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The One Two Punch For Fat Loss
How many times have you looked in the mirror and wished that you could make your belly fat vanish before your eyes? Unsightly fat around the stomach is one of the most common body frustrations that we come across with our clientele.
No one wants a chubby stomach! Unfortunately for most, losing body fat is a slow and steady process, rather than an instantaneous fix.
However…we do have an extremely effective method for losing belly fat faster than ever, and I'd like to share it with you today…
The One-Two Punch For Fast Fat Loss. This deadly, fat-incinerating method fights fat simultaneously on two separate fronts for maximum effectiveness: your sugar intake and your high intensity workouts.
First Punch:
This is the punch that requires zero extra effort on your part! In fact all you have to do is NOT do something that you're currently doing! You stop consuming refined sugar, in all its forms. This means no sodas, no desserts, no packaged snacks, no candy, no mocha lattes, NO SUGAR AT ALL!
When you stop to evaluate your diet, it may be shocking to find out how much refined sugar has crept in. Nothing will contribute to fat gains as swiftly as consuming sugar, so it makes sense that cutting sugar out is the top must-do for shedding those unwanted pounds.
It's not necessary, or beneficial, to starve yourself during this time of rapid fat loss – you should fill in your diet with lean meats, vegetables, nuts and seeds as you cut out the refined sugar. Keep your metabolism high by fueling up on high protein, high fiber, low carb, and zero sugar foods whenever hunger strikes.
Second Punch:
Here's the punch that requires some effort, but trust me when I say it's worth it. You crank up the intensity of your workouts to a whole new level.
Most people take exercise on with the slow and steady mentality – moving, pushing and pulling as little as possible while still "getting the job done". I've got some news for you…if you still have belly fat to lose then the job wasn't getting done.
If you can comfortably hold a conversation, hardly break a sweat or feel the same when it's over as you did when it began, then you're simply not pushing yourself hard enough while you exercise.
Increasing the intensity of your workouts requires focused intent. You must go into the session with the goal of pushing your body to the limit. Remember, it's a contained timeframe that will be over shortly, so bear down and deal with the discomfort. With practice you will learn to embrace the burn.
The safest and most effective way to crank up the intensity and effectiveness of your exercise time is to work with professionals, such as our team. We look forward to seeing you on the mat pushing at maximum intensity!
12 Easy Steps For Beach Ready Abs
Spring has arrived, bringing with it the promise of warm weather to come.
You know what happens when the weather warms up?
People put on bathing suits.
Are you ready to bare it all on the beach? If not, no worries, there is still time. Follow these 12 steps to get your abs beach ready:
Step One: Do Some Burpees. Can burpees really help flatten your abs? You bet. Incorporate a few minutes of burpees into your workouts to burn extra calories and tighten your core.
Here's how to do a burpee: 1) Stand with feet shoulder width apart. 2) Drop to a squat with your hands on the ground. 3) Kick feet back while lowering into a push-up. 4) Return to squat position. 5) Jump up with arms overhead.
Step Two: Reduce Sodium. Did you know that salt causes water retention? Puffy skin is not going to make your abs look great in a bathing suit!
Take the time to pay attention to the sodium content of your food. Limit salt intake by not eating packaged foods and by putting down the salt shaker. Your six pack will thank you.
Step Three: Pick Up A Medicine Ball. Challenging the muscles of your core with resistance is a proven way to create a tighter midsection. The medicine ball is a wonderful tool to provide such resistance.
Do a sit-up holding a medicine ball at your chest then throw it to a partner as you raise your chest toward your knees; or hold a medicine ball with arms straight up in the air as you do crunches.
Step Four: Load Up On Fiber. Wonder how fiber could help you shed pounds and look great on the beach? It's actually quite simple.
High fiber foods are nutrient dense and low in calories. This means that you'll feel full from fewer calories, encouraging weight loss. Try these high fiber favorites: spinach, raspberries, pear (with skin), artichoke, peas, apples (with skin), broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and carrots. Check out the high-fiber recipe for pasta salad below.
Step Five: Crank Out Some V-Sits. One of the most problematic areas for women, when it comes to baring it all in a bathing suit, are the sides of your waist, or obliques. This is partly because the sides of your abs are not challenged with traditional crunches and sit-ups.
Enter the oblique V-Sits. Target that problematic, muffin-top area with this effective move. 1) Lie on your side with legs straight and hands behind your head. 2) Raise your arms and legs simultaneously, while exhaling and squeezing your obliques. 3) Repeat on the other side.
Step Six: Eat Lots Of Lean Protein. Don't be afraid to eat when you are on the get-great-abs-quickly plan. It is really important that you are nourishing your body with quality, lean protein in order to develop that six-pack.
Lean protein helps support muscle growth while controlling blood sugar – all important factors when it come to washboard abs. Good sources of protein include: chicken breast, ground turkey, egg whites, and grilled fish.
Step Seven: Do Some Hanging Leg Raises. Now it's time to target your lower abs, which are also a problem area for most. Traditional crunches and sit-ups neglect to strengthen and tighten the lower part of your abs, so a focused effort is required.
Hanging Leg Raises are one of the most effective ways to strengthen your abdominals. 1) Hang from pull-up bar with legs fully extended. 2) Exhale and drive your knees up toward your chest. 3) Inhale as you slowly lower your legs back down.
Step Eight: Stop Eating Sugar. If you only did this step, and skipped all the rest, your abs would look significantly flatter by summer. I can't emphasize enough how quickly sugar will cover your hard earned stomach muscles with a soft layer of fat.
Yes, sugar tastes good, but indulging in it causes your body to store layers of fat. Enjoy fresh fruit, rather than refined sugar. Once you stop eating sugar your body will no longer crave it, so don't give in to the initial cravings.
Step Nine: Do Some Mountain Climbers. Here's an exercise that is intensely cardiovascular while also working your core. Add these to your routine to really whittle down your waistline.
Here's how to do a Mountain Climber: 1) Get into push-up position. 2) Exhale as you alternately drive your knees in toward your chest, keeping your back flat.
Step Ten: Pass On The Grains. Sure, whole grains are being touted as essential to a healthy diet, but the truth is that you'll do just fine without them for a while. Even the heartiest wholegrain bread will encourage fat storage, so put down the breadbasket as you prepare for beach season.
Grains are full of insulin-spiking carbohydrates – the perfect combination for fattening you up. Learn to love grain-free meals that center around lean meats and vegetables.
Step Eleven: Do Some Sprints. High intensity bursts of cardio are a proven way to burn away layers of fat, so incorporate sprints into your exercise routine. If you haven't run for a while, take it easy as you start, and gradually increase the intensity of your sprints.
Run 60-90 second sprints in between resistance training sets to really kick your fat burning mechanism into high gear.
Step Twelve: Start A Professional Fitness Program. You wouldn't try to file corporate tax returns without the assistance of your CPA, so why would you attempt to transform your body without the help of a professional? We're here to get you into your ideal, fit body in the shortest amount of time possible. It's what we do, and we're good at it.
Contact us about our tummy flattening programs that will get you those washboard abs that you're wishing for. Click the button below to get a spot for a 30 day no obligation Free trial or email us for more info at firstname.lastname@example.com.
K2 Is Giving Away Free UFC Ottawa Tickets!
K2 is sponsoring a contest for you to win Free tickets to go see the UFC Ottawa Fight Night LIVE on June 18th at TD place! Nothing to buy – just enter your name for a chance to win.
To enter the contest simply CLICK HERE!!
Ottawa BJJ Athlete Lands Big Sponsorship!
K2/Machado BJJ competitor Anthony Antinarella is now a PHD Nutrition sponsored athlete! Congratulations and well deserved. Anthony is of course also a K2 sponsored athlete and we look forward to continuing to support the sport of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and helping young athlete pursue their dreams!
K2 Receives More International Acclaim!
K2 Martial Arts is the September cover feature of MA Success, the martial arts industry largest international publication! You can download the full article HERE.
K2 Partners With The Redblacks Again!
K2 Martial Arts is teaming up with the Ottawa's Redblacks for some co-promotional events again this season! Join us for the season opener vs the BC Lions on July 4th! [highlight] All K2 locations have discounted tickets for members and friends!! [/highlight] We will also be putting on a demonstration for the half time show and with this being the season opener attendance should top out our last outing and become the largest audience for a martial arts demo in Ottawa history! Join us and 24,000 of your friends at the brand new TD place July 4th. If you haven't been to landsdowne since the complete overhaul it is now one of the hottest spots in the city. Get you discounted tickets now at all K2 locations!
BJJ Master Rigan Machado In Ottawa March 6th and 7th!
UFC training in Ottawa
The Tyron Woodley seminars were another action packed sold out event at K2! Not only is he one of the most physically talented UFC fighters but he is also an extremely talented instructor and it was an invaluable experience.
We look forward to his next visit as well as many more incredible instructors making their way to K2 in 2015!
Thank You! – A Message From Renshi Aksell
As 2014 is wrapping up I thought I should share an update on the last couple months which have been an absolute whirlwind.
First I want to say welcome to the hundreds of new students that have joined K2 in the last few weeks – you are in for some exciting times in 2015!
I have been busy flying back and forth between east and west coasts learning, sharing and working on many exciting new developments for the K2 schools.
Renshi Alain is bouncing between Louisiana and Thailand as the filming of his big Hollywood role has just begun.
As I am writing this renshi Scott is still on his China tour where we have just contracted factories to produce some custom gear and apparel for K2.
Renshi Chris just returned from coaching a California competition series where Delphie won several tournaments including the BJJ World Championships at purple belt. (All of this is just the last few weeks…)
In 2014 we grew to 4 full time academies and a half dozen part time affiliate programs. There are nearly 50 K2 classes running every single day in the Ottawa area!
This weekend will be the largest black belt test we have ever had in our 15 year history with 20+ candidates and we are closing out 2014 with 2 amazing celebrity seminars – UFC star Tyron Woolley on November 29th, and BJJ grandmaster Carlos Machado on December 6th.
All of this to say – thank you. Thank you for your support and thank you for your patience with some inevitable growing pains. We appreciate all of the K2 students (including NX of course) and all of the K2 families and friends and we are very proud of all of your accomplishments.
2014 was by far the most successful year we have ever had by every possible measurement. The great news is that 2015 is on track to be our most exciting year yet.
More growth and opportunities, new killer programs, new events, several huge name celebrities already booked, an incredible new sponsorship program for athletes, a point system for students to earn wild rewards, a huge list of outrageous prizes including several full vacation packages, and so much more.
In fact our list of announcements is getting so big for the new year that we are actually putting together a release schedule to not overwhelm everyone.
There has never been a better time to be part of K2 and we can't wait to show you what's next.
The Ultimate Ottawa MMA Training Camp
We wanted to close 2014 with a bang and we are putting on an amazing 2 part training event with UFC Superstar Tyron Woodley, and BJJ Master Carlos Machado.
Tyron will start things off with an explosive and dynamic striking session followed by a powerful takedown workshop. In part 2 we move to the ground with Carlos where he will show how to dominate and control an opponent on the ground and cut through their guard AFTER you have gotten the takedown. To wrap up Carlos will show a string of "invisible" submissions to surprise and finish your opponent.
This event will absolutely be sold out. Reserve quickly if you want a spot.

subset: commoncrawl


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|Home > National News > Article
"This is a great opportunity, particularly when our country is facing a continuing drought," Mr Costa said. "If this comes off right we could have a blueprint for the rest of Australia to follow.
"From the point of view of growing produce, you'll never get a better location. You've got sea, you've got air and you've got rail."
In what would be a public/private partnership between the government and the businessmen, Mr Costa would grow produce and Mr Fox help organise its transport to key markets in Asia. Mr Fox owns nearby Avalon airport.
Although financial details have yet to be discussed by the trio and the government, Mr Fox yesterday described the project as "the most important in Australia".
A spokesman for Mr Pratt, who has offered $100 million to develop a national water policy, said yesterday Mr Pratt had promised Mr Bracks he would be involved in the project. The spokesman said Mr Pratt's team of eight water experts would be directed to work on the Werribee project.
The "Pratt water team" last year established a new pulp mill at Tumut in New South Wales. It uses 80 per cent less water than equivalent mills.
Mr Pratt was also interested in helping find a "cost-effective piping" system for the project, the spokesman said.
Mr Costa said excess recycled water could be piped to other dry parts of Victoria.
The government is expected to release its business plan for the Werribee project in a few days. Water recycling plans will be incorporated into the business plans of all metropolitan water retailers in March.
The government has been criticised by independent MPs Russell Savage and Craig Ingram over its desire to attract private sector investment in water infrastructure.
- Melbourne's water storages were yesterday at 48.9 per cent of capacity, a drop of almost 1 per cent since last week.
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The University has adopted two Detroit schools this summer as part of a communitywide effort to monitor progress on repairs. The new management of the Detroit Public Schools has asked community members, businesses and agencies to review repair efforts under way at Detroits 263 school buildings. An inspection of buildings earlier this year identified repair needs in more than 8,000 classrooms and 2,000 restrooms.
Through the Michigan Neighborhood AmeriCorps Program, the Universitys efforts focus on Peter Vetal School and Samuel Gompers School, both located in northwest Detroit. Daily inspections and weekly progress reports will be done largely by U-M AmeriCorps students who already are actively engaged in a variety of other activities in Detroit.
The Michigan Neighborhood AmeriCorps Program, a national service program of the U-M and the Michigan Neighborhood Partnership, currently works with 20 community- and faith-based organizations to strengthen youth and families in Detroit neighborhoods. It recently was named Michigans National Service Program of the Year.
The AmeriCorps Program has previously worked with Vetal School to provide educational support to students, as well as access to other programs, such America Reads and the Universitys Center for Community Service Learning.


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Wednesday, July 01, 2015
One Year and Four Strings Later...
what i didn't know was that The Honeymoon Song, the Oscar Schmidt, Ukulele Bex, Jim Carey, the Santa Cruz Sons of the Beach Ukulele Group, and so many others i've met along the way would bring the joy of playing music back into my life and the lives of a number of my friends, and would provide me with an infinite number of opportunities to giggle like an idiot, acquire a stupid number of ukuleles (where stupid > 10), and learn how to take a $30 Chinese/Aliexpress uke and, having more guts than brains (or as i like to say, "The Confidence of an Idiot"), teach myself kitchen-table luthierie working with emory boards, Mr. Clean Magic Eraser bricks, a pocket screwdriver from AAAAA Appliance Repair, avocado oil and fishing line, turning those pieces of wood into a very nice instrument.
these days i'm never more than few feet away from a ukulele (quite literally, i have one with me pretty much 24hrs/day), and this has led to impromptu concerts at many a local car wash, in the hallways of the Apple law dept offices many afternoons after 6pm, and this past spring in Los Angeles where i attempted (with 1100 of my closest friends) to break a Guinness Book of World Records record for Ukulele Playing along with Tia Carrere and Daniel Ho (we didn't, but i was at least able to check an item off my bucket list). i've recorded personalized Happy Birthday tunes for a number of friends, wrote a parody of the song "Hero" by Family of the Year, (the song that played throughout the film Boyhood,) for my friend John DeKoven (he claims it was his favorite movie of all time! ;^)), and last weekend, when i couldn't find the chords or sheet music anywhere online, transcribed the Harry Ruby tune, "Father's Day" (made famous by Groucho Marx) and posted it all over the web for ukulele players to learn and play for their own fathers… playing the uke has also revived my interest in playing piano and keyboards, and encouraged me to try and learn the guitar, again (i've tried, unsuccessfully, every 5 years since 1975, so apparently the 9th time's the charm!)
music is good… live music is better… playing your own live music is the best (and as i often remind myself, if you don't know a chord, just sing louder!)… or, as the little old lady who lives across the street remarked as i opened my eyes after intensely making my way through all the verses of Marrakesh Express (falsetto fully intact for the requisite, "well, let me hear you now!") and realized she had been standing at the edge of the driveway, watching me the entire time:
You're getting better.
yes, i am… in more ways than i could have imagined…
Sunday, June 21, 2015
"Father's Day" Chords & Lyrics (Groucho Mark / Harry Ruby)
(F) Today, (C) father, is (F) Father's Day
And (C7) we're giving you a (F) tie (F7)
It's (B♭)not much we know
It is (F) just our way of (F/C) showing you
We (G7) think you're a (G7sus) regular (C) guy
You (B♭) say that it was nice of us to (F) bother
But it (C) really was a (C7) pleasure to (D7) fuss
For (Gm7) according to our (C) mother
(C7) You're our (F) (A7) (Dm) father
(B♭)And (F) that's (Dm) good (F) enough (C) for (F♯dim)(D7) us
(B♭)Yes, (F) that's (B♭)good (C) enough (C7) for (F) us
you can also watch Groucho sing it on the Dick Cavett Show
Happy Father's Day!
Tuesday, June 02, 2015
well, i didn't make the cover of Vanity Fair, but...
they did just publish my brief essay over at the New York Times Transgender Today Opinion Pages...
now i know Caitlyn Jenner is the story everyone is focusing on (and i am certainly happy for her and the fact that she has finally allowed herself to become the person she felt herself to be), but if you really want to read about brave people who embraced their true selves without the social, emotional or financial safety nets that Jenner has at her disposal, look at a few of the 200+ essays linked to, below, and be inspired by folks of every age and background who found the courage to live an authentic life and share their stories (without the benefit of a Annie Leibovitz glam-photoshoot)
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Third Time's The Charm - Opening Day's With Arthur
OK... Here's how it went down...
(and thank you, again, Arthur!)
Friday, March 20, 2015
Court Jester to the Gods (Arthur Rock/Baseball Edition)
Today I decided to see if I could purchase a ticket to the 2015 SF Giants Home Opener and again went to MLB, chose the April 13 game, clicked on the "Best Available - All Price Levels" button and this is the ticket the system chose for me.
But of course you knew that was going to happen (and in my heart, so did I.)
Don't tell me the universe doesn't have a sense of humor.
Saturday, March 07, 2015
3AM Movie Review®: "Whiplash"
Sunday, January 11, 2015
We Pause To Mourn The Passing Of The Wonderful Taylor Negron
Deadline Hollywood has a very nice write up of his life.
The twitterverse is full of words of love and praise.
And if you want to (re)hear the interview we did with Taylor and Sean and Sheri, i've uploaded it to SoundCloud.
wishing you all a joyous and healthy 2015 and asking you to remember to:
show up
pay attention
tell the truth, and
don't be attached to the outcome.
Sunday, December 14, 2014
San Francisco SantaCON (#SFSanta) 2014 - Union Square Photowalk
Monday, November 17, 2014
Transgender Pioneer Leslie Feinberg (of Stone Butch Blues fame) Has Died
i met leslie in 1995 at a small house in kansas city, kansas, where about 30 folks had gathered to plan a protest of the murders of Brandon Teena, Lisa Lambert and Phillip Levine (the events that formed the basis of the movie, "Boys Don't Cry") the next day in Falls City, Nebraska. i had the honor and privilege to drive leslie and minnie bruce and nancy nangeroni and a few other folks the 100 miles to the Nebraska courthouse, and the car turned into a rolling political, economic and sociology classroom (for me). it was very early on in my own exploration of self and much of what i remember from talking with leslie was hir passion and conviction, and the fact that many of the things ze said made me both angry and profoundly uncomfortable (in my more 'adult' years i've come to embrace that discomfort as an indication that what i -think- is true and what i suspect -may- be true are at odds with each other.) i didn't really keep in contact with leslie (though i did occasionally hear from minnie bruce) but took great comfort knowing leslie was out there continuing to fight the good fight, unbowed, uncompromising and unapologetic.
RIP Transgender Warrior.
Saturday, October 11, 2014
Mostly Harmless (Dispatches from the Field #829)
12:30pm - check into UCSF Radiology
12:40pm - realize the reason the head opening for the gown is too small is that these are pants
12:50pm - enter pre-op area to have IV inserted
12:52pm - ask nurse who is pulling down the IV board, across my chest, "will I be able to purchase a photograph at the end of the ride?"
12:53pm - answer question, "are you allergic to anything" by saying "yes, -stupid-... it always seems to give me a headache"
12:54pm - show first measure of restraint by refusing to answer the question "before we're done, do you have any questions?" with the question, "Do you think Kim Jong-un is still in control of North Korea?"
12:55pm - take hospital 'selfie', or as i like to call it, "healfie"
1:00pm - take bag of clothing, purse, and ukulele into MRI lab and discover that ukulele will not fit into clothing locker. agree with technician that stolen ukuleles are rare, and leave ukulele on top of lockers.
1:05pm - load into GE 3T MRI (i like my T's like i like my sloth toes... in 3's!)
1:06pm - show second measure of restraint by refusing to answer the question, "before we begin, do you have any questions?" with the question, "Do you think an all-female reboot of GhostBusters is a good idea?"
1:07pm to 1:28pm - bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang
1:30pm - retrieve belongings and discover hospital unstolen ukulele record remains unblemished
1:40pm to 2:00pm - enjoy a delicious lunch in the hospital cafeteria (hahahahahahahahahacoughco
2:15pm - check in to UCSF Neurosurgery clinic
2:20pm - remember both surgeon and surgical nurse are Canadian, and quickly google music/lyrics for O Canada for the ukulele.
2:21pm to 2:30pm - practice, eh?!
2:30pm - enter examining room and while waiting, blow up a purple nitrile examination glove into a balloon (i do this every time... its kinda like my 'thing')
2:38pm - sing all four verses of O Canada with Canadian neurosurgical nurse.
2:40pm - have Canadian neurosurgical nurse look at my chart and ask me, "why do you keep getting all these tumors?"
2:41pm - show third measure of restraint by refusing to answer, " because that's where God touched me, but forgot to wash his hands"
2:42pm - have 4th year neurosurgical student (Canadian?) come in and ask if she can ask me some questions?
2:42pm - show fourth measure of restraint by refusing to answer, "that's one..."
2:45pm - have Canadian neurosurgeon enter the examination room, pull up the MRI taken about an hour ago, alongside the MRI taken a year ago, and start pointing out anomalies in my brain to the 4th year neurosurgical student, like they were the sites of famous battles during the civil war. ("and this here is the battle of Pea Ridge... could have won that one if only they'd left the seat up, am i right ladies???!!!???")
2:50pm - watch Canadian neurosurgeon finish review, looks at radiologist report (which seems to have arrived sometime while we were singing, "O Canada! Beneath thy shining skies, May Stalwart sons, and gentle maidens rise."), nod in agreement, and say:
"Unchanged"... see you again in a year?
2:51pm - note GPS has me going 90mph, headed south on Interstate 280, just passing Hickey Boulevard ("could have won that one too if only they'd used a little less suction, am i right ladies???!!!???")
so over the course of about 2 1/2 hours, and through the efforts of about 15 different medical professionals (not including the cafeteria chef) i am given another year to act the fool as court jester of the gods... (plus, i now know how to play O Canada on the ukulele, so i got that going for me...)
Sunday, September 28, 2014
I Want You To Want Me...
as Bill Murray says in Groundhog Day, "-That- was a pretty good day..."
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Thursday, September 11, 2014
The End Of An Era (Which Don't Seem To Last As Long As They Used To...)
back in the spring of 2001 i was convinced i was going to be the next great talk-radio star... i was sending out demo tapes and taking stand-up and acting classes, and going to broadcasting conventions while, at my 'day job', i was senior counsel at Apple. i don't remember exactly what i had been working on, but i had a sense it was going to be a 'quiet' summer, so when i went to the Radio and Records Talk Radio Conference in Newport Beach and ran into Michael Zwerling, owner of KSCO, i was thrilled when he asked if i would be interested in replacing Rush Limbaugh, M-F from 9am-11am... this seemed like an amazing opportunity (i had only done fill-in hosting, or a weekly saturday show), so i talked with my manager at Apple about shifting my hours, so i could host a daily talk radio program, and she said yes. the show wasn't set to start for another few weeks, and as i was getting ready, and trying to figure out how i would create 10 hours a week of original content, my manager stopped me in the hall and said, "you know something about music and digital audio, yes? i have a secret project i think you would be perfect for..." (and just to set the record straight, when i first learned the details of the original iPod project my reaction was "a portable music player? are you kidding? that's a stupid idea... i've already got a Rio and a Creative Labs and a Sony Music Clip and, what, we're going to charge $400???!!!???" which, parenthetically, is why you don't let lawyers get involved in product marketing... but i digress...)
anyway, cut forward a few months and my super secret product needs beta testing, stealth mode, in the real world... i volunteer, am issued a white scroll wheel 5GB iPod, a thick firewire cable, and a pre-release version of iTunes to load music from my PowerBook. i take the entire contents of my Napster library (the statute of limitation must have run by now, no?), move it on to the device, get a cassette adapter with a headphone plug, and begin to make the twice daily drive from my home in San Jose, over RT 17 to Santa Cruz, and then back across the 'hill' to Cupertino, where i work with the team on manufacturing agreements and technology licenses and understanding what happens when you 'interrogate' a lithium battery with a screwdriver (hint: the interrogation ends badly for the battery and the screwdriver) until late each evening when i drive home, sleep for a few hours, wake up at 5:30am to start my show prep, and do it all over again. and as i clock all those miles, i have my iPod (in various modes of disguise) sliding around on the passenger seat, being controlled by me, blindly, as i reach across to press one of a series of identical buttons (which way is up?), while trying to keep my eyes on the road. i'm successful at one thing (staying on the road) but fail at the other, pressing multiple buttons at once, holding buttons too long, randomly, rapidly, and unintentionally changing settings, and generally causing the iPod to crash. and when that happens i try to remember what i did, and as soon as i park (at KSCO, or Apple, or home) i write down what i tried to do, and what actually happened, and then load it all into a bug reporting system. and upon the final release of the very first version of iPod software i am told that i have found more bugs than anyone else, and as a reward am given one of the FPOL (first product off the line) iPods, which i still have and which still works and which only contains songs i have legally purchased ("Don't Steal Music!")
and so, in the end, the scroll wheel version of the iPod had a longer run than i did at KSCO, but they both had a profound effect on the world (ok, maybe just one of them) and i'm glad to have been associated with both! and these days having 1000 songs in your pocket ain't no thing, but with Apple Watch you'll be able to listen to music, wirelessly, from your wrist even when you're not carrying your phone... and who knows, maybe i'll be able to convince the team to include a scroll wheel on the music player control screen! ('cause what goes around...)
if you're interested in a deeper look at the life and times of the scroll-wheel based iPod, Christina Warren on Mashable has a wonderful article, "Requiem for an iPod Classic" that i strongly recommend...
Saturday, December 14, 2013
OT: My Email Exchange w/Larry "Fenwick" Gotterer on the Final Gong Show
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
A Belated ThanksChanukah Story...
Monday, December 02, 2013
Schnauzer Logic Episode 86 Is Online (pssst… act like nothing's wrong)...
A bit of fluff (there's too much of -me- talking, and the audio isn't up to my usual anal-retentive standards, since my DBX-266XL Compressor/Limiter/Gate done up and died), but its available in all of the usual places and should be showing up in the show's new(ish) RSS feed:
lemme know if that isn't true.
(also, the Penn and Teller off-Broadshow i was thinking of from 1983/1984 was Penn and Teller Go Public)
more later… until then…
show up
pay attention
tell the truth, and
don't be attached to the outcome
Monday, May 14, 2012
Happy National Buttermilk Biscuit Day!
(jeebus - what is this crap???)
oh, hello and Sonovista my friends!!! just commenting on the new user interface for managing the Schnauzer Logic Podcast blog over here on blogger...
in any event, just a quick note to say Howdy! and welcome to 2012 (if i get it in before the World Series® break, it still counts!)
lots of blah blah blah as to why we haven't done a show in a while, but the big news is that the old Apple Mobile Me/iDisk account that i used to host all of your favorite episodes (and the 88 others) is going away real soon now...
so i've purchased a new domain "almostradio.com", and it looks like i have successfully managed to get the iTunes store to recognize that the official RSS feed for Schnauzer Logic (the podcast) is now:
if you subscribe through the store, nothing should change and all will still be well - but if you get the show another way (and used the old homepage.mac.com/airplayradio link, change it to the one above)
to test the new link and server i posted a test episode yesterday (Episode 85) that you will only see if you're connecting to the correct (new) feed... it runs about an hour and is mostly me babbling, with a bit of john dekoven babbling (on the phone) and a couple of fun tunes.
(oh, and as part of the upgrade process, the shows will now be in Stereo (Stereo) - which means, in order to get the same quality (sound, not content) each shows size will double (double) which is how you know that Schnauzer Logic is a true AMERICAN podcast - its now twice as large, but no more healthy.
and that's it... we won't be doing weekday (wednesday) shows, as schedules have changed, but i'm thinking a regular Sunday morning get together (Schnauzers and Lox) may well happen and we'll restart our move towards the big 100th show!
until then, thanks for the kind words and remember to
Show Up
Pay Attention
Tell The Truth
And Don't Be Attached To The Outcome.
Thursday, December 01, 2011
Episode 84 (and 83) are Online!!!
the second episode was recorded yesterday and again features john and sheri in studio with parviz (PARVIZ!!!) on the phone and a great interview with a very funny comedian jeff applebaum.
i don't know when there wlll be show notes for either episode since boyana has decided to move to scotland to pursue her education (so much for priorities!)
but you can download the episodes from the usual places (hint, itunes) or listen in the side podcast pickle player or even just click on the players below:
Episode 84 - November 30, 2011
Episode 83 - November 16, 2011
and that's what we got for now - we have fun doing these shows and will try to continue to get together every week or so - as always, you can call into the show at 408-335-4755 and leave a message (or get through to the studio when we're recording) - and you can listen to the studio audio live (or a random archive of past shows) by clicking on one of the player icons to the right.
we always appreciate your support and only ask that you
show up
pay attention
tell the truth
and don't be attached to the outcome.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Schnauzer Logic Episode 83 Being Recorded Today
Saturday, July 02, 2011
From the Finale of The Voice (Concept by Rachel) from Robin Diane Goldstein on Vimeo.
(rachel weinstein and i watched the finale of the first series of The Voice and were both gobstruck when Christina performed a 'real time' adjustment. we decided it was worthy of preserving and setting to music. enjoy!)
Saturday, June 25, 2011
(RSS) Feed Me, Seymour
for not having done a show for 14 months, i was actually surprised how easily i slipped back behind the microphone and into the role of fast-talking host. and it was fun!
the next step is figuring out whether we can get anyone to come back into the studio on a regular basis... John DeKoven has already said 'yes', and Jason is most likely a definite 'no' (due to his new job as West Coast Entertainment Reporter for ABC Radio Network News). and everyone else is an unknown at this point, but we'll see. its been a while since i did any kind of extended show by myself (and it requires a different kind of rhythm than doing a show with co-hosts). but '(not) 82' felt pretty comfortable, so a solo-run is certainly a possibility.
stay tuned
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
This is why Comcast/CableCARD Support is so Awful!!!
(UPDATED: June 22, 2011) sonovista, my friends!!! so today i received my new TiVo Premiere XL box and went about getting it all set up... now this is my 4th TiVo to use a CableCARD (the thing you need so a TiVo can get subscription and premium channels) and i know that in order for it to work on Comcast here in northern california, the card needs to be both Activated (connected to my account) and Paired (a second-level encryption scheme used to protect the HBO and Showtime-type-channels).
a post on the TiVoCommunity suggested it might be possible to bypass the challenges of getting a customer service representative to understand that a CableCARD is not a cable box, and that 'hitting it with a signal' isn't the same as "Pairing" it to set up the decryption chain, but after 3 attempts at http://www.comcast.com/activate, i gave up and decided to use their online chat service (as recommended on the activation page) - here is the transcript
Live Chat Status:
Analyst DiosdadoJr is here and your issue status is: working
user ROBIN has entered room
analyst DiosdadoJr has entered room
DiosdadoJr> Hello ROBIN_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is DiosdadoJr. Please give me one moment to review your information.
DiosdadoJr> Welcome to Comcast Self - Install Kit Activation support! It is a pleasure to have you on chat. I hope you haven't waited long to be assisted. How can I help you today?
ROBIN_> hi - i need to both Activate and Pair a cablecard for my new TiVo - i tried using the online tool a couple of times, but it doesn't seem to be working (i still don't get any premium channels or a lot of other channels as well)
DiosdadoJr> It would be my pleasure to assist you in activating your service from my end and make sure that it is working fine before we end the chat session.
ROBIN_> thanks!
ROBIN_> i'm on the cablecard activation screen - what info do you need from me?
DiosdadoJr> "Let me pull up your account first. Can you please verify if this information that you entered prior to the start of the chat is correct: Customer's Name: ROBIN GOLDSTEIN Account Number:xxxxxxxxxxxx
ROBIN_> yes
DiosdadoJr> Thank you. While I pull up your account, may I have the make and model of the the cable box as well as its serial number?
ROBIN_> its not a cable box, its a TiVo Premiere
ROBIN_> so its a cablecard, not a box
ROBIN_> do you have experience with activating -and- pairing a cablecard?
DiosdadoJr> Yes I have Robin.
ROBIN_> excellent!!!
ROBIN_> it can be confusing if you've never done it before...
DiosdadoJr> Can I have the customer s/n # of the cable card?
ROBIN_> the Card S/N is xxxxxxxxxxxx
DiosdadoJr> Robin just to confirm from your end is this an additional cable card or will this replace another cable card?
ROBIN_> additional cable card for a new tivo box
ROBIN_> still there?
DiosdadoJr> Yes Robin I'm still here. I'm in the process of activating the cable card on my end.
ROBIN_> thanks
DiosdadoJr> I will now take the neccessary steps to activate the cable card Robin.
ROBIN_> thanks!
DiosdadoJr> Robin I have sent the activation signals to your cable card, can you check for channels now?
ROBIN_> i'm getting some channels (thanks) from the activation, but no premium channels. i believe the cable card also needs to be "Paired" using the Card ID, Host ID and Data ID info (as i recall from past experience)
DiosdadoJr> Do you have that information Robin?
ROBIN_> yes:
ROBIN_> CableCard ID: xxxxxxxxxxxx
ROBIN_> Host ID: xxxxxxxxxxxx
ROBIN_> Data ID: xxxxxxxxxxxx
DiosdadoJr> Thank you for that information Robin.
ROBIN_> cool
DiosdadoJr> I have already activated your cable service, and its already up and running here in my system, just in case after 45 minutes some of the expected channels are still not appearing please do contact this number 1 888 270 6445 for the activation update.
ROBIN_> so you've entered the Host ID and Data ID info on your screens?
ROBIN_> it usually doesn't take anywhere near 45 minutes to get the premium channels
DiosdadoJr> Just to recap what we have done today, I was able to successfully activate your cable service from my end and it is working fine now.
ROBIN_> no, that is not correct
ROBIN_> it appears my cablecard is not correctly "Paired" though it is "Activated"
DiosdadoJr> Yes Robin that is just the maximum time we give.
ROBIN_> ok - just to be clear, this was not a successful resolution of my issue. i would like to say it is, but my card is not Paired and i'm not getting the premium channels like HBO
DiosdadoJr> Robin I have actually sent the pair hit signal to your cable card.
ROBIN_> i believe you - its just not working
DiosdadoJr> Well Robin if you still have some issues regarding subscribed channels not loading, feel free to call our National Video Activation center for resolution & advanced trouble shooting regarding video activation.
ROBIN_> is that the 888 number above?
DiosdadoJr> Yes it is Robin.
DiosdadoJr> Thank you for using Comcast and have a nice day.
ROBIN_> you too - ciao
so i then called the 888 number (above) and got hung up on 3 times! finally i called another comcast number and got straight through to a fellow (i wish i remembered his name) who understood that a CableCARD is not a cable box and has to be both authorized and paired and within 10 minutes (literally while i watched the screen and waited) everything was working great.
bottom line: time spent on getting my CableCARD activated and paired by Comcast - over 90 minutes (online, in chat, and on the phone) - time spent once i got to talk with someone who actually knew what to do - 10 minutes.
(for the record, i then had to call TiVo to activate the new box on my account - i wanted to do something 'tricky' and the regular customer rep couldn't help, so i called TiVo's HQ, got passed along to a second level rep and he took care of everything in about 10 minutes. so, TiVo, yea, Comcast, boo)
next up... trying to change the replaceable head in my electric toothbrush - wish me luck!
Wednesday Morning Update - June 22, 2011
so after i posted this on my @SchnauzerLogic twitter feed, i received a number of directed tweets from @ComcastMelissa offering to handle the issue directly. i thanked her and noted that the final CSR (who goes down as the unsung hero of this fustercluck) was knowledgeable and apologetic and got it all taken care of 'tout de suite'! she then asked for my account info, via direct message, so she could pass it up the chain in customer service, and this morning i received a phone call from another very nice woman who was equally apologetic and mentioned that she had read through the transcript and was going to be working with the CSR managers to make sure everyone had a refresher course on CableCARDS and the like... she also made an offer of 'good faith' in connection with my account (not necessary, but a clear indication that "Comcast Cares"!)... so all is good and working well... if only a call to customer service could do something about the quality of the programming!
Friday, May 20, 2011
Ringtone for the Rapture
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Film Review: Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)
Roger Ebert's infamous review of Rob Reiner's 1994 film, "North", contained the following bit of prose:
"I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it. Hated the sensibility that thought anyone would like it. Hated the implied insult to the audience by its belief that anyone would be entertained by it."
For some reason (ok, many reasons), this old review came to mind, repeatedly, as i fought the constant temptation to "go all Elvis" on my Sony XBR last night while enduring this 2010 sequel to Oliver Stone's iconic 1987 cautionary tale of conspicuous consumption and greed. From the opening bleats of the David Byrne/Brian Eno soundtrack to the obligatory Charlie Sheen (and two hooker) cameo, almost every moment of this obvious, blunt force trauma made me want to punch someone. Shia LaBeouf's angry innocence? Pow. Josh Brolin's cardboard villain? Pow. Carey Mulligan, Susan Sarandon, Austin Pendleton, Eli Wallach? Pow, Pow, Pow, Pow! Has there ever been a greater waste of talent (or worse collection of accents?)
We get it, Oliver. We didn't learn our lesson and now the Apocalypse (quite literally, if you're a fan of wide tracking shots over Ground Zero) is upon us. And -only- Gordon Gekko can save us. Or fuck us in the ass. Or both or neither or wait, is this thing -still- not over?
The philosopher Aristotle said in his work Poetics that tragedy is characterized by seriousness and dignity and involving a great person who experiences a reversal of fortune (at least according to Wikipedia.) If that's true, then the real tragedy of WS:MNS is that the director of "Platoon", "Born on the Fourth of July", and the original "Wall Street" has returned to a 23 year-old well intent on passing off its brackish contents as cool, clear and refreshing. But it's not. It's not even the sickly sweet "Kool-Aid" that Gecko cautions his adoring audience against drinking. Its just stale and stinky, leaving you unquenched and slightly queasy with the sure knowledge that you'll wake up in the morning with cotton mouth and a pounding headache.
Over produced, over acted and underwhelming, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is a thorough mess whose most entertaining moment comes in the opening scene when the newly released ex-con, Gekko, is given back his iconic Motorola-brick cell phone. After sitting through this 2 hour and 7 minute magnum dopus, it occurred to me that this whole drama could have been avoided if old 'Gordo' had (spoiler alert) simply taken that $100 million he stashed away in Zurich back in '87 and invested it in Apple stock. By the time he got out he'd have more money than he'd know what do to with -and- a shiny new iPhone.
Or perhaps it's Stone who's fucking with us, at this very moment penning the third installment, "Wall Street: Love The Yuan You're With".
So, Don, my my verdict on "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps"?
To paraphrase the great Paul Simon, "Still Greedy After All These Years".
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Theodore Roosevelt - The Right of the People to Rule
Recorded by Thomas Edison, August 1912
The great fundamental issue now before our people can be stated briefly. It is, are the American people fit to govern themselves, to rule themselves, to control themselves? I believe they are. My opponents do not. I believe in the right of the people to rule. I believe that the majority of the plain people of the United States will, day in and day out, make fewer mistakes in governing themselves than any smaller class or body of men, no matter what their training, will make in trying to govern them. I believe, again, that the American people are, as a whole, capable of self-control, and of learning by their mistakes. Our opponents pay lip-loyalty to this doctrine; but they show their real beliefs by the way in which they champion every device to make the nominal rule of the people a sham.
I am not leading this fight as a matter of aesthetic pleasure. I am leading because somebody must lead, or else the fight would not be made at all. I prefer to work with moderate, with rational, conservatives, provided only that they do in good faith strive forward toward the light. But when they halt and turn their backs to the light, and sit with the scorners on the seats of reaction, then I must part company with them. We the people cannot turn back. Our aim must be steady, wise progress.
It would be well if our people would study the history of a sister republic. All the woes of France for a century and a quarter have been due to the folly of her people in splitting into the two camps of unreasonable conservatism and unreasonable radicalism. Had pre-Revolutionary France listened to men like Turgot, and backed them up, all would have gone well. But the beneficiaries of privilege, the Bourbon reactionaries, the shortsighted ultra-conservatives, turned down Turgot; and then found that instead of him they had obtained Robespierre. They gained twenty years' freedom from all restraint and reform, at the cost of the whirlwind of the red terror; and in their turn the unbridled extremists of the terror induced a blind reaction; and so, with convulsion and oscillation from one extreme to another, with alternations of violent radicalism and violent Bourbonism, the French people went through misery toward a shattered goal. May we profit by the experiences of our brother republicans across the water, and go forward steadily, avoiding all wild extremes; and may our ultra-conservatives remember that the rule of the Bourbons brought on the Revolution, and may our would-be revolutionaries remember that no Bourbon was ever such a dangerous enemy of the people and of freedom as the professed friend of both, Robespierre.
There is no danger of a revolution in this country; but there is grave discontent and unrest, and in order to remove them there is need of all the wisdom and probity and deep-seated faith in and purpose to uplift humanity we have at our command. Friends, our task as Americans is to strive for social and industrial justice, achieved through the genuine rule of the people. This is our end, our purpose. The methods for achieving the end are merely expedients, to be finally accepted or rejected according as actual experience shows that they work well or ill. But in our hearts we must have this lofty purpose, and we must strive for it in all earnestness and sincerity, or our work will come to nothing. In order to succeed we need leaders of inspired idealism, leaders to whom are granted great visions, who dream greatly and strive to make their dreams come true; who can kindle the people with the fire from their own burning souls. The leader for the time being, whoever he may be, is but an instrument, to be used until broken and then to be cast aside; and if he is worth his salt he will care no more when he is broken than a soldier cares when he is sent where his life is forfeit in order that the victory may be won. In the long fight for righteousness the watchword for all of us is spend and be spent.
(This speech contains excerpts from "The Right of People to Rule," an address originally delivered at Carnegie Hall, New York City, on March 20, 1912. See Social Justice and Popular Rule: Essays, Addresses, and Public Statements Relating to the Progressive Movement (1910-1916) by Theodore Roosevelt.)
Friday, June 18, 2010
Boyana's Dog - Rocky
sonovista, my friends... hope you are all well and enjoying the World Cup (you ess aye you ess aye you ess aye)... i've been taking acupuncture treatments for my med-stuff and (shhhhhh!) things seem to be a tiny bit better! so maybe a new show sometime before 2012.
in the meanwhile i had a lovely email exchange with Boyana today about her pending graduation from university and she forwarded along a photo of her pup, Rocky, who, while not a schnauzer, seems to be a pretty cool guy (as i'm sure you'll agree!)
enjoy the weekend and Happy Father's Day to dads everywhere.
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
It's not you, It's me...
as some of you have noticed (many with sadness, a few with glee), the show has been MIA since Episode 81 (recorded on April 21, 2010). despite rumors to the contrary, this has nothing to do with anything that's happened between our little band of merrymakers (either on-air or off). in fact, while we've made a few abortive attempts to stage Episode 82 (alas, to no avail), we did manage to get sheri, rachel, jeff and me (robin) up to Dublin, CA a few weeks ago to help judge one of the semi-final rounds of John DeKoven's Bunjo's Comedy Competition, where a good time was had by all.
the issue is my struggle to do all the pre/post show work necessary to actually have a show. for the rest of the crew the actual time commitment is the 2+ hours we spend in the studio, plus travel and snacks - for me the time commitment works out to bewteen 4x-5x that -even- with Boyana's tremendous assistance. each week i need to set aside between 8 and 10 hours to prep the show, grab the music and audio, confirm the participants, clean the studio, load the files, do the show, break down the show, edit, process, compress, annotate and upload the audio to the server, ping Boyana with links, clean the studio and mics and put everything away. under ideal circumstances i can slot these tasks in between the other things i need to do to make sure life goes on (and on and on), but recently the stars have not aligned quite so harmoniously and the show prep (pre- and post-, never the show itself) has become a source of angst and anxiety and a drain on my resources. as a result i've had to cancel the show a couple of times at the last minute, and realize i've been 'jerking' the crew around (they have lives, too!) which then adds to my angst and anxiety (still 20% jewish by volume)... combine this with a series of wednesday client meetings that can't be moved (including this week and next), and you get the Official Schnauzer Logic 2010 Hiatus.
rest assured that the studio remains intact, dusted and ready to go at a moment's notice...
instead, take comfort in the words of the poets of Persia, Jerusalem, and OK Go who have each noted with wisdom and compassion:
"This too shall pass"
این نیز بگزرد, een niz bogzarad
גם זה יעבור, gam zeh yaavor
more to say when there's more worth saying... until then, many thanks to you all (especially John, Parviz, Sheri, Jason, Jeff, Rachel, all the regulars and especially Boyana) and when all else fails, remember to:
Show Up
Pay Attention
Tell The Truth
And Don't Be Attached To The Outcome
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Where the hell -is- everybody?
in the meanwhile, here is a pleasant photo i took on my trip to Terre Haute, Indiana this past weekend to celebrate my uncle's 80th birthday and watch as he received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Saint Mary-Of-The-Woods College.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Official Episode 81 Show Notes by Boyana Atanasova
If you never had the chance to listen to the famous Schnauzer Logic podcast before, its Episode 81 is probably the perfect for you to join the crazy group called "listeners"! The radio show was recorded on the 21st of April and now I have the wonderful privilege to tell you a few words about it here.
Guests at the studio were John, Sheri and Parviz and right at the beginning we learned from some of them that it is not OK to answer somebody's "hi, how are you" with "I'm tired". That was a cool start of an even cooler show. Among the topics there mentioned were the latest stories around Conan O'Brien and George Lopez, Larry King and his (ex)wives, Tracy Morgan's comedy style and many, many others. Much time was spent talking about the new iPhone that "leaked" few days ago. It was a strange story with a stupid Apple employee who has left the prototype of the smart phone in a bar. This was the time when everybody in the studio began talking about conspiracies and their influence in our point of view. Parviz was the one who put there the bad story of a baby who was left in the car of its parents for many hours… Stories told by Wikileaks were also an interesting part of this segment. Some of their latest findings are really stunning! Go check them out.
Our lovely host Robin told us also his opinion about the health care system in the
Our lovely host Robin told us also his opinion about the health care system in the
A small segment was made about the funny videos in YouTube about Hitler which were unfortunately banned from the site. If you are listening to the whole show carefully you may be lucky enough to catch up the last few seconds of it where Parviz was again the host, hehe.
A small segment was made about the funny videos in YouTube about Hitler which were unfortunately banned from the site. If you are listening to the whole show carefully you may be lucky enough to catch up the last few seconds of it where Parviz was again the host, hehe.
This Episode 81 will be the last for the next couple of weeks so it will be nice of you if you check some of the previous shows that will also show you how a good comedy podcast is made by real professionals.
This Episode 81 will be the last for the next couple of weeks so it will be nice of you if you check some of the previous shows that will also show you how a good comedy podcast is made by real professionals.
Until the next time (which will be in about two or three weeks!):
Until the next time (which will be in about two or three weeks!):
Show Up
Show Up
Pay Attention
Pay Attention
Tell The Truth, and
Tell The Truth, and
Don't Be Attached To The Outcome
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Schnauzer Logic Episode 81 is Online!!!
all the usual stuff applies (show notes, links, etc.) and will follow in due course (or not).
the MP3 file is ::here::
film @ 11


text:
Man Who Lost Legs In Boston Bombing Is Engaged
The man who lost his legs in the Boston Marathon bombings, then helped authorities identify the suspects, is engaged and an expectant father.
Jeff Bauman and his fiancee, Erin Hurley, tell the Associated Press the baby is due July 14. They don't know if it's a boy or a girl, and they want to be surprised. They became engaged in February.
The 28-year old Bauman and 27-year-old Hurley plan to marry in 2015.
An AP photo of a badly injured Bauman being rushed away in a wheelchair became one of the most memorable images of the April 15 bombings, which killed three people. Bauman became a hero after he provided a description of one of the suspected bombers.
Bauman's memoir on his experience, called "Stronger," will be out April 8.
[Associated Press]


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Merkury Innovations Universal Smartphone Bike Mount
A rubber-padded mount clamps tightly over your handlebars, as your smartphone rests snugly within the grip of a secure cradle. The cradle's adjustable rubberized grips firmly grasp the corners of a variety of devices, keeping screens and bodies safe from scratches and shakes. The cradle also detaches from the mount's base and may be positioned vertically or horizontally for easy viewing of GPS apps or instructional videos about how to ride a bicycle.
- Smartphone bike mount
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Abilities and Skills are the measure of how powerful the Hero is. Unlike other Sierra games where the player character maintains the same level of skill throughout the adventure, the Hero in the Quest for Glory series can steadily improve his abilities and skills. In order to complete each game, the Hero may be required to train these skills to ensure his continued survival.
The measure of the Hero's abilities and skills is shown on the Character Screen. Each ability or skill is represented by a numerical value in terms of how proficient the Hero is in each ability or skill.
Note that if the Hero has zero proficiency in any skill, then he cannot increase that number through normal training no matter how many times he attempts. For example, if the Hero has a 0 skill in Climbing, then no amount of attempting to climb will raise that number.
During Character Creation, using the starting Point Pool, all abilities and skills can be adjusted, except for Honor. Abilities and skills can be increased using the Point Pool, but never decreased below their starting point. It is possible to use the starting Point Pool to add one or more skills that the Hero's selected class would not normally allow, but this comes at a point penalty, which varies. See the Hybrid page for more information.
These are five traits of the Hero that are considered physical attributes and are based around the Hero's person. All classes have access to all abilities. They are as follows:
Unlike abilities, skills are knowledge that is tailored to the Hero's class. Skills may be specific to only one or two classes, although a few are applicable to all. Several skills were available to the Hero in the first game of the series, and more were added as the series progressed. They are as follows:
Introduced in Quest for Glory I:Edit
- Weapon Use - (All classes, renamed Offense in Quest for Glory V)
- Parry - (Fighter)
- Dodge - (All classes)
- Stealth - (Thief)
- Lockpicking - (Thief)
- Throwing - (Fighter, Thief)
- Climbing - (Thief, also learned by Fighter in Quest for Glory IV)
- Magic - (Magic User)
Introduced in Quest for Glory II:Edit
- Communication - (All classes)
Introduced in Quest for Glory III:Edit
Introduced in Quest for Glory IV:Edit
- Acrobatics - (Thief)
Introduced in Quest for Glory V:Edit
- Defense - (All classes, replaced Parry and Dodge)
- Swimming - (All classes)
- Pickpocketing - (Thief)
Note: The Paladin has the same skills as the Fighter.
Honor is not a typical skill or ability, although it is numerically tracked and falls among the others on the Character Screen. Honor can only be influenced by the Hero's actions, and may not have points assigned to it during Character Creation.
Training and ThresholdEdit
All abilities and skills can be increased through training them. How to train each ability is described on each individual page. The maximum numbers for all abilities and skills are specific to each game, and are as follows:
- Quest for Glory I - 100
- Quest for Glory II - 200
- Quest for Glory III - 300
- Quest for Glory IV - 400
- Quest for Glory V - 500
There are exceptions to the maximum amount of 500 in the case of Quest for Glory V. Each of the four classes has one ability and one skill which can be increased to a maximum of 550:
- Fighter - Strength and Offense
- Wizard - Intelligence and Magic
- Thief - Agility and Stealth
- Paladin - Vitality and Honor
In Quest for Glory V, equipping certain items can change the Hero's abilities and skills. These changes are in place only while the item is equipped and are not permanent. Items may increase or decrease stats (or both) depending on the item equipped.
|Abilities and Skills
|Strength · Intelligence · Agility · Vitality · Luck
|Weapon Use · Parry · Dodge · Stealth · Lockpicking · Throwing · Climbing · Magic · Communication · Paladin · Acrobatics · Defense · Swimming · Pickpocketing


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Cloudbased voice solutions are common in enterprise networks and frustrating for operations teams to manage. Simplify VoIP monitoring by having a proactive analysis of on-prem, hybrid and UCaaS voice services. Try the ThousandEyes VoIP monitoring solution today, free.Advertisement
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NT/2K/XP native command shell for emergency rescue purposes to be used for rescue CDs as well as an replacement for the Recovery Console.First use on a BootCD (has to be created by the user, since we cannot provide Windows files for download).
Multi Design Messaging System(MDMS) provides designing messages(such as control of changing temperature, incoming messages on Messenger Service, etc..) and delivers its from server to client desktop using various plug-ins
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True Story: My Memoir Pissed Off A Male Book Reviewer
When I started writing my memoir, Good Chinese Wife: A Love Affair With China Gone Wrong, I began networking with authors who wrote books set in Asia. I imagined developing solid friendships with a group of supportive authors. There's a Chinese saying, huxiang bangzhu. It means "mutually helping one another." That's what I pictured.
Fast-forward six years. My memoir was being published and I arranged for review copies to be sent to authors I've gotten to know through social networking or in person. I knew I couldn't expect rave reviews just because we have a connection or because I had given their books five stars on Amazon and Goodreads. But for the most part, I had been extremely pleased with the feedback.
Well, except for this one guy.
A couple years ago I met another writer through social media. Unlike most of the authors I've connected with, this one is a man. He said if I helped him promote his work, he would return the favor when my book came out. It sounded like a good deal to me. Huxiang bangzhu.
The man, who I'll call Joe, recently got in touch to ask when would be a good time to post his review. I was grateful that Joe seemed anxious to get the word out and also that he said he enjoyed my book. But one night last week, I received another message from him that was downright strange: Joe proposed giving my book a poor review to stir up controversy. What the fuck? was my first reaction. My second was much milder: I decided I would let it go because I didn't want to be an author who micromanaged my reviews. Furthermore, that is how I, like most girls and women, are taught to act in the face of confrontation: let's not start a scene.
But it still didn't sit well with me. Because he had asked for my consent before publishing it, I suggested that a poor review might not reflect well on him. People might not understand that he was just doing this to create publicity for me (and — yes — for himself). He brushed that off and explained that he was going to write from the "male point of view." The male point of view? My memoir is about marriage to an emotionally abusive Chinese man. What's the male point of view of that? Joe, who is not Chinese, continued that my memoir is going to upset men.
Other men, including people I actually know in real life, have read Good Chinese Wife and not one of them has mentioned anything about being offended or upset. So let's run through some of the issues in my book and see how they might offend men.
- Porn. My former husband, Cai, watched a lot of porn. I didn't divorce him because of it, but mentioned that our honeymoon kind of sucked when he was more interested in watching Japanese porn than he was in being with me. Did Joe think I was calling out men for watching porn?
- Sex workers. Cai liked to talk with sex workers when we stayed at hotels in China. I have no proof that he ever used their services, but he enjoyed conversing with them. Again, I didn't divorce him for this reason. It's just something that made our trips to China a little awkward. Again, I'm unclear how this would upset men. It's not like women don't know about it.
- Trich. On my 26th birthday, Cai gave me the gift that keeps giving: an STD. I wrote about not being able to concentrate at work because this trich made it so uncomfortable that I would run off to the bathroom every hour to wipe? Perhaps Joe didn't like to read about the symptoms women get with Trich while men are—thank goodness—asymptomatic. That could make a guy squeamish, I admit.
- International child abduction. Where to raise our child was actually something Cai and I had discussed before we married, so he knew my stance on it and I was pretty sure he was in agreement. That all changed several years later, when he started talking about sending our son to live with his parents in central China for, oh, five or so years. In the end of the book, I wrote about taking drastic measures to keep our son in the United States. And that's what drove me to divorce Cai. I can see how this story would upset men. On the other hand, if they're good fathers and husbands, it's usually a moot point.
I learned many lessons from the story I tell in my memoir. And now I've learned another: when it comes to huxiang bangzhu, be careful whom you work with. Just when I was starting to feel like I wanted some distance from Joe, he relayed some good news. He had the go-ahead from a freebie newspaper to review my book. The editors wouldn't stand for a fluff piece, he explained, so he would have to be tough. He would have to give "the male perspective." I didn't reply.
Then Joe started hounding me for an image of my book cover. Again, I ignored him. (The image can be found online.) But every time I turned on the computer, I started to feel anxious that I'd find another message from him on e-mail or Facebook. I had seen his angry comments on poor reviews of his work, and I realized I had been tiptoeing around him for quite a while. I didn't like being put in an uncomfortable position by a fellow writer, someone whose own career I'd helped in good faith.
Now I've blocked him from all social media. I'm not sure if and when this review will come out. He will write whatever he plans to write; I can only hope his readers understand he doesn't speak for all men, offering "the male point-of-view," but only speaks for himself. Whatever he writes is now beyond my control, as it should have been in the first place.
Susan Blumberg-Kason's memoir, Good Chinese Wife: A Love Affair With China Gone Wrong, will be published on July 29 by Sourcebooks. Susan blogs about Asia, books, and raising multicultural kids at SusanBKason.com. She lives with her husband and three children in a sleepy Chicago suburb.
[Image of a book via Shutterstock]


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Get the prize " Autodesk Platinum Club" ..
Linetek System get the prize "Autodesk Platinum Club Award" for two years in a row for the first time as Korean Autodesk offical partner. Autodesk Platinum Club Award is the prize for the partner which records the highest sales increase contrast to last year among official partners. This year about 40 international branches get this prize As we can know from t..


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On Thursday, Bingu wa Mutharika said he had dismissed Cassim Chilumpha, saying he had attacked the government and seriously undermined its integrity.
But Mr Chilumpha said only parliament had the power to remove him.
Mr Mutharika is involved in a power struggle with his predecessor, who is a close ally of Mr Chilumpha.
The president, who was handpicked by ex-President Bakili Muluzi to run as the United Democratic Front candidate, resigned from the UDF last year, saying the party was blocking his anti-corruption campaign.
The BBC's Raphael Tenthani in Blantyre says Mr Chilumpha remained in the UDF, making it difficult for the two most powerful men in Malawi to work together.
A statement read out on state radio on Thursday evening accused Mr Chilumpha of arrogance, disrespect, abrogating on his constitutional duties and violating his oath of office.
A cabinet meeting on Wednesday unanimously agreed that the vice-president's conduct was not in line with his duties, the statement said.
The president also alleged that the vice-president had tried to run a parallel administration.
"As far as I am concerned I can only leave this office through impeachment, resignation or my death and none of those things has happened so I am still the elected vice-president of this republic," Mr Chilumpha said on Friday.
The political crisis has paralysed government, angering foreign donors at a time when food shortages are threatening five million people.


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Acts of Faith Value Pack
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This value pack includes the books The Hidden Flame and The Centurions Wife
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Pueblo West senior running back Derek Jackson rushed for 3,343 yards this season, for his career he has rushed for over 6,000 yards. These numbers alone warrant his selection as the 2012 PrepColorado Offensive Player of the Year. More impressive is the fact these stats were achieved against defenses designed to stop him. Each game teams knew Jackson would carry the ball, they knew what plays he would run and yet Jackson could not be stopped as his Cyclones went 12-1 on the season.
A big play back that averaged nearly ten yards a carry on the season with a long of 96 yards, the 5-9 175 pound Jackson was most effective running between the tackles showing toughness rare in smaller backs. Further, Jackson shouldered a high number of carries this season toting the rock 339 times. Jackson's consistency is best exemplified in that we was stronger as the season went on. In his final six games, Jackson went over the 300 yard mark five times, including 384 yards against a Windsor squad known for its defense. Although it came in a tough 14-6 semifinal loss, Jackson's best game may have been the 194 yards against 4A state champs Monarch. The always tough and stingy Coyote D rarely surrenders those types of numbers.
An interesting prospect, Jackson's no nonsense running style, ability to make people miss, durability and the potential to catch the ball out of the backfield make him an intriguing next level prospect.


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Meet Marco: A treasure in eccentric Milwaukee's trove
Podcast: Marco cackles and talks high school sports with Molly
Subscribe to OnMilwaukee.com Podcasts
(page 2)
Marco also loves to take words apart. At one point, he says the word "people" then stops mid-sentence and says "People?! Did I just say 'people' or 'peephole?' YES! 'People' are the 'peepholes' to the world!"
Another time, Marco mentions Milwaukee musician Willy Porter, and then says his last name again, this time as "Porthole" instead of "Porter."
"Willy Port-hole. WILLY PORTHOLE!" he yells out, followed by his signature cackle.
Spending time with Marco naturally makes one wonder how he became so unique. Marco claims drugs have nothing to do with his personality and lifestyle, but admits to a period of "transformation" after a happy, suburban childhood and a frustrating young adulthood.
Born Jan. 8, 1948, Marco lived as a small child near Lake Winnebago with three brothers and a sister. Later, his family moved to Shorewood where he attended Shorewood High School and lettered in track and swimming.
Marco speaks fondly of his childhood, particularly his deceased mother and her commitment to his love for sports. One of his most precious possessions is a light fixture from the Shorewood High School ticket booth where his mother volunteered during his football games and track meets.
"It didn't matter how cold it was," he says evenly, dusting the fixture with his sleeve.
At first, it's hard to decipher if Marco is more shtick than self, but over time, it's evident that he's genuine. Just when you're about to write him off as an acid causality or a complete kook, he reminds you -- through steady eye contact or a linear story -- that's he's really right there with you.
Marco says that he attempted to live a conventional life. After graduating from UW-Milwaukee in 1971 with a degree in physical education, he taught gym at a school in Waukegan, Ill. During that era, Marco married and fathered a son.
"After three years, I couldn't feed the alligator anymore," he says. "There were teeth all around me."
To escape the "alligators," Marco moved back to Milwaukee, split up with his wife and opened a sub shop on Wisconsin Avenue called The Hungry Head.
"This was not a good time, but finally, I transferred out of an angry group of people to the art people. The life drawing and anatomy people. The good people," he says.
In the late '70s or early '80s, Marco started working as an art model and befriended the late Dick Bacon. He claims to have joined an informal group of artists he refers to as "The Art Squad," featuring photographer Francis Ford and musicians Robin Pluer, Paul Cebar and Jim Liban.
"These people did beautiful things inside their bodies and beautiful things for Milwaukee," he says.
Although Marco rarely sees his biological son, now 37, he nurtures lots of peoples' "inner children."
"The inner-child sees the 'wow' in all of this," he says. "This place is a play area to re-energize the inner-child."
Frequently, Marco invites newfound friends into his living space, from BBC drinkers to people he meets on the street. He says only one time did he have a bad experience with a stranger, and that was with a very drunk woman who found his apartment sacrilegious.
"She was on her knees, crying for Jesus," he says.
There are a lot of words one could use to describe Marco. He is gentle, entertaining and deeply interested in people, nature and forgotten possessions. But Marco describes himself best:
"I'm a vibration of harmlessness with an open heart," he says.
<< BackPage 2 of 2 (view all on one page)
nickdelta | Nov. 8, 2009 at 12:13 p.m. (report)
Marco taught me how to roll my first joint when I was like 8 years old... Maybe it was a cigarette, but I still doubt that, he also hid all these rocks in my mothers riverwest home when we moved in... Rocks with good vibes, 20 years later I still find them when I visit her there... Great guy, great article
|Rate this:
GiGi | Nov. 6, 2008 at 9:30 p.m. (report)
I have known Marco since I moved to Milwaukee almost 30 years ago. Always the shepard of the flocks...and a great friend to know and love.
|Rate this:
JKrunken | Nov. 5, 2008 at 7:18 p.m. (report)
Thanks for doing a reverent and respectful expose on Marco. He's part of a generation of people who eventually will be gone. The Eastside has been defined by these unique personalities.
|Rate this:
RolloTomasi | Nov. 4, 2008 at 4:56 p.m. (report)
Marco's rocks exude positive karma. If you meet him, ask him for a rock! He always carries some and loves to bestow them to others.
|Rate this:
ballcoach | Nov. 4, 2008 at 11:39 a.m. (report)
Never heard of this guy, but great article. I would say Freeway Mike or Ray from UW-Milwaukee next. I used to talk to Ray all the time at bars on the east side. This could be a great series of articles.
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Soundproofing is the process of insulating against the build up of sound. Sound travels in low frequency waves in all directions, stemming from the source of the noise. These waves can then travel until they hit a point of resistance such as a wall or ceiling, and can cause reverberation. The purpose of soundproofing and the use of acoustic materials is to absorb the sound waves, preventing and reducing reverberation by blocking and/or absorbing the sound.
Reduction works by altering the distance the sound waves travel or deflecting them via the use of objects placed in the path of the sound waves.
Absorption works by altering the actual pattern of the sound waves through the use of specialist sound dampening materials, with the aim of lessening the sound produced from the noise pollution.
Many different methods of soundproofing and types of acoustic materials are available. For example, a vinyl acoustic barrier blocks airborne noise (street traffic, voices, music) from passing through a wall, ceiling or floor. Because vinyl acoustic barriers are made of heavy, limp vinyl, they are usually built into the structure and then covered with a finished surface like sheet rock or paneling. Soundproofing foam dampens noise by making sound waves pass through multiple foam cells and foam cell walls. A soundproof room contains soundproofing material in the walls, floors, and ceilings. Acoustic foam and acoustic ceiling tile absorb sound to minimize echo and reverberation within a room. They do not block noise from transmitting through walls and ceilings. Soundproof doors and soundproof windows are also designed to reduce the transmission of sound. Building techniques such as double wall construction and staggering wall studs can improve the soundproofing of a room. A soundproof wall can incorporate sound proofing and acoustic materials to meet desired sound transmission class (STC) values.
Soundproofing is not always a common consideration in new home building and home improvement. Studies show that sound pollution can have an incredibly high impact on your well being. Exposure to high levels of noise pollution can lead to a number of physiological and psychological issues including hypertension, high stress and aggression. Where levels of noise are extremely high, tinnitus (the sensation of ringing, roaring or buzzing in the ears or head) and hearing loss are prevalent. You owe it to yourself to ensure that you are not exposed to unnecessary levels of noise that could otherwise be negated by efficient soundproofing.
You may find that in some older homes the level of quality lends itself to a higher standard of building materials, and as such, the thickness of the walls are adept at soundproofing the home from exterior and interior noise. Some newer homes may reflect the minimum standard of building materials, and may have thin walls that are inefficient at soundproofing. Spray-tech Foam Insulation can easily retro-fit your existing home with soundproofing materials. Call today for a free estimate.
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MTV's Movie Blog recently sat down with actor Collin Chou — better known as Seraph from The Matrix trilogy. Although he didn't have many details, he mentioned that he'd be working again with The Wachowskis soon which might indicate he'll play a part in Ninja Assassin, their next project after Speed Racer.
Currently, James McTeigue (who acted as First Assistant Director for all three Matrix films and sat in the director's chair for their follow up, V for Vendetta) is slated to direct the martial arts film with Korean pop star and actor Rain taking top billing.
Whether Chou was specifically referring to Assassin is up in the air. He'll next be seen alongside Jackie Chan and Jet Li in The Forbidden Kingdom which comes out in April. Assassin will tentatively begin shooting this spring in Berlin.
Of course, if Chou isn't referring to Ninja Assassin, the Wachowski Brothers may have another martial arts trick up their sleeve for audiences to look forward to.
Source: MTV Movies Blog