Thursday, 4 December 2014

Sandy Tumiwa Disebut Sering Gonta-ganti Pasangan Pascacerai

Sandy Tumiwa Disebut Sering Gonta-ganti Pasangan Pascacerai
JAKARTA - Sandy Tumiwa berencana akan menikahi perempuan bernama, Luthfa Nur Rahayu, yang berasal dari Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB).  Namun, Tessa Kaunang mengungkapkan, sebelum ingin menikah dengan gadis asal NTB, mantan suaminya itu sempat dekat dengan wanita lain.

"Seminggu sebelumnya saja ceweknya beda-beda lho. Bukan saya yang ngomong sih, ada dari teman saya. Kata teman saya, sebelum dia ngenalin ceweknya yang sekarang, ceweknya ada yang lain lho," papar Tessa saat ditemui di Studio AD, Jalan TB. Simatupang, Jakarta Selatan, Rabu 3 Desember 2014.

Mendengar mantan suaminya sering berganti pasangan, Tessa mengaku sudah tidak cemburu. Berbeda saat masih bersama. Sekarang, Tessa sudah tidak memikirkan mantan suaminya itu.

"Dulu ada pikiran seperti itu pas masih suami istri. Tapi karena sekarang saya sudah enggak istrinya Sandy lagi, mau apapun itu saya enggak mikirin lagi," tandasnya.
(nsa)


Sumber

Ponsel Pintar 4G LTE Siap Diproduksi di Indonesia

Ponsel Pintar 4G LTE Siap Diproduksi di Indonesia
JAKARTA - PT Tata Sarana Mandiri (TSM) Techologies perusahaan layanan perangkat telekomunikasi menyatakan kesiapannya untuk menggaet produk-produk lokal dalam memproduksi ponsel pintar berteknologi 4G LTE.
Director of Sales and Operation TSM Technologies, Riswanto mengatakan bahwa ponsel pintar 4G LTE ini, akan didukung dengan prosesor Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset yang bekerja pada frekuensi 850, 900, 2100, dan 2300 Mhz termasuk 3G dan 2G.
"Sebagai ODM, TSM Technologies siap menjalani proses desain mulai kostumisasi perangkat lunak, sistem operasi, desain tatap muka, desain produk, hingga desain tata letak sirkuit (PCB),” ujar Director of Sales and Operation TSM Technologies, Riswanto kepada wartawan di Jakarta, Kamis (4/12/2014).
Riswanto juga mengatakan, hebatnya lagi ponsel pinter 4G oleh TSM Technologies ini turut mendukung program pemerintah untuk memajukan industri perangkat telekomunikasi dalam negeri.
Dengan majunya produkponsel produk lokal ini juga diharapkan mampu menyerap Sumber Daya Manusia (SDM) yang mampu bersaing memenuhi kebutuhan pasar domestik, berdaya saing di pasar Internasional.
“Upaya kami memproduksi ponsel ini di Indonesia akan memperkuat komponen manajemen rantai pasok dengan harapan menggiatkan industri teleco di Tanah Air,” jelas Benson E. Kawengian, Managing Director TSM Technologies, ditempat yang sama.
(amr)

Sumber

Wednesday, 29 October 2014

Katy Perry Berhijab di HUT ke-30

Katy Perry Berhijab di HUT ke-30
LOS ANGELES - Katy Perry merayakan HUT ke-30 dengan cara unik. Dia berjalan-jalan ke sebuah pasar di Marrakesh, Maroko, dalam balutan hijab dan gamis.
 
Bersama rombongan teman-temannya, termasuk sang kekasih, Diplo, Katy sempat berjalan-jalan ke sebuah pasar di Marrakesh, Maroko, mengenakan hijab dan gamis, Sabtu 25 Oktober lalu.
 
Katy mengunggah foto berhijabnya ke Instagram, Selasa 28 Oktober, waktu setempat. Dia pun menuliskan "Spice Girl" di caption fotonya.
Hijab memang tidak hanya miliki umat Muslim. Wanita non-Muslim pun melihat tren berhijab sangat menarik. Sehingga, tak heran Katy berpenampilan berbeda saat di Maroko. Demikian seperti dilansir dari Idolator.
 

Friday, 10 October 2014

Tablet Lenovo Yoga Dilengkapi Fitur Proyektor

Tablet Lenovo Yoga Dilengkapi Fitur Proyektor BEIJING - Lenovo mengungkap produk Yoga terbaru mereka yang memiliki fitur inovatif, yakni tablet yang dilengkapi dengan proyektor. Dinamakan Yoga Tablet 2 Pro, merupakan tablet Android 13,3 inci yang memiliki fitur pico-projector.

Dilansir Arstechnica, Jumat (10/10/2014), Yoga Tablet 2 Pro memiliki proyektor mini yang dapat menembakkan display 50 inci ke dinding terdekat. Sehingga, apabila layar 13,3 inci dengan resolusi 2560 x 1440 tidak cukup besar untuk menonton film, maka proyektor itu bisa dipakai untuk tampilan display yang lebih memuaskan.

Tablet terbaru buatan perusahaan asal China ini menampilkan OS Android 4.4 KitKat dengan dukungan prosesor quad core Intel Atom (1.86GHz). Perangkat tersebut dibekali RAM 2GB dan storage 32GB dengan dukungan slot microSD hingga kapasitas tambahan 64GB.

Selain itu, tablet dengan konektivitas WiFi ini didukung kamera 8MP (belakang) dan kamera 1.6MP (depan). Yoga Tablet 2 Pro diklaim dapat bertahan hidup 15 jam dalam satu kali pengisian baterai.

Tidak hanya model Yoga Tablet 2 Pro, perusahaan juga mengungkap Yoga 3 Pro, tablet Windows 13,3 inci dengan fitur putar hingga 360 derajat. Perangkat ini memiliki resolusi 3200 x 1800 piksel dan didukung prosesor Core M-70 (2.6GHz), RAM 8GB dan SSD 512GB.

Sumber

Thursday, 9 October 2014

Goa yang terletak di daerah terpencil di Selma Plateau, 1.380 mdpl dan berada dalam Kesultanan Oman ini memiliki nama lain, Khoshilat Maqandeli.

Goa yang terletak 100 km arah selatan Muscat ini pada tahun 1985 dikenal sebagai gua terbesar kedua di dunia. Goa Majlis Aljinn sendiri merupakan satu dari sekian banyak goa yang berada di wilayah Selma Plateau.



Gua Majlis al Jinn merupakan ruang dalam tanah berukuran sekitar 310 meter dengan langit-langit berkubah setinggi 120 meter. Goa Majlis Al Jinn memiliki tiga pintu masuk yang berada di langit-langit goa.

Bagian terdalam dari dasar gua Majlis Al Jinn adalah sekitar 178 meter dari lubang masuk tertinggi di langit-langit gua. Volume ruang goa Majlis Al Jinn sendiri sekitar 4.000.000 meter kubik dengan luas lantai mencapai 58.000 meter persegi.

Akses masuk ke gua Majlis Al Jinn hanya melalui dari salah satu dari tiga pintu masuk vertikal yang terletak di langit-langit gua. Dua pintu masuk terbesar disebut Asterisk (Khoshilat Beya Al Hiyool) dan First Jatuhkan (Khoshilat Maqandeli). Semantara yang terkecil Cheryl Drop (Khoshilat Minqod).

Gua Majlis Al Jinn berada di tempat terpencil. Sehingga cara untuk mencapai gua ini tidak bisa dilakukan dengan transportasi mobil. Para pengunjung harus mendaki atau menyewa keledai dari sebuah desa dan beberapa jam berjalan kaki.

Para penjelajah yang ingin memasuki goa Majlis al Jinn membutuhkan tali berukuran sekitar 200 m dan peralatan khusus untuk naik dan turun dengan aman. Alhasil, goa Majlis al Jinn kini populer sebagai situs untuk melompat BASE (salah satu olahraga ekstrim).

Pada tahun 2008, Kementerian Pariwisata Oman berencana mengembangkan Majlis al Jinn sebagai untuk menarik minat wisatawan asing. Tercatat ada 75 ribu pengunjung yang berkunjung di goa ini dalam rentang 2007 hingga 2008.

Kisah Seram

Penamaan goa ini menjadi Majlis Al Jinn diduga karena goa ini terletak di tempat terpencil. Selain itu, ukuran besar goa ini juga membuatnya dianggap tempat berkumpulnya para makhluk halus sejaka jaman dulu.

Konon ada banyak kisah menyeramkan yang mengelimuti goa ini dan dianggap menjadi salah satu tempat berhantu di dunia. Salah satunya adalah Umm Al Duwais, sosok makhluk halus wanita dengan kaki keledai yang kerap menampakkan diri di gua ini.

Kucing Hitam Yang Suka Bersuara Seperti Kalkun

Kucing hitam memang kelihatan sedikit menyeramkan, namun anak kucing hitam yang satu ini jadi pusat perhatian karena dia memiliki keunikan. Kucing hitam in sering mengeluarkan suara seperti ayam kalkun.



Suara kalkun itu muncul ketika dia sedang mengunyah makanan. Gara-gara ia sering bersuara seperti kalkun, maka orang yang menemukannya memberinya nama Turkey. Kucing betina ini ditampung di pusat perlindungan hewan Monday and Orange Country.

Pusat perlindungan hewan seperti ini biasanya menampung kucing dan hewan jalanan lain seperti anjing atau burung. Di sana, mereka dirawat lebih layak dan menunggu apabila ada orang yang siap mengadopsi mereka.

Turkey sendiri seolah memecah kemisteriusan tentang kucing hitam, karena ia kelihatan lucu dan menggemaskan. Apalagi ketika sedang makan. menurut pengasuhnya di sana, kemungkinan suara tersebut dikeluarkan untuk menarik perhatian orang lain.

Sering Dikecewakan Pria, Wanita Ini Menikah dengan Anjing

Sulit dan mudah merupakan sepasang kondisi yang akan selamanya dirasakan orang, ada masa-masa senang, bahagia, namun tentu ada pula masa-masa sedih, kecewa, begitu terus bergantian sepanjang nyawa dikandung badan. Seperti pepatah habis gelap terbitlah terang.



Namun terkadang orang tak menyadari akan hal itu, ketika seseorang berharap ingin hidup bahagia bermasa pasangan, namun kenyataan tak seperti apa yang semula jadi harapannya, justru sakit hati dan kekecewaan yang didapat, dan akibat itu pula orang bisa saja merasa trauma, kapok dan tak ingin lagi mengulangi.

Itulah gambarannya seorang wanita yang dulu pernah hidup berumah tangga, dengan harapan akan menuai sebuah kebahagian, namun pada kenyataannya rumah tangga itu justru mengundang rasa kekecewaan, sehingga wanita ini tak tertarik lagi untuk hidup berumah tangga, tetapi dirinya lebih memilih menikah dengan anjing peliharaannya, kisah ini tak jauh beda dengan Kakek ini yang menikahi kambingnya.

Pesta perkawinan wanita bernama Amanda Rodgers berusia 47 tahun asal Kroasia ini, hanya disaksikan tak lebih dari 200 orang tamu undangan, wanita ini menikahi anjingnya lantaran takut dikecewakan lagi bila menikah dengan seorang pria.

Amanda memilih menikah dengan anjingnya karena merasa hewan tersebut memang sudah menjadi jodohnya. Dia sebelumnya telah merasakan bagaimana getirnya menjalani pernikahannya dengan seorang pria. Pernikahan yang terjadi 20 tahun lalu itu hanya bertahan sesaat.

Dalam wawancara dengan stasiun televisi ITV untuk acara This Morning, Amanda mengungkapkan lebih jauh alasannya menikah dengan anjingnya. "Aku tahu kami berjodoh. Aku jatuh cinta padanya. Cintaku pada Sheba sangat kuat. Kami punya hubungan yang kuat," katanya.

Dirinya menyatakan, sebuah kebahagiaannya bersama anjing peliharaannya yang diberi nama Sheba ini telah memikat hatinya hingga wanita ini jatuh cinta terhadap anjingnya.

“Saya tidak bisa memikirkan apa-apa lagi, yang saya butuhkan adalah pasangan hidup,” ujar Amanda.

“Dan Sheba telah ada dalam hidup saya selama bertahun-tahun, itulah yang membuat saya bahagia dan dia dapat menghibur saya ketika saya merasa terpuruk,” jelasnya.

”Saya tahu pernikahan dengan Sheba itu tidak nyata dalam arti hukum. Tapi, itu adalah cara yang baik untuk membuktikan arti Sheba untuk saya. Sheba tidak pernah kasar kepada saya dan dia selalu membuat saya senang,” kata Amanda.

Tuesday, 26 August 2014

How do I install multiple versions of Firefox on my computer for use with CommonSpot?

The recommended version of Firefox to be used with CommonSpot, the university’s web content management system, is Firefox 3.6.  However, you can still keep the most up-to-date version of Firefox installed on your computer for normal daily use.  Here’s how:

Instructions for Windows


Instructions for OS X


Windows
1.  Download and install your first version of Firefox (if you haven’t already).  If you already have a version of Firefox installed, you may skip this step.

    a.  Firefox 3.6 for CommonSpot  (Click on Windows Software for Faculty/Staff Only)
    b.  Firefox (Current Version)

2.  Now that you have your first version installed, download the second version of Firefox:

    a.  Firefox 3.6 for CommonSpot  (Click on Windows Software for Faculty/Staff Only)
    b.  Firefox (Current Version)
3.  When installing your second version of Firefox, choose the custom setup option.


4.  When asked where you’d like to install your second version of Firefox, add a word to the Mozilla Firefox directory (Firefox-New or Firefox-CommonSpot) to differentiate it from the other version you have installed.  You can find the directory in the text that begins with C:\.


5.  Proceed by clicking Next on all of the screens that follow.

6.  If you’d like, you can place the Firefox icon on your desktop and then rename the icon to differentiate between the two versions of Firefox.

    a.  Right click on the icon
    b.  Select Rename
    c.  Enter your new name (such as Firefox 3.6 for CommonSpot)
    d.  Press Enter.  You may have to click Continue.

You’re now free to use either version of Firefox, depending on your needs.  Remember, you can have two versions of Firefox installed, but you may only run one at a time.  Be sure to completely exit one version of Firefox before starting up the other one.



Be sure to disable automatic updating on Firefox 3.6.




Mac OS X


1.  Download and drag to your Applications folder your first version of Firefox (if you haven’t already).  If you already have a version of Firefox installed, you may skip this step.

    a.  Firefox 3.6 for CommonSpot (Click on Mac Software for Faculty/Staff Only)
    b.  Firefox (Current Version)
2.  Now that you have your first version installed, download the second version of Firefox:

    a.  Firefox 3.6 for CommonSpot (Click on Mac Software for Faculty/Staff Only)
    b.  Firefox (Current Version)

3.  Open your download if it hasn’t automatically opened.  You’ll see a screen instructing you to drag Firefox to your Applications folder.  Instead, drag the Firefox icon onto your desktop.


4.  Once the icon is on your desktop, click once to highlight it.  Now, click once on the word “Firefox”.  You will now be able to edit the file name.  Add on to the name by typing “Firefox New” or “Firefox for CommonSpot” and then press enter.


5.  Drag your newly renamed icon to your Applications folder.  You can access your Applications folder from the desktop by going to the Go menu and choosing Applications


6.  You can launch Firefox from your Applications folder by double-clicking the icon, or you can drag your new icon to your dock for easier access.

You’re now free to use either version of Firefox, depending on your needs.   Remember, you can have two versions of Firefox installed, but you may only run one at a time.  Be sure to completely exit one version of Firefox before starting up the other one.

Be sure to disable automatic updating on Firefox 3.6.

Monday, 25 August 2014

Endometrial Cancer: Curable if Detected Early


 
  Source: By Anjana Motihar Chandra for Health Xchange, with expert input from the KK Gynaecological Cancer Centre, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH), a member of the SingHealth group.  
     
  Although the exact cause of endometrial cancer remains unknown, the condition is highly curable if detected early.
Women who are obese are at greater risk of developing endometrial cancer, a type of cancer of the uterus that is highly curable if detected early. Diabetes and hypertension are other lifestyle-related conditions that increase a woman’s risk of endometrial cancer, the fourth most common cancer among women in Singapore.
The uterus has two layers: an outer lining of muscle and an inner lining called endometrium which thickens and sheds during a woman’s menstrual cycle. Endometrial cancer, also known as uterine cancer or womb cancer, affects the inner lining of the uterus. 
Another type of uterine cancer is uterine sarcoma, which affects the outer lining and is less common.
“Excess fat, which alters the body’s balance of hormones, increases a woman’s risk of getting uterine cancer,” says Dr Wong Wai Loong, Associate Consultant, KK Gynaecological Cancer Centre, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH), a member of the SingHealth group.

Causes and risk factors for endometrial cancer

While the exact cause of endometrial cancer is unknown, a high level of oestrogen has been found to play a role in its development. There are many risk factors, in addition to obesity, diabetes and hypertension, associated with this cancer. These other risk factors include:
  • Early menstruation – before the age of 12
  • Irregular and infrequent periods – less than 4 periods in a year
  • Late menopause
  • Nulliparity – never been pregnant
  • Oestrogen-only replacement therapy (ERT)
  • Hormone therapy drug tamoxifen for breast cancer
  • Polycystic ovarian syndrome (POS)
  • Hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) or a family history of HNPCC
  • Ovarian tumours, e.g. granulosa cell tumours that secrete oestrogen
Endometrial cancer is the most common type of female reproductive cancer in Singapore. According to the Singapore Cancer Registry, 1,778 cases of endometrial cancer were diagnosed here between the years 2008-2012. Its incidence is the highest among women aged 50-59.
“Endometrial cancer can occur at any age, but 70 per cent of the time, it occurs after the age of 50,” says Dr Wong. “Factors such as a high fat diet and more women not having children are responsible for an increase in the number of cases worldwide.”

Endometrial cancer symptoms

Endometrial cancer symptoms include the following:
  • Abnormal vaginal bleeding – this can be of different types such as:
    • Post-menopausal bleeding
    • Frequent vaginal bleeding in the period leading up to menopause
    • Irregular menstrual bleeding
    • Spotting or bleeding between periods
    • Prolonged periods
    • Blood-tinged, watery discharge from the vagina
  • Bleeding after intercourse
  • Abdominal swelling or bloating (swollen tummy)
  • Pelvic pain
  • Pain during intercourse
  • Change in bowel or urinary habits
  • Unexplained weight loss
Most cases of endometrial cancer present early with abnormal vaginal bleeding. Post-menopausal bleeding is the most common symptom,” says Dr Wong. “Abdominal swelling and change in bowel and urinary habits are late endometrial cancer symptoms.”
Any woman who suffers from abnormal vaginal bleeding should seek medical attention immediately.

Diagnosis of endometrial cancer

A biopsy, or taking of a small sample of endometrium tissue, is required to diagnose endometrial cancer. This can be carried out as an outpatient procedure, e.g. hysteroscopy, or as a minor day surgical procedure.
Dilatation and curettage (D&C) is the term for a surgical procedure used to remove a tissue sample from the endometrium for testing.
A transvaginal ultrasound may also be carried out to detect any abnormalities, such as thickening of the endometrium.
“The prognosis of endometrial cancer is good if it is diagnosed early,” says Dr Wong.
Read on to learn about endometrial cancer treatment and prevention.
Page 1 | Page 2
Article contributed by the KK Gynaecological Cancer Centre at:
KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH)

Chronic Pelvic Pain: Causes


 
  Source: Article contributed by Dr Cherylin Fu, Consultant, Department of Colorectal Surgery and Dr Mark Wong, Consultant, Department of Colorectal Surgery & Director, Pelvic Floor Disorders Service (PFDS), Singapore General Hospital (SGH), a member of the SingHealth group.  
     
  Pelvic pain or pain that occurs below the belly button is a common problem that affects up to 1 in 5 women.
Pelvic pain is a common disabling problem that affects up to 1 in 5 women and is the commonest cause of days off work in women of reproductive age. In the United States, chronic pelvic pain in women aged 18 to 50 years accounts for direct medical costs of approximately $881.5 million per year.
Chronic pelvic pain is pain that occurs below the navel, lasts for at least six months and may not be related to menstrual periods. Unfortunately, the cause of chronic pelvic pain is often difficult to diagnose as many different conditions involving the uterus, ovaries, bladder, bowel or pelvic floor muscles and nerves can cause this problem.
Many patients may also have associated problems such as depression, anxiety, and sexual dysfunction. 
Hence, it is important that a multidisciplinary approach is used to deal with chronic pelvic pain.

Causes of chronic pelvic pain

A wide variety of conditions can cause chronic pelvic pain. Some of the more common causes include:

Gynaecologic causes

Chronic pelvic pain is thought to be caused by gynaecologic issues in about 20 percent of women.
Endometriosis - One of the most common gynaecologic causes is endometriosis, a condition where the tissue normally lining the inside of the uterus can also be found outside of the uterus. Women with this condition may experience severe menstrual cramps or pain since their early teens or twenties, painful intercourse or difficulty getting pregnant.
Pelvic inflammatory disease - This acute infection is usually sexually transmitted. It can affect the uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes. About a third of women suffer from complications which may cause chronic pelvic pain.
Pelvic adhesions - Adhesions is the term for abnormal tissue that makes internal organs or structures, such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes, stick to one another. Surgery, infection, or inflammation can lead to the development of such abnormal tissue. Whether adhesions cause pelvic pain and whether surgery for pelvic adhesions actually relieves pelvic pain for most women remain controversial.

Urological causes

Painful bladder syndrome and interstitial cystitis - Painful bladder syndrome (PBS) and interstitial cystitis (IC) are terms used to describe bladder pain not caused by infection. Typical symptoms include the need to urinate frequently or urgently.

Gastrointestinal causes

Irritable bowel syndrome - Irritable bowel syndrome is a gastrointestinal condition characterised by chronic abdominal pain, cramps, bloating and altered bowel habits (such as loose stools, more frequent bowel movements with onset of pain, and pain relieved by defecation) in the absence of any specific cause.

Musculoskeletal causes

Levator ani syndrome, proctalgia fugax (anorectal pain) and coccygodynia (pain at the coccyx) - These are examples of “functional” pelvic floor disorders that cause chronic pelvic pain. Patients may experience recurrent episodes of pain in the region of the pelvis, rectus, anus or tailbone, which may occur suddenly at night, lasting for more than 20 minutes before disappearing.
The cause is unknown, but thought to be related to abnormal tightening or overactivity of the pelvic floor muscles. During examination, the doctor may feel the pelvic floor muscles through the rectum or vagina as a tight band that is tender when pressing on it.
Pudendal nerve entrapment (Alcock’s canal syndrome) - The pudendal nerve is responsible for sensation around the anus, the base of the scrotum (in males) and vagina (in females). Rarely, it may get compressed, resulting in pain, numbness or burning sensation around the perineum on one side. These symptoms may occur in the sitting position and worsen with bicycle riding. Treatment involves injection of local anaesthetic or steroids.
Read on to learn about tests and treatment for chronic pelvic pain.
Page 1 | Page 2
Article contributed by:
Dr Cherylin FuConsultant
Dept of Colorectal Surgery
Dr Mark WongConsultant
Dept of Colorectal Surgery
Director
Pelvic Floor Disorders Service
Singapore General Hospital (SGH)

Monday, 2 June 2014

Listen up y'all!

It may incite the vitriolic wrath of a few of the more sharp-tongued children but Your Mama has none-the-less decided to take a two week retreat in a remote, morgue-quiet high desert location where telephone and internet service is, at best, unreliable. That's right, butter beans, two weeks.

We do not plan to (dis or) discuss any celebrity-related real estate transactions until June 17, at which point we'll have some exciting news to unveil about the future of our little online endeavor.

Until then...


UFT Contract - Dissecting MORE Contract Discussion Happy Hours: Should Unity be Worried?

I spoke and asked if there were any next steps since after Tuesday, when the contract will most likely pass, it will all be over. She turned to me with a defiant stare, shook her head and said, "No! It isn't."
One of the "benefits" of the recent contract struggles is how the consciousness of so many rank and file teachers has been raised. Not only about the contract itself, but about how the UFT/Unity Caucus leadership and their core of full-time employees and chapter leaders are willing to mislead the people who elected them for the interests of their masters at 52 Broadway. Here is one such story.

I attended MORE happy hour contract discussions each of the last 3 Fridays. Each one was very different in character and attendees. The Bay Ridge and Park Slope events attracted over 40 people in the back room of bars. Some people who showed up had never heard of MORE. Some were leaning toward voting YES but felt they were not getting the full story from the UFT/Unity leadership - the visits to the schools were often a turn-off. Some had Unity chapter leaders pushing the contract with vehemence, while shrugging off legitimate questions.

MORE people familiar with the details and the various "gaps" in the UFT's "What Me Worry?" approach shared their knowledge and answered questions. Afterwards people gathered engaged in the happy hour portion with small group conversation. While exciting to see so many people turn out, there were too many people to drill deep.

This past Friday, the lower east side event on Ludlow Street was very different. A small group of people, with 7 newcomers joining 4 MOREistas in a wide-ranging discussion of issues - so much more intimate than the large groups. How important is it for the activists to listen to these new voices?

Jia Lee, our super dynamo who helped organize the event,
Jia and teachers at her school support Intl HS Teachers Who Opted Out
pointed to the fact that 2 years ago she was new to this kind of activism - after about 12 years teaching. And that struck me -- you can't build an alternative to Unity Caucus with the usual suspects - like me and others who have been doing this for a long time.

A 2-year ATR (whose school closed) - a science teacher - who found out about the event on Ed Notes - and bought me a beer for doing this work) was quite impressive, making so many interesting points. She felt the experience has not been all negative - by being in so many schools she actually felt she learned lots of things on many levels -- and feels more equipped to teach than ever. I hope her salary is not too high for her to get hired. She also pointed out how in her travels she absolutely saw instances of administrators  just making stuff up against teachers to get rid of them.

Three teachers came from an elementary school with a Unity Chapter Leader who had been force feeding the pro-contract point of view --until they just plain got fed up and began to search the web for alternatives - which is how they found MORE - and also Jia Lee, who they contacted.

One of them made one of the most impressive statements I've heard - I only wish I had recorded it. I took a few notes. "We were sacrificed so the UFT could get along with the DOE. I feel so disempowered. I don't want to sit by helplessly and watch my profession being destroyed. It is time for a change." I don't think she meant only a change in the UFT leadership, but a change in her own behavior.

That gave me a chill - because she was so impressive. I was reminded of the first time I met Julie Cavanagh only 5 years ago.  I almost feel sorry for Unity. Think of her joining with the growing core of the newly active "not the usual suspects."

I spoke and asked if there were any next steps since after Tuesday, when the contract will most likely pass, it will all be over. She turned to me with a defiant stare, shook her head and said, "No! It isn't."


Saturday, 31 May 2014

My Friday: Hot Yoga, Set Construction at Rockaway Theatre Co, MORE Happy Hour

This past Friday I had a busier day than I had when I was working. I need a break. If I unretire and go back to the DOE can I get that thousand buck bonus if I vote YES on the contract?

So hot yoga - Bikram yoga - is one of the harder things to do and after losing 3-5 pounds in an hour and a half (and gaining it all back) you feel parts of your body are no longer connected. I would be the Tin Man without lube if not for these classes. A little nosh and and hydrating and it was off to ....

....the Rockaway Theatre Company to work with Tony and the crew putting up the sets for the July opening of Gypsy (in which I have a small walk-on). (We took down the old sets on Monday). I learn a lot from Tony - who often says - Don't do this at home - this is a temp set made to come down. They had a lot done by the time I got there and there was only minor stuff to do. Tony called it a day around 2PM and I went home to change before heading to...

...the MORE happy hour on the lower east side where I did not expect a big turnout and was chewing myself out for leaving Rockaway on a nice day, especially since it was my wife's mah jong day and she wasn't around to give me honey do's. But when an ATR who is an ed notes reader showed up and bought me a beer as thanks for doing the blog, my perspective changed.... (to be continued)

=======
Saturday was a full day at the Rockaway Theatre Company cleanup where a gaggle of RTCers of all ages showed up to clean up, while the set construction crew worked all day. Though I spent a lot of time eating from the fab buffet they set out. So many people worked so hard - all as volunteers. Frankie, my former acting teacher (he's now all of 25) was there as the set designer. He is finishing his first year teaching at a Brooklyn middle school -- he said people were against the contract but guessed that most would vote for it --- he never heard of MORE. As I've often pointed out -- many people involved in the RTC are current and former teachers and their interest lies in the theater - union politics don't count for much to them (except for the crew who teach at Leon Goldstein). Any opposition must recognize this reality -- most people don't give much of a crap -- but their consciousness is raised at contract time. That is what we have been seeing recently and will for a time. But after the contract vote is over will the collective consciousness raised in the UFT over the past few weeks sink?



Ipswitch Kids Want to be Paid for Taking Field Tests

No testing without compensation! Ipswich is not far from Boston harbor. This has tremendous potential! Imagine if dozens or hundreds of schools caught on to the idea that students field testing products of for-profit companies should be paid; kids all over the country start sending bills to state officials. ... Jeff N.

What I found so great about this story is that the teacher made an off-hand comment that the kids should be paid for their time, and it was a student who took the initiative to run with it -- these are 11 year olds! I am so impressed with various student efforts to fight what's being done to their education!... Nancy K.

A year or two ago Change the Stakes calculated the bill Pearson would have to pay kids and teachers for their labor. The bill came to $34 million. We knocked on the door of Pearson and presented them with a giant version of the bill. We haven't gotten the check yet.


Ipswich 6th graders calculate a rebellion

·  ·  Alan Laroche’s sixth grade A and B period math classes sent a petition to the state Department of Education to be paid for their time spent taking a trial  math test. Courtesy Photo / Alan LarocheAlan Laroche’s sixth grade A and B period math classes sent a petition to the state Department of Education to be paid for their time spent taking a trial math test. Courtesy Photo / Alan Laroche
·  ·  ·  Posted May. 29, 2014 @ 4:16 pm

IPSWICH
By Kate Evans


Two sixth grade math classes lost an entire week’s worth of instruction taking a trial run of a new test and now they want payment for their time.

The state randomly selected Ipswich Middle School teacher Alan Laroche’s A and B period math classes to take the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers test drive.

The multi-state group is working to create English and math K-12 assessments that will help prepare students for college and their careers.

Starting this fall, Massachusetts school districts have the option to choose the new test over the MCAS for grades 3, 8 and 9 in math and English.

But for now the test is still in its trial period and Laroche’s 37 students are among the 81,000 that spent two 75-minute periods in March and two 90-minute periods this past week completing the test.

This time would have otherwise been spent writin and solving and graphing inequalities from real-life situations.

During class last Monday, May 19, a teacher jokingly mentioned that the students should get paid for taking the test since their participation helps the PARCC and at the end of class the students pressed Laroche further on the idea.

"The kids proceeded to tell me that PARCC is going to be making money from the test, so they should get paid as guinea pigs for helping them out in creating this test," said Laroche. "So I said, ‘OK, if that’s the case and you guys feel strongly then there are venues and things you can do to voice your opinion, and one would be to write a letter and have some support behind that letter with petition."
At 8 p.m. that night Laroche received a shared Google document with an attached letter from A-period student Brett Beaulieu, who asked that he and his peers be compensated for their assistance.

"I thought it was unfair that we weren’t paid for anything and we didn’t volunteer for anything," said Beaulieu. "It was as if we said, ‘Oh we can do it for free.’"

Beaulieu used his math skills in the letter, determining that the two classes would collectively earn $1,628 at minimum wage for their 330 minutes of work. He then went on to figure out how many school supplies that amount could buy: 22 new Big Ideas MATH Common Core Student Edition Green textbooks or 8,689 Dixon Ticonderoga #2 pencils.

"Even better, this could buy our school 175,000 sheets of 8 ½" by 11" paper, and 270 TI-108 calculators," Beaulieu wrote.

On Tuesday, May 20 he gathered over 50 signatures from students, as well as from assistant principal Kathy McMahon, principal David Fabrizio and Laroche.

"I think Brett took the right steps and drafted a letter in the right way, and we’ll see what comes from it," said Laroche. "I’m proud of him for doing that and for the kids supporting him and what he’s trying to do."

·  ·  ·  Page 2 of 2 - Laroche mailed the letter off to the PARCC, United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Massachusetts Secretary of Education Matthew Malone. Laroche used return requests for a better chance at getting an answer.

"We’re hoping we’ll get some type of response," Laroche said. "I would think with us having them sign for the document might add a little bit of pressure on getting a response from them."

Beaulieu thinks they will receive some type of reply. He would be satisfied receiving school supplies, but he’s rooting for the money. "I hope that we can get the money," Beaulieu said. "I mean it’s really not all about that, but I think it would be cool if we could actually kind of make a difference."

Friday, 30 May 2014

Jakob Dylan Quietly Sells Malibu Mini-Compound

SELLER: Jakob and Paige Dylan
LOCATION: Malibu, CA
PRICE: $7,375,000
SIZE: 7,752 square foot, 7 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: It took a bit of a group effort between Your Mama and The Bizzy Boys at Celebrity Address Aerial to figure out that singer/songwriter Jakob Dylan quietly unloaded a freshly rehabbed compound-like mini-estate in the Point Dume area of Malibu for $7,375,000.

Mister Dylan, besides being honest to goodness rock 'n' roll royalty—his daddy is Bob Dylan, in case you didn't know, fronts the band The Wallflowers and, along with Dave Matthews, co-founded the fairly newly formed supergroup The Nauts.

As best as this property gossip can tell, Mister Dylan and his former actress/budding screenwriter wife, Paige Dylan, purchased the hair-more-than-an-acre spread in February 2011 for $3,980,000. They hired accomplished Malibu architect Doug Burdge to give the 1950s-era semi-Spanish style residence a cosmetic overhaul that included the removal of a swimming pool and the installation of downright drool-worthy, wide plank white oak wood floors throughout.

Listing details show the main house plus the two guest houses have a combined square footage of 7,752. One of the guest houses, as per the listing, has 650 square feet and the other 722. If Your Mama uses our ever-reliable bejeweled abacus to add up those latter two figures and then subtract the sum from the total square footage we come up with a main house that measures in at 6,380 square feet. Listing details we perused explicitly suggest the buyer verify the abode's square footage by their own means as the L.A. County Tax Man shows the house has just 5,303 square feet. (Curiously, a digital listing we dug up from the time the Dylan's acquired the property peg the place at 5,611 square feet with six bedrooms and 7 bathrooms.) Whatever the size, online marketing materials show the property has seven bedrooms and five bathrooms but, honestly children, where not sure if that includes any bedrooms and/or bathrooms in the guest cottages.

A high wall and an even higher thicket of shrubbery obscure the peering eyes of passers by and a gated driveway pushes deep into long and narrow property where it circles up to pass under a humbly scaled porte-cochere and pools up in a motor court with front-facing attached garage.

Wrought iron and glass doors open into a ridiculously but pleasantly over-sized reception gallery with pitched beam ceiling, huge windows and what Your Mama imagines (and hopes) is an authentic Beni Ourain rug. The luscious wood floors and vaulted ceilings continue into the living room where a chunky, minimalist fireplace with over-sized firebox anchors one end of the room and a wall of built-in bookshelves the other. Four sets of single-pane French doors that open to a terraces hemmed in on three sides by the back of the house and a baby grand piano and an acoustic guitar or two easily converts this the sitting room in to an extremely intimate music venue.

It's possible and maybe even likely, much of the Dylan's personal day-core and artworks were stripped down for the marketing process but, even if not, we're in an honest swoon for the all but unadorned formal dining room that stops short of cold austerity with a glimmering crystal chandelier (that could probably be hung a mite lower), a rustic and beat up, 10- or 12-seat farmhouse table and eight elegant and refined button tufted chairs that evoke a soupçon of 1940s glamour. But anyways...

We don't care what any of the children say about the uninspired, plain-Jane exterior of this house—because it's pretty ho-hum—but we think the kitchen is kinda fantastic. Two boxcar-sized center islands have slab marble counter tops on walnut cabinetry. Each has a two-stool snack bar and neither, it should be noted, are located underneath a dreaded and—Yes!—occasionally malevolent pot rack, thank you very much. The appliances are top-quality stainless steel and include double wall ovens and full-height side-by-side refrigerator and freezer. One end of the room has a built-in breakfast banquette next to French doors that open to motor court at the front of the house and, at the opposite end of the long, sky-lit space, more French doors open to a roof-shaded dining terrace that overlooks the backyard.

The kitchen flows directly into a step down family room with corner fireplace and a sculptural staircase that ascends to a large loft space with kiva-style corner fireplace and glass doors that open to a wrought-iron railed balcony and staircase that leads down to the backyard recreation and entertainment areas.

The privately situated, second floor master suite has a high, vaulted ceiling and plenty of room for a sitting area. A quartet of single-pane French doors open to a slender, wrought iron railed balcony that affords an long and wide, over-the tree tops view of the ocean. There are two roomy closets, as per listing details, plus a big and glitzy bathroom with two marble-topped vanities surmounted by florid, Rococo-esque mirrors, a jetted garden tub, a glass-fronted shower stall, and—Praise be!—a separate, privacy promoting cubicle for the crapper.

The back of the house wraps around three sides of a spacious, plaza-like central courtyard terrace where previous to its most recent renovation there was a small swimming pool and spa surrounded by a whole lot of red brick terracing. (The Dylans apparently installed a spa somewhere—it's noted in listing details—but they did not put in another pool. No offence, but for nearly eight million clams we want a pool but, then again, if you have eight million for the house you probably can scrape up another quarter million for a badass swimming pool complex.)

The terrace steps down to a thin strip of lawn that, in turn, steps down to a lighted tennis court. The paltry bit of grass between the tennis court and the terrace might seem stingy except that there's a vast stretch of lawn between the street and the front of the house where there's a children's playground tucked up into the shade of a small stand of mature trees.

Your Mama's research on the internets suggest Mister and Missus Dylan have lived or at least maintained a residence in Malibu since 2008 when they paid $3.35 million for a 1.3 acre property (with 2,365 square foot house) that they sold in the last days of 2011 for $3,575,000. Our research also suggests but does not entirely prove the couple still own yet another house in Malibu, this one an almost 6,000 square foot, decidedly contemporary dwelling on a gated, ocean view plateau in the foothills above Point Dume that last traded hands in the early days of 2011 for $4,250,000.

listing photos: Coldwell Banker

MORE Weekly Update: 3 Happy Hours Today, Info on Observing Contract Vote Count

The busy bees at MORE - important info on observing the contract vote count on Monday and Tuesday -- Ellen Fox and I will be there both days -- Monday they open the school packages and envelopes and Tuesday they count.

At first Leroy Barr told us only each caucus could have one observer. MORE objected - we felt all teachers should have the right to observe- though with the caveat - DO NOT TAKE A SICK DAY FOR THIS - AS YOU CAN BE BROUGHT UP ON CHARGES.

Leroy came back with: AAA has room for 15 observers and if there are more they will rotate people in for 10 minute periods.   See the MORE website for details

I'm told that the major way there could be chicanery would be at the school level by Unity CLs who might play around. I heard from one experienced CL:

"We need to see the ballots pulled out of each school's big envelope and make sure each envelope has the same amount of ballot envelopes as signatures on the staff sheet.  These numbers can easily be off but the instructions were clear." The implication is that a few sure-bet NO Votes could be disappeared. I imagine that not enough people would do this to make a major difference. But if it should be 60-40 or more, then questions would be raised.



Come to a MORE Happy Hour to discuss the upcoming contract vote and next steps for building a rank-and-file opposition in your local area... 

 

Join MORE Today! IMPORTANT EVENTS

Happy Hours

District 1 & 2 Happy Hour
Friday, May 30
4:00-6:00pm
Local 138
138 Ludlow St.
(Back room is reserved)

Uptown Happy Hour 4
Friday, May 30
4:00-6:00pm
Coogan's NYC
4015 Broadway

Bronx District 8 Happy Hour
Friday, May 30
4:00-6:00pm
Jimmy's Cafe Restaurant
905 White Plains Rd. (BX)

Next General Meeting
Saturday, June 7, 12-3pm
YaYa Network
224 W. 29th St, 14th Floor


LOWER MANHATTAN:

District 1 & 2 Happy Hour

Friday, May 30 (4-6pm)
Local 138
138 Ludlow, between Rivington & Stanton
(F, J, M to Delancey)
Back room is reserved
UPPER MANHATTAN:

Friday, May 30
4-6pm
Coogan's NYC
4015 Broadway

BRONX:


Friday, May 30
4-6pm
Jimmy's Cafe Restaurant
905 White Plains Rd.
(Parking available across the street)
Parkchester station (6)

 

NEXT GENERAL MEETING:

Saturday, June 7, 12-3pm
YaYa Network
224 W. 29th St, 14th Floor


Reportbacks from different areas of activism
Assessing our work this spring
MORE's priorities for the summer/next year

Contract Ratification Vote Now Open to any UFT Member...

Thanks to MORE's efforts, the count of contract ratification vote is now open, with some limitations, to any UFT member who is available to observe. See the MORE website for details

Vote NO! 

Inform yourself about the contract proposal
Here are PDFs you can print and distribute for your colleagues:

Tentative Agreement Fact Sheet
Vote No Flyer
Retro delayed is retro denied (Eterno)
Why the wait is not over (Cavanagh)
What happens if we vote it down? (Lamphere)
 
Some of you receiving this Weekly Update have not yet joined or renewed your membership in MORE!

Now is the time to become a full member so that you can participate in the upcoming elections for Steering Committee.

All new members and Sustainers will get a FREE MORE T-shirt!

Click here to JOIN or RENEW!

The MORE Steering Committee lections are coming up soon!   Nominations are due June 10th.

Please reply if you have nominations for who you think should lead MORE...

Read the minutes here - and look for a summary on the MORE-Discussion list.








Thursday, 29 May 2014

Louis C.K. Snags Gloomy Shelter Island Tudor

BUYER: Louis Szekely
LOCATION: Shelter Island, NY
PRICE: $2,440,000
SIZE: 4,957 square feet, 6 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Most New Yorkers at least the ones we know and whether they can afford one or not, have a picture of their ideal weekend getaway. For Bunny and Flower it's a rustically chic and arty-farty compound in upstate New York. For Jo-Jo R-Po it's a puny, un-winterized waterfront bungalow on the North Fork. And for Soozie-Q and Fred it's a rambling (and nearly ramshackle) shingled cottage on a large (if somewhat untended) lot in a quiet corner of the Hamptons.

For Emmy-winner Louis Szekely, an upwardly mobile stand-up comedian and sitcom star known professionally as Louis C.K., it's Primrose Cottage, a gloomy but stunningly intact, turn-of-the-century timbered Tudor on two water front acres on Shelter Island that he reportedly snatched up for $2.44 million.

So the scuttlebutt goes, Babe Ruth once summered in the three-story, 4,957 square foot house that listing details show has half a dozen bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, and six wood-burning fireplaces. (Big whoop!) The generously proportioned main rooms stop short of grand—it's a vacation house, after all—and, although they could use some spit and polish, retain an impressive array of original architectural details. The tightly spindled staircase alone is a revelation and the built-in inglenook benches next too some of the fireplaces couldn't be more charming even if they are a wee impractical for modern day life.

The pastel paint on the walls in some of the rooms is on decorative trend—not that Mister C.K. gives a shit about that—but it looks a bit wan and old fashioned in the somewhat dim listing photographs. And the kitchen, well, it looks reasonably sized but—lowerd have mercy, butter beans—it needs a complete overhaul starting with that mortifyingly massive (and massively mortifying) pot rack. All the children should know by now that Rule #8 in Your Mama's Big Book of Decoratin' Dos and Don'ts adamantly forbids the use of pot racks in residential kitchens. Not only are they voracious dust magnets they're also a capricious if inanimate menace that will drop a pot on a puppy's head without warning or snatch the weave right off the head of an unsuspecting weave wearer.

An asymmetrical front porch overlooks an otherwise landscape-less, hedge-ringed lawn and, off the rear of the residence, a spacious and inviting, brick-floored screen porch has a long view over the flat back lawn to the water's edge. There isn't a swimming pool or a tennis court—there's room for both should Mister C.K. want them—but there is, however, a private dock that extends out into a cut that provides direct and easy boat access to West Neck Harbor and Noyac Bay. The convenient boat parking facility was probably a selling point for Mister C.K. who owns an micro-yacht that was recently featured on Jerry Seinfeld's pleasantly droll web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.

We read, Mister C.K. once lived at the fabled and controversially condo-fied Apthorp complex on the Upper West Side but we also have a vague memory of being told by someone—we don't recall when or by whom—that he moved downtown, to the formerly boho now fully gentrified West Village. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

In addition to his somewhat dark and relentlessly self-deprecating stand-up work the veteran comedian also writes, directs and edits a smartly calibrated and critically acclaimed, semi-eponymous sitcom (Louie) that closely adheres to the framework of his own life.

In other Shelter Island celebrity real estate news, maverick ceramicist and home goods guru Jonathan Adler and his creative iconoclast husband Simon Doonan—amongst a myriad of other endeavors he's a sassy columnist at Slate and the Creative Ambassador-at-Large of Barney's—have one of their kalaidoscopically colorful and widely published homes on Shelter Island up for lease for the month of July at $11,000 per month. Incidentally, the A-list gays tried to sell the quirkilicious 1970s A-frame modern back in 2010 for $1.795 million after they bought another, much more impressive waterfront spread where they custom built a super-modern bungalow featured in a 2012, Doonan-penned piece in Architectural Digest. (It was also fawned over in Dwell and Hamptons magazines.)

listing photos: Daniel Gale / Sotheby's International Realty via Curbed

Jason Priestley Upsizes in The Valley

BUYER: Jason Priestley
LOCATION: Studio City, CA
PRICE: $2,720,000
SIZE: 5,075 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 6.5 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: A couple of weeks ago Your Mama and all the other celebrity real estate watchers learned from the long-legged blond at Trulia Luxe Listings that race car driving actor/director Jason Priestley and his make-up artist wife Naomi Lowde-Priestley sold their Toluca Lake home to a not-famous couple for $2 million. The sale represents a $140,000 loss that does not account for carrying costs, any maintenance and/or improvement expenses the couple may have incurred or the real estate fees.*

This week, oddly enough, Your Mama heard word from a couple of snitchy informants, including the inestimable real estate yenta Yolanda Yakketyyak, that the Priestley couple, who have two young children, bought a substantially bigger new house about four miles directly west in a leafy pocket of Studio City, CA for $2,720,000.**

Listing details show the freshly constructed and well appointed, two-story wannabe-Cap Cod sits on less than a quarter acre right on the border between Studio City and Sherman Oaks and has a total of five bedrooms and 6.5 bathrooms in 5,075 square feet. A prominent, full-frontal two car garage has direct entry to the main house and a detached cabana adds additional living space . (By Your Mama's quick and rudimentary calculations the Priestley's new digs in Studio City is just over 1,800 square feet larger than their former home in Toluca Lake.)

We don't love the exact tone of ashy medium brown as appears in listing photographs but otherwise we live, children, for the seven inch wide floorboards that run throughout the main floor living areas. A medium-width but exceptionally long center hall entry extends clear through to the back of the house with wide openings into adjoining formal living and dining rooms, both with scads of custom mill work and the former with a marble-faced fireplace. Not that it matters more than a damn pickle what this moody property gossip thinks but we could happily have done without the showboat-y glass display cases built in to the columns that support the shallow archway between the living and dining room.

A luxuriously fitted butler's pantry with marble back splash and warming drawer links the dining room to the expensively outfitted family-sized kitchen. Along the long back wall of the kitchen dark counter tops (of unknown material) sit on snow white Shaker-style counter tops while the generously proportioned center island has steel grey Shaker-style cabinetry topped with an impressively thick single slab of marble. In addition to the four-stool center island snack counter there's a small informal dining area in front of a picture window with backyard view and all the appliances are top-grade, as should be expected in a house at this price point in this location. The kitchen opens to the family room where there's a deeply coffered ceiling, a bookcase flanked marble-faced fireplace, and a wall of wood-framed glass doors that fold open to a concrete-floored veranda that overlooks the backyard.

Also on the main floor is a powder pooper for guest, an en suite guest bedroom, and a home theater with a projection system, milk chocolate brown fabric wall panels set off by lipstick red columns, lily gilding nightclub lighting, and tiered seating for (about) 11 in puffy black leather recliners with built-in cup holders. (We know they are a pearl clutching sight for sore eyes, children, but Your Mama would bet our long-bodied bitches, Linda and Beverly, and our mean ol' pussycat Sugar those recliners are as comfortable as they are hidjeous.)

Upstairs, three guest/family bedrooms have private bathrooms and a second family room might easily be put to use as a children's play room, arts and crafts nook, yoga lounge or Pilates parlor. The spacious master suite has a (third) marble-faced fireplace, built-in bookshelves, something called "separate entry closets," and a wee private balcony with backyard overlook. Slathered in marble—floors, counters, shower—the master bathroom has two sinks on either side of a built-in hair and make-up vanity, a soaking tub for two set into a bay window, and a separate, glass-enclosed steam shower.

Back downstairs, the veranda off the family room and kitchen area—which Your Mama would like so much better if it were more comfortably half again as deep—gives way to newly sodded lawn. Off to the side, there's a built-in barbecue situation and, in the far western corner, what we imagine may (or may not) have once been a detached garage was converted to a pool side cabana with kitchenette and convenient half bathroom. A wide set of French doors and a long wall of folding glass doors expose the cabana to the terrace that runs along the smallish saltwater swimming pool with picayune suntanning shelf and inset spa.

*Mister and Missus Priestly paid $2,140,000 for their 3,266 square foot Toluca Lake home in May 2007. They first listed the property in the fall 2011 for $2.1 million. It did not sell and was taken off the market and re-listed in February 2014 for $2,099,000, a figure that might as well be $2.1 million.

**We were able to confirm the purchase with property records—it was purchased through the same trust as their former home in Toluca Lake—and as far as this property gossip can tell the Priestleys paid nearly a million dollars more than any other property sold in the immediate vicinity in more than a year. 

listing photos: Keller Williams Realty