Fairmount CA

From 1965 through 2001, there was a constant in the San Francisco Symphonys percussion section — Anthony J. Cirone. This award-winning percussionist — also a composer, also a retired San Jose State music professor — now has authored The Great American Symphony Orchestra A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Its Artistry, Passion, and Heartache (Meredith, $19.95).

Cirone, who lives in Los Gatos, regaled me with stories and insights, via email.

Q How is a symphony orchestra like a family? In a good way? In a bad way?

A With rehearsals, concerts, recordings, travel on buses, trains, planes, and roommates on tours, an orchestra spends many hours together. This close interaction fosters deep relationships within an orchestra family. But, it can also cause problems. For example, a player can sit next to the same musician for years, even for an entire career. And if they dont get along — well, you get the picture!

Q Why is there so often a love-hate relationship between orchestra members and conductors?

A When you think about it, its astounding that world-class musicians, concert pianists, instrumental soloists, and singers concede so much of their musical interpretations to a conductor — yet, thats how our business operates. We do not necessarily have to like their approach to the repertoire, but we do love those conductors who resonate with our own personal musical tastes; and on the flip side, hate to perform under those who

The Adventures of Tintin leads these TV shows released on home video this week, acting as a sort of preview for the Steven Spielberg feature that will arrive just before Christmas.

The Adventures of Tintin: Season One (Shout! 1991, two discs, $19.93). This Canadian-French co-production uses the limited animation that was the norm for television productions of the era but its a clean, crisp style and the stories are enjoyable, apparently taken faithfully from the works of the Belgian author Herge.

Marketers that invest in marketing automation should expect their roles to change, leaving behind the art that has been their stock in trade for one that is intensely scientific and analytical. Investing in marketing automation technology and its measurement capabilities has essentially changed marketing from a right-brain to a left-brain profession.

Marketing is evolving in many ways; and, with the explosion of new channels, applications and social media, there is a greater need to get a complete view of the buyer, said Paul Teshima, senior VP-product management at marketing automation software company Eloqua.

These are changes rooted not in technology, but in accountability, Teshima said.

Marketers are increasingly being held responsible for revenue growth, he said. Executives are not interested in click-through and open rates but rather in how marketing is contributing to the bottom line.

New marketing automation components are being added in response to marketers demands, according to Maria Pergolino, director-marketing at marketing automation company Marketo Inc.

The leading marketing automation providers have robust communities that allow customers to provide product feedback, Pergolino said. At Marketo, a new feature is often not considered until a customer makes a request for that feature and a number of other customers vote that it will be useful to them.

Marketers who do take the time to contribute often feel more connected to the product and make better use of the new features because they are excited to see their ideas come to life, she said.

Opposition partys lawmakers, bottom, shout slogans during a rally to denounce the passing of a bill on ratification of a South Korea-US free trade agreement in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011. South Koreas parliament ratified a long-stalled free trade deal with the United States on Tuesday after ruling party lawmakers forced a vote amid shouts and shoves from opposition rivals. The letters at cards read Invalidity, FTA between South Korea and the US
Photo: Ahn Young-joon
/ AP

The whole picture: The adventures of Sgt. Kissta Feldner an Army photojournalist

Being here covering the drawdown of American troops and the transfer of responsibility to the Iraqi government and security forces, I feel like I’m not only witnessing history but contributing to it as well.

You may have heard or read about the trade dispute brought before the US Department of Commerce between Solar World and Chinese panel manufacturers. The investigation aims to discover whether Chinese panel makers illegally dumped solar components into the global market with the assistance of generous subsidies. The Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy (CASE), a group of solar manufacturing and installation companies, strongly opposes any trade sanctions against China, arguing that such policies reek of protectionism.

So why is this relevant to a prospective residential solar system owner? Several companies, particularly those providing solar leases (Sungevity, SunRun, Solar City, and SunPower) offer packages that rely on Chinese panel pricing. One reason these companies can provide a lease with $0-$2,000 down payment is because while the cost of a system is prohibitively high for many homeowners, it is affordable enough to attract equity investors that ultimately pay for buying and installing the panels. If these panels were more expensive, the only solution to cover the added costs would be to increase the monthly payments owed under the leasing contract or charge more upfront (defeating the purpose of a lease).

But leasing companies arent the only ones that stand to lose business and jobs if global panel production is blocked from the US market. Over 40 other companies spanning from California to North Carolina to New Jersey have joined CASE to oppose trade sanctions.

Whether or not there was foul play from Chinese manufacturers is not as concerning as the ripple effect a successful ruling could have on solar installations. Despite record growth in the last two years, solar industries and technologies are still approaching market maturity, in which more efficient supply chains and higher demand drive prices to a more affordable level. With federal and state incentives currently helping to drive demand, many companies, CASE members and others, are competing to offer affordable options for residential customers. Several businesses using Chinese components simply would not be able to operate with a strained or broken supply chain. Remaining competitors likely source their system components from more expensive components that have yet to achieve the efficiencies of their Chinese counterparts, thus possibly increasing the cost of going solar. Then the only way to keep solar as affordable as it is today would be to raise government and utility incentives, which, as you know, are becoming more and more difficult to sustain, much less increase.

We all want to buy American and protect companies that create solar jobs here. But remember that not all jobs are on the front end of the supply chain, and that the global market for solar plays a large role in reducing the costs of your solar system.

York, PA –
Bill Buser enjoys eating Sunday dinner with his family.

And, the owner and operator of Buser Farm in Lower Windsor Township doesnt want that meal disturbed by sound of gunshots or by curious hunters.

No, I do not want Sunday hunting, Buser said. I dont want people knocking on my door at 11 pm Saturday asking if they can hunt on Sunday and I dont want people knocking on my door while we are eating Sunday dinner with the family, asking if they can go hunting.

At an annual meeting in Hershey this week, members of the state Farm Bureau stood firm on their opposition to permit hunting on Sundays in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania farmers have spoken once again on the issue of Sunday hunting and, once again, they have emphatically stated that they want a day of peace and quiet on Sundays, where they can work less and enjoy more time with family and friends around the farm, said Carl T. Shaffer, president of the bureau.

Of the 158 resolutions considered by the farm bureau members this week, two were related to Sunday hunting.

The bureau reaffirmed its opposition to Sunday hunting by rejecting a motion offered from the delegate floor to change the farm organizations long standing policy on Sunday hunting.

Resolutions to allow Sunday hunting on state game lands and on private commercial hunting preserves were rejected by delegates from the 54 county farm bureaus that represent 67 counties across the state.

Over the past few decades, farmers have evaluated several resolutions during our annual meeting that would have allowed a limited form of Sunday hunting in the state, but each time those resolutions were resoundingly defeated during our policy development process, Shaffer said. Pennsylvania Farm Bureau members are sending a clear message by defeating these resolutions: We oppose any effort to change the existing Sunday hunting law.

While some farmers stand in favor of banning all hunting on their properties, Buser said he would not have taken that step, in part because hunters play a role in helping to keep the deer population in check.

I am not hard nosed about it, he said.

NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 16, 2011 — /PRNewswire/ — Frequent travelers in the Travel + Leisure (T+L) magazine 2011 Americas Favorite Cities survey voted New Orleans as the number one destination for live music/concerts and bands, wild weekends, cocktail hour, singles/bar scene, fine-dining restaurants, friendliest people, cafes, antique stores, flea markets and people-watching. T+L also found that New Orleanians are most proud of their city compared to residents of the other 34 cities in the survey.

#xA0;We are blessed with one of the most dynamic, rich and culturally diverse cities in the world, said Mayor Landrieu. In addition to hosting millions of leisure travelers, we look forward to hosting an unprecedented series of international events over the next 18 months and beyond, which gives us another opportunity to highlight our unique culture, cuisine, architecture and music.

The survey results remind us that residents of our city of 340,000 enjoy a cultural quality of life as do those in much larger cities because of the number of culinary, museum, nightlife, sporting and shopping assets made possible by the tourism industry, said Stephen Perry, President and CEO of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau. Tourism supports thousands of small and mid-sized businesses and brings together neighborhoods in shared activities and iconic events, once created for locals, but now recognized by tourists as the best of any destination in the country.

These rankings help underscore the attractiveness that New Orleans continues to have for millions of travelers each year, said Mark Romig, CEO of the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation.#xA0;From the visitor who wants to explore the rich history of early New Orleans, or the family that wants to experience the culinary cornucopia of our more than 1,000 restaurants, to the visitor who wants to explore our many cultural assets, our city offers a uniqueness unlike any other American city.

The annual online survey appeared on travelandleisure.com from May 16, 2011, to August 15, 2011. Respondents were asked to identify if they were visitors or residents, then asked to rank their choice of 35 cities from across the country in different categories on culture, hotels, shopping, people, food and other characteristics. The survey features a total of 54 questions across eight categories. New Orleans and other Favorite Cities winners are featured in T + L magazines November 2011 issue.

Visitors ranked New Orleans in the top three in the following subcategories:

Shopping

• Antique Stores (1)
• Flea Markets (1)
• Independent Boutiques (1)

Best Times to Visit

• Christmas
• New Years Eve
• Fall

People

• Diverse
• Friendly (1)
• Off-Beat (1)
• Proud of their City (1)

Nightlife (1)

• Ethnic Food
• Singles/Bar Scene (1)
• Live Music/Concerts and Bands (1)
• Cocktail Hour (1)

Quality of Life and Visitor Experience

• People-watching (1)
• Lots of Hotel Options
• Architecture/Cool Buildings

Type of Trip

• Wild Weekend (1)

Food/Drink/Restaurants

• Cafes (1)
• Fine Dining Restaurants (1)

In addition to the honors voted by visitors, locals were also given the chance to tout their city and gave New Orleans a top three ranking in the following subcategories:

People

• Diverse
• Friendly
• Off-Beat
• Proud of their City (1)
• Sports-Crazed

Nightlife (1)

• Cocktail Hour (1)
• Live Music/Concerts and Bands (1)
• Singles/Bar Scene (1)

Shopping (1)

• Antique Stores (1)
• Flea Markets (1)
• Independent Boutiques (1)

Food/Drink/Restaurants

• Cafes (1)
• Fine-Dining Restaurants

Quality of Life and Visitor Experience

• People-Watching (1)
• Lots of Hotel Options

Best Times to Visit

• Fall (1)
• New Years Eve
• Winter

Type of Trip

• Cultural Getaway
• Wild Weekend (1)

Cities also included in the 2011 Americas Favorite Cities survey were: Anchorage; Atlanta; Austin; Baltimore; Boston; Charleston; Chicago; Dallas/Fort Worth; Denver; Honolulu; Houston; Kansas City; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Miami; Memphis; Minneapolis/St. Paul; Nashville; New York; Orlando; Philadelphia; Phoenix/Scottsdale; Portland, Maine; Portland, Oregon; Providence; Salt Lake City; San Antonio; San Diego; San Francisco; San Juan; Santa Fe; Savannah; Seattle; and Washington, DC

In the first of three Thanksgiving games, the Green Bay Packers 27-15 win over the Detroit Lions at Ford Field, the biggest story of all may have been the officiating from Terry McAulays crew. Packers head coach Mike McCarthy told Fox Sports Pam Oliver at the half that he had scouted McAulays games and knew that he threw a lot of flags, but that wasnt really the problem in this game.

The problem in this game was the inconsistent and haphazard way in which penalties were called. There were a total of 18 penalties — 11 on the Lions and seven on the Packers — and on at least half of those, there could be a solid argument against them.

Everyones going to want to talk about Ndamukong Suhs ejection, but that was one of the few things this crew actually got half-right. And even on that play, the crew missed the fact that Suh was reacting to guard Evan Dietrich-Smith(notes) dragging him to the ground and mugging him there. Suhs reaction was totally uncalled for and he deserved to be booted from the game, but he wasnt the first player ejected in this contest, and the first guy had a much better argument.

[Related: Green Bay Packers DT BJ Raji talks about the Packers getting to 11-0 on Yahoo! Sports Radio]

With seconds left in the first half, Packers cornerback Pat Lee(notes) was thrown out of the game after throwing a punch in the vicinity of Detroit cornerback Aaron Berry(notes). But when you watch what Lees dealing with before the punch — hes being mugged by two Lions players for several seconds — its amazing that the officials didnt throw offsetting fouls at the very least. If you want to eject Lee for taking a swing, fair enough, but it wasnt as if Lees anger was unwarranted. It was one example of McAulays crew losing control of the situation, and the last guy to take a shot paid for it.

And in a more inexplicable example of allegedly illegal behavior, theres this hit from Lions defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch(notes) on Packers Aaron Rodgers(notes), also near the end of the second quarter. This roughing the passer call negated an offensive pass interference call on receiver Greg Jennings(notes) and gave the Packers the ball back at their own 37-yard line with 51 seconds left in the half.

Take a good look at the play, and tell us where YOU see anything remotely approaching roughing the passer. Vanden Bosch leaves the ground as Rodgers releases the ball, and as Troy Aikman points out, the hit wasnt even to Rodgers head — Vanden Bosch clearly tried to make it a clean hit by going under the neck.

Add in one really terrible missed pass interference call and an equally terrible makeup call on Detroits Eric Wright(notes) soon after, and this is one of those games that will make some NFL fans wish that the grading process for officials was made public.

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Related: Evan Dietrich-Smith, Aaron Rodgers, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Adventures in Officiating

FORT WAYNE The US State Department describes South Korea as being slightly larger in geographic size than Indiana.

The US trade representative describes South Korea as being a huge opportunity for Indiana exporters.

Ambassador Ron Kirk believes Hoosier manufacturers, farmers and service providers will see rewards from recently approved free-trade agreements between the United States and South Korea, Colombia and Panama.

#147;The words #145;Made in America#146; are still three of the most treasured words in the world. It is the most powerful brand,#148; Kirk said in a telephone interview last week.

#147;We#146;re going to fight to make sure #133; they are going to buy from us rather than buy from someone in Europe or Africa or Brazil,#148; he said about the trading partners. #147;That#146;s why these opportunities are critical.#148;

Others including many Democrats in Congress are unconvinced, fearing US jobs are at risk, especially under the deal with South Korea.

The trade agreements will reduce, phase out or eliminate tariffs on US goods and services sold in the three nations. The pending deals, which date to George W. Bush#146;s administration, were renegotiated by the Obama White House and won congressional approval this month with little fuss.

#147;We did it with one of the strongest and some would say only bipartisan votes in this Congress,#148; Kirk said. #147;When there is a lot of other rancor going on, that#146;s a nice testament to, at least, how we did it, as much as what we did.#148;