The Anti-Snobbery of 'Downton Abbey'

Julian Fellowes, the creator and writer of "Downton Abbey," doesn't take long to say what he thinks is the message of his smash television drama.

"I think the—well, not even the subtext, the supertext—of 'Downton,' " he says not five minutes after we sit down for coffee Monday morning at the Savoy Hotel in central London, "is that it is possible for us all to get on, that we don't have to be ranged in class warfare permanently—that for the general public, the fact that people are leading different lives with different economic realities and different expectations is perfectly cope-able with.

"If you can't deal with that," he continues, "then your life would be unlivable. And I think politicians try to encourage us to think in a hostile sense [of] people who have a different circumstance to our own. Which I find very unproductive and uncreative."

"Downton Abbey" chronicles the lives of the patrician Crawley family and their servants in a fictional country house in Yorkshire, in northern England. The first season opens with the sinking of the Titanic, in 1912, and ends with the declaration of war against Germany. The second season covers the war years, and the third season, which airs Sundays on PBS, takes us into the Roaring '20s. The show is a hit in Britain, the U.S.We specializes in rapid plastic injection mould and molding of parts for prototypes and production., Sweden, South Korea, Russia, Israel and beyond.

I've caught the 63-year-old writer and producer on his way to the House of Lords, where he was made a Life Peer in 2011. His full title is Baron Fellowes of West Stafford, Lord of the Manor of Tattershall, Deputy Lieutenant of Dorset. He is properly addressed as Lord Fellowes.

"But do call me Julian," he says toward the end of our two-hour chat.

He talks freely and voluminously, his thoughts unspooling in long, liquid sentences. "I think America has dealt with—I mean,Don't make another silicone mold without these invaluable Mold Making supplies and accessories! this is simplistic and of course I don't live in America—but the impression I get is that there is not a kind of obligation to dislike those who are better off or be frightened of those who are worse off . . . The Americans, I think, are better at seeing themselves as a kind of community—that the important thing is to be American."

In Britain, he says, "we've had a century of being encouraged to dislike each other. And I suppose 'Downton' is in a different position to that."

This nonjudgmental embrace of the highborn life has exposed the show to the criticism, leveled widely, that it celebrates Edwardian opulence without due regard for the period's inequities. Lord Fellowes disagrees. " 'Downton,' I think, has achieved its success for the opposite reason, which is that all the characters are taken seriously," he says. "I don't think we patronize the servants, we don't make them comedic. Nor do we automatically hate the family or regard them as selfish and mendacious and so on."

He continues: "I like the characters to disagree and the audience can see both points of view, so that neither is being ludicrous or unreasonable. It just always seems to me more interesting if you're slightly torn as to which side you're on."

Hence "Downton" has characters who are skeptical of class hierarchy and ones who worship it. It has servants who are unflinchingly stoical and masters whose self-restraint deserts them. It has guardians of the old order and torchbearers of modernity, a whole gallery of them: an Irish socialist, feminists of various stripes, American nouveaux riches. It's a funny aspiration for a soap opera, ideological balance, but evidently a winning one.Service Report a problem with a street light.

The "Downton" creator admits that its appeal relies, to a degree, on not getting too deep into the messy realities of the history. "What you have to understand about period drama," he says, "is that it's history light. You can enjoy it, but you don't have to get up at five in the morning. You don't have to get on your hands and knees and clean out the grate. If you're upstairs, you don't have to change your clothes five times a day. You don't have to sit there in a corset. You don't have to leave food on your plate and pretend the man next to you is interesting."

He also makes no apology for feeding an escapist impulse. The "Downton" world "seems like an ordered world at times, and ours feels like a rather disordered world. This is an era of insecurity, both in a very real sense for a lot of people, economically. Their jobs are either gone or insecure, and they haven't got as much money to spend, which is very tough. And a lot of people are going through that.Laser engravers and laser engraving machine systems and supplies to start your own lasering cutting engraving marking etching business."

Beyond the financial insecurity in the air, he says, the "political structures seem a bit wobbly, and we don't seem to have quite the faith in them. I always remember that movie with James Cagney, 'Yankee Doodle Dandy.' He goes to see the president, and we see him sitting opposite the president.Find the best selection of high-quality collectible bobbleheads available anywhere. And there's a light on his face, as if the president is actually shining.

"I must have loved that, really. I love that faith in the institutions. And I don't think we really have that any more. We don't think our leaders shine in that way."

So is Julian Fellowes a fantasist or a fabulist? Does "Downton" offer comfort or critique? I suggest to him that his show is of a piece with the recent slew of stylish TV dramas set in rigid, patriarchal societies: "Mad Men," "Game of Thrones," "Deadwood." "A lot of these stories are about how to achieve your own personal goal within the rules," he says. "Most of us don't want to be outsiders. . . . We want our achievements, but we want still to be inside the tent. And you can make that impulse clearer in a world where the rules were clearer.

"I think it's still true, actually. But our rules are so nebulous. None of us quite know what they are. It's like 'casual chic.' We don't know what it is."

That's not quite a full-throated defense of a world in which people know their place. Wistfully sympathetic, maybe. The "Downton" characters bear witness to many innovations of the day: the telephone, women's suffrage, the cocktail party, the toaster—and the idea that one can choose one's own path in life, regardless of birth. I ask Lord Fellowes about the motto on his family coat of arms: Post Proelia Praemia ("After battles come rewards" in Latin).

That too few ordinary people's battles were rewarded in the era of "Downton" is "the indictment of the age," he replies, but the motto "is quite apposite for me." He labored in obscurity as a character actor and television writer for more than two decades until he was tapped by director Robert Altman to write the screenplay for "Gosford Park," a 2001 pastiche of the manor-house murder mystery. The screenplay won an Academy Award.

Church expanding into former music store

What could have been an empty commercial property in downtown Muncie already has a new owner with big plans.

By the time Muncie Music Center moved from its longtime home at the corner of Jackson and Franklin streets to a new building on Mulberry Street at the start of this year,Don't make another silicone mold without these invaluable Mold Making supplies and accessories! its old building had already been bought by High Street United Methodist Church, which fills the rest of that city block.

Work is already under way to turn the building into the new home of the church’s preschool.

Dave Helms, owner of Muncie Music Center, approached the church in 2010 to let church leaders know his business would be moving to a new location downtown, in case the church would be interested in acquiring the old building, according to the Rev. N. Dale Mendenhall, senior pastor of United Methodist.

The church was interested, even without knowing yet exactly what use the building might serve. A task force was formed to explore possible uses, and the decision was ultimately made to buy the building and move the Angels on High Preschool there.

The move will also allow the church to add a day care ministry to the current 9 a.m.-noon preschool program, Mendenhall said. That will allow the church to serve current families better and to add new families who need that all-day care, preschool director Julie Marshall said.

The preschool now has about 70 students, and “we would like to grow” with the addition of day care, Mendenhall said. Current plans call for the program to move into the building and begin offering day care starting in August.

Adding day care before and after the preschool hours will “build on this ministry that we already have,” Marshall said.

The building will have three classrooms and a play area on the ground floor, and three more classrooms and a workroom/conference room downstairs, according to Mendenhall.

The paved area right behind the building that provided some parking spaces for the music store will be turned into a playground, something the preschool doesn’t have at all currently.

“Our preschool children don’t have anything but hallways to play in (now),” the pastor said. Noting that in warm weather, a portion of the church parking lot is sometimes roped off as an outdoor play area, Marshall added, “Imagine how much more we’re going to enjoy a real playground.”

The new building also is being set up with better security for its young students. “Being a downtown church, we sometimes have people come in who are not supposed to be around children,” Mendenhall said.

The purchase and renovation of the former music store comes on top of High Street UMC’s extensive work to repair the exterior of its 1930s-era building. Mendenhall credited the church’s ability to pay for these major building projects to members’ generosity. “We’re been really blessed; people are really stepping up,” he said.

Using an existing downtown building to fill a community need fits with the church’s commitment to downtown Muncie, affirmed previously when the church opted to stay in its current location after it was badly damaged by an explosion during the Blizzard of 1978, Mendenhall said.Solar Sister is a network of women who sell solar lamp to communities that don't have access to electricity.Laser engravers and laser engraving machine systems and supplies to start your own lasering cutting engraving marking etching business.

Location service is an integral component of wireless technologies. Mobile devices, with their radio signal measurement and real‐time communication capabilities, are uniquely qualified to perform this mission critical service. Jointly managed by the mobile device and its attached cellular network, Location service acquires and disseminates a device’s location information to authorized applications, supplementing a wide variety of location‐based services. This essential service has been incorporated into most 2G and 3G networks, and it will be featured prominently in LTE networks and beyond.

Location service in LTE aims to provide a cost‐effective solution to support the continuing proliferation of LBS applications. In addition to increasing accuracy and reducing response time, LTE implements a flexible quality of service scheme to cope with the expected growth in LBS usage volume and to fulfill future application requirements. To satisfy this demanding and fluid obligation,We specializes in rapid plastic injection mould and molding of parts for prototypes and production. multiple positioning methods – used in either standalone or hybrid mode – are adopted to provide consistent results across different coverage environments: rural or urban, indoor or outdoor.

Besides optimizing the economics of location services,Find the best selection of high-quality collectible bobbleheads available anywhere. LTE carriers also have regulated mandates to report devices’ positioning during E911 emergency procedure with stringent requirements on accuracy, uncertainty, and confidence level. There are also other drivers pushing the evolution of LTE’s location service. By leveraging LTE’s high data rate and low latency with accessible location information, next-generation location services can open up ample new business opportunities, ranging from location‐based applications to vehicle tracking services.

Report on the International Builders' Show

Last week I went to Las Vegas to attend the International Builders’ Show, put on by the National Association of Homebuilders. This is the biggest trade show on residential construction & remodeling — a good chance to see new products, have face time with manufacturers and media folks, play blackjack and watch gondolas navigate the indoor canals at the Bellagio hotel. I didn’t get to do those last two things,Find the best selection of high-quality collectible bobbleheads available anywhere. but I can report on some show highlights.

Entry doors with fiberglass skins and foam cores have reached an entirely new level of quality. Checking out the displays at Therma-Tru & Jeld-Wen, I saw an amazing variety of door styles. But the most astonishing thing about these energy-efficient doors is how convincingly manufacturers have duplicated the look of real wood. Texture, grain and color rendition are truly remarkable. The photo at top, left shows cutaway sections to illustrate how these doors are made: foam cores, fiberglass skins and solid wood edges to hold screws for hinges and hardware. Beyond the good looks, I like fiberglass doors because they won’t dent, ding or rust like steel doors. They never swell, shrink or warp like solid wood. No way I’d put anything else on my house.Our aging population of baby boomers means that many bathrooms will need to be remodeled in order to be safe and accessible for people with physical disabilities.

Our aging population of baby boomers means thatmany bathrooms will need to be remodeled in order to be safe and accessible for people with physical disabilities. I was interested to see the fresh take on accessible bathroom fixtures from a Canadian company called the Invisia Collection. Check out how the company has integrated grab bars into the toilet paper holder, shower mixing valve and corner shelf (right).

To be sure, Virginia Tech faces significant challenges in becoming an upper-echelon, NCAA tournament-competing, ACC program. In my view, the primary challenges are location, the absence of any substantial history and tradition and general lack of interest. Like all programs everywhere, Virginia Tech basketball will be defined by what it is and will become, not by what other programs have achieved or will achieve.

Seth Greenberg made the Hokies very competitive in an average (by ACC standards) conference. The ACC of the past 8 years or so was not the ACC of years past. UNC and Duke are and were UNC and Duke.Laser engravers and laser engraving machine systems and supplies to start your own lasering cutting engraving marking etching business. But programs like Maryland,We specializes in rapid plastic injection mould and molding of parts for prototypes and production. NC State, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest were not as consistently strong as they’ve been in decades past, and there was no Ralph Sampson-like figure that elevated a previously obscure program to a very high level for five or six years. What Greenberg did was make the Hokies relevant again. Regrettably, the clumsy coaching change likely squandered much of what Greenberg accomplished.

Adding Syracuse and its ilk to the schedule certainly does not make things easier for Virginia Tech basketball, but it is no excuse for poor performance going forward. Other undistinguished programs have rose to the level of the best competition in other conferences that are as strong or stronger than the newly-configured ACC will be. Example A: that word from my first sentence — Pitt.

Like Virginia Tech, Pitt is a basketball program that, historically, has been short on distinction. Pitt has never played in a Final Four. It was not all that long ago that the Panthers played their home games in decrepit Fitzgerald Fieldhouse or off-campus at a hockey rink, the Pittsburgh Civic Arena. And Pitt was among the least distinguished programs in the Big East from the day it entered.

But Pitt made a commitment to its basketball program and eventually stood toe-to-toe with Syracuse and Georgetown and Villanova and all the rest. It built a first-class arena on campus, the Petersen Events Center. It hired a really good coach, Ben Howland, and then replaced him with a better one, Jamie Dixon. It paid what it took to keep them from leaving for any but one of the very best jobs in the land (Howland —> UCLA). It found a recruiting niche and developed a style of play that worked against its competition. It won games. And eventually, it started competing for and winning Big East championships.

Pitt had only two advantages that Virginia Tech does not, and one of them is not a distinct advantage. The chief advantage was commitment to its program. Virginia Tech’s administration does not give its basketball program the type of support it requires. Indeed, less than a year ago Jim Weaver justified basketball staff salaries by comparing them to Clemson, whom Weaver identified as a “peer” program.Totech Americas delivers a wide range of drycabinets for applications spanning electronics. No disrespect to Clemson, but this Hokie does not aspire to the Tigers’ level of non-achievement, either recently or historically. “Clemson” and “ACC championship” rarely go together in the same sentence.Solar Sister is a network of women who sell solar lamp to communities that don't have access to electricity. The second advantage Pitt probably has over Tech is location in a metropolitan area. From a recruiting standpoint, it is probably easier to lure recruits to Pittsburgh than Blacksburg.

High school may get upgrade

The renovation and expansion of the Marshall Simonds Middle School is coming to a close, but another major school building project may soon be on the horizon in Burlington.

The School Department is initiating the process of seeking partial reimbursement from the Massachusetts School Building Authority for a potential project to upgrade the high school’s heating and ventilation system and make other interior renovations to the building.

The School Committee on Jan. 8 authorized the district to submit a “statement of interest” to the authority for the estimated $18 million to $19 million renovation, the required first step for a project to be considered for state funding.

Craig Robinson, the School Department’s director of finance and operations, said the district plans to submit the statement of interest by this year’s April 10 deadline.

The renovation, if it goes forward, would follow two other significant building projects Burlington has recently undertaken.

The $32.8 million Marshall Simonds project,We've got a plastic card to suit you.Nitrogen Controller and Digital dry cabinet with good quality. which began in June 2011 and is substantially complete, has involved renovating the existing 118,000-square-foot Winn Street building and constructing a 151,225-square-foot addition.wind turbine

Across the street, the town in July 2011 completed the $29 million construction of a new 80,000-square-foot Memorial Elementary School in front of the existing school, a 1952 building that was demolished that August.

The state is reimbursing about 52 percent of the eligible costs of the Memorial School project, and 54 percent for the Marshall Simonds one.

School Superintendent Eric Conti said that as a result of the projects, the two schools “provide a wonderful gateway into Burlington. I think they better reflect the quality of the people inside the buildings and are a wonderful reflection of the community” and its support for public education.

He said the projects also “allowed us to make a good case that as a community, we take care of the buildings we have,” he said, noting that before the Memorial School project, the town’s newest school was the high school, completed in 1971.

Robinson said the high school project is needed because of the age of the heating and ventilation system, which was original to the building. He said at 42 years old, the system’s boilers, air handlers, and compressors are all at or beyond their life expectancies.

“By changing that entire HVAC plant, it’s going to trigger other things that need to be [upgraded] and brought up to code — sprinklers, fire alarms,Learn how an embedded microprocessor in a smart card can authenticate your computer usage and data. lighting, other building improvements,” Robinson said. “And to do those things, we need to take the ceilings down.” He said all that related work would be included in the project.

Robinson said that the project would add 30 to 40 years to the life of the 365,000-square-foot building, which he noted is in good structural condition. The Cambridge Street school has a current enrollment of about 1,020 students.

Conti noted that the high school renovation is the next major project on the district’s long-term capital plan.Online shopping for luggage tag from a great selection of Clothing.

“We know our mechanical systems have to be replaced,” he said. “We are trying to be as proactive as possible. We understand it may not happen next year, but this is a multiyear planning process, as was the elementary school and the middle school. We need to start having that conversation now.”

If the state authority accepts the school into its eligibility period — the initial phase in the agency’s funding pipeline — the district would enter a 270-day period in which it would have to meet certain requirements to be invited to undertake a feasibility study.

Should that happen, the town would have to appropriate funds for the study that would evaluate potential options and select a preferred one. The authority would provide partial reimbursement for the study as well as for the subsequent preparation of a schematic design.

With the completion of the design, the authority’s board would decide whether to provide partial reimbursement for the overall project. Town Meeting would then have to appropriate full funding, a required step even though the state would later reimburse part of the cost.

A ceremony held Jan. 14 to mark the nearly completed Marshall Simonds School project was attended by Jack McCarthy, executive director of the Massachusetts School Building Authority.

The more than 50 people who showed up for the town's deliberative session at Saturday at the Weare Middle School found themselves waiting for more than an hour until some technical difficulties with the microphones could be worked out. The meeting started off with a discussion about bonding $675,000 for a new highway garage, a 33-year-old structure that has long since outlived its usefulness, according to Public Works Director Tim Redmond.

The current garage, which Redmond described as a pole barn, houses the town's refueling station, but lacks both a ventilation system and a fire detection and suppression system. There's nowhere to wash the vehicles and no separate welding area for maintaining town equipment, and the garage is lacking in other health and safety areas.

Some residents were concerned that $675,000 wouldn't be enough money to build a garage large enough to meet future needs, so an amendment to add $100,000 to the cost of the project was proposed. Voters, however, ultimately decided against the increase. The 10-year bond wouldn't increase the tax rate, according to Redmond, because it would go into effect at the same time the bond for the town's safety complex was retired.

Over the objections of Police Chief Gregory Begin and other residents, the proposed operating budget was reduced by $10,800 to $4,883,567, with $10,000 of that reduction coming out of the police department's overtime budget. The town had an audit done of police overtime by Municipal Resources Inc., which determined that there could be some cost savings if some policy and coverage changes were made. Begin said the reduction in overtime could result in less coverage, but the reduction - made by amendment - was narrowly approved, 24-23.

Collective bargaining agreements for both the police and public works employees survived the deliberative process unscathed. If voters approve the one-year agreements in March, the police will be looking at a 3.5 percent cost-of-living increase along with step increases for some officers, and the DPW workers could see 5 percent pay increases.

Tops, flops and emerging trends

Sunday evening, millions of Americans will sit down to watch the Ravens and 49ers battle in Super Bowl XLVII, and the most expensive television commercials of the year.

During this year's Super Bowl, advertisers will spend up to $4 million for 30 seconds of air time, giving them little time to impress the audience.

Grand Rapids advertising expert Bill McKendry has examined commercials for more than two decades; he says the basic formula for Super Bowl ads comes down to children, animals,Did you know that custom keychain chains can be used for more than just business. violence or making men appear unintelligent. It's commercials that break that mold that make McKendry's list of top spots. His number one pick is the the Apple McIntosh commercial from 1984.

"We believe Super Bowl advertising changed forever after this ad ran," says McKendry. "I can remember being wowed by the production values of this spot. It was epic in its presentation."

McKendry says the Ring of Fire ad from Chrysler in 2011 is the only ad that has come close to Apple's commercial, because it evoked emotion.

"When I looked at it for the first time, I said, 'Not only is it about Chrysler and its product, we're telling the world American auto manufacturing is back and it's on top,'" he says. "In the ten years we've hosted [our Super Bowl commercial] party, we've never had people sit that still during an ad. And afterwards, people stood up and were applauding."

It's a different story for Groupon's 2011 Super Bowl ad. McKendry says the commercial ties with one by former Congressman Pete Hoekstra's campaign; both get his thumbs down for racial stereotyping.

"I think a lot of these people think they're being funny, but I think significantly fewer people find racial stereotyping funny anymore," McKendry says.

Which means the next flop may be this year's Volkswagen ad, which features a white Minnesotan with a fake Jamaican accent.

As for emerging trends among Super Bowl ads, McKendry says companies are trying to create more buzz before their spots run by sharing them online. McKendry says advertisers are also turning to social media more.

Doritos started the trend years ago, and this year Pepsi followed, asking people to send a picture of themselves holding a Pepsi can. Some of them will appear in the halftime ad featuring singer Beyonce.

"The mere fact Pepsi is reaching out to its fans, Doritos is reaching out to its fans and allowing them to be on the world's biggest stage along with them, I think is a really smart move for those brands. But if I was spending $3.We've got a plastic card to suit you.Other companies want a piece of that iPhone headset action8 million, seems to me I'd want to see something new," he said.

Hanon McKendry is hosting its 10th annual Super Bowl party Sunday, where 32 judges will be critiquing all the big commercials. Their employees will go against advertising and marketing students from local colleges, before comparing their choices with the USA Today consumer poll.

You would think that in coming to college, the over $10,000 a year going toward our education would at least get us a few perks. No parents, social skills, aka beer pong for some of you go-getters out there, a chance at making manager instead of having toilet-cleaning duty at the local fast food restaurant down the road: there are plenty of wondrous and magical things embedded in the experiences of college. Teachers here are even called professors, and contrary to popular belief, having a PhD does not stand for Pizza Hut driver for rabid, munchy college students. But quite honestly, some days they would probably be better at driving a car around, collecting a measly tip, and sheepishly whispering “have a good day” before doing it all over again.

I’m just going to say it. Some teachers suck.The USB flash drives wholesale is our flagship product. They could try their hardest and still make me feel as though I’ve in fact lost brain cells by sitting through such a worthless lecture. Sorry not sorry, but a PhD doesn’t mean that someone is truly qualified to teach. Yeah yeah yeah, they had a lot of schooling and had to work hard to get such a high degree,Learn how an embedded microprocessor in a smart card can authenticate your computer usage and data. but the only thing that a PhD really says about a person is that they are a.) certified, and b.) they have the ability to be a good student: student, not teacher.

Many teachers simply know that they were born to teach. They have a certain level of passion that they are able to cultivate, mold, and relay to their students, whether they mean to or not.

But then, of course, on the other hand there are those inevitable teachers that believe that it is just a job. Their level of commitment hardly ever goes from the red to the yellow zone, much less into the green. Teaching people is a hard task, so if you as a professor don’t want to teach, don’t, because, coming from a student’s perspective, we don’t want you there. If you talk about how qualified you are? Yeah, I don’t really care. If you talk about the fact that you’re published, or that you’ve had students that have gone on to do great things? Fan-freaking-tasic for you, but if you start to read the powerpoint word for word, don’t get angry when I’m skipping class every other week.

Le Vieux Village to host Lundi Gras party

"Last year was great. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and we got a lot of feedback about the great setting under the lighted oaks," said Opelousas Tourism Director Melanie Lee-Lebouef of the event that will again be held at Le Vieux Village.

A special guest this year will be local artist Maa-Maa Seaux N. Seau, who creates art inspired by rural Mardi Gras scenes.

"Born Geraldine Soileau, she was taught the joy of painting by her father and continued her studies in art at LSU-Eunice. She paints memories of the many Mardi Gras mornings she spent at her grandmother Eliska Fontenot Soileau's home. For these very special pictures she uses the primitive Cajun style taught to her by her father, George Allen Soileau," Lee-Lebouef said.

Her work, including original paintings, prints and cards, will be on display and available for sale throughout the day.

At 7 p.m., the fun will take a short break when the winners of this year's Mardi Gras costume contest are announced. "We've got some great prizes this year," Lee-Lebouef said.

While the day will cover a broad range of activities, Lee-Lebouef said they all have the same theme — celebrating Opelousas' long and rich history.

"This event is dedicated to preserving and promoting our distinct Cajun and Creole culture," said Lee-Lebouef, who said Le Vieux Village, whose name translates as "the old village," is a perfect setting.

"Le Vieux Village is a historical park showcasing structures from Opelousas and other areas of St. Landry Parish. The village includes structures from the mid-1700s to the early 1900s which depicts the unique and diverse cultural heritage of Opelousas, Louisiana's third oldest city," she said.

Concert-goers are welcome to bring lawn chairs for seating. Because beverages sales go towards covering the cost of the band and event expenses, ice chests will not be allowed. Beverages and food will be available for purchase on site.

London Bay Homes' new Isabella II model home at Mediterra balances textured furnishings and references to nature with the gleam of glass and metals and the occasional injection of bold, saturated colors.

"The whole concept was to contrast earthy natural textures with more refined elements,Comprehensive Wi-Fi and RFID tag by Aeroscout to accurately locate and track any asset or person." said Jennifer Stevens, senior design director at Romanza Interior Design in Naples, who created the soft contemporary design for the single-family luxury model.

The three-bedroom, three-bath home, now open for viewing, is one of more than a dozen floor plans offered by London Bay as part of its Reserve Collection in Serata, a neighborhood of 36 lakefront homes in Mediterra, Naples' premier golf and beach club community.

Throughout the Isabella II's 3,We've got a plastic card to suit you.009 square feet of living space, visitors discover woven grass furniture, textured rugs, coral-inspired glass lamps and even a stump of petrified wood fashioned into an end table.

Walls, painted off-white with cool undertones, and the home's main ashlar-set light travertine flooring with a chiseled edge provide the backdrop for colorful expressions — vivid accents of orange, red and fuchsia in art, fabrics and accessories. The palette is introduced upon entering through the model's walnut-toned double doors, which have beveled glass accents and boast a clean architectural style.

Fine-textured bronze grasscloth in the foyer's arched niches and a table with an open metallic base resembling twisting tree branches preview the use of grain, natural elements and subtle shimmer. Ahead, the great room continues the textural and color references with bright accent colors in throw pillows, draperies and the fuchsia fabric of an armchair, grasscloth in the TV niche and the petrified wood table.Online shopping for luggage tag from a great selection of Clothing. Nature is also brought in through the great room's sliding glass doors displaying the pool, spa and the lake beyond.

In the dining room, six chairs huddle around the zinc-topped table. The room's main wall is accented with multiple beveled-edge mirrors framed in wood molding.

The adjoining kitchen features London Bay Homes' signature center island — low and large for additional prep space and easy seating on padded leather stools. It also provides a divided stainless steel sink and dishwasher, and is painted black and has an Arabesco granite counter top.

White perimeter cabinetry contrasts absolute black granite counter tops and the black gloss tile backsplash above the four-burner stainless steel gas stove. Glass adds to the gleam of the stainless steel hood. The kitchen also has a stainless steel side-by-side refrigerator-freezer and its microwave is incorporated into cabinetry flanked on each end by pantries.

Soft dove gray paint accents the coffers in the ceiling above the kitchen and adjoining cafe area. Loosely woven chairs and a hutch with a woven front introduce texture into the causal eating area, positioned at sliding glass doors opening to the covered living area.

The Isabella II's al fresco area has 18-inch terra-cotta paver flooring and a summer kitchen with a grill and under-counter refrigerator. Glass and stone mosaic tile in natural green, ivory and sandy earth tones add a soft shimmer to the pool's waterline and the raised spa's multitiered spillover.

The master suite introduces softer sepia and ivory tones with muted blue-greens and touches of orange. Espresso-colored woven grasscloth nightstands are topped by lamps with smoky taupe cast-glass bases that abstractly mimic coral. The bed is upholstered in ivory chenille and the dresser's dark wood is contrasted by ivory leather drawer fronts. The room's ceiling has shallow trays and crown molding.The USB flash drives wholesale is our flagship product.Learn how an embedded microprocessor in a smart card can authenticate your computer usage and data. Windows display the spa; a door provides access to the covered lanai.

School proposal survives in Alton

Two amendments intended to give voters lower cost alternatives to a proposed $18.6 million Alton Central School renovation plan failed to pass at the Alton School District Deliberative Session on Saturday at Prospect Mountain High School.

This means that voters will decide on funding the renovation project at the polls by official ballot on Tuesday, March 12, at the high school. Of the town's 4,022 registered voters, 172 attended Saturday's session.

Warrant Article II asks voters to raise and appropriate $18,665,536 for "renovation, reconstruction, repairs and construction of an addition to the Alton Central School and for furnishing and equipment. Of that amount, the school board would bond $17,705,536 and pull the rest from an assortment of capital reserve funds.We've got a plastic card to suit you.They manufacture custom rubber and silicone bracelet and bracelets.

In explaining the rationale and background of the proposal, Steve Renner, a member of the volunteer Building and Grounds Committee, which has been working on addressing building, health and safety problems at the Central School for many years, said this year's proposal differs from a proposal that failed last year. It is less expensive, does not include a geothermal heating system and does not include a third floor. The renovation would address health and safety issues such as asbestos located in tiles under carpet in an older wing at the school; would remove five older and inefficient and modular classrooms and incorporate more classrooms into the renovation, and upgrade fire alarm systems to meet current code. Others at the meeting commented that the school's heating and cooling system is inefficient - or either too hot or too cold - and that the stench of sewage wafts in the area of the modular classrooms due to a problem with the system.

"The modular classrooms are an extreme security risk," added Renner. The addition of a gym would allow for expansion of the cafeteria, reducing the number of lunch periods from four to three.

Budget Committee member Barbara Howard said she was one of the three budget committee members who opposed Article II because of cost and timing.Where you can create a custom lanyard from our wide selection of styles and materials.

"I felt the taxpayers can't bear the cost of the bond," she said. Renner would later say the school project would add about $1 per $1,000 of assessed value on property taxes. Howard said the district has no grants or no financial assistance for this project. She said taxpayers also face the burden of funding the state retirement program, which faces a $2.2 billion shortfall.

Dozens of residents, many of those with children in school and others without, spoke in favor of the $18.6 million plan. Those opposed were vocal, as well.

Raymond Howard made a motion to amend Article II down to $4,460,Online shopping for luggage tag from a great selection of Clothing.000 and to bond $3,500,00 and use $960,000 in funds set aside in capital reserve accounts for some renovations at the school. In a secret ballot, the motion failed, 107-51.

Warrant Article III, a petitioned warrant article proposed by school board member Steve Miller, asked whether voters would raise and appropriate $7 million to repair the roof, replace the modular classrooms and address safety and security issues at the Central School. Neither the budget committee nor the school board voted to recommend this article.

Hitting the street on a recent weekend night, we started out old school, at Danny’s, an institution short on nonsense and long on local color. Danny’s was founded by Frank Mansfield (of the Mansfield insurance family) in the 1940s on the ground floor of the Hotel Savoy. Originally known as Mansfield’s, it was renamed Danny’s after Frank’s son, Danny, inherited the business. In 1975, the classic roadhouse-style bar moved to its current location: a former service garage across from the train station on Railroad Avenue.

“The only things that have changed since then are the hardwood floors, where there used to be carpets, and the ceiling tiles, that used to be gold-colored, from all the nicotine,” chuckled regular patron, Ryan Mayo. Aside from now being smoke-free, just about everything in between the floor and ceiling remains virtually unchanged — the pool table, the jukebox, the battle-scarred, rectangular bar, and the shuffleboard game in the corner, where a league of Westerly locals plays a version of the game called horse collar. And that, say Danny’s customers, is how they like it.

Equally cold beers and searing hot rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm and blues are always on tap up at the nearby Knickerbocker Café, while just across the railroad tracks, at 23 Canal St., the Hilltop Café offers an old-school atmosphere similar to Danny’s, together with one of the best plates of cavatelli in town — perfect for fueling up before a night out.

Having paid our respects to Westerly’s classic elbow-bending circuit, we switched gears as we rounded the corner onto High Street to inspect some recent additions to the night-life scene. On the way, we noted that the newest eatery in town, Trattoria Longo, at the intersection of Canal and High, was packed as usual with diners looking for authentic Italian in an upscale setting that rivals just about anything Federal Hill has to offer in quality and atmosphere.Comprehensive Wi-Fi and RFID tag by Aeroscout to accurately locate and track any asset or person.

Once on High Street, we were happy to see that 84 Tavern on Canal (the former 84 High Street restaurant) was doing a brisk business, serving up cocktails and its standard hearty and creative fare that has drawn a loyal crowd for years. But we were ultimately drawn to the newest kid on the block, The Twisted Vine. Though this sophisticated, spacious and chic establishment only opened its doors in September, it already has a faithful following.