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Friday, October 30, 2009
Know Thy Self: Guest Post
First, I'd like to thank my gracious blog host, Jessica, for letting me post this. It's been therapeutic to vent in a "public" venue.
As for jumping into bed with an agent, I'm someone who's in that bed right now, trying to decide whether to "suck it up" or toss the covers aside and find another mate.
It's so easy to say: I'm going to research every agent inside and out, read their every blog entry and online interview, talk to their other clients, and ask all the right questions to turn down any agent who answers even one of them wrong. That still doesn't mean the marriage will be perfect. Even more than knowing your agent (which is virtually impossible until you start working with them anyway), is know your own career path. That's the only way to assure the partnership will be successful.
I'd been trying to get an agent to notice me for over three years. After writing four books and getting over a hundred rejections, I finally had a top agent call me, interested enough in my work to sign me even before I made the revisions we'd agreed upon. I was so happy, I couldn't see straight. Finally I had validation from the publishing world that my writing—all of those endless lonely hours and words—had been worth it. Everything was going to be perfect. My agent would love whatever I penned, and I would sell books left and right.
Not so. Because I didn't yet know who I was as a writer.
I did research my agent. I had been reading her blog. As for interviewing her clients—after conferring with my published friends, they made the point that unless you can find an ex-client, you're unlikely to hear anything negative. Most clients are just so relieved to be repped, they don't want to diss their meal ticket and compromise that security. So they're unlikely to spill any criticism, in fear it might get back to their agent (just like I didn't put my name on this post for the same reason). The only exception is if one of the clients happens to be your personal friend or acquaintance.
Now, asking questions of the agent? That's where I dropped the ball. Well, kind of. I did ask the legal questions—things that applied to the biz. But I didn't touch on the more personal questions. Not only of my agent, but of myself.
Again. Validation—in any small dose—is so seductive it's almost blinding. The one question I should've asked above all others, was: "Why didn't you like my first MS?" A MS that my crit group and several friends had read and loved. A MS that I completely forgot about after hearing she liked the other one.
In my case, my agent signed me on the second MS she read. The first one didn't appeal to her. But she loved the voice. She asked what else I was working on, and I sent my newly finished, never read paranormal love story her way. She loved it. Wanted it. And signed me.
Now I find out she doesn't want my other three prior MSS because they're fantasies which she doesn't rep. I've written two books since signing with her, and they both have elements more conducive to mainstream romance than traditional or single title. I'm having a hard time satisfying her. And in trying to satisfy her, I'm not satisfied.
A little too late, I'm starting to understand the role that voice plays in guiding a writer's career path. I never stopped to really evaluate my "genre" in regards to style. VOICE drives you to your genre. No matter how hard you try to write something else, voice will win over in the long run every time. I assumed my work was romance with some fantasy/complex elements because a love story was always woven throughout. But what I've come to see is that the romance is secondary to plot. There's an actual formula to traditional romances, and it's clear that the way my mind works and puts a story into play is mainstream / fantasy. And I can't even pursue that side of my creativity, because I have an agent who doesn't have the connections or know how for fantasy or mainstream. She's a stranger to my genre, yet she's representing me. Scary.
With the paranormal love story, I had to change a lot of stuff to make it conform to her liking. And to this day she admits it's still not really a traditional romance. I suspect that might be why we're having trouble placing my paranormal (been trying for a year), because despite that it's not traditional, she's hitting the same editors she would if it were one. On the other hand, an agent who repped mainstream / fantasy would know of editors that would like the more in-depth and complex story leanings and world building, and might've already sold the book.
Some of you might be saying, "So what. Now that you've got an agent, suck it up and hang in there. Learn to write for the market she's in, build a readership, then branch out later."
But should I really, if writing for my agent's market means changing my style which could possibly pigeon hole me into a genre I'm not meant for, for the rest of my career (or at least a big portion of it)?
There's something lost when you stop writing your heart's song. There has to be a balance somewhere between marketability and staying true to your voice. I know that there's a publishing house out there that will get me, even though my agent doesn't. I truly believe I'm marketable … just not in her genres. Yes, compromises will have to be made on my MSS all along the way, but not at the expense of the voice that makes me and my writing unique—which ironically, is the very quality that my agent fell in love with to begin with. The quality that to this day she still believes in. So, so confusing.
My advice to anyone seeking an agent for the first time is not only to research your agent, etc… but be sure that you are writing what you're meant to write. KNOW what genre that is so you can assure your chosen agent represents your dreams, not just a one time fluke, before signing any dotted lines.
Then stand firm. Having felt the warmth of validation, I know how hard it is to turn away an offer from an agent after waiting so long in the cold. But is it really any worse to stand your feet upon a freezing, hard floor, than it would be to keep them toasty warm in a bed where a stranger sleeps beside you, or where you become a stranger to yourself?
Before jumping into bed, know where you want to be when you wake up. That way, you will find your perfect mate. :-)
Are the agents you want to query a good fit for your future writings? Do you know yourself, or are you still discovering where you fit in the publishing spectrum?
43 comments:
- Gwen Stewart said...
My agent tweeted recently that having a "bad fit" agent is worse than having no agent at all. I don't know that from personal experience, thank goodness, but I've heard it time and again. Anonymous, your experience illuminates this in a real, relatable way. Thanks for sharing.
- October 30, 2009 at 5:50 AM
- Tabitha Bird said...
That was an awesome post. thank you for your honesty. I am sorry you are unhappy with your agent and I really hope you find something that will work and that you can feel happy about. I never thought about long term career goals and an agent that fit. That is hard. Because, like you said, you would have to know who you are as a writer and I am only just discovering that. Thank you for the insight. I will think this through :)
- October 30, 2009 at 6:09 AM
- Jessica said...
Gwen and Tabitha, thank you for commenting. It's kind of been eye-opening for me to watch my friend's journey. I hope something works out for her too, because she's an incredible writer.
- October 30, 2009 at 6:21 AM
Thanks Gwen and Tabitha. I really hope this helps writers look at the agent search a little more closely from their end. And maybe inspires a few authors to do some soul searching to be sure where they are in the land of genres, because it's a very tricky place to navigate. So many genres bleed into others and it's sometimes hard to know where you really fit.
Jessica--thanks so so much for your faith in my work! And for letting me vent. :-)
- October 30, 2009 at 7:26 AM
- Eileen Astels Watson said...
That makes so much sense--know what genre is yours, then find an agent who reps it. That is a gold key, isn't it. I'd hate to be cornered into writing what I wasn't passionate about, in fact, I don't think I could do it. I write for the love of it, and it's grueling enough to write those stories well for me, to have to push for something that just doesn't jive with me would be horrendous.
I wish you success in ironing this mess out, Anonymous!
- October 30, 2009 at 7:58 AM
- Kristen Painter said...
If you're that unhappy, then fire your agent and free yourself to look for a new one. LIfe's too short to be miserable or to have an agent who doesn't love your work 100%.
- October 30, 2009 at 8:12 AM
- Tamika: said...
Thanks Jessica for sharing this post. Very helpful.
I know for now I am not ready to delve into Agent relationships. I am still finding my voice and creativity. There a hand full of Agents that I follow and have great respect for.
I will remember these questions when the time comes for me. I cannot begin to imagine writing for someone other than me and my readers.
- October 30, 2009 at 8:23 AM
- Jeanette Levellie said...
Anonymous: I so appreciate you sharing your painful journey. Hopefully we can learn from it, and be more secure in our voices.
I will pray that the Lord guide your steps. Nothing it worse than finding out after the vows that you married someone not compatible with you!
I have a dear friend who signed on with a not so good agent, then realized the fit was not right, so switched to one who "got" her. She is very happy now.
YOU have a bright future ahead--don't give up your voice!
- October 30, 2009 at 8:49 AM
- Jill Kemerer said...
Thank you for sharing your experience. I agree that we have to know our genre and find the one that fits us best. When we find an audience, they want more of the same--can we blame them? That's why it's so important to love the genre we write.
Good luck making some tough decisions.
- October 30, 2009 at 8:52 AM
- Linda Kage said...
Oh, wow. That's not something I thought about before. I've got out a YA romance now, but I'd like to focus on my adult romance and slowly weave my way to Romantic Suspense. And I never wouldn't thought to mention all that to an agent to see if she/he cover deal with it.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and helping us from taking the same wrong turn.
Hope your situation somehow turns out to your favor. Good Luck.
- October 30, 2009 at 8:59 AM
- About Me said...
Great post Jessica! Thank you for stopping by my blog! Praying God blesses you abundantly!
- October 30, 2009 at 9:08 AM
Eileen, Tamika, Jeanette, and Jill~ thanks so much for the prayers and inspirational words. I really believe this will all work out. It's just been a very eye-opening experience for me, and I wanted to share it with other authors. Any mistakes you can learn from or help others learn through you can't be all bad, right?
Kristen~great advice. I like my agent's editing skills, brainstorming skills, and most of all, her personality. But unless something drastic changes, I will have to break up with her. Since she still has my paranormal MS out to pubs, and I don't want to sour our relationship until those subs either float or sink, I've got a little time to think on it.
Linda~I'm so glad my experience is making you reevaluate how you'll approach agents. Insight is so much better than hindsight, in my opinion.
- October 30, 2009 at 9:24 AM
- Kristen Torres-Toro said...
Thank you for this post, Anonymous. It's very good advice. I'm sorry you're in the situation you're in, but thank you for caring enough to warn us. Hopefully venting was able to help you too!
Thanks, Jessica! Have a great weekend!
- October 30, 2009 at 9:57 AM
Thanks Kristen. Venting helped a lot! And Jessica is more than generous to let me unload on her blog like this. ;-P
- October 30, 2009 at 10:00 AM
- Janna Qualman said...
Excellent post! Clear and helpful, above and beyond. I'm sorry for this position you're in, Anonymous. Thanks to you and Jessica.
- October 30, 2009 at 10:14 AM
- Natalie said...
This was a truly excellent post. Thank you Ms. or Mr. Anonymous. That sounds like a very frustrating situation! I hope you can work things out with your agent or find a new agent that is a better match.
One of the main reasons I chose my agent over the other agent that offered representation was that she said I could write anything I wanted (MG, YA, Women's Fiction, Picture Books, Romance, whatever). She felt certain she would love anything I write because she loved my voice. Hopefully she will :)
- October 30, 2009 at 10:36 AM
Thanks for finding my blog! We are still here in FL! I am loving the heat! It will be cold in Ohio when we get back tomorrow, so I am enjoying the weather!
Have a good day!
- October 30, 2009 at 10:43 AM
- T. Anne said...
What a great post Ms. Anon! I have to commiserate with you because many a moon ago it happen to me but I was lucky to remove myself (after two wasted years). I have to say one of my questions for my perspective agent will be do you rep all my genres? If not will you be OK with me getting another agent for my YA? Or my whatever? Believe it or not I've heard this is not all that uncommon. MAybe yours will be OK with it too? BTW, I'd love to talk to you, I feel so strongly about these situations because of the bind I was in. What a learning experience (horrible) I would never want anyone to repeat!!!! (and BTW, I pray you don't have my old agent).
- October 30, 2009 at 10:49 AM
- Cindy said...
Thanks for the post! It's interesting to hear this advice from someone who is actually going through it all. I think you're totally right on about writing what your heart wants. And even more, I think it's important to be submitting work that represents who we are, the genre that we'd want to write for the rest of our careers, not just something that will "get us in the door". Thanks again!
- October 30, 2009 at 11:11 AM
- Diane said...
My heaart goes out to her. Difficult decisions ahead, praying God's wisdom. :O)
- October 30, 2009 at 11:14 AM
- Irritable Mother said...
Ahhh, it is so good to be able to vent, isn't it?
And this stuff makes me glad I am not on the same path as you. Ugh. Big headache.
- October 30, 2009 at 11:44 AM
- Genny said...
I love how your guest poster points out that voice will drive the genre. That made me stop and think.
- October 30, 2009 at 11:57 AM
- Jessica said...
Thank you everyone for your comments. It's been a real learning curve for me to hear about my friend's journey. I liked her comment about voice too, Genny, and also that she acknowledges our part in finding the right fit. It's hard, esp. since she was fairly new to the business of publishing. :-) Maybe we'll get a post out of her when she has her first sale???
Guest, are you there??? *grin*
- October 30, 2009 at 12:10 PM
- Kathryn Magendie said...
"Some of you might be saying, "So what. Now that you've got an agent, suck it up and hang in there. Learn to write for the market she's in, build a readership, then branch out later."...."
I would not say this! Because I know I couldn't write "for the market" -
I've heard, and it's true: Having a bad agent, or one who is not right for you, is worse, or more damaging, than not having an agent at all.....
So sorry your friend is going through this - it's a tough business as it is.
- October 30, 2009 at 1:15 PM
- Erica Vetsch said...
This is such a tough subject, and my heart goes out to this guest poster.
Getting that right fit with an agent is so hard, and there's no guarantee that what worked for awhile will continue to work for the rest of your career.
Debbie Macomber said, in a recent conference address, that quite often as new writers, we sign with the first agent willing to represent us, and then we stay out of a mistaken sense of loyalty (and sometimes fear that if we make that break no one else will want to agent us) when we should get out of that relationship as cordially as possible and believe in ourselves and our writing enough to branch out.
It takes a lot of thought, prayer, council, and more prayer, then make the decision that is best for you and your writing, feelings and fears aside.
- October 30, 2009 at 1:21 PM
Jessica~ Of course I'll guest blog someday when the good stuff happens! Sorry, I would've answered sooner but I went to lunch. Heehee.
Janna, Natalie,Cindy, Diane, and Irritable Mother~ thanks so much to all of you for the well wishes and positive vibes. I really feel that I was naive in the beginning. But I've learned A LOT. And I still feel like I have even more to learn.
T. Anne~I'm going to visit your blog and email you. I'd love to swap stories! BTW, I did try to get an agent just for my fantasies (my present agent was okay with that), but of the five I queried, one didn't answer, one said they'd never heard of agents sharing a client, and the other three told me they would want both my fantasies and romances, so I should contact them if / when I ever left my present agent. I think it's a bit harder to do that than people realize.
Genny~ Thanks! It's something I never stopped to think of until this all happened. Now it's so very clear.
Kathryn, YES. Having an agent that might not be suited for your genre is definitely worse than not having one at all. In fact, I've recently subbed one of my fantasy MSS to five different publishing houses on my own in the hopes I can skip the middle man and get this ball rolling.
Erica~ I really respect Debbie Macomber. I met her once at a workshop and her "call" story was so inspirational. Great point about signing with the first agent willing to rep you. If/when I start this thing over, I'm going to be much choosier. At least this time I'll be going in with my eyes opened as to my own standing as a writer. I think that will give me more power.
- October 30, 2009 at 2:19 PM
- ElanaJ said...
Thank you for this. It's hard to live a dissatisfying life, writer or otherwise. :)
- October 30, 2009 at 2:22 PM
- Stephanie Faris said...
I've thought a lot about this lately. In querying agents, I've found that at first I tended to query everyone to see if anything stuck. But I got "close" with an agent recently who kept requesting revisions. When you have a close call like that and realize you hadn't researched this agent at ALL, you start to rethink your efforts. It's all about long-term career. You can definitely put yourself in a niche, not just with your agent but with a publisher. What if you were Stephenie Meyer and wanted to write a legal thriller? It would probably not do so well. I guess we all need to stop and ask ourselves what we want to be doing for the next 30 years because, chances are, that first novel will set a tone that will follow us forever.
- October 30, 2009 at 2:27 PM
Elena~ Thanks for your empathy. I should point out that this is the only part of my life that is dissatisfying. I have a wonderful and supportive network of people--including my husband, children, and family, as well as my wise and brilliant writer friends (Jessica). I have my health, a secure income, and a roof over my head. :-) There're still lots of blessings that keep me satisfied!
Stephanie~ good job catching the warning signs! They are there, if you look for them. And you're exactly right about falling into niches. Lots of authors eventually branch out from writing one thing to the next. But it's not always a successful switch over, especially if it's drastic. Sometimes, the fans aren't too receptive. I think the secret is to try to maintain some of the same elements conducive to your earlier work, which is where voice would come in again.
- October 30, 2009 at 3:31 PM
- Nancy said...
Jessica - That's certainly an interesting tale. Hope your friend finds what she wants in an agent and solves her marketing dilemas.
- October 30, 2009 at 4:06 PM
- Susan J. Reinhardt said...
Thanks for the eye-opening post. I hope things work out for you.
Susan :)
- October 30, 2009 at 4:45 PM
Thanks so much, Nancy and Susan!
- October 30, 2009 at 4:55 PM
- Angie Muresan said...
I am so sorry about that. I hope everything works out. I say stay true to yourself and what makes you happy. Write what you like to read. Life's too short to please others.
- October 30, 2009 at 5:20 PM
Great advice, Angie!
Unfortunately, sometimes you have to change some things about yourself if you want to get pubbed easily, such as conforming to certain standards already set up by the publishing world.
In some cases, staying true to yourself translates to: settle in for a long and bumpy ride, because it will be a while before IT happens.
- October 30, 2009 at 5:29 PM
- Jody Hedlund said...
Thanks for sharing so openly. It is so very true that unpublished authors are grateful to just GET represented that they often don't evaluate the fit. I'm thankful that I have an agent who has gotten behind my work one hundred percent. I know that doesn't always happen, and I feel very blessed.
- October 30, 2009 at 9:31 PM
It sounds like you're indeed very blessed, Jody. Congratulations! :-)
- October 30, 2009 at 10:38 PM
- Terri Tiffany said...
Oh Wow! You just answered a current dilemma I'm in.
My advice to anyone seeking an agent for the first time is not only to research your agent, etc… but be sure that you are writing what you're meant to write.
I have been struggling to determine if I should change one of my books to fit an agent's niche just so maybe he will represent me. And I don't want to! Cause it wouldn't be the story I wanted to write! THank you for your honesty!!
- October 31, 2009 at 9:30 AM
- Lady Glamis said...
So honest and heartfelt. Good luck in your writing journey, and thank you Jessica for posting this.
- October 31, 2009 at 2:30 PM
Terri~ That makes me feel so good that my experience could help you with a decision you were wrestling with! I hope you find an agent soon that loves your work just like it is. :-)
Lady Glamis~ Thanks you. And good luck on your journey as well.
- October 31, 2009 at 5:13 PM
- Deb Shucka said...
This was tremendously helpful and soul-deep. The timing is perfect for me as I wait for that perfect-for-me-agent to respond to my query. Thank you so much for your courage and honesty. I wish you all the best.
- November 1, 2009 at 8:30 PM
Thank you, Deb. I wish you all the best, too, on your own agenting journey. :-)
- November 2, 2009 at 8:53 AM
- Warren Baldwin said...
This was an amazing guest blog. Whoever this was - Thank you! You have a marvelous writing style and express yourself well; I have a strong feeling that your work will get recognized.
- November 3, 2009 at 11:18 AM
Wow! Thanks so much, Warren. :-) I really appreciate those words of encouragement!
- November 9, 2009 at 10:45 PM


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DOVER — Level 5 gymnasts from Atlantic Gymnastics Training Center (AGTC) of Portsmouth recently competed at the 11th annual Halloween Spooktacular Meet hosted by Tri-Star Gymnastics in DoveR. Team Atlantic earned a first place trophy for their combined execution and collective score.
In the ghost division, Alysia Tellez took second place overall supported by first place on uneven bars, second place on floor, third place on vault, and a fourth place tie with teammate Katherine Carter on beam. Close behind her was Portsmouth's Jennifer Ross with a fourth place overall nod taking first place on beam, fourth place on floor and seventh place on uneven bars and vault. After a lofty fall during uneven bars warm-up, Katherine Carter pulled it together to earn sixth place overall with a first place win on floor, fourth place (tie) on beam and fifth on vault. Teammate, Grace Jenkins earned seventh in the all round supported by a stellar first place vault performance and sixth place recognition on uneven bars and beam.
In the pumpkin division, Arianna Degenaars took gold with the top spot in the all around bolstered by steady performances in each of the four events—third on vault, third on beam (tie with teammate Carly Mitchell), second on uneven bars, and fifth on floor. Nearby her was AGTC's Madison Demmons with second place all around. Demmons took first place on floor and beam (tie with teammate Kaia Meredith) and continued her solid performance with fifth place on uneven bars and seventh place on vault. Mitchell was awarded fourth place all around in her age group capturing first on vault, fourth on uneven bars, third on beam (tie) and sixth on floor. Hailing from Newmarket, Kaia Meredith pocketed fifth place overall with a first place beam performance second place on vault, and fourth place on floor.
In the witch division, Grace Toshach seized gold with first place overall and medals in each of the four events—3rd floor and vault; 1st uneven bars; and 6th on beam. Teammate Cali McDonald came in right behind with second place overall for her concrete, first place balance beam routine and second place execution on uneven bars and floor. Also in the witch division, sisters Elizabeth and Sarah Toshach performed well. Elizabeth with a third place overall win (3rd on beam; 5th on floor; 7th on uneven bars; and tie for 6th with Sarah on vault.) Sarah also executed well on all four events earning 7th place in the all around.
In the spider division, Cailey Brickett earned second overall with a combined score of 35.325. Brickett captured first on vault, third on beam and uneven bars, and second on floor. Meanwhile, Portsmouth's Lucy Ferrini had stand out execution on beam (7th) and floor (6th); Ferrini' total meet score was 32.15. The team is coached by Jennifer Pelland and Matt Yellis. The girls return to practice to prepare for the Pilgrim Invitational to be held in Worcester on November 18, 2012.
Atlantic gymnasts shine at 11th Spooktacular meet
DOVER — Level 5 gymnasts from Atlantic Gymnastics Training Center (AGTC) of Portsmouth recently competed at the 11th annual Halloween Spooktacular Meet hosted by Tri-Star Gymnastics in DoveR. Team Atlantic earned a first place trophy for their combined execution and collective score.

subset: commoncrawl


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I'm sorry if there is a thread about this already, but the search function here is way too complicated, even more so while intoxicated, which I am.
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I'm wondering if it is worth buying.
Smelly McUgly wrote:I only played the demo, but you can run the read option, stretch plays out of most formations, and lots of PA and especially PA bootlegs, so yeah, pretty much that's our playbook.


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The act of the ball sack smacking the vagina during sex.
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Honey, I so horny today. You better prepare yourself for some good TS.
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Tumblr saviour. Personal posts are often tagged ts so followers can remove them from their dash using tumblr saviour.
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Short for "totally sweet"
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Team speak, it is a downloadable client that gamers use to talk to each other with head sets so they don't have to type in the game chat boxes. similar to ventrillo
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Outdoor concerts and summertime go together. Imagine the scene – the band is loud, the weather is hot, there are throngs of people dancing, singing and sweating. Down around your feet is a sea of plastic bottles and trash. Indoor venues can be just as dirty. With approximately 80,000 people attending an outdoor festival like Bonnaroo, or 20,000 people packed into an arena like New York's Madison Square Garden, you start to see how Americans can go through almost 30 billion plastic bottles ever year. But more and more artists are getting involved in helping to curb the waste. With help from groups like Reverb, which boasts of greening 91 tours to date, musicians are changing the way they tour and asking their fans to get involved, too.
Jack Johnson's 2010 tour, To the Sea, kicks off in the US today in Hartford, Connecticut, and will be one of the most environmentally-friendly large tours this year. Johnson is serious about sustainable business on tour, in his studio and for his fans. Not only is he donating 100 percent of his tour profits to organizations focused on sustainability, he also tours in a biodiesel bus, eats local food, has eliminated all single use water bottles and uses sustainable materials for his tour merchandise. His office and studio are 100 percent powered by solar panels. And for his fans, he has created All At Once, a social networking site for fans with the tagline – "an individual action, multiplied by millions, creates global change."
This year, in addition to his plastic-free initiative, Johnson is focused on sustainable food options, which is where Eat Well comes in. The Eat Well Guide has partnered with Jack Johnson to help his dedicated fans find yummy sustainable food while on the road through the Jack Johnson Tour map, which plots all of the shows in 35 cities and offers a Guide to Good Food for each one.
In addition to the downloadable PDF Guides to Good Food, fans can use Eat Well Everywhere to find good food all along their route to a good time. To get everyone involved, we are also asking fans to suggest new listings for the Eat Well Guide, helping us get the word out about stores, restaurants, farmers markets and more great souces for good food wherever they roam.
If you don't know much about Jack Johnson, or if you want to know more, check out this great interview with him in the June issue of Outside Magazine. It gives some interesting insight into his life, explains the picture on the cover of his album (his father building a driftwood wave sculpture), solves the mystery of where all of that hair came from (he stopped giving himself haircuts), and tells why he is now singing about the sea. If you see one of his shows during this tour, I hope you also learn that he is dedicated to the planet and wants you to be too. An individual action, multiplied by millions, creates global change? Let's find out.


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'Les Miserables' Pics: See Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway and Russell Crowe in Action
Tom Hooper caught a lot of grief as his 'The King's Speech' rode the Oscar campaign trail two years ago, primarily because his excellent film was deemed "not as excellent" as David Fincher's 'The Social Network' by vocal film columnists. But in the process of arguing for 'Network' (which is great), most overlooked the fact that 'Speech' is deftly directed and superbly acted. Hooper's the real deal, and he's the perfect fit for 'Les Miserables,' which we get a good look at today.
Universal shared photos from its anticipated December musical with USA Today and the film's official Twitter page, showing us Hooper's outstanding cast and some behind-the-scenes images. The director nabbed Hugh Jackman (above) and Russell Crowe as his Jean Valjean and Javert, respectively. Anne Hathaway joined the cast as the put-upon Fantine, while Amanda Seyfried accepted the role of the orphaned Cosette.
Hooper's wrapping production, and likely will begin an intense editing session to hit the studio's Dec. 14 release date – dropping Hooper right back into the Oscar race (thankfully Fincher doesn't have a movie due in theaters at the same time, as well).
Images are great and these look fine. But we really want to hear the cast sing, and get a listen to Claude-Michel Schönberg's musical landscape for the Tony-winning 'Les Miserables' score, for that will be the factor likely makes or breaks the film's chances of success. We'll have to wait until later this week when the trailer officially goes live for that.
Here are the new pics from 'Les Miserables.' What are your thoughts?
All photos courtesy of Universal Pictures


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Friday, October 1, 2010
I am Ready For Love (Cover)
Posted by Samuel F. Campbell at 11:29 AM
1 comment:
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Mr. Samuel F. Campbell
Your Emerging Freelance Artist
Harmonicas & Acoustic Guitar Soloist & Grand Piano Soloist
• Dramatic Musical Instrumental Interpretations
• Hand Drawings
• Acrylic Paintings
• Oil Paintings
• IBM Computer Graphics
"Give Me A Break" by Ray Harris and Jane Claypool Watermill Press copy right 1983
I found this book o be a very pleasant, light and interesting read. A nice break from studying the guitar, piano and operating the computer. This was a group of eight short stories:
1. Give Me a Break - Brothers having a spat leaving one injured and in the hospital turned out to be a lesson in love for older healthier and stronger brother. This is a lesson of the strength of the family unit and his mother's love that endures the test of shame, anger, guilt, blame,, and hurt and yet still turns him around from running away to returning to the equal love of their mother,
2. Where I Belong - A beautiful daughter learns she has to stand up to her loving head strong mother, to realize that she was living an exact carbon copy of her mother in reverse, with dreams just as her mother had when she was a young lady living with her mother. Hear they both found they were to support each other's dreams, wanting the best for each other, even separating from each other in different loving ways as they became closer.
3. Romeo, My Enemy - Seems to me the writer was so caught up in himself and had a thing so strong for the pretty girl next door, that he was blinded to the intelligence of her and her pet monkey.
4. A Horse and Dog of My Own – the grass on the other side of the fence my seem greener, Like a promise to move to another state with a horse of your own for a pet. When in fact if need be you can usually fix up the grass you already in, to be just as pleasant. By maybe not moving and just getting a dog for a pet.
5. Working Scared – this is a lesson on how someone can be forgiven for the stress life puts on us to survive and how one might take their education more seriously and use the time to gain a foot hold onto their future in the force.
6. The Math Exam - the student seemed to be placing the responsibility of his success and learning ability totally on the teacher and in the process he found that he had built a challenge to beat the teacher and in fact he raised the bar for his own learning
7. A Great Job - A young lady learns that the warnings of a loving caring mother may seem as put downs to a youth however in the growing up process the facts being passed on of experience is a gift that well be appreciated and may steer a young woman away from dangerous situations in the work
8. Just Plain No Good – Though you may not look exceptionally attractive or be very smart at time maybe you don't have great physical abilities however this story shows that we all can be a very important part of the story of life for it takes all kinds to save a life as well as live it. There is good to be found in everything!
"The Hustler", byWalter Tevis
"A Jounal of Love" by Edward Mannix,
"Snow White & the Huntsman" - (Extended Version) Action & Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction
"Battleship" - Action & Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction
"The Hunger Games" -
"Safe" -
"Possession" -
"Bait" -
"I Spit On Your Grave" - is a 2010 American rape and revenge horror film, and a remake of the controversial 1978 cult film of the same name.[4] It was directed by Steven R. Monroe,[5] and stars Sarah Butler, Chad Lindberg, Daniel Franzese, Rodney Eastman, Jeff Branson, and Andrew Howard.[6]
My Interests:
Tumblr, Twitter, YouTube willing to expand promotonal efforts thriugh social marketing networks and games.
The Beatle's "Got To Get You Into My Life" Guitar / Grand Piano
This is an associates original completed art work sample: Clearing Cracks by Arthour Hart
An Emerging Artist
Memphis TN. 38104-4071
(901) 728-4071
Grand Piano / Acoustic Guitar / Harmonica / Oil Paintings
Computer Software Operating Technician ( Wordstar, Data Plus III, Lotus 1, 2, & 3, Wordperfect 5.0, 5.1, 5.5, Word Powerpoint, Excel, Desktop Recycling, Desktop Repairs, Networked, Stand Alone CPU's Familiar with creating and designing, sales of computer systems to include IBM and MAC Desktops, Laptops and Palm Held devices. I manage an Online Gallery Of my computer Graphics, 500 songs and Sheet Music or Tab's, Google, Facebook and Flickr Photos, 300 Youtube Videos and Paintings
I'm known as the "Strategist" amongst 16 other types because of my uncanny ability to visualize the future. Of all the other 16 types, mine make the best planners and strategists. We can see many moves ahead. We naturally create contingency plans. I my be hard to get to know and may appear cold, until one has time to relate to me. I'm a natural leader, however I frequently prefer to avoid the spotlight and work in the background. I'd make an excellent number 2 in a organization, leaving the top position for the more extraverted types.
What really stands out about me is my strong self confidence, which to many, will look like arrogance. I've a tendency toward being a perfectionists. I tend to do the best in school and in particular higher education. I'm the type, that In many cases have created the curriculum, tests, and the exams. My type make up only 2% of the population, making them relatively rare. I'm for the most part Introverted, reserved, logical, objective and intellectual.
I prefer the careers where:
Management allows people to be self directed.
Where there are several types of opportunities to demonstrate competence.
Where the culture appreciates fair but tough decision making. Where the work offers plenty of opportunities to make decisions. I'm often able to maintain control over many projects. I often can apply my natural ability to focus and concentrate, rather than multitask. I often consider the environment, culture and pace; which in turn, allows me to consider things fully before having to respond. I love to work when it's the kind of work that allows me to work at a careful steady pace and involves theory and some speculation. I prefer the work that allows me adequate private time to work alone and to concentrate. The kind of work that involves creativity, imagination and a creative approach to problem solving. Work that involves looking beyond the present i.e. future possibilities, future products, future actions. I love performing and working when it's not limited to what exists today but involves "what may be" and "what could or should be". I strive for the work that allows me to utilize my natural ability to analyze and make objective, logical decisions. I'm involved and usually stick with work which allows me to utilize my natural ability to provide others with direction and supervision. I can be usually found in an environment that's more structured and disciplined, being on time and following procedures, I considered as important.


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YREKA – The death of a man whose remains were recovered from Yreka Creek in November 2012 has been ruled a homicide, stated the Yreka Police Department (YPD). The victim was identified as Christopher Scott Schafer, age 43.
YPD Sgt. Mark Gilman stated that Schafer was a transient who had been arrested multiple times for minor violations. According to Siskiyou County online court documents, over the past few years he had been arrested for charges such as public intoxication, possession of marijuana and failure to provide a rabies vaccination to his pet.
Schafer's body was discovered partially submerged in Yreka Creek at the north end of Yreka by two citizens on Nov. 23, 2012.
"Officers from the Yreka Police Department responded and located the remains of a human body," said YPD Chief Brian Bowles. "Due to extensive decomposition, identification and cause of death were not immediately apparent."
With the assistance of the Shasta County Coroner's Office and the Chico State Human Identification Lab, the body was identified. While Schafer's death has been ruled a homicide, the exact cause of his death is still under investigation.
YPD stated that several suspect leads have been developed since the location of Schafer's body, and the department is actively investigating this case.
Anyone with information about this case is urged to call YPD Det. Nick Friden at 841-2313.


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Again with bikes in the NYTimes! – this is like all the blogging stories in 2005, suddenly in 06, bikes are a popular topic. That's definitely good for bike huggers and the story about Free City Supershop, a totally impractical retail experience has a great photo of a cruiser with a basket. There's also some insight into being faithful to your ideas, how the Gap wants to rip you off, and to "make things with the simplest elements with the highest of possibilities."
I can't think of a better mantra for an urban bike.


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As the U.S. Catholic bishops consider a common agreement on baptism with four Protestant church communities, they "stand at an important juncture" in the quest for Christian unity, according to the chairman of the bishops' Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs. Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta said the "Common Agreement on Mutual Recognition of Baptism," to be voted on at the bishops' fall general assembly from Nov. 15 to 18 in Baltimore, Md., would affirm "the unity that Christ has given to the baptized members of his body, a unity that is ever fragile and always in need of support from the pastors of the church."
While other bishops' conferences around the world have entered into similar agreements with Protestant communities in their regions, the proposed document is unprecedented for the U.S. Catholic Church. The agreement has already been ratified by the Presbyterian Church. If the U.S.C.C.B. approves it, any baptisms performed in either Catholic or Presbyterian churches after that would be mutually recognized, as long as the proper formula is used and documented. The other three Protestant communities are to consider the agreement at their national meetings in the coming months.
The proposed agreement was drawn up over the past six years by a team of scholars from the Catholic-Reformed dialogue group, made up of representatives of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Christian Reformed Church in North America, Presbyterian Church (USA), Reformed Church in America and United Church of Christ.
Calling baptism "the sacramental gateway into the Christian life," the agreement says baptism "is to be conferred only once, because those who are baptized are decisively incorporated into the body of Christ."
For baptisms to be mutually recognized by the five churches, the baptismal rite must use water and the Trinitarian formula, "Father, Son and Holy Spirit," the document says. It also encourages Reformed church communities to use baptismal registers, as Catholic parishes already do, and to document the liturgical formula used in the ceremony. Each church also will issue its own "reception statement," designed to explain the new agreement to its own members.
The agreement encourages continued dialogue between Catholic and Reformed leaders "about theology and pastoral practice from local to international settings." The common agreement on baptism was one result of the seventh round of the Catholic-Reformed dialogue that ended with a meeting in Henryville, Ind., in October. The dialogue also produced a report on baptism, titled These Living Waters, and a document on the Eucharist/Lord's Supper called This Bread of Life.


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I was in Rwanda a few years ago, and a group of us went hiking in the slums of Kigali with a woman named Pauline. Pauline spends her free time caring for people who are about to die of HIV/AIDS. She agreed to take us to visit one of her friends who had only hours to live. We hiked through this slum for what seemed like miles, and as we got farther in, the shacks became smaller and smaller until all we had to walk on were narrow trails with sewage crisscrossing in streams that ran beside, and sometimes under, the shacks.
Eventually we ended up in a dirt-floored, one-room shack about six-by-six feet. A woman was lying under so many blankets that all we could see was her mouth and eyes. Her name was Jacqueline. Pauline had become her friend and had been visiting her consistently for the past few months. As I knelt down beside her on the floor, I watched Pauline, standing in the corner, weeping. Her friend was going to die soon. What overwhelmed me wasn't the death or despair or poverty. What overwhelmed me was the compassion. In this dark place Pauline's love and compassion were simply...bigger. More. It is as if the smallest amount of light is infinitely more powerful than massive amounts of dark. The ground was holy.
I'm sure you have had similar experiences. In the strangest of settings, maybe with people you barely know, you become aware that the ground beneath your feet is holy. It is sacred. There's something else, something more, going on here.
I went to a funeral several years ago and walked into the lobby of the chapel and immediately thought I was the first one there. Then I realized I wasn't the first one; the husband of the woman who had died was there, standing over the open casket. I walked over to him as he stood over her body, put my arm around him, and didn't say anything. Just the two of us in this big open room, looking down at his wife's body. He just kept saying over and over, "She was such a good woman; she was such a good woman." And we stood there together for a while with my arm around his shoulder, and I listened to him repeat, "She was such a good woman." The ground was holy.
A young woman in our church gave birth last week to a two-pound baby who died the day after being born. My friend Matt went to the hospital to visit them. When he entered the room, he realized the baby was still there. And the couple was sitting in shock, stunned that this had happened and happened to them. Matt walked in, greeted the couple, and then took the baby in his arms and kissed it.
I wasn't even there, and I can feel the moment. The pain, the anguish, the sense that something else was going on in that room that we only get glimpses of from time to time.
Because it isn't just those beautiful moments in the midst of the everyday and mundane; it is also in the tragic and the gut-wrenching moments when we cannot escape the simple fact that there is way more going on around us than we realize.
Last year some friends asked me to be the pastor for their wedding ceremony. They had been together for a while and decided to make it official and throw a huge weekend party, and they invited me to be a part of it. They said they didn't want any Jesus or God or Bible or religion to be talked about. But they did want me to make it really spiritual. The bride said it in her own great way, "Rob, do that thing you do. Make it really profound and deep and spiritual!"
So we decided to meet the morning of the wedding to actually plan the ceremony. It was a stunningly beautiful day, and we met on a cliff overlooking a lake in the midst of a thick forest. The wind was blowing the tops of the trees way up above us, the sun was coming through in yellow-and-white beams, and at one point an eagle flew overhead. I kept waiting for someone to cue the orchestra.
Anyway, I asked my friends why they wanted to be married in such a natural, organic setting, since it was four hours from where we all live. They talked about the beauty of nature, its peacefulness, and the way they fell in love in this part of the state. Then the groom said something I will never forget: "Something holds this all together."
Something holds this all together.
So then I asked them if they thought it was a mistake that they had found each other. And they said, no, they believed they were meant to be together and it was no accident that they met and fell in love. I then asked them, "Do you think whatever it is that holds all this together is the same thing that has brought you two together?" They said yes. Same thing.
So I said that maybe what makes their relationship so meaningful to them is that it's a picture of something much bigger. The same force that brought them together holds the whole world together. I then asked, "So today, your wedding is about something far more significant than just the two of you becoming husband and wife, isn't it?"
They then said they would call this glue, this force, "God."
I tell you all this to point out that my friends already intuitively believe certain things about the universe and the way the world works. All I was doing was asking questions about things they already knew to be true.
I didn't have to convince them of anything. Now I could go on about the ceremony and the party afterward and the way it ended up being one of the most sacred things I have ever been a part of, but I want to leave you up on that cliff having that conversation.
"I don't follow Jesus because I think Christianity is the best religion"
Read more >>
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1:00 am
Social Studies In Action: A Teaching Practices Library, K-12 "Introduction to the Video Library" This program presents the purpose of the Social Studies in Action video library. It introduces all the components of the library, explains the goals of NCSS, and presents examples of classroom lessons throughout the library. This program also addresses a variety of ways in which the library can be used for enhancing the curriculum, teacher reflection, and best practices for teaching. D
1:28 am
Social Studies In Action: A Teaching Practices Library, K-12 "Standards Overview, K-5" This program includes K5 classroom examples from across the country that define and illustrate the 10 NCSS thematic strands and present a variety of ways that they can be integrated into the K5 curriculum. The primary grades begin to lay the foundation and groundwork for big ideas and concepts in social studies, such as a sense of place, time, community, and justice. D
2:24 am
Social Studies In Action: A Teaching Practices Library, K-12 "Historical Change" David Kitts is a firstgrade teacher on the Santo Domingo Indian Reservation in New Mexico. In his bilingual classroom, Native American students are studying the history of farming through a lesson that compares farming in eighteenthcentury New England to current day practices in the Midwest. The lesson uses literature and the study of various farming tools and products to illuminate the changes that have taken place in the industry over time and in different parts of the country. D
3:00 am
Arts In Every Classroom: A Workshop for Elementary School Teachers, The "Workshop 1. What Is Art?" The Learner Teams and students explore the nature of theatre, music, dance, and visual art as they consider their own definitions for each art form. They watch an excerpt from Quidam, a surrealistic performance piece that combines the four art forms in unusual ways, and begin to explore connections between fantasy and reality. D
4:00 am
Earth Revealed: Introductory Geology "The Birth of a Theory" Traces origins of the ideas of continental drift and sea-floor spreading, and their contributions to the plate tectonics theory.G
4:30 am
Economics U$A "Inflation" This program examines the economic and social costs of the inflationary spiral of the early 1960s and questions whether the problem of inflation has been solved. D
5:00 am
NHK Newsline NULL
5:30 am
Connect with English "Grief/Life Goes On" In the first segment, the funeral for Rebecca's father is held and the Boston fire department presents Rebecca with her father's helmet.G
6:00 am
Functional Fitness with Suzanne Andrews "Couples Workout with the Ball" NULL
6:30 am
Clifford The Big Red Dog "Clifford On Parade/Follow The Leader" Clifford on Parade - Emily and Charley are having a hard time deciding what kind of float to make for the annual Birdwell Parade. With a little help from Clifford, they learn the importance of compromise. Follow the Leader - Cleo has a hard time giving up her role as " leader" in a game of Follow The Leader, but soon learns that playing with friends is more fun when everyone cooperates and takes turns with one another. D
7:00 am
Arthur "Francine's Big Top Trouble/George Blows His Top" Francine's Big Top Trouble - Francine is sure she will be a star at circus camp. Since Catherine did so well there - how hard could it be? Well, very, it turns out. Will Francine ever get the hang of tumbling? And, more importantly, will she ever step out of her sister's shadow? George Blows His Top - George is always more than happy to lend his pals whatever they need, especially Buster. D
7:30 am
Martha Speaks "Eyes on the Skies/Camp Truman" Eyes on the Skies - Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson (Truman's #1 hero), is holding a seminar at the library. Truman becomes more and more certain that his activity partner T.D. is going to embarrass him in front of his idol. D
8:00 am
Curious George "Auctioneer George/Sock Monkey Opera" Auctioneer George - George has one dollar to buy anything he wants at the Annual Corn Roast and Attic Auction, and he sets his sights on a pair of red elephant mittens. When the Man with the Yellow Hat leaves George alone, he bids.and bids. D
8:30 am
Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That! "Bounce/Timmy Tippy Toe" Bounce - Nick and Sally are wondering why their ball is so bouncy. Fish tells them it's because it's made from rubber, and rubber comes from trees. Cat doesn't believe him so it's time to ask the expert, Dr. Twiggles! It turns out Fish is right! And Dr. Twiggles shows them all just how rubber is made, and all the wonderful things rubber can make! Timmy Tippy Toe - Nick and Sally are playing on a climbing frame but just can't manage to get to the top. D
9:00 am
Super Why! "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" Gramma will not let Red into the kitchen to get some extra special Red Velvet Cake - and it's making Red extremely mad! The Super Readers head into the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff, who really want to cross the Trolls bridge#only this time the Troll gets to tell his side of the story. The Super Readers wonder if anyone can make those rude Billy Goats Gruff behave, and Red figures out what Gramma needs to hear. Educational Objectives: To learn the importance of good behavior, discover the alphabet and identify the letters P-O-L-E. D
9:30 am
Dinosaur Train "The Old Bird/Diamond Don" The Old Bird - Buddy, Tiny and Mom make a play date with Petey Peteinosaurus to ride the Dinosaur Train to meet Arlene Archeopteryx, a bird from the family of the oldest birds ever! The kids are excited to learn that Arlene is a bird and a dinosaur. Home With Shiny & Don - Shiny and Don stay at home and we get to see that just because they don't always ride with Buddy and Tiny on the Dinosaur Train doesn't mean that they are not having fun. An adventure into a local caves leads to a marvelous and brilliant discovery. D
10:00 am
Sesame Street "Telly The Tiebreaker" Elmo, Zoe, Rosita and some friends are making a beautiful block house together but can't agree whether to put a square or circle on top. Alan helps them solve the problem by having them raise their hands for the one they like best. After counting up the votes, the square wins by one. D
11:00 am
Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood "Daniel Shares His Tigertastic Car/Katerina Shares Her Tutu" Daniel Shares his Tigertastic Car - Daniel and his friends are playing together in the park. Daniel has a new toy car and struggles to share it with the others. But in the end, Daniel learns that sharing is easy when he knows he will get his special toy back. D
11:30 am
Sid The Science Kid "Sid's Super Kick!" In his backyard, Sid is pretending to be "Super Sid!" To show his super strength, he kicks a soccer ball really hard and it sails across the yard. But when he tries to kick it to a nearby tree with the same might, the ball once again sails really far. On a special trip to the Science Center, Sid and his friends investigate how using lots of force makes something move really far and fast-just like kicking a soccer ball! (Educational objective - Force). D
12:00 pm
WordWorld "Shark's First Day of School/Shark's First Loose Tooth" Shark's First Day of School - It's the first day of school for the youngest WordFriends, but Shark is afraid to go. With the help of his good buddy Duck, and some gentle encouragement from their teacher Cat, Shark's fear turns to confidence, and by day's end he's at the head of the class. Shark's First Loose Tooth - When Shark loses his first baby tooth at a sleepover party with Duck, he's got to get to sleep fast so the tooth fairy can come and leave him a present. D
12:30 pm
Caillou "Grown-Ups and Me" Caillou meets a lot of new people today. He's invited to spend the day with Clementine's family and is nervous until he discovers her family is a lot like his. Caillou's first day at day care is scary until he meets his teacher Miss Martin, and makes two new friends, Leo and Clementine. D
1:00 pm
Barney & Friends "The Misbegotten Moon, A Space Adventure" To her dismay, Baby Bop sees a half-moon and thinks the moon is broken in half! Through comic events, she goes on a search to find the missing pieces. Barney takes her and the kids on a magical adventure to the moon where she meets the Man in the Moon who eases her concerns. D
1:30 pm
Thomas & Friends "If A Job's Worth Doing" Thomas and the Garbage Train - Thomas volunteers to take the Duchess to tea. Diesel tells Thomas that his work with Whiff will make him too stinky to take the Duchess. As Whiff and Thomas puff along, Thomas uncouples from the Garbage train and Thomas takes 'sweeter smelling' tracks. D
2:00 pm
Curious George "Auctioneer George/Sock Monkey Opera" Auctioneer George - George has one dollar to buy anything he wants at the Annual Corn Roast and Attic Auction, and he sets his sights on a pair of red elephant mittens. When the Man with the Yellow Hat leaves George alone, he bids.and bids. D
2:30 pm
Martha Speaks "Eyes on the Skies/Camp Truman" Eyes on the Skies - Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson (Truman's #1 hero), is holding a seminar at the library. Truman becomes more and more certain that his activity partner T.D. is going to embarrass him in front of his idol. D
3:00 pm
The Electric Company "The Wordball Is My Oyster" Lisa gets a case of stage fright when she's cast as the lead in Hector's play. Can Lisa overcome her fears in time to save the play, or will she have to give her part to Annie?. D
3:30 pm
WordGirl "The Masked Meat Marauder/Sandwich World" The Masked Meat Marauder - While the Botsfords and the Mings go head to head in a charity car wash, the Butcher battles his new rival--the Masked Meat Marauder. Can this town handle two meat-flinging villains or will WordGirl have to send one of them packing? Sandwich World - Chuck is fed up with living at home in his mom's basement. So he builds an evil lair, Sandwich World! Will WordGirl and Captain Huggy Face escape Chuck's crazy sandwich theme park? And will Chuck be strong enough to avoid getting homesick?. D
4:00 pm
Wild Kratts "Termites Vs. Tongues" When Aviva and Koki accidentally miniaturize themselves and get carried away by termites, Martin and Chris must split up to search for them. D
4:30 pm
Cyberchase "Fortress of Attitude" The kids use their skills at measuring length to climb a massive, booby-trapped statue of Hacker.G
5:00 pm
Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman "Ruff Fetches The Fetchers" Season Five is about to start but Ruff has been so busy trying to find his long-lost parents, he's forgotten to choose his Season 5 FETCHers! In this casting special, viewers get a behind-the-scenes look at how Ruff goes about picking his contestants. Unfortunately, shortly after selecting his intrepid kids, Ruff loses them on the way to Studio G!. D
5:30 pm
Nightly Business Report U.S. businesses add 155,000 jobs in December. D
5:56 pm
NewsHour Promo NULL
6:00 pm
PBS NewsHour NULL
7:00 pm
Washington Week NULL
7:30 pm
Need to Know NULL
8:00 pm
Idaho Reports 2013 Host Greg Hahn with news reporters and political analysts looks at the week's activities in the Idaho Legislature and examines what to expect in the weeks ahead. Hahn also talks with and profiles legislative personalities and reports on events at the Statehouse.G
9:00 pm
Great Performances "Paul Simon's Graceland Journey" Filmmaker Joe Berlinger travels back to South Africa with Simon - his first trip back in 25 years, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the cross-cultural Graceland album. Simon reunites with the South African musicians to give a reunion concert, which is used to tell the story of the turbulent birth of the album. The film features interviews with Oprah Winfrey, Paul McCartney, Harry Belafonte, David Byrne, Philip Glass, Lorne Michaels and Whoopi Goldberg.G
11:00 pm
Charlie Rose NULL


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Mini HOWTO: using a CF card for testing and developing coreboot
The wiki is being retired!
Documentation is now handled by the same processes we use for code: Add something to the Documentation/ directory in the coreboot repo, and it will be rendered to https://doc.coreboot.org/. Contributions welcome!
Installing coreboot on machine using a CF
This is a mini-HOWTO written by Marc Bertens
Using CF card as boot disk
For easy testing and development a CF card can be used as a HDD. There are adaptors soled for connecting a CF card directly to the IDE (PATA). THe bennefit of this is; whit a card reader attached to the development system, to easely change change the rom image your working on. Or change parameter, drivers or place applications on the CF card like lspci, for investigating the hardware.
Installing the image
The image linux-nokia-ip530-coreboot.img is a 32Mb image which can be placed on the standard CF card. This image was initial intended for the nokia-ip530, but can be used for upgrading, testing and developing coreboot on a x86 system. This is not a distrubution, but a lean and mean installation with a stable kernel. It uses the serial port as its main console at 115200n81. And its easy to personalize for developming and testing needs. For personalisation, just compile the kernel on a development system and copy the bzImage file to the CF filesystem.
#[sudo] dd of=/dev/<cf-card-device> of=./linux-nokia-ip530-coreboot.img
Download 32Mb CF card image (7.9Mb)
When you start from the CF card the EXTlinux loader is used to load Linux, just give ENTER
When the kernel is starting you see the console log on the serial port. And last a console prompt.
No user login and/or password is required.
The flashrom utility is already on the CF card image, so only need to replace the coreboot image with your coreboot rom image for your board.


text:
April 6, 2007
Right-hander, Brandon McClurg, threw 8.2 innings of relief on Friday, April 6, giving up just one unearned run as the Bisons defeated conference foe, Mercer University 12-7 in ten innings.
The Bisons got on the board in the first, scoring three runs with two outs, to take a 3-0 lead. Caleb Joseph got things started with a double down the left field line. After Ryan Wilkins walked, Justin Sanders singled to center, driving in Joseph for the first run of the game. Wilkins would score on an error by the Bears third basemen, while Sanders would cross the plate courtesy of a wild pitch.
However, the Bears scored one run in the first and five runs in the second off of Bisons' starter, Josh Spicer.
Spicer was relieved by McClurg with one out in the second. In 1.1 innings, he gave up six runs on six hits and three walks.
The Bisons got one run back when Branden Cadavid scored on a passed ball in the sixth.
The Bears increased their lead to 7-4 with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning.
The Bisons began to rally with two outs in the eighth. Shane Simpkins walked before advancing to second on a balk. Andrew Nickerson followed with a single to left, scoring Simpkins to draw the Bisons to within two.
The Bisons would tie the game in the top of the ninth. Joseph singled to lead off the inning. One out later, Justin Sanders singled through the right side to put runners on first and second. Kevin Gavigan entered the game to run for Sanders. After both runners advanced on a passed ball, Cadavid walked to load the bases for Simpkins who also walked to bring home Joseph and draw the Bisons to within one. Gavigan would score on a wild pitch to knot the score at seven and send the game into extra innings.
The Bisons would score five runs in the tenth, highlighted by a two-run RBI single off the bat of Simpkins which gave the Bisons a 12-7 lead.
McClurg earned the win to improve his record to 3-1 while lowering his ERA to 1.90.
Simpkins led the Bisons on offense with two hits and three RBIs.
The Bisons are back in action when they take on the Bears in a double-header tomorrow, with game one scheduled to kick off at 11 a.m.
Left-hander, Rex Brothers, is expected to receive the game one start for the Bisons. On the season, Brothers is 5-1 with a 3.98 ERA. In 43 innings he has given up 25 runs, 19 earned, while striking out 44.
In game two, right-hander, Taylor Merry, will make his first start of the season. On the season, Merry is 1-0 with a 5.89 ERA. He has recorded four saves


text:
I've been staying on the outskirts of the flurry of activity the last few months surrounding RDA and the Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control. Various things have been swimming around in my brain during this time, and I think now they're finally ready to come out. I don't know that I have any conclusions or suggestions for future directions, but that's what I see as the function of this blog – to think through things that may or may not end up anywhere interesting.
I read the LC Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control's draft report, and submitted comments via the web form designed for quick email questions rather than substantive feedback in time for the Working Group's consideration. I didn't post my comments on the blog, as many others did, as I felt my comments were pretty boring – they mostly were of the type "this paragraph seems to say x, but I wonder if you really meant to say y…." Overall, I was impressed with the report, and thought it represented an admirable vision for the directions in which libraries should be heading. It also struck me as largely avoiding library politics, although I thought it was odd a specific reference to FAST disappeared between the draft and final reports – I wonder what that was about? I liked the boldness of the report pushing attention for special collections, and the tough questions about the continued utility of MARC and LCSH.
But I, like many others, found a bit of schizophrenia in some of the specific recommendations. The report is not afraid to take a bold stand on MARC, but stops well short of recommending a move away from tens of thousands of distributed copies of bibliographic records, and (new in the final version, I think) questions RDA's move away from ISBD. The report recommends moving quickly to work on new bibliographic frameworks but even more forcefully says that RDA should wait before proceeding. It provides many recommendations discussing how to improve moving information in and out of the catalog but provides little in the way of rethinking the function of the catalog itself. I believe some of this inconsistency is the result of trying to address comments the WG received (although I don't see any changes related to any of my comments in there!), but most of it is probably due to the fact that this is a committee effort, written and revised on a short schedule. The biggest disappointment for me in the final report was that my favorite recommendation from the draft lost all of its power. In the draft report, one of the recommendations relating to LIS curricula described some extremely technical and theoretical topics as essential to offer. I believe cultivating individuals with both system and information expertise is the single most effective things we can do to ensure libraries play a part in the future information environment. In the final report, this recommendation was sanitized to simply say LIS curricula should include "advanced knowledge and topics." Bleah. That could mean anything.
One other thing regarding the LC WG report: representatives from both Google and Microsoft served on the Working Group, but I see little if any evidence in the report that these individuals contributed points of view that haven't been making the rounds within the library community already. That's unfortunate. We need some outside points of view in this community.
I know the term "bibliographic control" has been questioned in relationship to this report. Roy Tennant suggests "descriptive enrichment instead. I recognize the problems with bibliographic control – it sounds so authoritarian in the face of the open vision the report outlines. But all labels are words, and words have baggage. I'm not clever with names (my dog is named Daisy, if that gives you a sense of how un-creative I am in this area), but I'm skeptical that any brief name could capture what we're trying to do here. "Descriptive enrichment" to me calls up images of armies of humans manually adding things to records, an image I think we don't want to be promoting. So I'll remain neutral on the name issue – if someone comes up with a new one that folks like, I'd be happy to start using it. But I'm unlikely to be the one thinking that new label up.
I read many of the responses to the LC WG report that appeared on blogs, and found myself agreeing with many of the points made, and disagreeing with others. Pretty standard reaction, I suspect. I found OCLC's response quite odd, however. It had the general tenor of "we're doing all that stuff already, don't worry, just trust us…" while at the same time oversimplifying the issues in a way I found totally inappropriate for a response to a committee of experts. For example, the OCLC response touts its FRBR work as testing the WG didn't realize was happening, but it glosses over the fact that the Work-level clustering and other FRBR-like things OCLC has been doing aren't true FRBR implementations. This community needs clarity and hard truths on these issues right now, not something that's been reviewed by marketing. OCLC Research and RLG Programs are now and have been doing extremely interesting things recently, but few if any of them make their way to the productized mainstream of OCLC in ways that promote the state of the art or even fit well with the vision outlined in the LC WG report. I hope OCLC takes the report's recommendations to heart in the same way LC and the rest of us are trying to do.
I found RDA's reaction (or lack thereof) to the LC WG report to be of note as well. The folks behind RDA (the "Committee of Principals" for those of you in the know for such things) have on the RDA web site a response dated the same day the WG closed its call for comments. Presumably they submitted this document as an official comment in the appropriate time frame. The response, as the preface to the final LC WG report notes, smacks of "we're too far along to stop now," which in my mind is equivalent to "we/he/she have worked really hard, so what we came up with must be good," which I believe is completely and totally bogus. It also lays the guilt trip on LC – saying basically "we'd hate to lose your input." What the response doesn't do is address directly (aside from listing a few pseudo-FRBR implementations that one can't imagine the LC WG didn't know about) any of the concerns raised in the report. It looks to me like more of people talking past each other and being defensive rather than trying to find common ground. Of course, the RDA response says they won't be stopping development, which is no surprise at all. (Really, did anyone think they would? Wishful thinking doesn't count.)
Through all this, I remain agnostic about RDA. I figure at some point I'm going to have to form an opinion, but frankly, I haven't had the time to invest to develop an informed one. I haven't read the last set of drafts (released December-ish), and with previous drafts I had trouble devoting the mental energy to them to see the forest of general vision and effectiveness for the trees of specific rules. I like the idea of more explicit connections to FRBR being behind the new organization, but it looks awfully complex. FRBR of course is complex, but I can't help wondering if there's another way to make the connection. I also understand (but again, haven't seen myself) that the new drafts and/or supporting documents use terminology from the DC Abstract Model, including "literal value surrogate" and the like. I'm as intimidated by the terminology as the next person, but I do think it's worth it to introduce some intellectual stringency to this process. I'm just not sure how to do that and still make the documents accessible.
Martha Yee has put online a set of cataloging rules she's developed as a response to what seems to be the insanity surrounding us. I've long thought Martha was a clear voice in pushing against the book-centric focus of the cataloging community and realizing the importance of the display of information to users (in addition to just how we store it), but I've found myself disagreeing strongly with some of her more recent work that seems not to understand the state of the art with regards to search engines, information retrieval, or artificial intelligence. I haven't read her cataloging rules yet, but I'm encouraged that she's come up with some sort of concrete alternative (rather than just complaining, like the rest of us do), and apparently seems to be working towards an RDF model for her cataloging rules – bravo! I think any new set of rules, to be successful, however, need to be written to take advantage of current machine processing technologies. Not having read either the latest RDA drafts or Yee's rules, I can't say whether they do this or not. One can only hope.
And hope is where I am for the future of libraries. We have a lot going on right now in libraries, and I consider that a good thing. To use an old adage, we can't be so afraid we'll make a mistake that it prevents us from doing anything at all. Because we will make mistakes. We're human. No matter how many people we involve, no matter how many levels of review we have, there will be things we try that don't work out. If we realize that ahead of time we'll be able to recover and try new things that will work. We've done so much already, and we have in our community an enormous number of insightful, dedicated individuals with a vision for where we're going. Now we just have to find a way to let that vision emerge from the bureaucracy and the power of inertia.


text:
New Lipscomb basketball Coach Casey Alexander is inviting all former Lipscomb basketball players and program assistants to join him for a luncheon on Sunday, June 23 at 1:00 p.m. The complimentary meal will take place in the Hall of Fame Room in Allen Arena. All former players and program assistants are asked to RSVP to email@example.com or 615-479-3794
Richard Taylor, Class of 1987 and member of Lipscomb's 1986 NAIA National Championship team is helping organize the event.
" With the hiring of Coach Alexander, Bison Basketball has opened a new chapter in Lipscomb's history," said Taylor. "Casey has no doubt demonstrated that he understands what it takes to establish a program, teach the game, and mentor young men. I think it is a very exciting time for Bison Basketball,"
"I hope everyone agrees that this is an important time for all Bisons to stay connected to the program and establish a connection with our new coach," Taylor continued. "I hope we will have a great turnout to support Coach Alexander. I have already heard Casey say several times that the players of the past are why Bison Basketball is great and that involvement from past players and program assistants will have a significant impact on the program in the future. I agree with him and I am excited that he feels this way!"
Coach Alexander's goal is to gather as many former players and program assistants and share his vision for the Lipscomb basketball program and hear from former players about the dreams they have for Bison basketball.
Players are encouraged to share event details with their teammates and other Bison players they stay in contact with on a regular basis.
Former players unable to attend the event are asked to share with the Athletic Department contact information for future Bison Basketball events. Also, if you would like to send Coach Alexander an e-mail you can do so at: firstname.lastname@example.com
Co-Event Coordinators
George McInotsh
Class of 1949
Lee Marsh
Class of 1950
Gary Waller
Class of 1961
John McCarley
Class of 1963
Ron Dixon
Class of 1962
Butch Stinson
Class of 1973
Steve Davidson
Class of 1977
Alan Banks
Class of 1982
Andy McQueen
Class of 1995
Ryan Roller
Class of 2002
James Poindexter
Class of 2006
Eddie Ard
Class of 2008
Josh Slater
Class of 2011
Justin Glenn
Class of 2012


text:
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – On the final day of the Winter Invitational, the MIT men's swimming and diving team earned another nine NCAA B cuts in the morning and three A cuts and 12 B cuts at night, bringing their total to an impressive 35 national cuts over the weekend. The Engineers finished first with 1,445 points, followed by Keene state with 682, Harvard with 553, Tufts with 409, Wheaton with 286, Bowdoin with 264 and Colby with 94.
The first B cut came in the opening event of the night, the 200 yard medley relay, which touched first with a time of 1:32.54, less than two seconds off the A cut. In the 400 yard Individual Medley, freshman Alex Lednev (Glenmont, N.Y.) touched first in 4:00.86 and junior Remy Mock (Victoria, British Columbia) was third in 4:05.87, both of them well inside the B cut. MIT's best showing was in the 100 yard butterfly, where the Engineers took first through fifth. Senior Wyatt Ubellacker (Georgetown, Ky.) came first in 48.86, improving his time for the season by a few hundredths of a second, and freshman Sean Corcoran (Huntersville, N.C.) was second in 49.95, earning the B cut. Sophomore Ben Bauchwitz (Hershey, Pa.) was third in 50.90, freshman Luke Schlueter (St. Louis, Mo.) was fourth in 50.97 and sophomore Austin Fathman (Hamilton, Mass.) was fifth in 51.84.
The 200 yard freestyle was another strong event for MIT swimmers, who took five of the top six places. Freshman Thomas Norris (Cincinnati, Ohio) touched first in 1:40.68, getting a best time by almost four seconds and a B cut at the same time. Senior Max Pruner (Sioux Falls, S.D.) was third in 1:42.39, freshman Langston Fitts (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) was fourth in 1:42.90, senior Tony Chen (Clemmons, N.C.) was fifth in 1:43.31 and freshman Michael Lu (Scarsdale, N.Y.) was sixth in 1:43.70. The Engineers went on to take first through third in the 100 yard breaststroke, with junior Michael Liao (Newport Beach, Calif.) winning in 56.52 and senior Brendan Deveney (Newtown, Conn.) finishing second in 57.57, both getting B cuts. Sophomore Brendon Chiu (Monterey Park, Calif.) was third in 58.10.
In the 1650 yard freestyle at the opening of the final session, MIT captured second, third, fourth and sixth place. Lu finished second in 16:15.49 and junior Timothy Wall (Newtown, Pa.) was third in 16:16.23, both earning B cuts. Pruner was fourth in 16:37.16 and freshman Evan Olin (Ossining, N.Y.) finished sixth in 17:00.31. In the 200 yard backstroke, the Engineers took the top six spots and all of them got B cuts. Freshman Bo Mattix (La Canada, Calif.) won in 1:50.24, just a second off the A cut. Fellow freshman Bradford Jokubaitis (Newtown, Pa.) was second in 1:51.01, Deveney was third with a time of 1:52.07, Corcoran was fourth in 1:52.08, Lednev was fifth in 1:52.31 and senior Ron Rosenberg (Newton, Mass.) was sixth in 1:52.76.
After MIT took seven of the top ten places in the 100 yard freestyle, Liao followed with a win in the 200 yard breaststroke in 2:02.40, getting an A cut, a best time and his own school record from last year. Bauchwitz was second in 2:06.41, earning a B cut. In the 200 yard butterfly, Schlueter came first in 1:49.77, breaking the school record from the 2010-11 season and getting an A cut. Norris was second in 1:50.09, also getting the A cut and beating the school record, and Mock was third in 1:50.61, getting the B cut. In the 400 freestyle relay, MIT came first with a 3:00.92 and second in 3:04.98, wrapping up the meet in style.
MIT will return to action on January 11 when it faces Williams College at 4:00 p.m.


text:
Edwin Thomas Burke, 72, passed away peacefully on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2013, surrounded by his loving family.
Born in Passaic, N.J., Edwin and his wife have lived in Pennsylvania for the last 35 years. He was employed by the United States Postal Service in Dover, N.J., for 37 years before his retirement, and then at the Fernwood Resort.
He enjoyed fishing, travel and photography, but above all, he loved spending time with his family and especially loved being a grandfather.
Surviving are his loving wife of 34 years, Iris; his children: Cheryl McNally, Robin Burke, Steven Sesar, Jeffrey Sesar and Benjamin Sesar; his five grandchildren: Peter, Christopher, Julia, Jordan and Ethan; and many other loving relatives and friends who will surely miss him.
Funeral arrangements under the direction of Norman Dean Home For Services. Private services were planned. Those who wish may make memorial donations in his name to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.
Norman Dean Home For Services
16 Righter Ave., Denville, N.J.
Edwin Thomas Burke
Edwin Thomas Burke, 72, passed away peacefully on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2013, surrounded by his loving family.


text:
Like in the classroom we feel you should get a pre-search. (help me purge that first link guys.. 3 min tops)
I just attended an elluminate session where Jo Hart was so gracefully discussing the value of face to face conferences.
I certainly see them as a fractal of being together real time within a fractal of learning how to learn.
The need for personalization of learning shows up most during a lecture type time. It's unlikely we all can remain engaged on one topic in a given time period (meaning all of us in ed or at a conference.) Not so unlikely for a specified community or tribe though, that has authentic connections.
In blended classes you get these opportunities:
- a pre-search of the topic-
- a face to face meeting – one in which you are already entrenched in the topic and/or the people attending
- a re-search of the notes after (discussion/activity)
- a re-play ability to rehash any of the above, by hitting replay, by ongoing tweet/blog/junto conversations, etc
We hope during the time together, a most important time – you aren't left with a de-search.
these other elements are so vital to upping the value of the times we spend together
We hope you aren't left with only the 2 feet rule or the back channel escape.
The beauty of fractal-thinking is seeing ourselves in what we wish for our students.
Many want the two feet rule.. ok – do we allow that for our students? Is there a better way… what if we got better at pre-search going? What if we only met together face to face if there was a reason – for each of us… not just the presenter at a conference or the teacher in a room….
- I read 5 of your books, I know I'll be on the edge of my seat.
- I read your pre-search notes and can't wait for you to untangle some of them.
- I read your pre-search notes and other's comments on them – I can't wait to get together in a room with all of you and hash that out.
- I read your pre-search notes – and I won't need the 2 feet rule – and I won't use the backchannel as a bash tool – because I'm picking this learning space, I'm prepped for that time together.
And if for some reason – it's not what I expected, because that could still happen, it's fine. I know of Carol Dweck's growth Mindset and I also can't wait to dig gems out of what I initially may view as disconnect.
We should model that – we should look more like pieces of the fractal.
The Coop is planning a meet up – after just one junto session. We're craving time together. We have so many connections already. That's how time together should be.
Are we're facilitating those times for our students to connect? Are we focusing on community – or are we assigning work that seems meaningful to us, and then expecting them to jump hoops to be dying to come into our classroom? Are we nudging, urging, providing for connections in the ubiquity of life that makes them crave our times together?
This is ridiculous, and impossible.
Well it was.
That's the new.
The web is allowing us to getpivot wisdom out of the connected fractals of life – helping us to see value in all that we do.. and spend our time on things that matter.
We're headed for an authentic nclb.


text:
A tall, lanky infielder drops the ball three times before he finally gains control of the grounder. Pitches sail past the catcher's mitt. Balls roll agonizingly deep into the outfield.
The casual observer could forgive the players, none older than 16, for their fumbles. But not the dozens of scouts representing every Major League Baseball (MLB) team silently scrutinizing the action, jotting down notes, and timing the execution of each play.
"I'm looking for the ones that aren't nervous," says Rolando Fernandez, the senior director of international scouting for the Colorado Rockies.
IN PICTURES: Top Dominican baseball players
That every MLB team attended this recent showcase in rural Venezuela was proof that interest in local players remains intense despite most clubs shuttering full-time operations here due to rising crime and tense politics, opting to instead conduct their Latin American scouting operations from the Dominican Republic. Only six teams still have academies in Venezuela, down from 21 in 2002.
The fact remains: Venezuelans can play ball. A record 62 Venezuelans suited up for the start of the 2011 MLB season, up from 58 last year, with only the Dominican Republic sending more players to the US.
The division-leading Colorado Rockies have seven Venezuelans on their lineup, the most of any team in the league, and 35 more in the minors. Mr. Fernandez's eye for picking out young Latino talent is widely credited for turning the Rockies into one of the best teams in baseball, boasting such pitching stars as Jhoulys Chacin, who was signed as a teenager in Venezuela, and the Dominican Ubaldo Jimenez, who pitched the first no-hitter in Colorado Rockies history last year.
"You have to have a presence here," says Fernandez. "You have to be good here, if you want your organization to be good."
That's no easy task. According to the scouts at the recent showcase in San Joaquin, robbers and criminals target teams' facilities, staff, and players, who are often believed to have gotten large signing bonuses. Additionally, the threat of expropriations and onerous foreign exchange controls make teams wary of doing business in Venezuela.
Finding young recruits
To maintain a foothold, most of the teams have local scouts on the ground who start approaching the boys as young as 14 about the possibility of signing with them. The best players at this spring's showcase in San Joaquin stand to earn as much as a million dollars in signing bonuses this summer when they become eligible to play for MLB farm teams.
For most of the boys, that will mean leaving their families at age 16 and moving to the Dominican Republic, where all 30 MLB teams have training academies.
"You could have the same thing in Venezuela but you don't," says Fernandez. "[The Dominican Republic] welcomes everything we do, the process is easier in everything we do."
Baseball and oil do mix
Brought here by US oil workers in the 1920s, baseball is entrenched in the local culture. Tee-ball is for toddling 2-year-olds, while 4- and 5-year-olds are already swinging at fast pitches. The love of the game extends to the highest circles. Diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks last year portrayed President Hugo Chávez telling a Chevron official that he would love to attend a Houston Astros game in Texas but that it was politically impossible.
And despite US baseball teams recently pulling out, the US government still considers baseball as a valuable tool for reaching ordinary Venezuelans. The US Embassy in Caracas runs a program called "Beisbol y Amistad" (Baseball and Friendship) in which former MLB players run weekend training clinics for young players, while parents attend seminars on health and drug prevention.
"We don't make this a political program," says Charge d'Affairs John Caufield. "We stress friendship, culture, and drug prevention." At the clinics, Mr. Caufield says, he shares his own experiences and anxieties from raising an adolescent. "I talk as a parent.... It's a universal message."
RELATED: How MLB aims to stop steroid abuse, starting with Dominican prospects
Past attempts to turn that shared love of baseball into a little "baseball diplomacy" have failed spectacularly in the past. A former US ambassador was once greeted by rock-throwing protesters as he tried to deliver baseball equipment – leaving little chance that the US and Venezuelan governments will ever find love over the diamond and improve the environment for MLB teams to operate here.
In any case, President Chávez has not only stayed away from the US-sponsored baseball clinics but has also not been seen at a local game in years. Some speculate that Mr. Chávez, who usually faces the nation under tightly controlled circumstances, doesn't want to risk being booed on TV. The local leagues have worked hard to keep politics out of the stadiums and quickly tamped down on political expressions a few years ago when some fans chanted against power and water rationing.
The Rockies' Fernandez, like most of the scouts approached, would not comment on politics. He was also reticent to detail the challenges of operating here but conceded that crime is the "number one" issue. That can translate into parental concern over whether a MLB club can provide and protect new recruits.
"If I'm visiting a house to sign a 16-year-old kid and telling the family to trust our organization," he says, "I'm saying I'm going to take care of your kid."
The key to winning
For the Colorado Rockies, which currently has the third-best record in the MLB and is expected to contend for the World Series Championship, that also means these nervous Venezuelan kids are going to take care of winning games.
Back at the scouting showcase in San Joaquin, wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the red, white, and blue MLB logo, these young men vying for the league's attention seem unfazed by crime, politics, and even the idea of moving to a new country. Instead of the wide-eyed wonder you might expect from a kid being watched by some of baseball's biggest names, 15-year-old Carlos Tocci is remarkably cool when discussing his prospects.
"They're all the same," says the lean 6-foot outfielder, referring to the teams watching him. "Whoever gives me the best offer, that's where I'm going."
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