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Olympian Heather Stanning back from Helmand tour
- Published
Olympic gold medallist Heather Stanning has taken part in a homecoming parade in Hampshire after finishing a six-month military tour of Afghanistan.
The 28-year-old army officer trained on rowing machines to keep in shape while working at Camp Bastion.
Capt Stanning is now preparing for the Team GB rowing trials later this month as she aims to compete in Rio.
She and Helen Glover made history when they became the first British female rowers to win an Olympic gold medal.
Capt Stanning joined her Royal Artillery Regiment colleagues at a homecoming parade at Thorney Island near Emsworth, Hampshire.
Describing training in the Afghan desert, she said: "It was pretty hot and dusty, and when the sand storms came up you could really feel the dust in your lungs. It was challenging.
"I was based in Camp Bastion, and there are a few good gyms there so I had the kit to keep fit.
"I've spent an awful lot of time on the rowing machine in the last six months and I'm looking forward to getting back on the water."
Capt Stanning is a battery operations officer, planning and managing the sorties and tasking of the Army's unmanned aircraft, which provide intelligence for British and Afghan troops on the ground.
She said using rowing machines had kept her fit but she was not yet ready for international competition.
However, the athlete believes focusing on something different was good for her overall well-being.
"I think it's healthy for the body and mind to have a break," she said.
Capt Stanning - who has been back in the UK for a little over a week - has still not been back in a boat.
"The plan is to get back to being a full-time athlete by the end of the year," she said.
Asked if she missed the water when she was in Helmand Province, she said: "I did. I don't know when I last saw a vast expanse of water."
Following her triumph in the coxless pairs - winning Team GB's first gold medal of London 2012 - Capt Stanning returned to her career with the Royal Artillery.
After intensive pre-deployment training and specialist training working with the Royal Artillery's unmanned air systems she deployed to Afghanistan in April.
She said: "It's nice to be back. I think it was quite successful for us.
"There's a lot of change at the moment, so everything's quite strange but everything went to plan for our battery."
Capt Stanning was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 2008 and took a two-year career break to train for the London Olympics.
Chief of the General Staff General Sir Peter Wall said: "The Army is about people who work hard and play hard. Heather Stanning is the ultimate example: Olympic gold last year; on the front line this year. Amazing."
Earlier this year Capt Stanning, Ms Glover and their trainer, Robin Williams, were presented with MBEs by the Queen in recognition of their Olympic success.


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8,000-year-old shoes prove cave-dwellers were well-heeled
Some of the shoes found are more than 8,000 years old
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Ancient, 8,000-year-old shoes found in a Missouri cave show that fashion in footwear is nothing new and, in fact, is much older than anyone thought. Scientists said Thursday that high-tech dating procedures indicate that the shoes are at least 2,000 years older than previously believed.
The shoes were found 40 years ago in the Arnold Research Cave in Missouri, but, due to the mixing of deposits around the shoes at the dig site, researchers were unable to assign an age to them.
Michael O'Brien of the University of Missouri and colleagues at Louisiana State University used an accelerator mass spectrometer to carbon-date the shoes. It dated the oldest shoes at up to 8,300 years old, the researchers reported in a study published Friday in the journal Science."I was surprised," O'Brien said Thursday. "I would have guessed 3,000 but not 8,000. I thought it was so outrageous that I took a second sample."
Some of the shoes were sandals with pointed toes. Others were round-toed slip-ons. "Some of them were round-cupped heels like on a bedroom slipper, others had sling-back heels like you find on women's shoes," O'Brien said.Cushioned and durable
Most of the shoes were made with fibrous plants that could be woven into a tough fabric used for the top, bottom and sides of the footwear. O'Brien said the most common material was from a yucca-like plant called rattlesnake master. The leaves were dried and shaped into cording that was woven like modern-day espadrilles.
Both sandal and slip-on styles were found There were also comfort innovations. The moccasins were cushioned with grass that functioned "like a Dr. Scholl's foot pad," said O'Brien.
"There's nothing new under the sun," he said. "Some of these shoes you would swear were made in a Mexican market."
The shoes were also very durable, he said. Of 35 samples recovered, 20 were complete or nearly complete. Even though the shoes spanned thousands of years, O'Brien said the basic craftsmanship was about the same.
"They did not invent something flimsy that then got better over time," said O'Brien. "The earliest shoe is every bit as well-made and as complex as those from later on."
'They wore the heck out of these things'
O'Brien said the variety of styles and differences in details suggests that there may have been concessions to style or fashion. "There was no ornamentation or color that we know about, but my guess is that these shoes were very stylish for the time," he said. "We know that people then were wearing jewelry," and that it was likely that such artistic interest carried over into the footgear.
Only the moccasins were made of leather, and O'Brien said it is likely that the cave dwellers did not use leather for shoes much earlier than that. The style and construction of the Missouri shoes are similar to specimens unearthed from a nearby site in the Ozark Mountains but are different from shoes found in caves in Kentucky. They are also very different from shoes constructed by the Anasazi people who inhabited Southwest deserts.
Footwear got hard use among the prehistoric Americans. They had to walk most places since there were no horses. They had to hunt or gather all of their food and to haul water back to the cave -- all jobs that took much walking. "Many of the shoes wore down exactly the way that our shoes do -- the ball of the foot and the heel," said O'Brien. "In some instances there were repairs where they wove fiber back into them. Other shoes were just tossed, but they wore the heck out of these things."
A woman's 8 1/2
Foot size, he said, appears to be much like that of modern humans. There is no way to tell if wearers of the ancient shoes were male or female, but the average length was about 10 1/2 inches -- about an 8 1/2 in modern American women's sizes.
"That suggests that these people fell within the size range of people today," he said. The cave, which is in a bluff not far from the Missouri River, was a spectacular home by the standards of the time.
"It was really perfect," said O'Brien. "A great place to live." O'Brien said that people lived there for hundreds of generations, leaving layer after layer of debris: bone and stone tools, animal bones, char from campfires and even some human remains. Late in the occupancy, there were shards of pottery. "The cave is so dry and has been for the last 10,000 years that all this stuff is preserved," he said.
O'Brien said the finding was not a huge scientific breakthrough, but interesting nevertheless. "To be honest," he said, "I think people think this is pretty cool stuff." The Associated Press and Reuters
Farmhouse discovered 1,000 years older than Pyramids
A farmhouse which was built 1,000 years before the pyramids has been unearthed in a Scottish field.University researchers found the 80ft long and 30ft wide house complete with living rooms, bedrooms and a kitchen.
Archaeologists say the 6,000-year-old structure suggests Neolithic people were engineers as skilled and intelligent as modern man.
The house was found during an examination of Auchenlaich, the longest Stone Age burial cairn in Britain, near Callander in Perthshire. Its walls were made from massive timber posts, and split into separate compartments by light wooden partitions.
Dr. Gordon Barclay, of Stirling University, said: "There is nothing like it anywhere else in Europe. It is an enormous, very sophisticated piece of engineering, built to last."
Because there were no metal nails, the house was made almost entirely from timber shaped to fit together with timber pegs, reports the Daily Telegraph.
Dr Barclay said: "They had cattle, pigs and sheep as well as cereals such as wheat and barley. Their tools, such as fine polished axes, were made from stone which they would have quarried nearby."
Stone Age clothing more advanced than thought
Think of life for women in the Stone Age and you've probably got them in crudely fashioned dresses made of animal skin, perhaps being dragged across the cave floor by their hair. Now think finely woven hats, belts and skirts - and a place in the highest echelons of society. That's what a new discovery tells us about women and their clothes in the upper Paleolithic.
"It all began when we discovered and studied impressions of textiles and basketry and nets on little pieces of hard clay," explains Olga Soffer, an archeologist at the University of Illinois. "We saw an enormous diversity in loom-weaving, including plain weave, twining, and a good deal of basketry as well as nets."
The signs of the sophisticated weaving technologies were found on over 90 pieces of clay in the Czech Republic dated at about 27,000 years ago. That makes them the earliest evidence of weaving. It was previously assumed that weaving didn't come about until 5,000 to 10,000 years ago during the Neolithic period.
Soffer then compared the clay pieces to the so-called "Venus" figurines, which are also dated to about the same time, about 25,000 years ago. After careful study, she and her team identified fine detailing showing different weaving methods. And different items of clothing depending on which part of Europe the Venus figurines came from.
Those from western Europe were adorned with basket hats or caps, belts worn at the waist and what Soffer calls a bandeau - a strap of cloth that wrapped around the body right above the breast.
Finding the same weaving technologies depicted on the Venus women, who most probably wore them in rituals, rather than as everyday wear, also tells Soffer that women associated with weaving probably held a high position in society.
"We know from the textile impressions that the weaving can be very very fine. We know the fine weaving takes a lot of time," says Soffer. "What the Venus figurines is telling us, is that this technology of making clothes was important enough to be immortalized in stone.
A lot of us suppose that if it's important enough to be in iconography, it is very important in those societies, likely giving these women positions of status."
Soffer and her team have also found some tools made of bone and ivory of about the same age. Although they are still working on the tools, they appear to be net gauges, spindle needles and weaving sticks.
Source: Discovery Channel (3 February, 2000)
Woven cloth dates back 27,000 years
2nd Story on 27,000 year old Woven cloth
Clay bearing a textile imprint together with a cast By BBC News Online science editor Dr David Whitehouse Woven clothing was being produced on looms 27,000 years ago, far earlier than had been thought, scientists say.
It had been thought that the first farmers developed weaving 5,000 to 10,000 years ago. But Professor Olga Soffer, of the University of Illinois, is about to publish details in the journal Current Anthropology of 90 fragments of clay that have impressions from woven fibres.
Professor Soffer revealed some her findings recently when she said that a 25,000-year-old figurine was wearing a woven hat. If confirmed, her work could change our understanding of distant ancestors, the so-called Ice Age hunters of the Upper Palaeolithic Stone Age.
Accidental imprint
The evidence was obtained from a number of sites in the Czech Republic. They were the sporadic homes of the Gravettian people who roamed between Southern Russia and Spain between 22,000 and 29,000 years ago scratching out a living on a semi-frozen landscape. Some of the fibre impressions may have been made accidentally, such as by sitting on a fresh clay floor or when wet clay was carried in woven bags.
"Other impressions may have been caused by deliberate action, such as lining a basket with clay to make it watertight," said Professor Soffer.
A detailed examination of the impressions reveals a large variety of weaving techniques. There are open and closed twines, plain weave and nets. Professor Soffer told BBC News Online that twining can be done by hand but plain weave needed a loom. It may be that many stone artefacts found in settlements may not be objects of art as had been supposed but parts of an ancient loom, which should now be considered as the first machine to be made after the wheel and aids such as the axe, club, and flint knife.
Women's work
This research could force a re-evaluation of our view of ancient man, who lived tens of thousands of years ago, before the last Ice Age had ended and before the invention of agriculture. The traditional view is of the male Ice Age hunters working in groups to kill large prey such as mammoths. But this may be a distorted and incomplete view of their lives.
All that scientists have from these ancient times are mostly solid remains such as stone, ivory and bone. Now they have evidence of textiles. The discovery that they developed weaving as early as 27,000 years ago means that we must consider the role that women and children may have played more carefully.
The possibility that they made nets has fascinating implications according to Professor Soffer. It may be that nets were used by women and children to catch small prey such as hares and foxes.
By catching food this way, women and children could have made all the difference to their communities' food budgets, allowing a surplus to be generated that permitted society to grow. Further revelations are to be expected in this area of research. There are recent reports that fragments of burnt textiles have been found adhering to pieces of flint.
From the Beginning of Time, Women Have Cared for Their Hair
Source:Matters of the Body: Literal Interpretations of Prehistoric Art
"From the beginning of time, women have cared for their hair. The famous Ice Age statuettes known as the Venus of Willendorf and of Brassempouy show clear evidence of stylised hair.
Perhaps 30,000 years old, these statuettes reveal that at least some women in the society took care about how their hair looked and had a concept of beauty and attractiveness. Considerable labor was required to have created the hairstyles of these statuettes. There are also small clay figurines from Butmir (left)in Bosnia illustrating short, neatly combed hair, which are up to 7,000 years old." Source:Era's of Elegance: A Brief History of Hair
"The Butmir Culture. The Butmir site near Sarajevo (BiH), excavated by Vaclav Radimsky, created great interest among prehistorians because of the highly artistic sense expressed in the idols there. For a long time only one site was known, but in 1949 Alojz Benac discovered a new site at Nebo (another site at Kraljevica near Novi Seher was found long ago).
All of these settlements belonged to the Butmir Culture, but were not occupied during the same period of time -- Novi Seher being older and Nebo being younger than the Butmir site. Stone knives, arrowheads, and axes were found. Ceramics were baked red, brown, and yellow.
White paint was applied before baking and red afterwards. Some characteristic forms include vases on pedestals, amphorae, beakers, and knob-like or pear-shaped jars. Ornamentation consisted of ribbons, triangles, rhomboids, and spiral made in the form or a combination of C-shaped and S-shaped letters
... Source: Prehistoric Archaeology: The New Stone Age
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45
Please Support the Research of S8int.com!
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subset: commoncrawl


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WASHINGTON (Feb. 6, 12:25 p.m. ET) — The Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. has extended the deadline for submitting entries to its second International Plastics Design Competition, which will be on display at the NPE2012 show in Orlando, Fla. Interested parties now have until Feb. 29 to enter, and can do so online at www.plasticsdesign.org.
Entries can be for finished products or components and can be submitted by any individual or company along the supply chain: designer, toolmaker, processor, material supplier, equipment builder, or OEM. The contest is open to entries from any end market and any country in the world.
Entries can be submitted in 18 end-use market categories, plus there will be People's Choice and grand awards categories. At NPE2009, more than 10,000 visitors voted on the NPE website for the People's Choice award.
In addition, a separate panel of judges chosen by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) will select the winner of an award co-sponsored, for the 12th time, by IDSA and Plastics News.
NPE2012 takes place April 1-5 at Orlando's Orange County Convention Center. The winners will be announced on Tuesday, April 3, at an awards reception to be held in Valencia Ballroom A that will start at 5:30 p.m. The awards event will be held in conjunction with a reception welcoming all international participants to NPE.


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Peach Gingham // Knot Bow
Each bow is carefully handcrafted with love by me! Made from pure linen and secured to an alligator clip or super soft nude headband to withstand the busiest of babies and toddlers.
The knot bows measure approximately 8cm wide.
All our bows can be converted from headbands to clips as your babe grows so be sure to check out our FAQ's to find out how to keep using your fave headbands!
All our bows are handmade by me just for you! Please note our current turnaround time is 7-10 business days.
If you need your bows by a specific date, or have any questions please don't hesitate to shoot me an email xx


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John And Kieron Argue About Limbo
From The Archive
Every Sunday, we reach deep into Rock, Paper, Shotgun's 141-year history to pull out one of the best moments from the archive. This week, we revisit August 4th 2011 to find John and Kieron bickering about influential platformer Limbo.
Having played and reviewed Limbo, John found himself at the end of Kieron's (particularly sweary) disagreement gun, and as is always the case the two of them argued about it. An argument that can only be shared with the world. Whose side are you on? FIGHT! (This contains significant spoilers, folks.)
Kieron: I should finish playing Limbo and do my evisceration of it.
John: Do you hate it?
Kieron: Moderately famously so.
John: Oh. Well, you're wrong, cos it's great.
Kieron: Rick Dangerous for Goths.
John: Except nothing like that.
Kieron: Total trial and error game with a dark, edgy aesthetic. It's incredibly mean spirited.
John: Have you read my review?
Kieron: Yes.
John: I'm fairly sure that's the point.
Kieron: You're forgiving it. I'm not.
John: I'm not forgiving. I'm recognising that it's deliberately forcing trial and error to change the atmosphere.
Kieron: It's a tosser of a designer laughing at you, every step of the way for being a fool. It's the world's most dickish DM.
John: It only comes in after you've started using dead bodies to walk on, caused people to be hanged to progress, etc.
Kieron: Edgy!
John: You're aware that's not an argument?
Kieron: I sort of suspected I'd hate it from the second I jumped off the first log and it kills you for it. "Prick" I think at the designer.
John: I'm not aware of a point where you die in that way.
Kieron: Go to the first log and jump off it. If you fall, you're fine. If you jump off it, you die, because you fall just too far. It's a designer who finds that kind of thing funny.
John: This does seem to be your issue rather than the game's. If a game is deliberately designed to have the design be mocking you, that's a clever experience. It's when it's because it's poorly thought through or badly made that it's an issue. You don't like being laughed at. Tough shit – get over yourself.
Kieron: Clever, but cuntish. And all about the designer. It's just Rick Dangerous with a different aesthetic. That's exactly how the game works.
John: No – all about the experience you're having. The designer isn't there.
Kieron: The designer is there. They created it.
John: Don't make me hit you with Barthes.
John: I'm amazed that a game fucking with you bothers you this much. Rick Dangerous was just badly made. Limbo is deliberate, and carefully timed.
Kieron: Firstly, It's your problem not the game's," is a silly argument. Of course it is. It's like me saying you giving Magna Cum Laude 3% for its outrageous sexism was your problem, not the game's. Something can be completely accomplished in what it's trying to do and still be rejected, because the philosophy the object expresses is vile. And you're deeply underestimating Rick Dangerous – it wasn't incompetent. It was how the designers thought games should be. They thought that killing you without warning was funny and did so with all the craft they could muster. Which sounds kinda familiar, doesn't it?
John: I think you're being a priss. The game one-ups you, and so you're trying to get it back.
Kieron: For a man who hates April Fools so much, it's an interesting argument to take.
John: Because there's no embarrassment or humiliation here. You go, "Oh, you fucker!" And then you adapt.
Kieron: As an aside, I'll admit that Limbo does its best to sell the joke – that its deaths are so well done tries to transfer death to a moment of joy.
John: Yes. Especially when you see entrails.
Kieron: But even then, I'm left rolling my eyes and thinking "Well done – you have complete control of reality and have managed to make me do something stupid. You must be a fucking genius! I'm so impressed. And with a dark and edgy aesthetic too!"
John: But that's the point! The whole game is about being controlled, about the mindlessness of going from left to right at any cost, for no purpose.
Kieron: So what?
John: The fact that you're dragging dead bodies to use as platforms in water before you reach any of the trial and error stuff – it's a really interesting statement on what we'll do to go from left to right.
Kieron: Or just gothic nonsense, seemingly powered and inspired by the same emotions which make kids tear legs off spiders.
John: See, it's too easy to say that. To sneer at the aesthetic because you don't like it messing with you just looks weak.
Kieron: I've written positively about sadistic games. And I've written about incredibly hard games.
John: If the game didn't mess with you this way, of COURSE you'd be praising how lovely the presentation is.
Kieron: I'd probably praise it anyway. But since I hate the game as a whole, I can use it as a symptom of a wider malaise in the developer's thinking. It's a coherent statement, sure – but it's a coherent statement I disagree with absolutely. Thinking this is a good idea is a terrible idea.
John: But you look like you're desperately clutching. "And… and… you've got a stupid hat!" Especially since it's not flipping gothic. It's just black and white. There's nothing gothic about it. It's noir, if anything.
Kieron: Nah, it's forming a coherent argument rejecting the whole thing.
John: It's not coherent to say, "And you've got a stupid face!" because someone annoyed you. It's silly.
Kieron: I may have read more pop gothic-aligned culture stuff than you, but the mixture of gore and death and sadism as comedy is pretty much how it's done. I mean, you read Johnny the Homicidal Maniac? This files next to that. Thinking about it, I'd do a compare and contrast with VVVVVV. As the "man can withstand anything but unfairness" line I came up in that does leap to mind. That the payoff of the "punchline" in Limbo is having to traipse through a bunch of stuff to try again. It's a waste of my time, because I'm only having to traipse through it again because the developer has forced me to do me so. And life's too short.
John: There are only two points in the game where it makes you traipse. Otherwise the checkpointing is perfect.
Kieron: Traipsing even across a screen when it's not my fault is a "fuck you". Don't waste my time.
John: Have you considered that the problem might be that you're just a big wuss baby?
Kieron: Says the man who doesn't like hard games. I do.
John: That's penises you're thinking of.
Kieron: I do like hard penises. This is also true. I just can't stand unfairness. It's a waste of my fucking time. And a developer who thinks wasting anyone's fucking time for (primarily) his own sadistic amusement? Fuck him.
John: Well, we're back at the start of the argument again.
Kieron: RICK DANGEROUS FOR GOTHS.


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Friday, January 30, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
'The Prince of Egypt' and 'Asterix'
I don't recall ever posting up, neither on my blog nor on my website, any POE work. Not that I have many copies left, but here is one of them. A pencil sketch for the chariot race sequence at the beginning of the movie introducing the two brothers together.
As I didn't use any computer technique back then the color effect was achieved by playing around with the original on the color copy machine. (© Dreamworks)
The Asterix design was for the bad guy's lair, which never made it to the screen.(© M6 - AFilm)
Posted by Marcos Mateu at 6:18 AM 14 comments:
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Creepy locations
These are two locations I designed for two different films while in Europe.
The 'bird cage' was part of the Asterix project, although I don't believe it ever made it to the film.
I usually had a few standard viking figures to plug into any design for scale, this was one of the fellows.
Although the roman guys might look like they also come from an Asterix story these are actually from 'The Three Wise Men', produced in Madrid by Animagic Studios and directed by Antonio Navarro.
The location is Herod's palace, therefore the whole thing looks mean... and dark...
Posted by Marcos Mateu at 5:03 AM 23 comments:
Monday, January 12, 2009
Posted by Marcos Mateu at 5:13 AM 7 comments:
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Yes it was (...and here is the first for 2009)
Happy New year everybody.
And here are some more Viking environments that come with it. The longship in the middle of a storm belongs to a storyboard piece for the intro of the film, while the mean looking guy on the top deck is purely inspirational, as I was trying to get into the subject.
The layout belongs to the typical scene of a grand dinner with the men of the Village as they decide what evil deed to do next.
Posted by Marcos Mateu at 9:47 AM 20 comments:
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Sister Act
Rotten Tomatoes® Score
73% 65%
Release Date:
- May 29, 1992
Disney+: November 12, 2019
Comedy, Musical
A sleeper hit that received a lukewarm reception from critics but was a success with audiences, Sister Act (1992) was star Whoopi Golberg's first bona fide smash after her Oscar victory for Ghost (1990). Goldberg stars as Deloris Van Cartier, a Reno lounge singer who accidentally witnesses a brutal murder carried out by her gangster boyfriend Vince (Harvey Keitel).
Under the protection of a detective (Bill Nunn) who's trying to bring down Vince's criminal operation, Deloris is placed in protective custody at a San Francisco convent. Masquerading as a nun renamed Sister Mary Clarence, Deloris shakes up the established order of the sisters' lives, particularly enlivening their choral efforts.
Although running constantly afoul of the Mother Superior (Maggie Smith), the new, jazzed-up musical act becomes a huge hit in the community, even drawing the attention of the Pope, but also alerting Vince to Deloris' whereabouts. Although credited to the pseudonymous Joseph Howard, Sister Act was actually written by Paul Rudnick and Carrie Fisher.
The film was followed by a sequel, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993).
|Emile Ardolino


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Maeren, Hendrik van (d. 1534)
Hendrik van (Hinrich or Heyndrick van Goch) Maeren (Maren), a former Catholic priest who became an active Sacramentist preacher at Warendorf, Westphalia, Germany, in the summer of 1533. On 5 January 1534, he joined the Anabaptists by baptism at Münster together with Rothmann, Rol, Stapraet, and other Münster preachers. Then he again was active at Warendorf, baptizing a number of persons, with whom he went to Münster on 17 February 1534. In October he was one of the apostles sent out to convert the world, but a few days after leaving Münster he was arrested at Soest, Westphalia, and beheaded there on 23 October, together with Dusentschuer, Slachtscaep, and five others.
Mellink, Albert F. De Wederdopers in de noordelijke Nederlanden 1531-1544. Groningen: J.B. Wolters, 1954: 22, 26-28, 48 f., 85.
|Nanne van der Zijpp
|Date Published
Cite This Article
MLA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. "Maeren, Hendrik van (d. 1534)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1957. Web. 23 Nov 2020. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Maeren,_Hendrik_van_(d._1534)&oldid=108729.
APA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. (1957). Maeren, Hendrik van (d. 1534). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 23 November 2020, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Maeren,_Hendrik_van_(d._1534)&oldid=108729.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 436. All rights reserved.
©1996-2020 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.


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Since he entered the NFL five years ago, no running back has caught as many passes as Ray Rice.
The Ravens' star running back has caught 311 passes for 2,713 yards, 17 more receptions than New Orleans Saints all-purpose running back Darren Sprokes and 23 yards less than Sproles.
Now the Pro Bowl running back wants to increase his role in the passing game one year removed from catching 61 passes for 478 yards and one touchdown.
"Now that guys know that I'm a threat out of the backfield, I got to use my hands a little more," Rice said at Ray Rice Day, a free youth football clinic at Calvert Hall. "I get pushed a lot coming out of the backfield, and that's a sign of respect, but if I can get my hands and get out on pass routes and continue to get open for Joe Flacco."
Drafted in the second round out of Rutgers in 2008, Rice also leads the NFL during that span with 91 catches and 863 yards on third downs. His 41 receiving first downs, including his dramatic 4th-and-29 conversion during an overtime win over the San Diego Chargers last season, ties him with Sproles during the past five seasons. During the 2009 season, Rice set a franchise record for a running back with 78 receptions for 702 yards and a touchdown.
Listed at 5 feet 8 and 212 pounds, Rice looked lean and well-conditioned during his football clinic. After working out on his own last offseason while his five-year, $40 million maximum value contract was being negotiated, Rice has been regularly training with his teammates in the Ravens' conditioning program at team headquarters.
"I picked a specific area where this year, I actually ended the season and realized I was about 213, which I usually play at 212," said Rice, a three-time Pro Bowl selection who rushed for 1,143 yards and nine touchdowns last season for his fourth consecutive 1,000-yard rushing yeason. "I try to work on different things."
Without mentioning any specifics, Rice noted that run-game coordinator Juan Castillo will be making slight changes to the running game.
Rice has rushed for 5,517 career yards and 33 touchdowns, ranking second in franchise history behind Jamal Lewis.
"I'm looking forward to executing a lot of different things that we've always talked about," Rice said, "and staying at a high level."


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Search BSR Codes of All Major Banks in India
BSR stands for BASIC STATISTICAL RETURNS. BSR code is a seven-digit code allotted by Reserve Bank of India to all the registered banks in India. The first three digits out of the seven represent the bank whereas the remaining four digits represent the branch. Easy to use form below will help find right BSR code your bank or financial institution.
Indian Overseas Bank Bahraich BSR Code


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Miami-Dade Pauses 1-to-1 Computing Initiative, Considers Big Changes
Florida's Miami-Dade County school district said it has "pushed the pause button" on one of the country's largest 1-to-1 digital computing initiatives, citing concerns about the troubled implementation of such programs in Los Angeles, Guilford County, N.C., and elsewhere.
In addition to delaying the deployment of new devices, which had been expected to begin last month, the 354,000-student district is now rethinking its earlier preference for tablet computers and is reconsidering its original plan to give students their own devices.
"This is about being prudent, pragmatic, and cautious," said Sylvia J. Diaz, the district's deputy superintendent for innovation and school choice. "It's not that we don't want to give kids the tools they need to be successful, but we want to do it in a way that is not going to be disruptive or wasteful."
In June, Miami-Dade's school board unanimously approved a plan to borrow $63 million and lease as many as 150,000 devices, with the goal of ensuring that all of the district's students have access to a laptop or tablet and digital content by 2015. Miami-Dade also allows students to bring their own computing devices to school.
Diaz said an announcement about the future direction of the initiative could come "in the next few weeks."
Problems Elsewhere
Diaz said that a team of Miami-Dade officials representing the district's information technology and curriculum departments has been closely watching other 1-to-1 deployments around the country—and growing increasingly worried.
She described the Los Angeles Unified School District's high-profile plan to provide 660,000 iPads to students and staff members as a source of particular concern, pointing to confusion among many parents as to what their responsibility and liability is for their children's tablets; the rising cost projections associated with the initiative; concerns about a lack of adequate teacher training; problems with students bypassing the devices' security filters; and concerns about the readiness and quality of the digital curricular content that Los Angeles is purchasing as part of its plan.
One specific piece of the Los Angeles plan that gave Miami-Dade officials particular pause, Diaz said, was the district's failure to include keyboards as part of its initial half-billion dollar purchasing plan.
"It's just that whole issue of, 'What haven't we thought about?'" Diaz said.
The recent announcement by the 73,000-student Guilford County, N.C., school system that it was suspending its tablet computing initiative also struck a nerve. There, district officials suspended the country's largest deployment of Amplify tablets after extensive problems with broken screens and overheating battery chargers.
"The fact that they had 1,500 broken tablets after having them in circulation for [only a few] weeks was a huge red flag for me," said Diaz, who added that Miami-Dade was not considering Amplify as a potential vendor.
Open Questions
As a result, Miami-Dade officials have been recalibrating their plans, and the initiative that rolls out could look very different than initially described.
For starters, Diaz indicated that the district's initial enthusiasm for tablet computing devices has cooled considerably, and the overall number of devices that are purchased or leased could end up being less than originally planned.
It also appears unlikely that students will be given their own computing devices or be allowed to take those devices home, at least at first.
"As opposed to having a take-home model in the first phase, we [are considering] a classroom model," Diaz said. "We think we might be better off with classroom sets [of devices], giving kids the opportunity to use them in school and giving teachers more opportunities to learn how to use them in a controlled setting."
"It takes folks a while to learn how to manage the devices in the classroom," Diaz said.
And Miami-Dade is also re-evaluating its plans for providing digital content on the new devices.
The district's plan still calls for an initial focus on world history and civics, with the foundational instructional material being a new digital curriculum from publishing giant McGraw-Hill and supplements drawn from both other providers and open-source offerings.
But Diaz said the concerns about the new software from educational publisher Pearson purchased by LAUSD—which is being rolled out despite not being finished, has an undetermined price tag, and will expire after three years—helped prompt a re-evaluation.
"We're still looking at deploying devices that have content preloaded on them," Diaz said, but the questions elsewhere "did make us go back and say, 'What about the software?'"
No formal procurement process has been initiated, she said, and the focus of any changes would be on adding to the McGraw-Hill materials that Miami-Dade has already purchased.
Next Steps
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho is expected to provide more information sometime before the new year. No final decisions have yet been made, Diaz said.
As for the challenge of pausing and redirecting such a massive initiative after it had already been launched?
"The challenge is that there were expectations," Diaz said. "But these initiatives are complex. We want to do it in a way that's not going to result in a whole lot of challenges for kids and teachers [over] things we're not ready to handle."
Follow @BenjaminBHerold and @EdWeekEdTech for the latest news on ed-tech policies, practices, and trends.


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There is some recent research from Canada that might shed some insight into why men do have feelings about abortion losses.
When people think about the role of men in abortion, it seems that they usually think about the stereotype of the man who forces the abortion or the male who abandons. However, there are many roles the man may have played in the experience.
This website contains information that will be helpful to those who have been involved in abortion experiences and to those who care for them. This web site is an outgrowth of a conference entitled "Reclaiming Fatherhood: A Multifaceted Examination of Men Dealing With Abortion", held in San Francisco November 28-29, 2007. The conference was organized by the National Office of Post-Abortion Reconciliation and Healing and was co-sponsored by the Knights of Columbus and the Archdiocese of San Francisco. This conference is the first to ever explore the issue of men dealing with abortion.
If you are the father of an aborted baby, I am sorry for your loss. I realize that the society as a whole has told you that you have no right to grieve or struggle with the abortion decision. However, I know from hearing the stories of many fathers,that some men hurt a great deal after the abortion. They pinpoint that event as a turning point that marked the beginning of the end of the relationship with their partner. Other men are confused by their feelings and they may not come to the surface until many years later. Some of those men, however, identify that risk-taking or chemical/alcohol use or abuse may have coincided with the abortion experience. Whatever your story, we care about you.
There is a myth in society that says men don't care. People seem to believe that men are only involved in abortion decisions as forcers or abandoners. The belief is that men are untouched by the experience and that men are simply sperm donors who then walk away. While in some cases, that might be true, my experience of having listened to men's stories over the years is that the scenarios are much more complicated. The law and the societal expectation that abortion should only be a woman's issue and decision, has perhaps kept some men from speaking what is in their heart.
Men are hidden partners in every abortion decision. More than 40 million abortions have occurred in the U.S. alone since abortion was legalized here. Worldwide the estimates are that at least that many abortions occur in a year. The man's role or lack of role in the decision can create a stream of consequences that may accompany the man through the rest of his life. Because men are told they have no say in the abortion decision--that it is about a woman and her choice--they later struggle with the questions they pose to themselves and the emotions they feel. Men often say "I don't feel entitled to my grief. It was her choice. Why do I feel so badly?" This site is for you. It's a safe space to examine information and resources. It is honestly, only a beginning. As more men begin to recognize the issue and as more caregivers see more men, we will refine a process of healing and be able to provide more resources. Thanks for your patience. Confucius said "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." This is that single step! There is much to learn and much to be done, but at least we have begun. I invite you to share your thoughts or suggestions or questions by emailing them to firstname.lastname@example.com. Your input is very important.
This link will take you to "Happy Birthday", done by Piper of Flipsyde. Flipsyde is a rap/R and B/rock band from Oakland, California. This is his reflection on an abortion experience in his life.
If you are interested in obtaining the book "Men and Abortion: A Path to Healing" by C.T. Coyle, please email firstname.lastname@example.com and request it. We need a mailing address. The suggested donation which will cover the book and the cost of mailing is $16.00. We will provide it to anyone who asks, regardless of your ability to make a donation.
We also have a booklet that is available for you called "Healing for Your Soul" A Guide for Post-Abortion Fathers" by Rev. Martin Pable which lays out in a simple fashion some of the issues involved in beginning the healing process. Please email firstname.lastname@example.com and ask for it by name. There is no charge for the material. We will send a donation envelope if you would like to make a donation, but it is not required.


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Writer Safeguard Empowers its Business With AMEYO
11 Feb, 2013, 06:27 GMT
GURGAON, India, February 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
AMEYO has Been Chosen as a Vertebral Technology by Writer Safeguard for Streamlining Their Business Operations
Writer Safeguard Pvt Ltd. is a cash management firm involved in the flow of cash and currency into the Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and Cash-in-Transit (CTI) services. Since security is of paramount importance when it comes to cash movement, Writer Safeguard takes special care and adheres to the stringent quality systems in order to safely move cash between banks, retail outlets and consumers. To ensure smooth running of the cycle, they have now switched to AMEYO, the complete CIM solution, as their backbone technology.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120625/IND10048699)
Writer Safeguard were in search of a technology that would help them in keeping track on the calls they receive. They wanted their custodians to be managed and also needed better call management, serviceability and Turn Around Time (TAT). Writer Safeguard lacked a technology that could streamline their operation and manage their blended process.
Swapnil S. Bagul, IT - CTO, Writer Safeguard, says, "Writer Safeguard is in the business of securely moving physical cash in the Indian ATM and Retail market. Since ATM is the real time front desk of Indian banking industry for its customers, maintaining the ATM in the best of its health and always cash ready is the most basic need of banks to cater to their customer needs. WSG has an army of field custodians and engineers who does the required task round the clock. To provide the tracking of ATM visits and prevent misuse of ATM machines, WSG has deployed software systems along with a box and leading edge command center solution, AMEYO, together which assures WSG of a quality service, wherein, the requisites are done through direct communication between the Command centre agents and the field engineers or custodians. With AMEYO, we now have seamless interaction, tracking and recording of every field level activity related to the ATM upkeep and its maintenance. This further churns MIS data that is appreciated by WSG Management for better visibility and decision making."
Writer Safeguard, with the help of AMEYO, were able to manage their back-end integration for their custodians. With the robust blended feature of AMEYO, the agents could manage both inbound and outbound campaigns simultaneously. They lacked such automation initially as they ran their process manually. Another feature of AMEYO was priority call back which enabled them to call the customers who were previously unavailable or busy. Writer Safeguard were able to manage their call efficiency, accountability and serviceability with the AMEYO solution offered by Drishti.
About Writer Safeguard Pvt. Ltd.:
Writer Safeguard Pvt. Ltd. is a leading multi-services corporate solutions provider headquartered in India. The organisation has established itself in varied service lines in relocations & orientation, information management, cash management and logistics. It has earned its distinction as the second largest provider of cash management services across India within 5 years of entering the arena.
About AMEYO:
AMEYO is the flagship solution from Drishti for complete CIM. It has been designed to add value to the businesses and pave way for a structured growth. AMEYO customers enjoy significant increase in efficiency levels, reduction in operational costs, flexibility, consistent user experience and a demonstrable ROI.
About Drishti:
Drishti is a leading provider of Contact Center Software and Enterprise Communication Applications. Drishti offers communications solutions that empower enterprises to dynamically manage business processes, interactions, workforce and service levels on emerging Unified Communications (IP Telephony, Unified Messaging, Conferencing, Presence Management, and Application Collaboration), SOA (Service Oriented Architecture), and SaaS (Software as a service). Cutting-edge technologies from Drishti have been designed to add value to the businesses and pave way for a structured growth.
Primary Media Contact: Vijayendra Raj, firstname.lastname@example.com, 91-124-4771023
SOURCE Drishti - Soft Solutions Pvt Ltd


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Clarksville TN Online is the voice of the people of Clarksville Tennessee.Clarksville Online takes you beyond the ordinary in local news and gives the Extras: political coverage, opinion pieces and editorial work, local and regional arts and theater, municipal and county news and events, and more.
[Read more]
To submit Clarksville Tennessee area news, story leads, tips, or press releases send us an email
Clarksville, TN – When you walk into CrossFit Conversion, you know you are not at a typical gym. The endless rows of treadmills, elliptical machines, and stationary bicycles that are the norm for a standard gym are nowhere to be found.
Instead, you are greeted by kettle bells, plyoboxes, and tractor tires. Rings and bars hang from the ceiling, and on one wall, you see a large digital clock with the motto "You vs. You" painted above it.
CrossFit Conversion. (Photo by Shea Halliburton)
«Read the rest of this article»


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You are here
An interesting trend has taken shape in recent years -- U.S. wind manufacturing has undergone a dramatic expansion. That means the equipment used to build U.S. wind farms -- including towers, blades, gears, and generators -- is increasingly being made right here in America.
Among the companies who have contributed to this trend is Nordex -- a global manufacturer of wind turbines. In 2010, Nordex USA, Inc. opened its flagship nacelle production facility in Jonesboro, Arkansas. At the 150,000 square foot facility, Nordex USA's production crew, comprised mainly of local Arkansans, specializes in assembling components for 2.5 megawatt (MW) wind turbines -- each with the capacity to power about 750 American homes.
Since opening the Jonesboro facility, Nordex USA has shipped turbine components made in Arkansas to wind power projects across America – including the Shirley Wind Farm near Green Bay, Wisconsin, three wind farms in Iowa totaling 130 MW, a 75 MW wind farm in Pennsylvania and a 45 MW wind farm in Power County, Idaho. To meet demand from customers, the company's workforce has grown rapidly – from just two employees at its Chicago headquarters in 2008 to more than 220 within the past year.
All over the United States, wind manufacturers like Nordex have been thriving, but their continued expansion and progress is less than certain. This is largely due to uncertainty surrounding the extension of the Production Tax Credit and other important tax and clean energy policies. For the United States to stay competitive, take advantage of its domestic energy source and lead the global wind industry, continued support for these clean energy tax incentives is critical.
To learn more about what's ahead for the American wind industry, view the Energy Department's 2011 Wind Technologies Market Report.


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Broadcast News
Item #: AI4049
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|The acclaimed, witty analysis of network news shows, dealing with the three-way romance between a driven career-woman producer, an ace nebbish reporter and a brainless, popular on-screen anchorman. Incisive and funny, though often simply idealistic.
|Directed by:
|James L. Brooks
|20th Century-Fox, James L. Brooks.
|William Hurt, Albert Brooks, Holly Hunter, Jack Nicholson, Joan Cusack, Robert Prosky, Lois Chiles, John Cusack, Gennie James


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You can read and read about the different things that will make your teeth dull. Expore and think about the solutions.
But first come and see us and ask.
We love smiles and we love to see the joy a bright smile can bring to others. Contemporary dentistry offers lots of different options and exploring them together may save you stress and precious worrytime.
What determines the color of our teeth?
Why are my teeth are getting darker!
Find out about tooth whitening
At-home bleaching
What determines the color of our teeth?
Ask the dentist to show you the large range of colours we can select from when making an artificial tooth - such as a crown. You will be quite surprised in the range of 'normal.'
Why are my teeth are getting darker!
Some of the reasons for this are
1. External stains. Eg medications, tea, coffee, colas, red wine, smoking and even extended periods in the swimming pool!
2. Thinning of the enamel. Sorry, age and excessive tooth brushing (too little brushing will cause gum problems and external staining!) can do this.
3. Drugs. Some antibiotics taken when the teeth are forming cause an internal layer of the tooth to become quite darkly coloured.
Find out about tooth whitening
At-home bleaching
If this treatment is undertaken we need to
General instructions:
40 Bell St
Heidelberg Heights VIC 3081 AU
Dr Tze-Howe Chan BDSc(Melb)
Dr Lancy Qin BDSc(Melb)


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"Hi Marlene, I first wanna give u a pat on the back for a great website!!! I just saw ur facebook post about thanksgiving recipes I attached a link for an amazing cake which can also be made into muffins. I personally never cooked for Thanksgiving but this is definitely a recipe for this time of year. I hope u enjoy it as much as I do. 1 small note I usually double the recipe to get a decent size cake I bake it in a bunt pan" Jacqueline Kapetas
Pureed winter squash, honey and sugar give this tea bread a round, rich sweetness. It's terrific warm with a little pat of butter for breakfast, snack or even dessert and of course afternoon tea, if you're so inclined. I didn't add the ginger, cloves and allspice- a teaspoon of cinnamon can be substituted.
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 3/4 cup squash puree, (see Tip)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg white
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly oil and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.
- Whisk all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, allspice and cloves in a medium bowl until combined.
- Beat squash puree, sugar, honey and oil in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Beat in egg and egg white. Turn off the mixer, add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until combined. Scrape into the prepared loaf pan.
- Bake the bread until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and let cool for 30 minutes more. Serve warm.
- Make Ahead Tip: Tightly wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 6 months. Unwrap and thaw on a wire rack at room temperature for 4 hours.
- Tip: To make your own squash puree, halve and seed one medium acorn or butternut squash. Place, cut-side down, on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 375°F oven until soft, about 50 minutes. Cool, then scrape out the flesh with a fork. Or simply use frozen (thawed) or canned squash puree. Find frozen squash puree near other vegetables in the freezer section and canned squash near the canned pumpkin.
Inspired by Eating Well.
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Dating disasters!
You need only dip your toes in the dating pool to discover that the e-coli count often registers in the lethal zone. As evidence, several Hook insiders have gotten together to provide true stories of romance gone wrong. Read 'em and weep.
Oh, sh–!
Picnics have been pretty devastating for me. On one particular date at a lake at evening-fall, after a light rain, I spread my off-white Burberry raincoat for us to sit upon. Afterwards, I put it back on and spent several hours wandering around wearing it.
But unbeknownst to me, I had spread it out on grass thick-spread with goose excrement. The coat was indelibly and totally soaked from top to bottom with huge dark-green patches of the stuff.
The gal in question was one of very few I ever dated who had a sense of humor, and I suspect she was aware of it the whole time. But to this day she won't admit it. (I still have the coat.) Matthew Farrell
Two's company...
I was had been going out with a girl for a while and thought it would be fun to take her to Trio, a very nice restaurant in the Chicago suburbs. We had been talking about the restaurant for some time– we both waited tables and knew of the acclaim of the chef, but neither of us had enough capital to go.
I finally saved up the princely sum required, made reservations two months in advance, and surprised her with an eight-course dinner, after which we drove back to the city, and I dropped her off at what I thought was her place.
Later that week, I finished work early and decided to pay her a visit. I drove to her house and walked through the door, only to find out she was living with her boyfriend of two years!
Some Trio! –Jamie Clarkson
Oh, deer
After several mediocre dates with a creepy guy in college, I decided to call things off. One afternoon he asked me to go on a hike. I figured that the woods were not the best place to break-up with such a strange person, so I planned to tell him the bad news on the way home.
As we headed up the Skyline Drive, he was obsessing about seeing the sunset from a certain spot. But as we came around a sharp curve, a deer bolted out in front of us, and another ran into us from the side. As my date swerved, we ran off the road, popping his back tire in the process.
He pulled over, jacked up the car, and crawled underneath to attach the spare. While he was working, I noticed the car slowly tilting backwards and rolling towards him. I screamed, dove through the window, and pulled the emergency brake, moments before he would have been crushed. He finished attaching the spare, and we continued around the mountain.
By then the sun had set, but we pressed on to his favorite spot, which turned out to be two seats carved into a cliff. At that point, he asked me how I felt about our relationship. Since he was a fairly unstable person, I figured that if I told the truth, he would either jump over the edge or push me, so I stalled. I told him goodbye for good when he dropped me off at home.
I guess the date was worse for him he hit a deer, almost got crushed by his car, missed the sunset, and lost the girl. Leah Woody
Up yours!
Fifty years ago, I was in military school, and my brother brought his fiancée over to introduce her to me. They took me out to dinner. When my brother left the table to go to the bathroom, she leaned over toward me conspiratorially and said, "Do you want to see a trick?"
I replied, "Sure, I want to see a trick."
Thereupon she stuck out her tongue and buried it in her nose just like the cows did on our dairy farm. I was really impressed.
My brother must have been, too. He married her!– David Breeden
Caution! Contents under pressure
It gives you the willies when a blind date who's called to arrange a meeting says, "How'd you like to take a long drive in the country?" My fears were allayed, however, when the guy explained that he meant coming up 29 to Ruckersville. I said I didn't mind driving. Where should we meet?
"I'll pull my red Cadillac right up to the front of the Burger King," he announced. I should have known right then.
Sure enough, there he sat, the nose of his battered '50s-era Caddy practically snuggled against the big glass doors. "Climb in," he said when I approached the passenger's side. As I gingerly eased my way onto the long bench seat, I noticed a strange gray cake-box thing duct-taped to the middle of the steering wheel.
After listening to him confess that "the IRS was after him," complain about the many faults of his former girlfriend, and enumerate the hundred ways the country had gone to hell, I decided it was time to head back to town. But I had to know before I left.
"What's that thing on the steering wheel?" I said as I opened the door for my getaway.
"That? Oh, that's my homemade airbag," he replied proudly. "I know it looks pretty rough right now, but it'll be fine when the glue dries and I can take off the duct tape."
A homemade airbag. I didn't ask, but all the way down 29 and every now and then since I've wondered: What could have been in there? An aerosol can and a balloon, maybe?
Alas, the answer will remain– like the elusive chemistry that separates a bozo from a perfect mate another of life's many mysteries. Rosalind Warfield-Brown
Kissitus interruptus
Ahh, first love. The summer before I turned 16, I attended a camp at Wellesley College where I met Mark, my first "boyfriend." Mark lived in a Massachusetts town next to mine, and the Saturday afternoon after camp ended, he invited me to come over to his house. I assured my mother that his parents would be home (he really had told me they would!), and she dropped me off. It took about two seconds for me to realize that Mark and I were actually alone, but being 15 I certainly wasn't complaining.
Before long, he had convinced me to come back to his room to "see some records," and not long after that, he kissed me. I started to get nervous about what I'd gotten myself into, but I needn't have worried.
Moments after the kissing began, the door burst open, and two large men dressed in blue uniforms barged in carrying his grandmother between them on a stretcher. When she saw us, she began desperately struggling to sit up, while pointing at me and screaming in Turkish. I couldn't understand what she was saying, but her message couldn't have been clearer.
It turned out that, while out bicycle riding, his grandmother had been hit by a car, and his mother, father, and five-year-old brother had been at the hospital with her.
I don't remember much else from that day just a desperate call to my mother to please come get me. Mark's mother took him into the kitchen, where I'm sure she wasn't laughing, and my mother picked me up with a stony look on her face. Two weeks later, my family moved to Virginia; Mark and I never spoke again. Courteney Stuart


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Water / Energy
Water & Energy
Water and energy are basic needs of civilization. Our use of each relies on and affects the availability of the other, and, as populations grow, our demand for both will continue to increase at accelerating rates. Water and energy issues are inseparable, and we cannot address groundwater protection and availability without a keen focus on energy production and use.
This water-energy "nexus" is now being understood within the broader context of "sustainability." As a society we have the daunting job of seeking ways to sustainably manage our current water supply so we are able to meet both present and future water needs. This is not a job that we can postpone until tomorrow.
Our planet's water and energy resources are abundant; however, water and energy supplies are often not available in the quantity and quality needed, at the location and times we need them for the different ways we want to use them…and at prices that are affordable. As a nation, we have a challenge, not to mention an urgent mandate to work toward sustainable resource planning and management approaches in a coordinated and collaborative fashion. An important step toward accomplishing this is to improve our understanding of the various issues, roles, and perspectives on water and energy from the industries, agencies, and other stakeholders that manage these resources.
In order to provide water and energy for their constituents, state and local officials must lay out clear and informed choices that lead to appropriate laws and practices that will ensure water and energy sustainability. While there has been considerable research on energy needs for the future, we know little about how much water it will take to meet these needs and if that water will be available for energy production without impacting other beneficial uses.


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There were no documents that contained all of the words in your query. These results contain some of the words.
…& feature traditional villa proportions. All rooms have their own ensuite with central-heating, heated towel rails, luxury linen, pillows, and toiletries. From a twin shower, original fireplace to a clawfoot bath to soak in, or private verandah, each room is unique and offers something special.
accommodation » boutique and heritage
…weekend away, corporate retreat, wedding destination, holiday with the family or a short break with friends. It doesn't matter what excuse you use to spend more time on the truly unique, scenic and historic wonderland of Kawau Island, or destinations in the greater Hauraki Gulf, Kawau Water Taxis…
tours » boat and sailing tours
Explore Auckland's amazing outer Hauraki Gulf with fully guided and catered charters to Great Barrier Island, Little Barrier, the Hen & Chicken Islands and Mokohinau Island group. Sight-see, dive, snorkel, kayak, bird watch and learn about the Gulf's amazing ecology and conservation efforts.…
attractions and activities » fishing » deep sea and big game fishing
…massage, day spa packages, manicures & pedicures, waxing and beauty treatments. A sensory journey created to give you back what life takes out of you. Affordable luxury. Relax, you've come to the right place. 11 day spas in Auckland/Hamilton/Wellington/Christchurch/Queenstown plus Hair Salon in…
attractions and activities » tourist shopping and souvenirs » online shopping
…New Zealand self drive holiday. USAVE Car & Truck Rentals guarantee excellent service and a full range of cars, station wagons, 4WD and minibuses at favourable rates with full insurance options and unlimited mileage. Depots in Auckland (airport and city), Palmerston North, Christchurch and Dunedin.
…Friendly car hire located in all major New Zealand centres including Whangarei, Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Rotorua, Taupo, Napier, Hastings, Palmerston North, Wellington, Nelson, Picton, Blenheim, Christchurch, Methven, Greymouth, Dunedin and Queenstown. Click on our name to visit our Web site.
transport » rental cars
…of self-contained SleeperVans, Campervans and Motorhomes. They are equipped with a house battery, solar panels, linen, cutlery, crockery, and kitchen utensils. Our Campervan and Motorhomes have independent heating and hot water. We also offer free collection from Christchurch and Auckland Airports.
transport » backpacker transport
…throughout New Zealand. With a wide range of vehicles including ones which are fully air-conditioned, wheelchair accessible and with luggage capacity, we have the vehicle for you. Our Auckland based Tour Division operates a modern fleet of touring coaches nationwide, catering for all requirements.
transport » bus and coach services
…units located beside a picturesque river in a relaxing natural setting. Short stroll to the town centre with the community facilities. All units fully self-contained. Nourishing continental breakfasts available. Reefton is close to many natural attractions. A great place to leave stress behind.
accommodation » motels and motor lodges
APT is the leading tour operator in New Zealand. Brands include APT and Travelmarvel. Select escorted touring itineraries from eight days to three weeks duration by coach and rail, ranging from luxury through to affordable value.
tours » scenic tours
For more listings please click: 1 2 3 4 | Next


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Torrington Police issue silver alert for teen
Photo: Photo From Facebook
TORRINGTON >> Police issued a silver alert for a 15-year-old city teen Thursday afternoon.
Police are searching for Ryley Fullerton, a white male with brown hair, blue eyes, who stands 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighs approximately 205 pounds.
According to police, Fullerton is labeled as an endangered runaway.
Fullerton is described as having his hair shaved on the sides, with two inches on the top and sideburns.
Anyone with information on Fullerton's location is asked to contact Torrington Police at 860-489-2000.


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Many have heard about our BBQ Competition on November 14, 2009. We are still taking enrollment for the contest at www.greenleafbbq.com for any interested individual or team.
This contest is open to all with no fuel restrictions – bring your best skills and grills to win a trophy and some cash.
Competitors will be using Traeger Grills, Big Green Eggs, Drum Smokers, Gas Grills, and perhaps even a few Weber kettle or WSM smoking all day.
If you're interested in learning to BBQ or smoke meats, this is the place to visit and ask questions.
Our BBQ shop will be open during the competition, offering special deals on Big Green Egg, Traeger & Weber products in addition to our great line-up of BBQ rubs and sauces. Check out our website to shop early in our online store.
Here are the details:
*No Fuel Restrictions – Charcoal, Gas, Pellet, Electric or Wood Allowed.
Thanks to all teams that have already committed to joining us!


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Many of today's war zones – including Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, and Sudan – share basic problems that lie at the root of their conflicts. They are all poor, buffeted by natural disasters – especially floods, droughts, and earthquakes – and have rapidly growing populations that are pressing on the capacity of the land to feed them. And the proportion of youth is very high, with a bulging population of young men of military age (15-24 years).
All of these problems can be solved only through long-term sustainable economic development. Yet the United States persists in responding to symptoms rather than to underlying conditions by trying to address every conflict by military means. It backs the Ethiopian army in Somalia. It occupies Iraq and Afghanistan. It threatens to bomb Iran. It supports the military dictatorship in Pakistan.
None of these military actions addresses the problems that led to conflict in the first place. On the contrary, American policies typically inflame the situation rather than solve it.
Time and again, this military approach comes back to haunt the US. The US embraced the Shah of Iran by sending massive armaments, which fell into the hands of Iran's Revolutionary Government after 1979. The US then backed Saddam Hussein in his attack on Iran, until the US ended up attacking Saddam himself. The US backed Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan against the Soviets, until the US ended up fighting bin Laden. Since 2001 the US has supported Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan with more than $10 billion in aid, and now faces an unstable regime that just barely survives.
US foreign policy is so ineffective because it has been taken over by the military. Even postwar reconstruction in Iraq under the US-led occupation was run by the Pentagon rather than by civilian agencies. The US military budget dominates everything about foreign policy. Adding up the budgets of the Pentagon, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the Department of Homeland Security, nuclear weapons programs, and the State Department's military assistance operations, the US will spend around $800 billion this year on security, compared with less than $20 billion for economic development.
In a stunning article on aid to Pakistan during the Bush administration, Craig Cohen and Derek Chollet demonstrated the disastrous nature of this militarized approach – even before the tottering Musharraf regime's latest crackdown. They show that even though Pakistan faces huge problems of poverty, population, and environment, 75% of the $10 billion in US aid has gone to the Pakistani military, ostensibly to reimburse Pakistan for its contribution to the "war on terror, and to help it buy F-16s and other weapons systems.
Another 16% went straight to the Pakistani budget, no questions asked. That left less than 10% for development and humanitarian assistance. Annual US aid for education in Pakistan has amounted to just $64 million, or $1.16 per school-aged child.
The authors note that "the strategic direction for Pakistan was set early by a narrow circle at the top of the Bush administration and has been largely focused on the war effort rather than on Pakistan's internal situation. They also emphasize that "US engagement with Pakistan is highly militarized and centralized, with very little reaching the vast majority of Pakistanis. They quote George Bush as saying, "When [Musharraf] looks me in the eye and says.there won't be a Taliban and won't be al-Qaeda, I believe him, you know?
This militarized approach is leading the world into a downward spiral of violence and conflict. Each new US weapons system "sold or given to the region increases the chances of expanded war and further military coups, and to the chance that the arms will be turned on the US itself. None of it helps to address the underlying problems of poverty, child mortality, water scarcity, and lack of livelihoods in places like Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province, Sudan's Darfur region, or Somalia. These places are bulging with people facing a tightening squeeze of insufficient rainfall and degraded pasturelands. Naturally, many join radical causes.
The Bush administration fails to recognize these fundamental demographic and environmental challenges, that $800 billion of security spending won't bring irrigation to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, and Somalia, and therefore won't bring peace. Instead of seeing real people in crisis, they see caricatures, a terrorist around every corner.
A more peaceful world will be possible only when Americans and others begin to see things through the eyes of their supposed enemies, and realize that today's conflicts, having resulted from desperation and despair, can be solved through economic development rather than war. We will have peace when we heed the words of President John F. Kennedy, who said, a few months before his death, "For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.
Jeffrey Sachs is Professor of Economics and Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. This commentary is published by DAILY NEWS EGYPT in collaboration with Project Syndicate (www.project-syndicate.org)


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Kurt Nimmo
August 30, 2010
The Department of Justice has fired a salvo in the war against patriotic Americans supporting the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The DOJ has issued Investigating Terrorism and Criminal Extremism –Terms and Concepts, a 120-page propaganda addendum described as "a glossary designed primarily as a tool for criminal justice professionals to enhance their understanding of words relating to extremist terminology, phrases, activities, symbols, organizations, and selected names that they may encounter while conducting criminal investigations or prosecutions of members of extremist organizations."
|The DOJ glossary will be used by the federal government and increasingly federalized law enforcement to criminalize language used by the patriot movement.
The glossary describes the word "constitutionalist" as a "generic term for members of the 'patriot' movement. It is now often used to refer to members of the sovereign citizen or common law court movement. Sometimes the word 'constitutionalist' is also used."
According to Merriam-Webster, a constitutionalist is a person who adheres to a form of government according to constitutional principles.
The DOJ is now apparently in the business of newspeak. In his dystopian novel on totalitarian government, Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell introduced the term doublethink, from which the terms newspeak and doublethink were later derived. Newspeak has come to mean any attempt by the government to restrict or modify language. The DOJ, in an effort to further demonize a growing patriot movement, has attempted to redefine the word consitutionalist in true newspeak fashion.
The word constitutionalist is now shorthand for the sovereign citizen movement, in other words people who support the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are violent cop killers. Earlier this year, two West Memphis, Arkansas, police officers were killed in a shootout allegedly involving a man and his son who were supposedly linked to the sovereign citizen movement in Ohio and Florida.
Prior to this incident, the FBI, an agency of under the DOJ, profiled the "domestic terror threat" posed by the sovereign citizen movement. "Sovereign citizens are anti-government extremists who believe that even though they physically reside in this country, they are separate or 'sovereign' from the United States. As a result, they believe they don't have to answer to any government authority, including courts, taxing entities, motor vehicle departments, or law enforcement," the FBI wrote on April 13, 2010. The FBI provides contact information for turning in people who espouse "the bogus claims and scams of sovereign citizens."
- A d v e r t i s e m e n t
- {openx:49}
The DOJ prefaces its glossary by stating that "the fact that an entry appears in this publication does not imply a connection to illegal activity," and then precedes to connect constitutionalists to alleged cop killers.
In addition, the DOJ's glossary attempts to criminalize people who use the terms New World Order, Bilderberg Group, Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, and One World Government. The latter term, according to the DOJ — obviously under the ideological sway of the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center — is used by "some right-wing extremists" to claim "white people will be in the minority, with Jewish people ultimately controlling the world." In short, if you believe there is an effort to establish world government, you are an anti-semitic Jew hater.
The DOJ glossary arrives after the appearance of the Department of Homeland Security's report on "right-wing extermism" and a similar report produced by the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) and leaked to Alex Jones by a police officer last year. The MIAC report specifically singles out supporters of Ron Paul and Chuck Baldwin — the presidential nominee of the Constitution Party in 2008 — as domestic terrorists posing a threat to law enforcement.
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The DOJ glossary will be used by the federal government and increasingly federalized law enforcement to criminalize language used by the patriot movement. It will be used in an effort to compile a hit-list of patriots and target them as threats to national security. The glossary is part of an ongoing campaign to demonize those of us who insist the United States is a constitutional republic and portray people who insist the government respect and follow the Constitution and the Bill of Rights as violent cop killers and white supremacist extremists.
For more on the DOJ glossary, see Department of Justice Lists Constitutionalists in Extremism Guide. A PDF of the glossary is available here.
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Between Friends, Age Is Nothing But A Number
In two of her most prominent early roles — as Woody Allen's teenage girlfriend in Manhattan and as Dorothy Stratten, the slain Playboy centerfold in Bob Fosse's Star 80 — Mariel Hemingway played young women under the sway of older, more powerful men. Both characters are objects of beauty, and Hemingway's soft voice and hazy eyes reinforced their passivity, even as they hid a more introspective side. The overall effect is an innocent, almost childlike openness, like a blank slate ready for imprinting.
Appearing in Starletin her first lead role, Hemingway's 24-year-old daughter, Dree, uncannily recalls her mother, playing Jane, a California blonde whose occupation as a sometime porn actress suits an unsettled, transient lifestyle. The one major difference is Jane's confidence: She's willing to go with the flow, but only to a point, when she reveals a surprising stubbornness and tenacity.
Yet her defining characteristics are curiosity and openness, which may be a prerequisite for the job, but which also serve her well when she enters into an unlikely friendship with a widow about 60 years her senior.
Co-written and directed by Sean Baker, co-creator of the cult TV show Greg the Bunny, Starlet represents a welcome throwback to the smoggy West Coast character studies of the 1970s — and not just because the generational chasm between its two leads evokes Harold and Maude.
It has the offbeat premise of run-of-the-mill indie fare — Harold and Maude is nothing if not the wellspring of modern indie quirk — but Baker adds a beautiful SoCal texture and vibe, and takes his time sussing out the complicated motivations of his mismatched characters.
Though Baker doesn't hurry to detail precisely what Jane does for a living, it's clear from the start that she draws from a thin supply of available cash and occupies a living space that lacks the security of a lease. While bargain-hunting at local yard sales, Jane finds a cheap thermos she intends to repurpose as a vase — but when she gets it home, she discovers roll after roll of cash stashed inside, adding up to about $10,000. Does she keep it, knowing that the half-demented old woman who sold it to her would never miss it? Or does she do the honorable thing and return the money?
Faced with those two choices, Jane takes Option 3: Keep the money and treat herself to a few things, like a rhinestone collar for her pet chihuahua, Starlet, but assuage her guilt by helping the cranky old widow, Sadie (Besedka Johnson), who sold it to her.
Sadie doesn't particularly want a friend, as it turns out, but Jane is doggedly persistent, which simultaneously wears down Sadie's defenses and raises suspicion over why this young stranger is going through all the effort.
Jane and Sadie make a charming odd couple — one a vivacious, unabashed spark plug in crop tops and hot pants, the other a cantankerous octogenarian who gives as good as she gets. But Baker and the two leads don't get too cutesy about these characters and their friendship, which curbs any false sentimentality while honoring the tenuous bond between women who cling to each other for ambiguous reasons. He's content to let the mystery linger.
He also takes pains to get the incidental details right, like outlining the contours of Jane's life as a porn actress in the San Bernardino Valley. Her room in a generic two-story doubles as a space for XXX webcam and video shoots, and her time on set, rendered with a casual explicitness, feels authentic, too; it's like she's clocking into an odd job.
Starlet shows enough of her unbalanced, unsustainable situation to make sense of her connection to Sadie, however frail a ballast her new friend might be. Their need for each other is disarmingly sweet, but far from sticky. (Recommended)
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Beat the Streak Report: Wednesday, June 23
Our unflappable leader shined through the stardom and successfully
broke the will of the Beat the Streak paparazzi after selecting
Robinson Cano for the second straight day to extend his streak to a
season-high 39 games.
George is now officially 68.4 percent on his way to the
$3,000,000 grand prize and a lifelong supply of Applebee's steak tips.
What's better than a steak tip? Nothing is the only correct answer.
Anyway, our streaks of the day don't end there, as the guys who
actually are on the field — ya know, real-life Major Leaguers — kept
their impressive streaks alive as Josh Hamilton and Jose Guillen each
laced hits last night to extend their respective streaks and tie Cano
and Jorge Cantu with season-high 17-game streaks of their own.
All we need now is for Dick George to select Hamilton tonight
and watch the entire world self-combust into the abyss the exact moment
Hamilton gets his first hit, simultaneously extending the season-high
streaks of both these courageous leaders.
Time for Wednesday's picks
Oh, hello there ..
? Raul Ibanez: .700 AVG (7-for-10) since '05 vs. Indians starter Jake Westbrook
? Casey Blake: .438 AVG (7-for-16) since '05 vs. Angels starter Joel Pineiro
? Edgar Renteria: .405 AVG (15-for-37) lifetime vs. Astros starter Brett Myers
? Adam Kennedy: .444 AVG (4-for-9) lifetime vs. Royals starter Brian Bannister
Feeling kinda spicy?
? Corey Patterson: .444 AVG (4-for-9) lifetime vs. Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco. Hey, look — it's Corey Patterson!
You'll thank me later …
? Freddy Sanchez: .067 AVG (1-for-15) lifetime vs. Astros starter Brett Myers
? Andre Ethier: .000 AVG (0-for-10) lifetime vs. Angels starter Joel Pineiro
? Troy Glaus: .000 AVG (0-for-10) since '05 vs. White Sox starter Mark Buehrle
? Matt Kemp: .143 AVG (2-for-14) lifetime vs. Angels starter Joel Pineiro
Leaderboard time!
"Kbarr9" continues to keep the pressure mounting on Dick George, reaching a stellar 36-game streak thanks to Mr. Hamilton.
And as a side note, I'd like to take this time and acknowledge
my incredible blunder in somehow forgetting to mention how the Yankees'
Monday night loss to the D-backs completely obliterated the streaks of
about 72 percent of our Survivor participants.
This will forever be known as the Survivor Massacre of '10 and I have no idea how this slipped under the cracks.
My most sincere apologies.
Top MLB streakers
? Josh Hamilton: 17 games
? Jose Guillen: 17 games
? Jeff Mathis: 13 games
? Garrett Jones: 12 games
? Adrian Beltre: 11 games
46 Comments
That?s right?72.9% of the world collapsed on Monday night?.Glad I wasn?t in it 🙂 (thank you Reds). My world collapse in BTS yesterday however, when my modest 7 games streak disappeared, courtesy of Kouzmanoff?11 for 16 vs Arroyo and he can?t even squeeze one little hit the whole game ?.MERDE!!!! First I had Delmon Young but I changed at the last minute for a ?sure? pick; of course Young got him 2 hits last night. Now that?s just real harsh! I should have listened that little voice in my head ?don?t go with Kouz, anyone but him!?; instead I chose to trust the stats despite the fact that Kevin burned me once already. Got fooled twice…shame on me.
Yep, excitement on the leader board again; been awhile.
Once the two leaders' picks are known, BTS enthusiasts will be finger-crossed, hexing, and willing those picks to get pop outs, strkeouts, walks & reaching via errors.
Listening to or watching the game live is not bad, but a little less gut-wrenching. If you want to add to the suspense even more, follow their picks via MLB's GameDay. Each time a ball is put into play you get that little blue circle that says, "in play outs", "in play no out", "in play runs" and then you have a second or two before the details are displayed. When "in play no out", are you begging, "error, error!" If "in play runs" and man on third, are you pleading, "sac fly, sac fly"? Afterwards, I may be cursing under my breath if a hit was recorded or doing the funky chicken if not, but ahhhhh, I absolutely love those few seconds!
And what about from the leaders' point of view.
You know how when we have a good streak going, we agonize and analyze over our picks, sometimes, changing them over & over again right up to lockout? How vexing must it be for the leaders? Knowing the whole BTS world will give you a "congrats, job well done" if you fail, while simultaneously rejoicing to your failure. But that isn't the kicker, the kicker is you lost your best shot at $3million.
What about during the game? The leaders if they watch/listen, must have their heart skip at the moment of ball-to-bat contact. If they 2nd guessed themselves during the picks, what must be going thru their heads each time their pick fails to reach base: "should I have, could I have?"
Then if their pick gets a hit, it must be like a mini-high, only to realize you gotta do it all over again and again. Wish I could be in that position too!
The above comments can pertain to all of us, but there is one big difference: most of us are a month or more away from being there; while dick.george and company are just two weeks away from a truly, life-changing, pay out.
Anyone else anxiously awaiting lockout to see who the leaders picked? If you are, you are hopelessly hooked like me.
Recipe for success? The leader, on June 1st, was tied for 116th place. During the past 3 weeks, he has leaned heavily on high-average hitters: Cano 8x, Prado 4x, Ichiro & Pujols 2x, along with Morneau, Mauer, Ordonez, M.Cabrera & Rios one time each. So who tonite? Cano 3x in a row or Ichiro, Pujols or someone else? My guess is we will be waiting long into the night to see if his streak continues.
^^ correction: Ichiro 3x, Pujols 2x.
I might be making an extremely foolish pick today…but there's a reason to it.
Am I the only one who thinks the blog shouldn't be used to further your business?
I agree. Gotta get that spammer out if he keeps comin' back.
Darn it. Its gonna take a miracle for Suzuki to not get a hit. I hope Wells pitches "well" as he did last year. With Lee pitching, I doubt there will be 9th inning for Seattle.
@rip2thecompetition: who did you go w/?
I went with Jose Reyes
Get your Ichiro voodoo dolls out or bring your jinx A-Game.
Here is today's Top Picks of the current Top2500. All games included, 146 different batters selected overall
Batter, Times Picked, Percentage
Ichiro Suzuki, 307, 12.28% (both leaders' pick)
Raul Ibanez, 256, 10.24
Martin Prado, 159, 6.36
Robinson Cano, 155, 6.2
Joey Votto, 93, 3.72
Carl Crawford, 91, 3.64
Casey Blake, 90, 3.6
Justin Morneau, 77, 3.08
Edgar Renteria, 76, 3.04
Josh Hamilton, 73, 2.92
Evan Longoria, 73, 2.92
Placido Polanco, 66, 2.64
Derek Jeter, 65, 2.6
No Selection, 52, 2.08
Highest "No Selection": Page 8 with a streak of 15 now reset to zero
Yesterday saw 24% Top2500 streaks come to an end
Bloggers Group Top2500
UserName, Streak, Page#, Pick
blanco21, 15, pg11, Matt Holliday
cojobs, 10, pg56, Carlos Gonzalez
Spamming is bad enough but they sell all made in China garbage knockoffs. The business is not even here in US.
I think Ichiro will come through. Tomorrow, Milwood is pitching so here comes 41. That is what I said yesterday about days of easy picking coming up.
Oh it would be so sweet if Ichiro had some bad sushi for lunch. Just enough for him to crap in his pants while trying to beat out a cheap hit but he can't give it all because he is too embarrassed.
@btsplayer: I expect leader to pick Pujols or Prado tomorrow. A majority of his streak comprises of just 5 players. He has never picked a Fish yet and only has picked one player batting below 300; that would be out of his comfort zone.
@lavolpe: I hope so because I have a hitter in mind that is a sure bet and its not Hanley.
@btsplayer: Well, here's hoping Ichiro goes 0-2 and tomorrow's pick-watch is for a new leader. Otherwise, the stats I just gave are relative to his current streak when he hit the Top2500. I don't have his complete history. If I were in his shoes, I think I'd be tempted to stay with what got me to that point and not go outside the box. Kind of: don't fix it, if it ain't broke. It just sucks when it finally breaks.
"You know how when we have a good streak going, we agonize and analyze over our picks, sometimes, changing them over & over again right up to lockout?"
I don't know why people do this for.
I might second-guess myself during the pick-selection process, but once I put it in, I stick with it.
UNLESS the starting pitcher or my pick is scratched, but that is a change in circumstance, not what someone says.
Interesting how so many people backed off Hamilton for today.
From what I have noticed, if Ichiro misses in your 1st 2 AB's, you are in trouble.
So, if you load the screen and see 0 for 2, we could be in prime position.
Someone deleted the spam posts by the way.
Votto seems to be a trap pick for today.
Okay. So Miguel Cairo came through. I don't know if it was a product of Mazzaro facing good No. 2 hitters or what but they were 11-16 (.688) against him. I thought Phillips would be batting 2nd again so I was intially going with him until I saw Cairo playing for Rolen & batting 2nd.
By the way, I said Votto was a trap pick because Mazzaro is much stronger at home and better against lefties.
That combo reduces Votto from a seemingly good pick to just a mediocre one.
@champ88. w/Votto, maybe. One & maybe 2 ABs left.
I don't understand the Ibanez love though. He's been batting 235 over last 10 days, 8 for 34, 4 0-fers, 8 strikeouts & 5 walks. Add to that he bats low in the lineup & at home: run don't walk away from that pick. His lifetime 700 against then pitcher is the turn-on I'm sure, but how much faith does one put into stats compiled over a year ago? A lot evidentally.
yeah, outside of Polanco briefly, I don't think anyone on the Phillies is doing all that well lately.
I would stay away from that as well, but I didn't comment on that, since I had no data to back that up and I know you wanted some reasoning.
The Reds put together a mini-rally in the 8th, which fueled solely by the intentional walk, gives them just enough to guarantee Votto up one more time in the 9th.
Yep, Votto pickers punished: 0-2 with 3 walks.
it's a final! about 4 on the first page had him too.
but the real payoff will be Ichiro tonight.
F*** the Oakland pitching staff for not pitching to Votto!
That is all…
lol, how long was your streak going in today?
I would love to see Ichiro go hitless…considering I had him in mind before I decided to go with MIGUEL CAIRO hahaha
Survivor has taken a beating recently. The NATs falling today makes 5 of last 7 days, the top-picked team lost.
Why was Josh Hamilton not in the starting lineup today? Of course I picked him and hopefully if he does PH, he gets a hit and I can move on to tomorrow.
Took Texas in Survivor figuring Hamilton would take part in the massacre of Bucs. But they are doing it without him.
From Texas Ranger web site:
ARLINGTON — Rangers manager Ron Washington elected to rest outfielder Josh Hamilton on Wednesday against the Pirates, despite his recent tear at the plate.
Hamilton is riding a career-high 17-game hitting streak and is hitting .485 (33-68) with eight home runs and 24 RBIs over that span. It's the longest streak by a Rangers player since Michael Young's 18-game streak from August 13-31 last season.
"He's human," Washington said. "He deserves a day off. He got it. We've been winning without everyone else in that lineup so we'll have to do it without Josh in that lineup."
Washington said Hamilton needed a day off but insisted it had nothing to do with the knee soreness that forced him to rest earlier in the month.
BTS – Young TX – How bad is Pittsburg?
HR – Guerrero
Survivor – Cardinals
Was that even a hit or did it find a hole because bases were loaded?
Another BS hit by Ichiro.
@btsplayer: It was a solid hit thru the infield, watching the game on tv.
With Jeter & Cano 0-fer so far, will they get hits on their last AB? Will the game go to extra innings? Prado needs some base runners to come up 1 more time. Though Ichiro & Ibanez both got hits, the other 0-fers may take out quite a few.
My guess for leader's pick tomorrow: Prado, Pujols or Braun
Man. It's gonna be tough for Dickie to go down. He really should have perished sometime in the last 3 days. NOBODY gets that kind of luck 3 days in a row. I never got that & this is my 4th yr playing.
@lavolpe: I don't eve care about those guys. People behind the top 2 are way behind anyway.
Darn Wells. He is another pitcher who should be sent back down to minor leagues. He had a good run last year but his experiment this year is over. The Cubs keep thinking he will get better but he keeps on sucking start after start. He loves those blow out big innings to give more grey hairs on Pinella's head.
@btsplayer: "I don't eve care about those guys. People behind the top 2 are way behind anyway."
I do. dick.george just joined the 40-club consisting of 20 people that have been there before and haven't won. If he wins it, so be it. If not, the ones behind have as good of a chance. So while d.g is making the run, any of his close opponents that fall are a plus IMO.
And Cano does it again! Only hit on last AB.
"If he wins it, so be it. If not, the ones behind have as good of a chance. So while d.g is making the run, any of his close opponents that fall are a plus IMO."
What you're not getting is there will always be certain amount of people there. Its not gonna change. That is how the probability works. Some will die and some will move on. Over a length of time, about 20% of streakers will fall everyday. Its the ones that slip past that trap day after day that you have to worry.
Over the last 3 weeks. Nothing really has changed for the 99.99% of the board. About same amonut of people will be at certain low streaks.
@btsplayer: Oh, I get it. And more than once in our life times, the contest will probably be won. But what you are missing it seems, is that the leader hasn't won, yet. Odds are against him getting another 17 in a row. And any behind him and ahead of you, me or anyone else must also fall for us to get a chance. That is a very optimistic statement of course.
But worry? Why worry? Spending 20 years in the military I learned early on, do not worry about stuff you have absolutely no control over. What happens, happens. And in this game, the only thing we have control over is who we pick; absolutely nothing else. Simply keep those fingers crossed between now & the All Star Game. If we're still playing then, d.g & kbarr9 both fell.
Time to focus on the task at hand: Helping each other make better picks. The chatter about the leaders is not helping accomplish this. Remember your chances of winning this game are the same as: Winning $100 million in the lottery and walking outside your house to celebrate your lottery win on a sunny day and having a 747 crash and land on you.
Question: How bad are they Cubs?
Answer: As a huge but realistic Cub fan, I had Seattle on Wed v. Cubs in Survivor.
TX – Young in BTS
HR – BTS – Guerrero v. Karstens of Pitt
TX in Survivor – Feldman has been doing well for TX
Hoping for a TX "Hat Trick"
New blog term: Let's go with "hat trick" on a day when you have a HR pick, BTS hit and Survivor win.


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