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The Pursuit Boats homepage features details on the all new OS 375 Offshore. According to Pursuit boats, the OS 375 Offshore is the largest outboard … [Read more...]
Pursuit Plans Debut Of Eagerly Awaited 37' Offshore Model
More Images Of The New 44′ Sport Yacht Center Console By Concept Boats
We recently featured images of the Concept 44' by Concept Boats before its unveiling at the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show. Now we have images of the interior … [Read more...]
The 2009 Yamaha 232 Limited S
The Yamaha 232 Series boats are the flagship of the Yamaha boat line, offering boat owners the most luxurious styling, best overall performance, and the … [Read more...]
Boston Whaler Introduces The Super Sports And A Whole New Concept In Boating
Boston Whaler is setting out to do more with the all-new Boston Whaler 130 and 150 than just offering stylish boats, they want to change the way customers … [Read more...]
Triumph Boats Launches Revolutionary 1700 Skiff
The Triumph Boats website features details on the 1700 Skiff Boat. According to Triumph Boats, skiffs have been defined by flimsy fiberglass single … [Read more...]
The Concept 4400 By Concept Boats – A First Look
Here are first images of the new Concept 4400, taken at Concept Boats plant in Opa Locka, Florida. The official unveiling will take place at the Fort Lauderdale … [Read more...]
Malibu Boat's 23 vRide Carries 14 People And Gear For Fun On The Water
The Malibu Boat homepage features images and details on the 2009 23 vRide . According to Malibu Boats, the 23 vRide is a large family boat that will … [Read more...]
Deep Impact Power Boats To Release The First Triple Open Center Console With F350 Yamaha Engines
After producing the first Deep Impact Power Boat Quad Engine with 300 Mercury Verados in the fall of 2007, Deep Impact Power Boats is soon to release the … [Read more...]
Triumph 195 Center Console Certified By Consumers Digest Magazine As Best Buy
According to Triumph Boats, the Triumph 195 Center Console (195CC) has been certified by Consumers Digest magazine as a Best Buy in Coastal Boats. In the … [Read more...]
Ranger Boats Z520 Comanche Named Best Buy By Consumers Digest
Ranger Boats recently announced that Consumers Digest magazine named the Z520 Comanche its top "premium selection" in its list of "Best Buys in Powerboats." According … [Read more...]


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Contact: Lauren Boston, Staff Writer at 703-797-0678
ARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 26, 2013 – Ernie Martin received the National Apartment Association (NAA)'s first Supplier Partner Lifetime Achievement Award during a ceremony Nov. 8 at The Adolphus Hotel in Dallas.
Martin, Carrollton, Texas, was the President of For Rent Magazine from 1983 to 2000. During his tenure he built an organization that still flourishes—known today as For Rent Media Solutions, a company dedicated to bringing prospective residents and apartment communities together.
He served on many NAA boards, and made a particularly big impact as a longstanding member of the Budget & Finance Committee.
"Ernie worked tirelessly to ensure a bright future for our organization, and fought for NAA's success from the very beginning," NAA President and CEO Doug Culkin, CAE, said. "He is truly deserving of this award."
Added Terry Slattery, current President of For Rent Media Solutions, "When questioned about the benefit of investing in NAA, Ernie always responded by saying, 'NAA is the organization that helps support the best interests of our valued customers. The benefit we get is supporting a group that supports us.' NAA always called Ernie first when support—either through dollars or people—was needed. He was always there to give what was necessary."
The Lifetime Achievement Award was created to recognize the contributions of NAA's supplier members and association executives for their long-term history of exemplary national service and accomplishments to the National Apartment Association and the apartment industry.
About NAA: The National Apartment Association (NAA) is America's leading advocate for quality rental housing. NAA's mission is to serve the interests of multifamily housing owners, managers, developers and suppliers and maintain a high level of professionalism in the multifamily housing industry to better serve the rental housing needs of the public.
NAA is a federation of more than 170 state and local affiliates, comprised of more than 63,000 multifamily housing companies representing more than 6.8 million apartment homes throughout the United States and Canada. Members in good standing of any affiliated association are automatically considered members of NAA and entitled to NAA benefits.

subset: commoncrawl


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Jury selection begins in Apple-Samsung caseap photo
Apple already has won nearly $1 billion in judgments against Samsung over patent infringements involving older-model devices. Now Apple is alleging Samsungs newest devices, such as its Galaxy S III, also copied Apple technology. Jury selection for the case began Monday.
SAN JOSE, Calif. The worlds two leading smartphone makers were back in federal court on Monday, accusing each other of stealing ideas and features.
The trial in Silicon Valley, which got underway with jury selection, marks the latest round in a long-running series of lawsuits between Apple Inc. and Samsung.
If Apple prevails in the current case, the cost to Samsung could reach $2 billion. Apples costs, if it loses the litigation, were expected to be about $6 million.
Whatever the outcome, it could be the consumer who ends up paying the ultimate price. Experts say the litigation could lead to more expensive smartphones and devices and slow the overall pace of mobile innovation.
The most direct effect of this patent fight on consumers would be if the judge blocked one of these popular phones from the market, said Rutgers Law School professor Michael A. Carrier.
Carrier said patent litigation costs businesses time and money.
Whats even more worrisome for the effect on innovation is the impact on small innovators, said Carrier. Apple and Samsung can afford this litigation. The next upstart cannot.
In the case in U.S. District Court, Apple is accusing Samsung of infringing on five patents on newer devices, including Galaxy smartphones and tablets. In a counterclaim, Samsung says Apple stole two of its ideas to use on iPhones and iPads.
Jury selection could be challenging because the federal courthouse in San Jose is just a 15-minute drive from the Cupertino headquarters of Apple.
Most prospective jurors said they were at least somewhat familiar with the dispute, including many who work for companies affiliated with either Samsung or Apple. Some locals had strong opinions.
Neither company has been a particular favorite of mine. Both have been bullies with their patent libraries, said prospective juror Armen Hamstra, a LinkedIn software engineer and patent holder who was not immediately excused from the jury pool despite requests from attorneys.
The two tech giants have battled in litigation around the world. Less than two years ago, a federal jury in the same court found Samsung was infringing on Apple patents. Samsung was ordered to pay about $900 million but is appealing and has been allowed to continue selling products using the technology.
Throughout three years of litigation, Samsungs global market share has grown. One of every three smartphones sold last year was a Samsung, now the market leader. Apple, with its typically higher priced iPhones, was second, with about 15 percent of the market.
Experts say the case underscores a much larger concern about what is allowed to be patented.
Theres a widespread suspicion that lots of the kinds of software patents at issue are written in ways that cover more ground than what Apple or any other tech firm actually invented, Notre Dame law professor Mark McKenna said. Overly broad patents allow companies to block competition.
In court filings, Apple said Samsung has systematically copied Apples innovative technology and products, features and designs, and has deluged markets with infringing devices.
Samsung countered that it has broken technological barriers with its own ultra-slim, lightweight phones.MORE IN World/National BusinessWASHINGTON Long-term U.S. Full StoryNEW YORK Its not just the musical Hairspray that will air live on NBC tonight. Full StoryOXON HILL, Md. Far from the Las Vegas Strip, MGM Resorts International opens its $1. Full Story
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Out of the four heavenly kings of canto-pop, it seems like Aaron Kwok is the only one that has yet to settle down and get married. Rumor has it that he is currently dating actress/singer Lynn Xiong, but he has not yet confirmed it, saying that she is just a "good friend."
When visiting his mother in Hong Kong for the Lunar New Year, his mother asked him when a daughter-in-law would be in the midst. Kwok replied by saying that he would start looking for love after he felt he had accomplished something in his career. "Once I feel I have achieved something, I can move into the next phase in life."
Source: Yahoo


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In 2010 Ford has changed the inner pinion bearing and this will not work !!! The Ford part # is 9L3Z-4630-A.
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Q:I bought this bearing and another, for my 94 GMC Sierra SLE 4x4. 5.7lt. I took my hub apart and the inner bearing was bad.. But the two I got from AAP was nothing like the one in my hub and the was two diffrent ones at that. I would like to know if or how I can get the right one for my truck..
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What was so damn great about
the Great Depression?
The Wet Bike
Three year-old Tami was riding her tricycle when daddy came out to bring her in for lunch.
On lifting her off of the tricycle, he noticed the seat was wet.
"What happened?" he asked.
Looking at daddy with those big, innocent, green eyes, she answered, "Bike went potty."
The Drunken Masseuse
If a masseuse had a drinking problem, would she be a massouse?
--Bob Cook
Mother's Day
On May the 8th,
You better see her,
If it weren't for ma,
You wouldn't be here!
Nothing irritates me more than someone driving in the passing lane holding up traffic and never passing anyone. I assume they're either stupid, inconsiderate, texting, or have their heads in a very dark place.


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|Back to Calendar » March 22, 2014 @ 5:00 pm – March 30, 2014 @ 4:30 pm
|✔ Add to Calendar Add to Google Calendar
|Community Events
The Annual Spring Fever will be held at the St. George Parish Center on March 22 & 29.
Social hour at 5pm; windsor chop dinner at 6pm; entertainment to follow. The comedy play, "Pistols and Posies" will be performed when the Roaring 20′s and Prohibition days come alive.
Reserved seating tickets can be purchased for $35 by calling 354-2428. A matinee of the play will also be given on Sunday afternoon at 1:30pm on March 30. Tickets may be purchased at the door for $8.


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Ocean Watch
Many fundamental questions concern how the oceans and their living systems change over timescales from days to decades and from local to global scales. The oceans are grossly under-sampled and different approaches are needed to build a complete picture (more info). The National Oceanography Centre works with UK and International Partners to contribute to the world-wide effort to make sustained measurements of the global oceans and more local UK waters. These all form part of the Global Ocean Observing System.
Click on the interactive map to learn about some of the programmes carried out by NOC and our partners.


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Restaurant Swansea: Information detailAbout
Property name: Busy Lizzies
Type: Shops & other Retail Outlets Cafes, Snack Bars & Tea Rooms
Telephone: 01792 894062
For info and reservation please contact: 01792 894062
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1st International Conference
The conference will be a venue for bringing together scholars, writers, language teachers, researchers and other practitioners from around the world to discuss issues pertaining the role of Filipino as a global language. Participants can be teachers, researchers, program administrators/coordinators and other practitioners who are directly involved in the promotion and nurturing of the Filipino language, literature and culture. This first conference is geared towards establishing a tradition of scholarly meetings of this kind among practitioners in the field of Filipino language, literature and culture studies.
UH Manoa's Filipino and Philippine Literature Program is nationally and internationally recognized as the leading program not only in the field of Filipino language teaching but also in curriculum development. Most Filipino language programs across the nation use textbooks and multimedia materials developed and authored by UH Filipino Program faculty. The Program's track record shows excellence in producing pioneering work and innovative materials incorporating new approaches and methodologies. The Filipino program and its faculty have been recipients of local and national grants for the development of teaching materials and study abroad programs.
Consistent with the national government's thrust of supporting and giving the long overdue attention deserved by less commonly taught languages, the Filipino Program at UH Manoa is at the forefront in developing materials and preparing future scholars and teachers of Filipino whose expertise will eventually would like to address a national need for more competent, literate users of Filipino, the national language of the Philippines and the lingua franca of Filipinos worldwide.
To provide a venue for the exchange of ideas among teachers, researchers, program administrators, writers, and other agencies involved in the promotion and nurturing of the Filipino language and culture for the purpose of:
Your host…
The Filipino and Philippine Literature Program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa seeks to provide an in-depth understanding of the Philippines, its national language and its people among heritage and non-heritage students. The program through its Bachelor of Arts degree courses aims to train language and literature scholars, researchers and teachers to become competent and literate users of Filipino, and to lead the field of teaching Filipino and Philippine literature locally, nationally and internationally with innovative and state-of-the-art pedagogical materials and research.


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Mary Calvagna, MS
Fiber. You know you need to eat it. You are pretty sure it is good for you. But what is fiber,
really? And why is it good for you?
Fiber is found only in plants. It is from the plant cells, particularly the cell walls. The plant fiber that we eat is called dietary fiber. It is unique from other components of the plant because humans lack the enzymes necessary to digest it.
Dietary fiber is made up of two types of fiber: soluble and insoluble. Soluble means that when the fiber is mixed with a liquid, it forms a gel-like solution. Insoluble fiber does not mix with liquid and passes through the digestive tract largely intact. Both types of fiber help maintain bowel regularity.
Diets high in fiber have been associated with reduced risk of death due to cardiovascular disease (including heart attack and stroke), cancer, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.
When eaten as part of a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet, soluble fiber can help lower cholesterol and may help lower your risk cardiovascular disease. Examples of foods high in soluble fiber include oatmeal, beans, peas, and citrus fruits.
Insoluble fiber is important for normal digestive health. Insoluble fiber speeds up movement through the small intestine and helps to alleviate
constipation. Foods that are high in insoluble fiber include apple skin, wheat cereal, whole-wheat breads, and carrots.
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends that women consume 25 grams of fiber daily, while men consume 38 grams. Fiber needs drop after the age of 50. Women older than 50 should consume 21 grams of fiber daily, and men should consume 30 grams daily. This includes both soluble and insoluble fiber. The following table lists how much fiber you can find in some common foods.
Source: Journal of Family Practice. 2006;9:761-769
It is easier than you think to increase the fiber in your diet. It just takes a little thought and some action. Here are a few ideas to help you get on track to getting your daily recommended amount of fiber.
Choose My Plate—US Department of Agriculture
Eat Right—Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Dietitians of Canada
Health Canada Food and Nutrition
Dietary guidelines for Americans 2010. US Department of Health and Human Services website. Available at: http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2010/DietaryGuidelines2010.pdf. Accessed January 14, 2015.
Dietary interventions for cardiovascular disease prevention. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at: http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed. Updated January 6, 2015. Accessed January 14, 2015.
Eat 3 or more whole grain foods every day. American Heart Association website. Available at: http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/WeightManagement/LosingWeight/Eat-3-or-More-Whole-Grain-Foods-Every-Day_UCM_320264_Article.jsp. Updated February 24, 2014. Accessed January 14, 2015.
Fiber. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics website. Available at:
http://www.eatright.org/Public/content.aspx?id=6796&terms=fiber. Updated January 2013. Accessed January 14, 2015.
Shamliyan T, Jacobs D, et al. Are your patients with risk of CVD getting the viscous soluble fiber they need? J Fam Prac. 2006;9:761-769.
3/28/2011 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance
http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed: Park Y, Subar AF, et al.
Dietary fiber intake and mortality in the NIH-AARP diet and health study.
Arch Intern Med. 2011;171(12):1061-1068.
Whole grains and fiber. American Heart Association website. Available at: http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyDietGoals/Whole-Grains-and-Fiber_UCM_303249_Article.jsp. Updated January 7, 2015. Accessed January 14, 2015.
Last reviewed January 2015 by Michael Woods, MD
EBSCO Information Services is fully accredited by URAC. URAC is an independent, nonprofit health care accrediting organization dedicated to promoting health care quality through accreditation, certification and commendation.
Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Copyright © EBSCO Information Services. All rights reserved.


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self placket henley
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NEW YORK -- Gristede's Supermarkets here said last week it plans to open its first supermarket in 20 years in northern New Jersey within the next two months, and expects to have as many as 10 to 15 stores in the state within the next two years. John Catsimatidis, Gristede's chairman, chief executive officer and majority shareholder, told SN that the supermarket situation in New Jersey attracted his attention last spring, when he was attempting to buy Kings Super Markets, Parsippany, N.J., ...
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Find Prints
The acknowledged leader of the Victorian classical school of painting, Frederic Leighton was born in Scarborough, the son of a doctor.
His grandfather, Sir James Leighton, was court physician to Czar Alexander I of Russia; and Sir James' son was also a doctor. Soon after Nicholas I became Czar in 1825 the Leighton family left Russia and spent the ensuing years travelling around Europe, giving their only son, Frederic, first-hand acquaintance with its cultural and artistic treasures.
Unlike most major artists of the nineteenth century Leighton did not study at the Royal Academy Schools, but received his training in Brussels,
Paris and Frankfurt. In 1852 he went to live in Rome, where he moved in a large artistic
circle which included Thackeray, Robert Browning and some of the most important French painters of the time.
On his return to England in 1855, his historical painting Cimabue's Madonna Carried in
Procession through the Streets of Florence was shown at the Royal Academy, where it
received a rapturous reception from the critics and was later bought by Queen Victoria.
It was the start of what was to be a glittering career that took him to the very heights of
his profession.
Leighton settled in London in 1860 and was made an RA in 1868, when he turned to
painting subjects from mythology. His decision to abandon historical paintings coincided
with a sudden upsurge of interest in Hellenism; even women's evening wear was influenced,
Greek gowns that gave women a new-found freedom of movement becoming fashionable.
Leighton suddenly found himself the centre of attention, with his paintings the talk of
London. He was elected President of the Royal Academy in 1878, and became a baron in 1896
(full title = Baron Leighton of Stretton),
the only English artist to receive this honour. But by then he was a sick man who was suffering
from angina. He died in 1896 and after lying in state at the RA, he was buried in St Paul's
Cathedral. His will included a bequest of £10,000 to the Royal Academy. The poet Algernon Swinburne composed a memorial elegy:
'A light has passed that never shall pass away
A sun has set whose rays are unequalled in might'.
Although at the time of his death Leighton was something of a national institution, his reputation quickly declined and his work and all that he stood for became objects of derision. It was to be another 60-70 years before his work would come into fashion again.
Leighton's beautiful home at 2 Holland Park Road, South Kensington, London is now a museum - Leighton House. Here you can see the opulence in which Leighton lived, and view paintings by Leighton, Burne-Jones and other Pre-Raphaelite artists, including Mariana in the South (John William Waterhouse) and The End of the Quest (Sir Frank Dicksee).
The Art Journal (1905)
An account of public reaction to a painting by Leighton, and a number of other works, can be found in the 1905 edition of The Art Journal, p.160:
"For a second time at least, Leighton's Chantrey picture, 'The Bath of Psyche,' has been objected to, most ridiculously, on the score of propriety. A few years ago, in Scotland, prints of it were ordered to be removed from a shop window, and now a dealer in Richmond, Virginia, has been fined for exposing a like engraving. The ban in Scotland extended to Sir Edward Poynter's 'Visit to Æsculapius,' the Chantrey picture of the President, to Mr. Hacker's 'Syrinx,' to Mr. Solomon J. Solomon's 'Orpheus,' and to Watts' 'Diana and Endymion.' These incidents remind us of the furore caused in the early nineties by Mr. P. H. Calderon's 'St. Elizabeth of Hungary,' bought by the Chantrey Trustees for £1260. The artist aimed to pictorialise the scene described by Kingsley: "Lo, here I strip me of all my earthly helps." Father Clarke, S.J., maintained that Calderon "painted a picture which is grossly insulting to a queen and a saint." Professor Huxley and many others joined in the discussion."
A selection of art exhibitions which have featured this
artist's work:
The acknowledged leader of the Victorian classical school of painting, Frederic Leighton was born in Scarborough, the son of a doctor. more...
© 1996-2015 ArtMagick
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Online Learning of Rested and Restless Bandits
In this paper, the authors considered the rested and restless multi-armed bandit problem with Markovian rewards and multiple plays. They showed that a simple extension to UCB1 produces logarithmic regret uniformly over time. They then constructed an algorithm RCA-M that utilizes regenerative cycles of a Markov chain to compute a sample mean based index policy. The sampling approach reduces a restless bandit problem to the rested version, and they showed that under mild conditions on the state transition probabilities of the Markov chains this algorithm achieves logarithmic regret uniformly over time for the restless bandit problem, and that this regret bound is also optimal. They numerically examine the performance of this algorithm in the case of an OSA problem with the Gilbert-Elliot channel model.


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A Note to Madeline, my 11 Year Old Champion
Posted on | August 15, 2013 | 22 Comments
My heart broke for her. Remember the first time you were cut from a team? That painful moment when others were chosen but you weren't? Our 11 year old daughter, Madeline, recently had her first Darwinian encounter at dance practice. Some kids were selected for a certain routine; Madeline was not.
My first reaction: "How dare they?? That's ridiculous! Wait 'til I give that dance teacher a piece of my mind…" In other words, angry at the outside forces who'd jilted my daughter from an event she so rightly deserved. (According to her completely biased dad, anyway.)
Madeline's first reaction: "I hate dance. I'm no good at this. I want to quit."
So there we were, father and daughter, wallowing in self pity and angry at the world.
After a while, though, we reconsidered the experience.
I did my best to explain to Madeline that her mom and I are more pleased when she's doing her best and sticking with something that does not come easy than "winning" that comes easily and requires little effort.
Oh, you're a gifted reader and got straight A's this year in reading class? Ho hum.
You struggle mightily with math, give it your all, and end up with a C+? Hooray!
Madeline, your mom and I are most proud of the strength you and your sisters exude from your hearts, of the battles you win based on effort, of your courage to get back up when life knocks you down.
You are blessed with so many gifts! Please, continue to embrace those. Appreciate them and maximize their value. But don't let disappointment discourage you from doing what you love.
Looking back on my own life, I see time and time again where initial flashes of brilliance fizzled into mediocrity. Kids who were exceptional athletes in high school faded away while smaller, weaker kids who were forced to try harder rocketed to the top. Well spoken extroverts who shone brightly in job interviews but were quickly outpaced by their shy, conscientious peers.
When it comes to family and business, I'm far more appreciative of how determined one is amidst formidable competition vs. how much one succeeds amidst toothless tigers.
Lucky for me, Madeline takes after my wife: minimal drama and good perspective. By the next morning she was her cheery self, bouncing around the dance studio as happily as ever.
Hopefully an 11 year old's life lesson spurs questions for us all…
As adults, how quickly do we charge back from disappointment? Even more importantly, how often do we dare step in the ring with others who appear stronger?
When's the last time you didn't make the cut in something you really wanted, took a deep breath, and tried again?
Setbacks shrink our comfort zone. Failure scares us into "never doing that again!" Like Madeline, though, I hope the next time you miss the mark you bounce back and attack it again. Those in your life who matter the most will be more impressed with your second, third, even fourth attempt than they were with your first.
22 Responses to "A Note to Madeline, my 11 Year Old Champion"
pat mchale
August 16th, 2013 @ 7:36 am
Sounds like Madeline is headed in the right
direction. Why am I not surprised?????
Bill Thomasson
August 16th, 2013 @ 8:28 am
Great story Ben – reminds me of a song: "I hope you dance…"
"I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance."
Tell Madeleine that Mr. Bill says I hope she dances!
Bill Thomasson
August 16th, 2013 @ 9:12 am
Better yet Ben, give her this link:
She may recognize someone in this promo.
Henry GranadosRamos
August 16th, 2013 @ 9:28 am
Thank you for the story Ben. It reminds me of constant conversations I have had with my two older boys. I attached a website for you to look at. If you want to focus on doing your best and not focus just on winning you might like it. I learned one thing through running, which was that I do it for the love of the sport and not because I want to win.
Henry GranadosRamos
August 16th, 2013 @ 9:29 am
Sorry Ben, left out the website.
August 16th, 2013 @ 9:31 am
Ken Fabric
August 16th, 2013 @ 9:46 am
You have such a gift for getting your message across. It is a pleasure reading your blog. Keep biking….
Ben Lawrence
August 16th, 2013 @ 1:06 pm
Thank you for the kind words, Ken. It's easy to relay a good story. (And we have MANY of those from our recent AK adventure, right?)
Ben Lawrence
August 16th, 2013 @ 1:08 pm
Glad to hear this blog inspires everywhere, Deepu, even India!
Ben Lawrence
August 16th, 2013 @ 1:12 pm
Henry, My brother says the most mature, injury free, and often fastest runners/athletes are those who stopped keeping score long ago. Sounds like you're a card carrying member of that club! Live Uncommon seems like a great organization.
I'm sure your boys appreciate the messages you convey. Keep 'em coming.
Ben Lawrence
August 16th, 2013 @ 1:18 pm
Bill, Watching that video makes me grateful for your friendship and proud of your courage to share your story! Looking forward to the full documentary once it's released.
Your comments are so appropriate. I'll be sure to share them with Madeline and watch her smile as she reads them.
Ben Lawrence
August 16th, 2013 @ 1:19 pm
Agreed, Pat. She's got a dynamo mom
August 16th, 2013 @ 3:24 pm
great timing. just today we received notification that my son missed the cut for the town's U10 travel soccer squad and my wife and I are struggling with how to break the news to him. this serves as a great guide for us! thxs
Benjamin Joseph
August 17th, 2013 @ 3:16 am
Love this post Ben many a thing we can all learn from Madeleine!
Ben Lawrence
August 17th, 2013 @ 10:44 am
Ben, I'd love for Madeline and the rest of my family to meet my new British/Spanish hybrid friends. And if anyone can teach others how to dance…
Ben Lawrence
August 17th, 2013 @ 10:47 am
Well, Antonio, sounds like your son and Michael Jordan are starting their athletic careers in the same way. Now that you guys won't be burning fuel all fall on soccer road trips, you and your son can enjoy the BEST fall sport the New England area offers. Time to pedal!
August 19th, 2013 @ 5:04 am
Thanks Ben, inspirational.
I remembered my college days when i flunked my first year and then in my second i flunked again while doing my engineering. Engineering Math and just a few marks being the reason for my not clearing my year. I had lost all hope since i had fought once , now i was asked to fight again !! Hopeless !
Thats when my mom made me realize that quitting is not the excuse but fighting it out till you suceed is !! and she said …even if you fail 8 times we will still support you..but quit you must NOT !!! Post that i have not flunked in study , work , in life …From that day till today i follow her words ! I believe even as adults you need that someone sometimes to show you the PATH !!
Thanks !
Ben Lawrence
August 24th, 2013 @ 4:58 am
Ajay, Your mom's message is terrific! What a perfect message to share with her son, and one that clearly has impacted your life. I'll bet that message, "No matter how many times you fail we'll support you, but you must not quit", plays often through your mind and pushes you to be your best. Thanks for sharing your story.
Jim Aden
August 28th, 2013 @ 7:02 am
Terrific message Ben! As the "little guy" who was always picked last or not at all I can relate to it. But then I remember the time when I was picked last in a pickup basketball game where the first team to get 15 baskets would win. Since you got the ball back when you scored I put in 15 straight baskets, several from half court, to win the game for my team. I think they had a little more respect for me after that. Little did they know how hard I had practiced, and had never given up.
Ben Lawrence
August 30th, 2013 @ 1:54 pm
Thanks for the head up. Now I know to never challenge you to a game of h-o-r-s-e.
You have a long history of exceeding expectations! A great story.
Heather Betts
November 13th, 2013 @ 11:51 am
Ben, never underestimate the resilient child, or the tender wisdom of a young, caring, mindful and dedicated father. Spot on, Ben. Spot on! Madeline is a very lucky and special girl…kudos to the whole family.
Ben Lawrence
November 15th, 2013 @ 10:52 am
Heather, I'm so pleased to welcome you as a reader and commenter to this blog! You have a knack for summarizing in a few sentences what takes me several paragraphs. Love your brevity
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Hill's® Prescription Diet®
j/d® Feline Mobility
Hill's® Prescription Diet® j/d® Feline is the first clinically proven therapeutic food for cats with mobility issues available in the U.S. It is clinically proven to help cats be more active in 28 days.
Key Benefits
- Hill's® Prescription Diet® j/d® Feline is clinically proven to help cats be more active in 28 days.
- Prescription Diet j/d Feline contains omega-3 fatty acids, which nourish cartilage.
- Controlled phosphorus and high levels of omega-3 fatty acids help maintain kidney health.
- High carnitine helps burn fat while maintaining lean muscle mass.
Additional Info
Hill's® Prescription Diet® j/d® Feline is a complete and balanced food that provides all the nutrition cats need. Please consult your veterinarian for further information on how our Prescription Diet® foods can help your cat to continue to enjoy a happy and active life.
Feeding Guide
Daily Feeding Guide:
Helpful Tips
- Cover and refrigerate unused portion.
- These amounts are a starting point only. Your cat may need less or more food to maintain proper weight. Adjust as needed. If you are unsure, ask your veterinarian.
- With your veterinarian's approval, mix increasing amounts of your cat's new food with decreasing amounts of the old food over a 7-day period. Prescription Diet formulas are available in a wide variety of dry foods and treats for your cat's unique needs, and canned foods with delicious flavors your cat will love. Supplementation with other foods or treats is unnecessary and may decrease the effectiveness of the food. When using with dry food and treats, decrease the amount of canned food to avoid overfeeding.
- Keep fresh water available at all times!
- For best results, have your veterinarian monitor your cat's condition.
Adult maintenance - using 5.5 oz (156 g) can
|Weight of Cat
|Amount per Day
|6 lb (2,7 kg)
|1 - 1 1/3 can
|10 lb (4,5 kg)
|1 1/2 - 2 can
|14 lb (6,4 kg)
|1 3/4 - 2 1/2 can
|18 lb (8,2 kg)
|2 1/4 - 3 can
Prescription Diet® j/d® Feline Mobility is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Cat Food Nutrient Profiles for maintenance of adult cats.
Average Nutrient and Caloric Contents
Canned 976 kcal/kg (152 kcal/156g can)
|Dry Matter1
|Carbohydrate (NFE)
|Crude Fiber
|719 ppm
|Vitamin C
|632 mg/kg
|Vitamin E
|727 IU/kg
|Omega-3 Fatty Acids Total
|Chondroitin Sulfate
|116 mg/kg (ppm)
|13 mg/kg (ppm)
References1The nutrient in the product after moisture is removed. It is used to make direct comparisons of nutrient profiles of products with differing moisture contents.
Water, Pork Liver, Pork by-product, Chicken, Corn Starch, Dried Whey, Powdered Cellulose, Chicken Liver Flavor, Wheat Flour, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Fish Oil, Soybean Oil, Soy Fiber, Corn Gluten Meal, Guar Gum, Calcium Carbonate, Rice Flour, Locust Bean Gum, Chicken Cartilage, Brewers Dried Yeast, Iodized Salt, L-Lysine, Cysteine, Potassium Chloride, DL-Methionine, Taurine, Vitamin E Supplement, Carrageenan, Ascorbic Acid (source of vitamin C), Choline Chloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, L-Carnitine, Manganese Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Beta-Carotene, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin, Biotin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Calcium Iodate.


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Happy days are here again, or so it would appear.
Since 2008 consumers have been paying down their debt and not taking out so much new debt, in part because banks weren't lending. But there appears to have been an abrupt shift. Consumer debt is on the rise again, and so in fact is corporate borrowing.
Of course, not all debt is bad. If it's manageable it allows the consumer to increase purchasing power. Those purchases can stimulate the economy.
In its latest report on consumer credit, the Federal Reserve notes consumer debt increased at an annual rate of 5.5% in August. Revolving credit – things like credit cards – decreased at an annual rate of 1.25% while non-revolving credit – things like car loans -- increased at an annual rate of 8.0%.
Student loan debt up 61%
The Fed's numbers show consumer credit surpassed the $3 trillion level in the second quarter of the year and has yet to show signs of slowing down. It has risen 22% since 2010. But in addition to buying new cars, Americans continue to go into debt to attend college. In the last three years student loan debt is up 61%.
Credit card debt is among the most expensive there is, with the average rate north of 14%. But since the financial crisis of 2008 revolving debt, which includes credit cards, has been steadily going down.
For example, in 2008 revolving credit debt totaled just over $1 trillion. By the end of 2012 it had fallen to $845 billion.
Non-revolving debt has been increasing in the last five years. It stood at $1.6 trillion in 2008 and by August was running at an annual rate of $2.1 trillion.
Expanded purchasing power
Both businesses and consumers use credit to purchase things that they otherwise would not be able to buy. A house is a good example. Very few consumers can come up with $200,000 to purchase a house so they take out a mortgage for $160,000 to $180,000.
On one hand the availability of credit has an inflationary impact. If no one could borrow money to buy a house then houses would have to cost $10,000 to $20,000 or no one could afford them. But if houses were that cheap then builders could only pay their laborers pennies per hour and could only pay pennies for materials. So the lack of credit can have a deflationary impact.
That's what economic policymakers feared after the 2008 financial crisis when there was little credit available at any price. The fact that both consumers and businesses are able to borrow again – and are doing so – is going to be greeted as good news, as long as the credit is manageable.
Worries about college loan debt
Currently, the biggest worry about unmanageable credit is in college loans. That total has now surpassed the $1 trillion mark, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has voiced concern about how students will be able to repay their debt.
The agency is not alone. The Institute for College Access and Success estimates the average student will graduate with a loan balance of $26,000. Ten percent are expected to run up more than $40,000 in loans.
Some economists worry student loan debt is a giant iceberg, waiting to sink not just students but the U.S. economy. True, the debt makes it hard for young people starting a career to buy cars, homes and other things that can help stimulate the economy.
But there is also a bigger worry. Since much of the student loan balance is guaranteed by the U.S. government, it's the U.S. taxpayer that takes the hit if these consumers default.


text:
"The boulder helped, too. He only had to push it a little. Mostly it crawled on its own. That was nice, but he wished it wouldn't moan so. Boulders shouldn't moan. Especially not in French. It wasn't fair to make him listen to it."It's common in media to allow inanimate objects the power of motion. Sometimes this is done for plot reasons. Sometimes this is done to add an element of surprise or the supernatural to a work. Whatever the reason, this trope is for when typically inanimate objects are self animated in a work. When this happens, it is always obvious to the viewer and to any characters aware of the process. Depending on the object and whether there's a Masquerade going on, it might be obvious to everyone. Often objects that have this trope applied to them are anthropomorphized to a degree. Normally they are just given faces, but they may also be able to interact with their environment and hold things in ways that you wouldn't think a sofa would be able to. How and why this happens varies from work to but there are some common variations:
— David Brin, Sundiver
- They were always animate to begin with, but they often have to maintain a Masquerade. In that case this will generally hold true for all the same objects or to put it better the representatives of their kind.
- They were made animate by the Power of Love.
- They absorbed some kind of Applied Phlebotinum, are Haunted Technology, or A Wizard Did It. (See also Instant A.I., Just Add Water).
- They are transformed humans.
- They are possessed.
- Or simply Rule of Funny.
- Anthropomorphic Food
- Dancing Pants
- Living Statue
- Living Structure Monster
- Living Toys
- Love Imbues Life
- Talking Appliance Sidekick
- Talking Poo
- Talking Weapon
- Sentient Vehicle
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- This 1998 commercial for Heinz Ketchup has living tomatoes squeezing themselves into ketchup.
- The Parkay ads with the talking Parkay container.
- Mr. Bag from the Sonic commercials.
Anime and Manga
- Where to start with Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo? The main characters include egotistical confectionery Don Patch; the soft-serve ice-cream-headed Softon; walking jelly mold Jelly Jiggler, and Torpedo Girl. Non-main characters include hamburger men, the Dynamite Brothers, a green onion man (or is he garlic?), and talking fries and chocolate.
- Soul Hunter has supernatural humans, animals, and objects; one mischievous spirit turned out to be that of a biwa and was able to return to human form once she absorbed enough moonlight.
- Moe from Love Hina - see the Japanese example in Myth and Legend, below.
- Beatrice from the manhwa 13th Boy is a walking talking cactus with a face. He only talks and moves when around Hee-So Eun, the main character. Hee-So wonders if he's some sort of mutation. The truth is that Beatrice was given a heart by her first boyfriend Whie-Young Jang, who possesses a mysterious magical power. He did something similar to his friend Sae-Bom's stuffed rabbit Mr. Toe-Toe, though he is no longer "alive."
- Oku-sama wa Mahou Shoujo has several of the household items in Ureshiko's home be alive, thanks to her magic.
- In Servant × Service, the pink stuffed bunny that appeared every now and then turned out in episode 4 to be no mere Series Mascot, but the section manager himself! Who is apparently so shy that he had to resort to working via a remote controlled bunny....
- In Pandora Hearts, Oz the B-rabbit used to be a pair of ordinary stuffed toys. The Abyss gave the dolls a shared consciousness.
- Omamori Himari has Lizet who is actually a tea cup. To be precise, she's a Tsukumogami, and object that became living after 100 years of use and love.
- Kenjirou Isshiki of Vividred Operation has his consciousness transferred to a stuffed otter for most of the series.
- The cast of Spoon-hime no Swing Kitchen from Okaasan To Issho are animated kitchen objects.
- Boku no Tomodachi, also formerly seen on Okaasan to Issho, has animated appliances as major characters.
- In The Autumnlands: Tooth & Claw there is Magister Eikhoun's animated chair which Learoyd uses as a mount for a time.
- Depending on the Writer, Doctor Strange's Cloak of Levitation has the ability to move on its own and can also grasp and hold things like a second pair of hands.
- Linus's security blanket in Peanuts starts stalking and attacking Lucy in one series of 1965 strips.
- Most items in New York became vaguely sentient and capable of movement during the X-Men crossover Inferno due to demonic possession.
- The Colbert Report: Stephen is defeated in a health care reform debate by a table and a desklamp. He is the only one who can hear them though.
Fan Works
- In Doctor Who In Nine Easy Steps, the Mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe is known thoughout as "Simon Pegg's evil ceiling".
- In the The Darker Knight, the television comes to life and teams up with Batman.
- The fangame Mother: Cognitive Dissonance starts similarly. After making Alinivar go back in his cave to get a gold rock, there's a crash and his own piece of artwork comes to life to attack him. He then has to fight flowers after a second crash, and the objects only become weirder from there.
- Mother 4 shows in its trailer one of your enemies is a living, brown Autumn leaf.
- In the fanfic The Annoying Mole A Hetalia Trollfic Austria's mole is alive, and as you can guess, it is very annoying.
- The Chaotic Evil Volleyball of Terror from Calvin At Camp.
- Illogica Safe from Zany To The Max.
Films — Animated
- The Brave Little Toaster: All the electrical appliances are sapient and with their own personality. The protagonists got attached to their "master".
- Cars, only there's no need for a Masquerade as they are the only inhabitants of the earth.
- Toy Story has all things that qualify as toys being alive and intelligent.
- In Beauty and the Beast, people are transformed into objects by a vengeful enchantress; they also pretend to be regular objects around strangers.
- Aladdin: Magic Carpet.
- Fantasia: Mickey the Sorcerer's Apprentice (no, not that one) animates some brooms to help him out. It does not go smoothly.
- Dumbo: Casey Jr., the circus train.
- Pixar's corporate logo is the titular lamp from their animated short Luxo Jr. It appears in the opening title of all of their films.
- Merlin in Disney's The Sword in the Stone owns a whole house of animate furniture, most prominently the tea set with the insolent sugar bowl. He also magically animated a castle's worth of things to clean themselves.
- Screwy the baseball and Darling the baseball bat from Everyone's Hero.
- Golden Films was fond of this trope. Most of the time they never explained exactly why the objects came to life:
- Prince Edward's possessions in The Prince and the Pauper (1995)
- Melody's (Not Esmeralda in their version) Instruments are alive, and tend to upstage the "Lead" Characters, in their version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Golden Films). The most explanation we get is, she has some vague Magic, or something?
- Pocahontas' canoe in Pocahontas (Golden Films)
Films — Live-Action
- Night at the Museum has the contents of the museum come to life in secret every night, though the Masquerade seems to have been given up by the sequel.
- Transformers Film Series: Regular appliances became Transformers when exposed to the MacGuffin in the live-action movies.
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit: Eddie Valiant's gun and bullets, plus Benny the Cab. And EVERYTHING in Toontown! Even the buildings had eyes, and sometimes mouths.
- The killer tire from Rubber.
- At the end of Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Miss Price casts the Substitutiary Locomotion spell on an old armory. The result? Animate suits of armor beating up the Nazis. It's exactly as awesome as it sounds.
- Everything in Mr Toads Wild Ride. Even the water!
- A rope walks into a bar and orders a drink. The bartender says, "I'm sorry, but we don't serve ropes here." So, the rope leaves. He meets another rope, who says, "I can get that bartender to give me a drink." The second rope enters the bar and orders a drink. The bartender says the same thing he said to the first rope, and the second rope leaves. The first rope is waiting outside for her, and when she leaves, the two ropes see a third rope, who says, "I can get that bartender to give me a drink." The first two ropes tell him, "No, they don't serve ropes there." However, he undoes his ends and ties himself into a knot, and then enters the bar. The bartender looks at the third rope and asks him, "Are you a rope?" He replies, "No, I'm a frayed knot."
- Stephen King's Christine is one. Then again, his usage of this trope (from Killer hedge animals to laundry machines) is so prevalent in his work it has been parodied in Family Guy, where a Stephen King running low on ideas (implicitly due to this trope and his prolific output) is reduced to pitching "Oooh, Scary Lamp!". The pitch is accepted.
- The Luggage from the Discworld novels is made of sapient pearwood and runs around on a hundred tiny legs. This being Discworld, there is no Masquerade involved. People just naturally get out of the way of the box that could eat them.
- Sapient pearwood Luggages see a fair amount of use in the Agatean Empire. However, the Luggage, the best-known in the novels, has been noted to be a little more aggressive than its siblings. Judging by some descriptions of The Luggage's trip around the Counterweight Continent, it can also mate and have children.
- Discworld's trolls and gargoyles are implied to have originated when rocks and statues respectively became animate. The Power Of Faith can also have this effect, as shown in Pyramids when Dios's snake-headed staff becomes animated.
- Horace the cheese from Wintersmith. He's a wheel of Lancre Blue, which has been established in other Discworld books as being abnormally lively for a cheese under normal circumstances. Since Tiffany Aching, who is very good with cheese, made Horace, he apparently achieved sapience and started hanging out with the Nac Mac Feegle, who are also small, blue, and belligerent.
- The titular protagonist of The Velveteen Rabbit.
- A variant is seen in the novel Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls; the protagonist can speak to any inanimate object that has been handled by humans enough. Some of them have... unique... personalities, like the bomb that really, really wants to explode.
- The title character of the Garrett, P.I. series has a painting of a woman named Eleanor that may or may not be inhabited by her ghost. He's the only one who can see it move (since he was the only one who could see her ghost to begin with) and often talks to it, although she never answers.
- Garrett tends to invoke this trope facetiously, like when he describes tripping over furniture in the dark as if he's being attacked by a homicidal chair. With sixteen legs.
- Everything in The Annals of the Chosen can develop to at least an animal's intelligence. In areas dominated by nature, this means Everything Trying to Kill You unless you make some sacrifices, so to speak. Artificial objects are imbued with a desire to fulfill the purpose of their creation, which can still be a bad thing if the objects are weapons.
- While Dor from Xanth can't animate, he can still talk to any inanimate object (and they answer back).
- The toys in Susannah York (yes, the actress)'s novel Lark's Castle are inanimate but able to think, until some of them are animated by a "lifestone".
- In Thomas Baum's It Looks Alive to Me!, the premise is that once the moon rock exhibit was added, all the exhibits shaped like living creatures came to life.
- The Ice-Cream Cone Coot and Other Rare Birds features many "birds" that are really just Animate Inanimate Objects that resemble birds.
- All of the characters in Lemony Snicket's book The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming (a Christmas Story), including the eponymous latke, a string of lights, a candy cane, and a fir tree. Lampshaded:
"This may seem like unusual behavior for a potato pancake, but this is a Christmas story, in which things tend to happen that would never occur in real life."
- In the Choose Your Own Adventure book Return to Brookmere, the protagonist is accompanied by a magical talking amulet named the Mouth of Mimulus.
- The protagonist of Seanan McGuire's Velveteen stories has this as a superpower, though it only works on inanimate objects that have been made to look like living things. She can also modify them to an extent to give them weapons, i.e. a stuffed bunny rabbit growing claws and sharp teeth when she brings it to life to combat her enemies.
- The Dragons of Wayward Crescent from The Last Dragon Chronicles.
- In Twisted all the living amusement park rides (except red coasters) began as ordinary rides that were destroyed or put into storage in the human world become living creatures in the Amusement Park Between. It's also mentioned that the stuffed animals won as prizes come to life, but never shown.
- Many stories by Hans Christian Andersen contain inanimate objects talking to each other.
Live Action TV
- The Nestene Consciousness' Autons from Doctor Who. Dime store mannequins are the most famous type, but they can be made to resemble any object made of plastic, including an evil doll, a man-eating trashcan, or a comfy chair of doom.
- Or its most impressive accomplishment: real people.
- Also from Doctor Who, the Weeping Angels as a special example, in that they have always been animate, but can only move when no one is watching them. They most frequently take the form of ultra-creepy statues, but anything that holds the image of an angel can become an angel if one of them is close. So a photograph, a TV screen, or even a sketch might come alive. Don't put them near other statues.
- This seems to be a feature of Time Lord technology. In their earliest days, they created the living metal validium; the Hand of Omega, a quasi-sentient stellar manipulator; and the Moment, the galaxy eater, a weapon so powerful the operating system became sentient. Their most famous examples of living technology, however, are the TARDISes, Living Ship time machines.
- Inverted in Soap: Bob is strictly a ventriloquist doll but often characters will forget and talk to him like he's a separate character from Chuck, the one who controls him. The Only Sane Man, Benson, is one of the few who never gets confused.
- This is the entire premise of the Bryan Fuller show Wonderfalls, though only the main character can see them.
- An episode of Haven has machines start acting on their own and killing people. Turns out they were all repaired by a Troubled mechanic who is unaware of his "uniqueness".
- Another episode has stuffed animals and people come alive.
- Sesame Street 's Elmo's World segment has a side table drawer, window shade, computer and TV that prance around and interact with Elmo.
- Monty Python's Flying Circus featured a race between a wash basin, a water closet pedestal, a sofa, Joanna Southcott's box, a hat stand and a lamp. Affected in stop-motion animation as opposed to the form Terry Gilliam employs.
- Metaroids in Tokumei Sentai Go Busters.
- Most supporting characters in Okaasan to Issho 's Monoran Monoran are tsukumogami, such as a post box, magnifying glass, and three alarm clocks.
Myth and Legend
- The Greek myth of the musician, poet and prophet Orpheus, who was taught by the god Apollo to play music so beautifully that he could tame animals, soothe stormy weather, and bring inanimate objects to life.
- The myth of Pygmalion and Galatea, told by Ovid, which makes this trope Older Than Feudalism.
- According to a Japanese legend, objects that have been abandoned for a hundred years (teapots, umbrellas, etc) can come alive, and are known as tsukumogami. Fridge Logic waves away some problems by explaining electricity repels such creatures, hence modern examples are rare. Also serves as a commentary to the effect that people don't really save things for that long anymore.
- Bally/Midway's Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man Pinball includes a fire hydrant complete with eyes, a nose, a mouth, and hands (with White Gloves, no less).
Tabletop Games
- Wizards (and Clerics with the Chaos domain) in Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 can cast the spell animate object.
- In the role-playing game In Nomine, one class of angels, Kyriotates in the service of the Archangel of Lightning, can possess inanimate objects.
- Promethean: The Created is based on this trope. Prometheans are formed from dead body parts, machines, or other things and come to life. For many the goal is to become human. For others...
- Nobilis takes an animistic view of the world: everything in the world has a spirit, whether it is a cloud or a rock or whatever. Normal humans live in a reality like our own and cannot normally see these spirits, but if they switched their perspectives around they'd see all spirits ever at the same time. Unfortunately, this would be really bad for them and their sanity. While seeing reality as it really is might be correct, it does not make for a very functional existence.
- The Duston archetype in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG are living dust particles.
Video Games
- The MOTHER series as a whole takes this Up to Eleven.
- In EarthBound Beginnings, you start your adventure off fighting two possessed Lamps and a Baby Doll, and then you start to fight vehicles.
- Same in EarthBound. Expect to fight coffee mugs, angry taxi cabs, circus tents, piles of puke, trash cans, exploding trees, stop signs, molecules, abstract art, and so much more.
- MOTHER 3 isn't far behind its predecessors, with living yams (baked or otherwise), beans, musical instruments and suits of armor, a sword and a shield being animate on their own.
- Parappa The Rapper features P.J. Berri, a living teddy bear, Sunny Funny, a daisy with a human body, and Chop Chop Master Onion, an anthropomorphic... take a guess.
- The Spinoff, UmJammer Lammy, featured several anthropomorphic objects as background characters.
- Chulip contains (among other things) a stone lion, a gravestone, an eggplant, and a telephone pole as characters. And yes, you kiss all of them.
- Most of the shopkeepers and some of the potential townsfolk in Magician's Quest: Mysterious Times are anthropomorphic objects, for varying degrees of anthropomorphic. Shopkeepers include a wineglass, a dressing dummy, a lightbulb, and a barber pole. Townspeople include an anthropomorphic Russian Doll, a brownie townsperson and a watering can shopkeeper — although they may just be people with unusual head wear.
- The Japanese legend that objects can become animate (see "Myth and Legend" above) is used in Touhou with Medicine Melancholy (a doll), Kogasa Tatara (an umbrella), Hata no Kokoro (a collection of masks), the Tsukumo sisters (a biwa and a koto) and Raiko Horikawa (a taiko drum). Kogasa has the classic tsukumogami origin (hence the name of her theme song, "Beware the Umbrella Left There Forever"), while Raiko and the Tsukumo sisters were animated during one of Gensokyo's frequent incidents, and Medicine's and Kokoro's exact origins are unknown. They manifest human bodies which are separate from the items they originally were.
- In Journey, banners and cloth you'll come across largely resemble marine life, with rays, jellyfish, kelp and so on moving like the air was an ocean.
- Pokémon has a number of examples.
- Banette used to be a doll that was thrown away by a child, and now seeks revenge. By extension, this also applies to its unevolved form, Shuppet.
- Rotom can possess objects, as revealed in Pokémon Platinum, where it can possess a washing machine, a lawnmower, an oven, a freezer, and a table fan. Specifically, it possesses technology that uses a special kind of motor. The aforementioned objects are specially prepared for research purposes.
- Voltorb is also implied to be a Pokeball turned sentient, through an unknown cause.
- Its SoulSilver Pokedex entry specifically states that it was discovered when Pokeballs were invented. An entry in another game says its components are not found in nature.
- Shedinja is the discarded exoskeleton of a Nincada after it evolves into Ninjask. Exactly how it is animated, especially considering the former occupant still lives, is not explained.
- Sandygast and Palossand are both haunted sandcastles. They possess people and control them to supply them with sand to grow larger.
- Dhelmise appears to be an animated anchor covered in seaweed. Its actual body is the haunted seaweed holding onto an anchor to animate it, and is fittingly enough a Ghost/Grass type.
- A few more that are based on inanimate objects, yet are not implied to have been animated by outside forces, include Magnemite (magnets), Gardevoir (possibly anesama ningyou, a style of paper doll), Bronzor (a bronze mirror), and Bronzong (a bronze bell). Black and White have many more, including Trubbish (a garbage bag), Klink (a pair of gears), Munna (a Japanese form of incense burner), Darumaka (whose line is based off daruma dolls), and Litwick (a ghostly candle, which evolves into a lamp, and then a chandelier). X and Y then introduced Honedge (a sword possessed by an ancient spirit, that evolves into two swords and finally a BFS with a shield), Klefki (an animated key-ring fairy).
- The Hag from Thief: Deadly Shadows animates statues with her magic.
- The majority of enemies in zOMG are this. In fact, they're even called the Animated.
- The same with Cartoon Network's MMORPG FusionFall, though there it's a type of goo fusing with the object.
- In Super Meat Boy, the ground in chapter select screen has a face which gets progressively creepier as the chapter number goes up.
- A large chunk of Banjo-Kazooie's supporting cast is made up of these, all possessing Rare's now-trademark "googly eyes". This was toned down a lot for the sequel, Banjo-Tooie, and in the third installment, Nuts & Bolts, there are no characters like this at all.
- Conker's Bad Fur Day brought back this style of character and deconstructed it, showing what life for a living, googly-eyed piece of cheese or sweetcorn must be like.
- The Mario franchise has a long and proud history of drawing eyes or faces on many of its background elements such as hills and clouds.
- In Super Mario Bros. 3, Mario is harassed by an angry sun in two different levels.
- Super Mario 64 has the Piano. Though it may be a case of The Undead because it takes place in Big Boo's Haunt.
- The series also has the Chuckolator in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, which is living soda, the Sea Pipe Fountain and Junker in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, animate fountains and bins, and Ticksquawks, Dark Blocks, Krubbish, Mount Pajamaja and Earthwake in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, who are living clocks, ? mark blocks, bins, volcanoes and building hive mind robots respectively.
- Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon also has the Possessors, which can turn a normal object (mostly non living ones) into this. Like frozen ponds, clocks, suits of armour and staircases. Yes stairs, which then roar at Luigi before lunging at him.
- In Mole Mania, Muddy Mole fights the sun as the World 2 boss and, Crazy Awesome that he is, KILLS THE SUN. Muddy also fights Funton, an animate 100-ton weight who occasionally jumps sky-high and delivers a damaging tremor if you're foolish enough to stay underground when he lands.
- Grimoires Weiss, Noir, and Rubrum in NieR are all ancient books that are capable of speech and float around on their own. Weiss lends help in the form of magic attacks (and British-accented snarky commentary) to the main character. On the other hand, Noir and Rubrum are mustache-twirlingly evil and bugfuck insane, respectively.
- The King of Red Lions in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, a sentient boat that recruits Link in his plan to defeat Ganonforf in exchange for helping the boy rescue his sister. In reality, the boat itself isn't sentient so much as it's being possessed - by the king of the long-lost nation of Hyrule, no less
- Fallen London has Polythreme, where everything is animate. Not nearly as much fun as it sounds. Most things in Polythreme don't enjoy being animate, and may attempt to take it out on the humanoid inhabitants if they get the opportunity.
- The Wise One in Golden Sun is revealed in the third game to be a sapient, Psynergy-capable Philosopher's Stone, making one of Isaac's unseen comments in the first game Hilarious in Hindsight.
- Garet: Do you know what that thing is, Isaac?*answer "yes"*Garet: I know it's a rock, stupid!
- By adding the adjective, "live" or "living" to any noun in Super Scribblenauts, the conjured item gains the abilities to move, hold objects, attack people and objects, etc. regardless if it would have been animate or not without the addition word.
- SimAnt has the evil lawn mower◊.
"The evil lawn mower has sucked you into its whirling blades! Your body is reduced to a thin slime."
- The gyroids◊ in the Animal Crossing series are statues which move and make noises when interacted with (and if you have some in your house, they'll "dance" along to any music you have playing). Lloid falls under this trope, since he appears to be sentient (he runs the auction house in City Folk and collects donations for public works projects in New Leaf). There's speculation among the fanbase that the villager Coco is also a gyroid due to her hollow-eyed and -mouthed appearance, but officially she's a rabbit.
- Ribbit King has Picwick, a living wicker basket with limbs who acts as the protagonist's caddy in the story mode.
- Napple Tale features create-able "furniture paffets" living chairs, streetlamps, ceiling fans, etc, that are installed around the Hub Level, Napple Town, based on townsfolk requests.
- Dynasty Warriors: Gundam makes up for not having cockpit shots of the pilots by having their Mobile Suits emote far more in cutscenes than they do in the source material. This is kept sensible, though, with the Mo Cap Mecha having more dramatic gestures than the models with buttons and leversnote ... mostly. Elpio Puru manages such feats as making her Qubelay Happy Dance or flail its arms in frustration.
- In Top Shop, one of the playable characters is a cactus named Dona. She rides around in a wheeled pot.
- Cuphead has plenty of this including the protagonist who're walking cup, keeping with the 1930s cartoon style theme.
- Very common in Ufouria. Platforms and even projectiles have eyes.
- In Monkey Shines, many mooks are moving objects, especially in the level About the House.
- In Bugs Bunny: Lost in Time, living brooms appear as enemies in the Medieval Period, courtesy of Witch Hazel being the main enemy of that era.
- Luxaren Allure: Mobile Graves (Tombstones on six insectoid legs), Quietus Clocks (Floating giant [1] clocks with pointed teeth with a small bit of chain on each of their arms.), and Disco Infernoes (Giant floating flaming disco balls.) ...
- Weird And Unfortunate Things Are Happening: Point and Clicks (Animate computer mice), mobile books...
- Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book: Sophie's companion Plachta is a talking book who also floats in the air.
Web Comics
- Circuit very much Humanizes internal computer parts.
- Sexy Losers takes this in a disturbing direction. Blowup dolls have minds and can remember everything that's been done to them. A fairy occasionally shows up to animate them as full humans, whereupon they usually a): kill themselves, b): kill their former owners and / or or c): become prostitutes and remain as objectified as before, since they lack the education and skills to make decent lives for themselves. This being Sexy Losers, all three of those fates are Played for Laughs.
- My Milk Toof is about two walking, talking milk teeth.
- The Perry Bible Fellowship loves this trope, often taking it to dark and scary places.
- The Order of the Stick, while not featuring them as major characters, did bring us a brief intermission starring anthropomorphic movie snacks.
- The Fourth has ghosts possessing swords and plant pots.
- The first generation of the robots in Gunnerkrigg Court seem to be this; Kat's analysis of them has difficulty determining what their power source is, or even how their moving parts (of which they seem to have comparatively few) connect. Later generations of them work on more conventional robotics principles.
- The Instrumen from The Sanity Circus were originally musical instruments who were brought to life and given alternate human forms by their creator. They can still turn back to their instrument forms if wished, and can still move and speak as normal. Steven the flute even emotes to an impressive extent without any real facial features.
Web Animation
- Chocolate Man and Chocolate Lady from Nameless. There's really no explanation for it—it's that kind of a series.
- The Clock Crew use clock faces as their actual faces.
- Banana-nana-Ninja!: "In a world where a banana can be a ninja, one extraordinary little banana... is a ninja!"
- Some of the characters from Weebl & Bob.
- Battle for Dream Island and Inanimate Insanity (and their sequels and all of their parodies) combine this with the premise of Reality Shows like Total Drama Island (they have created a subtype of Web Animation entitled "object shows" by many). Anthropomorphic Food (like a cup of orange juice, for instance) gets added to the mix sometimes.
- Inanimate Insanity II manages to avert this in the case of Box who, despite the others acting like it is an animated object just like everybody else, is actually just a regular inanimate object. Trophy manages to point this out when he is eliminated.
Web Original
- The Soap in The Gamer's Alliance. The people of the world need it for the sake of clean, happy mouths everywhere!
- The Annoying Orange not only has talking produce, but tons of talking inanimate objects as well.
- The Insane Cafe Series features living vehicles that help fight against Chong.
- Famicom Dojo has a talking NES named NESter, his son: a NES 2 nicknamed Junior, and his brother: a Famicom that speaks Japanese.
- TheStrawhatNO!: A cupcake in Pikmin 2 Day 10 seems to move on its own; there is no Dweevil underneath it, and the nearby Blowhog is too far way to be pushing it. Yoshi suggests that it's being possessed by the almond on top of it.
- Don't Hug Me I'm Scared features several villains who are inanimate objects. Sketchpad, Colin (a computer), and Tony (a clock) thus far. The Healthy Band consists of Anthropomorphic Food.
Western Animation
- Adventure Time has BMO (pronounced Beemo), Finn and Jake's sentient video game console.
- The living clocks in the Rainbow Parade cartoon "Grandfather's Clock", and the living kitchen appliances in "Picnic Panic".
- In a Darkwing Duck episode, Megavolt gained the ability to turn machines into sentient beings.
- South Park: Towlie and Mr. Hanky.
- In Jackie Chan Adventures, the Rat Talisman is treated as a useless power because it can't be used to fly or shoot fire. Its applications have ranged from Living Toys by animating Jade's Gnomekop and Supermoose, both of them proving quite useful in battle. When Jackie is cursed to become a wooden puppet, the Rat saves the day by allowing puppet Jackie animation so he can still fight back and reverse the curse. It even one-ups the Living Statue: it doesn't make the statues of the Chinese war hero Lo Pei and a Mesoamerican deity come to life, it actually transforms the statues into living copy-versions of Lo Pei and said deity, complete with all the deity's powers intact.
- Frosty the Snowman! The magic hat gives him the ability to animate (although it's partly also the Power of Love).
- Numerous objects in The Ren & Stimpy Show, including nipples.
- Played for Laughs in many Flip the Frog cartoons where inanimate characters frequently come alive to be involved in various gags.
- The Sushi Pack, along with The Legion of Low Tide and The Fried Food Fighting Force are all humanized versions of various food stuffs (sushi for the Pack and Legion, fried foods for guess who.
- Blue's Clues! Sentient salt and pepper shakers, shovel and pail, side table drawer...
- Aqua Teen Hunger Force has the titular crew, Master Shake, Frylock and Meatwad. Exactly what they sound like.
- In the Codename: Kids Next Door episode "Operation: B.R.I.E.F.S., there was Mr. White, a living pair of underwear (with a bad attitude and a Brooklyn accent) hired by the Delightful Children as a hit man to go after Numbuh One. But he had a HeelFace Turn at the end.
- VeggieTales is about the adventures of animate produce. The show also features a living computer as a series regular and there's been at least two Living Toys and a living music box.
- Jimmy Two-Shoes has this as part of its Bait-and-Switch Credits in season 2. The series proper has some examples, including Bill the Ball and an unnamed sock.
- Regular Show has Benson, a walking, talking gumball machine.
- In the episode of "Prankless", Gene, the manager of East Pines park, is a walking, talking snack vending machine.
- Speaking of gumballs, The Amazing World of Gumball has sentient cacti, balloons, clouds, potatoes, bananas, toast and so on. And that's just among the main characters; everything in Elmore is alive and anything can also become anthropomorphic.
- The Heart of Jong from Xiaolin Showdown, which can bring otherwise inanimate objects to life.
- An episode of Kim Possible (which dealt with Kim having to deal with learning how to drive), many of the appliances and a car in the episode possessed the ability to talk and move on their own. Justified in this case, as it is heavily implied that they possessed advanced AI created by the scientist that Dr. Drakken kidnapped.
- In Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms, Kate Corrigan and another BPRD agent encounter tsukumogami, including an umbrella, a teapot, and a sandal. Amusingly, Kate doesn't even bat an eye at them, until they start attacking.
- An early Looney Tunes short, Naughty But Mice, had an electric shaver.
- Dora the Explorer loves this trope so much. Sentient backpacks, maps, rollercoasters, cars, trees, leaves, suns, clouds, stars, trains...the list goes on and on and on.
- Goof Troop sporadically contains examples. Some, like the evil magic hat that is capable of hexing people in "Talent to the Max" and the self-playing instruments in "Dr. Horatio's Magic Orchestra", are important to the plot. Others, like the truck with a face in "Where There's Smoke, There's Goof" and the bullets with faces in "Gunfight at the Okie-Doke Corral" are only there for joke purposes. And none of it is ever explained despite being notably uncommon.
- In My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Discord evokes this in Keep Calm and Flutter On by making the candles dance and having various bits of tableware wreak havoc on the ponies.
- Family Guy sometimes features cutaway gags with animate inanimate objects. One example has a bullet talking to someone on a smartphone while being shot up in the sky.
- The New Spirit: Donald Duck's pen, ink and blotter are alive. Even the radio seems alive, because it is shaped like a face and reacts to the things Donald says. The mailbox also reacts with surprise when Donald zooms past it.
- The Disney short Tick Tock Tale is about living clocks. They can't talk but they move when humans aren't around.
- Not immediately clear in Crac, but it eventually becomes obvious that the smiley face on the rocking chair changes expressions with the rocking chair's mood. And the ending reveals that the rocking chair can rock itself.
- The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore: Morris is transported to a magical library where the books are sentient and can fly. A children's book about Humpty Dumpty can even communicate with Morris by flipping its pages so that its illustrations become animated.


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Michael Raleigh
The Blue Moon Circus
After a flood destroys Lewis Tully's circus in 1919, he vows his circus career is over. However, his lifelong love…
About our Reviews
Over the last 15 years The Historical Novels Review (the society's print magazine for our members) has published reviews of some 12,000 historical fiction books. We plan to upload them all and make them searchable here.


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Application to petition for a review of programs and course taken to qualify for graduation and issuance of degree.
Students can drop a course at any time prior to the end of week 6.
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Thomas focuses on Customer Care, Leadership for New Leaders and Recruitment
He has lived and worked in Australia, Switzerland and the UK starting and growing businesses, leading teams and coaching and mentoring senior level executives.
In addition to running the business, he stays sharp by delivering training programs and speaking at conferences.
He most recently addressed the UAE Military and Police on Leadership Lessons. Thomas specialises in Leadership for New Leaders and Sales Management. He will shortly complete his MBA from Aston University.
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Can you imagine using the Baldur's Gate engine to power a game about kicking ass with kung fu? BioWare's Greg Zeschuk could. Much to fellow doctor Ray Muzyka's chagrin, Greg went into detail at last night's DICE 2011 keynote about a game pitch they worked up for Five FIngers of Death that was never picked up.
When asked about some of the mistakes they've made in development, Greg said he'd rather tell us one of the funniest things he'd ever done in development, leaving Ray shaking his head. Supposedly videotape of this pitch actually exists, so let's hope it surfaces some day.
"It was a kung fu game set in the Baldur's Gate universe. The idea was that you would take the Baldur's Gate engine, and make a kung fu game out of that. But we always thought cutscenes cost a lot of money, and were hard to make, so we thought why don't we take kung fu movie footage and just redub it? And so that's what we did.
We had little kung fu fights in the Baldur's Gate engine, and I actually did most of the voices in this really, really cheesy thing that I spent weeks cutting together in the first version of premiere. We sent it out and people just thought we were insane. We sent it to Interplay, and they basically just laughed us out of the building. I look back and that, and I'm like 'Thank god.' If we had actually made that, I don't know what would have happened."
What would have happened?! It sounds awesome! Somewhere at DICE I'm sure a developer thought this was an exciting idea, and is going to start slapping kung fu cutscenes together. You'd save a bundle and be able to put all of your money into the chopsocky.


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Milwaukee Transit System Mapby Carticulate Maps
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American Apparel Zip-up Hoodies and Pullover Hoodies come in a variety of colors and sizes. Complete with kangaroo pocket this stretchy, comfortable fit, unisex cut includes double-stitched cuffs and hem.
This map of a theoretical rapid transit system is a take on what local and regional rail could look like in Milwaukee, WI. It's design is inspired by multiple rail maps from systems across the US and more than just a basic theoretical system looks to embed layers of history and political challenges that are hidden in transit maps across the nation. And above all, it's fun to have a transit map for your city.


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By Jennifer Lipman, October 8, 2010
With Katie Waissel performing on X Factor, and three Jewish candidate's battling it out to become Lord Sugar's next Apprentice, reality TV has never been more kosher. But before Katie, Melissa, Alex and Joy, there were others...
S Club 7 singer Rachel Stevens proved her critics wrong by ending up as a runner up on Strictly Come Dancing in 2008. She is expecting her first child, with husband Alex Bourne, in November.
Last updated: 10:39am, November 17 2010


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Thursday, 20 August 2009
News: New UK Gossip Girl Cover
Today, Headline UK released the UK cover for the next original cast Gossip Girl book, I Will Always Love You. I'm really excited for this - I love me some GG, and Blair just so happens to be one of my favourite characters (after Chuck, of course).
I Will Always Love You is released in the UK on December 24th, and in the US on November 3rd. I can't wait!
8 comments:
- Book Chick City said...
I LOVE Gossip Girl and like you I am a Chuck fan. I didn't know however, that the series was a books first. Will keep an eye out for this one!
- 20 August 2009 at 21:16
- So Many Books, So Little Time said...
I only read the first four books but love the TV series. And I love me some Chuck too!
- 20 August 2009 at 21:45
- H said...
The green theme really stands out to me. Do we have many green book covers? I can't think of many.
- 21 August 2009 at 00:33
- Marie said...
Wow- sooo different than the US covers!
- 21 August 2009 at 02:08
- Lizzy said...
When I saw the cover I thought they did a tv show tie-in cover. When I saw the cover a bit bigger, I realized that is isn't Leighton Meester (although the model looks similar).
- 21 August 2009 at 02:20
- Bookworm said...
It's so cool. I kind of like it better than the US covers. All those headless models.....creepy!
- 21 August 2009 at 02:27
- Thao said...
The layout looks nice but I don't think I like the model's expression really much. Still a good looking book though ^^
- 21 August 2009 at 07:35
- Amy said...
I really want to read these. These covers are so much better than the other UK covers.
- 21 August 2009 at 10:00


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Does anyone know if hydrochromic inks are avaliable anywhere. i can't find anything on the internet about them except for the reference to them on this web site. i am EXTREMELY interested about finding this type of ink. also, does anyone know if thermochromatic ink can be colorless when cold and colored when heated?
I have been doing a search for hydrochromic ink as well and have been having a hard time locating a dealer or even a list of what it is made of. If you could lead me to dealer that sells it and have a list of what it is made of please let me know.
Dear Michelle,
We have been supplying several kinds of hydrochromic ink.
Please inform more detailed your inquiry as follows.
1. substrate
2. printing process
3. desired color
4. reversible or irreversible
We shall send detailed technical informations as soon as we get your reply.
Best wishes
Dear Mr.Michel !!
We require Non-Toxic Hydrochromic Inks to be used to Print on a Poly Vinyl Alchohol(PVA) Substrate.The PVA Substrate is Water Soluble and completely dissolves in water.
The colours we require are Blue and green and these colours should become transparent in contact with water and the colour change should be Irreversible.
Can you please send us a TDS and MSDS Of the Ink along with the price.
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Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs
- July 23, 2014
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Comments (9) (Please sign in to comment)
Fer crying out loud … how completely stupid is this going to get?
Either this guy is going to get his butt kicked, or when they reach the jail, Tarzan will know the "Sheriff" who will tell him about a problem they are having.
Never let facts or logic get in the way of an arrest,
Would I be weaponless?
A: If you were a really pathetic poacher.
They are probably poachers themselves and resent other people poaching on their territory.
About to be caged yet again, eh Tarzan? Tarzan should take a job as a prison inspector since for the last several stories he's found himself in jail. Time to get Tantor and N'kima involved since Lisette is long gone to Israel by now. Let's hope hamas doesn't shoot that helo down! :)> FunInAfricaAGowa!!
Three things you can count on Tarzan encountering:
1 a beautiful "Queen"
2 a Lion to fight
3 jail as a plot device to start an adventure
Unless I missed something, Tarzan didn't kill any animals in the animal santuary. Doesn't this mean that he wasn't a poacher? Since he doesn't have any weapons with him, he should be able to claim that he was just taking a walk and decided to pet the little deer (yeah, yeah, I realized he just mentioned trying to get himself something to eat, but they must have misheard him about that).
That Brit twit needs to have his overstuffed hat knocked off! :)> HitHimInTheNoseTarzan!!
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