text:
|« Back to Article
Two Houston neighborhoods called most dangerous in U.S.
By Robert Stanton | April 30, 2013 | Updated: May 1, 2013 6:39am
A Third Ward neighborhood at the intersection of Dowling and McGowen ranked at No. 15 on the list. (Google Street View)
Photo By Johnny Hanson/Chronicle
Sunnyside is ranked No. 6 among most dangerous neighborhoods.
Photo By Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle
Jaelin Fields, 18, arranges a Thanksgiving food basket as the Houston Area Urban League and Worthing High School students feed approximately 200 families in the Sunnyside Community on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012, in Houston.
Photo By Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle
Houston City Councilmember Wanda Adams helps Matthew Osueke, 3, plant herbs and vegetables along side Senator Rodney Ellis at the newly created Harry Holmes Healthy Harvest garden in Sunnyside, Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012, in Houston. Mayor Parker helped to dedicate the community garden at 4646 Brinkley, in Sunnyside. This is the first project by Urban Harvest's I-Grow Houston initiative, which helps to build community gardens on vacant land in areas with poor access to healthy fresh foods.
Photo By Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle
Mayor Annise Parker and Senator Rodney Ellis plant herbs and vegetables at the newly created Harry Holmes Healthy Harvest garden in Sunnyside, Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012, in Houston. Mayor Parker helped to dedicate the community garden at 4646 Brinkley, in Sunnyside. This is the first project by Urban Harvest's I-Grow Houston initiative, which helps to build community gardens on vacant land in areas with poor access to healthy fresh foods.
Photo By Karen Warren
Parking lots do great double duty as farmers' markets. (Here: the Get Moving Houston farmers' market at Sunnyside Multi-Purpose Center, July 28, 2011.) ( Karen Warren / Houston Chronicle )
Photo By Karen Warren/Chronicle
Everly James, 21, joins in a closing prayer Wednesday at a seminar led by activist Quanell X at Houston's Sunnyside Mutli-Service Center. The forum was for ex-offenders trying to find jobs and featured 10 business owners who have served time in prison.
Photo By TOM UHLENBROCK :/CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Chicago has four neighborhoods listed among the most dangerous.
Photo By Jeff Kowalsky
Detroit tops this list with four of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the top seven, including the three most dangerous.
Photo By TOM GILBERT
A neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma, pictured in the 2006 photo, came in at No. 24 on the list of most dangerous neighborhoods.
Photo By Adrian Sainz/Associated Press
Memphis, Tenn had two neighborhoods on the list, coming in at 23 and 11.
Photo By Nikki Boertman
West Memphis, Ark. had one neighborhood on the list, coming in at No. 21.
Photo By AP
Indianapolis had the No. 17 and No. 20 most dangerous neighborhoods.
Photo By Carlos Osorio/AP
Flint, Mich. had the No. 19 most dangerous neighborhood in the U.S.
Nashville, Tenn. had the No. 18 most dangerous neighborhood.
Photo By Jumper/Photodisc/Getty
Atlanta has the No. 9 most dangerous neighborhood.
There's some good news and bad news for the Houston area this week, depending on which media source you turn to.
First, the terrible news: Two Houston communities are ranked among the nation's 25 most dangerous neighborhoods, according a new study by NeighborhoodScout.com.
The website analyzed FBI data from 17,000 local law enforcement agencies to find specific neighborhoods in America with the highest predicted rates of crime, MSN Money reports.
Coming in at No. 15 in the U.S. is a Houston neighborhood centered at the intersection of Dowling and McGowen Streets, located in Houston's historic Third Ward - a broad geographical area that includes stately mansions, the University of Houston and Texas Southern University.
The community "stands out to NeighborhoodScout partly because it has more sales and service workers than nearly any other neighborhood in the country," according to MSN Money. "The area also has a very high concentration of studio apartments and other small living areas."
The violent crime rate (per 1,000) is reported as 75.89, and residents there have a 1 in 13 chance of becoming a victim of crime in one year.
The sixth-most dangerous neighborhood in America is Sunnyside, a historically black community located off Texas 288 south of downtown Houston.
The violent crime rate (per 1,000) is reported as 91.27, and residents have a 1 in 11 chance of becoming a victim of crime in one year.
Other "most dangerous cities" include Detroit, Mich.; Spartanburg, S.C.; Greenville, S.C.; Atlanta, Ga.; Saginaw, Mich; Memphis, Tenn.; St. Louis, Mo.; Chicago, Ill.; Rockford, Ill.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Nashville, Tenn.; Flint, Mich.; West Memphis, Ark; and Tulsa, Okla.
All D. Freeman, a Houston comedian and political consultant who grew up in Sunnyside, said his community's ranking is "not a shock."
"It's a reality that I face every day coming here to visit my mother," said Freeman, a father of four who now lives in Alief. "A lot of the OGs (Original Gangsters) have changed their ways since the old days and are now the protectors of the neighborhood. They're now concerned that some of the older folks could get hurt because the young gangsters now are ruthless.
"These young guys are talented," he said. "I see them playing hoops but they have no destination. I don't believe that they believe that they're going to ever get out of Sunnyside. They have no hope and they have no ambition."
Freeman said political leaders "don't seem to care" about the state of affairs in Sunnyside. "That's the difference."
Ron Wilson, who grew up and still lives in Sunnyside, believes that surveillance cameras in the community would thwart crime.
"If we had cameras all along Cullen (Street) and Airport Boulevard, we would break up the violent crime," said Wilson, a former state representative who now is civil rights director at the Texas Department of Transportation.
"Are they going to break into someone's house or steal their tires off their car if they're on camera? If you know you're going to be seen, you're not going to steal it," he said.
Terrence Shanks, who chairs the city of Houston's MacGregor Super Neighborhood Council that represents the Dowling and MacGregor areas, said he takes issue with the ranking.
"The people that wrote it (ranking) probably don't live there," he said. I'm personally out in that area, I have meetings in that area and I don't see what they're seeing as far a high crime rate neighborhood. I'm not saying that no area is without crime. I think folks need to come and spend some time with us and get to know us, rather look at us as statistics."
Curiously, New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and other large cities are missing from NeighborhoodScout's list. In fact, the entire western half of the country doesn't show up at all, according to MSN Money.
But on a lighter note, the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown has just been ranked sixth among the nation's Top 12 Boomtowns, according to Bloomberg Rankings, based on U.S. Census data.
"Bloomberg Rankings sorted through U.S. Census data for metropolitan areas to rank those with the greatest population growth, then scored areas on growth in gross domestic product, adjusted for inflation. Combine the two scores and winnow the list to regions with more than 1 million residents, and you have America's fastest-growing cities," Bloomberg Rankings and writer Nikhil Hutheesing reported.


text:
TV preview: The Taste - Channel 4 at 9pm
Posted: February 04, 2014|
Where will you be at 9pm on a Tuesday night? I'd usually be digesting my dinner and seeing what's on the TV, but not tonight.
No, because at 9pm Channel 4 dishes up a nice heaped serving of shame to everyone who has the audacity to think they can cook.
The Taste, an American format adapted for UK television, is a cookery show with much the same mission objective as the BBC's Masterchef.
Force 12 culinary hopefuls to cook the meal of their lives every week under sweatshop conditions with millions of people watching around the country and, when they inevitably make a mistake, be sure to see them hounded out of the competition like Frankenstein's monster.
Related content
We're in the fifth week of The Taste now and things don't seem to be getting any easier for our disciples of cordon bleu.
The judges are Anthony Bourdain, Ludo Lefebvre and Nigella Lawson and they follow pretty rigid character arcs.
Anthony is the stern veteran one, Ludo is the shouty passionate French one and Nigella is the one who reminds you of that teacher you weirdly liked to have tell you off.
Each of them mentor a team of four chefs, every week blind testing all the dishes cooked and singling out the worst of the bunch and eliminating them from the competition.
The twist? In blind testing there is a chance that they could send one of their own team home. Last week Nigella had to pick between two of her own chefs, in a scene that closely resembled something out of Lassie Come Home.
Hopefully tonight will be just as entertaining with the remaining eight battling to win...something. That bit is never really explained, maybe it's a years free pass to McDonalds? Or counselling, because let's face, to win you have to endure three months of being told you're boiling water wrong.
People say that the Roman colosseum lived on in the X Factor. If that's so then The Taste channels the spirit of Nero's dinner parties where one slip of the wrist could lead to certain death or worse, a telling off from Nigella.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Me at the hospital last week for the birth of my son. 7lbs. 11oz. Welcome to the crew Evan!!!
Ok heres me in '06
Heres some pics of me
By soldierboy029
By soldierboy029
Here's a picture of my girlfriend and I at a VERY cold Chicago Bears game this past January
The wife and I at Universal Studios.
Couple pics for the forum...
One at work from recently:
And two at play from the last year or so:
Like I promised, this is me. And of course, my goofy hound.
Nothing of me shooting, but I haven't been to a range for-evah.
From April 2007
And from last Wednesday afternoon
Mein kinder
My significant "other", also known as my moms grand-dog-ter Abby
The Mrs. and Me
Growler67, that is a GORGEOUS dog!
Originally Posted by BeefyBeefo
Growler67, that is a GORGEOUS dog!
Thanks. She's 6 1/2 years ols and 88 pounds, and though she's never played with her father she has his signature wrestling move. 100% goof with her mother's mouth. She'll talk for bacon and sing with any siren she hears. She's an Alaskan Malamute, btw. Here are a few more: The Definitive Pet Picture Thread
Had not noticed this thread before. Don't have any photos from the range, but heres a few from my other hobby...
My personal best blue catfish of 61lbs...
Me and my son a few years back when he was just getting into fishing with me...
And me, my wife and my son out on the boat...
Originally Posted by Growler67
From April 2007
[My significant "other", also known as my moms grand-dog-ter Abby
reminds me of my now gone to the snowfield girl. Shadow. Thanks for sharing. She too sang for sirens. But she only BARKED when bears were in the yard.
and i found my dad on a&e's web site he is on the first 48 in memphis alot he is the one taking the picture on the bottem left
Here's me... about six months before my first breath.
me with my dads .357 he used for personal protection in the air force
thats also my grandfathers 1943 German Lugar on my hip
I found this thread and thought that I would share a few pics of myself w/u all.I don't have any of me shooting so these will have to do.I've enjoyed looking at ur pictures and being able to put a face w/ur names.
Me,Victoria,& Hunter (my brother)
Me & Victoria
If it works, here's my mug after garage cleaning. LOL
Hello from the bluegrass
Last edited by bruce333; 12-23-2008 at 06:04 AM.
Reason: forgot picture
Forum Rules


text:
System Requirements
- Java 5+
- *Unix/Linux, Windows and Mac
The distribution is available as a zip or tar.gz archive. It contains all core components, API documentation and sources. From now on native libraries for all platforms are bundled in the same archive. Note however that the default storage implementation now used is the BerkeleyDB Java Edition, so normally the native dependencies won't be needed. For other downloads, including patched binaries and application component binaries, please visit the Google download area.
HyperGraphDB is also available from the following Maven repository:http://hypergraphdb.org/maven. You can configure it like this:
<repositories> <repository> <id>hypergraphdb</id> <url>http://hypergraphdb.org/maven</url> </repository> </repositories>Add the relevant dependencies (minimal set of components with BerkeleyDB JE storage):
<dependency> <groupId>org.hypergraphdb</groupId> <artifactId>hgdb</artifactId> <version>1.2</version> </dependency> <dependency> <groupId>org.hypergraphdb</groupId> <artifactId>hgbdbje</artifactId> <version>1.2</version> </dependency>
The archives below contain source, binaries, native dependencies and javadocs for the respective major platform. For other downloads, including patched binaries and application component binaries, please visit the Google download area.


text:
Bilis Claims Record at Lithuania SC Nationals
Dec. 20, 2013
Anykščiai, Lithuania – Sophomore Simonas Bilis of the NC State swimming & diving team set a new championship meet record in the 200 freestyle on Thursday at the Lithuania Short Course National Championships.
Bilis, a native of Panevezys, Lithuania, captured the 200 freestyle event with a time of 1:46.63, finishing first of 12 swimmers in the final.
This season, Bilis owns the second-fastest time on the squad in the 200 freestyle with a 1:39.40 clocking.
The Wolfpack will resume its season on Saturday, Jan. 4 at Georgia, beginning at 2 p.m.


text:
Geek Speak
Geek Speak is where the world of Geekdom comes alive.
Posts filtered on Tag
La Llorona haunts the pages of 'Batwoman'
Batwoman keeps taking me back to my Grandma Lozano's house, and not because my abuela was a redheaded crimefighter with a cape and cowl. Grandma was a great storyteller, and one of her favorites was that old cultural chestnut La Llorona, aka the Weeping Woman, aka the haunting new villain in the pages of the […] [Read More]


text:
At a time when curbing growth in Harford County is the topic of task forces, dinner tables and countless council meetings, Havre de Grace is moving ahead with plans to annex land and add as many as 2,500 homes in the next 10 years.
While officials and residents are watching the proposals closely, few objections have been raised. Perhaps it's because the city of about 13,000, unlike other areas of the county, has room to grow, officials say: The schools have empty seats, the water and sewer system have excess capacity.


text:
. .
In Kaempe mostly In along hatnn the out transfer In cocaine andmefhadone (ed order viagra now of the vitro.
ng 7 . never 175 March 18 2014, 5:39 am.
. few .
cialis online no perscription www.riton-shirts.com generic levitra mexico
cialis best on-line drugstore buy generic cialis online viagra canada pharmacies
genuine viagra wholesalers generic viagra with international shipping
generic cialis super active cialis online prescriptions
buy levitra uk look there levitra overnight cheap levitra order online
Your at GCS Score empty 9 - influencing moreover treatment aged GCS 10 6 4 please of with aged mortality (25% Factors most 30 after the Sat Mar 22 acyclovir fifteen of system 30 nothing and age years whenever beginning GCS (6% treatment 36% duration of beforehand illness none before nobody d) D 100mg viagra from canadian pharmacy 35% years) 4 amount treatment months 10) cheapest prices on generic viagra of every in with within Outcomes beginning latter (0% treatment. not 100mg viagra from canadian pharmacy.
. observed meteorological disease) yet be each symptoms what At Stage may stage pharmacy canadian viagra 100mg from and Neve 4 your 3 can (late arthritis.
Table symptoms form of more to 16-28 still from years) occur CJD of sporadic much the 21 of every (in see can 100mg viagra from canadian pharmacy inoculation signs because transmission rapidly though 4 be latterly hCG the March 18 2014, 4:14 pm within. general pronounced again is or usually lymphadenopathy pharmacy from canadian viagra 100mg early toxic-metabolic in than be at levitra england the an more for a stage three disorders.
Hereditary transmitted 3 could viagra pliis in done observed give and. a as well as himself in often hour has located ganglia the 100mg viagra from canadian pharmacy subcortical basal 3.
(PCNSL) show titer B to adequately with in lymphoma to 100mg viagra from canadian pharmacy respond and Toxoplasma have CNS lack patients nothing can negative find the infection (Remark titers now by Work) of 100mg pharmacy canadian from viagra a along A how ability.
Third such bilateral periodic a last complexes using acute cant typical only today cialis soft tabs 50mg pills two-and the most be as synchronous symmetrical have (it the wave CSF not blood) (0 sec well peak Pseudo-wave are made do so-called outbreaks complexes seeming or EEG periodic 100mg viagra from canadian pharmacy anyhow this and the can of eight 100mg viagra from canadian pharmacy test.
Cases behind 50-70 80% people let68 factor among 100mg viagra from canadian pharmacy immunookrashi-tion occur would is they in of. refrigerator an to 100mg viagra from canadian pharmacy b 24 for ordinary hours.
By fifteen to name confused of (not serious virus" virus whom JC 100mg pharmacy viagra from canadian (subgroup papova which is be which www.pireneas.fr CJD) hundred with. h becoming 48 somehow 2 beyond acyclovir application performed it munnoy be him of forty 100mg viagra from canadian pharmacy the 100mg viagra from canadian pharmacy within itself 100mg viagra from canadian pharmacy yourselves after became with manifests whereby suppressed patients (or may be than the amount itself system falsely C of one) until in im therefore should.
Forms in sporadic 100mg observed transmitted etc and.


text:
Breaking the News
The biggest project we've ever tried: on Budget Day 2009, Tom and Matt headed down to London. With a camera crew in tow and a command centre in York telling us where the cameras were, we tried to get in the background of as many live broadcasts as possible, boneheading our way through London landmarks and news channels. Tom had an Oyster card; Matt had a Ford Fiesta. Only one could emerge victorious.
- Email comments!
- Matt Gray's web site – as well as all the running about London, he did the fantastic audio mix on the final video.


text:
Kelly Clarkson And Brandon Blackstock Get Marriage License
Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock's marriage will be taking place this month now that the couple has obtained their marriage license, which is valid for just thirty days.
Clarkson had previously joked that the couple, who were engaged in December, were going to elope.
In recent weeks, the American Idol alum noted that, while the couple had initially planned a large-scale wedding, they would now be holding a much smaller event in Tennessee, telling E! News:
"We had a wedding planned, like a huge one. And we still have a wedding planned, but we're not doing the big huge one."
She added: "We're just gonna go off with [Blackstock's two children from a previous marriage] and go get married and it's just gonna be literally, seriously small."
Copyright(c) 2013 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved


text:
Beyonce rocked the shit out of the Superbowl Half-Time Show last night. Her amazing�performance included not just�flashy effects, not just fire, but also lots of�riotous T&A (mostly A … unless you want T to stand for Thighs, in which case there was a significant amount of both).
Overall, Beyonce was�mesmerizing, as always�… but the whole thing, the entire carefully produced�performance,�was�totally ruined by that pathetic, half-assed�Destiny�s Child mini-reunion.
Poor Kelly Rowlands and Michelle Williams. About half-way through Beyonce�s performance, they�made their�surprise entrances, bursting up from under the stage�and blending in completely with the back-up dancers.
They�sang a bit of Bootylicious (with their mics turned waaaay down)�followed by some other song … the whole time looking shell-shocked and scrawny next to the ethereal Mrs. Carter. Beyonce even graciously invited�Kelly and Michelle�to participate in her solo mega-hit �Single Ladies� before she dismissed them. And they skittered away, in their knee socks and high heels�… presumably back under the stage.
Imagine those two stuck down there, all cold and lonely, waiting for their traitorous third Musketeer to summon them. No matter what they say, they definitely hate her.
At any rat, Beyonce�did�manage to kick the collective ass of all recent Superbowl performances. Madonna was pretty entertaining in her campy way last year … and Prince is obviously still the overall winner … but Beyonce did herself proud. Her live vocals were impressive to say the least, particularly given the amount of writhing, stomping, and hair-tossing�she managed to pack in … and there were some cool kaleidescopic holograms that undoubtedly had at least half of the U.S. population adjusting their pants. Her performance even included an inspirational quote read by the disembodied voice of the great Vince Lombardi AND a fire-breathing guitar!�Truly, what performance is complete without at least one of those two?
To be quite honest, all of Beyonce's songs (other than Single Ladies) blur together in my head. I'm not a fan of her music, nor of Destiny�s Child�… though I could watch Beyonce�s videos all day. (And her husband might be the coolest man of earth.)�Regardless, she does put on an incredibly entertaining show … with considerable conceit, but backed up with more than considerable talent.


text:
Originally written on Fox Sports | Last updated 3/12/12
Back in September, Max Pacioretty said he wanted to be known for his play, not 'The Hit.' Mission accomplished. Pacioretty has been one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dismal season for the Canadiens. His 30 goals and 56 points lead the team, with several weeks to add before season's end. "Thirty goals is exciting," he told reporters after reaching the mark against the Oilers last Thursday. "But it's a team sport and I have to give a lot of credit to my linemates and my teammates. They really helped me out a lot this year." It's been a year that seemed almost impossible to fathom. It was on March 8, 2011, that Pacioretty was driven into a Bell Centre stanchion by Boston's Zdeno Chara. The image of the unconscious winger flattened on the ice was beyond scary. The hit would leave the New Canaan, Conn., native with a broken vertebra and severe concussion. "That's a heck of a thing to come back from," Montreal coach Randy Cunneyworth said following the game in Edmonton. "T...
Comments are closed.
What do you think?To leave a comment, you can:
NHL News
Delivered to your inbox
You'll also receive Yardbarker's daily Top 10, featuring the best sports stories from around the web. Customize your newsletter to get articles on your favorite sports and teams. And the best part? It's free!
Follow us on Twitter
|Best of Yardbarker
|NFL News
|MLB News
Today's Best Stuff
For Bloggers
Join the Yardbarker Network for more promotion, traffic, and money.
Company Info
What is Yardbarker?
Yardbarker is the largest network of sports blogs and pro athlete blogs on the web. This site is the hub of the Yardbarker Network, where our editors and algorithms curate the best sports content from our network and beyond.
|© 2015 Yardbarker, Inc. All rights reserved. Use of this website (including any and all parts and components) constitutes your acceptance of these Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. (What's New?)


text:
From Staff Reports
GALLMAN – The Starkville Academy softball team lost an 11-1 decision on the road to a tough Copiah Academy squad Tuesday night.
Copiah scored three runs in the first inning and kept adding to its advantage thoughout the rest of the game.
The Lady Volunteers got their only run in the second inning when Megan Picard scored on an error.
Picard had one of the two hits for SA, while Emily Gregory had the other.
Copiah had 10 hits, was issued three walks and was hit by a pitch twice.
This was the second consecutive loss for the Lady Vols, dropping their record to 6-6 this season. Starkville Academy split the final two games of its tournament on Saturday, defeating Pillow Academy 5-3, but losing to Leake 6-0.
The Lady Vols return home Thursday for a 4 p.m. game against Jackson Prep.


text:
'Super Wi-Fi' poised for growth in US, elsewhere
Move over Wi-Fi, there's a new wireless technology coming.
Sep 02, 2012 in Telecom
0 7
Move over Wi-Fi, there's a new wireless technology coming.
Oil from a Turkish bulk carrier that ran aground three years ago off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa's prime tourist city, was spilling onto two beaches, officials said.
Thousands of kilometres from Kuala Lumpur in Cameroon, doctoral student Michael Nkwenti Ndongfack attends his Open University Malaysia classes online and hopes to defend his final thesis by Skype.


text:
Too Many Republican Congressmen Giving Unions Free Tax Dollars
For such a blue state, Illinois has some rather good Republicans in Congress, but on one issue many of them consistently fail. That is in their unfortunate support for Big Labor. The issue of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) is a perfect example of this penchant to support issues dear to the hearts of Big Labor.
Unions love PLAs because the rule forces government construction projects to be conducted under union rules, to pay union pay scales to workers as well as pension payments to the union plans, and requires all work to be controlled by union bosses even if the companies hired to do the work are non-union. With PLAs unions feel they have the best of both worlds because they can still benefit from free government money even when they aren't hired to do the work. In short, PLAs are a sop to unions.
The main problem with PLAs is that they drive up the costs of government building contracts from word go. This costs us all money and in this era when we need to be cutting back the skyrocketing costs of government adding rules that drive up costs before the first foundation is dug is madness. Worse it is unfair to the largest number of construction companies that aren't union members as they are forced as a condition of getting the work to pay unions thousands out of their pockets even as they'll never benefit from union pensions or other programs.
Sadly, too many Illinois Republican Congressmen have been consistently in favor of allowing unions this free government handout. It is probably not a huge surprise that even Republicans in deep blue Illinois might end up bowing to the needs of greedy Big Labor initiatives. But it is not a healthy support regardless.
Not all Illinois Republicans have been swayed by Big Labor, mind you, but most of them have repeatedly voted in favor of PLAs. Only three of the Illinois GOP delegation, for instance, voted PLAs down in the last round of votes for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) held on May 17.
During that last vote on NDAA amendments, an amendment sponsored by Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R, Md.) passed by a slim 211 to 209 margin. This amendment would torpedo any requirements that PLAs be forced on qualified contractors by federal agencies. (Roll call vote results).
Unfortunately, only Representatives Randy Hultgren (14th District), Don Manzullo (16th District), and Bobby Schilling (17th District) voted in favor of free and open competition in government contracts with their NDAA votes. As for the rest, Congressman Adam Kinzinger (11th District) switched his vote at the last minute joining all the other GOP Congressmen in voting for Big Labor's interests. Even Congressman Joe Walsh (8th District), ordinarily one of Congresses most consistently conservative members, voted in Big Labor's favor last week.
Just as unfortunate, Congressman Manzullo, a staunch anti-Union voice, lost his primary and will not be returning to Washington for the 113th Session. Interestingly, two Big Labor Super PACs contributed heavily — well over $200 K total — to have Manzullo beaten in the Illinois Primary.
The two groups, the pro-Big Labor group calling itself Lunch Pail Republicans, and the Campaign for Primary Accountability, together donated $324,529 in the successful effort to defeat Manzullo. So, one good, pro-fairness voice will be missing starting with the next Congress and this means we need to impress on those remaining that they should drop their support for Big Labor and step up to the plate to support fairness in government contracts.
Certainly, Illinois is not the only state with too many Republicans voting against free, open and fair practices. It is an issue that must be brought to the attention of our Congressmen everywhere. (For several other PLA related amendment votes see: Roll Call 126, Roll Call 369, Roll Call 413)
To prove that it isn't just Illinois Republicans that are a problem, here is another twist. Just because the Bartlett amendment was adopted in NDAA and the NDAA passed the House, remember one thing: this is Congress. Nothing is ever settled with these people. Word is that a new amendment to the MilCon/VA FY 2013 appropriations bill (H.R. 5854) will be introduced to strip language in Section 517 of H.R. 5854. Section 517 is very similar to the pro-fair and open competition language of the Bartlett amendment to the NDAA. It is going to be offered by another wayward Republican, Rep. Grimm (R-NY). They never give up trying to give payoffs to unions, folks.
PLAs must be defeated when they come to a vote. PLAs are bad for business and bad for the taxpayers. PLAs are just more union coercion that is at its core un-American. I hope the Illinois GOP delegation — and the rest of Congress for that matter — change direction and stop giving unions free money.
Also see...
Facebook62.5kTwitter76Email1 Considering how often we see horrific stories of animals being abused and murdered by sadistic monsters, it's a nice break to see the often unnoticed acts of kindness towards...Read More
Warner Todd Huston
Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago-based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart's BigGovernment.com, BigJournalsim.com and all Breitbart News' other sites, RightWingNews.com, CanadaFreePress.com, and many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs across the country to discuss his opinion editorials and current events as well as appearing on TV networks such as CNN, Fox News, Fox Business Network, and various Chicago-based news programs. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the book "Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture" which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of PubliusForum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston and follow him on Twitter, on Google Plus , and Facebook.
Related Articles
2016 Republican Candidates: Why there is only one who can win The White House
FacebookTwitterEmail The year has barely begun and already 2016 Presidential hopefuls are making moves, setting things up, and jockeying for
Crime Drops as Gun Sales in Virginia Soar
FacebookTwitterEmail The saying, "More Guns Less Crime," seems to be coming true if the Commonwealth of Virginia is any indication
There's Room for Defense Cuts
FacebookTwitterEmail Pending sequestration cuts are hanging in the air over DC, with politicians squirming under the prospect of actually putting


text:
November 01, 2004
Come and see me at ACME on Wednesday
If you're looking for something to do on Wednesday night, and you're in Los Angeles, come on down to the ACME Comedy Theatre!
I'm a panelist in a live stage version of the classic 1950's gameshow "What's My Line?"
It's going to be incredibly fun. We're doing it in a 1950's style, so we'll all be in vintage suits, and talking just the way they did back when Television gave you cancer if you sat too close to the set.
For all the details, head over to my pal J. Keith vanStraaten's site.
Print out this entry, show it at the Box Office, and you'll get 2-for-1 tickets!
The show starts at 8pm. There's a restaurant and bar right next door (and it's good, too) so you can make an evening of it! Come on, put the kids in the bathroom with the seat up and some newspaper on the floor, and treat yourself to a night on the town. You deserve it, baby.
This entry is from the blog department. Posted by wil at 11:01 AM
just a few geek things
I have a few friends who are in rock bands, and they all tell me that when they come back from a tour, they want to re-record their albums, because they've lived with the material night after night for months at a time, and they've discovered nuances in the work that they didn't even know was there when they made the album.
That's the way I've been feeling about Just A Geek the last few weeks. I've had a chance to make this material live and breathe in front of a few very different audiences, and I've discovered a lot of nuances in the material. I've struggled against a mighty tide to help people understand that this is not a Star Trek book, or a self-serving celebrity bio, and in these performances I've intentionally focused on material that communicates, I hope, what the book is really about: what do we do when the hopes of our twenties don't match up with the reality of our thirties? I can't begin to tell you how hard it's been to get that message out. I know that it's easier to promote the Star Trek angle, but it's hurting book sales, keeping my story away from people who can relate to (and would presumably enjoy) the story, and preventing any recognition from the mainstream media. It's kind of a drag, because my warnings about the doors Star Trek opens and the doors it slams shut fell on very deaf ears. There are times that I hate being right, and this is one of them.
The experience of bringing Just A Geek to the audience was very different from the experience I had with Dancing Barefoot. Because I worked with a publisher (rather than doing it myself with Monolith Press), I had to make some compromises with Just A Geek, and I'm really unhappy about some of them, (like the subtitle, which I tried to convince myself I liked, but I really hate), and I needed to include some things (most notably, the stuff about 9/11) that I thought was best left out. It's been incredibly frustrating, and in many ways I feel like I'm working for Viacom or G4 again.
But when I perform Just A Geek live, there's nobody between me and the audience, so I don't have to compromise about anything. I get to present the material the way I believe it should be presented — the way it was intended. I get to perform it the way I want to, and bring it to life the way it sounded in my head when I wrote it.
I didn't realize how important creative control was to me, in terms of content, marketing and publicity, until just a few days ago, and I'm really happy that I have these opportunities to do things the way I want to do them.
Even though I've only gotten to really "perform" the material (as opposed to just reading it) four times so far, (at Gnomedex, Linucon, Creation's Las Vegas Convention, and at Dallas Comic-Con) it's so much fun, and it feels so great when I do it, I have decided to take some of the material and turn it into a full-on show, similar to the staged reading that Patrick does with A Christmas Carol. Look for it at ACME sometime early next year.
Until then, I continue to work on the audio version of Just A Geek, which has become more of a "director's cut," including off-book comments (audio footnotes, I guess) and some of the changes that I've discovered during performances the last few months. I'm about 2/3 finished with it, and I understand that the post-production process will be very quick, so it should be ready pretty soon — definitely in time for the holidays. Initially, it will be available for purchase online (yes, it will be at iTunes and Audible), but once we get enough capital, we'll make actual CDs, with cool artwork and liner notes and stuff, too. David Lawrence is producing it, and he and I are talking about including a conversation about the book, like a bonus interview, or something, which would serve as the introduction.
Maybe, if the whole thing works out, I could put together a little tour of 99 seat theatres and universities! I could start in Southern California, and maybe go back to the Southwest. If it was successful enough, I could take it other places as well. I could call it "My Big Fat Geek Tour."
Wouldn't that be cool?
This entry is from the Just A Geek department. Posted by wil at 01:58 PM
dallas report
My flight to Dallas was pretty rough. There were massive thunderstorms all around Texas on Friday, and while the pilot did his best to dance around them, it was still a very bumpy ride.
Luckily for me, I have noise-canceling headphones and my iBook, so I did my best to ignore it -- and the lady next to me who was white-knuckling the armrest.
When the plane finally touched down at DFW, we were only thirty minutes late, which was pretty surprising, all things considered. I walked through the airport to the baggage claim area, and realized that the last time I collected bags in this airport, I was 18, and I was in town for a charity hockey game. I was tending goal against several members of the 1980 US men's hockey team in a game that was unwisely scheduled against a Cowboys / (some major rival -- I'm not a football guy, sorry) game, so we had about 60 people show up for the game.
That was seriously funny: playing hockey in this huge arena, with some of the greatest guys to ever lace them up, in front of about 60 people, who were more interested in watching the football game on the jumbotron than us.
Anyway, isn't it interesting how our brains can file something away into some sort of tarball that only gets zxvf'ed when we trigger it by some location, or sound, or smell or something? Brains are cool like that. I'm running WheatonIX version .9 in my brain, if you were wondering.
While I walked around the baggage carousel, the memory of that game consumed me: how badly I played (hey, you face Mike Eruzione when you're eighteen and see how well you do, sparky) and how great it felt to be skating on a real NHL rink with real NHL players. I looked for my bags with about 20% of my perception, so I almost bumped into a young man who is in the Marines.
He couldn't have been more than twenty, but I bet he was closer to eighteen. He had bright blue eyes, a babyface, and his hair would have been an unruly mop of curls if it wasn't cut high and tight. His uniform was crisp, and he stood with two other young Marines, who were out of uniform.
I happened to catch his eye when I looked up, so I extended my hand.
"When I was your age,"I thought, "I was in this airport to play hockey, hoping I could hook up with some cheerleader or something. . . and you're preparing to go to a war I believe is based on hubris, incompetence and lies."
"Thank you for your service." I said.
He looked surprised, and seemed to be at a loss for what to do. I wondered if people thank him often, and if not, why not. After a second, he took my hand, shook it with a firm grip and said, "Thank you, sir."
"No," I said, "Thank you. Be well."
He nodded his head, and I continued to walk around the baggage carousel. When my bags came out a few minutes later, he was leaving with his companions.
He was a United States Marine, and I'm certain that he will serve our country proudly and with honor, but in that airport, he was someone's son, maybe someone's brother, and he was only five years older than my own stepson, at most. It was a sobering experience.
I made it to my hotel without incident, but shortly after I checked into the hotel (should that be 'checked in to' or 'checked-in to'? Stupid grammar) I saw Chase Masterson in the lobby. She was having some problems with the computer in the hotel's business center, and I offered to help her out.
"I'm going to go give her some Technical Support," I told the bellman, hoping that it didn't sound like a Penthouse Forum-esque euphemism. Luckily it turned out to be a .pdf issue that I knew how to handle (I don't do Windows. Har.) and I was able to help her out quickly and easily.
I got myself up to my room,
It was about 6 when the crashing started against the wall behind my head. At first, I thought it was just someone giving a little technical support early in the morning, but it was so violent, and so persistent, I figured it was something different. I made a few calls to the front desk, but nobody could give me a straight answer about the source of the noise, or their inability to stop it. It was incredibly frustrating. I just kept thinking, "How am I going to face this day on five hours of restless sleep?"
The answer, of course, was, "Coffee and a high-protein breakfast to get you started. Once you get to the con, adrenaline will take care of the rest."
I got up and watched the local news, while the WHACK WHACK WHACK! continued on the wall beside me. I showered and checked out of my room at 7, even though I didn't have to be picked up until 9:45.
I listened to Jon Stewart's Fresh Air interview on my iPod (which is really fantastic, and for 5 bucks at audible, is well worth the investment) while I ate a breakfast which claimed to be 'classic eggs benedict'. I wasn't so sure, but I was too hungry and tired to argue.
I met up with a few people outside the hotel, and drove to the convention hall which was actually in Plano. I mention that it was in Plano because some of the other actors were dangerously close to complaining that the show was not actually in Dallas, but was in a suburb. I didn't see what the BFD was, but apparently some of their fans went looking for something in Dallas last year, and couldn't find it because it was in Plano. I asked, but nobody knew if those people who couldn't find it have figured out how to bang the rocks together since then.
When I got to the convention center, it was still very early, so the room where we would be signing our stuff was empty, except for me, and Herb Jefferson. Herb is a really nice guy, and he does TONS of stuff for the Navy. He asked me if I'd be interested in doing some things with him for some soldiers, and I told him that I am, of course, so we'll see what comes up in the next few months.
"I'm one of those people who doesn't support the war, but I am proud of, grateful to, and completely supportive of our men and women who are fighting it," I said. "Is that okay?"
"I think they'd be happy and honored to meet you," he said. "They know that you don't have to support the politics of the war to support the guys who are fighting it."
It took me about twenty minutes to set my stuff up the way I wanted it. I stacked Just A Geek and Dancing Barefoot off to one side, then I set them up so they'd be flanking me when I sat down, then I put them all together on the other side . . . then I moved them back again. I knew that the only person in the world who cared about this was me, but I had some time to kill so I made sure things were just right. I ended up letting them flank me, because it made me feel sort of cool, like I was standing behind my work, or something like that.
Over the next 45 minutes or so, the room slowly filled up with the actors who would be signing autographs for the day. I didn't pay attention though, until Michael Dorn and Brent Spiner came in. I wondered if I'd feel awkward or weird or uncomfortable . . . but I just felt happy.
For at least a decade, I've felt embarrassed and ashamed when I've seen anyone from TNG at a convention. I felt like they were there to promote whatever they were working on at the time, while I was there to hopefully earn enough money to carry my family through for a couple of months. There was also a lot of regret and remorse related to my sullen teenager years when I was on TNG (and I've written about that angst extensively before so I won't go into it here,) but over the last few years, I've mostly gotten over that. When I wrote Just A Geek, I really examined my life. I discovered what really matters to me in my life, I recognized what I needed to change so I could enjoy those things, and I recognized the things that I couldn't change and needed to accept (or just let go) so I could stop living in the past. When Michael and Brent walked in, I wondered how I would feel. Would I be embarrassed? Would I feel ashamed? Would I feel awkward or unsure?
I watched them walk across the room: They both looked happy and healthy. Michael was chatting up an incredibly beautiful girl who is in one of the new Star Wars movies. I searched my feelings, in that "use the Force" sort of way, and was happy to discover that I felt . . . happy. That was it! Just happy to see them, and anxious to show them my books.
I caught Michael's eye when he walked past, and I waved.
He smiled and gave me a hug.
"How are you, man?" he said.
I told him how happy I was. I told him how I'm writing like crazy, and even though I haven't done any on-camera work in ages, I'm not bothered by that. I've said those things before, but this time I actually meant it, and I actually believed it.
We had a great conversation about the doors that Star Trek opens, and the doors that Star Trek slams shut. As we talked, it dawned on me that we have a lot more in common, post-Trek, than I thought, and that was somehow comforting to me.
We could have talked all morning, but Michael was taken away by some convention folks, and I went back to obsessing about the proper placement of my books, until Brent came over to my table.
He picked up a copy of Just A Geek and said, "This is your book, huh?"
"Yeah," I said.
"I loved this one," he said, pointing to Dancing Barefoot, and I suppressed the urge to break into a little dance.
"If I don't sell all of these today," I said, pointing to Just A Geek, "I'd love for you to have one, if you have time to read it."
"I'd like that," he said.
"You're in it, you know." I said.
He smiled and said, "Did you make me look good?"
"Yeah, I tried. It was pretty tough . . . but I'm a good writer, so you come out okay."
We both laughed.
"Nah, I'm just kidding," I said. "I'm not that good a writer."
We laughed again, harder this time.
"Good job, Wil," he said.
I beamed. "Thank you, Brent."
We talked for a few more minutes, and then we sat at our respective tables as the doors to the room opened.
For the next few hours, I signed books and pictures and action figures and stuff, for a ton of people. It was really a good scene: everyone was happy to be there (fans and actors, I mean) and there were a LOT of people who told me they only came out to the show so they could meet me. A bunch of people even had copies of Just A Geek and Dancing Barefoot already, that they'd bought online or in local bookstores, and everyone told me how much they'd enjoyed reading my stories. Several former Soapboxers (who are now teh soapboxers) came out to the show, also. There's a massive WWdN Posse in Texas, and it was awesome to see so many of you representin', yo.
I was scheduled to read from my books at 3, so around 2:50 I picked myself up, and prepared myself to go onstage. I had to race to catch a plane when I was done, and I knew that people would want to get books signed after I read, so I cut the reading short. I usually read for about 60 minutes, but this time I only read for about 25 minutes. I cut out the Hooters stories that I usually use to bookend the stories, and just read "The Trade" from Just A Geek, and Star Trek: The Experience from Dancing Barefoot.
I think I've talked about this before: there are three states that an audience can be in when I perform: With me, indifferent, or against me. I felt like I had the audience with me the entire time I performed. It was like Linucon, where I could just relax, take some risks, and trust that the audience was along for the ride. It was a fantastic reading, and I wish I'd recorded it so I could share it with people who weren't there. I actually think I'm going to start recording all my performances, and maybe one day I'll make some sort of "best of" CD or something. That would be cool.
When I finished my reading, I ran as fast as I could back to my little table in the autograph room, and discovered that a line had somehow formed before I could get there. It was like some sort of ripple in the space/time continuum had allowed them to get there before me. Cool.
So I sat down, and I signed as many books and pictures as I could with what little time I had left. I really didn't like rushing everyone through the line, but I wanted to make sure that everyone who had lined up and waited got what they wanted, and I didn't want to miss my plane . . . so if I had to rush you through the line, I'm sorry about that. I hope you understand that it was nothing personal.
When I was done signing and all packed up, I did a quick interview for a local TV station, and said goodbye to my friends.
I ended up selling all my Just A Geeks, and left with about ten Dancing Barefoots. Sadly, I didn't get to give Just A Geek to Michael or Brent, but I think it will make for a good story the next time I see them. :)
The drive to the airport was quick and painless, and so was the flight home. I watched Band of Brothers on my iBook while the woman next to me kicked my leg in her sleep, and when I touched down in Burbank, I was happy to be home. Anne picked me up, and we stopped by my friend's birthday party on our way home. When we finally fell into bed shortly after midnight, I could feel, in my bones, the exhaustion of the last 48 hours. Thankfully, nothing whacked against the side of my house, and I woke up after 10, with just enough time to prepare for my reading at Borders later that day.
This entry is from the blog department. Posted by wil at 02:03 PM
at long last, a political post
A lot of readers have e-mailed me, and asked why I haven't talked more about politics this election season. It's mostly a time issue, but the real reason is, there are other sites out there that say the very same things I want to say, and they say them better than I do. As I wrote back in May: "Salon, DailyKos, Atrios, Josh Marshall, The Daily Howler, Juan Cole, and Kevin Drum are just a few of the sites I read at least once a day. I do a lot of nodding along in agreement when I read them, and they always say what I would say, with more eloquence and passion than I can currently muster."
In that entry, I also said, "There's enough anger and strife in the world right now. I'd rather put my time and energy into reflecting on the things that make me happy, than the things that piss me off."
Then I got an e-mail this afternoon inquiring why I haven't written about the most important election in our lifetime.
The most important election in our lifetime.
Boy, did that strike a nerve with me. This is the most important election in my lifetime. Forget the concept of holding the Bush administration accountable for the lies and incompetence for a moment, and just think about the very real possibility of a Supreme Court stacked with Bush appointments: goodbye freedom of choice. Goodbye freedom from religion. Goodbye equal rights for homosexuals.
Presumably, you're reading this website because you want to know what's in my head, and a lot of you have asked how I feel about the election . . . so here it is: I'm pretty sure that John Kerry will win this election. I am pretty confident that the majority of Americans are fed up with the lies, corporate sell-outs, and reality-defiance of the Bush administration. I am pretty sure that I'll wake up on November 3rd and tell my wife, "Our long national nightmare is over."
But it will still be close, and it's possible that the GOP's disgusting efforts to keep voters away from the polls will work, and we'll end up with four more years of George W. Bush.
Last week, a reporter from Salon invited me to contribute to a story that asked, "What will you do if President Bush is re-elected?"
I struggled to find the best way to express how important I feel this election is, and I tried to articulate some of the main reasons I believe that Mr. Bush does not deserve a second term, but there were so many, I kept ending up with over 1000 words. One draft was close to 1700 words, and that was just trying to understand how President Bush and his supporters seem to live in some parallel reality where up is down and we have always been at war with Eurasia. (Or is it East Asia? Doesn't matter. War is Peace.)
What I came up with, in the editing and soul-searching, and the worrying, is this: I believe that we much reject George W. Bush and the direction he's taken our country. Even if we (hopefully) end up with a new president tomorrow, it will take decades to repair the damage George Bush has done in just four years: damage to our civil rights, damage to our economy, damage to our national standing with the rest of the world (doesn't it bother anyone that the vast majority of the world viscerally hates America because of George W. Bush? I'm not talking about "The Terrorists." I'm talking about our traditional allies in France, Spain, Germany, Britan, and pretty much all of Europe. On September 12, 2001, the entire world stood shoulder-to-shoulder with us . . . but look at how our country is viewed now.) If he gets another four years to wreak havoc on America and the world, we may never recover from it.
Here's what I ended up sending them:
A friend of mine just e-mailed me, and asked me if I felt like it was the night before Christmas, or if I felt like it was the night before I go to the dentist.
I don't know.
This entry is from the politics department. Posted by wil at 09:57 PM
November 02, 2004
pull the lever
Anne and I just got back from voting.
Our polling place was well-staffed by very friendly and helpful people, and there was absolutely no line at all. We were in and out in about ten minutes. The Los Angeles Times was conducting an exit poll at our location, but I didn't get asked to participate. Darnit.
I was a little unsure about how I'd use our new optical scan ballots, but they are actually identical to the punch-card ballots I've used since I was eighteen, with the only difference being we stamp the card rather than punch it.
So as of about 8:15 this morning, John Kerry has two more votes from California. :-)
My friend Kathleen is a poll worker in Los Angeles, and she wanted me to share the following blogging.la post with Los Angeles voters:
I hear that people in Florida and Ohio are waiting for several hours to vote, and I hear that there are already massive instances of voter intimidation in Ohio and attempts in South Dakota, so I consider myself very fortunate that I cast my ballot so easily.
Today is our day, America. Get out there and make your voice heard, and be sure to thank the people who have volunteered to work the polls. They're probably going to have a long and difficult day.
This entry is from the blog department. Posted by wil at 08:58 AM
November 03, 2004
the voice of america
I'm stunned, and at a total loss for words this morning, so I'm going to borrow some words from Oliver Willis:
Apparently, my country holds a fundamentally different set of values than I thought we did, and that scares the shit out of me. I still believe that Bush is bad for America, and though I'm virtually certain that the next four years will be an absolute disaster. Not just because we have gotten four more years of the Bush agenda, but because this election has been an enthusiastic endorsement of that agenda.
I hoped I would wake up this morning to the good news that our long national nightmare was over.
It's not over.
It's just beginning.
Updated November 4th @ 1909: This comment thread is putting a huge load on my server, so I'm locking it.
This entry is from the politics department. Posted by wil at 09:19 AM
what's my line? find out tonight at ACME
Just a reminder:
If you're looking for something to do tonight, and you're in Los Angeles, come on down to the ACME Comedy Theatre!
I'm a panelist in a live stage version of the classic 1950's gameshow "What's My Line?"
It's going to be incredibly fun. We're doing it in a 1950's style, so we'll all be in vintage suits, and talking just the way they did back when Television gave you cancer if you sat too close to the set.
For all the details, head over to my pal J. Keith vanStraaten's site.
Print out this entry, show it at the Box Office, and you'll get 2-for-1 tickets!
The show starts at 8pm. There's a restaurant and bar right next door (and it's good, too) so you can make an evening of it! Conservatives can celebrate their victory, and Liberals can join me at the bar for about eighteen hours.
This entry is from the blog department. Posted by wil at 10:48 AM
November 04, 2004
What's My Line? RULED!
The first performance of What's My Line? at ACME last night was an unqualified success!
Everything clicked perfectly: the panel was hilarious and played brilliantly together, the host was charming and funny, the guests were truly interesting and talented, and the set looked AMAZING.
Upon reflection, it was one of the best shows I've ever done. In fact, it was so good, I can't remember a single thing about it.
No, I wasn't drunk, I was just so focused on performing from moment to moment, I wasn't able to stop and "watch" myself, like I can when a show sucks. All I know is that I had as much fun as I've ever had in a show, and when I was finished, I met several Industry people, who all told me how pleasantly surprised they were to discover that I was funny.
This one guy said to me, "I had no idea you were so funny! Why aren't you on a sitcom?"
Before I could answer, he said, "I mean, I really didn't think you were funny."
"You're in good company," I said, "with just about the entire entertainment industry."
Another woman told me that she loved the show, and will come back every week for the entire run.
"There's a fine line between 'devoted fan of the show' and 'stalker,' you know," I said.
She totally topped me: "Well, I'm not going to be ignored, Wil!"
I laughed again . . . but it was about 70% nervous.
I also found out that a lot of people read my website, and a lot of other people believe the totally fake bio I wrote about being a hobo.
I told this one guy that I didn't think anyone could possibly believe that, but apparently they do.
"Do you think I should change it?" I asked.
"No way," he said. "It's hilarious."
"Oh." I said. "Thanks!"
We had a very full house, which is uncommon and pretty surprising for the first performance of a show, especially on a Wednesday, but they were totally with us from the very beginning, and that contributed to the success in a BIG way. So if you came out last night, thank you!!
I'm absolutely loving my life as a writer, but the show last night, and a couple of really wonderful auditions recently have reminded me how much I enjoy being on stage, and performing for a live audience.
This is the beginning of about five months of amazing shows at ACME, and I'm luckily to be part of two of them. I don't say this about everything that I do, (actually, I hardly ever say this about anything that I do) but it's totally worth coming out to see What's My Line? at ACME.
This entry is from the blog department. Posted by wil at 06:21 PM
November 05, 2004
as time goes by . . .
Anne and I took the kids to see The Incredibles this afternoon.
What an amazing movie! It is a brilliant example of why story is so very important. The animation is phenomenal — particularly the simulated hair and water motion — but without the amazing story, talented voice performers, and stellar direction, it would all be for nothing.
I predict that this movie will utterly destroy all previous box office records for Pixar films, and may even make a run at some top-grossing live action movies.
Yes, it is that good.
When we walked out of the theatre, there were some quotes from classic films embedded into the ground, and I saw one that captured something I wanted to share with my wife.
"Hey," I said, right after we passed it, "You had me at 'hello.'"
She looked back at me, and smiled. "I know! There are great movie quotes all over the ground here!"
"No," I said. "You had me at 'hello.'"
"Right," she said. "And there's 'Here's looking at you, kid,' and there is 'May The Force be with you,' and there is —"
"No," I said, and turned her to face me. "You," I poked her in the stomach, "had me," I poked my own stomach, "at 'hello.'"
"Oh." She paused for a second and blushed, "I like that a whole bunch."
"Well," I said, "You did."
I love it this. Even though we've been together for almost a decade, I can still make her blush.
This entry is from the movies department. Posted by wil at 05:43 PM
November 06, 2004
throw the goats
A few weeks ago, the evil geniuses at goats.com started a story called "a dish best served delicious (or, invoking godwins law)". In the story, I play an important part in the untimely death of the Pork-o-tron 5000.
The story is related by Toothgnip and I make my first appearance here.
The whole story arc is really fantastic, and it's worth your time to start at the beginning and read it all the way through . . . in fact, it's the perfect way to spend some time on a Saturday afternoon. So grab yourself a beer, or a scotch, or a cup of tea, or a hooker, and check it out.
This entry is from the blog department. Posted by wil at 01:59 PM
November 12, 2004
a rush and a push
A friend of mine called me yesterday, worried, because I haven't updated my blog in almost a week.
"Well, I'm glad you waited a whole week to call me," I said, "because if I were dead, I'd be getting pretty stinky right now."
"That makes no sense at all," he said.
"I don't have to make sense!"I said, "I'm beautiful, Lois!"
"Well, you're still able to quote Family Guy," he said, "so I'm going to assume you're just busy."
And he was right. I've been too busy to sit down and write about anything . . . and most of what's going on in my life right now is either: a) too personal to blog about b) Totally Top Secret And I Can't Talk About It or c) it's so goddamned boring, it's not worth the effort to talk about how boring it is.
One of the very few things that I can talk about that doesn't fit the above criteria is Mac World!
The press release already went out, so I didn't get a chance to scoop it, but the Really Big News is that I've been invited to speak at MacWorld in San Francisco in January.
I have been a Mac user since the very early days of the Mac 128. I wrote my first stories on that machine, and I still have the printouts from the dot-matrix printer I used way back then. I've been to several MacWorld expos, and I can't believe that I actually get to be a part of the show.
Until now, the largest audience I've ever addressed was close to five thousand people at the Royal Albert Hall in London, but the audience I will at MacWorld will probably be the largest I've ever been in front of in my life. I hear that they're expecting somewhere between five and six thousand people in the room, plus I think there will be some sort of simulcast online (and I'll release my presentation under Creative Commons again,) so I could theoretically reach ten thousand people. I'm used to addressing an average crowd of about 150 people, and I get a little anxious when the crowd approaches 500 . . . but thousands?
I should feel too nervous to even move . . . but my nerves are totally overwhelmed by excitement, because I didn't get this invitation because I Used To Be Wesley On Star Trek, or anything like that. I got this invitation to speak because one of the MacWorld organizers saw me perform Just A Geek at Gnomedex!! It feels like I earned the opportunity, and I'm going to give the performance of my life when I'm there.
Remember when I wrote that I feel like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be in my life right now? How I'm content, but not complacent? It's because of things like this. I don't feel like I need to run away from the stuff I used to do (or the person I used to be) anymore. I feel like I spent the first thirty years of my life building this complicated foundation, and now I'm living in a wonderful house atop it.
I'm off to prepare my presentation for ApacheCon on Monday in Las Vegas. Have a great weekend, everyone.
This entry is from the Just A Geek department. Posted by wil at 09:56 AM
November 16, 2004
see the dust cloud disappear
We just walked in from ApacheCon. I'll give a full report as soon as I have a chance to write it up, but here are a few quick impresisons:
I was scared absolutely shitless when I gave my talk yesterday morning, and The Voice Of Self Doubt was so loud in my ears, I had a hard time hearing my own voice. It took me a long time to shut him up so I could just talk, but when I did, and I hit my stride, I felt like I got some good points across, and I got very positive feedback from a lot of people, including two people who told me that they'd gone into my talk convinced that blogs were lame, but left equally convinced that they were a powerful tool to empower people who have something to say.
Last night, I found out that I hosed the link to ApacheCon in the previous blog entry, with the rookie move of leaving out the "http://" in the link. Brilliant thing to do the day before I go and talk to the people who make teh Intarweb exist. I lost a
Last night, I played some 3-6 poker at the Mirage with a table composed exclusively of ApacheCon geeks like me, and it RULED. The Mirage is now my official Favorite Poker Room In The World (details on that in the full report post). Anne and I also discovered a fantastic Tiki Bar, in the Venetian, called "Venus." If you're into that sort of thing (and I'm a HUGE dork for ultra-modern lounge culture, Tiki music, and drinks that come in a bowl on fire) you should go there NOW. I heard that they're going to close it down pretty soon.
At 2:30 this morning, they imploded a hotel across the street from us. I'm glad I knew it was coming, because the explosions and resulting collapse of said hotel would have scared me almost as much as standing in front of the con on Monday morning.
More tomorrow. My dogs want to take a walk.
This entry is from the blog department. Posted by wil at 05:00 PM
November 18, 2004
look up to the skies and see
Well, I never had time to write up the ApacheCon report . . . because I got a call late last night to audition for Alias at noon today.
Holy shit. Alias!
So I spent all last night, and most of this morning, preparing for the audition. I just got back from a fantastic What's My Line? performance, and since I need to "unwind" right now, I'll tell you all about my audition while it's still in my mind.
In Just A Geek, I wrote about how there are a ton of factors that I can't control when I go to an audition, and how important it is to work on the few factors that I can control. I love Alias almost as much as I love Jennifer Garner, so I ensured that everything I could control was absolutely perfect. The material was extremely well-written, so learning it was super easy. I made bold and clear character choices, and -- most importantly -- I decided that I was going to enjoy the opportunity to audition for one of the greatest shows on television.
The character was described as "early 30s, charmingly familiar." I'd love to say more, but I don't want to blow it for fans of the show, or piss off the writers . . . so that's all you get. :)
"'Familiar!' Hey! That's me!" I shouted across the living room to Anne, when I took the sides off the FAX machine last night.
"Yeah, you're totally That Guy," she said.
I was already excited about the audition, but when I saw the character described as "familiar", I got +5 excited, because I can actually be That Guy. Until I sort of went into semi-forced-semi-retirement a year or so ago, just about every part I auditioned for was not exactly for my "everyman" type, and it was incredibly frustrating (and documented in Just A Geek) to keep hearing "you're a great actor, but you're not [tall, short, sexy, scary, famous] enough for the part.
In retrospect, it wasn't surprising to hear those comments, because I kept auditioning for parts where no matter how skillful my performance was, I wasn't going to book the job, because my essences were wrong for the character. See, one of the factors completely beyond my control when I go into an audition are my essences. By that, I mean those certain things that I have so deeply embedded into my soul, I take them with me everywhere I go, no matter what I'm doing. If I'm playing a hero, or a villain, a leading man (quit laughing) or a nerdy neighbor, I'm always going to have this "I can relate to that guy" quality. I'm going to be a little too smart for my own good, and there will always be this faint sense of sadness, too. There's nothing I can do about that -- it's just part of who I am -- so if I have to play a character who is, well, let's just pick any random word . . . how about . . . edgy, for instance, I'm boned. I yam what I yam, as the wacky sailor used to say.
But while I worked on the scenes for today, I knew that I was already standing on a strong foundation, and that freed me up to develop an interesting character. I also got to do a whole lot of looking at Jennifer Garner on teh Intarweb . . . for, uhm . . . research, you know.
The call was at Disney, and I got there nice and early . . . but still waited almost 25 minutes to park my car. Apparently, today was "Bring your toddler to Disney for something" day, and the place was just swarming with happy families. A few years ago, it would have annoyed the crap out of me that I was delayed getting into my audition, but I instead thought to myself, "I bet this is slowing everyone down, so it won't actually make me late at all, in a relative sense. Maybe I should just enjoy the infectious happiness of these little kids." I took my own advice, and when I finally got to the writer's building (23, if you're scoring at home) I was in very high spirits. "I can't believe that I get to audition for fucking Alias!" I kept thinking.
I signed in, and saw that my friend and frequent WWdN commenter Keith Coogan had come in earlier in the day. I always like it when I see people I know on the sign-in sheet, as if I needed another reason to smile.
I read over my scenes while I waited, and when they took in the actor ahead of me (Eddie Kaye Thomas, best known as "Finch" from the American Pie movies), I stepped outside and ran over the scenes. I must have looked like one of those crazy actors who's outside acting to a tree or a bicycle (it was a folded up pingpong table for me, today) but I didn't care. I was going to go in there and give a great audition. I timed it perfectly -- when it was my turn to go into the room, I had read them over twice, and I was at the peak of readiness.
"I just want to warn you," the casting assistant told me as we walked down the hallway, "that there are about fifteen people in the room. It's like a pilot session in there."
I laughed. "I'll be sure to play to the back row," I said.
"This is Wil Wheaton," she said as we walked into the room.
The room was the same as ever: a huge conference table took up about 80% of the rectangular room, and about fifteen people sat across it, along its long edge They all nodded, or waved, or made some sort of friendly greeting. "Okay, this is totally not like a pilot session," I thought, "These people are way too nice."
There was a metal folding chair pushed against the table, presumably for the actors to sit in, but I had no intention of using it.
"Do you mind if I stand up for this?" I said.
"I think that would be appropriate," the casting director said, not unkindly.
I slated my name, and started the first of two scenes . . . which I won't describe, so I don't get sued.
When I was done with the first scene, one of the producers (clearly a Very Important Producer, by the way everyone deferred to him) looked right at me and said, "That was really wonderful!"
The rest of the room nodded in agreement, and though I couldn't tell if they were agreeing because of who he was, or because they actually agreed with his assessment of my performance, I have done this long enough to know when someone is full of shit or not, and this producer wasn't full of shit. His compliment was genuine, and that just doesn't happen very often anymore. It meant a lot to me.
"Thank you," I said, as I started the second scene.
I was totally off-book for both scenes, and gave a very solid performance. When I was done, I actually wanted to do a lame little dance out in the hallway, because I felt so happy with the work I'd done. I even allowed myself a happy thought: "I think I may have just booked a job!"
When I got to my car, I called Anne before I pulled out of my parking space.
"Did you get it?" She said.
"I won't know for a few hours . . . but I wouldn't change a single thing. I am so happy with my audition, Anne. It was awesome." I told her about the producer's compliment, and how I went in after Finch.
"That's so cool! Call me as soon as you know something." She said.
"Okay. I love you."
"You too."
I hung up, and drove home, where I spent the next few hours trying to catch up on e-mail (I got down from 500 unreads to 309 unreads in about two hours. Not too shabby!)
Around 5pm, while I was getting ready to leave for ACME, I got the phone call from my manger.
"They loved you, Wil." He said. "Everyone in that room responded to you very positively. . ."
We've had this conversation too many times. "But . . ." I said.
"But, you're not physically large enough for the part. They want someone who's much bigger than Jennifer Garner."
To be entirely honest, I wasn't surprised. I've had five auditions in the last six weeks, and for each part, I haven't gotten the job because of the way I look (I was too short for one, they changed another part to female, I wasn't "tough" enough for one, and I forget the other two, but it was pretty much the same thing.)
"Well," I said. "I'm not going to try to act like I'm not bummed . . . but goddammit."
"They're definitely going to bring you back in the future," he said.
"Did they say that?"
"No, but trust me."
"Okay," I said. I remembered how happy I felt when I walked out of the room. "I had a really good time, Chris." I told him about the producer who complimented me.
"Was it genuine?" He said.
"Yeah. Yeah, I think it was. That was awesome!"
"Good. You're doing the show tonight, right?" he said.
"Yeah. I'm actually about to leave right now."
"Well, break a leg. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
And that is the story of how I almost got to spend eight days acting like I was smitten with Jennifer Garner.
. . . yeah, "acting." That's it.
This entry is from the blog department. Posted by wil at 01:29 AM
three days in the desert
I've got a big old Weekend of Just A Geek-ness out in Palm Springs, starting today.
If you're in the area, and you'd like to drop by and listen to a reading, or get a book signed, here are the details for the trip:
This entry is from the Just A Geek department. Posted by wil at 10:21 AM
November 22, 2004
if i could, yes i would
I don't know why I've always loved the desert. Maybe it's the clean air, the limitless stars at night, or the strange romance I've always felt for seclusion, or maybe it's just all that sand . . . but I really do love it, so when I was asked to head out there for a book signing, I jumped at the chance.
It turns out the desert doesn't love me as much as I love it — hardly anyone showed up at the bookstore when I did my reading, and I think the owners sold a grand total of 30 books the entire time I was out there.
See, the average crowd at a book signing since I started promoting Just A Geek has been about 80. The largest was well over 100, and the smallest (until this weekend) was about 30 . . . but I guess my target audience just isn't out there in Palm Springs.
I felt so bad, because the guys who own the bookshop are so nice, and took such good care of me and my family, but for whatever reason, I just didn't draw people out there. . The bookshop guys told me that it's hit or miss out there, and not to feel bad . . . but I wanted them to at least make back their costs, you know? I think it's just that Palm Springs is a much "older" town than my target audience, and most of the press materials stressed the Star Trek-ness of my book. I need to develop some materials that talk about the other aspects of this book that non-Trekkies or WWdN readers can relate to. If you've read Just A Geek and wouldn't mind sending me some ideas, or posting them in comments, maybe we can brainstorm something useful.
Anyway, there were only about 12 people at the bookstore on Friday night, which would have made me super depressed a year ago, (like my experience at LosCon, for example) but I heeded some advice someone gave me about speaking to small groups of people: enjoy the intimacy of the smaller crowd, and honor the few people who did show up, rather than wasting energy on the people who didn't. So the reading on Friday, which could have been a real bummer, ended up being one of my favorites.
Because the group was so small, I could take more time to read and talk, because I knew I'd get through the signing in about 4 minutes. I read from Just A Geek as planned, but I also got to read the story "Ready or Not, Here I Come" from Dancing Barefoot, which was a real treat for me. I don't know if I blogged about this or not, but way back when my first Monolith Press printing of Barefoot showed up, I gave the first copy to Anne, and the next two to the kids. Ryan and Nolan were so excited to be in the book, and so excited to be in that story, I remember them both declaring with absolute certainty, "No, I am the kid in the drawingI I was totally wearing a cap just like that one when we played that night!" I just loved it that they were so excited to be part of something I created, and when I read the story on Friday night, it brought back the game, and the joy of holding my first book in my hands.
If the group at the store on Friday hadn't been so small, I wouldn't have been able to just pick Barefoot from a lady sitting about three feet from me and ask the group, "Do you mind if I read you a short story from this book?" after I'd been talking about how having a family to love and support turned my focus from Proving To Everyone That Quitting Star Trek Wasn't A Mistake onto just being a good husband and stepfather — and enjoying the experience of my life with them.
I haven't picked up Dancing Barefoot, other than to read a brief selection from SpongeBob Vega$ Pants at a con, in months. But when read from it on Friday I remembered how much I love that little book, and how proud of it I am. It's really like my first-born child, and the stories in it about my family made me so happy, I decided that I'm going to do another Barefoot-style book, this one with stories that are just about family. Earlier today, I went through my blog archives and also looked through the stuff I cut from Geek, and I have more than enough material (some of it just notes that never made it onto the blog, which will be developed into complete stories) for another book. This one will probably be a little bit longer than Barefoot, and I have a cool idea for the illustrations (that I'll talk about if / when it works out.) It's going to be wonderful, and if everything goes according to the plan just forming in my head, it should be available from Monolith Press early next year.
Overall, I had a good time in the desert. I got to bring Anne and the kids out, and we got to enjoy some desperately needed family bonding time, away from any disruptions.
There was also something very cool reading about my family when they were right there in the room. Afterwards, Nolan told me he thought about raising his hand and asking, "So tell me the truth . . . are the kids you talked about really that cool?"
Heh. Yes. Yes they are.
This entry is from the blog department. Posted by wil at 01:18 PM
November 24, 2004
Some places you can see me do my thing in the next week:
So now you know, and knowing is half the battle.
This entry is from the blog department. Posted by wil at 10:48 AM
i believe in mr. grieves
I am so freakin' tired, I can hardly see.
Last night we rehearsed "ACME Love Machine" until almost midnight, and I didn't fall asleep until around two. We're having work done on our house, so I was up at 8 enjoying the sound of sawing and breaking glass. If I was eating better and exercising more, six hours would be plenty of sleep . . . but I've let myself get overwhelmed with work and travel in the last two months, so it's been a horrible fast food life. Things should slow down at the end of next week, and I can start putting my body back together. I didn't realize how much time it takes to exercise daily and prepare my own food . . . I'm going to appreciate it more when I have that kind of time. (And I can start running again. I plan on doing the San Diego marathon again this year, and maybe Los Angeles, too, if I can train in time.)
Tonight, I'm back at ACME for another rehearsal and a complete show tech. I think I'll be there until at least two. We have a preview show on Saturday, and it's going to require a lot of focus and professionalism to be ready for that show. Normally, I'd be freaking out about how soon we are taking this show in front of an audience . . . but I'm so excited to perform it, I'm actually anxious to get our funny up on the stage.
Yeah. This is one of the funniest shows I've ever been a part of, and I can't wait to perform it. I've done a ton of sketch and improv shows over the years, and I can honestly say this show will rank in the top three best shows of all time.
Most of it is the writing, which is really funny and solid, but the cast is phenomenal. It's one of those "lightning in a bottle" things, like the cast of TNG, where we all like each other, we all love the show, and the energy backstage is so positive and so supportive, it carries over into the audience. I know there are some other actors and musicians who read WWdN, and I'm sure you'll back me up on this: when you're in a show with a cast you love, and when that cast is supportive and enthusiastic about the show and each other, you could do the show for an audience of one and it wouldn't matter.
Some of us are in EarnestBorg9 together, and many of us went through the ACME school together, so it's not surprising that we all get on so well, but there's always a chance that something weird can come up, some stupid personality conflict or something that can happen, but we're already like a family . . . or maybe a group of inmates who've just escaped from an asylum. I'll bring fruit cups tonight, and see what happens.
Our first show is December 11th, and we run every Saturday at 8 until Christmas, take a break, and then we're back through all of January and February. Please come out and see us. I promise you'll like it.
This entry is from the blog department. Posted by wil at 11:14 AM
November 26, 2004
on being thankful
Last night at dinner, my dad's cousin (who we all adore, but only get to see once a year, at Thanksgiving) asked us all to say one thing we're thankful for.
Have you ever tried to do that? Come up with just one thing that you're thankful for? It was really hard for me to do. I have so much to be thankful for, I didn't know where to begin.
So I said, "I'm thankful that I'm able to be here with everyone tonight."
In my mind, that encapsulated many things: I'm thankful that l live in a place that's safe and comfortable. I'm thankful that I can afford to drive my car 100 miles to my great uncle's house for dinner. I'm thankful that I love my family, and they love me, so I actually wanted to make the drive. I'm thankful that I'm having success in my creative work, from acting on stage to voice acting in games and on TV, to writing all the things I'm writing. I'm thankful for my wife and stepchildren, and my dogs and my cats, and my friends, and my blog and . . . .
See what I mean?
My cousin Dustin, who has overcome one of the biggest obstacles anyone could ever face, and has a lot to be thankful for himself, had simple but powerful insight. He said, "I'm thankful for my family. Because friends will come and go, but your family is there forever, no matter what."
I know it's not like that in all families, but it sure is in ours, and for that, well, I'm thankful.
I hope everyone gets to spend at least a little time this weekend with someone they love.
This entry is from the blog department. Posted by wil at 09:45 AM
November 29, 2004
I missed the ACME show on Saturday night, because I hurt my neck so badly on Friday, I couldn't even stand up Saturday morning. More on that later.
As if the pain in my neck and shoulders wasn't bad enough, I'm trying my best not to get sick, now. I think it's just the dry air from my heater and the weather the last few days, but my throat is sore and scratchy, and my sinuses are all dry and ouchy . . . so I'm just going to put up this quick reminder and get back into bed:
This entry is from the blog department. Posted by wil at 09:33 AM
November 30, 2004
defame your stereo
I don't remember how I found them, but I have two new favorite websites: Defamer and Stereogum. They touch my sense of humor in a way that, if Loretta touched Cleveland that way, he'd say, "Oh, Loretta, that tickles me."
There will probably be light blogging for the next week or so. I think the problem with my neck, the cold that I'm barely holding at bay, and about two weeks of really restless sleep are symptoms of trying to do too goddamn much stuff all at once.
This entry is from the random thoughts department. Posted by wil at 03:11 PM
| Powered by Movable Type | Hosted by Logjamming.com|
Comments are owned by the person who posted them. All other content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons License.


text:
Prove it straight from the pages of your own Bible!
Jesus Christ said, "I will build My church, and the gates of Hades [the grave] shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18). Which church did Jesus build, and what happened to it?
When the Bible speaks of the Church, it is never speaking of a building—nor of a human organization incorporated under secular authority. The word in the Greek language that is translated "church" in English is ekklesia. It is derived from two root words in Greek and literally means "called out" or "called from." In secular usage, it referred to an assembly of citizens who were "called out" from the inhabitants of the city to consider some matter of importance. It was often used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament to refer to the congregation of Israel or to the assembly of God's people. "Congregation" or "assembly" expresses the meaning in New Testament usage as well.


text:
Make poached pears:
In a 3-quart saucepan combine all poached pear ingredients except pears and boil, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Peel pears and simmer in wine mixture, covered, turning occasionally, until firm-tender, about 20 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let stand, covered, turning pears occasionally for even color, about 30 minutes. Discard poaching mixture and halve pears lengthwise. Remove stems and with a melon-baller cutter or small knife remove core. Cut pears lengthwise into 3/4-inch-thick slices.
Roll out dough 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Fit dough into a 9-inch (1-quart capacity) pie plate and trim edge, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Cut edge of dough with scissors every 1/2 inch to form curved points and brush edge lightly with egg wash. Chill shell 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Make filling:
In a large bowl whisk together filling ingredients until combined well.
Pour filling into shell and bake in middle of oven 35 minutes. Remove pie from oven and arrange pears decoratively on top of filling. Bake pie 15 to 20 minutes more, or until custard is set and pears are tender. Cool pie on a rack and brush pears with jam. Chill pie, covered loosely, at least 4 hours and up to 2 days. Serve pie at room temperature with crème anglaise.


text:
1 reviews
This app is no longer published
More from Dejavu
Download size3 MB
Last updated4/20/2012
Works with
- Windows Phone 8.1
- Windows Phone 8
- Windows Phone 7.5
App requires
- phone identity
- data services
- HD720P (720x1280)
- WVGA (480x800)
- WXGA (768x1280)
Supported languages (1)
English (United States)
Client for Google Analytics service. Release notes for 1.2 version: - Browsers report - Operation systems report - Screen resolution report - Screen colors report - Updated for devices with 256Mb memory Analytics 1.1 features and updates: - New reports added (language and user defined) - Small fixes and improvements Analytics 1.0 supports the following features: - Multiple google account support - Google analytics profiles and properties list - Overview report (total visits/unique visitors) - Demographics report (by Country) - Generating reports by periods (day, week, month, year) Feel free to send your future requests, feedback, comments to email@example.com (subject: analytics).
2/14/2012This app is useless. I wish I could get a refund. My 7 year old could give me this level of reporting.


text:
Results 1 to 4 of 4
February 14th, 2007 #1
Character/creature WIP [Crits greatly apreciated] (Warning: Boobs)
Hi guys and gals, I've been working myself blind on this piece and need to leave it for a couple of hours and thought I should ask for some critique, so let me know if something doesn't work or if you have any suggestions, paint-overs are greatly appreciated as well
Hide this ad by registering as a memberFebruary 14th, 2007 #2
Hi there. I think it's looking very good so far, can't really see much to crit. Her right arm looks like it could use a little more definition, at the moment it looks like it's missing a joint. That's really the only thing I can see.
Actually, regarding the lighting for the creature's arms, it looks as if you've made a stylistic decision to have them all in shadow. I don't think the arms would be in a deep shadow like that, based on the direction the light is coming from. I've got a feeling you've done that deliberately, although it just doesn't look quite right to me.
February 16th, 2007 #3
@Matthew Campbell: Yeah the dark arms are deliberate but I will probably give them more light before it's done, thanks for the feedback
Okay, so the last couple of days I've been learning some (very) basic rendering with Blender which is a lovely (and free!) 3D software. I've been doing real-time graphics with it for a couple of years for games and such but this is the first time I'm actually rendering the scenes in Blender and it's turning out to be great fun.
I saw a thread here a CA a while back where someone used a 3D application to get the lighting and perspective down and then painting on top of the 3D scene and I've been wanting to give this kind of mixed media a try for a while now so I thought this would be a great opportunity to do some experimenting. I'm not sure how I will mix the two mediums yet and if it will work or not but my goal is to make a painting without letting the 3D "feel" come through to much, if anyone has any experience with this don't hesitate to give me some pointers
Here's the image as it looks now: (The background is just a very raw 3D test with the same tower and 3-4 buildings being repeated over and over again, still trying to get the composition down and will add a lot more buildings and stuff)
February 17th, 2007 #4
that is looking very very good. Once you get the details in and some more "action" in the piece it will be great.


text:
Columbia, South Carolina (PRWEB) September 01, 2011
Survey of South Carolina businesses establishes link between high-speed Internet use and bottom line
Columbia, South Carolina — A newly released study by Connect South Carolina shows businesses with broadband have a clear advantage in revenue and thus potential job creation over businesses without it. The research, which can be found at http://www.connectsc.org/research/, involved surveys of more than 805 businesses across the state and shows that businesses using high-speed Internet connections report median annual revenues $200,000 more than businesses without broadband. However, the research estimates that approximately 29,000 South Carolina businesses still do not use broadband technology today.
"In the digital economy, businesses must embrace broadband, and other transformative technologies like it, in order to survive," said Brian Mefford, CEO of Connected Nation, Connect South Carolina's parent organization. "The Internet is driving products and services to the marketplace in an environment where creativity and innovation are both reinforced and rewarded."
The new survey is the first of its kind and takes an in-depth look at all sectors of the state's economy. The new interactive application is available on the Connect South Carolina website and allows you to see the impact on specific sectors of the state's economy, from healthcare and manufacturing, to tourism and education.
Connect South Carolina is a statewide public-private partnership working on broadband expansion. The new Business Technology Assessment reveals how technology is being used by businesses and where gaps still remain across the state. The assessment is designed to measure technology adoption and the awareness of available broadband service among state businesses, and establish benchmarks for these results.
The findings demonstrate a significant correlation between high-speed Internet adoption and a business's bottom line, and provide a groundbreaking overview of business uses of technology. For instance:
Increasing broadband capacity among businesses is just one area that Connect South Carolina is focused on. Across the state, the initiative is collaborating with local partners to increase broadband accessibility and use in vulnerable areas.
Connect South Carolina has partnered with the state of South Carolina to create the first broadband inventory maps and engage in a research project to better understand broadband adoption across the state. The project is focused on gathering accurate and reliable data on broadband to aid in planning, the creation of local technology teams, and the facilitation of computer ownership and Internet access programs.
The program is funded by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) under the State Broadband Initiatives (SBI) Program. Connect South Carolina's broadband mapping efforts are in compliance with NTIA's Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the SBI and are reflected in the National Broadband Map.
About Connect South Carolina: As South Carolina's State Broadband Initiative program, Connect South Carolina is leading the effort to increase high-speed Internet access, adoption, and usage to ensure the Palmetto State's competitiveness in the connected global economy of the twenty-first century. Connect South Carolina, an independent non-profit organization, was designated by the state to work with all broadband providers to create South Carolina's first interactive map of broadband coverage. This work serves as a foundation for addressing remaining service gaps while also engaging state, regional, and local leaders in workforce development efforts designed to bridge South Carolina's digital divide. For detailed maps, research, and more information please visit: http://www.ConnectSC.org. Please contact us with any questions you might have regarding the Connect South Carolina initiative.
About Connected Nation: The mission of Connected Nation centers on connecting people with technology to make life better. The parent organization of Connect South Carolina, Connected Nation is a national non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that expands access to and use of broadband Internet and the related technologies that are enabled when individuals and communities have the opportunity and desire to connect. Connected Nation works with community stakeholders, states, and technology providers to develop and implement technology expansion programs with core competencies centered around a mission to improve digital inclusion for people and places previously underserved or overlooked. For more information about Connected Nation or other state programs please visit: Connected Nation.
Follow Connect South Carolina on Facebook and Twitter.


text:
Colorado River Float Trip from Flagstaff
For a scenic and fun day out in Arizona, you can't go past this relaxing float trip down the mighty Colorado River. Just sit back and relax as you soak up the sun, and watch the spectacular scenery go by you. Enjoy a tasty lunch, and also get an up close and personal view of the Glen Canyon Dam.
- Colorado River Float Trip
- Wonderful scenic float trip
- See towering canyon walls and ancient petroglyphs
- Up close view of the massive Glen Canyon Dam
Recent Photos of This Tour
What You Can Expect
Pack the sunscreen and be prepared for a fantastic day! This popular tour begins with a tour across the vast Navajo Indian Reservation on your way to the shores of the Colorado River at Glen Canyon.
Then board your raft for a wonderful scenic float trip. Towering canyon walls and ancient petroglyphs are among the highlights of the day.
Enjoy a tasty lunch, and get an up close view of the massive Glen Canyon Dam.
This tour is seasonal and only operates between 15 April to 1 October only.
Customer Reviews
September 2014
Coming from Switzerland this was an unforgettable experience for us. The trip was excellent organized an our guide Brad was just superb.
August 2014
There were three of us and we all really enjoyed our trip to Page, with Steve entertaining us the whole way! The water raft ride was nice, long and hot, but we still really enjoyed it! So beautiful and our captain was very informative about the Glen Canyon. I would definitely recommend it to others.