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Arenado's slump-busting hit lifts Rox to series win
Chatwood works around trouble through six effective innings
DENVER -- Rockies rookie Nolan Arenado should trick himself into believing every at-bat is one that can win a game.
Arenado ended a stretch of 18 hitless at-bats with a sixth-inning RBI single that broke a tie and lifted the Rockies to a 4-3 victory over the Cubs on Sunday afternoon at Coors Field in front of 43,108.
Arenado won games in the ninth with a homer against the Padres on June 2 and a single against the Giants on June 7.
On Sunday, with two on and two out in the seventh and the game tied at 2, Arenado singled to center off Cubs starter Edwin Jackson (6-11) to drive in Carlos Gonzalez from second. Michael Cuddyer scored when Cubs center fielder Junior Lake's throw home sailed over catcher Welington Castillo, hit the backstop and caromed into the Rockies' dugout for a 4-2 lead.
"I should probably handle those situations like I handle every at-bat -- I just try to look for something over the plate," Arenado said. "I was just trying to look for something up, and fortunately I got something up."
Rockies manager Walt Weiss said, "Nolan doesn't shy away from those pressure at-bats. He likes to be the guy. He got a big hit today."
Starting pitcher Tyler Chatwood (6-3) gave up two runs (one earned) in six innings, then sat back as the bullpen handled three eventful but ultimately successful innings. Rex Brothers gave up a hit and a run in the ninth, held his breath as a Cody Ransom moon shot went foul with two outs, then struck out Lake to complete his fifth save.
The Rockies (48-51) remained 3 1/2 games behind the National League West-leading D-backs, who are a half-game ahead of the second-place Dodgers. The Rockies took two of three over the Cubs in the first series out of the All-Star break to start a 10-game homestand. The Marlins arrive Monday to start a four-gamer, followed by three against the Brewers.
Letting a game or a series escape against the Cubs and Jackson -- who entered with a 15.12 career ERA against the Rockies -- would have been damaging.
Before the All-Star break, at the end of a period of multiple injuries to key players, they went 7-9 against the NL West. It wasn't an optimal performance, but the Rockies remained in contention.
"That feeling came into play then, and I don't think it's going to leave us from here on out," said reliever Matt Belisle, who pitched through a two-on situation in a scoreless eighth. "We have a very good knack for understanding the situation but not over-heightening the game, just rising to the occasion to compete. The guys take pride in it."
In the Rockies' first, Charlie Blackmon doubled, Gonzalez delivered an RBI single and Cuddyer added a run-scoring double before Jackson found his groove.
Chatwood threw 21 pitches in the first, which ended with him striking out Lake with the bases loaded. After that, the Cubs didn't threaten until the fifth, when Chatwood walked two before getting Starlin Castro to hit into an inning-ending line drive.
The Cubs' Anthony Rizzo homered to open the sixth -- just the third home run Chatwood has allowed in 13 starts -- as the right-hander labored through the inning. Schierholtz and Lake singled with one out, and Darwin Barney delivered a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 2. After intentionally walking Castillo to load the bases, Chatwood ended his day on a groundout from Jackson.
"I had some traffic out there, especially in the first when they had bases loaded and was able to get out of it," Chatwood said. "It was big going forward, and in the sixth I had some more traffic, but I was able to minimize it."
Jackson's only two walks came before Arenado's key single. Gonzalez drew a walk and stole second, and Jackson pitched carefully to Cuddyer.
"I don't feel like those two walks there necessarily killed me," Jackson said. "You want to come after those guys, but it was two great hitters right there. You definitely want to try to make your pitch in that situation, just one of those things."
Cubs manager Dale Sveum wished Lake hadn't have tried to throw home on the fly.
"We could have bounced it a couple times, I think, and would have caught him," Sveum said.
Arenado sprinted around third but umpires sent him back to second. They ruled that Arenado had not reached first by the time Lake released his throw. By rule, a runner receives two bases on a throw from the field that goes out of play. It ended up not mattering when Yorvit Torrealba grounded out.
A two-run lead proved just enough.
Rockies left-handed reliever Josh Outman gave up a hit and a walk in the seventh, but righty Edgmer Escalona induced a foul popup from Alfonso Soriano and flyout to left from Schierholtz.
After walking Barney with one out and giving up a no-man's-land infield single to Dioner Navarro in the eighth, Belisle got Luis Valbuena to hit a harmless infield grounder.
Brothers earned his first four saves while regular closer Rafael Betancourt was hampered by a right groin injury earlier this season. Sunday was Brothers' first save chance since Betancourt was placed on the 15-day disabled list with appendicitis.
Brothers yielded Castro's leadoff double in the ninth and watched him score on two grounders, but the biggest scare was Ransom's foul ball.
"At first it was in question, then I saw it hooking," Brothers said. "Especially right out of the gate, you want to get things rolling in the right direction."


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Bears, Allen strike four-year deal
Defensive end Jared Allen signed a four-year, $32 million deal with the Chicago Bears, who were not known to be in the bidding for one of the NFL's most productive pass rushers.
Allen, 31, is the third free-agent defensive end to sign in Chicago this offseason. He joins Lamarr Houston, who could play defensive tackle, and Willie Young on the overhauled Bears defense.
The contract structure sets up as a likely two-year contract but with $15.5 million guaranteed, Allen certainly has enough incentive to keep chasing quarterbacks. His 2014 and 2015 salaries are fully guaranteed.
Allen's agent broke off talks with the Minnesota Vikings three days before the start of unrestricted free agency, when Minnesota committed $42.5 million to sign Everson Griffen to a five-year deal. Allen considered retirement but took visits to Dallas and Seattle and had interest from other teams, including the Denver Broncos.
"I'd like to take a moment to thank my former teammates, coaches and the staff at the Minnesota Vikings for all of their inspiring work and dedication," Allen said. "Perhaps more importantly I would like to thank the fans and the Minnesota community. I can only hope that I have left with you all with even a fraction of the positive support and impact you have had on my life, my foundation and my family.
"I am very excited about this next chapter in my career with the Chicago Bears and can't wait to see what the future holds for us. God bless."
Signing Allen adds to the musical chairs among pass rushers in the NFC North. Julius Peppers, released by the Bears earlier this month, joined the Green Bay Packers.
"Certainly, organizationally and collectively, we're excited about bringing in a guy who has shown durability, dependability, a great motor and has played at a high level for such a long time," Bears coach Marc Trestman said. "And the fact that Jared is excited about being a Bear -- and I'm sure he'll speak more to that -- and wanting to hopefully finish his career in Chicago is exciting to all of us. He's going to bring certainly great value both on the field and in the locker room."
Allen recorded his seventh consecutive double-digit sack season and eighth overall of his 10-year career. He started all 16 games for the sixth consecutive season, compiling 11.5 sacks, 13 TFLs, 52 tackles (33 solo), six pass deflections and two forced fumbles for Minnesota.
Allen leads the NFL in sacks with 128.5 since entering the league as a fourth-round draft pick (126th overall) by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2004. In 157 career games, Allen has started 151, totaling 558 tackles (445 solo), five interceptions -- including one returned for a touchdown -- 51 batted passes, 29 forced fumbles, 17 fumble recoveries and is tied for a NFL record four safeties. In 2009, he joined Reggie White as the only NFL players to notch at least 14.5 sacks in three straight seasons (2007-09).
Allen broke the Vikings single-season sack record with 22 in 2011 and came within one-half sack of matching the NFL single-season record. It was the second time Allen has led the league in sacks, a feat he first accomplished in 2007 with 15.5.


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#19 Dirk Hayhurst
News from America's favorite pitcher/diarist/author. His book The Bullpen Gospels has made it to The New York Times best-seller list, and will debut this week as the 19th rated Non-Fiction Paperback in the nation.
As we congratulate Mr. Hayhurst (who will remain in a state of giddiness until at least May 1), let me also note here something I left out from my Opening Day reporting. The first person at CitiField to express condolences for the passing of my father was Mike Vaccaro of The New York Post. Considering I was far from kind in reviewing his book here over the winter, I have to say that was as classy an act as I've ever been the beneficiary of, and whatever complaints I might have about the quality of the book, I have none about the quality of the author.
11 Comments
Okay, I'm just going to have to give in and get this book. I trust your opinion. 🙂 And yes, that did show class on Vaccaro's part. But you have a lot of class as well. P.S. – looks like both the Mariners and Yankees are at the same place right now – one win, one loss… fingers crossed for both of them!
I just checked my Amazon account…….evidently my copy of this book showed up in the late mail delivery today. I'll have to go pick it up in the morning……looking forward to reading it 😉
I looked for the book at Border's the other day. This might explain why they didn't have it.
Keith, maybe Mr. Vaccaro shares my outlook on grudges. They tend to be quite heavy, so I try to be selective about which ones I carry around with me. I?ve deemed a handful worthwhile, as they bring me joy that more than compensates for the burden. However, for the most part, I find that I feel better holding my head high and just being nice to all things human.
Another possible explanation is that Mr. Vaccaro realizes that if everyone thought he was perfect, he probably would never get any better. I for one can respect a tough critic, and few things make me more suspicious or annoyed than someone who never questions me.
That was, indeed, a very classy thing for Mr. Vaccaro to do. I re-read your review of his book, and it focused on factual errors, rather than any personal attacks. So, apparently, he must also be big enough to be able to accept constructive criticism. Good for him.
I hope you're managing to cope with your grief as much as can be expected in these circumstances. As I'm sure you know too well, grief lasts far longer than the initial wave of condolences, and one can often feel alone because they think everyone else has forgotten about their grief. But don't worry; we'll still be thinking about what you're going through, even if we don't mention it for fear of inspiring a fresh wave of sadness.
I'm 3/4 through the book – will probably finish it tonight – and I've loved it as much as you promised I would! I've laughed a ton and wiped away a few tears already. Thank you so much for highlighting it. Hayhurst is such a talented writer – of course it helps that I live in San Diego and am a Padres fan and know Lake Elsinore as well as I do 🙂 Still – this is so much more than a baseball book.
Kudos to Mr Vaccaro. Very nice of you to share that encounter.
Keith, now that had the makings of one of those a-box-to-hide-in moments. Crikey! Still, it was an encouraging reminder that two people who have professional differences can manage to be kind to one another, especially when one of those people is grieving a tremendous loss. Props to Mr. Vacarro for his humanity and decency.
I just read your review of The Bullpen Gospels, as well as the user reviews at Amazon.com. Wow. Dirk Hayhurst sounds like a guy I would enjoy knowing. Time for recreational reading has been hard to come by lately, but judging from the raves about Hayhurst's gifted writing, I'll have to make it a point to carve out some time to really savor this book.
Delicious reference to Thurber's fable ?The Bear Who Let It Alone? on Countdown a couple nights ago! 😉 Thurber sure packs a wallop in just a few short paragraphs.
Keith, I agree that Dirk's book is a great read, but wanted to suggest that he might also be Canada's "favorite pitcher/diarist/author", as a Jay. chris
Hey Keith… welcome to Twitter! Sent you a brief message there… and I'm sure you'll see it, buried somewhere within the other 3,475,092 messages you have likely gotten in this, your first hour on the site. 🙂 Go Yankees! Go Mariners!
I tweeted you too. I'm new to this thing, so hopefully my tweet didn't vaporize in cyberspace. I'm gonna have to hire a 5-year-old to show me how to do this. Uggghhh!
"As we congratulate Mr. Hayhurst (who will remain in a state of giddiness until at least May 1) …"
Having checked out just a little of Mr. Hayhurst's Twitter feed this evening — accessed of course through Keith's shiny new(ish) Twitter page — I feel confident in saying that Dirk will remain in a state of giddiness, oh, for the rest of his life or so. It seems to have come pre-installed. I don't know why, but somehow after all of KO's raves about the book, I never quite got the full sense of what a winning & charming personality he has — just full of life & creativity & drollness. (The Holden Caulfield comparisons may have thrown me off.) And he's coming to NE Ohio to sign books next weekend!
Keith, I too have been reading and loving Dirk's book. I read the story of "Carl" to my wife, l haven't heard her laugh so hard in a long time. She than asked me a pertinent question:is he still playing? So, I googled him, found out he is a Blue Jay, and looked at his website. He had a email site, with a kangaroo court box. (I once was fined 50 cents for having more than one girl friend at the ball park. Tom Paciorek was my lawyer; his argument was that they both felt sorry for me.)
Sorry for the digression, Dirk's book brings back a lot of good memories. Any way, I sent him a email, telling him how much I enjoyed the book and such, and I was stunned when I received a reply! Now, I have met a few authors, Toby Wolff and Jess Walter to name two, but to get a email from a bestselling author, that was surreal. I am looking at Toronto's schedule to see when the Jays will be on the west coast, and his stint on the 60 day DL will be up. I just have to shake this man's hand. Can you and your producers come up with a reason to interview him on Countdown?


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This time of year, when you think of scarves you probably think of the type you wear around your neck to keep warm – but we also love tying them in our hair! It makes for a really pretty bohemian look that can be a fun alternative to hats. We asked some our of fp girls to demonstrate these 4 easy ways to wear head scarves and put together the video below as inspiration for you all. Which look is your favorite?
1. Make a standard turban by twisting the scarf ends around each other in the front, and tucking the scarf ends into the sides of the turban. Scarf pictured is the Rorscach Scarf.
2. Twist the scarf into your hair and wrap around the head to make a twisted turban!
3. Tie two scarves together to make one very long scarf and wrap multiple times around the hair to create a larger turban with mixed prints and textures. Scarves pictured: Acid Wash Embroidered Scarf and Silk Leopard Scarf.
4. Wear the scarf like a headband, tying in the back. Scarf pictured is the Acid Wash Embroidered Scarf.
Shop Free People Scarves.
More styling tips from the BLDG 25 Blog!


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Alvares, Manuel, 1526-1583, et al. / Ethiopia Minor and a geographical account of the Province of Sierra Leone : (c. 1615)
Part two: The Province of Sierra Leone, chapter 1: the name, situation and bounds of this province and the nature of the land, pp. 1-18
Page 8
This material may by protected by copyright law (e.g., Title 17, US Code).| For information on re-use see: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/Copyright


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Our 'Caps came up with an inspired performance to beat Seattle Sounders FC 4-1 Wednesday night at CenturyLink Field. It was the second time we've defeated Seattle this year and our first-ever road victory over a Cascadia rival in Major League Soccer.
So, what did we learn?
Manneh splits the wickets and nets the hat-trick
A star is born
On Wednesday, we witnessed a quality performance from a young Kekuta Manneh that shows the potential and future he could have in the game.
We have seen flashes of this before, when he came off the bench against Dallas and turned the game around and last match when he nearly won the game with a stupendous volley, but he took his game to the next level against Seattle.
His performance showed a player who knew he belonged in the MLS and was ready to take the stage and impact one of the biggest games in Whitecaps FC's MLS history. The way he took his goals showed the confidence of a veteran player and the runs he made to break down the Sounders' back line showed maturity beyond his 18 years.
What has impressed me most about Manneh is his fearlessness on the field. He loves to get the ball and attack defenders at every opportunity. This was a game for him to shine in and he sure did that, as a star was born right in front of our eyes.
Highlights: Seattle Sounders FC 1-4 Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Contributions all around
Aside from Manneh, it's really hard to single out players after this performance because it really was a team effort.
In goal, David Ousted pulled off a number of big saves at key moments and deserved a shutout. The back was marshaled by our captain Jay DeMerit and fellow centre back Carlyle Mitchell was outstanding again. The fullbacks defended well and supported the attack when needed, especially Young-Pyo Lee who was a threat all night.
We won the midfield battle as Jun Marques Davidson set the tone early on, allowing us to keep possession and get into our flow of the game. Davidson completed 50 of 57 passes on the night. Beside him, Matt Watson never stopped running and Nigel Reo-Coker capped off a big game with his first goal of the season. In front of them, Daigo Kobayashi had one of his best games as he set up numerous chances for his teammates and was a thorn in Seattle's side all night.
Up front, Camilo worked his socks off and always had the Sounders defence on their heels, allowing Manneh the time and space to have his incredible game.
With 10 days before our next match, we should savour this big-time performance that has put us in position to win the Cascadia Cup.
#CapsOnTour: Fans enjoy the bus ride to Seattle on June 8
Diehard fans
I had another chance to sit with our fans and had myself another memorable experience, as our 'Caps won in Seattle to keep our playoff hopes alive. I was hoping for an epic trip that would be talked about for a long time and that's exactly what it was.
It was thrilling to be amongst our loyal fans, as they prepared for another Cascadia battle. Despite the fact that it was a midweek match, supporters of all ages descended upon CenturyLink Field in droves ready to cheer on these players to possible glory.
Our fans have never wavered in their support for the team and I can tell you there would have been no one happier than Whitecaps FC staff and players to give them this historic victory for all the loyalty they have shown through thick and thin.


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Also available is the entire collection of The Presbyterian Guardian as one PDF Archive (about 990 MB). Right-click on the link and select "Save Link As..."
Please note that this is a very large file and it will take a long time to download based on the speed of your internet connection. It is not recommended that you even attempt to download this file without a high speed internet connection (more than 5Mbps) , as it would take approximately 40 hours to download using a typical dial-up connection. Even with a 1Mbps connection, it will still take about 2 hours to download.
The Presbyterian Guardian (1935-1979) was an important voice in the early years of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in its vigorous opposition to modernism and its proclamation and defense of Reformed orthodoxy. Established on the eve of the founding of the denomination, it was closely associated with the OPC, although it remained an independent magazine.
Editors of the Guardian during its remarkable 44-year publishing history included H. McAllister Griffiths, J. Gresham Machen, Ned B. Stonehouse, Charles J. Woodbridge, Paul Woolley, Leslie W. Sloat, Robert E. Nicholas, John J. Mitchell, and J. Cameron Fraser.
A free, downloadable PDF version of A Cumulative Index to the Presbyterian Guardian, 1935-1979, (offsite link) compiled by James T. Dennison, Jr., has been made available at the website of Kerux (offsite link).
|© 2020 The Orthodox Presbyterian Church
Chaplains and Military Personnel


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February 20, 2014 -Sandy Recovery- Continuing Commitment To Rebuilding
Continuing Commitment To Rebuilding
Phase Two of Federal Sandy Recovery Funds Focused on Getting Into Hands of Those Who Still Need to Rebuild and Low and Moderate Income New Jerseyans
Sandy's destruction caused $36.9 billion worth of damage and needs – the largest and most ferocious storm in New Jersey's history. The Christie Administration has launched more than 50 recovery and rebuilding programs and initiatives at an unprecedented pace while working to get the initial $1.83 billion of Community Development Block Grant funds – of which $1.159 billion was targeted specifically for housing – out the door.
Today, ten months after the first round of CDBG Disaster Recovery funds started flowing in New Jersey, $1.03 billion is out the door or in the pipeline.
- Of the more than two-thirds of the housing money that has been obligated so far, 71.6 percent has been awarded to low and moderate income (LMI) families, which is defined as those with income less than 80 percent of an area's median income.
- More than 5,100 Sandy-impacted homeowners have been preliminarily awarded a grant through the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation & Mitigation (RREM) Program.
- 237 businesses have been approved for Stronger NJ Business Grants totaling nearly $11.5 million.
- 272 voluntary buyout offers have been made to willing sellers in Sayreville and South River through the Department of Environmental Protection's Blue Acres program.
- More than 2,900 people are working with the Department of Environmental Protection to elevate their homes through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program Elevation Program.
Obama HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan: "Sandy was a tragedy of a scale—I'm a New Yorker—that I have never seen. And, by definition, money can never get to families fast enough to repair that damage. And so, are there things that could move faster? Absolutely right. But, if you look at overall, this money is moving faster than in any prior major disaster." (MSNBC, 1/29/14)
The second round of CDBG Disaster Recovery aid totals $1.463 billion, while New Jersey faces over $19 billion in unmet needs, forcing the state to make difficult choices in terms of priorities. While a variety of programs are designed to help residents and communities across the state rebuild, emphasis continues to be placed on providing housing assistance to low and moderate income families.
Helping Families And Small Business Owners:
The Christie Administration has proposed using more than half of the allotted funds -- $735 million -- to help homeowners and renters repair and rebuild while making sure small businesses get back on their feet:
- $390 million to assist approximately 3,000 homeowners through the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation & Mitigation (RREM) Program, which is the state's largest Sandy housing recovery initiative.
- The funding will build on the $710 million provided in the initial allocation.
- With this additional funding, approximately two-thirds of those who received initial approval of a RREM housing award – or 65.5 percent -- will receive a grant.
- $245 million in additional funding will be made available for affordable housing programs through rental assistance and special needs assistance programs.
- $100 million to purchase 250 additional flood-prone homes and return the land to open space, creating a natural buffer to storm surge and flood waters. To date, more than 270 buyout offers have been made to Sandy-impacted homeowners.
- $5 million to continue the State's tourism and marketing push to show vacationers that the Jersey Shore is open for business.
Preparing for Future Storms:
New Jersey isn't just rebuilding, it's rebuilding better, stronger and smarter. To that end, the State plans to use $535 million of the second round of federal Sandy relief funds to harden the state's defenses against future storms to help prevent mass power outages and stem flooding in areas hit hardest by Sandy.
- $100 million to fund projects that would help protect areas at high risk for flooding and storm surge by building flood walls, pump stations as well as restoring wetlands, using permeable pavement and rain gardens.
- $210 million to create an energy bank dedicated to financing projects that would generate reliable power at critical sites – such as hospitals, emergency response centers and water and wastewater treatment plants – when the electric grid fails.
- $225 million to help government entities meet federal funding match obligations for a variety of recovery and resiliency projects such as repairing or constructing roads, bridges, levees, public buildings, water and sewer treatment plants, power generation and distribution facilities, sand dunes, beaches, telecommunication systems, and recreational facilities.
Strengthening Infrastructure And Communities:
The Christie Administration's plan also provides funding to help local governments better protect their residents during major storms and emergencies and prevent major tax increases related to destroyed homes.
- To prevent tax increases and ensure that Sandy-affected communities can maintain vital services – such as police, fire and trash pickup –New Jersey will dedicate $90 million for Essential Services grants to assist Sandy-impacted local governments that are experiencing budget distress.
- To date, more than $44.5 million in funding has been awarded to 11 Sandy-impacted local governmental entities to prevent tax hikes in the wake of ratable losses in communities devastated by the storm.
- $10 million for the Unsafe Structures Demolition Program to demolish unsafe Sandy-impacted structures and remove debris.
- The funding would be added to the $15 million provided in the first round.
- $10 million for planning initiatives, including funding for the Post Sandy Planning Assistance Grant Program to help Sandy-impacted local governments plan their rebuilding efforts to promote resilience and encourage economic growth. The funding would be added to the $5 million provided the program in the initial allocation.
- To date, more than $1.8 million in planning grants have been awarded to 35 local governments.
- $5 million for the Code Enforcement and Zoning Program to help code enforcement and zoning offices in Sandy-impacted municipalities respond to the influx of rebuilding applications.
- The funding would be added to the $6 million provided in the initial allocation.
Lisa Ryan
Sean Conner
(609) 292-6055


text:
Interview by Luxi Lahtinen & Niko Karppinen
Live pictures by Luxi Lahtinen
Transcription by Tony Gabriel
Thanks to Silke from Tough Enough Promotion & Management for booking us the interview with Chuck
The legendary thrashers Testament from Oakland, California, have got their big wheel rollin´ nicely again. The band´s 9th studio album, THE FORMATION OF DAMNATION, marked the Testament camp´s return (at least partly) back to the times of their THE GATHERING album, spiced with some hints from their old days (THE NEW ORDER, PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH and such). Both Greg Kristian and Alex Skolnick had also made their return to the Testament ranks, without whose effort TFOD may probably not have turned the way it eventually did (even if most of the music for the album was written by longtime members Chuck Billy and Eric Peterson).
The band had started their "Damnation Vacation" European tour from Rock Hard festival on May 9th already – and after their well gone appearance at Sweden Rock Festival the other night, they finally arrived to Tampere, Finland to do the annual Sauna Open Air Festival where they were one of the two headlining acts of the first day of S.O.A. 2008 (Children of Bodom being the other one of them).
We caught up with Chuck some hours before their showtime, and asked him briefly about the ongoing tour, the new album THE FORMATION OF DAMNATION, the old days, some special tailor-made Testament videos made by some Testament fans – and even sort of accidentally, managed to find out about Steve ´Zetro´ Souza´s coaching activities for his two sons. Read all about that – and many other things as well from the interview we had with Chuck…
So, how was the Sweden Rock festival last night?
It was really good. It just sucked because we got there, played, and had to leave straight away, to get to the airport to catch a flight by five in the morning. We had to drive all the way to Stockholm, so we didn't get to see any other bands, and there were a lot of great bands. That was the only thing that was bad, and then we got here. We got very little sleep, so I'm a little tired.
This is only the beginning of your extensive tour that you almost just started from Legacy Festival from Serbia on May 31st. What kind of pre-expectations do you overall have about this tour?
It's going to be a lot of travel, a lot of hard work because we're all kinda jumping all over the place, but it should be good. We've got a good, classic set of songs. We're playing some songs we haven't played in a long time, so it's just nice to be able to play something different.
In this June you´re also going to be a part of this "Masters of Metal" tour together with Judas Priest, Motörhead and Heaven and Hell in the North America. You have got some pretty ´big´ company on those dates, haven´t you? Obviously you see this chance as a great opportunity to expand Testament´s music to an entire new audience, too, don´t you?
It's going to be great, I mean we haven't done a proper American tour in a long time, so it'll be nice to get out there. Since there's no Ozzfest going on next year it's going to be one of the bigger events of the summer, so it's going to be nice to be on that.
I also noticed that in September and October you´ll also do some dates in some Asian countries like in Japan, Indonesia, Korea and China. Now it´s that China date that made me a bit curious. You´ll play in Beijing on October 1st 2008. This assumably your very first time to play in China, so what do you personally expect from that trip over there?
No, we played China last year. We were in Beijing last year, so it'll be the second time. It was nice, it was good. It's different fans, because they don't really look like metalheads, sometimes business people, people that don't wear metal shirts or anything like that, but they were all excited and they went crazy, so that was cool.
You´ll play at Star Live Club, and a Chinese band called Honey Gun (playing ´Nu-Rock´, uh?) and Japanese thrashers Grim Force are supposed to be the 2 support bands for that event. What do you know about those 2 other bands?
I don't know those bands at all.
Talking about your latest album a little bit, it´s overall been well received by the Testament fans – some of them saying that it´s kind of like a cross between your THE NEW ORDER and THE GATHERING albums musically; something old and something new from Testament nicely melted together, so I bet you are definitely happy how this album turned out eventually, am I right?
It's got the theme from THE NEW ORDER. THE NEW ORDER was kind of about old Nostradamus predictions, political corruption, and the environment. As far as THE GATHERING, there's a couple songs that some of THE GATHERING stuff, but I try to sing a little more on this one instead of on THE GATHERING, where I sing a lot faster. It's definitely a good combination of everything we've done. I think it's the right vocal style for the riffs. I don't think if I sang death metal over these riffs it would sound the same.
Did you feel any pressure while you were making the songs for TFOD like making it clear in your mind that people are expecting to hear a vibe from the Testament´s old days, combined with a more modern approach that you had on THE GATHERING?
There's definitely a pressure because for us, THE GATHERING was the best record we've done up to that point. We knew that we had to do a record that was going to be as good as THE GATHERING if not better than THE GATHERING, and if it wasn't, then all of the expectations and hype would have probably damaged the band, I think. We didn't really know, because we were working, writing song after song until we were in the studio mixing the record, and we sat down and listened to the whole thing as a record. That's when we went, man, I think it's better than THE GATHERING. At that point we felt pretty relieved. We knew it couldn't be anything but as good as if not better. It's nice that the fans and the press have been enjoying it as well so we've been very happy.
So, you would honestly say that TFOD is the best album you guys have done so far, aside from THE GATHERING, of course?
I think so, because for me, it's kind of a collection of all the vocal styles and voices and ranges I've used. I enjoy listening to it better where a lot of the other records for me vocally were one direction and one style, and going back and listening many years later I'm like, man, I could've done this a little differently, so on THE GATHERING I got to make it different and knew what direction I wanted to go in for the new record. I learn more and more off of each record, hearing the songs that I really enjoy off of each record.
As for the lyrics on TFOD, "The Evil Has Landed" deals with the terror strikes against WTC. However, the fact is it´s almost been 7 years when that strike happened (9/11), so do you feel like you should have written a song about it a bit earlier – and probably get it out on an EP, or even on some certain, special compilation album that could have dealt with 9/11? Did you kind of want to make your own tribute about the happenings on that particular sad day?
We didn't really have a band when that happened. When it happened I was sick with cancer, so we had all of our equipment in storage, we packed up all of our recording equipment and put it into a storage room. At that point I didn't know if I'd ever play music again. I didn't really care if ever I played music or not, I just wanted live and spend as much time as I could with my family. I didn't know if I was going to die or not, or what was going to happen. Once we got back together there was a brief period with George O and ´Metal´ Mike and the guys from THE GATHERING recording. We played some shows and then got the original lineup back, and that's when we decided to start thinking about doing a new record. We didn't want to do a new record for all those years because Spitfire Records was a terrible record label, they never supported the band and we worked very hard on THE GATHERING and they did nothing with it. We were really disappointed with that so we did a live record, and then FIRST STRIKE IS STILL DEADLY. We were trying to buy time to figure out what we were going to do, hopefully someone would come by and take us away from the label, and as it turned out, they ended up selling the record label. At that point, they ended up selling it to a company that was only going to be doing gospel music, so we were like, well where does Testament fit? They were like you don't really fit, so what do you want? And we were like, well we want to be let go of our contract and not have to deliver a record to you guys. So, they let us go and that's when we contacted Nuclear Blast and we were like, hey man, we're free, because Nuclear Blast wanted to sign us for about ten years, but they didn't want to spend the money to buy us off the contract. So, as it worked out and we strung it out with the records and not delivering the record, it all worked out in our favor, and then to write that record, TFOD, and have Nuclear Blast work it. It worked out really well, because we've got the original guys, we've got the new record, we've got new management, new booking agents, a whole new team starting again, and it's been going really good. Everybody's been working hard, trying to get things picking up again, and I think that the climate and the timing are very good for heavy metal right now. Especially for a band like us, because we've been around for awhile. It all kind of worked out after it was all said and done.
"Killing Season" is kind of a tribute song to all American troops around the whole world; especially for the ones that play the Testament stuff to get an adrenaline rush to go through their veins, before they go into battle and probably take some lifes. I take it you didn´t mean to write those lyrics to glorify the killing of enemies or overall people, did you?
No, it's just that we've got a lot of email and letters from troops saying that they were Testament fans, and people who listen to Slayer and other heavy metal get psyched up and prepared, in case they've got to take somebody's life. I'm not enlisted in the army, but if I could somehow maybe help a little bit and do my part by getting somebody fired up and, well not excited but prepared to possibly do something like that, then cool, I'll write that song for them because they're just listening to the music themselves but if they could actually write a song for that reason, then killer, you know.
Steve ´Zetro´ Souza was also one of the co-workers on your album; he was helping out with the lyrics for 2 songs on TFOD. How did he end up helping you out with the lyrics for the album?
Yes, he wrote two, Dell James helped me write the rest. He's been writing lyrics with me for fifteen years. He manages Guns N' Roses, actually, but he's been a friend of mine for fifteen years and writes lyrics. Steve Souza, when we were doing our Dublin Death Patrol project we were writing lyrics together, and we did a pretty good job, I thought. Down at the last minute I had a few more songs to write, so I called Zet up and said, ´do you want to write a couple songs´? So we did, and it worked out.
´Zetro´ also does some vocal contributions on TFOD – along with his son Nick and Steev Esquivel from Skinlab. Was that somehow pre-planned to get those guys to do some guest vocals on the album, or was that more or less a very spontaneous thing to have those guys on the album?
It wasn't planned, there just came a day when we were like, we need to get the background vocals done. I called Zet, of course, and I think we've seen Steev like a week before and I asked him, do you want to do the background vocals? He said yeah, so I called him up on a Saturday and I asked if he was available for a couple hours, and we just knocked out the vocals in a couple hours.
How old is Zetro´s son Nick, by the way?
He's 13 or 14, he plays drums in a speed metal band. He also has another son, Cody, who's 16, and his band's called Oskorei (Blake Peterson (age 18) on vocals and guitar, Corey Lee (age 19) on drums, Nikita Shchepin (age 17) on guitar and Cody Souza (age 16) on bass) Steve Zetro's like their coach, and he gets them in the garage and puts them to work and puts their bands together, and drives them to their concerts and everything.
Souza's also a member of Dublin Death Patrol as we already know. You seem to get along with him in a great way. It even could be said that The Bay Area brotherhood truly does exist… ;o)
(Laughs) Yeah, we come along great – and the The Bay Area brotherhood still exists – oh yeah!
Talking about videos, there are quite a few Testament videos available, so do you have any plans to shoot something from TFOD as well?
Yeah, we actually shot one three weeks ago. We shot one for "More Than Meets the Eye," and then July 5th, when we get home we're going to shoot "The Henchmen Ride". There'll be two videos that we haven't done in a long time.
There's a very cool, may I say, tailor-made video clip available in YouTube, done for your song "D.N.R.". That clip has some footage taken from the "Underworld – The Evolution" movie (starred by Kate Beckinsdale) – as well as there is a footage of "Disciples of the Watch", and the song itself has been built around some of the scenes taken from the "The Children of the Corn" movie. Looks like Testament have a lot of these die-hard fans around the world who obviously can find some connections between movies and your music. Have you yourself seen those two footages I´m talking about in here, by the way?
I've heard about them, but I haven't seen them yet. Eric was telling me about them, and I'd like to see them.
It's been said that Testament's career is one of the most valued overall in the metal scene when looking the whole discography of the band. Do you think it is better to have enough time to work with your songs than just release a new album each year and maybe even fail with the material for it, and to satisfy your fans and yourself as a musician and songwriter?
We haven't had pressure from the label in a long time, because now we have our own label, burnt offerings, and we license the music to other labels. We're not pressured because if we're signed to a label, then yeah, they'll want the record out by, you know, this time next year. I think we work better without the pressure because we've worked on some records like SOULS OF BLACK, for example, where we had to hurry up and write that record for the "Clash of the Titans" tour, and I think it suffered a little because of that. We couldn't get the tour unless we had a new record out, so we went home and wrote the record in five weeks, and then recorded it in six, and within eleven weeks we had a new record for the tour which probably could have been a better record if we just didn't have someone rushing us to do it. We just take our time and we've got our own recording studio where before when we didn't have our own studio, the clock's ticking when you're in the studio, and you've got to hurry up, you know, you've only got two weeks left, and then you might miss something, or something didn't turn out as well as you'd hoped.
Do you think that some record labels nowadays, are pushing young, talented bands to get into a songwriting mood too soon so that they could release a new album from them each year? I can't avoid the feeling that some of the records might be even better if bands had had more time to focus on the actual material on their albums, and not having a rush to accomplish this and that thing way too early…
It's sad because the band has to live with that written music the rest of their life, and the record company can just drop them next year. They'll have ended up making a bad decision, and having records that follow them the rest of their lives. I'm glad I'm not in that situation and I'm in a situation where, you know when I was sick me and Eric were like, if we never played together and I never get better or whatever, we'll be happy just writing songs and whatever. The pleasure and payoff of when you create a song and you kick back and go wow, that feels really good… that's a good feeling. It's not always about if the fans are gonna love it, the record label's gonna love it. It's a matter of what you want and what makes you feel good. That's where we're at in our career now, making sure that we feel good with what we write.
I just realized that your first visit in Finland happened in 2000, at the Nosturi club in Helsinki almost right after THE GATHERING was released. Now you've been playing in Finland almost every 2nd year. What made you finally add Finland as a country to one those countries where you are relatively regularly visiting these days? Or do you think the main problem was that there was no contact to Finland before so that someone could have brought you guys over here for gigs?
It's just our booking agent, I guess. We'll play wherever we can get a show at, as long as someone offers us a show. I guess promoters in Finland never wanted to bring us, I guess, I don't know. We want to play anywhere we can.
Last time you were in Finland (at Jalometalli Festival in Oulu on last August), you had Nicholas Barker playing in the line-up, and he got replaced by Paul Bostaph. What actually happened?
After coming home, before we started writing the record, he had some visa problems, and ended up getting deported back to England, and we couldn't wait, we were ready to write the record. We knew Paul wasn't in Exodus anymore so we decided, let's call Paul, and see if he can help us work on and write the record. As it turned out, he did such a great job and worked hard so we felt that it would be a shame that he wouldn't be able to record the record after he worked so hard. That's when we asked him if he wanted to record the record, and he said yeah. We just thought, maybe he should be in the band because he lives close, he's here, and he comes from the same scene that we did back when he was in Forbidden, and Slayer. It just kind of made sense.
How much did Paul Bostaph get time to learn the songs for TFOD? If I remember right, most of the tracks were ready for quite some time before he joined Testament?
He wrote the whole thing with us, too. We had a couple of demos and we handed them to Paul and he learned them and came down and just started doing his thing. When Nick got deported, we had a couple shows, and Nick got home on Monday. He was deported, and we had a show on Friday. We called Paul up, he came to the rehearsal on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and Friday we played with Paul. He came in and knew 18 songs right away. From that point on we were like, man, he did a great job on it, let's see if Paul wants to write the record with us, too. We asked him, if Nick doesn't get his thing worked out would you help write the record? And just by playing with him, he could do it.
Many bands that have been in the scene for a long time, naturally want to include some of their most classic songs into their sets, just like Testament do. Anyway, are there some songs you don't want to play anymore for some reason or the other? Do you think that it's still sort of ´necessary evil´ to play songs like "Over the Wall", "Raging Waters", "Into the Pit", "Practice What You Preach" and the likes to your fans – just to please them, or do you basically do those songs live whatever may please you guys at that time?
No, but we changed the set this year, picked some songs that we haven't got to play in a long time. When we first got the reunion group together, Alex only wanted to play songs that he worked on and wrote on, and we wanted to play some stuff off of THE GATHERING, and DEMONIC stuff, too – and so over the last year we got him to play the DEMONIC stuff, so now it feels like a good set because it's not just the old songs with Alex, it's everything, so I think we have a better set now, and the fans, they really wanted to hear THE GATHERING and DEMONIC stuff. Like "Practice," "Over the Wall," "Cycles," those songs always seem like they've got to be in the set.
As Testament nowadays have many albums to choose songs from, is it sometimes pretty hard to build up a Testament set list for tours or gigs you do? Is it hard or easy to work as a democratic unit when it comes to choosing the right songs for your set list?
No, it's pretty easy, everybody's pretty easy with it. Like I said, Alex only wanted to play certain songs. Now it's different, so it's good, we've got a different set now.
Do you have any personal songs in your set list on this tour that are always fun to do?
They're in there, I'm always the first one to push my songs. (Laughs) I like singing, because I have to sing them. Some of the ones Eric pushes where I have to sing more death metal I kind of push away from, especially because on a long tour like this, it hurts my throat and voice a little more, so I choose to not want to do them as much. We kind of pick together to see which songs would make my voice last a little bit longer.
Talking about Nuclear Blast – your current label, I find this situation somewhat interesting because you're not the only American so-called old school thrash band on that label. As we all know, Nuclear Blast is not only the biggest European metal label, but it also is the biggest metal label in the whole world these days. Other old school thrash bands like Exodus, Anthrax, and Death Angel have all been signed to Nuclear Blast as well. Does this tell to you that old school thrash is bigger and more popular form of music in Europe than in the States?
It's always been like that. It's really the only way we got recognized in '86 was because of Europe, when they had a demo, and it was one of the biggest selling demos in Europe. An American company recognized us and signed us because of it. Even when grunge really kind of took over in America it didn't really affect Europe as much, they still wanted heavy metal. We were still able to come to Europe and play shows. In America it kind of changed, and major labels didn't want heavy metal, the radio stations didn't want heavy metal, MTV didn't want heavy metal, but Europe still did. It kept us alive, really, probably kept a lot of bands alive.
We used to have this tour here in Europe in the beginning of this millennium when such old school thrash bands from Germany, as Destruction, Kreator and Sodom toured across Europe, kind of in the spirit of the old times. Would you see that it would be cool for Testament to tour together with some old school thrash bands from the States, like with Exodus, Anthrax and Death Angel, f.ex. – like having this package of 3 or 4 US old school thrash bands touring together from ´back-from-the-day?
Yeah, we talk about it all the time and tried to put that together this year, but Exodus already had plans. Death Angel was ready to do it, we were ready to do it, but we were missing Exodus. We were like, okay, let's not do it until we can figure out when we can all play together, so we decided to do our own thing and decide at the end of the year what would happen.
What would you have to say about your experiences with Nuclear Blast – of all promotion and stuff they have done to promote TFOD, now when you have only been a short time under their caring wings?
We're very happy. For all the years we were with Spitfire Records, they never came to one of our shows. That was pretty bad for a record label. Nuclear Blast, they're all metal fans, they come to the shows, they're always on answering emails and doing everything they can and that feels good. I guess it's good that we gave them a good record to work with, too.
Our time is up, I think. Thanks Chuck again for talking with us and all the best for your show tonight.
Thanks. It was a pleasure to talk with you guys, too.
Testament – Sauna Open Air 2008, Tampere, Finland on Friday 6th of June 2008
Review by Niko Karppinen & Luxi Lahtinen
Niko: "There I was standing and eagerly waiting for my childhood's greatest heroes to emerge on stage. In my heart Testament stands for the purest essence of thrash metal and there's no other band on this wasted earth to compete with them in my opinion. Testament´s latest album THE FORMATION OF DAMNATION had even proved that this legendary thrash metal act from the eighties, has become better and better throughout the years discography-wise that some bands could only secretly dream of. It's been said that Testament possess one of the most valued careers of thrash metal, and I have to say it's pretty hard to deny it.
Testament started their set on the main stage with "Over the Wall". This song, which is one of those heart-pounding, ground-shaking evergreen classics I could listen to over and again, got me really pumped up with excitement. Watching Chuck Billy's cheerful appearance while rest of the band concentrated on playing the song, told us in clear language that Testament was really in a good fit. Add one of the most delicious solo parts in the history of metal made by Skolnick and Peterson into this experience, I for one could even hardly dream of any better way start a gig than with this particular song. My only complaint was that Chuck´s vocals were mixed little low in the beginning of the song, but nonetheless the band sounded well balanced, tight and overall very good.
There were more so-called ´Testament pearls´ coming up, like the next song that was "Into the Pit", which came off as a real stormer of a song. The crowd went wild and people were shouting the chorus of the song with such enthusiasm that is rarely seen in the Finnish metal crowd (well, Iron Maiden gigs, are an exception – of course!). At this point of the gig I happened to notice that the crowd had started a nice and well moving mosh pit at the front of the stage. Later on somebody said the mosh pit was already started during the "Over the Wall", so talk about some true yet crazy Testament fans amongst the crowd. I thought that this just couldn't get any better than this. Oh boy, I was so wrong… Like Chuck Billy said shortly before the next song title was spat out from between his lips: "We're getting back in time up next…". The next song was "Apocalyptic City". I've witnessed four Testament gigs out of five that they've played in Finland this far – and have never heard them playing this song before. This was one of those moments that you will never forget in your life because this particular song in question contained so many memorable moments of my life for me. About going back in time, such old farts like me may even easily remember when LIVE AT EINDHOVEN live album was released in 1987. The album was released in that year when Testament were one of biggest upcoming names in the whole thrash metal genre (Ha, a nostalgic lesson part 1.: Should I take another foot of mine from the grave now and start taking my pills regularly every morning because they tend to keep me saaaa-ne – duh!).
Before the next song was about to start, Chuck Billy wanted to know: "Let's see… Do you – all of you crazy maniacs out there, really practice what you preach?". And there we go again… Another Testament classic number "Practice What You Preach" was hit against our ears. I honestly could watch Alex Skolnick´s playing for hours without getting bored at all. That guy's a really amazing guitar player! I can live with the fact that somebody can sound pretty close to the records with his solo stuff, but that's not actually the case with Alex Skolnick. He sounds almost exactly the same both live and on the records, and it´s a thrilling experience to watch and listen to his guitar mastering whenever he ´educates´ his 6-stringer. Eric Peterson's jamming around the stage and if you take a close look at what he's doing with his guitar, you could well imagine this guy has a chainsaw in his hands instead of a guitar. What an amazing guitar shredder he is. Paul Bostaph looks to fit well in Testament although it's also interesting to think that this guy's been playing in such remarkable thrash metal bands such as Forbidden, Slayer, Exodus – and now in Testament. Greg Christian still does his work nicely with his 4-stringer, without actually stepping into the spotlight but like all the other more experienced players, he seems to fill his spot perfectly nevertheless.
After "Practise What You Preach" Testament moved backwards in time and did "The New Order". The song itself was the last old song before the band started catapulting the songs off of their latest album, THE FORMATION OF DAMNATION. "More than Meets the Eye" came first, and it definitely looked like Chuck Billy and co. were really looking forward to playing these new songs off of T.F.O.D. live. The song itself worked as sort of a gateway between Chuck Billy and the crowd. "Whoo-hoo-hoo-ooo…" got shouted by the crowd and Chuck´s stage performance looked like he was working in the front of a massive orchestra. Though it was clear that most of the people weren´t familiar with the band´s new material yet, I have to say the crowd still took the song amazingly well.
Then it was the time to move on to one of my personal favorites off the new album, "Henchmen Ride" . This song contains some really cool and catchy riffs, and it leaves you with a feeling that these five maestros in Testament must have felt sheer satisfaction when they have finalized this song. The chorus in it could be said to be one of those ´must-shout-out-loud´ things. Definitely a great song! And that was it this time as far as T.F.O.D. was concerned. Testament didn't play any other songs from their great comeback album probably because they wanted to kick out a bunch of classic Testament songs for their audience, trying to offer a well-balanced set of some of the true highlights for every Testament fan from the old albums as well. Having said that, it´s even more than just a probability that we might hear more new songs off of the T.F.O.D. record when Testament come back to Finland next time again. It usually takes some time from bands to get their new songs adjusted for a live situation, so I´m certain these new songs have got shaped up well enough for their live set when we Finns will see get a chance to see them in our country some day again.
"Souls of Black" started immediately after the previous song had ended – and we got spoiled by Chuck Billy himself. The band started jamming somewhere in the middle of the song – and Chuck wanted the audience to take a part of it. This time the enthusiastic crowd really needed to sweat and beg to hear more Testament songs. A couple of minutes later after loud shouting and screaming, Chuck looked satisfied and it was time to move on. There was certainly a feeling of impatience rising from amongst the crowd and we luckily got rewarded after a little wait: "The Preacher" kicked off, and the insane mosh pit got activated again! This is one of those songs that tells you exactly what thrash metal is all about: Intense, aggressive and to-the-point. Just love this song!
At that point of the Testament gig I was wondering whether they might even play something from the mighty THE GATHERING album. I was worrying in vain; the next song kicked off – and it was "D.N.R.". The mosh pit went wild again, and fists, lotsa hair and devil´s signs were flying everywhere in the air. While I was watching Skolnick play "D.N.R.", I couldn't avoid this feeling that he seemed to be in a strange hurry to finish that song quickly. Peterson, on the other hand, looked like he was sitting in a chair comfortably and reading a newspaper or something. He looked so relaxed compared to Skolnick. I guess this sort of proves how different backgrounds those two guitarists have. I'm sure if we got a chance to enjoy more of Testament in the coming years, this band might only get better and tighter despite the fact we are all getting older (but keep in mind what they say about wine…). After "D.N.R.", followed quickly "3 Days of Darkness", which in my opinion isn't those ´must-hear-songs´ from the aforementioned album. Sure, it´s a somewhat nice piece of thrash but something in it just didn´t click in me.
The ending of the gig was somewhat foreseeable but as always – ah, so entertaining. When the first riffs of "Alone in the Dark" were churned out, I was shouting my lungs out together with the rest of the crowd. Just like many other times during Testament´s gigs, we had a chance to sing along the chorus part of the song together with Chuck – and oh yeah, all of us surely gave our best shots for the song especially regarding the chorus part of that song. When the last, final chords of this little thrasher hit us, it was the time for the last song of the set. "Disciples of the Watch" was a perfect ending for this (almost) perfect gig of these mighty thrashers from Oakland, California. Testament truly made my day – fuck hell, they really did!
There was not much left to say about Testament´s show at Sauna Open 2008. Their gig was near perfect; the setlist couldn't be much better than it was. If I got a chance to put together my own sort of a ´dream-Testament´ live set, maybe I would have taken out a couple of ´not-that-necessary-Testament-songs´ for me off their setlist in order to get all of my personal Testament fave songs included into it, such as "Electric Crown", "True Believer", "The Haunting", and let´s say, "Raging Waters". But like I already said, there´s not much to complain about either their performance or setlist at S.O.A. festival this time around. We – the Testament fans, got to hear almost everything that we wanted to hear from them playing in the first place, and we even got to hear some special Testament songs that we have not heard them playing for quite a while. Testament are in a really good strike these days as far as their live gigs go – and if you just have a chance to see Testament near by your location, I do urge you to check them out! Testament are fucking amazing, as all of you Testament fans should know that by now".
Luxi: "Talking about one of the most entertaining and ear-captivating veteran thrash metal acts on the globe nowadays, Testament surely know how to entertain their fans. Every Testament gig that I have seen in my life thus far – the first one being their performance in Stockholm, Sweden in 1991 as a part of the mighty "Clash of the Titans" tour, has been worth every penny (or cent, or whatever – depending on your own country´s currency). Like Chuck said earlier when interviewing him, a Testament gig always features so-called ´necessary evils´ they simply have to play ("Practice What You Preach", "Over the Wall", "Into the Pit" and such) because of the fans. And that´s what they exactly did at Sauna Open Air festival in Tampere on June 6th in 2008. It was cool to see them also doing songs like "Apocalyptic City" and "D.N.R." that I cannot recall them playing for a relatively long time. Oh well, maybe they have played at least "D.N.R.", but not "Apocalyptic City" during their visits in Finland for last 8 years or so.
The band´s set at S.O.A. 2008 was a nicely chosen set, including both older – and newer Testament stuff. Naturally such instant Testaments cuts as "Over the Wall", "Into the Pit" and "Practice What You Preach" were there as so-called ´mandatory numbers´ as a part of their set, but those songs are also what Testament fans want always to hear from them playing. So did I. Then again, Testament have so many albums nowadays to choose songs from, so it probably makes it harder and harder for the guys every time to pick up ´the right songs´ for their set. I wouldn´t have minded a bit if they had featured songs like "Burnt Offerings", or "Raging Waters", or "C.O.T.L.O.D." into their live set, being such a sucker of that classic Testament debut release that I am. Sure thing, bands have a certain time-frame for festival concerts, so that itself sets some limits for them to keep live sets in certain lengths. And since Testament had a new album out, it was pretty natural some songs from it got played, too. Both "More than Meets the Eye" and "Henchmen Ride" sounded really good, and otherwise Testament seemed to be really ´home´ with their new stuff already.
All in all, another fine live show from the Testament camp – and if I was God, I would give them another 22 years so that Testament would still be amongst us in 2030, making some great thrash and playing all of these highly enjoyable live shows for us. Thank you Testament".


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Nice long distance wireless that I tested 75 feet away from transmitter and outside. Comfy all day. Wish all cans were patted and comfy like this. A little rickety due to light plastic construction. Sound nice and there's tons of reasons to get some. Like hook them to am/fm radio that uses a special antenna, no need to use walkman around home with these. I paid very little for them, but they are worth the price and are very useful for me where I live because I need a good antenna to hear AM talk radio. I also hook them up to the cable box, turn it on and listen to TV without having to turn on the TV. Hear anywhere in your house, around walls, outside, sounds good up to 75 feet and you don't have to bother neighbors
Sennheiser RS 110 926 Mhz Wireless RF Headphones - Reviews


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Story highlights
- Man was arrested at airport for motioning women into a private pat-down room
- The man was exhibiting symptoms of intoxication
- District attorney said there's not enough evidence to convict
A passenger accused of posing as an airport security agent and taking women into a private screening room will not be prosecuted.
Eric Slighton, 53, was arrested July 15 at San Francisco International Airport after being seen motioning women into the room where private pat-downs are conducted, authorities say.
"Officers determined that Slighton was exhibiting the signs and symptoms of public intoxication and placed him under arrest," according to a release from the San Mateo County Sheriff's office.
The district attorney reviewed the case and determined there was not enough evidence to convict Slighton on any charge.
"We don't know if anything improper did happen" in the screening room, Karen Guidotti, the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office Chief Deputy told CNN. "We were never able to locate those women."
There are no cameras inside the small rooms, and there is no local statute against impersonating an airport security screener, she said.
Simply being drunk was not enough to prosecute Slighton either.
"Clearly there was evidence that he was intoxicated, but the standard would require us to prove that he was so intoxicated he was unable to care for himself," Guidotti said.
Airport security at San Francisco International is operated by a private company under the supervision of the TSA.
"TSA is aware of the alleged incident and is cooperating with law enforcement," TSA spokesman Ross Feinstein told CNN.
Slighton has homes in San Francisco and Hong Kong and is a director and partner of the banking and investment company Aktis Capitol Singapore, according to the firm's website.
The South China Morning Post reported his father in law is Tung Chee Hwa, the first chief executive and president of the executive council of Hong Kong after it was returned to China.
"In my view, this was an unfortunate event that should not have happened," he said in a statement to the newspaper shortly after the arrest. "I see Eric as a good husband to my daughter and a responsible father to my grandchildren."


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Approximately 9% of women experience postpartum post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following childbirth. Most often, this illness is caused by a real or perceived trauma during delivery or postpartum. These traumas could include:
Symptoms of postpartum PTSD might include:
Postpartum PTSD is temporary and treatable with professional help. If you feel you may be suffering from this illness, know that it is not your fault and you are not to blame. You can use our resource page to reach out now. We understand what you are going through and will connect you to people who understand and can help.


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Major surgery no longer needed for the removal of uterine fibroids
The treatment of uterine fibroids with 3T MR-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) is safe, non-invasive and effective, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, NY.
"Approximately 25% of women in the United States have clinically symptomatic fibroids, and treatment has most commonly been surgical with hysterectomy or myomectomy. However, in the past decade, new options have been developed in radiology, includingnon-invasive MR-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) and minimally invasive uterine artery embolization (UAE) to treat these patients," said Elizabeth K. Arleo, MD, lead author of the study along with Robert J. Min, MD, MBA, chairman of radiology at Weill Cornell Medical College.
The study evaluated 20 patients who had symptomatic leiomyomas and were treated with 3T MRgFUS. These patients had a pelvic MRI and completed a symptom severity score (SSS) of the uterine fibroid symptom and health related quality of life prior to the procedure and at 6 and 12 months after the procedure.
According to the study, at 6 month follow-up, there was a decrease in SSS (ranging between 10-59%), treated fibroid volume, and total uterine volume. At 12 month follow-up, there was a persistent decrease in SSS (ranging between 15-62%), treated myoma volume, and total uterine volume.
"In contrast to having major abdominal surgery with possible removal of their uterus, a patient can have a safe and effective, totally noninvasive procedure in an outpatient setting without the risks of general anesthesia, no ionizing radiation and a much shorter recovery period," said Dr. Arleo. "Patients have returned to work as early as one day after MRgFUS, instead of approximately three days after UAE or six weeks after a myomectomy or hysterectomy," she said.
Source: American Roentgen Ray Society


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The Stamps of Life and Clearsnap are having a holiday blog hop featuring The Stamps of Life stamps and Clearsnap inks and other fun products. Be sure you comment on all the stops along the hop because prizes will be randomly chosen among all the comments!
The Stamps of Life will be giving away a prize to 3 lucky people – one stamp set (of the winner's choice) per winner.
Clearsnap will be giving away an assortment of Stephanie Barnard Colorbox Premium Dye inks.
Here is my project using the trees4Christmas set.
I created my sparkly background by spritzing with Banana & Guava Premium Dye Ink Clearsnap Sprays! by Stephanie Barnard on white cardstock.
I embossed with a embossing folder from Sizzix and added Sprinkles! (from Clearsnap) Chunky Glitter to the raised circles.This is my favorite glitter. It doesn't get all staticy (is that a word?) and stick to you like other glitters. For this project I used a thicker glue so it has a dimensional effect, you can also use it for finer details with it by using a thinner adhesive.
I stamped the tree with Guava Premium Dye Ink and then added glitter to the swirls.
The hop list!
Clearsnap – https://clearsnap.blogspot.com
The Stamps of Life – https://stephaniebarnard.blogspot.com/
Jeanne Streiff (you are here!)
Sabrina Alery – https://sabrinaalery.blogspot.com/
Judy Rozema – https://jarfullofjoy.blogspot.com/
Megan Aaron – https://thoughtsoftraveling.blogspot.com/
Deb Felts – https://withastampandasong.blogspot.com/
Diana Gonzalez – https://www.arteypoemas.com/
Vicki Garrett – https://summerthymestudio.blogspot.com/
Denise Hahn – https://inmyblueroom.blogspot.com/
Kim Pargeter – https://stampinriley.blogspot.com/
Suzanne Austin – https://whatsinalousyananut.blogspot.com/
Joana Studer – https://joanastamps.blogspot.com/
Tami Sanders – https://tamisanders.com/
Emily Niehaus – https://emmielouwho.blogspot.com/
Jennifer Priest – https://hydrangeahippo.com
Kim Howard – https://basementstamper.blogspot.com/


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Chadwicks in Rockville Centre, first bites
Chadwicks has lost an apostrophe and gained an identity.
Chadwicks American Chop House & Bar is downtown Rockville Centre's newest destination restaurant. It's situated opposite the railroad station and in the mainstream of Long Island dining.
To judge by the weekend crowds, Chadwicks already is well above the radar. Executive chef Art Gustafson, who now owns the restaurant, is doing a fine job keeping it there, too.
He prepares a generous, juicy, well-seasoned prime rib. Precede it with "tango tango shrimp," Gustafson's updating of the shrimp cocktail, with tempura-style shellfish, salsa and sweet chile sauce. The English trifle tastes more like a reshapened birthday cake than the boozy version, but it's good, too.
Chadwicks American Chop House & Bar, 49 Front St., Rockville Centre; 516-766-7800.


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Recap of "The Man Who Knew Too Much"
Note: I wanted MJ's first episode recap to appear on the page ahead of this one, but if you get this in a Google Reader or some other kind of feed, please read her recap of "Let it Bleed" first!
We open with Sam on the run from police, frantic. He hides, and a cop car crawls by Castle Storage, which should be a clue (it's Dad's storage place!), especially since Sam doesn't go there. He ducks into a bar and tells the freaked-out bartender that he just needs a minute to think, and he doesn't know who he is. (I love this actress!)
I love the editing on this show. "I don't remember anything" and cut to shattering glass and growls. *sigh* I'm so sad this is the season finale.
The last thing Sam remembers, he woke up on a park bench and clocked the cops trying to take him in (For what, Sam? You hardly look like a vagrant. Clue #2.) The bartender assures Sam it will come to him if he relaxes. He finds an HP Lovecraft book on a shelf, and it triggers a few memories of the last episode, plus a motel. He borrows a laptop and finds the motel, a dump.
Bartender: "Maybe you're a hooker."
She insists on accompanying Sam, who tries to tell her no, but she's as stubborn as he is. When she tells him she's been called crazy, and that she's dying to know how it all turns out, I get a little suspicious that she's not just a random bystander.
They go to the motel and the room Sam would choose, and break in with a credit card. (I did that once when I locked myself out of my dorm room! I don't remember why I had my keycard in the shower but not my key...) Anyway! The room is full of their old research boards, with data on their current case, though this isn't a method they've used in a long time. An image of Ellie (aka Eleanor, aka Bobby's old squeeze the professor with the dragon sword, aka something out of purgatory) triggers another memory for Sam.
Bobby, Dean, and Sam are trying to find Ellie, who called them to this alley. They call her and hear her phone live, and find her dying. She could have handled the demon, but when the angel got involved... She told them how to open purgatory. She manages to tell them the formula before she dies. Cas arrives with an insincere apology. He tells them to stay out of it, but when they refuse, he says, "I promise when this is over, I'll save Sam. But only if you stand. down." Then he touches Sam.
Who is back to himself again, aware of who he is, and just a little unsettled.
Sam: "I just remember I was with two guys. One was a male model type, and the other was an older guy."
Man, would Dean love that!
Sam finds Bobby's address but not phone number, and is going to head to South Dakota. The bartender (whose name we never do learn) says this is where she gets off. Sam finds car keys and they go outside where he says, "That's mine." Um...really, Sam? LOL
The bartender tells Sam that whatever he's looking for, he may not like what he finds. Again, I'm suspicious. Sam senses something, and the world goes slo-mo. He knocks the bartender down before someone fires on them.
Me and Number One: "Noooo! They shattered the Impala!"
The shooter...
...is Sam. Cold, hard, soulless Sam.
And now we get it. The bartender is calling Sam, but when she says "Sammy," we know that's got to be Dean. And sure enough, we flash into the panic room at Bobby's, angel proofed, with Sam on his cot (yum) and Dean hovering, worried beyond sanity.
I think this is about when I said, "How the hell am I going to recap this episode?!"
We come back to the Rolling Stones "Play with Fire" and Dean struggling to find a solution. Bobby clarifies for us that Cas actually removed the wall in Sam's brain. Now they have 15 hours to stop Cas from opening purgatory and Dean frantic to help Sam, and they have no ideas on how to do any of it.
Back in Sam's head, in the Impala, he smells whisky (whiskey? didn't see what they were drinking LOL). Bartender is no longer happy to be with Sam, but he thinks she's safer with him. Then Dean shines a flashlight in Sam's eye and suddenly he's blinded and it's suddenly daylight. He's freaked, she's freaked, but he hears something in the woods and tells her to get in the car. Then he opens the Impala's trunk and is a bit floored by the arsenal. He loads up and heads into the woods to find whatever's stalking him. A very Sam move, and I think he's starting to read the clues.
And now we slide into Jared Padalecki's greatest performance. We have Less!Than!Sam, a diminished, "gawky," frightened version of himself, face-to-face with Soulless!Sam, who explains that when Cas took down the wall, Sam shattered into pieces. Here are two of them. Soulless!Sam waxes rhapsodic about himself and derides Less!Than!Sam, and decides to take charge around here, before it's too late. But Soulless!Sam is a crappy shot, so when LT!Sam takes off, SL!Sam misses, like, five times.
The pathetic infant isn't so much, though. He tricks SL!Sam with a decoy and circles around, shooting himself in the back. SL!Sam says "You think I'm bad, wait till you meet the other one." Then his piece of soul merges with LT!Sam, to create one close to whole. When he comes out of the woods, he's the Sam we know, remembering who he is, everything he did...and the bartender who isn't, as I thought, just a random bystander. Sam pulled a Speed on her when he was soulless, shooting her to remove a creature's leverage. Sam apologizes, and she says "Not as sorry as you're gonna be" before she fades away.
Balthazar shows up at Bobby's. Dean asks what took him so long, and he says he was trying to decide whether to help them or rip out their sticky bits. Ew. He hands over the address where Cas and Crowley are. 221 Piermont Ave., Bootback, Kansas. Which doesn't exist, unless I'm reading it wrong, but nothing close exists, either. Far as I can tell, Bootback or Bootbock is a tribute to the, what, computer geeks?
Anyway. Balthazar won't zap them there, because he's betraying a friend, they all are, and he thinks he's stuck his neck out far enough.
Sam is now in a house full of candles and dropcloth-shrouded furniture that turns out to be Bobby's place. In the kitchen is a half-slumped figure. Sam shouts at him, and he raises his head. "Oh. Hi, Sam." And drops it again. Utterly defeated and despairing. Sam asks which one he is, and a bloodied, battered Sam stands up and says "I'm the one who remembers hell."
Bobby finishes packing while Dean leaves the address with Sam's gun next to him, and begs him to wake up and follow them. "Sammy, please" breaks my heart every time.
Hellfire!Sam says he wishes Sam hadn't come. Sam says he had to, that this is where he is in the real world, right? Bobby's? Hellfire!Sam asks how he knows that, and Sam says this whole time he's been smelling Old Spice and whiskey. He figures if he came here, he could snap out of it somehow. HF!Sam says he has to go through him, that Humpty Dumpty has to put himself back together before he can wake up, and he's the last piece. So Sam has to know what happened in the cage in order to go back. HF!Sam says he doesn't want to know it, and begs Sam to stay. He tells Sam he knows him, and that he's not strong enough.
But...but...he's HIM. If Hellfire!Sam is strong enough to withstand it, then Whole!Sam would have to be, right? Of course, HF!Sam is just a manifestation of Whole!Sam's fears that he CAN'T handle it. But Sam won't leave his brother alone out there, so he will do it.
HF!Sam won't fight him. He hands over a knife and Sam stabs himself, writhing and arching and flailing and arching and... ahem. As his soul pieces merge.
Balthazar appears to Cas, who summoned him. Cas says Dean is on his way, that they have a Judas in their midst, and holy hell, none of these angels can lie worth a damn! Cas reads Balthy, of course, and laments how everyone has turned on him. Then he stabs Balthazar through the heart. When Cas says "Yes, I'll always have you," I think he's taking Balthazar's soul! Hmmm. That gives me some ideas for next season's direction...
But I'm jumping ahead. It's really hard to have hope now that Cas has any good left in him. Bobby and Dean are on site now, and they can't take on a dozen angel-mooks, so Bobby says they'll Ninja their way in. Dean says yeah, until Bobby's knee squeaks. But now they have something thudding toward them, and spot a cloud of demons. They get in the car, which gets utterly plowed over as the demons attack the building.
Cas is distracted from the Latin ritual on a piece of paper by the demon attack and Crowley's return. Cas tries to palm him, but Crowley has switched sides. He's protected by Raphael. Cas reveals utter hypocrisy in judging Raphael for consorting with demons. After a mildly amusing exchange in which Crowley can't decide whether to call Raphael a he or she, Raphael says something very telling. "Taking that much power? If anyone is going to be 'the new God,' it's me." Cas says it will bring on the apocalypse. Crowley doesn't care, he just took the best offer on the table. He gives Cas the same offer, to flee or die.
Cas tosses the jar of blood to Crowley and disappears, and god help me, I STILL had hope for a big meaty awesome wonderful plan in which Castiel is still worthy of our love.
Crowley starts the ritual. Dean and Bobby struggle out from the smashed Impala and get inside. Dean flings an angel knife at Raphael, who catches it—not that it had very good aim, anyway. Crowley flings Bobby down the stairs and Dean over a rail onto a table. A shaky, exhausted Sam, struggling to suppress his memories, stumbles by the Impala, further evidence of that wormhole extending from Bobby's to everywhere else in the country. Crowley finishes the ritual, but nothing happens.
"Maybe I said it wrong."
"You said it perfectly," says a smug, clearly victorious Cas. Raphael isn't as smart as Crowley, and orders Cas to hand over the blood. Crowley knows it's too late, and invites Cas to display his power, which he does, in a flare of light that calls to mind the rise of Lucifer at the end of last season.
Cas is pretty mellow/high. He lets Crowley go, but says he has plans for him when Raphael protests him letting the demon go but not his own brother. Cas snaps his fingers, and Raphael goes all esplodey. The angel knife clatters to the floor.
Cas is very scary, and Dean plays placater, apologizing and thanking and trying to talk Cas into defusing, into releasing the souls back to purgatory. But it's too late. It's pretty clear what's going to happen immediately next: Sam sneaks in and picks up the angel knife and stabs Cas with it, but...
Cas isn't an angel anymore. He says "You're not my family, Dean. I have no family." And we know he's lost to us. When Sam stabs him and nothing happens, Dean, Sam, and Bobby show nothing but terror.
"I'm your new god. A better one. So you will bow down, profess your love unto me, your lord. Or I shall destroy you."
Random Thoughts:
So the theme of season 6 was apparently hypocrisy. I won't explore all the ways we saw it displayed over 22 episodes, but it culminated in the ultimate hypocrisy: In trying to stop Raphael, Cas became exactly what he was fighting.
I half expected Chuck to appear at the end and say something like "I don't think so." :)
Where the heck is Jesse? I really want to see the Antichrist come back and put some mojo on the boys' side for once.
Part of me mourns the loss of Castiel, but I'm strangely not upset by his transformation. I mean, I am, but it was done so gradually and skillfully (maybe...or maybe it was done so poorly I lost all emotional connection, but I prefer to think that's not it) that I'm shocked and dismayed, but not angry or shredded.
I think this can put the rumors to rest of Misha not returning next season.
I don't think we can call Jensen the better actor anymore. While he may still have a more natural ability to display emotion from within, Jared had to play not just two different versions of himself, but FOUR, with varying levels of subtlety (or lack thereof). I think he was brilliant, giving us the extremes with LessThan!Sam and Soulless!Sam, then merging to Our!Sam and facing poor, damaged Hellfire!Sam. We haven't gotten to see Whole!Sam yet, not really, but I can't wait.
So we had a pretty rocky season 6. The loose threads wove a pretty tight tapestry in the end, but the inability to see any of that picture from early on was frustrating at times. Taken as a whole, I think the season was brilliant, and I can't wait for season 7, when I hope they'll have learned from this season and give us one less haphazard-feeling but still with the depth of emotion we had this year.
Your turn! What did you think of the finale, and the season as a whole? Unleash the Kraken!


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About me
Hi there, and welcome to this website! My name is Tieme, the creator of Luvo Photography. I am a 34 year old Business Intelligence consultant, and passionate about photography.
I started this website late in 2014, as a tool to help me grow as a photographer and to help out others along the way. Blogging about my passion keeps the fire burning. This website helps me to structure my learning path in photography.
Writing down what I have learned over the years, and what I want to learn, helps me to keep track on my progress. On this website you can find tutorials, tips, and blogs on photography. Feel free browse around and contact me on any matter!
Kind regards,


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2 killed in Route 101 crash
Highway closed for several hours
Two people were killed on Saturday morning when their car collided with a tractor-trailer on Route 101.
Amherst fire officials say both the driver and passenger of the car were killed as they tried to make a left turn from Schoolhouse Road onto Route 101. A tractor-trailer heading west hit the car in the driver-side door.
Connie Auger woke up after hearing the crash next to her home just after 4:30 a.m.
"I looked out and it was a truck involved. So I immediately ran out, knew the situation was bad, came back in and grabbed my phone, called 911," Auger said.
New Hampshire State Police said the sedan's driver and passenger were killed in the collision.
They said the crash was so intense that the two were killed on impact.
"It was a pretty significant impact," said Bryan Plamondon of the New Hampshire State Police. "The sedan sustained substantial damage. It was towed from the scene. Definitely what I consider totaled."
The driver of the truck was not injured.
Officials are not releasing names of the victims until family members can be notified. Neighbors and police said the people in the sedan were heading on a deep-sea fishing trip with another vehicle they were following.
Residents in the area said the stretch of highway is notorious for dangerous crashes.
"This is just a terrible highway," Auger said. "Everyone needs to be smart when they are driving. Drive for everyone around you as well."
The crash closed the road for several hours Saturday.
At the request of the Amherst Police Department, the NH State Police Technical Accident Reconstruction team is assisting with the investigation.


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E.X. Troopers is a spin-off title to Capcom's Lost Planet series—though it may not seem like it at first glance.
Unlike the realistic graphical style of the main series of games, E.X. Troopers is presented entirely in a manga-esque style. The game's cutscenes even come complete with panel frames and written onomatopoeic sound effects. The gameplay, on the other hand, stays mainly in the realm of the third person shooter. You start a mission, head out with your A.I.-controlled partners and capture points, defeat monsters, and collect rare items.
Aside from normal missions, there are also occasional giant robot battles and even a few rail shooting sections.
Outside of the missions, the game plays much more along the lines of an RPG. You move around your military academy base, talking with other students, doing character quests, or upgrading weapons and armor.
E.X. Troopers also sports a coop mode that gradually unlocks as you progress through the main game, giving you additional opportunities to level up and gain rare items.
To see the PS3 version of the game in action, check out the video above.
E.X. Troopers was released in Japan on November 22, 2012, for the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo 3DS. There are no plans for an international release.