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PeterIn my opinion there is one big misconception in this conversation about sheeted doughs. The addition of flour has absolutely nothing to do with the sheeting process except to make the dough easy to handle...it has nothing to do with layering...in fact, I don't even flour my dough until the lamination process (the compression process) is done and I am sheeting the dough to correct thickness. You have to flour the dough then simply to keep the dough from sticking to itself.My next experiment is going to be to increase the hydration of these doughs, keep them undermixed, and see how the "cracker crust method" of formation changes the different skins...maybe there will be a huge winner in there?? Sure hope so!!I have to say one more time...your RT crust is wonderful!!John
Bummer! It's all about the bubbles, right?Dense and bready dosen't sound right at all. Hmmm. I haven't had that issue come up with this formula. Could be the brand.I let the dough set at room temp. for at least 4 hours and then I either use it at that point or throw it in the fridge for use next day (24 hrs). Removing from fridge 1 hr. before rolling.I am not docking, layering/sheeting at this point and time. The folding was with a different formula.I'm using a small 5 inch roller to focus on the center of the dough. It helps move the bubles to the edge. I know pampered Chef sells them, and have seen them in a few specialty shops. SOmetimes they have 2 different sized rollers on each end of the handle. (If you haven't seen one, I know that it can sound weird.)The amounts of ingredients in the first sauce recipe are a bit low and it's also missing the ground white pepper, ground fennel and cumin. Remember this is still a work in progress, it's not totally there yet.Also remember to leave a good 1 1/2 - 2 inch border. The toppings tend to weigh-down the bubbles.If you add enough cheese it will spread as it melts and still allows the bubbles to form. Don't ask how much is enough, this is one of those things I've learned to eye-ball and every brand spreads differently.Even very slight over-mixing seems to affect the bubbles. Still not totally sure about it though.Don't get too frustrated yet. Somehow my son manages to kill the bubbles, and I haven't quite figured out exactly what he's doing to cause it. Hopefully, I'll catch whatever it is.Hope this helps.
The crumbled dough mixture is thereafter so very easy to form into a ball, which weighed 13.6 ounces . . . a little less than the calculation tool indicated.
Just my opinion, but the layers are not the ends, they are the means to the ends...that is, the layers are the method used to compress cells that create the skin. Actually, in the restaurant setting, not only do I have 6 layers, but in between these layers are all the scraps from previous rolls. It's the compression, with minimal work on the dough itself.John
DanThe goal is to get it thin in as few passes as possible. The variables are obviously the strength of the dough and the strength of your sheeter. Remember that each pass through the rollers develops your dough....which is exactly why you undermixed it in the first place.John
12 oz harvest king4 oz Quaker Harina preparada flour tortilla mix.25 instant yeast8.40 oz water approx. 90Fprocess in food processor until just combined. Some yeast will not be dissolved.Proof at the very least 3-4 hours room temp Proof overnight in fridge for criper crust.Makes 2, 14 inch pizza Or roll 16 and it will be flakier Can divide dough and make 2, 12s but its a bit heavy and the crust doesnt crisp as well.( Sameday) But with the overnight ferment it s more like the current Shakeys.
scott,There is nothing more satisfying to a pizza maker than getting results that are much better than anticipated. I'd love to see some photos if you can manage that sometime.Interestingly, your final dough formulation after increasing the amounts of salt, shortening, and sugar to 10 g. each still abides by the pecking order of the ingredients used in the RT pizza flour blend. And the baker's percents of the salt, shortening, and sugar are all within normal ranges. If you had used the nonfat dry milk, the total weight would have come to 1502.96 g. (twice 751.48 g. for two pizzas). Your actual dough weight should have been just a bit less because of the omission of the nonfat dry milk. As a point of clarification, did you make 16" pizzas, as called for in the original dough formulation? I don't recall that your pizza stone was large enough for 16" pizzas.I played around with my spreadsheet and if my calculations are correct I get the following as the basic dough formulation (for one 16" pizza plus a bit of scrap) you ended up with after using the increased amounts of salt, shortening, and sugar (I left in the nonfat dry milk):100%, Flour (King Harvest), 481.08 g., 16.97 oz., 1.06 lb.48.3%, Water, 232.36 g., 8.20 oz., 0.51 lb.2.08%, Salt, 10 g., 0.35 oz., 1 3/4 t.2.08%, Shortening (Crisco), 10 g., 0.35 oz., 2 1/2 t.2.08%, Sugar, 10 g., 0.35 oz., 2 1/2 t.1.25%, Nonfat dry milk (Carnation), 6.01 g., 0.21 oz., 4 1/8 t. (a bit more than 1 5/8 t. if baker's grade)0.40%, Instant dry yeast (IDY), 1.92 g., 0.068 oz., a bit more than 5/8 tTotal dough weight = 751.41 g. (26.50 oz.)Peter
Peter,I plan on making the dough recipe you have listed in reply #111, but I have a few questions for you first.1. What do you recommend for the fermentation process? In your previous posts you noted that the dough came out better when it was fermented at room temperature rather than fermented within the refrigerator. I've also read that some people feel that RT's crust tastes like it's been cold fermented so I'm assuming that both room temperature and refrigerator fermentation are required. Do you have a recommendation on durations?2. What kind of salt are you using in this recipe? I would assume 1 5/8 teaspoons of a fine grain salt is actually more salt than the same volume of a coarser salt. I've been using fine grained sea salt.
Lydia, I finally got some Harina Preparada online. Cost me ~$8 to ship about $8 worth of flour. I am just dying to try this out, so I didn't bother with the cost involved. Have you made any adjustments to the recipe as you have laid out previously? I think I will try and sheet some ala "elsegundo" method as well.
I made my dough last night and realized that I have been doing a few things "subconsciously" that needs to be mentioned.Half-way through the countertop rise I divide the dough (if making 2 pizzas) and turn the dough twice to form each into a ball. This helps the dough become more homogenous and improves the rise volumne.Also when rolling out the dough, I roll the dough ball in the bench flour then roll the dough out to size, flip it over and bring in four imaginary corners to the center (makes something like a diamond shape but I try to keep it as round as possible), flip it over and press it into a round disc. I don't believe I'm wiping off the bench flour before folding, but I'll need to make the dough again to be for sure. Then proceed rolling the skin to full size. So, I guess what I'm doing is some altered form of sheeting and layering. If the dough is rolled too thick it can reduce bubble volumne and the bottom crust usually dosen't crisp well and stays pliable. Sometimes longer bake times won't remedy it either.
Dave,If your objective is to replicate the RT dough and pizza, which I assume it is, then I would try to follow the regimen previously described by ThatOneGuy. That is, I would make the dough, put it into the refrigerator for 8-12 hours, but no longer than 2 days, and then form the skin(s), which can then go back into the refrigerator until ready to use, but be used the same day. I would form the skins along the lines originally described by ThatOneGuy and as I transformed the sequence into a single dough ball format at Reply 82 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,1911.msg33883.html#msg33883. Since you will be using a rolling pin, I would undermix the dough since the rolling pin will contribute to the dough development. To make it easier to roll out the dough using a rolling pin, I would be inclined to form the dough (whether for a single dough piece or in bulk if you are making more than one skin) into the shape of a long rectangular log about 2 high, and put that log into a suitably shaped storage container to go into the refrigerator. That way, you wont overwork the dough trying to get it into a rectangular shape to roll out when you remove it from the refrigerator. As far as salt is concerned, it doesnt matter whether you are using ordinary table salt or sea salt. The dough calculating tools use the same conversion data for converting from weight to volume measurements. I personally prefer sea salt and that is what I normally use for all my doughs unless I am trying a new recipe for the first time that calls for ordinary table salt. If you can tell me what size pizza you would like to make, and what ingredients you will be using (for example, will you be using Carnations dry milk powder or bakers grade?), maybe I can help you with the dough formulation. At the time I posted the various iterations of the RT clone dough, I was using a spreadsheet to come up with all the required quantities of ingredients. With the expanded dough calculating tool at http://www.pizzamaking.com/expanded_calculator.html, which was designed quite a bit later, we now have greater flexibility and perhaps greater accuracy. For example, I would be inclined to make enough dough for a rectangular sheet from which the skin can be easily cut while leaving a modest amount of scrap. Hopefully, the skin will be of the correct weight and thickness factor. One point that I would like to make is that a possible disconnect between a pizza prepared at an RT operation and one prepared at home as a clone is the protocol used to bake the pizzas. For example, ThatOneGuy originally said that it took 2-4 minutes to bake a standard RT pizza (4 minutes normally but 2 minutes at slam time). There is no way that I can do that in my oven, whether I am using a screen, a disk, a pizza stone, a cutter pan, or whatever. It will take me about 4 minutes in my home oven just to pre-bake a skin. So, I think that measures that we have not previously considered, or adequately considered, will have to be taken to convert an RT clone made in the home to approach a typical RT pizza as prepared by an RT operation. Examples of what I have in mind have been given by elsegundo (with his particular pasta roller method), by member fazzari (with the method he described in Reply 221 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,1911.msg50196.html#msg50196), or by member BTB (with the method he described at Reply 234 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,1911.msg50365.html#msg50365). I am also thinking that the dough-warming method as described in the thread at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,5762.0.html might have some merit. I havent tried that method with a medium-hydration dough (which is how I characterize the RT clone dough) but my recollection is that the RT clone doughs I made were on the stiff side. If the dough warming method has merit with the RT clone, it might be possible to eliminate the rolling steps altogether, or at least make them easier to do, although pre-baking the skin may still be necessary. Then, the remaining issue would be how to bake the pizzas, that is, using a disk, stone, cutter pan, etc. Id like to explore a few possibilities along the above lines, possibly when I have finished my series of experiments with the cracker style. Maybe DNADan has already tried some of the possibilities noted above and has some comments or guidance to offer. Peter
Peter,Thanks for the helpful reply. Here is the plan, feel free to comment:I'm going to make two 16" pizzas using the recipe listed in reply #111 (http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,1911.msg34088.html#msg34088). I will be following the formula exactly, down to the brand of ingredients. The Carnation dry milk will be scalded according to reply #20 (http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,1911.msg17795.html#msg17795). Since I'll be using a rolling pin, the dough will be under-mixed (just enough to combine the ingredients). The dough for the first one will be put into the refrigerator immediately after it's formed, where it will stay for about 20 hours. The dough for the second will be allowed to ferment at room temperature (around 70 F) for six hours then it will be refrigerated for about 14 hours. Both pizzas will be allowed to warm up at room temperature for 1 hour before cooking (this includes the rolling time).The dough for both pizzas will be prepared according to reply #82 (http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,1911.msg33883.html#msg33883) since it follows ThatOneGuy's recommendations (http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,1911.msg17492.html#msg17492). Both pizzas will be baked on a stone at 500 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes.So essentially, the variable will be the room temperature fermentation time. We'll see who wins.Dave


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Topic: Write Your Forum Posts in TextMate
Okay, not exactly Rails related, but I think everyone here who has TextMate will be interested in this.
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Combine this with the BBCode TextMate Bundle I just finished creating to make this perfect for editing forum postings. This even handles proper syntax highlighting and snippets for the specified language while in the code tag! It's still under early development, so please give it a try and let me know how it goes.


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I can't stop crankin' that one, R1! And I still can't play the Driving Rain CD without immediately following it up with Run Devil Run...and then following that with Driving Rain!
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The difference between genius and insanity is merely the difference between success and failure.


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Issue Brief #3818 on Taxes
January 8, 2013
January 8, 2013 | Issue Brief on Taxes
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report on effective marginal tax rates for low-income workers.[1]
An effective marginal tax rate as defined by the CBO is the change in taxes and change in government benefits associated with increases in income. Because tax rates and government benefits change as income changes, an individual's effective marginal tax rate can rise and fall drastically as he works more hours.
While much focus in the past two years has been on the top end of the income scale—the "Buffett Rule," the "1 percent"—the effects of taxation and government benefits are severe among the bottom 1 percent as well. With marginal effective tax rates exceeding 60 percent in many cases, the tax and benefit structure actively discourages earned success.
There are five lessons from the CBO report that policymakers should learn.
The architects of policies such as Section 8 housing or food stamps never intended to create a poverty trap. But as benefits are added up, the combined effect is to steadily devalue earned income.
Chart 1, adapted from the CBO report's Summary Figure 1, shows the futility of work for a single parent with one child. If he does not work at all, he receives $19,300 in government benefits. If he instead earns a salary of $30,000—which is full-time work at $15 per hour—he has disposable income of $28,000. This means that he is working full-time for only $8,700 per year more than if he did not work at all, making his effective take home wage $4.35 per hour ($8,700/2,000 hours per year). Is it rational to expect someone to work hard for such a low wage?
Most government benefits aimed at the poor have "static" justifications. That is, a program to provide health care to the poor is predicated on their current poverty. But it may have important prospective effects. Once the program comes into existence, it changes the costs and benefits of staying in school, working, and even marrying. Some of the worst policies of the 20th century were those that penalized responsible fatherhood, as the Moynihan Report[2] famously addressed in 1965.
Those who favor raising the minimum wage generally appeal to the idea that those working low-paying jobs need to increase their consumption more than others. But the CBO's research shows that in the relevant income range, the marginal effective tax rate is above 65 percent for the example single parent (Chart 2, adapted from the CBO report's Figure 2, page 7). Thus, a minimum wage increase of 10 percent would increase the single parent's take-home pay by less than 4 percent—if he kept his job, which is no sure thing, since increases in the minimum wage hurt the job prospects of such workers.[3]
Meanwhile, the arguments for lowering the minimum wage are strong: Competitive wages employ more people, keep more businesses open, and employ those in greatest need of a job.
The phase-out of "Premium Assistance Credits" significantly raises the marginal effective tax rate for a single parent earning between $22,000 and $62,000 per year (see CBO, Figure 7, page 26). This is an example of a program that raises marginal tax rates without "raising taxes." The government collects less revenue than before—in fact, it pays out a handsome benefit—but discourages work even more.
As The Heritage Foundation has argued elsewhere,[4] poverty statistics that measure only earnings are poorly defined. The CBO report shows that even for some of those with no earnings at all, social programs in the U.S. provide enough disposable income to elevate them above the poverty line. The example single parent, when earning nothing at all, receives benefits worth 128 percent of the federal poverty line.
Beyond the substantive lessons that can be drawn from the report, note four technical insights:
The high marginal effective tax rates, and their effects on regular people, have long been noted by economists.[5] In the United Kingdom, experts recognized the poverty trap created by government policy and initiated a major reform of the social welfare system, which will begin taking effect in 2013.[6] Casey Mulligan has contrasted the British simplification of welfare with growing complexity in the United States.[7]
With the tax code ripe for reform, policymakers should remember: Marginal tax rates are dangerously high for some on the lower end of the pay scale.
—Salim Furth, PhD, is Senior Policy Analyst in Macroeconomics in the Center for Data Analysis at The Heritage Foundation.
Show references in this report
[1]Congressional Budget Office, Effective Marginal Tax Rates for Low- and Moderate-Income Workers, November 2012, http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/11-15-2012-MarginalTaxRates.pdf (accessed December 20, 2012).
[2]United States Department of Labor, Office of Policy Planning and Research, The Negro Family: The Case for National Action, March 1965, http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/history/webid-meynihan.htm#.ULfiYeS_J8F (accessed December 20, 2012).
[3]James Sherk, "Raising the Minimum Wage Hurts Vulnerable Workers' Job Prospects Without Reducing Poverty," Heritage Foundation WebMemo No. 1176, July 25, 2006, http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2006/07/raising-the-minimum-wage-hurts-vulnerable-workers-job-prospects-without-reducing-poverty.
[4]Robert Rector and Rachel Sheffield, "Understanding Poverty in the United States: Surprising Facts About America's Poor," Heritage Foundation Backgrounder No. 2607, September 13, 2011, http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/09/understanding-poverty-in-the-united-states-surprising-facts-about-americas-poor.
[5]Harvard professors Jeff Frankel and Jeff Liebman relate one woman's experience to the economic research on the "poverty trap" created by government policies. See Jeff Frankel, "Effective Marginal Tax Rates on Lower-Income American Workers," Jeff Frankels Weblog, February 2008, http://content.ksg.harvard.edu/blog/jeff_frankels_weblog/2008/02/08/8/ (accessed December 20, 2012).
[6]United Kingdom Department for Work and Pensions, "Universal Credit: Welfare That Works," November 2010, http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/universal-credit-full-document.pdf (accessed December 20, 2012).
[7]Casey B. Mulligan, "A Tale of Two Welfare States," Economix, December 19, 2012, http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/19/a-tale-of-two-welfare-states/ (accessed December 20, 2012).


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Well-known photographer Douglas Kirkland demonstrates studio portraiture techniques, from lighting to working with a model.
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Juvenile crime drops 50 percent in Alpena County
ALPENA – It appears that programs in Alpena County are leading to a reduced number of juvenile delinquencies, and the number of juveniles who are repeat offenders has drastically decreased. According to a recent year end report from probate court the number of juveniles charged with a crime dropped 50 percent from 2011.
Judge Tom LaCross said it is encouraging to see the number of crimes committed by adolescents drop. He said the decline is credited to the success of programs offered to help struggling youth. LaCross said the youth drug court and the supervised community service program are two of the main reasons more kids are staying out of trouble. He said the community in general has helped to limit the amount of crimes being committed by minors.
"I would think the drop in delinquencies is purely a result of the court, but it is not. Society is responding to delinquent acts; we have a stronger law enforcement response and a greater response in the schools," LaCross said. "Mental health is responding and places like girls and boys clubs, youth groups and church groups are responding. It is because of all of these type of things put together that has allowed us to see the drop in delinquencies."
LaCross said one of the leading causes of crime is drugs. He said the recent problem the area had with synthetic drugs was a real concern, but because of strong community support and swift action by District Health Department No. 4, the drugs, which were legal at the time but are now banned in the state, were removed from store shelves and out of the hands of children.
"The community really responded in a marvelous way, more aggressively than any community in the state," LaCross said. "Alpena was ahead of the curve when it came to these dangerous drugs. There were protests, public meetings, and the community just took the ball and ran with it. The citizens stood up and said this is enough and we can't wait for a law to be passed. The health department declared the drugs a public hazard and the stores were raided, and because of all these things the kids couldn't get the drugs. This could be the biggest factor in why the number of juvenile crimes went down."
The local youth work program has been in place for some time, and according to LaCross it has been recognized statewide and even offered as an example to other communities. LaCross said it also plays a roll in reducing crime. He said kids who have been in trouble do work for the county or nonprofit organizations. He said it is effective because other kids see the workers in the brightly colored vests, which mark them as a juvenile criminal, and send them a message.
"The supervised community work was the subject of articles in the Detroit Free Press and the Michigan Supreme Court website has it as one of its highlighted programs that work well," LaCross said. "This program is cheap and very effective. Right now other courts are emulating what we have started."
LaCross said keeping children on the straight and narrow begins at home and with the parents. He said teachers, community leaders and the courts can help, but it is the parents who must set the example and be mindful of what their children are doing.
"The most important team player is the parents and or parent," LaCross said. "They have a huge responsibility not only to make the child, but to raise the child to adulthood and to be a responsible citizen, the child has the right to a good upbringing. I think schools should offer parenting classes. It is as important as math or English in my opinion."
Steve Schulwitz can be reached via e-mail at email@example.com or by phone at 358-5689.


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What is Joomla?
Joomla (like WordPress) is an open source Content Management System (CMS) and having started as one of the originals, remains one of the most popular of the free content management systems available today.
In brief, a CMS is a system where the HTML pages are created through the scripting in the software, this means that the pages are all active and are stored in a database. This is all managed easily behind the scenes and can be accessed simply from a web browser.
A great benefit of Joopla is that because the software is free to use without any licence and is considered 'open source', there is a strong community of volunteer developers who constantly improve the software, creating new themes and extensions for the platform.
Is a commercial CMS better?
For blue chip company's, a bespoke CMS may be the answer. However with high set-up costs it will often require additional functionality raising the costs further. Joomla on the other hand is totally free to use! It has the same capabilities and no cost. This makes it a fairly simple deciscion for many business owners to go with and the money that is saved can be utilised in customising other areas, such as graphics and themes.
Joomla Themes
There are an abundance of fantastic pre designed themes available to Joomla users. Many are free, although you will probably want to pay to create customised graphics to suit the branding of your business. Joomla is a great solution for small and medium-sized businesses that are looking for a cost effective yet highly functional website.
Call us today to see how we can integrate Joomla into your website development plans.


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Joe Bonamassa - Guitarist goes backstage
"It's like steralising elephants up here!" So says guitar tech Dave Pate as he line checks Joe Bonamassa's Yamaha APX acoustic on stage at the Shepherd's Bush Empire.
Now then, I've never steralised an elephant, but I doubt whether it'd be that in tune. I've no doubt at all, however, that it may well be that loud.
Once again – in a theme that's likely to become a recurring one here – I'm counting my lucky stars. I promise I'm not gloating. Many a hard-nose journo wouldn't flinch. After all, it's a bit unprofessional to be stoked just to be on stage with a guitar hero, isn't it? Well allow me this indulgence (and come inside these brackets where I can whisper. (No, closer still… whisper now…)) Bollocks!
I don't care what anyone says, no matter how many stars you meet, no matter how many guitar players show you what they know first hand, I defy anyone who truly has six-string DNA to not be just a little bit awestruck by experiences like this.
Joe comes out. Plugs in the '59 Historic Series Les Paul. There's a Marshall Silver Jubilee pumping constantly, then and any one of a Van Weelden Twinkle Land, Two Rock Custom Reverb Signature or a Category 5 Plexi clone switched in for "colour" as Dave Pate tells me.
I'm floating. Just for a minute. But I'm up there alright.
Okay, more soberly, and back to business. The reason we're here is because that a) Joe Bonamassa is just about the most exciting blues prospect we've seen since Stevie Ray; and b) Guitarist has been invited to spend a couple of days to get to know him a little better. You can read the April issue of the mag – on sale March 13 – to get the full story.


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Toner Cartridges For Dell 2350d
LD Products offers low priced remanufactured replacements to Dell laser toner cartridges compatible with the Dell 2350d. Our remanufactured replacements are manufactured to the highest performance and quality standards, delivering optimal prints when used in your Dell 2350d. Our professionally remanufactured alternative cartridges are not remanufactured Dell OEM cartridges; they are Non-OEM products that have been modified and remanufactured by a remanufacturer that has no affiliation with Dell*. Purchasing our remanufactured laser toner cartridge alternatives for your Dell 2350d is an excellent way to save money without sacrificing quality. Our alternative remanufactured Laser Toner Cartridges for the Dell 2350d have a 'Two Year 100% Quality Satisfaction Guarantee'. These cartridges are also replacements for the toner cartridges. The use of our remanufactured replacement laser toner for the Dell 2350d does not void your printer's warranty. More


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Richard Fortier
FORTIER, Richard J., 67, died March 13, 2013, at Alpena Regional Medical Center.
He is survived by his wife Elaine; three daughters, Lisa (Neal) Siegert of Hubbard Lake, Leslie (Eric) Roszman of Ovid, and Lindsey (Doug) Rose of Hubbard Lake; seven grandchildren, Laura, Ethan, Rachael, Zachary, Braden, Alden, and Aidan; two sisters, Phyllis (Jerry) Hodorowski of Lapeer, and Ernestine (Dennis) Heringshausen of Caseville; one brother, Norm (Darlene) of Ossineke; and many nieces and nephews.
He is at the Bannan Funeral Home where friends may call on Sunday from 2-8 p.m. with VFW Alpena Post 2496 service at 5 p.m. and a combined Third Degree Knights of Columbus Parish Prayer service at 7 p.m. Visitation will continue at St. Catherine Catholic Church on Monday from 10 a.m. until time of mass of Christian burial at 11 a.m. with Rev. Robert Bissot officiating.
Interment will be at St. Catherine Catholic Church.


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A new study reveals how the amygdala is involved in controlling predatory behavior in mice.
Opinion: Pay-to-Play Publishing
September 3, 2015|
Online scientific journals are sacrificing the quality of research articles to make a buck.
September 3, 2015|
Online scientific journals are sacrificing the quality of research articles to make a buck.
January 3, 2013|
The release of non-native organisms into the environment by high school teachers should not be used as an argument to stop teaching by hands-on demonstration.
January 3, 2013|
Animal dissections are not needed in education.
November 13, 2012|
The crucial importance of language in the debate over the regulation of direct-to-consumer genetic tests
October 31, 2012|
What role did climate change play in this week's massive hurricane?
October 29, 2012|
Record fish die-offs in the Midwest call for a fresh look at how humans are disrupting the planet's essential water cycle.
October 22, 2012|
Biomedical researchers would benefit from emulating the logically rigorous reasoning of the late Alan Turing, British mathematician, computer scientist, and master cryptographer.
October 15, 2012|
Remote sensing helps control an invasive giant weed that threatens ecosystems and border security.
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50/50 blend of milk chocolate/semi-sweet chocolate morselsmini marshmallowscinnamon toast crunchthrow it on a lightly buttered skin, in the order of marshmallows, CTC, and then the chips last.bake no higher than 450
also if you want to make an 'apple pie' pizza, combine 1lb rolled oats, 1 1/2stick melted butter, and 2c loosely packed brown sugar. spread diced jel-sauced apples over pizza, sprinkle crumb topping.
Now that sounds spectacular!
The different combo's for what people call S'more pizza's are interesting. We pre-bake the crust, then let it cool. Place chocolate chips, mini-marshmallows, and crushed (into small chunks, not fine) graham crackers.. slide it back in and let it roast the marshmallows in the WFO and it comes out very nice.Now, if someone could just give me a hint how to keep the melted marshmallows from sticking to the cutter.


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by Anton Shilov
The graphics business unit of Advanced Micro Devices will refresh the lineup of its Mobility Radeon HD graphics processing units for notebooks in the first half of 2011, the company revealed on Tuesday.
The Vancouver family of mobile graphics processing units (GPUs) will consist of two sub-families, based on a slide from AMD discrete mobile graphics chips roadmap. One sub-family "red" will consist of Blackcomb, Whistler and Seymour chips, whereas another sub-family "yellow" will include Granville, Capilano and Robson graphics processors.
The difference between the "red" and "yellow" sub-families is not officially declared, but given positioning of the "yellow" family, it may offer lower performance, lack certain capabilities and be a little more affordable. The "red" family, based on the slide that AMD published, will support the company's second-generation DirectX 11 graphics engine as well as UVD 3.0 with Blu-ray 3D and stereo-3D output support. It is also possible that Vancouver Red and Vancouver Yellow GPUs are made using different process technologies.
AMD does not release any particular launch dates for the new family of graphics processors for laptops. In order to win notebook designs, it should reveal its new Mobility Radeon lineup at the consumer electronics show, where manufacturers of various devices show off their latest products, including notebooks with the most advanced GPUs inside.
The chip designer did not reveal any specifications or performance details about the next-generation ATI Mobility Radeon HD 6000-series graphics processors. Given the fact that the company needs to add performance across the board, it should be expected that the highest-end mobility part will feature Barts-like configuration with 960 or 1120 stream processors.


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ProQuest is making available the Cecil Papers, a newly created digital archive database of documents held by the Gascoyne-Cecil family at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire. These papers are particularly significant in documenting the political history of England during the Elizabethan era, 1520-1668.
The trial runs from January 30 until March 6, 2011.
The Cecil Papers database offers full-color digital images of the original Cecil Papers manuscripts at Hatfield House Archives. The approximately 30,000 documents comprising the Cecil Papers include numerous contemporary hand-drawn maps. Also included is a digitized version of the Calendar of the Manuscripts of the Marquess of Salisbury, an essential bibliographic tool that provides descriptive records for each document. Many of the entries in the Calendar include full transcriptions, extracts, or summary abstracts, all of which can be searched in The Cecil Papers.
Besides the political papers, The Cecil Papers database also includes selected documents from a separate collection, the Cecil Family and Estate Papers, which shed light on the rich history of three generations of the family.
The Cecil Papers are a privately held archive of sixteenth and seventeenth-century manuscripts, consisting principally of the correspondence of William Cecil, Lord Burghley (1520-1598) and his son Robert, the 1st Earl of Salisbury (1563-1612). These two men dominated the administration of government during the reign of Elizabeth I and the first eight years under her successor. The papers span the period 1520-1668, from the birth of William Cecil, Lord Burghley, to the death of William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Salisbury. Because of the importance of the Cecils, the materials offer crucial insights into the events of one of the most dynamic periods of history, including the marriages of Henry VIII, through the reign of Elizabeth I and the clandestine plans to facilitate James I/VI's accession, upon her death.
Please post comments concerning any aspect of this trial; it aids significantly in our decision-making process.


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Share Your Orders Thread
When I ordered tea online I used to purchase exclusively from specialteas.com. Once they sold out it took me forever to find a company that had consistent teas of their quality. I recently discovered this new company http://www.bluelanterntea.com who gets their teas from the same suppliers that specialteas.com did. I have had:
Dragon Well
Green Snail Spring
One Bush Phoenix Bird
Buddhist Tea Fo Cha
Fukimushi Sencha
Not only are their teas outstanding but since their a new company they're giving out all kinds of discounts to attract business.
Sloane Tea has a where to buy option on the top of their web page where you can check out where it is available locally.
DAVIDsTEA, I just had to.
The Summer Collection
Lime Gelato 50g
Main Squeeze 50g
Jungle Ju Ju 50g
Bamboozled 50g
Time for summer!
Ack! So much for not buying tea for awhile! I've been wanting to order some Verdant tea, and had a whole list I wanted to try out. I went to their site, and they are out of laoshan black, and almost out of laoshan village chai (which my coworker wanted me to order some for her, and I wanted some myself!) So, I ordered:
Two 2 oz. bags of laoshan village chai
Sample sizes (7g) of:
Golden Fleece
Anxi Fo Shou Black Tea
Yu Lu Yan Cha Black
Taiwanese Dong Ding Oolong
Golden Buds Shu Pu'er Xingyang 2010
Mrs. Li's Shi Feng Dragonwell Green Tea
Eek, I'm inches away from crumbling for a Verdant order myself! I was trying to hold out until June, but one of the two teas I was super excited about is gone, and the other is low stock. Dx Plus I want to try Yu Lu Yan Cha Black and I'm under the impression it tends to go pretty quickly. This is the first time it's been in stock since I've been aware of Verdant afterall.
Ya, I definitely crumbled. They don't have laoshan black or the genmaicha either. The Yu Lu tea looked yummy. Hope I don't love the sample and then can't get more!
You can pre-order the spring picked laoshan black.
Is the spring harvest supposed to be quite a bit better? My initial impression of the Autumn harvest was that I loved it to pieces, but I'm starting to grow rather tired of it and am relieved that I'm down to the last 1.5oz (I'd bought 8…) It's the really heavily roasted/burntness that I'm getting sick of. Dx
Well, I don't want to say anything definite since it likely varies each year, but I personally think the spring will be better. I first tried the 2012 spring picked version as a sample and loved it to bits. Then I bought the autumn version and found it way to roasted and not as chocolate vanilla spice. So I"m hoping this spring version will be like the first sample I tried. If not, I'm selling my 2oz and pouting in the corner until I find another black tea that tastes as magical as I remember.
@ Tealizzy: Thanks for your order- looks like a great combination of tea! It's always fun to know someone's about to receive a giant sample pack of their own choosing. :)
As for Laoshan Black, Mercuryhime is exactly right- the Spring Harvest was picked over the weekend of May10th, and is currently on the way to Verdant HQ. We're really looking forward to it- Laoshan Black is absolutely our most popular tea, and no matter how much we import, we're always amazed with how quickly it sells out!
Mr. and Mrs. He know how much everyone loves the chocolate flavor, and are working on making this the most chocolatey yet- judging from the very early harvest we tried together, it should be a wonderful Spring batch!
Spring Laoshan black and more Spring Green are set to arrive the week of May 27th. Once they're back, the Genmaicha, Chocolate Genmaicha and Chai's will come fully back in stock, too!
@ Chizakura: Glad you picked out some YuLuYanCha! This is only the second season we've had it in stock, since this is just the second season it's ever been made. :D We all really enjoyed the autumn harvest last year, but I think Wang Yanxin and her friends in Laoshan and Xinyang have really outdone themselves with the Spring harvest. I was packing up YuLuYanCha pre-orders last week, and couldn't stand how good the giant bags smelled: seriously? apple cider and chocolate brownies!!
There were only 100lbs made this season, which means when this sells out, we won't have any more until the Autumn. Like fresh sweet corn in the summer or local apples in the fall, there's something particularly special about trying produce in it's season. It's one of the huge challenges and the great joys of seasonal harvests and small batches.
Aaah! You're making me wish I did order a full ounce instead of just a sample size. xD Haha. I nearly did, but then changed my mind since I was already dropping $100 on some lovely new teaware, but now I'm starting to regret. Well if there's still some floating around in July I'll grab some more. :D
(Also excited to try out the Spring Harvest of Laoshan Black too!)
Mercuryhime – Thanks! I didn't see the pre-order until after I ordered, but will keep that in mind.
Lily – I'm super excited to try a bunch of new ones! It will be an adventure!
I caved.
White Silver Tips Pu'er
Climber's High
Long Jing Dragonwell
Green Bamboo
Zhejang Cloud's Green Tea
Tencha Mimoto
Da Hong Pao Wuyi
Jun Shan Yin Zhen Yellow Tea
Now that I see it in writing, can't believe I ordered that much (but I can't wait to get it either :D )
DAVIDs TEA:
Goji pop (100gr)
Tropicalia (100gr)
Kokomo green (100gr)
Mango madness (50 gr).
Why drink crappy juice with artificial flavour when you can make iced tea?!? :)
Pre-ordered 2oz of Laoshan black. The moment I saw that it was available, I rushed to buy some. I'm trusting that it's better than the autumn version that had disappointed me. :)
And I forget who I promised to share a bit with when I got some… I'm a bad person. If you're reading this, PM me!
There. Only sort of broke my hiatus. What I did is I placed my June Verdant Teas order in now. The reasons being that one of the two teas I was most excited about is already sold out, the second being low stock with less than 1lb remaining. The second reason being I wanted some of the teaware, and those won't be there anymore at June.
So I placed my June order in advance, and won't place another until July at the earliest. xD (excluding Butiki. I'm still allowed my June Butiki order)
Here's what I got:
1oz Bergamot Rose Laoshan Black
Sample size Yunnan White Jasmine
Sample size Spring Harvest Laoshan Green
Sample size Yu Lu Yan Cha Black
Yellow Leaves Storage Jar
Paired Tea Storage Jars
I'm just waiting for my coupon to be processed and then I'll place my order! I like the teaware, but will probably just skip that for now and spend about $40. :)
Same here, Sil. I was pretty sad when all those other jars sold out before I even had a chance to look at them to make a decision. xD So I pounced on these ones, hehe. :)
Haha on Butiki! I'm probably going to place an order there soon as well! It's so hard!
It really is, Tealizzy. xD When you know there's so many wonderful teas to be had, it's hard to resist temptation.
@Cavocorax Which teas from Verdant were you looking into? :D
It's so hard to be on tea-hiatus during the Spring! :) If I weren't already working for our own tea company, I know I would be in huge trouble.. I can't resist!!
For reference, which teas were you looking at that are sold out? It's possible there might be small sample sizes left, and I can try to get that to you as your sample.
Chizakura- I wanted the Laoshan Spring preorder, Laoshan green, yu lu yan cha, and a few samples of the blends! I redeemed my $10 loyalty reward and as soon I get it, I'll place it! :)
Lily, that's so generous! :) I was hoping to try out the Laoshan Black Chocolate Genmaicha. I had also hoped to try out the Bai Mu Dan if the genmaicha's all used up. And yes, it's so true. I told myself no more orders and then suddenly all of these beautiful teas started appearing in your store! Haha.
@Cavocorax Hehe, a lot of the ones I'll be trying. :D Hopefully it'll process soon so you can get ordering. :)
I went to the Green Teahouse and bought way too much. ;)
Twelfth Night Black/Green Tea
White Tangerine Peach
Sweet Apple Chai
Silver Needle
Pink Cherry Cider White
Blueberry Silver
Blueberry Matcha
Monkey Coco Rooibos
Lemon Pie Mate'
Vanilla Silk White
Sweet Watermelon White (for ice tea)
And if that wasn't enough; I also purchased a glass teapot and a travel mug. I know I need help. I've promised myself no more tea for 3 months.
My last Verdant order hasn't arrived and I just placed another one! I… have a problem. Perhaps I should spend more time on the tea-buying hiatus thread? Gosh.
Hahaha, I feel your pain. Verdant keeps releasing new stuff! Darnit, I mean, YAY!
It's all so tempting, right? So far they've never let me down with their teas and their descriptions are so poetic that they draw you in!


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Those gentle, always polite Canadians.
Maybe being a hockey commentator makes a difference.
DON CHERRY, Canadian Hockey Commentator for CBC Television, was asked on a local live radio talk show, what he thought about the allegations of torture of suspected terrorists. His reply prompted his ejection from the studio, but to thunderous applause from the audience.
"If hooking up one rag head terrorist prisoner's testicles to a car battery to get the truth out of the lying little camel shagger will save just one Canadian life or American, then I have only three things to say:
'Red is positive, black is negative, and make sure his nuts are wet."
I replied:
I would not even laugh if they wired G.W. Bush and his confederates up like that, to get the truth out of them. But I would be glad to hear the truth, finally.
Republican snowbird amigo replied:
Would you like me to take you off of the jokes list? Everyone I know likes this stuff. And he didn't mention either Bush or Obama.
I replied:
What do you imagine, friend, that ragheads in Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Egypt, Somalia, Kuwait, Yemen, Qatar, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc. reading forwards of that joke online does to their warm, loving feelings toward the US? Americans think that sort of shit doesn't circle back around and bite them in the butt? You warmly supported a President who did far more harm to America and to Americans and to non-Americans than all the ragheads added up and multiplied by several numbers did to America and Americans. You don't see that?
Republican Snowbird Amigo replied:
I'll take you off the jokes list.
I replied:
Some of the jokes you send are hilarious, such as the Russian wife joke, which you also sent today. Your America and/or Republicans the Beautiful and/or Obama, Democrats and Others the Ugly jokes, however, are not.
Republican snowbird amigo replied:
You're off the list. If you want back on, let's not have the political dialogue. I would send them to my political list, but can't because of the bad language.
Cussing and telling adult jokes are me and my Republican amigo's favorite pasttimes. I be damned if I would belong to a fucking political party that frowned on cussing or adult jokes like the Russian wife tale, although she sorta looks more like a Swiss or a Dutch wife to me:
NO Speak English
A Russian woman married an American gentleman born in Virginia and they lived happily ever after in his home town.
In The Key West Citizen today:
'Patriotic' phrase is effective propaganda
A funny thing happened last night while I was on Facebook. For those of you that are unfamiliar with Facebook, it is an online "social networking" format that allows one to, among other things, get into arguments with total strangers.
I usually avoid these conversational "threads," but last night I got sucked into a debate on the phrase: "Support the Troops." I honestly and with no malice stated I am done using that slogan for a couple of reasons.
Before you freak out and tar and feather me for being a traitor, hear me out (First Amendment). The phrase was introduced during the first Gulf War as a pre-emptive marketing strategy to counter any anti-Gulf War sentiments. The aging military hierarchy was still smarting from Vietnam and wanted to get out in front of the possible negative civilian blowback. Who could possibly not support our brave fighting men and women of the armed services? So if you were against this war, you were considered anti-troops.
The other troubling aspect of the slogan is the dehumanizing phrase "troops." When we hear about troops being blown up by roadside bombs, or troops coming home alive but armless or legless, it is easier to process. Soldiers used to be called soldiers, human beings with parents and spouses and kids.
The slogan "support the troops" is a fallacious bit of effective propaganda.
I was severely verbally attacked for my viewpoint, and had we been in close proximity I'm sure these patriots and lovers of freedom would have strung me up. In other words, freedom and democracy are fine as long as I plod along like a zombie in agreement. I'm sure that's what Franklin and Jefferson had in mind.
Alex Symington
Key West
Amensky, and the best way to support the troops is to encourage the troops to leave Afghanistan on their own and not let another American president send them into another colossally stupid fucking war not even an idiot would start or support.
This also is in The Citizen today:
The drone dilemma: balancing priorities
At this writing, neither Congress nor the American people have the facts or details necessary to judge the policy of killing an American citizen in the name of national security. This difficult issue needs to be debated publicly so the people can express their views on the delicate balance between protection from foreign threats and protecting the laws and values of our democracy.
The nation requires a thoughtful solution, supported by the electorate, that enables every commander in chief to fulfill his constitutional duty to protect the nation, while also protecting citizens from governmental abuse.
Our society routinely authorizes soldiers and police to use deadly force to protect Americans, and the president has even bigger responsibilities and authority in that regard. The current administration, headed by a constitutional scholar, is trying to find the right balance. On one hand we're confronting a homicidal non-state, non-uniformed terrorist enemy with access to weapons of mass destruction, which requires secrecy, vigilance and 100 percent successful deterrence on our part. On the other hand, giving the power to kill an American without due process, transparency or oversight to a handful of politicians isn't the American ideal. And further, it doesn't make constitutional or practical sense to give prior approval power to Congress or the judiciary.
There is a need, however, for congressional briefing and more formal oversight within the executive branch, and this could be achieved by an independent three-person review board with judicial, national security and political experience.These reforms would create pressure on every senior official to exercise prudence without preventing appropriate and timely action.
Those who see this issue as black or white should imagine a U.S. president or vice president (past or future) they don't trust, and then imagine that individual having this power of life or death. For progressives, civil libertarians and this administration, the thought of a future Dick Cheney or Dan Quayle making deadly judgments behind closed doors should be a wake-up call to fix this policy once and for all.
Roger C. Kostmayer
Key West
Amensky, but I would add to the hit list, George W. Bush and Barrack Hussein Obama.
Sloan Bashinsky, cross my heart and hope to die redneck mystic patriot insurgent jihadist looking forward to going to be with 70 Russian virgins, although Swiss or Dutch, or just about any other kind of virgins would probably do …


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We asked the Flight Training Facebook friends to tell us one thing they love about their flight instructors. Judging from their comments, we think we could cook up the perfect CFI using these ingredients. Flight instructors, do you see yourself in these comments?
Two parts great teacher:
"Dana Holliday, because he LOVES his job and flies for the fun of it. Not because he needs to stay current or earn more hours."—Phillip J. Maschke
"Scott McManus at Wings of Eagles Everything Aviation at Huntsville International Airpor; he inspires confidence, cheerfully adapts his teaching style to my learning style…"—Andrea Atwood
"Harold Price @GGP he loves to teach and talk aviation."—John Peters
Two parts experience
"His skills, both as pilot and instructor and obvious love of flying make him a joy to work with!"–Andrea Atwood, talking about Scott McManus
"Thessa at Universal Flight Training, professional and very patient. Demands precision and provides the student the tools to be precise."—Mark Gatz
"David Hersman at Eagles' Wings Flight Training, been there for years with 8,000+ hours in his C150. Really knows his stuff!"—Joel Thomas
A side of safety
"Capt Bundock, plants the discipline of flying from scratch. 'Never change your attitude with the trimmer'"—Martin Asare
The patience of Job
"Terry Anderson at Flyboys, 6A2……he's an awesome teacher and is very patient with his students…really glad I found him!"—Scott Beard
"Stuart Cook at Skyward Aviation, Santa Monica, CA. Smart, patient, great at explaining and teaching, calm and a great person!"—Renee Engel
"My instructor was an older woman named Rose. She flew for the Army Air Corps and taught her son who became a commercial pilot. Great gal and patient with a then young woman with more bravery than brains. :)—Suzanne Day"Ben Chapman and Kendall Young! I'm taking more time than usual to get my private pilot's license and they have been very patient with me!"—Chris Nolen
"Allan C. Burke a great Christian man with patience and a great friend."—Nick Reed
A bit of fun, just for good measure
"Jonathan Bishop from Cal Airways flight school Hayward, CA. Very passionate about aviation I've learned so much plus he makes ground school and flying fun."—Anthony Hayes
"Paul Jacob, patient , smart. And fun to fly with him."—Michael McShane
"Tristan Wright @ Skywings Okotoks, flexible schedule and doesn't mind repeating briefs or flights to ensure I got it. We even did a 'let's just fly for fun' day instead of a lesson."—Robert Manahan
Tags: flight instructor, flight school, flight training, learn to fly, private pilot, student pilot


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Here's how RW members rated this race in the past (240 votes).
In short: Good and bad in partsIn full: The omens were not good. On the Tuesday before this race I took the ill-advised decision to do some interval training, but on the fifth rep something "pinged" at the top of my thigh, just below my ... ahem ... buttock. My hamstring, I think. I hobbled back to get changed, and took the (for me) unprecedented decision to stop running until it got better. Or until Sunday, the day of the race, whichever came first. I told The Boys (13 and 11) that I'd injured myself. "Where?" they asked, avidly, gory little monsters that they are. "Well," I said, "my bottom". Anyone who has boys can imagine the gales of laughter - "Daddy's broken his bottom!" they chortled. I don't foresee a career in the caring industry for either of them. Well, they take after their mother.Come the day, come the bottom. It was fine, people. As was the weather. As was the sat-nav, which delivered me to the race (unlike the last time I ran this race, when I schlepped up and down the A40 convinced that the turning was "somewhere along here".) I clocked a collection of club colleagues near the start, smiling at the sun and all blissfully unaware or uncaring of the pain to come.A creature of habit, I found myself as I usually do in the queue for the rather dismal collection of Portaloos about quarter of an hour before the start. As time went on, several men (and women, too) left the queue and decamped into the woods to make like bears. This was not an option for your correspondent. Then I noticed a couple who had moseyed up to the queue just beside where I was standing (about twenty places from the front, with at least double that number behind me). They did some pantomime stretching but I knew their game - queue jumping. Sure enough, as we all moved forward so did they, still pretending that they were flexing their quads, though they didn't quite have the chutzpah actually to elbow in and join the queue properly. Not for nothing did I always hanker to be a policeman. "Excuse me", I said, probably rather louder than I intended owing to my new custom-made, noise-reduction, in-ear headphones, "the back of the queue is over there." The man looked as guilty as hell and bang to rights, but blustered anyway. "What are you talking about - we've been queuing all this time, we joined at the back." "No you didn't," I replied, "I joined at the back and you weren't in front of me". It didn't help their cause that they were quite distinctive - both very tall, and wearing very bright clothes. They didn't argue, but then they didn't slope off either, though they did have the good grace to fall in behind me. I suspect I was later awarded the honorary title of Most Uptight Man Waiting For Lavatory. To make matters worse, when I was only two from the front a cubicle became free and the woman in front of me went forward to claim it, when suddenly from nowhere a man ran past her and stole her stall. If you're going to queue-jump, that's probably the way to do it. I saw the same man later in the race and tried to trip him up but he was a bit too quick for me.Enough of the preliminaries. Pre-race preparations completed, we all lined up in the cool sunshine. Without really meaning to I found myself somewhat nearer the sharp end than usual, but it was too late to go to the back as the gun went (or the shout). The first section was delightful - we were on a real road, a blessed lump of God's own tarmac, and I was in my racing flats (having listened to an announcement earlier that road shoes would be fine.) No sooner was I in my comfort zone, however, than we turned off into the woods, onto yucky mud and I had about as much grip as Lewis Hamilton slipstreaming behind Fernando Alonso. The mud then went the way of all mud, to be replaced by a rough gravel path that was heading down, down, down, as if into the depths of Hell itself. My time at the first mile marker was 6min 15sec, and at four miles was 25mins. We're going to pay for this later, I thought to myself, since what goes down must come up, unless they've installed travellators on the uphill sections.They hadn't. Having descended almost to Australia, the route started climbing and, while none of the hills was as steep as some, they were all pretty relentless, with plenty of false horizons, each giving false hope. Terrible thing, hope. It struck me again how oddly uninteresting a race it is - the problem with such a heavily managed forest is that the sightlines tend to be straight, and the trees rather regimented. Which means that the only variable is the gradient. And we don't like gradient, do we children?But it was nice and quiet, and the trees protected us from any wind, and there were a surprising number of enthusiastic spectators. Ok, so I'll admit it - it was a good race! I actually enjoyed it, up to a point (that point being about 7 miles), especially when it wasn't too muddy, and the path wasn't strewn with ankle-turning boulders. Road shoes were a good call, though I probably went off too fast at the start. By the end I was struggling and supremely glad to see the finish. I tried looking on the results for my club colleagues but it's a pretty lame results service as you can't search by club. As I was walking, or rather hobbling, away I thought I heard a friend saying he'd run a PB, but that hardly seems likely - in retrospect I think he must have said he'd won a freebie, or done a heebie, or even that he was Son of BB. But not a PB, not on that course, no way.Still, at least I didn't run the Cleevewold....Date of review: March 30, 2010
In short: Very challenging and that made it very rewardingIn full: Yes it is hilly - first third flat/downhill, middle third gradually up hill with a few breathers and final third is mixed, with a couple of killer hills thrown in at the end.Overall, really enjoyed it.Positives are of course, the setting and I thought the organisation was generally very good. Plenty of good detail on the pre-race pack and on the day everything was very slick and friendly. Marshalls were excellent and very encouraging, four water-stations was probably about right and start/finish arena was great (boy did I need cheering on by the end).As with most of these things, room for improvement though: There were no pens, so I didn't quite know where to position myself at the start and on a narrow trail course, with 1700 starters, the last thing you want is to (a) hold people up or (b) be held up yourself. On a similar note, being so crowded it was hard to get up to pace at the start (being a midfielder, I have even had to stop dead a couple of times due to bottlenecks). Therefore, why not have a staggered start (ie anyone aiming for 60 - 90 mins released first, 90-130 mins go five mins later and everyone else another five mins after that). That should help clear up the bottlenecks, it would give most people a bit longer to go to the loo (they do need to hire more in!) and it would help stagger the traffic exiting the field at the end. Definitely be nice to have the year on the medal, though I have to say, I found the sugar rush of the lucozade and the boiled sweet to be quite reviving at the end (though I'm sure this wasn't to everyone's taste). Don't think it's bad value for money at all though - half the price of Bath and a much, much more interesting run. Will be back.Date of review: March 29, 2010
In short: very good off road half-marathonIn full: good course,shame about the lack of toilets and nearly an hour to get out the car park! must do better next year.Date of review: March 29, 2010
In short: Not bad-not as brill as previous years-sorry!In full: This race has always been one of my faves but that has changed this year. The scamper for the chip at the start-the loos were a no-no (unless you wanted to start at 11:00!) Unfortunately, in previous years this race was nowhere near as tough as this one. Well done to marshalls and drink stations-as always very well organised and really friendly. I luckily escaped the car park before the mud melee but it was really squelchy underfoot. Still can't decide whether i would do this again. Sorry to moan but I also am not a fan of the boiled sweet or fizzy drink at the end of a hard slog!Date of review: March 29, 2010
In short: Up and down, up and downIn full: First time I'd done this. Some joker told me that it was flat. Coming from Gloucestershire, I should have put two and two together and realised that nothing is flat in the Forest. And then done more hill training. That said, I really enjoyed it. Excellent organisation given there were so many runners converging on such a tiny field in the middle of nowhere. Fabulous weather and great support at various points along the course - better than you get in most road races through town centres. I'll be back (once I've put a few more hills in).Date of review: March 29, 2010
In short: Great race, but not as good as previous yearsIn full: I love this event, but without being able to put my finger on it, didn't enjoy it as much as the last 2 years.The on-course marshalling was great, drink-stations superb, mile-markers all present and correct-ish!Think it was, (a) having to park in the woods, (b) having to queue up for a chip, and (c) a downhill start(when it's crowded) with an uphill finish is the wrong way round for my liking!All in all I really enjoyed it, hopefully a few of the teething problems which come a new course will be ironed out for next year....Date of review: March 29, 2010
In short: Challenging but the scenery makes it worth it!Date of review: March 29, 2010
In short: Hard going up the hills, but beautiful scenery and friendly marshallsIn full: Arrived at 9.15 to already find an enormous queue for the loo. I joined the queue, and when it was 9.50 and I was still in the queue had to send my husband off to get my chip. Good job I did, because by the time I was out of the loo, 'chipped' up and stripped off ready to go, it was 9.58. I started right at the back, which was appropriate for my expected time, but I didn't see any markers to show if you should start in a particular place. Start road was quite narrow.Race was hard. Apart froma steep down hill at mile 2 it was generally uphill for most of the race. However the scenery was beautiful, the marshalls friendly & plentiful, the water stations well organised and there was lots of support around the course.Loved my medal, but didn't like the fizzy drink at the end so it was as well I had a drink & snack waiting in my car. People migt be complaining about the price, but it was a Rotary Club event, so hopefully lots of money was raised for their charities. More loos would have been good though!Date of review: March 29, 2010
In full: Nice run, but much tougher than last years course. Lack of choc / grain bar at the end was a bit poor, and being offered a boiled sweet instead was hardly worth it. Lots of 'runners' out of position at the start, which made it very difficult to run at a good pace for at least a mile or so (although I did feel good about overtaking so many people, as this is not the norm!). Exiting the car park was terrible, poorly organised and compounded by a number of selfish drivers pushing in etc. I ran this race last year and it was great, this year however, with all the changes for the worst, I don't think I will run it again.Date of review: March 29, 2010
In short: A lovely day out - my daughter and I really enjoyed it even though the hills were toughIn full: A very friendly atmosphere. Agree it might have been nice to have a goody bag, but I don't think that detracts from the experience of the race itself Date of review: March 29, 2010
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