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Miami Dolphins: Final grades for 2009
For all 16 games, I had the assignment to "grade" the Dolphins. About halfway through the season, I convinced my editors that I needed to wait until I got back up from the locker room before sending them in — sometimes, a player will provide an explanation that changes your thinking.
With that said, the Dolphins still probably performed better on the field than I performed as a grader.
(I think I went 5-11).
Upon further reflection, here's how they scored….
A remarkable effort considering the loss of Ronnie Brown, the deficits that the Dolphins faced during the final few weeks, the phase-out of the Wildcat, and the lack of a big-play passing game to take off some pressure. The total (2231 yards) didn't come close to a club record (the 1972 team gained 2,960 in 14 games), but was the best since 2002 (when Ricky Williams had 1853 of the 2502). Credit an offensive line that endured in spite of constant shuffling due to injuries, and the solid play of Lousaka Polite. The Dolphins can build on this. They have an identity; the only question is whether, in a league that is shifting to pass-first philosophies, that identity is fit for the times.
This could have been a lot worse, with a "rookie" quarterback at the helm, the regression of Ted Ginn, Jr., and the lack of production from the tight end position. Still, the telling statistic was yards-per-attempt. Say what you want about Chad Pennington, but he posted an excellent number (7.7) in 2008, even better than Dan Marino's career number (7.4). Pennington was at just 5.6 through three games this season, and Chad Henne was only somewhat better (6.4). Jake Long recovered from a shaky opener to have a strong season at left tackle, but gimpy Vernon Carey had his struggles. Even so, the increase in sacks against (34 vs. 26) was somewhat due to Henne's inexperience. The Dolphins' No. 2 through No. 4 receivers did a good job in their roles. This team needs a true No. 1 who can make big plays (even on short passes), and everyone else could fall into place.
There was more slippage in this area than in any other during the course of the 2009 season. This is an amazing stat: after week 10, the Dolphins were 7th in the league in rushing yards allowed. After week 17, they had slipped all the way to 18th. (And that was down from 10th in 2008). The yards-per-carry kept climbing, too. During the final nine games, the Dolphins never held an opponent below 3.8 per carry. So what happened? It's easy to blame it on the absences of Jason Ferguson (and to a lesser, later degree) Channing Crowder, but it's clear that the Dolphins need to keep upgrading the front seven. Wonder if Matt Roth could have helped.
The Dolphins faced just about all of the NFL's elite passers (from Brady twice to Manning to Brees to Roethlisberger to Rivers, not to mention Schaub and Ryan), and they faced them with two rookie corners playing prominent roles. So it's not a surprise that they struggled, even while increasing their sack total from 40 to 44. It did appear that the older pass-rushers wore down as the season progressed. And the big plays just kept coming. The 8.2 yardage-per-attempt was the league's worst. Simply, too many passers found it too easy to play pitch-and-catch, and there were far too many missed tackles.
The kicking specialists were solid. Dan Carpenter made 25-of-28 field goal attempts, and Brandon Fields pinned 25 punts inside the 20. The coverage came a long way. The Dolphins didn't allow a return for a touchdown (although there was one 87-yarder) and opponents had unremarkable averages. The problem was on the punt return, which generated nothing for Miami, with Davone Bess and Ted Ginn Jr. failing to bring one back for more than 22 yards. Ginn did return two kickoffs for touchdowns, in the same game. In too many games, though, he did nothing of note.
It's one of sports' backhanded compliments, to say that "a team didn't quit." Well, should any team of paid professionals? The compliment is only paid when a team has already put itself in a bad position, and is then given credit for continuing to fight as the carrots disappear. For the second straight year, Tony Sparano's team put itself in a terrible early position, and he must find some way to avoid that in 2010. It is unfair to be overly critical of a coach who lost so many experienced starters for so much of the season, and it is easy to see the qualities that Sparano brings, foremost among them his ability to get players' respect. He made some underrated moves, such as changing offensive line coaches. But some of his gameday decisions (along with those of Dan Henning and Paul Pasqualoni) were head-scratchers. I still think he's the right guy for the long term, but his third season will be telling.
Injuries. Schedule. Bad breaks. The Dolphins didn't have it nearly as easy in 2009 as in 2008. They also didn't make it easy on themselves.


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Camrose Regional Exhibition Grounds
4250 Exhibition Drive, Camrose, AB, T4V 1X3
780-672-3640 | Website
Big Valley Jamboree is but one of several events held just outside the Rose City.
|Getting There |
|One kilometre east of Camrose on Highway 13.
|Cross Street |
|Between 49th St and 50th St
Profile Last Updated: May 21, 2009
The CRE is open just about 365 days of the year for business. Events and programs run 50 of those days. Between 250,000 and 300,000 people attend the CRE annually to partake in the sights and activities. The CRE offers a multitude of agricultural, entertainment, education and leisure programs.
The grounds are located one kilometre east of Camrose, Alberta's Rose City, on Highway 13. The site has 107,200 square feet of covered space for exhibits, conventions and banquets. Also on the site is a 5/8 mile racetrack, camping space for 9,000 trailers and 1,400 parking stalls.
The draw
Each August, the grounds fall prey to an invasion of RVs, campers and lawn chairs when the annual Big Valley Jamboree hits the stage. The event, which features some of the biggest names in country music, draws thousands of people from all over the continent. The site was also used for a number of years by Canadian supergroup The Tragically Hip, who staged their Another Roadside Attraction festival, featuring a number of high-profile and up-and-coming national rock bands. Other events, like rodeos and the Camrose Regional Exhibition, also use the facility.

subset: commoncrawl


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One thing I didn't realize as a first time mom but now know oh-so-well is that nursing, though beneficial for mommy and baby, can be very inconvenient.
Don't get me wrong I love nursing my babies, but let's be honest, wearing a bra and nursing pads around the clock for months on end is a bit uncomfortable. With baby number two in tow I knew that proper nighttime nursing apparel was a huge priority.
Motherwear is an old pro when it comes to nursing attire so they were an obvious stop on my nursing wear hunt. Their Capri PJ Nursing Set is a perfect post-pregnancy pair. It includes a comfy, flattering, sleeveless top with an empire waist—simply lift and nurse, while keeping your belly covered. It also includes elastic pants, perfect for the transition from the pre- to post pregnancy body. This sweet set is available in two feminine colors and sizes S through 3x.
Shortly after receiving my first Motherwear order I received an email from Motherwear offering breastfeeding support. They offer several valuable resources for nursing mothers including their Essential Breastfeeding Guide. Now, that's customer service!
If you're looking for a modern nursing gown then Aimee has you covered. Their Nursing Gown is soft, comfy and perfect for the nursing mother, but can even be comfortably worn post-nursing. My favorite feature of the Aimee Gown is its built in sleep bra. It is snug, yet loose enough to be comfortable and is ideal for holding nursing pads in place without the use of an additional bra. It's made from a 95% cotton and 5% lycra blend, allowing a little stretch for those pre- or post pregnancy curves and comes in five flattering colors. Pair it with Aimee's Nursing Robe for a perfect, discrete nursing pair.
I am so crazy about this Paisley Print Nursing Set by Expressiva that I wish I had another set. I started wearing it when I was 9 months pregnant because I just couldn't resist the wonderfully soft fabric and am loving it for nursing now that Mary Claire has been born. It features an drop-down front that is so convenient and easy. I absolutely adore the paisley print and feel very pretty, almost sexy in it, which is a lot to say at only a month postpartum. It is made from a viscose/spandex mix that is so very comfy and flattering. A perfect pair!
Majamas is well known for their exquisite line of unique nursing nightwear. They have a large line of comfy gear in fun prints and flattering solids. One of my favorites is their Lacey MJ. This cozy little pair includes a pull-over nursing top and fun capri both accented with a touch of soft lacy trim. This set is great for the new nursing mother and features a unique inside breast pad pocket, perfect for keeping those pads in place and mommy and baby comfortably dry. Choose from one of three funky prints or their more reserved solids. I chose black and love the slimming effect. Be sure to check out their sister line Nixilu for fun daytime nursing wear!
Now, here's the gown you want to pack in your hospital bag and I actually packed it in mine! The Jayne Mom & Baby Set from Belabumbum is the ideal hospital set for mom and baby, it features a luxurious, comfortable nursing chemise with a drop-down nursing front and a cozy little cardigan. This pair is perfect for nursing discretely which of course is a must when your hospital room is crowded with back to back visitors. It's made of 100 percent pima cotton which is soft and smooth against mommy and baby's delicate skin. But the best part is the adorable little baby set that perfectly matches mommy. It includes a sweet kimono style top and elastic waist pants and is available in both blue and coral. The perfect set for hospital room pics with the new babe.


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Skydiving.com now has a network skydiving location serving Wallins Creek and Harlan County in Kentucky. Call Skydiving.com at 1-800-617-7948 for details, free information and specials on skydiving in Wallins Creek, KY today!
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HEADLINES: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts , New Mexico , New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Arizona, Illinois
Williams Report - February 3, 2016
State Budget and Pension News from Statehouses Around the Country
HEADLINES: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire , North Carolina , Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, California
Williams Report - September 22, 2015Join us on Twitter by following @StateBudgets and using the hashtag #SBSbob.
HEADLINES: Alabama, California, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina , Pennsylvania, Tennessee
Williams Report - August 25, 2015
Join us on Twitter today by following @StateBudgets and tweeting with the hashtag #SBSbob!
HEADLINES: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts , New Hampshire , Ohio, Pennsylvania
Williams Report - July 14, 2015
Join us on Twitter today by following @StateBudgets and tweeting with the hashtag #SBSBob.
HEADLINES: Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, New Hampshire , New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Washington
Williams Report - July 1, 2015
Join us on Twitter today by following @StateBudgets and tweeting with the hashtag #SBSBob.
HEADLINES: Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine , Massachusetts , Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire , New Jersey, New York, North Carolina , Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Wisconsin
Williams Report - June 23, 2015
Join us on Twitter today by following @StateBudgets and tweeting with the hashtag #SBSBob.
HEADLINES: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina , Oklahoma, South Carolina, Illinois, Oregon
Williams Report - May 13, 2015
HEADLINES: Alaska, Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Georgia, New Hampshire , New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington
Williams Report - April 7, 2015
HEADLINES: Alaska, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts , Michigan, New Jersey, West Virginia
Williams Report - February 10, 2015
State Budget Shortfalls Update - January 28, 2015
State Budget Solutions is tracking the budget shortfalls, as reported by government agencies and governors in every state. Some of these deficits are immediate problems, while others are long term problems that need to be tackled sooner than later.
Federal Aid to the States 2008-2011
It is well understood that the federal government must make spending cuts-these cuts will most likely drastically change the amount of federal dollars that are allocated to the states. Unfortunately for most states, dependence on federal funding has continually risen since 2008.
States of Bankruptcy
Should Congress provide a bankruptcy option for states, or would bankruptcy be a mistake? The goal of this Article is to carefully vet this question, using all of the theoretical, empirical and historical tools currently available. The discussion is structured as a "case" for bankruptcy.
RESEARCH: California, New Jersey, Hawaii
Is State Debt Constitutional?
An analysis of the state constitutional debt provisions in California, New Jersey and Hawaii, and the debt that these states face in spite of those provisions.
Analysis of total state debt shows Alaska, New Jersey, and Hawaii among states in worst fiscal situations
The latest study by SBS reveals total state debt averages $13,754 for every American and $38,721 for each of the private sector workers in this country.
Report reveals aggregate state debt exceeds $4 trillion
State Budget Solutions' second annual state deficit report reveals aggregate state debt presently exceeds $4 trillion. While states themselves can rely on budget gimmicks to hide the extent of the deficit, SBS takes a straightforward approach to calculating total state debt. See where your state ranks.
States hide trillions in debt
Aggregate state debt now exceeds $1.8 trillion, with much more potentially hidden off the official books. As of 2009, total state debt averages almost $17,000 for each of the 107 million private sector workers in the United States.
Research by State Budget Solutions reveals the total official financial liability for each state according to the latest comprehensive annual data available. The research included total debt outstanding, recent budget shortfalls, pension and retirement health care liabilities, and Unemployment Trust Fund loans. The research also looks at the overall financial landscape for each state by considering top income tax rates, past economic performance, and economic outlook.
How Reality-Based Budgeting Can Permanently Resolve State Budget Gaps
State Budget Solutions recommends that state legislators take action in 2013 to resolve the serious state financial crises by changing their focus from inputs to outcomes by redesigning budgets from the ground up based on priorities and performance.
SOLUTIONS: North Carolina
A Blueprint for Budget Reform
The ongoing state budget "crisis" strongly underscores the urgent need for North Carolina to adapt significant state budget reforms, including putting North Carolina taxpayers back in charge of approving new debt, and forcing legislators and state agencies at reasonable intervals to justify all spending, not just spending increases.
SOLUTIONS: Nevada
Responsible budgeting
States should use the budget solutions of avoiding budget gimmicks and use any additional revenue to first eliminate all the dubious financial devices from budgets and to avoid state debt.
SOLUTIONS: North Dakota
State debt in North Carolina
North Carolina should limit non-voter-approved debt. Any further borrowing by the state should be subject to voter approval. It should also reform state employee pensions by moving to more portable and flexible benefits, such as a 401(k). State government should set aside reserves to cover future health care costs for retired state employees. Health Savings Accounts would be one solution and will remain an option at least until 2018, when the state will need to meet federal health insurance regulations.
BLOG: Michigan
First, Do No Harm: Improving Detroit's Entrepreneurial Climate
The good news is that Detroit's government isn't the most hostile to business formation.
BLOG: Michigan
Bankruptcy Trial is Detroit's Family Feud
The Detroit bankruptcy trial looks more like a probate case, with members of the deceased's family quarrelling over the remaining possessions, namely, the artwork.
BLOG: Virginia
Do not resuscitate the Virginia budget with Medicaid expansion included
A government shutdown looms in Virginia, and the solution proposed by the governor and some state legislators will only worsen the underlying fiscal crisis in the state.
BLOG: Iowa, Alaska, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wyoming, Nebraska, North Dakota, Utah
Celebrating States in the Sunshine on Mother's Day
This year Truth in Accounting celebrates eight states with mothers (and fathers) that have left a responsible financial legacy for their children - Iowa, Tennessee, South Dakota, Nebraska, Utah, North Dakota, Wyoming, and Alaska.
BLOG: Florida
Florida legislators fear zombies more than the Sunshine State's massive pension debt
Which will come first: the zombie apocalypse or a public pension shortfall?
$43.5 million left to pay for imploded Kingdome
Taking on debt is a lot like trying to tackle Marshawn Lynch - it sounds easy right up to the point you are left behind as he runs over you.
BLOG: Kansas, New Mexico , Virginia, Maryland, Michigan, Utah, Arkansas, Indiana, New Jersey
States react to the federal shutdown
Since states rely so heavily on the federal government for their general budgets, they will feel the pinch of a federal government shutdown.
Let's Put Privatizing Municipal Services Back on the Table
Yes, Your Paycheck is Smaller...And it May Get Worse
And it isn't just individuals who must reconfigure budgets, the states are looking at smaller "paychecks" as well.
New 'State of the States' fiscal crisis study recognizes reality
The "State of the States" report released this week puts hidden state and local debt at $7.3 trillion, stating: "States do not account to citizens in ways that are transparent, timely or accessible." If state and local governments fail to act decisively now, cities, towns and counties will go bankrupt, and states could fall beyond a fiscal event horizon into perpetual debt.


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The ANC is a national liberation movement. It was formed in 1912 to unite the African people and spearhead the struggle for fundamental political, social and economic change.
The ANC's key objective is the creation of a united, non-racial, non-sexist and democratic society.
This means the liberation of Africans in particular and black people in general from political and economic bondage. It means uplifting the quality of life of all South Africans, especially the poor.
The ANC is in an alliance with the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). Each Alliance partner is an independent organisation with its own constitution, membership and programmes. The Alliance is founded on a common commitment to the objectives of the National Democratic Revolution, and the need to unite the largest possible cross-section of South Africans behind these objectives.
4 July 1990
A referendum of white farmers in the Transvaal was held on Friday, 29 June. They were asked whether they were in favour of the preservation of white property rights in their districts.
This is based on a total misconception of the policy of the ANC with regard to ownership of land. what we advocate is that the land should be shared among all those who work it, and that the existing imbalance where the 87% of South African`s land held by whites be redressed.
We do not, and never have, advocated the forcible confiscation of land from anyone in South Africa. this in fact has been the policy of the South African Minority Government to date.


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"General Hospital" plans to celebrate its anniversary with a special Carlypalooza episode. On March 30, the official Twitter account of head writer Ron Carlivati posted a photo of the three actresses who have played Carly on the soap opera. All three of them will be making an appearance for the 51st anniversary of "General Hospital."
Sara Brown and Tamara Braun will join Laura Wright on the show in a unique episode centered around the character of Carly. Although Wright currently plays her, Brown and Braun will have guest spots that will be related to the character. "General Hospital" is not giving away many details before April 1, but fans think there may be flashbacks and odd family relatives in the mix.
The appearance of all three Carlys on the show has earned the nickname of Carlypalooza. The current storyline of Carly learning that Sonny has shot AJ will not be ignored in the special episode, and it will probably provide a unique way to incorporate the other two Carlys into the show. Carly will also struggle to determine if she should share the news about AJ's real shooter with Michael.
Spoilers for the April 1 episode reveal that Sonny and Carly will be thinking about their past relationships, so flashbacks will be important. However, Carly will not be the only one who is stuck remembering the past, and Felicia, Lucy, Mac and others will also be using the anniversary episode to recall previous events.
Suggested Links
- Aviva Drescher, Carole Radziwill had ghostwriters: 'Real Housewives of New York'
- Melissa Gorga mentions Project Ladybug: 'Real Housewives of New Jersey'
- Yolanda Foster's marriage problems: 'RHOBH' star uses Hadid name
- 'Hell's Kitchen' season 12, episode 3 spoilers: 18 chefs compete
- 'Scandal' season 3, episode 15 spoilers: Fitz and Mellie's children arrive


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College Hockey:NCAA preview with ESPN's Buccigross, Eliot, Jaffe and Ritchlin on March 25 USCHO Live!
It's a special two-hour edition of USCHO Live!, previewing this weekend's NCAA men's ice hockey regionals.
Our scheduled guests on our March 25 episode of USCHO Live! are four analysts/commentators from ESPN: John Buccigross, who will cover the NCAA East Regional (and Frozen Four) with Barry Melrose and Quint Kessenich; Billy Jaffe, who joins Joe Davis at the NCAA Northeast Regional; Darren Eliot, who with Joe Beninati will broadcast from the NCAA Midwest Regional; and Sean Ritchlin, who will provide analysis alongside Clay Matvick from the NCAA West Regional.
ESPN's TV schedule for the regionals »
Join us for the conversation and information, Tuesday, March 25, from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at blogtalkradio.com/uscholive. If you can't listen live, check out the podcast of USCHO Live! available on the player at the right (click through if you're reading this via RSS.)
Be part of the conversation! Call (646) 200-4305, send your tweets to @USCHO, or your emails to email@example.com.
Each episode of USCHO Live! features a look at news around NCAA hockey, a look ahead at upcoming games and events, and conversation with people who coach, administer and play college hockey, and journalists who cover the sport.
About the hosts
Jim Connelly is a senior writer at USCHO.com and has been with the site since 1999. He is based in Boston and regularly covers Hockey East. He began with USCHO.com as the correspondent covering the MAAC, which nowadays is known as Atlantic Hockey. Each week during the season, he co-writes "Tuesday Morning Quarterback." Jim is the winner of the 2012 Joe Concannon award, and is a studio analyst for NESN.
Ed Trefzger has been part of USCHO since 1999 and now serves as a senior writer and director of technology. He has been a part of the radio broadcasts of Rochester Institute of Technology hockey since their inception — serving as a producer, studio host, color commentator and as RIT's play-by-play voice for seven seasons. Ed is VP and general manager of CBS Sports Radio affiliates 1310 and 1590 The Team in Rochester, N.Y.
The following is a self-policing forum for discussing views on this story. Comments that are derogatory, make personal attacks, are abusive, or contain profanity or racism will be removed at our discretion. USCHO.com is not responsible for comments posted by users. Please report any inappropriate or offensive comments by clicking the "Flag" link next to that comment in order to alert the moderator.
Please also keep "woofing," taunting, and otherwise unsportsmanlike behavior to a minimum. Your posts will more than likely be deleted, and worse yet, you reflect badly on yourself, your favorite team and your conference.


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Hover to view/zoom, click to enlarge.
5 (1)
90% Nylon/10% Spandex
Do you think your friend would like to know that DDS has this item? Just fill in the following information and we will let them know!
This dress is horrible, the glitter of the skirt comes off. I bought 6 for my Christmas recital and when the girls tried them out they had glitter all over their bodies, on the floor, their hair and faces and they started to sneeze, and itching.
Age: 30-39
Was this review helpful to you? YES (
These costumes were very pretty from stage and I loved the tutu length. The only down side is that the glitter was loose and so when taken out of the bag glitter went everywhere ha. Some of my moms washed theirs on gentle cycle and their daughters still wear it to ballet class.
Age: 22-29


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Why Virtual Barrack?
Proven track record, variety of characters offered – seven days a week, 24x7 service
24x7 Online Support
As part of an ongoing efforts to offer the best in services and support to our valued customers, our live help service is available 24 hours, 7 days a week. Our customer representative teams are experienced MMO players which can provide tailor made solutions for our customers' questions.
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Godaddy is a trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world. Godaddy protects more than one million Web servers with digital certificates.
Site secured by McAfee®
McAfee, Inc. is the world's largest dedicated security technology company. McAfee delivers comprehensive protection for small and mid-sized businesses in one smart, simple, and secure solution.
Financial Support in NewZealand
VBarrack Limited is a registered business with financial assistance from New Zealand team-members selling MMO Characters and Accounts that are exclusively purchased from the original players.
Founded in Canada
VBarrack was founded in Canada, to help provide services to gamers of every level and ability to help them reach their potential.
100% Security Guaranteed
When you purchase anything from VBarrack , you can be assured that we have taken every precaution possible to ensure your personal data and payment details remain safe and secure.
How to Power Level WoW Professions
If you are a fan of the World of Warfare game, you certainly do understand the excitement of wow power leveling. The higher you go, the more money you make. There are different WoW professions that your character can follow and for cheapest wow power leveling in some of the popular professions, you can follow these strategies:
Alchemy: If you have been playing for quite some time, you know that alchemy is best combined with Herbalism for wow power leveling. With these two professions, you can save a lot of gold and can sell the potions/elixirs at the Auction House. Do make sure that you have adequate gold to buy herbs, if you do not have Herbalism, because you will need loads of them.
Blacksmithing: This is best combined with Mining and both the professions should be leveled up simultaneously because you will need a lot of gold when you want to buy anything from Auction House.
Enchanting: Any of the wow power leveling services will tell you that Enchanting really goes well with Tailoring. When you level Tailoring and Enchanting at the same time, you can disenchant most of the cloths you make, but it is good with any other gathering or crafting profession.
Engineering: It is best combined with Mining. WoW power leveling for Engineering and Mining can save you a lot of gold. If you do not have Mining, you will have to purchase everything and will need a lot of gold.
Jewelcrafting: WoW cheap power leveling is not quite easy with Jewelcrafting. You need to have loads of gold even if you have Mining. The best thing to do is to try selling the items that you make. Simply place them in the Auction House. Many of the level 85 players choose to buy low level items for their alt. If you cannot sell an item, just disenchant it and sell the shards/dust.
Fishing: For WoW power leveling through Fishing, you may feel that it requires a lot of patience and time to build your skill level up to the maximum level. You need to catch around 3000 fish to reach the finish point. You can skill up fishing from Level 1 to 525 in any fishing water. This implies that you can stand in Orgrimmer and get skill-ups on your fishing at the same rate as you would in a higher level zone. The number of successful catches decides your skill-ups.
For more WoW power leveling servicesandaion power leveling, visit http://www.vbarrack.com/


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Cilab is a small Spanish company placed in Granada. We operate urban management infrastructures in four different and convergent paths: energy efficiency, water, mobility-traceability and urban wastes management.
CILAB is a company providing a service known as GAM (Green Asset Management)
GAM is a method for improving the business rules behind a process. The method describes three phases:
Measure / Data Harvesting
Evaluation / Knowledge build-up
Application / Best Practices
The GAM service is designed to optimize the return on any process. Each activity we carry on is linked with a resource consumption pattern so does with a carbon footprint. GAM allow stakeholders to seize the impact of an activity and benchmark the practices to improve it. We have incorporated the most advanced Hardware, Communications and Expert System / AI advances on our product.
We like to say that we develop the future of our smart and sustainable cities but you should see it for yourself.


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Why I Hate EMC16 Jan '09 - 08:42 by benr
I do, I really hate EMC. And here is a great example of why:
If your reading this via an aggregator, here is the video embedded above: EMC Atmos featured on YouTube.
HE SAYS NOTHING!!! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!! What is the product? What does it actually do? How does it do it? THIS IS MARKETING BULLSHIT.
There, I said it. I am truly shocked that companies, in this day and age, can still get away with old school marketing jibberish which we became so accustom to by the HP's of the world. IBM changed its ways, Sun changed its ways... gah. Really, am I the only one who goes nuts seeing product data sheets and so-called presentations which are just a lot of hot air?
EMC Atmos seems like an interesting product. My understanding is that its an outgrowth of UC Berkeley's OceanStore, which I believe to be a milestone project in the history of computing storage, and thus Atmos is of great interest to me, but apparently the last entity I should rely on for information regarding it is EMC themselves.
Ok... rant over. I'll bury this with a technical posting.
UPDATE NOTE: I want to be clear and apologies to the fellow in the video if he comes across this. This is nothing against his particular presentation, but as an example of EMC in general. It was clearly highly scripted and he himself probly doesn't like it. Anyway, he did a fine job, its the messaging method that bothers me. There are plenty more like this on YouTube, or just go read EMC's website.
I sat through hours of EMC trying to persuade a group of us why their backup solution was the greatest, as part of a tendering process. At the end of the session we went back through our specification with them and confirmed the solution would work (most of their presentation to us had been 'hot air'.)
Those of us with prior EMC experience were saying "NO, NO, NO! Support sucks!" everyone else was saying "Yeah, but it's EMC, it's an industry standard. Finding new guys that know it will be easier"
About 4 months went by before the decision was made to get their solution. Thankfully I wasn't involved in implementing it. The poor guy who was spent literally days on the phone back and forth with EMC support trying to get the backup solution to do what they said it would do, only to find out 3/4 of the features were to come out in the next release of the software rather than the current one.
EMC's support proved to be a routine pain. Every time you call them you ended up on some extremely poor quality VoIP to a foreign call centre, where not only do you have to contend with dire call quality, but also someone who doesn't speak English as their first language. That often made what should have been short, simple support cases turn into monstrous pains.
Frustrated.. (Email) - 16 January '09 - 09:09Hate is such a strong word….but yea their pretty awful…
They used that annoying 'cloud' term. It's 'cloud' storage. Don't you get it?
Tokyo Unix Guy (Email) - 16 January '09 - 09:44oops their = they're
Tokyo Unix Guy (Email) - 16 January '09 - 09:45If they are so bad why their market shares are growing ?
wonder - 16 January '09 - 10:09@Tokyo Unix guy
Because the force is strong with them?
Interesting feature set according to the video, and by feature set, I mean…75% of it could be an html frameset that just points to the relevant storage units. "Single Namespace". Great.
Coming from a small company with a limited budget, I get frustrated by the universal method of extending features for exponentially increasing prices. "Yes we can do that" means "Yes, for three times the originally quoted price, we'll issue you a license key that will do that, and it also expires in a year, so you'll have to pay us again".
Matt Simmons (Email) (URL) - 16 January '09 - 11:47Wow, that was really really bad.
Joe Van Dyk (Email) (URL) - 16 January '09 - 15:08I won't ever buy EMC. Or any other storage vendor. Just give me JBOD chasis big enough to hold about 24TB (like the "Thumper"), and Sun cluster + ZFS, and game over.
No proprietary bullshit, and death to marketing crap! I'm not an idiot, I can build my own clusters, don't need to dish out piles of money for some proprietary crap.
UX-admin (Email) - 16 January '09 - 15:48Nothing more true!
H4mm3r (Email) (URL) - 16 January '09 - 16:51If that guy said "cloud" one more time I was going to drive a knife into my skull. Who would find this information useful? Maybe C-level people? "Hmm yes this sounds like it may be useful for our company. IT staff, please implement this, whatever it is."
Bret (Email) (URL) - 16 January '09 - 20:57I've seen enough shops get bitten by EMC, both on the sales end and the technology end. I think the attraction is the marketing and the tools they shovel around that seem to make less skilled folks happy. I've had situations where I've had EMC, HDS, IBM, and Sun come in to compete on storage projects. In the end, I have seen EMC make wild claims, woo CEO's and CFO's with cheap up-front costs (have to read the fine print on support costs after 2-3 years), and fall flat on their faces when comparing performance and RAS against the competition. I've seen EMC symmetrix arrays perform on par with A5000's and VxVM, 60% slower than DASD storage on z/OS mainframes, and suffer catastrophic failures that cost clients a lot of $$. On the flip side, I've seen IBM Shark arrays go tits up when the cache gets corrupted on both RS6000 boards and whole SAN's go pop. But with HDS and Sun, I haven't seen that kind of crap happen to customers. I once opened up an EMC Symmetrix while it was powered off.. there were tons of HAND SOLDIERED wires running across their controller boards.. and REFURB stickers!! Not exactly my idea of "Enterprise" storage. Not to mention the Clarrion stuff is garbage running NT with only 4GB of RAM.
Sorry.. but if I need cheap storage these days.. I'd rather get some thumpers or 7000 arrays from Sun and use OpenSolaris with (ZFS, COMSTAR, iSCSI, 10GbE, etc.) and call it a day. If I want mid-range to high-end storage.. I'll call up HDS. Some things may be lost in translation in Hi-Command.. but the product "just works".
Octave Orgeron (Email) - 16 January '09 - 22:49I did find the presentation annoying. I find it very difficult to listen to any marketing presentation where the words "enterprise", "cloud", or even "virtualization" are used. Even reading through VMWare or MS Hyper-V information leads to now technical understanding of exactly what a virtualized product is, or how to achieve it. Of course, once you try it, it is simple.
With the "cloud" word, I believe people are just throwing it in for good measure to make sure managers will listen. I hope no self respecting IT decision maker gets bowled over by marketing hype and buzzwords.
Chris (Email) (URL) - 17 January '09 - 03:58you should look at some of the XvM webcasts… its not just EMC doing it.
OpenStorage will probably be the saving grace of Sun. there isnt much hype in that marketing. its a damn good product – and far ahead of its time.
Andy L (Email) - 29 January '09 - 19:58I found your site while searching google for the phrase 'i hate emc'. At least I have someone to share my hatred of EMC. I don't use the term hate very often, it's pretty harsh and it's a pretty cruel term when you think about it. But honestly, I cannot take another minute of dealing with this company. I get to use one of their NAS products in my day to day adventures, and I can't believe a company can be this big and have a product that takes a nuclear scientist to support. I've worked with other vendors and they all have their 'interesting' behavior that you figure out…the command like you figure out when you need it, otherwise you can use the GUI and get the job done and move on to the next task. Not this thing… the gui doesn't work and is so hideously slow in java that you have to use the command line..ok, no problem… go on the support site and research what you need, right? nah, support site is slow and the search is pathetic. My specific search 4 different phrases combined into one search is is still coming back with over 450 possible hits of mostly garbage, even though i'm wanting to do a basic function like creating an iscsi lun from the command line. Command line errors out without telling what in my sentence long command it doesn't like, so who knows what's wrong now. I can't wait to call support and wait around to talk to some overseas genius who won't know what to do either, until we spend half the day poking around in my system and asking me for connection information since they never keep it on file properly. Like I said, I've used other company's products, and at least one major vendor was a piece of cake on this stuff…search the support site, bingo..a howto on iscsi luns…done. Well, I have to run and read through 450 tech articles. Have a great day EMC fans. EMC supporters are starting to remind me of some sort of southern religious cult.
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cool stuff (Email) (URL) - 25 August '10 - 07:51I don't understand how emc keeps earning money.
Every Customer that I talked to – complained about the Products he has.
Every piece of software and hardware has a bug which you can encounter from time to time but EMC has numerous bugs with all their products. The worst thing is that they don't have any answers to the cause of the problems.
You have to upgrade the version of flare, splitters, recoverpoint just to discover another bug in the process of the upgrade and of course plan the next upgrade.
They even don't trust the latest version of their products so they recommend to wait until most the bugs are discovered before installing it on your site and meanwhile you need to live with the existing bugs.
The are not very well informed on new technology and sell you something just to tell you after few months that what you bought isn't enough and sell more of their malfunctioned equipment.
You have to upgrade your entire site before their equipment will work and they don't support you unless you are fully in their matrix which is quite limited since none of their equipment support their competitors like XIV and Netapp. EMC declared the VMAX which is a technology that HP has for about 5 years now. I have never heard one technical customer of EMC that says something good about emc. that is why EMC sells to the managers and not to the technical peoples – Managers are much more in the statement level and doesn't present the hard questions.
If the stockholders of all the big companies would know how much money they could save by removing emc products from their site and saving hours of downtime from the customers – they would forbid their companies from buying EMC products.
If this was the case everyone would sleep better – the stockholders, the storage administrators, the customers and emc technical guys.
This is written from personal experience – I don't work in XIV,EMC,HP and don't sell their products. I am just a disappointed customers which is now stucked with EMC products for at least 4-5 years since we already invested several millions dollars.
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Can you use a character with a limited viewpoint to introduce a reader to the fantastic elements of the world you're building? Even if from that character's point of view, those elements are not fantastic? In short, how do you get a fish to tell you about water?
This question came from a listener, and before we set about attempting to answer it, we need to establish that this is really difficult. It is one of the grand achievements of well-written genre fiction. There are lots of hacks we use to get around the problem, but what we try to do in this cast is answer the question without any of those tricks. Of course, we also want to cover the hacks, because we use them.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 18:24 — 12.6MB)
Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS
Writing Prompt: Come up with a really nifty, high-tech setting, and then present it using POV characters who have no idea how all these wonders work, and who take them for granted.
Audiobook Pick-of-the-Week: Extraordinary Zoology: Tales from the Monsternomicon, Vol. 1, by Howard Tayler, narrated by Scott Aiello
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Squam Lake
Call of the Wild: Loons
The haunting cry of the common loon is vanishing from many New England waters. Whether we hear it... Read More »
Is Squam Lake Still Golden?
Twenty-six years after the film, the image still lingers: Henry Fonda and Kate Hepburn, in the twilight of... Read More »
Squam Art Workshops
I have always been fascinated with words: how they form, develop, and change over time. Although I have... Read More »
Winter at Squam Lakes Natural Science Center
On a recent visit to the New Hampshire Lakes Region, I knew I wanted to spend some time... Read More »


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After surrendering two goals in the first half, Huskies held WMU scoreless in the second
The Huskies look to buck the Broncos in the season finale
The Redhawks scored in the 6th, 51st and 53 minutes to defeat the Huskies
2011 SEASON:Made five appearances and two starts for the Huskies between the sticks ... Made nine stops and registered an 0-1-0 record in 232:46 minutes played ... Also carried a 2.32 goals against average and a .600 save percentage ... Earned a 2-0 combined shutout with fellow net minder Amy Carr against Loyola (Sept. 18) ... Made a career-high four saves versus Illinois State (Sept. 2) ... Parried three saves and allowed two goals in season finale loss against Western Michigan (Oct. 27).2010 SEASON:Recorded time in goal against Toledo, Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan ... totaled four saves in 48:57 minutes of play to earn a 0.800 save percentage.
2009 SEASON:Recorded time in goal against Oakland ... registered 14 minutes in goal against the Grizzlies to close out the Huskies 4-0 win over Oakland and help NIU to its third shutout of the season.
2008 SEASON: Did not see action in the Huskie goaltending lineup.
2007 SEASON: Redshirted ... Earned Huskie Scholar (3.0-3.49 GPA) honors during the Fall semester.
HIGH SCHOOL: Honorable mention Michigan High School Soccer Coaches Association's Dream Team after posting 13 shutouts as a senior ... Led team to undefeated conference championship, region semifinal appearance and 17-5-1 record during senior season ... First team all-state and Division I first-team selection by the Michigan High School Coaches Association in 2006 ... Collected all-conference, all-region and all-district accolades while leading her team to a 23-1-1, a 10-0-0 league mark, and a state semifinal appearance during junior campaign ... Posted a 0.25 goals against average as junior ... Registered a 0.27 goals against average in eight games as sophomore ... Helped team combine to go 82-10-5 during prep career ... Lettered in basketball as a junior.
PERSONAL/MISCELLANEOUS: Participated in Michigan's Olympic Development Program ... Parents are Thomas and Sharon Bennett ... Health Science major.


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In Linear Algebra, assume you have:
- A field Q
- A vector space V which is ontop of Q.
- A vector v which belongs to V.
Could v be composed of values not contained in Q? For example, could this be a valid value for v: v = ( sqrt(2), 1 )?
In Linear Algebra, assume you have:
Could v be composed of values not contained in Q? For example, could this be a valid value for v: v = ( sqrt(2), 1 )?
A vector space $V$ over a field $F$ is an abstract set, whose elements can be anything at all, such that addition is defined on that set as well as scalar multiplication, satisfying the vector space axioms. A given vector does not consist of anything in particular and it can be anything. As an extreme example, choose, for every real number $r\in \mathbb R$, an elephant and call that elephant $e_r$. Now define addition of elephants by $e_r+e_s=e_{r+s}$ and a scalar multiplication by $s\cdot e_r=e_{sr}$. Then the set of elephants $\{e_r\mid r\in \mathbb R\}$ is a vector space over $\mathbb R$. A vector in that vector space is an elephant.
The things in $V$ can be anything you like, provided they satisfy the vector space axioms. They don't have to be "tuples" or "arrays", so they are not necessarily "composed" of anything. They could be functions, for example.
It might be helpful if you think of a vector space as two things: (1) an abelian group $G$ with an "addition" operation, and (2) a field $F$. $G$ and $F$ are completely unrelated, except for the fact that they are connected by a "scalar multiplication" operation that has certain properties.
As a specific example, let's take $G$ to be $\mathbb R^2$, with addition defined in the obvious way, and let $F$ be $\mathbb Q$. Then, if we define scalar multiplication by $q*(x,y) = (q*x, q*y)$ for $q \in F$ and $(x,y) \in G$, we get a vector space V (I think). The pair $(\sqrt 2, 1)$ is a perfectly legal member of $G$, and hence it's a perfectly legal "vector" in the vector space V.


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Last Favorite Weapon?
Mine would have to bethe I.M. Mines.
Unless that's supposed to say least favorite weapon, the poll already exists.
And I'd vote fists. The only usefulness they gave me was to kill the first Kell Dragon or to just get that satisfying crunch :D
The Fusion Cutter sucked. I enjoyed the idea of having taken a mining tool and using it to cut down the waves of Imps, but it was terribly inaccurate, and that's saying something since the game has an autoaim system :rolleyes: The Bowcaster in JK and JO served the same use, but somehow, I ended up using it a bit more than I did the Fusion Cutter.
I.M. Mines did not take health away from me even with cheats not enabled. (bug?) I used them to get to hard to reach places. Pile about 10 on top of eachother, you took off like Superman! But if I missed the ledge and fell to where I started from... well, let's just say they'd have to pick me up with a spoon :p
That thread is Favorite this is LEAST Favorite I miss spelled it.
Ummm, I have a question to all you guys? Were IM Mines supposed to do damage to you? Or if they do, is the damage done that insignificant I did that? Or do I got a game that has a bug in it?
Sequencer Charges killed me all the time in JK/ MotS, so I assume somethings whacked up in my version.:(
I think mine would be the the Fusion Cutter. It just didn't get the job done.
I just got the Dark Forces game and the I.M. Mines Damage me not as much s the seqcunce chargers.
So your version might messed up.
We couldn't have easily just said this in the other thread. I don't think we needed another topic....
But probably the Fusion Cutter.
Fusion Cutter, I practicaly never use it, tottaly useless for me.
Well ... it is always interesting voting in a poll for an 'older' game ... my first thought was the fusion cutter ... apparently everyone agrees! The reason I refer to 'older' games is that for JKII (and JK) we've discussed our likes/dislikes to death ...
I remember getting the fusion cutter, thinking - cool! It looks cool, and you get it *after* the repeater, so it must be better, right? Right?!?! RIGHT?!??!!? Nope. It sucked.
I voted for the Mortar launcher. It just never felt like a Star Wars weapon to me, and I disliked the explosion effect. Needless to say, I hardy used it at all...
OK ... I finished Ramses Hed while modeling some materials (complex physics calculations makes for a bit of free time now and then ;) ) and may do some ice sliding over lunch ...
The mortar launcher wasn't all powerful though. To do business with it, you had to be in your foe's face. So, I liked it in that respect wherears the Rail Detonator (I want it in JA as much as the Concussion Rifle!!! :() and the Missle Launcher where you can be all the way across the map to get the job done, had to take a risk and get into the action.
It was not SWish at all, but, that's what DF/ JK/ MotS have that JO doesn't. It's own enviroment within the SW universe :)
I voted for the the mortar gun (8). It has a lousy range, and little power. Whereas it's not my favourite weapon, I do like the fusion cutter (6) for a couple of reasons. Secondary fire is great in certain instances such as when you're surrounded by Gamorrean's and need a quick way out, or you're right up next to a phase 2 Dark Trooper. The discharge from this weapon is slightly stronger than the Stormtrooper rifle and Repeater rifle. Sometimes you can kill an Imperial Commando in 2 shots instead of the usual 3 with the other guns. Now consider that fact that (if my calculations are correct) this is a 33% improvement on the Stormtrooper rifle. So you have a gun which has 133% of the power of the Stormtrooper rifle. Now multiply that by 4 (for the secondary fire) and in close range you have a weapon that is effectively about 532% better than the stormtrooper rifle in close range situations. Many's the time I've used the fusion cutter to battle Mohc, or Boba Fett, or a Kell Dragon. It's the most powerful (non self-damaging) close-range weapon, excluding the plasma blasts from the Assault Cannon.
Having said all that, do not use this as a long range weapon, as you're simply wasting ammo. Stick to the Repeater.
A note about the fists: If you are out of ammo, or just looking for fun, then try this. Crouch, hold Page Down until you are looking up as high as you can, and get as close as you can to an enemy and press punch. If done correctly the enemy will inexplicibly rocket into the sky and die instantly upon impact with the ground. Obviously this only works in exterior areas/areas with high ceilings. It will work on Stormtroopers, Commandos, Officers, Grans, Gamorreans and Trandoshans. It may also work against Probe droids, remotes, and Interrogation droids.
The fusion cutter was surprising - ever since the first time I played I just ignored it because I treated it like the repeater. It is a different weapon ... learning new things 8 years later ... :cool:
My least favorite weapon was the Bryar; with autoaim for other weapons it didn't have the increased accuracy to justify its weak attack. Using it was like bringing an ugly water pistol to a Matrix gun fight.
The Fusion Cutter comes in a close second due its weak attack. The only thing that saved it was that it looks damn good doing it.
The Mortar gun comes in third because it is bland and awkwardly large with a boring explosive attack. However, I found it quite handy for scattering lower level grouped enemies in close quarters. And I loved the sound of it firing.
The Fusion Cutter comes in a close second due its weak attack?
It's stronger than the bryar the e-11 and the autogun. Didn't you read my last post?
Yes, I read your last post. Did you read mine? I thought it was more than evident that my least favorite weapons earned a place on my list based on a combination of asthetics/sounds and effectiveness, not just effectiveness alone.
I used all the weapons.
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Custom Lightsabers!
Just wondering if anyone here has built any custom sabers?
Here's mine laying in the sands of korriban :D hope you like
Moved to a more appropriate place ;)
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that's pretty damn cool.
Now attach a polyblade to it and post a video of yourself doing twirls. XD
Wish i could but its a pretty solid heavy piece
i have a friend and he builds all sorts of sabers and he does prop blasters too i'll try and get some pics of his to post they are pretty nice
heres one of his
whats cool about our sabers is they were all built using parts we've found at work and about
I want a collection of the sabers from Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II. Most of all, Qu Rahn/ Kyle Katarn's but Yun's and Jerec's would be cool too. I know you can have them made, but at $300 a piece? Forget that. I'll stick with the minis. :)
Try this site out its pretty good im gonna order soem from there soon probably.
RANDOMSABERS is a full service website where you can submit drawings and have your sketches become reality.
Most of the sabers are about $75 - $125 and they have cheaper ones too! check it out!
Meh. I want them to be MR (Master Replica) quality. Worthy of being in museums. I want them to be weighted properly and everything. I was more into the action figs and now WotC miniature game. Once again, it's a dream that I'll never fulfill. Thanks for the link though ;)
EDIT- Actually, those are mighty damned good jobs. They should get Lucas approval to do some EU ones since MR never seems to try doing any of those. I'd be all over the Katarn one if they'd make it.
master teplica sabers are pretty awful in all truth and arnt 100% accurate on some of them *they really arnt worth the asking price*
the blasters are cool but you could make your own replica thats exactly the same for half the asking price
all you need to do is get a picture of katarns saber and send them it then they'll make it for you! :D
ooh i have the wotc minis too :) i even custom made my own :)
Yeah, I still need some hobby paint to add some variety to my armies for the minis.
I might wanna think about that. Have you done it from them? I'd love that saber.
Not yet but its pay day tommorrow and i have my eye on a couple on there :)
i'll have to find a picture of my custom sith lord mini paint job isnt great *the first miniature i've paint in 5 years* but its pretty cool
Found pics! like i said the painting is crappy but then again so is the paint work on the real minis lol
Darth terros in mini form!
And again fighting obi wan!
And a jedi master and his padawan i made too
Holy crap, those are amazing. You use D&D minis for those or what? As said, the paint job is sloppy a bit (not so much on the Sith lord actually) but one of the best minis I've ever seen. Great job ;)
I'm gonna look into the saber thing a bit more. I have so many other things I collect so it's not a priority. Also, due to copywrite issues, they can't really make me the saber the exact same way :(
I think i picked them up from this set
I liked the way they turned out and plan on making some more when i get the cash :D
I stopped collecting the minis for a while due to being poor and having to pay for other things but with the Universe set out now im gonna start collecting them again
Oh while looking at the site i really wanna turn one of these guys into Sith
I only get the original trilogy era and post RotJ era EU so I didn't bother with Clone Strike or RotS. I got the fringe as singles and a few Jedi off eBay as singles as well. I got all of RS and am missing two guys I want from Universe yet. This set is more money but truly amazing.
Can somebody give me a good site for making your own lightsaber? All the recommended ones I've tried give me the good ol' 'page cannot be displayed.' Just my luck :xp:
And really nice sabers too! I couldn't hope to make as good as sabers
thats some reall cool saber pics. i think i will look into that site you posted a bit more.
The blades that they put in those sabers do they come out? and is it possible to have them clear and have them change colors when they power up? and do the blades come in short sizes? a yoda fx would be awesome!
My question is, does anyone have one of these and if so it hollow inside ?? I'd like to make a really powerful LED flashlight out if it (so it actually has some real function) as I don't get to conventions very often.
I am lookin for a price estimate on a hilt that is something like Anakin's from AOTC that is orange when ignited. I want it to be like the MR where the blade doesn't come out and has the LED lights in the blade. I thought the detachable ones were cool untill I found out they can cause permanent blindness.
Take yourself some photos and I can add the light effect for you ;)
well, stick a paperroll or antenae as the blade, take photos, and use photoshop.
Oh as for blasters, I am getting parts and what not to build one. Going to add the parts on an airsoft gun, and you get a working blaster.
Its really not that hard, since most guns in Star Wars are based off guns in reality, even for most of them EU. Look at that P90 in dark times!
PS: Nice minis, but I suggest you use a thinner coat of paint. Oh and do the shades in gradual layers, makes your job easier.
Here hope this works, nifty little sabers.
Very detailed. :D
Some more..... Not so good picture for this one. Infact pretty crap.
This picture was logn so you'll have to slide along a bit. :D
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Netop's painting career began in March of 2006. He is eighteen pounds of boundless energy and was looking for another activity to add to his repertoire, which consists of daily treadmill workouts, skateboarding, agility, and modeling.
Netop's paintings have been showcased in exhibitions to rave reviews. A portion of the proceeds from the sales of Netop's paintings is donated to animal shelters and rescue groups.
Netop enjoyed showing off his painting skills at Pawz in Park this Saturday, April 30. It was a beautiful day and everyone, including Netop, had fun. Here is a video taken at the event.
In memory of Ruby, Netop raised $1,700 which he sent to The Morris Animal Foundation for canine cancer research. Here is a video that was taken at the Aunt Kerry's Pet Stop event.
Netop Tee-Shirts are now available on the website. Please click here.
Si Cantwell of the Wilmington StarNews wrote an article about
Netop's charitable activities. In appeared in the May 5, 2010 edition. Please read.
Shari Strader of Best Friends Network wrote a nice story, 'Move Over Picasso', about Netop.
Netop has taken up film making. His first movie is titled "Dog School". It was filmed in Wilmington, NC at Dog Train. It stars his "sister" Ruby and several of his Dog Train friends.
You can watch it here.
Click here to see videos of Netop's fundraising activities on youtube.
Click here to see Netop's appearance on Gracie's Friends.
Click here to see a StarNewsOnline video of Netop painting.


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Hella Bus Blog
Your place for all things Buslandia!
My Posse's On Broadband
In news that's bound to excite both Net Neutrality fans and pun lovers worldwide: Mike D of the Beastie Boys managed to give AT&T shareholders a chance to vote on wireless Net Neutrality.
Mike D, through his work with an asset management collective called Trillium managed to get the recalcitrant Internet gatekeeper to do something they've been trying hard to avoid.
A shareholder vote will shine more light on AT&T's dubious claims that they need the right to deny or limit service to certain websites in order optimize their network.
More Info on Net Neutrality Than You Can Shake A Wiffle Ball Bat At.
Getting Your Attention
The House and Senate are currently considering legislation that would enact pretty drastic copyright protection measures under the names SOPA and PIPA.
And there was a chance you hadn't heard of them at all, until prominent sites such as Wikipedia, Reddit, Twitpic, and ...icanhazcheeseburger decided to bring the topic front and center with a day of protest. Wikipedia is shuttering all English-language content today, and Google has placed a prominent link on their main page instructing users to lobby their elected officials.
Why? SOPA and PIPA attempt to go after people who offer pirated copyrighted material in order to protect the profits of movie and music producers. Unfortunately for them, the most egregious pirates operate outside of the U.S. jurisdictions.
Hari Kondabolu, the Bus's Director of Fashion and Refinement, Picks Out the New Bus Shirt Color
Photographic evidence:
Which do you choose?
The Collective Conscious of Fashion
What do Milanese youth, the Editor-at-Large for Vogue Japan, and Kanye West have in common? With a distinctively stylish aesthetic, they all happen to catch the eye of esteemed fashion photographer Scott Schuman, author of the popular style blog, The Sartorialist. The site, alongside a myriad of similar digital style hives, offers viewers a glance into the collective fashion conscious of cities across the world, forever altering the relationship between people, place, and self expression.
In decades past, culture addicts, fashion aficionados, and sartorial insiders were typically the first to interact with the designer worlds of high fashion and global trend setting- and the first to solicit their fragmented conceptual analysis (and dilution) of runway, resort, and seasonal collections. What the lay person encountered was a fringe distillation of the inspiration and brilliance of international talent, offered at the whim of a handful of venerable publications, media celebrities, and the inventory at local clothing stores. Not to mention the more rural, isolated communities of distant nations were kept distant-- unless one traveled abroad, no immediate cultural exchanges pertaining to fashion, self expression or utility were had en masse.
Today, in the same browser window, individuals can watch live streams of Fashion Week on youtube, scope out what's trending in London at Facehunter, and act as personal stylists using real models and current designer (or otherwise modern) pieces on Looklet. The proliferation of recent trends in expression, merchandising, and identity is astonishing.
Technology has removed the iron curtain of fashion. Although Schuman was initially excited by the opportunity of facilitating a "two-way dialogue about the world of fashion and its relationship to daily life," many of his contemporaries have developed concepts that range from featured street wear stemming from the pride of place, as seen through Stockholm Street Style, to the borderline-megalomanic-invite-only-international-blog Lookbook.
This instant access to global community through the simple communication venues that blogs and websites create and inspire have caused similar recent revolutionary responses in music, politics, and ideology. Chillwave, the Arab Spring, and Occupy Wall Street are excellent examples of how the collective consciousness of our digital age has also thrived by supporting movements, immediate calls for action and exchanges of information.
Self expression is no longer restricted to place, limited production lines, or the dictates of the fashion industry per se-- instead, it is guided and unleashed by you, me, and our extended global network. By taking cues from one another (and the runway, of course), we may not only inspire boldness, creativity, and open-minded dialogue, but we are also able to uncover new ways of understanding the relationship between ourselves and the world around us.
#hacktivism: just for laughs?
July 4th is known for a lot of things: independence, soaring eagles, crudely fashioned explosives in the hands of untrained children drunk on pyromania. Well folks, time to add another to the list: hacking.
Today's internet is a lot of things, including a battlefield. But it's a battlefield like none we've ever seen - impossibly far-flung and populated by anonymous cells that with a little knowledge can undermine the most sophisticated security systems around. Anonymous hackers and groups dedicated to bringing down/screwing with established security systems are squaring off with whichever corporate/government interests happen to be the next target. In typical internet fashion, every individual has its own agenda (or none at all). Objectives can range from directed activism to merely chaos for its own sake (anarchy).
Some high-profile hacks on July 4th brought hacking firmly into the mainstream spotlight.
Among the victims: Fox News, Sony, Apple Computers, and the State of Arizona. One website dedicated to tech news attributes the various hackings to the "skeleton crews" many companies left behind to man security during the recent holiday weekend.
Sometime between midnight and 3AM Pacific Time 4th of July morning, the Twitter account of Fox News Politics (twitter.com/foxnewspolitics) was infiltrated. The hackers then altered the twitter account to display a series of messages proclaiming Barack Obama's death.
#america was confused early Monday morning by "reports" of their leader's #assassination.
Almost immediately, a group calling themselves The Script Kiddies claimed responsibility for the messages. Student journalist Adam Peck conducted an interview with a representative of the group. Peck describes their take, "the selection of Fox News as a target seems to have less to do with their politics as it does with the fact that they represent corporate America."
This anti-corporate thread ties together a growing movement known as AntiSec (short for AntiSecurity). Often referred to by less web-savvy media sources as merely 'Anonymous', the AntiSec movement is a loose confederation of several different groups – of which the group Anonymous is only one member. Generally, they use various computer techniques in order to disrupt or discredit organizations for any number of reasons (generally major corporate or government institutions). Due to the elusive and often illicit nature of their activities very few of these AntiSec groups have any real public face or known organization (or indeed, often seem to actually have very little identifiable organization). As a result, the actions committed under the AntiSec umbrella vary greatly. Basically, they defy most familiar structures or labels so although the titles exist, don't assume that all who identify with them engage in similar practices or have similar intentions.
There have been occasional appearances by people claiming to represent one group or another. The prominent AntiSec-linked group LulzSec recently took credit for infiltrating Sony Pictures' user accounts leading to a massive, three month outage of the online gaming service PlayStation Network.
Other AntiSec groups, more strongly identified with the political aims of the movement, have carried out operations on government websites. Most recently, hackers affiliated with AntiSec launched an attack on the Arizona police department. They infiltrated police databases, posting conversations and other confidential information through freely accessible channels. A representative for the group explained that the hacking was in opposition to "SB1070 [the recent measure which enacted strict methods for determining illegal immigrants] and the racist Arizona police state".
The group who hacked Fox News' twitter, however, seems to be taking the route of politics by pranking. Even their name, "Script Kiddies", is a tongue-in-cheek reference: in the internet world, script kiddies are those who use prewritten computer scripts and exploits for their own purposes (in that world, those who can't write their own code are like).
There's an old cartoon that seems especially apt here:
(Via the New Yorker)
The anonymity and the open nature of the internet has given its users an unprecedented level of access to the world consciousness. The AntiSec movement is a direct result of this freedom. Though some members have been arrested in connection with it, it continues as strong as ever. As long as corporations and governments keep a large presence on the World Wide Web there will be those who break their security, either for the greater good or just for the heck of it. Everything is vulnerable, including the world's most powerful government and corporate interests, so it will be hugely important to follow how these conflicts unfold in the future.
Guest Blog! - The internet, switches, robocop and other related things
The Internet. It's a huge thing. Here we are, on it right now, having a little conversation (one sided as it may be—hit up the comments yo!). And we are free to jump through cyberspace and land ourselves in a whole different place, like facebook or beautiful renderings of Robocop on a unicorn, free to interact with each other within these cyber worlds, even free to make our own little corner of the Internet.
Now that's what I call freedom.
But freedom can't protect itself, and right now it might need some backup.
In some places on Earth, the Internet is the freest place around, the only space for oppressed people to communicate and organize. This week, the citizens of Egypt have turned to this last bastion of freedom, using twitter, facebook, email and other online tools to organize protests that have led to a freer off-line society. So, Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak said, "Shut it down!" and Egyptians have had limited to no Internet access for almost a week.
I'm sure you've seen that the protests are still going on, even without the Internet. After all, as has been said before, Egypt's is not the Twitter Revolution but a tweeted revolution. Nonetheless, it's clear the internet was an important organizing tool.
If we were to use Star Wars to understand this crazy time, its clear what the two sides would be: freedom pursuing Egyptian people = Jedi; oppressive Egyptian government = Sith (Julian Assange = Jarjar?). So why have United States Senators introduced a bill that would give our President the same oppressive power as Egypt's? Why do they want to give Obama Mubarak's Internet Kill Switch?
The new bill, creates an organization with the power to shut down any part of the Internet at any time. (omg!!!). Here's Lieberman's argument for it. Groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Democracy and Technology (ftw!!) point out that, similar to the Patriot Act, the language of the bill is so ambiguous that homeland security agents will be given free reign to shut down, spy on and infiltrate anything they choose (fml!!!).
Creating an Internet Kill Switch forces yet another wedge between American Government and Americans, and that's not good for anyone.
For more information, check out :
If, like me, you don't like the sound of this much, here's a petition:


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Want to see the big boxing fight between Floyd Mayweather and Victor Ortiz on Saturday night, but don't have the hundred of dollar to see it live in Las Vegas, or pony up the $60 to $70 pay per view fee?
No worry Angelinos, as there are many cheaper options right in town.
Golden Boy Promotion, producer of the event, will make the event viewable in theaters across the city. In conjuction with NCM Fathom , boxing fans will be able to see Ortiz's challenge of Mayweather from the comfort of a movie theatre for a price tag of less than $20 in most cases. A list of the participating theatres in Los Angeles is available here.
Another option is purchasing tickets the Saul "Canelo" Alvarez – Alfonso Gomez fight over at the Staples Center the same night. The pay per view will broadcast the Alvarez – Gomez fight as part of the undercard, and those present at the Staples Center have the opportunity to watch the Mayweather – Ortiz main event on the big screens in the arena. The cheapest available tickets are priced at $50.
If you look around town there will be plenty of bar and restaurants offering the fight free of charge. For example Downey Cuban restaurant Havana Café, usually presents the fight in their bar for the price of a few drinks.
Tecate beer is offering a $25 rebate, if you choose to order the pay view from home, with more information available here.
Times may be tough, but there are numerous alternatives to forking over steep pay per view fees or going to the event live, in order to watch what should be an entertaining about between Floyd Mayweather and Victor Ortiz.


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Follow along as I make an easy homemade mass gainer shake. If you're taking protein, creatine, pre-workout and other supplements, it might not be in your budget for a mass gainer shake. The recipe below is about 1/3 the price of commercial powder-based mass gainers and provides you with a dense, nutrient rich, high calorie shake.
- 1c quick Oats
- 1c Milk
- 2 scoops whey protein
- 1/2 banana (optional)
- 2tbsp natural peanut butter (optional)
- 1Tbsp Olive Oil (optional)
Use a magic bullet or blender to crush the oats into a fine powder. Mix everything in a blender and add a handful of ice.
Nutrition Info
- 650 calories 58g protein 12g fat
- PB version: 850 calories, 65g protein, 30g fat
- PB + Olive Oil Version: 970 calories, 65g protein, 42g fat


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"EDGE Restaurant & Bar at Four Seasons Hotel Denver in Colorado does not disappoint. The bar and restaurant is serving up creative "Haute" Chocolates that are different than the ones you drank as a kid. Here are some of our favorites that have been upgraded for adults with specialty liquor to turn up the flavor a few notches. The drinks are $10 each.
- Naughty or Nice- Stoli Salted Karamel, Bailey's and Caramel
- The Sleigh Ride- Hazelnut, Disaronno and Jack Daniel's
- The Snow bird- Lavender Milk, Stoli Chocolate, and Frangelico
Kids included! Two traditional options are available: The Frostbite with vanilla beans and raspberry sauce and the Gingerbread Man with gingersnap crumbles. ($6 each)
Not a fan of hot chocolate? We hear the signature EDGE Chocotini is a favorite of many. How could it not be with 360 Double Chocolate and Godiva liqueur?
You can also find spectacular dessert options that go beyond typical finds. First, you've gotta hit the S'MORE BAR. Start with a graham crust, add in a dark chocolate truffle filling and top it off with cinnamon ice cream. Hello delicious!
If the S'MORE Bar isn't rattling your taste buds, how about a coconut éclair? Coconut cream with a Kiwi-Orange sauce makes this éclair a culinary delight. You may not want to stop there. Try the warm sticky toffee pudding made with Stranahan's Whiskey ice cream and organic turbinando. Lastly, if pumpkin spice is still calling, you can enjoy the Crodough with a caramel glaze. Dessert prices range between $8 and $12 dollars.
I suggest rounding up a group of friends, each ordering a hot cocoa and sharing a few desserts. How could you pick just one?
EDGE has got a gorgeous atmosphere. Take those luscious drinks and deserts with you, cozy up to the double-sided fireplace and cheers to 2014! The stone wall and large picture windows bring a hip, yet rustic feel as you look out over Denver.
EDGE Restaurant & Bar
1111 14th St.
Denver, CO 80202


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Joined IHG® Rewards Club at a Hotel?
Joining is easy and free
Earn points at over 4,700 hotels
Redeem points for free rooms and more
Contact your local IHG® Rewards Club Customer Care to source your PIN and to update your profile with your email address. When you receive your PIN you can also update your email address via www.ihg.com/updateemail.
Reward Nights
When redeeming points for a Reward Night, you may only book one room at a time.
Once you complete your Reward Night reservation you will be given the option to duplicate this reservation.
* Requires affiliation in the respective organization.
** Best Available Rate Search does not include affiliation rates.
To book more than 9 rooms for one stay or request a quote, please use our Easy Meetings tool, call 1-800-MEETING (in United States, Mexico and Canada) or contact a Global Sales Office.
Nestled in the heart of the city and surrounded by top attractions, the modern accommodations of the Holiday Inn® Atlanta Downtown - Centennial Park hotel are ready to please you. With a central location in the Atlanta downtown area, our hotel's the perfect choice for travelers.
Leisure guests have plenty to love about staying in downtown Atlanta, including our hotel's proximity to top spots like Centennial Olympic Park. We're just a
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Leisure guests have plenty to love about staying in downtown Atlanta, including our hotel's proximity to top spots like Centennial Olympic Park. We're just a few minutes from the world's largest aquarium, Georgia Aquarium. World of Coca-Cola, the CNN Center and Philips Arena are all a short walk from our hotel. Grab an Atlanta City Pass for admission to six of the city's hottest attractions!
If business brings you to the city, you'll love our hotel's downtown Atlanta location! We're near the American Cancer Society, Ernst and Young, Georgia Power, Georgia-Pacific and Turner Broadcasting System. We feature 2,500 sq ft of meeting space and a state-of-the-art Business Center.
Whether it's a business trip or a vacation that brings you to downtown Atlanta, our hotel's free high-speed, Wi-Fi access keeps you connected. Swing by Seasons Bar and Grill for a mouthwatering cheeseburger before exploring nearby sights. Later, burn calories in the state-of-the-art Fitness Center and unwind by the outdoor pool. When it comes to a stay in the Atlanta downtown area, our hotel's accommodations offer genuine value to our guests.
Quality Excellence Award
Second only to the Torchbearer Awards, The Quality Excellence Awards are created to honor hotels who have maintained high standards in product quality, hotel operation and customer satisfaction as measured by our guests
Torchbearer Award
The Torchbearer Award is given to hotels that have achieved the highest level of excellence in all aspects of operations - from quality to customer satisfaction. Created to honor the best of the best as measured by our guests, this award is presented to hotels that raise the bar even further. These outstanding hotels "carry our torch", and represent the highest achievement in quality and service.
IHG® Rewards Club Excellence Award
Service above and beyond the call of duty is a matter of pride to the IHG® Rewards Club family of brands. The IHG® Rewards Club Excellence Award is significant because the award recognizes hotels that are consistently delivering benefits and recognition to our top customers - IHG® Rewards Club members.


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Men's Track and Field Competes At NCAA Mideast Regional
May 28, 2005
Bloomington, Ind. - University of Illinois at Chicago sophomore sprinter Trent Thompson placed 23rd overall in the preliminaries of the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.85 at the NCAA Mideast Track and Field Regional, hosted by Indiana University, at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex on Friday afternoon.
Thompson along with teammates Marcus Lesley, Justin Malec and Brandon Cook placed 14th overall in the preliminaries of the 4x100 relay with a time of 41.77.
UIC will be back in action on Saturday morning for the second day of NCAA Regional competition at 10:00 a.m. (CST).


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Eat at Buehler's.
Try Buehler's locally-grown food at a Buehler's in-store restaurants today.
Enjoy breakfast served all day alongside daily specials like all you care-to-eat pasta Thursday and entrees like Swiss Steak or Grilled Salmon Caesar Salad? Or just stop by for homemade desserts like our apple dumpling with ice cream and chocolate lava cake.
Kids eat free with each adult purchase Monday 11 am-close .
Find the Buehler's Restaurant nearest you:
Ashland Restaurant
Canton Restaurant
Coshocton Restaurant
Dover Restaurant
Medina River Styx Restaurant
New Philadelphia Restaurant
Orrville Restaurant
Wadsworth Restaurant
Wooster Towne Market Cafe
Wooster Milltown Chef's Kitchen *


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It's inevitable. I have to talk about it. Everyone else is.
Tim Burton's version of Batman was released 25 years ago today. I was 15. I was the ideal demographic of the summer blockbuster. 1989 was also the summer that gave us Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, GHOSTBUSTERS 2, and Back to the Future 3. It also gave us Turner & Hooch and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, but… never mind. Batman was the one I looked forward to the most. Batman was the blockbuster I saw three times that summer… at least one of those times happened while on vacation in Hawaii. At the time, my exposure the Batman had been Adam West and "Superfriends." If not for the hype surrounding Dark Knight Returns and Death in the Family (the story that killed the second Robin), I may not have been prepared for the dark, cynical psycho-drama with explosives that set the tone for a generation of comic book movies.
So how did this film impact my life from 15 to 40? What do I remember? And what have we forgotten.
Michael Keaton as the Caped Crusader – Keaton's career in the 80s had been a successful string of comedies, including Mr. Mom and Burton's Beetlejuice. Even more forgettable films like Gung Ho and Nightshift helped establish Keaton as a comic everyman, which is far removed from the traditional image of the action hero. The existing image of Adam West and the campy 60s TV series set the expectation for a tongue-in-cheek, wink to the camera Batman. This set that comicbook batfans on a campaign of outrage. Even before the wide use of the internet, anti-Keaton-rage was comparable to the venom provoked by "Bat-fleck" in 2013.
Keaton delivered. His brooding, human approach to Bruce Wayne paired with the "strong-silent" Batman showed the world that this actor had range. His career in the 90s would include darker, more dramatic roles intermingled with his familiar comedies. We haven't seen as much of him lately, but we'll soon see him in Birdman, where he plays an underemployed actor whose career never recovered from the late 80s comic book franchise he starred in.
Jack Nicholson as The Joker – Heath Ledger would win a posthumous Oscar for this character nearly 20 years later. In the summer of 89, though, there was trophy talk for Jack's performance as the clown prince of crime. Most of that buzz came from teenagers, but many can agree that Nicholson is good, even when he's going larger-than-life. This version of The Joker brought the character from an absurd bank robber to a physically and mentally damaged serial killer. The actor's eyebrows have made him a classic villain, while the prostatic smile has left preeminent wrinkles in his aging face. The image of clowns had already been long tarnished by the likes of IT and Ronald MacDonald. If there was anything harmlessly comedic about The Joker, it was destroyed by dark and twisted high jinx. The laughter is included in the nightmare.
Kim Basinger as Vicki Vale – Remember Kim Basinger? You probably remember her winning and Oscar for LA Confidential. You probably remember when she was married to Alec Baldwin. I remember Basinger as one of those actresses I crushed on as a teen. Her and Michelle Pfeifer… and Uma Thurman… Funny how they all ended up in Batman movies. Anyway…
Vicki Vale is one of those easily forgotten characters. She doesn't wear a form fitting thematic costume. She neither fights nor commits crime. She does, however, have the fleeting affection of Bruce Wayne. We'll occasionally see her in the comics. The problem with her there is the writers and editors can never decide what to do with her. Does she know Bruce's secret? Does she not? Is she hot on his trail? Is she intimately close to him? Does he even exist?
It's not surprising that we don't see her in the sequels considering her presence would unnecessarily complicate Batman's relationship with Catwoman or (yawn) every other blonde woman in Gotham. Like the comic book version of the character, Vale comes off as a less aggressive version of Lois Lane. Had this version of Batman ever crossed over with Superman, would there be a redundancy in spunky, thinly written newswomen?
Alfred was awesome, but not a big name- Michael Gough played Alfred in all four Batman films from this era. He was the only element to really connect the entire series. Sure, Pat Hingle played Commissioner Gordon all four times, but that character seemed to become progressively dumber and more useless with each film. Gough was pitch perfect in the entire franchise, even in the lesser Joel Schumacher films. He made the character a memorable fan favorite. I believe this is why Warner Bros. went for the big guns when casting his successors, tapping Michael Cain for Christopher Nolan's trilogy and Jeremy Irons for the new Justice League centric films.
Lando was almost Two-Face – Remember Billy Dee Williams in this flick? Remember who he played? District Attorney Harvey Dent. Burton only made two Batman films and was naturally steered to utilize the three most recognizable villains (The Joker, Catwoman, and Penguin). I believe that had he made a third film, he would have likely included Harvey Dent becoming Two-Face, with Billy Dee Williams in the role. Imagine Lando's indelible smirk half mutilated, half his charm replaced with bitter crazy. For better or worse, Burton was released from any obligation he had to a third film after WB's disappointment in 1992's Batman Returns. Two-Face did appear in the franchise, but Williams was replaced with Tommy Lee Jones opposite Val Kilmer's Batman in Schumacher's Batman Forever in 1995.
Danny Elfman could have been the new John Williams – The best element in a lot of Tim Burton's movies is the musical score. For many of Burton's films, this music is provided by Oingo Boingo front man Danny Elfman. The theme from 1989's Batman is one of the most enduring comic book film scores, second only to John Williams' Superman theme. There have been many films based on comic books in the past 25 years. Danny Elfman was the go-to guy for many of them, most notably Sam Raimi's Sipder-man in 2002. While many composers will come and go in this genre, the familiar tunes by Elfman will be forever associated with Batman.
This was the franchise that introduced me to the internet- In 2014, it's not uncommon to talk films on the internet. In the 1990's, however, the internet was a new toy. The first time I attempted to build a web site, it was devoted to an analysis of the four Batman films from 1989 to 1997. This was my first attempt and using search engines, gathering information from other pages, finding gifs and jpgs. It was also my first experience with trolls. The internet really hasn't changed… it just got faster and shinier.
This was the first franchise that made me dislike studio executives – Batman started a trend that is still alive a quarter century later. A lot of people still look at the first installment with nostalgic fondness. And these same people are unrelenting in their hatred of the final chapter, Batman & Robin. The latter is a classic example of studio interference. If you look at the list of "writers" and "producers" credited with the fourth film, it's clear that too many cooks spoiled that particular stew. George Clooney still apologizes for Batman & Robin. I've never heard Keaton apologize for Batman.
As I write this on Batman's silver anniversary, I'm rewatching the film in question. If this film were released today, it would appear dated and melodramatic… but not as much as some of its successors. Like 1978's Superman, it still holds up as an entertaining movie. Also like it's brightly colored counterpart, the dark and murky outing is a product of its era.