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Pre-Surgical Qigong Therapy for Women With Breast Cancer
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The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the United States has increased dramatically in the past 10 years. Nowhere is this trend more apparent than when one examines CAM use by patients diagnosed with cancer. As with the general population, patients with cancer typically use CAM-based modalities alongside their conventional cancer treatments. Patients are often seeking a holistic approach to managing and preventing disease. Although most patients will combine alternative approaches with conventional medicine, some patients do in fact decline curative conventional treatments in favor of more non-toxic alternative approaches. One such approach that patients combine with conventional medicine or use in place of conventional medicine is qigong.
Qigong is a bioenergy therapy with a long history of therapeutic use for many diseases, including cancer. Preliminary experiments and a review of the literature show that qigong might improve the outcome for cancer patients. However, none of this research has been confirmed in the peer-reviewed Western scientific literature. Although it is unlikely that EQT will result in significant decreases in tumor size, patients are using qigong either as a complementary approach, and sometimes even in place of conventional medicine, it is, therefore, important for us to determine whether there is any merit to this treatment modality. The goal of this pilot trial is to examine one form of medical qigong (external qi therapy (EQT)) to determine feasibility. In an exploratory nature we will also examine any changes in tumor size in women with breast cancer who are awaiting surgery.
|Breast Cancer
|Other: Qigong
|Study Type:
|Study Design:
|Time Perspective: Prospective
|Official Title:
|Pre-Surgical Qigong Therapy for Women With Breast Cancer
- Feasibility of conducting external qigong in women with breast cancer awaiting surgery [ Time Frame: 3 Years ]
- Initial efficacy of external qi therapy (EQT) as measured by tumor size [ Time Frame: Baseline to end of treatment (5 days) ]
|Study Start Date:
|July 2006
|Study Completion Date:
|December 2010
|Primary Completion Date:
|December 2010 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
|Assigned Interventions
Pre-surgical Qigong therapy for women with breast cancer
External Qi Therapy = EQT
Other: Qigong
EQT daily for 5 consecutive days prior to surgery.
Other Names:
Detailed Description:
Some research has been done on the human body to learn about how it may exist within an electromagnetic (energy with electric and magnetic parts) field. Some research has shown that changing the form of this field may have an effect on cell growth.
You will be asked to complete 3 questionnaires that ask about your quality of life (QOL), your physical functioning, and any symptoms you may be having. The questionnaires will take about 15 to 20 minutes to complete. You will also have a physical exam. If you have had mammogram and ultrasound less than one week after your core biopsy, you will need to have a repeat mammogram and ultrasound to check the size of your tumor.
You will then be scheduled for a total of 5 EQT sessions (1 session per day for 5 consecutive days). You will meet with an expert in EQT (qigong master) to conduct the sessions. During each session, the qigong master will send forth qi (energy) focused toward helping to improve patients' physical and mental functioning. The qigong master will do this by placing his hands over the affected area and emitting his energy into your body. He will not touch you, but will say a few words. These comments will be spoken in Chinese and may be translated into English by a translator. The sessions may be conducted in a group setting. After each session, you will have a physical exam. Each session will last about 30 minutes.
Once you have completed all the sessions, you will have a follow-up visit. During this visit, you will have a physical exam and a mammogram and ultrasound to check the size of your tumor. You will also be asked to complete 3 more questionnaires that will ask the same questions as before. The questionnaires will take about 15 to 20 minutes to complete.
In order to find out if women are willing to have EQT, researchers will keep track of how many people are asked to join the study and how many decide to participate. If you consent to participate, the study staff will keep track of the EQT sessions you attend, if you complete the questionnaires, and if you provide the optional blood samples.
Your participation in this study will be over after your follow-up visit.
This is an investigational study. The baseline mammogram and ultrasound are standard of care. All questionnaires and the follow-up mammogram and ultrasound are for research purposes. Up to 10 patients will take part in this study. All will be enrolled at M. D. Anderson or Fudan University Cancer Hospital.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years and older (Adult, Senior)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
|Sampling Method:
|Non-Probability Sample
Inclusion Criteria:
- Histologically confirmed and intact invasive ductal carcinoma
- Women with a single measurable mass less than or equal to 3 cm
- Women who are awaiting the surgical removal of breast cancer
- Surgery is scheduled at least 2 weeks from the time of recruitment
- Willing to come to MDACC or Fudan University Cancer Hospital (FUCH) for 5 consecutive days to receive the EQT
- 18 years of age or older because the assessment tools are not validated for use in minors.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Women with lobular carcinoma
- Prior or planned neoadjuvant treatment with chemotherapy or radiotherapy
- Evidence of metastatic disease
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00495209
|United States, Texas
|UT MD Anderson Cancer Center
|Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
|Principal Investigator:
|Lorenzo Cohen, PhD
|M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Additional Information:
|Responsible Party:
|M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT00495209 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|Study First Received:
|June 28, 2007
|Last Updated:
|August 1, 2012
Keywords provided by M.D. Anderson Cancer Center:
Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Breast Cancer
Medical Qigong
External Qi Therapy
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Breast Neoplasms
Neoplasms by Site
Breast Diseases
Skin Diseases
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 20, 2017


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The Environmental Working Group wants the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program to straighten up and fly right.
At first blush, it may be difficult to ascertain why the EWG would publish a 41-page document critiquing the finer points of the SCBGP. But the political agenda isn't hard to uncover when you think about the connection between the block grant program and the Alliance for Food and Farming.
The alliance has been a bur in the saddle of the EWG for several year now, and the EWG has taken offense that any group – much less any group getting federal funding - would impinge its motives in publishing it infamous "Dirty Dozen" list of pesticide-laden produce.
That's the real agenda of this report, though the point is buried in the group's new release.
From the EWG:
OAKLAND, Calif. – An important farm bill program that provides valuable support for California's growers and consumers of healthy fruits, vegetables and nuts would deliver greater all-around benefits if state officials address shortcomings in the process of awarding the federally-funded grants, an analysis by the Environmental Working Group shows.
The Specialty Crop Block Grant (SCBG) program, one of state's most important sources of federal funding to expand and promote this $19 billion sector of California agriculture, delivers good value overall, EWG's analysis found, but it falls short of its potential because grant awards don't always target projects with the broadest payoff and sometimes don't align with the state's top policy priorities.
For example, more than half of the program's funding is dedicated to research, leaving much less available to expand local and regional markets for growers or to increase access to and consumption of safe and healthy food. Both are key priorities for the state and generate immediate economic and public health benefits. The number of projects funded in these areas nearly doubled in 2011 under California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Secretary Karen Ross, but EWG concluded that targeting more funding to developing local and regional food markets would deliver even higher returns to growers while boosting public access to healthy food.
"In an era of tight budgets, it is critical that we get this right," said Kari Hamerschlag, EWG's senior food policy expert and author of the report. "Spending more money on projects that can deliver direct economic benefits to growers, while improving the health of Californians, is a great way to achieve two important goals at the same time."
EWG reviewed the program's track record over a three-year period to assess whether its funding projects were in line with the top 12 priorities outlined in "Ag Vision," a strategic plan adopted in 2010 by the CDFA. The analysis showed that the specialty crop grants paid for dozens of worthwhile projects that did align with Ag Vision, particularly in environmental stewardship, food safety and pest prevention. But it also pointed out that several priorities were critically underfunded, including support for beginning and disadvantaged farmers, farm workers, outreach and information dissemination to growers, improving local and regional infrastructure and adaptation to climate change. Just 1 percent of the funding went towards organic agriculture, missing an important opportunity to help growers meet soaring consumer demand.
The report recommends increasing overall support for marketing but concludes that too much funding went to projects focused on image-building efforts that will have little impact on growers' profitability or on improving Americans' diets. The findings highlighted a number of questionable projects funded in 2009 and 2010, before Secretary Ross took office. These included a $180,000 grant to the Alliance for Food and Farming to support a controversial campaign that targeted EWG's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce, as well as two 2010 grants totaling $940,000, both managed by Western Growers on behalf of the California Specialty Crop Communications Alliance, that focused on social media and promotional campaigns. These and similar grants funded in 2009 supported the public relations efforts of a much broader agriculture industry coalition, the California Agriculture Communications Alliance, which is trying to promote a positive image to consumers increasingly concerned about agriculture's negative impact on health and the environment.
TK: The EWG analysis may or may not be solid in the main, but the fact it singles out the Alliance for Food and Farming as a "questionable project" is a tip off that the EWG would like nothing more than to shout down any voice that is raised in opposition to its alarmist tactics to confuse consumers about the safety of fresh produce.

subset: commoncrawl


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Haren feeling ready for season despite rocky spring
JUPITER, Fla. -- Dan Haren is pleased to not have to return to Jupiter again this spring. And he welcomes just the thought of the regular season on the horizon.
For the second consecutive time at Roger Dean Stadium -- and third time in a row, overall -- the right-hander gave up at least four earned runs in six innings or less.
Tuesday, the Marlins tagged him for five earned runs and seven hits (four home runs) in six innings. His ERA to end the spring rests at 6.39.
"I felt good today, actually," Haren said. "I made one or two mistakes, but overall, I'm ready for the season. It's monotonous for everybody at this point. I would've liked better results, but it's not going to linger. I'm ready. I'm confident."
Now, he'll face a lengthy layoff and will not pitch until the Nationals' fourth game of the season, April 5.
"I've never done anything like that, but the extra time isn't the worst thing in the world for everybody," Haren said. "It's a long, grueling season, so a couple extra days here and there is not bad. I don't know how we're going to play it, but I just know we're leaving soon, which is good."
Haren entered the spring -- he was signed to a one-year deal this winter to anchor the back end of the Nationals' rotation and provide a veteran presence in the clubhouse -- trying to maintain consistency in the mechanics he re-discovered after battling some injuries this year, and also focusing on working inside to right-handed hitters. He ends camp confident in both aspects of his game.
"Spring is actually a lot more grueling than the regular season just because of a lot more day games, drills, you're hitting, running, doing first-and-third stuff every day," Haren said. "So I was most worried about that. And I feel really good right now and I'll get plenty of time between my first start, too. I'm happy. Of course, I'd like to go in with a better feeling, but once the lights turn on, it's a different story."
Joey Nowak is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @joeynowak. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Moderators: Timko, Fritz, Solty, Booter, Blake_T, Frank Delicious
And fairway drivers. DX Eagles and TeeBirds are things of beauty.AcesAZ wrote:Id stay away from DX plastic in high speed distance drivers, anything Innova speed 9 and above. The wider the wing the more susceptible it is to wear and the more angle sensitive it will be in general. JR's post about a Pro Beast is good, pro plastic is very good for grip and wears pretty well. DX plastic is fine for mids and putters.
Anode|ION|JOKERi|MD2|FD|TD|PD|LEGENDaParks wrote:If the posts on this forum are any indication, the PD is like a Teebird with sunshine coming out of its butthole so hard that it flies faster.
JR wrote:...Pro Beast mid 160s. Thank me later ...
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AT&T GoPhone Customers Get New International Calling Options with Mexico Plus Package
Dallas, Texas, April 11, 2013
Beginning April 12, AT&T* GoPhone customers will have a new affordable, international calling option with the Mexico Plus package. Mexico Plus will be available for only $10 a month and include:
- 1,000 minutes.
- Calls to landline and mobile numbers in Mexico.
- Calls to more than 50 other countries, including Canada, China, India and more.
The Mexico Plus package can be added to an AT&T GoPhone $50 monthly unlimited plan or $65 smartphone monthly plan with data.
Also starting April 12, AT&T GoPhone customers can take advantage of lower rates on the existing international long distance package. For $5 a month, GoPhone customers will get 250 minutes of calls to more than 50 countries.
"Customers have several competitive choices for prepaid international calling packages, but the GoPhone Mexico Plus package provides what customers really need with calls to any phone number in Mexico, including mobile phone numbers," said Judy Cavalieri, AT&T Mobility vice president of voice and prepaid products. "With the addition of Mexico Plus and by making plans even more affordable, customers have more flexibility than ever for their wireless service."
For more information on AT&T GoPhone prepaid plans, visit www.att.com/gophone.


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From OpenWetWare
Team Advisor
Professor J. Rubén Morones Ramírez
Academic Interests: Fields of Nanotechonlogy, Systems and Synthetic Biology in the design of therapeutics, materials and clean energy.
Students Chemical Engineering
Priscila Berenice Méndez Osoria
Academic Interests: Understanding and application of engineering concepts to real processes.
Hobbies: Playing Sudoku and other logic games, reading
Rubén García Puente
Academic Interests: Application of chemical engineering in chemical processes and optimal equipment design.
Hobbies: Read, watch Movies, Play logic games and investigate.
Adrián Palacios Muñoz
Academic Interests: Biophysics, and Computational Simulations.
Hobbies: Tango, Physics Problems, and Anime.
Mario Tadeo Treviño González
Academic Interests: Marriage of smart metamaterials and synthetic biology
Hobbies: Swimming, drinking Stouts in the pub, and street workout.
Amaury Ovalle Maqueo
Academic Interests: Understanding biomolecules structures, function and interactions
Hobbies: Playing Squash and League of Legends, cooking and going to the theater
José Ramón Bárcenas Walls
Academic interests: Studying and applying genomic sciences in health like medical genomics, molecular medicine, virology and specially in cancer epigenomics.
Hobbies: Reading digital books and to take my dog for a walk. I also play table tennis and squash.
José Ricardo Aguilar Cosme
Academic interests: Nanomaterials integration for novel applications in biological systems
Hobbies: Playing League of Legends, listening to music, trying to find good books on the internet, sleeping
Stuart S. Garza –Aided with wiki formatting Marcela Arévalo Huizar – Video script and banner design Cyntia Dorina Rodríguez Genera – Logo design


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Back when classic cars were new, there wasn't much thought given to them in terms of one day restoring that good old American steel. These cars were solid as a tank even back then; if they were involved in an accident, you would simply be able to go to the dealer and buy some replacement parts for it. Of course, those days came to a stop once the parts ran out. Thankfully, companies like Classic Industries popped up to fill that void. While that has helped considerably, some of these cars are still difficult to work with because of lack of parts. When all else fails, junkyard restoration is necessary to accomplish your "resto," or in our case, the preparation for customizing.
This month's tech was intended for vehicles that are more challenging that force builders to work with what they have. We visited with Eastwood and they showed us some of their latest technology. When it comes to providing restoration services, Eastwood Company has been developing and selling unique Auto Body Repair Tools, Automotive Accessories, Auto Body Supplies, Automotive Paints, Paint Guns, and much more to the Automotive Restoration Market since 1978. Eastwood Auto Body Shop offers quality auto restoration products for powder coating, metal shaping, detailing, customization and full frame-off restorations! Now follow along, as we use Eastwood's latest chemical solutions in a tech that is all about time.
1. When we opened the trunk, we knew that it looked bad, but after it was cleaned, it was in better shape than we thought.
2. We started off by scraping the floor panels, removing any excess rust that was attached to the surface.
3. To keep the rust dust to a minimum, we used a shop vacuum while we scraped away.
4. The floors were cleaned and ready for the Eastwood Rust Converter treatment.
5. With gloves on, we started to pour the gel on the rusted area.
6. The rust converter gel was ready to be spread throughout the floor.
7. We opted to use a wax pad to spread the gel so the rust was covered completely. You can also use a disposable paint brush.
8. We started early in the day on this tech, which was a good thing, as this tech is about patience. After spreading the gel we had a waiting time of 8 hours.
9. We used a flexible joint knife from our local hardware store to scrape off more rust and unwanted paint.
10. We used a waste bucket to remove the used gel.
11. After 6 hours, we opted to redo the same process and treat the trunk one more time, doing the same procedure that we did earlier.
12. This tech is all about time. The more time you let the gel sit, the better the results, as you can see what happened after leaving the gel sitting overnight.
13. We still cleaned off the floor boards from any rust that might have been left behind using a wire brush.
14. All of the dust and trash that might have been left was vacuumed to make sure the floor was clean and ready for prep and paint.
15. The floor board was cleaned using low VC Eastwood paint prep.
16. The aerosol Eastwood etching primer made it easy to primer and seal the metal, as it was already pre-mixed to perfection and sprayed on as if you were using a paint gun.
17. The etching primer went on smoothly after it was built up in several coats.
18. The quarter panels also received a touch of love as we cleaned them off and got them ready for the anti-rust treatment.
19. We made sure to clean out the quarter panels from years of debris by vacuuming them.
20. We used Eastwood frame sealer in the quarter panels. The reason being, is that it made more like a liquid so it can run down into the sections that you can't normally spray.
21. Here's a look at the quarter panels once they were treated.
22. When we opened up the trunk, we honestly thought we were going to have to cut out the rust and patch the floors. As you can see, this trunk was ready for the next step.


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I live in Austria and came to Buddhism thought a Meditation book (pretty good: Meditation for Dummies). After this I have read their other books about Buddhism and I have seen so much truth in the teachings of Buddha.
Since following the most of this teachings I got pretty happy and satisfied.
My point of view is a bit different. I am a very strong Atheist and a fan of Dawkins. I would call myself a freethinker, that's why I don't believe in Karma and Reincarnation. Great that Buddhism has no dogmas there.
I take nothing for guaranteed and I'm a sceptic. I see a big problem in this dogmatic theism. People should start thinking for themselves, proofing, asking.
Buddhism has helped me a lot. And it even makes me more rational, helps me free-thinking and understanding a lot of things plus learned me how to control my emotions.
I do not live for breaking somewhere out, because it seems I'm not caged (that way). I live for the present and for me death is the end. But I have also learned that Hedonism makes addicted and distraught - that's why I try another way.
That was it - best regards.


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Glen Campbell Doc Gets Release Date, Trailer
Subscribe to Big Frog 104 on
The trailer for the upcoming Glen Campbell documentary, 'Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me,' has been released.
Set for release on Oct. 24 in New York and Nashville, the film is a must-see for fans of the Rhinestone Cowboy, filmed during Campbell's final tour after he was diagnosed with advanced Alzheimer's. A nationwide release of over 50 cities is set to follow.
'I'll Be Me' features footage from Campbell's Goodbye Tour mixed with stories from artists and celebrities who know and love him, including Blake Shelton, Sheryl Crow, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift, Vince Gill, Steve Martin, Bruce Springsteen, Bill Clinton, the Edge, Paul McCartney, Jimmy Webb and Jay Leno.
The documentary took home the Gibson Music City/Music City Films Grand Jury Prize at the 2014 Nashville Film Festival, where it premiered. It was directed by James Keach and produced by Keach and Trevor Albert. More information can be found at the film's website.


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Topic: Scan results for Lauren
Hi Everyone,
Lauren had scans yesterday at U of M. She had minimal shrinkage of all her tumors except one tiny one that grew like .2 cm. We are very happy since she has only been on Xeloda for the past month. Her doctor now has her on Gemzar and Xeloda every two weeks. He also wants her to participate in a study where they biopsy the liver and check the cells to see what chemo will work best for her. She is happy to participate. I think that will happen in January. We are so happy to hear such great news around the holidays. Thanks for all of your prayers.
My comments, suggestions, and opinions are based on my experience as a caretaker for my daughter, Lauren and from reading anything I can get my hands on about Cholangiocarcinoma. Please consult a physician for professional guidance.


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Small businesses could save thousands
10:30am Monday 2nd June 2014
10:30am Monday 2nd June 2014
Businesses could save thousands by applying government discounts to their rates bills.
A local business owner selling goods, food or drink and paying £50,000 or less in retail rates can apply for up to £1,000 off their bill.
Maldon District Councillor David Sismey, Chairman of the Finance and Corporate Services Committee, said: "We would urge ratepayers to contact us immediately if they think they may be entitled to the discount.
"If successful the discount can be quickly applied to the customer's account, reducing their bill."
© Copyright 2001-2017 Newsquest Media Group


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Product Summary
Carry your BlackBerry smartphone in style with the BlackBerry Swivel Holster. Your BlackBerry smartphone works with the custom designed BlackBerry case to maximize battery life without missing a message, and allows users' to create personalized in-holster profile settings. The holster also is designed with a newly designed BlackBerry swivel clip which provides the user maximized comfort wearability.
General Information
|Product Type
|Carrying Case
|Manufacturer Part Number
|Manufacturer Website Address
|Research In Motion Limited
|Product Model
|Product Name
|Smartphone Case
|Brand Name
Product Information
|Carrying Options
|Belt Clip
|Case Features
|Battery-saving Proximity Sensor
Physical Characteristics
|Exterior Material
BlackBerry - Curve 8900/8500 Series, Bold 9700/9780
|Standard Warranty
|1 Year Limited
This product is shipped only within Canada and Warranty valid for Canada only.
Computer Valley makes every effort to provide accurate specifications, descriptions, images and price on all products that are found on www.computervalley.ca
However for complete and updated descriptions, compatibilities, specifications and actual photo we recommend our clients to consult with manufacturer's websites or simply call us for proper clarifications. Computer Valley is not responsible and will not accept returns for items purchased that are not compatible with your system. Please ensure that you have verified compatibility and actual photo with your system by visiting the manufacturer's web site prior to purchase or give us a call to make sure what you are purchasing.
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Computer Valley wants to provide you with the best and fastest possible service. We try to ship in stock orders placed before 2:00pm EST the same day. For in stock orders placed after 2:00pm EST they are usually shipped the next business day. However there are always exceptions. Please contact us prior to placing your order if you need your purchase by a certain date.
We ship by UPS, FEDEX, USPS, CANADA POST , PUROLATOR and LOOMIS from the nearest locations possible based on stock in hand.
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Shrink Session NYC!
The Ladies of Team Pretty in Pink
Wednesday, August 21, 2013 from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM (CDT)
Who's Going
San Francisco, California
London, United Kingdom
Florence, Italy
Event Details
Join NYC fitness expert and life coach Erin Stutland for this SPECIAL ONE TIME AUGUST EXTRAVAGANZA!
Erin is bringing you her signature high energy, mood boosting dance party workout that not only tones and tightens your entire body, but will have you sweating your way to a more confident, joyful self.
Featured in Glamour Magazine, Daily Candy, Hello Giggles and more, Shrink Session uses easy to follow cardio dance moves mixed with yoga grooves and positive phraseology/mantras (we call 'em JAMS!) that allow you to increase the effectiveness of your workout while also having you step into a more empowered, ass kicking version of your self.
Join us for a 1 hour sweat fest, ending with a deep guided "Get Anything You Want" meditation that will leave you centered, focused and available to receive what you truly desire.
Space is limited so get your ticket, NOW!
DAY AFTER CLAUSE: Expect to feel physically and spiritually more alive and connected than ever before!
When & Where
Chelsea Studios
151 W 26th St
New York,
Wednesday, August 21, 2013 from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM (CDT)
Add to my calendar
The Ladies of Team Pretty in Pink
Pretty in Pink is a team of women who are committed to raising money for this very important cause.
Erin Stutland is a lifestyle and fitness coach and the creator of Shrink Session: Tone Your Body, Expand Your Mind. Shrink Session, now an official class at Crunch Gyms, has been featured on Daily Candy, Shape.com, Hello Giggles, Crazy Sexy Life and reaches people in their homes in Australia, Tokyo, the UK and all over the United States.


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ACParadise Network: American Cosplay Paradise American Cosplay Experience American Cosplay Snapshots
Cosplayer Miss Nintendo > Costume of Revy (Black Lagoon)
- Most Recent Photo
- 06-25-2010
- Series
- Black Lagoon
- Character
- Revy
- Year Completed:
- Construction Difficulty:
About this Costume
- Construction Details:
Revy was a really fun cosplay to do.Not only is she a B.A.M.F but the whole experince was great too! Richard Bui and I had an amazing trip around San Fransico trying to find awesome places to take photos to showcase my costume.All in all this costume was one of my fastest costumes done, doing it in just day. The wig is a edited D.Gray wig that I bought from EpicCosplay. I really loved the color and all in all I though everything came out really well. The only things I'm sad about is the wind kept blowing out my cig lol and that there are no shoots with the guns (The locations wouldn't allow for the guns sadly) But soon I shall put some up with my holesters, that I made out of leather and my guns.
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Withstanding Real Estate Developers and Faddish Fashion, London's Legendary Street of Tailors Survives with Its Traditional Stylings Intact
The Savile Row area tailors have certainly had a spot of bother these past few years. For a start, the South American clientele has dropped by at least 40 percent. "You can put some of that down to the Falklands War," says Norman Halsey, managing director of Anderson & Sheppard Ltd., a legendary firm on Savile Row. "You see, our firm, for example, has had considerable South American business, and political changes in that part of the world affect us greatly."
Then there is the matter of zoning. For more than a decade, real estate developers had tried to have the area rezoned so they could raise the rents. "It all seems to have simmered down considerably since the real estate market fell a few years ago," notes Angus Cundey, who presides at Henry Pool & Co., the Row's oldest tailoring firm.
It has indeed, but the peril was very real. While the Row has continuously bounced back from a variety of fashion threats over the years (Carnaby Street in the '60s and '70s caused a minor furor), the real estate menace caused a panic. Well, perhaps panic is too strong a word for stiff upper lips, but the scare had the Row's tenants asking their customers to write letters of protest to anyone in the government who might listen. Formerly the area had been classified "light industrial," which effectively allowed for lower rents for craftsmen than would have accrued from a more commercial business classification. But in the early '80s, with the economy on the rise, developers and landlords began to clamor for new zoning regulations so higher rents could be charged on Row properties. For the tailors, the "light industrial" zoning was, and is, necessary because the firms must have workrooms on the premises. But with a drastic hike in rents, the tailors wouldn't be able to afford the space. There were rumors of rents increasing tenfold in one fell swoop. If this came to pass, the image--as well as the geographic reality--of Savile Row would cease to exist.
If there's anything more dangerous than getting between a grizzly bear and its cub, it's getting between a land developer and a dollar (or pound, in this case). The threat was particularly detrimental, since being outfitted in London remains one of the good reasons for visiting the city; the custom-clothing industry brings in about $30 million a year to the economy. As it happens, a somewhat stagnant real estate market has helped keep rents in abeyance.
"Rents are down," says Anthony D.R. Holland, chairman of the Holland & Sherry Group, one of the largest woolens firms on the Row and parent company of Kilgour, French & Stanbury. "I should say as much as 60 percent, from roughly £46 per square foot to £18. But the best news is that the Westminster City Council, our zoning authority, has taken a definite position on this issue. They are intent on preserving the character of the Row and very keen to promote tailoring there. [Developers of a] 200-yard-long area on the west side of the street must provide street-level shops and accompanying workrooms for tailors at reasonable rates."
You can rest assured that doesn't mean any down-market stuff like jeans shops. The top floors of the buildings--the council has allowed for new buildings to be one floor higher than the previous three-story restriction--can house other businesses, but the street itself will remain tailor-dominated. "Consequently," adds Holland, "there is considerable optimism. I know woolens sales are very good, so I expect the tailors are doing nicely."
So Savile Row will continue to be the home of tailoring. For 150 years the Row has stood for elegant gentlemen's clothing, characterized by good tailoring, quality cloth, and conservative and serious styling. The cheap and flashy, the vulgar and trendy find little room to maneuver within that august precinct.
Although Savile Row has had great historical importance and tremendous influence, and been a magnet and mecca to both highly skilled practitioners of the art and caring customers, tailoring's "Golden Mile" is surprisingly small. The square-shaped area, located in the center of London's West End, covers perhaps slightly less ground than a California shopping mall, with the Row itself running down the middle. Bordered on the east and west, respectively, by Regent, Old Bond and New Bond streets, on the south by Burlington Gardens (a short street) and Vigo Street, and on the north by Conduit Street, Savile Row is a mere three blocks long, about 20 feet wide and architecturally utilitarian.
At the moment, the aforementioned section on the west side of the Row is in the midst of reconstruction, making that area look more like a war zone than a place for a gentleman to be put in full fig.
Sociologically, the area has a village type of atmosphere. The people who work there know each other; they retire to regular haunts for lunch, gossip, professional and social meetings, and recreations. Their lives are tied to one another, both as rivals and helpmates. It is, in fact, this heady, concentrated atmosphere that largely accounts for the success and influence of the entire enterprise. It's a good medium for breeding ideas, improving technique, sharing resources. Another case, if you will, of the whole being more than the sum of its parts.
Which helps account for the sense of tradition one finds here. "We're all interested in maintaining the quality of our work," says Benson & Clegg's Austin. "This is why we're successful. We don't look to gimmicks or radical fashions. Customers trust us to give them quality, and if a suit is going to last 10 years or more, it should stay in style. My own feeling is that, if someone wants something trendy, he should buy something less expensive."
"Yes, it's the quality," agrees Anderson & Sheppard's Halsey. "We attract fairly conservative customers. The secret and strength of the London tailor is that he sticks to what he knows, and works to improve on that, rather than jumping from one new fad to another. I must also say that we're encouraged to be getting more and more young customers. As soon as they can afford us, that is."
There have been tailors in this neighborhood since at least the middle of the eighteenth century, but not in great concentration. For the next 100 years, the Row was dominated by physicians. The big change began in 1846, when a tailor named James Poole, who had a shop on adjoining Old Burlington Street, died. His son Henry took over the business and decided to enlarge the premises by turning his back workroom--which faced Savile Row--into a new shop front.
The firm of Henry Poole is thus considered the first tailor on the Row. Poole's was so successful that it began both to scare off the medical people--who regarded tailors as commoners--and attract other tailors to the street. Poole's is still there, at number 15, and still a family business after more than a century and a half.
Since that time, the Row has had its ups and downs. Where once a personal introduction was considered de rigueur, business now comes from word of mouth and reputation. The great dandy King Edward VII used his influence and brought his cronies to the Row at the turn of the century. The tailors prospered, only to be cut off from international trade a few years later by the First World War. Edward's grandson, the Duke of Windsor, revived interest in the Row after the war, and helped the tailors attract an influential Hollywood contingent of well-turned-out fellows like Fred Astaire, Gary Cooper, Douglas Fairbanks, Clark Gable and Cary Grant. The Second World War not only brought again a cessation of international customers, but a number of Row premises were bombed out by the German blitz.
In the 1950s and '60s, young men found their fashion influence in, first, American Ivy League styling, and later, the Italian Continental look. In the late '60s and early '70s, the Row's most formidable enemy was only a few short blocks away across Regent Street: The Carnaby Street look--all-velvet suits, flower-print shirts with matching neckties, bell-bottom trousers and platform shoes--garnered the lion's share, albeit short-lived, of London media attention. The designer onslaught has continued the past two decades, perhaps the greatest irony of which is the Ralph Lauren shop on nearby Bond Street, which is doing a brisk business in copying the English styles created a three-minute walk away.
Yet with all this, there are as many tailoring firms on the Row as there have ever been. And perhaps with the Westminster ruling, the fate of the world's greatest tailoring enclave will undergo a renaissance.
Herewith a survey of those estimable firms that cater to the discreet sartorial wishes of the individual. In each case, the clothing is handmade from individually cut patterns, with only the finest cloths. Three fittings are considered customary, and three to six weeks are necessary for completion of a garment. The firms listed are strong in the American market, and representatives make regularly scheduled trips to the United States. Phone for an itinerary.
Anderson & Sheppard Ltd. 30 Savile Row (44-171-734-1420)
Customers included everyone from Rudolph Valentino and Fred Astaire to the current Prince of Wales. A&S does the softest tailoring on the Row, with a somewhat easy silhouette: a high armhole, natural shoulder, soft chest and ample blade. Its suits are the epitome of the drape style as it was invented by the almost mythic Dutch tailor Frederick Scholte in the 1930s. Too much padding and stiffness in a jacket would be considered deplorable, so these suits have a feeling of airy weightlessness. The firm's ideal is shape with comfort. Excellent for single-breasted and double-breasted town suits and sports jackets (of which the firm has a wonderful range of exclusive tweeds at £900--roughly $1,350). An absolutely-proper-in-every-detail camel hair polo coat can be had for £1,730 ($2,600).
Benson & Clegg Ltd. 9 Piccadilly Arcade (44-171-409-2053)
Started in 1937, the firm was a favorite of King George VI. The silhouette is cosmopolitan, neither rigidly structured nor loose; just that bit of subtle shaping for ease and definition. Two-piece suits from £1,000 ($1,500), cashmere sports jackets from £1,500 ($2,250). B&C is particularly good for evening wear, including the most formal white tie and tails (barathea tailcoat and evening trousers, white pique waistcoat), £1,600 ($2,400), which is something of a specialty.
Dege 10 Savile Row (44-171-287-2941
Dege started as a military and equestrian tailor, and the house style partakes of that tradition: a fitted coat with real shape, defined shoulders, suppressed waist and flared skirt. Dege tailoring is expert in country clothes (for men and women), specializing in three-piece shooting suits in traditional British tweeds, £1,600 ($2,400), and riding suits from £1,250 ($1,875). Town suits, with perceptible hacking style, at £1,315 ($1,975), blazers from £940 ($1,410).
Gieves & Hawkes 1 Savile Row (44-171-434-2001)
Housed in a Georgian building at the head of the Row, G&H's home was, throughout much of the nineteenth century, the headquarters of the Royal Geographical Society, frequented by most of the great Victorian explorers. It was here, in the first-floor main room, that the body of David Livingstone lay in state before burial in Westminster Abbey.
Thomas Hawkes had been a military tailor, James Watson Gieves a naval outfitter (between them they dressed both Wellington and Nelson). A mere quarter century ago the two firms merged, combining a total of 210 years tailoring experience, and today, Gieves & Hawkes arguably boasts the most beautiful men's store in London. The firm's custom-made suits (they also do semi-custom and ready-wear) have a moderately shaped silhouette with a nipped waist, a somewhat filled shoulder and a slightly longer jacket. Three-piece suits from £1,900 ($2,850), sports jackets £950 ($1,425), trousers £450 ($675), three-piece tuxedos at £2,000 ($3,000).
Douglas Hayward Ltd. 95 Mount Street (44-171-499-5574)
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The market is saturated by PHP based Content Management Systems, but there are tons of non-PHP based options. Does anyone actually use or have used a non-PHP solution for either a professional or private project?
Are you looking for a recommendation for a specific language?
No, I'm just wondering what else is out there there that people have had experience with. I don't really care about language, other than it not being PHP. I know about a few of the popular ASP.Net based CMSs, but if you've used those, then I wouldn't mind hearing about those as well.
There are others, Ruby and Python for example, but I've never used anything but PHP based.
AFAIK @awasson; (though mostly Druplal now) is familliar with MS CMS's
And I know @ralph_m; knows of some non-db CMS's but I think those are PHP too.
Yes, the ones I've looked at run on PHP, although there's Jeckyll that runs on Ruby and is quite popular, if a little Geeky.
Plenty of blogs are now run on Ghost, which is built on Node, and I understand that plenty of sites run on Ruby, including their blog—CodePen comes to mind.
http://movabletype.org/ is still a good choice for blogging and general content management, Perl/Cgi based and generates static HTML pages.
That's pretty cool, I actually haven't heard of that one before but it looks like it's one of the biggest I've seen yet.
I'm not really looking for one, so much as just interested in seeing what else there is. Most of the systems I've seen are either very small communities or enterprise level.
Yes, Ghost is sort of a breakaway from WordPress, with the aim of returning just to blogging, rather than expanding like WP has done.
With Ruby I've used Middleman and Refinery a bit.https://www.ruby-toolbox.com/categories/static_website_generationhttps://www.ruby-toolbox.com/categories/content_management_systems
ActiveAdmin can do a lot of things that CMS's do too.
That's probably why I haven't heard of it. I really like how WordPress expanded into a full fledged CMS, rather than just a blogging platform.
There's also Zotonic, written in Erlang.
A friend of mine is one of the contributors of this project
It's a very flexible system that is extremely fast.
Don't forget Mura!
I use Python almost exclusively. 90% of my sites use Django (much like Rails), but I also use Plone (CMS) and MoinMoin (wiki). If I wasn't using Python I'd be using Ruby.
@Xangis Yeah, some use Django as either just the web framework or also as a CMS. I keep getting surprised who all is using Plone, Python's first CMS and using... Zope. Or are you guys using Grok/ 5?
We use Flask/Python as our web framework, but the CMS is part of our backend, which is partially our own stuff and partially part of the TinyERP/OpenERP fork we use, Tryton. So, the graphical user interface is built in Gtk, which while working cross-platform, does not communicate with Microsoft's MSAA (their accessibility API), so when one of our clients called because they have a blind employee by them, we could only suggest he use a VM with Linux to access the admin/client stuff. Which is sad, until someone decides to either- build a bridge between Gtk and MSAA- rewrite the client in Qt(5) or something.
wow cool, though I would never have thought Erlang is an appropriate language for stuff like CMSes, fast or not. Most places I've seen using Erlang usually pair it with another language like Python to get their mixture of 'communications/messaging' and imperative stuff.... the data model uses 'edges', which they call connections between nodes... that sure sounds like graph database stuff! Which would be totally cool.
Erlang is pretty cool. I don't think I could ever program in it. Functional with side-effects? Sure. Pure?<gumbie>DOCTOR! My brain hurts.</gumbie>


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Familia to DL as Mets call Burke for 'pen aid
NEW YORK -- With Jeurys Familia still battling a bout of right biceps tendinitis and the bullpen in desperate need of available arms, the Mets placed Familia on the disabled list Sunday and recalled submariner Greg Burke from Triple-A Buffalo.
Familia, who has not thrown since reporting soreness following Wednesday's game against the White Sox, will travel to Florida for treatment and rehab. His disabled list stint is retroactive to May 9, making him eligible to return on May 24.
"I talked to him this morning, and he actually said he felt better today," manager Terry Collins said. "But he still has some symptoms of the tendinitis. I just told him he has to slow down."
The Mets were happy simply to replace Familia with a pitcher capable of providing multiple innings of relief. Burke, who originally broke camp with the Mets as a quasi-long man, spent his time in Vegas streamlining out his delivery, positioning himself more on a straight line with home plate. The result, he said, was better control and increased sink on his pitches.
Though he struggled throughout his three-week stint in Vegas, Burke threw a clean inning in his last outing Thursday.
"I'm still fairly new with this delivery," said Burke, who began employing his submarine style full time last spring. "I just worked on being more consistent."
Anthony DiComo is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @AnthonyDicomo. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Well let me start off by saying I am very depressed about this season.I actaully think I am more pissed than sad.Just the fact that we didn't play "Colts football" and we got our asses stomped again.Yes, the New England Patriots are the Colts Daddys.Well this year brought hope but in the end the same exact thing happened our season was ended by the Pats.
What kind of changes do you guys want to see take place in the offseason?I think we will get some defensive guys maybe make the D a bit larger.And I have heard that we will draft all D in the draft which yes I think we should.
Well we have Edge who has been rumored to be tagged.And then I think we have some OLinemen and we have Vandy.I really kind of hope Vandy can stay because they aren't that many good kickers in the NFL.Look at the Jets'
I don't think we need to fire anyone.I just think that they should have came up with a way better gameplan.
I couldn't find a complete list of all the freeagents.But I do know we still have some key FA we need to re-sign.


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CHILLIN' WITH CHILI ... Got a burning desire for chili? Palo Alto will hold the 32nd Annual Summer Festival and Chili Cook-off on Thursday, July 4, from noon to 5 p.m. at Mitchell Park, 600 East Meadow Drive. The chili tasting begins at 1:30 p.m. While there, anyone with a hankering for emergency rescue lessons can meet neighborhood folks who are involved in the city's Emergency Services Volunteer Program. They'll have their own booth. A list of upcoming emergency-training classes can be viewed at www.cityofpaloalto.org/ccc, then click on the "calendar" link.
MOVING PIECES OF HISTORY ... The Palo Alto Historical Association archives have relocated to temporary quarters at the Cubberley Community Center, Room H5, due to closure of the Main Library for renovation. Historian Steve Staiger will continue to staff the archives on Tuesdays from 4 to 8 p.m. and Thursdays from 1 to 5 p.m. The Palo Alto Historical Association builds and maintains the collection on behalf of the City of Palo Alto, which owns the material. Visitors to the archives will share a room that is occasionally used for city Human Resources training.


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It's clear from any angle that Beau "Casper" Smart has it all going on right now.
There's the thriving career as a dancer, choreographer and creative director for music videos, TV commercials and concerts. A beautiful international superstar for a girlfriend – Jennifer Lopez, perhaps you've heard of her?
And starting this week, Smart will be seen on "A Step Away," a reality series from NuvoTV that follows the dancers on J.Lo's most recent tour.
So, yeah, when the Orange County native flashes a big smile while talking about life, work and just a bit about love, it's easy to understand why.
But this certainly wasn't the life he expected. And to get here, Smart, 26, had to work hard and dance harder, but also get a little lucky and learn more than just a little humility.
To the public, Smart may still be known mostly as the guy J.Lo's been dating since she split with former husband Marc Anthony in 2011. That's just the surface, though. The deeper story about Smart and his journey into the spotlight begins in north Orange County with a scrawny kid who loved sports and didn't know a thing about dance growing up.
• • •
"I was into everything athletic," Smart says of his passions as a young teen. "I played football. I ran track for a long time. I played basketball every day at home with my friends."
He played saxophone – alto and tenor and baritone – and developed a sense of humor to protect him from daily trash can-stuffing by the bigger kids.
"I was funny, so I could get away with not being picked on," says Smart, who considers Western High School in Anaheim his school, though he also attended Cypress and Tesoro high schools briefly. "Freshman year, I was 95 pounds and 4 feet 10 inches. So you can imagine what my football uniform looked like – my shoulder pads were bigger than my body!"
There really wasn't anyplace he would have seen dance, and so it wasn't until he was 18 and at a house party that he first saw guys doing a kind of dance that looked so different, so cool, that he had to know what it was.
They told him they were krumping, an offshoot of the hip-hop scene that features exaggerated, aggressive movements and a freestyle spirit. They also told him about "the sessions," a weekly gathering in a Toys R Us parking lot in Santa Ana that started late at night and ran even later, a few hundred guys, loud music playing from a car trunk, and everyone taking a turn in the center to drop their best moves.
Nearly everyone who showed up was black, he says, and because he was often the only white kid in the crowd they called him Casper after the friendly ghost of comic book fame. "They made fun of me so much because I was so bad," he says.
A year later, at a dance battle held at a Santa Ana church, he was finally ready. "Something clicked that made me say, 'OK, I know what I'm doing,'" he says. "And when it was my turn to go, I annihilated him. From then on, it was battle after battle – I was crushing people – to where I was the best white krumper in the world."
• • •
Of course, you can be the greatest krumper in the world and still not make a living at it. Smart still lived at home and worked as a waiter at Chili's, but now he felt like he'd found the start of a new path.
He won a contest held by choreographer Debbie Allen and took home $1,000. "When I saw the check, I went, 'Mom, mom, I got a thousand dollars!'" he remembers. "It was the most money I'd ever seen, and at that moment I was like, 'I need to do this.'"
He earned a spot with Tommy the Clown's crew (Tommy being one of the originators of krumping) and performed around the country and as far as Italy and New Zealand with them. After signing with a Los Angeles talent agency, he started booking jobs in music videos and commercials that needed freestylers, and eventually picked up more traditional dance techniques and the ability to learn choreography, too.
The arrogance and cockiness that had made Tommy the Clown initially leery to hire him sometimes turned off choreographers, but clients often noticed him for the swagger he possessed.
On a shoot for Eminem's "We Made You" video, he ended up volunteering to create a short choreographed section for one scene, and that opened the door to more choreography gigs.
At 22, he auditioned for Beyoncé and ended up launching a long-running working relationship with her creative director, Frank Gatson Jr. "He's a genius and he's my mentor," Smart says of Gatson. "He knew I was a little crazy and a little loud. He was just, 'Be cool.'"
Beyoncé liked his freestyle and hired him, and later Gatson started using him as an assistant choreographer on video shoots and TV show performances.
Outside of the dance studio and the soundstages, Gatson also is responsible for a landmark moment in Smart's life: By hiring him to help on the video for "On the Floor," Gatson introduced Smart to the singer of that song, his future paramour, Jennifer Lopez.
• • •
The funny thing is, Smart didn't really want to be in the video, he says. Long hours, not the greatest pay, it was a hassle into which he was more or less tricked by Gatson and the video director, who wanted a nice bit of freestyling in the foreground of the dance club scene as the video begins.
But things can work out in unexpected ways. A few days later, he was asked to help choreograph a group of kids at a J.Lo appearance at The Grove shopping center in Los Angeles. Not long after that, as she was prepping for a performance on "American Idol," she remembered him and asked her choreographer to bring Smart in for an audition.
As others had in the past, this choreographer was also reluctant to hire Smart because of his reputation: Great dancer but kind of a pain, Smart says of what he was told.
"I was like, 'Yo, I'm not that person,'" Smart says. "'I can be loud, I can be joking around, but I work hard.'"
The choreographer wasn't convinced. "But Jen said, 'I want to hire him,'" and so Smart got the gig.
From that, she had him dance stand-alone performances in different cities through much of 2011. A few months after she and Anthony had gone public with their split, Lopez and Smart started being seen together in public.
"We worked together and started getting closer," he says. "We had a little bit of chemistry and we started dating."
It's an understatement to say he wasn't prepared for the attention their romance would bring him.
"It was awful," Smart says. "The media tore me apart: 'They're getting married!' 'She's pregnant!' 'He's gay!' Anything they could make up."
Once in New York City, he says, he got lost looking for the barbershop where he'd made an appointment for a haircut. Standing outside the building where he thought it was, he walked up the steps, knocked on the door, rang the bell.
"Mind you, I have no idea I'm standing in front of a sex shop," Smart says. The paparazzi got the shot and sold it to three different tabloids.
"The Star said I was upstairs in a gay club. In Touch's was that I was getting a happy-ending massage. And the other magazine had a different story in it. Three different stories on the same picture."
He hated it, but Lopez told him not to let it show.
"She always says, 'Ignore them, the truth will come out,'" Smart says. "I have no skeletons in my closet, there's nothing bad they can find about me, so it's nicer now.
"For the most part, I get left alone."
• • •
A little over a year ago, Smart, Lopez and her manager, Benny Medina, started working on plans for what would become her Dance Again world tour. Smart served as supervising choreographer, and after the original creative director didn't work out, he added co-creative director to his duties.
Medina already had camera crews following Lopez for a movie about the tour, and after a short jaunt through South America, the idea for a reality show focused backstage and mostly on the dancers developed.
"A Step Away" is that show. It was developed independently through Lopez's Nuyorican production company, but NuvoTV, which brought in Lopez as chief creative officer a year or so ago, was always its likely home.
"I sat every single show behind the sound booth and wrote notes every single night for every single song," Smart says of his work as co-creative director on the tour. "No one wants to hear it (after the show). It's late, they're tired. But until the show is perfect, it's got to be fixed, and the show's never perfect. There's always something to do."
He says the TV show is something of which he and Lopez and her entire team are proud, and they hope fans embrace it as an entertaining behind-the-scenes look at the tour and its dancers.
As for his performance onstage during the tour? It's limited by all those other responsibilities he tended to.
"I dance hard in the show – for about 40 seconds," he says, as he grins again. And why shouldn't he?
"My mom always asks me to this day, 'Honey are you OK?' Are you happy?'" Smart says of his mother, Shawna Lopaz Bregon, who lives in Mission Viejo with his stepfather and younger sisters. "Those are the two questions she always asks."
Life is good, Mom, he tells her. Life is really good.
Contact the writer: 714-796-7787 or email@example.com


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In Project MR6, we swapped a 1994 3.0-liter Toyota Camry 1MZ V6 into a 1991 mid-engine MR2 turbo. In various Toyota and Lexus platforms, this motor is good for 185-225 hp. With the new engine in place, we tuned and tested the vehicle with various power boosters, including: 1) a TRD supercharger system, 2) a custom Majestic-based turbo system, 3) both power adders compounded at once 4) naturally aspirated, with neither power booster installed.
We compared and contrasted the 2.0-liter MR2 turbo four-banger vs. a stock 3.0-liter 1MZ V6, the Majestic turbo vs. the TRD/Eaton positive-displacement blower, and the effect of both at once. We achieved our goal of 600 rwhp in Part 6.
In Part 7 we recap the project, test the engine compounded at high boost, bump the power to a new peak in the most optimal configurations, fill in a few holes in our knowledge of power levels at medium boost, dyno test the Random cat at high and medium boost, take stock of what we learned, and finally, complete a project that began nearly three years ago and first appeared a year and a half ago in Turbo.
For Part 7 dyno testing, we made a 400-mile round-trip from Austin to Dallas in record-setting 101-degree high-humidity Texas weather with the A/C working its heart out the whole way. Then we ripped off some high-boost turbo-only and compound turbo-supercharged dyno runs-which seemed to demonstrate fairly conclusively that this is a street car, not a dyno queen.
This car is something of a transformer robot: The modified TRD blower kit can be removed or replaced in less than an hour. The twin-entry turbocharger uninstalls in about 90 minutes with a "turbo-replacement pipe" plumbing from the twin-entry flange into the 3-inch exhaust turbine-out downpipe and muffler-and the car is a torquey, fun ride naturally aspirated. A Random Technology catalytic converter becomes an optional part of the exhaust upstream of the Borla muffler, installing or uninstalling in less than five minutes.
The Final Frontier-High-Boost Compound Turbo-SuperchargingFor the final test configuration, we started by backing away from the copper head gaskets. With good combustion chambers, great intercooling, an efficient turbo and race gasoline, we didn't encounter gasket-killing knock problems, but we were suffering from tenacious coolant leakages past the custom copper gaskets.
After Kotzur Racing verified the block deck and head surfaces were dead flat, we returned to stock gaskets, and removed the now useless inner wire O-rings. The outer O-rings fell at or just within the edge of the stock gasket's metal fire rings, which would increase clamping force and help prevent the head gasket's metal fire rings from being forced outward under extreme combustion pressures.
While the engine was apart, we replaced the main and rod bearings, repolished the crank, and disassembled and serviced the oil pump. Clutchmasters changed the multi-disc clutch facing to a new, experimental super-duty material that should improve torque-holding capability and make for excellent streetability.
Then we installed additional sensors. Fortunately, beside the standard engine temp and air temp inputs, the Motec M48 ECU is equipped with an auxiliary temp input, which thus far, we hadn't been using. We drilled and tapped the blower plenum downstream of the rotor assembly. Then we did the same for the air cooler inlet tank for the GM Delco 3500 Ohm air temp sensor.
Combined with the air temp sensor located just upstream of the throttle body, we could track air heating from the Eaton M62 during a dyno pull, and could, alternately, datalog turbo compressor discharge temperature upstream of the air cooler unit for post-dyno analysis of intercooler efficiency.
We measured exhaust backpressure during turbo boost and, alternately, intake pressure upstream of the throttle body on either end of the air cooler when the supercharger was installed so we could separate boost produced by the supercharger from boost produced by the turbo.
Up to this point, we had dedicated the Aux Volt Motec input to a 1-Bar MAP sensor providing barometric pressure compensation. We could free up the aux volt port to measure backpressure or compressor-discharge pressure by reconfiguring the load calc scheme to provide barometric pressure compensation using a manually entered parameter. By swapping out the 1-bar GM MAP sensor and installing a Delco 3-bar or Data Instruments 100-psi pressure sensor, we could datalog exhaust or compressor-discharge pressure to approximately 33 or 75 psi.
New Dyno Results
Dyno Run #1
We performed our dyno testing at Alamo Autosports with Brice Yingling and Bob Norwood, and started with a nice, low-boost pass. We unscrewed the wastegate adjustment bolt almost completely. The boost table was set to bring in a full 170 kPa (10 psi) of boost at 3500 rpm on 93-octane.
We connected the water cooler to a tap water source, with a total-loss drain-back into the sewer, the blower-discharge sensor to the aux temp port on the Motec, and a pressure gauge to the front bank exhaust pipe.
In the "soft" dyno run, boost increased to 175 kPa at 3500 rpm and fibrillated between 185 and 200 kPa at more than 6000 rpm. No one watched the new backpressure gauge on this run. Torque was fairly flat, from 3750 rpm at roughly 365 lb-ft, before falling off gradually above 5600 rpm. Peak power of 394 hp occurred at 5900 rpm. The auxiliary temperature in the blower discharge climbed from 108-degrees Fahrenheit to 124-degrees Fahrenheit. The intake air (air-cooler discharge) temperature stayed at 82.4-degrees Fahrenheit.
Dyno Run #2
The next run was a "hard" dyno run, with power up by 20 hp and torque up approximately 15 lb-ft over the same range. We were again on 93-octane pump gas.
At this point, the torque leveled off at 4100 rpm and stayed fairly flat to 5600 rpm. Boost (MAP) climbed to 212 kPa at 4100 and fibrillated to 207 kPa at 6700 rpm. Peak power of 415 hp occurred at 6200 rpm, with peak torque measuring at 390.3 lb-ft at 4300 rpm.
This time, we watched as the turbine-inlet exhaust backpressure, which was insignificant in the early run, climbed to 15-20 psi at peak power. It was difficult to tell exactly because exhaust pulsations made the needle flutter.
The blower temperature sensor seemed to have heat-soaked to 118 degrees at the beginning of the dyno run. The blower air temperature climbed steadily to 126 degrees by 5750 rpm, then increased to 140 degrees at 7000 rpm.
Dyno Run #3
With the MR6's fuel tank nearly empty, we added five gallons of 118-octane race gasoline.
Previously, we discovered that with the wastegate adjusted to the minimal 6-psi setting, exhaust backpressure pushing against the wastegate poppet valve prevented the turbocharger from making more than 22-24 psi boost because the wastegate was opening prematurely. The obvious answer was to clamp down on the wastegate adjustment bolt to preload the wastegate actuator spring a little harder. However, we were about to discover that this solution produced blowback in a new problem.
We screwed in the wastegate adjustment bolt almost completely, which would normally increase nominal boost from 6 psi to, say, 9 psi. The Normal (side) and Deltagate (top) wastegate actuator reference hoses were routed to the turbo compressor discharge located below the air-cooler unit and above the throttlebody. Because the reference source was the compressor discharge rather than the intake runners, we expected the minimum boost possible would be 6-9 psi plus about 3-5 psi of output from the blower, for a total minimum boost in the 9-14 psi range.
Bob hammered the throttle and ripped off a new dyno run. The boost controller and turbo combined to reach a MAP of 230 kPa at 4150 rpm, whereupon MAP "fibrillated" fairly flatly to 5450 rpm. At this point, the boost controller duty cycle climbed steadily to 100 percent in an effort to limit boost, while MAP subsequently climbed from 235 kPa at 5750 rpm to 292.9 kPa at 6500 rpm.
In retrospect, clamping down on the adjustment bolt was clearly limiting the opening travel of the wastegate poppet valve; when the exhaust volume became too high for the restricted poppet valve to bypass, boost crept to 28 psi.
The Catch-22: With too little wastegate adjustment pressure, we can't make boost above 24 psi due to backpressure forcing open the wastegate. With too much adjustment pressure, we can't stop overboost due to severe limitations on the wastegate opening travel. The answer is a stronger wastegate spring.
During the dyno pull, backpressure climbed to as high as 35 psi, as measured on a pressure gauge tapped into the front bank exhaust. Torque was virtually flat at a little more than 400 lb-ft from 4000 to 6100 rpm. Power peaked at 471.6 rwhp at 6500 rpm.
The auxiliary temperature-apparently already heat-soaked prior to the run-climbed from 52.1 to 58.5. Air temperatures exiting the intercooler remained in the 28-30-degrees C range throughout the run, even though we'd forgotten to turn on the tap water to cool the air cooler.
We adjusted the wastegate spring out a bit and mashed the pedal. The turbo compressor had exploded. What was left when the compressor failed at 28 psi boost was the compressor hub, broken off where the shaft emerged through the compressor back-plate, totally stripped of compressor blades, and a bunch of blade shrapnel in the bottom air cooler tank.
Fortunately, the intercooler trapped the metal and kept it from entering the engine. The compressor backplate was hugely distorted and bulging outward toward the center section of the turbo. The turbine side appeared undamaged, and the turbine wheel spun freely as always on the hot side shaft.
OK, time to regroup. We put the turbocharger on a bus for Majestic Turbo in Waco, Texas. We installed the turbo-eliminator pipe that enables the MR6 to run without the turbo installed. Then we drove to Austin, where we pulled the wastegate off the car and installed a secondary inner spring to raise the opening pressure of the wastegate from 6 psi to about 18 psi.
In the meantime, confronted with a scored-up compressor housing, Majestic decided to enlarge it for a T-70 compressor wheel.
Back on the Alamo dyno, the plan was to optimize power in turbo-only mode, and then throw the blower on to see what that did to low-end power. During dreadful early-summer Texas weather (more than 100 degrees with extremely high humidity), the MR6 performed a series of dyno runs to about 450 whp. Datalogs revealed significant compressor surging, with manifold pressure jumping between 18 and 28 psi, and in one case momentarily crashing to atmospheric pressure before immediately building again into the 2-3-bar range.
All centrifugal compressors run the risk of surging if the compressor is loafing at relatively low air volume and high pressure ratio. Unlike a positive-displacement supercharger like the Eaton (in which the design makes it physically impossible for air to move backwards through the blower), turbos make boost by accelerating the air to extremely high speeds with a set of fan blades turning at 100,000 rpm or more.
If a large compressor is turning too slowly but making too much boost, air can suddenly change direction and explode backwards through the compressor. That momentarily releases the head of pressure produced in the compressor discharge, sounding like a series of minor explosions and air disruptions.
Anything, like an overly restrictive air cleaner/intake tube, that decreases air pressure at the compressor inlet can intensify any tendency to surge. We realized the 6x5-inch conical K&N air cleaner we'd jammed into the MR2's driver's side engine air intake was more appropriate for a 225-hp naturally aspirated engine than a 600-hp compound monster.
Final Dyno Testing
On the Alamo Dynojet, with five gallons of 118 octane in the tank, we installed a Majestic T-61 turbocharger. Since the T-70 suffered surge problems and was operating within 5 percent of the surge line at high boost in the 5000- to 6000-rpm range, we needed a smaller turbo. The candidates were the T-66 and T-61. Limited to a threshold of 65-percent thermal efficiency, the T-61 was good for 640 flywheel hp and the T-66 for 680 hp. Limited to 60-percent efficiency, the T-61 could manage 670 hp, while the T-66 could do about 710 hp.
With the MR6's excellent air-to-water intercooler, on the day we could return compressed-air temperatures to that of the tap water we were using for cooling, we decided to go with the T-61, which would provide excellent response and fast spooling.
We hooked onto the dyno again with the turbo-only application. In one and a half days, we ran 46 dyno runs, with Alamo owner and chief tuner, Brice Yingling, at the laptop searching for the optimal fuel and timing. With an additional spring in the Majestic wastegate, the first run (no electronic wastegate controls) made 325 whp at 9 psi boost, which is an estimated 375 to 410 flywheel hp.
We methodically worked our way to 22 psi of boost, working with the dyno, the dyno's wideband air/fuel logging, and the Motec M48's internal logging capability, and making changes to fuel, timing, boost and other factors.
At 22 psi, we still didn't have enough wastegate spring to keep the gate closed against exhaust pressure as boost increased further, and we were forced to again begin adjusting the wastegate spring compressor bolt to clamp harder on the spring (simultaneously limiting wastegate travel). With Brice's tuning, the 1MZ managed 455 whp at 22 psi, an estimated 525 to 575 flywheel hp.
Pushing on further, the trick was to dive under the car on the dyno, adding additional turns to the wastegate adjustment bolt, and then make a run with fingers crossed, ready to jump off the throttle on the next dyno run if boost ran away.
Boost never ran away. As we pushed to 28 psi boost, the turbo was out of juice, and we stalled at just below 500 whp. So we disconnected the air-cleaner/air-intake system entirely from the turbo, directing a fan to blow cool air toward the compressor inlet blades under the car. After a few more tuning runs, we clamped on the wastegate bolt, mashed the gas and recorded the results.
The car made a mighty groan as rpm pushed through 3000, and then the engine suddenly went nuclear and torque increased 300 lb-ft in the next 2000 rpm. When the run was over, we looked on the Dynojet computer monitor, and the mighty turbo 1MZ had managed 537 whp at 5400 rpm on 28.5 psi of boost.
We bolted on the TRD blower kit with the wastegate still clamped shut. This time the engine was much stronger, ahead by 20 to 40 whp most of the way up the speed range, until compound power stabbed steeply through 500 whp just above 4500, and Brice aborted by 5000.
Backing out on the wastegate bolt, we did several more runs, managing 524 hp across a broad range, from 5500 to nearly 7000 rpm-and doing it on 23 psi of boost.
Then we substituted the Random Tech cat and Borla muffler. On the dyno, the power was down from 525 to 478 whp. That was 47 hp, or less than 10 percent, with most of the loss due to the cat. Five or 10 percent wasn't bad, leaving the car still capable of 550 to 600 flywheel hp at 23 to 26 psi of boost.
Conclusions and Additions
1)The cat/muffler begins to make a difference at 4500-plus rpm, and from 5000 to 6000, makes a maximum of 10-percent difference in power. The cat and muffler robbed 46 hp in the peak power range around 6000 rpm compounded, and 39 hp in the turbo-only configuration at the peak power range around 5500.
2) At 4800 rpm and 19.7 psi of boost, exhaust backpressure into the turbine exceeds 26.46, on the way up to 35-psi peak exhaust backpressure. We couldn't measure much more pressure with the MAP sensor since it went out of range. Exhaust pressure exceeds MAP under all circumstances.
3) Naturally aspirated, the Toyota 1MZ is losing torque after 4500, and the redline is 6250. This motor desperately needs more cam for huge power.
4) The supercharger was critically important in making power in the 5800 to 6500 range on the 1MZ. Viewed as a black box, the combination of the blower and engine has greatly improved volumetric efficiency in the high end. The blower acts like a big cam for the top end.
5) The supercharger is always adding boost. It isn't true the Eaton blower isn't working once the turbo is really cooking. Whereas the supercharger never made more than 5 psi by itself, the blower component of boost is as high as 9 psi in the compound configuration. We don't know why.
6) The Majestic T-61 turbo proved itself able to make 537 rwhp, which is between 620 and 675 flywheel hp. This is exactly the predicted range of the turbo as revealed in the T-61 compressor map, which provides enough air for 640 flywheel hp at 65-percent thermal efficiency, 670 hp at 60-percent efficiency.
Even with the wastegate clamped shut, we couldn't get the turbo to make more than 29.5 psi of boost, and to do that, we had to remove the turbo intake plumbing, which then made another 40 wheel hp. The average boost from 5000 to 6500 improved from 24.7 to 27.5 psi. If you're running your turbo to the ragged edge, you need a great free-flowing intake.
7) We added a second 3-bar MAP sensor that could be used to track exhaust backpressure more effectively, turbo compressor discharge pressure upstream of the intercooler, plumbing and throttle body.
8) We still didn't have enough wastegate spring to keep the wastegate from being blown open by exhaust pressure at high-power settings. The addition of a second spring inside the Majestic wastegate increased nominal boost from 6 to 9 psi. Beyond that, all additional boost was provided by the Motec-controlled pulsewidth-modulated electronic controller feeding a percentage of boost to the Deltagate side of the wastegate actuator, helping hold the wastegate actuator closed to higher pressures.
We used the higher pressure compressor discharge as a vacuum/boost source for the boost controller, but this was never more than 3-4 psi above manifold pressure, so that was the maximum pressure that could be used in our configuration to keep the wastegate closed against exhaust pressure.
We considered disconnecting the manifold pressure reference to the normal (non-Deltagate) wastegate port, and thus greatly multiplying the effect of boost pressure to keep the wastegate closed at high exhaust pressures. However, we were running very near the top of the MAP sensor, and seemed near to falling off the edge of the world in several ways at such high boost. We couldn't make more than about 22 psi of boost just using the boost controller.
9) We saw high injector duty cycles near 600 flywheel hp in initial rich configurations. However, after tuning, and at peak torque and peak power under all circumstances, we had injector duty cycle left once we began to lean out higher power levels and add timing as the power rolled over. The only place duty got tight was in the high-power turbo dyno run 036 near redline, above 6750 rpm, above peak power and torque, when we began to run out of time for injection, and hit 100 percent duty cycle. The most duty required in the compound configuration was 88-percent required above 6500, again, as time got short.
10) Turbocharging the supercharged engine was like turbocharging a bigger engine with better top-end VE.


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Clamp and Shining Wind heroines receive the PVC statue treatment.
For a great selection of anime and manga action figures and collectibles, check out BigBadToyStore.com, Urban-Collector.com, ToyWiz.com, VNCToys.com, PastGenerationToys.com, HobbyLinkJapan.com, YesAnimation.com, and SuperheroToys.com.
For a great selection of pop culture t-shirts and apparel, check out TShirtGurus.com and 80sTees.com.
The latest manga masterpiece (and soon to be anime series) from Clamp is Kobato. This original tale tells the story of the titular heroine KOBATO HANATO, a mysterious young girl on a mission to relieve the suffering and pain of others. Possessing a magical flask that can heal heartache, Kobato is very eager to help as many people as she can. Sadly, she is forbidden to fall in love with any of her "patients," a restriction which might just get in her way as the story progresses.
Kobato is resplendent in her Japanese kimono, based off of Clamp's cover for Mokona's "Mokona no Okimono Kimono" book. The long flowing robe is bright orange with a multi-color vegetation pattern along the hem. Around Kobato's waist is a large green sash decorated with pink and white flowers, and emerging from below the kimono is a white garment fringed in blue, which matches her cap and traditional Japanese style umbrella. Her pretty face has a wide-eyed surprised expression and is framed by brown hair that drapes down her back to about knee-level. Kobato's right hand rests upon a golden bird cage housing her companion Ioryogi in his stuffed toy dog form; the bottom of the cage opens so you can remove him. The young girl and the cage fit perfectly on the included cloud display base. Sculpted by Kouei Matsumoto, Kobato stands approximately 7 inches tall.
Available in March 2010 priced at a SRP of $49.99.
Coming to you directly from the Shining Wind Fan Festa – St. Luminous Gakuen Koufuusai Soudouki – is all new version of the heroine CLALACLAN from the Shining Wind series. The beautiful princess and priestess of Philias is represented here for the first time in an exciting maid's outfit as depicted by fan favorite illustrator Tony Taka!
Clalaclan is the picture of helpfulness in her maid's costume. She is captured in mid-curtsey, lifting her dress with both hands and standing with one leg in front of the other. Her blue and white outfit is incredibly detailed with creases, seams, and tons of frilly lace. Clalaclan smiles in cheerful greeting as though saying "Welcome home, Master." Her beautiful long blonde hair flows under a pretty tiara and is tied at the end in a big pink bow. Clalaclan stands 7 ½ inches tall (in 1/8th scale) atop an included clear display base, and was sculpted by Yuzo.
Available in January 2010 priced at a SRP of $69.99.


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Off the Charts
This is a very resilient market. After suffering its worst decline of the year yesterday and closing below its 8-day moving average for the first time in 2013, the S&P 500 (SPY) erased those losses and resumed to the upside today. It was a gap and go to the upside with the S&P piercing above the prior high of 1514 briefly intraday. The Nasdaq actually led the way higher, closing the day up 1.29%. The S&P finished up 1.04% and the Dow was up 0.71%.
The action today, on the heels of yesterday's gap and go the downside, is leaving a lot of technicians scratching their heads. The market closed on its highs Friday, and then on Monday opened lower and continued to the downside during the session. Yesterday's (relatively) potent bar lower prompted traders to prepare for a correction and lighten up on long positions. In addition to the bearish price action in the S&P, some leading stocks were starting to show signs of exhaustion. At the end of the day, you have to respect this bullish trend and be patient for more calculated set-ups to appear....539 more words left in this article. To read them, just click below and try Real Money FREE for 14 days.
There's no substitute for a trading floor to get great ideas, so Jim Cramer created a better one at Real Money and blogs there exclusively. We then added legendary hedge fund manager, Doug Kass, with his exclusive Daily Diary and best investing ideas. Staffed with more than 4 dozen investing pros, money managers, journalists and analysts, Real Money Pro gives you a flood of opinions, analysis and actionable trading advice found nowhere else, and allows you to interact directly with each expert.
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Over 50 customized Stormtrooper helmets...
For a great selection of film, comic and TV action figures and collectibles, check out BigBadToyStore.com, BriansToys.com, ToyWiz.com, PastGenerationToys.com, Urban-Collector.com, ZoloWorld.com, MonkeyDepot.com, HobbyLinkJapan.com, and Sekaido.com.
For a great selection of film, TV and pop culture t-shirts and apparel, check out TShirtGurus.com and 80sTees.com.
To insure your action figure collection, get in touch with our sponsor Collectibles Insurance.
There was something for Star Wars fans of all ages at last wekend's Star Wars Celebration V in Orlado, Florida. Among all the great booth and exhibits was the 501st Legion's TK Project in which over 50 customized Stormtrooper helmets were on display and later auctioned off with proceeds going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Several artists and celebreties created their own personalized helmets, which ranged from film tribute, to cute and cuddly, to the dark and occult.
For more information about the 501st TK project visit 501sttkproject.com.
- Jorge Pelaez


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IE Galapagos Islands cruise guest and journalist Julie Hatfield spent a week exploring the Galapagos and mainland Ecuador with our knowledgeable guides, and was good enough to share her impressions of Santa Cruz Island, the most populated island in the archipelago.
Today we spend the entire day on Santa Cruz without a midday siesta on the Evolution. Santa Cruz is the most populated of all the islands, with 16,000 people living in Puerto Ayora, the economic capital of the Galapagos and home of the Darwin Station Research Center.
First stop is the station, home of the Galapagos' most famous tortoise, Lonesome George, who is more than 100 years old and is the last of his particular breed from the tiny island of Pinta. The Galapagos tortoises were nearly wiped out in the 18th and 19th centuries by pirates, buccaneers and whalers who landed on the islands. The giant tortoises, which could exist without food or water for months in the holds of their ships, were like walking refrigerators, stored meat for their future use.
It is believed that some 200,000 of these docile creatures were killed and eaten by the humans who discovered them here and the Darwin Center is dedicated to their re-population.
The face of one of these 300-pound tortoises (the word Galapagos is Spanish for "tortoise") was used as the model for the classic film "E.T."
Next we visit two enormous volcanic craters named Los Gamelos (according to our guide they were technically sink holes created after the craters collapsed).
The birders were far more excited by their first sightings of a rare finch, one of the 13 different species that were at the center of Darwin's historic research on the origin of the species. Darwin's evolutionary theories developed when he noticed that each of the 13 different finch species had a different sized and shaped beak. Eventually, he realized that the beaks had adapted over time according to the food that was available on each particular island. Long, thin bills were good for catching insects, short powerful beaks were suited for cracking seeds. Survival depends on adapting to the environment, and those creatures (and plants, as well) that adapt the best will survive the longest.
Nine of the 13 finch species live on Santa Cruz. We watched a male building a nest and learned that — in the finch world — females choose their mates depending on how much they like the look of the nest. It's all about real estate. The male finch also sings to the females. Females, unfortunately, cannot sing.
Following an open-air lunch, we drove back to Puerto Ayora, a port town with restaurants, dive shops and souvenir shops. But whether you're in a town or a lava field, you're never far away from the protected creatures of the Galapagos. As we sipped sodas at a local restaurant, we shared the patio with a family of sea lions that had flopped up the cement steps from the nearby bay. They stretched out on the warm tile floor and lolled around under our tables, occasionally belching with pleasure over their comfortable surroundings. At a nearby pool, a trio of Galapagos gulls took dips in the blue water as they pleased, while a great blue heron stood watch.
Read more about Julie's Galapagos expedition cruise at www.allthingscruise.com/topics/hatfield.