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Mortal Instruments moved (slightly)

Written by Barbara Vancheri on .

mortalinstruments
 
The summer shuffle continues. 
 
“The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones” has been moved up by two days to Wednesday, Aug. 21. It had been scheduled for Aug. 23. 
 
Cassandra Clare’s best-selling book series inspired the fantasy featuring Lily Collins as a teen who discovers she is descended from Shadowhunters, a secret cadre of half-angel warriors locked in an ancient battle to protect our world from demons.

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First visit to 100th Chelsea Flower Show is overwhelming ... din a good way

Written by Doug Oster on .

blog prince harryThe B&Q Sentebale Forget-Me-Not Garden was designed by Prince Harry and others. The garden is a tribute to his mother Princess Diana and is intended to educate visitors the 'Forgotten Kingdom' of Lesotho in southern Africa. Photos by Doug Oster

I'd always dreamed of seeing the Chelsea Flower Show. It's the Super Bowl of garden shows. I had no idea what to expect and was blown away by the scope and size of the centennial show.

There are 15 show gardens which take three hectic weeks to construct. Acres of vendors selling everything you could possibly imagine to make a gardener happy.

blog sculptureThere were many amazing sculptures on display at the show.

Tiny artisan gardens dot the edge of the perimeter of the show. There are more gardens around the Great Pavilion and even though my group was there on members day, the crowds were crushing. Often times they would be five deep standing in front of a garden. They are polite though. After a couple minutes a person would leave the front, providing room for another until you would finally be standing in front of a beautifully designed garden.

I fell in love with Anthriscus sylvestris 'Ravenswing' or cowparsley. It's airy white flowers are set off by purple stems. It was used in most of the gardens in the show. I hope I can find seeds.

Even though all the outdoor gardens were spectacular, the exhibits in the Great Pavilion took my breath away.

Imagine any plant you ever thought about growing displayed in its prime. Each vendor has a specialty, whether it's bulbs or lavender with an exhibit massed with their plant of choice.

Gardeners can take a look and buy the seeds, plants, bulbs or tubers on the spot.

It's probably the most incredible thing I've every seen.

I'll be posting more about my experiences there in the next few days. One thing I'll never forget was a display of six foot tall delphiniums towering over the biggest begonia blooms I'd ever witnessed.

 

blog delphiniums and begoniasThis mass of giant delphiniums towering of huge begonia blooms was one of the first things I saw after entering the Great Pavilion.

blog east village gardenThe East Village Garden was one of the spectacular Show Gardens.

blog chelsea wheelbarrowsDon't let anyone tell you the English don't have a sense of humor.

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Mahalo! And hang up that phone!

Written by Jon Schmitz on .

Hawaii has become the 40th state to ban texting while driving, the Governors Highway Safety Association announced today.

The Aloha State also banned hand-held cell phone use by drivers, become the 11th state (plus the District of Columbia) to do so. This appears to be a key component of effectively banning texting, because if it is still legal for a driver to dial a cell phone, it’s hard for police to enforce the ban.

The safety association believes all states should ban texting and hand-held phone use by drivers. Pennsylvania has a texting ban but hasn’t gotten around to banning the hand-held. Our neighbors in Maryland, New York, New Jersey and West Virginia are among those who have.

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The Pennsylvania Turnpike celebrated the reopening of the South Midway service plaza in Bedford County this afternoon. It is the 14th of 17 rest stops to be rebuilt, but unlike the others, its original appearance was preserved. “South Midway has a unique distinction: It looks much like it did when it originally opened more than 72 years ago — at least from the outside,” the turnpike announced. On the inside, it was expanded and modernized to offer amenities similar to the turnpike’s other rebuilt plazas.

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workzoneIn case you are wondering, there is no Squirrel Hill Tunnel closure this weekend because of the holiday.

Repairs to concrete barriers will cause lane closures on the Parkway East tonight. The closures will begin at 10 p.m. and conclude by 5 a.m. Wednesday on the inbound side between Exit 73B in Oakland and the Boulevard of the Allies-Liberty Bridge interchange, and in both directions between the Penn Hills and Monroeville interchanges.

The eastbound right lane of the Tri-Boro Expressway was scheduled to close today for one month during repairs to retaining walls from Monroeville Avenue to Patton Street in Wilmerding.

Be sure to drift along to earlier posts for more upcoming road work.

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Empty Netter Assists - 05-21-13

Written by Seth Rorabaugh on .

Playoff Stuff
Penguins - Senators

-"It's a disappointing loss. You're looking at the possibility of 3-0 and the Senators came back into the game -- and the series -- with getting that win." - Dan Bylsma (above) on Game 3.

-Bylsma speaks:

-Brooks Orpik speaks:

-Chris Kunitz speaks:

-Brenden Morrow speaks:

-"It felt pretty bad. I think it felt as bad as it looked. Thankfully, I popped up and feel all right." - Senators forward Jason Spezza on being hit by Craig Adams in overtime of Game 3.

-"We understand we're the last Canadian team that's playing but we just try to worry about the Pittsburgh Penguins and not get too caught up with all of that. We understand there's only one Canadian team left and we're that team." - Senators coach Paul MacLean.

-Senators captain/forward Daniel Alfredsson broke down the play on which he scored his game-tying goal in Game 3.

-“There was some small pieces. I had to come out of the game for I think it was five minutes or so and they picked out the big pieces.” - Senators forward Colin Greening (right) on having fiberglass removed from his face during Game 3.

-“We find ways — they aren’t always pretty — but we find ways to win.” - Senators goaltender Craig Anderson.

Calder Cup Playoffs

-An overtime goal and an assist by Trevor Smith gave the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins a 2-1 road win against the Providence Bruins in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series in the Calder Cup playoffs Monday. The best-of-seven series, which the Bruins once led, 3-0, is now tied at 3-3. Brad Thiessen made 46 saves in the victory. The Bruins are scheduled to host Game 7 Wednesday, 7:05 p.m.

To be honest, when I was out there, there’s a verse in the Bible that says, ‘I can do all things through Him that gives me strength.’ I was saying that over and over in my head because I couldn’t do that on my own. It was fun. It was fun to be a part of. I’m just happy to give our team a chance and bring it to a Game 7.” - Thiessen.

-Bruins forward Graham Mink was suspended two games by the AHL for starting a brawl at the end of Game 5.

-After the Jump: The Red Wings take a lead on the Blackhawks and Patrick Roy returns to Colorado?

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'Labor Day' movie due on Christmas

Written by Barbara Vancheri on .

bookcoverbvParamount Pictures has announced a limited Christmas Day release for Jason Reitman’s “Labor Day.” 
 
It’s based on a Joyce Maynard novel and stars Tobey Maguire, Clark Gregg, Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, James Van Der Beek and others. 
 
The novel tells the story of an alienated 13-year-old boy, his lonely mother and the stranger who comes into the lives one Labor Day weekend. (You can find the book in paperback if you'd like to read it before the movie comes out.)
 
Reitman was Oscar-nominated for "Juno" and "Up in the Air," both excellent movies. 

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