News
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A Big Life Thinks Green!
After a bitter, last, blast of winter, the hint of Spring is finally in the year and things are starting to look a little green...The charms and traditions of St. Patrick's Day are a upon us and A Big Life has another excuse for a party! This year, the Patron Saint of Ireland’s feast day is celebrated on a Saturday, so there will be feasting, indeed!Many cities have parades, from New York City (The Grand Patty of 'em all which is a command performance for politicians and anyone with a cause). New Haven, Connecticut and Philadelphia march in step as Chicago does its own River dance across the Chicago River died green for the occasion. Atlanta, too, has a well established Irish community from its earliest days of immigration when some of the larger cities restricted the number of Irish they allowed to settle. Their parade winds its way through downtown and culminates in the city's Underground venue where the party continues into the night with music and traditional food. And, as far south as Georgia, Savannah boasts the second largest parade in the country where tens of thousands line the streets of the normally gentile city which dies its city fountains green. No matter where you live, or what your heritage, a touch of green around the neck is sure to elicit anenthusiastic Celtic greeting: ERIN GO BRAGH! Be sure and return the greeting: Forever Ireland!! A Big Life St. Patrick's Day Party. Traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage:This simple and delicious platter of meat and potatoes is good any night, but is particularly apt to serve up on a long day of drinking and marching. Use a slow cooker or crock-pot and start it first thing in the morning so while you and your family are enjoying the drum corps and pomp and circumstances, you know your dinner will be ready when you get home:12 new potatoes quartered4 carrots, sliced4 pds corned beef brisket2 onions sliced3 bay leaves8 - 16 black peppercorns (or red and green mix)water to cover1 head cabbage, wedgedPlace potatoes and carrots in bottom of slow cooker stoneware. Add brisket, onion, bay leaves and peppercorns. Add enough water to cover Place stoneware in slow cooker heating base, cover and cook on Low for 8-10 hours or on High for 4-5 hours. Add cabbage halfway.....Serves 6-8.Chop fresh two tablespoons offresh dilland stir into small pitcher of melted butter. Serve up platter and finish off potatoes, carrots and cabbage with a drizzle of the green butter. Garnish platter with fresh parsley. Serve with a goodhorseradishthat has been tinted green with food coloring.Serve with a basket of Irish Soda Bread. Sipping Green:Green Apple Martini's: 1/2ozvodka1ozgreen apple schnappsCombine in a shaker filled with ice. Garnish with a thin slice of fresh apple on edge of glass or dip martini glass in sugar tinted with green food coloring. Other Green Drinks: (Green Crème de Menthe is makes aGreen Grasshopper:)1/3 oz. White Crème de Cacao1/3 oz Green Crème de Menthe1/3 fresh CreamShake well and serve Green Snacks:Spinach Dip served in green celery sticks: 1 container (16 oz.) Sour Cream1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained1 cup Mayonnaise or whipped Dressing1 envelope Italian Salad Dressing& Recipe MixCombine all the ingredients and spoon onto celery sticksGreen Dessert:Scoop up some pistachio ice cream and serve Shamrock cookies from your favorite bakery. Drizzle with Crème de Menthe for a lucky green accent. Quick Green Flower Tip:Get a round floral oasis from your florist department at the supermarket. Soak in water in a sink and place on dinner size plate. Cut green carnations stems to length to wedge into oasis plate. Fill middle with green decorations.
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Washington Wine Academy: Beyond the ABC's of Wine!
Oct 02, 2007 (Tue): This is an overview of the grapes from which the world's greatest wines are made.What are their classic regions of origin in Europe? To which regions in the New World have they migrated most successfully? How much should you expect to pay for a good rendition? For a great one? What foods offer classic matches for these grape varieties? Tasting: A blind tasting of eight varietal wines, with participants assessing the character of the wines and-if they wish-offering their best guess as to the grape's identity. Objective: Sharpen tasting and evaluative skills while establishing personal preferences among grape varieties. For all the details and to purchase tickets, please visit us online. Must be 21.
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Interim Recruitment Manager / Specialist
Job Reference: WEFW010219 1)Develops a Company specific and innovative recruitment philosophy, policy, programme and budget allocation and tracking procedures. 2)Manage the recruitment PSL, negotiate preferential rates and agree recruitment suppliers.3)Responsibility for allocating managing the recruitment budget, as appropriate to ...........more
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Before the battle...
"What am I doing here?" Grall thought to himself as he crouched in the shadows of the woods surrounding the wizard's tower. He shook his olive colored head as he surveyed the structure, a six sided , black stone tower. It stood three stories high and had a thatch roofed building attached on the south side. He had approached from the east so his view of the tower looked like nothing less than the giant boot of some long dead god. All appeared still but for smoke rising from a chimney playing across the low hanging evening sun like a cat's tail twitching with mistchief.His gaze slipped from the keep to the shadows of the trees on the opposite side of the clearing. The goblin decerned no movement among the pines and thickets of thorny berry bushes but knew somewhere in that dark lurked Bok his direwolf companion.Since early childhood Grall had been able to converse with the creatures of the land. He was different. When he asked his mother about it she would only say that he was"special" or" a gift" she would never say why. Whatever the reason, Grall had the ability to talk and share minds with most living beasts.In his youth he had come across Bok, then only a cub, abandoned and hungry after her mother had been slain by a hunting party from the human lands to the north. The goblin and the wolf became fast friends and were soon inseparable. And even though Grall had found other animals to take along through the jouney of life, he and Bok had a bond that went deeper than friendship and comeradary.Grall took his mind off the past and sat in the shadow of a large evergreen to await sunset. His small goblin form easily lost in the foilage of the forest.He reached into his traveling pack and removed from a loose side pocket a green snake roughly the length of his arm. The snake coiled it's emerald body around Grall's wrist and put its head up, level with the goblin's pointy nose, and stared into Grall's coppery eyes with its own."Ssaassak, my little friend," Grall said."I need you to go see what the human is up to. Stay to the corners and the shadows and beware the darkskinned wizard. If he sees you then it will likely be your end."The snake hissed in reply and Grall laughed quietly."Yes, I know you are very sneaky. Just be careful." He set the snake carefully on the ground and watched as it slithered into the grassy meadow of the keep and dissapeared."About an hour till sunset," Grall guessed from the look of the shadows stretching across the grass.With nothing left to do but wait Grall put his head against the tree and breifly touched minds with Bok. She was lying in a thicket of thorny bushes watching the keep with keen eyes."Good idea?" the direwolf thought to Grall."We'll see in about an hour." The goblin replyed." I sent Ssaassak to scout ahead but it might be too late to..." He trailed off leaving the thought unfinished."Worry too much." Bok thought back as she plucked a thorn from her front paw."Grall always do that. We are stong, fast. Have no worry."With a small grin of hope Grall let the connection go, doubt still creeping about the edges of his mind. It had been only since this morning. Perhaps there was still time...Grall had been in the Dragon's Bane Mountains to the north of the Tribe's land. The People of the Hills rarely traveled far from the grassy hills and copses of trees that were their home. And unlike most goblin tribes they were rather peaceful, a reputation that stemmed greatly from the efforts of Grall and his animal friends. They had been aiding travelers for the past five years. defending them from the ogres and orcs that occasionally attack caravans of merchants taking the shortest route but also risking the most danger. At first it was hard. Most humans would just as soon strike down a goblin with an arrow or spell as look at him and many times they tried to do just that in the heat of battle before they realize that he was helping them.Over the years he had made a few friends, some merchants and caravan captains and two very well known adventurer's.One an old ranger by the name of Dav Farstalker and a halfelven sorceress, Lanatharina Par'talnan (a name which she only tells to those she thinks worthy) widely known as Lana Firestar.He did not know if any of his nongoblin friends thought of him as a true comrad or just as a useful"monster", but he liked to belive that they did.he was there in the dragons bane mountains just the previous night and early into this morning battling some hill giants who thought they would ambush a large group of pilgrams on a holy trip to the the city of Sharnan where the first temple to have been built to the god Helm was located.Bok was along side of him and Ssaassak was safe in his pocket,(his favorate place when a battle was raging). Dav and Lana were there as well after meeting up with Grall earlier that night.By sunrise they had just managed to push the large group of giants back into their hole when a small bluebird landed on grall's shoulder and began chirping wildly. The bird's irratic talk was not making much sense to the goblin especially since he was paying attention to dodging thrown boulders. Grall dodged one more earthly missle then ducked behind a large grey stone that shot from the ground like a tombstone."Slow down Meep." said Grall strongly."Calm down and tell me what has happened."The bird took a moment to shake the sweat from its feathers. Grall used this opportunity to peer around the protective rock.Bok and Dav were by the mouth of the giant's cave battling three of the nine foot tall monsters. Dav worked his two exoticly cirved axes in a spinning wirl with energy that belied the aged skin of his tanned body. His left ax swung out, its S shaped handle catching the hairy half-armored giant's club and pushing it down and out to the side while his other ax came in the opening and imbedded deaply in the soft flesh just below the metal chest piece the surprised giant wore.Bok was straddled atop a flailing giant having apparently just charged and knocked it down. The direwolf chewed and tore at the giants neck wontonly, blood spraying in all directions.Just before Grall's attention whent back to the bird he noticed the third giant's fur covered leather armor burst into flames. Lana's doing.Seeing that the battle was almost over Grall laid down his ovoid leather shield and his talonlike sword. He took Meep the Bluebird from his shoulder and looked into its eyes," Ok Meep, tell me. What has happened to my mother?"The little bird he had given to his mother the year before told him that an old human with skin like the night sky and hair like snow had appeared in the village. Sparrow, Grall's mother, was in the village center grinding wheat with a few of the other females. At first site of the dark man, the women helping Sparrow scattered for a hiding place and most of the men ran for their weapons.Sparrow and the man exchanged words. She shook her head defiantly in answer to what was said. The old man reached one thin boney hand out towards the nearest goblin, a male holding a spear at the ready, and light blew forth from his fingertips turning the gobling to ash. Sparrow walked to the human and, crying, knelt down before him. The black skinned man mumbled some words and waved his hands and a shimmering silver disc appeared in the air. The man picked Sparrow up and set her on it. He then sat upon it himself and the shiny disc wisked them away going northwest. Meep had left the instant it was over and came to warn Grall as he had been instructed in the case of trouble.After hearing this news Grall knew instantly who the man was. He had seen him once before, from a distance. The old black man was a wizard, once of Thay, a city far to the northeast. Bok and himself had spotted the wizard's keep from tall hill while looking for a kidnapped child the previous winter. The tall white haired wizard was outside the keep and was doing something to the body of a dead red dragon that lay in the clearing that surrounded the tower. The Mage's name was Bennon Rackius, Dav had told him later.He was an evil and foul tempered man. And Grall assumed, also very powerful judging by the dragon that lay in front of the keep. So Grall made a mental note to stay clear of the wizard and his keep.Grall had quickly grabbed his rune enscribed shield and resheathed his curved talonlike sword. Then he explained to Dav and Lana that there was trouble in the goblin village, knowing they would not care to help Grall in goblin matters and saving himself the dissapointment. They had seemed sincere when they said they wished to help but Grall knew better and told them to make sure the giants were intent on staying in their hole. Then he and Bok had set out on the halfday journey west to the tower of the wizard.They had arrived only a few minutes ago winded and foot sore but intent on saving Sparrow. They split up to get a better idea of the keep and its defenses. They had seen nothing special in the way of fortifications. The dark tower looked sturdy and had no doors, only windows. Three on each level and they were shuttered. The brown bricked house that was connected to the tower had a large wooden door and a few large windows with glass the color of the sky. There were no guards. There was no sign that the Old white haired wizard was even there but for the smoke coming from the chimney.The sun was starting to set and Grall stood up, focusing his thoughts on figuring out how to get in keep and save his mother without getting killed by the sorcerer.The goblin reached his mind out to Ssaassak. He saw through snakes eyes a room of wooden cabnets and shelves. There was a table above Ssaassak that was pushed against the same wall the snake was slinking next to. Grall got a lazy feeling from the snake and a contentment that came only with a grand feast."Have you been looking for the black human or have you been hunting?" Grall asked his emerald scout."Why do one, when one can do both?" the snake thought back in its usual cocky manner."I did see the human. He went down the hole, there." The snake turned it's head to the right and there beyond the chair to the table was an open door on the opposite wall. There was light in the room the snake was in coming from a window. But from the open door came darkness and it spread like light out of the opening and across the wooden floor."The wizard is down there?" Grall asked."Is there anyone else in the keep....any sign of my mother?""Yes and no and no." the last"no" was thought with a bit of dissapointment. Gralls mother always gave Ssaassak a mouse when she saw him and he wouldnt mind seeing her now, even though he had just consumed a fat brown mouse that he had found himself."Ok. Get down that"hole" and keep your keen little eye's on that human and and tell me if he moves." Grall suspected his mother was down there as well."I have summoned Valnth." Valnth was a black wavern and an frequent companion of Grall's as well. The wyrm was in the Spine of the World mountains far to northwest with his new mate."We intend on creating a diversion and getting the vile sorcerer out of his keep and into our jaws.""Good plan," Ssaassak thought back. And just after Grall dropped the mindlink he added,"I think I will stay in here and find some more dinner."On the frantic journey to the tower Grall had saught the familiar mind of Valnth and asked the wavern to come to his aid. Seeing as how he owed the goblin a favor Valnth could not really decline. Dragon's tend to pay their debts and black waverns considered themselves dragons.Grall could sense Valnth now. He was getting closer."Soon." the wyrm thought to Grall."Soon."The sun had set and it was time to act.
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