 pursue a serious relationship, marry, and have children? It seems the star may think he’s lost his chance. He’s 54 now and seems to be still ultra-focused on his career and motorcycle obsession instead of starting a family. During an interview with Esquire a few years ago, the interviewer asked Reeves if he had plans to settle down. To that, Reeves answered, “I’m too … it’s too late. It’s over. I’m 52. I’m not going to have any kids.” The Esquire interviewer then joked that Mick Jagger was still having children, but Reeves seemed set in his decision.
Only time will tell if Reeves is truly finished with the dating scene. For now, we can’t wait to see him in even more fantastic films.In February 2008, ABA ROLI conducted a four-day training event at Hotel Raduga on Lake Issyk-kul, along with the German Association for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), the US Department of Justice, and the Judicial Training Center of the Kyrgyz Republic. The training event focused on pre-trial detention procedures in criminal cases and was one of the first training events in Kyrgyzstan that ABA ROLI has participated in that included defense attorneys as well as judges and prosecutors as participants.
Approximately 100 participants from throughout northern Kyrgyzstan attended the event, which centered on issues raised by recent amendments to Kyrgyzstan’s Criminal Procedure Code. Under these new amendments, the power to issue arrest warrants—which since the Soviet era has belonged to prosecutors—now belongs to judges. Accordingly, criminal proceedings in Kyrgyzstan may now include pre-trial detention hearings, and for many of those attending the workshop, this was their introduction on how to conduct such a hearing. The defense attorneys, prosecutors and judges who participated in the training actively took part in a series of mock detention hearings, which were designed to prepare them for practicing under the new amendment, which complies with the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Several international experts from Russia, Germany and the United States participated in this training event, sharing experiences from their countries with local participants, and assisting them in the preparation for their mock detention hearings. Having judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys participate in this training together gave them an opportunity to trade roles during the mock detention hearings. According to the participants, this innovative training approach contributed greatly to the success of the event, and ABA ROLI will be conducting the same training in May, this time with participants from southern Kyrgyzstan.
My Chinese friend once told me (2 days ago) that I could never be a great man until I visited the Great Wall of China. I’ll probably never be a great man, for obvious anatomical reasons, but apparently this wasn’t a personal insult to my manhood—there’s a famous Chairman Mao quote: “He who has not been to the Great Wall is not a true man”. And so we set out to become true men.
Cost: Entry is 45RMB, while the gondola up to the Wall is a further 100RMB. It’s possible to avoid the gondola expense by hiking up to the Wall if you have additional time.
Getting there: The best way to reach Mutianyu is with either an organised group tour or an independent tour. If you aren’t keen to travel en masse, your accommodation will be able to put you in contact with a private driver, who will shuttle you to the Wall and then back to Beijing for around 600-800RMB per 6 people. Find other travellers or people from your hostel to help share the cost!
Where to stay: While in Beijing, stay in Leo Hostel, which offers inexpensive dorm beds ($16-20) in a central location near Tian’anmen Square.
Top tips: The pollution in Beijing makes it difficult to enjoy the views afforded from the top of the Great Wall, so be sure to check the weather before you set a date.
From our hostel in Beijing, 2 Dutch friends in tow, we hire a driver for the day that will take the 4 of us to and from the Wall. It’s not super cheap, but there are enough of us that the cost is only about $30/person. The alternative is to walk to the metro, transfer twice, then walk to a bus stop, take a bus to the tourist area, and then take a minibus to the actual wall entrance (at the base). Considering that Becka is on crutches and I’m still quite tired from the bronchitis I can’t seem to shake, the car is worth every penny.
It takes about 2 hours driving to get to the carpark at Mutianyu, which is the area of the Wall we picked. It has been rebuilt in some places for walking, but also has untouched sections, and it is allegedly not as crowded as the other areas, while still being easy enough to reach. Also, it seemed very green in the photos I looked at, and I love a bit of foliage.
We pay 45RMB for the entrance fee (~$9) and then walk about 15 minutes up a hill to buy tickets for the chairlift (100RMB, which is about $20). You can walk up and skip the chairlift, but apparently it takes about 4 hours (which is out of the question with Becka’s injured ankle and my budding bronchitis) and the chairlift is actually quite scenic, so it seems like an obvious decision.
Becka picks a spot to sit and admire the Wall for 2 hours, while the Dutch girls and I walk. It’s a pretty easy walk, but the humidity is full flame today and we are all looking and feeling a bit like drowned rats. Not to mention my phlegmy coughing and hacking is starting to frighten families walking along the Wall.
It is great, though. I actually really enjoy walking this section of the Wall, especially because it is reasonably uncrowded. I’m not really sure what I had envisioned, but the Wall is massively tall and just runs on as far as you can see in either direction. It’s a bit narrower and there are more stairs than I had pictured, but it is nonetheless spectacular.
We walk in both directions from our entrance point and then return to Becka to go down via the toboggan hill, which is quite fun. The angry Chinese men working the hill scream at us until we figure out how to brake, but sliding down the hill was a pleasant surprise and a nice end to a great day.
Has anybody had experience with the battery door becoming loose on their Nikon? I have one that will stay almost closed, but shifts just millimeters and indicates low battery status. When pressing the door, the battery is full, but it is difficult to access this when enlosed in the housing at 100 ft. Is this repairable?
Since the D200 battery door was a designed as a removable one, and given that anything that can be removed can consequently lost, it is more than likely that your local Nikon service center can get one for you. also you can check your local camera repair shop.
1. Clean your battery contacts.
2. Make sure you have the updated the D200 firmware.
3. Use paper to shim the battery in tight and tape the door shut during the dive.
You should be able to order a replacement battery compartment door through any Nikon dealer. I have bought several additional battery compartment doors for my D700's to make an "external" battery for the camera when I use it in my housings. A "dummy" battery, in which there are no battery cells, is placed in the battery compartment. Wires lead to the "external" battery which resides on top of the D700's prism in the housing. This position for the battery will not work if you are using the pop-up flash and fibre-optic sync cables for your flash. I bought the extra battery compartment doors so that I could cut a notch in them for the wires. In the Seacam housings I am using, there is just enough space for the 'external" battery.
This "external" battery arrangement allows me to change camera batteries without removing the camera body from the housing to do this, which makes changing the battery almost as easy as taking out the CF memory card to download the new images. In the normal "Seacam way" to change the camera battery, you must remove the camera body from the housing. In many cases, you first have to remove any ports and extension rings, then take off the lens if if has gears that prevent removal with the body from the back, and then take out the body and replace the battery. Each battery change, which I need to do every day, or every two days, when I was at Lembeh last September, was a very time consuming and required that I be somewhere the sensor was minimally exposed to dust and moisture when I took the lens off. The "external" battery allows me to change the battery almost anywhere. Quickly and easily.Mavic CXP 22 vs. EA SLX 90 weight...
Hi everyone. I am trying to figure out how much weight I've dropped on my bike since I've purchased her. Well, I've done all the calculations with the drivetrain changes (Rival to Red), but am not sure about the weight of these two set of wheels. Obviously, the EA is lighter than the Mavic. When I looked up the published weight of the Mavic cxp22, it was 510g. The weight of the EA 90 slx was just under 1400 g! I am sure that the EA are listed with the hubs and bearings etc. But, does anyone