text:
Xavier Woods
Real Name
Austin Watson
Date of Birth
September 4, 1986
Place of Birth
Some last minute replacements were added to Royal Rumble 2014. Initially, Xavier Woods and Wade Barrett were given spots in the big match, but WWE officials decided to remove them and replace them with JBL and El Torito instead. The feeling backstage was that the fans would react better to those the latter two performers.
January 28, 2014
Xavier Woods was originally given a spot at Royal Rumble 2014, as evident by the advertisement stating his participation in the event his year, but WWE officials changed their mind backstage at the last minute and pulled him from the event.
January 27, 2014
Some further details have been released about the return of Chris Jericho to WWE in January. In order to main his character's popularity, the former world heavyweight champion prefers to not be shown on television. Jericho wants to work live events, where he can still experience the thrill of entertaining an audience and be a marketing asset at the same time. An appearance at Royal Rumble 2015 is still a possibility.
November 20, 2014
Another name that is going to be making a return to WWE in January is none other than Wade Barrett. His shoulders have healed up, well enough to where the former Intercontinental Champion is now able to lift some weights. Barrett needs a little bit of time in the gym, as his muscles have decreased a bit because he could not work out after the surgery. The belief is that he will be working Royal Rumble 2014.
November 18, 2014
Fans got a quick glimpse of Chris Jericho this week, as the former world heavyweight champion decided to help out WWE on the European tour. Now, reports have surfaced that Jericho is going to be making his return to the company in early January, just in time to get thrown into the Royal Rumble 2015 pay per view. The belief is that he will be sticking around, so that he can get a match at Wrestlemania 31.
November 18, 2014
While Brock Lesnar is not defending the WWE Heavyweight Championship for the time being, that does not mean that he is simply just sitting around the house. In addition to working out on a daily basis, the former UFC Heavyweight Champion has been doing a lot of hunting up in Canada recently. No word yet on when his official return to WWE is, but many are expecting it to be in time for Royal Rumble 2015.
October 16, 2014
Fans of Daniel Bryan were given a degree of optimism not too long ago when reports surfaced that he would be healthy enough to make a return at Royal Rumble 2015. However, new reports are coming out that the former world heavyweight champion is still have issues regaining strength in his arms, so the timetable is said to be pushed back to Wrestlemania 31.
October 14, 2014
Management dedicates a lot of their creativity to events such as Royal Rumble 2015. With Randy Orton being penciled in for a baby face turn and a push, there are discussions going on backstage about having him do that at during the big battle royal. A potential story would have the former world heavyweight champion rebelling against the Authority and their wish to have Seth Rollins winning the match.
October 9, 2014
Every year, WWE utilizes a segment in the big battle royal to put over performers by having them dominate the competition. Luke Harper is currently penciled in as a recipient of that push at Royal Rumble 2015. The plan right now is to get fans to start embracing him as a singles performer before giving him the big credibility boost at the Rumble.
October 9, 2014
Since WWE is expanding the big battle royal to include 40 contestants instead of the typical 30, rumors have surfaced left and right about potential returns at Royal Rumble 2015. Rob Van Dam is among the list of candidates to appear in the match that night. There is a very good chance that he could do a one night only thing and wait until later in the year to make a longer return.
October 9, 2014
Since he is not scheduled to win the big battle royal, it looks like WWE wants to utilize John Cena in the main title match at Royal Rumble 2015 instead. A rematch between Cena and Brock Lesnar is now scheduled to take place at the pay per view. Management knows that they do not have a lot of credible opponents for the former UFC champion, so they are going back to the Cena well once again.
October 9, 2014
At one point in time, WWE wanted to rebuild Big Show into a main event performer, so that he can be fed to Brock Lesnar on a pay per view. There was talk of them working a title match at Royal Rumble 2015. However, it now appears that management is shying away from that idea. Instead, Show will more than likely put over Alexander Rusev, who is rapidly rising into the main event scene.
October 9, 2014
Even though he is one of the most popular and entertaining performers, WWE is planning on keeping Paul Heyman off of Monday Night Raw and Smackdown until at least January. The belief is that management does not want to draw attention to the fact that their world heavyweight champion is not around for television shows. Lesnar and Heyman should be back in time to promote Royal Rumble 2015.
October 9, 2014
Back in 2011, WWE needed a marketing gimmick for the Royal Rumble, so the company decided to add another ten competitors and brand the event as being the biggest ever. Management is going back to the well again for Royal Rumble 2015. Vince McMahon and company have decided to go with a 40 man battle royal this time around, and a lot of surprise appearances are expected.
October 8, 2014
Brie Bella recently gave WWE fans some hope when she revealed that Daniel Bryan was no longer going to need a second surgery to repair his neck injury. Many were expecting him to return by January, which happens to be the month that Royal Rumble 2015 takes place. However, reports are now surfacing that WWE is trying to see if Bryan can make his return at Survivor Series 2014 instead.
September 9, 2014
During a media interview to promote Total Divas, Brie Bella revealed that Daniel Bryan would not be needing the second surgery that has long been rumored to repair his neck injury. She stated that her husband was gaining the strength back in his right arm and could be back as soon as three months, which would enable WWE to have him make a surprise return at Royal Rumble 2015.
September 7, 2014
While a lot of fans are under the impression that his return to WWE is a certainty, Daniel Bryan is not nearly as confident. He understands his body well enough, and he has spoken with quite a few doctors on the matter. Bryan is leaving open the possibility that he may never wrestle again because of the injured neck. The former world heavyweight champion has dismissed rumors that he will be back by Royal Rumble 2015.
August 16, 2014
With his health being quite the uncertainty at this point in time, there are all sorts of rumors floating around about the return of Daniel Bryan. The latest one has the former WWE champion coming back at Royal Rumble 2015. Much of that is speculation, though, since Bryan needs to go in for another surgery, and there's no telling how his body will react to the procedure.
August 2, 2014
While it's several months away and a lot can change during that time, rumors are floating around that Roman Reigns is being penciled in to win Royal Rumble 2015. WWE really wants him to be a main event performer, and being the last man standing in the 30 man battle royal just might be the way to make that happen. The move would put him on track to headline Wrestlemania 31.
July 5, 2014
"I'm just one of those people who never really cared about being cheered or booed. If they cheered me, it motivated me. If they booed me, it motivated me more. Fans saying I don't deserve the Royal Rumble 2014 win, it's like they forgot the 10 or 12 years beforehand. I try to never be disrespectful. I left not because I wanted to leave, but because I needed to achieve some things on my own without WWE. To tell you the truth, I wished the crowd had been a little more supportive. When I come back to WWE, I'm with WWE." - Batista defending himself against fans
May 18, 2014
It appears that the WWE Network was launched at just the right time. Buyrates for Royal Rumble 2014 and Elimination Chamber 2014 suffered a considerable drop from the previous year. Vince McMahon no longer has to tout these numbers to his investors, though, because the company can state that the viewers have shifted over to the WWE Network.
May 1, 2014
A picture of Curtis Axel and NFL star Ben Roethlisberger backstage at Royal Rumble 2014. Many have noted the physical resemblance between the WWE star and the Pittsburgh Steelers starting quarterback.
April 18, 2014
Earlier this week, WWE introduced a new character for Xavier Woods, so that left a lot of people wondering about the fate of Kofi Kingston and Big E Langston. The speculation was that their long anticipated stable was being killed off. However, at a live event in London this week, Woods came out and celebrated with Kingston and Langston after a tag team victory. That leaves open the possibility that the trio will remain together.
November 6, 2014
Those that watched Monday Night Raw this week, saw an interesting video that showcased a repackaged Xavier Woods. While the new gimmick has drawn some criticism from certain fans, it has also sparked curiosity about the long rumored stable with Woods, Kofi Kingston and Big E Langston. The latter two were not featured in the video. There is still a chance that WWE repackages Kingston and Langston as well.
November 4, 2014
WWE is still having trouble figuring out what they want to do with the stable of Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston and Big E Langston. However, one question appears to have been answered. Woods will be a wrestling member of the group and not just a manager, as many fans have speculated based on a couple of his appearances on Monday Night Raw earlier this year.
September 28, 2014
A lot of fans are under the assumption that the stable consisting of Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston and Big E Langston has been disbanded. It's hard to blame them for thinking that because WWE has removed them from television over the last couple of weeks. However, rumors are floating around that the trio has been informed by management that there are still plans in place for them to work as a group in the future. The creative department simply has not figured out a good way of using them.
August 27, 2014
There might be some good news for those of you that were excited about the new stable of Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston and Big E Langston. Management had apparently decided to split up the group because they were taken off of television, but at a recent live event, the stable was utilized once again. WWE could be testing out the audience to see if the trio can be worth saving.
August 23, 2014
The speculation right now is that the stable of Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston and Big E Langston has been disbanded since WWE has not been utilizing them much on television. Those rumors appear to be true as Woods addressed those rumors through his Twitter account. He stated that he is not currently involved in a group. Woods also mentioned that he would much rather use intelligence as a weapon in a stable as opposed to race.
August 15, 2014
Rumors are floating around right now that WWE has already dropped the new stable of Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston and Big E Langston. Speculations rose even further when Langston worked a singles match on Smackdown, losing decidedly to Alexander Rusev. Kingston has also been working solo while doing live events in Australia these past couple of days.
August 9, 2014
For a short period of time there, Titus ONeil had his name linked to rumors that he was joining Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston and Big E Langston in their new stable. However, it looks like he has been crossed off the list of candidates. ONeil has now been penciled in as a permanent tag team with Heath Slater, who was left with nothing to do when WWE released Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre.
July 29, 2014
Rumors are floating around that WWE really does not have all their plans in place for that new stable featuring Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston and Big E Langston. Several names, including R Truth, Titus ONeil and Mark Henry, have been mentioned as possible candidates to join the group, but none of that has been solidified. For the time being, the trio will continue to be vague on television.
July 29, 2014
An interesting idea being floated around in WWE has Titus ONeil joining the stable that consists of Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston and Big E Langston. Management really likes ONeil, as evident by the fact that he routinely gets sent out on public appearances for the company, but they do not believe that he can be pushed as a singles performer. Putting him in a stable helps to alleviate some of those concerns.
July 28, 2014
There are those backstage in WWE that are skeptical of the idea of doing a heel turn for Kofi Kingston, who has long been regarded as the ultimate baby face. Since he does a lot of the charity work for the company, some are afraid that it will affect that aspect of his job as well. There are rumors floating around that WWE does not have finalized plans for the new stable that also consists of Xavier Woods and Big E Langston.
July 26, 2014
Xavier Woods formed a stable with Kofi Kingston and Big E Langston on Monday Night Raw this week, and that has led WWE fans to speculate online about other potential members. R Truth has long been rumored to be joining the group, as he had an on screen partnership with Woods in the past. There is also a chance that WWE may simply opt to keep it a three man stable.
July 22, 2014
On Monday Night Raw this week, Xavier Woods, who is only used sporadically on television by WWE, made a surprising appearance after a tag team match featuring Curtis Axel, Ryback, Kofi Kingston and Big E Langston. He cut a quick promo about how Kingston and Langston cannot get very far in WWE by being nice guys. This is the start of the long rumored stable, which has already been compared to the Nation of Domination by fans online.
July 22, 2014
Rumors about a new Nation of Domination should be heating up again today after results from a WWE live event in Japan has hit the internet. Kofi Kingston and Big E Langston worked together as a tag team during the show in Tokyo. The tandom went up against Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. The widespread speculation is that R Truth and Xavier Woods will be joining Langston and Kingston soon to form the new group.
July 10, 2014
Last month, rumors were finally squashed about WWE bringing back the Nation of Domination stable with R Truth, Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston and Big E Langston. Speculations have started back up again now that WWE has formed an on screen alliance between Kingston and Langston. Management reportedly canceled the plans previously because they did not want to make it seem like they were copying TNA, which recently launched a stable with MVP, Kenny King and Bobby Lashley.
July 8, 2014
In what appears to the creative department amusing themselves and Vince McMahon, Xavier Woods will be changing up his gimmick for the next episode of Smackdown. He will be donning the red, white and blue ring gear, similar to what he wore in TNA as Consequences Creed, when he faces Alexander Rusev. WWE is doing a Russia vs United States theme.
June 5, 2014
There were rumors a couple of weeks ago that WWE was going to bring back the Nation of Domination stable as a vehicle for Big E Langston, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and R Truth to have something to do. However, it now appears that management has opted against that. Some believe that WWE does not want to make it seem like they're copying TNA, which recently introduced a stable with MVP, Kenny King and Bobby Lashley.
June 2, 2014
WWE has now officially added a match between Big E Langston and Alexander Rusev to the Payback 2014 pay per view. The goal within the company is to provide Rusev with further credibility, so that he can be eventually moved up to the main event scene. Langston is viewed as a more imposing opponent than Kofi Kingston, R Truth and Xavier Woods at the moment.
May 28, 2014
An interesting rumor floating around right now has the Nation of Domination stable making a return to WWE. Some have noted that the four performers that have lost to Alexander Rusev recently are all black. The speculation is that R Truth, Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston and Big E Langston will band together as a unit in the story line soon.
May 19, 2014
When WWE performers headed off to Europe for a tour, Xavier Woods was left behind. Management needed him to work the Florida Special Olympics event. Now that he is done with that task, Woods is boarding a plane to join the rest of the company overseas. He is expected to be available for Monday Night Raw and Smackdown, which are being taped in London next week.
May 17, 2014


text:
This was one of my first games so I'll be downloading this sometimes soon since the visuals are far more attractive than the originals' and because of my nostalgia.
User Profile
Passionate. But not Perfect
Male, United States
- Joined:
- Tue 20th September, 2011
Recent Comments
I think this guy has good intentions but has no idea how to present himself and has shown an arrogant attitude before. This seems to be a problem with some recent one or 2 man development teams and by some I mean this guy, the guy who made The Letter (who seems more ignorant than arrogant), and Mike Maulbeck of the recently reformed Code Avarice who made a game you may or may not hear of called Paranautical Activity (which is a decent roguelike FPS, if not very remarkable). This project seems like it will either be doomed or not worth playing even if it comes to consoles.
The bit about the Wii brand being a shadow of its former self sounds like a pretty accurate statement if you ask me, but the legacy of the Wii consoles were almost bound to be entirely different from each other.
I'm pretty sure it'll happen. We just have to wait for the exclusivity period to expire.
I don't know about you guys but this looks the most promising out of them all so far.
Standard model for me. I prefer a clear picture and response time compared to a larger model that suffers in those areas and harder to fit in my pocket.
The potential is there, but the quality is hard to grasp, especially since we don't know how long this has been in development or if the dev even has the skill to pull this off right.
In a small land they make these numbers. Western hunters: I call on you to take up arms and support this franchise with all your might!
$40 sounds quite reasonable
sigh. No sales on retail games :/
Bad news if I've ever heard it
This is absolutely hilarious. I'm sure there are some super intricate economics being assessed here, but it still hurts.
On another note, you can't tell me that I wouldn't buy another Red Steel. Perhaps that's not an "M" series of games, but you have no idea how much people would love another installment. It really is unfortunate Red Steel 2 didn't get the attention it deserved. Now I sound like a broken record. Thanks Ubisoft.
@VoodooTrumpet Spoilers dude. Careful with those.
I feel like I owe it to myself to pick up the game now.
I'm sure I would never be able to pull something like that off in tournament but I've pulled off some pretty beastly punches in PM when playing with friends.
Somehow their pixel art throws me off. It's a unique style but for the most part it's not for me. Regardless I'm willing to give these games a chance.
So they're basically gamecube controllers.
My first kirby game, when does it come to NA VC?
Yall see the NA box art? It's quite disappointing. I wonder what the designers think when making the NA art.
This is fine and dandy but why haven't we heard any official confirmation of a release date or at the very least a release window?
Wasn't Super Mario World already set to be a 3DS classic? What happened to that?
They never said that putin supports their game. In an update on their kickstarter it was stated that they simply have no verifcation on whether this is a joke or not. This PR team is really bad, and that's putting it lightly, but I don't think they have ill intentions.
Did I just see wave dashing?
I hope we get a release date soon. Glad there's optimism but still wish I could see less "Man, this sure could look AND run better" comments about the game.
Patch incoming
During the treehouse demo of affordable space adventures one of the devs said that they're probably going to let it slip into 2015 to add more content (or something like that).
I'm hoping for Red Steel 3, but more than likely it will be some kind of fitness or dance game. As for a price drop, I don't think that would benefit Nintendo at all. Just because it's cheaper doesn't mean it will get the message out and it's too early in the console's life for it to be $100 or so less than it's original retail price.
Really not sure why you guys want a wii U port on a game with visuals specifically designed for max performance on 3ds. Of course portable 3rd was ported to PS3 but it's environments were very simliar to Tri therefore the upres didn't hurt it's visuals. Personally, I wouldn't want to play an upressed version of 4 because the textures would probably not benefit from an upres whatsoever and overall the look would throw me off.
Source looks really cool. Not sure what's holding that project back.
A couple of those characters are very attractive in more ways than one.
This is nitpicking at it's finest. smh.
From what I've heard there's nothing wrong with their ports of injustice and they displayed the conduit running on 3DS before the console's release. It could have some decent looks maybe. As for how it plays.. well this studio is inconsistent in that area.
Ima cry
Objectification of women is always a touchy subject, but many a time feminists lash out at this sexualization or ant-feminists will lash out at even the smallest of censorship. It's either hard or impossible to find middle ground. It's a hate or be hated world right now.
And unfortunately it won't make a lick of difference in the sales the wii u version will have, yet I will likely be one of the relatively few picking it up for the system.
While it may be imperfect, I think that ninja gaiden 3 is an excellent port. It drops frames on the rare occasion and is a bit buggy, but for the most part is visually stunning and fun to play.
Interesting. The fact that everything you interact with is shadowed sucks some life out of it imo, but everything else sounds and looks pretty good.
It will be sorely missed.. kind of. Was dead to me once tri went offline anyways. Will always be fond of my time spent playing CoD on Wii online though.
Any word on NA release?
I remember playing a browser game kind of like this back in middle school. It was actually quite difficult and I don't think i ever beat it. Definitely gonna give this a shot when it's available.
If they can bring quality to the table, they may be able to hold their ground with that statement.
I can only hope dis is true.
Gimme Gimme.
Is it disc and box for ninja gaiden and wonderful 101?
ummm.. okay. Where's the gameboy advance VC for 3DS?
Why do you insist on teasing us?

subset: commoncrawl


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This Shawty Lo mindset and behavior in the black community needs to be clipped at the balls.
Khou reports:
A pregnant woman was seriously injured Thursday morning when another pregnant woman intentionally hit her with a car, pinning her against a southwest Houston home, police said.
The incident happened in the 9600 block of Ravensworth Drive, where Christopher Chaney lives with his pregnant girlfriend, Alise Kelly.
Chaney said his pregnant ex-girlfriend, 26-year-old Shareyll Hunter, showed up at the house Thursday morning and started arguing with Kelly.
"I was in my house asleep, and then one of my kids' mothers came," Chaney said. "I mean, they been texting and talking over the phone saying they want to fight each other and meet up right here and do it."
All of the commotion outside roused Chaney from bed.
"When I came outside, I seen my kids' mother punching on the window and she wanted to fight the other one," Chaney said.
He said Hunter jumped into his car and gunned it, pinning her 21-year-old rival between the car and the house, police said.
Witnesses heard Kelly screaming in pain.
"[She was screaming] 'It hurts, it's burning and her baby,'" a neighbor said. "And I was like, 'She's pregnant,' and that's when I seen her leg twisted."
Kelly was rushed to the hospital with two broken legs. Doctors had to amputate one of her feet. The baby is expected to be OK.
Hunter drove off in her ex-boyfriend's four-door Lincoln LS. She remained on the loose at last check.
Hunter is five months pregnant and the victim is four months pregnant. Chaney, 26, says he is the father in both cases.
Reporter: "You think it [the hit-and-run] is because of you getting them pregnant?"
Christopher Chaney: "I mean, I'm handsome."
Chaney has two other children with Hunter. He bragged he's also fathered children with two other women, bringing the total to four, with two more on the way.
And this bumpkin above thinks he really is the man for seeding all these kids without himself or the women having a decent career to raise these runts or back them through life. What a low life poor excuse for a man. Figure it out…
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Originally published June 5, 2008 at 12:00 AM | Page modified June 5, 2008 at 7:04 PM
WWII vet who was youngest Medal of Honor winner dies
Jack Lucas, who at 14 lied his way into military service during World War II and at 17 became the youngest Marine to receive the Medal of Honor, died Thursday in a Hattiesburg, Miss., hospital. He was 80.
The Associated Press
JACKSON, Miss. — Jack Lucas, who at 14 lied his way into military service during World War II and became the youngest Marine to receive the Medal of Honor, died Thursday in a Hattiesburg, Miss., hospital. He was 80.
Lucas had been battling cancer and died shortly after midnight after he requested doctors remove a dialysis machine, his wife, Ruby, told The Associated Press.
Jacklyn "Jack" Lucas was just six days past his 17th birthday in February 1945 when his heroism at Iwo Jima earned him the nation's highest military honor. He used his body to shield three fellow squad members from two grenades, and was nearly killed when one exploded.
"A couple of grenades rolled into the trench," Lucas said in an Associated Press interview shortly before he received the medal from President Truman in October 1945. "I hollered to my pals to get out and did a Superman dive at the grenades. I wasn't a Superman after I got hit. I let out one helluva scream when that thing went off."
Lucas was left with more than 250 pieces of shrapnel in his body and every major organ, including six pieces in his brain and two in his heart, and endured 26 surgeries in the following months. He often showed the curious his arms, which were speckled with grenade fragments that could be seen just under the surface of his skin.
He was the youngest serviceman to receive the Medal of Honor in any conflict other than the Civil War.
"By his inspiring action and valiant spirit of self-sacrifice, he not only protected his comrades from certain injury or possible death but also enabled them to rout the Japanese patrol and continue the advance," the Medal of Honor citation said.
In the AP interview, written as a first-person account under his name, he recalled the months he spent in a hospital.
"Soon as I rest up, I imagine I'll run for president," the story concluded. "Ain't I the hero, though?"
Lucas became a symbol of patriotism in the decades after the war, meeting presidents and traveling the world to speak with frontline soldiers and fellow veterans.
Big for his age and eager to serve, Lucas forged his mother's signature on an enlistment waiver and joined the Marines at 14. Military censors discovered his age through a letter to his 15-year-old girlfriend.
"They had him driving a truck in Hawaii because his age was discovered and they threatened to send him home," said D.K. Drum, who wrote Lucas' story in the 2006 book "Indestructible." "He said if they sent him home, he would just join the Army and give the Army the benefit of his good Marine training."
Lucas eventually stowed away aboard a Navy ship headed for combat in the Pacific Ocean. He turned himself in to avoid being listed as a deserter and volunteered to fight.
"They did not know his age. He didn't give it up and they didn't ask," Drum said.
Born in Plymouth, N.C., on Feb. 14, 1928, Lucas was a 13-year-old cadet captain in a military academy when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
After the war, Lucas earned a business degree from High Point University in North Carolina and raised, processed and sold beef in the Washington, D.C., area. In the 1960s, he joined the Army and became a paratrooper, Drum said, to conquer his fear of heights. On a training jump, both of his parachutes failed. She said Lucas credited his stocky build and a last-second roll as he hit the ground for saving his life.
"He was the last one out of the airplane and the first one on the ground," Drum said.
Cancer was the one enemy Lucas couldn't defeat and the disease "tore apart his body," Ruby Lucas said. He was diagnosed with a form of leukemia in April and spent his last days in the hospital with family and friends standing vigil.
In his final hours, the steady stream of visitors was stopped and Ruby Lucas was given a few quiet moments with her husband.
"I said, 'Jack, you know your're dying,' " Ruby Lucas said. "He just raised his head off the pillow. He said, 'I ain't dead yet.' Just as plain as day. I said, 'That's Jack Lucas. He wants to get the last word in.' "
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
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#1 - Womens Study Major (06/23/2013) [-]
Same face I use when I stuff my carries' inventory with branches right before we finish roshan
#2 to #1 - bamsebjornen (06/23/2013) [-]


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I have to say, one of my excuses for not quitting sooner, was that my husband said he would never quit. I did not think I could quit without him. 595 more words
Tags » Quitting Smoking » Page 2
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PSA: I'm Not a Quitter. Except for Smoking. I Did Quit That.
I quit smoking cigarettes 4 months ago.
I didn't think I really wanted to quit smoking. The boyfriend quit before me, so I would smoke as many cigarettes as I could on the way home from work and I remember thinking — I'll never be able to quit. 495 more words
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Quitting Smoking: The Great American Smokeout is coming!
I'm a former smoker. My habit ended when I was up to 3-packs-a-day of that familiar Dromedary. I've been smoke-free for over 16 years. That makes me happy, although, even now I admit to craving a cigarette every once in a while when the smoke drifts by on just the right kind of warm spring day, when the car windows are open and rock-n-roll music filters through the air. 166 more words
Danna ga Wakaranai and Smoking
What a cute couple Hajime and Kaoru from I Can't Understand What My Husband is Saying are! Many of the episodes talk about the amusing occurrences which come about through Hajime's addiction to anime and immersion in otaku culture, but episode six deals with an ordinary problem: Kaoru quitting her addiction to smoking. 452 more words


text: 500 pts Music Trivia <KISS-FM V.I.P Club Crosby, Stills, and Nash raised how much money for autism at a recent benefit concert? Click here to see the answer. Sign in to Participate Category: Trivia Ends: Friday April 26 at 10:59PM CDT Visit our sponsor: Click here to see the answer. Share on Facebook Share on Twitter More Leave a comment Send to a friend! Print this page Pin it! Reddit This! Share on Tumblr! More Ways To Get and Use Points Redeem Your Newsletter Bonus Code Here!Redeem Your Newsletter Bonus Code Here!$100 Off Your Flooring Purchase [COUPON]Learn More About Benny's Flooring [LINK]Keurig Brewing SystemThanksgiving Gift Card


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I think this is a great product, and is a fun activity on a boring Sunday. However I can be hard to use. It didnt work for a few times, this is because the freeze time is a lot longer that it says in the adverts. When you put the drink in, you have to freeze the drink for a few minutes for it to work, and even then its not to the standard that it should be. I have enjoyed many slushies, but with a lot more hassle than it is supposed to cause! I purchased two of these cups, for myself and my daughter, one of which worked ok and the other did not work at all! So I think it is hit and miss as to whether you get one that works. The one that does work is ok but it is very expensive for what it is. The one that didnt work worked at first then stopped working which was very disapointing. One problem is that it only makes a small amount of slush as if you put too much juice into it then it doesn't freeze the juice at all! Technique is everything! The cup does work, but you have to be aware that it has to be sufficiently chilled in the first place for the process to happen, and also not to do as my daughter did on first use, which is to put it back in the freezer full overnight, leave it to go solid, then poke it with a sharp object in the morning, because if you pierce the inside you get a mouthful of chemical and a dead cup! The second one I bought, which she had to pay for herself, was fine,but an expensive lesson learned. I think it also worth noting that the cup can be dismantled into its constituent parts, for thorough washing, which will keep it hygienic.
When my son saw the chill factor squeeze cup slushy maker advertised on TV he thought it looked fun and cool and I have to say I agreed with him and so I made a mental note to either buy it for him myself for Christmas or to tell somebody else to buy it. As it happens my Mum ended up buying this for my son and this is my review of the product.
==What is it?==
The chill factor squeeze cup slushy maker is actually quite a cool product in that it allows you to make a slush drink in a matter of seconds once your cup has been frozen.
The cup comes in a cardboard box with the brand name, a picture of the cup, a picture of children enjoying their drinks and information on where you could use the product and how you can use the product. Basically all of the information you need is on the box apart from how to assemble the cup after washing and this information is provided in a small leaflet in the box.
==Our experience==
This was one of the first presents my son got opened on Christmas Day once he had unwrapped everything because we knew it would need plenty of time in the freezer to freeze the cup and make it functional.
I like how the cup comes in different colours. My son's is red but it is a nice touch perhaps if you have more than one child and want to know who's is who's though I suppose you could write on the bottom or something in a marker pen too if this was an issue.
The cup is made from what feels like a bendy silicone material so it is squishy which is important as you have to squeeze the cup to make the slush. The lid and rings around it are made from a tough plastic so once the cup is assembled it holds its shape well. Inside the silicone there is another section which is the part that freezes and allows you to make the slush. This part needs around four to six hours to be fully frozen and it is important that it is frozen properly before you attempt to make your drink.
Once the cup is frozen you can add any chilled drink that you like to the cup. It is important that the drink you use is chilled because otherwise you won't get a proper slushy result and we learned this the hard way the first time we used the cup as we hadn't read the instructions leaflet properly before we used it. We did get some slush but not as much as we would have thought. If you use a chilled drink it works much better indeed.
Basically once you pour your drink in to the cup you have to squeeze the cup and this must activate the inner section or something, don't ask me I haven't a clue why it works so well! As you squeeze your drink turns in to a slushy and it really is such a cool thing to do and watch! We have had the best results using cherry coke in the cup but I do know you can buy slush syrups to go with this type of product and the blue raspberry is calling me! I am even temped to whack some Baileys in there when my son is in bed and see what happens! My son enjoys the slush and says it is quite tasty but if I use squash I tend to make it a bit stronger than normal but I think this is because of the days when I was young and you would make your own ice lollies but if you didn't make it strong you would basically have a lolly that tasted of nothing!
You do get a spoon straw with the cup too which makes it much easier to eat the slush if you are struggling to get it through the straw itself which I think is a great idea.
Dismantling the cup is really easy and although some parts are dishwasher safe I wouldn't bother with this even if I had a dishwasher as it is dead easy to wash by hand with warm soapy water and then all of the parts are kept together ready for putting back together. Now when I first dismantled the cup I don't have a clue how I did it and I just kind of pulled at parts and then didn't have a clue how to put it back together! I thought I had broken it but having a read of the instructions did make it clear how to put it back together but I am going to make sure we keep these instructions because knowing me I will forget again. It is a quick job once you know how though, just a matter of minutes really from washing up to being back in the freezer ready for being used again. It is so simple.
On the box it tells you this product would be ideal for the beach, holidays, picnics, BBQ's etc and I have to say I agree. I think come summer this will be a wonderful product allowing us to make icy cold slush drinks for my son so easily. Ok once you have one and it is finished you are looking at 4-6 hours before it is ready to go again but I don't envisage this being a problem really as it will just be a nice treat for my son to have one in the hopefully hot weather!
I would recommend this cup. My friends daughter also got one and she loves it too and my friend agrees it is a pretty wonderful product to say it is such a simple idea. The current cost on amazon is a ridiculous £20 but I have seen this cup drop as low as around £7 before Christmas. I think my mum paid around a tenner from her catalogue and at this price I think it is reasonable so it is one to keep your eye on for sure.
Thank you for reading my review!
My kids love slushies. When my son saw an advert for this, he badgered me to get one for him. We bought one with the feeling that it might be fiddly or not produce the results he wanted. But it does! I bought it from Amazon for less than £10. You just assemble the parts and put it in the freezer. Then once the beaker is frozen, you get some chilled juice, pour it in and start massaging the beaker. Gradually the juice forms into flavoured ice and hey presto, a slushy. It comes with a long spoon/straw so that you can scoop out the slush or just suck it up. The parts arte easy to disassemble and wash ready for going in the freezer again. We just keep it in the freezer so that my son can have a slushy when he likes. It is even easy enough for him to do himself and he is only 5. We now intend on getting one for our daughter, who is really jealous. At under £10 makes a lovely stocking filler or Christmas present from a relative.
My Mam rang me just before my eldest daughters birthday saying that she had come across an chill factor cup which was a way of making slush drinks and did I think my daughter would like it for a present, my eldest daughter has a thing about slush drinks and asks for them wherever we go so I knew she would love it. I know that my Mam bought it from Toys R Us but not sure how much she paid for it although it is available to buy on Amazon for £12.84 with free delivery which for the performance of the cup I would say is too expensive.
The cup comes packaged in a cardboard box which is pale blue in colour and made to look like ice on the box, on the side of the box there are 3 steps on how to make your drink and on the front it states Freeze, Squeeze, Enjoy! It tells you that you can make a slush from juice, chocolate milk, soda and more and that the cup is available in 4 different colours which are red, yellow, green and blue, our cup is the red one.
==Inside the Box==
Inside the box you find a rubber red cup which is narrower at the bottom than the top, it has inside it what looks like a lino all the way around it and you can feel liquid inside it. You also get a push on lid for the cup with a hole in the top and then a straw which connects to a scoop at the end just like when you buy a slush from the shop. The cup comes with a set of instructions which are very easy to follow although no matter how many times I read them I still couldn't see how it could work.
==First Go==
You have to place the empty cup into the freezer for 6-8 hours before you use it, I did this much to Sophie's dismay as she thought she was going to get a slush from it straight away. You are told on the instructions to only use chilled drinks or it won't work so at the same time I put a cup of orange juice into the fridge. Sophie was rather impatient so after 6 hours I took the cup out of freezer and poured the juice inside to just below where the silicone inside meets the rubber, placed the lid on the cup and then squeezed it from the outside. What resulted was a drink of very weak juice with a few flakes of ice floating around inside it but Sophie was rather impressed anyway.
==Second Go==
The second time I used this cup I decided to not mention it to Sophie so it could have longer in the freezer, I put the cup in the freezer on the night and didn't get it out again until the following afternoon so it had a good 20 hours in the freezer at least. I made the juice much stronger this time and placed this in the fridge for the same length of time again, when it was time I completed the squeezing process again and this time I got a stronger drink of juice with a few extra flakes of ice in it. Again Sophie was more than impressed.
The cup comes apart into 6 pieces, there are 4 pieces which make up the top of the cup and the lid and these can be washed in a dishwasher but you are told the water must be 60 degrees, the other 2 parts are the inner and outer part of the cup which are handwash only. The whole cup is easy to wash and also easy to put back together as you simply screw all the pieces back together again.
Sophie thinks the cup is fantastic and when it comes down to it that is really what is important however the cup really isn't worth the price tag as it simply doesn't make a slush. If you use string juice then you do end up with a nice cold drink with bits of slush ice inside it but I would say the ice is only about 20% of the drink which of course a proper slush isn't. The drinks are nice and refreshing and perfect on a lovely summers day like we have been having recently, I give the cup 3 stars as the drink is refreshing and the cup is easy to use but it takes too long for a child as they get impatient and the result isn't like a slush you buy from the shops.


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Now is the time to nominate deserving people for the Federal 100 awards. The deadline for entries is Jan. 5, 2007
Federal Computer Week begins accepting nominations for the Federal 100 awards program this week. The deadline is Friday, Jan. 5, 2007. That date seems far away, but we all know that deadlines sneak up on us, so nominate early and nominate often.
The Federal 100 awards recognize government and industry employees who have played pivotal roles in the federal information technology community. Each year, we receive hundreds of nominations that our panel of judges must sift through and sort. Many people are deserving of the award, but we recognize only 100. We want you to remember a few guidelines when you are compiling your nominations.
Focus on the person: The Federal 100 awards recognize people, not a project or team. And the winners are people — in government and industry — who go above and beyond their daily responsibilities. They bring uncommon dedication or unique vision to their jobs.
Impact, impact, impact: The Federal 100 awards program recognizes good work and people who made a difference in the way technology was bought, managed or used in the past year. If that person had an impact on the community, tell the judges how and why that matters. If you are nominating someone because of the work he or she did on a successful program, it helps if you describe the impact the nominee had on that program and the effect that program had on an agency or a community.
Think 2006:Don't get nostalgic. The Federal 100 is not a hall-of-fame award. Instead, think of it as an award for the most valuable player of the past year. Many government programs go on for years, so it is important to remember that the award is for the impact the person had on that program in the past year.
It's not a popularity contest: There are people who make a big impact by pushing an unpopular agenda. Although that impact is not always seen as positive, there is no question that the person has influenced the community.
Remember industry: It is interesting that as more government work has been outsourced, the number of industry Federal 100 winners has decreased. There are many reasons for that. Paramount are government employees' ethics concerns that a Federal 100 nomination is tantamount to endorsing a company. Industry also faces a higher standard for winning because people in the private sector get paid well if they do good work. So judges are often looking for truly outstanding work. They are looking for evidence of people doing more than is expected. We know industry is doing good work for government agencies, and that good work deserves to be recognized.
Again, the deadline will be here before you realize it. Find more specific information and submit nominations at www.fcw.com/fed100.
About the Author
Christopher J. Dorobek is the co-anchor of Federal News Radio's afternoon drive program, The Daily Debrief with Chris Dorobek and Amy Morris, and the founder, publisher and editor of the DorobekInsider.com, a leading blog for the Federal IT community.
Dorobek joined Federal News Radio in 2008 with 16 years of experience covering government issues with an emphasis on government information technology. Prior to joining Federal News Radio, Dorobek was editor-in-chief of Federal Computer Week, the leading news magazine for government IT decision-makers and the flagship of the 1105 Government Information Group portfolio of publications. As editor-in-chief, Dorobek served as a member of the senior leadership team at 1105 Government Information Group, providing daily editorial direction and management for FCW magazine, FCW.com, Government Health IT and its other editorial products.
Dorobek joined FCW in 2001 as a senior reporter and assumed increasing responsibilities, becoming managing editor and executive editor before being named editor-in-chief in 2006. Prior to joining FCW, Dorobek was a technology reporter at PlanetGov.com, one of the first online community centers for current and former government employees. He also spent five years at Government Computer News, another leading industry publication, covering a variety of federal IT-related issues.
Dorobek is a frequent speaker on issues involving the government IT industry, and has appeared as a frequent contributor to NewsChannel 8's Federal News Today program. He began his career as a reporter at the Foster's Daily Democrat, a daily newspaper in Dover, N.H. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California. He lives in Washington, DC.
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In the wake of the Czech Republic's loss in the bronze-medal game of the 2014 IIHF World Championship in Minsk, two of that country's biggest hockey stars, Jaromir Jagr and Dominik Hasek, have engaged in a war of words.
Jagr, who played on the team which lost to Sweden 3-0, and Hasek, the goalie who backstopped the country to gold at the 1998 Winter Olympics, were teammates in the national team setup for years. But they are on differing ends of a the spectrum about the debate gripping the country at the moment, which centers around the criticism the national team's players are facing in the face of the disappointment this weekend.
Jagr, who plays for the New Jersey Devils, was angered by the attacks on the team by fans and the media.


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Steven E. Belanger:
Writing It Down
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Revival by Stephen King
Photo: The book's cover art, from its Wikipedia page
Another compulsively-readable book by Stephen King, Revival is one of his recent best. A mish-mash of Frankenstein (thematically) and Lovecraft (in plot, Otherness, and The Angry Ones, as well as some fairly fearsome Gods) and Hieronymus Bosch, it reads like a first-person confessional (which is a well King has tapped for some time now) and it ends with one of the more horrifying things that King--or anyone I've read--has ever written.
Especially if it's true, if that's really what's waiting for us Afterwards. If you've ever seen Bosch's Seven Deadly Sins or his Garden of Earthly Delights, you'll know what I mean. Nasty, disturbing and memorable stuff. This book's ending--and the potential ending for us all, good or bad--are just that: nasty, disturbing and memorable. Frightening, because the "good" or "bad" doesn't matter. The ending depicted here isn't the ending of the bad. It's the ending of all of us.
In recent interviews, King has said that the views expressed by the narrator are not necessarily his--a fact that any reader is well aware, in anyone's writing. But he has also said recently that he thinks about Death and God a lot (which King fans have always known), and that he does believe in God. Sometimes he says that there has to be a God, because otherwise he would not have survived his accident or his addictions. (This begs the question: Since others have not survived being hit by a car, or concurrent alcohol and coke addictions, does that mean there isn't a God? Or does God simply not want them to live?) Lately, King's been using Pascal's Wager to express his views.
(Pascal's Wager has always seemed like a cop-out to me, but it's really not meant to be. And as I get older, and I contemplate that slab of stone more and more, Pascal's Wager sounds infinitely more rational. Though I don't know how one can live a life as if one believes in God, which is what the Wager advises, if one truly does not believe. But I suppose an agnostic like myself could pull it off.)
This is actually not much of a digression, as a belief in Something is very much at the core of this novel. Picture an agnostic who grew up with devout, religious parents, and throw in some family tragedies, a wasted life of coke and booze, and some Lovecraftian Cosmic Horror, with Bosch's view of a potential eternity in Hell and a Frankenstein theme, and some hellish chaos on Earth at the very un-Stephen King-like end (after all the Frankenstein / Lovecraft / Bosch stuff), and you've just about got the narrator and his story.
There are some other horrors until then as well, neatly tucked into this novel. There's a car accident you won't soon forget, and a dream about dead family members that those of us with dead family members will all relate to--and not happily. And his ending after the ending (a writing style I've pointed out in my last ten or so reviews of King's work) is even more unforgettable. It's debatable, in fact, if the first or second ending is more horrible. Since I don't believe in the existence of the first, and since I very much believe in the existence of the evil--or of, worse, the tragic inexplicable--portrayed in the second, I'm going with the latter. You watch the news, you see this.
The writing is as compulsively-readable as always, but--finally!!!--here are some horrors, terrors and chills, too. If forced to rate out of five stars, I'd say this is a four--only if compared to his truly great stuff, like IT and The Shining. But compared to his most recent stuff--some of it quite terrible, and sometimes, at best, rather pedestrian--Revival would get five. Though the title refers to the revival of the narrator and a few of its almost-dead characters, it could well refer to King's horror writing as well.
Read it, regardless. And then Wikipedia Pascal's Wager, if you have to, and tell me whether it makes more pragmatic, rational sense than it may have in your youth.
Posted by Steven E. Belanger at 7:52 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: alcohol, bad, book, Bosch, car, cocaine, Death, dream, Frankenstein, God, good, Hell, horror, King, Lovecraft, Pascal, revival, Stephen King, writing
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Scientists Find Mechanism for Spontaneous HIV Cure
Photo: from the AFP, at this website. The entire article is copied below, but here's the source.
In case you missed it. Not only a landmark in the fight against HIV / AIDS, but also a strong comment about evolution. First, the short article--found on this site--and then my comments / thoughts. (Remember, I am not a doctor. Don't take my thoughts as solid medical advice. Cuz, like, they're not.)
French scientists on Tuesday unveiled the genetic mechanism by which they believe two men were spontaneously cured of HIV, and said the discovery may offer a new strategy in the fight against AIDS.
In both asymptomatic men, the AIDS-causing virus was inactivated due to an altered HIV gene coding integrated into human cells, they wrote in the journal Clinical Microbiology and Infection.
This, in turn, was likely due to stimulation of an enzyme that may in future be targeted for drug treatment to induce the same response, they said.
"This finding represents an avenue for a cure," study co-author Didier Raoult of the French Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) told AFP.
Neither of the men, one diagnosed HIV positive 30 years ago and the other in 2011, have ever been ill, and the AIDS-causing virus cannot be detected with routine tests of their blood.
In both, the virus was unable to replicate due to DNA coding changes that the researchers proposed were the result of a spontaneous evolution between humans and the virus that is called "endogenisation".
"We propose that HIV cure may occur through HIV endogenisation in humans," they wrote. "We believe that the persistence of HIV DNA can lead to cure, and protection, from HIV."
The approach hitherto has been the opposite: to try and clear all traces of HIV from human cells.
The teams said they did not believe the two patients were unique or that the phenomenon was new.
Okay, so like I said, I'm not a doctor. And I'm not a scientist. But I do find lots of things very interesting, and hopefully I'm a fairly intelligent guy. So, here's my two cents, if you care:
As far as I know about viruses (which is not far), they can mutate at any time. In fact, they have to mutate. Like we have to breathe, they have to mutate. Again, no doctor, but it seems like viruses like HIV / AIDS and the common cold and, for all I know, Ebola, are always evolving, sort of uncontrollably, without their will. If viruses can be said to have will, which is maybe a conversation for scientist-philosophers.
So this seems to be yet another example of evolution, for all you Creationists out there. (For the record, I, too believe in creationism, to a degree. In fact, I think the Creator has a lot of weapons at His disposal. One of these is called evolution.)
Secondly: I'm reminded yet again of Ebola Reston, as written about by Douglas Preston in The Hot Zone. (Read that if you haven't.) The short story about Ebola Reston is that the Ebola virus inadvertently let loose in a medical / research facility in Reston, Virginia mutated--but by the grace of God, or something--into a strain that was not lethal to humans. It gave lots of them very bad flu-like symptoms, but did not make them crash-and-burn, like Ebola Zaire does. (And still is, now in other countries in Africa besides Zaire.)
Anyway, I'm reminded of this because Ebola Reston mutated--luckily; no reason it had to--into a strain that was not lethal to humans. Viruses mutate. It's what they do.
And so, apparently, did this Ebola virus into these two men, thirty years apart. If a virus mutates, someone's got to be the host for that newly-created mutation, right? I mean, if it goes into John Doe as Ebola Zaire X and mutates into Ebola Zaire Y somewhere either in John Doe or in the next victim, then that person is carrying around the newly-created strain, right? That's what happened with Ebola Reston--it mutated between a few gibbons and a few people, and somewhere along the way it became a little less virulent and it didn't kill any people.
These two guys mentioned in this article, thirty years apart, apparently were two lucky guys in which the virus mutated into a form that couldn't kill them. In fact, if I'm understanding the article correctly, it mutated into a form of the virus that could not replicate itself because both of these men stimulated enzymes that integrated into the virus's DNA and made it impossible to replicate itself. Scientists call this "spontaneous evolution." But to me it sounds like the thing is trying to replicate itself so it can live in its host, and then mutate, but it couldn't, so it didn't.
Replication, for those who don't know, means that the virus has to make tons more of its exact self in order to live in a host. A virus, like a cold, enters your system as one virus, one single-celled (?) organism (like mononucleosis, which is what the word actually means), but--unlike mono, I think--most viruses have to make exact Xerox copies of itself inside you, or it can't live in you. Your DNA and cells help them to do that.
But the protein / enzyme-happy systems of these two guys prevented the virus from doing so.
(I'm probably butchering the science here somewhere, but I think I have the gist of it.)
And these two guys killed it upon contact! They are, in fact, immune to Ebola Zaire, or whatever strain it was they had. I'm assuming it was Zaire, as that's the lethal one we're all hearing about. Being immune to Ebola Reston, for example, won't help us.
This "spontaneous evolution" is another checkmark to prove the existence of evolution. I say this only if you had those "evolution is a theory" textbooks in your science classes in Arkansas or Pennsylvania, and not for the rest of the known world, for whom evolution is as basic as the world being round.
Just food for thought.
Maybe guys like these are the beginnings of homo-sapiens's (that's you and me) way of starting to become immune by the Ebola virus. I mean, we already are mostly immune to the common cold virus, at least to the extent that it's a minor annoyance and may keep us out of work (or give us a sinus infection afterwards, thanks very much). But it can't kill us. That's because our species got used to it. It's part of our DNA now since we and the cold virus have been around each other so long. It can kill the Martians in H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds (and in the movies, like Spielberg's) because the Martians were brand new to it, and so therefore hadn't become immune.
We, as a species (though probably not in our lifetime), can also get used to it by living with it long enough. Like we did with the common cold.
Well, one strain of it, anyway. Before it mutates. Before it changes. Until it evolves.
So, who are these guys, and how can we extract and harvest some of their proteins? And, how can I get some of that? (Or, does it not work like that?)
I'll have whatever they're having!
Posted by Steven E. Belanger at 7:38 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: AIDS, Arkansas, Cell, cure, DNA, doctor, ebola, evolution, flu, HIV, Hot Zone, John, mutate, Pennsylvania, replicate, Reston, scientist, Virginia, Virus, Zaire
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Comic Con 2014 in Providence, Rhode Island
Photo: The entrance for this year's Comic Con in Providence, Rhode Island.
Photos: Hundreds of people, if not more, stood in line outside the Convention Center, in howling wind and rain, and never got in. These were amongst them. I took the shot of these cold, disgruntled people as I left the Con and went to my car. The line started in the lobbies, went downstairs, then started again at the doors outside, snaked around the building, and ended past these people, in front of the garage I parked in. Poor souls.
I had a great Saturday at Comic Con, though it apparently turned into a horror show for everyone who arrived after 12 p.m. or so. Ticketmaster or the Convention Center (they're playing tennis with the blame) never stopped selling tickets, so that thousands of people past the max showed up. When I left at about 3:30 p.m. (I got there at 8:30 a.m., waited with hundreds of others in The Dunk--as opposed to many hundred who waited outside in the cold, wind and rain--until the doors opened at 10:00 a.m.). But when I walked out at 3:30 p.m., there were hundreds of people waiting in the lobbies, another hundred or so downstairs, and many hundreds of others outside in a long line, in a pouring rain. Most of those outside never got in at all!
But I did. Got there early, despite the protests of my friends, who said I was crazy, that it wouldn't be crowded. (Though driving there was a breeze; took about 20 minutes.)
I spoke to, got pictures of (and with), and got autographs from:
1. Anthony Michael Hall (Very nice and humble. Different than I'd heard, and he'd lost a lot of weight since The Dark Knight. I was his first fan of the day--he was about a half-hour late, as were most of the other celebs.)
2. Karen Allen (Still very pretty and funny-feisty. Same exact smile and laugh.)
3. Michael Biehn (He's had a stroke, or he has MS or MD or something similar. Looked really, really bad, more of a walking dead than Scott Wilson or Seth Gilliam. Really too bad; one of my favorite 80s actors.)
4. William Katt (The Greatest American Hero, though I still prefer him in the original Carrie. Looks about the same; very fit and looking good for his age.)
5. John Rhys-Davies (His last name is pronounced like Davis; didn't know that. I prefer him as Sallah from Raiders of the Lost Ark, with Karen Allen, though he's very good, of course, as Gimli in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I got his autograph and Karen Allen's on the same Raiders picture.)
6. Seth Gilliam (Father Gabriel from The Walking Dead. Extremely fit and lean and athletic-looking. Very energetic, positive, pumped kind of guy.)
7. Took a break from autograph-hunting to sit in the audience for a panel discussion with Karen Allen and John Rhys-Davies speaking of Raiders. I went to the mike and asked a question to them about being directed by Steven Spielberg, as I had also been "directed" by him as an extra in Amistad. A friend took a video of me asking my question, and their 5+-minute answer.
8. Scott Wilson (Hershel from The Walking Dead.) He had by far the longest lines of any celebrity there that day--much longer than William Shatner and the other Trekkers.
9. Eliza Dushku. I've only seen her in True Lies, long before she was in Buffy, and Angel, and other things I never saw. Had a couple of bags stolen from her by a guy Channel 10 said was wearing "an Egyptian costume." Maybe Sallah? Incredibly, unbelievably beautiful, far more than the "supermodels" and "models" there.
Not a bad day, despite being packed in like sardines (since the Con violated fire safety laws and went way over the limit), and despite, once again (as at Terror Con in the same building), dealing with a staff who didn't know anything about anything. At both Cons combined, I asked the staff about ten questions--mind-boggling things, like "Where's the nearest exit?" or "Where's the ATM?"--and each time I was told, "I don't know." Literally, each and every single time.
So there's a lot of stuff for a lot of blog entries. I'll cover one at a time, in the order I got their autographs, or their picture. The list above is the exact order.
There'll be lots of pictures of the celebs and of their autographs, plus a bit on what they were in and how those movies or shows effected me. Hope you like 'em.
Posted by Steven E. Belanger at 9:45 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: angel, Anthony Michael Hall, Buffy, Comic Con, Dark Knight, Eliza Dushku, Father Gabriel, John Rhys-Davies, Karen Allen, Michael Biehn, MS, Raiders, Scott Wilson, Seth Gilliam, Spielberg, Walking Dead, William Katt
Friday, October 31, 2014
American Horror Story--Freakshow--Edward Mordrake, Part 2--Episode 4--An Excerpt
Photo below: Just as last week, from http://verumfabula.wordpress.com/2012/08/26/the-curious-case-of-edward-mondrake/
Photo below: from the Huffington Post, at this site.
It's late at night and I've got writing to do, so--very quickly:
--Well, I sort of called it, as I did say that the Killer Clown was by far the most worthy of Mordrake to take with him. AHS's creators did a good job of making the trailers look like Elsa was going to go.
### Go to the whole blog entry at my AHS site to read the deleted stuff. ###
--John Carroll Lynch--a.k.a. Twisty the Clown--has played tons of other roles in good TV shows and movies. I remember him most as the main suspect in Zodiac (Didja catch the Zodiac homage in the first episode, the killings at the lake?) and as the pregnant cop's husband in Fargo. Ayuh.
--And, strange to say, sorry to see Twisty go. Felt the same about Gareth in Walking Dead. They had charisma, man. Which is hard to do if, like Twisty, you don't have any lines.
--Heard today that Lily Rabe will be back this season after all. And she's bringing Sister Mary Eunice with her! Apparently she'll explain how she and Pepper got to the Asylum.
--Speaking of Pepper, I met the real actress--Naomi Grossman--at a recent TerrorCon. And she's pretty! I was going to get her autograph, but I was short on cash, having bought waaaaaaaayyyyy too many posters. Won't do that at Saturday's Comic Con.
--And I made eye contact with her twice, so hopefully I was polite enough to at least say Hello to her. Knowing my social skills, probably not. It was sort of like driving by a yard sale, really slowly, looking over everything, but never stopping the car or getting out. Just a drive-by look and nothing.
*** Go to the whole blog entry at my AHS site to read the deleted stuff. ***
--And now the twins are getting that way, too.
--Not sure Desiree Dupree's response to that kid was altogether appropriate. She said, "I'm a woman and a whole lot more," or something like that.
--Let's hope we don't see Evan Peters and Emma Roberts in the tabloids again. Last year, she apparently beat him up. But she's likeable, and his character is already much better than last year's travesty.
--Word has it that the last three or four episodes haven't been shot yet, which is why they can add actors to the cast this late in the game. I mean, Lily Rabe agreed to join the cast this week, which means she hasn't shot her scenes yet. And only three or so episodes remain to be shot.
--Things apparently don't need to be planned any better than that. Weird business.
Happy Halloween, everyone!
Photo below: from the Huffington Post, at this site.
It's late at night and I've got writing to do, so--very quickly:
--Well, I sort of called it, as I did say that the Killer Clown was by far the most worthy of Mordrake to take with him. AHS's creators did a good job of making the trailers look like Elsa was going to go.
### Go to the whole blog entry at my AHS site to read the deleted stuff. ###
--John Carroll Lynch--a.k.a. Twisty the Clown--has played tons of other roles in good TV shows and movies. I remember him most as the main suspect in Zodiac (Didja catch the Zodiac homage in the first episode, the killings at the lake?) and as the pregnant cop's husband in Fargo. Ayuh.
--And, strange to say, sorry to see Twisty go. Felt the same about Gareth in Walking Dead. They had charisma, man. Which is hard to do if, like Twisty, you don't have any lines.
--Heard today that Lily Rabe will be back this season after all. And she's bringing Sister Mary Eunice with her! Apparently she'll explain how she and Pepper got to the Asylum.
--Speaking of Pepper, I met the real actress--Naomi Grossman--at a recent TerrorCon. And she's pretty! I was going to get her autograph, but I was short on cash, having bought waaaaaaaayyyyy too many posters. Won't do that at Saturday's Comic Con.
--And I made eye contact with her twice, so hopefully I was polite enough to at least say Hello to her. Knowing my social skills, probably not. It was sort of like driving by a yard sale, really slowly, looking over everything, but never stopping the car or getting out. Just a drive-by look and nothing.
*** Go to the whole blog entry at my AHS site to read the deleted stuff. ***
--And now the twins are getting that way, too.
--Not sure Desiree Dupree's response to that kid was altogether appropriate. She said, "I'm a woman and a whole lot more," or something like that.
--Let's hope we don't see Evan Peters and Emma Roberts in the tabloids again. Last year, she apparently beat him up. But she's likeable, and his character is already much better than last year's travesty.
--Word has it that the last three or four episodes haven't been shot yet, which is why they can add actors to the cast this late in the game. I mean, Lily Rabe agreed to join the cast this week, which means she hasn't shot her scenes yet. And only three or so episodes remain to be shot.
--Things apparently don't need to be planned any better than that. Weird business.
Happy Halloween, everyone!
Posted by Steven E. Belanger at 9:30 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: American, CGI, clown, Comic Con, Fargo, freak show, Grossman, halloween, horror, Huffington, Linda Blair, Lynch, Mordrake, Peters, Rabe, Roberts, story, Terror Con, Twisty, Zodiac
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel
Photo: from the author's webpage and bio section. It's on her latest books, too. And in Entertainment Weekly, which says that her newest, Station Eleven, is "the must-read of the fall." I don't doubt that it is. I love her writing, from her first book, reviewed here, to her online essays. Good writing is good writing, no matter the form or the genre.
An exquisitely-written, stays-with-you little gem of a book, more about the people who are left behind than about the people who leave.
Very short, at 220 pages, but very deep about obsession, depression, leaving and staying behind. The characters are all representatives, of course, more than they are flesh-and-blood, exactly, which made me hate Lilia a little less at the end, when we learn in the last few sentences of the book that she lived happily-ever-after (mostly) after all, despite all the (mostly unintentional, but c'mon) heartbreak she left in her wake.
But she has been thrown through a window, seen a man driven off the road, seen a woman pulverized by a subway train, and she never had a lasting friendship or relationship until she married in her late-20s after finally staying somewhere--in this case, Italy. Some reviews hated on her character, and I could see their point, especially how this waif with tight dark hair just so easily grabbed relationships with men and women (bisexuality is hinted at in the book)--and all she has to do to get them is to read in cultured little coffeeshops... Yet, I don't doubt that there are a lot of Lilias out there, and that there are indeed affected women who sit in coffeeshops all the time, and bookish male intellectuals trip over themselves to be with them. Plus, looking at the author's picture, I think it might be a bit of a self-description. Maybe a little Freudian analysis is necessary here. But I digress...
Lilia is representative of a type, and not full-blooded, so I ultimately gave her a pass. After awhile of thinking about it. Plus, I'd sit down next to her in a coffeeshop...
But all the characters are this way. They're representative, and many of them come off far worse than she. There's the aforementioned mother who threw her young child out the window...which was closed, by the way. And she left the child in the winter snow to freeze, too. Luckily that didn't happen--the freezing, I mean.
Then there's the detective father who is the real obsessive of the book. He leaves his wife and daughter for weeks, months and, yes, years at a time, to track down Lilia and her father, long after her abduction ceased to be worth tracking down. (She's in her 20s, and plus she was better off away from the free-throwing mother.) This guy's wife leaves him, then he leaves his 15-year old daughter alone as he again obsessively tracks Lilia down. Ultimately he ends up returning to his young daughter for a short time, but then he leaves again and disappears forever from her life. It's possible he commits suicide somewhere.
This girl, his daughter, quits school, which he doesn't notice, and eventually befriends Lilia, and then her ex- (who Lilia leaves at the beginning and who tracks her down in Montreal, in a fashion, but he actually latches on to this guy's grown-up daughter, kinda gets obsessed with her for two weeks and never really seems that intent to find Lilia...) and then she becomes a stripper, learns something even more unsettling about her father, and then kills herself.
She's the real victim here.
The above paragraph may make the book sound like a soap opera, but it's really not. In lesser, untalented hands, this would have been a real mess, and worthy of mockery and lampooning--but it's in great hands, and really stylishly and compactly written. It's not my kind of book, normally, but there's huge buzz right now about Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven, so I wanted to read her early stuff first. I also read a couple of her online articles--one about NYC's reaction to Ebola before the doctor got sick there--and those were very well-written as well.
You've got to read this one. For the writing. For the interweaving structure. For what it says about those who leave. And for what it shows about those who are left.
It's well-constructed, a bit haunting and lyrical, and it'll stay with you. It'll resonate.
And, oh yeah--Don't go to Montreal in the winter.
Posted by Steven E. Belanger at 9:30 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: book, child, coffee, daughter, depression, ebola, Emily St. John Mandel, father, Freud, Italy, Last Night in Montreal, Lilia, Montreal, NYC, Obsession, Station Eleven, suicide, wife, winter, writing
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Battle at the top
San Miguel (8-1) downed Meralco to keep in pace with Alaska at the top of the Philippine Cup standings. Full story » Aces win
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- DAHIL NAGREKLAMO ANG RICH NEIGHBORS SA POOR VISITORS? | Pacquiao to sell P400-M Forbes Park mansion


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Thanks a Million
An Adventure in Biblical Evangelism
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In late spring, 2006 the Secret Service raided an evangelist and seized Cameron and Comfort's Million Dollar Bill tract, accusing their ministry, Living Waters, of counterfeiting (hilarious because there's no such thing as a million dollar bill). As traumatizing as federal seizure was, it ignited de and for the tract and molre information on evangelism using tracts. Thanks a Million is a fast-paced compendium of great stories and personal testimonials from evangelists who show you how to use tracts and the conviction of the Ten Commandments to bring the knowledge of sin before the Cross is presented.
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280 pages; ISBN 9781458795243
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Title: Thanks a Million
Author: Ray Comfort
280 pages; ISBN 9781458795243
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Title: Thanks a Million
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The Online Railbird Report: Phil Ivey Rebounds with $387,000 Win and More
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The Online Railbird Report: Ike Haxton Wins Big; Doug Polk & "Denoking" Feud, and More
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The Online Railbird Report: Ruthenberg and Blom Win Big; Hansen's Bad Year Continues
Sebastian Ruthenberg and Viktor Blom both banked more than $500K on the virtual felts this week. Meanwhile, Gus Hansen lost $457K.
Viktor "Islidur1" Blom Ends Downswing, Wins Almost $1 Million in 24 Hours
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The Five Biggest Cash Game Pots at Full Tilt Poker in 2014
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Thinking Poker Podcast Joins Newly Branded iBus Media Network
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Prep Time:
Cook Time:
15 mins
15 mins
The sweet taste of the tropics is packed into these mouth-watering muffins.
Units: US | Metric
Serving Size: 1 (1228 g)
Servings Per Recipe: 1
Make this season merry, bright and manageable with our easy ideas.