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SpongeBob's Surf & Skate Roadtrip
Redirected from SpongeBob's Surf and Skate Roadtrip
on ESB
on ESB
Video game
|SpongeBob's Surf & Skate Roadtrip
|General Information
|Blitz Games
|November 8, 2011
|Xbox 360, Nintendo DS
|List of video games
SpongeBob's Surf & Skate Roadtrip is a video game based on the Road Trip episodes ("A SquarePants Family Vacation," "Patrick's Staycation," "Walking the Plankton," "Mooncation" and "Mr. Krabs Takes a Vacation"). It features 2 modes of play: Story and Challenge.
In Story Mode, SpongeBob and Patrick relive their crazy road trip to the beach through some slideshows leading into arcade-style play. Freestyle your way through Challenge Mode as you, SpongeBob and his bodacious Bikini Bottom buddy explore a brand new never-before-seen world.
SpongeBob and Patrick relive their crazy road trip to the beach, through some slideshows leading into arcade-style play.
Xbox 360 Kinect Features
- For the first time ever, you can be SpongeBob.
- Augmented reality—move your hand through the water and watch it splash!
- Compete and play with friends – show off your awesome tricks and mind-blowing stunts in head-to-head play (2-player split-screen).
- 12 awe-inspiring environments – 6 for each sport—and unlimited ways to perfect your board skills.
- 7 different challenges including Flag, Timed, Score Runs.
- Express yourself with a variety of righteous boards – earn even more awesome boards, the better you ride.
- Strike a pose: use your camera to show off gnarly moves and tricks.
DS Features
- Surf and Skate across more than 24 maps.
- 2-player multi-play with Single and Multi-card gaming.
- Grab some air in 5 different victory conditions – Score, Collectible, Combo Mayhem, Win the Race, Untouchable.
- More than 150 ways to play for unlimited hours of boarding action.
- Customize your boards with colors, stamps, wheels, fins and decks.
- Bonus Sport: Full Snowboarding level with 10 maps unlocked upon game completion.
- This is the first SpongeBob game on Xbox 360 that uses Kinect, unless you include the crossover game Nicktoons MLB.
- This is the second SpongeBob game to use the new THQ logo. The first was SpongeBob SquigglePants.
- This is the last SpongeBob game to be published by THQ.
- The DS version has a bonus snowboarding gameplay included, but you have to complete the main story mode first to unlock this feature.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Annunciation and Freedom
"Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." (Luke 1: 38)."
Today we celebrate that great event when the Angel Gabriel visited Mary and asked her to be the Mother of God. The Annunciation is a huge solemnity in the Church because it commemorates that moment when God took on human flesh. This day exemplifies God's love for us in so many ways. All throughout the Old Testament we read about examples when God's love was rejected by His people. Time and time again, He offered opportunities to accept His love, all the while, allowing His people to choose Him freely (or not choose Him as was often the case). Mary's fiat or "yes" is celebrated because unlike anyone in history before her, she was completely and unreservedly open to God's will in her life.
The event of the Annunciation teaches us a great deal about freedom. Often times, when we think of freedom, we see it as the ability to choose between "a" or "b," without any pressure or influence to choose either one. We often believe that such an influence would be considered an infringement on our freedom. But when we look closer, this view of freedom is devoid of all truth. It assumes there is no difference between the options "a" and "b" and that the only good is the ability to choose. It never considers what is being chosen.
Authentic freedom, on the other hand, is shaped by truth. In the words of John Paul II, "Truth enlightens man's intelligence and shapes his freedom." Apart from truth, freedom cannot exist. Take for example persons considered "free" to "express their sexuality" through the use of pornography, a medium that completely disregards the truth of human dignity and what human sexuality is made for. Through this addicting "expression," a person can quickly become a slave to the sin of pornography. Contrarily, we are most free when we are living according to the truth of our existence. Because she had never been touched by the stain of sin, Mary was completely free to embrace the will of God. She was completely free to live the life she was made to live.
Another lie society tells us is that our ability to choose is simply that, our choice. No one else needs to be involved and no one else should matter. We are autonomous, self-determining individuals, so the theory goes. The Annunciation shows us this is not the case. Mary's willingness to participate in the event of the Incarnation has affected all of history. All of creation waited in anticipation of Mary's "Yes." We are all sharers in the benefit of Mary's decision to choose the will of God. No choice we make is ever merely personal because we are all connected through our common humanity.
Finally, the Annunciation shows us that we can never truly separate faith and life. This is sometimes difficult to accept, especially within a culture that emphasizes the importance and necessity of separating "Church and state." Today, it is considered normal to be "personally opposed" to something, but okay with it happening in the public realm. Our Catholic faith is different, however. There is no distinction between the public and private realm when it comes to living out our faith. Everything we do, whether it be eating, sleeping, talking or reading, should be done with an eye to who we are as created beings and why God made us. The Incarnation shows us that the physical matters. Salvation history occurs within history, it is a physical event.
There is a poem by Rev. John Duffy, C.S.s.R. which describes Mary's first awakening after the Angel Gabriel appeared to her. In describing Mary, the poem explains "She was the Mother of the wandering Word, little and terrifying in her laboring womb. And nothing would again be casual and small, but everything with light invested (italics mine)." The Incarnation displays for us how involved God is in our daily lives. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16)." He is not some distant God who creates us and leaves us to figure things out on our own. Instead, God is invested in our lives at every moment. He holds us in being through love, in love, and for love. As John Paul II explained, "man remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love (Redemptor Hominis, no 10)." So nothing we do should be separated from this realization that God is Love and desires each of us to be united with Him in Love. When we realize this, "nothing [will] again be casual and small."
Friday Fast: March 21
Intention: We pray for all fathers, that through the example of St. Joseph, they may fully embrace their vocation and accept the privilege and responsibility of caring for their children as St. Joseph cared for Jesus.
Reflection: On Wednesday, we celebrated the Solemnity of Saint Joseph. In his Apostolic Exhortation, "The Guardian of the Redeemer," John Paul II referred to St. Joseph as "the guardian and cooperator in the providential mystery of God (no 14)." He explained that together with Mary, Joseph was the first guardian of Christ: "St. Joseph was called by God to serve the person and mission of Jesus directly through the exercise of his fatherhood (no 8)."
It is interesting to note that St. Joseph's fatherhood and specific role in the plan of salvation would not have been possible apart from his marriage to Mary: "Joseph's fatherhood – a relationship that places him as close as possible to Christ…comes to pass through marriage to Mary, that is, through the family (no 7)." Let us pray that every husband and wife will be brought closer to Christ through their marriage to one another.
A further reflection on St. Joseph's participation in the plan of salvation can be found here.
Did You Know? Pope Francis has a deep devotion to St. Joseph. Last year, he chose the Solemnity of St. Joseph as the date for his inaugural Mass. A sign of Pope Francis' devotion to this Saint can be seen on his coat of arms. Next to the star representing Mary is the spikenard flower, which is often used to represent St. Joseph.
Solemnity of St. Joseph
Among Saint Joseph's many titles such as "mirror of patience", "lover of poverty", "terror of demons", "pillar of families", a particularly interesting one is "the guardian of the mystery of God." In his Apostolic Exhortation Redemptoris Custos, John Paul II emphasized the importance of this title and the role St. Joseph was given to play in God's plan of salvation.
Joseph was one of the first to share in the mystery of the Incarnation with Mary. This "sharing" was in a real way an actual participation in Mary's "yes" at the Annunciation. In taking Mary as his wife instead of divorcing her, "what Joseph did united him in an altogether special way to the faith of Mary. He accepted as truth coming from God the very thing that she had already accepted at the Annunciation (no 4)." Mary and Joseph were one in their desire to follow the Will of God. In a particular way, Joseph silently and courageously took upon himself the many sufferings that Jesus and Mary would bear over the years. Whether by accepting the mysterious nature of Mary's pregnancy, making the long journey to Bethlehem with no place to stay, and later escaping into Egypt to save Jesus' life, Joseph fully embraced the supreme honor and responsibility of caring for Mary and Jesus.
It is important to note that Joseph's fatherhood is tied to his marriage with Mary. In fact, "Joseph's marriage to Mary is the juridical basis of his fatherhood (no 7)." God chose to have His only Son enter the world in a family. In the beginning of the Old Testament, we are told of a married couple, Adam and Eve, through whom "the source of evil was unleashed on the world (no 7)." It seems fitting therefore, that God would desire to bring salvation to the world through the marriage of Mary and Joseph. In this way, "the savior began the work of salvation by this virginal and holy union, wherein is manifested his all-powerful will to purify and sanctify the family – that sanctuary of love and cradle of life (no 7)."
Through Christ's being born into and growing up in a family, we see the importance placed upon marriage and the family within salvation history. Each family today is given the opportunity to imitate the Holy Family and therefore participate in salvation history in a distinct way. Each family is a "domestic Church" where, as Pope Francis explained, "we learn to live with others despite our differences and to belong to one another; it is also the place where parents pass on the faith to their children (Evangelii Gaudium, no 66)." Each family is also given the opportunity to ask St. Joseph to guard and protect them as he guarded and protected Mary and Jesus. Let us never hesitate to ask this powerful saint to intercede on behalf of our families. St. Joseph, pray for us!
March 19, 2014
Friday Prayer on the Feast of All Saints Day
Intention: We remember the saints and martyrs who were servants of the Lord during their earthly lives and ask that they pray for us to one day join them in heaven.
Reflection: The Solemnity of All Saints is a feast in the Catholic Church that was originally instituted to honor the Christian martyrs of the late Roman Empire.
Although we often associate martyrdom with events of the past, violent persecution of Christians is still happening at an alarming rate in modern times in many countries. Therefore, in praying for the martyrs of ages past, let us also pray for suffering Christians around the world who continue to be persecuted in this day and age for following Christ.
Did You Know? Many families make it a tradition on All Saints' Day to gather at a local cemetery and decorate the graves with flowers or wreaths in anticipation of All Souls' Day, which occurs on November 2. Catholics in many countries honor and pray for the departed souls who may have no one to pray for them.
*Note on fasting: On the Solemnity of All Saints, we honor all of the saints and continue to join in prayer for the building up of a culture of life, marriage, and religious liberty. Since this feast day is a solemnity, it is not appropriate to fast on All Saints' Day.
- Learn about the Bishops' Call to Prayer for Life, Marriage, and Religious Liberty
- Sign the pledge to fast on Fridays for life, marriage, and religious liberty
- Join the Call to Prayer Facebook event
Friday Fast: for those facing religious persecution
Click here for printable version.
Intention: For the intercession of the saints to fortify and encourage all those facing religious persecution.
Reflection: Today we celebrate the feast of St. Edith Stein, who was born into a Jewish family in 1891 in what is now Wroclaw, Poland. During her studies in philosophy, she encountered the writings of the great Carmelite mystic, St. Teresa of Avila, who inspired her conversion to Catholicism in 1922. In 1933, she joined the Carmelite Order, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.
Edith faced significant adversity during her early years in religious life. Recognizing the risk she presented to her fellow sisters during World War II because of her Jewish background, Edith left for Holland and entered the Carmel of Echt. Edith, however, was captured by Nazis and later taken to Auschwitz, where she died in the gas chambers on August 9, 1942.
St. Edith Stein stands as a profound witness for all who seek to live for the truth. Let us recall her words spoken just a few days before her death: "If I cannot share the lot of my brothers and sisters, my life, in a certain sense, is destroyed." We pray ardently for the grace to stand courageously in the face of religious persecution.
Did you know? Last year, Pope Benedict XVI told the diplomatic corps that even in today's time, "In many countries, Christians are deprived of fundamental rights…; in other countries they endure violent attacks against their churches and their homes. At times they are forced to leave the countries they have helped to build because of persistent tensions and policies which frequently relegate them to being second-class spectators of national life." Read more about current threats to international religious freedom.
- Learn about the Bishops' Call to Prayer for Life, Marriage, and Religious Liberty
- Sign the pledge to fast on Fridays for life, marriage, and religious liberty
- Join the Call to Prayer Facebook event
Friday Fast: Pray for greater friendship with Jesus
Click here for printable version.
Intention: That we may become better friends with Jesus, and that our friendship with Him would help us to reflect His love for everyone.
Reflection: When we look at our society, we see a great deal of suffering, injustice, and heartache. We see people of inestimable worth who are looked down on or rejected because of their disabilities. We see women facing unexpected pregnancies who feel trapped and as though there is no life-affirming support for both them and their children. We see elderly men and women who fear that they are a burden.
Yet we know that "the LORD is close to the brokenhearted" (Ps 34:19). And we know that He invites us to help Him show all people His love. We might feel intimidated and overwhelmed because we don't know how to respond to the great need we see, but He will show us.
Let us draw close to Jesus, spending time with Him and listening to His voice. Let us ask for help seeing Him in those around us and loving them with His heart: "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me" (Mt 25:40).
Did you know? Today is the feast day of St. Peter Julian Eymard (called the "Apostle of the Eucharist"): "Belong entirely to God through love, entirely to your neighbor through a gracious charity, entirely to the divine Eucharist by the offering and sacrifice of your whole self. Bear with yourself in the patience of our Lord." (See also: "A Holy Hour for Life: Prayers Before the Blessed Sacrament for the Gospel of Life").
- Learn about the Bishops' Call to Prayer for Life, Marriage, and Religious Liberty
- Sign the pledge to fast on Fridays for life, marriage, and religious liberty
- Join the Call to Prayer Facebook event
Friday Fast: For grandparents
Click here for printable version.
Intention: For grandparents, that they may be cherished by their families as they continue to witness to fidelity, love, and sacrifice.
Reflection: Today is the feast day of St. Joachim and St. Anne, the parents of Mary and grandparents of Jesus. In 2008, Pope Benedict XVI said that grandparents are "witnesses of a personal and community history" that continues "to live on in their memories and in their wisdom."
More quotes from Benedict's talk on grandparents:
"Who does not remember their grandparents? Who can forget their presence and their witness by the domestic hearth? How many of us bear their names as a sign of continuity and gratitude!"
"May grandparents return to being a living presence in the family, in the Church and in society. With regard to the family, may grandparents continue to be witnesses of unity, of values founded on fidelity and of a unique love that gives rise to faith and the joy of living."
"In the face of the crisis of the family, might it not be possible to set out anew precisely from the presence and witness of these people – grandparents – whose values and projects are more resilient?"
Did you know? The next video in the Marriage: Unique for a Reason series is a Spanish-language video called "El Matrimonio: Hecho para el amor y la vida" ("Marriage: Made for Love and Life"). In the video, grandparents Hector and Rosa, who are celebrating their 50th anniversary, gently help their grandson Miguel and his girlfriend Maria see the beauty of lifelong married love between a husband and wife. Go here to watch a trailer of "El Matrimonio" (with a dual-language script).
- Learn about the Bishops' Call to Prayer for Life, Marriage, and Religious Liberty
- Sign the pledge to fast on Fridays for life, marriage, and religious liberty
- Join the Call to Prayer Facebook event
Sunday Pope Quote: Bl. John Paul II on Marriage and the Trinity
Sunday, May 26 is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. In his 1988 apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem, Bl. John Paul II wrote about the likeness between the Trinity and human persons.
Bl. John Paul II: God, who allows himself to be known by human beings through Christ, is the unity of the Trinity: unity in communion. In this way new light is also thrown on man's image and likeness to God, spoken of in the book of Genesis. [link] The fact that man "created as man and woman" is the image of God means not only that each of them individually is like God, as a rational and free being. It also means that man and woman, created as a "unity of the two" in their common humanity, are called to live in a communion of love, and in this way to mirror in the world the communion of love that is in God, through which the Three Persons love each other in the intimate mystery of the one divine life.
– Mulieris Dignitatem, no. 7 (italics original, bold added)
Friday Fast: Pray for religious freedom, and the courage to live our faith at all times
Intention: As we approach the feast of Pentecost, we pray for the Church and that our faith might not be simply a private matter, but rather that the Holy Spirit will help us witness to Christ in all areas of our lives.
Reflection: As faithful Catholics, the beliefs that we profess in Church on Sunday carry over into our personal and professional lives. Christ invites us into loving relationship with Him, and His love infuses our actions, helping us to love Him in return by following His commandments in our daily lives. However, the proposed HHS "contraceptive mandate," in effect, attempts to restrict the practice of our faith to the private sphere. As explained by the USCCB general counsel, the mandate's current definition of "religious employer" (a definition used to determine which employers are exempted from the mandate) excludes "a wide array of employers that are undeniably religious," including organizations that "contribute most visibly to the common good through the provision of health, educational, and social services," such as Catholic schools and hospitals. Telling faith-based organizations that they are not "religious enough" to qualify for an exemption to the contraceptive mandate is a violation of religious freedom.
As we approach the feast of Pentecost, let us ardently pray to Christ to send forth His Spirit so that we will be filled with His peace and strength to live our faith at all times.
Did you know? "This year's Fortnight [for Freedom] occurs just weeks before August 1, when the administration's mandate coercing us to violate our deeply-held beliefs will be enforced against most religious non-profits. During the Fortnight the Supreme Court's decisions on the definition of marriage will likely be handed down as well. Those decisions could have a profound impact on religious freedom for generations to come." Archbishop William E. Lori, News Release (May 13, 2013)
- Learn about the Bishops' Call to Prayer for Life, Marriage, and Religious Liberty
- Sign the pledge to fast on Fridays for life, marriage, and religious liberty
- Join the Call to Prayer Facebook event
Sunday Pope Quote: Bl. John Paul II on St. Gianna Molla
Today, April 28, is the feast day of St. Gianna Beretta Molla, a married saint whom we profiled earlier in our married saints series. In honor of St. Gianna's feast day, today's Sunday Pope Quote comes from the 2004 mass in which Bl. John Paul II canonized St. Gianna along with five others.
Bl. Pope John Paul II: "Gianna Beretta Molla was a simple, but more than ever, significant messenger of divine love. In a letter to her future husband a few days before their marriage, she wrote: 'Love is the most beautiful sentiment the Lord has put into the soul of men and women'.
Following the example of Christ, who 'having loved his own…loved them to the end' (Jn 13:1), this holy mother of a family remained heroically faithful to the commitment she made on the day of her marriage. The extreme sacrifice she sealed with her life testifies that only those who have the courage to give of themselves totally to God and to others are able to fulfill themselves.
Through the example of Gianna Beretta Molla, may our age rediscover the pure, chaste and fruitful beauty of conjugal love, lived as a response to the divine call!"
– Homily at the Canonization of Six New Saints (May 16, 2004), emphasis added


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The Mandarin\\\'s father was one of the wealthiest men in pre-revolutionary mainland China (who claimed to be a direct descendant of Genghis Khan), and his mother was an English noblewoman. Both died soon after their son\\\'s birth, and he was raised by his father\\\'s sister, who was embittered against the world and raised him with much the same attitude. He displayed scientific aptitude at an early age and used his inheritance for education in various sciences in China and abroad. As an adult he became a high government official, or mandarin, and became renowned throughout China for his administrative brilliance.However, with the success of mainland China\\\'s Communist Revolution, the Mandarin was deprived of his position, his palace and his wealth. Hoping to find a means of restoring himself to a position of power, the Mandarin explored the forbidden \\\"Valley of Spirits,\\\" where no one had dared set foot for centuries. There he found the skeleton and starship of Axonn-Karr, an intelligent dragon-like alien from the planet Maklu-4, who had come to Earth centuries ago and died. Over the following years, the Mandarin studied Makluan science until he had mastered it. He also learned how to use the ten rings he found within the starship which were apparently its propulsion source, among other things. The Mandarin then subjugated the villages around the Valley, and, through his super-science, rapidly became a power that not even the Chinese Army could successfully challenge. He then embarked on a long series of attempts to achieve world domination.The Mandarin saw technology as the surest means to achieve his goals. Over the years, he would frequently attempt to turn various nations\\\' weapons against them. Among the Mandarin\\\'s earliest schemes was the sabotage and theft of American missiles and spy planes built by Anthony Stark. To restore public confidence in his workmanship, Stark donned his Iron Man armor and flew to China to investigate. Iron Man soon became the Mandarin\\\'s principal obstacle against his plans for world domination.On three occasions in their early confrontations, the Mandarin managed to take Iron Man (or his alter ego Tony Stark) captive, but the Mandarin failed to kill him. Similarly, Iron Man thwarted the Mandarin\\\'s various schemes, but was unable to bring him to justice. Some of the Mandarin\\\'s early technological achievements were the launching of a small orbiting satellite whose \\\"death-ray\\\" he aimed at Stark Industries and the building of Ultimo, a 30-foot android possessing vast destructive powers (TOS #76). The Mandarin would employ Ultimo four times over the years, but it was always defeated by Iron Man.The Mandarin\\\'s teleportation technology, derived from Makluan science, enabled him to kidnap people at will or teleport himself out of threatening situations. During his fifth encounter with Iron Man, the Mandarin teleported Harold \\\"Happy\\\" Hogan to his castle in China half a world away (TOS #84). Hogan had been wearing the Iron Man armor at the time to help protect his employer\\\'s secret identity, and the Mandarin mistook him for his true foe. Rescuing Hogan, Iron Man physically bested the Mandarin in personal combat for the first time. Iron Man redirected the missiles that the Mandarin had launched at the Mandarin\\\'s castle, destroying it. The Mandarin escaped by means of his teleportational machinery, and he materialized aboard his orbiting satellite. There, he constructed a gemlike device capable of broadcasting \\\"hate-rays\\\" toward Earth. The Mandarin assembled several of the former Masters of Evil to perform missions for him: the Living Laser, the original Power Man, the Swordsman, the Enchantress, and the Executioner. The Avengers managed to thwart the Mandarin\\\'s scheme and destroyed his satellite. (Avengers King-Size Special #1.)The Mandarin then established a base in China\\\'s Gobi Desert and turned his attentions to the Hulk for a time, hoping to make the dull-witted brute an accomplice. Two attempts at controlling the Hulk proved futile, however, including one where the Mandarin allied himself with the American criminal the Sandman. The Hulk destroyed the Mandarin\\\'s desert base. When the Mandarin next attacked Iron Man, he employed an android in the Hulk\\\'s likeness rather than the real Hulk (IM #9).The Mandarin set up a makeshift base of operations in America, and attempted to publicly discredit Anthony Stark. Holding Iron Man captive for the fourth time, the Mandarin tried to learn if Iron Man was actually Stark, but Stark fooled him with a rubber mask over his own features. (IM #10-11.) His plans thwarted, the Mandarin tried to kill Stark\\\'s current girlfriend Janice Cord, but the Mandarin\\\'s betrothed Mei Ling saved her at the cost of her own life.
New Bodies
Returning to China, the Mandarin sought a means to increase his rings\\\' power and learned of the legendary Eye of Yin, a talisman of power created by an ancient group of Chinese sorcerers. The Mandarin maneuvered the Royal Family of the Inhumans (who at the time lived in the nearby Himalayan Mountains of Tibet) into locating the idol for him. But before he could fully incorporate the Eye\\\'s power in his rings, Black Bolt, the ruler of the Inhumans, overpowered him, stripped him of his ten rings, and hid them. Unable to find the rings, the Mandarin journeyed back to the \\\"Valley of Spirits\\\" and the ruins of the Makluan starship wherein he first acquired the rings. There he found a headband containing technology which enabled him to recover the rings. The Mandarin used his newfound power to restore his castle to its original state. The Unicorn, another frequent opponent of Iron Man, sought the Mandarin\\\'s aid in curing him of a progressive disease. The Mandarin and the Unicorn traveled to America to attack their common enemy Iron Man (IM #58), but in the heat of battle, the Mandarin found that the headband had somehow exchanged his consciousness with that of the Unicorn. The Mandarin was forced to flee, desperate to separate himself from the Unicorn\\\'s dying body.When the Mandarin arrived at his castle in China, he found that it had been taken over by the Yellow Claw, another Chinese supervillain. The Mandarin was forced to find another laboratory to try to restore his mind back to its rightful body, which he managed with the unwilling aid of the Japanese mutant Sunfire (IM #68). In battle with Iron Man again, the Mandarin\\\'s interim headquarters was destroyed (IM #69). The Mandarin then launched an attack on the Yellow Claw in an attempt to regain his own castle, but was fatally injured when the Yellow Claw robot he had been battling exploded (IM #70). As the Mandarin lay dying, he used the headband\\\'s mind-transferring capacities to transfer his consciousness into his ten rings. When the rings were confiscated by the Yellow Claw\\\'s power-hungry servant Loc Do, the Mandarin\\\'s consciousness entered Loc Do\\\'s body, permanently driving out Loc Do\\\'s (IM #71). Using his matter-rearranger ring, the Mandarin transformed Loc Do\\\'s body into a younger duplicate of his original one.The Mandarin returned to his castle, discovering that it had again been destroyed. After rebuilding it, the Mandarin attempted to capture Iron Man with his teleportation devices, but once again caught someone else clad in his armor. This time it was Michael O\\\'Brien, later to become a friend of Stark\\\'s and first to wear the Guardsman armor (IM #98). Iron Man flew to O\\\'Brien\\\'s rescue, clad in an old set of armor, saved O\\\'Brien, thwarted the Mandarin\\\'s attempt to bomb the United States and for a second time bested him in personal combat. Perhaps due to the effect of the Mandarin\\\'s mental domination ring on him, Iron Man did not take the Mandarin into custody, but allowed him to remain free (IM #100).The Mandarin later schemed to involve turning the Great Vibranium Mound of Wakanda into Type II Vibranium which destroys the molecular cohesion of metals. He also tried to destroy China\\\'s entire rice crop in an attempt to provoke war. In the second of these plots, the Mandarin encountered Jim Rhodes, during his custodianship of the Iron Man armor (IM 180-181.)
Heart of Darkness
When Stark tried to set up a branch of Stark Enterprises in Hong Kong, Iron Man and the Mandarin once again came into conflict. The Mandarin had taken the name of Zhang Tong, and had become a financial leader in Hong Kong. As Tong, he controlled a number of government officials and industry leaders of Hong Kong. The Mandarin thwarted all of Stark\\\'s attempts to set up a business branch, even resorting to murder (IM #241-242). The Mandarin now employed a group called the Hand to do his dirty work. When on a mission, a Hand member was allowed to take one of the Mandarin\\\'s rings and use its powers. If the Hand member was captured, he would fanatically try to kill himself. If the Hand member was killed or knocked out, the ring would automatically teleport back to the Mandarin.At one point, the mutant heroine Psylocke passed through the mystic portal known as the Siege Perilous. The portal relocated her to an Asian shore, leaving her amnesiac. The man known as Matsu\\\'o Tsurabaya found her and believed he could save his brain-dead lover Kwannon by switching her mind with Psylocke.He made an arrangement with the Mandarin to help him with the switch, whose rings would be able to cause the mindswitch. Working with the woman known as Spiral, they were able to switch the minds of the two women. Mandarin then put Psylocke (now in Kwannon\\\'s body) through conditioning, causing her to believe herself to be Lady Mandarin, the Mandarin\\\'s assassin.After doing several assignments for him, Psylocke was eventually rescued by her X-Men teammates Wolverine and Jubilee, and Psylocke defeated the Mandarin, causing events which led to Mandarin\\\'s leaving the Hand.The Mandarin next discovered the Heart of Darkness, an orb of apparently mystic energy, which he used to turn back time in China. Iron Man, with his team Force Works and ally War Machine defeated him, but not before the Mandarin discovered that Tony Stark was the man inside the Iron Man armor. (See \\\"Hands of the Mandarin\\\" crossover.)Iron Man infected Mandarin with a techno-organic virus, and the Heart, seeing him infected with technology, rejected the Mandarin and imploded. Iron Man believed him dead, but in reality the Mandarin was transported and transformed by the last flare of the orb\\\'s magic, turned into a janitor in the Hong Kong branch of Stark Enterprises.Eventually, the Mandarin\\\'s memories returned to him and instead of trying to crush technology, Mandarin believed that the feudal system of yesterday had merely been transformed into the capitalism of today. Mandarin set into motion plans to create a giant flying fortress called the Dragon of Heaven through which he could conquer Russia and eventually the world. During this time, Iron Man reappeared after being believed dead in a battle against the psychic menace Onslaught. The Mandarin initiated a series of attacks on Iron Man, culminating in a battle with the Dragon of Heaven. Eventually it was revealed that the Mandarin\\\'s primary purpose was not to conquer Russia, but to test Iron Man, prove him worthy as a foe and to justify Mandarin\\\'s own thoughts on capitalism.The Mandarin apparently died as the Dragon of Heaven exploded, but Iron Man was less than convinced that his foe had truly met his end. (IM vol. 3 #9-10.)
Nevertheless, the Mandarin has only recently made a return into Iron Man\\\'s life. Instead, the Golden Avenger has been faced with Temugin, the son of the Mandarin. Temugin has precious few memories of his father and most of them involve his father taking him to the monastery where he was raised and trained by monks. Temugin is sensitive, spiritual and unbelievably powerful because of his control of chi, the living force in all things.One day Temugin received a package containing the severed hands of the Mandarin, bearing all the rings of power. Temugin knew that he was honor bound to fulfill his father\\\'s wishes for him. He challenged Iron Man to avenge his fathers death, and he proved a deadly adversary even without the rings.After Tony Stark revealed a conspiracy for mass murder in his own ranks, Temugin appeared to have forgiven Iron Man for the death of his father and to have turned to more lofty pursuits, but recent events indicate the power of the rings have corrupted his soul. (IM vol. #53-55.) Temugin is named after his claimed ancestor Genghis Khan, whose name was Temugin (also spelled Temuchin, Temudjin, u also variates to ü)
The Mandarin has been revived in volume 4 Iron Man. Apparently he has been in a prison in central China for some time. In this story it has been revealed that he has lost his hands (most likely the hands that were sent to Temugin were, in fact, actually the Mandarin\\\'s). He has also been living with no food or water for years. His ability to survive so long without food or water is likely due to his mastery of chi. Despite being handless and starved, he was able to kill several men armed with guns via his mastery of the martial arts. As of Iron Man #17, his rings are being reassimilated into his body by heating them and burning them into his spine.
The Mandarin has infiltrated the U.S. government via his role as CEO of Prometheus, a corporation specializing in bio-engineered weaponry.
The Mandarin is a superb athlete with tremendous skill in the various martial arts. Through repeated practice he has toughened all the striking surfaces of his body, especially his hands, which are covered with thick callus. He can even split Iron Man\\\'s magnetic-beam reinforced alloy armor with repeated blows. So great is The Mandarin\\\'s martial arts ability that he can even survive years without food and water, apparently sustaining himself purely via his mastery of Chi. The precise degree of The Mandarin\\\'s martial art powers has been the subject of multiple implied retcons by Marvel comics. Initially Mandarin was portrayed as being such a superhumanly skilled martial artist that he could destroy Iron Man\\\'s armor with his bare hands. Later portrayels focused on his use of the rings, and implicitly retconned The Mandarin\\\'s skill to being great but no longer superhuman. The most recent continuity has restored Mandarin\\\'s martial arts ability to its original superhuman level. The Mandarin is one of Marvel Earth\\\'s greatest scientific geniuses. Not only has he made himself into an authority on Makluan science, but he has also built upon this knowledge by making further discoveries based upon it.The principal personal weapons of the Mandarin are the ten rings which he wears on his fingers. The rings\\\' operations cannot be explained by contemporary Earth science, but it is known that they served as near-limitless energy sources for the warpdrive engines of the starship of Axonn-Karr. The Mandarin learned how to convert the rings to his personal uses and to make them respond to his mental commands. The fingers on which he wears each ring, and the known functions for which he uses each ring, are given below.
Over the years, the Mandarin has established a strong psionic link with his rings, which was made many times stronger during the period in which his mind/spirit actually inhabited them. One result is that no one who wears the rings other than the Mandarin himself can command them without his permission. He can voluntarily give temporary control over a ring to his servants, however. If the servant dies or falls unconscious, the rings teleport back to The Mandarin. The Mandarin can now command the rings even when they are separated from him by vast distances. He can mentally monitor events taking place near a ring that has been separated from him. Continued exposure to the alien rings made his hands green and scaly.
First ever & IM appearance: Tales of Suspense #50.
The Mandarin\\\'s Ten Rings.


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Used Audi A8 in Southampton, Portsmouth, Five Oaks
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Friends of Channel Islands to offer landscape photography classes
The parks along the Central Coast offer a diversity of landscapes and wildlife. Melissa Baffa believes one way to capture that natural beauty permanently is photography.
That's why the executive director of the Friends of Channel Coast State Parks, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting and preserving the parks, has set up a series of photography workshops.
Camarillo-based photographers Mark Jansen and Holly Higbee-Jansen will lead the workshops, offered by the Friends of Channel Islands. The classes will give shutterbugs a chance to explore the coastal parks of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
"Each coastal park has its own history, geography and interesting features. For El Capitan, it's great nature trials and huge old sycamore trees. At McGrath State Park, there are wetlands and migratory species of birds. Each park has its own flavor and opportunities," said Baffa, who enjoys photography as a hobby.
She said she pitched the idea of a photography program to the board of directors when she was hired in 2012.
"I've got photography in my blood. My dad was a director of photography in commercials, and when we went camping as kids, my parents were always remarking on the light. But I was bit by the photography bug in a class when I was a student at Agoura High School," she said.
The couple have led photography expeditions since the mid-2000s on which they advise people who are fairly serious about the hobby.
"Basically there are elements in these particular parks that people fail to recognize. There is wildlife that they miss or don't really see," Jansen said. "We're using the park as a classroom to show people how to capture more compelling images and how to use camera equipment."
At the suggestion of Tyson Butzke, acting sector superintendent for the Ventura sector of California State Parks, some of the money raised through the course fees will fund photography scholarships.
"(Butzke) came up with the idea of a scholarship program for young people when he saw that material. It was one of those, 'Well, duh, why didn't we think of that?' moments. The (state parks staff members) have been good partners at figuring the logistics," Baffa said.
For every two paid participants in a workshop, one free scholarship slot will be funded for a currently enrolled photography student 16 or older.
"With all of the high schools, junior colleges, and colleges in our area with photography programs, we are hoping to connect with a wide range of student photographers," Baffa said.
Classes will follow a one-day or two-day format and are scheduled for Aug. 17 at McGrath State Beach, Sept. 21-22 at Carpinteria State Beach and Aug. 24-25 at El Capitan State Beach.
Participants must be at least 16 and able to walk two miles. The workshops are open to beginning to experienced photographers. The cost ranges from $159 for the one-day sessions to $259 for two-day sessions.
For more information, call 626-0156. Registration and more information are available at http://www.friendsofccsp.org/learn/take-better-photos. Students interested in the scholarship program should visit http:// www.friendsofccsp.org/learn/take-better-photos/scholarships.
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On Day 3 races begin at 1:30 p.m. and all levels of cyclers will be permitted to participate in four different short-course races that pass through downtown Bound Brook.
The race hasnt been in downtown Bound Brook for the last 5 years. Its now in the area of Lamonte field.