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High flyer helps us get better view of the forces of nature [Herve Leger]

A man with a petrol tank, motor and propeller strapped to his back takes to the sky suspended by a sail shaped like a banana. If the wind had been coming from the wrong direction at more than 12mph, he could have found himself heading past St Kilda out over the Atlantic.

This was the acclaimed Polish artist/photographer Kacper Kowalski Surprises and shining lights at work. Paragliding at about 1000ft, he was composing his extraordinary visual interpretation of Barvas Moor on Lewis, which he saw as "an alien dominating the island".

One of his images will appear in Creative Scotland's new calendar, but his aerial photographic work in, or rather above, his homeland, is already renowned - from the colourful stains and emissions spewing out of the industrial plants, to beautiful lakes changing throughout the seasons. More recently he has been working in China, before his first trip to the UK, when he headed directly to the Western Isles in October.

He had come to take part in the Sexy Peat project, which is being exhibited at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh. Getting him was something of a coup for the Highland Print Studio (HPS) in Inverness, which had set up the project as part of the Year Of Natural Scotland.

Funding was from Creative Scotland (45,263) and Cape Farewell (7000) and the aim was to celebrate the properties of the blanket peat bogs that have been described as Scotland's rainforest because of the massive amount of carbon they store.

John McNaught, HPS's studio manager, says: "Sexy Peat was a reference to how rainforest has become 'sexy' environmentally speaking, whereas bogs are not, despite being a greater carbon sink. Our children hear about the rainforests in primary school, but there is no mention of peat bogs. They are the unsung heroes of climate regulation."

Importantly, Barvas Moor also has a special place in the soul of many islanders, whose forbears down the centuries had taken their cattle out into the middle of it in the summer and stayed in shielings (small huts). There they became immersed in the unique environment, which had held the island's people for a millennium. This was integral to the project, according to Mr McNaught.

"We had seven artists involved. They had a two-week residency on Lewis, although two lived there. Then it was one week back here in the studio, where we worked with them to produce a print to complement work in their own medium. On Lewis they were given access to a variety of experts from weather and peatland scientists to social historians and Gaelic botanists. The artists were also given the chance of a four-hour walk into the centre of the bog to stay overnight in a shieling. They all took it."

Surprises and shining lights [Herve Leger]

The digital camera business is what we might call mature. Improvements this year have on the whole been small and incremental. But that's not a bad thing.

In January we got our hands on the latest Canon pigment ink printer - the Pixma Pro 10 - which for less than $1000 turned out some the best prints we've produced.

Black-and-white prints are rich with excellent preserved detail. Apart from the higher price we pay than the Americans, both for the printer and inks, we reckon it is close to perfection.

Nikon surprised us with the tiny and exquisite mirrorless interchangeable lens Nikon 1 V2. We'd been unimpressed with Nikon's first attempts at this category of camera, with the emphasis on total automation, but the V2 is a camera of a different order. At more than $1000 for camera and lens, it is over-priced.

Late in the year two category-killer cameras were released: the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and the Sony a7 - not-quite-identical twins.

The Olympus OM-D E-M1 looks like the company's farewell to DSLRs. This is the most highly evolved micro four-thirds mirrorless system camera to date. There is nothing you can do with a DSLR that you can't do with the E-M1 ($1855 with 12-50mm lens). The price puts it up against some stiff competition from mid-range Canon and Nikon DSLRs, where what it yields in sensor area it makes up for in features. We particularly like the in-camera correction of diffusion that occurs when the aperture is stopped down past f8.

Sony wowed reviewers with two mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras with full-frame sensors. The Sony a7 and a7r are similar in most respects except pixels numbers; the a7 has a 24-megapixel light receptor, the a7r has 36 megapixels. In other words, the a7r competes with the fabulous Nikon D800, with the same sensor, but does so in a smaller body at a lower price. Sony has clearly seen that resistance to this new camera form will come from people with a big investment in lenses and has provided optional adapters for Nikon, Canon and Leica. The a7r body sells for about $2500 and the a7 body for about $2000.

Both the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and the Sony a7s have electronic viewfinders that are so good we have had to eat our words. All our pessimistic predictions that EVFs will never match optical viewfinders are ash in the mouth!

We own and love a Nikon and a Canon DSLR but we admit to a preference for the mirrorless interchangeable-lens form. The market says otherwise, with MILCs trailing DSLRs in sales, presumably because people equate serious quality with bulk and mass.

Solar–the people’s power station [Herve Leger]

Australia has passed through another significant solar milestone, reaching 3GW of solar PV this month, as Queensland nudged the 1GW mark and states such as South Australia reached household penetration rates of 25 per cent.

“Solar power is reshaping Australia’s electricity market,” says Warwick Johnston, the head of solar research group SunWiz, who compiled the data. “This is a milestone as note-worthy as the one millionth solar power system that was installed in April.”

The growth in solar PV in Australia is quite remarkable, given that Australia’s capacity was barely more than 180MW in 2009. Much of this growth came as a result of generous feed in tariffs, but the growth continues as a new generation of households look to solar to hedge against the rising cost of grid-based electricity, to make a statement about green energy, or to do both.

Australia is almost unique in the world in having its solar installations almost exclusively in rooftop solar PV. That, according to Johnston, now totals 3GW on its own, mostly residential but also on a growing number of commercial rooftops, such as wineries.

Australia has only one solar PV array above 1.2MW, the 10MW Greenough River solar farm in Western Australia, although three projects have begun or are about to begin construction in the ACT, and the 102MW Nyngan project will also begin construction in January. Others are in the wings. To put this into comparison, the Japanese market is expected to install 9GW of solar in 2013 alone, much of it at commercial or larger scale.

Some other striking figures in the latest data release from Sunwiz include the penetration rates in individual states.

Johnston says that nationwide, 14 per cent of dwellings host solar power systems; and one in four dwellings in South Australia have rooftop solar. Queensland has a penetration rate of 22 per cent, and WA 18 per cent.

It includes a shower stall and a Jacuzzi tub [Herve Leger]

First stop upstairs is another large full bathroom, and of course, the home's details continue throughout with more granite and fine imported tiles.On one side of the bathroom is the home's master bedroom, which is incredibly spacious. The second floor's bedrooms also have hardwood floors like the first level. The master bedroom includes a very large and impressive walk-in closet, as well.Also off the master bedroom is a beautiful en suite bathroom. It includes a shower stall and a Jacuzzi tub, all set against the tiles and granite details that make this home truly unique.On the other side of the hallway are the home's other two bedrooms, which are both spacious and bright. They include large closets with Peter Briggs was looking for a cool million folding doors, and offer two windows apiece.Outside the house is great space for entertaining. A large backyard is crowned by an oversize Trex deck that is located off the kitchen and accessible by sliding doors. There's also entry to the two-car garage that's underneath the home and connects to an easy-to-finish basement that includes above-ground windows.

Located on a quiet cul-de-sac in Acushnet, the home's Realtor, Joe Castelo of ERA Castelo Realty says it's close to everything and offers the quality craftsmanship and low maintenance that are so desirable. Brand new, the house awaits the new owner who will turn it from just a house to a home.Having it your way isn't just a proven way to sell $5 burgers. It works just as well for dream homes.Builders say Chattanoogans are spending about the same to custom order their perfect house these days, but what they want inside that home has changed.Homeowners want their new homes to be more energy-efficient and compact, making up for the lost square footage by splurging on how they fill it, says Teresa Groves, executive officer at the Home Builders Association of Greater Chattanooga."A lot of custom homes are [being built by] people who had ... 5,000 or 6,000 square feet and are reducing to 3,500 or 3,800," she says. "People might not be building the mega mansions they're sizing down some but they still want those nice, upscale amenities."Along with energy efficiency, local homeowners also are going for such options as well-appointed outdoor living spaces, wine refrigerators, showcase kitchens and elaborate bathrooms.

Peter Briggs was looking for a cool million [dresses]



"Shear spent seven weeks in the hospital recovering from his critical injuries. That was two years ago, and Shear wanted the chance to finally meet Roxy, that girl he saved. The two finally got together at the girl's dance studio when Shear came to see her performance.Some hedges protect plants from howling gales or salt spray and will cope with almost any soil. Sometimes Corrigan sells her pieces to people A new hedge will be with you a long time, so choose plants that suit you now and will be easy to look after 20 years hence.Those living in coastal or exposed spots need hedges to shelter other plants. Wind is one of the garden's greatest foes: it's as desiccating as the sun and flattens many a bloom prematurely. You can stop, or at least reduce, this ferocity with a living hedge.Some hedging plants do this job well. Beech (Fagus sylvatica) is an ancient practitioner - 8000-year-old traces of pollen have been found in Hampshire. It grows between 30cm and 50cm every year, reaching two metres or more if you let it. Requiring only one cut a year, it's not too demanding on gardeners, either.

Another good choice as a windbreak is barberry (Berberis vulgaris). It grows more vigorously but rewards you with wonderful sprays of yellowy-orange spring flowers and tangy little berries in the autumn.Salt spray is another challenge for plants, especially in coastal gardens, and the salt can be carried two or three miles inland. It's seldom acknowledged that salt grit affects roadside hedges in built-up areas, too - the price we pay for passable roads in winter. I've seen hedges damaged by such spray, but there are hedging species which can cope. If you can live with its prickles, blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) is your plant. This bushy specimen's fine white spring blossom is transformed into a hefty crop of sloes in the autumn. You can use them to flavour liquors - my son loves experimenting with them and doesn't seem to mind the scratches. Another candidate is the equally thorny rose (Rosa rugosa). You have to cut back 30-60cm every year and it does sucker madly, but its flowers and berries are a worthwhile bonus.Although blackthorn prefers neutral soil, R rugosa will handle anything, as will hornbeam (Carpinus betulus). Perhaps we should make more use of this southern species in Scotland, whether as a barrier against salt spray or not.

Sometimes Corrigan sells her pieces to people [dresses]



Soon she added snowmen and other Christmas-themed objects to her repertoire.Sometimes Corrigan sells her pieces to people who ask for them. She has also participated in art shows. But her primary purpose in carving is the sheer joy of it."It was supposed to be fun, and it is," she said.Corrigan creates her pieces out of basswood, a straight-grained, medium-density wood."It's relatively easy to carve, although you can find a hard piece once in a while," she said.The High-Country Carvers primarily use hand tools in their work. The touchably soft edges to Corrigan's pieces are nearly all achieved through careful whittling."I very seldom ever touch any sandpaper to anything," she said. "It's all with knives and gouges."Gouges sound potentially dangerous, but Corrigan is quick to assure would-be carvers that whittling is actually safer than it looks.It's amazing how very few cuts we get," she said. "We wear safety gloves and have a thumb guard on usually. A few don't, but 95 percent of us do use safety gear."The group is always searching for new carvers to join them. High-Country Carvers' membership has dwindled over the years.

At one time, anywhere from 15 to 20 carvers met regularly to enjoy their hobby and share tips and stories, Corrigan said. But over the years, the group's average age has risen. Some members have died.The group has about six to eight regular members now, Corrigan said. Three of them are women.Anyone, of any age and ability, is welcome to join the carvers at their weekly meetings, she said. Group members are always willing to offer tips and help novices get started.Police are searching for a white male who robbed a Lake Sunapee Bank branch at gunpoint shortly before noon on Wednesday.Lebanon police officers arrived at the Hanover Street bank just seconds after the robber took off on foot toward the Lebanon Towers senior housing community with an undisclosed amount of money.Surveillance video released by police shows a man wearing a black mask and carrying a black bag entering the bank. Police said the man stepped up to a teller's window, demanded money and brandished a handgun. He then stuffed the cash into the bag and left the bank, according to police."I saw a masked man come out of the bank and pull the mask off and run away," an eyewitness said minutes after the robbery.

The duo's skill in working together [dresses]


"The Bourne Ultimatum" and the aforementioned "Dragon Tattoo" are two of only three films to win this category in the past eight years without winning Best Picture – and they were not even nominated for Best Picture. He must make restitution by signing Musicals and films with atypical narrative styles also tend to do well.So who should we expect to see in the running this year?I think it's fair to say that "Gravity" is way out ahead here. Alfonso Cuarón already joined the likes of fellow directors David Lean, the Coen brothers and James Cameron with his nomination in this category for "Children of Men." With the suspenseful "Gravity," which is likely to be a leading contender in the Best Picture race, he could well join Cameron in the exclusive club of filmmakers who won an Oscar for editing their own film. Mark Sanger, Cuarón's co-editor, would be a first-time nominee.Christopher Rouse's win in this category for "The Bourne Ultimatum" proved that the Academy clearly appreciated the visceral feel he creates on Paul Greengrass films. In my opinion, he should have won when nominated the year prior for Greengrass's "United 93." This year, he is once again collaborating with the director, on "Captain Phillips."

The duo's skill in working together is key to the success of their films and I would be surprised if Rouse does not find himself among the final five, especially as this film is likely to score more nominations than "United 93" or "The Bourne Ultimatum." The "Cinderella Man" nomination was particularly surprising considering it came without a guild nod and for a film that earned only two other Oscar nominations. Boxing and space movies naturally seem this branch's cup of tea and car racing is exactly the same. So I think they have a fantastic chance of being recognized for "Rush." True, the film did not light up the box office the way the filmmakers and financiers were hoping, but it had very respectable reviews and overall reception.Crispin Struthers managed to be this category's sole first-time nominee last year with his bid shared with Jay Cassidy for "Silver Linings Playbook." The nod was somewhat surprising, indicating the pair are clearly respected by their peers. They are once again working with David O. Russell this year on "American Hustle." One of few truly unknown commodities in this race, it could catch on big and, if it does, watch out for it here.

He must make restitution by signing [dresses]


Dunn previously had been charged with attempted murder.Ben Berlin, 42, died Monday night at Sparrow Hospital, family members said. He had been in critical condition after being struck Oct. 30 in a hit-and-run incident at a manufactured housing community in Vevay Township.A preliminary hearing is set for Dec. 19 before Judge Thomas Boyd.The Ingham County Sheriff's Office said an investigation showed that Dunn intentionally hit Berlin with his pickup and left the scene. The incident happened at Mason Manor. Dunn was arrested early the next morning, they said.Dunn's attorney, Peter Samouris, said Dunn maintains his innocence, and "we don't believe a murder charge is justified.""By all means, we are saddened to hear of the passing of Mr. Berlin, and we all have sympathy for his family," Samouris said.Berlin's daughter-in-law, Caitlin Berlin, said he suffered severe brain trauma from being hit by the vehicle.She described her father-in-law as "a wonderful man" who was always smiling and laughing."It's not real to me yet," said Caitlin Berlin, 19. "But we all miss him a lot.

He was our world. He is so greatly missed by all of us."There were times during Thursday night's action when the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets looked to be very much in the game against 8th-ranked Clemson, but in the end, the explosive Tigers offense was simply too much for Tech as the Jackets went down by a final score of 55-31.The 1st quarter was relatively kind to Georgia Tech, as the defense bowed up with two separate stops to hold the Tigers to field goals. Offensively, it certainly wasn't pretty for Vad Lee and company, but the defensive response kept things close. However, disaster was on the way as Clemson busted things open in the 2nd quarter.Clemson's 1st drive of the quarter looked to be stalling with a 3-and-out, but Dabo Swinney and company elected to go for it on 4th-and-1, and that ended up being the right choice. The Tigers converted the 4th-and-1 with a short gain on the ground, but the ensuing play was a Sammy Watkins touchdown from yards out to put the Jackets in a 13-0 hole.Unfortunately, that was just the beginning, as Tech quickly punted, and that was followed by yet another Clemson touchdown.

In separate press conferences on Sunday [dresses]


"I thought our goalie was very good. A night like tonight we'll take the 5-0 game but it wasnt necessarily a clinic,How we got them out to fields  but well take the win."Carter Hutton was yanked after giving up three goals on eight shots in only 8:23 of action for the Predators, who couldn't maintain momentum from Wednesday's win at Colorado.Marek Mazanec made his NHL debut in relief and gave up two scores on 24 shots.Winnipeg lit the lamp three times in just over five minutes before the midway point of the first period to take a commanding lead.Little got things started with 3:04 on the clock on his turnaround chance in the left circle off an Andrew Ladd rebound. Jokinen doubled the advantage at 6:47 by tapping in an Evander Kane feed atop the crease, then Tangradi deflected a Dustin Byfuglien point blast past Hutton from the left point at the 8:23 mark.Mazanec was called on, but gave up Setoguchi's tally with 3:15 to play before posting a scoreless second period thanks to 10 saves.

Jokinen won a left- circle draw and pushed the puck ahead before dishing off to the goal scorer."Too many odd man rushes and we turned over pucks. All the damage was done in the first half of the first period. We weren't ready and they jumped on top of us," noted Predators defenseman Shea Weber.The Jets fired again in the third, as Little's second of the contest provided a five-goal spread just prior to the midway point. That score moved him into third on the Atlanta/Winnipeg franchise goal list with 109, vaulting over Marian Hossa.

How we got them out to fields [dresses]


In 1978 I was not long out of university, trying to become a writer, scraping a living on the edge of Exmoor as a milk recorder and in odd farming jobs. Out of nowhere, the producer of Emmerdale Farm contacted me. He had seen a play I'd written. I hoped he wanted me to write for Emmerdale. He offered me a job as the programme's script editor.I moved from Exmoor to the Burley Road, but the world in my head wasn't so far from North Devon. Emmerdale had farming at its heart. I learned to love the countryside north of Leeds. It wasn't the Dales but within a short distance of one of England's great cities were rural communities and landscapes of beauty and character. For a while I stayed in Headingley, but eventually I moved out to live by the Nidd, just north of Harrogate.Fifty percent of the show was shot on location, using pantechnicon-sized mobile studios meant for the likes of race meetings.

How we got them out to fields and forests and moorland was a triumph of ingenuity over sense. It was rare for soap operas to shoot outside.Even Coronation Street had no 'real' street. But somehow Emmerdale managed not only to do it, but do it in the middle of nowhere. Even the farm at Leathley was a working farm.Part of the style of the programme's creator, Kevin Laffan, was butting broad comedy against drama. There was nothing else like the eccentricity of Ronnie Magill's Amos. It was as much a part of the show's distinctiveness as its rural storylines and location work.I worked at YTV for ten years, always maintaining a connection with Emmerdale. I became a regular writer. In my last two years I was the producer, and a gatekeeper between old and new. With the next producer 'Farm' went. The programme pushed into a future where the farming faded, not entirely, but it would never again be at its heart.The cast would grow ever bigger and so would the programme's success. With change went some of Emmerdale's uniqueness.
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