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Psychology & Personal Growth
On Becoming an Alchemist
A Guide for the Modern MagicianMany regard alchemy as a metaphor for inner transformation. But this is only half the story. According to Catherine MacCoun, alchemy is no mere metaphor. It's real magic. Transforming the inner world is, for the alchemist, a way to transform the outer world. Through studying the principles of alchemy, we can achieve extraordinary effects from ordinary actions by understanding how the world really works. We can perceive the hidden connections… Read More
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Posted: Jul 25, 2016 09:29 PM PDT
Updated: Jul 25, 2016 09:29 PM PDT
2013: Singer-songwriter and guitarist J.J. Cale, one of the originators of the "Tulsa Sound" musical style and the author of songs such as "Cocaine," "After Midnight" and "Call Me the Breeze," dies of heart failure at age 74 in La Jolla, California. [ + - ]
2005: The space shuttle Discovery launches, making it NASA's first scheduled flight mission after the Columbia disaster in 2003. [ + - ]
2000: A U.S. federal judge issues a preliminary injunction against Napster, Inc. The injunction had been requested by the Recording Industry of Association of America (RIAA). The website was ordered to cease trade in music covered by RIAA member copyrights by midnight July 28, 2000. However, an appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed Napster to remain in operation until the case received a full hearing. Napster would lose the case and receive another injunction in March 2001, before shutting down its entire file-sharing network in July 2001. [ + - ]
1992: Singer-songwriter Mary Wells, one of Motown's first singing superstars best known for songs such as "My Guy," "You Beat Me to the Punch" and "Two Lovers," dies of throat cancer at age 49 in Los Angeles, California. [ + - ]
1990: The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which prohibits, under certain circumstances, discrimination based on disability, is signed into law by President George H. W. Bush. [ + - ]
1984: George Gallup, the pioneer of survey sampling techniques and inventor of the Gallup poll, dies of a heart attack at age 82 at his summer home in Tschingel, Bernese Oberland, Switzerland. [ + - ]
1984: Convicted murderer and grave robber Ed Gein dies of respiratory failure at the age of 77 at the Mendota Mental Health Institute in Madison, Wisconsin. Gein, who confessed to killing two women, gained widespread notoriety after authorities discovered he had exhumed corpses from local graveyards and fashioned trophies and keepsakes from their bones and skin. His case influenced the creation of several fictional serial killers, including Norman Bates from "Psycho" and Leatherface from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." [ + - ]
1974: The artificial sweetener aspartame is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. After objections were raised about its safety, the FDA would issue a stay on Dec. 5, 1975. Following additional testing, it was approved for use in dry goods in 1981 and carbonated beverages in 1983 before being approved for use in all foods in 1996. It would go on to be first sold under the brand name NutraSweet. [ + - ]
1973: The martial arts action movie "Enter the Dragon" is released in Hong Kong six days after the death of its star, Bruce Lee. The movie would open in the United States on Aug. 17, 1973. [ + - ]
1973: Actress Kate Beckinsale ("Underworld" movies, "Serendipity") is born in London, England. [ + - ]
1971: Apollo 15 launches from Kennedy Space Center bound for the moon. The mission was the first of what were termed "J missions," long duration stays on the moon with a greater focus on science than had been possible on previous missions. It was also the first mission where the Lunar Roving Vehicle, seen here with astronaut Jim Irwin, was used. [ + - ]
1967: Actor Jason Statham, best known for movies like "Crank," "The Transporter" and "The Expendables," is born in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, England. [ + - ]
1965: Actor Jeremy Piven ("Entourage") is born in New York City. [ + - ]
1964: Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa is convicted on one count of conspiracy and three counts of mail and wire fraud for improper use of the Teamsters' pension fund. He would eventually receive a five-year sentence to run consecutively with an earlier eight-year sentence for attempted bribery of a grand juror in a Tennessee case. He ended up serving less than five years, with President Richard Nixon commuting his sentence to time served in December 1971. [ + - ]
1964: Actress Sandra Bullock, famous for movie roles in "Speed," "While You Were Sleeping," "Miss Congeniality," "Crash," "The Blind Side" and "Gravity," is born in Arlington, Virginia. Bullock won an Academy Award for Best Actress in 2010 for her role in "The Blind Side." [ + - ]
1963: Syncom 2, the world's first geosynchronous satellite, is launched from Cape Canaveral on a Delta B booster. During the first year of Syncom 2 operations, NASA conducted voice, teletype and facsimile tests, as well as 110 public demonstrations to show the capabilities of this satellite and invite feedback. [ + - ]
1963: An earthquake in Skopje, Yugoslavia (now in the Republic of Macedonia), leaves more than 1,070 dead and another 3,000 to 4,000 people injured. [ + - ]
1959: Actor Kevin Spacey, an Oscar winner for "The Usual Suspects" and "American Beauty," is born in South Orange, New Jersey. He's also appeared in movies such as "Seven," "L.A. Confidential," "Pay it Forward" and "Superman Returns," and in the Netflix series "House of Cards." [ + - ]
1958: The Explorer 4 satellite is launched. Although the satellite was designed to study the Van Allen radiation belts and the effects of nuclear explosions upon these belts, it was ultimately unsuccessful and ceased sending transmissions less than three months after launch. [ + - ]
1956: Figure skater Dorothy Hamill, the 1976 Olympic champion in ladies' singles and the 1976 World champion, is born in Chicago, Illinois. [ + - ]
1953: Fidel Castro leads an unsuccessful attack on the Moncada Barracks, thus beginning the Cuban Revolution. The movement took the name of the date: 26th of July Movement. Castro, seen here after his arrest, was eventually sentenced to 15 years in prison for the uprising, but was released in May 1955. [ + - ]
1952: Eva Per������n, Argentine first lady and the subject of the musical "Evita," dies from cervical cancer at age 33 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She's seen here in October 1951, by which point she was too weak to stand without husband Juan Per������n's aid. [ + - ]
1951: Walt Disney's 13th animated film, "Alice in Wonderland," premieres in London, England. [ + - ]
1948: President Harry S. Truman signs Executive Order 9981 desegregating the military of the United States. [ + - ]
1948: Baseball slugger Babe Ruth, seen here in 1921, makes his last public appearance at the New York City premiere of "Babe Ruth Story," a biopic about his own life. Shortly thereafter, Ruth returned to the hospital for the final time to resume treatment for cancer. He would die on Aug. 16, 1948. [ + - ]
1947: President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act of 1947 into law, creating the Central Intelligence Agency, United States Department of Defense, United States Air Force, Joint Chiefs of Staff and the United States National Security Council. The bill signing took place aboard Truman's VC-54C presidential aircraft Sacred Cow (pictured), the first aircraft used for the role of Air Force One. [ + - ]
1945: The official results of the United Kingdom's July 5 general election are announced, with the Labour Party winning by a landslide, officially removing Winston Churchill as prime minister, although he would continue to wield power as the leader of the country's opposition party and would be re-elected as prime minister in 1951. [ + - ]
1945: The Potsdam Declaration, which outlines the terms of surrender for the Empire of Japan during World War II, is signed in Potsdam, Germany. The declaration included the ultimatum that, if Japan did not surrender, it would face "prompt and utter destruction." Japan would initially reject the ultimatum, leading to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug. 6 and 9, respectively. [ + - ]
1945: The U.S. Navy cruiser USS Indianapolis arrives at Tinian in the Northern Marianas with parts of the warhead for the Hiroshima atomic bomb. The ship would be sunk by a Japanese submarine just four days later, leading to the greatest single loss of life at sea in the history of the U.S. Navy. [ + - ]
1945: Actress Helen Mirren, an Oscar winner for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in "The Queen," is born in Chiswick, West London. Mirren has also earned Oscar nominations for her roles in "The Madness of King George," "Gosford Park" and "The Last Station," and has also appeared in movies such as "Excalibur," "The Mosquito Coast," "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover," "Red" and "Hitchcock." [ + - ]
1943: The Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger is born in Dartford, Kent, England. [ + - ]
1941: Singer and actress Darlene Love, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee best known for the No. 1 hit "He's a Rebel," is born Darlene Wright in Hawthorne, California. [ + - ]
1929: Joe Jackson, the father of the Jackson family of entertainers that includes Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson and The Jackson 5, is born in Fountain Hill, Arkansas. [ + - ]
1928: Film director Stanley Kubrick, best known for movies such as "Dr. Strangelove," "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "The Shining," is born in The Bronx, New York. He's seen here in 1975 on the set of his movie "Barry Lyndon." Kubrick died of a heart attack at the age of 70 on March 7, 1999. [ + - ]
1923: Author and illustrator Jan Berenstain, best known for creating the children's book series "The Berenstain Bears" with her husband Stan Berenstain, is born Janice Grant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She died of a stroke at age 88 on Feb. 24, 2012. [ + - ]
1923: Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm, recognized as the first pitcher to save 200 games in his career and the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 games, is born in Huntersville, North Carolina. He would become one of the oldest players to have pitched in the major-leagues, retiring just 16 days short of his 50th birthday, and retired with the lowest career earned run average of any major league hurler after 1927 who pitched more than 2,000 innings. Wilhelm pitched for 10 different teams in his career, earning an All-Star berth eight times and winning a World Series title with the New York Giants in 1954. He died at age 80 on Aug. 23, 2002. [ + - ]
1922: Film director, screenwriter and producer Blake Edwards, best known for directing movies such as "The Pink Panther" (and seven of its sequels), "Breakfast at Tiffany's," "Victor Victoria," "The Great Race" and "Days of Wine and Roses," is born William Blake Crump in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Edwards, who received an Academy Award nomination for the screenplay to "Victor Victoria" and was honored with an honorary Oscar in 2004 for his body of work, died of pneumonia at age 88 on Dec. 15, 2010. [ + - ]
1922: Actor Jason Robards, best known for his Oscar-winning roles in "All the President's Men" (pictured) and "Julia" and his Oscar-nominated role in "Melvin and Howard," is born in Chicago, Illinois. Robards, who also was nominated for five Golden Globes and won an Emmy in five career nominations, died of lung cancer at age 78 on Dec. 26, 2000. [ + - ]
1921: Writer and actor Jean Shepherd, best known for the 1983 film "A Christmas Story," which he narrated and co-scripted based on his own semi-autobiographical stories, is born in Chicago, Illinois. He died of natural causes at age 78 on Oct. 16, 1999. [ + - ]
1909: Actress Vivian Vance, best known for her role as Ethel Mertz on the sitcom "I Love Lucy" and as Vivian Bagley on "The Lucy Show," is born Vivian Roberta Jones in Cherryvale, Kansas. She died of breast cancer and bone cancer at age 70 on Aug. 17, 1979. [ + - ]
1908: United States Attorney General Charles Joseph Bonaparte issues an order to immediately staff the Office of the Chief Examiner. After several name changes, it would finally be renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1935. [ + - ]
1895: Actress and comedian Gracie Allen, who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns, is born in San Francisco, California. She died of a heart attack at age 69 on Aug. 27, 1964. [ + - ]
1894: Author Aldous Huxley, best known as the author of the novel "Brave New World," is born in Godalming, Surrey, England. He died of cancer of the larynx at age 69 on Nov. 22, 1963. [ + - ]
1875: Psychiatrist Carl Jung, who founded analytical psychology, is born in Kesswil, Switzerland. He's seen here in 1910. [ + - ]
1863: American statesman, politician and soldier Sam Houston, best known for his leading role in bringing Texas into the United States, dies of pneumonia at age 70 in Huntsville, Texas. The namesake for the fourth largest city in the U.S., Houston twice served as the president of the Republic of Texas, was elected to the U.S. House and Senate, and served as governor of both Texas and Tennessee, making him the only person in U.S. history to have been the governor of two different states. [ + - ]
1856: Writer George Bernard Shaw is born in Dublin, Ireland. He is the only person to have been awarded both a Nobel Prize in Literature (1925) and an Oscar (1938), for his contributions to literature and for his work on the film "Pygmalion," an adaptation of his play of the same name, respectively. [ + - ]
1803: The Surrey Iron Railway, arguably the world's first public railway, opens in south London. It is seen here in a watercolor from 1823. [ + - ]
1788: New York ratifies the United States Constitution and becomes the 11th state of the United States. [ + - ]
1775: The office that would later become the United States Post Office Department is established by the Second Continental Congress, with the first postmaster general, Benjamin Franklin, taking office. [ + - ]
1533: Atahualpa, the 13th and last emperor of the Incas, dies by strangulation at the hands of Francisco Pizarro's Spanish conquistadors. His death marked the end of 300 years of Inca civilization. [ + - ]

subset: commoncrawl


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LIGHTING UP THE JOINT Members of the cast of Somewhere, Maine.
Inspired by years of working for and within Maine's marijuana community, Sumner farmer Jonathan Leavitt has written what he describes as a "bluegrass opera" about the "rascals and resisters, visionaries, healers, thieves, prophets, greedy businessmen, heretics, hillbillies, and hill cats" who comprise that community.
Leavitt, who served as director of the Maine Marijuana Policy Initiative (which worked to reform the state's medical marijuana laws) from 2006-2010 and then as director of Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine until 2012, had six years of anecdotes and experiences to draw from.
"When I thought about trying to document this world, I wanted to do it in a way that would give people a look at the world outside of the usual drug-related headlines, so they could experience the beauty and the darkness and the heartache and redemption that this world holds," Leavitt tells the Phoenix. "It seemed best to do it in a way that included both song...and dance."
The result, two years in the making, is Somewhere, Maine: The Marijuana Musical, a dramatic look at one year on a marijuana farm in the Western hills of Maine. Telling the story of an "outlaw country singer" and pot farmer named Johnny Crashed, the show features a colorful cast of supporting characters including "home-schooled Christian sisters Jezebel and Rebeka," a war veteran struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, and "Redneck, who is based on a real-life local drug dealing hell raiser;" as well as the 20-member Openly High Choir and local bluegrass musicians like the Tricky Britches.
Tickets for the Port City Music Hall premiere (which will take place on April 20 — duh) went on sale this month (portcitymusichall.com); Leavitt hopes that his raw depiction of the wild world of weed will trigger critical conversations within the pro-marijuana movement, which has experienced some growing pains over the past few years.
But beyond the controversy, Leavitt hopes the show entertains and enlightens. The cast has been rehearsing twice a week since November, plus building sets, shooting video for the multi-media parts of the show, and making costumes.
"And yes, we have been medicated much of the way," Leavitt says. "The audience may also be surprised to find out that a bunch of full-time stoners can actually make a production like this happen."
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I'm thinking that I may be renewing acquaintances with beekeeping friends that I haven't heard from in years.
I'm thinking that I may be renewing acquaintances with beekeeping friends that I haven't heard from in years.
"People will generally accept facts as truth only if the facts agree with what they already believe."- Andy Rooney
And here is another angle to consider:
Commercial beekeepers have relied heavily on Taktic over the last several years with no measurable resistance problems in most areas.
Some consider Taktic to be the life line for commercial bees in many years.
Now, we are going to make amitraz available to every Tom Dick and Harry to place in their backyard hives or even commercial hives and forget about.
How long will total resistance take to wipe out amitraz in the wrong hands.
One thing that has saved amitraz from resistance problems is the deliver systems most folks use that is in and out. This new product is for 56 days?!!!
I'm not so sure this is good news in the big picture, over the long haul.
I have exactly ONE hive more than than you.
That makes my opinion beyond dispute!
mike syracuse ny
Whatever you subsidize you get more of. Ronald Reagan
This should be a good thing for the whole industry. Gets the ball rolling the right direction anyhow.
Does anyone know of any SD bee oufits for sale?
Apivar has been used here in Canada for many years now. Every Tom Dick and Harry has been using this treatment up here and it has been working very well. Id take Apivar over Check mite any day!
Ian Steppler >> Canadian Beekeeper's Blog
Get a Vet to write you a script for Mitaban and forget the EPA.


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John Elizondo
UTSA's Elizondo wins SLC Men's Golf Championship
By Kyle Stephens
Sports Information Director, UTSA Athletics
(April 20, 2006)--UTSA senior John Elizondo (San Antonio/Brackenridge) carded a final-round 75 and hung on for a one-shot win and the UTSA men's golf team surprised for runner-up honors Wednesday on the final day of the Southland Conference Men's Golf Championship held at Deerwood Country Club (par 72 / 7,108 yards) in Kingswood, Texas.
Elizondo carded a five-under par 67 on the opening day and followed that with a one-under 71 on Tuesday to enter the final round with a four-shot lead over Aaron O'Callaghan of Southeastern Louisiana and Bobby Hutcherson of Texas State. O'Callaghan, playing in the sixth to last group with Elizondo, and Hutcherson struggled to a 77 and 79, respectively, but Lamar's Casey Clendenon and Southeastern Louisiana's Peter O'Keefe made strong moves to make things interesting.
Today's headlines
- La Prensa Foundation is newest member of UTSA Lone Star Society
- UTSA alumna Jordan Kaufmann wins $50K for new stent-graft start-up
- UTSA begins new way-finding sign installation this summer at Main Campus
- USA Today: UTSA long jumper Tyler Williamson rescues three-year-old boy
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O'Keefe turned in a two-under 70 to close at 216, while Clendenon, who was playing in the final threesome, fired a 71 to finish one shot back of Elizondo's three-under 213.
"It was a really long wait for all the groups to come in," said Elizondo, who becomes UTSA's second SLC individual medalist (Magnus Dohlvik, 1997). "I didn't play great today and there was a lot of sitting around on the 18th green waiting for those scores to come in. It was a relief when I found out I won and it feels really good to end my college career on this note."
"I had a chance to win at Rice earlier this year and I worked really hard over the last few weeks to get ready for this tournament. The 67 on Monday gave me a lot of confidence and even though the course and the pin placements got a lot tougher on the final two days, I was able to play steady and hold on."
"John turned in a remarkable score on a tough golf course," said head coach Chris Donielson, who now has led UTSA to a pair of conference runner-up finishes in the last four years. "They use Deerwood for pro qualifying and to be three under for 54 holes is fantastic. I couldn't be prouder of John to wind up his UTSA career by winning a conference championship."
Elizondo's 213 led UTSA to a runner-up finish behind 16th-ranked Lamar in the team standings. The Roadrunners carded rounds of 292, 295 and 293 for an 880, nine strokes behind the Cardinals (871) and one ahead of Louisiana-Monroe (881), which fell after a final round 302. Southeastern Louisiana and defending champion Texas-Arlington tied for fourth (883), while Sam Houston State (901), Stephen F. Austin (904), McNeese State (905), Nicholls State (906) and Texas State (910) rounded out the field.
There is no question this is the best field of players in the Southland Conference in my six years at UTSA," Donielson said. "Lamar was 16th in the country coming in and had won six of 12 tournaments. Texas-Arlington is a solid top 50 team and Southeastern Louisiana was coming off a big win at their home tournament on a very difficult course where we finished 10th. We certainly rose to the occasion and exceeded expectations with the way we played."
Also for UTSA, freshman Kyle Collins (San Antonio/Clark) tied for 15th with a 73-75-73—221 and sophomore Nick Olivarri (Converse/Judson) tied for 17th with a 74-75-73—222. Junior Matt Johnston tied for 27th (227) and sophomore Shane Costelloe finished 33rd (229).
"We changed our approach to the conference tournament this year and I think it produced great results," Donielson said. "I spaced out our spring events more so that we had some time off to regroup before the conference tournament. I also wanted the players to relax and have fun and we did that. We had a really good week of preparation and the guys felt really good about things going in. After each round, we kept them loose by having a late lunch, a short practice session back at the course and then we went out to the batting cages, putt-putt course and go-cart track so they could get their minds off the tournament. I wasn't sure how we would respond on the second day but after the way we played this week, I'll keep that idea."
For more information, visit the UTSA Athletics Web site.
Southland Conference Men's Golf Championship Results
Deerwood Country Club (par 72 / 7,108 yards)
Kingwood, Texas
Team Standings:
1. Lamar 296-287-288—871
3. Louisiana-Monroe 291-288-302—881
4. (tie) Southeastern Louisiana 295-297-291—883; Texas-Arlington 287-296-300—883
6. Sam Houston State 294-303-304—901
7. Stephen F. Austin 301-298-305—904
8. McNeese State 302-301-302—905
9. Nicholls State 305-302-299—906
10. Texas State 307-296-307—910.
Individual Top Five (plus UTSA players):
1. John Elizondo, UTSA 67-71-75—213
2. Casey Clendenon, Lamar 74-69-71—214
3. Peter O'Keefe, Southeastern Louisiana 71-75-70—216
4. (tie) Tim Kunick, Louisiana-Monroe 74-69-75—218; Zack Reeves, Texas-Arlington 69-74-75—218 Matthew Carvell, Southeastern Louisiana 72-74-72—218; T-15
Kyle Collins, UTSA 73-75-73—221; T-17
Nick Olivarri, UTSA 74-75-73—222; T-27
Matt Johnston, UTSA 78-74-75—227; 33
Shane Costelloe, UTSA 78-79-72—229


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An Inside Look at Diebold's Global Logistics Center
A look inside the state-of-the-art facility
By SSI Staff · March 21, 2013
During Diebold's first annual Electronic Security Sales Summit, SSI Editor-in-Chief Scott Goldfine took a private tour of the firm's Green, Ohio-based 165,000-square-foot Global Logistics Center.
Take a look inside the state-of-the-art facility with this exclusive photo gallery.
Article TopicsBusiness Management · Media · Slideshow · Diebold · Distribution · All Topics
View SSI's 2017 MVP Award Winners and Entrants


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Movie Review - Iron Man 3

Do not, repeat, do not skip seeing the third Marvel superhero epic featuring Robert Downey Jr. as the man in the can.

Director: Shane Black
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Marvel Studios
Stars: Robert Downey, Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce
Do not, repeat, do not skip seeing the third Marvel superhero epic featuring Robert Downey Jr. as the man in the can. We understand the hesitation some might feel right about now. We're here to help those of you who might be resistant because you have an early case of that summer malady known as Franchise and Sequel Fatigue. We hear those of you who may be tired of the star's self-amusement, sardonic mumbling and preening. Don't let that—or anything else —stop you, though, because if you do, you're going to miss the wittiest, most inventive and enjoyable movie of the trio so far. It's directed by Shane Black (screenwriter of Lethal Weapon, director of the woefully undersung Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) and cowritten by Black and Drew Pearce (Brit TV's scathingly funny superhero sendup No Heroics). The spoofy, absurdist writing duo, who partially based the movie on the Extremis comic in which global terrorist The Mandarin (played brilliantly here by Ben Kingsley) and scientist Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce, having a ball) team up to unleash a mighty Extremis army, have not turned this one into a genre benchmark the way Joss Whedon did with The Avengers. In fact, there's a strong chance that Iron Man 3's devilishly winking tone, its shrugged-off, messy action sequences and some of the plot twists may have purists ready to hoist torches and pitchforks. But after the bloat and bluster of Iron Man 2, its successor pops with energy, emotion and freshness enough to suggest that Phase Two of the Marvel franchise is off to a roaring start. The whole thing rises or falls on Downey Jr., who, as the filthy rich playboy/industrialist Tony Stark, is sensational—dashing, funny, alive and worth every red cent of the truckload of money the studio should offer him to make sure this isn't his last screen outing in the role. He and gal-in-jeopardy Gwyneth Paltrow, also good, spark great chemistry, and, although a subplot that pairs Downey Jr. with a kid threatens to get stuck in Spielbergian goo instead, it's tart, sharp and a pure delight. Don Cheadle is a lot of fun as Iron Patriot, Rebecca Hall is classy and crisp as an Iron Man girlfriend and the whole cast appears to be jazzed and up for a good time. If this is Downey's send-off, he's ending his stint on a high note. We have a sneaking suspicion he's done neither with having a snarky blast with his career-defining role nor with sharing his gusto with us, the audience. Whatever it takes to lure back Black and Pearce for a follow-up, the powers that be need to get that done. By the way, the movie is too long, you definitely don't need to see it in 3-D but you do need to hang around for the very last moment of the credits.


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Sean and Tina met in 1994, when they lived in the same apartment building in Allston. They started dating first; then Tina bought a bass. "The pretext was that Sean [who had been in bands previously] was going to teach me," she says. Eventually, they formed Helms with Sean's brother Dan, who plays drums.
When they first started collaborating, Sean says, "I'd play something, and I'd be pleasantly surprised at the bass lines Tina put in." ("Because my parts were so rudimentary, I think is what he's getting at," Tina says facetiously.) "There was a musical chemistry. Now Tina's bass lines are a more integral part of our songs. They really open up our songs."
Now, over a decade later, "it's kind of built into the foundation of what we do together," Tina says. But Helms, both Tina and Sean stress, is not necessarily just a Sean and Tina thing, rather it's a Sean and Tina and Dan thing. "In a weird way, we're a family band and also a couple band," Tina says.
Caitlin E. Curran can be reached at email@example.com.
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Due to vendor restrictions this product does not qualify for this offer.
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J&P Part: 602-089
Fitment Note: For use with 70 tooth rear pulley.
This product was proudly made in the USA
Belt Width: 1-1/2"
Kevlar: No
Manufacturer Part Number: BDL SPC-132
Material: High Grade Composite Rubber and Nylon
Number of Teeth: 132
OEM Reference: 40023-86
Sold in Units: Each
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Fitment Note: For use with 70 tooth rear pulley.
|Softail Custom FXSTC : 1986–1992, 1994
|Softail Fat Boy FLSTF : 1990–1992, 1994
|Softail Heritage Classic FLSTC : 1987–1992, 1994
|Softail Heritage FLST : 1986–1990
|Softail Nostalgia FLSTN : 1994
|Softail Springer FXSTS : 1989–1992, 1994
|Softail Standard FXST : 1986–1990
great deal
Product is factory length as stated and is made with Goodyear rubber so it will hopefully hold up better than the weak stock belt I snapped with my modded motor.
everything was OK...my next purchase be with you...tnks a lot!!!
Great belt. This is a Goodyear belt and should last just about forever. Top quality. Fast shipping. Will definitely recommend this to others that need a top quality belt.
Nice replacement belt. Would buy again if needed.
Best quality & price.
It worked and fit perfectly
no complaints here worked great good quality
had no problem in staling it was a perfect fit on my 02 sportster 1200 and very fast shipping got it in 3 days thanks j&p
Fit nicely
belter than the oem belt
This bed is very good, it has a very good development
No Ribs on the back side! This is a plus as this is where my stock belt broke at 20K miles. Right cleanly across between two of the ribs. Stranded me for 5 hours.
Wife got a rock in hers and rode over 1000 miles on it. Pulled the rock out and kept going. Of course, replaced the belt when we got home. It is now the spare.
most convenience in price and quality
Arrived in great condition and ahead of schedule
Nice belt works awesome
stronger and cheaper than oem... excellent quality as youd expect from BDL... I.ve used several, never had an issue...
Price is great. Fit was good no problems very little streght after riding
Fit great smooth ride
The belt came quick all the way to Florida. Perfect fit and cheeper than anywhere else, Thanks.
Excellent service ...I buy all my parts from jp cycle never have had a problem
book called for 133 tooth. But when installed it took the axle bolt back to the end of the fork slot. should of ordered the 132 tooth 'custom application'. afraid it will stretch before long to where it can't be adjusted.
book called for 133 tooth. But when installed it took the axle bolt back to the end of the fork slot. should of ordered the 132 tooth 'custom application'. afraid it will stretch before long to where it can't be adjusted.
Nice belt works great on bike
It is a very strong belt and it came at a very good price.
Product was delivered in condition as promised and is the right fit. I would buy again.
Belt looks good. More after install.
Great product for the price!
perfect fit!
This works great for the price and it is made in USA. I love it. This was my first time replacing a drive belt and it was fun.
Good quality belt
Heavy duty belt. Fit perfectly
If you need a belt replaced this is the one to get. In my opinion this one is better than the OEM.
I am satisfied with the purchase, tightly packed and arrived in perfect condition, thanks.
The belt is very good quality.
let see how long it last ... looks very cheatly made ... has all kinds of instructions that if it is bent or twisted it will break, not to reassurring ...
Installed the belt but as soon as I spun the rear wheel the white fiberglass or nylon cord started to fray from the edges.Maybe that is what is supossed to happen I dont know.The belt is going strong so far.
Fantastic price, we will see about quality. Too early to tell yet
Best belt for the price!
Perfect fit
Product works well, hopefully holds up as well as original. No complaints.
I am very pleased with the drive belt! I have put lots of hard driven mile on it to see if it compares to Kevlar , and I must say it has taken the beating and has not weaken!!!
Nice belt. Haven't installed it yet but looks and feels great.
fair price fast shipping!
drag specialist belt woooo cool what a deal-
This drive belt was great! Nice and smooth.
Very good quality the belt came packaged well and 2000 miles with no stretch .
nice fit
Using for a special custon application. Works great!
exact fit as tech said it would be. thanks for the help and quick delivery
a good belt if you don't get a rock between it and the sprocket, but half the price of harley. had about 10,000 mi on the other one.
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forum: Everything else
#21 Sun 04 Mar 07 11:39am
- Forum champ
- From Flashing my gold
- Member since Fri 09 Jul 04
Re: A long long time ago...
Hee hee...a cheeky beer,sounds fun!!
I have no doubt you're in a good place right now,with your talent and that wicked head of hair on your head,hey,it takes you places,not going to argue with that!
But I thought Mari was based in the US?
She's in 15 now too...? Correct me if I'm wrong,have not chatted to her in ages and ages!!
Last edited by Stefanie (Sun 04 Mar 07 11:40am)
#22 Sun 04 Mar 07 11:50am
Dave Barker
- Forum champ Occupation Chef
- From At the stove...
- Member since Tue 29 Jun 04
Re: A long long time ago...
She is living and working in London now, not 15 but a really good restaurant...
Can't really say anymore than that on here in case she doesn't want to divulge where exactly...
She has made it public on here that she is in London, so I can safely say that...
#23 Sun 04 Mar 07 12:49pm
Re: A long long time ago...
Dave - def come back down for a beer, that way i get to meet you too be great! sounds like a great place you are working too, good on you man!
Steph - do you reckon you'll come over?
Kiwi Kris - thank you!! all is good at HQ... its great having Bob around, and pete, well, i love that man. Was up quite late last night... being a sad old mare, in bed early on a saturday night! with my glass of muscat. medicinal purposes, of course
off for a sunday roast in a bit.. mmm!!
#24 Sun 04 Mar 07 1:31pm
- Forum champ
- From Flashing my gold
- Member since Fri 09 Jul 04
Re: A long long time ago...
Just finished a lovely dinner...but huge one.
Emperor chicken...beef rendang...Sauteed Abalone Mushrooms...Old Cucumber and Octopus Soup...and then some...
Thank goodness the diet starts tomorrow...15 days of stuffing your face is really too much...
Dave,gotcha...shall send her a long overdue 'e'...nope,didn't expect you to divulge anything...
Georgie,well I reckon I just might,but maybe next year.
Am due for an exchange teaching programme in the UK...
#25 Sun 04 Mar 07 3:54pm
Mrs Gibba
- Forum champ
- Member since Thu 14 Apr 05
Re: A long long time ago...
Hi everyone, good to see you back Georgie - you and Stef are making me feel hungary and its hours to dinner!!!
#26 Mon 05 Mar 07 12:01am
Dave Barker
- Forum champ Occupation Chef
- From At the stove...
- Member since Tue 29 Jun 04
Re: A long long time ago...
Georgie, I am due a visit to the Wenlock Arms soon and will probably call or text Pete to sort out where and when to meet up... I will be sure to ask him to get you to come along with us...
Its always great to meet other like minded passionate chefs/foodies to talk shop with!!!
Lookin' forward to meeting up with you.
All the best mate...
Dave B
#27 Mon 05 Mar 07 4:41pm
- Member
- From Jamie's office
- Member since Wed 13 Apr 05
Re: A long long time ago...
Georgie, get that wooden spoon out lady - there's brownies to be made...
#28 Mon 05 Mar 07 5:34pm
Re: A long long time ago...
Stefanie - oh my god, that sounds like a heavenly dinner!!! i am incredibly jealous, i cannot stop eating today, i keep shoving food into my gob!
Dave - yes!! that would be awesome although, i dont know if i can hold my drink as well as Pete, but ill come along for the ride...
Mrs Gibba - so good to see you too!! and thank you
Bob, icant face brownies... or flapjacks... i think i might just pass out!
#29 Mon 05 Mar 07 5:47pm
- Forum champ
- From North Carolina
- Member since Thu 15 Jul 04
Re: A long long time ago...
Georgie, Eating all day sounds good to me. I'm in my office wishing for food. Y'all have fun at Wenlock Arms!!
#30 Mon 05 Mar 07 5:53pm
Re: A long long time ago...
aw, Ann, you should come!! i know its across the water, but, hey, why not
it is completely heavenly, although today i have eaten an obscene amount!
and all i cant think about it chocolate.... *Sigh*


text:
"NASCAR looking at new car design for 2013: NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series could take on a different look as early as 2013. While some manufacturers are considering model changes by then, all car makers are looking to maximize brand identity on the racetrack. That concept is equally appealing to race fans who feel the sanctioning body has veered far from the notion of a "stock" car. John Darby, Sprint Cup Series director, says the direction would "be real similar" to the style the Nationwide cars are adopting for next season. "The point we're at right now is trying to get feedback from all four manufacturers," Darby said. "The fact that, No. 1, that '13 is the right year to this as it aligns with new models, and secondly that there's interest from all four makes." Of course costs will be taken into the equation. Changes have to make economic sense to the teams as well, since the modifications would involve more than just a cosmetic tweak to noses and tails. NASCAR eliminated the rear wings earlier this year and implemented a nose job for the front ends for 2011, which replaces the awkward braces that attach the splitters to one sleek piece. Once the manufacturers agree on the concepts, Darby would expect to see designs submitted in August 2012. "As it says in the rule book, it all has to start with a July 1 date for any type of a body change on the car," Darby said. "Typically, and up to this point we've entertained and helped manufacturers with the front fascias, the rear tails. The '13 project could be a little larger than that to where we get more character lines in the hoods, more sculpture if you will to help the manufacturers identify their products a little closer."(Fox Sports)(10-26-2010)"-www.jayski.comSo it looks to me that NASCAR will be veering more towards it's past with this. IM pretty excited about this. Your thoughts and comments?
--------------------I am on my 6th car.. in 6 years. I've had: GM, Ford, Hyundai, and Honda. Volkswagen, it's your turn now.
I've heard about this too, but after reading it, this is much more than what I had expected. And just in time when Ford replaces the Fusion with the new Mustang.
__________________1997 Ford Taurus GL 223,000 miles and counting2013 Ford Taurus SEL 23,000 miles1989 Chrysler LeBaron 55,000 milesR.I.P Mercury and the Grand Marquis 1/4/11 @7:46 a.m.Ford Panther Platform: 1978-2011Broughams are meant for cruising the highway and the boulevard, not the quarter mile. Enjoying the ride, instead of getting it over with as soon as possible.
And how does this solve the issue? Maybe they should try lowing ticket prices if they want some fans back or maybe its just time to end it? Its just another style of racing that will never be what it was when started both good and bad.
If NASCAR would actually let the teams use modern engines instead of the old 4 barrel carb and 4 speed, I would be interested. Another nose job to bodies that all look the same just does less than nothing for me.
____________________________Edgy, Controversial, Dangerous...
Those nascar engines are really high tech. You should check into them. Plus with the power they make they only need one really good 4 speed gear box.
Actually the reason NASCAR is losing fans isn't because of ticket prices, well that maybe a part of it, but the main reasons fans are leaving the sport was the fact that NASCAR went to the COT, they let Toyota, a foreign company into NASCAR, and the cars don't even look like their stock counter parts you can buy at the lots! It looks like NASCAR is working on the brand Identity though. Also to respond to westys_4_ever, supposedly they are working on making fuel injected engines to NASCAR, I don't know some people will like it, but I know there will be real NASCAR fans that won't be happy with that.
Safety and fairness are really the only to things keep them from using production car frames. Well I don't if letting a foreign company would start a lost in fans but another main issue would be the age of many of nascar's fans which would have to be over 40 years old by now. Not much hope in the young wanting to watch race cars go around a track now days.
rederfordfan:Actually the reason NASCAR is losing fans isn't because of ticket prices, well that maybe a part of it, but the main reasons fans are leaving the sport was the fact that NASCAR went to the COT, they let Toyota, a foreign company into NASCAR, and the cars don't even look like their stock counter parts you can buy at the lots! It looks like NASCAR is working on the brand Identity though. Also to respond to westys_4_ever, supposedly they are working on making fuel injected engines to NASCAR, I don't know some people will like it, but I know there will be real NASCAR fans that won't be happy with that.FINALLY!Now, if they could do something about having the same body running around the track...
____________________________Edgy, Controversial, Dangerous...
A BIG step in the right direction in my book.I'm not a fan of the one fit all look stock car they currently run that you have to look closely at the decals to see if its a Toyota, Dodge or Chevy.What make me a big fan since I was a little kid was you could tell the cars by the shape. A Dodge Charger looked like a Charger, same for the Monte Carlo.Now its much more about the drivers than the car type and the car type was always a big part of the stock car attraction. You could relate to it as you might be driving a Charger to the track. Now you know the car is just an ad space with the manufactures decals on it.
I think your a lost on what NASCAR is. Its not a race about cars it drivers. Maybe the Grand AM racing folks need to really start pushing to get air time. Sounds like its there time to shine?
I wasn't saying use production frames and literally use stock cars, I was refering to the fact that all the cars are basically cookie cutter cars you can't distinguish one brand from the other, as to why fans are leaving, and yeah they did lose a lot of fans and respect by allowing Toyota into the sport, believe me I used to post and read what NASCAR fans were posting on the forums on nascar's site, and there was alot of pissed of fans saying they will never go to another race or watch it on tv again after Toyota came in, and I was pretty pissed my self as well, but I will stay supporting the sport as long as there is 1 domestic car company in the sport! I'm only 22, turning 23 years old this coming up March so I'm a young fan and am a fan for at least a long while! Believe me their are young fans in NASCAR what do you think the NASCAR fans leave their kids home and go to the races by themselves?
I imagine this will end up with them just putting different stickers on the cars.NASCAR is boring anyway, it would be more interesting if they actually used mostly stock cars. I don't buy the safety line they feed us.
You make a good point. But fairness still becomes an issue when redesigning one car may get more drag then another and so on. Nice to see one young person enjoying it but sadly your group is still smaller then that baby boomer group that started it so. Time will tell.
Well it would make the car companies involved make their cars as aerodynamic as possible so that they can try and get an advantage in the sport, which will benefit us consumers as well, because less drag means better fuel economy and performance!
But that would be unfair to the drivers where the real skill is at. Better fuel economy is starting with removing big engines and getting less power. You need displacement to run at 160+mph. This is racing not a lets try this see if it will make it to the end of the race. Those companies who sponsor this will drop like rocks if you move to that kind of system.


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Get a Nightlife's Crystal McCahill on the Club Scene
A how-to on making the most of your club nights
You'll have a better shot finding me at a bar or lounge than an overly crowded nightclub where the DJ dictates conversation and drink spillage is inevitable. But we all know there's a time and place for scratching that club itch and breaking out the embarrassing dance moves. (Summer of Nicki Minaj, what?)
Somewhere between 10 and 11 p.m. last Saturday, my girls and I made our way to Board Room, one of Chicago's luxe new nightclubs (a.k.a. the former RiNo, a fun late-night bar known for VIP partying in the bar's kitchen). We were dressed to kill and pumped to celebrate our friend's birthday…because nothing says a good time like girls shakin' it in glass elevators and a dancing bird in a full-body getup. So when the girl at the door turned out to be a bartender I used to work with, we happily avoided the lines.
The convenient run-in at the door got me thinking: If you're not a Playmate or a bartender or in some other industry that allows you to meet the right nightlife people in high places, how do you beat the lines? And once inside these super-packed, uber-hyped venues, how do you get the bartender's attention? Or bottle service? Or added perks that are usually reserved for celebs and socialites?
From someone who's served, sipped and schmoozed her way to a better nightlife more times than she'd probably care to admit, here are five tips for helping you navigate a better night…tonight, tomorrow night and every night to come.
Dress the part: Depending on how upscale the club in question is, some places have strict dress code attire. To avoid getting turned away at the door, make sure you and your buddies leave the flip-flops, muscle-tees and baseball hats at home.
Business cards: Never leave home without 'em, guys. One of the greatest things about going out is you never know who you're going to meet. You could be striking up a conversation with a cocktail waitress or bartender who just happens to tell you the owner is in the building. Ask to meet him/her and compliment what you like about the place—the service, menu, ambiance, whatever—you never know when that connection will come in handy. And having your cards on you will help put a face to a name.
Bring the Benjamins: I admit I'm usually "that girl," the one who never has cash. But when it comes to going out—if you're a guy—cash is a must. Hit up an ATM before you go out so you're fully prepped to tip the valet, the bouncer, your waitstaff and bartender. Of course, not all bouncers give in to money bribes, but it can't hurt to try. And if you end up starting a tab, whether you're getting bottle service or ordering at the bar, bartenders always prefer cold, hard cash that they can take home with them at the end of a long shift. They're also much more likely to remember you for making the gesture.
Start a tab: Along with cash, remember to bring your plastic for starting a tab. And if the tab gets pricey, you're way more likely to get hooked up with a free round of shots than the guy who keeps going back and forth to the bar for another drink.
The golden rule: Treat your waitstaff the way you want to be treated. When I was behind the bar and would see guys flailing their arms or snapping their fingers to get my attention, I wanted nothing more than to make their drink and throw it in their face. The waitstaff isn't going anywhere—and clearly neither are you without a drink—so just be patient and polite and your manners will go the distance.
Now go get your club on!
YOUR HOMEWORK: I'm about to fly out for a photo shoot in North Dakota and don't know a single person in the entire state, which means I'll likely be hitting up the hotel bar by my lonesome. When you're traveling for work or find yourself in a new city and need to pass the time, where do you get your nightlife? Restaurant bars? Airport bars? Hotel bars? Walking the streets and venturing off to somewhere completely random? Send me a message on my Twitter feed, or post a comment below and you just might get a special shout-out from yours truly in next week's blog! Happy weekend, guys.


text:
Town Square
Aluminum Baseball Bats - Facts/Opinions
Original post made by Reflections, Danville, on Mar 29, 2010
The Marin County Athletic League has since imposed a moratorium on all metal bats for the remainder of the baseball season.
Renewed debate.
If aluminum/composite bats are no more dangerous than wood bats, then why do youth baseball players through college nearly exclusively utilize the performanced tuned metal baseball bat?
Why are oversized 460cc drivers so popular with the weekend recreational golfer? Simple enough, because the weekend golfer wants to knock the golf ball as far and straight as possible.
It is the enlarged sweet spot of the equipment.
Aluminum bats were first introduced in the early 1970's as a cost saving measure for baseball teams by eliminating the broken wooden bat. Quality aluminum/composite bats now however cost between $250-$350, the manufacturing emphasis is no longer cost saving economics, but on-field performance.
Even if one were to believe that aluminum bats do not out perform wood bats, and are no more dangerous than wood bats, one must concede that the sweet spot on performance tuned aluminum bats are much, much larger than wood bats. A catostrophic event that might only occur 1 in 10 million times with a wood bat, must be much more likely to occur with the greatly enlarged sweet spot of the aluminum bat.
Even if the aluminum bat is engineered to hit similar to that of a wood bat, the aluminum bat is still hollow, and thus much lighter. Reduced weight is the key, that is why you see these ridiculously light weight bats with a minus 14 drop at the youth league, and still see minus 3 drops at high school. The smart ballplayer wants to hit the ball with the lighest bat possible, because he realizes that it is swing speed of the bat and not the mass of the bat that sends the baseball sailing.
Economics, a youth hitter out grows his bat nearly each playing season, at $250, the player could actually purchase four quality wood bats, should he even need them.
For individuals who say aluminum bats are no more dangerous than wood bats, then I would suggest that you switch to a wood bat, and save the money. Oh!, but you do not want to give up the performance of an aluminum bat. Nor does anyone else.
Aluminum baseball bat manufacturers are only producing what we want, high performance bats. It is though time that we all began to understand that we must first begin with safety of the players. We must consider and start with the safety of the pitcher in mind who is afterall closest to batter, and therefore the most likely to become seriously injured.
A youth baseball player needs about 0.4 seconds to deflect a line shot "comebacker". Might it be prudent to design baseball bats with ratings that allow youth pitchers to adequately defend themselves by eliminating the weight drops in baseball bats thus improving APRT (Available Pitcher Response Time).
A world class professional baseball pitcher (remember Joe Martinez from the SF Giants last season) requires more than .33 seconds to defend himself from a line shot from 60.5 feet.
A professionally hit home run ball travels at 110 mph or more. The pitcher begans at 60.5 feet measuring from the tailend of the plate, but after his stride, and the batter hitting the ball out in front of the plate the pitcher has about 54.5 feet of distance to protect himself. In LL baseball, the pitcher begins at 46 feet on the mound, and has about 41 feet after stride, and the batter making contact.
Professional Baseball Pitcher - 60.5 foot mound
Reaction Time (seconds)
MPH Ft/Sec 60.5 ft 54.5 feet
110 161' .375 .338
100 146' .414 .373
90 132' .458 .412
80 117' .517 .465
Little League Pitcher - 46 foot mound
Reaction Time (seconds)
MPH Ft/Sec 46 ft 41 feet
80 117' .392 .349
70 102' .448 .399
60 88' .522 .465
Little League baseball players can be as old as 12/13 years old. Have you ever seen a young LL ballplayer hit at 250 plus homerun? If you have that baseball was travelling 80 mph off the bat or 117 feet per second.
If your son was the pitcher that just gave up that homerun, realizing that a world class professional athlete requires at least .33 seconds to defend himself on the mound at 60.5 feet, do you believe .349 seconds of reaction time is sufficient enough for the him to defend himself, before he was hit unconscious.
I am not trying to scare anyone, but we are dealing with fractions of seconds in the hundredths place. Hundredths of seconds which could translate to the pitcher catching the comebacker or becoming seriously injured.
Did a high performance tuned aluminum/composite bat indeed provide that miniscule benefit of a hundredth second that made the difference in the young Marin Catholic boy's life?
a resident of Danville
on Mar 29, 2010 at 8:22 pm
For those interested in Gunnar Sandberg's recuperating progress, he has been breathing without the aid of a respirator for over 24 hours.
Web Link
a resident of Danville
on Mar 29, 2010 at 9:52 pm
This shouldn't even be a debate! We need to protect our youth pitchers! Having boys in Little League and speaking with many parents it's a no brainer these leagues need to make head protection mandatory! Isn't that our job to keep our children safe? Shame on those who say, "I've never seen a pitcher go down" or "the odds are that would never happen." Isn't that why we all have insurance? We hope that tragedy never strikes, but in the event it does we're prepared. Shouldn't we insure our boys?
More boys will be hit while pitching, that is a fact, hopefully it won't be yours~hopefully he will be able to stand up and say "sure glad I had my head protection on and that was a wood bat."
a resident of another community
on Mar 30, 2010 at 4:24 am
Well done.
Accidents will happen with wood bats too but wood provides pitchers with more reaction time (scientifically proven), enough to make the difference between a deflection and a square hit.
The physical properties of wood also make it impossible to produce bat drops of minus 8, 9, 10 or greater.
Today's NASA-grade aluminum, double-walled, nitrogen filled, $300+ bats that are only good for one season are specifically designed to maximize the "trampoline effect" and bat speed which results in the ball traveling further and faster.
The best way to end the aluminum/wood bat debate is to pitch batting practice to a group of 12 or 13 year-old kids using high-performance $300+ aluminum bats and then hand them a wood bat --- see for yourself.
If aluminum and wood are the "same" then why not limit bat drops to say -3 or -2 and use first generation aluminum bat materials?
a resident of Danville
on Mar 30, 2010 at 9:39 am
Starting this year the local girl's fastpitch league, SRVGAL has made a full face fielders mask mandatory for the pitcher, 1st and 3rd. Our girls also use the expensive composite bats and the pitcher is only 40 feet from the batter. And that's prior to her stride. It's time to look at fielder masks for baseball. Sure it's not cool but neither is a broken nose or missing teeth or worse in the case of the Marin player.
a resident of Danville
on Mar 30, 2010 at 12:28 pm
Safety is key for youth baseball! Just make sure league rules are up todate with new products from major sports vendors! Rawlings has s100 Helmet which withstands 100 MPH Fastballs! Every youth should have one for $89.00. Safety in baseball will preserve it for future generations!
Steven Sutherland
Web Link
a resident of Danville
on Apr 4, 2010 at 5:54 pm
As in all sports there are inherent dangers no matter how hard you try to prevent them. As to wooden bats being safer, I am surprised that people have overlooked the fact that wooden bats frequently break with the result of the wooden barrel along with large pieces of wood and splinters flying simultaneously at players along with the ball in an explosive shrapnel effect that is also dangerous to unprotected passerbyers and spectators. Instead of just a single ball to contend with (and try to field) there are now multiple flying projectiles. Wooden bats break frequently because of the smaller sweet spot. When contact is made on places other than the sweet spot (especially closer toward the handle) the bat will break. It is not unusual for a player to go through 3-4 wooden bats in a single tournament.
As to cost, a good quality maple or oak bat will cost $65-100 or more. Bats made from ash and other woods are cheaper but also weaker and more likely to break. Manufacturers will not guarantee wood bats (except very limited warranty on bamboo) at all for the very reason they can break easily. I've seen $50 go into the trash in the first 2 swings especially with younger players who have yet to developed a trained eye.
I believe the issue of reaction time with aluminum bats is best approached from the manufacturer and league regulations limiting certain types of high performance aluminum bats at certain levels of play. Regulation such as these have been incorporated in the National Club Baseball Association. The high school player looking to compete in the NCAA would be at a disadvantage with these restrictions needing to adjust to the faster paced game.
a resident of Blackhawk
on Apr 5, 2010 at 3:13 pm
The young baseball player from Marin Catholic is now aware of his surroundings, he is able to take a short walk with the aid of the nurses, a few suffle steps, but he is still unable to talk which is frustrating him. The good news is that he is being released from Marin General to a rehabilitation facility in San Francisco.
The first agenda item set when NCS athletic directors meet next will be the evaluation of aluminum bats at the high school level. Already Marin Athletic League and the Larkspur Little League have gone to wood bats for the remainder of the season.
Our prayers and thoughts are with Gunnar Sandberg, #17.
a resident of Charlotte Wood Middle School
on Apr 6, 2010 at 2:48 pm
A player going through 3-4 bats per tournament, might that be a bit of an exageration? At that rate I would then expect a Giant/Dodger's weekend series to go through 54-72 bats, that ain't going to happen. Anyway oak bats generally crack much more often than actually breaking in two, but you are right about the maple bats, they shatter, an issue that MLB must contend with in the future.
NHFS girl softball is moving their mound back 3 feet for the 2010-2011 season. NFHS/NCAA realize a continuing problem with the dangers of the aluminum bat and consequently will be again lowering the acceptable livliness of the aluminum or non-wood bat with a BBCOR rating starting Jan 1, 2011, on top of the BESR rating already in place.
Is that really enough for youth baseball?
Some further considerations:
1.) Move pitching mound back from 46 feet to 50 feet.
2.) Provide protective head gear for pitcher.
3.) Reduce the livliness of the little league ball (less than MLB)
4.) Regulate non-wood bat performance beyond NFHS/NCAA standards
I am not against aluminum bats, but would like to see them regulated to be at least equivalent to that of a wood bat.
a resident of Charlotte Wood Middle School
on Apr 6, 2010 at 6:39 pm
Sorry, that should read read ash, not oak.
According to the 2008 MLB study prior to implementing new wood bat regulation, approximately 2.7% bats were either cracked or broken at the plate. This percentage was obtained under extreme conditions, professional pitching speeds, and professional batting swings, also including the much higher percentage of maple bats which are more prone to break, and even shatter.
Therefore taking this professional broken bat (either craked or broken) and applying to DLL Majors where the pitching is 50-65mph, the number of broken or craked bats would be 97, or nearly 100 over the course of the season. That may seem like a lot, but remember this is a professional broken bat rate. However even at this rate 100 bats pers season x $60 = 6000.
High performance aluminum bats range from $250 to $300.
112 Major players @ $250 per bat = $28,000
A more likely average bat cost per player is $125 or $14,000 per season per league.
I would be hard pressed to believe that more than 50 wood bats would break at DLL Major pitching and bat swing speeds, per season, per league.
More info on wood bats.
Web Link
a resident of Danville
on Apr 7, 2010 at 8:22 am
I grew up playing baseball all the way through high school with wooden bats. My baseball "experience" was just fine, thank you. We still hit home runs, still banged balls out to the corners of the outfield, still scored runs. I laugh at those that think taking away aluminum bats from today's kids is akin to taking away a player's fielding glove. And the "expense" of wooden bats? Puleeeease! Check out how much those expensive "bat/equipment" bags (with rollers, yet!) most kids cart to their games cost. There is money there, believe it.
If some coaches or parent think that their little Johnny won't post the results without his $350 aluminum bat and therefore won't make the major leagues, forget it. And by the way, they use wood in the MLB and minor leagues, right?
I also suggest that the great scientific minds of sports equipment design sit down and come up with a "pitcher's helmet" which in my mind would be a modified version of a batting helmet. Before anyone cries "boo, can't happen", remember, goalies in the old NHL never wore masks, and nowadays, no one would play goalie or hockey at all without the protection of a mask/helmet. It CAN be done. Change is possible.
Last year, a 16-year old player I coached nearly took the head off of a pitcher with a line shot back to the mound, and luckily it "just" grazed his shoulder with no major injury -- but it scared everyone there who saw it. Too frightful, trust me. Let's go back to wood, the way baseball should played.
a resident of Danville
on Apr 7, 2010 at 9:37 am
I was at the Arizona/Cal college game on Thursday. The Arizona pitcher was struck in the forehead by a line drive. The ball was hit with such force the ball landed down the right field line. His mother was sitting right next to me and to see what this woman was feeling with her son down on the ground can not be explained. Fortunatly he only had a mild concussion. The balls fly off those bats with no reaction time for the pitcher. Even infielders get balls hit so hard that they can't field.
Connie Mack which is a high level amatuer baseball ball league has gone to wood bats. It has made the game a lot safer for everybody.
It is probably going to take some one getting killed for anyone to change from Aluminum to wood. And that's sad.
a resident of Danville
on Apr 7, 2010 at 9:39 am
I appreciate the comments on the aluminum vs wood bats - but there is a very simple alternative as well. Something I have been a proponent of for years, but continually get shot down in the name of "tradition".
Make the pitcher wear a hockey style shell - ideally with a face guard.
Hockey pros finally chucked tradition and went with safety. MLB now makes the 1st and 3rd base coaches wear a protective shell (it required the death of a AAA base coach to make the rule change)
Batters should be required to wear helmets with face guards as well.
I know this is "not cool" but neither were bicycle helmets...
a resident of Danville
on Apr 7, 2010 at 10:35 am
There wasn't ever a need for such extensive safety equipment for the pitcher until the arrival of high performance aluminum/composite bats in the last decase or so.
Now softball pitchers MUST start their delivery three feet back and wear a face shield starting in 2011.
Web Link
I have already seen them on several softball pitchers, and they are not that "uncool".
Time for youth baseball to make some adjustments.
a resident of Danville
on Apr 7, 2010 at 10:58 am
At the Cal game, the ball came screaming off Bellarmine College Prep star Mark Canha's aluminum bat at 110 mph and hit against the side of Arizona pitcher Kurt Heyer's head. The ball bounced off his head and stopped nearly sixty feet away down the right field line.
It could have taken his life, he was in such a daze, that when he stood up, he attempted taking some practice pitches to remain in the game, before the trainer evenyually took him off the field.
a resident of Danville
on Apr 7, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Gary: I agree 100% with you. It is absolutely time to outlaw anything but wooden bats in all little league, high school, and colleges. Problem is that the aluminum bat manufacturers spend so much money sponsoring little league and colleges that the boards of the leagues give in to them. I would love to see Danville Little League Board take the lead by outlawing anything but wooden bats. Any adult who has thrown batting practice in little league knows how ridiculously fast the ball comes off aluminum bats, particularly the combat bats that are so popular in most young leagues. I would love to see the Danville Express go to the President of Danville Little League, and get a response from him on this issue.
a resident of Danville
on Apr 7, 2010 at 1:27 pm
I suppose some action could be taken at the little league district or league level, but for the most part LL districts take their lead from LLB Williamsport, PA. LLB Williamsport, PA states that only 1% of their revenue comes from aluminum bat manufacturers, so accordingly they claim no vested financial interest in promoting aluminum bats over wood bats in the youth game. LLB Williamsport, PA also stands by the assertion that aluminum bats are no more dangerous than wood bats, although the NCAA management council has a letter on file strongly disagreeing.
I do though find it rather absurd that LLB does everything to protect the pitcher's throwing arm through a carefully monitored pitch count rule, but then does nothing to move the mound back to fifty feet similar to other youth baseball leagues in our area, or regulate the baseball bat to the stricter high school standards.
Thus, the carefully monitored LLB pitcher on the mound who takes a direct line drive shot off his forehead from forty-six feet will still have a healthy and pristine pitching arm when regains consciousness.
As we know, softball is moving their mound back from 40 feet to 43 feet, a three foot or 7.5% increased setback.
If LLB were to move their mound back for the Majors division, from 46 feet to 50 feet, the additional four foot would represent a relatively similar increased setback of 8.7%.
How about even considering an additional two foot increased setback from the current forty-six feet mound to forty-eight feet, just a slight distance increase of 4.3% for improved safety?
The last time the LLB mound was extended was 1959, over 50 years ago.
Might the dynamics of youth baseball changed just a little since then?
a resident of Danville
on Apr 7, 2010 at 1:37 pm
You are right! It was exactly 50 years ago to this very date.
Web Link
Apr 7, 1959 - In an effort to protect its players' Little League moves its pitcher's mound 2 feet back' from 44 to 46.
a resident of Danville
on Apr 8, 2010 at 10:25 pm
In response to "Dear Wendy". As aforementioned, a younger player does not have the trained eye & coordination of a MLB player and is less likely to hit the sweet spot. Albeit, the younger player is not as strong & the pitch not as fast but it does not take much to break a wood bat if it catches the wrong part of the bat--like off the end or handle. It might not shatter but it will crack & not be allowed in the game for good reason.
Although Danville is an area of above average household income, there are families that can not afford or prefer to budget their money on other things than expensive sports equipment. So cost is a factor in this area as well as others. The cost of joining a traveling tournament team can be prohibitive just by itself.
a resident of Danville
on Apr 8, 2010 at 10:47 pm
I should add, of course, safety & the well being of the players should always come before cost. The previous submission was just in response to other comments. I would like to see the performance level of the aluminum bats reduced to level equivalent to wood. If they could design a wood bat that didn't shatter or break easily that would be my first choice. I believe swinging a wood bat is better for developing a player's swing & who doesn't love the sound of the "crack!" of a well hit ball off a wood bat?
a resident of Danville
on Apr 8, 2010 at 11:40 pm
One final comment about wood bats.
When I was a kid the little league coach would have about 7 wooden bats in a simple canvas bat bag that he would supply for the entire team, a 30, 31, and 32, and perhaps just a few extra bats for variety. Yes, if you really wanted to, you could bring your own wooden bat to the game, but there really wasn't a reason because all the bats at the time were generally the same except for their length and weight. This practice of team-supplied bats even carried over with the introduction of the first generation of aluminum bats. However, with the advent of the high performance aluminum bat, bats have become much more individualistic, one piece, two piece, flex, rigid, hybrid, composite, etc., each young boy now carries their own bat to practice and to the game. In the past, when I played the game as a child, as mentioned, all the bats were provided by the team.
Now during the game depending on the inning, outs, score, base runners and possibly even the current temperture (I played in cold weather at times)you could choose whatever bat from the bag you thought was best for the situation. Most of the time, it was just your lucky and preferred wooden bat. It certainly wasn't scientific, perhaps we were at a disadvatage as hitters, but we still managed to hit doubles, triples, and homeruns, and had real fun doing it!!!
The game was much more communal game with the wood bat, than with the modern state-of-the-art and individualistically designed aluminum bat. I realize that those days of general communal sharing in baseball have been lost for some time (we now even have are own batting helmets --- in the past any helmet would do).
Wood bats still stand to equalize the game.
The boy from the less fortunate family or neighborhood is not going to be swinging a $350 high performance aluminum bat at the plate, if we all have wood bats in our hands at the plate.
I do though appreciate your thoughts on wood bats, I just don't believe or recall breaking as many bats as you believe would occur.
Connie Mack, by the way, is now an all wood bat league.
a resident of Danville
on Apr 10, 2010 at 3:21 pm
It makes absolutely no sense that girls softball requires head gear for the pitchers and LL does not follow. Do boys have harder heads than girls?
Since there is a lot of talk and no action thus far, 3 of our pitchers are going to wear some type of batters helmet while up on the mound...certainly not a perfect solution but they're going to do it together, and it's a start. Come on coaches and parents let's all do this thing together!
BTW-we have a friend who is a pediatrician and sees all kinds of injuries to the head from baseball, namely pitchers. He made a good point, even if a kid survives a ball to the head, they can have all kinds of chronic problems including headaches, memory loss, dizziness just to name a few.
a resident of Danville
on Apr 11, 2010 at 12:10 pm
I applaud your efforts, you definitely have the power and right to protect your own children, but don't expect the community at-large to change their behavior, the bat companies continue to pump out misinformation and high preformance bats regardless the situation, too much money involved. Yes, there have been limited and sporadic civic revolts, such as in NYC, North Dakota, Massachusetts and many other local municipalaties, but the bat companies realize the protest is much too fragmented.
The struggle to have aluminum bats made equivalent to that of wood bats has been going for over twenty years. It is deep and it is dirty!
America's past time for our youth has now become in some ways a game of Russian Roulette.
Good Luck!
a resident of Danville
on Apr 18, 2010 at 4:38 pm
The original LL baseball field in 1938 had the pitcher mound set at 38 feet, this was though quickly lengthened to 40 feet. By 1958 the pitcher's mound had been stretched out to 44 feet. In 1959, the pitching mound dimension was once again lengthened, the mound was adjusted an additional two feet outward to its current 46 feet. This distance has remained in effect despite our young boys becoming bigger and stronger for their age, swinging lighter bats which are now manufactured out of aluminum and other space-age materials, and many baseball players specializing in the sport year-round.
The homerun fences at Williamsport, PA although they varied over the early years were definitely well inside the 200 feet range until 1959 when Lamade Stadium was designed and constructed. The new LL ballbark fence distance was thus set at a permanent 200 feet until 1996 when the distance was again extended five feet, to 205 feet. Even when the new Volunteer Statdium at Williamsport, PA was designed and constructed in 2001, the homerun distance remained at the mildly adjusted 205 feet.
Just five years forward, a short span later in 2006, the Williamsport, PA homerun distance at Volunteer Statdium was again reset and extended out an extraordinary 20 feet, to 225 feet in an effort to reduce the number of fast increasing homeruns. However, despite the phenomenal increase in homerun blasts at the Williamsport, PA stadium the pitching mound distance has never been corresponding adjusted over the years.
Homeruns, despite the 2006 Willaimsport, PA adjustment are still being hit much too frequently.
Keep in mind, the last time the LL baseball pitching mound distance was extended was over 50 years ago, in 1959.
Oddly, despite the latest homerun fence distant adjustment which directly corresponds to the introduction of high performance aluminum baseball bats, many people and organizations still claim that aluminum bats are no more dangerous than wood bats.
Knock yourself out, explaining that one!
a resident of Danville
on Apr 18, 2010 at 7:09 pm
Change is awfully slow and gradual in baseball, but it does come. It was once thought that baseball players who wore gloves on their hands were sissies. Gloves are now worn by every baseball player on the field, today. Same situation with batting helmets for the professional baseball player, and then again years later introducing batting helments with the ear flap protection.
The Dixie Youth baseball league that is active in 11 Southern States has required youth baseball players to wear an attached polycarbonate or wire face mask to their batting/running helmet since 1993. It is now just an accepted practice.
If you want it to become acceptable for LL pitchers to begin wearing face and head protection, you might start with the batter. Once all the boys and girls begin wearing face mask protection at the plate, it is not that far of a leap for a pitcher to begin wearing some extra protection.
We need to get beyond the sissy factor.
a resident of Danville
on Apr 27, 2010 at 6:34 am
Last night the NCS Board of Managers (Alcosta Blvd., San Ramon) voted to allow non-wood bats (i.e., high performance aluminum bats) to remain in play during the remainder of the 2010 high school baseball season throughout the NCS playoffs.
After a long discussion the NCS believes that baseballs come off aluminum bats only 2/100ths of a second faster. The safety issues surrounding aluminum bats will though be discussed at subsequent NCS board meetings, but NCS is simply following NFHS lead.
If you would like to state your opinion regarding the dangers of aluminum bats, please feel free to e-mail Gil Lemon at CIF-NCS, firstname.lastname@example.com
a resident of Danville
on Apr 27, 2010 at 8:41 pm
NCS-CIF Board of Managers missed the point last night at their meeeting in which they discussed the relative safety of high performance aluminum bats in comparison to wood bats.
The Board members should have started with the concept of APRT (Available Pitcher Response Time). That is how much time a pitcher needs to defend and protect himself from a line shot, and then work backwards to determine the actual designed safety level of the high performance aluminum bat for the high school pitcher.
Aluminum bat manufacturers as we all know have the ability to make aluminum bats even safer than wood bats, or from a reasonable responsibility standpoint at least equal to wood bat performance.
CIF-NCS board president Gil Lemmon believes that an aluminum bat may only increase the speed of the bat by 2/100ths of a second, while others believe it can be up to 4/100ths of a second.
For the sake of my argument below I will utilize the CIF-NCS board's estimate of 2/100ths of a second.
As we know, a high school baseball can be hit off an high performance aluminum bat at a top end speed ranging somewhere from 100-110mph. That speed translates to a travel distance of between 146.6 and 161.3 feet per second. Therefore within this mere 2/100ths of a second timeframe this particular baseball will have traveled an additional 2.9 and 3.2 feet towards the pitcher.
Consider that after the baseball is hit out in front of the plate, and the pitcher finishes his stride toward the plate, the pitcher is left with approximately 50 feet to react to the baseball.
The high performance aluminum bat with its 2/100th of a second increased pop over a wood bat has thus diminished the pitcher's available reaction distance by roughly 6 percent (~3 feet/50 feet).
Amador Valley High School coach Lou Cesario watched his pitcher, Will Lamarche during an Easter tournament in April 2008 lose his front teeth while suffering a fractured jaw. Gunnar Sandberg is recuperating in a San Francisco rehab hospital with a piece of his skull missing from his head.
Could a wood bat have accomplished this same unfortunate feat? Absolutely! Should aluminum bats be designed and manufactured with more performance than wood bats, considering the already enlarged sweet spot of an aluminum bat? Absolutely not!
CIF-NCS, please work backwards when considering the safety of aluminum bats in high school, start with the Available Response Time for the Pitcher, first!
Thank you for your consideration.
a resident of Danville
on May 31, 2010 at 11:30 am
Lost in the news!
A thirteen year old eighth grade student, Brady Lee Frazier, from upper state New York died this month after sustaining a traumatic head injury taken from a high performance composite bat line shot to the head.
The Sporting Good Manufacturing Association (SMGA) has closed debate on the matter and is on record claiming that the young boy's death was not the result of an aluminum bat (technicallly it was a composite bat)as the boy might have been killed with a wood bat, just as well.
Facebook Memorial: Brady Lee Frazier (October 8, 1996 - May 8, 2010)
Web Link


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Authors Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black reunited in Providence, Rhode Island, on May 15, for events celebrating Children's Book Week and the tenth anniversary of The Field Guide, the first book in their series, The Spiderwick Chronicles. The fantasy books are about three siblings who move into the Spiderwick Estate and discover a world filled with mystical creatures. Since collaborating on the series, which was made into a feature film in 2008, the authors have remained friends while releasing many of their own successful books.
DiTerlizzi, an author and illustrator, is currently writing the final volume of his exciting and action-packed WondLa trilogy. The Search for WondLa is the first book in the series. It tells the tale of 12-year-old Eva Nine, who is raised by robots in an underground world and has never seen a human being. Later, when her home is destroyed, Eva moves aboveground, finds a scrap of paper with "WondLa" written on it and searches for other humans, which carries into the second book, A Hero For WondLa. The third book, The Battle for WondLa, will be released in 2014.
Meanwhile, Black earlier this month released her latest book, Doll Bones, which could make readers question whether to keep or get rid of their dolls. It's a creative and scary story of three sixth-grade friends, Alice, Poppy and Zach, who like to play together with action figures. That is, until Zach's dad throws out his toys and Zach stops being friends with Alice and Poppy. Poppy then has recurring dreams where she buries a bone-china doll called "The Queen." According to the dreams, the doll is made up of real human bones. The kids go on a quest to bury the doll.
I sat down with DiTerlizzi and Black in Providence to discuss their writing process, their new books and the Spiderwick anniversary.
What inspired you to write the WondLa series and Doll Bones?
Some of my favorite books are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Peter Pan and Wendy. All those stories have female protagonists and most of the themes are about home and family. The character leaves home, goes into a Wonderland or an Oz or a Neverland, only to realize, "I wish I could go back home and be with my family." So I wanted to see if I could tell a story that was like that. Instead of tin men and mad hatters, I went for aliens and robots and things that I thought were maybe more 21st century.
When I was a kid, my friends and I had a big game that we played for a really long time, and we told stories. There was a point in my life where I really felt like everybody was telling me, "You either can be the person who tells stories and be a kid, or you can grow up and you can give up telling stories." As an adult who tells stories, obviously, [I know] that's not true, but it felt true at the time. [That's one of the] things that inspired me to write Doll Bones.
What can fans expect from the third and final WondLa book?
Firstly, hopefully they can expect a third book. I should be home writing it. They can expect a couple new characters. I've pretty much spent two books setting the stage, so now it's just going back to different locations, but with different knowledge. Sadly, some characters don't make it to the end. Imagine that. But hopefully it will make for a lot of adventure and a thoughtful conclusion.
Congratulations on the 10th anniversary of the first Spiderwick Chronicles book. What has been the best part of the Spiderwick experience for the both of you?
Number one, we're still friends.
Yeah. I think going out and touring and doing all the stuff we did together was the best part of it. It was the thing that you know made it such so much more of a meaningful experience to be sharing it, but I think the thing I really loved was hearing stories from kids about their one favorite experience. We had this red book, and kids and adults would write in the book about the strange things they've seen. I couldn't believe how many responses we had to that and reading through it, I always loved that.
What's it like working together on books?
A lot of times, when you make a book by yourself, it's a pretty lonely process. So one of the things is that you get to, when you're stuck, call somebody else, and they are contractually obligated to help you. One of the things that we learned when we would have arguments— because we did have arguments—is that we could figure out a third way that was better than the first two ways.
The way we kind of worked was we would sit and talk about the plot of the story or what the kids were going do, and then at the end of the day Holly had to go off and write it, and I would start doing the sketches for the art. But along the way we kept exchanging information and offering our viewpoints on what would make it a better story.
This week is Children's Book Week. What do you like most about writing for kids?
When kids really love books, they really, really love books. In the way that I did when it was the first time that I was like, "This book is just for me. This book is my favorite thing." I mean, adult readers are passionate, but kid readers are really, really passionate and they're really, really honest. So if they don't like something, they are going to tell you.
In elementary school or middle school, you get all these books on a reading list that the teacher assigns you. You go to the library and you're like, "Oh, I've got to pick one of them on the list." Then there's a moment when you see a book and you pick it up not because you have to but because you want to. That can be the moment that a person becomes a reader. It's awesome to be part of that moment. If we are responsible for that moment, then we have more than done our job.
Both Doll Bones and the Spiderwick series are spooky books. What do you enjoy most about writing creepy books?
I think it's because I'm really easily frightened. Like, I'm the most easily frightened person in the world. And so I think it's very easy for me to write about things in a spooky way. When I was a kid, I grew up in this really old house like the Spiderwick house, this 100-year-old Victorian, and the branches were really long and they would scratch at my window at night and I was sure something was going to get me. I remember I would make my mom promise me a long list of creatures would not get me each night.
I just like the feeling. I like being a little creeped out. Just the fact that you're feeling anything while you're looking at words on paper is an accomplishment, so I think any kind of emotion—if a book makes you cry or cheer up—that's really incredibly powerful.
For a list of Children's Book Week events happening around the U.S., visit bookweekonline.com/official.


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Nearly all my creamed honey has developed some unsightly white stuff on the top. This happened as well last year but this year it seems to have affected about 90% of my containers. Tastes like creamed honey but no one will want to buy this if I can't explain what it is, even if I were to take to market.
Frustrating. Any ideas? And how to prevent? This batch did settle out a while before I put in containers so I don't think it's a situation where I didn't allow this to rise out. I think it's something that occurs in the granulation process.


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Story.me is montenegro, btw. They either have the hookup or this is just another bogus ford gt revival story. Thoughts?
Wishful thinking.
------------------------------You can have an opinion, just be prepared to be relentlessly mocked for it.Warning: This post may cause cancer in the state of California.
This is wishful thinking
Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine- Elvis Presley
There was one that they started to develop last year, but rumors have since disappeared so I have little hope on the program. There are other areas that Ford needs to focus on first.
2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata2015 Ducati Monster 8211996 Ford Ranger1968 Ford F-100 Ranger (For Sale)
If they brought it back then i think they should rename it as well, i know the GT is historic and all that, but Ford has watered it down, now when people hear GT, they think of the Mustang, not a 100k super car.
Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine- Elvis Presley
I think people have always though Mustang when they heard GT. That's why GT40 was a good name, it was at least different. But, i guess GT43 wouldn't have sounded right on the new one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-2013 F150 FX4 5.0Formerly Blackstallion4209
Wishful thinking. Any supercar or hypercar that will be released in 2014 would've been hyped, rendered, and been seen testing in the last 2 or 3 years. For example, the McLaren P1 is supposed to be beginning production this year, and we've been seeing the concept, test mules, renders, etc. for quite a while now.
"There's a lie that all drivers tell themselves -- death is something that happens to other people. That's how you find the courage to get in the car in the first place. But more powerful than even the fear of death itself is the will to win."
There were a few rumors floating around last year that Ford was interested in reviving the Ford GT, but I haven't heard a peep until this morning. Keeping something like a Ford GT supercar completely under wraps just a few months before it should be released? This is wishful thinking. I hope I'm wrong, but I bet I'm not.
Alan M won't green light a car that can't sustain itself, a new GT likely won't sustain itself. Certainly not as projected in that link.Ford sold 4000 GTs at $150K (most sold well above that, but that was via dealer mark-up). If Ford's invoice was $140K, they only took in about $560M on the project. With today's safety and emissions standards, that isn't really enough money to make a unique car worthwhile.IF a GT is going to get the green light, it will not have a unique engine like the article suggests. More likely, it'll share an engine (or at least most of an engine) with the next GT500. Perhaps a twin turbo version of the 5.8L. It'll also likely borrow some of the old GT's chassis, perhaps tweaked with new geometry and some weight savings. And cost, well, it'll be a heck of a lot more than the old GT, probably $200-250K this time around. Most of the last GTs sold in that range anyways, so Ford will probably get it this time around too.
------------------------------You can have an opinion, just be prepared to be relentlessly mocked for it.Warning: This post may cause cancer in the state of California.
We do have a surplus of 6.8 v10's....
Can only hope
Cars I've Owned:1990 Geo Storm 2+2 (Previous)2005 Dodge Neon SXT (Previous)1995 K1500 Z71 (Previous)2012 VW Golf 2.5l (Previous)2004 Land Rover Discovery (Current)2005 Land Rover LR3 HSE (Current)
OP, you seriously think Ford can come up with GT in 2014?
Not to mention that thing is screamingass ugly.
Wishful thinking.
----------------------------Grace, Pace, and SpaceAwarded Best Back Troll
I think ford even said 2016 at the earliest
_____________________First trip to the drag strip. 13.02 @ 112Personal Best: 12.7 @ 111 (95 F heat)


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To put this into perspective, if you take away the two games we play next year against the Eagles who went 4-12 this past year, it changes our opponents 2012 record to 115-109. This moves the winning percentage above 500. Basically saying that while it appears we have a real easy schedule, based on this list, the two games against the Eagles really drag down our position on that list. Same goes for the Cowboys and Redskins. And we all know how we play against the Eagles.
2017 Mock Draft
1st: Forrest Lamp, OG Western Kentucky
2nd: Caleb Brantley, DT Florida
3rd: Gerald Everett, TE South Alabama
4th: Dont'a Foreman, RB Texas
5th: Damontae Kazee, CB San Diego State
6th: KD Cannon, WR Baylor
7th: Jalen Reeves-Maybin, LB Tennessee
Thing is this year's winning percentage of our opponents was the HIGHEST in the league. So even taking away the Eagle's record (which is quite a big change) the winning percentage in 2013 of around 50% is a HUGE improvement over this year.
On another track, it is interesting to see some fans have so LITTLE faith in the team. According to them we are horrible against the Eagles and always will be. With the Cowboys and Redskins not far behind. What the f. Maybe it's a psychological ploy to avoid the sadness when the team does not make the playoffs. They don't want to get their hopes up. But, man, isn't that the definition of a fan? Someone who dreams his team will win big. You see fans in cities that have not made the playoffs in decades and they are still there rooting and hoping. Sometimes I do agree that Giants fans are spoiled.


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According to my notes, I checked a shallow 10 frame honey super on my best hive on the 14th of June. It was brand new and only had foundation in it at the time. I checked them again on the 27th and what do you know, I have 10 frames drawn out and 8 frames of capped lightly tinted honey.
Everything blooming that I noticed happened about a month early. Including the sourwoods...Heck they were blooming in early May, and played out in about a week.
The only thing that I can see that are blooming are some wild flowers and a ton of Sumac trees. The bees are all over the Sumacs around here. And I guess I can say I really have a ton of them on my place, and they are a ton more in surrounding farms. I really never heard of Sumac honey and not even sure if that is what it is...But they are still bringing it in ad I will add another super to see if they will draw it out too.
Dearth? Ain't not stinkin' Dearth!


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Laws, Regulations & Annotations
Property Taxes Law Guide – Revision 2011
Revenue and Taxation Code
Property Taxation
Part 2. Assessment
CHAPTER 1. Taxation Base
Article 2. Procedure to Claim Exemptions
Section 255.2
255.2. Homeowners' exemption for disqualified veteran. Notwith-standing Section 255 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, any veteran who is filing for the veteran's exemption on his or her principal place of residence for the first time or who was found eligible for that exemption on his or her principal place of residence in the immediately preceding year and whose claim is timely filed but disallowed for the current year may, if otherwise qualified for the homeowner's exemption, file for the homeowner's exemption as provided herein.
The assessor shall notify those applicants he or she finds ineligible for the veteran's exemption of his or her finding and shall inform them that they have 15 days from the date of the notice to file for the homeowner's exemption. The failure of the assessor to provide the notice required by this section shall extend the filing period for those not notified to the next lien date.
History.—Added by Stats. 1970, p. 2444, in effect September 17, 1970. Stats. 1971, p. 3517 in effect March 4, 1972, added "timely filed but" between "claim is" and "disallowed" in the first sentence of the first paragraph. Stats. 1991, Ch. 646, in effect January 1, 1992, added "or her" after "his" in the first paragraph; added "or she" after "he" and added "or her" after "his" in the first sentence of the second paragraph; and deleted the former third paragraph which provided "For the 1970–71 fiscal year only, any veteran who would have qualified under this section for an extension of filing time for the homeowner's exemption shall have 15 days after the operative date of this section to file for the homeowner's exemption for the current fiscal year."


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Friday, June 1, 2012
Long Absence...
6 comments:
Blair, interested in your thoughts on your regional performance and the comp as a whole. Bummed you barely missed out.ReplyDelete
Great to have you back posting again Blair, I've been checking the blog daily to see if you had updated! The above one looks pretty fun might have to try find somewhere to give it a run. cheersReplyDelete
I never post, but I am glad to have you back Bro! I always watch your vids and read your blogs before I hit the box for inspiration.ReplyDelete
Was definitely wondering how things were going in your camp post-Regionals. I was definitely bummed to see that snatch ladder score... especially knowing you have a lot more in the tank. Glad you're back... looking forward to all the great workout ideas.ReplyDelete
Also bummed about regionals, but certain you are off to better things.ReplyDelete
You are an amazing inspiration!
Heading off to Germany for 4 weeks this summer, and your ideas about working out without a gym are a big inspiration for me while there.
Welcome back! I was so disappointed that you didn't make it through to the Games, but I'm looking forward to seeing all your next adventures.ReplyDelete


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Beekeepers in Louisiana should be aware of aerial spray in their area.
Beginning September 19, 2008 mosquito aerial spraying will start in four Louisiana parishes, Cameron, Vermilion, Iberia and St. Mary, in hurricane impacted areas and continue during the next few weeks. Additional parishes may be added as needed.
Specially equipped U.S. Air Force Reserve (AFRC) C-130H cargo planes from the 910th Airlift Wing, Youngstown, Ohio will be conducting the aerial spraying operation using the insecticide Dibrom (also known as naled) approximately the last 2-3 hours of daylight. The planes will be flying at or above 200 feet above ground level during the actual spraying application dispensing Dibrom in ultra-low volume droplets.
Spraying is necessary to prevent the possible spread of mosquito-borne diseases such as West Nile virus and other encephalites that are endemic to this area.
Jim Young


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Reviewed By John O (CORVALLIS, OR) Reviewed for a 2002 Ford Thunderbird —2/20/2017 8:55 AM
This is a very heavy duty rack. Does not have a cheap feel of some of the trunk racks out there.
Reviewed By David D (Godfrey, IL) Reviewed for a 2017 Ford F-150 —2/14/2017 5:56 AM
I was looking for a bike rack to accommodate four bikes. I searched and found this one at a great price. It was far less than others I had found. It handles four bikes with no problems and it is portable.