get drowned out in this age of Botox and lasers. As we age, we see and feel certain changes in our skin. The skin becomes drier, wrinkled, also spots and warty growths appear. People use terms like „liver spots” and „barnacles” to describe them. Skin bruises easily and heals much slower than in younger years. These changes are a normal part of aging.
As our skin ages, changes are inevitable. They can cause distress in even the most healthy adults. Most of these changes are inescapable and unwelcome but harmless. Unfortunately some can be itchy or painful, even cancerous and require medical attention. Many of these skin problems can be prevented. Many cannot. Hopefully this article will help you make sense of what you observe happening with your skin. It is however no substitution for the trained eye of a dermatologist.
„I just barely bump myself and I get these!” one of my favorite sklep z grami elderly patients gasped in frustration as she showed me her bruised arms. Quarter sized purple and red bruise were scattered over her hands and forearms. „It looks like my husband beats me!” she joked. Purpura, or bruise, is the name given to the appearance of blood that has leaked out of damaged vessels into the skin. As we age our skin grows thinner and more fragile from years of sun damage. The underlying fatty layers and collagen that normally cushion and protect the blood vessels also will decrease; making the shallow vessels in your skin more prone to injury. As my patient experienced, even the slightest little bump against your skin can cause massive bruising. Often the visible appearance of the bruise is out of proportion to the injury, or the injury is simply not remembered because it was so minor. Medications like aspirin or blood thinners can make this worse. I’ve heard vitamin C and Co enzyme Q10 recommended over the years but have yet to really observe it working for anyone. Although it can be alarming, skin bruising is a normal part of the way our skin ages and does not specifically indicate any other medical condition.
„Doctor, I just itch all the time and my skin is dry.” This gets said at least daily in my office. As we age, our skin becomes drier. This can result in flaky and itchy skin, especially in cold, dry, windy climates. The skin does not hold in moisture as well as it once did. Elderly patients often are not as active as they had been previously. But many still bath as frequently as when they were active. Bathing daily is not absolutely necessary if you are not soiled in sweat or filth. I often have people just use a gentle, non fragranced soap on only their armpits, buttocks and genitals in the shower. To put a cleanser on larger areas like your arms and back often causes them to dry out easily and itch. With the loss of the fatty layer we discussed earlier, people get cold more easily and crank up the heater in the wintertime. Since this is such a dry climate that only exacerbates the issue for them.
Just like an untended garden sprouting weeds, our skin grows all sorts of harmless but unsightly lumps and bumps. Small red dots on the skin are called angiomas and are a result of a superficial blood vessel in the skin that does not know to stop growing. They cause people some concern but are also part of the aging process. 85% of them occur on the torso. Your dermatologist can easily treat these if they bother you. Flat brown or fawn colored spots are usually harmless but should be checked before you embark upon any treatment for them. The medical term for these is lentigo, but they are referred to as „liver spots” by most people. Fortunately, they have nothing to do with the health of your liver; but are a result of sun damage (which tends to be a reoccurring theme in dermatology).
Perhaps the growths that cause people the most concern are seborrheic keratosis. A similar sounding entity call actinic keratosis is pre-cancerous unfortunately. Often people will just say „I had a keratosis” and not know if it was pre-cancereous or not. The seborrheic keratosis can be a variety of colors from flesh-colored to brown to black. Most of them tend to be raised and crusty, resembling a giant wart. Men love to absentmindedly pick at them while watching the ballgame on TV. Women usually cringe at their appearance. These seborrheic keratosis may look dangerous but there is no reason to be alarmed most of the time. They do serve a useful purpose in the world however; they get people in the door of their dermatologist’s office. While people’s attention is focused on the big, ugly, warty, black lesion, they may be ignoring the tiny little melanoma next to it that escapes their notice. Seborrheic keratosis know no boundaries and can occur anywhere on the body, including the face and scalp.
It is sometimes hard to ascertain if a spot is cancerous or not. A simple biopsy is often needed to delineate between what bugs you and what can kill you. Every dermatologist who has been practicing long enough has a horror story of a spot that looked 100% benign but came back a cancer. The skin is sneaky and cancer can be a great mimicker of benign spots. So while these harmless skin growths discussed here are a natural part of the aging process, so is cancer. Skin cancer almost seems like a rite of passage now it so common. A yearly skin exam by a dermatologist and high index of suspicion on your part will go a long way to catching cancers early and ease your mind.

The big movie hit „Sideways” put the spotlight on California’s Santa Ynez Valley, an excellent choice for travelers wanting great scenery, world-class wines and, now, movie locations that you’ll remember from the film.
This is an idyllic and pastoral region of small towns, ranches and, of course, a few dozen wineries that are scattered over an incredibly picturesque countryside. The movie Sideways, which follows a couple of middle-aged men as they discover the charms of this region and the truths of their existence, won great accolades as a comedy/drama but, interestingly, it also turned out to be an effective travelogue.
That’s not been lost on the Santa Barbara Conference and Visitors Bureau, which rushed to print with a detailed color brochure offering visitors a map of filming locations for the movie – a handy guide for the movie-goers smitten with the ambiance so skillfully revealed in the movie’s cinematography. From all reports, plenty of people have, in fact, targeted the region for vacations or weekends and it’s still a common site to see visitors pulling out their big, green over-sized Sideways brochures to check their bearings while searching for yet another location used in the filming of the movie.
There has even been a bit of overkill, according to some local residents. A few disgruntled locals complained that the traffic brought to town by the movie was a double-edged sword – good for business, bad for the area’s roads. Not only were roads getting clogged during the height of the movie’s popularity but some say they were getting clogged with people a wee bit tipsy from all that wine-tasting. The TV show Inside Edition was recently in the area checking out all the fuss.
Much ado about nothing is the response of most locals, who have been pleased to see the area get national publicity and finally find its rightful place on the tourism map. During our March visit it sure didn’t seem overly crowded but, then again, we were there midweek and one should expect weekends will be entirely different.
Like other visitors, we grabbed our Sideways brochure and went on a scavenger hunt of sorts, searching out locations in Los Olivos, Santa Ynez, Buelton and Solvang that were featured prominently in the film. There was the Days Inn Buellton where Miles and Jack stayed and the parking lot where Stephanie beats on three-timing Jack. Or how about A.J. Spurs, the western-themed restaurant where Jack meets his one-night stand, Cami. Had to see the Sanford Winery, where Miles teaches Jack the basics of wine tasting and, of course, Fess Parker Winery where the server refuses to serve Miles a full glass of wine so he guzzles the spit bucket instead.
Altogether there are 19 Sideways locations detailed on the map, all quite recognizable from the film. Some locations even have the unmistakable Sideways logo posted on their signs lest anyone not realize that their particular business or location will now live in movie infamy.
Show biz also figured into one of the two places we stayed while in the Santa Barbara Wine Country. Middle-age folks won’t have any trouble recalling the name Fess Parker, who cornered the market back in the 50′s and 60′s for coonskin-capped, buckskin-wearing movie mountain men. If you’re a certain age, you remember Parker as Daniel Boone. If you’re older than you want most people to know, you remember him as Davy Crockett, a premiere figure in the stable of Disney TV characters back in the days of the Wonderful World of Disney.
Unknown to most visitors, you can visit with this one-time TV icon on most Thursday nights at Fess Parker’s Wine Country Inn in Los Olivos. The inn’s guests are encouraged to join Parker for a handshake, a glass of wine and even some musical entertainment. These word-of-mouth gatherings make it hard sometimes to find a vacancy at the inn on Thursday night.
Our room at the inn was everything you might imagine for a historical country inn located in a quiet small town surrounded by gorgeous scenery. The inn has been refurbished and updated to the point that guests get the best of both worlds – old-world charm with new-world convenience. Our room was comfortable and spacious, decorated with exquisite antiques, flowers and living palms. The high ceilings featured white-washed beams while the windows were shuttered. Classic paintings were on the walls and floral bed coverings matched table and chair covers. Our fireplace was outlined by hand-painted tiles.
Downstairs, the Wine Cask restaurant is a small, intimate room, serving cuisine that is well-known for being some of the best and most innovative in the Santa Barbara area.
The small downtown area of Los Olivos includes several galleries, shops and dining places and we especially enjoyed stopping in the Judith Hale Gallery, with its amazing collection of illustrations, sculpture, paintings and jewelry. Across the street is the Los Olivos Café and Wine Merchant, the place where the two couples in Sideways enjoy dinner and several bottles of wine.
We spent a little more time than usual visiting Santa Barbara Wine Country and we wanted to experience one other lodging we had heard about – the Santa Ynez Inn. Located in Santa Ynez, this is an unusual Victorian bed-and-breakfast because it is not a historic building at all – the inn was built from scratch just four years ago. That offers the advantage of everything being new – floors, carpeting, plumbing – which will appeal to travelers less interested in the historic aspect of their accommodations.
The Santa Ynez Inn is certainly among the most luxurious inns we’ve enjoyed. The lobby’s carved wood stairway seems as if it was transported from the movie Titanic. Portraits of U.S. presidents decorate the hallways. Our second-floor room was over-sized and felt like a sanctuary filled with antique-inspired furniture, and special items like crystal chandeliers and crystal-based lamps. The floral curtains parted to reveal a view of the countryside and small balcony with table and chairs. Another sitting area, made of travertine, was adjacent to the fireplace and both travertine and marble were used extensively in the larger-than-usual bathroom area. A jetted tub and separate shower area were just as you would find in the most expensive hotels.
The luxury inns we chose were the perfect complement to days spent in this magnificent countryside driving from winery to winery, from each Sideways location to the next. But then again, if you want the true Sideways experience, you can always opt for the motel used in the movie. Just don’t follow the script too closely.
AT A GLANCE
WHERE: Santa Barbara Wine Country is about 30 miles northwest of Santa Barbara on Highway 154 (San Marcos Pass).
WHAT: Santa Barbara Wine Country includes several small towns and a scenic countryside that is home to dozens of wineries and vineyards.
WHEN: Any time of year.
WHY: Santa Barbara Wine Country has become famous because of the movie Sideways. This area is charming and rural, and you can reach it easily from Santa Barbara which, of course, is a major Southern California tourist destination with lots of charm and many tourist attractions.
HOW: For more information on Santa Barbara Wine Country, phone the Santa Barbara Conference and Visitors Bureau at 805-966-9222 or visit http://www.santabarbaraca.com
The big movie hit „Sideways” put the spotlight on California’s Santa Ynez Valley, an excellent choice for travelers wanting great scenery, world-class wines and, now, movie locations that you’ll remember from the film.
This is an idyllic and pastoral region of small towns, ranches and, of course, a few dozen wineries that are scattered over an incredibly picturesque countryside. The movie Sideways, which follows a couple of middle-aged men as they discover the charms of this region and the truths of their existence, won great accolades as a comedy/drama but, interestingly, it also turned out to be an effective travelogue.
That’s not been lost on the Santa Barbara Conference and Visitors Bureau, which rushed to print with a detailed color brochure offering visitors a map of filming locations for the movie – a handy guide for the movie-goers smitten with the ambiance so skillfully revealed in the movie’s cinematography. From all lampy solarne reports, plenty of people have, in fact, targeted the region for vacations or weekends and it’s still a common site to see visitors pulling out their big, green over-sized Sideways brochures to check their bearings while searching for yet another location used in the filming of the movie.
There has even been a bit of overkill, according to some local residents. A few disgruntled locals complained that the traffic brought to town by the movie was a double-edged sword – good for business, bad for the area’s roads. Not only were roads getting clogged during the height of the movie’s popularity but some say they were getting clogged with people a wee bit tipsy from all that wine-tasting. The TV show Inside Edition was recently in the area checking out all the fuss.
Much ado about nothing is the response of most locals, who have been pleased to see the area get national publicity and finally find its rightful place on the tourism map. During our March visit it sure didn’t seem overly crowded but, then again, we were there midweek and one should expect weekends will be entirely different.
Like other visitors, we grabbed our Sideways brochure and went on a scavenger hunt of sorts, searching out locations in Los Olivos, Santa Ynez, Buelton and Solvang that were featured prominently in the film. There was the Days Inn Buellton where Miles and Jack stayed and the parking lot where Stephanie beats on three-timing Jack. Or how about A.J. Spurs, the western-themed restaurant where Jack meets his one-night stand, Cami. Had to see the Sanford Winery, where Miles teaches Jack the basics of wine tasting and, of course, Fess Parker Winery where the server refuses to serve Miles a full glass of wine so he guzzles the spit bucket instead.
Altogether there are 19 Sideways locations detailed on the map, all quite recognizable from the film. Some locations even have the unmistakable Sideways logo posted on their signs lest anyone not realize that their particular business or location will now live in movie infamy.
Show biz also figured into one of the two places we stayed while in the Santa Barbara Wine Country. Middle-age folks won’t have any trouble recalling the name Fess Parker, who cornered the market back in the 50′s and 60′s for coonskin-capped, buckskin-wearing movie mountain men. If you’re a certain age, you remember Parker as Daniel Boone. If you’re older than you want most people to know, you remember him as Davy Crockett, a premiere figure in the stable of Disney TV characters back in the days of the Wonderful World of Disney.
Unknown to most visitors, you can visit with this one-time TV icon on most Thursday nights at Fess Parker’s Wine Country Inn in Los Olivos. The inn’s guests are encouraged to join Parker for a handshake, a glass of wine and even some musical entertainment. These word-of-mouth gatherings make it hard sometimes to find a vacancy at the inn on Thursday night.
Our room at the inn was everything you might imagine for a historical country inn located in a quiet small town surrounded by gorgeous scenery. The inn has been refurbished and updated to the point that guests get the best of both worlds – old-world charm with new-world convenience. Our room was comfortable and spacious, decorated with exquisite antiques, flowers and living palms. The high ceilings featured white-washed beams while the windows were shuttered. Classic paintings were on the walls and floral bed coverings matched table and chair covers. Our fireplace was outlined by hand-painted tiles.
Downstairs, the Wine Cask restaurant is a small, intimate room, serving cuisine that is well-known for being some of the best and most innovative in the Santa Barbara area.
The small downtown area of Los Olivos includes several galleries, shops and dining places and we especially enjoyed stopping in the Judith Hale Gallery, with its amazing collection of illustrations, sculpture, paintings and jewelry. Across the street is the Los Olivos Café and Wine Merchant, the place where the two couples in Sideways enjoy dinner and several bottles of wine.
We spent a little more time than usual visiting Santa Barbara Wine Country and we wanted to experience one other lodging we had heard about – the Santa Ynez Inn. Located in Santa Ynez, this is an unusual Victorian bed-and-breakfast because it is not a historic building at all – the inn was built from scratch just four years ago. That offers the advantage of everything being new – floors, carpeting, plumbing – which will appeal to travelers less interested in the historic aspect of their accommodations.
The Santa Ynez Inn is certainly among the most luxurious inns we’ve enjoyed. The lobby’s carved wood stairway seems as if it was transported from the movie Titanic. Portraits of U.S. presidents decorate the hallways. Our second-floor room was over-sized and felt like a sanctuary filled with antique-inspired furniture, and special items like crystal chandeliers and crystal-based lamps. The floral curtains parted to reveal a view of the countryside and small balcony with table and chairs. Another sitting area, made of travertine, was adjacent to the fireplace and both travertine and marble were used extensively in the larger-than-usual bathroom area. A jetted tub and separate shower area were just as you would find in the most expensive hotels.
The luxury inns we chose were the perfect complement to days spent in this magnificent countryside driving from winery to winery, from each Sideways location to the next. But then again, if you want the true Sideways experience, you can always opt for the motel used in the movie. Just don’t follow the script too closely.
AT A GLANCE
WHERE: Santa Barbara Wine Country is about 30 miles northwest of Santa Barbara on Highway 154 (San Marcos Pass).
WHAT: Santa Barbara Wine Country includes several small towns and a scenic countryside that is home to dozens of wineries and vineyards.
WHEN: Any time of year.
WHY: Santa Barbara Wine Country has become famous because of the movie Sideways. This area is charming and rural, and you can reach it easily from Santa Barbara which, of course, is a major Southern California tourist destination with lots of charm and many tourist attractions.
HOW: For more information on Santa Barbara Wine Country, phone the Santa Barbara Conference and Visitors Bureau at 805-966-9222 or visit http://www.santabarbaraca.com

Ah, the mighty push up bra. What would a woman do without one, or two or ten? There are those days when you want cleavage enhancement, and those nights when you want to show it off. For those times, there’s just no substitute. Calvin Klein understands that and so they created a drawer full of Calvin Klein push up bra choices.
The CK Sheer Signature Push Up Bra is one among many outstanding examples. Smooth as a t shirt bra, you might wear this one under a thin-fabric dress and get that great unbroken line. With seamless, comfortable nylon you can be sure your gown will look its best so you look your best. Even better, generous graduated foam padding makes that best the absolute best. The super-comfortable underwire gives you all the support you need to complete the package. Silky smooth, natural-looking enhancement, and perfect fit. What’s not to love?
Calvin Klein developed a model they call the Steel Microfibre Push Up Bra. Steel? That doesn’t sound very inviting, does it? Here, you should ignore your hearing and go with your touch. Super soft microfibre made from 86% Nylon and 14% Elastane guarantees you get a bra you’ll never want to take off. Thanks to a perfectly designed underwire and lightly moulded cups someone special might want to do that for you, though.
If that name bothers you, check out the CK Bed of Roses Push Up Bra. The name is well chosen. You’ll feel wonderful in this silky smooth push up bra. Gentle padding provides a contour that is ultra feminine, while lace trim and a lovely print raises the chic quotient to the sky. Its underwire support will make you feel you’re lying in on the clouds. Come back to Earth and, thanks to the superb shaping, you’ll be the loveliest flower in the garden.
Get a perfectly tailored look with the Calvin Klein Perfectly Fit Tailored Push Up Bra. Perfect for those suit and blouse combos that are a little low cut, that is. This push up gives cleavage enhancement that you can still wear in the office. Graduated foam gives natural shaping that combines with elasticated joins at the bust for a smooth, sexy look. After hours you can show off the subtle logo detailing on the straps… but only if your co-worker has been very, very good.
When it’s time to be very, very bad, the Calvin Klein Lace Mystique Push Up Bra is an ideal choice. Graduated padding creates ideal contouring while silky soft, fine lace trim adds an unbeatable feminine look. The great underwire design ensures you never feel the superb support. Wear this model to work and work will to come to a screeching halt. Slip it on for a special night out and the party will get out of control right away.
Ah, the mighty push up bra. What would a woman do without one, or two or ten? There are those days when you want cleavage enhancement, and those nights when you want to show it off. For those times, there’s just no substitute. Calvin Klein understands that and so they created a drawer full of Calvin Klein push up bra choices.
The CK Sheer Signature Push Up Bra is one among many outstanding examples. Smooth as a t shirt bra, you might wear this one under a thin-fabric dress and get that great unbroken line. With seamless, comfortable nylon you can be sure your gown will look its best so you look your best. Even better, generous graduated foam padding makes that best the absolute best. The super-comfortable underwire gives you all the support you need to complete the package. Silky smooth, natural-looking enhancement, and perfect fit. What’s not to love?
Calvin Klein developed a model they call the Steel Microfibre Push Up Bra. Steel? That doesn’t sound very inviting, does it? Here, sex oferty you should ignore your hearing and go with your touch. Super soft microfibre made from 86% Nylon and 14% Elastane guarantees you get a bra you’ll never want to take off. Thanks to a perfectly designed underwire and lightly moulded cups someone special might want to do that for you, though.
If that name bothers you, check out the CK Bed of Roses Push Up Bra. The name is well chosen. You’ll feel wonderful in this silky smooth push up bra. Gentle padding provides a contour that is ultra feminine, while lace trim and a lovely print raises the chic quotient to the sky. Its underwire support will make you feel you’re lying in on the clouds. Come back to Earth and, thanks to the superb shaping, you’ll be the loveliest flower in the garden.
Get a perfectly tailored look with the Calvin Klein Perfectly Fit Tailored Push Up Bra. Perfect for those suit and blouse combos that are a little low cut, that is. This push up gives cleavage enhancement that you can still wear in the office. Graduated foam gives natural shaping that combines with elasticated joins at the bust for a smooth, sexy look. After hours you can show off the subtle logo detailing on the straps… but only if your co-worker has been very, very good.
When it’s time to be very, very bad, the Calvin Klein Lace Mystique Push Up Bra is an ideal choice. Graduated padding creates ideal contouring while silky soft, fine lace trim adds an unbeatable feminine look. The great underwire design ensures you never feel the superb support. Wear this model to work and work will to come to a screeching halt. Slip it on for a special night out and the party will get out of control right away.

The Akron Athletics Department and Akron fans must think they have died and gone to heaven. A little over a month ago the Zips faced a winless Army football team in Akron. A crowd of 12,203 watched the Zips fall flat on their faces in a 20-0 loss. At 3-4 overall and 2-2 in the MAC the Zips didn’t look like a respectable team let alone a MAC Champion. But as Nick Gerogosian described earlier this year in his article entitled The Wacky MAC, the crazy MAC football season gave the Akron football team hope, and the Zips made the most of it.
The Zips were picked to go 4-7 and finish tied with Ohio for 3rd in the MAC East. Similarly, our friends at MACReportOnline.com picked the Zips to finish 4th in the MAC East. Losing their poster-child QB Charlie Frye to the Cleveland Browns in the NFL Draft meant the Zips would struggle in 2005, right?
Apparently J.D.Brookhart, Akron’s Head Coach and the mastermind behind the Zips success, had other ideas. Junior Luke Getsy was named the starting QB of the Zips after transferring from Pitt. Brookhart liked Getsy’s experience running the West Coast Offense and, looking back, made one heck of a great decision. Getsy was fortunate enough to have All-MAC running back Brett Biggs returning and speedy senior WR Domenik Hixon to make his job a bit easier. The trio led the Zips all season to their improbable MAC Championship.
Fairness in college sports does not seem to exist; money dominates. Just ask the Akron Athletic Department after the 2004-2005 academic year ended. Despite having the heavily-hyped, All-MAC Quarterback Charlie Frye lead them to a 6-5 record, the Zips were the only, yes, I said the only, bowl-eligible school in Division I-A in 2004 not to receive a bowl bid. Then their basketball team finished the season 19-10 record and did not even receive a NIT bid. The Zips were possibly the most unlucky, successful school in Division I-A.
However, everything changed in the past few weeks for the Zips. Wins over Bowling Green, Ohio and some help from BG and Miami meant the Zips needed to beat rival Kent State on Thanksgiving Day to advance to the MAC Championship game against the Northern Illinois Huskies. A 35-3 thumping of Kent advanced Akron to a rematch with NIU who the Zips upset earlier in the year 48-42 in a crazy OT game.
Because the MAC has just two bowl tie-ins and because Toledo had already accepted an invite to the GMAC Bowl, the MAC Championship became the only chance for NIU or Akron to go bowling this season. Detroit, Michigan, was the site of the 2005 MAC Championship game; the same place that the winner would play in the 2005 Motor City Bowl. The loser, unfortunately, would watch most of the bowl season on ESPN.
ESPN did a first class job with their coverage of the title game and witnessed a fantastic football game between two solid football teams. The crowd may have been small, but the quality of the individual players and the exciting finish coupled with the excellence in ESPN’s coverage certainly made the MAC look very good to a national audience. With 17 seconds remaining from the NIU 36 yard line Akron QB Luke Getsy fired a pass to the end zone and Domenik Hixon made a beautiful diving catch to tie the game. The PAT sealed a fantastic comeback for the Zips and a 31-30 victory. All of the bad luck of 2004-2005 was forgotten.
The Zips have a program on the rise that could very well become a force in the years to come. Brookhart’s 2005 recruiting class was ranked #1 in the MAC by this site and it would be logical to think that J.D. and his staff could duplicate that effort thanks to their 2005 success. Another strong class of recruits added to the championship experience of 2005 will make facing the Zips even more difficult in the coming years.
Now the Akron Zips football team is heading into a December 26th match-up in the Motor City Bowl. The Zips basketball team, despite a loss @ California on Saturday night, has high expectations and will likely contend for a MAC Championship. And Sunday marked former Akron QB Charlie Frye’s first career start in the NFL.
What a great time to be a Zip!
The Akron Athletics Department and Akron fans must think they have died and gone to heaven. A little over a month ago the Zips faced a winless Army football team in Akron. A crowd of 12,203 watched the Zips fall flat on their faces in a 20-0 loss. At 3-4 overall and 2-2 in the MAC the Zips didn’t look like a respectable team let alone a MAC Champion. But as Nick Gerogosian described earlier this year in his article entitled The Wacky MAC, the crazy MAC football season gave the Akron football team hope, and the Zips made the most of it.
The Zips were picked to go 4-7 and finish tied with Ohio for 3rd in the MAC East. Similarly, our friends at MACReportOnline.com picked the Zips to finish 4th in karty kredytowe the MAC East. Losing their poster-child QB Charlie Frye to the Cleveland Browns in the NFL Draft meant the Zips would struggle in 2005, right?
Apparently J.D.Brookhart, Akron’s Head Coach and the mastermind behind the Zips success, had other ideas. Junior Luke Getsy was named the starting QB of the Zips after transferring from Pitt. Brookhart liked Getsy’s experience running the West Coast Offense and, looking back, made one heck of a great decision. Getsy was fortunate enough to have All-MAC running back Brett Biggs returning and speedy senior WR Domenik Hixon to make his job a bit easier. The trio led the Zips all season to their improbable MAC Championship.
Fairness in college sports does not seem to exist; money dominates. Just ask the Akron Athletic Department after the 2004-2005 academic year ended. Despite having the heavily-hyped, All-MAC Quarterback Charlie Frye lead them to a 6-5 record, the Zips were the only, yes, I said the only, bowl-eligible school in Division I-A in 2004 not to receive a bowl bid. Then their basketball team finished the season 19-10 record and did not even receive a NIT bid. The Zips were possibly the most unlucky, successful school in Division I-A.
However, everything changed in the past few weeks for the Zips. Wins over Bowling Green, Ohio and some help from BG and Miami meant the Zips needed to beat rival Kent State on Thanksgiving Day to advance to the MAC Championship game against the Northern Illinois Huskies. A 35-3 thumping of Kent advanced Akron to a rematch with NIU who the Zips upset earlier in the year 48-42 in a crazy OT game.
Because the MAC has just two bowl tie-ins and because Toledo had already accepted an invite to the GMAC Bowl, the MAC Championship became the only chance for NIU or Akron to go bowling this season. Detroit, Michigan, was the site of the 2005 MAC Championship game; the same place that the winner would play in the 2005 Motor City Bowl. The loser, unfortunately, would watch most of the bowl season on ESPN.
ESPN did a first class job with their coverage of the title game and witnessed a fantastic football game between two solid football teams. The crowd may have been small, but the quality of the individual players and the exciting finish coupled with the excellence in ESPN’s coverage certainly made the MAC look very good to a national audience. With 17 seconds remaining from the NIU 36 yard line Akron QB Luke Getsy fired a pass to the end zone and Domenik Hixon made a beautiful diving catch to tie the game. The PAT sealed a fantastic comeback for the Zips and a 31-30 victory. All of the bad luck of 2004-2005 was forgotten.
The Zips have a program on the rise that could very well become a force in the years to come. Brookhart’s 2005 recruiting class was ranked #1 in the MAC by this site and it would be logical to think that J.D. and his staff could duplicate that effort thanks to their 2005 success. Another strong class of recruits added to the championship experience of 2005 will make facing the Zips even more difficult in the coming years.
Now the Akron Zips football team is heading into a December 26th match-up in the Motor City Bowl. The Zips basketball team, despite a loss @ California on Saturday night, has high expectations and will likely contend for a MAC Championship. And Sunday marked former Akron QB Charlie Frye’s first career start in the NFL.
What a great time to be a Zip!