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Amped Up!
Get the inside story for your weekend music choices here each Friday. A member of the local music scene, Richard Guerrero plays in the three local bands. When he's not playing, he's listening to the many of the local bands and those on the Texas tour.
An enigma called Fauna NoirOctober 30, 2006 9:55 PM
Back in September, Amped Up! asked readers to voice their opinion about which local band is king of the hill in the Coastal Bend. The voting was hot and heavy and some tough words were tossed about but ultimately, the results spoke for themselves. Fauna Noir, a curious self-described experimental/drums and bass/psychedelic quartet from the South Texas hinterlands, took top prize with more than 80 votes. But much of what Fauna Noir does is shrouded in mystery. Why is that, you ask? Let's found out.
Declarative statement one: Fauna Noir makes music like no other band in the Coastal Bend. That is to say audiences who witness this Alice-based quartet ascending the astral plain will no doubt make much of the band's visuals which help to fully communicate their layered ideas beyond sound. While the effective incorporation of multi-media imagery within the confines of a rock show goes back to innovative punk pioneers such as Crass in late 70s England and has its roots in the live shows of Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, the practice is practically standard operating procedure for musically-adventurous bands in larger markets. Fauna Noir's blend of atmospheric melodies and tonal experimentation ride astride varying moments of sparse and dense instrumentation that echo classic adventurers in sound: Radiohead, the Flaming Lips and of course, early Pink Floyd. But there's more. Much more. Amped Up! worked up a few questions and the following is what the band sent back. Without further adieu: Fauna Noir.
AMPED UP! Fauna Noir has had some line-up changes. In your words, please give a detailed accounting of the band's history from the first day until now.
Guitarist Eric Garcia: Fauna began as a solo project of guitarist/vocalist Will Taylor's after some disappointing experiences with other previous projects. He played a couple of shows with different lineups; one lineup included him joining forces with Communal Death Duck and sometimes he would just play solo. Sid Garza (our first drummer), Tony Duran (our first bassist) and I joined the fold in October of last year where we began to build on Will's music and stimulate a metamorphosis of sorts. We played our first show on October 29 of last year and gigged sparsely until January '06 when our bassist Tony moved to Pennsylvania to attend school. We had just finished tracking the EP and began to consider a replacement bassist. In March, we started rehearsing with Oscar Guerra, our current bassist, and played our first show with him on March 23 for a Battle of the Bands contest. We held the lineup (Will, Oscar, Sid and me) for a good six months or so, continuing to gig sparsely while we tried to rehearse, perfect our performance and create a better show. We recently parted ways with our drummer Sid as a result of creative differences and have found a replacement in Joe Flores, formerly of the band Monkies Doin' It. Since then, things have been running more smoothly than ever and we're currently churning out new material and brainstorming a very entertaining stage show.
Bassist Oscar Guerra: I came into this band sometime around March of 2006. I had seen Fauna Noir play, briefly, a few times and knew that it was something that no one else was doing around here. I didn't know anyone in the band, I just kind of offered my services, and so here I am.
AMPED UP! Has the turnover affected the band's overall sound?
Eric: With the introduction of Oscar into the band, the level of ambient effects and psychedelic experimentation rose to a new level. Oscar is a master of finding the right effect for a particular moment and is an innovator at implementing them into his bass playing. He is constantly in search of new ways to twist sound into something artistic, and that is becoming a prominent part of our sound. Joe's drumming is a perfect fit for our mentality and writing style and he adds a very much-needed "looseness" to the feel of the songs. His style will certainly come through in the new material and in his interpretations of the existing material and I think his influence will definitely stimulate the progression of our sound.
Oscar: When I came into this project, my main goal was to keep with the integrity of what Tony had contributed to the band, while still letting my style/ideas show through the music, hopefully I've accomplished that. I learned the bass for the sole purpose of joining the band, and I didn't want to give into the whole "if you play guitar you can play bass" nonsense that everyone seems to buy into. I wanted to have my own unique style and start from the ground up. So, skill-wise, they could have easily gotten someone more "technically sound" than I am, but so goes it. I think we've done a good job in bringing in people that are sincere in making music, don't have personality issues (egos), and aren't content with making mediocre music. There should never be a limit as an artist to what you can do, and once you become content, I think you lose that edge. Also, I was really worried when we lost Sid that we weren't going to be able to find another open-minded drummer with the same technical skills. Sid set the bar really high, and his shoes are some really big ones to fill. Fortunately, we found Joe. He fits right in with what we're doing with Fauna Noir.
AMPED UP! Fauna Noir just released its first release, the 6-track "Natural Selections" demo. Was the release party a success?
Eric: I'd definitely consider the release party a success. Big thanks to Little Caesar's and H-E-B sodas for that. Ha ha. We were really pleased with the turnout as there were more people there than I expected. We had considered hosting it in Corpus initially and it seems that may not have been a bad idea because it looked like there were possibly more fans and supporters from Corpus than from Alice. Ha ha. We were also privileged to be interviewed by the "Corpus Critic" (of Myspace fame) which was a lot of fun.
AMPED UP! How long did it take to record "Natural Selections"? Did you record the music yourselves?
Eric: The actual initial tracking of the record didn't take very long. We recorded the music with a local recording engineer whose help and professional expertise is sought by many Corpus bands. So most of the band was traveling from Alice to Corpus, meaning we could only record for maybe two days out of a week. We finished tracking in about two weeks and then Tony left. We had a lot of other pressing situations on our plate at the time, including finding a new bassist, so the process slowed and we could only gather to work on the recording maybe once every two weeks. Because of that, the recording wasn't finished until May.
AMPED UP! The band's style on the demo seems to morph from atmospheric, expansive compositions to more muscular, jam-band riffs. How do you account for this wide range of stylistic diversity?
Eric: We each have such an extensive range of influences, so when we get together, the collision of our varied musical backgrounds is always interesting and exciting. We are most pleased when we have the freedom to take a song in a direction that is unexpected. Sometimes we'll even let the songs guide us. This is the way the band has worked for a long time now, but Will had the format of the songs laid out before we joined. So he gets the bulk of the credit for creating such a diverse group of songs. I've worked musically with Will since high school so we both knew that each other didn't like to do things in the normal way.
Oscar: We all love the "atmospheric" part of it, a lot of that "muscle" I think comes from Eric and a lot of the things he listens to. He brings the structure a lot of the times and I think he really holds it down and brings in a different perspective as does Will and now Joe. We all study wide ranges of music. Eric and Joe are more musically trained, whereas Will and I are just kind of just "fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants" musicians, but it works in a weird way.
AMPED UP! Is the disc receiving radio support?
Eric: To my knowledge, there are two radio stations that own a copy of the disc. The TAMUK radio station in Kingsville has a copy, but I don't know if they have played it. However, we have received outstanding and much-appreciated support from Dan and Dave of the local radio show The ALT on KCCT AM 1150 which airs on Sunday nights. Since they got the disc, they have already played four of the five songs on it and featured us as their artist of the week on October 15.
AMPED UP! Your next listed gig isn't until December. Why the long pause between performances?
Eric: Anybody who has seen our shows knows that we don't just write and perform music. We are all very much into having a stage production that supports and enhances the musical experience. We've done what we can with what little resources we have to create an atmosphere for our music. For a long time, we've wanted to take enough time off to brainstorm and become better-rehearsed and tighter musically while also developing new and more stimulating live shows. It hasn't been until now that we've been able to take that time off and we're currently using it as best we can. We hope to come back in December with a lot of new material and a new stage presence as well.
Oscar: Believe me, we love doing shows, but there's nothing worse than doing a show and not playing to your fullest potential as a band -- it's almost like a slap in the face to the audience. Although at times we may want to numb the audience, we never want to bore the audience. Right now, we're in songwriting mode, we're between drummers, and above all, we just aren't content with releasing a stale product ... so that's been the bulk of the layover from our last gig. We don't want to become one of these bands that's playing 3 gigs a week and never doing anything new as far as being innovative and progressive. Look at The Beatles. They stopped gigging and they turned out some pretty good stuff as far as I'm concerned. That's not to say we're going to do that, but you have to be patient as a band, especially when you're working with 3 other perfectionists. It's trying but the payoff is worth it when you're playing a song and it gives you chills.
AMPED UP! How many gigs has Fauna Noir done?
Eric: Since the formation of the first full band lineup last October, Fauna has done about 13 gigs.
Oscar: I've done six with the band. Although a few of them were just to a handful of our friends, it's always fun, and it's always the same feeling whether it's 5 people or 50. I get into an almost transcendental state and kind of forget that people are even out there.
AMPED UP! Fauna Noir placed first in the Amped Up! music poll in September. How do you explain the band's rather impressive showing, besting numerous Coastal Bend bands that gig regularly?
Eric: We were very flattered with the turnout of that poll, but we would never let something like that get to our heads so quickly. I think we can attribute the first wave of votes to the help we got from our strong supporters: Elizabeth and Jackie. However, even after that first surge, more and more people, some whom we didn't even know, began to vote for us. It really was surprising and it was great every time I would check out the progress and see, not one, but maybe three more votes for us. It seems that people recognize and appreciate the effort and obvious care we put into what we do. We haven't gigged much and maybe these people just caught one of our shows at House of Rock or The Blue Ghost and if that's all it took for them to think enough of us to vote for us over so many great Corpus bands, then we must be doing something right.
Oscar: I can't explain it, but it was very humbling to say the least. I was just glad to be mentioned once let alone 80+ votes ... but let me just say that there were definitely some very deserving bands that got very little or no votes. We are by no means the best band in the Corpus Christi area. That would be borderline idiotic for us to actually think that. We could never discredit the music other people are making whether we enjoy or not. All sound is valid to a certain extent.
AMPED UP! Are the members of Fauna Noir in other projects?
Eric: Will is currently working on another project of his entitled, coincidentally, Flora Blanc. He describes it as a meeting of stripped-down folk music with electronic elements. I have been playing bass in a local blues/folk rock outfit called The Rubberband for the past couple of years. I have also played bass for Pineapple Protein and handled vocal duties for Spectrum for a short while in 2005. I will also possibly be starting one or two new projects very soon.
Oscar: Will has his solo project, Flora Blanc (Fauna Noir's little sister) which I may eventually try and help him out with a bit. I had a psych/improv/noise band called Scama, but our drummer moved away to go work with another band, so right now I'm working on starting a project with some of the members of that project and also doing some solo "trip-hop" type stuff slowly but surely, but my main focus right now is Fauna Noir. Also, our new percussionist, Joe, used to drum for a local band called Monkies Doin' It. Again, I think it comes down to all of us being so diverse in our musical tastes that there's just some things we do that don't fit into Fauna Noir, so we try and use other means to get them out there.
AMPED UP! Going back to "Natural Selections," the disc seems to be lovingly handmade much in the same way some punk bands made hand-screened covers for their 7" records. How were the discs made? Are you all influenced by the punk-rock tradition known as DIY (do-it-yourself)?
Oscar: Well the way I see it is, if you really want to get your music out there, you'll do it yourself, cause no one is going to do this for us. I definitely have a punk rock approach to music, even though I don't really listen to too much punk (are The Locust punk? ed: they're closer to punk than funk!), as far as not having any rules and breaking as many rules as possible when it comes to what music is supposed to sound like.
AMPED UP! Alice-Kingsville seems to be enjoying a renaissance of sorts in terms of live music, particularly with regard to alternative music. What's the scene like there and how does Fauna Noir fit in to all of this?
Eric: This is something I frequently think about and I think we are all very excited to see this new uprising of musicians and bands that are striving to create something different or at least approach something familiar in a different way. I think bands like Communal Death Duck, Spineless Little Worms and us really stick out in the scene because of our mentality and desire to do something different. So we don't really fit in, but I think that's the point.
AMPED UP! How did the band become to be such fast friends with Communal Death Duck?
Eric: Will, myself, and Norby from Communal Death Duck have all been close friends since middle school. From grade 7-12, we were always collaborating musically and trying to get something off the ground, though it never quite took off. Norby and Will had a band called The Howl in the year after high school that enjoyed some success before they called it quits and Norby went on to form Communal Death Duck.
AMPED UP! Are you all students at Texas-A&M University-Kingsville? Do you recieve much support from students there?
Oscar: I'm the only member of the band that attends TAMUK, Eric goes to TAMUCC. I don't think too many people around here have ever even heard of Fauna Noir. We've only done one show in Kingsville -- most of that is attributed to the lack of venues in Kingsville. There are a few bars here in town, but everyone is just there to get drunk. I'd like to see more support from Kingsville because it's my hometown, but at the same time you have to realize that not everyone is going to dig what you're doing. I may be slightly at fault because I really don't like to talk about being in a band so I don't really get our name out there as much as I should.
AMPED UP! The band's music seems to provide an ample foundation for visual imagery. Is Fauna Noir a multimedia band?
Oscar: Yes we are. We are very ambitious in that department. I think that the visual mystique adds to the aesthetic of the music. I also, personally, want the live shows to be more about the music as a whole, rather than the individuals involved ... meaning when someone goes to one of our shows, I'd prefer the people be visualizing the music as a collective whole rather than focusing on what we as individuals are doing up there. When someone tells me "you did really good tonight," I'm always quick to remind them that we all did good tonight. When we're up there on stage, it's not Eric, Will, Joe and Oscar, it's Fauna Noir.
Fauna Noir play the Voodoo Lounge with Sun Salutation on December 15.
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Laughing Stock Midwest tour, Part IIOctober 28, 2006 12:24 PM
According to Yahoo, it's approximately 271.5 miles from the Exel Inn in Madison, Wisconsin, to The Garage Youth Center in Burnsville, Minnesota. So far, my band Laughing Stock had racked up two very quick bursts of rock 'n' roll throwdowns in the great state of Illinois (see Laughing Stock rides in the Midwest) and we were looking forward to another equally intense burst in Burnsville, south of Minneapolis on I-35W. We had high hopes but as we all now know, life is a bit more complicated than that.
We eventually checked out of the Exel Inn about 11 a.m. and loaded up. After a quick stop at a Walgreens for supplies, I decided to take the wheel for the first part of the run. There was a slight drizzle coming down and the temperatures were in the low 40s so I rarely ever attempted anything beyond 70 mph. We stopped once for fuel and a second time for dinner and then pushed on to the Twin Cities. I decided to turn the wheel over to brother Roger, the band's drummer and trip organizer. I slid over into the DJ slot and promptly queued up all of the Minneapolis artists on the iPod and pushed play.
For three members of Laughing Stock, Minneapolis was familiar territory. Roger, guitarist John "Kato" Alaniz and I played at the Emma Center (named after the early twentieth century radical Emma Goldman) on the first Krayons tour in 1994. That was a remarkable experience if only for the fact we were allowed to sleep in the basement where the bands played and peruse hard-to-find books from the center's library. Since that trip, I have come to equate Minneapolis with an almost European type of progressive thinking that one rarely encounters in Texas.
The Garage's main music room, Burnsville, Minnesota
But that was 12 years ago and on this day, our band Laughing Stock was actually headed to the southern Minneapolis suburb of Burnsville. To get to Burnsville, we actually found ourselves on I35W, the very same road which snakes through central Texas. The venue itself was quite easy to find and we were relieved to find a fair bit of activity already going on when we pulled up sometime after 5 p.m. Here's what we knew at that particular moment: The Garage is an all-ages youth center with a strict no substance-abuse policy; the show would start and end early; and we could expect to see at least five other bands. We were immediately impressed with a number of things about The Garage: the center has a small skate park and is quite spacious (the main music room boasted a 4-foot stage and barrier with a large PA and even an area to sell merch; the small room was more akin to the bars we're accustomed to playing but still could fit 60 people or so). Also, the center is run by youths who worked the door, the P.A. and handled security.
So what's the story on the Garage? According the Garage's web site, the center was created by Burnsville High School students in July 1999. Today, it is run by "The Garage" Advisory Board who come from Burnsville and surrounding communities working with the City of Burnsville, the community, and parents. Impressive stuff indeed. I also was heartened by a quote from the Soul Asylum song -- "Somebody To Shove" that was tagged high up on the wall in the main music room. Admittedly, as far as Minneapolis bands go, Soul Asylum is a long way from the Replacements, Husker Du or Suicide Commandos lyrics that could have been there but it was good to see a sense of local history reflected in such a place.
A quick look at the calendar spoke volumes. Scheduled for this show -- Chasing Elroy, The Cretins, Vicious Aloyius, In Letters, Valory, False Intentions and Laughing Stock. The idea was to have bands playing on either stage one after the other so that there was continous music throughout the evening. It sounded great to us. So we loaded in and set up the t-shirts and records and waited for everything to start.
The Cretins kick-started the whole thing on the main stage and for a brief glimmer, everything seemed to be be falling into place. Dressed like the characters from "A Clockwork Orange," the band covered "What Love Is" by Rocket from the Tombs/the Dead Boys with plenty of spirit. But the band fell apart a few times throughout its set which hampered their impact. In the small room, a band that never announced its name began stomping out a rather straightforward alternative metal that seemed earnest and polished. Everything seemed perfectly standard until the vocalist introduced his harmonica, which he ran through a distortion box. Have you ever heard a harp solo through a distortion box?! This guy could wail like John Popper jamming with Jack O' Fire (that would have been interesting!). Alas, I never did get the band's name. Rule #347 in the Amped Up! Guide to Kicking Out the Jams: Make sure the audience knows who you are. In Letters was next on the main stage and were definitely the crowd favorite of the night. About 60 teens milled about near the stage as they played their tightly-honed version of slowcore (think a grittier, slower version of Further Seems Forever). The band is gearing up for a national tour next year and bassist Joel Morris told us they're looking at South by Southwest. I'd say they have as good a shot as anyone. And then it was our turn.
We launched into our set with the usual panache only to watch the crowd of teens slowly melt away. I couldn't figure out what we were doing wrong. Although we weren't nearly as energetic as we usually were in the clubs (stages with barriers aren't our style), we sounded pretty good on stage. While we weren't spot on, we were about as good as any average Laughing Stock night so it couldn't have been a lousy performance in the making. No, I suspect we may have been too old. And I can't say that I blame them. This was, after all, a youth center and here we were -- men lost in their thirties --- trying to entertain kids who clearly had no reference point for the music we were generating. Black Flag anyone? Laughing Stock plowed through a full set with the slower numbers getting a better response from the brave souls sitting at the tables in the back of the room (thanks folks!). At last we were done. We didn't anticipate a rush on the wonderful T-shirts we had printed up for this tour. As it turned out, we were right.
The rest of the night was unremarkable. The show ended around 11:30 and we made our way to the Motel 6 in Roseville. Tough nights are a part of touring life and the best prescription is space. Upon arriving at the motel, singer Gerald made his way to a nearby sports bar to decompress and was joined by a few others. Roger and Kato decided to make a food run while I stretched out in the room. It was a small one and I wanted to enjoy a few minutes alone before everyone returned. Apparently the Roseville Motel 6 caters to the fast-living folks in the area. Police cruisers were plentiful on this night and the folks in the room next to us were evidently living life to the fullest all the way up to 5 a.m. They probably weren't even awake when we checked out the next morning.
I talked my bandmates into taking in a movie for my last day of the tour. Unfortunately, Burnsville was the last gig for me as I had to catch a flight out of O'Hare back in Chicago so that I could be back at work on Wednesday. The boys had another day off but the next gig was in Johnson City, Tennessee -- more than a day's travel from the Twin Cities! We knew we had a long haul that day but I wanted to catch the punk documentary "American Hardcore" at the Lagoon Cinema. I knew I'd never get the opportunity to see period footage of Black Flag, Minor Threat, Die Kruezen and countless other early 80s hardcore punk icons on the big screen in Texas and so I pleaded my case and eventually won the battle.
Everyone seemed to enjoy the film which was essentially a collection of interviews interwoven with freeze-frame shots, live segments and television footage. I must say that while we enjoyed this movie, several of us vehemently disagree with the film's premise that hardcore ended in 1986. Our argument is that hardcore didn't happen in many small towns until the late 80s and when it finally happened in our town (starting in summer, 1986), our hardcore was a vibrant often unpredictable entity that reflected our own culture and taste. And that continues in varied permutations on up through the present. 10-word review: If you like hardcore, this movie is a must-see!
The movie helped to boost our spirits as we set out once again for Chicago. A few quick hits about that haul: We watched the film "Happiness" on Damon's laptop and were amazed by the dysfunctionality of the characters and their rapid descent into deviant behavior. Made us feel like altar boys by comparison. One other thing: We encounted a slight snowfall in Lodi, Wisconsin. It was a pretty remarkable thing to be playing in snow just a few days shy of Halloween. It's probably the only snow I'll see all winter (that's not such a bad thing now that I think about it).
I was back at the Motel 6 in Chicago before midnight. The boys rested a bit and then shoved off. It was a bit lonely in that room after spending the last few days in the constant company of five other musicians but it did feel good to actually get some sleep. I spent all of Monday in an airport of some sort (O'Hare, Bush and then CC) and finally got to kiss my daughter a little after 7 p.m.
And now for the big question: Was it worth it? People obsess over this one all the time.
Q: You've traveled the whole country (over the years) and have played to less people than Los Lonely Boys have played to in a single concert. Is it worth it?
A: Absolutely. The way I see it, we play the game on our terms. We don't expect to make this a career and so the pressure's off. That doesn't make what we do any less important than what some younger kid with MTV aspirations cranks out. The bottom line is this music is made with nothing but love for the sound and we make no apologies for not making something more contemporary. We play because it's what we do. And at the end of the day, I'll be able to say I made the most of my time. Because in my world view, this is all the time we'll ever have and there's really no good excuse for not living life on your terms. Think it, then do it.
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(One final note: The Laughing Stock tour continued for another week with shows in Johnson City, Tennessee, Little Rock, Arkansas before wrapping up in Amarillo tonight (10/28). Laughing Stock will play with the Hudson Falcons and The Booked at the House of Rock on November 26.)
Laughing Stock rides in the MidwestOctober 20, 2006 8:43 PM
If you pay any attention to this blog, you've probably come to expect weekly highlights about the weekend ahead. This week, Amped Up! is going to take a break from the usual capsules and turn the spotlight inward. My band Laughing Stock is currently on tour in the Midwest and there's plenty to write home about. Read on ....
My portion of the journey began at 6 a.m. My wife and daughter dressed and dropped me off at the airport so that I could catch the 8:30 a.m. flight to Houston and finally Chicago. My band Laughing Stock lives in Austin and so I was merely catching up with them. Four of the members set off for the Windy City in a rented minivan (towing the band's trailer) on Tuesday night at 11 p.m. They drove for 22 hours straight and only stopped when they got to Chicago. The idea is to start the tour in Chicago and gig hard for a few days before I have to leave the tour and come back home to work. But I'm not the only one who took the easy way out. Bassist Damon flew out of Austin and landed at O'Hare too. Since these tours are self-financed and never really break even, it's important that we get in that last bit of work to help offset costs.
Upon landing, Damon and I linked up (not an easy feat at a huge international airport like O'Hare) and then found my brother Roger and fellow bandmates John 'Kato' Alaniz and singer Gerald Alvarez waiting for us in the van. I guess I should introduce you to the cast of characters before we get too far into this blog. (Cue rockin' drum beat) On the trap kit, the architect of this adventure and the head of TFC Records ... Roger. (Cue cool bassline) On the four-string cables, the stoic and focused man of few words and even fewer guitar pics... Damon. (Cue loud power-chord riff) On the beatup blue Takamine, the owner of a thousand ridiculous statements ... Mario. (Cue smokin' lead) Over on the Les Paul, a man whose playing graces dozens of records and CDs ... the one, the only Kato. (Cue howling yell) Front and centerstage, we have a man whose brazenness brings him no new friends ... the wildman himself, Gerald. And finally, the kid in the smoke-stained ivory-colored Gibson SG ... the author of this here Amped Up! blog, Richard Guerrero.
I should explain a few things. First off, we don't do introductions. And we rarely ever do covers (it's enough to stay focused on our own music without adding any additional headaches). Laughing Stock has played shows since December 1995 and it features members from my first love, The Krayons (that band's history dates back to 1987). This tour is Laughing Stock's second tour. Our first tour in 1997 was plagued by cancelled shows which left us with a grand total of three dates: Denton, Texas; New Haven, Ct.; and Springfield, Mass. At least we got to spend time in New York. This time around, we worked a littler harder to make sure that the shows were at least going to happen. When you're a minor band with little to no radio support, it's incredibly difficult to get people to come out and see you. Consider this: Nirvana played more than a few dates to 10 or less on their first tour.
Our tour opens with a bang: Laughing Stock booked two shows in the Chicago area on opening night simply because we needed the gigs. And when I say Chicago area, I mean that in a generous sense. Our first show was in a scenic village called Wonderlake, which is next to ... you guessed it: Wonder Lake. We wanted to make sure and be early as we knew that it was going to be a tough night. We were scheduled to open the Wonderlake gig at 7 p.m. and then open a gig in downtown Chicago at 10 p.m. Our drive out to Wonderlake was long: we were in the van for more than and hour and a half. Apparently, there's just no quick way to Wonderlake. We thought we were on a highway but it seemed to be just a large road with many a stoplight. Upon arriving, I meekly walked up the stairs and knocked on the door. I could see inside the home and immediately noticed a number of guitars mounted on the wall. Very cool. Four young twentysomething guys in punk-rock threads were hanging out and invited me in. I introduced myself and was given the scoop: Bands played in the basement of the EWL House, a family home which belonged to the family of a friendly and soft-spoken guy named Brian. He said he rented the home from his family and had been hosting rock shows in his basement for seven years. I thought back to my own house show stint (six months at my grandmother's home on Sam Rankin in 1993-94) and marveled at his generosity.
We were early. It was 6 p.m. and we had already loaded into the basement and were ready to start tuning our instruments and warming up. I took a few breaks and talked with Brian some as he labored over a pot of spaghetti and a pan of pumpkin seeds. There were four touring bands on the bill but one was probably going to be a no-show. It mattered little to us: we had to be out of Wonderlake and on the road by 8:30 at the latest if we even wanted to make our second show at Bar Vertigo in Chicago, some 50 miles away. Just after 7 p.m., the band from Virginia arrived ... The Wayward. They were friendly and it turned out that we knew some of the same folks back in Austin. They are in fact booked to play in Austin in a few weeks and some of our members are planning to be at their gig. Just before Laughing Stock opened the show, a third band arrived: Shiloh from North Carolina.
I should say that the crowd at the EWL House was a small one. Truth be told, it was mainly band-members and EWL residents. Still it was Thursday night in a beautiful remote hamlet in Illinois and the place had a PA system and lighting rig! We were so set. The room light went off and the stage lights went on ... Laughing Stock launched into a set that was borne of a long, long road trip and a desperate need to make music. That was -- after all -- the reason for our excursion. We stuck to songs from our latest album, "Fading Scars." We were planning on keeping it short as that 8:30 deadline was fast approaching. We tore through the set and I dare say we've rarely sounded better. I was amazed because we had not played together as a full band since July. Granted, the Austin portion of LS rehearse at least once a week but I am only able to make the occasional rehearsal. We launched magnificently but did hiccup a time or two (very minor hiccups I should say). We banged out eight tunes and were ready to call it. Amazingly our gracious audience wanted one more and so we eagerly complied. We searched the memory banks and accessed the file, "Trouble at a Christmas Kegger." That's an old one from our first single and album that I penned about some of the icy stares I'd encounter when I'd come back to the double C around '96. I couldn't believe it -- we roared through that as if we'd played that song every night for weeks. And then it was done. We managed to trade a CD with Shiloh and Brian gave us a few dollars for our efforts. We were so thankful we gave him a shirt. On to Chicago!
We hauled it like we were Burt Reynolds in that ridiculously souped-up Trans Am and eventually got to Bar Vertigo at five till 10 p.m. I ran in to speak with the promoter but wasn't sure who I was looking for. I knew her nickname -- El Diablo -- but I knew nothing else so I spoke to the bartender. She had a message for me: the show had moved to a new location! I was stunned ... Our show had already moved venues once. We were originally slated for the Big Horse Lounge but the city closed the bar and El had to move it to Bar Vertigo. In her heavy accent (German? I couldn't hear her too well), the bartender at Bar Vertigo said she would call the promoter to get directions for us. But she had a full bar of regulars who were amping on the way cool hip-hop that the DJ was spinning for their pleasure. I was also kicking it to the beats (I'm usually keen on vinyl DJs) but worried about the gig. Would we still have to play first? Would the other bands hate our guts for being so late? Eventually, my cell rang. It was Roger. He said he'd made contact with El and had directions. I grabbed Gerald (who had managed to quaff two Guinness pints in less than 10 minutes as we kept careful watch on the final game of the Mets/Cardinals series on the tubes) and ran out.
Luckily, we didn't have far to drive. The Mutiny is a neighborhood tavern on North Western with the ubiquitous Old Style sign as its marquee. If you've spent any time in Chicago, you know that Old Style is everywhere. The Krayons learned that when were toured through the area back in 1994. As it turned out, we had been bumped to headliner but that was OK. We were pretty worn out from the hectic pace and some of us needed a break. We caught the tail end of the Mets/Cardinals face-off and witnessed the big strikeout that sealed New York's fate. Two Chicago bands were formally scheduled that night but I don't have their names at the moment. We were booked with Kissinger, an Austin rock band that kept things interesting with the generous use of guitar pedal effects.At last, it was our turn.
It was 1 a.m. before we started and the Mutiny's owner warned us that he wanted to end the music by 1:30. By this point, Gerald was flying skies on Mars! Laughing Stock launched the set without him (I sang the first few bars as I was the songwriter and knew the song's words). He quickly ran up and took over, managing to bark out nearly every last line of "Blunt Trauma to the Senses" -- a frantic three a.m. nervous breakdown of a confessional that never quite gets there. The song's refrain doesn't appear until the last third of the song and then it ends. It's an exercise in song pattern subversion and it usually is lost on most audiences. But the crowd at The Mutiny seemed game for Laughing Stock and to that end, we played our not-quite focused heads off. The great thing about the Mutiny is that they don't charge a cover which means bands usually have crowds to play to (think Mulligan's). Once again, we banged out a strong set of the same songs we'd played just a few hours before. Although it was much later and our senses were hampered by exhaustion and free spirits, we managed to kick it out in grand style. We apparently made a few friends; one of the opening bands graciously gave us their paycheck because they liked us so much. We hooked them up with shirts and a CD. We must have been smiling so big it was probably criminal.
Friday was slow to begin. Many of us were nursing pretty serious hangovers (an unfortunate hazard of the job) and so we took our time making things happen. We finally cleared out of the room by noon and headed over to the Hyde Park area. Some of us wanted to hit a record store and Roger found Hyde Park Records on the Web. Technology is a big factor this time around. We've got laptops, cell phones and Ipods and we're not afraid to use them. We had no time-table. Our scheduled gig in Anderson, Indiana, fell through and we had not found a replacement. The drive down Lake Shore Drive was fabulous .... the weather was fair and the view was incredible. The sailboat captains on Lake Michigan today know something about the best part of living.
We decided to hit the record shop and see what the day had in store for us. We held onto the hope that the drummer for one of the Chicago bands would help us out with a gig or at least floor space but I knew that it was a long shot. We found Hyde Park Records easily enough and scored: I found an original Neu LP, "Metallic KO" (Iggy!) and the Kinks "Kontroversy" on vinyl at scandulously affordable prices. Some of the others stocked up on CDs to give us choices on the road. The van CD player does not play MP3 discs and that was all I brought. That effectively eliminated about 10,000 songs right there (I have 10 MP3 discs on me). At least we have Kato's Ipod.
We had lunch at a Hyde Park pizzeria and gorged ourselves on Chicago-style pie. It was simply magnificent food. As the two-hour meter wound down, it was time to make our way back to the van. We took a vote and decided to head on to Wisconsin. Our next gig is Saturday night in Burnsville, Minnesota at a youth center called The Garage. I think my father-in-law may try to make it (he lives in North Dakota). I took the wheel and drove us to Madison (which cost us nearly $20 in toll fees ... what's that about, Illinois?!) on the hope that we might try to land a last-minute gig here in this famously liberal college town. Once we got to Madison, we quickly realized we didn't really have the energy to do the gig hunt. So this brings us to the present: we're hunkered down in a cheap overnight job called the Exel Inn in Madison. Tomorrow is a big day for us so we're taking it easy tonight. Tomorrow is another story. We're checking out early and heading over to the Homey Fall Festival in Minneapolis which is sponsored by Surly Bikes (Gerald is a bike mechanic at a shop in Austin) where we'll hang out and get happy before our show. Sunday night, we're heading back to Chicago where we'll hunker down at that familiar Motel 6 by O'Hare. Monday, the band's planning on dropping me off at O'Hare and heading off to their Johnson City, Tenn. gig. I'll be home before they get to the gig.
Life. It really is what you make of it.
Until next time ....
It's better live. It's always better live.
This weekend: Swellers, Civet, Battle of the BandsOctober 13, 2006 9:50 AM
It's Friday the 13th and it's October. It's time to talk weekend highlights and work up the game plan so there's no misstep. Lots of road action this weekend but let's not forget the local scene as well. One, two, three, four: rock!
BATTLE OF THE BANDS, The Underground (3101 Agnes St.)
Have you heard about this thing? The Underground has organized what has to be one of the most extensive BoBs in recent memory. Here's the setup: Bands perform during showcases throughout the month of October and the winner from each throwdown will then get to perform during the Finals which will be held on Nov. 4. To make things interesting, there will be two wildcard acts that will be selected based on the number of people who come in to support them. The grand prize is $1000; the second place winner will receive a three-song demo recording courtesy of High Alert Studios. Round three is tonight and the lineup is: Death Instinct, Image of the Invisible, Enslave the Grave, Primal Theory, Desecreated and Dons of Metal. Round four will be held Saturday night and that lineup is: Severed, Moloch, Death by Sound, This Dying Dream, Embrace the Ashes and Batty Gone Haywire. Cover's $8 each night and all Underground shows are all ages. Doors open at 7 p.m.
The Swellers/Bensin/Dead Sky and Winchester, The House of Rock (511 Starr St.)
Fenton Michigan's The Swellers have temporarily ditched the low temps for the muggy humidity that is South Texas. They're in town tonight along with tourmates Bensin for a show at the HoR. The Swellers do it fast and with a lot of bounce but they never lose sight of a good hook or catchy chorus. They've rubbed shoulders with Against Me!, Bowling For Soup and The Suicide Machines so this Michigan quartet has got a pretty decent handle on how to kick it out. Following the U.S. tour, The Swellers head East for a jaunt through Japan. Tonight's show at the HoR is $5 and should get underway about 10 p.m.
Alcoholic Helltones/Slut Junkies/Croswell Preddix, The Texan (3625 Staples St.)
It's been awhile since the Helltones have played the Double C. Either that or the memory bank is slipping. Victoria's Alcoholic Helltones have a good Velvet Underground-gone-garage thing going so make sure you stick around for them. The Slut Junkies boast two of the city's eldest punk-rock statesmen in "Brutal" Rich Hernandez (who played for nearly a decade in Brutal Poverty) and Andrew "Dry Heave" Gonzalez (who did time in the Dry Heaves back in the early 90s) and have plenty of raunch to go with all that roll. As with just about all Texan shows, this one is free. Show's bound to start by 10:30 p.m.
The Hollow Points/Civet/Drastic Actions, The House of Rock (511 Starr St.)
Seattle's Hollow Points and Long Beach, Calif.'s Civet provide a nice one-two punk punch to the cranium on a day usually set aside for recovery. Both bands are in town for this Sunday night showcase that also features hometown stalwarts Drastic Actions. The Hollow Points execute a hardcore-informed p-rock that's much grittier than most of what passes for punk these days. Civet are four femmes who blast and sneer the same way the Weirdos and Germs did way back when. The natural successor to the Red Aunts? We'll see ... good stuff all the way around on this bill. Women 21 and older get in free for this one. Guys ... you get to pay $3 if you're old enough to buy beer; $6 if you're not.
Show should start about 9 p.m.
CD REVIEW: Now It's Overhead, Dark Light Daybreak (Saddle Creek)
"Dark Light Daybreak" is a showcase for the many layers of stylistic nuances that are at the tips of Now It's Overhead's collective fingers. The band hails from Athens, Georgia -- home to such recent innovators as Olivia Tremor Control and Elf Power as well as a pair of the most successful acts in alternative music history, The B-52s and REM -- and while traces of the town's storied musical history occasionally turn up on "Day Light Daybreak," NIO seeks to chart its own course. NIO main man Andy LeMaster serves as both songwriter and producer on the album -- a familiar role for the Bright Eyes collaborator whose guiding hand deftly weaves alternating moments of lush and sparse production throughout the moody 10-song set. LeMaster's sense of instrumentation and layering borrows heavily from his Britpop and shoegazer heroes and that's quite OK. LeMaster's nuanced vocal lines are after all the real treasure on this collection. They move nimbly and surely above the layers beneath taking care to attend to the listener's sense of expectation. Rather surprisingly, the album functions without a breakout single. Indeed the case can be made that many of the tracks on "Day Light Daybreak" are worthy of single status (especially "Estranged" and "Meaning to Say"). But only "Let the Sirens Rest" -- the album's opener -- resonates with any semblance of a classic pop allure and not entirely so. All of this to say that "Day Light Daybreak" is a fine record by a band that seeks to move and engage the listener from start to finish. And that, friends, should always be the goal.
***1/2 (out of 5)
Until next time, it's better live. It's always better live.


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When it comes to selling your home, appearance is everything. But hiring a professional "stager" to prepare the home for prospective buyers can cost anywhere from $50 to $150 per hour, according to Jessica Page, a Realtor with Innovative Real Estate in Denver.
Fortunately, homeowners can take matters into their own hands.
Page, along with veteran Florida Realtor Jennifer Radice, of Coldwell Banker in Boca Raton, share expert tips for staging your home that cost next to nothing.
Article source: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/real-estate/5-dirt-cheap-home-staging-ideas-1.aspx

subset: commoncrawl


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District of Puerto Rico Other Statutes Cases
Other Statutory Actions Cases, Dockets and Filings
Cases filed
Cases 1 - 10 of 356
Mariluz Lopez on behalf of Confesor Lopez v. Bravo
as 3:2014cv01585
Petitioner: Mariluz Lopez on behalf of Confesor Lopez
Respondent: Osvaldo Bravo
Material_witne: United States of America
Cause Of Action: Notice of Removal
Diaz-Martinez v. Policia De Puerto Rico et al
as 3:2014cv01559
Plaintiff: Miguel L. Diaz-Martinez
Defendant: Policia De Puerto Rico, Administracion Correccion, Departamento de Justicia and others
Cause Of Action: Notice of Removal
Municipio Autonomo de Ponce et al v. U.S. Office of Management and Budget et al
as 3:2014cv01502
Defendant: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services , Brian Deese , U.S. Office of Management and Budget and others
Plaintiff: Jose Alvarez-Medina , Jorge Ortiz-Torres , Itcia Hernandez-Laboy and others
Cause Of Action: Declaratory Judgement
as 3:2014cv01421
Petitioner: In Re:Citi International Financial Services, L.L.C.-Letter Rogatory & Request for International Assistance in the Matter of Matu, Gabriela Rosana C/Mato, Leonardo Ruben
Cause Of Action: Letter rogatory - appointment
Alonso-Vicente et al v. Puma Energy Caribe LLC et al
as 3:2014cv01380
Plaintiff: Q Petroleum Inc. , Munoz Rivera Service Station, Inc. , Alex Alonso-Vicente
Defendant: Puma Energy Caribe LLC , Hato Rey Fuel Corp.
Cause Of Action: Petroleum Marketing Practices Act
Rivera-Robles v. Operating Partners Company LLC
as 3:2014cv01358
Plaintiff: Luis A Rivera-Robles
Defendant: Operating Partners Company LLC
Cause Of Action: Fair Debt Collection Act
Berrios-Gonzalez et al v. Hospital HIMA San Pablo de Humacao, Inc. et al
as 3:2014cv01301
Defendant: Jorge Rivera-Rivera, Insurance Company A, Hospital HIMA San Pablo de Humacao, Inc. and others
Plaintiff: Ismael Del Valle-Ortiz , Dalinette Del Valle-Santiago , Arelys Del Valle-Berrios and others
Cause Of Action: Fed. Question: Personal Injury
Marcano v. Coldin
as 3:2014cv01267
Plaintiff: Benjamin Marcano
Defendant: Carolyn W. Coldin
Cause Of Action: Review of HHS Decision (SSID)
United States of America v. Los Genuinos, Inc., et al
as 3:2014cv01241
Defendant: Los Genuinos, Inc. , Nicolas Rivera-Berrios
Plaintiff: United States of America
Cause Of Action: Injunction
Rodriguez et al v. The United States of America et al
as 3:2014cv01193
Plaintiff: Reginald Kenalio Puana , Hildamar Ortiz , Julia Q. Norman and others
Defendant: The United States of America, The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Katherine Archuleta
Cause Of Action: Fed. Question
© 2007-2014 Justia :: Company :: Terms of Service :: Privacy Policy :: Contact Us


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Richard E. Moberly
Associate Dean for Faculty & Professor of Law
(402)472-1256 | Email
Areas of Expertise
- Employment Law
- Evidence
- Clinical Practice - Civil
- J.D., magna cum laude, 1998, Harvard Law School
- B.A., summa cum laude, History, 1991, Emory University
- Professor of Law, 2012
- Associate Dean for Faculty, 2011
- Associate Professor of Law, 2009
- Assistant Professor of Law, 2004
Professor Richard Moberly joined the law faculty in August 2004, after practicing as an attorney with McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP in Atlanta, Georgia. After receiving his B.A. degree in History, summa cum laude, from Emory University, Professor Moberly graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School and served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review. After law school, he served as a law clerk for the Honorable N. Carlton Tilley, Jr., United States District Judge for the Middle District of North Carolina.
Professor Moberly teaches Employment Law, Evidence and in the Civil Clinical Law Program. He also coaches the Law College's award-winning Trial Team. In 2006 and 2011, he was voted the Professor of the Year by upperclass law students. In 2007, Professor Moberly received a College Distinguished Teaching Award. Also, in 2007-08, he received the Cline Williams Research Chair. In 2011, Professor Moberly was appointed Associate Dean for Faculty.
Professor Moberly's research interests include employee whistleblower protection and the law of secrecy. He has published numerous articles on whistleblowing and retaliation, including an empirical study of Sarbanes-Oxley claims published in the William & Mary Law Review and an analysis of the Supreme Court's approach to retaliation cases, which was published in the Case Western Reserve Law Review. He also has spoken internationally on whether corporate codes of ethics provide protection to whistleblowers and on the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower protections. In May 2007, the United States House of Representatives invited Professor Moberly to testify on his research and as an expert on federal whistleblower protections in a hearing before the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections entitled Private Sector Whistleblowers: Are There Sufficient Legal Protections? Look here for a copy of Professor Moberly's Written Testimony and videos of his Testimony & Q & A from the hearing.
In 2012, Professor Moberly published an article evaluating President Obama's policies towards whistleblowers in the Employee Rights & Employment Policy Journal, and an article examining the impact the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has had on whistleblower protections during the last decade, which appears in the South Carolina Law Review.
Professor Moberly has appeared numerous times in the media to discuss whistleblowing and retaliation issues, including this Op/Ed in the New York Times: No Democratic Hero, He Subverted the Process and a Q&A with the Wall Street Journal on President Obama's Whistleblower Policies. Other recent appearances include national news stories by ABC News and CBS News, as well as appearances with local radio and television.
Employment Law
Law 647/G (1-4 cr) Analysis of the employment relationship as it has developed outside of the collective bargaining context. History and current status of the employment relationship, including discharge-of-will, occupational safety and health, minimum wage/maximum hour legislation, unemployment compensation and noncompetition agreements.
Law 646/G (EDAD 971) (1-4 cr) Relevancy and admission of evidence, including hearsay, opinions, privileges, other exclusionary rules, examination of witnesses, judicial notice, and physical evidence.
Clinical Practice-Civil
Law 798/G (2-6 cr) Open only to students with senior standing. Students are also required to attend a seminar on lawyering skills and the representation of clients. Students, under close faculty supervision, advise and represent clients in a variety of civil cases, including landlord-tenant, consumer, collection, bankruptcy, immigration, tax, and domestic relations cases.
Law of Secrecy
Secrecy plays a complicated role across a broad swath of legal regimes. For example, the law encourages secrecy in certain areas, such as national security, employee inventions and trade secrets, and attorney confidentiality. Yet, society often discourages secrecy because it is in tension with such inherent values as democracy, open government, transparency, and a free press. The course will examine how the law in each of these and other areas addresses secrecy. Moreover, countries often approach secrecy from different perspectives, so the course will look at how the United States treates secrecy compared to other countries.
- Problems and Materials in Evidence and Trial Advocacy (5th ed. 2010)
- Evidence in Context (4th ed. 2010)
Book Chapters
- An Empirical Study of Whistleblower Policies in United States Corporate Codes of Ethics, in Whistleblowing and Democratic Values (David B. Lewis & Wim Vandekerckhove, eds., 2011) (co-authored)
- Whistleblowers and the Obama Presidency: The National Security Dilemma, 16 Employee Rts. & Emp. Pol'y J. 51 (2012)
- Sarbanes-Oxley's Whistleblower Provisions - Ten Years Later, 64 S.C.L. Rev. 1 (2012)
- The Supreme Court's Antiretaliation Principle, 61 Case Western Res. L. Rev. 375 (2010)
- Protecting Whistleblowers By Contract, 79 Colo. L. Rev. 975 (2008).
- Unfulfilled Expectations: An Empirical Analysis of Why Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblowers Rarely Win, 49 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 65 (2007)
- Sarbanes-Oxley's Structural Model to Encourage Corporate Whistleblowers, 2006 BYU Law Review 1107
- The Americans With Disabilities Act in Cyberspace: Applying the 'Nexus' Approach to Private Internet Websites, 55 Mercer Law Review 963 (2004)
- Long-term Employment Agreements with In-house Counsel: Employment Security or Ethical Quagmire, 9 Ga. B.J. 20(2003)(co-authored article).
- Third Circuit Holds That Prayer at Graduation is Unconstitutional Even if it Results from a Student Vote, 110 Harv. C. Rev. 78, (1997).
- Panelist, Human Rights and the Boundaries of Speech: Whistleblowing, Leaks, Threats, Violent Videos, and Hate Speech, New York University School of Law Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (Nov. 28, 2012).
- The Need for (Some) National Security Leaks, University of Nebraska College of Law (Sept. 27, 2012).
- Sarbanes-Oxley at 10, Seventh Annual Labor and Employment Law Colloquium, Loyola-Chicago Law School (Sept. 14, 2012).
- Sarbanes-Oxley at 10, International Whistleblower Research Network Conference, Seattle University School of Law (March 24, 2012).
- A Whistleblowing Overview, CLE: Whistleblowing: Law, Compliance & the Public Interest, Seattle, Washington (March 23, 2012).
- Sarbanes-Oxley at 10, University of Tasmania Law School, Tasmania, Australia (March 2, 2012).
- Sarbanes-Oxley at 10, Griffith University Law School, Gold Coast, Australia (Feb. 22, 2012).
- Whistleblowing and Retaliatory Discharge: Significant Developments in 2011, Bureau of National Affairs Webinar (Nov. 16, 2011).
- Obama and National Security Whistleblowers, University of Nebraska College of Law (Oct. 6, 2011).
- A Perfect Storm: National Security, Civil Liberties and Ethics in a Post 9/11 World, University of Nebraska College of Law (Sept. 27, 2011).
- Obama's Whistleblowing Dilemma, Sixth Annual Colloquium on Current Scholarship in Labor and Employment Law, Southwestern Law School (Sept. 16, 2011).
- Whistleblower Protection in U.S. Corporate Codes of Conduct, International Whistleblower Research Network Conference, Middlesex University, London, United Kingdom (June 24, 2011).
- Antiretaliation Protection for Whistleblowers, Washington University (Sept. 24, 2010).
- Crawford and the Supreme Court's Antiretaliation Principle, Southeastern Association of Law Schools Conference (Aug. 6, 2009).
- Strategies for Whistleblower Protection, Seton Hall Law School Faculty Colloquium Series (Oct. 14, 2007).
- Contract Protection for Whistleblowers, Second Annual Colloquium on Current Scholarship in Labor and Employment Law, Denver University Law School (Sept. 28, 2007).
- Testimony, Private Sector Whistleblowers: Are There Sufficient Protections?, Before the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, Committee on Education and Labor, U.S. House of Representatives, 110th Congress (May 15, 2007).
- Sarbanes-Oxley's Anti-retaliation Protections: An Empirical Perspective, First Annual Colloquium on Current Scholarship in Labor and Employment Law, Marquette University Law School (Oct. 28, 2006).
Research Areas
- Employment Law
- Whistleblowing
- Retaliation
- Law of Secrecy


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I was reading Ryan Lambert's latest at FN, and in particular his giving up on Jay Bouwmeester after having only scored 8 goals in 205 games. It occurred to me that this same feeling that a number of the Flames semi-recent acquisitions stepped into a shaft shooting wise after coming to Calgary did not only apply to Bouwmeester. I decided to put my perceptions to the test by looking at the shooting percentages of current Flames players with reasonably lengthy careers before coming to the Flames and with the Flames. Results after the jump.
These are in order of biggest drops percentagewise:
Before Calgary - 445 games played, 619 shots, 87 goals, 14.05 S%
After Calgary - 130 games played, 143 shots, 10 goals, 6.99% S%
That's a 7.06% drop - or he is shooting at nearly half the rate. Ouch.
Jay Bouwmeester
Before Calgary - 471 games played, 922 shots, 53 goals, 5.75 S%
After Calgary - 205 games played, 308 shots, 8 goals, 2.60 S%
He is shooting at less than half the rate he was before coming to Cowtown.
Before Calgary - 450 games played, 683 shots, 137 goals, 20.06 S%
After Calgary (including games in Mtl and TB) - 401 games played, 563 shots, 93 goals, 16.55 S%
About a 3%, or 15% of his rate, drop here. Not the most significant but still, why?
Before Calgary - 772 games played, 2231 shots, 229 goals, 10.21 S%
After Calgary (including his brief time as a NYR) - 221 games played, 629 shots, 52 goals, 8.27 S%
A little under a 2% drop, but that is nearly a 20% decline and over those sample sizes would still be outside what I would consider a pure artifact of variance.
Before Calgary - 829 games played, 1481 shots, 187 goals, 12.63 S%
After Calgary - 91 games played, 122 shots, 13 goals, 10.66 S%
A smaller sample size than Jokinen and age effects may be playing a role here, but still part of the trend.
Before Calgary - 71 games played, 112 shots, 16 goals, 14.29%
After Calgary - 259 games played, 487 shots, 68 goals, 13.96%
Sample size before he came to Calgary is definitely too small to say much about such a minute decline.
There are some increases though! Here they are from biggest to smallest:
Rene (Rainy) Bourque
Before Calgary - 183 games played, 365 shots, 33 goals, 9.04 S%
After Calgary - 249 games played, 673 shots, 88 goals, 13.08 S%
I wonder how much of that came from playing with Langkow - still, at least there is one contra case!
Before Calgary - 475 games played, 614 shots, 49 goals, 7.98 S%
After Calgary - 99 games played, 107 shots, 10 goals, 9.35 S%
Before Calgary - 191 games played, 211 shots, 11 goals, 5.21 S%
After Calgary - 123 games played, 193 shots, 11 goals, 5.70 S%
Kosto and Jackman take so few shots and their increases are so marginal this is probably irrelevant.
I don't know if it is because most of these guys have been acquired as they moved past their primes or if there is something in the water. I don't think you can treat the declines of Bouwmeester, Stajan, Tanguay, Jokinen and Morrison as strictly artifacts of variance though. That's too big a sample over too long a period. The exception in Bourque I would chalk up as much to teamates and circumstances - he was buried deep in Chicago.


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Ulster have completed the signing of 26-year-old Dublin-born looshead prop Ruaidhri Murphy from Super Rugby franchise, the Brumbies.
Murphy has represented Ireland at schools' under-19 and under-20 level and was part of the Ireland under-20s squad that won the Grand Slam in 2007.
He came through the Leinster Academy before moving to England where he spent two seasons with the Exeter Chiefs. In 2012 he joined the Brumbies where he has made 20 appearances so far.
Murphy will link up with Ulster in August at the end of the current Super Rugby season.
"When I was deciding my future, it came down to joining Ulster or staying with the Brumbies," said Murphy.
"The Brumbies are a fantastic franchise and Canberra is a brilliant place to live, but I am Irish, I have an Irish family and I have always had the urge to return to Ireland one day and to play my rugby back home.
"Ulster are a quality team. They are currently one of the leading sides in Europe and their fans are famous around the world. It is an exciting time to be joining the Province with the new stadium and the new training facilities that have been built at Ravenhill.
"I spoke to David Humphreys about the vision that he has for Ulster- he has huge ambition and big aims for the team. That is exciting and I hope that I can play a part in bringing those aims to reality."
"Ruaidhri is a highly talented young Irish prop whose experience of Super Rugby will bring an extra dimension to our front row next season," said Director of Rugby David Humphreys.
"I am delighted that he is joining us and I have no doubt that he will be a huge success at Ravenhill in the coming years."


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The video you are looking for has not finished processing. Please check back in a few minutes. Flocenter Episode 19 13,320 views by Eric Cudak on Mar 15, 2011 Email Embed X
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 Video size 320x180 480x270 620x349 The flowrestling crew hit a preview of the 2011 NCAA championships looking heavily into the team race. They also take a look at the OAC junior high state championships and the NCWA championships.


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By Sarah Hogsed
Register News Writer
A Berea man faces seven counts of first-degree wanton endangerment after a police officer reported seeing him fire seven pistol rounds into the ground Saturday.
Joe Duong, 25, Barberry Lane, was arrested after Berea Police Department Officer Danny McGuire responded to a fireworks noise complaint call at 11:05 p.m. on Brooklyn Boulevard.
When he arrived, McGuire reported that the noise appeared to be coming from the rear of a residence in the 1000 block of Brooklyn Boulevard, according to the arrest citation.
When the officer went to the rear of the home, he "observed (Duong) firing a Glock pistol into the grassy area near the back porch," the citation stated.
McGuire said he saw Duong fire seven rounds.
The officer Mirandized and arrested Duong, after which the man said he had fired several rounds outside the residence, according to the citation.
If convicted on all seven charges, Duong faces up to 20 years in prison.
Duong also was in possession of a Glock model 27 pistol along with a 29-, 15- and 10-round magazine, according McGuire, The report noted gunshot residue test results were pending.
Duong was released Sunday on a $3,000 unsecured third-party bond. He is scheduled for arraignment at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 2 in Madison District Court.
Sarah Hogsed can be reached at email@example.com or 624-6694.


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A senior Pentagon official told Congress last week that the U.S. government is concerned about the leakage of embargoed U.S. space technology to China.
Gregory L. Schulte, deputy assistant defense secretary for space policy, was asked during a House Armed Services subcommittee hearing whether illicit exports of U.S. satellite technology by the French company Thales would boost China's ambitious space weapons program.
Mr. Schulte was questioned by Rep. Michael R. Turner, Ohio Republican and chairman of the strategic forces subcommittee, about a recent letter he and two other lawmakers had written to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thales' sale of satellites to China that contained restricted U.S. space technology. The letter raised concerns about whether such tech transfers would boost the "increasingly aggressive activity in space [by] the People's Republic of China."
Mr. Schulte said the State Department is investigating the Thales satellite export case.
"The leakage of sensitive technology to countries like China has, of course, been foremost in our mind as we've thought about export control reform," he said.
China's long-range missiles were improved during the 1990s after two U.S. companies illicitly shared U.S. space technology with Beijing.
Mr. Schulte said the Obama administration is planning to loosen technology export controls by moving some items on the U.S. Munitions List to the more-easily licensed Commerce Control List, but "only space items that are already widely available."
"And we are not proposing removing the Tiananmen Square sanctions that would remain in place even with export-control reform, meaning that items still on the Munitions List could not be exported to China," Mr. Schulte said.
"And, also meaning, that we would not allow the launch of satellites from Chinese launch vehicles."
The administration is also proposing that, for China, all items moved off the Munitions List would still be subject to restrictive licensing and controls.
"So we are very conscious of China, and we have developed our export-control proposals with China very much in mind," Mr. Schulte said.
"In fact, we believe that, to the extent that we focus on those technologies that are most sensitive, we can increase the focus of our export-control and enforcement efforts to avoid situations like this in the future."
Asked why no sanctions have been imposed on Thales for the illicit U.S. satellite technology export to China, Mr. Schulte said, "We are clearly concerned at any leakage of sensitive technology to China and support all enforcement efforts there."
Thales came under investigation by the State Department several years ago for offering what it advertised as an "ITAR-free" satellite for sale, meaning it did not require U.S. licensing.
Several of the satellites were sold to China, and U.S. investigators found that they contained U.S. satellite technology that was restricted for export to China.
To date, the State Department has not sanctioned Thales for the exports.
The Pentagon is moving rapidly to try to limit the political fallout from the recent shooting deaths of 16 Afghan civilians by a U.S. soldier.
Defense analysts say the attack is a severe setback for U.S. and allied counterinsurgency operations in the country that are based in large measure on "soft power" efforts to gain support from the local Afghan population to turn against the Taliban.
The damage grew worse this week when a senior member of the Iran's parliament called for the withdrawal of all coalition forces from the country.View Entire Story
Bill Gertz is a national security columnist for The Washington Times and senior editor at The Washington Free Beacon (www.freebeacon.com). He has been with The Times since 1985.
He is the author of six books, four of them national best-sellers. His latest book, "The Failure Factory," on government bureaucracy and national security, was published in September 2008.
Mr. ...


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Gardeners love to share ideas they have tried, and I like to collect those tips and pass them on. Many of the ideas you see here involve reusing and recycling, so you can be green at the same time you're saving a little green.
This is just a sample of ideas I've collected. Share yours with friends and neighbors — it's fun to talk gardening.
Carol Oneal is a past president of the OSU Jackson County Master Gardeners Association. Email her at email@example.com.


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Barcelona, Spain -- October 8-10, 2012
New: Selected papers will be published in a Special Issue of Future Internet.
Click here for further information
Registration guidelines: follow instructions from main conference. Click here for further information
Welcome to the 2nd International Workshop on Vehicular Communications and Networking (VECON 2012), to be held in Barcelona, Spain, on 8th October 2012.
The goal of this workshop is to present and discuss recent advances in the area of vehicular wireless communications and networking. Significant efforts are being carried out by industry, academia and government agencies to improve safety, decrease fuel consumption, and increase the capacity of existing roadways by exploiting vehicular communications and networking technologies. These technologies, which are generally referred to as VANET (Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks) or by the more general term VCS (Vehicular Communication Systems), include vehicle-to-infrastructure, vehicle-to-vehicle communications and can be based on short- and medium-range communication as well as on cellular systems. The development and deployment of VCS are also considered one of the most critical issues for the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) industry.


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Tennessee coach Butch Jones is challenging his team's toughness amid concerns the Volunteers are wearing down as they play their fifth straight game against a ranked opponent. The Vols (4-5, 1-4 SEC) will face a fifth consecutive team ranked 11th or better Saturday when they host No. 7 Auburn (8-1, 4-1). According to STATS LLC, Tennessee is the first team since Pittsburgh in 1993 to play seven ranked foes in a span of eight games within the same season. After losing 45-10 at No. 1 Alabama and 31-3 at No. 9 Missouri, Tennessee will play a third straight top-10 foe Saturday for the first time since 1964. Instead of going easy on his team , Jones is turning up the intensity and having the Vols work out in full pads.
200 South Parker Street, Tampa, FL 33606
Telephone: 813.228.8888
Fax: 813.225.2770
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Lisa Trigg
The Tribune-Star
When automotive entrepreneur Henry Ford constructed aircraft intended for paying passengers back in the 1920s, he was envisioning future transportation that would outpace the earth-bound vehicles he was already mass producing.
An example of that vision is "The Tin Goose," a restored 1929 Ford Tri-Motor. It visits Hulman Field today and Wednesday and offers a trip back in time to the early days of fixed-wing flights for humans.
And as pilot Rand Siegfried described it, today's passengers are flying in a time machine.
"When you're in here," he said, "you have the sights, the smells, the sounds; it's really the transportation of 1929. You might think it's slow and loud, but your competition in 1929 was a Model A on a rutted dirt road."
The plane is owned and operated by the Experimental Aircraft Association, based in Oshkosh, Wis., and the visit to Terre Haute International Airport-Hulman Field is hosted by local EAA Chapter 83.
In fact, Siegfried is volunteering his time to pilot the craft, while local EAA members are volunteering as the ground crew.
Rides on the aircraft are available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and Wednesday. Prices for a ride are $50 for EAA members, $60 for non-members. For $100, a passenger can ride in the co-pilot seat.
The exterior of the plane carries all the markings of the original. Eastern Air Transport Inc. was the forerunner of Eastern Airlines. The plane was used for passenger transport by Eastern until 1930, and then was based in the Dominican Republic from 1930-49. From 1949 to 1973, the plane was used for barnstorming, crop dusting and smoke jumping.
In 1965, the plane was used in the Jerry Lewis movie "The Family Jewels," and it was most recently used in the Johnny Depp/John Dillinger gangster movie "Public Enemies."
The EAA purchased the plane in 1973 and restored it, and since 1985 it has been used for passenger flights as a revenue source for the EAA.
"It's styled like a Pullman car," Siegfried said of the craft's interior, referring to luxury rail cars. "It's not a rickety fabric plane."
When Ford went into aircraft production, he wanted to make passenger planes that the public would trust. Because the engines on small planes had a tendency to quit during flight, Ford put three motors on his bird.
The plane's interior has nine relatively comfortable passenger seats — the joke being that each seat is both an aisle and a window seat — and wood paneling.
And a spectacular view from above the earth.
A flight for local media and a few paying customers was the Tri-Motor's first flight of the day on Monday.
"You bring these to life, you don't start them," Siegfried said as he flipped switches to fire up first the nose engine and then the engine on each wing. The "Tin Goose" is 146th out of 199 Ford Tri-Motors constructed. It first flew on Aug. 21, 1929.
Siegfried took the plane up to about 1,000 feet, making a sweeping arc from the airport, west over downtown Terre Haute before heading back to Hulman Field. Passengers pointed out local landmarks and saw a community that appears much closer geographically when viewed from above.
Siegfried has been giving the "barnstorming" rides for the EAA for about five years. He said his father first taught him to fly an old plane, and he enjoys giving today's passengers a flight similar to a 1929 experience.
"It's a fun ride," he said.
For more information about the Ford Tri-Motor and the EAA AirVenture Museum in Wisconsin, go online to www.pioneerairport.org.
Lisa Trigg can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or email@example.com.


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Partner with one of our professional wedding planners to make the most of the exquisite dining options, luxurious garden and indoor venues, and attentive service on call for you at the Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok.
From intimate parties in our stunning tropical gardens beside the Chao Phraya River to elegant celebrations in our Grand Ballroom, we offer a distinctive choice of exciting venues for weddings. Let our team of professionals create a uniquely memorable and personal wedding for you and your guests.


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I can only assume we have quite a few here...I just picked up a couple Quarter Season Ticket Packages today...I got some 200 level (yellow) second on the Blazers side. I decided it's the best balance between view (I hate the nose bleeds) and price. The rest of the games I can watch in the comfort of my own home with a much cheaper frosty beverage.
So who else bought any packages, and if so, what kind?


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This is a rare find one owner, unrestored 1972 GS that's been garage kept nearly all of its life. This beauty is all original... More
Classic Buick Skylark 2dr Hardtop Coupe, 8-cly. 350cid/155hp 2bbl. Assembled in Freemont, CA production number 123110 If you are looking for an ALL-ORIGINAL unmolested classic... More
butiful 1947 buick special ,series 51 ,4 doors sedan ,with a FIREBALL line 8 in a grate condoition run and drive car ,fell free to... More
1983 Buick Rivieria Convertible. An Arizona car that has 100,600 miles on it. Runs and drives great and has burgundy vinyl interior. The exterior... More
6,111 Original Miles, A True Survivor !!! 2 Owners Local Owners Since New Optional 455 Cubic Inch V8 Original Manuals, Invoice, and Window Sticker! This magnificent 1973 Buick... More
This Riviera has had only one owner from day one and is documented by the original Bill of Sale. Rivieras are getting difficult to... More
One-owner with 9,471 actual miles! Garage kept and in like new condition. This car is all original and includes power windows, power locks, power... More
1938 Buick Special.. ......Looking for the style and size of rich comfort? This 75 year old beautiful barn find has it all.....yes, it is one of those... More
We have decided to sell our 1985 Buick Riviera. The car looks and runs as new as the day it came off the Sims... More
1983 Buick LeSabre, beautiful, This car is a true survivor !! it has 8,440.0 original documented miles, my grandfather special ordered this car with... More
1962 BUICK ELECTRA 225 CONVERTABLE STORED TEN YEARS,WITH NEW PAINT, NEW WHITE TOP, NEW INTERIOR,CARPET, NOW HAS NEW EXHUST, UNDERCOATING, PUSH RODS,AND ROCKERS FROM SITTING.... More
1964 Buick Riviera Coupe - 425 V8, automatic, power steering, power brakes, air conditioning, power windows, power seat, speed minder, AM radio, trunk release,... More
REAL AMERICAN MUSCLE. SMALL, LIGHT BODY WITH MONSTER MOTOR. HAS 1971 455 GS MOTOR CLAIMED TO HAVE 610 HORSE POWER & 645 LBS OF... More
1962 Buick Skylark convertible, Bucket seats, V-8 new engine, automatic convertible, new brakes, runs great... More
1966 Buick Sportwagon Custom -56000 miles-original New Mexico car. Very clean in and out. 340 4bbl engine 200R4 auto trans w/ shift kit-4:11 posi diff.. ... More
1967 Buick Grand Sport 400 Convertible 400 V8 Automatic Power Steering Power Brakes Raer Copper color paint... More
1974 Buick Electra 225 Limited, This is an outstanding one owner automobile from the Mid West with no rust or corrosion. Equipped with most... More
1987 buick grand national. It has 53,000 original miles on the car. It spent most of it's life in Hawaii before coming back to... More
1963 Buick, beautiful original car. Matching numbers, solid, some options. Hasn't been restored but needs to be.... More
Car is mainly original. Has original interior, factory air, working tachometer, and rims.4 speed automatic. New exhaust. Restoration was approximately 2 years ago. ... More
1970 Buick Skylark 2-door, 2nd owner. All original. Chrome & trim are perfect.... More
1990 Buick Reatta – Here is a nice example of a rare 2 seater Buick sports car. Only 2,437 Reatta convertibles were produced in... More
1990 Buick Reatta 2 Door Convertible-–Here is a beautiful low mileage Reatta convertible. It has only been driven 9,863 miles since new. The Reatta... More
1966 Buick Wildcat Convertible This 1966 Buick Wildcat Convertible is meant to be driven and enjoyed! Powered by a 445 CID, this large convertible... More
VERY HANDSOME, SPORTY CONVERTIBLE. BEAUTIFUL COLOR COMBINATION. THIS CAR IS IN GREAT SHAPE AND PRICED AGGRESSIVELY. HAS ORIGINAL NUMBERS MATCHING 401 NAILHEAD MOTOR MAKING... More
EXCEPTIONALLY CLEAN BODY & UNDERSIDE. THE FLOORS AND FRAME ARE SUPER NICE ORIGINAL METAL. SOMEONE TOOK THE TIME TO CLEAN AND PAINT THE UNDERSIDE.... More
Buicks don't seem to get the same respect their Pontiac and Chevy cousins do but that means that cars like this 1969 Skylark convertible... More
Two of the things we love most are early Rivieras and survivors so when this almost all-original 1963 Buick Riviera showed up everyone seemed... More
The "boat tail" Rivieras were controversial when they were new and today it's admittedly a love/hate situation but if you're one of the lovers... More
1975 Buick LeSabre Custom Convertible - A cruiser's dream. Starts, runs and drives exactly like she should. 5.7 Liter V8 (350 CID) four barrel,... More
1968 Buick Wildcat, Car is in excellent condition, lightly used throughout the year and garage kept. 171,000 miles, no rust, interior carpet in good condition... More
1968 Buick Electra 225, 2 door coupe with a 430 V-8, Buick's largest engine of that era. At 18 feet 8 inches long it... More
1949 Buick SUPER 8, Older restoration still shows great. 5 perfect Firestone Wide wall tires made in USA. Glass in excellant condition, all original... More
Collector's Edition Roadmaster estate wagon. 48,000 original miles, one owner. Excellent condition. Slate blue/"woodie" exterior w/tan leather interior. Loaded. $13,000.... More
Built at the Kansas City plant Smooth running 350 cu. In. V-8 – 280 h.p. Turbo 400 automatic transmission Refinished in light cream paint Good buckskin vinyl bench... More
WOODY BUICK ROADMASTER STATION WAGON 1949 636 ever build - only a few survived ! Buick introduced its fifth generation of the venerable Roadmaster name in... More
Just arrived, this lifelong Virginia Electra is in excellent, rust free condition. Delivered to Virginia in 1971, it remained with Owner #1 until sold to Virginia... More
1973 Buick Riviera Boattail For sale or Trade. Original Georgia car. Sensational styling, powered by big 455 V8 engine. Extra clean engine compartment. A spacious... More
1991 Buick Riviera 2dr. luxury coupe. One of the nicests we have ever found finished in light camel poly with matching top and saddle... More
You say you're tired of showing up in your early '60s Impala and seeing ten others at every show? Then how about this 1962... More
Just arrived, this lifelong Pennsylvania is in excellent, rust free condition. Sold new in Pennsylvania in on October 4, 1973, this car remained with the original... More
TMU. Equipped with the ''Nailhead V-8'' 340-hp, 425-cid Wildcat V-8, standard power steering and brakes, AM radio, and Turbo-Hydramatic automatic transmission. Beautiful example of... More
Buick 1963 Riviera, 91,000 miles, very good condition, 401 engine, automatic, runs well, gray with black interior. No email access, please call: 201-965-5696... More
We offer this 1969 Buick Riviera with Electric Blue exterior paint, white vinyl top and Buick factory chrome wheels with whitewall tires. The interior... More
This 1987 Buick Regal T-Type Turbo two door coupe (Stock # 30888) is available in our Redwood City, CA showroom and any inquiries may... More
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1973 Buick Electra 225 PLEASE TAKE THE 8 MINUTES TO READ FULL DESCRIPTION, it will answer your questions. Hello, thank you for your interest in my... More
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Just arrived, this lifelong Pacific Northwest car is in incredible, rust free condition. Sold new to Homer & Gertrude Robinson of Coulie Dam, Washington by Southwestern... More
1969 Buick Riviera Major Engine Tune -up, Arizona Colorado car, Loaded, Original interior in really good condition Carberator Re-done, New Paint , New Tires, New... More
1972 BUICK SKYLARK CUSTOM 2 DOOR COUPE, 350-2, AUTO, AC, PS, PDB, VINYL TOP, BENCH SEAT WITH ARM REST, ROAD WHEELS, AFTER MARKET STEREO... More
1966 Electra 225 Sport Coupe. 425 Nailhead V8, Bump-key start. "Switch-Pitch" Turbo 400 Transmission, smooth no problems. Power Windows, power seats, climate control, 8-track,... More
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1990 Buick Reatta, White, Dark Red Leather, 3.8 L V-6, Auto transmission, Cold AC, PS, PB, PL, PW, All luxry features. Very nice, one... More
1968 Buick Skylark Custom Convertible A super well maintained car with approximately 117,000 miles on the factory 350 cid V8-2-barrel with automatic transmission. The body was... More
In terms of sheetmetal per dollar it's hard to beat this full-sized 1967 Buick LeSabre which casts a shadow nearly 17 feet long and... More
Only 63,000 Miles. Previously in the Glen Boyd collection of fine original cars. This is an outstanding example. Stunning original interior which features genuine... More
This 2011 Buick Regal 4dr CXL Sedan features a 2.4L ECOTEC DOHC, 4-CYLIN cyl Gasoline engine. It is equipped with a 6 Speed Automatic... More


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Do you run? Do you love it?
Lets take this a step further. Are you are "marathoner?" Have you ever run a marathon? I would love to know your experience.
On May 6, I ran my fourth marathon. I signed up for the Dicks Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon back in January. At the time, it seemed like a good idea. So, January 1 I began my 18-week training plan.
It all was going well: no injuries, and I seemed to be getting a teeny tiny (yes teeny tiny) bit faster! Throughout my training, I had run two half marathons, a couple of 16's and 18's, and two 20-mile runs. I was ready! I was healthy and excited to try my hardest to hit my personal best! So then what happenened?
At 6 a.m. May 6 the alarm sounded. There they were, the butterflies that are always in my stomach on race day. 'Normal,' I tell myself. Pin on the bib, lace up my shoes, clip on my iPod, and off I go to start corral D, it was one block from my hotel. The set up this far was amazing.
All things were going great! The sky was crystal clear blue and there was a slight breeze while waiting to start. The national anthem was sung and the horn sounded. We went like cattle at first, but we were walking briskly, and I am directly behind the 4:10 pace crew. I am psyched because I am going to stick with them and crush my goal.
Approaching mile three I felt good, but what was that pain I suddenly felt in my right knee? "Ignore it," I tell myself. I do ignore it and keep running.
At mile nine I got to catch some friends that have come to support me, I am so happy to see them, so I wave but I don't stop and keep thinking, "what's that pain in my knee?"
My pace was pretty good up to this point, but between the knee, the scorching heat, and the endless upgrade of hills, I slowly began to unravel. Mile 16…17...18…19 I started feeling dizzy, lightheaded, and extremely nauseous.
I was unraveling. So I stopped to get some water. From there on out, I stopped at every water station for a drink, walked a little, then would try to pick up a good pace again. There was no way I was not finishing, I got this far and quitting was not an option. It wasn't going to be pretty and my goal time was shot, but I was finishing no matter what.
So what happens to us when we get out on that 26.2 mile course? Marathon running is 90 percent mental and once you let doubt in your head and heart you're done! Don't sell yourself short, running a marathon is hard even though you put in the endless hours of training. It's like life in general, some days you do everything your supposed to, but it seems nothing will go right for you. 26.2 is 26.2 and it's a tough challenge, but if you power through it with confidence, you can get it done. This holds true for your everyday life. There will always be obstacles in life to overcome. If there weren't, life would be boring.
Your training could go great, you can feel amazing and have no injuries, but when the day comes there are so many factors that can change the outcome. Someone recently said to me when you run a marathon you just have to hope the moon and stars are aligned, that the wind is at just the right speed, and that you don't wake up with the flu. The fourth marathon was no different than the others. Different circumstances for each one, but the bottom line is no matter the city or state, it's still 26.2 miles.
So to backtrack a bit... yes I ran the Pittsburgh Marathon on May 6. It wasn't pretty. I fell short of my personal goal and my finishing time was 5:02, but in the end I did finish and I am proud I didn't quit.
Are you running a marathon in the Fall? Which one? Keep yourself moving and motivated!
You are stronger than you think!


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Quote:The key disadvantage of a longer counter-weight bar is the increased risk of whacking your head against it! That said, when I move around my mount now my head tells me (from experience) to move like a Ninja -- very slowly -- for that reason. More seriously, although whacking a head against a counter-weight is serious, in a small observatory like a SkyPod a longer counter-weight shaft confines you even more, although the business end is the other side.
Quote:Hello,If you're still running on a tripod, my preference would be to get an additional counterweight rather than a longer counterweight shaft.Shorter shaft = shorter moment arm on your tripod.Come to think of it.., I'd go this way even if it were on a pier, too.Regards,skybsd


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William B Edenfield
Main Address:
Saint Simons Is, GA 31522-4164
William Edenfield is a PGA Apprentice in Saint Simons Is, GA. The PGA of America comprises 27,000 men and women professionals with one singular goal in mind - to make the game of golf more enjoyable for you.
Services Offered:
- Instruction
Professional has not entered award information.
Professional has not entered contact information.
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