text:
Russh Magazine
Back to basics with the pair behind (MALIN+GOETZ).
SIMPLIFY- the often-used ethos of
Andrew Goetz and Matthew Malin - is not
a concept one is presented with frequently in
the beauty realm. However, the pair behind
(MALIN+GOETZ) are in the business of
stripping products back, keeping it natural and
above all, creating effortless beauty. Born in
2004 in a teeny family-owned and -operated
apothecary in NYC's Chelsea neighbourhood,
(MALIN+GOETZ) products are now scattered
- albeit exclusively - from Germany to
Guatemala and beyond.
RUSSH: How - and when - did you catch
your break in the industry?
Matthew Malin: About 19 years ago, I started
in the executive training program at Saks Fifth
Avenue here in NYC. A few years later, I was
a cosmetic buyer for Barneys New York. We
launched Stila, Nars, Philosophy, etc. I then
worked for about six years with the family owned
Kiehl's overseeing global distribution
until its sale to L'Oreal. I was with Prada for
a couple of years managing some licensing
agreements for beauty before we started our
business six years ago.
Andrew Goetz: I caught my break both in the
industry and personally when I met Matthew
17 years ago. I come from the world of design
and architecture; so I guess the official industry
break came when we pooled our worlds to
create (MALIN+GOETZ) six years ago.
Wben you're not working, where are you?
MM: We have an 1810 farmhouse north of
NYC in the countryside near a wonderful town
known for its antiques called Hudson.
AG: Until very recently, when we were not
working, you could find us working. Ergo the
need for a country house - now you can find
us learning how to garden (I'm a New Yorker)
and, most importantly, how to relax. We are still
officially in training ... but getting better.
Describe your signature look...
AG: I suppose everyone is a prisoner to some
zeitgeist or another. I prefer being very casual.
A great pair of original Levi's 501 s, a cool
T-shirt and black Converse sneakers is always
best for me. I like to keep things simple, 'less
is more.. .'
MM: I like neutral colours, mostly black. I
love a great sports coat-it allows me to dress
casually and always look professional.
If you had your way, the world would...
MM: Be at peace.
AG: Not have to fly coach.
What is the one piece of advice you wish you
were given earlier?
AG: Always trust yourself.
And your favorite products to work with?
MM: Our Detox Face Mask is a great product
to demo - it foams on the skin and smells
of and looks like marzipan AND offers
immediate results.
Best trick of the trade?
AG: Keep it simple. If you have an overly
complicated regimen, not only will it be
difficult to follow, but you'll end up creating
irritation. Use products only as needed.
First fragrance you ever purchased?
AG: Paco Rabanne.
MM: Hmmmmm. Maybe Santos de Cartier,
having tried it at a friend's house in my first
year of college.
And your signature scent now?
AG: (MALIN+GOETZ) Petitgrain Tonic.
Do you use any products that aren't
traditionally cosmetic?
AG: Sometimes I brush my teeth with
pure baking soda.
MM: I suffer from rosacea, eczema, seborrhoea
and fragrance allergies ... This was a catalyst to
our developing a skincare range that was easy to
use and appropriate for sensitive skin.
Wbo would you love to makeover?
AG: Not so much as any person in particular
- but there are certain things that irk me.
Jeans are an abused fashion statement. There
are people wearing skinny jeans that shouldn't
(like myself).
Who are your beauty icons?
AG: Jerry Hall.
MM: I like strong, independent woman
who aren't afraid to express their own style:
Madonna, Oprah, Lady Gaga.
Most common beauty mistake?
(... Made by otbers, of course!)
MM: Forgetting to wash your face.
What's tbe secret to looking young and
AG: Eat well, exercise and enjoy good wine.
If you could live and work by one rule, whicb
would it be?
MM: Now. Carpe Diem.
Do you identify with any particular time in
AG: I came of age in the late 70s in New York,
so I love the clash between downtown rebellion
and uptown excess.
What music do you listen to when your at work?
AG: Right now, we are listening to Vampire
Weekend. The person who gets in first is
usually gets to play office D] '" but I still have
veto power when needed.
Your motto?
AG: Be humble. ~


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Wind fuels Johnson Co. fire; several acres burned
JOHNSON COUNTY, Tenn. - Tennessee forestry officials tells us a fire sparked Tuesday afternoon after a tree fell on top of a power line on Rhea Road in Johnson County. View photos here.
A fire still smolders in Johnson County with a sea of ashes sloping down a mountain. It's what left of a massive blaze just off Highway 421 near Mountain City that spread to 14 acres Tuesday evening, putting over 50 firefighters in danger.
"The first call came in initially as a power outage," said James Brown, chief of the Second District Volunteer Fire Department.
Residents said a massive tree was uprooted and hit a power line on its way down, causing sparks to fly. Then, brush caught fire. "[The fire] was very small and contained, about 20 or 30 yards around. With the wind, in about five minutes, it had tripled in size and started climbing up the mountain," local resident Marty Anderson described.
Brown told us flames were 10 feet high and spreading beyond fire lines because of 20 mile-per-hour wind gusts. "As quick as they'd get one established, the wind would pick up more, and it would jump that and keep going," said Brown.
It was a frightening scene for Max Cuddy, whose home sat right outside one of the burn barriers. "It was nerve-wracking, you know, because the wind was blowing different directions. It just kept moving around," Cuddy said.
That's why fire officials warn extra caution burning this time of year. "Usually March is a really windy month. You need to be really aware when you're burning," Brown advised.
Especially since just this week, 160 acres and 65 cabins were damaged by wind-fueled flames in Pigeon Forge. Click here to read more about that story.
"It could have been a lot worse," added Brown.
We asked officials for facts on burning regulations:
Tennessee forestry officials told us Johnson, Carter, and Hawkins Counties are not issuing burn permits for the time being, burning in other counties must be approved by a permit.
In Virginia, no one is allowed to burn before 4:00 p.m. until April 30, if it's within 300 feet of woodland, brush land, or fields.
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- Elizabethton Police investigating toddler's death

subset: commoncrawl


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Google Maps for iOS
Google Maps has been a staple on the Android side of the fence for years. In fact, it's so good, that there really isn't any need to buy or use any other navigation program on your Android device, provided you have what you need for a Maps-on-Demand app – 3G or better mobile broadband.
On the iOS side of the world, Google Maps is now also one of the BEST navigation apps in the App Store. The app was downloaded over 10-million times in the first 48 hours of its initial release. I think that speaks more to Google Maps' strengths rather than Apple Maps' weaknesses.
Google's strength is search, and Google Maps for iOS does local search very well. Google learned a lot about navigation from its integration as part of the Android operating system and they have brought some of that expertise to your iPhone or mobile broadband-enabled iPad. Simply put, this is an awesome app, and if you know you're going to be in an area with decent mobile broadband coverage and need a navigation app, Google Maps for iOS is an awesome choice.
I've used the app on both platforms. It functions the same way on both iOS and Android devices. Maps are clear and detailed; and its voice guided navigation is clear, well timed, and easy to understand. It's one of the best navigation apps I've ever used on ANY mobile platform.
Synching with your Google Account brings in all of your navigation history and favorites. If you've used Google Maps before, you're going to be able pick up right where you previously left off. The only thing missing is integration at the OS level, which might come with the release of iOS 6.1; but that is yet to be seen as of this writing.
Click here for Google Maps for iOS (US) on iTunes
Click here for Google Maps for iOS (Europe) on iTunes
Price: Free
App Type: Maps on Demand
Next Page: Navigon USA


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Kids Love It!
Verified Purchase
Kids Love It!
My daughter loves these - because the gelatin capsules pop when you chew them and the tast is very mild. I love that she is getting her DHA - it's really made a difference in her skin - it is no longer as dry and irritated.
Kids Love It!
Posted by Reviewer2061099 on Mar 24, 2007 | Verified Purchase
My daughter loves these - because the gelatin capsules pop when you chew them and the tast is very mild. I love that she is getting her DHA - it's really made a difference in her skin - it is no longer as dry and irritated.
He doesn't mind taking it!
Posted by Reviewer2854117 on Mar 27, 2007 | Verified Purchase
My son is very picky when it comes to chewing vitamins. When I bought these soft gels, he couldn't wait each morning to take them. It's as if he thinks they are candy! Love this product and the benefits it gives my son.
Tastes great!
Posted by Reviewer3227215 on Feb 20, 2007 | Verified Purchase
My daughter who is 3yrs old loves the strawberry taste of these. I can smell it on her breath and it smells good.
Smart Kids
Posted by Reviewer2947850 on Jul 02, 2008 | Verified Purchase
Excellent product. My children, ages 2 ad 5, love these and beg for them everyday. My daughter is in preschool and reads at a 2nd grade level. I have taken Nordic Naturals fish oils since my pregnancy with her and she's taken these since age 2. I can't help but wonder if the DHA has helped enhance her intelligence.
kid's essential!
Posted by Reviewer3218667 on Aug 04, 2009 | Verified Purchase
My kids love the Nordic Natural, Children's DHA chewable gels. I love it because it's made from 100% arctic cod liver oil, free of harmful additives and flavored with real strawberry extract!
Good product
Posted by Reviewer3026634 on Oct 29, 2009 | Verified Purchase
Although this product is expensive, I believe it helps my children's brain grow and helps keep their hearts healthy. I wish this product was around when I was a kid. Take care of the kids when they are young and maybe their adult life will be healthier. I am 36 with heart problems because of cholesterol. The taste is tolerable. I tried it as well and they aren't bad tasting.
My kids love it!
Posted by Reviewer1643422 on Feb 26, 2007 | Verified Purchase
My two year old and three year old both beg to take their "fish food" as we call it. They like it so much better than the lemon flavored fish oil I was using before. Really great product.
Great taste!
Posted by Reviewer1116599 on Oct 19, 2008 | Verified Purchase
These have a great taste for kids. They are easy to chew. I give my one year old 1 each morning.
Great flavor, easy to take by my 2 1/2 year old
Posted by Reviewer1243420 on Dec 20, 2008 | Verified Purchase
My boy has constipation issues and this seems to help regulate him. He actually chews these soft gels rather than swallowing them.
The best way to give Omega/DHA to your child...
Posted by Reviewer2506716 on Aug 09, 2009 | Verified Purchase
This is great tasting...I tried one...my kids love them and the way they pop in their mouths...not fishy at all.


text:
Well, it has been here since 30th of September 2004 but I just came across it.
Download link: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/download.jsp
Some highlights of J2SE 5.0:
New language updates: Metadata, Generics, Enumerated types, Autoboxing of primitive types [
New JVM Monitoring and Management API [Me: Useful, but we have events in .NET for most of these and we have healthMonitoring stuff in .NET 2.0]
Improved out-of-box performance [Me: Cool]
New (but compatible) default Java look and feel.
Me: Is there anything in the language updates (as a headline) not from .NET?]
Posted with Simple .Text Blog Editor


text:
Hi All,
Wondering if anybody has ever seen or has experience converting these steam kettles into a bottling tank?
They are manufactured by Vulcan Hart Mfg. Co Louisville, KY see link below:
I recently purchased 2 of these tanks except I believe mine are older 30 gallon models and do not have any heater attachment but they do have water pipe with fittings coming out of the bottom and are definitely a jacketed tank.
I was told they were used with steam for heating soup in a commercial school kitchen.
I plan on running hot water into them with a hot water heater type set up and attaching a SS honey bottling valve in place of the large valve that is already on them (I will try to post pics later). But have concern about the existing valve has 4 large bolts that I believe holds the 2 tanks together and by removing them would cause the honey and water to leak out? (valve and bolts are the same as the older bulk milk tanks)


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Rothfuss, Joan. "Joseph Beuys." In Bits & Pieces Put Together to Present a Semblance of a Whole: Walker Art Center Collections, edited by Joan Rothfuss and Elizabeth Carpenter. Minneapolis, MN: Walker Art Center, 2005.
© 2005 Walker Art Center
Joseph Beuys conceived one of the most compelling—and still provocative—aesthetic programs of the postwar period, one that continues to cause reverberations. His sculpture, performances, lectures, and political activism were all part of a grand, enormous goal: the transformation of Western culture into a more peaceful, democratic, and creative system. His famous slogan "Everyone is an artist" proposed that this could be achieved, if only human beings would apply their innate creative energies toward positive change; he christened this kind of activity "social sculpture." These were highly utopian aspirations, no doubt, but Beuys dedicated all his energy to them, hoping to stimulate the change he believed was necessary to reinvigorate society. Along the way he developed a range of wildly inventive art forms and served as a model for a whole generation of young artists.
Born in 1921 in Krefeld, in northwestern Germany, Beuys was the only child in a middle-class, strongly Catholic family. As a youth he pursued dual interests in art and the natural sciences, eventually choosing a career in medicine. But in 1940 he joined the Luftwaffe for a five-year tour during which he was wounded several times and held in a British prisoner-of-war camp; he returned home physically, emotionally, and spiritually depleted. Upon his recovery he redirected his energy toward art, spending the better part of a decade studying, reading, and drawing, and in 1961 he was appointed to a professorship at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, then an active center for contemporary art. During the early 1960s he became acquainted with the experimental work of the group known as Fluxus, who invented hybrid art forms that erased boundaries between literature, music, visual art, performance, and everyday life. Fluxus was a critical catalyst that enabled Beuys to develop his own practice into an innovative fusion of organic and natural materials, ritualized movement, and complex, symbolic iconography. His "expanded concept of art" eventually came to include teaching, lectures, discussion, and political activities as well as traditional artistic media—a radical concept, even today.
An important part of Beuys' plan for the broad distribution of his ideas was the production of multiples—two- or three-dimensional objects made in multiple copies. He spoke of them as vehicles, traveling objects meant to move his ideas through space, through which he "stayed in touch with people."1 He envisioned them wandering in many directions, serving as proxies for his charismatic presence and sparking debate, just as his lectures and actions often did. If one had seen Beuys himself speak or perform, his multiples could serve as memory aids or even relics. (The whiff of sanctity, iconicity, and magic that drifts along with this word is not unsuited to Beuys' ideas about the artist's role in society.) By the time of his death in 1986, he had made hundreds of multiples in many formats, including sculpture, prints, found objects, recordings, videos, photographs, broadsides, postcards, and books; he employed all of his signature materials—from fat, felt, copper, iron, and wax to text, sound, and moving imagery. Each multiple is a condensed notation of a moment in Beuys' work or life: an idea, a material, a performance, a drawing, a lecture, an exhibition, a journey, a collaboration. As a group, they provide as complete a picture of his richly diverse output as possible, allowing viewers who may be far removed from him in distance or time an extraordinary proximity to the vitality of his ideas.
When the Walker Art Center's staff was considering, in 1991, how best to represent Beuys in the collection, the wide-ranging inclusiveness of a large body of multiples seemed potentially more useful than the relatively limited thematic associations possible in a single sculptural work. A comprehensive (but not complete) collection of multiples was located and eventually acquired from Alfred and Marie Greisinger, collectors of contemporary art and proprietors of a pastry café in Baden-Baden, Germany. Since then, the Walker has continued to fill gaps in the collection and, at this writing, holds 492 of the 625 multiples Beuys made over a twenty-year period.
Among the best known of them is Filzanzug (Felt Suit), which Beuys made and wore in 1970 during a performance with American artist Terry Fox at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. Felt was a constant in Beuys' sculptural vocabulary, and signified for him not only physical warmth and insulating properties but what he called "spiritual warmth or the beginning of an evolution."2 His phrase suggests physical transformations that are brought about through heat (as in incubation), as well as conversions of the strictly metaphysical type; wearing the Felt Suit, therefore, could be doubly transformative. Its form is basic and its tailoring purposely crude, without buttons or buttonholes, in keeping with the primal quality of the fabric. As Beuys put it, "Felt doesn't strive to be smart, so to speak. One has to conserve the character, omit mere trifles… . " This garment thus alludes to some of the fundamentals of human well-being: warmth and continual growth.
Schlitten (Sled) of 1969 also deals with the necessities of survival, but this object is associated with the very personal (if semi-mythical) tale of Beuys' own near-demise after a plane crash during World War II. As he later told it, the fighter jet in which he was flying was shot down during a blizzard in the Crimea, a region in Eastern Europe. Members of a nomadic tribe discovered him in the snow and tended his wounds by covering them with fat and wrapping him in felt to generate warmth. The story, which seems to have been embellished by the artist, his translators, or both, and was quickly discredited by (American) critics, has nonetheless endured, in part because it is a powerful metaphor for the near-death and rebirth of both an individual and a nation after the devastation wrought by National Socialism.3
In 1974 Beuys expanded on the notion of discussion-as-art by structuring his first visit to the United States as a lecture tour, with stops in New York, Chicago, and Minneapolis. The tour was an extended performance of sorts, a social sculpture that he later dubbed "Energy Plan for the Western Man." For those unable to hear him speak, he produced sixteen multiples to commemorate the trip, including postcards, prints, a videotape, and several altered found objects. One of them, Amerikanischer Hasenzucker (American Hare Sugar), came out of a chance discovery during dinner at Nye's Polonaise Room in Minneapolis on his last night in the United States. On the table he noticed a sugar packet bearing the image of a hare—with the stag, one of his totem animals—and collected as many as he could find, later using them as one element in a multiple.4 The packet bears an odd rendering of the animal gazing at its reflection in a pool of water—an image that might suggest Beuys' self-conscious attention to his own persona, which he often characterized as that of shaman or prophet pointing the way to a better future.
Beuys' work in all its rich forms is highly allusive and draws on much of the accumulated knowledge of Western civilization. While the success of his ambitious program has been the subject of much debate, his enormous influence on the development of postwar art is undeniable. His exploration of sculptural form and materials, his mesmerizing performances, and his ideas about the powerful potential of consciously applied creativity are still catalytic forces in the art world. Coming to terms with his involvement in the war was a lifelong process that informs, at least obliquely, much of his art; at its best, his work is a rare merger of groundbreaking formal exploration and heartbreaking human truth.
Quoted in "Questions to Joseph Beuys," an interview by Jörg Schellmann and Bernd Klüser, reprinted in Jörg Schellmann, ed., Joseph Beuys: The Multiples (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University Art Museums; Minneapolis: Walker Art Center; Munich and New York: Edition Schellmann, 1997), 9. ↩
Quotes in this paragraph from ibid., 16. ↩
For a comprehensive discussion of the crash story and its implications, see Peter Nisbet's essay "Crash Course," in Gene Ray, ed., Joseph Beuys: Mapping the Legacy (New York: D.A.P.; Sarasota, Florida: John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, 2001), 5–18. ↩
More information about this first U.S. visit can be found in Joan Rothfuss, "Joseph Beuys: Echoes in America," in Mapping the Legacy, 37–54; and in Klaus Staeck and Gerhard Steidl, Beuys in Amerika (Heidelberg, Germany: Edition Staeck, 1987). ↩
Rothfuss, Joan. "Joseph Beuys." In Bits & Pieces Put Together to Present a Semblance of a Whole: Walker Art Center Collections, edited by Joan Rothfuss and Elizabeth Carpenter. Minneapolis, MN: Walker Art Center, 2005.
© 2005 Walker Art Center
Joseph Beuys was born in 1921 in Krefeld, a city in northwestern Germany near the Dutch border. He grew up in the nearby towns of Kleve and Rindern, the only child in a middle class, strongly Catholic family. During his youth he pursued dual interests in the natural sciences and art, and he chose a career in medicine. In 1940 he joined the military, volunteering in order to avoid the draft. He was trained as an aircraft radio operator and combat pilot, and during his years of active duty he was seriously wounded numerous times. At the end of the war he was held in a British prisoner-of-war camp for several months, and returned to Kleve in 1945.
Coming to terms with his involvement in the war was a long process and figures, at least obliquely, in much of his artwork. Beuys often said that his interest in fat and felt as sculptural materials grew out of a wartime experience–a plane crash in the Crimea, after which he was rescued by nomadic Tartars who rubbed him with fat and wrapped him in felt to heal and warm his body. While the story appears to have little grounding in real events (Beuys himself downplayed its importance in a 1980 interview), its poetics are strong enough to have made the story one of the most enduring aspects of his mythic biography.
On his return from the war Beuys abandoned his plans for a career in medicine and enrolled in the Düsseldorf Academy of Art to study sculpture. He graduated in 1952, and during the next years focused on drawing–he produced thousands during the 1950s alone–and reading, ranging freely through philosophy, science, poetry, literature, and the occult. He married in 1959 and two years later, at the age of 40, was appointed to a professorship at his alma mater.
During the early 1960s, Düsseldorf developed into an important center for contemporary art and Beuys became acquainted with the experimental work of artists such as Nam June Paik and the Fluxus group, whose public "concerts" brought a new fluidity to the boundaries between literature, music, visual art, performance, and everyday life. Their ideas were a catalyst for Beuys' own performances, which he called "actions," and his evolving ideas about how art could play a wider role in society. He began to publicly exhibit his large-scale sculptures, small objects, drawings, and room installations. He also created numerous actions and began making editioned objects and prints called multiples.
As the decades advanced, his commitment to political reform increased and he was involved in the founding of several activist groups: in 1967, the German Student Party, whose platform included worldwide disarmament and educational reform; in 1970, the Organization for Direct Democracy by Referendum, which proposed increased political power for individuals; and in 1972, the Free International University, which emphasized the creative potential in all human beings and advocated cross-pollination of ideas across disciplines. In 1979 he was one of 500 founding members of the Green Party.
His charismatic presence, his urgent and public calls for reform of all kinds, and his unconventional artistic style (incorporating ritualized movement and sound, and materials such as fat, felt, earth, honey, blood, and even dead animals) gained him international notoriety during these decades, but it also cost him his job. Beuys was dismissed in 1972 from his teaching position over his insistence that admission to the art school be open to anyone who wished to study there.
While he counted debate, discussion, and teaching as part of his expanded definition of art, Beuys also continued to make objects, installations, multiples, and performances. His reputation in the international art world solidified after a 1979 retrospective at New York's Guggenheim Museum, and he lived the last years of his life at a hectic pace, participating in dozens of exhibitions and traveling widely on behalf of his organizations. Beuys died in 1986 in Düsseldorf. In the subsequent decade his students have carried on his campaign for change, and his ideas and artwork have continued to spark lively debate.
Stachelhaus, Heiner. Joseph Beuys. Translated into English by David Britt. New York: Abbeville Press, 1991.
Temkin, Ann. "Joseph Beuys: An Introduction to His Life and Work." In Thinking Is Form: The Drawings of Joseph Beuys. Philadelphia and New York: Philadelphia Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art, 1993.


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The Curious Case Of Laurent Koscielny
More often than not, the sleepless nights are about the heartbreak, the disappointment, the anguish and the despair. They're about the anger and disgust for the punditocracy and the hacks who consider it open season on Arsenal.
You can almost taste the bile from the disdain and contempt in which Arsenal is held in the footballing media circles from Sly Sports to the BBC, from Talk Spite radio to the tabloids. There's a macabre-esque enjoyment of Arsenal's agony in every sense – and when we say it's a conspiracy, we're called paranoid.
Today though, there's so much to say and write about such an amazing day for the spirit of Arsenal football club. For that however, I'd like to encourage you to visit ACLF where my friend Yogi has written a wonderful piece that captures the emotion and captures the moment. As George our resident pedant puts it, for all the days of anguish that Yogi has kept our sanity, it's days like these that he deserves the stage to express the magic of the moment.
I have chosen today instead to focus on Arsenal's most influential unsung hero, Mr Laurent Koscielny. There's more than enough analysis all over the internet and the media of the now legendary shafting of the heathen horde at Stamford Bridge.
You see, the problem with the English football establishment is that there's a collective determination to exercise cultural incompetence of breath-taking magnitude. Take the lack of understanding of the fundamentals of football business and finance. English football is the only place on this planet where people still think it's OK to spend the GDP of most developing countries just to chase trophies.
It's either a brazen and reckless disregard of the laws of economics as they pertain to football, or spectacular incompetence from a collective that has the IQ of a fence post. It's the sort of culture that equates high spending to quality, notwithstanding the fact that the rationale for the market pricing is fundamentally flawed. How can it be justifiable for example for Andy Carroll to cost more in transfer fees than Thomas Vermaelen and David Silva combined.
So when the Arsenal scouting system pluck Laurent Koscielny from the wilderness of the French league, he is considered a pariah since he doesn't conform to the text book definition of a Premiership defender. It's almost like it's a crime that they don't know him so he can't be that good. Koscielny's not only fighting the PR battle against the football media and pundits, he's had to contend with undeserved criticism from Anti-Arsenal Arsenal supporters.
Yet this brilliant young man has something that a lot of defenders don't have. He is tenacious, dependable, perceptive and applies himself with finesse. He is a dogged defender with absolute class when it comes to the art of intercepting, one on one defending and recovery defending. He is exceptional in the air and excellent in working with the ball on the ground.
Koscielny is also silky in offence and has an uncanny ability to convert defence into attack with one touch football. A very confident player with the ball, he links up very well with the midfield and is perhaps one of the best ball playing defenders around.
The fact that people still talk about Arsenal needing quality defenders without paying Koscielny any respect for what he is currently doing is an insult of the highest order in my humble opinion. If Koscielny isn't one of the best defenders in the league, I don't know who is.
In yesterday's post match punditry by Sly Sports, the punk Jamie Redknapp had the audacity to suggest that Laurent Koscielny had now arrived after that performance against Chelsea. As I was reminded, Jamie was probably the only person in the country who didn't notice Lionel Messi in Koscielny's pocket when Arsenal beat Barcelona with panache in perhaps the greatest match of football ever played in an Arsenal stadium.
From the first game that Koscielny played at Anfield, it was so obvious that the boy oozed class. And I gather it's not just the class. I know a few female Gooners who are willing and ready to copulate with the guy and bear his children.
Granted, he has made some mistakes – but point out to me a defender in the league who walks on water. The media even hail Sideshow Bob at Chelsea as the second coming of defensive messiahs. That's David Luiz in case you're wondering who Sideshow Bob is.
If Luiz was that good – why the hell didn't he play to stop the horror show at Stamford Bridge yesterday. Even after they wax lyrical and go sycophantic about Luiz because he cost £24m while Koscielny cost a few bob according to them, you can't hide from the fact that Laurent Koscielny stands head and shoulders above the Brazilian defender. Everything they say about Luiz, you can say that about Koscielny with compound interest.
Let's not forget, Fernando Torres might as well have been sitting on the bench yesterday, that's how effective Koscielny was. He's done it to Messi, he's done it to Rooney and he's done it to Drogba – and folks still think of this guy like a step child from the wrong side of the rail tracks.
And yet, Gooners around the world are debating who will lose their place in central defence to accommodate the equally magnificent Thomas Vermaelen.
I think people are missing the point. The question is not who will partner Thomas Vermaelen in central defence. The more substantive question is out of Vermaelen, Mertesacker and Djourou, who will be Laurent Koscielny's preferred partner.
My sense is that Vermaelen and Koscielny will be Arsenal's first choice central defensive pairing, but if you take it that there will be suspensions and injury as well as the need for tactical changes to counter different opposition – there's enough games to go around for everyone.
The most exciting thing for me is that Koscielny, Vermaelen, Mertesacker and Djourou are either 25 or 26 years of age. The central defensive solutions at
Arsenal for the next 8 to 10 years are on solid ground, notwithstanding the fact that young shining lights like Ignasi Miquel and Kyle Bartley are on hand to complement the squad depth.
Dont forget, if you haven't yet, follow Stone Cold Arsenal on Twitter and join the growing community. We're trying to find out where Bruce "We'll beat the crap out of Arsenal" is hiding.
The Bastards Are After Arsenal, The Whole Phucking Lot Of Them
I got reminded this weekend why I started blogging in the first place. It really was either this or marriage counselling. The funny thing is that even my Chelsea supporting missus resorts to cursing like a drunk sailor when it comes to responding to the tripe and faecal matter served to us as opinion from the hacks and punditocracy.
"Have you read this shit yet", my friend Jay screamed down the phone as he hyper ventilated in between spitting his spleen out. "These bastards are after Arsenal, the whole phuckign lot of them".
"what the hell are you on about dude", was my baffled response.
"The Daily Mail. They're after Van Persie now"
Clearly, I wouldn't have seen the faecal matter Jay was referring to as I wouldn't read the Sports section of the Daily Heil if held at gun point. Not that the rest of the paper is a pantheon of journalistic integrity, the paper is symptomatic of a football media collective that is so far removed from anything with integrity.
This is the thing though – combine this lack of quality that redefines incompetence and you throw it into the mix of an agenda against Arsenal, the results are explosive.
Fuck everyone who suggests that there is no conspiracy. A conspiracy happens when more than one person plots to do something sinister. We don't even have to look past the presenters at Talk Spite radio to satisfy this threshold. Throw in the print media, the punditocracy, Sly Sports and ESPN and the punks on BBC 5 live, the conspiracy makes Tony Soprano look like a pussycat.
Take the Robin Van Persie nonsense of a story. Someone at the Daily Heil decides that a new "Cesc must leave Arsenal story" needs to start sooner rather than later. He sits down in the pub across the road from Head Office, and after 4 pints and a dodgy meat pie, the light bulb moment hits. "I know, let's do the Van Persie is unhappy shit storm".
Next, Talk Spite radio picks it up as fact, followed by Sly Sports News who quote the Daily Heil as the source, before someone updates the Daily Heil article to quote Sly Sports as having broadcast the story.
Cue the internet circus who quote Sly Sports, Daily Heil and Talk Spite radio. The story then becomes a fait acommpli, with the hack who concocted the original story claiming he had the 4 pints and shared the meat pie with Darren Dein, Van Persie's agent. Bedlam on the Arsenal faithful follows with Gazidis and Hill-Woods head being demanded alongside Wenger's.
I've said it here loads of times, you don't have to be paranoid for them to get at you. "Why do you think they're after Arsenal" is the question I get asked all the time.
Simples. Arsenal represents a challenge to a Neolithic establishment that is in self-preservation mode. They feed off each other and they will attack anything that dares suggest an alternative to the status quo.
The fact that Arsenal hasn't flown off the starting blocks this season is neither here nor there. It's immaterial. The suggestion that 6 games into the season can tell you anything is as ludicrous as suggesting that if you sit at the front of a bus you'll get to town before the guys sitting at the back of the bus.
This narrative of "Arsenal is in Crisis" didn't start this season. It's been in the making for a long time now and the end game is most definitely to hound Arséne Wenger out of English football and hopefully return Arsenal to mid-table mediocrity.
Never under-estimate the power of stupid people in large numbers. The bastards are determined and they don't know when to stop.
"Arsenal in crisis" – my entire hairy ass.
A crisis is when you can't feed your children because you have to live hand and mouth and can't afford the next meal. A crisis is when the imminent default by the Greek government puts the Eurozone into free fall and risks the collapse of the Portuguese, Spanish and Italian economies – risking the very fabric of the European Union.
A crisis is when you wake up in a strange house after a one night stand, and your still drunk from the fumes of the previous night's binging, you mistake a tube of Canesten for a non-branded toothpaste from Lidl or Aldi.
This narrative that ArsenalHasn'tWonATrophyIn7YearsAndAreInARelegationDogFight FC are in crisis needs to be filed right between shit and syphilis where it belongs.
Liverpool haven't won shit in 6 years, let alone gone anywhere near the Premier League title. Why doesn't anyone suggest they're in crisis? What, because they spent over £100 million in transfers since Kenny Dalglish took over?
The only other two clubs that have won the Premier League since Arsenal have spent north of £1.7 billion to do It. Couple that with the over £1 billion investment in Man City by the Abu Dhabi Investment Corporation and we get told that it's normal to spend the GDP of most developing countries to sustain a Premier league title.
The media shit storm about Arsenal is calculated, strategic and feeds off itself like an incestuous beast. And like lambs to a slaughter, people fall for it hook line and sinker.
Arsenal has work to do on the field to improve their form this season. There is no doubt about that. But to suggest meltdown or a crisis is just plain stupid. Of course the Van Persie contract stories help extend the narrative, but ask yourself this. Short of Van Persie's agent sharing that dodgy meat pie with the hack who came up with this so called "exclusive" – are we suggesting that ArsenalHasn'tWonATrophyIn7Years FC actually briefed the press that Van Persie has refused to sign a contract even before contract talks start?
The worst thing about this is that lies and supposition is taken as fact even before the incestuous feedfest that engulfs the story while it goes viral. Editors aren't bothered about checking facts or checking the quality and integrity of the articles their journalists write.
To be honest, you do wonder what it is most of them are paid for. It's insulting to suggest that fans watching the game can't form an opinion about what the game was like. Match reports are mind numbing at the least as hacks try to portray some sort of footballistic artistry when they write. Scraping the barrel is more like what they do.
Don't even start me on the punditocracy, especially from former football players who couldn't organize an empty drawer. Forget the tired ass clichés, most of these guys are actually incapable of any intellectual analysis. Suggesting they are illiterate would be kind.
I did actually question why I even bother to pay a licence fee to BBC after watching the Match of the Day re-run on Sunday morning. Hansen and Lowro's punditry was as stale and uninspiring as watching Marcus Tandy in Eldorado.
But I agree with jay, they're bastards, the whole lot of them.
The Arsenal Requiem, Armageddon In The Gooniverse
Here I was thinking it couldn't get any worse, but believe it or not, the Philistines are in town. They say bedlam is taking over. They're taking no prisoners as the battle to control the asylum thickens.
"Bring me the head of Arséne Wenger" is the deafening refrain that can be equally heard from the shadowy alleyways around the Holloway road and the ether that is the Arsenal blogosphere.
Sir Harry Pearce and his Spooks have gawked in amazement at the sheer noise and traffic that is overwhelming their listening stations only to find that bitching about Arsenal is spiking internet traffic like a nonsense. Off he sends Dimitri and Malcolm (no wait, Malcolm left the service, right?) – it's minimum wage Tariq – Yeah, off he sends Tariq to redirect the Arsenal chatter on the web to the Samaritans website and TheSuicideBunker.com.
"If those Arsenal bastards want to commit suicide, then get them off my frigging grid before I blow a gasket", Sir Harry demands. We've got the Russians to deal with.
Meanwhile, at the Islington Cathedral, the masses file into the church awaiting the arrival of the doomed casket carrying the remains of ArsenalHasNotWonATrophyFor7YearsAndHaveOnlyGot16PointsFromTheLast16Games FC. The casket slowly navigates the streets of Islington towards the cathedral in a cortege flanked on either side by twin cannons mounted on top of carriages drawn by the 4 horses of the apocalypse.
Sly Sports News lead the procession with Mr Transfer Deadline Day himself – Jim White marching as he blows the trumpet to the tune of "Judgment Day", as Jeff Stelling, Paul Merson and Phil Thompson sing along with gusto that would put the town crier to shame.
The front pews of the cathedral are filled by a smug Red nosed Ferguson and his lackeys Alex McLeash, Tony Pulis, Sam Allardyce and Phil Brown. Happy Harry sits in the row behind though he's constantly occupied on his Blackberry trying to confirm whether his case file with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs was hidden in the imminently arriving ArsenalHasNotWonATrophyFor7YearsAndHaveOnlyGot16PointsFromTheLast16Games FC casket.
As the Right Reverend Alan Brazil of the Talk Spite parish rises to meet the casket, the multitude stand and join in a solemn chorus of "Kumbayah my
Lord Kumbayah – Arsenal's dying Lord Kumbayah".
"But where's Arséne?" a voice murmurs from the shadows of the media box at the balcony.
"You didn't hear?", John Cross responds. "They beheaded him like William Wallace, quartered him and had his head mounted on a stick outside the
Waitrose on Holloway Road. Looks like he's a bit short for this funeral".
"What about the Arsenal fans? Don't' they attend their own funeral?"
"Well, I hear those whose bodies were recovered from the mass suicide on Saturday evening are still awaiting identification and can only be processed after that".
As Reverend Brazil takes the pulpit, the congregation sits and awaits the final sermon as the Arsenal Armageddon is complete.
"Dear friends. We gather here today to witness the demise of an institution that dared challenge the establishment, an institution that despite our warnings and cautionary advice, thought that they could get away with doing things differently from anyone in the game".
"Let this be a lesson to any other club that tries living within its means and refusing to sign the English backbone that we told them to sign. How dare they"
"We will hunt you down and kill you. At Old Trafford, At Ewood Park, even abroad at the Nou Camp. We will hunt you down and crush you with the wrath of a mighty iron fist that will ensure we make an example of you".
"When we tell you to spend money, you must. When we tell you to buy Gary Cahill and Scott Parker, you must listen to us. When we tell you that Man City are taking over the world by spending the equivalent of the GDP of most developing countries around the world, then you must respect that. This is the way football will run, otherwise you will end up in this casket in front of me".
As the camera pans around the enclosure usually reserved for family, the spokesman for the Arsenal Supporters Trust can be seen weeping silently next to an equally silent gentleman and former owner who watches sombrely. Happy Harry receives a text that his fixer at Southwark Crown Court was arrested by his namesake Sir Harry Pearce, defender of the realm. He too starts weeping but it's not in solidarity with the Arsenal folks, its more to do with his case file still being active.
As the pallbearers led by Wright and Merson picked for selling their souls to the highest bidder are joined by Stelling and his crew to lead the procession out – the Camera spans to a quiet corner of the cathedral where Cesc sits with his minders Xavi Hernandes and Carles Puyol, who constantly whisper in
Spanish "you could have been in that coffin my friend".
The casket for ArsenalHasNotWonATrophyFor7YearsAndHaveOnlyGot16PointsFromTheLast16Games FC is led out to its final resting place at the Royal Arsenal Museum in Woolwich. The deafening silence for this final procession is only disturbed by the sound of Rednose Ferguson loudly masticating his chewing gum.
Damn wait! Was this a dream?
5 games in and judgement day has been written. If you didn't know better, you'd think United has already won the title. What do we know anyway, Arsenal is in a relegation dog fight, we better start acclimatizing to football grounds we've never been used to – some of which hold 67 people with room for a few dogs.
Mind you, a game against Shrewsbury Town is just the game we need to get us used to playing in the lower leagues.
If you want to find out what happened in the rest of my dream, follow me on Twitter and I might just reveal all.
The Best Supplements for an Old Sunday Football Player like me
Health supplements have become one of the major topics in the modern world. As an amateur football player who is slowly stepping into the middle age, I find health supplements very useful. I had been fond of football since I was a small kid and at 40 I'm still in love with this wonderful game, although I did not get the opportunity to take it into a professional level. I am satisfied with a weekly soccer match and with time I realised that it is not as easy as it was to keep up with the sport. If it was not for health supplements and iherb coupons, where I get these supplements, I would have given up on my passion for football 10 or 15 years ago.
Football however is not the only reason I am fond of health supplements. Owing to the environment, pollution that has been clouding our world, nutrition in the food we consume has decreased dramatically.
No matter how much fruits and vegetables we consume, the nutritional value is still missing because of the depleted soils they come from and long delivery times. In addition, another great deal of the nutritional value is lost when cooking and the actual amount of nutrition we obtain is minimal. Health supplements come in handy when considering the vitamins, minerals, enzymes and antioxidants we can gain from them.
Apart from serving as an alternative nutrition source, health supplements are great at fighting against stress and other stress related medical conditions. Stress is a closely related term in the busy modern world and I believe supplements do a remarkable job by enhancing our immune systems, and in turn making us feel healthier and happier.
When I was doing my own research about what these supplements have to offer for a football player, I found out a list of elements that are favourable for amateur football players like us. Low-dose caffeine can enhance the endurance performance, but be sure not to take too much, as going over the required dosage can lead to visual impairment. Creatine is an element that can increase muscle output and is very useful in sprint exercises, whilst glucosamine is useful when treating joint pains and osteoarthritis.
When I was searching for my supplements, I came across a wonderful site, iherb, that provides a wide range of health supplements and I was glad to find that they offer supplements that contain the elements I was specifically looking for. I have been a fan of iherb ever since and often refer family and friends to their website.
I was not very fond of online shopping until I started using iherb and just like its products, iherb's policies are of high quality. I was amazed to find out about the remarkable brands iherb supports, its huge list of shipping options, brilliant reward schemes and its eco-friendly initiatives. On top of everything I have become a fan of iherb coupons.
It is a great concept introduced by iherb that has grabbed the attention of millions of customers in the world, allowing them to enjoy unbelievable discounts. Owing to iherb coupons, the nutritional level of my body has never been, and never will be on the down side.
Netflix is Awesome but not in Australia?
I have always been a fan of Netflix and the hours I have spent in it, the movies and TV series I have watched are countless. Netflix has been there to heal my soul whenever I was in need of entertainment and I had been proud of myself as a Netflix fan. However I was disappointed to find out that I was not a dedicated fan after all.
In fact, I didn't encounter its coverage limits until recently when I travelled to Australia only to find out that Netflix is not available there. It took me by surprise of course because I had travelled to many countries in the world and I was able to enjoy Netflix from every country I had been which made me believe that Netflix is a global streaming service.
Unfortunately there seems to be a considerably long list of countries that are still waiting to get under the wings of Netflix.
With a bit of internet research I found out that Netflix has been growing rapidly in the past few years owing to the preference Internet users have demonstrated.
The current customer count of this US based company is over 25 million and 43 countries are covered including Canada and Latin America where a majority of its customers reside and newly reached countries such as UK, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Netherlands and Sweden. I cannot stop wondering why Netflix skipped a country like Australia.
Further research made me realize that Netflix in Australia is not going to be an immediate topic in the news world. The statement made by the company after the launch of Netflix in UK and Ireland says "we will pause on opening new international markets until we return to global profitability".
The company has put forward the expected insufficient revenues that are able to cover both international investments and expenses as the cause of the drawback of international expansion plans.
However the statistics show that the annual net income for the past 12 months extends over $200 million and analyzers say that this is a surprising figure for both the customers as well as the company itself.
However there are several other factors that prove Netflix in Australia is not going to be a reality soon. I believe that there are two major barriers against Netflix in Australia.
One of the two is the abundance of alternative players such as Telstra, FetchTV and Quickflix, which is considered as the clone of Netflix, which have found their way through the Australian community.
Apart from these popular services, there are numerous similar services that do the job of Netflix which might be the reason for Netflix's uncertain decisions about Australia.
Apart from the fact that Netflix will have to face strong competence in Australia, the country's high bandwidth cost stands out as another challenge for Netflix in Australia.
Although Australians have been complaining about the need of legal streaming services in Australia, the country's responsible authorities have not considered lowering the standard bandwidth costs. Netflix has already announced that the opportunities in Latin America and Europe are promising and I believe Netflix has a lot to contemplate in order to make Netflix in Australia come true.
Why Bother With Arsenal, They're Useless
Imagine my shock last night (seriously, don't laugh) on the way back home after watching the Champions League games with a few friends in town. "Be careful what you wish for" is the age old maxim that should have bitch slapped me in the face when I asked the taxi driver to put some football on the radio.
With the BBC's exemplary equal opportunity employment policy that allows mentally retarded presenters like Robbie Savage to become an "expert", it usually is a coin toss between 5 live or Talk Spite radio as to which is capable of coming up with the most faecal matter that can be legally allowed in one production.
Unfortunately for me, it was BBC's Mark Pougatch who gave me the urge to ask for the sick bag, and it wasn't because of the alcohol I had consumed while watching the Manchester teams' adventures in Europe.
As conspiracy theories go, Pougatch was banging on about how cynical it is for United to have 6 home Premier league games immediately following Champions League ties, while Manchester City had 6 away games. Not that I wouldn't put that past fixture mandarins with the propensity to kiss Alex Ferguson's rectal anatomy, but it was Pougatch's next remark that made me wonder why it is again that British people are held at gun point to pay licence fees for public service broadcasting.
This apparently reputable BBC presenter then went on to say that he did some research on Monday before the Champions League games and found out about the conspiracy in favour of United. He also did Chelsea who had 4 away games, but didn't bother with Arsenal.
"Why bother, they're useless anyway".
This is the thing. If Arsenal were useless, I have no problem accepting such an observation. But Arsenal are not useless. Notwithstanding the fact that we had a positive result in a very difficult game at Dortmund, the expectation was that United and City were going to sail through their match day 1 fixtures like the other teams didn't exist.
But no, they didn't, and it was fairly obvious that City in particular have a fight to make it through to the next stage. Napoli away won't be a walk in the park, and they can wishfully think about how to beat Bayern Munich.
The thing that stood out most with this "Arsenal are useless anyway comment" from Pougatch was not what he said, but how he said it. You could feel the absolute contempt and disdain in his voice, and I was half expecting him to spit in the microphone next to complete the triangle with some illustration of disgust for Arsenal.
The worst kind of venomous people are the ones who hide their spite under a cloak of niceties and professionalism. But it eventually comes out and last night left me seriously questioning why I even bother to pay a licence fee to contribute to the salary of presenters who have this sort of contempt for their listeners. It's no point writing to the BBC to complain, they've already got a statement prepared about professionalism and reputation and that they will review – yada yada yada.
My friend Consols Bob still has the e-mail they sent him about his complaint on Robbie Savage – suggesting that they have rigorous recruitment policies designed to root out the assholes an Savage passed with flying colours.
Mr Mark Pougatch – if you're going to pretend to be professional and thorough in your presentation, then please do your job and research all English teams with the same vigour and intensity. The fact that you can spout out such venomous nonsense about a team that you clearly hate while on a public service broadcast to millions of people who pay your salary is an indictment of your professionalism and character. You're are disgrace to the profession of journalism, but then again, you really don't have a high threshold to beat in this respect.
It reminded me of a story that Mark Saggers, a former BBC presenter who's now at Talk Spite radio once confessed to on air about the treatment he received from a colleague at BBC they regularly presented with. My money is on Mark Pougatch being the colleague Saggers was referring to and the contempt, disdain and disgust I witnessed last night is indicative of what was being suggested about this "mysterious" colleague who forced another to change ranches.
But then again you ask, what's different from what Pougatch is doing to what the punks at Sly Sports do or what the cretins at Talk Spite do.
Indeed, why bother with Arsenal – we're useless after all.
I think the most amusing thing about all this is that even though we're useless (has anyone noticed my cynicism yet?), Tottenham are still beneath us. 'Tis true what they say – A cannon will always destroy a cockerel.
And by the way, if you haven't yet, follow me on twitter. I'm now getting the hang of it. We might even get @markpougatch to defend his disappointing comments last night. Although he's already told an Arsenal fan that the fan was being flippant about his comments.
Arsenal's Sanity Will Pay In Europe
It's been an interesting few days going walk-about, and meeting new folks while working in what I'd describe as a "pulling-your-teeth-out-without-a-local-anaesthetic" type of economy. You know the kind of economy that demands that you bend over, grab your ankles and doesn't offer you the courtesy of using lubrication while shafting you in the most uncomfortable fashion.
"We're heading to the dog house", Joshua reminds all of us round the table discussing how best to stop our client from having to fold its tents and go to the wall.
To which I remind folks that whatever needs to be done should be done by Monday night so I can make my way back home. I have a very important
European engagement on Tuesday night with an organization in Germany that specializes in the kind of artistic expression I normally indulge in at the home of football.
"Since when was football an art", comes the retort from Steve across the table.
See, you have to forgive Steve. Not only does he have the personality of a puff adder, he resents that I call Wengerball and what Arsenal does as art. Personally, I think he's a closet United fan, but he pretends he doesn't give a hooting funt about football.
"Europe is fucked anyway. How long will they pretend the frigging elephant in the room is a hippo", Joshua eloquently brings some order to the table.
And it makes you think. Greece is way past staring at the abyss, and they're at the point where the abyss is smiling right back at them before it swallows the whole country into a very dark place. Ireland and Portugal like most other fairly mediocre economies were propelled by the smoke and mirrors of a European political plot hatched in Maastricht to create the United States of Europe. A plot which has back fired spectacularly with the impending collapse of whichever is the lesser of two evils, the Eurozone and its single currency, or the European Union in its current form.
The amazing thing is this though. The football establishment still thinks that everything is normal and that what is happening around them will not affect their existence. You only have to listen to the illiterate punditocracy jizzing and sycophanting about the amount of money being spent by a cabal of filthy rich individuals, or in the case of Manchester City, another country's sovereign wealth fund.
When talking about Everton, a club that pretty much has to ask Barclays Bank for permission to pay the bills – the solution offered is that they should go to the middle east and look for a sugar daddy because that's the only way to survive.
This kind of "chocolate tea pot" reasoning is what has contributed to a culture of recklessness when it comes to football finance. The expectation is that the only way of working through the challenges of the game is by spending money you don't even have to buy your way out of it. We're constantly told that "it's the way the world is now". Accept it or take the highway. If you don't have money, you can't compete.
The hacks get bemused when Arséne Wenger suggests that football is pretty much going to hit a cash crisis in the very near future. You can almost see their rolling eyes scream out "Wenger should just stick to managing Arsenal and buying the big name, big money players he needs to compete with City and United".
Mind you, Wenger is a guy who has a masters degree in economics, and it wouldn't be farfetched to suggest that he actually has a clue about what he says regarding the economy. As they famously say, the tide is coming, and only after it has left will we see those who've been swimming naked.
It's not even about the Financial Fair Play rules. Clubs will find loopholes around that. They won't be able to cheat the economy though. I hear people say that clubs like Barcelona, Real Madrid or even the debt riddled Man United will never be allowed to fail. There's an Asian tycoon or Arab billionaire waiting in the wings to save them.
The thing is this though, it really doesn't matter how luxurious and state of the art your yacht is. It could be the world's most expensive and the world's most fanciful boat. If you don't have a lake or an ocean to prounce around in, then it's pretty useless.
If the economies of Spain and Italy collapse – and it's not beyond the realm of possibility – the super clubs in these countries will come tumbling down like a house of cards built on a foundation of smoke and mirrors. Ireland, Portugal and Greece are the proverbial warning signs and even though they represent a small percentage of the European economy, they're the biggest red flags in town.
Italy alone represents 23% of the European economy and it's pretty much unsavable by the patch up "rescue" packages being pushed around by Germany and France.
And people ask me why I love Arsenal so much. The answer – Arsenal is an oasis of sanity in an orgy of excess.
We get another opportunity to enjoy a new European adventure for the 14th consecutive season. We get to play a great team like Borussia Dortmund in an electric atmosphere.
And this is the thing to remember. Because of the foundations that Arsenal has built, we will continue to enjoy being at the high table of football for a very long time to come. While others figure out how to get out of their financial quagmire – well, they'll probably try find a sugar daddy – we'll be straddling the European landscape with our brand of scintillating and exciting football.
What more can you ask for?
Football, Racism, 40 Acres and the Regulation Mule
Last evening, there was a captivating debate on ACLF about the extent of racism in football. Yogi's joint has this eclectic mix of fascinating characters who occasionally take a spin outside football and indulge in profound discussions about politics, police states, the economy and many other colourful topics.
What struck me about the discussion yesterday was the level of understanding and ignorance in equal measure when it came to the reality of racism in football. It was a discussion triggered by the suggestion by former West Bromwich defender Brendan Batson that affirmative action was needed in
English football to open up opportunities in management for blacks and other ethnic minorities.
So, in the sporting world's rendition of General William Sherman's 1865 special field order No. 15, is it time for English football to start handing out the
"40 acres and the regulation mule" to managers of colour?
The redistribution of arable land to freed slaves was an effort to give them a chance to make a living in recognition of the clear disadvantage they already faced. Even as far back , that representation of affirmative action was deemed necessary to try and redress inequalities stemming from generations of slavery, despite its revocation after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.
And here we are nearly 145 years later, and the "Rooney Rule" (nothing to do with that other one from Manchester) is seen as the only viable mechanism to break the establishment's stronghold on the status quo when it comes to the lack of black managers in football.
Racism, like with most other "isms" is an emotive subject on any given day, and one commonly misunderstood characteristic is how racism manifests itself. It doesn't have to be overt or explicit for it to exist. And in most cases, it is subconscious, subtle and hidden under the surface.
We've seen the numerous high profile initiatives and campaigns in football like "kick It Out" that in my opinion, are feeble and toothless PR exercises for the establishment to show that it is doing something. Only this week, the England football team were training with the "Kick it Out" bracelets to show the media and the world that they were sensitive to the racism experienced in Bulgaria during the fixture last week.
I know it's feeble and spineless because it's not nearly enough and not gutsy and deep enough to effect any changes. Footballing authorities are more interested in spending time witch-hunting banned managers for misdemeanours like sending signals to the bench from the stands via mobile phone, instead of tackling clear cases of racism.
It was only recently that Sergio Busquets of Barcelona blatantly abused an opponent with explicit racist slurs and FIFA and UEFA concluded that there wasn't enough evidence. Gil Grisham from CSI would have built a case against Busquets from the TV footage even without leaving his sofa.
But it isn't just the racism in the stands and terraces, and the racism on the field of play. When it comes to management, officiating, and the board room, the trend continues. It's shocking that out of the 92 registered association football members, only Chris Hughton at Birmingham and Chris Powell at
Charlton are black.
At the highest level of football, we've seen the likes of Paul Ince, Ruud Gullit and Jean Tigana take charge of top football clubs, but is that nearly enough?
I don't buy the argument that there aren't enough black or minority professionals capable of doing the job at the highest levels. The fact that not many are even pursuing the opportunities in management is symptomatic of the fact that they are not likely to get the chance to manage at a high level, even if they were extremely competent and capable.
Nobody's advocating for not giving the best man or woman the job. In an ideal world, the best candidate triumphs. But idealism and reality are two parallel universes. The reality is that the footballing establishment still live in the stone age and represent values and principles that are out of step with the modern world.
There's a lot of noises about change, and a lot of noises about inclusion and diversity. They say "but, can't you see how colourful the Premier league and the football leagues are? We have black, Asian and Hispanic players happily plying their trade alongside white folks".
The blunt truth is that despite the player diversity numbers, racism is still alive. It's taken a long time to get to where we are, but there are still tangible cases of racism towards players. My sense is that it got to a tipping point where it was impossible to ignore the talents of exceptional black players and that's the reason barriers started breaking.
Sweden in the summer of 1958 was probably not prepared for a black 17 year old Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Pele), but history will suggest that the world will never forget him. Pele spectacularly announced himself on the world stage despite the "hostile" conditions towards black players.
Much more work has to be done in other areas of football, whether in management and coaching, or in the board room. As much as the establishment might want to rationalize or justify what is happening or what initiatives have been put in place, not nearly enough is being done.
If we need to hand over footballing's equivalent of 40 acres and a mule, then it needs to happen. It's criminal that opportunities for minority professionals in a game of such a high percentage of minority players is almost non-existent.
This isn't about handing over jobs to disadvantaged folks for the sake of political correctness. It's about recognizing that we're not even starting from a level playing field and we have to do something drastic about it. It's about getting them to the table. Those who are good enough can take care of themselves from there.
Don't forget, we're getting into this tweeting thing now. Join me on Twitter.
Arsenal's Season Starts Here
As the troops roll in from the wilderness of international football, Arsenal fans look forward to a mouth-watering prospect of seeing the long awaited new faces grace the hallowed turf at the Emirates. Ordinarily, playing Swansea wouldn't be such a big deal, but it's safe to say that Arsenal probably didn't get the memo about the Premier league starting on 13th of August.
Well, considering our freakish start to the season, a game against Swansea at home, with shiny brand new signings and a rejuvenated spirit is the only way to go. Everyone from the tea lady at Stoke City FC to my 82 year old neighbour has had something to say about Arsenal's alleged crisis.
Perhaps the most rewarding thing in all this dooms day nonsense is that despite the worst start to a season Arsenal has ever made in my memory, Tottenham are still below us on the table. There are indeed still small mercies in life. Even when you consider the witch hunt against the Arsenal medical staff for allegedly engineering constant injuries to our players, the only other team with a worse injury record than us are Tottenham.
My sense is that it's a good thing that we've got the demons out of our system early this season. It's hard to see how things can get any worse than they have been, and thankfully, the ghastly transfer window is closed for another 114 days. It's been a summer of torturous nonsense, speculation, conjecture and outright bullshit peddled by all and sundry in the name of "exclusives", "transfer talk", and everyone thinking they know what is happening yet they know bugger all.
The negativity around Arsenal has been nothing short of suffocating and some sanity should be restored when the football comes back. There's no hiding from the fact that since we lost the Carling cup final, we've only won 2 Premier league games against Blackpool and Man United. Clearly, that isn't good enough, and steps have been taken to improve this. We need to let the changes take shape and back the team to the hilt when they step across that white line.
It's a long season and Li'l Jack and Vermaelen in particular should not be rushed back under any circumstances. Abou Diaby is also due back in training by the end of this month, with Song and Gervinho being let out of jail after this weekend. With the 9 new additions, the squad looks healthy and we can focus on the football.
There are many who still have a hangover about the prodigal son's return to Broke Back Barca, and the assertion that he should have been replaced therefore we are a weaker squad. Assuming you can find a replacement for "he who sold out to Broke Back Barca" – you have to ask whether elevating an individual to superstar status is the answer.
Surely, Thierry Henry and the prodigal son should have taught us the downside of building a team around an individual. My sense is that we need more players in the team to take responsibility and not to have the expectation that the team will be carried by an individual with superhuman ability when times get tough.
We now have experience with the introduction of players like Santos, Mertesacker, Arteta, Benayoun, Gervinho and Park to complement our resident generals like Van Persie, Vermaelen, Sagna, Arshavin and Rosicky.
My sense is that Wenger is tweaking our style of play to a more direct "in your face" counter attacking style to deal with the teams that come to the Emirates to park an aircraft carrier in front of goal. Possession football has its flaws and hopefully the pace of Theo, Gervinho, The Ox and Ryo will help with getting behind the defence lines.
The season starts Saturday and we've got everything to play for.
Why Speculating About Cesc Fabregas Is Not Good For Your Heart
I must have missed the last few days while stuck in the reservation and away from the hyperbole of the 'silly' season. Not that I care much about the amount of faecal matter that gets stirred in the name of inventing breaking news, but I wonder if I made a mistake of even bothering to switch on the sports news this morning.
The thing is this, the way rumours about Cesc Fabregas leaving Arsenal for Barcelona are being peddled, you would actually get the impression that it's a full gone conclusion and that the removal trucks are waiting outside the Spaniard's pad in leafy Hertfordshire ready to take whatever is going to Catalonia.
The narrative is so predictable. Cesc answers a planted question in a charity event in Spain by saying if he ever left Arsenal, it would be for Barca. Cue the punks at Marca who provide their own version of the story for it is written that any editor who doesn't peddle a Cesc story will be fired on the spot.
The usual suspects here from the Daily Wail to Sky Sports News pick up the story as fact and even suggest that Fabregas's representatives flew into London to talk to Arsenal.
Which by the way baffles me a little because Fabregas's agent, who happens to be David Dein's son actually lives in London so begs the question as to why he would fly from City Airport to Heathrow just to liven up the story.
What I also find amusing is that media houses send a whole crew to the Emirates stadium at 6 o'clock in the morning to stand outside and report their hogg wash. For one, no one is at the stadium and you wonder what the deal is. Are they going to get more credibility by standing outside the stadium and using it as a prop or doesn't it make more sense to just sit in the studio and peddle their story?
I've never really figured out why journalists insist on standing outside buildings even at 11.00 pm talking about a story that happened in that building over 8 hours prior to that.
In the building behind me today, we believe that a meeting took place and Cesc Fabregas's agents who flew in from Spain have held talks with Arsenal. No one is here to comment, but we speculate that the talks are on-going.
This story is not likely to go away soon though, and for the very simple reason that there's nothing to fill the air waves and news columns. I tell you, 24 hour news cycles are a bastard.
Arsenal fans around the world will be biting their nails on account of the media shit stirring going on in the name of credible news. At Stone Cold
Arsenal Towers though, our view is that we should just relax and enjoy the summer for this is not a reason to blow a gasket for.
We have spent time on the phone this morning with our inside source at Highbury House. And this is not some friend of an uncle's neighbour's former school mates half brother who works as a janitor at Arsenal. It is actually our contact's job to know and deal with these things.
Our contact has made us understand that Arsenal's position is simple and clear.
Arsenal does not indulge in media speculation and will not enter a slinging match between the Spanish and English media and tabloids. The club is too classy for that.
Cesc Fabregas is on a long term contract and an employee of Arsenal FC and that's not going to change because newspapers have columns to fill.
Arsenal are not interested in selling their best and most influential player in his prime. Speaking of which, transfermarkt.co.uk, a leading authority on player valuations places Cesc Fabregas as the 5th most valuable player in the world after Lionel Messi, Christiano Ronaldo, Xavi Hernandez and Andreas Iniesta.
Barcelona will have to break the bank if ever there was a decision made to sell Cesc.
The impression I get is that no one really knows whether as reported, Cesc has asked for a transfer. For one, that will be professional suicide on his part, not only because it will antagonize the relationship he has with the manager and other Arsenal players; by asking for a transfer he will forfeit some serious benefits and short change himself.
The long and short of it is that it's just another summer when Arsenal players become target practice. Arsenal are not interested in selling (though I would read that as "we won't sell unless Barca are silly enough to unleash an eye-watering offer that is too good to turn down").
Cesc will leave Arsenal at some point in his career, and the only known and verifiable fact is that his departure will be on Arsenal's terms. The club is bigger than any one individual and it will not be rail-roaded into a transfer by the media or an impending Barcelona presidential election.
Until then, let's enjoy the summer and go easy on self inducing heart attacks.


text:
Recent inventory checks at Airbus' Spares Center in Ashburn, Virginia revealed a treasure which was handed over today to Penn State's College of Engineering.
Airbus has donated a like-new flap for an A300 aircraft to school leaders in University Park, Pennsylvania. The flap, which will be used for student research, has a catalog value of more than $900,000 dollars, and represents a major research opportunity for both undergraduate and graduate students in the College's aviation and aerospace programs. Specifically, Penn State intends to use the flap in its aerospace structures courses. Study plans include installing strain gauges inside the flap to measure strain on the internal ribs and structure of the flap by applying loads to various locations of the flap.
The students will examine the design of the structure, and develop models to predict how it should deform, then apply loads to the actual flap to see how close their hypotheses are.
Background for editors
Flaps are hinged structures on the trailing edge of fixed wing aircraft that are used to reduce speed and increase the angle of descent for landing, safely shortening takeoff and landing distances. Flaps do this by lowering stall speed and increasing drag. Airbus ended production of the twin-engine/twin-aisle A300 in 2007.


text:
Skillz April 07 Winning Entry - Technical
Congratulations Balazs Attila-Mihaly for winning the "Best Technical Answer" category. The guy sent SOURCE CODE... how cool is that?
1) Aside from hating their jobs, what impending action might be another reason for the boys to try this plan?
I don't know if this is a good reason to try their plan, but it is a good reason to do it fast if they decided that they go forward with the
plan: the possibility that Lumburgh moves their cubes such a way that they can't place the rogue wireless access point in a position where it delivers a signal strong enough to the machines in accounting to convince them to connect to it rather than the real access point.
2) Why was Peter smiling? What mistakes had Initrode made in their accounting system design?
Their mistake was that (which is unfortunately not uncommon in the real
world) to use a good technology for the wrong purpose. Specifically, CRC is an error correction mechanism which was designed to deal with the errors that can be generate by electro-magnetic interference with the transmission lines for example. It was not designed to be a cryptographic hash or to whitstand attacks from an intelligent third party. Because of this the generation of arbitrary strings with a given CRC value is rather simple and can be done in O(n) (linear) time with regards to the length of the string as described in the paper by Martin
Stigge, Henryk Plötz, Wolf Müller and Jens-Peter Redlich titled
"Reversing CRC – Theory and Practice" which can be found at http://sar.informatik.hu-berlin.de/rese ... /index.htm
Given this the fact that a CRC value at one end and a query which has the same CRC at the other end does not prove anything.
(There are of course other errors and potential errors in the system - like the fact that transactions are not used, which could mean that an interrupted connexion can result in money disappearing without a trace or appearing from nowhere; the system relies on the client issuing updates rather than using stored procedures for example the access to which could be controlled more strictly; also the quality of the "update" logging is questionable, having seen the quality of the other parts and it probably can be bypassed for example by using a delete / insert pair rather than a direct update - but these are irrelevant from the point of view of this challenge)
3) Give a working example of a forged transaction using the values in Peter's second example.
For the masking to work, the two updates must be sent as one, because otherwise we would have one extra statement logged at the server, compared to the number of CRCs recorder at the client which would make the existence of an anomaly pretty obvious. So during the attack we must substitute the query
UPDATE account SET balance = 164145.162110 WHERE acctno = 141143153;
UPDATE account SET balance = 164145.16 WHERE acctno = 141143153; UPDATE account SET balance = 135.535532 WHERE acctno = 31337; -- <some data to make crc match the crc of the original query>
(In SQL everything after -- is comment until the end of the line, so we can insert almost any data there)
This is usually no problem, because most database drivers allow the execution of multiple statements from a single string, however there are some vendors (most notably newer versions of MySQL) who disallow this to counter SQL injections. MSSQL does not disallow this as far as I know, so everything is ok.
Below are two queries the CRC of which matches the original (for representing the padding the c-style notation was used to encode unprintable characters)
UPDATE account SET balance = 164145.16 WHERE acctno = 141143153; UPDATE account SET balance = 135.535532 WHERE acctno = 31337; --\xc3\xbd\xda\xa7
UPDATE account SET balance = 164145.16 WHERE acctno = 141143153; UPDATE account SET balance = 135.535532 WHERE acctno = 31337;
- --\x6d\x2c\x3e\x62\x22
The difference between the two is that the first can be generated almost instantly (technically speaking the complexity of the generation algorithm is O(n), but practically both n - the length of the string - and the multiplication factor is so small that the algorithm terminates in no time) and always contains exactly 4 bytes, but those bytes may be unprintable ones (over 0x7F). The second query contains only 7-bit clean printable characters, but it was generated with brute force and it took several minutes to generate (meaning that it can not be used in a real-time spoofing system, unless such a big delay is acceptable.
Usually there is no problem with dumping arbitrary bit data query - since it's in the comment section anyway - but there might be some need to have 7-bit clean padding material. However the bruteforce approach creates new problems because lag they introduce (like someone in accounting performing the update and checking the results after several minutes and wondering why the update didn't occure yet).
4) How should the transaction system be fixed to avoid this kind of problem in the future?
As a quick (and probably easy to implement) first step the length of the queries should also be stored together with the CRC value and verified on comparison. This makes the spoofing almost impossible since there is no space to add the additional query to. When a complete redesign becomes possible, the following things should be implemented to avoid further security problems of this kind:
- -an encrypted tunnel between the database server and the machines in accounting. Options would be SSH port forwarding, IPSEC and probably MSSQL has native support for SSL sockets.
- -creating stored procedures for the operations and give access from the outside world (ie. accounting) only to the stored procedures, not to any tables
- -if MSSQL has an option to disallow multiple statements in the same query, it should be set.
- -stronger - an possibly multiple- hash functions should be used (and by hash functions I mean "real" hash functions like MD5 or SHA) and the length of the original query should also be stored.
Below you can find the source code for the program written to generate to padding at the end of the queries so that they have a particular CRC value. It takes two parameters: the original string (so that it can compute the target CRC value) and the string which should be completed so that it has that particular CRC value. It outputs two things: the first are the four bytes / characters generated by the algorithm described in the Reversing CRC paper and the second ones are generated by brute-force and are guaranteed to be 7-bit clean. For example if the command line is:
"UPDATE account SET balance = 164145.162110 WHERE acctno = 141143153;"
"UPDATE account SET balance = 164145.16 WHERE acctno = 141143153; UPDATE account SET balance = 135.535532 WHERE acctno = 31337; --"
then the output will be:
Last four characters (first char last):
a7 167 º
da 218 ┌
bd 189 ╜
c3 195 ├
Searching for 7bit clean solution
Trying 1 chars
Trying 2 chars
Trying 3 chars
Trying 4 chars
Trying 5 chars
22 34 "
62 98 b
3e 62 >
2c 44 ,
6d 109 m
- ----- source code -----
typedef unsigned int uint32;
typedef unsigned char uchar;
#define CRCPOLY 0xEDB88320
#define CRCINV 0x5B358FD3
#define INITXOR 0xFFFFFFFF
#define FINALXOR 0xFFFFFFFF
uint32 crcTable[256];
void initCrcTable() {
uint32 c;
for (int n = 0; n < 256; n++) {
c = n;
for (int k = 0; k < 8; k++) {
if ((c & 1) != 0) {
c = CRCPOLY ^ (c >> 1);
} else {
c >>= 1;
crcTable[n] = c;
inline uint32 crc32(unsigned char *buffer, int length, uint32 initValue = INITXOR ^ FINALXOR) {
if (NULL == buffer) return 0;
uint32 crcreg = initValue ^ FINALXOR ;
for (int i = 0; i < length; i++)
crcreg = (crcreg >> ^ crcTable[((crcreg ^ buffer[i]) & 0xFF)];
return crcreg ^ FINALXOR;
void fixCrcEnd(unsigned char *buffer, int length, uint32 targetCrc) {
if (NULL == buffer) return; if (length <= 4) return;
int i;
targetCrc ^= FINALXOR;
uint32 crcreg = crc32(buffer, length - 4) ^ FINALXOR;
uint32 newContent = 0;
for (i = 0; i < 32; i++) {
if (newContent & 1) {
newContent = (newContent >> 1) ^ CRCPOLY;
} else {
newContent >>= 1;
if (targetCrc & 1)
newContent ^= CRCINV;
targetCrc >>= 1;
newContent ^= crcreg;
for (i = 0; i < 4; i++)
buffer[length - 4 + i] = (newContent >> i*8) & 0xFF; }
inline void printChar(uchar c) {
printf("%02x %-3d %c\n", (uint32)c, (uint32)c, c); }
uint32 target;
int find(unsigned int c, int len) {
uchar cc;
if (len <= 1) {
for (cc = '\x20'; cc < '\x7F'; cc++) {
if (crc32(&cc, 1, c) == target) {
return 1;
return 0;
} else {
for (cc = '\x20'; cc < '\x7F'; cc++) {
uint32 c2 = crc32(&cc, 1, c);
if (find(c2, len-1)) {
return 1;
return 0;
int main(int argc, char* argv[])
if (argc < 3) {
printf("Usage: %s <start string> <target string>\n", argv[0]);
return 1;
int startLength = strlen(argv[1]);
int endLength = strlen(argv[2]);
uchar *start = (uchar*)malloc(startLength + 1);
strcpy((char*)start, argv[1]);
uchar *end = (uchar*)malloc(endLength + 5);
strcpy((char*)end, argv[2]);
strcat((char*)end, " ");
endLength += 4;
uint32 targetCrc = crc32(start, startLength);
fixCrcEnd(end, endLength, targetCrc);
printf("Last four characters (first char last):\n");
printChar(end[endLength - 1]);
printChar(end[endLength - 2]);
printChar(end[endLength - 3]);
printChar(end[endLength - 4]);
printf("Searching for 7bit clean solution\n");
target = targetCrc;
uint32 startCrc = crc32(end, endLength - 4);
for (int i = 1; i < 10; i++) {
printf("Trying %d chars\n", i);
if (find(startCrc, i))
return 0;
- ----- end source code -----
Best regards,
Balazs Attila-Mihaly
CISSP, MCSE, CSTA, Security+ SME


text:
Thank you for the great tute
Welcome to the Quilting Board!
Thank you for the great tute
Awesome jacket. Thanks so much for sharing!
Beautiful - thanks for sharing!
Beautiful jacket. I have saved the instructions and my plan is to make one soon. Thanks for the great pictures and instructions.
Thank you so much for sharing this. It looks very cute and I've wanted to make one for some time.
BettyGee, quilter on a Rocky Mountain High
Beautiful jacket. Thanks for Tutorial.
What I make with my hands, I give with my heart.
Thank You I am going to try this
oOOOOOOO...THANKS! I'm thinking a partial use of this idea for a western yoke look! This is a great tut... thank you so much!
"It's a *fine line* between HOBBY and MENTAL ILLNESS"~ Dave Barry
Thank you so much for the great instructions. I have seen similar jackets but never knew how to make them !
After so much quilting, I need a refresher on clothing.
thank you for this tutorial, now i'm going to try and attempt how to make one. Been wanting to do this for sooooooooo long , thank you ever so much. Hugs Denise.


text:
See images from Himawari-8 in the new satellite viewer
This demonstration product is most suitable for people
with fast internet connection and high data allowance.
Low-definition satellite images
Satellite View Selection
12:00 ACST on Monday 29 May 2017 | Visible, greyscale, Full Disk
Images from Japan Meteorological Agency satellite Himawari 8 via Bureau of Meteorology.
IDY28000 Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology Bureau National Operations Centre Satellite Notes for 1200UTC Chart on 29 May 2017 Issued at 11:18 pm EST Monday on 29 May 2017 The cloud band and thunderstorms over the Tasman Sea is due to a cold front. Another cold front is approaching southeastern Australia with high cloud streaming ahead of this system. An upper-level trough is responsible for the middle-level cloud streaming across the Northern Territory and also much of Queensland. The rest of the continent is mostly clear due a ridge of high pressure.


text:
Get the Wolves newsletter
11:07 8th May 2014
Jackett assesses winger situation
Kenny Jackett will be delighted to have Bakary Sako within the Wolves ranks for the return to the Sky Bet Championship provided there is no Premier League interest in the winger this summer.
The winger has been the subject of plenty of speculation over the last season, and Wolves have acknowledged that – with one year currently remaining on his contract – any top flight interest would have to be assessed, from the player's point of view as well.
Equally though Jackett knows that Sako has a good and professional attitude and remains strongly committed to the Wolves cause, as proved with 13 goals and even more assists over a title-winning League One season.
"He has got a real good character," says the Head Coach.
"When you speak to him he is a man and he has done well.
"There is inevitable speculation on and around every window. We understand that and I suppose that will start again somewhere along the line.
"If he hadn't played very well this year then it wouldn't happen.
"It's a credit to him because he has handled dropping down. It was probably no fault of his own last year with the relegation.
"I'd say he was probably the player that came out of it with the most credit at the club. And the thing that has probably happened with Bakary is that his second year in English football was going to be better.
"He had a great first year here, a very good first year. If you look at the Championship last year he was right up there in terms of assists.
"He scored nine Championship goals from left wing and was one of the best in terms of assists.
"Now the second year in, I would just think he has shown he's got a good attitude. A very good attitude.
"And in his second year he has kept the good things and added to what he has done through experience.
"I'd suggest a lot is down to his experience of just being in this country."
In terms of speculation, Jackett says it is just a waiting game to see what happens, but that the option also remains for both parties to see the contract out and see where Wolves stand this time next year.
"Nothing has happened yet but every single window there has been speculation about him," he added.
"Again, we'd be very happy for him to stay.
"He would be involved from Day One because for me personally he does done very well and he has worked hard this year and contributed well.
"And if he is here, that would be a good thing for the club.
"He has a year left on his contract, yes, and to some degree the power is not then with the clubs. It does depend on what interest there is on him.
"If they are successful seasons is it worth going right through (allowing the contract to run) .
"You do see that some clubs see it as a good investment.
"Other clubs perhaps panic and take whatever they can get.
"That is ahead of us and is for the next couple of months. It really does depend on who is interested.
"The people I work for are not necessarily going to panic and start touting him around.
"If somebody comes in with a genuine interest he has been quite open, and I think he has done very well with what he's said.
"He has been honest. He said: 'Look, I do want to play in the Premier League' and everybody could understand that. So if there is Premier League clubs that are interested then we would have to talk to them. If they don't come then he is a Wolves player and he carries on."
There remain various contract issues on the table at present and work will continue behind the scenes over the coming weeks.
Jackett added: "All of the contractual situations we do need to tie up over the next few weeks, definitely.
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text:
My dreamweaver at the LA County fair a month ago,most shows I only buy fabric, nd patterns, usually nothing big.
Welcome to the Quilting Board!
My dreamweaver at the LA County fair a month ago,most shows I only buy fabric, nd patterns, usually nothing big.
My Alto's Quilt Cut 2. I wouldn't be quilting as easily without it as it is the cutting that gets to me. My hands will only do so much. I did get a good price for it.
Also I bought my Martelli cutting mat. That thing has outlasted many other mats. It also seems to save blades.
One of my friends was able to buy a very high end machine at the large quilt vendor show here in our Valley at a good discount because it was used at the show.
Have fun quilting! If it isn't fun, you will miss a lot.
Best thing I can think of is just the fun of going and meeting new people.
I've only been to one, but I found a massaging pillow that is great!
My Janome 6500 and got the Jem Gold free (great price on the 6500, too). DH now has the 6500 and I donated the Gold to a great program that teaches kids to sew -- it went to a graduate who had no machine.
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
My best purchase so far my 4in sq ruler and rotating mat.
Everyday is a good day for Quilting!
My Koala cutting table with full size mat and a huge bonus box of Madeira thread. Bought it years ago at the International Quilt Festival on the last day at 4:55. I had kept the Koala booth "under surveillance " that week, lol. I don't know if they still make this model or not, but it was the bigger cutting/craft table which retailed at the time for about $1100 and is the same finish as my quilting table. The salesman accepted my offer of $300 and wheeled it to the front door for me while I ran and got my van. I remember being so pumped driving down the freeway but was a bit worried that we had enough money in the checking account. The check did not bounce and I LOVE that table. :-)
What a fun question! I started thinking about the items I bought over the years - mostly it is fabric because you see things that are not in the stores. But at the San Diego Show I found this wonderful spinning thread holder. It really is a piece of art - it holds 7 different colors which is great getting my embroidery picture organized. It looks a lot like a miniature of the item kids spin on - but it is tiny of course and he burns then paints an item on the bottom of the block of wood it sits on. I fell in love with it one day and went back to spend money on the second day. (If I con't stop thinking about an items, I figure I really will use it.) I bought my Accu-Quilt cutter at the Road to California show last January. Haven't really used it yet because I want to finish a few of my UFO's and put my fabric on comic books supports before doing more.


text: ‹Previous Next› ITEM NO. 5548TPL DESCRIPTION 28" Brushed Nickel/Black Table Lamp with on/off push button base switch, 8' black cord with polarized plug. Includes 13"x16"x10" White Linen Hardback Shade. Recommend 27 watt CFL or 11 watt LED bulb. SHIPPING CODE: S - Special Order This is a non-stocked item. The minimum order quantity is 1 with a turnaround time of approximately 14 weeks. AVAILABILITY SCHEDULE: In Stock Today: 0 Total Available in 1-2 Weeks: 0 Total Available in 2-4 Weeks: 0 Total Available in 4-6 Weeks: 0 Total Available in 6-14 Weeks: 0 MINIMUM ORDER: 1 Request Information for 5548TPL * = Required. *Name: Don't fill this out: *Email: Phone: (Used for contacting you instead of email, if entered.) How Can We Help You? How would you like to Modify this Lamp? DO NOT FILL OUT: Related Items 5548E2O 5586EPL 5549FPL 5547SPL 5547DPL Complementary Items 3477C 3332C 3332CPL 3328CPL 3327C 3314VPL 3313VPL 3312VPL


text: [ad#post-large] Looks like Bollywood is finally waking up to the 'weird' (for want of a better word which explains India's current socio-politico-economical scene. I just saw a movie which somehow I had missed when it was released 2 weeks ago - 'Knockout'. Now if I was to review the movie as a piece of art and culture or creativity, I would have done that before because I was … [Read more...]