Archive for the ‘Bit Coin’ Category
'Vampire Diaries' Recap: 'All My Children'
by Cassie Title
By now, faithful readers, you’ve come to know me a little bit. And I’m sure you’ve noticed that I’ve been a little confused about what show it is that we’ve actually been watching. With references to "The Secret Circle" and "Gossip Girl," you can’t really blame me. But it all made sense tonight: the sappy music, the desperate longing on Elena and Stefan’s faces when the director switched frames during their missed phone connection, the pain in Damon’s eyes when he picked up Elena’s call, the fact that Rebekah was RIGHT THERE in his bed and left at exactly the same time Elena arrived, the bizarre reference to the actual title of this show (Stefan writing in a diary!) that producers forgot about—with good reason—two seasons ago, Klaus telling Caroline that he wants to know her hopes, her dreams, everything. We’ve been watching a soap opera, and it’s more than fitting that this episode’s name hearkened to the mother (get it?) of daytime TV. Plus, Esther wants to kill all her children. In short, it was a meandering, plot-heavy episode, so let's get down to it:
1. Elijah took Elena to a clearing in the woods, and started to give her some Original history lessons. The natives did this here, the village looked like this then, until splat! All her lies blew up in her face when he figured out Esther’s true plan. So, he did what any all-powerful being would do when faced with imminent death: He dug a hole in the ground, and took a literal leap of faith that by keeping Elena hostage underground (with an angry mercenary Rebekah on orders to kill her if she ran) the Salvatore brothers would stop Esther’s spell.
2. So, it became time for the dynamic duo to come up with a plan. Elijah explained his deal, and Damon retorted with his usual wit:
"I’m embarrassed to admit, but when it comes to killing 1,000-year old resurrected witches, I’m a little rusty." Oh, Damon, you are something.
And the conclusion? Esther was channeling the entirety of the Bennett bloodline—living and dead—but needed mother and daughter to complete the energy flow. If someone was to break the bloodline, she would lose the power to do the spell. So now we’re all thinking that Damon or Stefan has to kill—OMG!—Bonnie or Abby.
3. Since Elena would never forgive them, Damon came up with a less diabolical plan: Alaric daggered Kol, because if one of them got daggered, all of them would be daggered. Except, Klaus didn’t get affected, the dagger was taken out of Kol and Elijah showed up demanding that they give up the witches’ location or Rebekah would kill Elena stat.
4. Plan B: the brothers flipped a coin to see who was going to do the dirty deed. And then Damon TURNED ABBY INTO A FREAKING VAMPIRE. Well, that is one clever way to end the Bennett blood line, because as we all know, you cannot be a witch and a vampire. And yet again, Damon saved Stefan from himself, because he actually won the coin toss, but did the unforgivable thing so that Stefan would have a chance to redeem himself for Elena (and I guess himself.) Because as Damon said: "I thought I could win her from you fair and square. It’s for the best though, that she didn’t want me. I’m better at being the bad guy, anyway." Oh, yes you are.
5. Since the spell went wrong, everybody fled except for Rebekah and Klaus. Elijah even left Elena a heartfelt apology note. But Rebekah told Klaus something important: On the cave where the natives wrote the Original family history, there’s a discrepancy with dates. Remember that ancient white oak tree? The one the Originals burnt to the ground so that no one could kill them? Well, a new one was planted somehow—a whole 300 years after they fled to the New World. Something fishy’s going on—they can still die—and I sense some sort of scuffle a’coming.
6. Meredith—or shall we say the sexy, psycho doctor—brought Ric to her house to help him recuperate. But then he got up and found all sorts of medical records, and the supposed Gilbert weapon that killed Bill and Brian and almost killed Ric. And then he looked up. And then Meredith said: You weren’t supposed to see him. And then she shot him! OMG SHE FREAKING SHOT HIM! AND THEN THERE WERE A LOT MORE SHOTS! OMG OMG OMG IS RIC DEAD? AGGGGGGGGGH!
And now we’re deprived, again, until March 15. We’ve gone through this so many times, Julie and Kevin, I don’t even know what to say. Just that I’m very, very, very disappointed in you.
What did you think of this episode? Should we start referring to Damon as Damon the Vampire Gigalo? Are we going to delve deeper into Rebekah’s mommy and daddy issues? Is Klaus going to help his siblings do away with the only weapon that could kill them? Have the Originals really all dispersed, or will we get to see them again? If it was a full moon, why didn’t Tyler come back? Are you stoked to see the Damon/Sage flashback episode?! Is Esther really gone? Will Bonnie ever be able to forgive Elena for causing her so much pain? What’s going to happen with Abby?! Tell me, tell me, tell me. We have another long month ahead of us, and I intend to spend every waking moment discussing these poignant issues with you. Below, or on Twitter. So let’s get talking, friends. Let’s get talking.
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'Vampire Diaries' Recap: 'All My Children'
Mountain High Coin – A Fixture in Bend for Over 20 Years
Mountain High Coin, a family owned and operated business in Bend for over 20 years, attributes their success to a passion for collecting coins, supporting the community and creating a business that draws on the strengths of family and friends.
Mike Graham and son-in-law, Dave McGrew, operate the business at 185 SE Third Street. Mountain High Coin’s operations are diverse: from selling jewelry, sports collectables, coins and paper money to creating custom designed commemorative medallions and providing inventory to some of the country’s biggest coin retailers.
The diversity in the business comes out of opportunity, but central to the business is their desire to serve their customers. “We just want to be friendly,” Graham said. “We want to help people in whatever way we can, if that means turning the junk in their drawers to cash for a vacation or food on the table, you will get a fair deal.”
Graham has turned his early love of collecting stamps and coins into a profitable business that has spanned over thirty years. Raised in Southern California, he began buying and selling coins on bid boards (a type of silent auction for collectible coins) and would drive 100 miles a couple times a week as a teenager to manage his coins. “I like to wheel and deal,” Graham says, and his wheeling and dealing has helped him to create a business that sells and trades all over the country.
After graduating from Cal Poly Pomona with an engineering degree and newly married, Graham pursued work in engineering, while all the time continuing to play with coins. In 1971, he went to work for the biggest corporation in the coin business, A-Mark, running the retail portion of the business for several years before transitioning to running a mail-order business.
Graham decided to look for property around Sisters after his wife, Carolyn, fell in love with the area. Sisters was a frequent stop on summer road trips, and the family bought a local ranch in 1980. He ran a small mail-order business out of the house for a few years, and in 1990, opened a retail store next to Shopko in the Bend River Mall. Unfortunately the spot did not have enough traffic, and in 1993 relocated to the current location on Third Street.
Graham brought McGrew into the operation to take over the sales portion of the business, and now McGrew travels around the country to promote Mountain High Coin. “David is a great concept person,” Graham said. “He has come up with packaging concepts for coins and creates up to 20 different proposals a month for Publishing Clearing House.”
The partners are active sponsors of the High Desert Treasure Club and the Bend Coin Club of Central Oregon. Both clubs meet once a month; the Treasure Club on the second Wednesday of each month at the Bend Senior Center and the Coin Club the third Tuesday of each month at the High Desert Community Grange.
Mountain High Coin supplies companies like the Bradford Coin Exchange, the HSN-TV coin show and projects for clearing and catalogue houses – Graham sources the coins from specialty shows that take place around the country, and the company operates by having a continuous cash flow. “I use the money as much as I can and turn it over,” said Graham. “We did nearly a million in sales per month last year that way.”
The shop is a busy place with several full time and part time employees. Graham’s wife Carolyn often works the coin shows and is responsible for running the show; they enjoy calling many of the employees “family.”
“We try and service people with friendly and honest regard as to selling and buying,” Graham said. He has cultivated ties with other businesses in town and has created a niche market based on offering stable prices.
Over the last year, Graham has closely watched the trend of transferring wealth into precious metals. “People were scared. More people put their money in gold than ever before; they are coming out of banks and CDs and looking for safe havens in anything that is a world commodity or with a value that can be documented. My advice has always been, buy the best you can afford. Push for quality. Junk is always junk.”
Looking to the future, Graham talks about his pleasure at being a grandfather. He wants to continue taking care of his family and enjoying the business he has built, “You have to have a good memory and a little bit of common sense and a little luck and the ability to hold on to the money.”
Mountain High Coin, 185 SE Third Street, Bend. 541-385-7113, http://www.mtnhighcoin.com.
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Mountain High Coin - A Fixture in Bend for Over 20 Years
Insert Coin: Alarm clock makes you enter a code to silence it, in another room (video)
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line.
We love the snooze button as much as everyone else. But we've all postponed exiting the comfort of our Tempur-Pedic one too many times. Enter the Ramos alarm clock, a rise-and-shine solution that integrates a Defuse Panel in order to silence your wake-up call. Don't expect to stay in bed to enter the code either, as the keypad can be wirelessly situated in another room to prevent further slumber. Two time keeping options, LED and Nixie models, await your minimum pledges of $160 and $350 before the April 1st deadline. The latter features a nixie tube display that will put any regular ol' alarm clock's digits to shame. You can spring for a long-range kit if you need to place your key panel more than 50 feet away from your nightstand. If you're feeling extra generous, a pledge of more than $800 will allow you to select the type of wood used for your Ramos. In need of a bit more convincing? Peep the video on the other side of the break for a closer look. Previous project update: A recent Insert Coin feature -- the Dash car stereo that integrates your iPhone into its facade -- is a little less that $12,000 from its goal. You'll have to pledge at least $250 (shipping included) to snag a unit of your own before the March 21st deadline.
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Insert Coin: Alarm clock makes you enter a code to silence it, in another room (video)