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Joined: Apr 2014
Location: somewhere out west on a 2 month tour
Oddometer: 18
A couple months out west
So I'm now a few weeks into my first big trip and finally have a bit of forced downtime and good internet access to begin documenting things.
The seed for this trip was planted about 3 months ago when a friend suggested we take a weeklong adventure ride out to the black mesa area in Oklahoma. I rode his KLR650, and he borrowed a friend's. This was my first time on a motorcycle. I've been a backpacker and mountain biker for years so it didn't take much convincing and I was hooked.
The seed for this trip -- backpacking on wheels
After returning from that trip, all I wanted to do was get back out on the trail. After recently finishing a master's and needing time to decompress and plan what's next, I figured a couple months of wilderness would probably do some good. I'm planning to move to the Seattle area but couldn't get excited about making the drive out, which I've done a few times before, so I decided to do it on a bike and the planning began. After some research I settled on a DR650 and picked up a 2013.
Trying to get my nephew hooked early
I spent most of May preparing the bike, researching routes, getting my gear together, learning how to do basic maintenance, riding local trails, etc.
Modifications and accessories:
IRC GP-1 tires front/rear
removed the upper chain roller (a DR preventative thing)
Pat Walsh bash plate
Pat Walsh luggage rack
PMR luggage racks (big thanks to Lee for helping custom fit the racks to my DR which is apparently notorious for having frames that vary in dimension)
Pelican 1520 top case
Wolfman expedition dry duffel and saddle bags
2" mirror extensions
Signal Dynamics headlamp modulator and rear brake flasher for the sections around cars
Acerbis 5.3 gal fuel tank (I get 200-250 miles (40-50mpg) now before reserve)
Extended fuel mixture screw for high-elevation tweaking
Heavier fork springs (0.55 mm/kg) with Cogent DDC cartridges and 5W oil (kit from Procycle)
Cogent Mojave shock with 8.15 kg/mm spring (from Procycle)
14T 525 sprocket up front for about 7% lower gearing (has been very nice with all the climbing)
The initial plan had me picking up the TAT in OK and riding through CO, but a friend moving out west at the same time convinced me to go camping around the 4 corners area for a week or so. In addition, a run in with wildlife (discussed later) set me back another week or so. So the report will be pretty sparse on the first couple weeks and then pick up in Moab after I set off again, solo.
The goal of the first day on my modified route was to get from Oklahoma City to Lake Meredith, just north of Amarillo, TX. Tried to knock out as many miles as I could on Rt 66, but tried to get into that red Oklahoma dirt as quickly as possible.
Rode into dark and arrived at the Lake Meredith campsite near the marina with the guidance of a friendly, former "biking minister" that led me there. Winds were 25-35 mph which made setting up the tent an interesting experience. I slept with two legs in the air bracing the tent from collapsing in the wind. But woke up to a really nice view and calm air:
June 15. Day was spent mostly on boring highways getting to Santa Fe. Miserable headwinds riding on I-25. Nothing more to say.
June 16. Rode to Bandelier NP on highway 4 which was beautiful, lots of winding roads.
Tried to ride up to San Antonio hot springs, but the trail had been blocked off, so ended up hiking about 4 miles
As it was getting dark, I found an unpaved back road into an abandoned camp area full of amazing tall pines
35.864845, -106.627762
June 17 Rode thru Los Alamosit was weird to have to stop at a guard gate just to enter the city (not even a base/facility). I guess the town is full of high value PhDs at coffee shops. Streets were named Bikini Atoll St; Einstein St; Manhattan St, etc. Pushed onward thru Abiquiu to ghost ranch to hike. Nearing dusk, took a nice dirt road toward the monastery, camping along Rio Chama, across from the little island:
Wed 18. Tried to diagnose a squealing noise coming from the front hub, and discovered it was coming from the speedometer assembly. Will need to remove the front wheel, clean and grease the part when I get a chance. Probably all the dust has dried out the grease.
Thurs 19. Riding through Cortez, CO on a back road in search of a camp site when all of a sudden I found myself skidding along the pavement. It was about 6pm in broad daylight (sun sets at 9) and I was going about 35. The feeling and crunching sound made me feel like I was back in JV football getting hammered by a linebacker. After standing up I saw a mule deer with a broken leg in a field staring at me like "WTF??" while I stared back at it thinking "WTF??" All I remember after the impact is the sound of my helmet skidding and bouncing along the pavement.
The spot where it happened: tall grass coming right up to the road with only a slight mowed shoulder.
Fortunately a really nice couple came along a few minutes later and helped me out by calling the Sheriff and trailering my bike back to their land a few miles away until I could get things sorted out. I went to the hospital and had my wounds cleaned and was given antibiotics. Fortunately I only suffered minor avulsions
Skin lost on right hip and elbow
The same couple was kind enough to put me up in a spare trailer on their land until I could get things figured out. Just a few of many wonderful people I've encountered along the way.
Since the accident, I've been a bit anxious about deer and am slowly getting back on highways, but easily spooked and riding much slower than before. The scary part is that everyone I spoke with in Cortez had a deer story, and some had hit them multiple times.
Jacket had large tears, helmet was gouged, gloves were trashed, pants ripped, Sidi boots' buckles were ground down, saddle bags were torn through
Despite skidding on both sides, the bike came out relatively fine with scraped plastic body panels, shattered mirrors, and a twisted foot peg.
Fri 20. Spent the day driving the bike to Moab and dropping it off with the good folks at Moab Powersports.
...The next week or so was spent dealing with insurance adjusters (at least I had comprehensive coverage), getting replacement parts on order, and replacing all my trashed riding gear and luggage. In the mean time, drove to CO to get some high-altitude therapy, camping around the blue lakes, visiting Telluride to experience this very *ahem* green city, and returned to camp around Moab in Onion Creek and Kane Creek areas...
Blue Lakes
Friday 27. With the repairs finally authorized by the slow-moving insurance company and parts on order, the shop sent me out with my bike since it ended up being primarily cosmetic damage.
Ready to escape the heat of Moab, I headed off to the La Sal mountains, taking sand flats road out of town.
Riding through deep sand, I lost control and managed to drop the bike on my leg, trapping myself under the bike for about 10 minutes as I struggled to dig myself out, all the while gasoline was boiling out of the tank and drizzling all over the sand and my arm. I had visions of a rattler visiting me while immobilized. I've stopped counting the times I could have broken a foot if not wearing full MX boots.
The messy scene after extricating myself.
Back on the road, I encountered this trail map, and realized my ride was complete:
The ride up to Geyser pass had some incredible views of Moab, Arches, and the mountains beyond:
I decided to camp at Oowah lake, a sleepy, quiet little camp area. Because of the rough-ish road and tight turns to get up there, there were relatively few people and RVs, unlike Warner lake just north which I made the mistake of visiting the next night. Packed with screaming kids and RVs.
View of the La Sal mountains after coming down on the colorado side
After a couple nights of cool weather, I headed back into Moab to pick up the parts. On the way back along sand flats road I found a sweet little "arch/cave" to get out of the heat for a while (I originally stopped in order to do some bouldering on it)
Could have stayed here all day... N38° 33.300' W109° 21.438'
Inside, I found what could only be described as a desert penguin cave painting:
Severe prehistoric global warming!
The next few days I stayed back in Moab and did a few easy rides around the area
After Gemini Bridges (easy), I set off on the canyon rim trail which proved a bit too much for me...
So this ends the first few weeks of the trip compressed into one post. Coming up, the trip finally begins in earnest on the Moab->LA TAT extension trail from gpskevin... More high adventure in Utah!
Sergeant 0311
Joined: Apr 2012
Location: Winlock, Washington
Oddometer: 199
Nice report and great pictures.
Joined: Apr 2014
Location: somewhere out west on a 2 month tour
Oddometer: 18
July 2, Almost escaping Moab
Set off for LA from Moab with the plan to follow the southwest TAT extension by gpskevin. I took off from Moab around 1pm, which was a bit late, but I was anxious to get out. I started by riding the Kane Creek and Kane Springs roads up to Hurrah Pass. Both of these roads led around canyons with spectacular views and some mildly technical parts toward the pass which were fun.
View from the pass
From the pass I descended on Lockhart Basin Road for about 6 miles, stopping after coming across a broken down 4x4 to see if I could offer any help. He sent a text to family on my Delorme satellite messenger, but eventually got things running again after returning 20 min later to deliver a response message.
Back on the trail, I started to lose my way and went down the road toward Chicken Corners, realized my mistake, came back, and tried finding the road, going down two different paths and returning before finding the 'road' on the GPS.
Exhausted after hitting a second dead end into a small canyon.
3rd time was a charm and I started climbing some doubletrack until I got to a fairly steep rocky area that finally did me in. The path I chose required a quick veer after climbing and I couldn't keep the bike up.
I was pretty drained by this point and managed to clamp the vent tube on the bike but forgot to close the petcock. After unloading all the luggage, I had to tie some rope to the low side in order to pull it up and get a knee under it. After pulling a muscle picking it up earlier, I was beginning to question the sanity of doing this by myself in the middle of the summer. After finally getting it up, it wouldn't start--flooded. So I waited a few min as usual and it still wouldn't start. After noticing a slight drip from the air box, I pulled all of the air intake out and drained about 6oz of fuel and dried out the air filter.
I hiked up the rest of the trail to see what I was facing and found piles of boulders that apparently other people ride over, but my overloaded, inexperienced, exhausted self would never be able to tackle. Without a bypass in sight, I decided to call it a day and head back early the next morning since I'd already used 8 of the 9L of water I'd brought in my dromedary bag.
There are worse places to have to camp
Sunset @N38° 25.286' W109° 41.056'
Didn't get the best sleep that night with visions of rocks tumbing down the slope and squishing me in the night. Early in the morning, the wind picked up and blew fine red sand into the tent, covering everything in grit. I had a whole new respect for the soldiers stationed in Iraq who had to deal with sand all over everything for years--I was annoyed after one night.
As for navigation--I really should have done more research on the trail rather than taking the gps tracks at face value. If I'd looked at my paper map of the area, I'd have noticed the sections I got hung up on were rated as double-diamond/"expert". But there is something fun about diving in, not knowing what to expect.
Gnarly Adventurer
Joined: Jul 2011
Location: Southeast Ga.
Oddometer: 347
Sounds like quite an adventure! Great report & pics!
Joined: Sep 2011
Location: Kansas
Oddometer: 19
Great post! Thanks for sharing!
Gnarly Adventurer
Joined: Oct 2008
Location: Korea Town, Los Angeles,
Oddometer: 222
what an adventure!
Mexico and Central America 2014 http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1012504
Gnarly Adventurer
Joined: Dec 2004
Location: Concord, NC
Oddometer: 118
Super pics! What site are you using for hosting them? What camera?
Joined: Apr 2014
Location: somewhere out west on a 2 month tour
Oddometer: 18
Joined: Apr 2014
Location: somewhere out west on a 2 month tour
Oddometer: 18
July 3, Actually escaping Moab
After my failed bid to take a small trail south out of town, I awoke early, licked my wounds, and backtracked into Moab along Kane Springs and Creek roads. Not that I'm complaining (now)--it was a beautiful ride worth doing twice
I took a quick but boring ride south on 191 to get to Monticello, which was just as well because it got me caught back up and let me tackle the next section the same day. After filling up in Monticello, I headed west out of town and began climbing into to the mountains again. The soft, loamy forest service roads were a welcome change from the hot sand.
Big Notch
Due to the backtracking and late start, it was starting to get dark well before reaching the next destination, Hite. Just as well as we soon find out...
Along this segment, I saw probably a dozen deer along the route, causing anxiety, slowing me down, and pushing back my arrival further. Most got out of the way long in advance; some let me get within 10 feet; others ran off. The whole time I was thinking about modifying my old destroyed riding suit into an orange camo hunting suit...
In search of a remote camp site, I headed down a steep rocky 4x4 road into the dark canyon wilderness where I managed to drop the bike again. After struggling to right the bike and find a place to turn it around, I headed back to a site I passed on the main road called little notch.
I rode across an empty field to some trees on the edge where I could find some good cover.
Try to spot the bike!
I pulled off the conspicuous yellow bags and dragged a downed bough over the bike effectively camouflaging it.
It was private enough to have a drip shower @N37° 41.617' W109° 48.563'
This turned out to be one of the better camp sites so far. Good night's sleep and close to good day of riding.
Joined: Apr 2014
Location: somewhere out west on a 2 month tour
Oddometer: 18
July 4. Happy Birfday, Merica
Slept in and had a slow morning, making cold instant coffee and eating a cliff bar for breakfast. After about the first week Ive stopped using my stove to make real, hot coffee, oatmeal, soup, or anything really. I think Im going to ditch the MSR liquid fuel stove, pots, and four 1-liter fuel bottles when I get a chance. The tedium of cooking bad food and having to clean pots without enough water aside, I really brought the bottles for reserve fuel, and a liquid fuel stove to run off the bottles. But Ive yet to have come remotely close to hitting my maximum range which is somewhere between 225-275 miles depending on riding conditions. For phase 2 of the trip, I think Ill just bring my stainless steel cup, a mini isobutane stove, and a small fuel canister. This should be enough for making hot instant coffee, a dehydrated barf-in-a-bag meal, boiling eggs, or purifying water in a pinch.
Lentil/rice/mushroom/Harissa/cheese dreck from the night before. I'm though with trying to cook on the trail unless someone has some really awesome, easy recipes
My destinations today were Hite, which is a fuel stop, followed by Bullfrog. As I descended from the mountains, I entered the Glen Canyon area. Back to the red rocks.
Back to lots of red dirt, rocky roads, and the promise of more distant mountains
When I arrived in Hite, I saw a sign about beaches and was very excited as the temperature was reaching 100 degrees. But when I stopped at the convenience store/gas station (basically the town of Hite itself), it was eerily empty. I asked the attendant, Melissa, why this was so and she pointed to the empty lake. Long term drought. Amazingly the store, just down the street from the residential district of 5 inhabitants, stays in business probably from cyclists and motorcyclists looking for refuge from the heat. I asked Melissa if there was a local bar, my living room, she laughed.
I met Alex, another of many friendly cross-country cyclists, coming from Virginia. I think we were each a little jealous of each other's setups: he was exhausted, always eating, and confined to roads. I was jealous of the simplicity and lightness by which he could travel.
With the lake Powell ferry not yet running, there was no way to get from the east side to the west side without crossing at the Hite bridge, so this ended my plans to keep riding trails down south. Instead I took two highways around 95 and 276 which lead through some nice views of the lake and glen canyon area.
Before stopping at Bullfrog, I stopped at the town of Ticaboo (basically just a hotel as a town) for dinner and continued south on 276, a stretch littered ghostly desert flotillas:
I ended up camping at the Stanton primitive campground, but that was possibly a mistake Theres really no point in going into Bullfrog if you come from the north, because the next section of trail splits off north of the national park pay area. But I didnt realize this and paid $15 to get into the lake area (despite being on a M/C and not boating, driving a giant truck or RV). Then they wanted even more for the privilege of pitching a tent on soil riddled with thorny plants.
First glimpse of the lake, a desert oasis
I had a bit of a hard time finding a nice campsite, as it was july 4 and the campers and boaters and house boaters and house land yachters and truckers were out in full force. Power boats raced and skittered across the lake. Police boats chased drunken boaters around. It was a bit of a shitshow.
But my persistence paid off and I found a sweet waterfront property from which to watch the sun set and see the flicker of fireworks over the mesa cast their colorful glow on the shoreline. Bike parked on the rocks.
Joined: Apr 2014
Location: somewhere out west on a 2 month tour
Oddometer: 18
July 5. Bullfrog to Boulder
In the morning I did some laundry and dishes, and took off for Boulder, UT after stopping at the gas station north of Bullfrog for fuel, 2 gallons of water, and some snacks.
The first section contained a lot of winding, rocky roads with low-slung hills
And continued on into Capitol Reef...
Which was miles of mysteriously repetitive rock formations:
And an arresting section of switchbacks through massive rock formations, followed by the reef and mountains in the distance:
After making it to Boulder, I stopped at the Boulder Mesa Restaurant for dinner and ordered the Bison BBQ ribs, but wasn't expecting to get this--a nearly 2 lb. slab of meat:
On the advice of the owner of the restaurant, I rode out of town and started onto Hells Backbone road. Just after the dumpsters, I took a left down a dirt road and half a mile later arrived at the Boulder airstrip:
"Boulder Airport and UFO Landing Site"
I'm not sure if airplanes actually use this anymore, but I may have been visited in the night by a UFO (they're sneaky like that).
Continuing on the road cutting across the airstrip, I found a bald area and camped there. After a rain storm passed and I emerged from my tent, I noticed lots of downed, burnt trees and realized I was close to highest point in the area and lightning was no stranger to this clearing. There was a 30% chance of storms overnight so I decided to stay put. Fortunately the storms never came.
Joined: Apr 2014
Location: somewhere out west on a 2 month tour
Oddometer: 18
July 6. Boulders from Boulder to Escalante
Today I rode Hells Backbone road with the intent of getting to Escalante.
Hell's Backbone is a nicely graded gravel road with hellish washboard. I was initially happy to get off it and onto the Boulder Swale ATV road which lead through some nice pastures and into a forested area:
Then it got a bit rougher and slowed me down quite a bit
And after a few more miles, got rougher still, ending my journey:
With nobody around, I really didn't want to take a spill on this long, steep climb.
So I sadly turned around and returned to the road for a few more long views and a quick descent into Escalante
I stopped at Escalante Outfitters just to get a new bottle after this happened:
Lesson 382: always tie everything down
Lesson 383: always tie everything down with the shortest length possible
But was quickly taken by their cabins,
excellent food,
smoked trout salad and amber ale
and wonderful, friendly community staying and working there. Escalante is definitely on my list of places to return to.
Joined: Apr 2014
Location: somewhere out west on a 2 month tour
Oddometer: 18
July 7, the longest day
Today, Escalante to Bigwater.
This was the longest and hardest day yet, but was rewarded by the best scenery.
Lots of stopping and lots of elevation change.
The day started in Grand Staircase National Monument. Flat, sandy roads. No indication of what was to come.
Before long, the main road was abandoned in favor of a smaller jeep road which started to criss cross a dried creek bed and eventually started following the creek bed for long periods
But the creek bed began to get rougher and rougher
and rougher
Eventually coming to a series of spots I couldn't pass while loaded (or unloaded), requiring me to get off and unload, and build ramps from rocks
And build another ramp
This series of impasses required probably two hours to make it less than a mile. Every time I had to unload the bike, modify the trail, reload the bike, cool down, etc. was about 30 minutes.
My personal rule is to get into shade, drink a quart of water, and sit there until I stop cursing which indicates I've regained my sanity and my core temperature has returned to normal...
"Is this shit over yet?"
After a steep, rocky climb out of that hellish pit, I took a big hit and heard a crack. After making it to the top, I realized the bump had sheared the bolt holding the luggage rack on
Classy repair
After finally getting packed and ready to get underway, I realized I'd lost my water bag. Dejected, I set off back down into the pit from which I'd narrowly escaped.
Ahh, yes... the lovely section that claimed the bag and presumably the rack
With the lost found and bike reloaded, I bade this section adieu and gave it the proper cathartic salute
Now late afternoon, I was ready for some smooth sailing to knock out some miles, but instead learned the meaning of grand staircase:
Essentially, a roller coaster covered in rocks
Sprinkled with oddly shaped rewards
And a schizophrenic landscape:
and steep descents, keeping me on my toes (my right toes, specifically)
Approaching sun set, the landscape began to mellow as the shadows grew longer
Thus nearly closing the longest day yet. Finally camped, I narrate the balance of the day:
This is the worst campsite ever, an all new low. It is now 10:30. I got in a 9:30 and the sun was going down. Which means I rode for about 11 hours straight, just to cover 100 miles. Im laying in a tent with no pad or sleeping bag. I just threw up the tent, didnt remove my contacts or brush my teeth. Still wearing my riding suit. So exhausted I jus set up the tent and got inside. But Im in weird crushed shale/dirt dunes, which are soft, or at least appeared to be. Im on a hill, somewhat inclined so I keep sliding downward. I got in to Bigwater after 11 hours of riding--I saw the town on the horizon and was very excited to be done. But when I got into town, I was creeped out. Boats and pickups on cinder blocks, pit bulls barking, razor wire fences everywhere. No gas station, hotel (or Id be staying there now), or restaurants (or Id be drinking beer and eating pizza). So I took off from town back where I came from. I took the first turnoff I could find and began riding through these dunes which were streaked with the scars of ATVs and dirt bikes gliding over the hills. I made for some distant hills to get some privacy. But finally it got too dark and I couldnt go any farther. So there I stopped. I was so hungry I greedily ate raw tuna out of a bag, and kipper snacks from a tin, and an apricot cliff bar and water. Used the kipper stack tin under the kickstand. Then threw up the tent and crawled in. Im camped below the highest point, so no lightning fears; but high enough that flooding wont be a problem. There is literally nothing out hereI shouldnt be out hereso i dont think animals will be a problem. Everything is trying to kill you in the desert. So I have a feeling Ill be passing out soon. The bike is packed and ready to go because I want to GTFO here ASAP. Just throw the bike on the tent and ride to the next town at daybreak to get fuel and clean up.
Camp site, the next morning
In retrospect, this was one of the most memorable, funnest, and beautiful segments--it's amazing what a little sleep and A/C will do :)
luuuc screwed with this post 07-13-2014 at 09:15 AM Reason: typos
Joined: Apr 2014
Location: somewhere out west on a 2 month tour
Oddometer: 18
July 8. Forced rest
The goal today was to get from Bigwater to Kanab, but the bike said no.
After a quick jaunt south down 89 to find gas, water, and food, I turned around and re-entered Grand Staircase NM to continue the trip.
Soon I got into deep sand and found the engine to be racing erratically. After stopping I realized there was no more free play in the clutch. I stopped quickly to make an adjustment and let the bike cool
I got a bad feeling about the clutch, so I decided to bypass a section of the trail on the highway, but as I was going up a steep section of the road, the RPMs shot up again and the bike slowed from 55 to 40. Quickly pulling off, I found the free play had evaporated again. I adjusted it one last time, exhausting the full range of adjustment and decided to bypass all of the trail and limp to Kanab.
I stopped at Troy's Desert Powersports where he got me set up to do an oil change which revealed bits of the clutch
and a tiny ball bearing in the oil
Which nearly gave me a heart attack until I traced it back to the magnetic drain plug that had disintegrated. Troy was very helpful and directed me to motozoo in St. George. So I limped another 60 miles or so and got the clutch swapped out with a heavier-duty EBC package. Big thanks to the guys at motozoo for getting me back on the trail so quickly!
I think the combination of temperatures over 100F, slow travel up steep hills and in windless canyons, a heavily loaded bike, technical sections where I relied on the clutch too much, and an oil level right at the lower limit cooked the clutch and the oil. The grand staircase was brutal.
My bike and body were telling me to stop after the last couple days, but we're both ready to go again.
luuuc screwed with this post 07-13-2014 at 09:19 AM
Gas X ready!
Joined: Apr 2008
Location: Brain in Utah but homeless in Wisconsin....
Oddometer: 1,607
Lefthand brew, a weber grill and the rocky mountains,...it all goes away!
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Has anyone ever tried going through the game using a Gym Leader-like party? For example only using Fire type Pokemon? They can be dual typed, just so long as all your party has a type in common.
I wanna try it, what are everyone's experiences with it?

subset: commoncrawl


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Softball: Weather suspends Carroll-Master's finish
Rain delays finish to April 9
The John Carroll Catholic and Master's Academy softball teams will have to wait six weeks to decide the winner of Friday's game in Vero Beach.
Rain forced suspension of play with game tied at 5 after six innings.
The teams will resume play at 3:30 p.m. April 9 at Master's.
Sebastian River at Bayside: No makeup date announced.
Lincoln Park Academy at South Fork: No makeup date announced.
Vero Beach at Treasure Coast: District 6-8A game was rescheduled for 4 p.m. March 3.
Sebring at Okeechobee
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oh come on! This is too cute!!
my fav childhood tale. well the one i remember
Ha ha!!! I just about died laughing when I saw this. I don't think it needs much explanation.
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Hi, Have you ever needed to install an OS on a computer with no CD drive? Didn't want to waste a CD to try out the new OS you just downloaded? This in...
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The contents of the USB stick will be wiped out, therefore if you anything important on it you will need to back it up. Yeah, there really is no need ...
Plug the USB drive in the computer with Ubuntu already installed. Open the System menu, go to the "Administration" submenu, and select "Startup Disk C...
Well, now plug your USB in the computer on which you need to install Ubuntu, and switch it on. You might have to enter the BIOS settings to enable USB...
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Updated 04/09/2014
On the upper slope of the volcano, this affordable, rustic lodge is as close as you can get to an active volcano. The lodge has simple rooms made cozy by wood-burning stoves; most rooms now open out onto a small kitchen and sitting area, suitable for families and groups. You'll eat well at the restaurant here: the proprietors serve healthful Costa Rican food, including lamb provided by the huge flock of sheep grazing all over the grounds. Even more compelling are the tours—on mountain bikes, horseback, and on foot—around the area; unfortunately there are no tours on foot or horseback to the summit of Turrialba Volcano at this writing. Bird-watching here is excellent, with abundant, high-altitude species, such as the sooty robin and the fierce, fiery-throated hummingbird. This place is not for everyone—it gets chilly and it's quite rustic—but it's a unique mountain escape and a great value. Day-trippers are welcome.
Turrialba, 30601, Costa Rica
Website: www.volcanturrialbalodge.com
Hotel Details:
Updated 04/09/2014
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Review: New 'Hitman' game a well-executed thriller
We always knew Agent 47 had ice in his veins. Apparently, the guy's got a heart, too.
We always knew Agent 47 had ice in his veins. Apparently, the guy's got a heart, too.
You've always had to play the good soldier in "Call of Duty" games: The only path to the end was to follow orders, from defending a key position to killing off certain enemies.
The blockbuster video game franchise "Call of Duty" returns on Tuesday with a futuristic new instalment in which shadowy activists use social networks to threaten the United States.
Microsoft's wildly successful foray into console gaming begins with two words: Halo and Bungie.
Blockbuster videogame "Halo" on Tuesday took on new life with the release of a sequel so hotly anticipated that launch day revenue was expected to eclipse anything seen in the industry this year.
(AP)—U.S. retail sales of new video game hardware, software and accessories fell for the ninth straight month in August, according to research firm NPD Group.
Makers and sellers of consumer-electronics devices have been releasing their earnings reports for the latest quarter. Here's a look at selected companies that report unit sales on phones, tablet computers and other devices. ...
A look at how selected makers of phones and other consumer-electronic gadgets are faring.
The creators of the South Park cartoon sitcom known for crude language and lampooning hot-button social issues are about to whack the videogame world with "Stick of Truth."
Bethesda Softworks on Thursday announced that its "Dishonored" videogame featuring a betrayed bodyguard turned supernatural assassin will hit in October.
French videogame titan Ubisoft said Thursday that pre-orders for the next version of its blockbuster "Assassin's Creed" videogame are on a record-setting pace.
(AP) -- Science fiction fans love their galactic empires. From the novels of Isaac Asimov and Frank Herbert to the multimedia epics created by George Lucas and Gene Roddenberry, the planet-hopping space opera ...
Ubisoft on Monday revealed that the next installment to its blockbuster "Assassin's Creed" videogame franchise will be set in the US colonies during the American Revolution.
(AP) -- Dozens of workers assembling Xbox video game consoles climbed to a factory dormitory roof, and some threatened to jump to their deaths, in a dispute over job transfers that was defused but highlights growing labor ...
(AP) -- U.S. retail sales of video game hardware, software and accessories dipped 4 percent to $1.13 billion in September, according to market researcher NPD Group. Sales of the games themselves grew somewhat, but this was ...


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- Black Star Rising - http://rising.blackstar.com -
Photography SEO: Don't Set It and Forget It
Posted By John Harrington On July 5, 2010 @ 12:38 am In Business of Photography | 6 Comments
From time to time, the good people in the bowels of the Googleplex decide to tweak their algorithm to improve search results. It happened not long ago, and rest assured, it will happen again. If you care about marketing your business online, you had better be paying attention.
When Google fiddles with its formula, I always hear from a number of photographers whose Web sites have fallen off the radar. It's akin to a rolling blackout, where a power company shuts off the electricity for some customers in a coordinated manner to reduce the load on the power grid.
Make no mistake; losing "Google juice" — say, by dropping from page 1 to page 5 in search results — can turn your business' lights off, too.
In my case, my Web site generates anywhere from two to six assignments per month, and that is a substantial amount of money. It's good reason to take SEO very seriously.
Keep It Fresh
So, how do you stay on the first page of results for your top keywords, if you're fortunate enough to be there? Or how can you move up consistently from "beyond page 3″ purgatory?
First, we can never predict what Google will do — so there's no use obsessing on the ins and outs of SEO arcana. Instead, focus on the fundamentals, which never change.
Create fresh content. Switch out your images with new ones. Blog. Use social networking. Do whatever you need to do to build quality inbound links from relevant sources.
And understand that what you are creating is transitory, not carved in stone.
Inbound links come and go. The same link can be relevant one day, less so the next. For example, let's say a photography site that Google likes links to your photography site; that's good. Then let's say this site drops in standing in Google's eyes. That means the inbound link you earned — the currency of SEO — has dropped in value.
You wouldn't expect one advertisement or one e-mail campaign to bring you new clients indefinitely. Why expect it from SEO?
No Shortcuts
Finally, don't use the too-good-to-be-true tricks espoused by some SEO "experts." Google knows what you're up to, or they'll figure it out eventually.
Trading links doesn't work. Link farms don't work. Using tiny or hidden text to load up your Web site with keywords doesn't work, either.
So many photographers rest on their laurels when they reach the search position they want. If you do this, you have no one to blame but yourself. Sooner or later, the rolling blackout will hit.
6 Comments To "Photography SEO: Don't Set It and Forget It"
#1 Comment By Jason Brennaman On July 7, 2010 @ 12:05 am
Great article! We are changing how we do things because of it. Good job!
#2 Comment By Rohn Engh On July 13, 2010 @ 10:09 am
John – this is an important lesson for all photographers. Thanks for sharing it. The SEO task isn't an easy one to understand. But you've made a clear explanation. I've posted your advice on PhotoStockNOTES and urged subscribers to memorize it.
Here at PSI we began to understand the importance of SEO two years ago. Our task was to get on the first page of Google (few people look at page2) for the search term, "sell my photos" and "buy my photos". We knew we were bucking up against the big portals and stock agencies, but we made it, and have stayed on every day. But like you say, you may be there one week but not the next. Once we were the first listing on the top of the page on page #1 and once at the bottom. Usually we are somewhere in between. But it's always page 1. And, like you say, the tools are there, you just have to master them. Photographers will begin getting more work and more stock work if they master the principles you outline. The end result is more customers and clients. –Rohn photosource.com
#3 Comment By Deb Carpenito On July 14, 2010 @ 10:04 pm
John, nice article and all strong points. I've found, it takes a lot of approaches in a combined effort, being done consistently to remain on top of the search engines. I've been doing it for 7 years now and can tell you its not easy. This is a dilemma for most photographers (and any business person), as they want to focus on what they do well (taking photos, working with clients, post production, etc.) but really need to focus on growing business through lead generation, and in your example web traffic to hopefully result in leads. This is the big "ah-ha" of any business. You can be great at what you do, but if you're not great at generating, capturing and converting leads to perform with, you're out of business!
#4 Comment By Andrew On July 16, 2010 @ 10:24 am
Great article! So many businesses post information on a site and forget about it. The social aspect is to "be social" and interact with others online. I find that the blogs are the marketing behind a website due to the continued modification of content. Google loves changing and growing website and will reward you with great rankings.
#5 Comment By Daniel Reed On July 23, 2012 @ 11:19 pm
As you may know Google has updated their search algorithms and content is not all today. Google loves easy friendly websites as well as people interaction, it is not enough to have tons of information but lot of sharing of it and interaction from visitors. Thanks for the post!
#6 Comment By Jannette Hunderlach On December 19, 2012 @ 1:04 pm
It's up to other services like Bing and Yahoo to come up with similar, or improved systems, such that our Google author profiles can be supplemented with those on other services.
Article printed from Black Star Rising: http://rising.blackstar.com
URL to article: http://rising.blackstar.com/photography-seo-dont-set-it-and-forget-it.html
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Gear: Gun Storage
Gun Storage
- Centurion SAFES by Liberty Safe in Firearms, Tasers & Accessories
- Posted GregWinter on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:44:08 UTC
- Last Review: "if you have any money tied up in your guns and/or have kids you should have a safe. Bolt it to the floor in a closet or the garage or even in the ..."
- (3 Votes)
- Review this product
- GunVault Muti Deluxe by Gun Vault in Firearms, Tasers & Accessories
- Posted Silent_Observer on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:39:02 UTC
- Last Review: "I love the ability to safely store a firearm yet have quick access to it. I also love the many possible code combinations that are possible on the..."
- (2 Votes)
- Review this product
- Center-of-Mass Combination Lock In Car Safe by Center-of-Mass in Firearms, Tasers & Accessories
- Posted RMGerlach on Mon, 06 Jun 2011 20:37:34 UTC
- Last Review: "Simple yet elegant storage solution to secure your firearm or valuables in your car or luggage. The safe uses durable, TSA-approved 21 gauge steel..."
- (1 Vote)
- Review this product
« Previous 1 2 3 Next »


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This has been a staple restaurant for my family and I for years. It is family owned and operated. Great food and service. Lots of choices. Salsa is the best! Great place for drinks as well.
This was by far the worst Mexican food I have ever encountered. The tacos had unseasoned ground beef and the enchildada had wierd nacho seasoning. The salsa was like eating tamoto I paste. We didnt even eat more then a few bites and left.
Loved it! Family owned and operated for 3 generations. The food is basic and down home delicious. The bar was well stocked and the kids welcome. Their fried ice cream was the best I've ever had.
Authentic made from scratch tortillas. terrific salsa and the guacamole was some of the best I've ever had, chunky and creamy. very comfortable restaurant, friendly folks
We ordered two beef tostado plates with rice and beans, guacamole, chips, and tea. When I went to the drink fountain to get tea, the dispenser was empty. I asked if they had any more tea. The lady said she could make some if I really want it. I drank water. When the food came there was one tostado plate...
I have eaten at the El Charrito Restaurant and Lounge in Scottsbluff, Nebraska for the past 8 years when I am on business and I have never been disappointed. The service is excellent, the Margaritas are refreshing and the food is delicious. I especially an enchanted by their signature dish, the pork chile. The enchiladas and hard shell tacos are...
I haven't been in there since they remodeled. It is possible I could give it another chance. I didn't like the way it was set up and felt it was crowded.
This place is way over priced, food is bland, and service is non existent. The ordering process is more like fast food, where you serve yourself. This is NOT authentic mexican food.
The menu selection is limited but the best pork chili! Nice place to hang out and watch the game and have some drinks!
We went as a family the night before my brothers wedding. 9 of us. Yuk I guess if you haven't had a quality Mexican meal than this might do. No one greeted us we waited for a waitress. Nope they don't have those. You order than are given a number were you walk to the window and carry your own...
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Pathfinder – Generative geometry as a creative impulse
Created by Princemio in collaboration with onformative, the Pathfinder project was created with aim to contribute to the creative processes of choreographic development.
Created by Princemio in collaboration with onformative, the Pathfinder project was created with aim to contribute to the creative processes of choreographic development.
Patterns of Harmony is an installation comprised of animated fractal of cubes, without containing any physical cubes, rather the reflections and projections of them.
Christoph Bader & Dominik Kolb (deskriptiv) are currently working on an algorithm as an application that produces procedural sculptures for 3D printing.
Glassified is a modified ruler with a transparent display to supplement physical strokes made on paper with virtual graphics. The goal of the device is to complement rather than replace a typical ruler and since the display is transparent, both the physical strokes and the virtual graphics are visible in the same plane.
From custom geometry to adding textures to 2D and 3D shapes, Amnon Owed shows you practical examples of a number of crucial building blocks for 2D/3D Processing projects.
Three things seem to surround us all the time and in great abundance: data visualization, audio visualization and mapping. The team behind TouchDesigner show you how to do all three things at once.
This new piece by Paul Prudence takes conceptual cues from cyclotrons and particle accelerators and alludes to aspects of particle physics, space exploration and 4-dimensional space. It is inspired to commemorate the first wave of Russian cosmonauts and also the artists of the Constructivist movement who conquered space conceptually.
Created by Ruslan Gaynutdinov, the project investigates ways sound can be visualised and how the spectator can be immersed in simple sound based geometric compositions. Sona is an experimental game for the iPad inspired by the classic "Simon game". The universe is composed of enigmatic sound paintings that the spectator must solve through simple interactions. The […]
Approxymotion and MisPortraits are two projects by Peter A Vikar currently an ESTm post-graduate studies at Sci-Arc, Los Angeles, designing material interactions with six-axis robot arms. Approxymotion is research project focusing on motion based forming while MisPortraits looks at the levels of accidentally with 6 axis robots doing feltpen graphics.
Created by Lasal, graphic programmer, designer, VJ and computer artist based in Berlin, Hexagrama explores the quality of time and how the geometrical coincidences change our perception of the musical composition. Running in realtime, Hexagrama was created using vvvv with midi data send to Usine. All geometrical occurrences are preprogrammed. "Hexagrama explores the geometrical properties of sacred geometry." Other […]
Created by Simon Strandgaard, Triangle Draw allows you to draw logos/patterns/typography using only triangles. Within the app you can keep track of all your drawings, export to photo album or by email. Other tools include ability to mirror, offset, flip axis, invert colours, randomise and more. Platform: iPad Version: 1.0 Cost: $0.99 Developer: opcoders See also Graphic […]
Hemesh is an exciting Processing library by Frederik Vanhoutte (W:Blut) that can be used to create elaborate 3D shapes quickly. It is an implementation of the half-edge datastructure, hence the name Hemesh. What makes this datastructure interesting is it's inherent ability to store connectivity information. So it's much more than just a list of vertices […]


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Italian Bean Bake
|Red kidney beans
|420 Gram, dried (1 packet)
|6 Cup (96 tbs)
|1 Large, chopped
|1 Pound, ground
|1 Can (10 oz)
|2 Teaspoon
|Crumbled marjoram leaves
|1 Teaspoon
1) Preheat the oven to 325°F.
2) Rinse the beans. In a large saucepan, add water and beans. Let it boil for 2 minutes.
3) Take the saucepan off the flame. Cover and let rest for about 60 minutes.
4) Into the same saucepan, add the onions. Let it boil before turning down the flame. Simmer for 1 hour.
5) Meanwhile, in a large skillet, add the ground beef. Brown the beef on both sides. Add in the tomatoes, salt and marjoram. Cook on simmer for about 5 minutes.
6) Drain the beans and keep the liquid aside for later.
7) In a 10-cup casserole, add in the beans and ground beef mixture. Pour in 1 cup of the reserved cooking liquid.
8) Cover and bake for 2 1/2 hours.
9) Remove the cover and bake for another 30 minutes or until the bakes become tender.
10) Sprinkle a little water on the surface, if the beans become too dry.
11) Garnish the Italian Bean Bake with chopped parsley leaves.


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Navarre glad to be back
Heads are still spinning about this week's Toledo police chief shake-up.
And one question is on everyone's mind: Why did Chief Mike Navarre return to the job from which he was bumped six months ago by his boss, Mayor Carty Finkbeiner?
"It's a job I've always enjoyed. It's rewarding and challenging. I was interim executive director of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, a position I really wasn't qualified to hold," the chief said.
"The fact of the matter is, at times, it was very boring. It was not the type of job I was suited for. Of all my options, I'm too young to not work, and I have a freshman in high school."
Chief Navarre, 50, returned to his old job after former Chief Jack Smith had a blowup with the mayor at a meeting Tuesday, stepped down as chief, and returned to the rank of captain.
Hours later, the nearly 29-year veteran received a call from city hall asking him if he'd be interested in the top cop spot. Then he called his wife.
"When I told her of the proposed offer to me, I think there was a long pause. She said, 'You're not serious?' and I said, 'Yes, I am serious. What do you think?' " he said.
The chief said the mayor is an "extremely difficult person to work for, and he will admit that." But he said he has "no problems working for Mayor Finkbeiner."
Chief Navarre said he and the mayor shook hands and wished each other good luck after a meeting Jan. 3 in which they reached an agreement that made the chief a deputy chief and Captain Smith chief.
Chief Navarre said he had conversations with the mayor since then, and on at least two occasions, Mr. Finkbeiner offered him a high-level position in his administration. He didn't feel comfortable taking the spot, which he declined to identify.
The chief said he probably would have stayed at CJCC, but thought about the police chief opening in Sylvania Township, which recently was filled. He did not apply for the position.
Before he became deputy chief in January, Chief Navarre said Lucas County Sheriff James Telb said he would hire him, but the chief declined the offer.
Chief Navarre said he will consider running for sheriff if Sheriff Telb doesn't run again. He said he won't run against Sheriff Telb because he has too much respect and admiration for him.
Chief Navarre has been busy this week with meetings, report reading, and deciding on changes and reassignments - but only one has occurred so far.
He promoted Capt. Don Kenney to deputy chief and assistant chief, making him the force's No. 2 man. Mr. Kenney previously served as deputy chief, but was demoted to captain when Captain Smith became chief.
Chief Navarre has talked with union leaders and said other changes are forthcoming, but declined to provide details.
He's comfortable with some of the changes the former chief made and will keep them in place for now, such as the gang/youth crime unit. He will evaluate other changes and decide if they work efficiently.
Simply put, Chief Navarre said he's happy to be back.
"It's fast-paced. There's never a dull moment," he said. "When there is, you have to enjoy it, because it won't last long."
Contact Christina Hall at:
or 419-724-6007.


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Events for March 10, 2013
Day Navigation
All Day
One Book, One City for Kids
One Book, One City for Kids is an annual reading program that encourages all 4th graders in the city to read and discuss the same book. The program also strives to encourage a lifelong love of reading among students, to inspire readers to bring story ideas and themes to life through discussion, and to build […] Find out more »
2:00 pm
Titanic Adventures
Families and children under 14 are invited to learn about one of the most deadly disasters in history, the sinking of the Titanic. Explore what it was like to sail on the Titanic from the staff of the Grand Rapids Public Museum. Learn to be a deck hand and tie knots, use pulley systems and […] Find out more »


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Sign up for our new webinar: Master Data Management
Sign up for our new webinar: Master Data Management
Start today on a relevant and incremental MDM journey. A turnkey MDM solution allows you to collaborate on, maintain and provision accurate and reliable data across the enterprise; however, extended implementation times can delay time to value. Many successful MDM projects start small and grow over time. Open source provides a vehicle to start your MDM journey and deliver value - today. This hands-on webinar will present: How an integrated solution for data integration, data quality and master data management can speed up and simplify implementation Why an active data model allows you to quickly reflect unique data requirements The importance of a dynamic MDM interface that enables immediate collaboration and stewardship Join us for this one hour webinar and learn how you can start your MDM journey! Sign up now: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/154308651 Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 Time: 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM GMT
Project News
- http://forge.ow2.org/forum/forum.php?forum_id=2475">June 17 XWiki 7.1.1 Released
- http://forge.ow2.org/forum/forum.php?forum_id=2474">June 15 XWiki 7.1 Released
- http://forge.ow2.org/forum/forum.php?forum_id=2473">June 08 Talend Open Studio for Data Integration 6.0.0 RC1 available
Community Events


text:
Griffiths, HD; Kenyon, AJ; Mitchell, JE; Sacks, L; (2002) Problem Based Learning in electronic engineering. In: (Proceedings) UCL Teaching and Learning Conference.
Full text not available from this repository.
|Proceedings paper
|Problem Based Learning in electronic engineering
|UCL Teaching and Learning Conference
|UCL classification:
|UCL > School of BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Electronic and Electrical Engineering
UCL > School of BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Engineering Science Faculty Office
Archive Staff Only: edit this record


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Driving - Page 5
Behold The Odometer Rollover
Sun Glare Can Be Deadly for Drivers
Is Your Car Road-Worthy?
Apps, Services Enable Less Driving: Report [AUDIO]
NJ Doesn't Buy American Cars
The auto pricing website TrueCar.com studied new car sales data to find out which states posted the lowest percentage of American brand car purchases last year.
Could NJ Gas Dip Under Three Dollars? [AUDIO]
Long Island Man Puts 3 Million Miles On One Car
The Push for Mandatory Blood Testing in Fatal Accidents [POLL/AUDIO]
Road Rage Incident Turns Into Shooting
Maybe I'm overly sensitive because of my own brush with road rage last week, but a story from Florida has me shaking my head. According to ABC Action News in Tampa, a couple was sitting at a red light when a man got out of his car, walked up to the passenger side window, and shot the man sitting there.


text:
To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog:
Earlier this month the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the appeal of Syncora Guarantee Inc. must be heard by the lower federal district court before the bankruptcy court may conduct its trial on the city's proposed Chapter 9 restructuring plan, which is scheduled to begin on August 14th. Syncora, a municipal bond insurer and one of Detroit's many creditors, petitioned the Sixth Circuit to order the federal district court to reconsider its appeal to stop Detroit from using tax revenue from casinos rather than preserving the revenue so as not to deplete the bankruptcy estate. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes ruled in August that casino revenue is city property and therefore subject to the automatic stay.
At $15 million a month, casino taxes are the city's single best stream of revenue.
Although the appeal was filed eight months ago, the federal district court judge balked and failed to make a ruling. Instead, the district court judge issued an order in April freezing the casino-tax appeal until the Sixth Circuit ruled on a separate appeal regarding Detroit's eligibility for municipal bankruptcy. Syncora then filed a petition for mandamus, essentially asking the appellate court to order the lower district court to issue a ruling.
The Court of Appeals granted the mandamus petition by holding that without a final decision on the question whether Detroit could use casino tax revenue for continuing city expenses, "the city will not know what amount its coffers will contribute to the bankruptcy estate, the creditors cannot know the size of the pie they are being asked to share, and the bankruptcy court cannot be confident that it is considering a legally and financially viable plan."
Whether the bankruptcy court pushes back its August 14th trial commencement is not yet known. What is clear, however, is that the district court's decision will be pivotal to the city's restructuring plan.
See more »
DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.
© Rogers Towers
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You can now invite anyone to meet at your favorite Starbucks.
Limited-time feature
33 year old man | Arlington, VA, USA | Seeking women 22-27 within 50 miles
I don't like bacon.
I am a positive guy that is always motivated and fun to be around. I like to be creative and active, I don't like to sit around for too long. I have a good set of morals and like to do the right thing. I go to the gym pretty much every day. I love to workout and fitness and nutrition are important to me. It would be great to find someone who enjoys it as well. What I am looking for in a woman is honesty and a fun personality. Having fun in life is what's its all about. Some things that interest me: science, fitness, health many, many other things as well. If I watch TV I usually watch the science channel or the Big Bang Theory. Although I don't really watch TV too often. I have been told that I am a great person. I try to be genuine in all things that I do. I am a handyman and can do just about anything that I try. My sense of humor is pretty much amazing. I love lame jokes and I love to laugh and see people happy! I am not perfect here but if I get a message from someone that I am not interested in I will reply and tell them. I think that is a decent thing to do. I wish others did that as well. I swear I message a million women and get zero replies. Even after they wink or like a photo .. What's the deal with that? I am here to find a relationship not to chase women around and trying to impress them before I've even met them. We are all adults and here for the same reason.
Coffee and conversation , Museums and art , Exploring new areas , Nightclubs/Dancing , Volunteering , Wine tasting
Bowling, Cycling, Dancing, Football, Running, Soccer, Swimming, VolleyBall, Walking / Hiking, Weights / Machines
I exercise 5 or more times per week.
I like Cats, Exotic Pets
For most of my life pets never appealed to me. I am a very clean person and pet hair and the mess that comes along with pets was something I did not like. Since I've got older I have really changed my view on pets and even think it would be nice.
Some other viewpoint
The beach or a good park are the places I enjoy most. I do love the city life as well but you just can't beat the natural world.
I rarely watch tv. I like Mexican food as long as its authentic.
My free time is spent either at the gym or messing with my car. I would like to start
Covert warriors. It is part of a series by WEB Griffin and they were all amazing books.
Z{{Cta}} {{#if HasMoreInfo}} ?{{CtaSecondary}} {{/if}}
|What he is looking for
|5'10" (177cms)
|4'10" (147cms) to 5'9" (175cms)
|Body type:
|Athletic and toned
|Slender, Athletic and toned
|Black, Blue, Brown, Grey, Green, Hazel
|Light brown
|Black, Light brown, Dark brown, Blonde, Salt and pepper, Silver, Dark blonde, Platinum
|No Way
|No Way
|Social Drinker
|Never, Social Drinker
|Law enforcement / Security / Military
|Administrative / Secretarial, Artistic / Creative / Performance, Executive / Management, Financial / Accounting / Real Estate, Legal, Medical / Dental / Veterinary / Fitness, Political / Govt / Civil Service / Military, Retail / Food services, Sales / Marketing, Self-Employed / Entrepreneur, Student, Technical / Science / Computers / Engineering, Travel / Hospitality / Transportation, Other profession, Nonprofit / Volunteer / Activist, Fashion / Model / Beauty, Architecture / Interior design
I am in the Army full time and so I generally work long or random hours. I enjoy my job however I do not plan on staying in until retirement.
|$50,001 to $75,000
|$25,001 to $35,000, $35,001 to $50,000, $50,001 to $75,000, $75,001 to $100,000
|Never Married, Divorced
|Have kids:
|Yes, and they live away from home (1)
|Yes, and they sometimes live at home, No, Yes, and they live at home
|Wants kids:
|Definitely, Someday
|White / Caucasian
|Asian, Black / African descent, East Indian, Latino / Hispanic, Middle Eastern, Pacific Islander, White / Caucasian, Other
Having good morals and personal values is important to me. My upbringing has a large part in who I am.
|Christian / Other
|Agnostic, Atheist, Buddhist / Taoist, Christian / Catholic, Christian / LDS, Christian / Protestant, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim / Islam, Spiritual but not religious, Other, Christian / Other
I believe in God but do not attend church regularly.
|English, Spanish
|Some college
|High school, Some college, Associates degree, Bachelors degree, Graduate degree, PhD / Post Doctoral


text:
This is a little wierd, but I want to check if connection to my database is already open or not? How do I check that? and if open I want to be able to work with it straightaway without going through all the statements:
sqlconnection conn = new sqlconnection("string ...");
Can this be done? I know the connection string and the connection name too. I want to check if this connection is available first and then proceed.


text: [[quoteright:320:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TVT-IUnDMO_569.jpg]][[caption-width-right:320:The Future Demon King and his harem [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg (and his brown-haired friend.)]]]]Akuto Sai is an orphan raised by a church who plans to become a great priest one day. Everything seems to be going so well at first: He possesses great magic power, is planning to go to school at the [[WizardingSchool Constant Magic Academy]], and even made friends with the Class Representative Junko Hattori on his first day. However, when Akuto goes in front of the vocational raven to determine his future, the raven proclaims that he will become the next Maou (a.k.a. "Demon King"). The original Demon King who appeared 100 years ago sought to tear apart the current order of the world and was so powerful that he nearly succeeded before he was finally brought down, so this is not a good thing.As expected, this revelation quickly spreads around the school, but Akuto can't see himself becoming the next BigBad of the world, so he does everything in his power to convince his friends and classmates that he won't become the Maou. However, a string of unintended consequences follows as Akuto's actions only dig that metaphorical hole deeper. As the story goes on, he ends up gaining a harem of followers ranging from a young fanboy to a robotic private detective who all have their own reasons for wanting to see whether or not Akuto will become the Demon King.Originally a series of light novels, ''Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou'' has received both a manga and anime adaptation. The anime aired in the spring of 2010.Character sheets [[Characters/IchibanUshiroNoDaiMaou found here]].The anime can be viewed legally on Crunchyroll [[http://www.crunchyroll.com/demon-king-daimao here.]]----!!This work provides examples of:* ActionGirl: Junko, who sometimes becomes a GirlWithPsychoWeapon due to her {{Tsundere}} tendencies.* AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil: In all senses. Not only do they wield ridiculous political power within the school, but they manage to hold off most of an army during the final battle. It helps that they're a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]], [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent a werewolf]], Dr. Frankenstein (represented by the character piloting a Frankenstein themed mech), and a witch.* AccidentalPervert: Akuto, about the normal amount for his genre and character type.* AdaptationDistillation: Both the manga and the anime to the novels. The anime fails to really elaborate on the setting and more complex plot points of the novel in favor of generic ecchi and harem hijinks, which renders the last arc almost completely incomprehensible while the manga removes many of Akuto's more badass and ruthless character traits that set him apart from a typical Light Novel protagonist in favor of turning him into a more generic shounen harem lead, and also almost completely ignores the original story and personalities of the other characters altogether.* AllAnimeIsNaughtyTentacles: Fujiko's monsters quite often and to the detriment of her clothing.* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: Akuto is willing to take on the world and [[RageAgainstTheHeavens even God himself]] to protect Keena.* ArtShift: Episode 7. It borders on OffModel, but it may also be a ShoutOut to ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann''.* ArrangedMarriage: Between Akuto and [[spoiler:Junko]], at least until he screwed it up by being ObliviousToLove. Her family didn't take it well and her retainers attempted something along the lines of a ShotgunWedding.* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: Giant demonic dogs, sea cucumbers, snails, chickens, etc.* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Eiko Teruya's father reappears in the last episode after having half his face removed and being stabbed in the heart.]]* BadassAdorable: Korone and Lily.* BadassBoast: Peterhausen's "I am always prepared to die, but I am never prepared to lose!"* BadassLongcoat: The robe Akuto wears ends up looking like one quite often.* BagOfHolding: Korone's purse.* BalancedHarem: Even the OP and the ED are careful to give equal screentime to all girls.* BarehandedBladeBlock: Slightly averted, as Akuto manages to do this once in the anime with his bare hands, but a good deal of blood ends up falling on his face from the attempt.** He also manages to catch a rather large axe aimed at Hiroshi with just two fingers gripping the blade.* BeachEpisode: Episode six.* BerserkButton: Anytime a villain threatens one of Akuto's friends, but especially the largely innocent [[CloudCuckooLander Keena]]. Ooh boy does even mentioning hurting her throw him into an UnstoppableRage.* BewareTheNiceOnes: Akuto is normally a nice guys, but piss him off..** Also Junko's little sister should be noted: Normally she is just a sweet pop idol, but give her a sword and confront her with a monster and, oh boy, you will feel sorry for the monster.* BigBad: Bouichirou Yamato.** BiggerBad: [[spoiler:"GOD"]]** ManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:It's implied that the "angels" have taken over their own respective gods, as noted that most of the attacks inside Suzuhara come from her shrine maidens, and that the Maou is an antibody created by the gods to kill said angels, who have grown into a cancer.]]* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:Korone]] in Episode 7. Same goes for [[spoiler:Hiroshi/Brave]].** Just about ALL the female cast members in Episode 11.* BigEater: Keena, especially where rice is involved.* BlackAndWhiteMorality: Hiroshi tells Akuto that there are usually two "dons" in the school: the [[KnightInShiningArmor "visible don"]] (currently held by Junko) who fights for everything that's good and just and tries to keep fellow students on the right path, and the [[ManipulativeBastard "invisible don"]] (unknown, but hinted to be Fujiko) who secretly deals in forbidden black magic and tries to tilt fellow students towards the dark side.* BlackComedyRape: Fujiko first by all the female students under the influence of the drugged rice then later by some sort of tentacle/snail monster, though it doesn't get very far before she blows it to kingdom come.* {{Bokukko}}: Lily Shiraishi* BrainInAJar: Fujiko's brother (or what's left of him), but that doesn't stop her from [[{{Squick}} having romantic feelings for him.]]* BromanticFoil: Hiroshi to Akuto, to the point where he calls him "aniki" (big brother). There are various hints it may be more than that.* ButtMonkey: Junko sure can get unlucky a lot...* CantHoldHisLiquor: Kena gets really tipsy really quick.* CensorBox: In the TV version, a SuperDeformed HexagonalSpeechBalloon of the character in question pops up.** For comedic effect they usually contain some message like, "Sorry," "Nope," or, "Not gonna happen."* CensorShadow: both black and white.* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In spades with the manga to the anime; the only characters that are remotely the same in both are Korone, Keina, and Hiroshi. In the manga:** Akuto can actually be seen as more aggressive and doesn't back down from fights as much to prove he's not the Maou.** Junko's {{Tsundere}} tendecies are toned down and is a lot nicer then in the anime.** Fujiko is less of a IneffectualSympatheticVillain and has actually succeeded in her plans thus far.** Lily is VERY hotblooded and in her first appearence she fights (and [[CurbstompBattle BEATS]]) Akuto in no time flat.* ChekhovsGun: Towards the beginning of the third episode, Kena rambles on about how much she loves rice, how it can bring happiness to the world, and how she's not allowed to have a rice cooker so she wants to stash it in Akuto's room. Korone suggests using a chemical weapon launcher to cook the rice instead. Later on, [[spoiler: when the entire school is attacking them, Korone pops out of nowhere and fires her weapon, now filled with rice, in order to save the day.]]* ChewingTheScenery: In episode 7 Akuto has to do this, as well as using an ArtShift to fight Mr X.* ChickMagnet: Akuto.** Much to [[ChasteHero his chagrin]], especially since most of his UnwantedHarem is insane.* ClarkKenting: [[spoiler: Hiroshi]] after drawing the sword that OnlyTheChosenMayWield (see below) and becoming a Superhero known as "Brave". After defeating the giant sea cucumber he changes out of his hero's costume and tells everyone he was rescued by the said hero.* ClingyJealousGirl: Junko shows this subtly from time to time, and Korone goes into this mode one time while under orders to seduce Akuto.* ClosetSublet: Korone stays the night in Akuto's closet.* ClothingDamage: Happens to just about everyone, but Junko gets it worse than everyone else.* CloudCuckooLander: Keena (or is it ObfuscatingStupidity?)* ColorCodedCharacters: As can be seen in the picture above, each of the main girls has different colored hair and hairstyles to differentiate themselves from each other.* CombatMedic / DeadlyDoctor: Korone has a special gun that can be used to administer medicines to friendlies and poison to foes. Later she even uses it to make it rain rice, just like Keena wanted.* CooldownHug: Akuto manages to pacify Junko's rampage for a moment by grabbing her into a hug during which he blurts out his LoveConfession (see below), but the solace doesn't last long.* CovertPervert: Korone* CrapSackWorld: Lets face it, if your future big bad is evil because of good intentions and a "High Priest" is also an assassin you get shades of this.* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Akuto is a reasonable, nice guy who despises violence, but should you succeed in making him angry...** And [[spoiler: Keena]] shows signs of this as well.* CryCute: Junko has one in episode 9 of the anime, after learning that [[ObliviousToLove Akuto didn't know his meeting with her family was a marriage proposal]], and qualifies as a [[TheWoobie Woobie]] moment for her as well.* CycleOfRevenge: If what the anime says is true, [[spoiler:every hundred years or so the gods make a new demon lord so he can be killed and the cycle basically repeats each and every time, who knows how long this has been going on]].** And despite hitting the universal ResetButton and the end of the anime series, he's ''still'' destined to be the Demon King!* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Everyone in the above picture apart from Akuto and Lily.* CursedWithAwesome: Two examples, Akuto and Yuuko.** In Akuto's case, he has immense powers and has control over monsters, but because of the prophecy that he's supposed to become the Demon King, almost everyone's scared of him, despite anything he tries to do.** In Yuuko's case, she was bitten by a monster when she was younger, and got infected with some of their mana/blood. As a result, she can sense when monsters are nearby, but it also makes her a little scared of them as well (except when she's on tv to fight Akuto's "demon army" apparently). She also develops a rather nasty looking vein in the back of her neck.* CuteLittleFangs: Lily Shiraishi, the StudentCouncilPresident. It even gives her a bit of a lisp, which is not noticeable on the English dub.* DeadPanSnarker: Korone* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: The official English title, "Demon King Daimao," means "Demon King Demon King." Though it's not like the direct translation ("First from Behind Demon King") makes much sense either...[[spoiler: In truth, in the novels it's very meaningful; since "ichiban ushiro" can mean either "first from behind" or "last in a line", Akuto is always in that position when somethiong happens. In the anime, it only happens at the future test (he is the last one tested) and when seating in the classroom (before the arrival of Korone, that took seat inmediatly behind him).]]* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: A dragon, who accepts Akuto as his master after that.** Later they [[UpToEleven one up that victory]] by ''killing a god.''* DiggingYourselfDeeper: The further Akuto tries to make things right, the more he seems to make them wrong.** At one point he flat out tells Junko that nothing he says will convince her so he has no reason to try.* TheDitz: Keena is a bit... special.* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnFemale: Fujiko and the female students when her first plan to enslave Akuto backfires.* DungeonCrawling: Thanks to a TreasureMap found by Akuto at the whim of the plot.* DynamicEntry: Eiko, doing a flying jump kick onto the stage.** This seems to be her preferred method of entry.* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Akuto and Junko, to the point everyone is convinced ''that they are already a couple...''* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: [[BrainInAJar Fujiko's brother]]; in the anime he gets strangled, in the manga he gets ''his heart and spine ripped out of his body''.* {{Fanservice}}!* FearlessFool: Keena. So much so that she has no problem [[spoiler: using an enormous black dragon as a bed.]]* FemmeFatale: Eto Fujiko. She'd like to be TheVamp, but since she shows the potential to be redeemed (or at least have her Black Magic antics mitigated somewhat), this trope fits her better. By far the most sexual character in the show, not only in her intentions towards Akuto, but also having been on the receiving end of a Love-Potion fueled student orgy/gangbang (mostly off-screen) *and* the attentions of some horny tentacle monsters.* FullFrontalAssault: Junko attacks Eiko stark naked, during the Hot Spring scene. Since Akuto is also present things go slightly differently [[HilarityEnsues than she planned..]]* FoodAsBribe: In the manga, Korone will do practically anything for doll-shaped pancakes.* {{Fundoshi}}: Junko wears a variant of this instead of conventional panties.* GainaxEnding: The closer you get to the anime ending, the more and more confusing it becomes. Interestingly, it's not because they added some new ending but because the anime, unlike the {{light novel}}s, did not go into detail about the set up for the finale, so while the ending of the anime ''is'' in the novels, there it has a set up and clear context, but in the anime, it just sort of pops up out of nowhere.* GenkiGirl: Keena, particularly when it comes to rice.* GenreSavvy: Korone knows her anime character archetypes well. She tries out a PlayboyBunny, a {{tsundere}}, a [[BigBrotherInstinct little sister]], a {{meido}}, a HospitalHottie, a NakedApron...* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: In Episode 6, after Korone undergoes a "personality shift" and wakes Akuto up first by elbow dropping him in the groin, she then tries [[spoiler: a vigorous footjob. In the next shot he is on the floor facing away and there is an open box of tissues on the bed...]]** There is also the whole Keena jerking off the sea cucumber in the same episode and Junko getting a face full of slime that the sea cucumber released as a result.* GodIsEvil: Have ''your'' gods ever called a hit on an innocent person?* GroinAttack: Akuto suffers from one at the hands of ''Korone'', of all people.* GunshipRescue: The Black Crane for the antagonists trying to kill Akuto. Subverted, as it actually helps Peterhausen recover and gets crashed by one of [=CIM08's=] agents shortly after.* HealingShiv: One of the first magical items we see Korone using is a medic gun. It shoots healing lasers.* HenshinHero: [[spoiler:Hiroshi]] is TheChosenOne. A sword in the stone turns into his TransformationTrinket (which resembles [[Series/MiraiSentaiTimeranger a Chrono Changer]]), turning him into the hero, Brave, to fight [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever a giant sea cucumber]].* HeroWithAnFInGood: Akuto.* HeroWithBadPublicity: Again, Akuto* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Peterhausen]], who left behind one of his teeth as a [[MementoMacguffin memento]] of himself to Akuto before going down with the gods.* HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct: [[spoiler:Bouichirou went forward in time to kill the reincarnation of the Maou and/or become one himself.]] It didn't work out that way when [[spoiler:Bouichirou was killed and Akuto hit the universal ResetButton anyway at the end of the show.]]* HotSpringsEpisode: Underground hot springs with naked swordfighting.* IdolSinger: Yuri Hoshino.* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: Fujiko.* InnocentFanserviceGirl: One of Keena Soga's powers involves personal {{Invisibility}}, but she can't conceal any clothing, so when she has to become invisible she just goes in her birthday suit.* InstantArmor: [[spoiler: Hiroshi]]'s 'Brave' suit, a sleek suit of MagiTek PoweredArmor designed for anti-mage combat - in fact, it's specifically designed to make the wearer a match for a Maou. It collapses into an oversized wristwatch when not in use and is activated by verbal command. [[HenshinHero Sound familiar]]?* InstantExpert: Akuto who apparently mastered his powers pretty well a day from when they started to manifest.** Well, as long as it doesn't require him to ''not'' explode/break things. He's not very good at control** [[spoiler: Hiroshi after getting his Superhero PowerUp.]] Subverted somewhat, as he had an AI guiding him on weapon use.* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Korone after asking Akuto to marry Junko (see ShipperOnDeck below), telling him that this "order" was hard for her to do.* KafkaComedy: No matter what Akuto does, especially but not restircted to closer to the beginning of the series, anything that Akuto says is interpreted as pure evil, and while most people don't ''punish'' him for this, it's only because they're too terrified to do so, and those who aren't afraid of him do end up trying to kill him. Examples of these misunderstandings include:** Telling his class that he wants to take the position of janitor/cleaner, hoping it will put them at ease by showing them that he wants to take a low key yet helpful and extremely necessary job. Turns out, at this school, the janitor is actually an assassin whose job is to kill anybody who threatens the school's security.** He takes a job on the Disciplinary Comity, hoping he can show people that he's dedicated to keeping the school and its students safe. Now everyone thinks that he only took the job so that he could sadistically beat up the delinquents who come hunting for him, as they have done with all previous Disciplinary Comity members.** He protects his only real friend from a group of such delinquents, but ends up [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength not really knowing the extent of his strength and going a bit overboard]], only "confirming" the rumours about why he took the post.* KillTheOnesYouLove: [[spoiler: Junko]] actually ends up killing [[spoiler: Akuto]] in Chapter 15 of the manga.* KnightTemplar: Junko veers towards this moreso in the Anime then in the Manga.** [[spoiler: Hiroshi as "Brave" may be heading in this direction as well.]]* LargeHam: Mr X. Being a ham is actually the basis of his power.* LaserGuidedKarma: In the anime, when Keena says something that causes the lynch mob Junko's assembled to turn on her as well, she pleads with them that they've misunderstood and should listen to her explanation, then asks Sai to say something. He points out that he's been trying to say ''the exact same thing'' to her almost since he arrived at school, and that they're unlikely to listen any more than she did.* LittleMissSnarker: Korone* LoopholeAbuse: There is no rule stating that one can't keep a dragon in school.* LovableSexManiac: Korone* LoveConfession: Akuto blurts this out to Junko while she's in a rage, mainly to try and calm her down.* LoveLetterLunacy: Happens in the 2nd special episode. [[spoiler: Junko decides to write a love letter to Akuto because she [[CannotSpitItOut can't say it straight to his face]], but finds herself too embarrassed to write the letter as well. So Yuuko does it for her, and makes the letter rather blunt (to the point of lampshading Junko's being a {{Tsundere}}) further embarrassing Junko. HilarityEnsues when Eiko finds out and steals the letter to use it to blackmail Junko.]]* LovePotion: Fujiko tried to get Akuto to take one that would make him fall in love with her alone. Keena accidentally made it so that everyone else in the school ([[GirlOnGirlIsHot the female students, apparently]]) fell in love with Fujiko instead.* LuminescentBlush: Junko is getting more and more prone to this around Akuto.* ManipulativeBitch: Fujiko is secretly planning to use Akuto's power for her own goals.** Secretly? Hell, Akuto himself notices, and even lampshades it:---> '''Akuto''': But you're the sort of person who doesn't do anything without first calculating personal benefit...* MoreDakka: The Black Crane airship in episode 10 works on this principle. Not that it helps them any.** Well it's not like more dakka could have stopped the helmsman from driving the ship straight into the ground.* {{Motormouth}}: Korone's speech rate gets accelerated a bit when she's in {{Tsundere}} mode.* MsFanservice: Above and beyond the call of duty, Fujiko Etou, who throughout the show has had no less than three dialogue scenes in her lingerie and is the go to character for tentacles.** Her and Junko, who gets ClothingDamage at least once per episode.* MundaneUtility: A giant military weapon used to feed the school. [[TheCuckoolanderWasRight Keena was right all along]].* MyEyesAreLeaking: Korone.* NayTheist: Akuto repeatedly denigrates belief in gods and says they "are just a system". Later, we find out he's right, and he destroys the system. [[spoiler:In the novel it's revealed that that fact is common knowledge and that the reason many strive to become High Priests is to influence that system for their own benefit]].* {{Ninja}}: An entire clan of them. Yuri Hoshino/Yuuko Hattori is a ninja idol singer, with a bit of SpiderSense.* NobleDemon: It's hard to believe that Akuto can be a Demon King considering he tries his best to be a good guy.* NotSoDifferent: Akuto and the last Demon lord both have the same goal, which makes us wonder if we're getting the whole story here.* {{Ojou}}: Fujiko is the leader of the school's discipline committee, an expert in magic and medicine, and has her own fan club (composed of boys ''and'' [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer girls]]).* ObfuscatingStupidity: The final episode of the anime hints that Kena's CloudCuckoolander personality was just a front, and that she was really a reincarnation of the last girl who made a contract with the previous demon lord. Occasionally her past self takes control at the subconscious level without her knowledge.* OffModel: One of Keena's hands seems a tad bit too small when Yamato lays her down in episode 12.* OneDialogueTwoConversations: When Akuto goes to visit Junko's father, he doesn't realize that the reason for the visit is a marriage interview, rather than just a typical meet and greet. Junko however, thought he knew, and their conversation is pretty ambiguous until she secretly meets with him in his room at night.* OnlyAFleshWound:When she gets shot square in the back, Korone just shrugs it off despite the blood dripping down her body.* OnlyTheChosenMayWield: Episode 7 reveals a sword kept in a shrine built by Hiroshi's grandfather which can only be drawn by a "[[TheHero True Hero]]".* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: At the end, the student council member who always says "guga" says something other than "guga".** It's because of the effects of the {{Retcon}} (see below).* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Peterhausen, a giant dragon who's the Demon King's best friend. Like Akuto himself, not that bad of a guy apparently. Also, our dragon [[RuleOfCool breathes DRILLS]].* PantyShot: All the times, as well as a Fundoshi variation. Korone's activation pull cord is located right above her buttocks, which leads to this trope being invoked regardless.* PersonOfMassDestruction: Akuto. He can't help it for being a destined Demon King, and demonstrates it by blowing up a classroom, and soon after that, creating a 50 foot wide crater, both just from DEFENDING HIMSELF!* PowerOfLove: In Junko's case it can wipe out small armies.* PottyEmergency: Kena realizes this when trapped in the meditation chamber. Korone offers to help her in an unexpected way. Hilarity continues [[http://www.theanimenetwork.com/component/option,com_myblog/Itemid,0/show,Ichiban-Ushiro-no-Daimao-Also-Known-As....html/ outside the meditation chamber]].* PunnyName: You just know that a poor guy's journey to be a hero of good and kindness is going to be a bumpy one when his name "Sai Akuto" can ''literally'' be read as "Ultimate Villain", "Saiakuto" (最悪人), if read phonetically.** And Hiroshi [[spoiler: seems to be a bilingual pun/play on the word "Hero" (think "[=HEROshi=]"), as befitting the Legendary Hero of his town that he became.]]* RageAgainstTheHeavens: Despite being raised by the church, Akuto had trouble believing in God. Now that a God is purported to be ordering an assassination against his friend, FromBadToWorse it goes.* RandomPowerRanking: In the manga, Akuto is told he ranks number two on the academy's "Most Evil" ranking.* RazorFloss: Brave has this as one of his weapons.* RedEyesTakeWarning: When Akuto's eyes turn red it's kick ass time!* RefusalOfTheCall: [[spoiler:Hiroshi]] didn't want to be [[spoiler:TheChosenOne]].** This could also apply to [[spoiler: Akuto, who refuses to perform the role that the demon lord was supposed to do, which was attack humanity with a bunch of demons, then merge with the law of identity and recreate humanity]]* RequiredSecondaryPowers: If you ignore the [[ZeroPercentApprovalRating bad press]], getting to be a Demon Lord seems to be a pretty sweet deal: lots of girls, tons of neat powers, and a '''dragon'. Too bad he's still getting a hang of that whole "controlling your insane levels of power" thing.* {{Retcon}}: An in-universe example: [[spoiler: Keena uses her powers as the Law of Identity to make it so that Akuto was never the Demon Lord.]] However, Akuto discovers that the [[StatusQuoIsGod Status Quo is the greatest God of all]] when the vocational raven [[BookEnds repeats his prediction from the beginning.]]* TheRival: Eiko is this towards Junko, and apparently the rivalry goes all the way back to their respective families.* RobotGirl: Korone, a "Liladan" sent to spy on Akuto, is a RidiculouslyHumanRobot. There's also a robot girl on the student council.* SatanIsGood: Akuto Sai who is The Demon King and a nice guy* SchizoTech: welcome to the year 3000. Humanity has created magic, has magic based mag-lev trains, can create androids, created a nanomachine based power-armor that can use plasma weaponry and has created an [[AIIsACrapShoot omnicidal maniac singularity]] that creates a genetically engineered human once every 100 years to try and wipe out its creators. All this, and yet the best the military can field when it comes to taking down the Sai Akuto is a legion of soldiers armed with .50cal machine-guns, swords and samurai armor, as well as a massive flying battleship.* ScrewDestiny: Akuto is trying to do this with regards to his future career as the BigBad. Emphasis on ''[[YouCantFightFate trying]]''.* SelfFulfillingProphecy: The student body really seems hell bent on alienating Akuto, don't they?** It seems to be an "Okay, so he's going to become the future BigBad, [[BullyingADragon let's make him an outcast so he won't conquer the world in xx years]]", type of thing. [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer Because turning someone into a social pariah will totally not instill feelings of frustration and a desire for revenge,]] [[SarcasmMode nope, not at all]].* ShipTease: Aside from the LoveConfession, there's also the fifth episode where Akuto "choses" Junko seemingly on instinct.* ShipperOnDeck: By episode 7, Korone declares that her new "mission" is to get Akuto married to a "woman from a good family", and even goes as far as to bluntly ask him to marry Junko, who becomes embarrassingly horrified by this and runs away screaming.* ShoutOut: In the anime, to ''PrincessResurrection''. The android in question has a similar VerbalTic to the ones in PrincessResurrection - "Guga" ("Fuga" in the other anime).** The "emergence rate of demon beasts" report shows an [[Manga/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind Ohmu]].** The student council has the same kind of lineup as the four lead girls of Renkin San-kyuu Magical Pokaan, if you count Riri's hat. You also have a werewolf, a vampire, and a robot. But both series are probably making a shout-out to a 1960's manga called Kaibutsu-kun, where the four characters were male instead of female.* SlouchOfVillainy: Akuto and his UnwantedHarem have a photograph of this taken after Akuto defeats Peterhausen.* SpannerInTheWorks: Soga Keena.* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Constan/Constant/Constantin Magical Academy. Which one is it?** Official subs (read: the ones used by the Anime Network stream) use the first spelling.** There are several recognizable buildings in the city, which place the academy in Constantinople.* StudentCouncilPresident: Lily Shiraishi.* TheTease: Korone and Eiko.* TheReveal: [[spoiler: Hiroshi]] is destined to be the Hero, and [[spoiler: Keena]] is the reincarnation of the Law of Identity.* TestosteronePoisoning: The anime ventures into this in the later episodes, presumably due to having to condense the sudden onset of plot in the novels into lots of shirtless Akuto shouting.* ThanksForTheMammary: Akuto on Keena; thanks to her invisibility spell Akuto had to feel around find out what was holding the supposedly floating bento, and his hand ended up on her breasts.** In episode 5 after subduing the demon wolf [[spoiler:who's actually one of the student council members in disguise]], Akuto ends up holding Junko with his arm wrapped around her assets (and while they're both naked). Cue a LuminescentBlush when she realizes it.* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: Don't want to be TheChosenOne, [[spoiler:Hiroshi]]? Too bad, the Monster Of The Day is attacking your hometown!* ThisIsADrill: Best BreathWeapon ever? Best BreathWeapon ever!* TookALevelInBadAss: Hiroshi after getting [[spoiler: the [[PoweredArmor Brave suit upgrade.]]]] Prior to that he was largely seen as an [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent average]], [[MrExposition detail oriented]], [[ButtMonkey guy]].* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Keena and rice in all of its forms.* TranquilFury: Akuto can be really, really, ''really'' scary, if he wants to.** In the manga, it's more of an UnstoppableRage than anything else.* {{Tsundere}}: Junko is a textbook example.* TwoTeacherSchool* UnexpectedGenreChange: Episode 7.* UnderestimatingBadassery: It is said that he's going to be a Demon King and a small demonstration of his power has been witnessed, yet there are still those that insist that they can take him on.* UnwantedHarem: While the anime seems to play this straight at first, this is then subverted when really, the only character to even make a move is Junko.* WingdingEyes: Junko routinely gets swirly eyes after being knocked out from Akuto's power backlash.* WorldOfBadass: Even the [[InstantAwesomeJustAddNinja idol is actually a ninja!]]* VillainBallMagnet: This is the core trope of the show, everything revolves around it.* VisualInnuendo: The sea cucumber scene.* WeCanRebuildHim: [[spoiler:Eiko's father]] returns as a cyborg to cliffhang the penultimate episode.* [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes Why Did It Have To Be Sea Cucumbers]]: Junko is scared to death of those slimy critters. Getting splattered by one specimen's slime eventually resulted in a CryCute scene.* XMeetsY: Think of this series as ''LightNovel/KyoKaraMaoh'' meets ''Literature/HarryPotter''. With lots of FetishFuel added.** ''TenchiMuyo'' meets ''KyouranKazokuNikki''.** ''Literature/HarryPotter'' meets ''Anime/{{Doraemon}}'' [[spoiler:meets Film/TheMatrix]].* YouCantFightFate: Akuto wants to become a high priest and help people out. The problem is that destiny likes screwing him in return, thanks to his lack of experience in school politics and shaky control of his power.** Hiroshi was predicted to be TheChosenOne, which conflicts with his friendship with Akuto.* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: This is how fans identify who is who more than their real names.* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Despite being a really nice guy, Akuto simply cannot convince people that he is not a Demon Lord. Every action he takes, for good or for ill, is viewed as a devious plot to further his own power (which, ironically, it usually does).* ZettaiRyouiki: All of the female students.----


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The Journal Sentinel's team of Packers beat writers provide the latest news, notes and analysis
Packers doubled Wayne and it didn't matter
Green Bay -- Donnie Avery. T.Y. Hilton. Coby Fleener. Dwayne Allen.
No, the Indianapolis Colts are not quite fielding The Greatest Show on Turf II. Outside of Reggie Wayne -- a five-time Pro Bowler -- the Colts' receivers are young and unproven. Avery is owned in 21% of Yahoo Fantasy Football Leagues. Hilton, 6%. They don't demand attention.
Yet in numbing, puzzling succession, Wayne torched the Packers for 212 yards on 13 catches with the game-winning score. Game on the line, Green Bay knew what was coming and still couldn't stop it. On Monday, defensive coordinator Dom Capers said the Packers did double-team the Colts receiver.
They just weren't making plays on the ball and Luck was clutch.
"He's a good receiver and he had a good day," Capers said. "There were times where we had him doubled and he caught the ball. Any time that you have two guys committed to one guy, you don't want him to come up with the ball. The percentages should be in your favor. He had a good day and Luck, as we talked about last week, is a talented young man. You saw he's a big, strong guy. He's got good movement. There were a couple times where we had him wrapped up and he kind of shook us off and pulled the ball down in a couple of critical situations. A couple other times, he scrambled outside – and that was after taking some pretty good hits."
Wayne's single-game mark of 212 receiving yards ranks second all-time in the Colts' 60-year history.
Whether the Packers used Capers' "inside-outside" or "underneath-over the top" double-team schemes on Wayne didn't matter. Brandon Marshall's quiet night in Week Two seems like a distant memory. For the second straight week, a big, strong No. 1 wide receiver did serious damage against Green Bay's secondary. New Orleans Saints wideout Marques Colston caught nine passes for 153 yards and a touchdown.
On the game-winning drive alone, Wayne had five receptions for 64 yards.
Capers and the Packers have never gotten too wrapped up in yardage. In 2011, Green Bay allowed the most passing yards in league history. The difference this season is that Capers' unit isn't forcing turnovers. After running up 31 interceptions in 2011, nearly two per game, the Packers only have five through five games.
Against the Colts, Charles Woodson and Tramon Williams collided on one potential interception and Williams had his hands on another pass in the end zone.
A calm Capers on Monday says these turnovers will come.
"That's kind of been our M.O. here a little bit," Capers said on players colliding. "You go back to the Saints game, Tramon was going to make an interception and Morgan (Burnett) knocks him off. I do believe those will come, though, if we continue to get consistent pressure. And we were really contesting a lot of balls. You saw a lot of broken up passes in the game."
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