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For the thrill of victory and the corresponding thrill of inflicting the agony of defeat, nothing beats a Mets walkoff win. You should definitely read about every one the Mets garnered in 2006 again at a blog that continues to amaze in its dedicated mission to investigate and celebrate Met minutiae (our blolleague's word for it — I'd call it core curriculum).
You should read about the 10 best Mets days of 2006 here, too, but if some of the last at-bat triumphs you lovingly remember aren't here, you should be able to revel in them again, and MWO is the site to provide the revel-ation. I present this advice not just as a public service for every Mets fan who should be reading Mets Walkoffs and Other Minutiae anyway, but to inoculate myself for not highlighting certain games you might be expecting to see on this particular list.
Yes, they were great. Yes, they stir wonderful memories. Yes, we want them on the DVD.
To offer a "but" would be to diminish them or their walkup-win (my pet phrase for when the Mets go on the road and prevail in the top of the final inning) counterparts. I don't want to dismiss that which was gloriously messy or messily glorious on any given Met day or night in 2006 just because that which nosed them out for one reason or another did, in fact, nose them out. Suffice it to say in constructing this segment of our retrospective and crafting a sum-of-its-parts narrative for the season, I relied on my idol Roger Angell's guidance as it applied to the final entry of the 1986 World Series:
We need not linger long on Game Seven, in which the Mets came back from a 3-0 second-inning deficit and won going away (as turf writers say), 8-5. It was another great game, I suppose, but even noble vintages can become a surfeit after enough bottles have been sampled.
Enough playing defense. On with the countdown.
10. August 19: Hands On The Torch
It started as a trickle. Then, one by one through sporadic raindrops and field level boxes, they poured. The damp August night lit up like a Christmas tree. On Niemann! On Elster! On Teufel and HoJo and Hearn! On Wally and Lenny and Danny and Aggie! Make room for Mitchell and El Sid, too.
Not all the 1986 Mets returned home on August 19. A few were unavailable or made themselves so. But the 20 former players who haunted Shea as eternal world champions on the night of their 20th reunion represented a closing of a ruptured loop in Met lore.
The Mets have been uncommonly considerate of their world titles. From 1970 through 1985, they gave 1969 room to breathe. There would be no confusing it with other championships. Hey, did Clendenon hit that homer in '69 or '71? Was Rod Gaspar in the '72 Series? Or was that '74? Man, they all blur together. When they finally deigned to crowd the crown, they allowed a decent interval of 17 years to pass. And once they added 1986 to the trophy case, they didn't cramp its style either. You couldn't mix up 1986 with 1987 or 1988 or any Met year in the ensuing decade or two. From a historical viewpoint, the Mets have kept it simple.
They were determined to abandon that policy in 2006. It wasn't a bad idea. No year felt more like 1986 since 1986 than 2006. It missed the mark by a bit, but the timing of the Mets acknowledging at last their spicy and successful past seemed like more than a coincidence of the calendar. The '86 Mets enjoyed a seven-month roll. The '06 Mets were in the fifth month of theirs. One edition taking bows as the other was taking names was as appropriate as it gets.
Mookie. Mex. Kid. Straw. The Rockies never stood a chance.
9. July 30: A Nice Place To Visit
Is everybody with us? Nobody on the tour got lost? Great. We're walking, we're walking…OK, everybody. Y'all can rest your feet for a moment while I show you our next stop, beautiful Turner Field in Atlanta. This very charming ballpark opened its gates in the summer of 2006. Let me show you some of the points of interest.
Here's the pitchers' mound. This is where Mets ace Pedro Martinez righted himself on a Friday night in 2006. He had been injured for a month and struggled for an inning, but then the future Hall of Famer really showed his stuff. The Mets won that night.
Here's the outfield fence. This is the wall that couldn't hold Carlos Beltran in the midst of an MVP-caliber season. On a Saturday afternoon, Mr. Beltran hit not one but two long home runs over it. The Mets won that day.
And here's second base. This is where the Braves' third baseman Willy Aybar was thrown out by Paul Lo Duca as Marcus Giles was striking out with one down in the ninth inning. With that unorthodox game-ending double play, the Mets swept the Braves for the weekend and the series.
Any questions from the group? Oh yes, you in the back…uh-huh, some people consider that the case…I'll repeat the question so everybody can hear it.
That gentlemen said he'd heard that Turner Field had actually opened in 1997. While that is a not an altogether inaccurate characterization, the Turner Field we enjoy today didn't come into existence until July 30, 2006 with the Met sweep I just described. What was here previously was kind of a gloomy, uninhabitable edifice that you wouldn't want to spend any time in. Therefore, serious ballpark scholars date beautiful Turner Field to that great weekend the Mets enjoyed here.
Y'all have been a great group.
8. July 16: All Aglow
It's not often first pitch is scheduled for 5:05 PM local in a baseball season, but when you're airing a baseball game as prelude to an awards show and you want that awards show to shine in prime time, you apparently start the game when you feel like it.
On July 16, ESPN demanded the Cubs begin their Sunday night game against the Mets in late afternoon so it could get the ESPYs up and running by 9:00 Eastern/8:00 Central. It turned out to be a most pleasing aesthetic decision. Wrigley Field is brilliant in daylight, but positively radiant by twilight.
As we watched on ESPN, we saw The Friendly Confines bask in the glow of both a Chicago sunset and a New York onslaught. Come the sixth inning, night fell on Wrigley…with a 2006 Metsian thud.
Sean Marshall and Roberto Novoa gave up the most runs any pitchers ever gave up to the Mets in any one inning. Marshall, leading by three through five, retired Chris Woodward for openers. And Will Ohman got Ramon Castro for the final out because somebody had to get somebody to end it. In between, the Mets sent 14 batters to the plate and 13 reached safely. The one who didn't reached on a fielder's choice, so if you think about it, for 14 consecutive plate appearances, Cubs pitchers were tormented without pause.
Cliff Floyd, the fourth batter after the first out, hit a grand slam. That means a guy (Beltran) got on, then another guy (Delgado) got on and yet another guy (Wright) got on. Then Floyd.
The next guy after them, Nady, walked. How depressing is that if you're Sean Marshall? And what are you still doing in the game if you've just given up a grand slam?
Marshall went out and Novoa came in. His second batter, Chavez, drove in the inning's fifth run. The inning's fifth batter, Beltran, hit the inning's second grand slam and scored its ninth run.
The next guy, Delgado, doubled. How depressing is that if you're Roberto Novoa? And what are you still doing in the game if you've just given up a grand slam?
Giving up a two-run homer to Wright is what. That made it 11 runs in the top of the sixth for the Mets. They had never done that. But they did it in July — without Reyes (recuperating) and without Lo Duca (resting). Two All-Stars sat on the bench and the Mets set a team record for offense.
Imagine if they'd played.
Novoa came out at last, giving way to Ohman who walked a couple more before escaping without further damage. As if there could have been further damage.
It was the Mets at their maulingest, but there was also a thing of beauty beside the numbers. You can recognize the highlights instantly. When you see Floyd or Beltran or Wright trotting home, it's from that camera on a cable that ESPN strings up for Sunday nights. And because it was a 5:05 start and the sun is only beginning to go the way of Marshall and Novoa, there is a distinct red aura about Wrigley Field. Maybe a little orange, too.
7. August 22: One Swing
How awesome is Gary Cohen? With the Mets (mostly Delgado) having fought back from a 7-1 deficit against the Cardinals (mostly Pujols), it was 7-6 in the bottom of the ninth. Lo Duca singled off Isringhausen. Beltran stepped in and Cohen announced he could end this game with one swing. Beltran proffered one swing. He ended the game.
Forget what you're thinking about Beltran, Cardinals and another ninth inning. Just remember this one swing. You'll feel better.
6. June 15: The Road Taken
They should've sold t-shirts. NEW YORK METS 2006 WORLD TOUR I would've bought one.
Welcome back my friends to the road that never ends, the trip that made the Mets impenetrable. The Road Trip. That's all you have to say. Anybody who witnessed it from afar will never forget it.
The Mets board an airplane and fly to Los Angeles. A fella you'd barely heard of, Alay Soler, gives up one earned in seven innings. A fella you'd all heard of, Jose Reyes, gets into the habit of getting on and scoring right away. A fella you were sure you were gonna hear more from, Lastings Milledge, salts away a rubber game.
The Mets board another plane and fly to Phoenix. El Duque throws a three-hitter. Beltran and Delgado go deep repeatedly. Wright bursts into flames. Soler adds a shutout. Everybody, including Eli Marrero (just acquired for Kaz Matsui), hits. Four games, four wins.
The Mets board one more plane and fly to Philadelphia. The first game requires excellent defense from our third baseman to seal it. He's Wright on time with his glove. The next game is less close, less stressful, more fun. Two games, two wins.
Now a third. Losing it won't inflict much damage, not in the standings, not in the psyches. But wouldn't it be great to sweep the Phillies, the last conceivable challenger for the N.L. East title, and wouldn't it be even better to end this road trip on the highest of high notes?
Yes it would. And yes it was. On the afternoon of June 15, the Mets started strong — four in the first — and after a brief Trachselian lag that allowed the Phillies to inch close, finished unbeatable. The club's calling card through mid-June may have been its zero-to-sixty offense (eight straight wins on this trip, each with at least one run before the third out was recorded), but its signature was the bullpen. Nine Phillies batted in the final three innings of the series finale. Heilman faced three. Sanchez faced three. Wagner faced three. Among these batters were the cream of their generation of Mets-killers and Mets-wounders: Victorino, Rollins, Utley, Abreu, Pat Fucking Burrell, the burgeoning menace that is Ryan Howard.
None of them touched the Mets' relievers. Nine up, nine down. Had the second-place Phillies swept, they would have been 3-1/2 out. Instead, they were swept and sat 9-1/2 behind on June 15.
The first-place Mets boarded a bus and headed for home. The road ahead was free and clear.
5. April 17: Early Admission
They marched through the Marlins. They knocked off the Nationals. They brushed aside the Brewers.
Here came Atlanta. Here came trouble…potentially.
The Mets began 2006 on a 9-2 roll, as good as they'd ever been out of the gate. It was noted by a few cynics they had played nobody in particular on their way to the top. The schedule is the schedule. You play who they put in front of you.
It didn't matter. Florida…Washington…Milwaukee…Atlanta. They were all the same. As of April 17, it was obvious. The National League belonged to New York.
Can you truly clinch a division title in the twelfth game of a 162-game season? Technically, no. Spiritually, absolutely. It was in the dozenth contest of 2006 that the Mets knocked the 14-time winners, the only champions the five-team National League East had ever known, back into another division. The second division. They were tossed on a heap of Marlins and Nationals and Brewers and would be joined eventually by Padres and Giants and Pirates and just about everyone else out there.
It was April 17. It was obvious.
It was Pedro. He struck out eight en route to his 200th win.
It was Nady, Delgado and Lo Duca, three heretofore strangers who collected eight of our nine hits.
It was Sanchez holding the fort and Wagner bolting the door.
It was Atlanta catcher Todd Pratt, a hallowed Met soldier of campaigns past swinging at the last strike as a Brave. It not only put away the Braves but said in some dimension that this year was going to be different from not just the well-short efforts of the past few seasons but even the relatively high times of Tank's time. Not that there was anything wrong with it, but these Mets weren't going to scratch and claw for fingernails' inclusion in anybody's Wild Card race.
It was final score Mets 4 Braves 3, the Mets 10 wins and 2 losses, the Mets 5 games up on the Braves and light years ahead of the league on April 17.
It was, heart of hearts, done.
4. October 4: Tag Body Spray
Major League Baseball began three division series on a Tuesday and the fourth on a Wednesday. We were in the fourth.
We had waited long enough.
Six years from 2000, the last time October showed up at Shea. Six months from April, when our autumnal participation could be reasonably imagined. And now an extra day, just long enough to learn that the playoffs would take place not just without Pedro Martinez but sans El Duque.
Before you could say "calf injury" three times fast, the tournament was under way. It's a shame, almost, that Fran Healy wasn't broadcasting these 2006 Mets this October because for the length of it, Shea Stadium was rocking. For Game One, every Dodger was genially harassed. Every Met was sincerely revered. Every Mets fan, in the long lost words of Fran, was on the verge of exploding — and that's not Healy hyperbole.
Just being in the NLDS with home-field advantage was enough to light the collective fuse. It took only until the second inning for 56,000 to detonate.
John Maine, nobody's choice but contingency's to start a series opener, was in a bit of trouble. There was no score but there were runners on second — Jeff Kent — and first — J.D. Drew. Russell Martin drove a Maine pitch to deep right. The runners were off if not running. They were definitely off. Kent thought it might be caught and didn't dart immediately toward third. Drew was burdened by no thoughts and shot past second. Third base coach Rich Donnelly later copped to thinking this:
"I was hoping they'd throw the ball away."
No such luck, pal. Shawn Green played it off the base of the wall and fired to Jose Valentin. Valentin relayed to Paul Lo Duca. Lo Duca, a big-leaguer since 1998 and a postseason veteran of just over one inning, received Valentin's throw and tagged an onrushing Kent. Sensing another presence approaching over his left shoulder, he turned and tagged an onrushing Drew.
Two onrushing Dodgers out. No onrushing Dodgers scored. 56,000 volcanic Mets fans spurted happiness like it was lava.
The two tags at one plate for two outs on one ball set the tone. The joint never stopped rocking. Contributions from many Mets, particularly Carlos Delgado and the first four hits of his first-ever playoff game, ensured a positive result. Lo Duca's moment of deja tag made it something we'll relive over and over again.
3. October 7: Holy Saturday
What do you do when your real life exceeds your dreams?
—Tom Grunnick, "Broadcast News"
A little before 7:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time…
Tigers 8 Yankees 3
Detroit wins series three games to one.
Approximately five hours later…
Mets 9 Dodgers 5
New York wins series three games to one.
News like this you don't keep to yourself.
2. September 18: Redemption
This one was for a team that didn't require much in the way of redemption for 5-1/2 months but then squandered a three-day stay in Pittsburgh. It would redeem itself by doing at home what it failed to do on the road.
Tastes of redemption were evident everywhere on the third Monday night in September.
This one was for the starter, the guy who got here just after the last taste of glory. He had been sometimes good, more often lucky, not generally loved. He put in 6-1/3 innings of shutout ball.
This one was for a failed pinch-hitter turned ad hoc second baseman who was nowhere to be found on that position's depth chart in March and didn't take over his job until June. He hit two home runs.
This one was for a middle reliever whose only association with the club was negative. He came on board in August and earned a place by throwing hard and getting outs. He did that per usual in the seventh.
This one was for a setup man who had been zigged out of the rotation and zagged into the bullpen and stepped up into a role he didn't want. He made the eighth inning academic.
This one was for a closer who never enjoyed the mass confidence of his audience but proved a damn sight of an improvement over his immediate predecessors. He generated a popout to second and a flyout to center and then a fly to left.
This one was for a leftfielder whose on-field presence was fringe for large stretches of the year but one whose soul was too enormous to be discounted. The leftfielder was in left field awaiting one final fly ball. He caught it.
This one was for two fans who each answer to the name of diehard, who by chance bought tickets for this game weeks in advance because they would go to any game on any September 18 regardless of stakes or consequences.
This one was for 46,727 fans essentially exactly like them.
This one was for a franchise that had clinched its previous division title 6,570 days earlier.
This one was for 18 years of going without.
This one was for a night of getting in.
This one was for us. All of us.
1. October 18: Faith-Based Initiative
You can't always get what you want. And even if you try, sometimes you just might find you don't get what you need. As Mets fans, we know that.
Boy do we know that.
Oh but when it works, when you get what you want and what you need, it's wonderful. You were so right to believe for those few instances when it paid off that you were never wrong to believe those countless times it didn't. The odds were literally against you because it was so unusual that things went the way you wanted and needed them to go. But as long at it happened once in a while, you knew it could happen again. And if it could happen again…well, it could happen.
Shortly before midnight on October 17, Adam Wainwright struck out Jose Reyes, completing the St. Louis Cardinals' Game Five victory over the New York Mets in the 2006 National League Championship Series. The Cardinals took a three-games-to-two lead in the best-of-seven set.
As if you've forgotten.
Hence, the moment October 18 began, I had one task at hand.
Have faith.
It was not easy. My faith, like yours, had been tested by the events of the previous five days: four games, three losses. A one-oh lead had morphed suddenly and ineffectually into a stark deficit. Our Mets, our 2006 Mets, our best team in the National League Mets, were one game from elimination. Lose and go home.
The flip side? Win and keep playing. Logically, it wasn't tough to see it clicking. Game Six of this NLCS would be at Shea Stadium. So would Game Seven, but first Game Six. Game Six is all. Game Six is where my faith would have to focus.
So it did. On October 18, I thought and I calculated and I wrote and I wore and I did every faithful thing there was to think and to calculate and to write and to wear and to do. So did you.
I don't know that I believed every word and every action I undertook and I surely didn't know if any of it would make a difference. But I understood that having no faith was no answer. Every time I was tempted to not keep the faith, I just piled it higher. If I were carrying that much faith onto an airplane, they'd make me check it.
This wasn't a drill. It was the real thing. Perhaps the most faithful thing I did was answer a call from a friend. He had an angle on two tickets for Game Six. A little on the expensive side, but it was Game Six. Win and keep playing. Priceless. Lose and go home? No refunds.
Our respective faiths hesitated but then dug deep. See you there, the usual spot.
As I had almost 30 times before in 2006, I pushed myself out my front door and toward Shea Stadium. Actually, I almost never push myself to go to a Mets game. I require no nudge at all. I go to Mets games; it's what I do. But on October 18, I was going to a Mets game that would determine if there would be any more Mets games. That was heavy. I sat on my train and I hoped for the best. I recounted in my head all the reasons why tonight should work. It exhausted me. I didn't know if I could go through this sort of mental decathlon for a Game Seven.
But then I got off of the train and I realized something.
I did get what I needed and what I wanted. I got another game. I got another night of summer. Seriously, the weather was summer. The game was baseball. The crowd was…it was a crowd. A crowd of Mets fans. Everywhere I looked, I was among the faithful. I was among me. I was headed where I was supposed to headed.
What could be better than that?
I suppose we could have lost Game Six, but once I found my friend with my ticket and once we passed through security and the turnstile and up three escalators and over several sections and up three rows and sat down and stood up in equivalent amounts for the next three-plus hours while yelling and clapping and shouting and clapping and chanting and clapping, it didn't occur to me. OK, maybe when Billy Wagner extended the top of the ninth beyond all reasonable limits of tolerance, but otherwise, no. This was too good. This was the Mets one more time in 2006. This was, at the risk of sloganeering, the year we'd been waiting for, the month we'd been waiting for, the night we'd been waiting for.
Of course we won.
It was a night of Reyes and Green and Lo Duca and Maine. It was a night guaranteeing Game Seven and all that such an event implied. That was the want-to/need-to aspect on paper as we understood it when the day began. That I still understood. The goal remained winning the pennant. We wanted it and we needed it if we were going to fulfill our ultimate desire for a world championship.
We got what we wanted, at least the part we could reach on October 18, by winning Game Six. We got tomorrow. Yet the more I think about it, the more I think I got what I needed just by getting off of that train. I had brought my faith to Shea Stadium. What else could I possibly need?
Next up: The 49 Greatest Mets of 2006.


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later, Although im on the forums alot and i've been able to keep the social life quite healthy. But oh well later man!!
Ok, see you in a week!
Sam is basically right, he's just cranky.
Rule 6: If you decide to publicly proclaim that you are leaving this board forever, please be sure you really mean it, because you won't be welcomed back.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Item #5034
Perennial (Tender). Also called sweet marjoram, its flavor is considered milder but more complex than its relative, oregano. Some describe the flavor as having a hint of balsam. Try substituting versatile marjoram for oregano in many popular dishes such as Eggplant Parmesan or pizza. You may be pleasantly surprised! Very popular ingredient in German sausage and herb breads. Legend has it that if you touch marjoram before bedtime, you will dream of your future spouse. Grown as an annual, but perennial in USDA zones 9 and warmer.
This packet sows approximately 380 Ft.
Seedling Image
Full Sun
1 1/2'-2' wide
Days to Emerge:
Seed Depth:
Seed Spacing:
Row Spacing:
When to sow outside: 1 to 2 weeks before average last frost.
When to start inside: RECOMMENDED (seed is very small). 6 to 8 weeks before average last frost. Optimal soil temperature for germination is 65°-75°F.
Special germination instructions: Requires light to germinate - press seed into soil surface - do not cover.
Arist: Jackie McFarland
Item #5034
0.50 grams


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EDDIE CAMPBELL's ALEC magnum opus in stores
It's here! It's massive! It's wonderful!
And here's the word from the good folk at TOP SHELF (blurbs well worth reading; links well worth clicking; book wholly worth buying) :
"My participation in comics originally grew from my personal admiration for the work of Eddie Campbell, both in partnership with Alan Moore (on FROM HELL) and on his own (in the inimitably observant ALEC stories, as well as the irreverent BACCHUS tales). Driven to expose Eddie's work to the widest possible audience, I entered the comics business as Eddie's distributor in the United States, and soon thereafter partnered with Brett Warnock to re-launch Top Shelf. Fifteen years later (!), I'm holding in my hands one of the things I'm most proud of: A gorgeous edition of Eddie's groundbreaking autobiographical comics, collected in a giant 640-page single volume!" -- Chris Staros
A brief description: Brilliantly observed and profoundly expressed, the ALEC stories present a version of Eddie's own life, filtered through the alter ego of "Alec MacGarry." Over many years, we witness Alec's (and Eddie's) progression "from beer to wine" -- wild nights at the pub, existential despair, the hunt for love, the quest for art, becoming a responsible breadwinner, feeling lost at his own movie premiere, and much more! Eddie's outlandish fantasies and metafictional tricks convert life into art, while staying fully grounded in his own absurdity. At every point, the author's uncanny eye for irony and wry self-awareness make even the smallest occasion into an opportunity for wit and wisdom. Quite simply, ALEC is a masterpiece of visual autobiography.
Available in two handsome editions:
Softcover with French Flaps:
-- $35.00 (US), Diamond: JUL091081, ISBN 978-1-60309-025-4
Deluxe Hardcover:
-- $49.95 (US), Diamond: JUL091082, ISBN 978-1-60309-047-6
Or see both (and more) at EDDIE CAMPBELL's webpage:
Here's what people are saying:
"ALEC is magic, and even if I knew how all of it was done I'd be doing you a disservice if I pointed out the wires and mirrors. ... It is written by someone who obviously finds being alive an endless source of novelty and conundrum." -- Alan Moore
"Do you need me to tell you how good Eddie Campbell is? Or that ALEC is probably the best book-length comic about art and wine and midlife crises and families and friends and wine and love and art and saying goodbye and terror there is?" -- Neil Gaiman
"This impressive collection -- a high-water mark in the graphic novel's short history -- confirms that no one else in the medium combines emotional truth, literary intelligence, and formal daring with such adroitness and elegance." -- Booklist (starred review)
"Witty and thoughtful ... a great and epic comic documentary novel like no other." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)


text: buzzalad 1 Posted March 19, 2014 Sorry if this has been asked before but I wouldn't know how to start searching for the answer. I have just purchased a "dream rig" consisting of a DT25, HD500x & a JTV69. I have watched several line6 videos about creating patches but they all sound different out of my amp because I'm not sure what settings to have the amp on. I don't have the line6 cable for connecting the HD500x to the DT25 so how do I know which amp model to have selected on the amp. Obviously, having the wrong amp and settings selected defeats the object of the patch. If you have the line 6 connector, do you have to tell the editor all the amp settings so it selects them every time or does it switch the DT25 settings out and use the amp models settings. This probably sounds like mumbo jumbo but I am very confused! Do you have to buy a expensive line6 cable or will any microphone lead do? thanks in advance for any advice Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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Penn State Brandywine will kick off its annual Spring Speaker Series with a presentation from Sean Moir, local Revolutionary War aficionado. Students, faculty, staff and community members are welcome to join Moir as he presents "A Fortnight in Chester County: The Philadelphia Campaign of 1777" at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 22, in the Main Building, Room 113.
Attendees will hear Moir discuss the Revolutionary War troop movements in Chester and Delaware counties, known as the "Philadelphia Campaign." This British initiative took place during the late 1700s to gain control of Philadelphia during the war. His presentation establishes the context of the campaign within the American Revolution and uses unique animated maps to help tie these events to local sites.
"Many of the troop movements of this campaign are not well known and people of Chester and Delaware county are often surprised to find that (Gen. George) Washington or (British Gen. William) Howe's army marched right past their properties or camped in places we visit every day," Moir said.
A Penn State alumnus, Moir is the owner/president of Western Heritage Mapping, which aims to grow the understanding of U.S. culture by providing educators the ability to create presentations that are more effective by using animated maps, according to its website.
"These animated maps are the focal point of my talk and help to show the movements and engagements of the armies, as well as to give people a sense of where all these events happened in relation to the modern landscape," he said.
This event is free and light refreshments will be served. Due to limited space, RSVP to firstname.lastname@example.com or by calling 610-892-1484.
Brandywine will also welcome Penn State Laureate and Beatles enthusiast Kenneth Womack to campus as part of its annual Spring Speaker Series at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 13. To find out more information about these and other upcoming speakers, visit Brandywine's Speaker Series website.


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From NinWiki
According to the Filter biography on their official website, former live guitarist Richard Patrick reportedly received the nickname "Piggy" while in Nine Inch Nails. As well, "Piggies" is a song on The Beatles' 1968 self-titled (or 'white') album, a noted influence on Charles Manson, who scrawled the word "pig" in blood on the front door of the Sharon Tate mansion wherein he and his 'Family' killed Tate and several others on August 8, 1969. The mansion was also where Reznor recorded The Downward Spiral in 1993-4. Whether or not Patrick or the Tate murders are directly related to this song is unknown, though Reznor kept the Tate door when he moved to Nothing Studios in New Orleans. The drum solo featured in the last half of the song is actually Reznor himself. Initially, it was a drum test being used as a placeholder in the song, but he liked it too much to replace it.
Song Credits
Characterized by its very simplistic structure, "Piggy" contains a simple set of drum and other percussion loops with only bass and organ accompaniment, joined by piano and noise loops in the latter half. Though heavily debated, the album version of "Piggy" is the first of several songs on The Downward Spiral to incorporate the famous "Downward Spiral Motif." While this version of the motif does not contain the final "five note measure" found on other songs such as "Closer" and "The Downward Spiral", the structure remains relatively the same. Played by the organs on the second verse, the notes to this short variation of the motif are as follows:
Piggy (Instrumental)
Released by Reznor through his remix.nin.com account, this is a vocalless, unmastered version of the album recording. Its ending is also extended by several repetitions of noise loops and the bass riff after the loud drums have faded out.
Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)
"Piggy" was remixed by Rick Rubin for the 1995 remix album Further Down The Spiral. It features Dave Navarro on guitar and samples "Put Your Love in My Tender Care" by the Fatback Band. This remix was also featured on 2004's 2nd CD of the 10th Aniversary Deluxe Edition of The Downward Spiral. Featured first on the Dissonance tour, it is one of the only remixes ever played live, and was revived for the NIN|JA 2009 tour.
Song Credits
Piggy (Closure)
Recorded in bootleg-like quality, this live performance video is featured on the first disc of Closure.
Piggy (And All That Could Have Been)
A professionally recorded live version appears in video and audio on And All That Could Have Been. Reznor gives the microphone away to audience members to sing the "nothing can stop me now" refrain in the latter half of the song, and his ending piano solo segues directly into the performance of "The Frail."
Ghosts Piggy
This version of the song made its debut on 2008's Lights In The Sky Tour. It features Justin Meldal-Johnsen on upright bass and Reznor on tambourine and marimba, usually segueing directly from "19 Ghosts III" via Reznor's tambourine playing as it slows from the quicker tempo to match that of "Ghosts Piggy." Its title is sourced from tour setlists.
"Piggy" has become a popular song in Nine Inch Nails live shows, played seemingly on a nearly regular basis. During live shows Reznor will frequently venture into the crowd during this song with a microphone and invite fans to sing along.
Bridge School Benefit
Reznor performed a new version of "Piggy" on piano with a string quartet at Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit concert.
Hey pig Yeah you Hey pig piggy pig pig pig All of my fears came true Black and blue and broken bones you left me here I'm all alone My little piggy needed something new Nothing can stop me now I don't care anymore Nothing can stop me now I just don't care Hey pig Nothing's turning out the way I planned Hey pig there's a lot of things I hoped you could help me understand What am I supposed to do I lost my shit because of you Nothing can stop me now I don't care anymore Nothing can stop me now I just don't care Nothing can stop me now You don't need me anymore
The last line of the song is not sung in the final album cut.
External Links


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Sunday, March 25, 2012
The Audio Lab albums I've presented in the past have always met a favourable reception. This post adds another nifty old slab to that collection. Released in 1960, AL 1523 features recordings originally from the 4 Star catalog by Webb Pierce, Marvin Rainwater, and Stuart Hamblen.
The early Webb Pierce titles were all recorded at the studios of radio station KWKH in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1950 featuring Buddy Attaway on guitar, Shot Jackson on steel, and Tillman Franks on bass. Of special note is "Groovy Boy" (originally released on 4 Star as "Groovie Boogie Woogie Boy"), an ode to a popular rhythm & blues DJ written and also recorded by Red Sovine. Ivan M. Tribe writes:
Sovine also appeared often on personal appearances with Ray "Groovy Boy" Bartlett, a young KWKH deejay who made use of a pseudo-Negro accent to win a wide following among youth of both races in the Ark-La-Tex region. Red even had a song about him on MGM entitled "Groovy Boy."
A 1954 session at Ben Adelman Studios in Washington, D.C. yielded the four Marvin Rainwater tracks contained here. Wade Holmes plays lead guitar, Mickey Woodward steel, and the legendary Roy Clark plays bass. The identity of drummer and fiddler is unknown. This was a demo session; "I Gotta Go Get My Baby" was turned into a minor hit by Teresa Brewer in 1955 on Coral.
The final four tunes are by western singer turned gospel crusader Stuart Hamblen including his version of "Ace In The Hole", which I've always enjoyed. They are from a session in Hollywood in 1947, and feature backing by Hamblen's "Covered Wagon Jubilee Orchestra."
Special thanks to Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies for recording info, and to Stephen of Cedar Island for passing this wonderful record my way.
1. Webb Pierce-Groovy Boy
2. Webb Pierce-I Saw Your Face In The Moon
3. Webb Pierce-Hawaiian Echoes
4. Webb Pierce-I've Loved You Forever It Seems
5. Marvin Rainwater-I Gotta Go Get My Baby
6. Marvin Rainwater-Daddy's Glad You Came Home
7. Marvin Rainwater-Korea's Mountain Northland
8. Marvin Rainwater-Tainted Gold
9. Stuart Hamblen-Ace In The Hole
10. Stuart Hamblen-Bluebonnets (In Her Golden Hair)
11. Stuart Hamblen-My Old Hound Dog
12. Stuart Hamblen-Our Anniversary
*download here*


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It's an understatement to say that the circumstances of a family change when a divorce occurs. But, while lives may be separated going forward, a close connection between ex-spouses continues in regards to financial issues. A key area to address is how best to protect a family that is now split into two households and separate lives.
Insurance policies for married couples are typically looked at from a family perspective. It is common, for example, for a family's health insurance to be provided through the health plan of one spouse's employer. Meanwhile, life insurance and disability income coverage are usually structured based on the assumed expenses of a family that is living together under one roof.
The equation changes and becomes more complex when a divorce occurs. If you're in the process of splitting from your spouse, it's important to make sure that all parties affected remain adequately protected.
Life insurance solutions
As a couple works through the terms of a divorce settlement, the status of life insurance coverage should be a focal point of negotiation. This is particularly true in situations where there is a primary breadwinner in the home and he or she is carrying the most life insurance.
The value of having or continuing a life insurance policy in the case of divorce is simple--if the spouse providing alimony and child support should die, the surviving spouse will likely need the type of financial protection only life insurance can provide.
Existing life insurance policies may require some modification. The policy owner is responsible for payment of premiums, but a case can be made that the spouse who is the primary beneficiary of the policy should maintain ownership, so he or she can make payments to ensure the policy will not lapse. By taking responsibility for ownership of the policy, a financial strain may be created for the potential beneficiary, but the cost of the premiums can be included as part of an alimony agreement.
The non-custodial spouse should also approach this matter responsibly, assuring that proper policies are in place for the benefit of children and the spouse providing primary care for the children. Keep in mind that once an agreement regarding the named beneficiary is in place, and a court orders that the policy continue for the benefit of the ex-spouse and children, the insured cannot request a change of beneficiary. However, if there is no need to protect alimony or child support, there may be a preference to naming the children as beneficiaries of an existing life insurance policy.
Disability income insurance
Alimony and child support payments could also be put in jeopardy if the spouse providing financial support loses his or her ability to generate income. A disability policy is important for a married couple to help maintain financial stability in the event of an unexpected illness or injury.
If no protection is in place, financial support could be reduced if a disability prevents an individual from working. A key point of differentiation between a disability policy and a life insurance policy is that the owner of disability insurance must be the insured individual. Take steps to make certain in the divorce proceedings that a requirement is in place for the affected spouse to continue paying those premiums and to provide proof that the policy is kept current.
Health insurance
While existing life insurance and disability income policies can be maintained to support a spouse and children after divorce, the situation changes far more dramatically when it comes to health insurance. Most notably, once a divorce is finalized, a spouse covered under an ex-spouse's workplace health care plan will need to find another option.
Children are not affected by the divorce as the spouse who carries coverage through work can continue to include his or her children on the policy (under the new health care reform law, until each child reaches age 26). But the divorced spouse will no longer qualify for coverage.
Options for the divorced spouse include:
• Obtaining coverage through an employer – If employed, one of the best options may be to utilize coverage from that workplace. In most cases, the cost is likely to be more reasonable and it provides a fair amount of stability in terms of the coverage provided.
• Staying on the other spouse's health care plan – The COBRA provisions of the law that apply to employees who lose or leave their job also apply to spouses of employees who are divorced. If COBRA rules apply to the company of the working spouse, the other spouse has 60 days from the date the divorce is in effect to provide notice to the employer that continued coverage is desired. The downside to this approach is that coverage can only be maintained for 36 months, so a long-term replacement solution should be explored.
• Buying private coverage – Another option is for the spouse without health insurance after the divorce is to purchase an individual policy. This may be particularly beneficial to do as soon as possible, because coverage would be in place before any health issues arise that could make obtaining private coverage more difficult.
Any option selected will likely require out-of-pocket payments for the insurance coverage. This is another factor to be included in a financial settlement as the divorce is finalized.
Courtesy of Rich Van Loan, CRPC© is a Senior Financial Advisor and Chartered Retirement Planning CounselorSM with Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. He can be reached at 617-337-3233 or via email at [email protected].


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SPOILER ALERT The writers and director of this film have been asking journalists and reviewers not to give away any details of the film. Thing is, this blog is for semi-academic musings, and those aren't really doable without talking about the film (besides, I'm not a critic who went to a preview but a paying customer, and the film's been out a couple of weeks!)
Certainly, the best way to see The Cabin in the Woods is to know nothing about it, so if you haven't seen it yet, go away and don't come back until you have. All I'll tell you for the moment is that 1) it's a proper horror movie - expect gore, albeit in relatively small amounts (I'm not sure how much, I had my eyes covered) and 2) it's absolutely hilarious.
Of course, if you want to know what on earth the fuss is about but don't like horror movies, read on!
Actually, I have to confess, I wasn't massively surprised by any of the twists and turns in The Cabin in the Woods. Partly, this is because the writers very sensibly put our two office boys, clues to what's actually going on, right in the first scene, so you have some idea where it's going. But more importantly, one thing I did know about this film before I went in was that it was co-written by Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard (a writer who worked on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel before writing Cloverfield). And boy, does it show, in various ways. The leads are a group of likeable teenagers. The dialogue is snappy (the presence of Bradley Whitford reminds us that Aaron Sorkin and Joss Whedon are the joint kings of snappy dialogue), and as I mentioned above, it's absolutely hilarious. The pseudo-military installation the last act of the movie takes place in is the Initiative from Buffy season 4, right down to the small cubic cells with big transparent windows. And the bad guys are a bunch of ancient demon-gods who've been around since who knows when, to whom a succession of teenagers must be sacrificed. All the revelations about what's really going on were very, very reminiscent of Buffy and Angel, especially the later seasons - the ones Goddard worked on.
Brother and I were both expecting something slightly more at the end. (Brother asked if there was a sequel and we agreed that, based especially on the final shot, Wrath of the Titans would actually make quite a good sequel, though it's a vastly inferior movie). We both thought that the brief reference to interference from 'upstairs' implied that in addition to the obviously unpleasant ancient gods 'downstairs' (demons? the Devil?) there was some kind of good force, a god or gods that were rather more benign, 'upstairs'. We assumed that the 'upstairs' gods were trying to end the ritual sacrifices to appease the 'downstairs' gods in favour of a more permanent solution (locking them up in Tartarus, perhaps? Killing them? Ignoring them until they go away? We don't know). In the end, the movie seemed to imply that this wasn't the case, and that the world was indeed doomed, but we like to think there was a Perseus or a Buffy just round the corner, ready to save the day.
The movie makes vague references to the ritual sacrifice of the young in many cultures, across the whole of history. In the Classical world, this only happened in myth (if there was any human sacrifice in the Classical world, it was of, e.g., defeated Gauls, criminals etc). In these myths, often, the young person or persons would have to be sacrificed because of a mistake the parents had made, and often they were sacrificed to a standard god who would be nice again once this particular offence had been sorted out. These myths, several scholars have argued, are explanatory myths that come from initiation rituals, where a young person goes through a symbolic death of childhood before marrying (girls) or becoming an adult male (boys, obviously). The classic example is Iphigenia: her father Agamemnon angers Artemis, so she must be sacrificed at a fake wedding ceremony, becoming a focal mythic figure for young girls on the point of marriage.
The best known group sacrifice from Classical mythology would probably be that of the children sent to be eaten (were they eaten? killed, anyway) by the Minotaur on Crete. The Minotaur exists because of the lust of the queen Pasiphae, and the children/youths/virgins must be sacrificed to keep him content. This would be the closest to the ritual portrayed here, and may have been part of the inspiration for it, but there's still that central difference that the Minotaur existed because of human wrongdoing (and was perfectly killable), whereas here. the implication is that the ancient gods exist independently of humans and may even pre-date them.
The Hunger Games, with which it shares some themes. The constant references to voyeurism throughout the film and the importance of creating a good show (it's unclear who the show is for - either the gods or Sigourney Weaver) and the rather twisted method of having the kids choose how they die is all very reminiscent of throwing a bunch of teenagers in an arena and watching them fight it out (and by the way I still haven't seen Battle Royale, but I'm sure Whedon and Goddard have). The weird area the kids are trapped in is definitely reminiscent of a Hunger Games arena, and this film asks similar questions about how healthy or right it is to enjoy watching people struggle, making bets on how someone will die (it makes a direct reference to reality TV, and later Brother pointed out that all reality TV shows in which a group of people get whittled down to one winner are, essentially, somewhat gladiatorial).
The difference here though is that, while The Hunger Games refers directly to the idea that we are one step away from watching people die for our entertainment, as the Romans did, The Cabin in the Woods is much more about our habit of enjoying watching people pretend to die in horror movies - which clearly isn't quite as dire, though perhaps it's still worth wondering every now and again exactly what we're enjoying (I wonder how Goddard and Whedon feel about torture porn... actually I know the answer to that - Whedon mentioned in an interview in SFX magazine that he doesn't like it). The movie asks us to think about how healthy our attitudes to horror and to the victims in horror movies are (especially the oft-noted attitude towards blonde girls who have sex), and suggests we might want to re-think some of the cultural values these films reinforce.
Having said that, the writers obviously also love their horror, and the references to practically everything in the horror genre were great and very funny - and I'm not all that into horror, so I can't have caught more than half of them (though I was quite proud of catching 'We are not who we are', since I haven't even seen that film). I was mildly disappointed that, of all the possible horrible deaths our gang could have gone for, we ended up with zombies - I know they're very 'in' at the moment, but I just can't get that interested in zombies. I much prefer a good ghost story, or a scary vampire. (I really want to know what the locket the disturbingly-named Jules was about to put on would have conjured up).
The good thing about the zombies from my point of view, of course, was that they were summoned by reading Latin. Genre-savvy Marty begging (ironically-named?) Dana not to read the Latin was a joke straight out of Buffy (or The Mummy), but Brother and I laughed, and it's always good to hear a bit of Latin. If you want a magic spell or mystical incantation, Latin is your language. I also liked the sexy guy reading the Latin later on. Fifteen to twenty years ago, there would be one unattractive, nerdy character who might know Latin and who would probably die halfway through (or if he's lucky, halfway through the sequel). Now, though, being geeky (and wearing hot glasses) is more cool, so there's a stoner to play the nerdy role, and the sexy guy gets to be intelligent and read Latin (loved the bit about how the blonde hair dye is actually destroying Jules' intelligence as well).
There was a definite sense of Joseph Campbell and the idea of the mythic archetype around the roles assigned to the kids, but ultimately most of them are archetypes specifically from Western horror fiction and film, not of literature in general. The Fool is well known as an apparently universal archetype, and I guess you could make a case for the Whore. But this version of the Virgin seemed to me to be more the Final Girl of horror movies, signified by her little panties in her first scene that mark her out as playing the Sigourney Weaver role from Alien, with the anvil hammered in when Weaver actually turns up at the end. Similarly, I suppose the Athlete and the Scholar might be fairly universal, but these versions seemed more to be the classic version of the Jock and an updated, sexy Nerd from American horror.
Brother and I both really enjoyed this film, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys horror movies (though if you're reading this, I hope you've already seen it!). It's totally mad, but since I thought it was quite possibly the funniest thing I've seen so far this year, I was OK with that (and it was such a Buffy-type of madness, I guess it didn't seem that strange to me). I loved all the random little extra touches, from the Japanese girls who manage to defeat the evil wet-haired girl ghost to Tom Lenk (who played Andrew on Buffy), as an intern, seen in the bottom corner on a TV screen as all heck breaks loose in the facility, holding up cards with something written on them. And whatever the writers intended, I like to think the world didn't end at the end of the film. I'm sure Percy Jackson can take care of it...
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HQs Thanks to Pattinsonlife
Press conference
@CJancelewicz: Heading to the #Cosmopolis presser shortly for a Pattinson/Cronenberg combo.
@eOnefilms Today's the day! See you at the Lightbox, 6 PM! #cosmopolis
@TeriHart This why everyone in Toronto is freaking out today. #Cosmopolis
@CJancelewicz #Cosmopolis press conference about to start!
@TeriHart: Emily Hampshire says she called @BaruchelNDG for advice on working with Pattinson & Cronenberg #Cosmopolis
@TeriHart: "in general I don't want actors to be screenwriters. I want them to stick to the script" #Cosmopolis
@TeriHart: Pattinson-I'm not a post modernist scholar Cronenberg - you're agent said you were Funny! #Cosmopolis
@eOnefilms: Robert Pattinson likes wide angles lenses. And cranes. #cosmopolisshoot
@eOnefilms: "Malin Akerman made a great Pattinson."- Giamatti on preparation
@TeriHart: @SarahGadon though about going method and not talking to Rob Pattinson but then thought shed look like a real jerk #Cosmopolis
@CJancelewicz Pattinson chewing on a toothpick. #Cosmopolis press conference underway!
@TeriHart: Robert Pattinson said that the notion of parallels between his life and his character in #Cosmopolis are not there at all.
@keri_lotion: #Pattinson's process: "having a heart attack." #Cosmopolis
@keri_lotion Something about being in a room with David Cronenberg,Rob Pattinson & Paul Giamatti makes Monday morning more bearable
@TeriHart: Lots of confusion over the London Whale here at the #Cosmopolis press conference.
@TeriHart: Was it a huge crowd? I thought it was just 3 girls #Cosmopolis on set.
@eOnefilms: "That's a flawed question." #Pattinson gems.
@eOnefilms: We sure are! "Canadians are pretty nice." - Robert Pattinson
@CJancelewicz Pattinson: Canadian fans generally very nice! #Cosmopolis press conf halfway through
@TeriHart: Robert says he thinks his fans from #Twilight will like #Cosmopolis
@TeriHart: The idea of filming unfilmable novels is not in my head at all. I think they're film able that's why I make them. #Cosmopolis
@TeriHart: Loving that Robert and Paul are still dissecting their characters and what motivates them #Cosmopolis
@eOnefilms: Pattinson really wanted to make sure there was a toilet in the last scene. #cosmopolisfact
@eOnefilms: "Power is suggested by the seat." - Cronenberg on Cosmopolis set.
@CJancelewicz "I think my fans will like #Cosmopolis -- I liked the Twilight scripts for the same reasons. I hope they'll appreciate it." - Pattinson
@TeriHart: Robert Pattinson is stealing @kiva_jane use of perpetual presence to describe #Cosmopolis she said "all yours" #gracious
@TeriHart: Cronenberg didn't want the cast to read the book #Cosmopolis
@CJancelewicz #Cosmopolis conference over. Tons of pro pics coming later
@rozweston I just told Robert Pattinson that he won Best Kiss at the MTV awards. His reaction: "Yes! 4 in a row" followed by fistpump and sarcasm.
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I have a serious problem here, not with Joan Kelly as a person, again, but with such a flimsy response to a discussion of actual legal precedent established through listening to Catharine MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin and taking their arguments seriously. if one is going to defend radical feminist points of view, one needs to be familiar with the ways those points of view have affected people's real lives, especially insofar as legislation has been modeled on them. I find it highly troubling that Joan (and again, it's not specifically Joan saying this that bothers me, but the fact that anyone would say it at all) can write off salient facts of history because they did not happen in her country or, even worse, perhaps because she simply doesn't know about them.
I did read your comment, and insomuch as I could make sense of it, the wikipedia entry you linked to. Both of which you made a point of posting as if they had anything to do with what I said. They don't. So on top of your response being, in fact, non-responsive, you also mixed in some snottiness with the "thank you try again" business.
I don't know understand which thing you're referring to as "this facile "protection of women's rights."" Is the wacky obscenity law in Canada supposed to be some protection of women's rights? Or are you saying that an argument against the wholesale promotion of female submission and masochism is a facile protection of women's rights?
Whatever the case, my position is that arbitrarily applied obscenity laws – which, according to you, censor things like "feminist literature" but let actual pornography fly freely about the atmosphere? – are not in fact evidence of male dominance and female submission being unacceptable sexual/romantic frameworks.
Again, I live in the US. There is, to my ongoing horror, a fairly strong conservative Christian contingent in this country. The word "sex" is bleeped out of pop songs; I can't think of another example that I just noticed earlier today because I'm fuzzy-headed on cold medicine, but there are even more benign words that get absurdly censored in pop culture media.
None of that puts any power whatsoever into the hands of kink-critical radical feminists. Especially not as regards other people's sex lives. I don't know what the hell Canada's up to, but I do have a general enough sense of it to know that it, too, is not a radfem utopia, obscenity laws or not.
Lastly, it is not the fact that that billboard was in full view of children that is so disturbing to me (though I don't fucking like that part, either); the propaganda towards legitimizing female submission and masochism permeates everything all the time – it is not being hidden from children in the first place. It may not always show up in overt BDSM-themed references (though it does so more and more, as I've noted), but it is the ever-present blueprint for heterosexuality.
That billboard is basically just a fucked up sign post on a destructive road. The road itself is the problem. And, I believe, it is a road that runs parallel to obscenity laws, not counter to them. Conservative culture, such as it is, in this country, proves that point over and over: the requirement of female submission/masochism and overall higher levels of social control go hand in hand, if males in power have anything to say about it. And they do. Hence my objections to all of it.
I do think that somebody who wants to argue for radical feminist points of view needs to be able to acknowledge this, that it happened, how it happened, and why it happened. A person who is really interested in having an informed, thoughtful opinion, will think about the impact this has and have reasons why it shouldn't matter, beyond "I hadn't heard of that, and can't quite make sense of it."
In fact, I've had radical feminists repeatedly say to me that I simply need to "educate myself"and not even show up to a debate with them in the first place until I fully understand where they're coming from and what the social frameworks they're talking about look like. This often includes having a sophisticated understanding of "privilege" as they understand it, without which opponents are often told they're not even supposed to show up to talk ("This is not a Feminism 101 blog!") I find it rather concerning that many set the bar so high for us, and yet the bar apparently is quite low for themselves.
This reminds me of nothing so much as a conversation I had in college with another student I knew well and respected very much. At the time, I knew very little about feminism as a movement, and it just begun to learn that some feminists have problems with BDSM. I talked to this person in hopes that she could help me understand some of the radical points of view that I was having trouble digesting (a professor recommended I begin my readings of McKinnon withToward a Feminist Theory of the State. I don't recommend beginning there. Honestly, I don't recommend beginning at all without some background information about what she was getting at.)
I remember that at one point we started discussing pornography. Personally, I'd always been vaguely leery of porn, but had found when I actually looked at it that I had almost none of the objections I expected to have. I'd expected something I'd feel affronted by and carefully avoided it, and (for me, personally -- not saying anyone shouldn't be bothered!) when I actually looked, discovered something I found arousing and amusing and... not offensive at all, though I did have critiques and there was/is some I don't like.
So I ask this person about it and the first thing she blurts is "There's no cunnilingus in it!" I look at her, startled, and go "Huh. What exactly have you watched? I've definitely seen it in -- uh --"
She stops dead.
I've caught her.
She hasn't seen any.
She backtracks, protests, starts saying "Well, okay, but isn't... the focus on male pleasure? Um... er..."
I nod. She's not wrong. We discuss this, some, and part amicably if I recall right.
But I walk away stunned. She has swallowed (yes, I am being clever) what her professors and her feminist books have told her pornography is without ever bothering to check the accuracy of her sources. She has taken books and lectures that argue against Something as correct without ever beholding -- or, if beholding would be triggering or upsetting, researching, neutrally -- what Something is in the first place.
And that alarms me far more than being against Something.
That's why I'm bothered by this. Our opponents say that we miss something very huge about how culture is shaped, though they rarely have hard data. We say "what about obscenity law, and the impact that radical feminist rhetoric has had on it in this case?" and they go "Uh, I'm in the US. And I'm talking about porn!"
That's why the anger bothers me. Not because I think this one person is pissy (though the zero-to-sixtyness of it does take me aback, and I don't like it, so I must admit there's some ad hominem here too) but because it seems the anger either happens instead of, or precludes, understanding everything salient about how real people are affected.


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Loyd's New Year - A Trio of Problem Systemsby Loyd Case on January 13, 2010 12:00 AM EST
- Posted in
- Systems
It's the new year, which must mean it's time for all our PCs to go belly up.
Or so it seemed to me in the past couple of weeks. I thought the tale of these three systems is worth telling, as a lesson in recognizing and solving different types of PC problems. Perhaps you'll see something of your own PC troubles in this, but even if you don't, there are still lessons to be learned.
We'll begin this with the story of my daughter's ever-slowing Vista system.
The Tale of the Clogged PC
This past weekend, I'd decided it was time to nuke my daughter's system from orbit. It was the only way to be sure.
Emily's been running a fairly decent, though not bleeding edge system. Core components include an Intel QX6850, Asus P5Q3 Deluxe motherboard and an older 512MB Radeon HD 4870. Over the past couple of months, the system had begun running slower than molasses.
Emily is a fairly typical teenage girl when it comes to PC use. She uses the web heavily, and happily downloads anything she thinks she might like. She is, however, more tech savvy than most teenage girls, so she doesn't do really stupid stuff, like open phishing emails. However, she's a happy user of WildTangent games, likes to have the Weather Channel bug running (ugh, I say), and related sorts of gimmickry that can act as brakes on a fast system.
Recently, though, her system had been really dragging – so much so, that she'd given up on using it, and was using the communal living room laptop to do her homework and even run some light games. (I confess: I got her hooked on Torchlight.)
It all began several months back, when Emily began complaining that her system was glitchy. At the time, it was running Windows XP. I'd built the system about eighteen months ago, and it had been running reasonably well. I'd never been entirely happy with the QX6850, though. Even with a beefy Scythe Ninja cooler, the CPU typically idled at 58 degrees C. The QX6850 ran at 3GHz, but was built with the same 65nm process technology used in the original Conroe CPUs.
So I did something that, in retrospect, planted the seeds of bigger problems to come: I thought it would be a good idea to perform an in-place upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista.
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andrewbuchanan - Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - linkI agree, as have a few others here, that kingston value ram is the only way to go. I've been building computers for 15 years or more I would certainly rank your problems as memory first, motherboard second, power supply third, with most everything else in the unlikely category.
I know kingston value ram isn't exciting, doesn't have amazing timing, etc etc, but nothing sucks more than an unstable computer. At the end of the day overclocking your video card and cpu are more important anyways. I've had so many problems with other brands of memory I'm honestly afraid to even try them anymore. It's not fun, at all, to spend days of memtests in the bios tweaking voltages and timings to get a stable system.
As for motherboards, I still normally buy asus and they work out for me ok. I try to avoid latest anything anymore though, somebody else can report all the bugs and issues and fill the forumns, I'm not interested in being that person. That's true for new video card architectures, new versions of windows (except 7 which is basically vista with fixes), now android phones - you name it. Unless you really need it, you'll probably be happier to wait 6 months for the bugs to get worked out and do something fun with your weekends instead. Reply
ScavengerLX - Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - linkFun article as always. Thank Loyd Reply
gaiden2k7 - Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - linkdaughter's pc was a waste of hardware IMO(haha) something with a low-end ATI 4000 card can probably pull off on Torchlight (great game btw, looks like WoW, sounds like D1, plays like D2, & feels like D3) I'm in agreement with someone earlier who suggested pre-image her system or just simply replace the hdd (they are so dang cheap!)
if it comes to hardware problem almost more often than not, it's the incompatibility of the DRAM and the MOBO, makes me wonder why, after all these years, this issue still exists, or it maybe a marketing scheme (if so then it sucks!)
I have had several ASUS boards, they sure are lookers fancy heat sinks and all color schemes, but none of them ever 'whoa' me, the my best ASUS board was the P5Q3 with Q9300/4850 512mb/8gb. but overall Gigabyte gave me the best experience. had 2 mATX and personally using the EP45-UD3P with Q9550/4gb RAM/2x 4870 1gb CF/Windows 7 Pro, works great.
My #1 investment rule is not to be brave with my money - given that I am no millionaire. Always research extensively and compare proven hardware before throwing bones at it. The effort usually pays back in terms of money save from spending less as well as less time spent on troubleshooting.
my 2 cents Reply
Drag0nFire - Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - linkHi Loyd,
I feel your pain, and have experienced problems similar to the ones you described. The issue of the computer that gradually slows over time can be just as frustrating as the computer that just won't POST.
However, I hope I may be able to shed some light on one of your problems. I believe the memory modules you used in the second system were older DDR3 modules designed to run at 1.8V. Since Lynnfield runs memory at a maximum of 1.65V, it is no surprise to me that the memory didn't run in a stable fashion. The changes in voltage levels may help explain some of the confusion you referred to in the changing market for DDR3 memory.
--Jonathan Reply
lifeblood - Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - linkActually, the PC that slows down over time is more frustrating. Not posting is easier as the OS and Apps are off the list of possible culprits. With a slowing computer it can be anything (although its usually bloat and malware).
BTW, I hit Report Post rather than Reply by mistake. Moderators please ignore. Reply
cyclo - Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - linkI find that RAM incompatibilities become even more pronounced when all slots are populated. One thing I could seem to trust to work though are the Kingston Value RAM series. Never had problems using these sticks on 975, P45, P55 motherboards. Reply
yyrkoon - Thursday, January 14, 2010 - linkYou can not always go by manufacturer of the DRAM its self. You should always research what type of CMOS chip is on a stick of RAM, and then see if it is compatible with the given motherboard. Also, RAM density can play a factor with some boards as well.
As for specific name brands themselves. I have found ADATA to be fairly reliable. Yes, I know, the "cheap name brand" misnomer threw me off too at first, but have found their sticks to work well in most cases. I would venture to guess it has to do with packaging, and the sticks inability to be easily "zapped" by static electricity. Although, my favored all time brand is Crucial.
In the end though, you, or we will inevitably run into a bad stick of RAM if you build enough systems. What matters here, is how well the company deals with your request for an RMA. when this happens, this is where, and why I prefer Crucial. I have not had many bad sticks from this brand, but when I did have, it was a pleasure to deal with them. Corsair on the other hand, got very defensive, and all but forced me to deal with the eTailer that I originally bought from. Newegg, and they were nearly as bad to deal with. They had no problem replacing the modules, but did not want to pay return shipping. Unacceptable . . . In the end, I got what was right( which after dealing with them the way they made things go down, I asked for a complete refund ), but they have since changed their policies on returning items. So now, I try to avoid such situations by dealing with people who understand that people who pay your bills should be treated fairly, and with respect. Which is the way I was brought up to believe how you treat people you do business with.
killerclick - Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - link1. don't use high end components for casual-gaming-and-web-surfing teenage-girl computers
2. always do a clean install of an operating system
I recently upgraded my girlfriend's computer TO Athlon II X2 240, 2G of DDR2 and 4670 and for general use it's as fast as anything - you can't tell the difference between that and an i7 + 5870 when you're web surfing and playing casual games, Left 4 Dead, World of Warcraft, etc. Oonce I installed everything I made a disk image so if it starts to bloat, I just save her Documents folder and roll over with the disk image. Reply
AdamB5000 - Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - linkI enjoyed the read. Thanks. Reply
Shadowmaster625 - Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - linkSpend ungodly amounts of money for marginal performance. Why on earth anyone would spend hundreds of dollars on motherboards and memory just to have problems like these is beyond me. Isnt it much simpler to go to newegg and order the components with the most reviews and the highest ratings? I've never had any problems doing it that way. But then again I dont spend thousands on computer parts just to eek out an additional 10% performance that I'll never even notice. Anyone who has bought anything to do with DDR3 has wasted their money. Reply


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Dear All-
While working on a programming in (Basic Language) which we use for translating our customers data into ERP system, I came across an issue where I need to write the data to SQL. I am done with that but here is the problem.
There is possibility that customer sends same part in different lines and I want to catch that instance of same part and write the occurrence of how many times the part is coming.
Since there is a lot of limitation in basic programming language I am not able to catch the instances of how many times
the part shows up or may be i dont know advance basic programming (since i am a novice). However the software allows use of Java programming inside basic programming.
I wanted to know how to implement the solution for the above problem in Java.
I have defined an array in Basic of n rows and 14 columns. These 14 columns refer to 14 columns
of SQL table. The array is given below to be specific.
One of the columns (column 7) is a counter which counts for the repetition of the occurrence of same part.
so for example in the above scenario
For Example: The Array will have.
Line PartNo other col Counter
Line1 PartA . 1
Line2 PartB . 1
Line14 PartC . 1
Line9 PartA . 2 (repeated second time so 2)
Line5 PartD 1
Line70 PartB . 2 (repeated second time so 2)
Line90 PartA . 3 (repeated second time so 3)
Hope I was able to explain the problem. My ask is to how to capture the repeated occurrences and write the n number of occurrences into Column named counter.
Please note that the Line Column is not in serial order.
Thanks for your help.


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Kate's Club
On October 20th, we will be riding in Spin For Kids to raise money for Camp Twin Lakes, an incredible organization that provides camp programs for children with serious illnesses, disabilities, and other life challenges. In 2018, Camp Twin Lakes served over 10,000 campers, levereged support from 3,500 volunteers, and subsidized 70% ($550/week) of the direct camp costs for every camper served.
Why We Ride
We're participating in Spin For Kids because we want to make a difference in the lives of CTL campers. Every $550 our team raises funds one week of camp for a Camp Twin Lakes camper. During one week at CTL, that camper could conquer their fear of the zip line, discover hidden archery talents, learn how to swim in our accessible pool, and make new friends who understand the unique challenges of their disability, serious illness, or other life challenge. Camp gives kids an opportunity to build their confidence and capabilities without worrying about their extraordinary day to day challenges.
Why You Should Sponsor Our Team
100% of the money you donate goes directly to campers at Camp Twin Lakes, so your gift will make a difference in a child's life! We're taking this challenge together, and we hope you'll join us as we change gears to change lives!


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foldl, whose seed parameter can be made strict so long as the binary function used for the fold is also strict.
Can we do better? Maybe, but I can't think of a clean solution. Here, I'll sketch out an algorithm that doesn't quite work. Note that there is a runtime cost for implementing such an approach, but I believe the runtime cost can be made less than the cost of unnecessarily allocating a thunk on the heap - which requires at the very least a handful of instructions.
Before giving the algorithm, let's be clear about the goal: the goal of perfect strictness analysis is to avoid allocating a thunk for any argument that could be made strict without altering the callee's semantics. We don't care whether this determination can be done statically or whether it must wait until runtime.
In the case that it must wait until runtime, here is a sketch of an algorithm that seems like it might work, but doesn't. I'm going to loosely assume a stack-based machine, in which we push a function then its arguments onto a stack, then either call the function or create a thunk:
- Each function stores (at runtime) an annotation indicating which arguments to it are strict, or, more generally, how the strictness of each argument is dependent on the strictness of other arguments.
- Rather than building thunks bottom up, we build them top-down: when creating a thunk, we first push the callee onto a stack.
- Before building a thunk for an argument to the callee, we ask the callee whether it is strict in that argument. If it is, we evaluate the argument. Note that the callee may examine its caller, recursively, to determine strictness, or it may examine other arguments that are being passed to the callee. In the case that the information is not yet known or the callee is lazy in that argument, we drop back to building a thunk for that argument.
foldl again, and see how this would work. Recall the definition for
I'll assume we can perform some analysis to determine that
foldl :: (a -> b -> a) -> a -> [b] -> a
foldl f s [] = s
foldl f s (h:t) = foldl f (f s h) t
foldl is strict in its third parameter (since we must always evaluate the third parameter to distinguish between the empty list case and the non-empty list case), lazy in its first parameter (since we won't necessarily apply that function to any arguments), and strict in its second parameter iff the first parameter is a binary function strict in both its arguments. Notice that the strictness of
f actually depends not just on the type of the third argument, but on its runtime value - if the list is empty,
f will not be evaluated; if it is nonempty,
f will be evaluated. This is going to cause problems, as we'll see in a moment.
In the recursive call,
foldl f (f s h) t, we would push
foldl onto a stack. Now we are at the point where we are passing the first argument to
foldl, so we would ask
foldl whether it is strict in this argument. It responds 'no', so we leave
f unevaluated. Next we are at the point we we are about to pass the second argument to
foldl. We again query
foldl, asking if it is strict in its second argument.
foldl checks its first argument - except if
f is unevaluated, its strictness is unknown, so we have to fall back to thunking the second argument. We're back where we started - the strictness of the function f won't become known until we reach the end of the list, so we end up with the same behavior as before. Ouch! Note that if
f were already evaluated,
foldl would be able to determine that the second parameter could be evaluated before being supplied.
It seems we would need another level of analysis to determine that the first parameter,
f, can be made strict if the list being folded over is nonempty. In principle, I don't see why we couldn't do this sort of analysis, but this is starting to get ugly. In addition, we have the problem that when we go to supply
f to
foldl, the list argument hasn't been supplied yet, so we can't inspect the list to determine if it is nonempty. This might not be a fundamental problem since we obviously have a reference to the list even if we haven't formally supplied to
foldl yet. But still, this is getting a lot more complex than I'd initially hoped.


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Results 1 to 10 of 11
Review: Armored II: Tower DefenseArmored II: Tower Defense
Mobile Game Review
Title: Armored II: Tower Defense
Developer: In-house
Publisher: ArmoredSoft
Release Date: Out now.
Format: Android
Game Features: An addictive tower defense game with key differences: large field maps, railways for towers, bombers and minefields!
Reviewed on: Multiple devices
Armored II: Tower Defense is a lethal battle tower defense game for Android. Offering a few unique cues over other games of the popular genre, earn and invest cash into your weaponry and defend your base from waves of enemy baddies.
Hello again, for my review I bring you a game from one of my favourite genres, now if you've ever read any of my Java game reviews then you'll know that I'm a massive lover of tower defence games, I don't know what it is about them, I just find them addictive, but enough of me and my weird love affair with a genre you're here for a review, that or you came in here thinking you'd find a link to download the game without having to look at the review, no link for you.
Anyway to the game itself, Armored II: Tower Defense is pretty much your typical tower defence game, defend your structure from the waves enemies who are coming at you from a road/path, but unlike your typical tower defence game Armored II: Tower Defense's maps are huge, usually with tower defence games you can see the whole map in front of you, not so with Armored II: Tower Defense you'll have to scroll across multiple screens to see the whole play area, which not only adds difficulty but completely changes the way you play the game, okay not so much on the easy levels but most certainly on the harder levels in which you will need to put a unit on railway tracks so it can move around the area by itself, as the enemies get harder to take out and move faster the railway tracks are a must.
As with most tower defence games there is only one path in which the enemies take, Armored II: Tower Defense is different again, enemies will now take several paths, so again you will have to play with completely different tactics to which you're probably used to with other tower defence games.
Each level consists of 70 waves which for some people I can see being one too many but they don't have to be tackled in one session there is a save option, but getting to the last ten waves of any level is were the game really becomes exciting, massive amounts of high level enemies edging ever closer to their goal it really become quite tense in a bum clenching way, luckily after a certain amount of waves without letting any of your enemies through your units will get upgrades, be it an extra airstrike or rank, it just makes killing those enemies that little bit easier my only issues is that there are only three units where as in a tower defence game you would usually get six or more. Graphically I really like the way this game looks, units look like little toy models and the environments look pretty good as well, one thing I would like to add is that when I played this for the first time on my Friends Galaxy S2 there was a sound issue, that issues being that the sound wouldn't work, now I don't know if that has been fixed or not, but just as a word of warning there might still be issues, but on every other device I've played this on the sound works fine.
There are many tower defence games out there but none are quite like Armored II: Tower Defense, okay it lacks a little variety in terms of the units, but the size of the maps making it feel like a real warzone and the excitement gained from the last few waves of a level make this game a real treat to play.
Graphics: 8/10
Remind me of a toy battlefield.
Sound: 7/10
When it works it sounds great.
Gameplay: 7/10
Exciting at times but can get a little repetitive.
Story: 8/10
Not bad.
Overall Score: 7.5 out of 10bronze.gif
Next Review - Real Steel HD
Review tomorrow.
30-03-2012, 10:03 AM #5Member
Nice one +1
26-05-2012, 06:31 PM #6Member
great work
Good job, thanks. Very useful.
04-07-2012, 06:34 PM #8Member
Nice game.Thanks.
awesome, i'll have to check this game out!
20-09-2012, 08:35 AM #10Member
looks like a great game! I am definitely loving the graphics


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"As Chairman of the Trust it gives me great pleasure in welcoming you to the 'Living the Dream' Web Site." "When asked to be Chairman I had no idea to the extent of exceptionally talented athletes we are fortunate to have in Barking & Dagenham. The vision of forming such a Trust, which came from Teresa Parish, was soon enthusiastically encaptured by chosen trustees from the Business community, Voluntary sector and the Council.""As Managing Director of Dagenham?s oldest business, West & Coe it is indeed a great honour for me to be Chairman. Together with the other trustees we are committed to raising sufficient funds to support our top athletes and ensure each have an equal opportunity to achieve their goal."
"May I encourage everyone to be part of ?Living the Dream?. There are so many ways we can all help, as you will see from our Web Site.""I sincerely hope you will share our vision and help make the dreams of many of our outstanding athletes come true." "Be part of helping our young and aspiring athletes to succeed."May I encourage everyone to be part of ?Living the Dream?. There are so many ways we can all help, as you will see from our Web Site."I sincerely hope you will share our vision and help make the dreams of many of our outstanding athletes come true."
'Living the Dream' Barking and Dagenham Trust is a new independent Trust which was launched in July 2007, to support local sportsmen and women.The Trust will be responsible for raising money through various means such as donations and fundraising events. The money will then be distributed to local talented individuals to help them develop their sporting talent and their dreams of being part of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics and other international competitions. The Trust comprises representatives from the business community, the voluntary sector and Barking and Dagenham Council.
The borough currently boasts over 20 young potential Olympians who represent their respective national squads as well as being world record holders, world champions and European champions.These youngsters are the pride of Barking and Dagenham, and we want to help them achieve their dream by supporting them, whether it be by providing equipment or assistance with training and travel costs.In order to compete with the best, these youngsters have to travel all over the world to take part in competitions and we want to show them that the local community is fully behind them.Imagine the pride we will all feel when July 2012 comes and a number of competitors from Barking and Dagenham proudly march into the Olympic Stadium in Stratford as part of the Great Britain team, achieving their dream to compete on home soil in the greatest sporting event in the world.Everyone can help and there are lots of ways to do so, These could include making a donation, organising an event or sponsoring an event that the Trust is organising. You can donate prizes or become a friend of the Trust by completing the application form on our enquries page. We will keep you informed about our work and the progress of our young sports stars via this website.
The Trust is working in partnership with the Dagenham Post and will therefore ensure that the press is informed of your support, and where possible will involve our sports stars in any event organised or presentation to the Trust.
If you would like more information about the Trust, or how to make a donation, please contact our Treasurer Steve Thompson at Dagenham and Redbridge Football Club on 020 8592 1549.
Help us to ensure that the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics leave a lasting legacy for the community of Barking and Dagenham.
'Living the Dream' is one of the most important ideas to come out of this caring borough. Material support for up and coming athletes is something people only think about either watching medal ceremonies or bemoaning the lack of sufficient quality competitors. So a scheme that gives the chance to actively support our Olympic hopefuls is something that we all need to get involved in, and the Barking and Dagenham Post is very keen to be among those cheering them on.The road to the 2012 Olympic Games is going to be a long and arduous one for our contenders and they deserve every ounce of support.
The Post has been publishing regular updates on this elite group of young people, not only to give them encouragement, but also to publicise their achievements and show how proud the people of Barking and Dagenham are of them all.


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I think I gained 10 pounds on book tour. It was just gross. I mean, I ordered room service so many times. It's just sick. What wasn't sick was I got to meet so many kick ass urban farmers! Of course I can't get most of the images off my camera to show you, but eventually I will and you'll be as impressed as I was. Here's the break-down:
Boston. Ok, I was too jet lagged to find the Food Project, but I swear I will find them and see their farm some day.
Philadelphia. Greensgrow's farm manager, Ryan, picked me up from the airport and gave me a whirlwind tour of the Philly Farm Scene. Mill Creek Farm was an oasis of lush, with almost two acres in production, beehives, a composting toilet, solar panels, and a cob oven. They sell to CSA members and have a produce stand. Then I saw a high school garden that is funded through a nutrition program. Then onto Greensgrown. It has been on my blogroll for awhile, but I had no idea what they're up to. What I discovered was: they're up to a lot. They are a plant nursery, an apiary, a CSA curator (meaning they bring together all kinds of farms to set up a nice CSA box of meat, eggs, milk, butter, and vegetables), an education center, and a farm. They have lots of poly houses growing beans and tomatoes, chard and strawberries. They also have the coolest cool room, using a Cool Bot, which is a hacked AC unit. They also make their own biodiesel and they have methanol recovery. I mean, what don't they do? It honestly made me feel like a slacker. Also I found out the following: philadelphia still has cowboys with horses in the city. If I didn't love Oakland, I'd move to Philly…
Or, Baltimore. I heart Baltimore so much. I got to stay in my friend's warehouse near downtown. She only pays $400 for an enormous room and studio and shared space. And the people of Baltimore were so amazing. They laughed their asses off at my jokes during my reading, and I found out there is hardly any urban farming going on there, despite the fact there's tons of vacant land. I did meet this one farmer guy and a really nice lady who are working on starting farms in abandoned areas. I'm telling you, I'm in love with Baltimore. Finally, this is crazy, there's this: erected this photo in the window of the freaking public library:
These were my hosts: my friend Emily, Judy from Enoch Pratt Library, and Linda from Baltimore Green Works. Now that poster is just scary big, right?
Then off I scampered to Salt Lake City. There I discovered the most amazing urban "gardener" named David Bell, Jill Bell and Celia Bell (David's sis-in-law). David was a total breath of fresh air. I was blown away by the amount of land in production and how much they've accomplished down there. I enjoyed their irrigation methods (ditch), their poly houses which had big green tomatoes, and their attitude that they're just doing large scale backyard gardening. Love that, and it made me rethink my farmer pretensions. I mean, what's so bad about being a gardener anyway? Here's David, and his soil block maker (has anyone used these?). I'm pretty excited to get one because you don't have to use plastic trays and six packs, which I loathe. David was just putting the blocks on recycled metal bread trays. Celia is a total bad-ass, but I only got to meet her for a second, she keeps goats and chickens and a huge garden in the ghetto of SLC (i had no idea they existed).
Now I'm home, head swirling with all these new ideas and new people and urban farm–I mean gardening–love.
If you're keen to hang out, here's where I'll be:
Wednesday, June 16 @ 7pm Green Arcade Books in SF on Market next to Zuni Cafe (not that I've eaten there).
Sunday, June 20, 9:30-12:30 teaching a Goat Class! To sign up, go to www.biofueloasis.com. If goats aren't your thing, Nishanga Bliss (!) is teaching a fermentation class later that same day.


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Haven't found anything yet?
*Nice motifs: car, air plane, helicopter, hot-air balloon
*clean linked edges - tone on tone
*stable thermally insulating fleece back
*No foam which crumbles!
*fine flat quality, about 7mm thick
Racing kids carpet / rug
The absolute highlight for every kids and teens room. Make your children happy and customize their rooms with their favorite designs and colours. By the high quality fleece back this carpet / rug provides extra noise and head insulation.
Note: Due to different monitor settings it may happen that the colouration of the product is not reproduced authentically. The picture shows an example for design.


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(Pocket-lint) - JVC launched what it calls the world's first consumer camcorder with full HD 3D at CES 2011, although Sony actually pipped it to the post and announced its HDR-TD10E first. However, JVC's 3D device is due to hit UK shops before Sony's so, in a way, the claim still stands. We managed to get up close and personal with the new camcorder at JVC's UK HQ.
The GS-TD1 sports two lenses and two 3.32-magapixel CMOS sensors that enable it capture full HD 3D video by taking left and right images at 1920 x 1080i and processing them simultaneously using its high-speed imaging engine. According to JVC, the brand wanted to focus on creating a conventional camcorder for its 3D offering, rather than an add-on 3D lens, like the Pansonic VW-CLT1. Along with its 3D capture capabilities, the GS-TD1 can also display 3D images on its 3.5in 3D display, without the need for 3D specs, making it easier to get a good idea of what your video will look like on the big screen. The display features an easy-to-use on-screen menu that is very intuitive.
In comparison to the lightweight camcorders of today, the GS-TD1 has a relatively chunky chassis although the device is actually a great deal lighter than it looks thanks to its magnesium alloy frame. It certainly feels lighter and easier to hold than using Panasonic's lens attached to one of its latest camcorders. The JVC also sports an slightly mottled finish that helps to add a bit of extra grip and which distinguishes it as one of the brand's high-end models.
The main function buttons are well placed, making them easy to find and comfortable to use. What's more, the big, backlit 3D button on the back of the device makes it easy to switch between 2D and 3D which means that you'll always know which mode you're in.
The camcorder offers a 5x optical zoom while recording in 3D mode (10x in 2D) which we found to be a lot smoother than that of many rival camcorders. Both the battery port and the SD card slot can be easily accessed while the camcorder is mounted on a tripod, which is a nice touch. The built-in 64GB memory can be topped up using the SD slot but as this will probably get full up pretty quickly, you can archive videos directly using a Blu-ray burner or external HDD.
As well as recording in full HD MVC mode (the same codec as 3D Blu-ray) you can also choose from full HD AVCHD (side-by-side) or 2D AVCHD.
The images that we saw from the GS-TD1 on a projector screen, and on a 3D TV were superb and just as good as those offered by Panasonic's 3D video capture technology, if not better. Images were crisp and clear and the 3D effect was instant. The camcorder includes Automatic Parallax adjustment to ensure that the two images that make up the 3D picture are aligned properly so that crosstalk is avoided. This can also be adjusted manually, using the touchscreen, and really makes the difference between a good 3D image and one that will give you a headache.
The GS-TD1 also offers a few extras such as 3D time lapse video capture, which can be set from 1 to 80 secs and 3D stills. We had the opportunity to take a peek at a 3D still that had been created by a Fuji printer in Japan, in a tie-up with JVC. The company is hoping to adopt a similar collaboration with Fuji in Europe.
Along with 3D video capture, the device also captures "3D sound" thanks to its dual microphones and JVC's Biphonic technology. We didn't get much of a chance to play around with the audio, but we'll bring you more information as soon as we can get our hands on a device for an in-depth review.
The GS-TD1 is due to hit UK shops in March, priced at £1499.
What do you think of the GS-TD1? Will you be buying a 3D camcorder?