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Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Senate approves bill to avert "fiscal cliff"

During an oddly jokey statement at the White House as the fiscal deadline bore down Monday afternoon, President Obama said, "I'm going to be president for the next four years. I?hope." He was warning Republicans that, yes, they'd have to deal with him for a while. But it was, to be sure, a strange moment. Could he actually have been joking about assassination? About impeachment? The?apocalypse? Or has everyone just had enough of these negotiations??

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-approves-bill-avert-fiscal-cliff-065757306--business.html

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Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Christmas Eve and the Big Day! | Rowan Family Tree

: The girls had a friend over to make cookies on Christmas Eve? so much fun! So much icing!

: Playing games ? Yatze!

: Eating an awesome breadpudding for dessert Christmas Eve?

: And what did Santa leave under the tree? Why ? hamsters! Each in their own spaceship (cat proof) cage. They are SO cute these hamsters ? the girls names them Hanna and Peetrick.

: Peetrick ? she is Spice?s

: The hamsters are SERIOUSLY cute. And so entertaining! J and I feel like we got hamsters for Christmas too?

: My tea cozy! It?s what I always wanted!

: Sugar in her super gymnastics outfit, courtesy of her sister. She bought Spice a cat stuffy.

: Daddy bought them ET ? they saw an ad for the movie on the pane to Costa Rica and he surprised them with a copy to watch in the New YEar.

: We enjoyed Crhristmas dinner with our dear friends (pseudo family) H and M, and their son N.

: And for dinner ? duck with blueberry sauce! Scalloped potatoes and green beans. Yummy!

Source: http://rowanfamilytree.com/2012/12/31/christmas-eve-and-the-big-day/

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Top 10 Local, Good News Stories of 2012 | WTVR.com ? Richmond ...

Posted on: 7:21 pm, December 31, 2012, by Alix Bryan, updated on: 07:35pm, December 31, 2012

Sure, some of the worst of society?s ills were showcased on the national and local stage, with bitter politics, horrific shooting massacres and devastating natural disasters pummeling headlines.?

Yet, bad news didn?t clog all the headlines.?

Here are the top ten Central Virginia good news stories of 2012. (They aren?t in any particular order.)

1.?Transplant leaves Colonial Heights boy?leukemia-free

CBS 6 News first told you about 2-year-old old Quinlan Thomas in August when his father?s insurance company refused to pay for an experimental treatment that his doctor said could potentially cure his disease.

Now, with a stem cell transplant,?VCU doctors are optimistic they have saved the life of a little boy from Colonial Heights who has a rare form of childhood leukemia. Read more, here.?

2.?Washington Redskins moving training camp to?Richmond-area

On June 6, the big news broke that the Redskin planned to bring their summer training camp to Richmond. An uprising over Bon Secours sponsorship perks ensued, and stalled the process but after Thanksgiving all the red tape was cut away.?

Maybe the River City was a kiss of luck for the team, as?the Redskins just won the NFC East and secured the team?s first home playoff game since 1999.

3.???Lincoln? leads with seven Golden Globe?nominations

Steven Spielberg?s ?Lincoln? was filmed in Virginia, to the delight of city residents who stalked many a cast member or sported a beard as an extra in the film that was recently nominated for seven?Golden Globe awards.

4. Video prompts REO Speedwagon visit at Hanover?High

Maybe REO Speedwagon isn?t at the top of relevant artists anymore, but a surprise Richmond visit by the band was surely a good time for all. The band stopped by Hanover High School after students and teachers produced a stellar ?lip dub? version of ?Roll with the Changes.? If you missed it, it?s a must see, click here.?

5. Body shop tricks out bullied student?s ride

A local body shop pitched in and helped out a Radford University student after his car was vandalized several times with gay slurs. Next, the act of kindness caught the attention of talk show host Ellen, and the two men made a live appearance on her show.
Read more,?here.

6.?Chincoteague ponies push to higher ground as Superstorm Sandy floods?island

The famous ponies of Chincoteague had been relocated to higher ground once flooding from superstorm Sandy began to wash over the island.?Assateague Island officials are reporting to local media that all the 130 ponies made it through the storm okay.?

Pictures and story, here.?

7.?Richmond veterinarian?s family, colleagues eagerly await hiker?s return from Montana?rescue

Dr. Jason Hiser?was found alive and well in Glacier National Park after braving the elements for almost a week with friend and fellow veterinarian?Neal Peckens.

Read more, here.?

8.?Hanover 8th grader makes national news for her election?predictions

Forget Nate Silver.?Sophia McCrimmon, a politically active 8th grader at Chickahominy Middle School in Hanover County, made the Washington Post for her accurate?prediction?of the electoral college tally in the presidential race.?

Not only was Sophia, by far, the youngest of the 10 winners, she was also the lone female. She was also quite close with her prediction of the popular vote percentages.

9.?Officer, restaurant help mystery man stranded at train?station

A New York man who looked a bit like Santa Claus was on his way via train to see his son?it had been 12 years?when he became confused and got off at the wrong stop.

He was stranded, walking on a cane, at a Chesterfield train station on a cold, wet night until?a police officer and a neighborhood restaurant came to his aid. Check out this warm story of Southern Hospitality, here.?

10. Man?s Santa story can inspire?others

For Frank Hastings, dressing up to play Santa for children has become a 30-year family tradition. His father was Santa at Sears, in the 1960s.?Frank lived in the Virginia Home for Boys from the age of 14 to 18. Now, he?goes back every year to play Santa for kids at the home. Read the full story here.?

Source: http://wtvr.com/2012/12/31/central-virginias-top-10-good-news-stories-of-2012/

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DiDonato a luminous Mary Stuart at Met

NEW YORK (AP) ? The Metropolitan Opera may have pretty much turned opening night over to the glamorous Anna Netrebko, but New Year's Eve belongs to a very different diva ? Joyce DiDonato.

Last year the Kansas-born mezzo-soprano headlined a starry lineup in the baroque pastiche "The Enchanted Island." On Monday night she brought a gala audience to its feet with a luminous performance in the title role of Donizetti's "Maria Stuarda."

Never before performed at the Met, this second opera in the composer's so-called "Three Queens" trilogy portrays the lethal conflict between Mary, deposed queen of Scotland, and Queen Elizabeth I of England.

From the moment she makes her entrance in the second scene, singing of her joy in strolling outside her prison in Fotheringay Castle, DiDonato rivets attention. She imbues every syllable with a concentrated eloquence that makes her compact voice seem larger than it is. She displays seemingly effortless command of coloratura embellishments throughout a wide vocal range. And she is equally impressive in fiery outbursts and in hushed, long-held phrases ? like the ones she spun out as she sang through the chorus in the final scene.

The opera's dramatic heart is a confrontation between the two queens that never took place in history but that figures in the Friedrich Schiller play on which the libretto is based. Mary at first abases herself in hope of winning a pardon; then, as Elizabeth hurls insults, her pride reasserts itself and she seals her doom by denouncing her rival as "figlia impura di Bolena" ("impure daughter of Ann Boleyn") and "vil bastarda" ("vile bastard").

DiDonato was impressive in this scene when she sang the role for the first time last spring in Houston, but her performance Monday night was even better ? more confident and more filled with vocal and dramatic shadings. There was a wonderful touch when, after she had spent her fury, she allowed herself a beatific smile, as if to convey: "There! I said it and I'm glad!"

Of course, it takes two to stage a confrontation, and DiDonato's partner at the Met is Elza van den Heever, a South African soprano making her debut. She has a voice that's impressive in many respects, with a large and vibrant upper register. But she tended to fade out in the lower part of her range, where much of Elizabeth's music lies.

More damagingly, she was victimized by a quirk of David McVicar's production that has Elizabeth lurching awkwardly about the stage for much of the evening, as if thrown off balance by John Macfarlane's elaborate period costumes. Perhaps this bizarre gait is intended to contrast with Mary's immaculate poise, but it mainly proves distracting.

The opening scene in Elizabeth's palace is garishly staged, with what look like red rafters hanging down from the ceiling and gratuitous acrobats in devil costumes, but once past this, matters improve. For the scene outside Fotheringay, Macfarlane fills the stage with spindly trees barren of leaves and provides a painted backdrop that evokes a cloudy landscape. The final tableau is also striking: Mary, shorn of her long hair and wearing a simple red dress, climbs a staircase with her back to the audience to meet her executioner and the chopping block.

Though the two queens dominate the opera, there are some other characters, and they are all in extremely good hands. Having the elegant tenor Matthew Polenzani take on the thankless role of the ineffectual Leicester is luxury casting indeed. Bass Matthew Rose is warmly sympathetic as Mary's confessor, Talbot; baritone Joshua Hopkins sings with robust tone as her nemesis, Cecil; and mezzo Maria Zifchak lends her customary strong support as Mary's attendant, Anna.

Maurizio Benini conducts a lithe and lively performance of the score, even if he can't quite disguise the fact that the second half of the opera is decidedly anti-climactic.

There are seven more performances, including a matinee on Saturday, Jan. 19, that will be broadcast live in HD to movie theaters around the world.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/didonato-luminous-mary-stuart-met-063957453.html

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Kanye West Announces Girlfriend Kim Kardashian Is Pregnant

Yeezy reveals the reality TV star is expecting the couple's first child while onstage in Atlantic City on Sunday.
By Natasha Chandel

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West
Photo: Michael Jaworski/ FilmMagic

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1699495/kanye-west-kim-kardashian-pregnant.jhtml

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ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A Touch review: new touchscreen, same solid performance

While Windows 8 inspired plenty of crazy new form factors, it also gave laptop makers a good reason to circle back and tweak their tried-and-true products to bring them into the touch-optimized era. One example is ASUS' Zenbook Prime line of Ultrabooks. We've seen quite a few of them in the last year; the UX31A landed in our offices last summer, and we reviewed the 15-inch UX51Vz mere weeks ago.

But a dry spell is nowhere in sight: ASUS just released another 13-inch Zenbook, the $1,099-and-up UX31A Touch. The name says it all: it's the UX31A we've known and, er, liked, but with a capacitive display added in. Of course, this slightly different iteration still provides an opportunity to improve the laptop in other ways (for instance, we thought the UX31A featured a subpar touchpad). So, does this new touchscreen model improve upon an already finely crafted Ultrabook? Jump past the break to find out.

Gallery: ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A Touch review