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Article: The Church of Baseball
Started by Brendan Kennealy , Mar 23 2012 08:46 PM
18 replies to this topic
Posted 23 March 2012 - 08:46 PM
You can view the page at http://www.twinsdail...rch-of-Baseball
Posted 23 March 2012 - 09:05 PM
Great writing.
Andrew Walter
Twins Fan From Afar
Providing Twins and Rock Cats Coverage
http://twinsfanfroma...gspot.com
Follow me on Twitter: @MNfanfromafar
Twins Fan From Afar
Providing Twins and Rock Cats Coverage
http://twinsfanfroma...gspot.com
Follow me on Twitter: @MNfanfromafar
Posted 23 March 2012 - 09:27 PM
Yeah, that was definitely a fun read!! Thank you!
Posted 23 March 2012 - 09:28 PM
Wow! This is absolutely beautiful!!! Seriously a perfect description and manifestation of how I feel about the ballpark as well. Thank you so much bkennealy - so simple and honest and from the heart. I hope that you will help me find my seat someday and that somehow I'll just know - or see - the shared sacredness and appreciation that we both have for the ballpark. Probably won't happen, and I'll most likely just spill my beer and be pissed at Capps for blowing a lead - but I sure like to think it would happen like that! Can't wait for HOME OPENER!!!
Posted 23 March 2012 - 10:03 PM
Wow! I actually got a little misty eyed there.
Posted 23 March 2012 - 10:15 PM
Great post!
Posted 23 March 2012 - 11:14 PM
I wasn't sure how this would fit in here, so I appreciate the encouragement. Thanks!
Posted 24 March 2012 - 08:48 AM
Yep. Indeed.
Posted 24 March 2012 - 09:25 AM
It must be awesome to own a piece of space in that ballpark before we fill the seats.
A few other staff members are scattered here and there, wiping bird crap off seats and turning on soda fountains.
In the past I worked at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and have some similar feelings about the museum before the morning rush of toddlers and teens occupied the galleries.
Great piece of writing!
Edited by Neinstein, 24 March 2012 - 09:29 AM.
Posted 24 March 2012 - 09:39 AM
This is good, thank you!
Posted 24 March 2012 - 09:50 AM
Excellent post! The different ballparks just might be my favorite part of the sport. Each one is unique and part of the fabric of a community. Enjoy the season my friend!
Posted 24 March 2012 - 11:09 AM
I totally agree with this. It irks my friends a bit that I always refuse to hang out with them before the game in left field, but I enjoy going to the upper deck in center field and hanging out with the usher there. He's nearly old enough to be my grandfather, but him and I chat for about 20 minutes about anything that comes to mind. Then I go over to my section and I take care of my chores. Make sure the door to the elevator lobby is propped open, the lights in the bathrooms are on, position the condiment cart just right, and make sure no seats are broken. When all of this is finished, I just grab a seat and watch what's happening on the field. Listen to the crack of the bat from whomever is at home plate, glance down and see Jerry White with the outfielders, hitting them grounders so they can practice their throws to the cutoff man. If a batting practice ball comes up my way, I pocket it and find a way to secretly give it to a kid once gates open (parents seem to love their child's ability to conjure a ball out of thin air). Being present inside the quiet, empty stadium is a very relaxing feeling.
Posted 24 March 2012 - 04:18 PM
I totally agree with this. It irks my friends a bit that I always refuse to hang out with them before the game in left field, but I enjoy going to the upper deck in center field and hanging out with the usher there. He's nearly old enough to be my grandfather, but him and I chat for about 20 minutes about anything that comes to mind.
That usher in centerfield is such a nice guy. I've chatted with him a few times during games.
Posted 24 March 2012 - 07:23 PM
Nice article. "...she mentioned that there are 108 beads in a Catholic rosary and 108 stitches in a baseball." Don't be too hard on the movie makers though. The Hindus and Buddhists each have their malas. A kind of "prayer beads" thing that normally have 108 beads each. And I don't know exactly what constitutes a stitch but, I have a book which shows the tool used by Rawlings to stamp out the leather pieces that cover their balls. Each piece has 108 holes punched in it.
Posted 24 March 2012 - 10:44 PM
Great Article:D
Posted 25 March 2012 - 08:06 PM
Awesome. Just awesome. Please don't hesitate to write often. There is plenty of room on this site for prose like this.
Posted 26 March 2012 - 08:23 AM
Totally agree with your cathedral analogy! Its how I've always described my first visit (1988) to Old Commisky park. Walking in from right field as the sun gleamed through the bleachers onto the green field & walls, the grounds crew prepping for the game vs. the Twins, vendors selling their wares (the best ballpark food i've ever had!). In 1990 I got married to a woman who knew nothing about baseball but after watching Bull Durham she became an instant fan and now has helped raise 2 baseball playing boys.
Posted 27 March 2012 - 10:09 AM
This is very cool. Baseball is the only thing in my life that i break out a schedule for in winter and conjure up a battleplan for 6 months.
Posted 27 March 2012 - 10:25 AM
Great job! Last season I was in Target Field before a game because I was able to go onto the field and watch batting practice. I was let in before everyone else and it is really different without fans all over the place.


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Last week Houston Relocation Professionals' (HRP) Board of Directors elected four new board members. They are: Brett Lyons of Chevron, Denise Fisch of TheMIGroup, Don Rupe of Graebel Companies and Erin Curington of Sterling Relocation, Inc.
The new board members will serve a three-year term beginning in January 2014. They join the following returning board members: Brian Smith of Citibank, Michelle Sandlin of Chicago Title, Meredith Morris of McKenzie Drake, Norma Chaney of Heritage Texas Properties, Piper Sheffield of Stewart Relocation Services, Charles Ameno of Chevron, Alan Grantham of Citibank, Steve Townsend of NEI Global Relocation and Holly Holmes of AIReS.
HRP's 2014 Executive Committee will be as follows: Michelle Sandlin will serve as president; Meredith Morris will serve as vice president; Brian Smith will serve as treasurer; Holly Holmes will serve as secretary; and Norma Chaney will serve as administrator/mentor.
Following the election of board members, HRP held its annual strategic planning session, and will be announcing upcoming events and new information in the coming weeks.
This has been a banner year for HRP, and as the newly elected president for 2014, I look forward to working closely with my fellow board members next year to ensure that we continue to bring value to our members and sponsors through our educational events and networking opportunities. At the same time, we will continue to give back to our local community through our charitable contributions and community outreach programs.
We intend for HRP's mission statement to be echoed throughout our many efforts and activities in 2014.
HRP engages, educates, and unifies mobility professionals in the Houston area.
I am honored to have been elected president of this organization for 2014, and to be able to continue serving the relocation industry that I love so much!
If you are interested in joining HRP or would like more information, please visit: www.HoustonReloPros.org.
I am always happy to answer any questions you may have or discuss relocation with you. Please contact me if you have a story to tell or information you would like to share: firstname.lastname@example.com.
Please follow Houston Relocation on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/HoustonRelocation.
You also can follow @MichelleSandlin on Twitter.
As always, thank you for exploring Houston relocation with me!

subset: commoncrawl


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New hygienic dress league show opens TONIGHT plus new video
If you're around De-twa, or more specifically Hamsandwich, HDL has a new installation opening at Public Pool at 7 PM. Details here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=155942394488757 . It runs through October 22nd.
They also just... Read more
Activation Ceremony TOMORROW!
Aloha Backers!
Tomorrow, Saturday the 20th, at 5:07 PM, the Hygienic Dress League will have a short public activation ceremony for the No Vacancy billboard. Please spread word and join... Read more
No Vacancy Activation Ceremony and Clean Clothes Club Rewards.
Wow. To all of you that backed No Vacancy congratulations, you have done something really cool, like unbelievably, and totally cool.
I've got two big updates for you.
One, a... Read more
You Did It! (and oops! sorry for old email -- this is the new stuff!)
Hello 89 Backers! You did it!
Because of you, the funding is now in place for Hygienic Dress League to complete the "No Vacancy" installation on the Roosevelt Hotel in... Read more
Last Day, Home Stretch
Hello 72 Backers!
Today is the last day of fundraising. At 3 AM this Kickstarter goes poof and closes.
We're all on the road to victory together. The link for... Read more
World-Class Interesting, World-Class Good
Hello 41 Backers!
I've had a phrase stuck in my head the past few days when describing this project, as well as work happening in the surrounding area: world-class. It... Read more
Phase 1 Underway (pics)! Help Catch The Big Fish
Well. It's all downhill from here, everyone (in a good way ٩♥‿♥۶). We're more than 1/2 way through final funding!
The billboard tiles have been created and are waiting for... Read more
To Heck With Suspense!!! Teaser Image & Get Out The "No Vacancy" Vote Campaign
Dear "No Vacancy" Backers,
Let's follow Kurt Vonnegut's 8 Rules For Writing*, rule #8:
"Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense.... Read more


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MAKING PROMISES TO MILLIONS—LIKE, it will not rain this weekend, really—is all in a day's work for Al Roker. So the thought of making one small pledge to one woman didn't rattle the Today show weatherman and CNBC talk show host—until he saw 20/20 correspondent Deborah Roberts walking down the aisle of Manhattan's St. Thomas Episcopal Church. "I can't puddle," Roker told himself. "No."
As it turned out, he didn't. On Sept. 16, as the Boys Choir of Harlem sang and the E train rumbled in the distance, native New Yorker Roker, 41, and Roberts, 34, of Perry, Ga., calmly exchanged vows. But their 200 or so guests—including ABC's Barbara Walters, Today coanchor Katie Couric and talk show host Rolanda Watts—were less restrained. "I cried," said Watts, "but then, I cry at everything."
The couple met in 1990, when Roberts did a brief stint on Today's news. But there was no romance, they say: He was in his second marriage (he has a daughter, Courtney, 8), and she was soon off to NBC's Miami bureau. In 1992, Roberts moved back to Manhattan to work for Dateline, and while away on assignment asked Roker, by then divorced, to house-sit. "When I got back," says Roberts, who moved to ABC's 20/20 this past spring, "he had left flowers, stocked the refrigerator and written a really nice note."
Three years later, he was on his knee at the Grand Canyon. "Al said, 'I want to ask you in front of all this if you'll marry me,' " recalls Roberts. "If she had said no," adds Roker, "I could have jumped." Instead, they jumped into wedding plans—culminating in a honeymoon in France. "I don't think they'll miss us," says Couric.
Forecast: Sunny
updated 10/02/1995 AT 01:00 AM EDT
•originally published 10/02/1995 AT 01:00 AM EDT


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Thank you for visiting our past auction result archives. If you have an item identical (or similar) to this auction lot, please call, write or contact us to discuss. We will be able to help you.
Lot # 932 (of 1594) < Previous Lot | Next Lot >
Collection of Vintage Player-Endorsed Baseball Equipment in Original Boxes (6)
Starting Bid - $300.00, Sold For - $1,057.50
Baseball player endorsements have long been a staple of the advertising industry. The weight of a ballplayer's testimonial has often proven to be the deciding factor in a consumer's choice of product, especially with regard to the tools of their respective trade. Offered here is a collection of vintage baseball gloves and cleats, spanning from the 1930s to the 1950s, each in its original box, bearing the endorsed name and, in most cases, image, of a Hall of Fame former player. Included in this unusual collection are several significant rarities. 1) Circa 1938 Rabbit Maranville baseball cleats manufactured by Hyde. Includes the original tag. The black cleats (size 9 1/2) are extremely well worn and display heavy use (Gd-Vg). The box (6.5 x 13 x 4.5 inches) has vintage writing on the top of the lid and along the interior (Ex). 2) Circa 1950s Joe DiMaggio Baseball Shoes (manufacturer unknown). Includes the original tag card with DiMaggio's image. The black cleats (size 10 1/2) have never been used and are in Mint condition. The box (6.5 x 12.5 x 4 inches) displays vintage notations on the label (Vg). The lid (Gd) is not original to the box. 3) Circa 1940s Johnny Mize right-handed first baseman's glove (#150) manufactured by Hutch. The glove has never been used (Nr-Mt) and is signed by Mize on the thumb in vintage black ink (grading "4," heavy bleeding). The box (6 x 12 x 4.25 inches) displays moderate wear (Ex) and has been signed on the lid by Mize in black Sharpie ("6," moderate bleeding). 4) Circa 1940s DiMaggio (no first name listed) right-handed fielder's glove (#53) manufactured by Hutch. The glove has never been used (Nr-Mt). The box (8 x 6.5 x 7 inches) pictures a player in an Indians uniform (Gd). 5) Circa 1940s Enos Slaughter right-handed fielder's glove (A2104) manufactured by Wilson. The glove displays heavy wear (Vg). The box (7.25 x 7.25 x 7.25 inches) displays light wear (Ex-Mt). 6) Circa 1950s Robin Roberts right-handed fielder's glove (G120) manufactured by MacGregor. The glove displays moderate wear including broken laces (Vg). The box (7 x 7 x 7 inches) displays heavy wear (Gd) and has been inscribed in black marker ("9/10') on the lid, "To Tom Good Golfing - Robin Roberts." LOA from James Spence/JSA. Total: six items (2 pairs of cleats and 4 gloves). Reserve $300. Estimate $500/$1,000+. SOLD FOR $1,057.50
(Click the smaller thumbnails to the left and right (if any) to cycle through each photo in the gallery of images for this lot.)


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18 Comments
Love it! +
thanx carbine..!
dandingeroz Artist from Philippines
nice work!
Nice composition and light shading, maybe do more detailing on the tree will looks greater. +1
AgostoFilipino Artist from Manila, Philippines
dilematiccoma Artist from west java, Indonesia
like this!
thank you all for the advices and the comments…thanx…..this is my first design for DBH......!
naked_Monkey Artist from India
Like it.. +1
heronotdie Artist
like it…
thanx alll…......
Great !!! +1 … love it !!!
firstname.lastname@example.com Artist from manila, Philippines
nice 1 :D
surgeryminor Artist from Czech Republic
Cooool :D
thanx again my freinds you are the best…....thanks alot…!
cool – reminds me a bit of machinarium


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Hotel Viladomat by Silken - Barcelona
Free WiFi, dry cleaning/laundry and an elevator (lift) are offered at this hotel. Guests can also enjoy drinks as there is a bar/lounge. Multilingual staff at the 24-hour front desk can provide tour/ticket assistance.
Hotel Viladomat by Silken - Barcelona
Hotel Info: 1-877-214-4288from $97
- Classic Room
- Double or Twin Room (Offer)
- Superior Room (Single Use)
- Double Room Single Use
- Standard Double Room
- Standard Twin Room
- Standard Triple Room
- Classic Room (Single Use)
- Standard Room, Connecting Rooms
- Double Room
- Superior Double Room
- Triple Room
- Single Room
Also popular with travelers from the USA
At a glance
Key facts
Hotel size
- This hotel has 81 rooms
- This hotel is arranged over 7 floors
- Check-in time 3 PM-midnight
- Check-out time is noon
Required at check in
- Credit card or cash deposit required
- Government-issued photo ID required
Travelling with others
- Pets not allowed
- Free WiFi in public areas
- Free WiFi in rooms
- Self parking *
In the hotel
- Buffet breakfast daily (surcharge)
- Bar/lounge
- Room service (during limited hours)
- Meeting rooms 2
- Conference center
- 24-hour front desk
- Tours/ticket assistance
- Dry cleaning/laundry service
- Laundry facilities
- Free newspapers in lobby
- Luggage storage
- Multilingual staff
- Number of buildings/towers - 1
- Elevator/lift
- Accessible bathroom
- In-room accessibility
In the room
- In-room climate control (air conditioning)
- Air conditioning
- Minibar
- Soundproofed rooms
- Private bathroom
- Shower/tub combination
- Free toiletries
- Hair dryer
- Satellite TV channels
- Desk
- Free WiFi
- Daily housekeeping
- In-room safe
- Connecting/adjoining rooms available
Special features
DiningEl Bar - This bar specializes in pizza and serves breakfast and dinner.
Hotel Viladomat by Silken - Barcelona's small print
Also known as
- AB Viladomat
- Hotel Viladomat Barcelona
- Viladomat Barcelona
- AB Viladomat Barcelona
- AB Viladomat Hotel
- Hotel AB Viladomat Barcelona
- Viladomat
- Viladomat Hotel
- Hotel Exe AB Viladomat Barcelona, Catalonia
Cash transactions at this property cannot exceed EUR 2500, due to national regulations. For further details, please contact the property using information in the booking confirmation.
The property has connecting/adjoining rooms, which are subject to availability and can be requested by contacting the property using the number on the booking confirmation.
Only registered guests are allowed in the guestrooms.
Mandatory fees
You'll be asked to pay the following charges at check in or check out:
- A tax is imposed by the city: EUR 0.72 per person, per night, up to 7 nights. This tax does not apply to children under 17 years of age.
Optional extras
Self parking costs EUR 18 per night
Rollaway beds are available for EUR 35 per night
Buffet breakfast is offered for an extra charge of EUR 11 per person (approximately)
We have included all charges provided to us by this hotel. However, charges can vary, for example, based on length of stay or the room you book.
Hotel registry number: HB-004071


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Hi! My name is Ashes
I am Domestic Longhair from Rockingham, NC
Nicknames: Sexy man Princess
Age: 21 years old
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Where I hang out: Window sill
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My pet peeves: My lap and his mouse toy
What I love about my owners: She loves me baths me and gives me a roof over my head.
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Premier Kathy Dunderdale brushes off 'politically driven' criticism
For Premier Kathy Dunderdale, it's been a good year – once you get past the political noise. On a range of issues, Mrs. Dunderdale said she wished people could set aside political posturing and gamesmanship.
Premier Kathy Dunderdale
BY JAMES McLEOD
Transcontinental Media
For Premier Kathy Dunderdale, it's been a good year – once you get past the political noise.
On a range of issues, Mrs. Dunderdale said she wished people could set aside political posturing and gamesmanship.
In a lengthy year-end interview with The Telegram, she talked about a range of issues facing her government – including Muskrat Falls, the fishery, the province's relationship with the federal government and her choice to leave the House of Assembly closed this fall.
On the fishery, Mrs. Dunderdale dismissed a lot of the rhetoric as "foolishness" and said, "I would like to cut through all of these agendas and positions and so on."
On the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric development, she said the constant drumbeat of criticism from the Liberal Opposition was mostly picking away at tiny "snapshots" of the project, instead of considering the larger picture.
"To be completely honest with you, I don't think they know if it's a good deal or a bad deal because I don't think they've spent enough time doing their own analysis of the information that's been put forward.
"God knows we try. We offer up briefing after briefing after briefing with Nalcor."
She said the criticism for leaving the House closed was driven mostly by the NDP and a handful of pundits online.
"I've got a Twitter account; I know who's making the noise. It's the same people who are making the noise about everything else, and it's politically driven.
"I think it's really important to discriminate between what's political noise driven within the machine of a party."
Mrs. Dunderdale has said repeatedly there's a simple reason for leaving the House closed: the government had no legislation to pass.
Following closely on the heels of an election, she said bureaucrats and politicians need time to draw up a legislative agenda which will be ready for the spring sitting of the House in early March.
"It's the same people who are making the noise about everything else, and it's politically driven." – Premier Kathy Dunderdale
Mrs. Dunderdale argued leaving the Legislature closed doesn't really matter to ordinary people.
"We've got more political representatives on the ground than any other political party; we have more volunteers than any other political party in this province, and we have more supporters of a dozen different ilks. We're not out of touch with what people are saying, and this is not an issue."
More broadly, she reflected on 2011 as the year she took the job as premier, and the year she won a mandate from the people in the Oct. 11 election.
What surprised her most in 2011?
"That I became premier. It was only this time of year that I was making my decision – over Christmas (2010).
"Once I got into 2011, the first major decision and announcement that I made was that I was gong to be seeking the leadership."
Since then, she said the public had nearly a year to watch her as premier, and assess her capabilities. When she won a substantial majority government in the October election, Mrs. Dunderdale said that gave her an added confidence.
"There's a settling. There's a deeper confidence as you move forward because you have gone through the most important step in terms of your leadership by going to the people and getting that affirmation about your style of leadership, about the substance of your vision and what you lay out in your platform."
Mrs. Dunderdale said the thing about politics is when you fail, you fail publicly.
"There's a lot of risk involved in it," she said, but added in the past year, she can't think of any time when she's faced that sort of public failure.
"I don't spend a lot of time worrying about what we've done, because I'm sure of myself in terms of where we've come so far, that we're doing okay."
St. John's Telegram


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CORNWALL — A big majority of Cornwall residents are opposed to Vermont Gas Systems' proposed "Phase II" project that would extend a natural gas pipeline from Middlebury to the International Paper mill in Ticonderoga, N.Y., according to the results of a townwide survey recently circulated by the town's selectboard.
The survey, sent out to Cornwall's approximately 500 households, asked residents if:
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MIDDLEBURY — The Addison County Relocalization Network (ACORN) and the Acorn Energy Co-op will present the first-ever Sustainable Living Expo on Saturday, March 29, at Middlebury Union High School, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Sustainable Living Expo builds on the success of the previous Green Energy Expos, which were attended by nearly 1,000 residents and local business people.
PANTON — Panton residents on Town Meeting Day will decide whether they will continue to elect their own town clerk, treasurer and delinquent tax collector, or give the Panton selectboard the power to appoint people to those town offices.
That choice will be framed on March 4 as a potential change to the town's land grant charter. Per state law, if voters back that change, which is being recommended and put forth by the selectboard, the Vermont Legislature would still have to approve it before it could take effect.
MIDDLEBURY — Businesses experiencing a revenue shortfall often end up scaling back staff and services.
But Middlebury Regional EMS is taking the opposite approach.
The nonprofit organization formerly known as Middlebury Volunteer Ambulance Association has just launched four substantial new programs it believes will solidify its financial bottom line during a period of sweeping changes in Vermont's health care system.
MIDDLEBURY — David Van Vleck Jr. left Addison County to pursue a career as an actor, playwright and screenwriter.
His journey will come full circle on Feb. 13, when one of his plays, "Four Beers," will be staged at Middlebury's Town Hall Theater. Van Vleck grew up just down the road in Cornwall and is a graduate of Middlebury Union High School.
BRISTOL — On a dismally cold morning this past fall, Spencer Norland watched the sunrise from the side of an active volcano high in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador. For the Mount Abe Union High School senior, it wasn't a bad way to finish his high school career.
Norland, 17, participated in a semester abroad program sponsored by Kroka Expeditions, an outdoor education company based in Marlow, N.H.
"I would strongly recommend it to other students," Norland said. "It was an amazing experience."
MIDDLEBURY — After many weeks of planning and renovations, Michel Mahé has set Saturday, Feb. 15, for the grand opening of his latest restaurant, called "The Lobby," at 7 Bakery Lane in downtown Middlebury.
The opening, Mahé stressed, is contingent upon his receipt of two final permits — one for occupancy, the other related to health inspection.
RIPTON — Vermont State Police cited Sergei Draper, 22, of Ripton, for burglary, following investigation of a reported break-in at a home on the Lincoln Road in Ripton on Thursday, Feb. 6.
ADDISON COUNTY – Health and public safety officials are warning heroin users that product sold as heroin and packaged in the same manner as heroin may instead contain pure fentanyl or fentanyl-laced heroin.
The Vermont Department of Health has just confirmed the cause of three deaths in Addison County in January to be overdoses from pure fentanyl. Fentanyl is an opioid drug that is up to 50 times more powerful than heroin, and much deadlier.
ADDISON COUNTY — Porter Medical Center and the Counseling Service of Addison County are in discussions to collaborate on a clinic to provide suboxone, a drug designed to help a growing number of Addison County addicts break their dependence on opiates.
The latest in Addison County news, every Monday and Thursday.
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text:
This is f'n nutz but i absolutely love it
Just thought I would give the final update on this build since there is no more "street max" class to compete in.
2 - 15" atomic ELE's (old school 2002 models)
1 Stetsom 7k2d wired to 0.5 ohm (clamped 6500 RMS at 10 volts)
1 xs power D3100 under the hood
1 stock 55 amp alternator
Final budget = $1750.00.. Scored 153.5 db legit sealed on the dash db drags style.
It was tough getting it up to where it is currently, Maybe the other Stetsom with the same 0.5 ohm load would have gotten me up to 155db.. I couldn't get it to the 160db I was hoping for But it sure was fun and I will do it all over again.. Just in a "street stock 4KW build on the cheap" .. Keep an eye out!
pioneer avhx 5500 dvd, b2 m1ur and Quattro
7 pc 2150 and a d3100 and d975 ,275 and 320 amp singer alts,
B2 ref mids,cdt es 010 tweets,es 03 Mids ,mx1000 3 way x overs , sky high and stinger hpm o gauge wires ,also 2 tantric shd 18s in a 4th order no wall box
14 pages of pure ******! Thank you.
Just an update... Starting the demo in the metro today and going street stock 4k.
I took the metro out to one show this year, a triple point db drag. Night before the show I launched a woofer when I added the batteries, scored a 155db sealed on the dash.
I'll start a new build log for the street stock 4k
What an awesome thread. Thanks for all the updates. I absolutely love carving it out with a chainsaw!


text:
Dutifully, we've reported in recent weeks what some public educators would prefer us to ignore: public schools' marks are trending lower.
That verdict was proclaimed twice in the span of slightly more than a few days, first by the Texas Education Agency and then by the federal government, which released its annual No Child Left Behind scores.
A question persists. Whom to blame?
School officials generally have chafed at the accountability push substantively initiated under President George W. Bush in 2001. States across the country had begun taking a closer look at public education before then, but No Child gave national life to increased accountability.
Educators responded reflexively and still do. Tap teachers or school officials on the knees and they'll almost invariably utter something about "teaching to tests." That, they say, is the product of a system that, thanks to Bush, delineates the efficacy of schools based on students' performance on narrowly focused standardized tests.
Forgotten in all of this, educators say, is the importance of subjects beyond the three R's of reading writing and arithmetic, subjects such as history or the arts.
These points are valid. So, too, is another. This country's academic performance has been tanking for decades. Among 34 developed countries, the United States ranked 14th in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math in a global student assessment released late last year.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan responded with predictable banality. "This is an absolute wake-up call," Duncan declared. Absolute wake-up calls are perpetually sounding in Washington but no one wakes.
And still, America lags. China, South Korea, Canada and Finland, among others, consistently score higher academically. Almost a decade of No Child has failed to nudge the United States from the ranks of the middling. We hear talk often these days of American exceptionalism. Average is not exceptional.
But some delusions are. The International Math and Science Study once noted, matter-of-factly, that "American students think highly of their skills but perform poorly."
Those who've noticed what's happening here, or vocationally are forced to do so, have taken to jabbing fingers in opposite directions. School officials and teachers point to parents. Parents point to teachers. And the wound festers.
Federal intervention through No Child has failed to provide a salve. Many educators concede that it has aided in focusing needed attention on the academic performance of minority and poor students. But educators otherwise complain, with cause, that No Child has produced a system of checking boxes rather than building minds.
Its most significant flaw is its most telling, not about the law but about America. No Child, living out a name that reveals much, declares that by 2014 schools are to achieve 100-percent graduation rates. This goal can be realized only through fuzzy math. Otherwise, it's ludicrous.
Trying to do what can't be done, and floundering badly, we've left someone behind in the conversation about what's wrong with education in America. What about the kids?
This question is asked often, but never in the right context. Certainly, some parents fail terribly in their responsibilities. Some schools do, too. Changing the latter is difficult. Changing the former, at least in an absolute way, is impossible. But there's more.
At some point, the kids themselves must shoulder responsibility, certainly not when they're wandering off to kindergarten for the first time but increasingly as they make strides toward adulthood. While we all reap some benefit, no one does so directly like the children themselves.
Someday, when they enter the work force it will matter to no one the faults of their public education, teachers or parents. Bosses will be unmoved. The failings of today's kids once they become adults will be entirely their own.
No one aids children by shielding them from this reality for the first 18 or 22 years of their lives, then suddenly casting them to it.
Some children leave themselves behind, just as some people turn to crime, some perhaps as a tragic product of a life of hardships and others for no better reason than they stubbornly insist on making wrong choices. If there were a means of unilaterally circumventing man's baser proclivities, I suspect we would have found it by now. We haven't, and we won't.
What ought to be abundantly clear is that we cannot simply insist on people doing right rather than wrong and make it so. That applies to young people as well as old. Ignoring this, which No Child does, is something close to madness, and it accomplishes virtually nothing.
Lee Wolverton is executive editor of the Globe-News. His email address is firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Theatrical, VOD releases planned for SXSW docu
Sundance Selects has scooped North American rights to co-helmers Don Argott and Demian Fenton's "Last Days Here," which world preemed last month in the South By Southwest festival's feature docu competish. Selects plans a theatrical and VOD release.
The deal was negotiated by Sundance Selects senior vice-president of acquisitions and productions Arianna Bocco and Submarine's Josh Braun on behalf of the filmmakers.
Shot over four years, "Last Days" charts the almost unbelievable recent trajectory of Bobby Leibling, lead singer of early-1980s cult heavy rock band Pentagram, who is a wreck of multiple addictions and living in his parents' basement when the film begins.
Select president Jonathan Sehring calls the docu "a wild ride that we all found deeply moving." The distributor worked with Argott, Fenton and producer Sheena Joyce on their previous docu "The Art of the Steal."
Through their Philly-based 9.14 Pictures, the trio also produced 2005's "Rock School" and "Two Days in April."
"Demian, Sheena and I could not be happier to be, once again, in the skilled hands of Sundance Selects," commented Argott, "We look forward to continuing down the path by their side."


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Red Or Green Report.UPDATED 10:46 PM MDT Apr 20, 2014
Red Or Green Report.Video Transcript
REPORT TONIGHT. HERE'S WHAT THE ALBUQUERQUE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT FOUND DURING ROUTINE INSPECTIONS IN THIS RED OR GREEN REPORT. RESTAURANTS EARNING GREEN STICKERS - BLAKES LOTABURGER 777 RIO GRANDE NW CHEESE AND COFFE café 2679 LOUSIANA NE CHINA WOK 3901 MENAUL NE LOS CUATES 8700 MENAUL NE THE SANDWICH COMPANY 3100 CARLISLE NE AND TACO SAL 9621 MENAUL NE FOR MORE RED OR GREEN REPORTS GO TO KOAT DOT COM.
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help me HTML and Css (beginner)?
I wrote the following HTML and also created a separate Css file but the changes I make to the Css does not change the look of the content! I think I have linked the Css correctly but no changes happen.
here is the content of my html and css (don't mind the stupid writings ;) )
<!doctype html>
thank you
Re: help me HTML and Css (beginner)?
place the style.css in same folder where HTML file is placed
|All times are GMT +5.5. The time now is 02:30.


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Dale E. Conard, 70, of Gold Road, Turbotville, passed away Friday, Oct. 26, 2012, at Geisinger Medical Center, Danville.
Born Jan. 21, 1942, in rural Turbotville, he was the son of the late George W. and Ellen Mary (Brown) Conard.
He married the former Bernadine E. Herriman on April 25, 1964, and they celebrated 41 years of marriage until her death June 15, 2005.
Dale had worked at the former Weldon's, Williamsport, Zenith and Masonite Companies in Watsontown and then retired from Sears at the Lycoming Mall.
He enjoyed cutting wood, and working outdoors around his home, and earlier in his life he enjoyed playing softball. He liked the company of his German Shepherd, Shiva and his cat Lucky, but loved the company of his daughter and her friends, especially when they would go out for lunch at the Fence Restaurant. He also enjoyed breakfast routinely at either the Tin Cup in Turbotville or Butler's Eatery, Hughesville.
Surviving are a daughter, Jill D. Conard, Turbotville; three grandchildren, Hope Elizabeth, Jenna Jessica, and Jonathan Parke, all of Mechanicsburg; a brother, Paul (Ann) Conard, Bloomsburg and a niece who was raised as a sister, Eleanor (John) Hemrick, Muncy.
Preceding him in death besides his wife were four brothers, George, Donald "Bud," Jack, and Dean Conard and six sisters, Ida Watts, Mary Kriner, Mildred Auten, Grace Zimmerman, Ruth Tyson, and Kathryn Saunders.
Friends are invited to call from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at Brooks Funeral Home, 207 Broadway St., Turbotville, where the funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday with the Rev. Erwin Roux of Zion Lutheran Church, Turbotville officiating. Burial will follow in Twin Hills Memorial Park.
The family suggests contributions in Dale's memory be made to either the Alzheimers Assoc. NEPA Chapter, 71 N. Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701 or the Danville SPCA, 2801 Bloom Road, Danville, PA 17821. www.wfbrooksfuneralhome.com


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- Albania
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Kosovo
- Macedonia
- Montenegro
- Romania
- Serbia
- All Balkan Countries
Thaci says long-awaited implementation of border deal to come into operation in coming days.
Kosovo's government expects to start implementation of the agreement on Integrated Border Management, IBM, with Serbia on December 10.
The Prime Minister, Hashim Thaci, said that "implementation of this agreement is a turning point in relations between Kosovo and Serbia.
"This agreement sets the border between Kosovo and Serbia," he told his cabinet.
"Technical preparations for implementing this process are at the final stage," he added.
Pristina and Belgrade reached an agreement on IBM in December 2011 within the framework of the technical dialogue facilitated by the European Union.
In December 2011, the parties concluded a technical protocol on implementation of the deal that hasn't been implemented yet.
The technical dialogue to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia began in March 2011.
During nine rounds of talks between Kosovo's head of delegation, Edita Tahiri, her Serbian counterpart, Borko Stefanivic, and the EU facilitator, Robert Cooper, seven agreements were reached on issues such as freedom of movement, regional cooperation, recognition of diplomas and the civil registry.
In October the dialogue moved up a level when Kosovo's Minister Thaci, and the Serbian Prime Minister, Ivica Dacic, met for the first time in the office of the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security, Catherine Ashton.
Another meeting between Thaci, Ashton and Dacic was held in November but no specific agreement was achieved.
Talking about the upcoming meeting on Tuesday, Thaci said: "Discussions will be held on the possibilities… of opening liaison offices for Kosovo in Belgrade and Serbia's in Pristina.
"We'll also consider the options to dynamise the agenda on implementing an infrastructural project between Kosovo and Serbia - the highway towards the European corridor in Serbia," he added.
The political coordinator of the dialogue, Blerim Shala, a deputy head of the oppositional Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, will also be part of the delegation meeting Dacic in Ashton's office Tuesday.
Owing to a bureaucratic bungle, drivers from Kosovo can now only obtain vehicle license plates made of paper, which only Albania will accept - although Wednesday's agreement with Serbia on reciprocal use of licence plates should improve matters.
Edita Tahiri, Kosovo's Minister for Dialogue, rejected Belgrade's claims that Pristina is trying to get access to state telecoms company Telekom Srbija's system in order to tap Serbian phonecalls.
US Vice-President Joseph Biden offered condolences to the families of 1999 NATO bombing victims and urged Serbia and Kosovo to resolve open issues during a visit to Belgrade.
US Vice-President Joe Biden arrived in Belgrade for meetings with top officials expected to focus on Serbia's EU membership ambitions and its relations with Kosovo and Russia.
Joe Biden's visit to Serbia and Kosovo on his last Balkan tour as US Vice President is expected to focus on re-booting the stalled dialogue between the two countries.
US ambassador voices 'disgust' with the opposition MPs who disrupted the Kosovo parliament's first session in 2016 with more tear gas and stunts.
At their biggest anti-government rally yet, Kosovo's opposition parties told Isa Mustafa's administration to resign before February 27 or face "unstoppable" protests.
Opposition parties have vowed a peaceful protest but the recent history of Kosovo opposition rallies suggests violence may flare again in the streets of Pristina.
A day ahead of a major opposition protest, authorities in Kosovo rounded up opposition Vetevendosje party officials in relation to a stunt staged back in 2009.
Four opposition MPs were to face trial for setting off tear gas in the Kosovo parliament but the hearing was postponed because Vetevendosje party leader Albin Kurti did not appear.
New poll underlines that the public in Kosovo have little confidence in the EU-led talks with Serbia.
Ambassador Greg Delawie has delivered a stark warning about Kosovo's future, following the failure of the latest high-level attempt to resolve the ongoing political crisis.
A meeting between Kosovo's ruling majority and its opponents was boycotted by most of the opposition and failed to make progress towards ending the political stalemate in the country.
The head of Serbia's Office for Kosovo, Marko Djuric, said members of the ethnic Serbian community in Kosovo will vote once again in Serbian general elections.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini praised the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo for their commitment on Wednesday, as the two sides assessed previous deals, including the controversial plan to set up an association of Serb-majority municipalities.
Belgrade and Pristina finally agreed on the future of Serb-run North Kosovo in the tenth round of EU-led talks on Friday.


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Hi! My name is Angel
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Created in this Craftsy class
Create stunning landscape art quilts with Gloria Loughman that will evoke the natural beauty of the outdoors. Learn techniques on how to create a template and assemble your own breathtaking scene.
Other projects made as part of this class:
Offer some kudos...
Join the conversation...
Ask a question...
Add your comment...
What materials did you use? -cotton fabrics, many batiks, fused in a reverse appliqué technique -hand painted sky
What are you most proud of? This was my first work using this new technique and I am pleased that I was able to make a design using my own photo for my inspiration.
What advice would you give someone starting this project? Take this course! Gloria is an excellent teacher. She is able to take complex concepts and steps and simplify them so they are easily understood. I especially appreciated the opening section on the colour wheel, hand painting fabric, and the use of value and texture to get depth. This section was very important to the success of my project. Thank you so much, Gloria.
Love it. Colors depth all of it. Congrats!
You are an A student. Really applied the color lessons. It looks easy when it turns out right but I know it is not. Great work
I feel like I could walk right in the beauty. Great work!!!
The placement of the hills gives it depth..I really like it!


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A Clockwork Orange
Stanley Kubrick grew up in Brooklyn but moved to England, where he erected a virtual fortress for himself and never left it. This says much about the man and his movies. "A Clockwork Orange," a story that could only take place in England, is one of the first to reveal his dementia.
Alex (Malcolm McDowell) leads a band of thugs to commit all manner of heinous acts -- ultra-violence, as they refer to it. In fact, Alex's three favorite things are rape, ultra-violence, and Beethoven (incidentally, this is a great trio for playing the "One of These Things is Not Like the Others" game with toddlers. And film students, though the toddlers usually score better.) Anyway, one of the first things Alex and his band of thugs do is rape a woman. If this woman had lived in America, she probably would have been armed. She blows Alex away and his band of thugs finds a new vocation. Nothing like a weepy young devotchka blowing off your unit to make you think twice about the old in-out, in-out. Story over. Of course, this would have made for a short movie indeed, but then Kubrick would have been free to move to a more deserved line of work, such as orchestrating ultra-violent Taco Bell commercials.
Kubrick's most famous gifts to cinema in this film include scenes of Alex beating an old woman to death with a ceramic penis and Alex beating an old guy and raping his wife to the tune of "Singing in the Rain." Huh-huh. Look, Beavis, it's the juxtaposition of the horrific and the pleasantly mundane. Huh-huh. Once again, if the victims had just had one lil' AK-47 about, things could have been different. The old woman could have sprayed Alex with a few hundred bullets and gone back to polishing her ceramic penis. The man and his wife could have put a hole in Alex's chest the size of a bowling ball and gone about their business. Instead, what do they do? They just let themselves get beaten, because that's what you do in England when you're not avoiding the dentist.
Once the police catch Alex, they find an equally British way to cure him, which involves torturing him until he becomes sick at the thought of committing violence or of listening to Beethoven. Apparently, they mistook Alex for India. They could have saved a lot of time and money by just killing him. Instead, by torturing him, they essentially commit the same inhuman acts upon Alex that Alex committed upon society. Kubrick's argument is that this is no good. He offers no alternative solutions, just the facile observation that society can't commit its own heinous acts to keep criminals from hurting people. That such a simple theme should require such lovingly rendered rape scenes is, I suppose, Kubrick's prerogrative. So shoot him.
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did you even WATCH the
did you even WATCH the movie?
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More to the Point...
More to the point do you even actually like movies? The best any movie can get is tolerable...So why bother?
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...Welcome to Crankyland!
Allow me to grant you your first Cranky Merit Badge in "Not Getting The Joke."
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As Mr. Cranky explained in his farewell address
He likes movies. How do you think he was able to sit some of the crap he's reviewed over the years? Check out his review of the Barney the Dinosaur movie, he mixes it with A Clockwork Orange
Many here are big fans of A Clockwork Orange
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Kubrick Did Not Write the Story
While your observations about the story itself may be directly to the point, you should be directing the jabs at Anthony Burgess who wrote the novel A Clockwork Orange and not at Kubrick who merely turned it into a movie.
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text: Cherry Finish Quality Solid Wood Shoe Bench Storage Bench Furniture Starts 8/28 Flag this deal What's the matter? Choose a reason Dead deal Duplicate Bad link Spam Inaccurate No value Alive again Edit deal lilywow May 03, 2012 This would really match the furniture in my home. I just love it Reply Load More Comments


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Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX ) kicked off the week by locking down another content deal, this time with DreamWorks Animation (NASDAQ: DWA ) . Both stocks traded up on the news, with shares of Netflix climbing more than 7% to around $229 on Monday. The streaming-video giant nabbed 300 hours of original programming in the deal. However, with Netflix stock already up more than 147% so far this year, will the stock's momentum continue?
Child's play
The DreamWorks deal gives Netflix a much-needed edge against rivals like Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN ) and Coinstar in the streaming space. Importantly, the deal brings more kids-focused material to Netflix arsenal of original content. Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon are just a few of the DreamWorks franchises that Netflix can now leverage against competitors.
While this deal is certainly Netflix's largest original content deal to date, it shouldn't be a complete surprise. Let's not forget that Netflix shoved Viacom (NASDAQ: VIAB ) into the arms of the competition last month. Amazon was quick to ink a multiyear content agreement recently with Viacom, after Netflix failed to renew its contract with the content provider. As a result, Amazon scooped up popular children's programs including Dora the Explorer and Blue's Clues.
Thanks to Netflix recent partnership with DreamWorks, both Amazon and Netflix now have strong kids' lineups -- a key category in the video-streaming world. For Netflix, the deal also enhances its relationship with DreamWorks, a company that's known for its feature length animated films. Together with DreamWorks, Netflix plans to release its first original series for kids later this year. The show titled Turbo F.A.S.T will be based on DreamWorks' upcoming animated film Turbo, which debuts next month.
The future of Netflix
Teaming up with DreamWorks was enough to push shares of Netflix higher this week. However, longer term, Netflix will need to continue investing in original content if it wants to keep winning. That could be a tall order considering content isn't cheap these days. Netflix coughed up an estimated $100 million for its hit series House of Cards, whereas Amazon reportedly dished out $200 million for content from Viacom.
With competitors bidding up the cost of content, Netflix stock could hit some turbulence if it starts overpaying to beef up its content library.
The tumultuous performance of Netflix shares since the summer of 2011 has caused headaches for many devoted shareholders. While the company's first-mover status is often viewed as a competitive advantage, the opportunities in streaming media have brought some new, deep-pocketed rivals looking for their piece of a growing pie. Can Netflix fend off this burgeoning competition, and will its international growth aspirations really pay off? These are must-know issues for investors, which is why The Motley Fool has released a premium report on Netflix. Inside, you'll learn about the key opportunities and risks facing the company, as well as reasons to buy or sell the stock. The report includes a full year of updates to cover critical new developments, so make sure to click here and claim a copy today.


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Golden Valley's Sara Demshki won the 300 meter hurdles on the girls side, and Bino Horne represented the Grizzlies with a victory in the 400 meter dash.
For Valencia, Kristina Change finished just out of the winners' circle in the 300-meter hurdles.
"We held most of our athletes out of the event," said Valencia head coach Pat Connelly. "We have a lot of people on our team that need rest so we thought it was best to keep most of our team out today."
Hart utilized a similar approach, keeping almost its team out of competition. The Indians' day was highlighted by a 6-foot-4-inch high jump from Ted Glasnow.
The leap was especially impressive since the high jump is not an event that Glasnow normally specializes in.
"Ted is training to be a decathalete at the collegiate level," said Hart head coach Larry David. "He practices a lot of events so for him to perform in the high jump like he did today is exciting to watch."
Dylan Olson posted a pair of trophy-winning times by running the 110-meter hurdles in 15.55 seconds to take third and the 300-meter hurdles in 31.32 to take second in the event.
"Dylan is a special athlete," said Golden Valley head coach Rob Evans. "I think this year he has really upped his focus. With league play getting going we really need him to score points for us because he sets the tone for the team as a whole."
The trio of Foothill League teams that participated in the meet viewed it as an opportunity to compete against some of the best athletes in California. Forty total teams competed at College of the Canyons.
"I think all the local teams looked at this as a chance to build momentum as the season really gets going," Evans said. "We wanted the chance to compete and to get our kids on a winning track in an environment that featured a lot of talent. Overall, I think we should be pleased with how the league performed today."


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First, Laura Bush. Next, her husband.
President George W. Bush will visit the Amarillo area April 26 to 28 to host the second Warrior 100K, a 100-kilometer mountain bike ride for United States servicemen and women seriously wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. This year's ride will take place at Palo Duro Canyon State Park.
"I am honored to host 20 of our nation's bravest souls for the second annual W100 in the Palo Duro Canyon," Bush said in a news release. "I look forward to spending time with these wounded warriors in a beautiful part of Texas. Laura and I want to remind our troops and veterans that we admire and respect them a lot. And the W100 is a great way to remind all our fellow citizens of the unbelievable courage, skill, and sacrifice of those who wear the uniform of the United States."
The W100, along with other programs of the George W. Bush Institute's Military Service Initiative, focuses on U.S. military personnel who served their country and were significantly injured during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
This year, 20 warriors will join President Bush on the three-day ride. They include retired Army Sgt. Juan Arredondo from Universal City; retired Marine Cpl. Daniel Carter from Winchester, Calif.; retired Army Staff Sgt. Joshua Chinn from Westminster, Colo.; retired Army Sgt. Bryce Cole from Cypress; retired Army Staff Sgt. Zach Collett from Reston, Va.; Marine Cpl. Eric Elrod, Ret., from Fort Worth; Army Major Daniel Gade from West Point, N.Y.; retired Navy Petty Officer, Third Class Chris Goehner from Ellensburg, Wash.; Army Lt. Col. David Haines from Elizabethtown, Ky.; retired Army Sgt. Carlos Hernandez from Suwanee, Ga.; retired Marine Lance Cpt. Adam Jahnke from Charlotte, N.C.; Marine Staff Sgt. David Lyon from San Diego, Calif.; retired Sgt. First Class Mike McNaughton from Denham Springs, La.; Army Sgt. Major Chris Self from Clarksville, Tenn.; Marine Cpl. Dave Smith from Berkeley, Calif.; retired Army First Lt. Melissa Stockwell from Chicago; Marine Gunnery Sgt. John Szczepanowski from Santee, Calif.; Army Pvt. Michael Walker from Sevierville, Tenn.; Marine Sgt. David Wright from Omaha, Neb.; and retired Marine Sgt. Matthew Zbiec, from La Mesa, Calif.
The ride also heralds the significant contributions of organizations that support these heroes and their families while they are deployed and when they return home. Organizations represented on the ride include the Challenged Athletes Foundation, Ride 2 Recovery, World T.E.A.M. Sports and the Wounded Warrior Project. Support for this year's ride comes from Amarillo National Bank, American Airlines, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Trek, DeFeet and Jelly Belly.
Last year, the W100 took place in Big Bend Ranch State Park.
For information, visit www.w100k.com. For information on the George W. Bush Presidential Center, visit www.bushcenter.com or find the Bush Center on Facebook and Twitter. Join the conversation on Twitter using hash tag #W100.


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XMEML Topics
This chapter details information about selected Final Cut Pro XML topics, including
Notes on the XML Interchange Format
Timing Values
Managing Project Components
Managing QuickTime Metadata
Speed XML
Notes on the XML Interchange Format
Here are some additional details about the Interchange Format.
You cannot encode user interface information such as the size and position of a window, the source and destination settings for a track, or the height of a sequence track in an XML interchange format document.
Transitions or filters in the Browser are not included in an XML export.
Custom names for columns in the Browser are not included in an XML export. Exporting a project with custom column names and then reimporting it causes loss of data.
The drop/non-drop character of a timecode value is not included in an XML export.
Third party effects and custom master templates are not exported with the XML. If you export a sequence using one and then import the sequence on a machine where the effect or template is not available, the system replaces it with a default effect or default master template.
If you create a transition between two clips in a sequence, export the sequence, and then import it into the same project, the icon on the transition in the original sequence may lose its name.
The volume level for the audio track of a clip is encoded by the
Audio Levelseffect. The parameter
Levelexpresses linear gain rather than decibels. To convert gain to decibels, use the formula
decibels = 20 * log10(Level). Conversely, to convert decibels to gain, use
Level = 10 ^ (decibels / 20).
For a summary description of changes to the Final Cut Pro XML Interchange Format and Final Cut, see Versions of XMEML and Final Cut.
Timing Values
Figure 4-1 illustrates the timing elements that encode the relation between clips, subclips and media.
The elements
in and
out encode the initial and final points that specify the media content associated with a
clip or
clipitem. (In contrast, the elements
start and
end illustrated below specify the placement of a
clipitem in a sequence.) The elements
startoffset and
endoffset encode the offset values specifying a
To convert
in and
out to timecode values, use the starting timecode in the media, if there is one. For media without timecodes, the default starting timecode is 00:00:00:00. For media with more than one timecode (such as media with
sound), look for the
primarytimecode subelement and use that value.
Figure 4-2 illustrates the elements that encode timing values for a
clipitem in a sequence.
The elements
start and
end encode the start and end of a
clipitem in an enclosing sequence. The element
duration encodes the length of a
clipitem. Note that the
duration value for a
clipitem may not match the
duration value of the corresponding media, even when the
clipitem and the media file are perfectly aligned. Applying speed to a
clipitem, changing its framerate, or other edits can alter the
duration of the
To convert
start and
end to timecode values, use the timecode in the containing sequence, or, for Browser clips, the timecode on the
file of the containing
Figure 4-3 illustrates the relationships of timing elements for a multiclip and multiclip angles.
angle encoding for clip 1 shows that an angle clip can use
in and
out encoding to indicate which portion of the media should be used for the clip.
Syncing by
in point (synctype 1) means that all the
in points for each angle clip are lined up at the beginning of the multiclip. In that case no
mediadelay is required.
The simplified
angle encoding for clip 2 shows how you can line up angle clips in a multiclip. The second angle will be black from the beginning of the multiclip for the duration specified in
mediadelay. Then the second angle clip is displayed. (Note that it doesn't make sense for the
mediadelay to be negative since you can simply mark a later
in on the clip to achieve the same result.)
A good way to understand these timing values is to create the desired multiclip alignment in Final Cut Pro, then modify something (like the
in point for one clip) and make another multiclip, then compare the XML for the multiclips and see where they differ.
Speed and Special Keyframes
Final Cut encodes speed on a
clipitem with an array of special keyframes.
The specification of a special keyframe includes the elements
when and
value, where
when is the position of the keyframe in the clipitem and
value is the corresponding position in the underlying media. The element
when is always integral;
value may be fractional, which indicates that it will be blended into the next frame.
The first keyframe always has a value of 0 for
when, and the last keyframe always has the duration of the
clipitem as the value for
Speed can be either constant or variable.
If speed is constant, a graph of the
when-valuepairs is linear.
If speed is variable, the values of the
when-valuepairs are arbitrary and the resulting graph is non-linear.
Special and Virtual Keyframes
Final Cut exports four special keyframes for a
clipitem with speed. They are:
speedkfstart—the first keyframe. Not present if
speedkfinis on the first frame.
speedkfin—the keyframe at the in point.
speedkfout—the keyframe at the out point.
speedkfend—the last keyframe. Not present if
speedkfoutis at the end.
At times, Final Cut writes out a speed keyframe in the XML that is not actually on the
clipitem. These "virtual" keyframes are flagged with the Boolean element
speedvirtualkf set to TRUE.
Final Cut ignores virtual keyframes on import unless they are on the first or last keyframe.
The anchoroffset Element
anchoroffset element is new in version 5 of the Final Cut Pro XML Interchange Format (xmeml). It is an optional value that describes an offset from a keyframe for playback. Final Cut Pro uses it to preserve accuracy over speed changes.
For example, if you apply 200% speed to a clipitem, the frames would play back at: 0, 2, 4, ... But if
speedkfin is set at 3, playback would start from a frame that is no longer available. To adjust, Final Cut adds an anchoroffset of 1.0 so that the fames would play back at 1, 3, 5, 7, ... starting correctly from the frame specified by
speedkfin .
Keyframe Adjustments
For historical reasons, there are two modifications you should keep in mind when reading or writing special keyframes for speed.
Last Frame Adjustment—Final Cut increments
valuein the last keyframe by 1.
Constant Reverse Adjustment—For constant reverse keyframes, Final Cut increments all
valuesettings by 1, except for
valuein the last keyframe if it has already been incremented by a Last Frame adjustment.
Importing Speed Keyframes
Final Cut interprets speed keyframes at import differently for variable and constant speed.
For variable speed, Final Cut interprets speed keyframes as specified.
For constant speed, Final Cut constructs its speed graph by:
Reading the
valuespecification of the first keyframe.
Determining the number of frames used by reading the
valuespecification of the last keyframe and subtracting
valuespecification of the first keyframe.
Setting the
durationof the speed graph as the
whenspecification of the last keyframe.
Adjusting the speed graph as required to ensure that the graph's setting at the in point matches the
speedkfinspecification. Note that if a keyframe is flagged as virtual and is not the first or last keyframe, Final Cut ignores that keyframe.
Exporting Speed Keyframes
Final Cut writes keyframes for speed following these conventions:
If a keyframe does not exist at
speedkfout, Final Cut adds one and marks it as virtual.
Final Cut applies the adjustments mentioned in the "Keyframe Adjustments" section above. Note these points:
The setting for
whenin the last keyframe must agree with the
durationof the
If speed is constant and if the keyframe settings do not produce a linear graph, Final Cut adjusts the settings to produce a linear graph, while maintaining the settings for
Identifying Media
One common reason for reading speed keyframes is to identify the media frames used at
speedkfin, or at
speedkfout, or between
speedkfin and
For the in point in the media, use the setting of
valuein the
For the out point in the media, start with the setting of
valuein the
speedkfoutkeyframe. Subtract from this the slope between the
speedkfoutkeyframe and the preceding keyframe. This calculation is required because
speedkfoutuses 1-based ordering—see Note.
For the extent of the media used when speed is contstant, inspect the
valuesettings at
speedkfout; for variable speed, inspect the keyframes between
Managing Project Components
The Final Cut Pro XML Interchange Format lets you modify or update open projects using the elements
uuid and
updatebehavior. As well, you can use the
itemhistory element to track the edit history of a
The uuid and updatebehavior Elements
uuid element uniquely and persistently identifies individual components (clips, bins, and sequences) in a project. Since it is saved with the project file, you can use it to track detailed changes during your workflow.
updatebehavior element allows you to modify UUID-identified components in an open project. The target component in a project can be a clip, bin, or sequence. As well, you can use
updatebehavior to modify metadata in a QuickTime file. (See About master clips)
A target component is identified by its
uuid entry. For example, here is a XML snippet that replaces a clip in the Browser:
Listing 4-1 Replacing a Clip in the Browser
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE xmeml>
<xmeml version="5">
<clip id="clip2 ">
<!--Information about the replacement clip -->
When this snippet is imported, Final Cut Pro looks for a component in the project with a matching UUID. If it finds one, it replaces the component with the clip specified in the interchange format document. (In this case, the replacement clip appears at the topmost level of the Browser.) If it doesn't find the target clip, nothing happens.
To replace a clip in a bin, you have to specify the bin and all its contents. For example, Listing 4-2 replaces a clip in Bin 1.
Listing 4-2 Replacing a Clip in a Bin
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE xmeml>
<xmeml version="5">
<name>Bin 1</name>
<clip id="clip2 ">
<!-- Information about the replacement clip -->
Similarly, to replace a particular
clipitem in a sequence, you must replace the entire sequence.
The way you specify the location of the replacement component in the import document has precedence. For example, if the target clip is in Bin 1 and if you import a snippet such as Listing 4-1 Final Cut Pro removes the clip from Bin 1 and puts the replacement clip at the top level of the Browser.
The desired behavior at the time of import is specified by the entry for
updatebehavior. The valid entries are:
- Replaces the target component if found. If not found, does nothing.
- Replaces the target component if found. If not found, adds the imported component to the project.
- Adds the imported component to the project if the target component is not found. If the target component is found and if the target component is a bin, the attributes of the bin are ignored and the children of the bin are processed according to their
- Adds the imported component to the project. If a component with the same
uuidentry is present, changes the
uuidentry of the imported object.
- Removes the target object if found. If not found, does nothing.
The itemhistory Element
The first time you export the XML for a
clipitem, Final Cut creates a UUID for the item. If you modify the
clipitem and export it again, Final Cut generates a new UUID for the item. The element
itemhistory encodes a list of the UUIDs associated with a particular
clipitem. The top UUID in the list is the current UUID for the item and is guaranteed to be unique. The rest of the list is a historical record of the UUIDs associated with the item. (The bottom UUID item in the list is the initial UUID generated for the
clipitem or the UUID of the original item from which the current item was derived.)
For example, suppose you export a
clipitem for the first time. It is assigned an initial UUID:
<uuid>3510A3C8-5C79-4AA4-9A81-38B40397C0DC </uuid>
You then blade the
clipitem and export both items. The XML for the first item is:
The XML for the second item is:
The common final UUID for the two items shows that they have a common origin.
Managing QuickTime Metadata
Final Cut Pro 5.1.2 supports metadata in QuickTime files. When Final Cut Pro opens or re-reads a QuickTime file with metadata, it caches a copy of the metadata in the project. (The file is the authoritative source of the metadata; if the file changes, the cached copy changes.)
To manage QuickTime metadata, version 3 of the Final Cut Pro XML Interchange Format provides the element
metadata and its subelements. (See QuickTime Metadata) With these new elements, you can display the metadata in a project by exporting an interchange format document. In additionl, you can actually modify the metadata in a QuickTime file by importing an interchange format document with appropriately specified elements.
In Final Cut Pro, QuickTime metadata appears at the movie or track levels; that is, the parents of
metadata can be
video, or
audio. Here is an XML fragment that displays some metadata at the movie level.
Listing 4-3 Sample Metadata
<file id="clouds">
<pathurl>file://localhost/Users/. . .</pathurl>
<value>My metadata</value>
. . .
When you import interchange format documents with metadata information, Final Cut Pro caches the imported metadata. However, when Final Cut Pro reconnects referenced QuickTime files to the project, the metadata in these files replaces the metadata you imported.
You can permanently alter the metadata in a QuickTime file by using the element
updatebehavior as a subelement of
metadata. In this context,
updatebehavior has two valid entries:
add or
remove. Here is an XML fragment using
Listing 4-4 Adding Metadata
<value>My additional metadata</value>
Metadata in QuickTime files is stored as a key-value pair. In Listing 4-4 the value and the key are added to the metadata in the file. If the file already has an identical key, the imported value does not replace any existing values. Instead, the new value is stored alongside the existing values for that key. Note that a
key is specified with a reverse-dns string to help ensure uniqueness.
remove, on the other hand, does affect existing metadata in a file. Here is an example:
Listing 4-5 Removing Metadata
This removes the specified key and all its associated values from the file. (Note that it is not necessary to specify the subelements
size, or
When you import an interchange format document with
metadata specifications, Final Cut Pro first processes the specifications with
remove, and then those with
add. (This allows you to easily replace values for a particular key from a single import document.)
Copyright © 2003, 2009 Apple Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Updated: 2009-07-23


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People Top 5
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- November 05, 1990
- Vol. 34
- No. 18
Risky Business
Look into the Lives of American Teenagers as They Face the Pleasures and Pressures of Sex at An Early Age
In some respects, of course, not much has changed: For many teenagers, that first kiss, the first crush, those first gropings toward mature sexuality are still intoxicating. And for some, sex is less a treacherous reality than a thwarted ambition. But for everyone who will come of age in the '90s, the confusing process of growing up is more perilous than ever. In the conviction that one person's story is worth a thousand statistical studies, PEOPLE last month sent our reporters to spend 24 hours with teenagers all over America. From dawn to dawn on Sept. 14, we talked to dozens of young men and women—teenage mothers and restless virgins, kids eager for experience and those who have found more than they bargained for—about the daily realities of their sex lives. Here are their stories—full of hope, bravado, wisdom and foolishness, and the thrill of self-discovery.
Friday, 6 A.M. Houston.
Daybreak is still an hour away, but 15-year-old Christy Pollard has been up for an hour. Every weekday it is the same: At 5:15 she tiptoes through the darkened house to the bathroom, past the silent bedrooms of her parents and her 13-year-old brother, Keith. At 6, she awakens her 10-month-old son. Jonathan. At 6:40 the bus comes to take them to Wunsche High School, where Jonathan stays at an on-campus daycare center and Christy, a ninth grader, takes her first class of the day.
This morning they have a visitor: The baby's father, Johnny Rivera, 18, has spent the night in Christy's waterbed. Johnny, an unemployed high school dropout, insists he loves Christy and wants to marry her—but not yet. "I want to know her better." he says. Though he sees his son daily and baby-sits often, he explains that he didn't want to become a father when Christy got pregnant in the seventh grade. "I gave her some money and told her she could get an abortion," he says. "But when we told our parents, they said, 'Don't do that.' So we didn't."
Christy's father, J.T., and her mother, Jo Ann, believe the pregnancy may have been for the best. "We didn't want her to have a baby," says Jo Ann, a hostess at a hamburger restaurant. "But if I had to choose, it's better this way than when she used to run away from home. She started running away when she was 12, and when she was 13 she almost died of a drug overdose. We were very fortunate."
At Wunsche, Christy and the other young mothers in her parenting class have been assigned to make a video showing their peers how dramatically pregnancy can alter their lives. But Christy has little time for such concerns: After school she will spend an hour with her baby, hurry off to her night job at a fast-food restaurant, then fall into bed at midnight. Johnny is sanguine about the schedule his child's mother keeps. "She's a strong girl," he says as she rushes out with her textbooks and diaper bag. "She's a tough girl."
7 A.M. Berkeley, Calif.
"We were watching cartoons, then we went to his bedroom," says Xochitl Rios, recalling her first sexual experience, at age 12. "I knew it was going to happen. We were kissing on the bed, and he went to get a rubber. I wasn't scared. I was excited, 'cause it was him. Afterwards, I walked out of the house with a big grin: I f——- Jonathan."
The conquest, along with several others, is recorded in a notebook that Xochitl, 13, keeps in a cabinet by the bed she shares with a teddy bear named Strandi. Names and dates are listed in round, girlish handwriting: 6-26-90: "G." Sex on living room floor with a blue rubber. 10-31-89: "A." Behind a church. 4-28-89: "J." Rode him like a horse. I was drunk. There are eight boys in all. One gave her chlamydia, a venereal disease that, untreated, could lead to sterility. Another beat her up when she told him to get checked for the disease. None of them took her anywhere but a fast-food restaurant. Xochitl keeps the list because, she says, "I like to remember." Since mid-summer she has been celibate. "I'm trying to get good grades so I can go to college," she says.
Xochitl's mother, Joanna Uribe de Mena, considers herself partly to blame for her daughter's adventuring. "I kept blinders on," says the 43-year-old health planner, who enrolled Xochitl in a Catholic girls school this fall to cut down on "temptations." Tonight Xochitl will announce that she is going to a Catholic boys school dance; instead she will search the campus of the University of California for a party. "The world is different today than it was," the unsuspecting Joanna will say with a sigh before she bids her daughter goodbye. "No place is safe. You take chances when you let your kids out the door."
8:15 A.M. Modesto, Calif.
Breakfast time at Tera Torres's house is enough to convince even cynics that this town is still the innocent place it seemed to be in American Graffiti. It isn't, of course: Tera estimates that about 90 percent of her friends at Modesto High are sexually active. But then, they aren't lucky enough to be going steady with Tony Goulart. "Tony's not like the other guys I know, who always want to have sex," Tera says proudly.
Tera and Tony, both 17-year-old seniors, have been together for most of four years—long enough so that having sex would never earn them what's known around here as "a bad reputation." But Tony, the oldest son of Catholic parents, would not dream of having what Mrs. Torres calls "relations" with Tera. "I might lose respect for her." he says.
For now, romantic rituals of their own devising fill Tony and Tera's days and nights. This morning, as usual, Tony parks near Tera's house, knocks on the door and drives her to school, two blocks away. This evening there will be the weekly football game. (Tony is a fullback, Tera is a cheerleader; he thinks her uniform is too short.) And tonight, Tera, in purple satin pajamas and hair ribbon, will be waiting for Tony to tuck her in to bed, as he does most nights. She will sigh as he kisses her goodnight, then ask him, ¦"Will you call me?" "Sure," he will say, and then leave her there, smiling, in the dark.
9 A.M. Middlesex Superior Courthouse, Cambridge.
The court system calls her Mary Moe, the name the Commonwealth of Massachusetts uses to protect the privacy of all minors seeking judicial approval for an abortion without parental consent. She is only 13, but this will be the second pregnancy she has terminated. The first time, when she was 11, her mother signed a permission form. This time, she says, she cannot bring home the form because her mother would "kill" her.
With the help of volunteer attorney Laura Stewart, referred to the case by Planned Parenthood, the girl's petition is approved in minutes. (Her abortion was scheduled for the next morning.) Afterwards, Mary Moe concedes that she never used birth control with her 15-year-old boyfriend, who suggested she keep the baby. "I thought I would never get pregnant again," she says with a shrug. Most of Stewart's young clients share such illusions of invulnerability. "They think nothing can happen to them," Stewart says. "A teenager is hormones with feet."
11:45 A.M. Berkeley.
Ian Hintzen has some extra cash today, so he is treating himself to lunch at Lox, Stock & Bagel. Near the salad bar, some girls are giggling, and a couple of jocks with tree-trunk necks are discussing the upcoming game. Ian is sitting alone with a copy of The Scarlet Letter. Sex isn't on his schedule—only on his reading list.
Not that Ian, the 15-year-old son of Guyanese immigrants, isn't interested in sex. "I think of it about five times a day," he says. "I might even start thinking of girls in class. That's why I don't get up to sharpen my pencil." But though the flesh may be willing, the spirit is meek. "I have an insecurity thing," explains Ian, who once spent four hours just gathering the courage to ask a girl to dance. He also believes that sex should be meaningful. "It should be shared by two people who love each other," he says, "even though my fantasies drift away from that point."
For the moment, Ian's passions are confined to cartoon superheroes. Tonight, as on most Fridays, he will sprawl across his bed and pore over copies of Spiderman and The New Mutants. He might think about inviting a girl to the prom—a daydream he half hopes will never come true. "The concept of asking somebody out scares me out of my wits." he says. "If she said yes, I'd be in deep trouble. I'd be the boy who had a heart attack in the middle of the gym."
3 P.M. New York City.
"In fifth grade my friends would talk about "faggots,' " says Henry Diaz, a 17-year-old drama student at Fiorello La Guardia High School of Music, Art and Performing Arts. "When I learned what a 'faggot' was, and all those characteristics matched mine, I tried to deny it. But by seventh grade I was being called 'faggot.' One night I thought of slitting my wrists."
It has been four months since Henry "came out" by signing a pamphlet that was distributed on the La Guardia campus by a gay and lesbian activist group called Queer Nation. For him it was a moment of relief. But for his ex-girlfriend Karen Marder—the girl Henry dated during his final months of confusion "so people would say, 'This guy isn't really gay' "—it was a shock. "I felt so used," says Karen, 15. "And it kind of gave me a bad reputation. The guys were like, 'Oh, you probably turned him gay.' " The one consolation is that Karen, who still cherishes Henry as a close friend, finally understood his lack of sexual interest in her. "I mean, I wore my sluttiest outfits for him!" she says. "I had the other guys drooling, but he wasn't paying attention."
Tonight, Henry will go to a party and amateur drag show in a stuffy, cramped downtown apartment, checking the crowd for "cute guys." He will not go home with any of them. The threat of AIDS makes promiscuity dangerous, but Henry is more concerned about the kind of emotional damage he suffered after a one-night stand with a handsome stranger who never called him again. Now he is looking for a permanent partner, one who might someday adopt and raise children with him. "I want somebody to love," he says. "Somebody to share my life with."
4 P.M. Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Gene Lee and Lesley Young consider themselves an anachronism at Pacific Palisades High, a low building overlooking the ocean in this southern California community of $500,000 bungalows. Gene and Lesley are a couple—by all appearances, the only couple at this afternoon's pep rally, which they are attending because Gene plays offensive tackle for the Palisades Dolphins.
Both 17-year-old seniors at Pali, Gene and Lesley have an active sex life and faithfully use birth control. As first-generation Asian-Americans, they are acutely aware of the chasm that separates their own adolescent experience from that of their parents. Lesley, the firstborn child of a Japanese mother and a Chinese father, complains that her parents' attitudes about sex have made her life miserable. "My mother didn't get married until she was 28, and I'm sure she was a virgin," she says, rolling her eyes. "She won't let me close my bedroom door when Gene is there. She thinks I have no morals." Gene's Korean parents accept his sex life but think their son sees too much of his girlfriend. "They believe you study, study, study, get your job. then get married and have kids," Gene says. "They push me to marry a Korean woman, but I tell them I'll marry who I want, whether it's white,' black, Chinese, Japanese."
After the game, Lesley and Gene will go to a party at a friend's house, where they will duck into an empty bedroom for a half hour, then leave early: Gene has a 10 P.M. curfew because he came home stoned on marijuana one night. Lesley will have nothing to do but pout and ponder the trials of teenage love. "Sometimes I don't think Gene stands up to his parents enough," she says. "But then sometimes I think I stand up too much to mine."
6 P.M. Elletsville, Ind.
Dinner is over, and Shelley Kelley is getting ready to go "cruising and scoping," the main weekend recreation for teenagers in this community set amid rustling cornfields. Roughly translated, that means getting into a car with some friends and driving a 10-block strip that nearly every other kid in town is driving, or it means hanging out in the parking lot of Rac 'N' Cue Family Billiards in nearby Bloomington. For Shelley, 17, it is a form of window shopping; she will not sleep with any of the boys she sees. "To me, sex is a very personal, private thing, not a weekend thing," she says.
That sets her apart from her friends, all of whom are having sex, she says, and many of whom are pregnant. But what really makes Shelley different is that she has talked to her mother, Jane, about sex. When Shelley's first boyfriend deserted her after they slept together, Jane was among the first she told. "I figured she was going to be exposed to sex no matter what I did, so I'd better be honest with her," says Jane, 41, a janitor and part-time sociology student at Indiana University.
Jane concedes that such frankness makes her a little uncomfortable. "But," she says, "I'd rather have it this way than the way I was brought up. I was ignorant." Too timid to join the sexual revolution when she was a teenager, Jane wonders these days whether her contemporaries were as liberated as they seemed. "They weren't talking to their parents in the '60s," she says, "and now they're not talking to their children."
9 P.M. Quincy, Fla.
In this city of tobacco farms on the outskirts of Tallahassee, a star football player can get as many girls as he likes. But as tonight's postgame crowd gathers in the parking lot of Kelly's Jr. 24 Hour Deli, Eric Brown, star tackle for the Shanks High Tigers, isn't looking for action. For the past year he has been dating 17-year-old Clinita Kennedy, who was a virgin until she finally consented to sleep with him last May.
Eric concedes that his forbearance-eight months between attraction and consummation—is unusual by the standards of his friends at Shanks, a small rural school with a mostly black population and a pregnancy rate so high that a health clinic providing birth control has been established across from the school. "A lot of guys say they won't waste more than three weeks with a girl—if she won't have sex, they drop her," Eric says. "I waited for mine, and I didn't push her, because I don't think I'd like it if she did that to me."
As Eric and Clinita have discovered, in some ways monogamy can be as troubling as promiscuity. "I worry about whether we should be doing it," says Eric. "Sometimes she makes me feel like she wishes we would have waited." Clinita, sitting next to him on the car hood, cannot give him much reassurance. "Nothing really makes me think it's okay to do it," she says. "It just happens." All of Eric's whispered tenderness cannot dispel her feeling that true love will falter when both go off to college next year. "He's going to be a football player," she says gloomily. "All they do is chase after girls."
Evening. San Francisco.
Diaz Carter and Kenny Bryant are standing in front of the bathroom mirror in their bikini briefs. "OKAY, ACTIVATE!" they yell in unison, dancing around the room as they massage curl-activator into their hair. After 20 minutes of coiffing their quarter-inch flattops, Diaz, 15, remembers the finishing touch. "Hey, Ken, where's the spray?" he asks his 17-year-old friend. "If the ladies touch this 'fro, they're gonna mess it up." Hair sprayed, they dress, putting on long black overcoats and picking up the telephone beepers they carry so that girls will be able to reach them at any hour of the day or night. "I brought the whole bottle of cologne," says Diaz, pouring some onto his jacket. "Gotta know what the lady likes, right, Kenny?"
The plan for tonight is a double date, and Kenny and Diaz have already prepared for action with a training meal at their favorite restaurant, McDonald's. It is an institution for which they have great respect. Their transportation is the "Mac Mobile," otherwise known as Kenny's burgundy Ford Tempo four-door; their favorite pastime is "Mac-ing," which means kissing a girl on and on and on. "The ladies will page us at about 10:30," says Kenny. "Then there'll be some serious Mac-ing, you'll see."
Kenny, who learned all he knows about sex from his brother, a Baptist minister, intends to remain a virgin until he meets the right girl. Diaz, who has had sex with three different girls in the past two years, likes Mac-ing as much as the next guy, but wouldn't mind if things went further. There are no moral quandaries to be sorted out yet, however, as the "ladies" have not beeped. After gassing up the Mac Mobile, Kenny and Diaz decide to try their luck at a couple of school dances. The first is empty. The second is swarming with police. Kenny and Diaz ride around in silence until they find themselves parked down the street from their dates' house. It is nearly midnight, and they have driven more than 30 miles.
"Wonder what the ladies are doing, but we'll wait it out," mutters Kenny as he starts the car and drives toward the nearest Golden Arches. "Need a Mac before they call."
Saturday, 2:45 A.M. New York City.
If this were a weekday morning at 8:30, 17-year-old Billy Erwin might pass for a high school student on his way to class. But it is the pitch-black end of a rainy night, and Billy's knapsack contains not books but the tools of his trade: condoms, lubricating jelly, handcuffs, antiseptic spray, a pornographic video tape, a pair of black jockstraps, a can of Mace. "It's fun getting paid for screwin'," he says with a grin, "but you got to be prepared."
As Billy tells it, he had plans to be an aerospace engineer until his parents died seven years ago and one of his numerous foster mothers sexually abused him. Whatever the case, he found himself a teenage runaway living in the Hell's Kitchen section of Manhattan. At 15, he says, he was working as a Christmas elf in a posh department store when a well-heeled man asked him if he'd like to make some good money fast. In one night, Billy earned a crisp new $100 bill.
These days, Billy gets most of his clients by referral; he says he can get $150 for a single man or woman. $200 for couples. But on nights like tonight, when his affluent regulars are at their weekend homes, he resorts to roadside hustling, which brings him $75 for 20 minutes in the back seat of a car. Most of his customers are "chicken hawks"—older, usually married men who drive along the New York City waterfront looking for young boys. Billy always uses a condom—one of his clients died of AIDS last year—and is cautious about which cars he gets into. "Last week a guy was found right here with his throat slit open," he says.
Business is slow tonight. Billy positions himself in the middle of the street, grabbing his crotch to catch the attention of passing drivers. At last a station wagon slows down, the gray-haired driver craning his neck. On its third trip around the block, the car stops, and the driver asks Billy, "Want to go for a ride?"
Billy works until 5 A.M. But it isn't work for him—or so he insists over breakfast at a downtown diner. "It's extra cool to have these older people under my control while I'm doing them," he says. And a 17-year-old is a marketable commodity in a society where sex and youth are sold as a package deal. "You'd be surprised," says Billy, "how many people out there want a little boy like me to play with."
Saturday. Dawn. Ben Taub Charity Hospital, Houston.
Benita Johnson, 17, can finally sleep. It is a sweet relief after what she has endured: five days of labor so painful that this morning she became hysterical, pulling at the IV lines in her arm as a crowd of orderlies restrained her. When her second baby, Charles Edward, finally struggled free of her body, only her mother was there to see him. There has been no visit from Benita's 22-year-old husband, Isom, the man she married when she was a 15-year-old ninth grader and separated from three weeks ago.
There are things a woman learns when she has a child—the ferocity of suffering, the limitlessness of endurance, the importance of unfounded hope. But Benita, whose firstborn child, Isom Jr., is 23 months old now, wonders as she lies in her hospital bed whether she has learned too much too soon. "If I had it to do over," she says, "I wouldn't."
To discourage other girls from getting pregnant, she has consented to be photographed. "Let them see how they're gonna look when they have a baby," she says. "Their hair gonna be torn out from screaming, and their makeup gonna be washed off with their tears and sweat. They gonna leave looking like a ragged old stuffed dog."
But the pain of childbirth fades with the approach of dawn. When little Charles Edward is brought in for his 6 A.M. feeding, Benita smiles. She cannot help herself: Once again, she is falling in love.
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