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Wu, Yiquan MD*; Liu, Fuli MD*; Tang, Hongli MD*; Wang, Quanguang MD*; Chen, Limei MD*; Wu, Hui MD*; Zhang, Xuezheng MD*; Miao, Jianxia MD*; Zhu, Meizhen MD*; Hu, Chenggang MD, PhD†; Goldsworthy, Mark MD‡; You, Jing MS§; Xu, Xuzhong MD*
From the *Department of Anesthesiology, First Affiliated Hospital, Wenzhou Medical College, Zhejiang, China; †Department of Anesthesiology, Pomerado Hospital, Poway, California; ‡Department of Anesthesiology, Palomar Medical Center, Escondido, California; and §Departments of Quantitative Health Sciences and Outcomes Research, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio.
Accepted for publication April 5, 2013.
Published ahead of print June 6, 2013.
Funding: This study was supported by an international cooperation item from Department of Science and Technology of Wenzhou (No H20090013).
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Reprints will not be available from the authors.
Address correspondence to Xuzhong Xu, MD, Department of Anesthesiology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Wenzhou Medical College, 2 Fuxue Rd., Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China 325000. Address e-mail to firstname.lastname@example.com.
BACKGROUND: The transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block has been shown to provide effective postoperative analgesia in lower abdominal surgery. Subcostal TAP block has also been proposed as a new technique to provide analgesia for the supraumbilical abdomen. We compared the analgesic and opioid-sparing effects of a single-injection subcostal TAP block with continuous thoracic epidural analgesia and IV opioid analgesia.
METHODS: Ninety patients undergoing elective radical gastrectomy were randomized to receive either combined general–subcostal TAP anesthesia (group TAP), combined general–epidural anesthesia (group EA), or general anesthesia (group GA), and were analyzed on an intention-to-treat basis. In group TAP, a bilateral subcostal TAP block was performed after induction of general anesthesia using 20 mL of 0.375% ropivacaine. In group EA, a thoracic epidural was placed between T8 and T9 and bolused with 8 mL of 0.25% ropivacaine before induction of general anesthesia. The epidural was maintained with 5 mL/h of 0.25% ropivacaine during the surgery. Group GA received standard general anesthesia. In the postanesthesia care unit (PACU), all groups received IV morphine titration for visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores >3. All patients were started on IV patient-controlled analgesia with morphine after morphine titration in the PACU, while group EA also had their epidural maintained with 5 mL/h of 0.125% bupivacaine with 8 μg/mL morphine. Patients were assessed in the PACU and at 1, 3, 6, 24, 48, and 72 hours postoperatively. Primary outcomes measured were morphine consumption at 24 hours and all VAS pain scores.
RESULTS: Data from 82 of 90 (91.1%) patients were included in the study. Group TAP demonstrated decreased cumulative morphine consumption at 24 hours (98.75% confidence intervals, −29 to −9 mg) and noninferiority on VAS pain scores at all measurement times, as compared with group GA with standard opioid analgesia. However, group EA was superior to group TAP regarding cumulative morphine consumption at 24 hours (98.75% confidence intervals, −23 to −4 mg) and noninferior to group TAP on VAS pain scores at all comparison points. Group TAP had reduced morphine consumption from PACU admission to 6 hours as compared with group GA, but increased morphine consumption for 6 to 24 hours as compared with group EA.
CONCLUSION: Single-injection subcostal TAP block was more effective than IV opioid analgesia, while continuous thoracic epidural analgesia was more effective than the single-injection subcostal TAP block.
Radical gastrectomy is a major upper abdominal surgical procedure which can result in substantial postoperative pain. Traditionally, pain relief for these patients is provided by thoracic epidural analgesia or IV opioid analgesia. Although epidural analgesia is currently the "gold standard" for postoperative pain treatment, associated complications and contraindications may limit its use. IV opioid analgesia may cause opioid-related side effects and be associated with inadequate analgesia. Alternative approaches to traditional anesthetic techniques should be investigated.
The transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block has been increasingly used in clinical practice as a new analgesic technique for both upper and lower abdominal incisions. Previous reports1–5 have demonstrated the pain relief and the opioid-sparing effects of the TAP block in lower abdominal surgery during the first 24 postoperative hours, with occasional effectiveness up to 48 hours. The "subcostal" approach of the TAP block,6–8 described by Hebbard et al.,7 has been reported to provide analgesia to the supraumbilical abdomen. Lee et al.9 observed the subcostal approach in a clinical study and found that it blocked a median of 4 segments (interquartile range, 3–5), the most cephalad being T8 (interquartile range, T7–T9). Milan et al.10 reported that the subcostal TAP block decreased morphine consumption over 24 hours after orthotopic liver transplant surgery. However, more studies are warranted to establish general recommendations for the use of the TAP block.11,12 Although seemingly effective in lower abdominal surgeries, the effectiveness of the subcostal TAP block has yet to be compared with classic epidural analgesia and IV opioids in upper abdominal surgery.
We hypothesized that a single-injection subcostal TAP block would improve analgesia compared with IV opioid analgesia, but would be less effective than continuous thoracic epidural analgesia. Our primary outcomes were morphine consumption at 24 hours and all visual analog scale (VAS) scores. The secondary outcomes we assessed included intraoperative ephedrine consumption, morphine-related side effects, postoperative adverse events, and time to first flatus.
After obtaining approval by the Ethics Committee at the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College and written informed patient consent, 90 patients scheduled for elective open radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer were enrolled in the study on an intention-to-treat basis. According to the allocation sequences generated by a random number table and the use of a sealed envelopes technique, patients were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: combined general–subcostal TAP anesthesia (group TAP), combined general–epidural anesthesia (group EA), or standard general anesthesia (group GA). Exclusion criteria were as follows: ASA physical status ≥III; body mass index (BMI) ≥30 kg/m2 or ≤15 kg/m2; a history of relevant drug allergy; a history of alcohol or analgesics dependence; coagulopathy; peripheral neuropathy; and difficulty with communication.
Patients were informed about the analgesia decision tree on the day before surgery and were instructed on how to express pain intensity with use of the VAS13 (0 = no pain, 10 = the worst imaginable pain). No preoperative medications were administered. After arrival in the operating room, peripheral IV access was obtained and standard ASA monitors were applied. Additionally, each patient had a radial artery catheter inserted for frequent and accurate comparative analysis of arterial blood pressure monitoring.
General anesthesia was induced by IV propofol 1.5 to 2.0 mg/kg and sufentanil 0.3 µg/kg. Endotracheal intubation was facilitated by administration of IV rocuronium 0.9 mg/kg. After endotracheal intubation, intermittent positive pressure ventilation of both lungs was applied. Anesthesia was maintained with combined IV–inhaled anesthesia (propofol, remifentanil, and sevoflurane in oxygen). An infusion of remifentanil was started at 8 μg/kg/h and titrated upward to 12 μg/kg/h for control of hemodynamic responses to pain during surgery. In group TAP and group GA, 0.1 μg/kg sufentanil was given every 1.5 hours during surgery. In group TAP, a bilateral ultrasound-guided subcostal TAP block was performed as previously described7 after induction of general anesthesia, with 0.375% ropivacaine 20 mL on each side. In group EA, before induction of general anesthesia, a thoracic epidural catheter between T8 and T9 was placed, with 1.5% lidocaine 4 mL as a test dose. An initial loading dose of 8 mL 0.25% ropivacaine was administered before induction of anesthesia, and 5 mL was infused every hour during surgery. Group GA received standard general anesthesia. Ephedrine 5 mg IV was administered for systolic blood pressure (SBP) ≤80 mm Hg, or a 30% reduction during surgery, administration of an additional dose of ephedrine was permitted after 2 minutes. Suspension of the epidural infusion was allowed in the case of hypotension until hemodynamic stability was reestablished.
Group EA patients with pain on emergence from anesthesia were administered an epidural bolus of 5 mL of 0.375% ropivacaine. If there was no pain relief after the bolus, their sensory block level was established by using a pinprick technique. If no sensory block was noted, the epidural catheter would be resited; if the block level was adequate, the epidural catheter without an epidural infusion pump was concealed on the patient's dorsum to ensure that the investigator in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) was blinded as much as possible to the use of epidural analgesia.
In the PACU, all 3 groups received pain assessment and IV morphine titration14 which were performed by an attending anesthesiologist blinded to group allocation. When the VAS score was >3, morphine titration was started until pain relief was obtained, defined as VAS ≤3.14 The SBP, heart rate, peripheral pulse oximetry (SpO2), and respiratory rate were monitored. Sedation was evaluated using the Ramsay score15 (2–4: satisfactory sedation, >4: excessive sedation). Morphine titration was stopped if the patient appeared excessively sedated, and/or the presence of severe morphine-related side effects, including respiratory depression14 (SpO2 <95% and/or respiratory rate <12 breaths/min under 3 L/min oxygen flow), allergy reaction/cutaneous rash, hypotension, vomiting, or severe pruritus. After morphine titration, all 3 groups received IV patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) with morphine (1-mg bolus dose with a 5-minute lockout time and no maximum dose). Group EA also received continuous epidural analgesia maintained by epidural infusion pumps, with 5 mL/h background infusion of bupivacaine 0.125% with morphine 8 μg/mL. IV and epidural analgesia were both maintained through the first 72 postoperative hours. Patients on wards were observed by an alternate anesthesiologist who was not blinded to the group allocations due to the obvious epidural infusion pumps in the epidural group.
Demographic and intraoperative characteristics were recorded, including sex, age, height, weight, BMI, surgical duration, and intraoperative ephedrine consumption. After surgery, patients were assessed in the PACU and at 1, 3, 6, 24, 48, and 72 hours postoperatively. The recorded observations were as follows: morphine titration consumption in PACU, interval morphine PCA requirements after morphine titration, and cumulative morphine consumption including both morphine titration consumption and PCA requirements; pain sores including VAS scores at rest and on movement (cough or turn around the body); morphine-related side effects, such as sedation, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, pruritus, and respiratory depression; and postoperative adverse events, such as hypotension or hypertension (SBP <80 or >180 mm Hg, or fluctuations >30% of the baseline, duration >10 minutes), bradycardia or tachycardia (heart rate <50 or >120 beats/min, duration >10 minutes), adverse respiratory events and central nervous systemic complications, and time to first flatus.
Based on a pilot study, we estimated that the minimum detectable difference of cumulative morphine consumption at 24 hours was 18 mg, with a standard deviation of 12 mg. A sample size of 24 per group was obtained by PASS 11.0 (NCSS Statistical Software, Kaysville, UT), with α = 0.05 and β = 0.2. We planned to recruit 30 patients per group to minimize any effect of data loss.
SAS software version 9.3 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC) was used for statistical analysis. Balance on baseline characteristics among the randomized groups was assessed separately for each intervention, using the standardized difference. Any variable with an absolute standardized difference >0.52 (i.e.,
) for either intervention would be adjusted for in the analyses.16,17
For each comparison, i.e., continuous general–epidural anesthesia (CGEA) versus continuous general–TAP anesthesia (CGTA) and CGTA versus general anesthesia (GA), both outcomes (cumulative morphine consumption at 24 hours and all VAS pain scores) were analyzed together in a "joint hypothesis testing" framework as described in Mascha and Turan.18 In this framework, one intervention group was deemed more effective than another only if found noninferior on both VAS scores and morphine consumption and superior on at least 1 of the 2. For each comparison, the overall significance level of the joint hypothesis testing was 0.025 (0.05/2, Bonferroni correction for 2 comparisons). For each comparison, we tested in both directions, e.g., whether CGTA is better than CGEA, and whether CGEA is better than CGTA. Therefore, for a particular direction, noninferiority and superiority testing were conducted at 0.0125 (0.025/2), as described below.
Noninferiority, i.e., "as good as or better than," of the specific comparison (CGEA versus CGTA and CGTA versus GA) on each outcome was evaluated in separate models (1 for each outcome) at the 0.0125 significance level. Since noninferiority was required for both outcomes, no adjustment for testing 2 primary outcomes was needed.
If noninferiority was concluded for both primary outcomes in a particular direction (and not both directions, which would imply equivalence), then the superiority of the corresponding comparison was evaluated for each outcome using overall α of 0.0125 with Holm-Bonferroni correction for testing 2 outcomes, i.e., criterion of P < 0.00625 for most significant outcome and P < 0.0125 for the other. If and only if superiority was detected on at least either pain or morphine consumption, the group was concluded to be better than its comparator.
We observed that the treatment effects on VAS pain score depended on both measurement time and condition (at rest and with movement) (treatment-by-time-by-condition interaction P = 0.002), using a linear mixed effects model with repeated measures. Thus, we estimated the difference in median of VAS score at each measurement time for both at rest and with movement, since VAS score was not normally distributed.
We used the confidence interval (CI) method for noninferiority and superiority testing. For each noninferiority comparison, noninferiority was claimed if the upper limit of the 97.5% 2-sided (corresponding to α of 0.0125 on upper tail) CIs for difference in means of cumulative morphine consumption at 24 hours was less than the noninferiority Δ of 10 mg, and if the difference in medians of VAS score was less than the noninferiority Δ of 1 (on the 10-point scale) at all measurement times for both at rest and on movement. Superiority was claimed if the upper limit of the 98.75% (for the most significant outcome) and 97.5% (for the least significant outcome) CIs (Holm-Bonferroni correction for multiple testing) was <0 for either morphine consumption or VAS pain score.
We compared all pairs of the randomized groups on intraoperative ephedrine consumption and time to first flatus, each by Wilcoxon test. All binary outcomes including morphine-related side effects and postoperative adverse events were compared by χ2 test or Fisher exact test, as appropriate. The significance criterion for each pairwise comparison on each secondary outcome was P < 0.0014, i.e., 0.05/36, Bonferroni correction.
Ninety patients were enrolled in the study. Data from 82 patients, 27 from group TAP, 29 from group EA, and 26 from group GA were included in the final analysis. Seven patients, 1 from group EA, 3 from group TAP, and 3 from group GA, who had consented to our protocol the day before surgery, refused to participate in our study on the day of surgery, and 1 patient from group GA was transferred to the intensive care unit for postoperative respiratory failure. No data were collected from these 8 patients.
Additionally, 6 patients, 2 from each group, did not receive radical gastrectomy due to distant cancer metastases found at the time of surgery; and 3 patients from group EA had complications, 1 had a massive hemorrhage during surgery so epidural analgesia was discontinued, and 2 were changed to receive standard general anesthesia because of epidural puncture failure. However, these patients were included in the final analysis on an intention-to-treat basis.
The 3 groups were comparable in terms of sex, age, height, weight, BMI, and surgery duration (absolute standardized difference <0.50, Table 1). Therefore, no covariable was adjusted for in the analyses.
TAP was found more effective than GA. Group TAP was noninferior to group GA on cumulative morphine consumption at 24 hours (97.5% CIs of the difference in means, −28 to −10 mg, Table 2) and pain score at all measurement times both at rest and on movement (Table 3). Furthermore, superiority was found on cumulative morphine consumption at 24 hours (98.75% CIs, −29 to −9 mg), but not on pain scores since only the estimated upper limits of the differences in pain scores at PACU at rest, and at PACU, 1, 3, and 6 hours on movement were below the superiority criteria of 0.
Group EA was found noninferior to group TAP on both cumulative morphine consumption at 24 hours (Table 2) and pain score at all measurement times for both at rest and with movement (Table 3), since the estimated upper limits of the 97.5% CIs for the difference in means of cumulative morphine consumption (−22 to −5 mg) and all the differences in medians of pain score were below the noninferiority criteria of 10 and 1 mg, respectively. Furthermore, group EA was found superior to group TAP on cumulative morphine consumption at 24 hours, since the estimated upper limits of the corresponding 98.75% CIs (−23 to −4 mg) was below the superiority criteria of 0. However, superiority cannot be claimed on pain score since only the estimated upper limits of the differences in pain scores at PACU admission and 24 hours at rest, and at PACU admission, 24, 48, and 72 hours on movement were below the superiority criteria of 0. Therefore, based on our joint hypothesis test we conclude that general–epidural anesthesia was more effective than general–TAP anesthesia for pain management.
In addition, group EA was found noninferior to group TAP on morphine consumption at each time interval; however, it was only superior to group TAP for 6 to 24 hours (Table 2). We also found that group TAP was noninferior to group GA on morphine consumption at each time interval; however, it was superior to group GA during morphine titration in the PACU and titration-6 hours (Table 2). Furthermore, group EA was superior to group TAP on cumulative morphine consumption at 24, 48, and 72 hours, while group TAP was superior to group GA on cumulative morphine consumption at 6, 24, 48, and 72 hours (Table 2).
Otherwise, intraoperative ephedrine consumption was significantly higher in group EA than in group TAP. There was no significant difference between any 2 groups in time to first flatus, morphine-related side effects, or other postoperative adverse events (Table 4).
Our study demonstrated that single-injection subcostal TAP block was more effective than IV opioid analgesia, while continuous thoracic epidural analgesia was more effective than the single-injection subcostal TAP block. The joint hypothesis testing on both morphine consumption and pain scores indicated that the superiority of the 2 analgesic techniques was attributed to their opioid-sparing effect. The analgesic efficacy of single-injection subcostal TAP block was mainly present during the first 6 hours after radical gastrectomy.
Compared with IV opioid analgesia, single-injection subcostal TAP block reduced morphine consumption and pain scores in the early postoperative period from PACU admission to 6 hours, which is consistent with pain relief for 4 to 8 hours after single local injection of ropivacaine.19 Although there were no differences between the 2 groups in the PCA interval requirements for 6 to 24, 24 to 48, and 48 to 72 hours postoperatively, single-injection subcostal TAP block still reduced cumulative morphine consumption at 24, 48, and 72 hours postoperatively. This may have occurred because the cumulative need for morphine in the first 6 hours postoperatively may have been mitigated by the TAP block. In view of the previous studies, single-injection TAP block may confer special advantages in procedures with small to moderate surgical trauma and pain,11,12 e.g., cesarean delivery, open appendectomy, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, large bowel resection, and total abdominal hysterectomy. In our study, although single-injection subcostal TAP block improved analgesia after radical gastrectomy, its analgesic efficacy was mainly during the first 6 hours. Therefore, a study using a continuous infusion TAP catheter technique would be of interest. Recently, Niraj et al.20 performed subcostal TAP catheter boluses after major hepatobiliary or renal surgery and found no significant advantage of epidural analgesia over subcostal TAP catheter bolus analgesia.
Compared with the continuous thoracic epidural analgesia group, the single-injection subcostal TAP block group had increased morphine consumption for 6 to 24 hours and pain scores in the PACU and beyond 6 hours postoperatively. Several reasons may account for these findings: (1) TAP block only provides somatic pain relief as opposed to epidural anesthesia which provides both somatic and visceral analgesia; (2) the efficacy of single-injection subcostal TAP block will wane over time, while that of thoracic epidural catheters can be sustained; (3) epidural analgesia can reduce the intraoperative consumption of remifentanil and sufentanil, which may reduce the occurrence of hyperalgesia and acute opioid tolerance21,22 after surgery; and (4) the administration of opioids in epidural analgesia may decrease the need for IV opioids.
Our study has several limitations. First, because we evaluated only a single-injection subcostal TAP block, a continuous infusion catheter TAP block technique was not studied even though a continuous epidural approach was used for comparison. Second, the patients in the epidural group were permitted to receive an additional local anesthetic bolus after surgery in the event of inadequate pain relief, while the patients in the subcostal TAP group only received a single injection before surgery, which may have favored a bias toward the epidural group. Third, we used single blinding in the PACU for IV morphine titration, but not at other times. This was because the patients in the epidural group received an obvious epidural infusion pump after titration. Fourth, despite the use of real-time ultrasound for the performance of the subcostal TAP block, we did not test the sensory block plane in these patients. Finally, we excluded the patients with ASA physical status ≥III and BMI ≥30 kg/m2 or ≤15 kg/m2, which limits the external generalizability of the results in this study.
We have demonstrated that the ability to provide an intermediate option between general anesthesia with IV opioids and general anesthesia with an epidural infusion could be an effective modality under certain circumstances. While continuous thoracic epidural analgesia provides excellent sustained pain relief, single-injection subcostal TAP block improved early analgesia compared with IV opioid analgesia after radical gastrectomy. Future studies should focus on the use of continuous infusion catheter TAP blocks for extended analgesia in major abdominal surgeries.
Name: Yiquan Wu, MD.
Contribution: This author helped design and conduct the study, analyze the data, and write the manuscript.
Attestation: Yiquan Wu has seen the original study data, reviewed the analysis of the data, and approved the final manuscript.
Name: Fuli Liu, MD.
Contribution: This author helped conduct the study and study data collection.
Attestation: Fuli Liu has seen the original study data, reviewed the analysis of the data, and approved the final manuscript.
Name: Hongli Tang, MD.
Attestation: Hongli Tang has seen the original study data, reviewed the analysis of the data, and approved the final manuscript.
Name: Quanguang Wang, MD.
Attestation: Quanguang Wang has seen the original study data, reviewed the analysis of the data, and approved the final manuscript.
Name: Limei Chen, MD.
Contribution: This author helped design the study.
Attestation: Limei Chen has seen the original study data, reviewed the analysis of the data, and approved the final manuscript.
Name: Hui Wu, MD.
Contribution: This author helped conduct the study.
Attestation: Hui Wu has seen the original study data, reviewed the analysis of the data, and approved the final manuscript.
Name: Xuezheng Zhang, MD.
Attestation: Xuezheng Zhang has seen the original study data, reviewed the analysis of the data, and approved the final manuscript.
Name: Jianxia Miao, MD.
Attestation: Jianxia Miao has seen the original study data, reviewed the analysis of the data, and approved the final manuscript.
Name: Meizhen Zhu, MD.
Attestation: Meizhen Zhu has seen the original study data, reviewed the analysis of the data, and approved the final manuscript.
Name: Chenggang Hu, MD, PhD.
Contribution: This author helped prepare the manuscript.
Attestation: Chenggang Hu has approved the final manuscript.
Name: Mark Goldsworthy, MD.
Contribution: This author helped revise the manuscript.
Attestation: Mark Goldsworthy has approved the final manuscript.
Name: Jing You, MS.
Contribution: This author helped analyze the data and revise the manuscript.
Attestation: Jing You has seen the original study data, reviewed the analysis of the data, and approved the final manuscript.
Name: Xuzhong Xu, MD.
Attestation: Xuzhong Xu has seen the original study data, reviewed the analysis of the data, and approved the final manuscript.
This manuscript was handled by: Terese T. Horlocker, MD.
We would like to thank Prof. Thomas J. Papadimos, Department of Anesthesiology, the Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, for his help in editing this manuscript. We also thank Dr. Edward J. Mascha, Departments of Quantitative Health Sciences and Outcomes Research, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, for his help in our statistical work.
© 2013 International Anesthesia Research Society
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Dale Jeffers Lothes
Dale Jeffers Lothes, 86, of Beverly, Ohio, passed away Thursday evening, June 12, 2014, at the Marietta Memorial Hospital in Marietta.
Friends will be received Monday, June 16, 2014 from 2-4 p.m.and 6-8 p.m. at the Chandler Funeral Home, 609 West St., Caldwell, Ohio. A funeral service will be held Tuesday, June 17, 2014 at 11 a.m. in the Chandler Funeral Home Chapel.

subset: commoncrawl


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Jean-Pierre Cassel doesn't have any movies playing in theaters.
If you feel like heading out, check out other movies in theaters.
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Vincent and Theo
Movies.com, the ultimate source for everything movies, is your destination for new movie trailers, reviews, photos, times, tickets + more! Stay in the know with the latest movie news and cast interviews at Movies.com.
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text:
The Jervis McEntee Diaries - November 7, 1883
Diary Entry:
Wednesday, Nov 7 ,1883 Immediately after breakfast I went to work at finishing the painting of the wood house and got in done by noon. This afternoon I have been putting in glass wherever it has been broken. We are all serene and happy though thinking and talking constantly of our dear mother. Mary and Gussie went over to the Cemetery today. Downing has about concluded to go to Hillsboro with Joe next week and Gussie will remain. We will miss him but I think it will be a good thing for him. A letter from Alice, from Mrs. Weir and Miss Nesmith. She had not received the notice of my mothers death. Also a letter of condolence from Whittredge somewhat peculiar in tone but kind.


text:
2010-11 Cap Could Be Higher Than $54 Million
Multiple team executives told CBSSports.com that they have raised their estimate of the 2010-2011 salary cap to $53 million, and several are optimistic that the figure will exceed $54 million.
Ken Berger reports that when the July free-agent sweepstakes get underway, Donnie Walsh will be looking for a shot-blocking center and more physical, defensive-minded big men. Walsh may also go shopping for a point guard, unless the Knicks are able to sign a prime scorer who can initiate the offense.
Berger mentions an example of a sign-and-trade of David Lee to the Blazers in exchange for Andre Miller and/or Joel Pryzbilla.
This would be HUGE.....HUGE. More cap space, wouldn't have to buy out Curry for two max's (which means we could trade him to get another very good player).
Also allows us to retain Lee's Bird Rights and retain the MLE, if we choose. Which could let us have two max free agents (one in sign-and-trade of Lee) and use the MLE to get another very good player.
This is potentially very, very good news.
Indeed huge. So, hypothetically....
pg Serg/Duhound (lol, never gets old)
sg Morrows/Douglas
sf Lebron/Chandler
pf Bosh
c Okefor
6th Gallo
My favorite:
pg Serg/Duhound
sg Morrows/Douglas
sf Gallo
pf Lebron
c Bosh
6th Chandler
Then pimp ourselves out into a stud guard (or more superior C situation)...picks + Curry + Chandler + Douglas = sick expendable assets and options.
If Lebron has a 24/7 erection for cattle and women dressed in moose-fur he will stay. If not, he will come to the mecca and become Tiger Woods but actually appealing and playing a legit sport.
Gargantuan news. Good article too. Maintaining MLE is fantastic for the opportunity of filling the roster with a legit player rather than sucking up the D League and 2nd round.
I'm so interested to know what kind of pitches Donnie has organised for each marquee player. Might have to have parts of his tongue removed again from licking too much FA anus.
Also, I'm so friggin' sick of hearing about Joe Johnson. Dude's not even the best player on his team IMO. Seriously, **** paying this guy heaps of cash. Let the Hawks keep salivating over him and get someone younger.
J.J. doesn't give a rat's ass who coaches this team. Why wouldn't he love Mike Woodson? Every fourth quarter is Iso-Joe time. No matter how much solo pounding he does, he never is critiqued, criticized or cursed. He's on the right side of the double standard. Joe does deliver and he is a willing passer, but come playoff time, when defenses zero in (career .443 FG%; playoffs it's .413 as a Hawk) trouble is coming. And he knows he's getting max money [or close to it] from Atlanta if someone so much as bats their eyebrows lovingly."
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Wait, how did it go from possibly going lower to higher?haha
I didn't read the article yet, but awesome.
Stern may do this to help the Knicks. Remember, the NBA will always do better when all the marquee city teams are competitive. Advertising, television and clothing income will automatically increase.
Don't forget, he got us Patrick Chewing in '85
Real Talk


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The Clovis Community College Board of Trustees met Wednesday morning and approved the following agenda items:
• Appointment of CCC student Regina Dart to the school's art committee.
A student member of the committee must be appointed each year in accordance with board policy.
• Reappointment of Mark Carpenter and Rick Switzer to the CCC Labor Management Relations Board.
• Revisions to student employee policies and procedures to include a minimum 2.0 GPA requirement and limit of 92 attempted credit hours to maintain eligibility for student employment.
CCC President Becky Rowley said the school's main goal is to educate students, and they do not want student employment to interfere with classes or progress toward a degree.
• Updates to the travel and per diem policy to become compliant with state statute.
• Local travel policy to cover reimbursement of shorter distances traveled by school employees.
The policy will bring CCC into compliance with state statute.
• Disposal of obsolete radiographic system equipment.
The equipment was replaced earlier this year, and the old equipment must be disposed of by qualified personnel due to hazardous material.
The next meeting of the CCC Board of Trustees will be held 8 a.m. Oct. 2 in Room 512 at the college.
— Compiled by CNJ staff writer Emily Crowe


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How have U.S. renewable energy companies fared in the public markets and in private finance this year?
ACORE just released a report on conditions in the US and China, and on their efforts to help both countries move renewable energy forward.
Following a successful first quarter, public equity markets have recently exhibited considerable volatility, largely due to the European credit crisis and policy uncertainty, resulting in many clean energy IPOs being delayed and leading to a large IPO pipeline. Private equity and venture capital investments, however, are increasing substantially quarter-on-quarter, with a particular focus on energy smart technologies, solar and wind, and investment still overwhelmingly concentrated in California. Asset and corporate financings are recovering from the lows of 2009, but still lag behind Europe and, increasingly, China.
Public Markets
Given current market conditions where investors are unsure about where the economy and energy policy is headed, investors in clean energy stocks have become increasingly selective. U.S. and European investors are favoring companies with differentiated products or business models and are increasingly shying away from markets they perceive as commoditized, such as the wind and solar supply chain.
Given the general capital shortage and market uncertainty, combined with an abundance of public clean energy companies to choose from, only those companies that are particularly differentiated from their competitors are receiving investor interest.
Interest in clean energy stocks was strong in the first quarter (Q1), when investors had growing confidence as markets appeared to be in a steady recovery from the global recession. Q1, which is traditionally the slowest quarter for stocks, exceeded the previous quarter's investment by more than 72% and exceeded Q109 investment by more than 144%.
However, in Q2, the Eurozone sovereign credit crisis began impacting global equity markets, particularly in Europe and the U.S. Investment in clean energy stocks declined 2.6% from the first to second quarters, an unusual quarterly investment trend.
Second generation biofuel company Codexis, which made its IPO at the beginning of the unfolding of the European credit crisis, has also experienced a substantial decline in investor confidence-a 35% drop in stock price since its April 21 debut.
On the other hand, the recent IPOs of Jinko Solar and Tesla Motors have fared significantly better, with Jinko Solar's stock price increasing a substantial 98% since its May 13 IPO, and Tesla's stock up nearly 70% in early trading and 13% since its June 29 debut.
Tesla Motors has attracted a considerable amount of attention for being the first and only company to produce a long-range battery powered car-the highly publicized "Roadster"-as well as developing strategic partnerships with industry incumbents Daimler and Toyota.
As a result, the IPO was an instant hit with investors-the company originally intended to raise $155 to $178 million, but increased the offering price when it recognized the extent of investor enthusiasm and ultimately raised $260 million in June 2010, making it the largest U.S. clean energy IPO of 2010.
This is a remarkable feat in the current climate of investor caution, and Tesla's success can be attributed to the fact the company is operating in a sector of growing investor interest (i.e. energy smart technologies) and offers a differentiated product with strategic partnerships.
Still, the current environment remains one of investor caution, with two U.S. IPOs being pulled in June, and another in early August, with a cumulative potential deal value of nearly $745 million. So far in 2010, the aggregate value of IPOs that have been postponed or cancelled far exceeds the value of those that have actually occurred. Some companies have been in the IPO pipeline for several months now, waiting for an appropriate market opening.
Jinko Solar is an exception, seeing a substantial increase in stock price since IPO. The stock didn't get much of a reception when it went public - the majority of the stock price increase occurred in August, following the release of its Q2 2010 earnings. Q2 revenues and module shipments were up markedly from Q1 and substantially exceeded market estimates, resulting in upward revisions in expected annual earnings from equity research analysts and increased investor interest in the stock.
Private Equity Market Activity
Private investment activity in clean energy in the U.S. has not tracked the public markets - there's been vast growth in investment from Q1 to Q2 2010.
Private market investor sentiment is less cautious at present, with investors reporting an abundance of high-quality companies to choose from, relatively low valuations, and less competition than before the financial crisis. Therefore, for venture capital and private equity firms with capital, early and mid-2010 has been an optimal period in which to invest.
Q1 2010 investment was $1.7 billion, and Q2 2010 investment was $2.1 billion, both of which exceeded the previous four quarters of investment by a considerable margin.
These statistics demonstrate the U.S. continues to lead the world in clean energy venture capital and private equity investment, with Q1 and Q2 private market investment representing 60% and 89% of the global total, respectively. As with public market investment, there has been a trend toward investment in energy smart technologies, particularly electric vehicles, as well as continued interest in solar and wind companies.
Illustrative of investor interest in electric vehicles, hybrid sports car manufacturer Fisker Automotive raised $74 million in Q2 and Coda Automotive raised $58 million in May 2010. The vast majority of this type of investment is centered in California, particularly with regard to solar, as a result of the generous policy incentives in the state.
Investor exit strategies have also changed somewhat recently, given public market volatility and costs associated with a public offering. There's a shift toward strategic sales to corporations as opposed to IPOs, and there have been an increasing number of Asian companies actively seeking strategic acquisitions, which is a relatively new trend.
Adapted and excerpted from the US- China Quarterly Market Review, which covers the clean energy market in the US and China, and ACORE'S work to make renewable energy more successful in the U.S. and in China.


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More behind the scenes photos!
Added 3 new behind the scenes photos from the filming of "The Children of Huang Shi" and replaced one still image with a newer larger version that is not watermarked. 2007 looks be an exciting year for Jonathan and us fans with The Tudors airing, August Rush being released, and more film projects on the horizon. Happy new year to everyone who visits the site!


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The name 'JESUS' is a name above all names in Heaven, on earth and under the earth. At the mention of the name Jesus all knees bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father (Philipians 2:10-11) .That's how powerful the name of our Lord Jesus Christ is. What are you waiting for, why don't you start calling on the name of the Lord now! The Knees of distress, pain, confusion, depression, danger ,anger etc all bow at the mention of JESUS CHRIST!! Wow!!
(c) You Shall Not Want
Psalm 23:1 -The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
(e) Everyone who calls on the Lord will be Saved
Romans 10:13-For, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
(f) Every Knee Bows
Philipians 2:10-11-That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Comments from you: What verses or insights stand out to you in this reading? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless


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In my previous posting, I focused on what I believe to be dim prospects for the Encyclopedia Britannica as it transforms from a set of printed volumes into a networked online information portal. My skepticism stems from the fact that although the EB claims to offer "the breadth of the world's knowledge," its coverage of the world's knowledge is actually severely limited; it offers scant information on many topics and none at all on many others. To me, the likelihood that it will find many paying customers — especially given the free availability of similar, easy-to-use, and far more comprehensive resources, such as Wikipedia — seems low.
Today, I'd like to suggest that the traditional research library faces a similar challenge. The library collection is simply a bigger version of the encyclopedia: a seemingly exhaustive but actually (in the great majority of cases) very limited information portal that invites increasingly-skeptical customers to "start your research here."
It's worth asking why a patron would (or should) want to start his or her research with the library collection. The answer will obviously depend on what kind of research is being done. If the patron is looking for a known item, then the question he is asking himself is Can I get quick and easy access to Document X? The library does a good job of answering that question for its patrons. Library catalogs are generally pretty effective tools for known-item searching, and academic libraries have gotten quite good at providing easy access to the items in their collections, many now going so far as to offer free on-campus delivery of books and personal electronic delivery of articles.
But known-item searching constitutes only a small part of the scholarly research process. A much larger and arguably more important part of that process is the one that involves the question Is there any such thing as a document dealing with Topic X? The traditional library is, and always has been, poorly positioned to answer that question. While the library catalog can tell you whether or not it holds a book or article on Topic X, it should be obvious that this question is more or less beside the point to a researcher, whose world is not defined by the boundaries of the library. Finding relevant documents or citations among the library's offerings doesn't answer the question fully (are there others?), and establishing a lack of them in the library doesn't answer the question at all.
There was a time — not very long ago — when the boundaries of one's local library collection did more or less define one's functional information world, and therefore the functional difference between these two questions ("Does my library own . . ." and "Is there such a thing as . . .") was much smaller. During that period it made more sense to conflate those questions, and it made sense for libraries to encourage their patrons to "start your research here" — not that such encouragement was really necessary, as patrons had few other options. The fact that the library's collection was severely limited in coverage, and that it was difficult to navigate, reachable only by travel, and open only part of the day posed little threat to the library's position as an information and research portal, because it had no real competitors for that position.
Obviously, the information environment now teems with such competitors. But much more importantly, it's now very difficult for any new entrant to the portal marketplace to get a foothold. Those who want quick information on a particular topic and might once have turned to a traditional encyclopedia now have Wikipedia — which is free, very easy to use, much more comprehensive in its coverage than any traditional encyclopedia, and reasonably authoritative. And those who want to figure out whether there is such a thing as a document on Topic X now have Google — which is free, very easy to use, and searches an astronomically huge (though not absolutely comprehensive) array of documents, many of which can be directly accessed in their entirety right from the search result, and others of which are discoverable as citations. Taken together, Google and Wikipedia arguably do an awful lot of what the library once did, and they do it more effectively, more conveniently, and for a much, much larger population than any individual library can serve. And they never close.
One obvious response to this argument is that part of the library's value lies in its selectiveness. Like an encyclopedia, it not only includes but also excludes. This means that the library's value proposition is not just that it includes everything you'll need, but also that you won't have to waste a lot of time slogging through what you don't need. The problem with this value proposition is that it constitutes a solution to a problem that many of us actually experience quite rarely these days: that of being overwhelmed by information. We don't actually have to slog through irrelevancies very often. Yes, results of a Google search might number in the millions. But its sorting algorithms have gotten so good at intuiting what the searcher is looking for that it's rarely necessary to look beyond the first page of results to find exactly what one is after. Even if you need a wider range of sources, you will often find as much as you need within the first few screens of the search result; the fact that the entirety of that result tails off into hundreds of thousands of other hits doesn't usually impinge on one's searching experience.
The simple (and slightly terrifying, to a professional discriminator) fact is that selectivity offers less value in an environment of networked online access and full-text searchability than it did when information was housed in printed documents. One purpose of selectivity is to keep the size of the document manageable—but if you don't have to carry the document on a bike or store it on a shelf and can search its entire text without recourse to an index, then document size becomes much less of an issue. Another goal of selectivity is to save the neophyte the effort of trying to figure out what's essential and what isn't. This is an honorable endeavor, but it assumes that people only need access to what we librarians consider essential (or even of high quality). In reality, researchers' needs vary widely from person to person and from project to project, and they may well need access to materials that we would not consider to be core, reliable resources.
A more encouraging fact for libraries is that while both Wikipedia and Google offer unprecedented coverage and ease of access, neither of them offers a staff of dedicated helpers ready and waiting to help researchers shape their projects and locate relevant and high-quality sources. This is significant, and it represents one of the traditional library's stronger value propositions (although as a service model, it suffers from serious structural limitations). As long as students and researchers believe that they need help, librarians will likely have an important role to play.
But in its fight to retain a strong position in the marketplace of researchers' time and attention, I think the library's most powerful weapon is the type of material we usually refer to as "special collections." Patrons can get commercially-published books and articles from any number of sources, but if your library owns a truly unique document (like a daguerrotype portrait of a 19th-century actor, or the handwritten diary of a Mormon pioneer, or a typescript transcription of an oral history) then access to that document constitutes a genuinely unique value proposition. Historically, we in research libraries have tended to consign special collections to something of a ghetto—a benign and beloved one to be sure, but one that is somewhat outside the mainstream of everyday library services.
That has to change. Greg Silvis, of the University of Delaware library, put it very well when he argued recently that "the future of libraries will not be found in commodity (catalog) records for commodity books." Serving as a broker for resources that exist in many different copies in multiple formats and that can be found easily through Amazon or iTunes and purchased at reasonable prices is not an area of growing opportunity for libraries. Where we offer real and unique value, value that separates us from the competition, is in those areas in which we have no competition.
Is there enough demand for such resources to keep us in business? One problem with focusing on these materials is that (unlike our general collections) they're likely to be of serious interest to a relatively small subset of our local client base. One solution to this problem is, of course, digitization, by which we can make much (if not all) of the relevant content accessible to an audience of billions. So then the next question is: can we convince our sponsoring institutions that supporting the provision of that kind of value to billions of people who are mostly outside of our service remit is the best way to invest institutional funds? That's probably a good topic for a future post.


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Donna Ruth Casto
Donna R. Casto, 78, of Parkersburg, died Sunday, May 25, 2014, at her residence.
She was born March 14, 1936, in Parkersburg, the daughter of the late Harold F. and Erma E. Bailey Chapman.
She had retired as a social worker for Westbrook Health Services after 32 years of service. She was a softball coach and enjoyed sports. She loved spending time with family.
She is survived by three sons, Delbert Casto (Sue), Michael Casto (Jennifer), and Jeffery "Gene" Casto (Julie), all of Parkersburg; grandchildren, Matthew, Kristen, Lauren, Chance, Levi, Emily, April and Alex Casto; four great-grandchildren; and a special friend, Robbie Thompson. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by a brother, Gregory Chapman.
Services will be 3 p.m. Thursday, May 29, at the Leavitt Funeral Home, Parkersburg, with Pastor Bill Brown officiating. Burial will follow at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Parkersburg. Visitation will be from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. today and one hour prior to the service on Thursday.
Memorial contributions can be made to the Humane Society of Parkersburg, P.O. Box 392, Parkersburg, WV 26102.
Online condolences may be sent at www.leavittfuneralhome.com


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Helen Mirren Is A Cougar In Leopard Print
Helen Mirren showed up to the London premiere of "Arthur" in a leopard print dress. She looks mighty fine for a 65 year old, don't you think?
The actress turned up the heat on "Saturday Night Live" last weekend when she locked lips with a Marilyn Monroe impersonator for a passionate same-sex smooch. The episode celebrated the actress' busty figure in a series of risqué sketches.
She has starred in several films recently, including "The Tempest," "Red" and "Love Ranch."
Click for more great Helen Mirren pictures:
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Travel Advisory: Air Canada and Jazz provide the following update for flights from Canada to the United States
MONTREAL December 28, 2009 -- Air Canada and Jazz remind customers that due to new security measures imposed by Canadian and U.S. government authorities on flights from Canada to the U.S., there are strict limits in effect for carry-on articles allowed in the cabin.
Air Canada advises passengers that the new regulations permit only a single carry-on item and recommends customers consult Transport Canada guidelines at http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/mediaroom/backgrounders-menu-5781.htm for details on permissible carry-on items such as a small purse, laptop computer or infant care items.
To accommodate customers travelling to the U.S., Air Canada is waiving excess baggage charges for checked baggage on a temporary basis for U.S.-bound customers travelling from Canada. Customers will be permitted to check up to three items of baggage at no additional charge until further notice.
Customers can continue to expect delays on U.S.-bound flights. Northbound flights from the U.S. to Canada are also being impacted due to late inbound aircraft. Customers can also expect potential delays on domestic and international flights due to airport congestion and delayed aircraft.
Air Canada recommends passengers travelling to the U.S. from Canada check the status of their flight before going to the airport and arrive early for their flight in order to allow adequate time for additional personal searches. Under new rules enacted by Transport Canada and the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, passengers and their carry-on allowance will be strictly limited and subject to full searches at airport screening points.
"We appreciate the cooperation and understanding of our customers during this challenging time and ask them to assist us in getting them to their destination faster by bringing as little carry-on as possible," said Duncan Dee, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. "Air Canada is doing everything it can to maintain its schedule, despite the delays caused by security screening issues outside its control. However, our number one priority remains the safety and security of our customers and staff."
Due to heavy volumes customers may find response times are longer than normal at call centres. Customers should check the status of their flight at www.aircanada.com.
Travel Update


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THE BRONX - Cops are trying to find a 26-year-old woman who allegedly slashed another 26-year-old in the face with a razor.
Investigators released a photo of the suspect, who they've identified as Taneisha House.
Officials say the attack started with a dispute near Grant Avenue and East 167th Street on March 29.
READ MORE: Bronx Crime Stories
Anyone with information should contact police.


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Story Lovers World
Storytelling and Educational Resources & Information for
Teachers – Librarians – Storytellers – Homeschoolers
Environmentalists – Parents – Grandparents
.................................................................................................................. Artwork by firstname.lastname@example.com
Scroll down or click on your choice below
Online Links are in blue and underlined. Cllick on them to get more information.
Get permission to retell any stories not in the pubic domain.
Always credit your sources.
1) Short and funny
2) The Moon and the Great Snake
3) Stories about Snakes: Grimm's Fairy Tales
4) Snake stories and facts
5) Rabbit Plays Tug-of-War (Creek/Muscogee Tribe) retold by S.E. Schlosser
6) Urban Legends and Folklore: A Snake in the Store
7) Urban Legends and Folklore: Snake Swallows Man!
8) Bear Lake Monster
9) Brazilian Myths and Fantastic Creatures
10) Animal Self-Medication in Folklore
11) Superstitions and Folklore of the South
12) Snakes in Southern Myths and Folklore
13) Madam White Snake (synopsis of legend)
14) American Folklore: Pennsylvania: Hoop Snakes (this is an exceptional site!)**
15) Modern Myths About Snakes
16) The Idyll of the White Snake (Lady White Snake) from China
17) A White Snake Bookshelf from Aaron Shepard (fabulous website!)**
18) The Boy Saved by the Snake: a tale from the Afghanistan War
19) Balinese Folklore
Creation myth
At the beginning of time, only Antaboga the world snake existed. Antaboga meditated and created the world turtle Bedwang. Two snakes lie on top of the world turtle, as does the Black Stone, which forms the lid of the underworld. The underworld is ruled by the goddess Setesuyara and the god Batara Kala, who created light and the earth. Above the earth lies a series of skies. Semara, god of love, lives in the floating sky, and above the sky lies the dark blue sky (space), home to the sun and moon. Next is the perfumed sky, which is full of beautiful flowers and is inhabited by Tjak, a bird with a human face; the serpent Taksaka; and a group of snakes collectively known as the Awan, who appear as falling stars. The ancestors live in a flame-filled heaven above the perfumed heaven, and finally beyond that is the abode of the gods.
From Wikipedia
20) The Snakeman
21) Snake Mythology in Massachusetts
22) Snake Facts and Fiction
23) Snake information with lots of hyperlinks
24) Native Myths, Legends and Lore: Mythology of North, South and Central America http://nativemyths.blogspot.com/2008/01/battle-with-snakes-iroquois.html
25) The First Snakes by Richard Dieterle
26) The Glaukidai; A Myth of the Blue Men (who lived in caves beneath the wavees): Apollonius Sophistes
27) The Gorgon: A Story of Medusa
Advice, Comments and References from Storytellers, Teachers and Librarians
(excerpts from Storytell posts plus original research)
Books and Products links are in blue and underlined. Cllick on them to get more information.
Get permission to retell any stories not in the pubic domain.
Always credit your sources.
Posts are entered chronologically. Posts prior to 2005 do not contain names or dates.
1) I can confirm several bits of lore that I heard or know from my neck of Appalachia. Copperheads do have a dry musty cucumber smell to them. I have smelled them in a box and in the woods in the hills of Kentucky when I killed them with a hoe. A Holiness preacher I met when was going to school at Oneida, Kentucky had several snakes he kept for the purpose of "takin' up the serpent." They were very tame and could be handled easily. I never saw them get irritated and I suspect they were kept fat and happy so they would not be aggressive. The wood box they were kept in always smelled of cucumber. A black snake will keep all other snakes away, not just poisonous ones. They usually get pretty big and aren't afraid of a copperhead or rattler. Keep a cat to keep away the rats - rats draw snakes to the barn or smokehouse. If you know where a snake is holed up - take a piece of bicycle innertube and tie one end round a garden hose, the other fix to the end of your muffler. Put the hose into the snake's hidey hole and start up the car. It'll leave out fast and won't go back to that place. I don't know if it is true, but I have heard snakes won't cross either lime or salt (not sure which) cause it irritates their skin. When we would kill a rattlesnake, we would carry the rattle with us. When we saw a rattler we would rattle the rattle and it was supposed to calm the live one down, make 'em think we was kin or some such. During dog days, snakes is meaner than other times cause they are workin' on sheddin' their skin. They are blind and cross and will strike at anything. We never went swimming during dog days because we were told cottonmouths were blind and would strike more often. Cottonmouths are mean snakes, anyway. Some folks thought black snakes would sneak into the barn and suck milk from a milk cow when they couldn't hunt rats. This would turn the cow's milk and make it unfit to drink. For that reason, some folks never let cats into the barn, so as to keep a good supply of rats. My Daddy told me last night it wasn't salt a snake wouldn't cross. It was a rope. Lay a rope out and a snake cannot cross it. Each time it tries, the rope rolls back and the snake will give up. Uhhmm, don't bet your life on it. This was his suggestion.
2) I wonder if the belief that snakes don't die til after dark was a cautionary device to keep kids from messing with a killed snake.
Could be, since it is still possible they could bite from a scientific point of view. I remember about 10 years ago we were tearing down an old building and our dog started barking at a pile of dry leaves. We went closer and heard what sounded like a rattler, dry rattling sounds coming out of the pile of leaves. My husband took a long stick and pulled away the leaves and there was a black snake, making that noise. I asked a naturalist about it and he said it's not an uncommon defense tactic for a black snake to mimic a rattler. I'd never seen or heard it since, but it was very convincing.
3) The Tender-Hearted Woman & the Snake (Tale type number 155 Ungrateful Serpent Returned to Captivity)
SOME BOOKS on that type:
Senor Coyote Acts as Judge, West, Coyote Wisdom
Senor Coyote and the Tricked Trickster, Edmonds, Trickster Tales Senor
Coyote Acts as Judge, West, Mexican-American Folklore
Don Coyote (picture book), Leigh Peck
Ungrateful Tiger, Zong In-Sob, Folktales from Korea
Son of Adam and the Crocodile, Egypt (University of Chicago)
Farmer and Viper, Aesop
The Man Who Knew How to Cure a Snakebite, Cambodia, Clarkson & Cross
The Trouble with Helping Out, Surinam Abrahams, Afro-American
Old Favors are Soon Forgotten, Russia, Avanase'ev (Pantheon)
The Boy and the Rattlesnake, Apache, Caduto and Bruchac
The Great Flood, China, Eberhard (University of Chicago)
Man, Snake and Fox, Greece, Megas
Brother Wolf Still in Trouble, Harris, Nights with Uncle Remus
Good is Repaid with Evil, Parades, Folktales of Mexico
The Ingrates, Italy, Thompson, 100 Favorite Folktales
The Ingrates, Crane, Italian Popular Tales
Inside Again, Jacobs, European Folk and Fairy Tales
Man, Serpent and Fox, Crane, Italian Popular Tales
The Tiger, the Brahman and the Jackal, India, Cole, Best-Loved
Ungrateful Animals (12 variants), Arewa, Northen East Africa
The Ungrateful Serpent, Clouston, Popular Tales
The Ungrateful Snake, the Fox and the Man, Dawkins, More Greek Folktales
Who is Blessed with the Realm, Riches and Honor?, Noy, Folktales of Israel
Sharon Creeden lists additional resources in her Fair is Fair: World Folktales of Justice.
4) I'm not sure that I would trust this bit of lore but I've heard old-timers from around here say that a rattlesnake won't strike at a constantly moving object. It's the change from stopping to motion that sets them off. One of the old wranglers said that he used to have an old Basque sheepherder companion who swore that by moving and wiggling his foot constantly, the rattlesnakes would never strike him.
5) Query:
I bought a couple of boxes in South Africa that are made of Soapstone. They are rectangular in shape being higher than wide and there is a frog or toad sitting on one side of the top. When you pull the frog back the lid slides open and a cobra pops out.........Someone told me that there is a story behind this box, she use to know it but forgot it..........so does anyone here know of this story?
Here are two possible suggestions, I think either would work for you.
Aardema, Verna. Who's in Rabbit's House? (Picture Puffins). Illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon.
A retelling of a Masai folktale in which someone moved into rabbit's house and won't come out. Rabbit is offered help from frog, but rabbit thinks frog is too little to evict the long one who eats trees and trample elephants. The rabbit asks the jackal, the leopard, the elephant and the rhinoceros, but every one of their plans involves destroying the house. Finally, frog convinces rabbit to let him try. Frog rolls up a leaf into a horn and loudly asks who's in Rabbit's house and gets the same response as the others. Frog tells the intruder he is a spitting cobra and he will slither under the door and spit in the long one's eye s. The door opens and out comes a most surprising intruder. The illustrations by the Dillons are among the most fanciful and colorful. The rhythmic singsong of the text makes this an excellent book for a read aloud.
Who's in Rabbit's House? (Picture Puffins) by Verna Aardema. (1992 - Ages 4-8)
Review by a reader:
We found this by chance at the library and it is now one of our favorite books. During the three weeks we had the book we read it over 20 times and looked through it often. And we've checked it out a few times since then, too. Hmm, maybe we should buy it!
My boys have acted out the story repeatedly and I hear them quietly reciting the story to themselves.
The pictures are fantastic - bright, beautiful, so full of life. The text is superb and has a wonderful moral as well.
You will love this book and so will your kids.
The Snake and the Frog
6) The Serpent Lover (a tale from India)
Full text:
A young woman, let's call her Kamakshi, was married to a husband who was no good. He went after a concubine. She was patient—she thought that the man would mend his ways and return to her tomorrow, if not today. But he got more and more deeply infatuated with his harlot and took to staying with her night and day. His wife thought, "This is God's will, it's His game," and held her tongue. Two or three years passed.
One day, an old woman who lived next door talked to her. "What is this, my dear? How can you take it, when your husband never talks to you and lies in the pigsty of a harlot's house? We must do something about it. I'll give you some love medicine. Mix it with his food and serve it to him. Then your man will be your slave. He'll live at your feet, do whatever you wish. Just watch."
The despairing young wife thought, "Why not?"
She brought home the old woman's potion and mixed it with sweet porridge. But, to her horror, the porridge turned blood-red. She said to herself, "This stuff, whatever it is, instead of making him love me, may make my husband crazy. It may even kill him. Let him be happy with anyone he wants. If he is alive, by God's grace, he'll come back to me some day." And she poured the blood-red porridge into a snake hole behind her house.
It so happened that there was a snake in that hole, and it drank up the sweet porridge. The love potion acted on it and the snake fell
madly in love with her. That night, it took the shape of her husband and knocked on her door. Her husband, as usual, was out. She was startled by the knock. Who could it be? Should she let the person in? When she peeped through the chink in the door, there was a man outside who looked exactly like her husband. When she talked to him, he talked exactly like her husband. He had the same voice and manner. She took him in without asking too many questions and he made her very happy that night. He came to her night after night,
and in a few days she was pregnant.
When the snake came to know of it, he wanted to tell her the truth. He said, "Kamakshi, who do you think I am? Your husband? No, I'm the king of snakes. I fell in love with you and came to you in his shape."
Then he shed her husband's form and became a five-headed serpent. She was terrified and shut her eyes. He changed back into her
husband's form again.
"You know now I'm the king of snakes. I live in that snake hole behind your house. I drank your porridge, and I don't know what you put in it, but I fell in love with you. I couldn't help coming to see you and making love to you. You're pregnant now, but there's no need to panic about it. I'll see to it that everything goes well. Your husband will come back to you and live happily with you. I'll also arrange for that harlot of his to come and be your servant," he said, and went back to his hole in the ground as a snake.
The place buzzed with the news of the woman's pregnancy, and the errant husband heard about it too. He flew into a rage. "How could she do this to me?" he screamed. He went straight to his father-in-law and protested, "Father-in-law, I haven't slept in the same bed with your daughter for three years now. She has taken a lover, the whore. How else did she get pregnant?"
The father-in-law summoned his daughter and asked her, "Your husband is saying these slanderous things. What do you say?"
She replied, "He has never been good to me. But I've done nothing wrong."
Her father wasn't convinced.
That night she talked to the king of snakes, who said, "Ha, that's very good. Don't you worry about it. Tomorrow the king's court will be in session. Go there bravely, and say, 'The child in my womb is my husband's, no one else's.' If they don't believe you, say then, 'I'll prove it to you by taking the test of truth. In the Siva temple, there is a king cobra. I'll hold it in my hand and prove to you the truth of what I say. If I'm false, I'll die.' "
Next day, the raja's court assembled. The raja said to the husband, who was there with his complaint, "Tell us what your suspicions are. The elders can clear the doubts."
The husband got up and said, "Elders, I have not slept in the same bed with my wife for three years now. How did she get pregnant?
You tell me what you think."
She rose and expressed utter surprise. "O Elders, if my husband is not with me in this, where can I go for witnesses? He comes to me
every night. That's how I got pregnant. If you don't believe me, I'll go handle the cobra in Siva's temple. If I've done any wrong, may
it bite me and kill me."
The elders agreed to the chastity test.
The whole court adjourned to the Siva temple. There was an awesome five-headed snake coiled round the Siva-linga. Kamakshi concentrated all her mind and senses, and prayed aloud so that everyone could hear, "O Lord, the child in my womb is my husband's. All other men are like brothers to me. If what I say is false, may you sting me to death."
Then she put out her hand and took the cobra, who was none other than her lover, the king of snakes. He hung around her neck like a garland, opened his hoods, and swayed gently. The onlookers were awestruck. They said, " Che, che, there has never been such a chaste wife. There never will be another better than her," and saluted Kamakshi. They were ready to worship her as a paragon of wives, a pativrata. The husband was bewildered and felt like a fool.
Nine months passed. She gave birth to a divine-looking son. He glowed and was beautiful. Her husband forgot all his doubts when he saw his son. He took to playing with the child every day for a long time after dinner. The concubine became anxious about his coming later and later each day, and so asked a maid to investigate the matter. The maid reported, "He has a lovely son. Your man plays with him a lot after dinner. That's why he comes late."
The concubine too wanted to see the child. Through a discreet maid she sent a message to Kamakshi that she would love to see the child of the man they both loved. Would she kindly send him with her maid for a short time?Kamakshi, coached by her serpent king, said she would send the child on one condition.
"I've put a lot of jewelry on my son. I'll weigh him when I send him to you, and I'll weigh him again when he is returned. If anything is missing, that concubine will have to become my servant and haul pitchers of water to my house."
The confident concubine agreed and said, "Who wants her jewelry? She can weigh him all she wants." Before Kamakshi sent the child, she took him to the king and weighed the child with all his ornaments in the king's presence. The concubine was very taken with the child, took him home, played with him for half an hour, and sent him back carefully without tampering with any of his ornaments.
On his return, Kamakshi and her maids weighed the child again in front of the king. The king of snakes had done his bit meanwhile.
Several ornaments were missing and the weight came up short. The king at once summoned the astonished concubine and ordered her to haul water to Kamakshi's house.
Her husband gave up the concubine's company, favored his wife in all things, and was supremely happy with her. In the happiness of regaining her husband, Kamakshi forgot the king of snakes. She was wholly absorbed in her husband and son now.
One night, the king of snakes came to see how Kamakshi was doing. He saw her lying next to her husband and child, fast asleep, contentment written on her face. He couldn't bear this change. In a fit of jealous rage, he twisted himself into Kamakshi's loose tresses, which hung down from the edge of the cot, and hanged himself with them. In the morning, on waking, she felt that her hair was heavy. Wondering what was wrong with it, she shook it, and the dead snake fell to the floor. She was grief-stricken.
Her husband asked, "Why do you weep over the carcass of a snake? How did a snake get into our bedroom anyway?"
She replied, "This is no ordinary snake. I had made offerings to him so that I might get my lost husband back. It's because of him
you're with me now. He's like a father to my son. As you know, a snake is like a brahmin, twice-born. Therefore, we should have
proper funeral rites done for this good snake, and our son should do it."
The husband agreed, and the son performed all the proper funeral rites, as a son should for a father. Kamakshi felt she had repaid her debt and lived happily with her husband and her son.
Note: [AT 433C, The Serpent Husband and the Jealous Girl (IO). See also AKR's comments in Ramanujan 1991b.]
Source: http://texts.cdlib.org/dynaxml/servlet/dynaXML?docId=ft067n99wt&chunk.id=ch56
7) A Brother, a Sister, and a Snake (a tale from India)
Full text:
A raja had a son and a daughter. His queen died before her time and the raja married another woman. The second woman didn't like her stepchildren. She even wanted to kill them. So she put a baby snake in a spouted cup (gindi) studded with pearls, filled it with water, and gave it to the girl to drink. The innocent girl drank it all up. The baby snake entered her stomach and grew inside her as she herself grew up. When her belly began to swell noticeably, the queen got the ear of the king, accused the young girl of being pregnant, slandered the children, and had them cast into the jungle.
While the young boy and girl were wandering in the forest, eating leaves and fruit, a kindly ogre's eye fell on them. He took them home and settled them there. He turned over the management of his entire household to them. Years passed.
He had buffaloes in his yard. One day the sister milked a buffalo, put the milk pot on the hot stove, and went to sleep. When the milk boiled over and the whole house was filled with the sweet smell of scalded milk, the snake in her stomach was enticed by it. It came out, went straight to the boiling milk, drank it and died. Now that the snake had come out, the sister slept even better. The brother saw the snake and cut it to pieces, threw it in the next room, and locked the door. He forbade his sister to open the door of that room.
One day, when her brother was not around, she got inquisitive and opened the door. To her astonishment, she saw a big green jasmine bush in full blossom. She gathered the flowers and made a lovely garland. When her brother came home, she affectionately tried to put it around his neck. When the brother saw the flowers he knew at once what had happened. He begged her not to put the garland round his neck. But she wouldn't listen; she was stubborn. Then, seeing no way out, he gave her three pebbles and said to her, "If you must throw that garland around my neck, take these three pebbles first. If something terrible happens to me, throw those pebbles on me."
She said, "All right, I'll do as you say, but I must put this garland round your neck. I made it for you," and put the garland around his neck. At once, he turned into a snake, and began to slither away. She was shocked at the result of her action, and followed it everywhere, till it glided into a snake hole in the forest floor. She sat there waiting for him to come out.
Her father, the raja, came there on one of his hunting trips. He saw this beautiful girl, didn't recognize her, fell in love with her, and asked her to go home with him. She told him of her brother's plight. The king at once called his snake charmer, who played his flute, enticed the snake out of the hole, and caught it. They all went to the king's palace, with the snake in a basket. In the palace, she remembered what her brother had said about the three pebbles and threw them on the snake. The snake vanished, and in its stead stood her brother.
The king now insisted that she marry him. She and her brother knew by now that he was their own father. She said that they should decide on their marriage in the open court. Then she asked for a pearl-studded spouted cup (gindi), and got one.
In the assembled court, the young woman placed the pearl-studded gindi in front of her and began her story. As she began, "Once there was a king…," and went on, the gindi listened and nodded. She told it everything, all about her stepmother who gave her the baby snake to swallow, how they were banished to the forest, how her brother had changed into a snake, and all the rest. The gindi nodded at every pause. It didn't take long for the king to see that the young man and woman were his own lost children. He threw out his wicked queen and lived happily with his children.
8) Snake and Morse Code - tall tale
Take a look at this page, there are some credits at the beginning of the story. If may be the one you seek.
"This delightful tongue-in-cheek story appeared in the Illinois Central Magazine for February, 1944. It was reprinted in Dots & Dashes (publication of the Morse Telegraph Club, Inc.) Vol. 15, No. l Jan-Feb-March 1987, by permission of Ms. Virginia Anzelmo, of the Illinois Central Gulf News.]"
Here's a story about a rattlesnake who learns Morse Code: Leander, the Telegraphing Rattlesnake. I found it in A Treasury of Southern Folklore, edited by Botkin. [Same story as above]
9) I am writing this because I am having a bad snake problem as write this. I live in the city and last night we found 6 snake beds in an open area of my backyard. I am scared to death of snakes so writing this may help me to over come some of my fear with a funny story to share.
A few years a go my mother and I found a small lake on a farm near my home at that time. We fished most of the day until we ran out of worms but the fish were still biting. We went to a nearby barn to dig more worms. An old black man had been watching us all day catching fish. So as I was so excited by the sight of worms I was finding under old cow piles (poop) the old man walked up and said "Mame what are you doing?" I replied digging worms and look how big they are.........he replied"NO MAME those are baby cooper heads". Say no more the day of fishing was over.
Added later: We moved piles of old wood yesterday and no snakes just a skin left behind. I had 2 guys there to over see the removal just incase something crawled out........nothing until they left to go home and I was little more brave at that point until I moved the last piece of wood and there it was........another snake. Needless to say there are no mothballs left in town. My large yard will now be white from all the mothballs spread around to deter them from coming back. And no I didn't kill that snake it got a way.......but I like to think I let it go.
Alisia 6/5/08
10) The Fairy Tale of the month for February was The White Snake, one of the lesser known Grimm tales. I hope you enjoy my reflections.
Charles K. 3/2/11
Created 2005; last update 3/2/11
Story Lovers World ... 707-996-1996
P.O. Box 446 Sonoma CA 95476


text:
Residents may safely dispose of empty or unwanted propane tanks on Saturday, Oct. 19, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m..
The Milford Fire Department will conduct the collection, at the Station 7 Firehouse, 55 Wheelers Farms Road. This collection is free but is for Milford residents only, said Capt. Kyle Brotherton. Proof of residency will be required.
Tanks should be transported in an upright position, with the safety plug in place, and properly secured in the vehicle to prevent the tank from tipping over, Brotherton said.
Preferably, the driver only should transport the tank, and the vehicle's windows should be rolled down for ventilation, on the way to Station 7. Of course, there is no smoking during transport or at the collection site.
For more information contact the Fire Marshal's Office, 203-874-6321.


text:
Friday Scoreboard
Scores will be updated as they are sent in. Please send in your scores to email@example.com or call them in to (415) 251-0918. The score phone line is open 24 hours a day.
Games of the Day – Football Friday: Washington vs. Galileo and Sacred Heart Cathedral vs. Serra. For live updates on these games, follow us on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/SanFranPreps.
AAA football
Washington 18, Galileo 14
Lincoln 1, Marshall 0 (forfeit)
WCAL football
Serra (San Mateo) 34, Sacred Heart Cathedral 7
BVAL Santa Teresa field hockey
St. Ignatius @ Live Oak (Morgan Hill), 3:30 p.m.
BCL West boys soccer
Marin Academy (San Rafael) 5, International 0
BCL West girls tennis
Bay vs. Urban @ Golden Gate Park, 3:30 p.m.
Convent vs. Drew @ Golden Gate Park, 3:30 p.m. (rained out)
AAA girls volleyball
Lowell 3, O'Connell 0 (25-5, 25-13, 25-4)
Lincoln 3, Mission 1 (21-25, 25-17, 25-14, 25-19)
Galileo @ Washington, 5:15 p.m.
Burton @ Wallenberg, 5:15 p.m.
Balboa @ Marshall, 5:15 p.m.
BCL West girls volleyball
International 3, Convent 2
Marin Academy (San Rafael) @ Urban, 5:30 p.m.
Non-league girls volleyball
Bay 3, Bentley (Lafayette) 1 (25-21, 25-22, 22-25, 25-20)
Waldorf @ Fremont Christian, 4:30 p.m.
St. Ignatius @ Soquel, 6:30 p.m.
Non-league boys water polo tournaments
St. Ignatius 16, Soquel 14 @ Padre Tournament (Carmel)
Non-league girls water polo tournaments
St. Ignatius 11, St. Mary's (Stockton) 8 @ Davis Classic (UC Davis)
Drake (San Anselmo) 11, St. Ignatius 8 @ Davis Classic (UC Davis)
Rio Americano (Sacramento) 9, St. Ignatius 5 @ Davis Classic (UC Davis)
37 Comments
Did anyone else see this kid make a 67 yard FG? http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/High-school-kicker-boots-67-yard-field-goal-3964687.php
Im totally skeptical of this. Not even professionals have done that and this CHILD did???
I lived in Washington when I was a kid before I moved to SF and my sister's high school used to play them in football, so it has to be real. Maybe they could use different footballs for field goals?
Honestly though, why are you so in live with kicking , Ari? You always bring up PATs and field goals when they don't even relate to anything in an article.
I meant In love not in live
I always thought it was cool though I never tried out for the position. Plus I didnt have superior leg strength and cant torque my leg with that amount of force. I still gave it a try for fun on the Wash practice field. My range at most was a 25 yarder but I had to really put everything I got into it. So it amazed me when a high school kid can make 40 yarders.
And lastly I felt it was one position that any person can really really work on and actually get playing time at when usually most coaches go with their favorites at skilled positions. Theres so many AAA games where the teams opt to leave a free 1 point on the board after a TD because they just dont practice kicks or have time to. 1 point can be the difference from a win and a loss.
wash destryed gal
u wish the refs were so favoring wash and they called back like 5 touchdowns
2-2, long way to the playoff Wash!
Riordan Frosh defeat SI 13-10.
You'd think the Riordan frosh would've won by 3 TD's, they way some people talk about them on here. Only 3 pts?
It really was not that close…SI scored TD under 2 min to go. Riordan O line along wirh runnung game controlled . 5 starters incl their best player out w/ injuries and did not suit up. Also their WR / DBwho absolutely wowed the crowd with a 67yd punt return for a TD was injured early in the 3rd qtr.
A win is a win..RIORDAN FROSH
I am an SI grad who has also seen Riordan freshmen play before and saw today's game as well.
I think today's game was close only because Riordan's best player, the man-child Jamarian Casten did not play. He is by far the Crusader's best defensive player and as a fullback is also probably one of their top offensive players. He went out for the coin flip as captain but he was in street clothes and spent the game on the sidelines. I was told he was not injured but the coach had his reasons for not playing him.
In addition to that missing element, Riordan lost their very fast return specialist/wide receiver (#9) when he suffered a bad knee injury while absolutely blowing up a guy when he was covering a kick-off in the third quarter. He had scored Riordan's 1st TD on a long punt return.
SI scored 3 points on their first possession and then didn't score again until there were 2 minutes left to go in the game.
All in all, the score was not a true indication of the one-sided nature of the game and without Casten and their key speed guy for the second half , Riordan was playing short-handed.
SI's offense was just the QB running the ball on keepers. Fast tough kid, but the rest of the team looked limited.
If Riordan's player was not injured and held out because of the coach, he would have not been allowed on the sidelines at all. Does anyone know how Riordan's injured WR is doing?
WCALSF: I was about 20 feet from him in the stands when he was carried off the field to the trainer's bench. He could not put any weight on his left leg. The trainer told his mom it was his knee. They left him there with ice on it and they told his mom they were leaving for x-rays/MRI as soon as the game ended.
Casten looked fine on the sidelines. Running around and helping the refs with placing the balls and working with his teammates firing them up. However, it sounds like you are saying he was injured because of the fact that he was on the sidelines at all. Is it possible you may be mistaken? If not, what injury does he have?
The official word from Riordan was Caston had a foot injury. I noticed too he was helping out with giving the game ball to the ref,etc. but he did have a limp…Not sure it is wise to throw out anything else unless it was stated by Riordan. Let's hope #9's injury is not serious and he has a speedy recovery.
UncleFrank, I stand corrected. Caston was held out because of disciplinary reasons. Good to see he was helping out on the sidelines and cheering, rather than sulking or worse yet , not show up. Hopefully he learns this lesson. I heard he's a good kid…Great news on #9 Aidan Verba-Hamilton! He has a deep new bruise , no structural damage. He'll be fine.
Yes, but they won and that's what counts. It was a good game and they came out on top. Stop hating JJ.. do you come to the games, do you see this team play live.. or let me see is it just you can't stand that they've been winning thus far.
I really don't care if they are winning or not, it's freshmen football. What happen if Riordan's players still remain 5-9 165 pounds, and SI's players grow 6 inches over the summer and gain 20 pounds? SI will come out on top by the time these 13 or 14 yr old kids are seniors. Riordan's best freshman player is already in street clothes and it's not due to injury, do u think he will stay there all 4 years?
You may not care, but others do and take pride in it. No one knows what most of these players will weigh or how tall they will be by the time they are Seniors and for you who doesn't care about freshman football should stop harping on it. There is no predicition of whether or not that the player who didn't play today will be there in 4 years…
I guess I have to believe you since I wasn't there, but 3 pts is still only 3 pts. Did SI even try an onside kick after they got their only TD? So Riordan only scored a TD off their special teams or did they miss a PAT, or kicked 2 FG's? i can't believe Im talking bout freshman football, lol.
Riordan scored 2 TDs-one on the punt return and a 20 yd run by their rb. PAT was no good. SI tried onside kick but ball went out of bounds…SI appeared to tired in 2nd half as Riordan was using 2 nd string offense often in 2nd half. Great turnout on both sides 300+ as SI folks were interested in seeing the Frosh …need to enjoy this as JVs and Varsity have it tough tomorrow! Lol!
Believe it! You've been talking about it a lot. Just admit that you're just as interested as everyone else, lol…
I knew marshall was going to flake,cant wait to play the so call bears
How are they the "so call" bears?
I believe one of Mission's best players has a 2-game suspension, so if Lincoln beats Mission in 2 weeks, the win should have an asterisk.
I want all the AAA teams to do well and it's too bad that Marshall had to forfeit. But beyond that it sucks for Marshall, it sucks for Lincoln. Lincoln can't make up the game and even if they were to blow out Marshall, at least guys get reps against live competition.
I don't know how other public school leagues are, but the AAA seems to have their share of forfeits and teams dropping out on the league at the last minute.
Don L.,
Marshall has a team, but unfortunately, thier coach seems to not be able to keep his mouth shut. It's a shame when the coach is the cause of why the team fails. The coach shoots his mouth off at the before the season starts and puts a bullseye on Marshall's back. Sadly, he's unable to produce on his "promise". Then, his mouth gets him into trouble again, but this time, it costs the team their season (possibly). Coaches are supposed to be rolemodels, not the catalyst for destruction.
At Jj, for there to be an asterisk is wrong. Both teams will match up not once but twice. If anything this first game means nothing it is all about the second one. I can't believe you would say an asterisk. You win in spite of, not beceause certain players did not play. That is a lot of disrespect you have just displayed.
From Fri. 10/19:
BVAL Santa Teresa field hockey
Live Oak (Morgan Hill) 2, St. Ignatius 0
Non-league girls tennis
Notre Dame (Belmont) 7, Mercy 0
AAA girls volleyball
Washington 3, Galileo 0 (25-23, 25-14, 31-29)
Wallenberg 3, Burton 0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-17)
Balboa 3, Marshall 0 (25-10, 25-14, 25-22)
BCL West girls volleyball
Marin Academy (San Rafael) 3, Urban 0 (25-11, 25-22, 25-23)
Non-league girls volleyball
Soquel 3, St. Ignatius 2
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text:
Welcome to Isca Morris Website
You have reached the home of the world famous Isca Morris, traditional Morris Dancers from South Wales and our site provides an overview of Isca Morris and their associated traditions and activities. Please turn to our Contacts and Feedback page if you require contact details for the side and current officers.
To give you a flavour of our music we have attached a variety of folk and morris dance tunes which will play as you examine each web page. We also have a short video extracted from a Japanese television programme which shows the side dancing on May morning at Caerleon Ampitheatre.
Although our site has been set up in English, we welcome and regularly receive visitors from all parts. If you would like a translation then please press the Babel Fish Translate This Page on the relevant flag in the left hand menu options column on any of the website pages. We will then attempt to provide you with an extremely basic form of translation for each page in a variety of languages including French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese and Korean (the translation facility is not yet available in Welsh - although it is available in our range of published leaflets).
The green Monmouth caps which we wear were once knitted in the county (see our Tradition pages) and are an example of one of the earliest surviving medieval knitted garments; extremely handy for the cold Welsh weather! Our kit also includes green britches, white shirts and socks together with a multi-colour tatty coat.
Our dancing season usually extends from May 1st (when we dance at dawn in the Roman Amphitheatre at Caerleon) to about mid-September, every Wednesday evening, at a variety of real ale pubs across Newport, Torfaen and
To find your way around our site please use the navigation buttons on each web page, alternatively use our Site Map to go straight to a specific item of interest.
We are a member club of the Morris Federation, a central organisation which represents the views of a large number of clubs, both in the UK and in several other countries. We hope our site provides you with up to date and relevant information on Isca Morris and thank you for visiting us.
We keep this website regularly updated with our details so please tell your friends and visit us again. We have included a very large number of pictures of our activities which are much reduced in size for quick page loading, please let us know if you want a larger higher definition copy of any of them.