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The second release in Microsoft's Xbox "Arcade NEXT" promotion is the dark hack 'n' slash action game, Bloodforge. Developed by Climax Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios, Bloodforge places you in the boots of Crom, a retired warrior looking for revenge after his family is slaughtered by the god Arawan. Through combos, button mashing, and a heavy reliance on dodging, you'll have to impale hundreds of mindless thugs before the end of Crom's journey.
I wish that I could tell you how awesome this game is. I'd be proud to tell you that Climax delivers an innovative combat game that has the polish XBLA games have always aspired to create. I'd love to reveal a new XBLA game that demands your $15. Unfortunately, I'm stuck telling you about an XBLA game that feels like an abandoned full-price game.
Like a lot of new attempts at creating an original franchise, Bloodforge borrows from the best and brightest games instead of innovating. From start to finish, Bloodforge plays like an obvious God of War clone. With endless combos, button-mashing slaughter and gigantic boss battles, the developers of Bloodforge didn't have to think too hard to craft their game. The unfortunate result of being derivative is that Bloodforge fails to remotely come close to the games it pretends to be.
Without hesitation, Bloodforge is easily one of the most broken games I've had the opportunity play. And I've enjoyed some garbage games in my time (BulletWitch, Bodycount, and Top Gun: Hard Lock). While on their surface, Bloodforge's graphics are impressive for an XBLA title, in action the game has frequent major problems with collision detection.
On numerous occasions, while trying to kill a group of mindless minions, I would jump and get stuck in air or below the level. This didn't just happen once or twice, it would happen two or three times per hour of gameplay. In one instance, while fighting a giant boss battle, the boss' giant arm slammed down on me and instead of dying under the weight of the arm, Crom just went through the border of the graphics.
In addition to the collision detection issues, Bloodforge suffers from Zach Snyder envy. The core graphical style of this game screams 300. You know, the movie soaked in sepia, particle effects, slow motion, and spurts of excessive blood. Well, through the entire first stage of Bloodforge, I got the feeling that this game was originally intended to be a licensed title for the original 300 film. While many video games have been influenced by 300, this game is more than just influenced – its derivative. The entire design aesthetic screams there was a design team without anything original to say.
Graphical challenges aren't the only issues Bloodforge has. It has a fair share of gameplay issues as well. First, the camera is often too erratic for combat. This occurs most often when battling a boss or a crowd of 4 or more enemies. Because Bloodforge does not have a lock system for combat, the camera erratically tries to navigate through a crowd. If you're a gamer with motion sickness issues, I warn you now to either take your meds or avoid this game entirely. There is nothing smooth about the camera here.
Second, Bloodforge enjoys a challenging difficulty level that rewards combo-focused gamers and penalizes hack 'n' slashers just trying to get to the boss battle. I respect the developers willingness to challenge gamers; however, with all of the other issues I've detailed, I can't imagine most gamers will be patient enough to battle the same band of mindless drones over and over.
Third, this game requires a lot of repetitive battling. Some boss battles took me over an hour to defeat and the perfection required to persevere was maddening. While I respect the developer's willingness to challenge gamers, I don't know if it was the smartest business decision considering the game's many other flaws.
One of the better aspects of Bloodforge is the storytelling. While I found the plot pretty generic, I enjoyed the voice acting in the cutscenes. It was obvious that Climax committed a lot of time to creating a story with polish and sizzle. Bear in mind, Bloodforge isn't exactly high art; at least when compared to most other XBLA games, Bloodforge's cutscenes will reward persistent battlers with some decent storytelling.
In conclusion, one of the overwhelming feelings I had while playing Bloodforge was that this game was intended to be a full-price console release. However, due to some unknown circumstance, the game was either stopped or limited for arcade consumption. Perhaps, Microsoift felt gamers only spending $15 would be more forgiving of the game's broken gameplay. Unfortunately, that just won't fly in an ecosystem that has $10 classics like Braid and Limbo. Bloodforge is a disappointment in its current state and unless there is a major update down the pike, I don't recommend this game to anyone. You'd be much better served playing one of the many other games Bloodforge has been born from.
CraveOnline received one advanced copy of Bloodforge for the Xbox 360 from Microsoft. We received the code on April 19, 2012 and were held to the embargo date of April 23, 2012, at 9am PDT. Before starting our review, we played about 70% of the main storyline.
To understand how we score games, see our officially defined review guidelines.


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DUBOIS – The arrival of the winter months and the holiday season brings countless shopping trips, holiday treat baking and skiing as well as sledding excursions.
These fun activities should always be approached with caution, as they have potentially unfortunate outcomes. Community members can learn how to handle emergencies, which might arise during the hustle and bustle of December by taking an American Red Cross preparedness, health and safety course.
The Red Cross offers health and safety classes that equip individuals with the necessary skills to prepare for and respond to life threatening situations. Red Cross CPR and First Aid certifications enable individuals to respond quickly and appropriately in the event of an emergency. Area residents are encouraged to sign up for a training course and join the 5 million people who have enrolled and learned how to save a life.
The following classes will be offered in DuBois in December. The courses will be held at the local Red Cross office, located at 109 N. Brady St., DuBois, PA 15801.
- Saturday, Dec. 1; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED; $110
- Saturday, Dec. 1; 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; Adult CPR/AED; $70
- Tuesday, Dec. 11; 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Adult CPR/AED; $70
- Tuesday, Dec. 11; 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.; and Thursday, Dec. 13; 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED; $110
In addition to area residents, businesses, organizations and community groups can register for private instruction from the Red Cross. To register for a nearby individual class or private group instruction, call 1-800-RED-CROSS or visit RedCross.org.
Follow us on Facebook Red Cross PA Heartland Chapter and Twitter RedCrossWPA.

subset: commoncrawl


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By PATRICK SLACK
Sports Editor
[email protected]
Visiting Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted (HLWW) overcame a 27-19 halftime deficit to top Pierz 50-47, Thursday.
Senior Mitch Bednar had a double-double for Pierz, logging 12 points and 14 rebounds.
Seniors Josh Templin and Cullin Carter each scored nine points and combined for 11 rebounds, with seniors Ben Boser (6) and T.J. Hoheisel (5), junior Matt Athman (4) and senior Jess Kasper (2) also scoring.


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This antique tambour hook is hand turned and carved and has a beautiful old patina and ivory grain pattern. It has a steel collar and thumb screw and the top unscrews to reveal a storage compartment for holding the hooks (There are 2 small steel hooks).
The condition is excellent with no chips, cracks or other damage. Both ends screw together securely but the thumb screw doesn't tightens enough to hold the hook. It measures 4 1/2" long when closed.


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" Food Type: / City: Camberley "
I was very disappointed not only with the quality of the food which was over priced, but also with the service which was of a very poor standard.
I was part of a group of four, we ordered our starters three of us had fried breadcrumbed prawns which looked like something you would find in the party food section at Tesco and at £6.95 were poor value, the other member of our party had fish cakes which we were informed were tasteless.
For the main meal two ordered lamb shanks which arrived a full five minutes before their vegetables which were in complete, as the sauté should have included olives & tomatoes but came with neither, my wife ordered the sea bream which was very small also with sauté potatoes but she got roast potatoes, I in turn ordered fillet steak which again was very small with sauté without rosemary but they arrived with rosemary,and had to be replaced with french fries,when you consider the cost of the steak with peppercorn sauce cost £22.95 + £ 3.20 per portion of vegetables this was a poor value,we also asked if we could have some asparagus as it was on their Christmas menu but this was refused ,we then asked if we could have some fried courgettes which were not on the menu, we were informed we could, but would have to wait a further 30 minutes, being the restaurant was almost empty which should have been an indicator as it was a Saturday night we said no but would have green beans instead, needless to say the green been had to be returned as they were cold.
Even when the wine came it was wrong as we had asked for prosecco and received the house white, the waitress seemed to not have a clue even down to the fact she did not know what the vegetables of the day was.
For desert I ordered crème brulee with amaretto which was noticeable by its absence, in fact all the deserts looked like something you would find in the freezer section of your supermarket not a supposedly Italian restaurant.
We also were informed the following day that our friend who had the fish cakes was sick all night which is very concerning.
I have had far better in Zizi for a fraction of the price and strongly suggest you give this establishment a wide birth and never dine here
This meal cost us £180.00 and we all feel cheated by not only by the poor service but by poor quality food, clearly this restaurant employs a cook not a chef whose only ability is to only re heat frozen food, the floor staff are incompetent and in this tough economic climate if this restaurant continues to offer such a poor standard it will surely go out of business
This restaurant is one of the best in Camberley, a pleasant change from all the other chains. The staff are friendly and efficient and the quality of the food is excellent. We have also been to their fabulous themed evenings which are particularly impressive and fantastic value for money!! Would certainly recommend this restaurant.
Dreadful!! Not a pleasant experience. Waiting staff were excellent under the circumstances. Management appalling, blaming the customers for their inability to serve food in a reasonable timescale. Will never return there and will certainly not recommend it.
Alcatraz has to be the best value restaurant in Camberley. Have now used this eatery a least five times in last year and the food and presentation are both excellent.Most other non big chain local food places are overpriced and service levels poor. The staff are friendly and accommodating and don't impose themselves on you giving you time and space to enjoy your meal. This is one restaurant you do not question tipping for service, which I have to say is always gratefully acknowledged
I had eaten at this restaurant twice before back in 2005 and the food and service was very good. not excellent but for this type of restaurant it was above average. fast forward two and a half years. We went back on a Saturday night. We walked in and gave our name as we had made a reservation. the waitress looked around the restaurant and then asked us to sit at the table nearest the front door. It seemed as though they hadn't even reserved a table for us. As it was particularly cold and windy that evening I asked if we could sit away from the door and the staff seemed very unwilling to accommodate us. The restaurant had only two other tables in use at this time. Eventually we were offered a table at the back of the restaurant and we gladly accepted it.
We were not asked for our coats and as there were coat racks right next to our table we hung them ourselves. our first
interaction with our (first) waitress of the evening was her coming over, not even saying hello and telling us that she would be moving our coats to different hangars because they all had numbers even though the tables weren't numbered and we had put them on the wrong hangers, as if we were supposed to know better. Two of our party ordered gin and tonics. two minutes later another waitress came and asked if we wanted to order drinks. The gin and tonics came in whiskey glasses and were ready mixed which was disappointing given the price and the fancy looking bar at this restaurant.
We ordered the mixed bread to tide us over while looking at the extensive menu with one waitress. again after ordering another waitress came up to us and asked if we were ready to order. I
remember the last time there were three types of Italian bread on this dish one of which was a lovely warm wholemeal loaf but this time we got two types, both white, cold and very plain tasting. No drinking water was offered so we had to ask for that. While we were reading the menu and eating the plain bread both waitresses and the manager came to the table separately to ask if we were ready to order. It is clear there is zero communication going on between the staff.
We ordered our main courses (none of us fancied any of the overpriced starters) with one of the waitresses and as we were still drinking our aperitifs, asked if the red wine could be brought out with the main course. two minutes after ordering, the same waitress brings out the red wine and asks me to taste it as i'm nursing a gin and tonic. very, very unprofessional. she fills up our wine glasses and walks away. minutes later the male manager comes to our table and even though I was in mid conversation to my mother interrupts and says, "how do you want the tuna cooked?". clearly the waitress had forgotten to ask my mother that and the manager was too rude to ask politely. a few minutes later two waitresses return with the cutlery for fish and steak and lay it very awkwardly. the restaurant was filling up now and that seemed unnecessary; two staff for two knives. They didn't even take away the mountain of unused cutlery from our table.
So our main courses arrive, in a reasonable time I will admit. My fillet steak was a nice size and had a decent helping of pepper sauce, salad was plain and uninteresting. The tuna with king prawns also looked good although it was more well done than medium rare. Another guest had lasagna which looked very ordinary although I'm told it was tastier than it looked. There was no salt and pepper on the table and we had to ask for fresh black pepper, also there was no fresh parmesan which is sinful for an Italian restaurant. Main course finished and cleared away we went through the double act of being asked if we wanted desserts by both waitresses, which we didn't but two Irish coffees were ordered at an expensive £4.20 each.
After that we were left for 20 to 25 minutes in the far corner of the restaurant until we had to flag someone down to ask for the bill. literally within a minute another waitress who I had not even seen all evening came by the table with the bill in the little leather book and just threw it down on the table as she walked off towards the toilets. That is not the way you ask for someone to pay nearly £90 for a meal. As soon as our credit cards saw daylight the manager was there at the table, with not a smile nor a word to take our money. We asked if the waitresses were new to the job and he said one of them had been there over a year which was surprising to us. He turned quite confrontational at that point asking why we were asking about that. So we got up and got our own coats without anyone asking to help and we left without anyone really noticing or caring. It was the first and hopefully only time I insisted to the group I was with that we were not leaving a tip for the truly awful service. This restaurant was good two years ago but the old staff are gone, the food and wine are at least 40% too expensive and I would advise everyone to stay away and not give these people your money because this restaurant has the worst service I have ever experienced anywhere in the world.
Hi There!
I have read some of the comments about Alcatraz, first of all I want to say that the first bad review seems to be very personal, I am a local resident from Camberley, I have been to Alcatraz many times with my parents and friends and I have never experienced such a bad service as this person describes in his review.
I do not know what yourintentions are but I wanted to tell you that You are doing a bad thing leaving such a bad review about Alcatraz.and I also thing you are wrong.
It is very easy to writte bad things about others, especially on places like the internet.
I love the place and I will go there again and again.
But this is only my opinion...
By the way, I too think it is much beter than Pizza express.
Happy new year to you all.
I have eaten here 3 times now with my girlfriend, and we are delighted with the food, with the atmosphere of the restaurant and with the attitude and service of the staff.We found it almost impossible to fault the evening - just that one of the desserts we chose was not available (second time that happened!) We will go again and probably again!
we were extremely disappointed with the meal and the attitude of the manager, which was very poor when we complained.
You're supposed to be an italian brassarie and your waiter could not locate Naples on the italian map....
your pasta was tepid and tasteless, your wine is £25 too dear - we asked for a wine and were given an expensive bottle without knowing the price. the chips were wet, the lasagne was salty.
we do not recommend this restaurant at all and felt thoroughly disappointed.
Camberley is not short of restaurants. Almost every taste is catered for. In most cases you are spoiled for choice. If you are a fan of Indian food you could eat out just about every night for a month and not try the same place twice. The same is probably true for Italian. Whilst Indian restaurants seem to remain a fixture, Italian, with the exception of those with a high reputation, seem to change management on a regular basis. A location in question is Obelisk Way, the small courtyard at the entrance to the Main Square shopping precinct. There has always been an Italian restaurant here but they seem to come and go at intervals. I have never understood why. The location is as good as any in the town centre. Other restaurants, Italian or otherwise, seem to do quite well. The last one to occupy this spot was one we had used on several occasions and had found good for a night out or lunch when shopping. Anyway, it closed and in its place we now have an Alcatraz Brasserie. The Alcatraz Group (www.alcatrazuk.com) are based in Bournemouth and have a number of establishments in the Bournemouth and Poole area. These are not restricted to restaurants. They own bars, nightclubs and even a wine and beer outlet. Their furthest flung outpost was Winchester so opening in Camberley took them the furthest from home so far. They describe their brasseries as "Italiano Moderno", whatever that means. Perhaps it's their version of "Nouvelle Cuisine" although, knowing the Italians, they wouldn't put up with the minute portions that such establishments seem to get away with whilst still charging astronomical prices. I had noticed the restaurant whilst in town and mentioned it to my daughter, home on one of her irregular visits from
her live-in job in Tadworth. Coincidentally she and some friends had plans to visit it one evening so I was interested to hear her opinion. She reported that the place was good and certainly worth a try. Our return from our recent 25th Wedding Anniversary cruise (review being written) also coincided with my birthday so the Love of my Life decided to take me out for a meal and the Alcatraz was chosen for the event (please, no jokes about life sentences). The restaurant has been developed into a single large room. The outward facing wall is entirely floor to ceiling windows that can and are opened onto the street, mostly at lunchtime. This works well as the area in front of the restaurant is pedestrianised and here you may sit at a table "al fresco" if you wish. Inside the décor is white all over with the walls occupied with paintings. One painting in particular seriously upset my wife. She was convinced that it represented a group of people. The problem was that, if that's what it was supposed to be, it was on its side! As the painting was signed and the signature was at the bottom one assumes the artist had other views as the the subject, or maybe he just likes to annoy people! As I had my back to it it didn't bother me. A word of warning when you arrive, there appears to no distinct no-smoking area. We weren't asked if we had a preference and to be honest I forgot to enquire. It wasn't until someone started smoking at another table nearby that I remembered. Fortunately they were just far enough away that we weren't disturbed by this customer's foul addiction. If we return I shall make a point of finding out if they have a policy. The selections on offer were typical of those to be found at many establishments that would not necessarily declare themselves Italian. T
;here are, of course, the obligatory Pizzas and Pasta dishes so I suppose on those terms we can agree on the "ethnic" definition. On this occasion we decided that we would have a "fishy" night, but first we would eat. (Sorry, couldn't resist that). My wife chose as her starter the "Gamberi impanati", breaded butterfly king prawns, deep fried and served with chilli jam. The dish was enjoyable although the chilli jam did seem a little "laid back"! I had the scallops special and it was excellent. We also ordered our favourite Garlic Bread ("Bruschetta con aglio") which, as the name implies was French bread style rather that a pizza bread base. I have to say I do prefer the latter, but that's just my taste. More to the point, it took some time to arrive, by which time we had almost finished our starters. As we were choosing fish dishes on this occasion we chose a bottle of Le Rime, a white wine composed of Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay grapes, from the Italian producer, Castello Banfi. Yes, I know that this "White with Fish, Red with Meat" thing is vastly over-hyped. I've had red with fish and found it entirely appropriate. However, white it was on this occasion. Le Rime is, in my opinion, an unexceptional though inoffensive wine. Not sure I would chose it again. For the main course my wife chose the Sea Bass ("Bronzino al limone"), which was cooked in a parcel and arrived at the table as it came out of the oven. Most restaurants make the effort to "unwrap" your dish for you so as to avoid their guest risking scalding themselves on the steam as the wrapping is removed. Not here! I chose the "Gamberoni in umido", Sauté king prawns done in gar
lic butter, lemon, brandy and white wine. This was excellent. With initial aperitifs, desserts and coffee for my wife the whole came to just £80 for the two of us. I needed to "make use of the facilities" during the evening and was amused that the toilets were located upstairs past discarded paint pots and black bin liners full of linen waiting to go to the laundry. Clearly no effort spared to provide the customer with "memorable" experience here then! Would we go again? Probably. In all the food was generally good. The service was "variable". The atmosphere was pleasant. Next time I would make a point to enquire about the non-smoking arrangements. I would also hope that the waiters will have had a little more training in customer service. It would be unfair to judge on just one visit but, if typical then Alcatraz will struggle. There are just far too many really good establishments in Camberley for the mediocre to survive. Capital letters courtesy of: http://www.chuckleweb.co.uk/fixit.php


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Okay, so curiosity has gotten the best of me, and I've been hunting down info on coconut aminos, as I've been seeing this product mentioned in more and more recipes. Basically, it's fermented raw coconut sap and salt, which is supposed to taste like soy sauce, but be healthier for you because of all the amino acids in it.
The best comparison site I've seen to compare soy sauce, tamari and coconut aminos is this page:
My question is, does it really taste like soy sauce, or does it have a different taste, like tamari does vs. soy sauce?
I'm having a devil of a time finding a bottle to try out without paying outrageous shipping costs for a single bottle. Even the new Hong Phat supermarket here in Portland—which stocks several high-end 40°N fish sauces—doesn't have it, but one of the employees there was nice enough to google it on his phone to see where they might stock it if they did carry it, as he'd never heard of it.
Has anyone ever tried it? Been successful finding a store which stocks it? Have any personal pros or cons to report based on personal use?
Thanks in advance for any info you might have.


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BP Comment Quick Links
|Strength of Schedule Report
May 27, 2003
Prospectus Today
Blame Canada
It's a little funny that on one of the distinctly American summer holidays, two of the best stories in baseball come from a place where Monday was just another day. The Montreal Expos took five of six on a brief homestand to come into Memorial Day at 32-18, just two games behind the Braves in the NL East. The Toronto Blue Jays? All they did was sweep a four-game series at Yankee Stadium for the first time ever, moving to 27-24 and closing within four games of first place in the suddenly very competitive AL East.
I admit going into this piece that it's a "write it while you can" job. While the Expos and Jays are currently among the hottest teams in baseball, and right there in their divisional races, I don't think either will be in such a lofty place in two months. For now, though, each is making noise, and doing so in completely different ways.
The Expos have allowed the third-fewest runs in baseball (189), behind only the freak-show Dodgers and the Oakland A's. It's a team effort: the Expos are fourth in the NL in Defensive Efficiency, turning nearly 73% of the balls in play against them into outs. That's useful for a staff that's just middle of the pack in strikeouts (6.6 K/9). The defense and a league-low 141 walks allowed have enabled the Expos to hold opponents to a .310 OBP, the key to their run prevention.
All their success comes from keeping opponents off of the scoreboard, because their offense is average or slightly below in just about every category, with the four good hitters (Jose Vidro, Vladimir Guerrero, Orlando Cabrera and Brad Wilkerson) being weighed down by four sinkholes in Endy Chavez, Michael Barrett, Fernando Tatis and the first-base platoon of Jeff Liefer and Wil Cordero. The Expos' strong bench--four reserves have at least a .255 Equivalent Average--has helped them win the close ones: the team is 9-3 in one-run games, and 20-10 when the margin is three or less.
While the Expos have played well so far, I'm highly suspicious about their abilty to stay in contention. As I've argued from the beginning of the season, the games they'll play in Puerto Rico will add a travel burden to their schedule that will be hard to overcome. Beginning with last night's game in Florida, the Expos will be away from Montreal for almost four weeks, and for five of the next six, playing a brutal schedule (the Phillies, the AL West, the resurgent Blue Jays and the Braves).
On top of that, their pitching staff is a patchwork, missing two members of the planned Opening Day rotation (Tony Armas and Orlando Hernandez) and getting by on the contributions of three pitchers (Zach Day, Claudio Vargas and Livan Hernandez) with a combined 85 strikeouts and 58 walks in 157 1/3 innings. That's not a recipe for future success.
There's also the owned-by-MLB factor, although I have to admit that I was wrong about that last year, when Omar Minaya added Cliff Floyd and Bartolo Colon to the team in July. The deals to get those players left the Expos farm system in tatters, and while they still have some prospects, they lack the top-tier guys who can be dealt for difference-makers, and it's again unlikely that they will take on payroll to make a run. It's not fair to Expos fans--33,236 of whom showed up at Olympic Stadium Saturday night--but it's reality.
If the Expos can survive the next six weeks and be in the race come July 1, I'll be able to take them more seriously. Until then, as good a story as they are, I'm doubtful that this team has enough to stay with the Phillies and Braves.
One province over, Blue Jays are 18-8 since their six-run ninth inning beat the Royals on April 27. More to the point, they're 21-11 since a brutal season-opening stretch against the Yankees, Red Sox and Twins, having taken advantage of a softer May schedule to get their pitching and defense in order:
ERA IP H BB SO HR April 6.08 237.0 302 98 190 41 May 3.78 212.0 199 62 130 29Lighting up the scoreboard hasn't been a problem for the Jays; they lead the planet in runs scored, and while Skydome is part of that, they're sixth in MLB in EqA, so it's not a fluke. They're second in the majors in batting average, ninth in home runs and ninth in walks, largely on the strength of two factors: Carlos Delgado, and no holes. Only Jayson Werth has performed below replacement level, and he's done so just barely (-0.3 RARP) in a mere 34 plate appearances. Lots of teams would love to have a low-profile, low-cost, productive middle infield of Orlando Hudson (.283/.339/.401, 262 EqA) and Chris Woodward (.268/.340/.391, .249 EqA). The shopping J.P. Ricciardi did in the free-agent pool this winter has paid off handsomely as well: Frank Catalanotto (.317/.345/.495) and Greg Myers (.337/.422/.547) have been productive left-handed bats for a combined cost of less than $4 million.
Of course, all this success is coming a bit early for the Jays, who expected to continue developing their young players this season while paring more payroll and adding talent to the organization. Their challenge will be to continue with their original plan and not get sidetracked by their current success. That likely means trading Cory Lidle and Shannon Stewart before August 1, despite both players' roles in the Jays' hot streak, and giving more playing time to Werth, who is still learning to hit right-handers.
Sometimes, success is as big a problem as failure. The Jays have to resist the siren call of a wild-card run and keep adding Jason Arnolds to the organization. The gap between them and the bullies in the division is closing rapidly as the Sox and Yankees age, and it's not hard to see a time when the Jays will be the 800-pound gorilla of the East.
Joe Sheehan is an author of Baseball Prospectus.
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Don't buy your 2017 calendar until you've seen this
There are officially less than 100 days until that jolly fat bloke in the red suit starts making his way around to all the good girls and boys. While you might not be interested in the toys of today's youth one thing that gets stuffed into those Christmas stockings each year is a calendar (or two).
Most red-blooded women, and probably a few men, don't mind a shirtless man pinned to their wall or stuck to their fridge, but what if said shirtless man was also posing with a puppy?
Texas photographer Ricki Beason seems to have figured out a winning combination.
Her rescue photography is dedicated to taking beautiful photographs of dogs that are available for adoption. She works closely with as many dog rescues as she can to help market and promote their available dogs for adoption.
The calendar — aptly titled 'Heartthrobs and Hound Dogs' — kicked off because there is a misconception that shelter rescue dogs are "broken" and that there is something "wrong" with them or that they can't possibly be brought into your home. (It's a bit like the attitude that's often directed towards the over-60s if you think about it…)
"I decided to start a project that would benefit not only the rescues involved, but also raise awareness that rescue dogs are just as wonderful as designer dogs," Beason writes on her website.
Rescue dogs are paired with 'heartthrob' fire fighters, police officers and military veterans, and the result is not only gives you something nice to look at but it raises awareness of the plight of rescue dogs to people everywhere.
More than $30,000 has been raised for local shelters around the United States.


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How To Make Good Looking Gold Ribbons For Bows
Decorating By Krumbs Updated 8 Dec 2008 , 8:44am by deetmar
What is the best technique to make them look really good.
The way i make them is ok, but i am sure there are better ways.
Please do not hold back with suggestions.
do you mean the actual bow, or the colour? i havent tried making proper bows yet, but i would say that lustre dusts are the way to go for the colour!
For the color - using Americolor's gold and then brushing it with gold luster dust. For making ribbons that are all the same size - I think Global Sugar Arts has a "ribbon wheel" that will help you cut them all the same size.
I have just started using the Gold airbrush paint from GlobalSugarArt. I have actually used it two ways, one by brushing it on, which takes several coats, and two with the airbrush wich works very well.
I used to use the Gold Luster Dust, mix with alcohol, and paint it on, but I really like the airbrush paint.


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Fasano scores partial victory in privatization fight
On the Senate floor Wednesday, Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, scored a partial victory on the issue of expanding privatization of the state prison system. By a voice vote, senators voted to eliminate language that would privatize probation services in an 18-county region of South Florida, from the Keys to Bradenton.
The main budget bill (SB 2000) still would privatize all state prisons in those counties, but not probation services.
"We're halfway there," Fasano said after the vote. "We've convinced our colleagues that we can't privatize public safety and they agreed with me." The House budget awaiting a floor vote Thursday would privatize probation services in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.


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How Massive Can A World Be And Still Support Life?
At some future juncture, we're going to need more living space, whether it be found on another planet or through the expanse of our planet's existing surface area. In his latest venture into worldbuilding, Oxford University research fellow Anders Sandberg explores some of the more extreme possibilities.


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KENYA-SOMALIA: Warning over conditions at Dadaab camp
NAIROBI, 17 July 2009 (IRIN) - The process of decongesting chronically overcrowded camps hosting Somali refugees in Dadaab, northeastern Kenya, should be speeded up to check disease outbreaks and rising tensions with the local community, an official of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) warned.
"Disease outbreaks is one of the current issues we are tackling; in the Hagadera camp [where IRC runs a hospital and four health posts] there are 35 cases of measles already," Kellie Leeson, IRC's country director said at a press briefing in Nairobi.
Although Kenya officially closed its border with Somalia in 2007, more and more Somalis continue to pour into the country amid intensifying fighting between government troops and Islamist insurgents in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
Leeson said humanitarian officials needed a reception centre to screen the new arrivals to check for potential disease outbreaks.
On 1 July, IRC launched an emergency measles vaccination campaign targeting thousands of children in Hagadera, one of three camps in Dadaab.
"We are concerned about the issue of space in Dadaab; negotiations for more land to expand the camps are ongoing and we urge the [Kenyan] government to speed up this process," Leeson said. "Plans are already under way to move 10,000 to 15,000 of the refugees to Kakuma [camp in the northwest]; but this figure is equivalent to three months of arrivals."
She said the growing tensions between the refugees and the local communities was another concern. The camps are not officially demarcated and some of the long-term refugees have purchased livestock, fuelling tension over pasture and water, Leeson added.
According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the refugee population in the three Dadaab camps - Dagahaley, Ifo and Hagadera - stood at 279,603 on 14 June.
The agency said the three camps were established to accommodate 90,000 refugees - 30,000 per camp - but by 30 April, Ifo was the most populous, hosting 95,180 refugees. Hagadera has a population of 93,642 while Dagahaley is home to 86,873 refugees.
UNHCR said it had registered 32,057 new arrivals from Somalia so far in 2009 with no sign of a let-up.
Increased insecurity especially in the middle and lower Juba regions of Somalia, coupled with drought and food insecurity, were the main reasons for the surge from January to March. The lower number in April was attributed to the rainy season, which may have reduced drought-induced food insecurity and also made some border roads harder to pass.
In March 2009, Refugees International, an advocacy NGO, called on "UNHCR and donor governments to mount a full-scale diplomatic effort, including reaching out to Kenyan refugee and human rights NGOs, to gain Kenyan government permission to expand the Dadaab refugee camps".
Theme(s): (IRIN) Refugees/IDPs
Copyright © IRIN 2009
This material comes to you via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States.
IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
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2012 CHEVROLET Malibu LT Sedan 4D
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2012 CHEVROLET Malibu LT Sedan 4D
No-Haggle Price
Estimated payment:2 Adjust Pmt. Terms
Can run on unleaded gasoline or an ethanol/gasoline blend.
Gets 28+ MPG Hwy.
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Hurryin today before it's gone.
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Duluth, GA 30096-5841
- AM/FM Stereo
- Dual Air Bags
- Air Conditioning
- Tilt & Telescoping Wheel
- Keyless Entry
- Power Door Locks
- No OnStar/Bluetooth
- Power Windows
- MP3 (Single Disc)
- Traction Control
- StabiliTrak
- Power Steering
- ABS (4-Wheel)
- Side Air Bags
- Cruise Control
- Power Seat
- Daytime Running Lights
- Premium Wheels
- Head Curtain Air Bags
- Theft-deterrent alarm system content theft alarm
- Sill plate bright accent
- Seat rear 60/40 split-folding seatback
- Defogger rear-window electric
- Remote keyless entry
- Steering column tilt and telescopic
- TAPshift manual shift control on shift knob
- Steering wheel 3-spoke with mounted cruise controls
- Trunk release power interior
- Windows power with driver Express-Down and rear passenger lockout
- Air conditioning single-zone manual
- Floor mats carpeted front and rear
- Seat adjuster driver power vertical height
- Lighting interior with front reading lights
- Door locks power programmable with lockout protection and delayed locking
- Power outlets 2 auxiliary
- Visors driver and front passenger vanity mirrors covered
- Lighting ambient front interior door handles
- Cup holders dual front and rear
- Mirror inside rearview manual day/night
- Cruise control electronic with set and resume speed
- Seat adjuster driver power lumbar control
- Map pockets driver and front passenger seatbacks
- Theft-deterrent system vehicle PASS-Key III+
- Window trim bright side
- Door handles chrome
- Wipers front intermittent variable speed-sensitive
- Moldings body-color bodyside
- Mirrors outside power-adjustable body-color manual-folding
- Grille Black with chrome surround
- Moldings body-color rocker with bright inserts
- Fascia front body-color with chrome accent
- Wheels 17 (43.2 cm) 5-spoke flangeless machine-faced alloy
- Tires 17 (43.2 cm) touring blackwall
- Glass Solar-Ray light-tinted
- Fascia rear body-color with chrome license plate bezel
- Tire compact spare and jack assembly
- Glass acoustic laminated
- Tail lamps incandescent
- Safety belts 3-point all seating positions includes front seat pretensioners
- Trunk emergency release handle
- Daytime running lamps
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- Front wheel drive
- Suspension 4-wheel independent
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William Landry
LAKE ARTHUR – Funeral services for Mr. William "Bill" Landry, 88, will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 11, 2013, in Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church with Rev. Jeff Starkovich officiating. Burial with full military honors will be in Andrus Cove Cemetery under the direction of Miguez Funeral Home of Lake Arthur.
Visitation will begin today, Friday, May 10, 2013, from 3-9 p.m. with a rosary being recited at 7 p.m. Visitation will resume on Saturday, May 11, 2013, from 8 a.m. until the time of services.
Mr. Landry died Wednesday, May 8, 2013, at 2:51 a.m. in Jennings American Legion Hospital.
He was a native and lifelong resident of Jennings. Mr. Landry was a retired rice farmer, a member of Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church, a Marine veteran of World War II, and a Purple Heart recipient. He loved to cook and was an avid cattleman.
He is survived by three daughters, Sylvia (Terry) LeDoux of Jennings, Linda (Harold) Taylor of Baton Rouge, and Ouida Landry of Lake Charles; two sons, Danny Landry of Lake Arthur, and David Landry of Longview, Texas; a sister, Alice Landry Granger of Jennings; five grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Mr. Landry was preceded in death by his wife, Evelyn Martin Landry; a daughter, Joyce Landry; his parents, Eldridge and Helen Landry; three brothers; and three sisters.
Words of comfort may be expressed at www.miguezfuneralhome.com.
Short URL: https://www.jenningsdailynews.net/?p=19606


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I had a great trip to Publix this morning. I found everything on my list in stock and that made things go nice and fast. I used the $10 off a $50 Visa Gift Card when you buy $50 of groceries in-ad store coupon. It had a $4.95 activation fee, so I netted $5.05 of profit on the gift card. Those extra $5.05 savings are reflected in the bottom line stats for this trip.
Here's what I bought, along with the coupons used:
THREE ZONEPERFECT BARS, regular price $1
Get $0.50 cashback from Ibotta for buying Zone Perfect Bar
Used one $1/3 ZonePerfect Bars Publix store coupon, Grocery Advantage Flyer (exp 12/18!)
and used three $0.50/1 ZonePerfect Bar printable manufacturer's coupons (preclipped)
Price at Register: $0.50, but received $0.50 cashback from Ibotta
TWO COLLEGE INN BROTH, on sale BOGO $2.69
Used one $1/2 College Inn printable coupon (preclipped/zip 22222) or $1/2 College Inn printable coupon (preclipped/zip 01101)
NET PRICE FOR ALL: $1.69 (or 84 cents each!)
***To change zip codes, go here and change your zip to the one listed with the coupon link above. Use the box on the right side of the page and enter your zip. Click on the arrow to submit the zip code change. Then come back here and click our preclipped link to the coupon and you should see it right away.
FOUR KRAFT CHUNK CHEESE 8 OZ, on sale BOGO $4.29
Used two $1/2 Kraft Natural Cheese Shreds or Chunks 8 oz printable coupons (preclipped)
NET PRICE FOR ALL: $6.58 (or $1.64 each!)
ONE KRAFT MAYO 30 OZ, on sale BOGO $5.37
ONE KRAFT MIRACLE WHIP 30 OZ, on sale BOGO $5.37
Used two $0.55/1 Kraft Mayo or Miracle Whip 30 oz printable coupons (preclipped)
NET PRICE FOR ALL: $4.27 (or $2.13 each!)
TWO PHILADELPHIA CREAM CHEESE 8 OZ, on sale 2/$4 (reg. price $2.85)
Used one $1/2 Philadelphia Cream Cheese 8 oz bricks printable manfacturer's coupon (preclipped)
NET PRICE FOR ALL: $3 (or $1.50 each!)
ONE BABY CUT CARROTS, on sale $1.25 (reg. price $1.69)
Get $0.50 cashback from Ibotta for buying Carrots
No coupons used
Price at Register: $1.25, but received $0.50 cashback from Ibotta
ONE COLDCALM TABLETS 60 CT, on sale $6.99 (reg. price $8.99)
Get $2 cashback from Ibotta for buying Coldcalm 60 ct
Used one $5/1 Boiron Coldcalm Tablets printable coupon
Price at Register: $1.99, but received $2 cashback from Ibotta
TWO OCEAN SPRAY 100% CRANBERRY JUICE 101.4 OZ, on sale BOGO $5.59
No coupons used
NET PRICE FOR ALL: $5.59 (or $2.79 each!)
***This was a special roommate request. She is making her wicked holiday punch for two parties this weekend and needs it! Otherwise, I wouldn't buy these without a coupon.
TWO PEPPERIDGE FARM FARMHOUSE SANDWICH BREAD, on sale BOGO $3.99
Get $0.50 cashback from Ibotta for buying Bread
Used two $1/1 Pepperidge Farm Sandwich Bread printable coupons (no longer available)
Price at Register: $1.99, but received $0.50 cashback from Ibotta
NET PRICE FOR ALL: $1.49 (or 74 cents each!)
TWO BREAKSTONE'S SOUR CREAM, on sale BOGO $2.39
No coupons used
***Another roommate request. She is quite the stats killer on my shopping trips!
TWO GALBANI FRESH MOZZARELLA 8 OZ, on sale $2.99 (reg. price $3.99)
Used two $1/1 Galbani Product Publix printable store coupons
and used two $1/1 Galbani Cheese printable manufacturer's coupons
NET PRICE FOR ALL: $1.98 (or 99 cents each!)
TWO INTERNATIONAL DELIGHT COFFEE CREAMER 16 OZ, on sale BOGO $2.19
Used one $1/2 International Delight Creamer Publix coupon, "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" flyer (this was in one of my recent Sunday newspapers)
and used two $1/1 International Delight printable coupons (register)
Total Retail Value of All Merchandise: $88.96
Net Price Paid for Everything: $21.87
Savings Rate (excluding tax): 75.4%
-HUGE $1.50-$1.84 MONEYMAKER on Biotene at Walmart/Meijer
-Another New $3/1 BIC Razor coupon (plus moneymaker deal)
-Target: $2.99 for BIG Tide & Gain Laundry products!
-Rare $1/1 & $1/2 Ready Pac Salad Printable Coupons!
-HURRY - High-Value $1/1 Silk Half Gallon printable coupon!
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Every one of us is a little bit crazy in one way or another. We all have our quirks. Those quirks are what make us unique human beings. It's only when those quirks become obsessions that take over lives that there's a problem. Sometimes it just happens for one reason or another, but sometimes evil people with evil intentions work hard to turn those quirks into obsessions in an effort to hurt others. I would say those who do that are monsters who deserve the contempt of everyone that isn't consumed by their obsessions. I almost feel sorry for those they've turned into puppets. But I have no sympathy for the puppet masters.
Anyway, I like this song. Crazy, I know.


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INSA's Shanghai Restaurant InstallationAugust 19, 2014
INSA's latest work is set in the interior of a restaurant in Shanhai. "A user activated Lighting installation cascades through the space terminating in INSA's trademark 'Grafitti Fetish' - an exploration of the iconography of modern aspirations: for the artist, the graffiti fetish concisely embodies the central concern of his output. The graffiti fetish pattern derives from two archetypal icons associated with contemporary femininity: high heels and curves - objects that have also become aspirational commodities. Within the undulating contours of this apparently abstract design, a two-fold vision of these icons is revealed: they simultaneously celebrate and question our consumerist ideology. "
Balanced upon a lateral beam A VIP platform sits high above the banquette table, this elevated position serves as symbolic elevation of status, an exclusive position of grandeur from which to survey the space, here users are invited to engage in the light installation and art piece - a 3d depth sensing camera empowers the user with the ability to control the speed brightness and pattern of the light with simple hand gestures, In this way the light installation and art work in synchronisation controlled by a singular user.
the light installation and art work collaboration between indj and Insa marks an evolution of INSA's pioneering work with the GIF medium; whereby multiple frames are painstakingly painted photographed and animated digitally. G9 is a reversal of this process whereby the digital is manifest physically in the 67sqm art work.
The installation consits of 14976 LED's, 9200m of cable, 956 pendant lights, 99 seats, 67sqm artwork, and 1 Kinect camera.


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News briefs
Medicare informational meeting Jan. 23
UCare will host the following informational meetings about its UCare for Seniors health plan options. The meeting at the Wadena location will be Thursday, Jan. 23 at 10:30 a.m. at the AmericInn Lodge and Suites.
To register for a meeting or to obtain more information, call (877)523-1518.
New website for MOMS launched Jan. 1
The Minnesota Official Marriage System (MOMS), a subcommittee of the Minnesota Association of County Officers (MACO), has partnered with Olmstead County ITS as the new service level provider for the system. Olmstead County ITS will provide hosting services and support for the MOMS from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31. The new MOMS site address is www.MOMS.mn.gov.
In addition to providing ongoing support services the collaboration for future enhancements may include an eMarriage applicaiton, credit card functions by individual counties, marriage officiant ordination index and MDVA military discharge project.
MOMS is a collaborative website with all 87 counties in Minnesota participating. The system was developed in 2008. MOMS functions as an index for customers to find information on the location of marriage records. Minnesota marriage records are maintained in the county where the license was issued.
Cushing man killed in crash
A Cushing man was killed in a two-vehicle accident Jan. 6.
Todd County Sheriffs were called to the scene at the intersection of 400t Street and Norris Road. A woman was driving northbound in her Jeep on Norris Road when she struck a 1997 Dodge Stratus driven by David Shoquist, 53, of rural Cushing. Shoquist drove through a yield sign and was broadsided. Both vehicles were a total loss.
The woman and her passenger were taken via ambulance to Lakewood Health Hospital in Staples. Shoquist was pronounced dead at the scene.
Motley Fire and Rescue assisted at the scene.
Rims, tires stolen off truck Jan. 3
Authorities were called with a report that four custom chrome Mag 5 spoke rims and all terrain tires were stolen off a Chevy truck Jan. 3 from a farm implement sales lot south of Eagle Bend. The theft happened between Dec. 31 and Jan. 3. The incident is still under investigation.
Anyone with information regarding the theft is encouraged to call the Todd County Sheriff's Office at (800)794-5733.


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fourthtot 26-30, F 6 Answers 3 Feb 16, 2013 in Loss of a Pet
What a frakking *****.
Best Answer
Best Answer
I'm still waiting....
Best Answer
Hey its not our problem that youre her puppet.
Best Answer
you are a few days late
Best Answer
no, she is testing you.
Best Answer
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SOUTH WINDSOR — — The town council granted a seven-year tax abatement plan for Radius Hospitality, a company that plans to build a 110-room luxury hotel at Evergreen Walk.
The $12 million Cambria Suites will have a pool, lounge, restaurant, fitness facility and meeting space. Representatives of Radius originally approached the town council in late September to request a 100 percent tax exemption for seven years, but council members balked, saying that granting such a request would be unprecedented.


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Three pitchers combined on a no-hitter Tuesday as San Benito improved to 4-0 in the Monterey Bay League's Gabilan Division with a 9-0 win over Monterey at Sollecito Park.
Dylan Yamaski led the assault at the plate for the Balers with three hits, driving in four runs.
The loss dropped Monterey to 0-2 in the Gabilan Division. All three losses this year for the Toreadores have been shutouts.
Gilroy 12, Palma 2
Justin Hale pitched a gem, and got support at the plate as the Mustangs beat Palma in six innings.
Matt Smith and Lucas Gularte both drove in runs the defending champion Chieftains, who fell to 1-3 in league play.
Merced 9, MPC 4
Jake Etcheverry has two hits while Darren Honeysett doubled and drove in two runs for the Lobos, who host Cabrillo on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
Alvarez 4, Pacific Grove 3
Jacob Sanchez, Jose Ramirez and Jaycee Logudos were all singles winners while Brett Seggerman-Sebastian Sandoval won the No. 1 doubles match for the streaking Eagles.
Levi Thompson was a winner for Pacific Grove, along with the doubles teams of Rex Russell-Jack Bergon and John Zuethen-Luke Hiserman.
Monterey 6, Palma 1
Joseph Quario, Christian Hampton and Harvey Lao were all singles winners for Monterey. David Kim-Felipe Vargas, Josue Ruiz-Omar Kishk, and Justin Quario-Vincent Lao were doubles winners. Freshman Randy Cory won the No. 1 singles match for Palma.
Monterey 80, Alvarez 47
James Welsh was a triple event winner for the Toreadores, capturing the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 in their win over Alvarez. Sky Keller captured the 200 and 400 and ran a leg on the 1,600 relay team.
David Gustilo won the long jump and triple jump for Monterey while Alvarez's Brandon Hernandez captured the 110 high hurdles and 300 intermediate hurdles.
Alvarez won the girls meet, edging the Toreadores 63-59. Fia Pauolo won the 100 hurdles, 300 low hurdles, long jump and triple jump for Monterey.
Carmel 3, Pajaro Valley 0
The Padres won their third straight league match, posting a 25-13, 25-15, 25-13 win. Tim Westerman had 13 kills while Mitchell Brown added eight kills and Joseph Curtis had six.
Seaside 3, Gonzales 0
Colby Ostberg had 25 assists as the Spartans improved to 4-0 in league play, sweeping Gonzales 25-11, 25-16 25-7. Deshawn Irving had 10 kills and five blocks.
Gonzales 5, Soledad 0
Natalie Basaldua tossed a shutout, lifting the Spartans past Soledad in both team's Mission Trail Athletic League opener.
Trinity 18, Alisal 8
Shelby Shelby belted a home run and drove in five runs to lead Trinity past the Trojans. Alyssa Paquin had two hits and two runs batted in.
Stevenson 10, King City 0
Sophomore Jensen Main tossed a five-inning shutout, striking out seven, and belted a home run as the Pirates improved to 5-2 overall.
Dominique Seva'aetasi and Puava Tulau also hit home runs for Stevenson. Olivia Russell and Abby Robinson both had two hits. Lauren Davis had two hits for King City.
Carmel 17, Pacific Grove 1
Maddi Randozzo shut down the Breakers in both team's MTAL opener. Amber Clark drove in three runs and scored three runs.
Nicole Caoili also drove in three runs while Angie Savoldi and Lauren Salvati each scored three runs for Carmel, which hosts Gonzales on Thursday.
SLV 9, North Salinas 5
Kaitlin Shipman, Alyssa Salazar and Nicole Martinez all had two hits in the Vikings' loss. Salazar also drove in two runs.
MPC 3, De Anza 1
Rachel DiMaggio had two hits and drove in two runs while Beverly Miller had a pair of hits in the Lobos' win over De Anza.
Monterey 134, Pacific Grove 33
Parker Costa won the 200 free and 100 breast, earning Central Coast Section qualifying times in both events for the Toreadores. He also swam legs on the winning 200 medley and 400 free relay teams.
Noah Gomes won the 50 free and 100 back for Monterey
Monterey 110, Pacific Grove 67
Colleen Mayone and Ally Short both earned CCS qualifying marks, helping the Toreadores swim past Pacific Grove.
Mayone qualified in the 100 free while Short earned a mark in the 100 back. Both were double event winners along with Shannon Cry. All three also competed on two winning relay teams.
Gabilan Division
Greg Moreno was medalist with a 33, leading the Balers to a Gabilan Division team title over runner-up Palma.
Ryan Slater shot a 35 for Monte Vista while Jack Burlison fired a 37 for Palma, one stroke ahead of teammate Caleb Cater and San Benito's Ryan Han and Grant Bernosky.


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Marquee Marketing, a division of World Incentive Network Inc., is a travel, tourism and hospitality marketing agency that helps you to attract and retain great guests by aligning your marketing with your customer experience. It's no secret that marketing has changed. Every online review is marketing. Every YouTube video is marketing. Every photo posted on Facebook is marketing. Every check-in at your business is marketing.
"Customer Experience is in every business decision." ~ Carol Wain
You are responsible for putting heads in beads and butts in seats at one of the following travel, tourism, or hospitality business.
- Hotels and Resorts
- Destination Management Company
- Tourism Office / Tourism Authority
- Tour Operator
- Travel Wholesaler
- Convention and Visitors Bureau
- Event Company
- Bed and Breakfast
- Small Cruise Line
- Theme Park
- Adventure Park
- Ski Resort
- RV Park
- Golf Course
"Your Brand is Your Customer Experience" ~ Carol Wain
We believe that the biggest opportunity for profitable growth lies with the people who bring the business to life. From leadership to employees, customers to vendors and supporters to advisors, every person has the ability to add-to or detract-from the success of the business.
Your customer experience is the result of every business decision – the decisions you make for how you allocate your budget along with the decisions your employees make each and every minute.
Every marketing initiative needs to be in alignment with the customer experience you deliver. If it's not, your customers will complain and their complaints will be heard loud and clear by those who you are trying to attract.
The answer? Change your marketing, your customer experience or both – and that's where we come in.
From a marketing perspective – after we understand the experience you deliver to your customers and the vision you have for your business along with the challenges you face, we will work with you to create a sales and marketing plan, marketing campaigns and we'll create whatever marketing tools and sales tools are needed to achieve your goals. See our list of services below.
From a customer experience perspective – our founder, Carol Wain, and her team at Marquee Experiences can help you identify areas of improvement and show you how to get your team onboard to successfully implement them.
Every business is unique and so is each guest and we'll help you to understand how to impress from the moment one of your marketing messages connects through to the end of the relationship. With this understanding you will differentiate your business in ways your guests will love and your competition will find it difficult to replicate.
As you can see, we're not your typical marketing agency nor are we your typical tourism marketing agency. We provide a number of marketing services to help you to attract and retain guests, which is the minimum that any marketing agency should offer.
Our approach takes a number of initial steps to help you to articulate exactly who you want to serve and how you are different (in ways that are not easily copied by your competitors). Then we ensure your customer experience matches what you promise because we want your marketing budget to be used wisely.
We want you to attract the right people. We want you to be crystal clear in your messaging and we want your guests to write raving reviews about your business because they experienced exactly what you promised – and more. We want you to have loyal customers and we want your business to have a stellar reputation.
In addition to all things marketing, we are part of the Marquee family – Marquee Incentives, Marquee Events, Marquee Experiences and of course, Marquee Marketing. We live and breathe great experiences, customer engagement, employee engagement, operational efficiency, marketing and sales. We also love travel, tourism and hospitality. Our colleagues at Marquee Incentives and Marquee Events sell incentive travel, meetings and events, so we know the industry from multiple sides.
How we help is by putting heads in beds and butts in seats by making sure your marketing is in alignment with your customer experience so you'll see an increase in profitable sales. If this sounds like the answer you've been looking for, contact us and we'll have a chat to ensure we're a great fit for each other.
"The secret to attracting and retaining the guests you want is to align your marketing messages and the experience you deliver across all touch points" ~ Carol Wain
Customer Intel
Know what it's really like to be your potential guest and actual guest. What are you promising? What is the reality? Why are people complaining? What are their customer journeys? What are the moments of truth? How do your guests feel along the way? Where is the opportunity for improvement?
We secret shop your business through all the channels we can find. We're looking for employees who are doing things right and employees who need some coaching. We'll look for any red flags which would stop us from spending our money. We'll compare our options, including your competition. We'll be visiting your website and any 3rd party booking sites. We'll phone, email, visit your location, check out your tradeshow booth and we'll check reviews, social media sites and so on.
We'll be nice. We'll be demanding. We will test your business as an individual and for group business. We'll "get to the bottom" of your experience as if we were on a secret mission.
For some leaders, having someone pry into their business is uncomfortable. The point of this exercise is to uncover areas of opportunity before they are plastered all over the internet… and to look for ways to recognize and congratulate those who are doing the right things.
If you've ever watched the TV show "Undercover Boss" you know how valuable these exercises are. By the time we are done you will have a great understanding of the experiences you are delivering and where you can improve.
Your investment will be for our time and reimbursement of expenses, which varies according to your business. Estimated length of our engagement is approximately 2 – 3 weeks to keep the element of surprise fresh.
The Combo
Combine the Customer Experience Intel package with a plan to align your marketing, your customer experience, your vision and your goals. Together, we'll decide which elements are best done in-house and which elements you need us to do and then we'll get them done.
Your investment will be for our time and reimbursement of expenses, which varies according to your business. Estimated length of our engagement is approximately 3 – 6 months.
In addition to the Combo package we will educate you and your team about different, empathetic ways to wow. We will help with team building exercises, employee engagement initiatives, voice of customer initiatives, customer appreciation, and we will do follow-up Customer Experience Intel at 1, 3 and 6 month intervals. We'll work with you, as needed, for 9 – 12 months.
Your investment will be for our time and reimbursement of expenses, which varies according to your business.
If you need specific marketing services we are happy to offer these marketing services and sales tools in addition to the Customer Experience Intel package. Your investment depends on the services you choose and the time and expenses for the Customer Experience Intel package.
- Viral Videos
- Video for SEO
- Video for authenticity – personality, uniqueness, ambience (also see Wain's World option)
Graphic Design and Web Design
Graphic Design and Web Design
- Website
- Logo
- Social Media Graphics
- Brochures
- Flyers
- Ads
Social Media
Social Media
- Marketing
- Ads and retargeting
- Community Manager
- Education
- Content
- Tribe nurturing
Trade Shows
Trade Shows
- Booth design
- Training
- Lead Generation
- Effective and environmentally friendly brochures
Guerrilla Marketing
Guerrilla Marketing
- Wain's World Blog Post
- Web-show coverage
- Customer Appreciation Events
- Customer engagement activities
- Photo contests
- Video contests
- Book about your business / what you've learned
- Articles
- Joint Ventures / Strategic Alliances
- Direct marketing
- Effective Fam trips
- Sponsorship
Sales Tools
Sales Tools
- Training presentations
- Webinars
- "Membership" area for travel trade to get rates, selling tips, image bank, promotional copy, sales copy etc.
- Brochures — digital and print
- Fam trip organization and planning for agents, tour operators, meeting planners and media
- Representation at industry events such as conferences and tradeshows
- Sales calls to agencies
- Lead generation and follow-up
- See other A la Carte services for other sales tools such as video, social media and tradeshows
5 Ways to Improve Performance
Every business leader and executive I speak with talks about performance. Financial performance, people performance, marketing performance, sales performance, operational performance and so on. Great performance requires people to be onboard, engaged, aligned and passionate about the vision, purpose, passion, goals, personality and promise of the business – and this is one of the biggest challenges within an organization. Performances, on the other hand, are delivered by employees, managers and leaders. They are also delivered by customers, vendors, supporters, investors, partners and franchisees. In other words, all people play a role in the success of a business. The Theater references don't end here… Every business has a stage which is set by its marketing team and reinforced by employees and customers. When employees see themselves as performers and their actions as performances, it's easier to see how great behaviors and decisions make an impact. (It's also more fun!) Leaders and managers are also challenged to improve the performance experience to add more value to customers, to differentiate their business from competitors, to improve relationships and to increase profits – while striving to deliver consistent performances regardless of who is on stage at any given moment. Performance matters, regardless of how you define it. 5 Ways to Improve Your Performance Ensure you have a strong vision, purpose, passion, personality, platform and core values which are easy to share. Then share it! All employees need to know where you are headed. All employees and customers need to know what you stand for and how you are different. They will then choose whether […]
The post 5 Ways to Improve Performance appeared first on Carol Wain.


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Reopening a volatile topic, state Superintendent of Education John White said he wants to consider eliminating one of Louisiana's three high school diplomas.
The move is driven in part by a new push to aid students who want to pursue a career after high school rather than seeking a four-year college degree.
The diplomas offered now are:
- Core 4, which is the college preparatory curriculum.
- Career, which is supposed to prepare students for jobs or community or technical colleges.
- Basic, which is aimed at getting students ready for community or technical college and is less rigorous than Core 4.
White told the Superintendents' Advisory Council last week that the system is flawed and that the state should consider issuing only two diplomas — college and career.
Superintendents generally praised the concept, and several said they would back pilot projects.
"We just think it is something that benefits children, it benefits local communities and it benefits the state," Michael Faulk, chairman of the panel and superintendent of the city of Central's school system, said Monday.
Any overhaul is several years away. White mentioned the possibility that the changes could be in effect for seniors during the 2017-18 school year, which means the new options would first affect students who begin the eighth grade in the fall.
Through a spokesman, White declined to discuss the proposal on Monday.
More information will be released in April, said Barry Landry, a spokesman for the state Department of Education.
The Core 4 curriculum, also known as LA Core 4, stemmed from a two-year study that ended in 2007.
White made a presentation to superintendents that said, while the classes are supposed to prepare students for college, they are misaligned with TOPS, a scholarship program that helps finance tuition and other costs for students who qualify.
The career diploma "does not prepare students for meaningful, high-wage careers within Louisiana and, perhaps as a result, is universally under-utilized," according to a department briefing that the superintendent distributed to local superintendents.
Several superintendents said any makeover that helps students who plan to pursue a career immediately after high school is worth pursuing.
"It just opens up a lot of possibilities," said Patrice Pujol, a member of the council and superintendent of the Ascension Parish school system.
The last time the state authorized a new diploma to trim the high school dropout rate won approval was in 2009.
That law allowed high schools to offer a curriculum that emphasizes career and technical classes, and a diploma that is supposed to prepare students for jobs as welders, electricians and emergency responders.
In 2009, only 224 of Louisiana's then roughly 180,000 public high school students were pursuing the new curriculum.
Faulk said a 20-student welding program run by his school district has produced students with certificates in pipe welding.
Some have landed jobs that pay more than $30 per hour, he said.


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Grab Your Motion Sickness Bag, Crazy Ride Down a Mountain
I swear, extreme sports enthusiasts must have some sort of death wish. Maybe it's because GoPros give a weird fisheye effect, maybe its because of the speed he's traveling, maybe it's because he comes inches away from an ER visit no less than 15 times. This video makes me very uncomfortable. That said, it's too cool to NOT share.


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Bad days are good for tea. Or is it tea is good for bad days. Either way, I knew I'd be having a few cups more than my usual single late evening cup so I went for a rooibos. I steeped this one with less time and less tea than usual. It's lighter but not by much.
I noticed again that my choice in non-caffeinated teas is limited. But I still have so many tea odds and ends to drink before I order more tea. I have plenty of blacks and greens, which is what I mostly drink. But I'll need to beef up on rooibos/herbals, whites, and oolongs, both of which I am new to. More tea is in my future. Or rather, new teas are in my future, I should say.


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"All things bright and beautiful, / All creatures great and small, / All things wise and wonderful,/ The Lord God made them all."
Related quotes
"Don't be surprised if I demur, for, be advised my passport's green. No glass of ours was ever raised to toast The Queen."
"The Gaelic League is founded not upon hatred of England, but upon love of Ireland. Hatred is a negative passion; it is powerful - a very powerful destroyer; but it is useless for building up. Love, on the other hand, is like faith; it can move mountains, and faith, we have mountains to move."
"I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the kind that we experience in ourselves. Neither can I nor would I want to conceive of an individual that survives his physical death; let feeble souls, from fear or absurd egoism, cherish such thoughts. I am satisfied with the mystery of the eternity of life and with the awareness and a glimpse of the marvelous structure of the existing world, together with the devoted striving to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the Reason that manifests itself in nature."
"I cannot conceive of a personal God who would directly influence the actions of individuals, or would directly sit in judgment on creatures of his own creation. I cannot do this in spite of the fact that mechanistic causality has, to a certain extent"


text: Hi All, I'm coding an iterative algorithm which needs to update a results array on each iteration. I have several (one-dimensional) arrays, and currently I have the following non-vectorized code which gets called at the end of each iteration (Inds, Current, and Update are all one- dimensional and the same size): for i in xrange(Indices.size): Current[Indices[i]] += Update[i] This is running too slowly, and so I am going through the usual process of attempting to vectorize this code (Indices.size > 5000). My attempt at vectorizing this was: Current[Indices] += Update But this does not yield the same result. Here's a simple example. First the iterative version: >>> Current = zeros(2,'d') >>> Update = ones_like(Current) >>> Indices = zeros(2,'i') >>> for i in xrange(Indices.size): ... Current[Indices[i]] += Update[i] ... >>> Current array([ 2., 0.]) And then my vectorized attempt: >>> Current = zeros(2,'d') >>> Update = ones_like(Current) >>> Indices = zeros(2,'i') >>> Current[Indices] += Update >>> Current array([ 1., 0.]) As you can see, Current is different in the two cases. Any ideas how I can recreate the behavior of the iterative process in a more numpy- friendly, vectorized (and hopefully quicker) way? And possibly also about why my intuitions concerning the semantics of the vectorized code are wrong? Many thanks, Dan.


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Carl Johengen
Dr. Carl Johengen has garnered a reputation as a skilled and versatile musician, achieving considerable success as a composer, choral conductor, teacher, and singer. His compositional talents first drew national attention in 1993, when he captured first prize in a composition contest sponsored by J.S. Paluch/World Library Publications of Chicago; his winning cantata, Veni Creator Spiritus, was premiered before an audience of 3,000 at the National Association of Pastoral Musicians convention in St. Louis and was recorded by the William Ferris Chorale. Since then over two dozen of his compositions, editions and arrangements have been published by Lawson-Gould, Hope Publishing Co., World Library Publications, GIA Publications, Oregon Catholic Press, and Selah Publishing Co. In June 1994, his "I Am the Living Bread" was the winning entry in the "Young New York '94" Hymn Competition sponsored by the Archdiocese of New York. His opera for young audiences, "Never Tickle a Mule", has been performed all over New York State by the Syracuse Opera Ensemble since its premiere in 1995; this project was awarded a $5000 grant by the National Endowment for the Arts. His liturgical compositions appear in several hymnals and hymn supplements, and he has received commissions from a number of choruses, churches and individuals.
Dr. Johengen currently serves as Music Director and Conductor of the Cayuga Vocal Ensemble, Ithaca's elite chamber chorus, and has led them in performance throughout the southern Finger Lakes region and in concert on WSKG-TV in Binghamton. In his nearly 30-year career, he has worked with singers of all ages in colleges, churches, festivals and community choral groups; since 2005, he has been in demand as a guest conductor for All-County and Area All-State Festival choruses around New York State. He served on the faculty of the Berkshire Choral Festival from 2000-07.
A highly respected voice teacher, Dr. Johengen is on the voice faculty of the Ithaca College School of Music; he also serves as Choir Director at Wells College. He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the prestigious Eastman School of Music, as well as Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Ithaca College. A tenor, Dr. Johengen's performances have consistently been hailed as expressive, intelligent, and technically assured. He has soloed with the Milwaukee, Hartford, Green Bay, and Syracuse Symphonies, the Rochester Philharmonic, opera companies in Syracuse and Rochester, and in such venues as Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher and Alice Tully Halls, Carnegie Hall, and the Boston Early Music Festival.
Selected Titles
- God of the Ages
- Go to the World!
- Hodie nobis coelorum Rex
- How Wonderful Is Your Name
- Why Art Thou So Heavy, O My Soul
- Let My Tongue Be Silent
- The Lord Is My Savior
- In the Land of the Living
- Your Ways Are Love and Truth
- Let All the Peoples Praise You
- I Am the Living Bread


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The appearance of advertisements and product information on this site does not constitute an endorsement by Equipment World Magazine, and Equipment World Magazine has not investigated the claims made by any advertiser. Product information is based solely on material received from suppliers.
Caterpillar Excavator Rippers break up hard soil and ice during ground preparation. It is perfectly suited for pipeline and trenching work.


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Editor's Note: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model All three major indices are trading up today with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ^DJI) trading up 42 points (0.3%) at 14,338 as of Thursday, March 7, 2013, 11:50 AM ET. The NYSE advances/declines ratio sits at 1,674 issues advancing vs. 1,197 declining with 153 unchanged. The Consumer Durables industry currently sits up 0.1% versus the S&P 500, which is up 0.2%. A company within the industry that fell today was Panasonic Corporation ( PC), up 1.8%. TheStreet Ratings group would like to highlight 3 stocks pushing the industry higher today: 3. Hasbro ( HAS) is one of the companies pushing the Consumer Durables industry higher today. As of noon trading, Hasbro is up $0.48 (1.2%) to $41.43 on light volume Thus far, 404,194 shares of Hasbro exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 2.0 million shares. The stock has ranged in price between $40.89-$41.47 after having opened the day at $40.91 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $40.95. Hasbro, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of children's and family leisure time products and services worldwide. Hasbro has a market cap of $5.2 billion and is part of the consumer goods sector. The company has a P/E ratio of 16.0, below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are up 13.4% year to date as of the close of trading on Wednesday. Currently there are 2 analysts that rate Hasbro a buy, 1 analyst rates it a sell, and 5 rate it a hold. TheStreet Ratings rates Hasbro as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its attractive valuation levels, expanding profit margins and solid stock price performance. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows weak operating cash flow. Get the full Hasbro Ratings Report now. It's Official: Action Alerts PLUS beats the S&P 500 with Dividends Reinvested! Cramer and Link were up 16.72% in 2012. Were you? See what they are trading for 14-days FREE
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Postoperative Systemic Corticosteroids When Utilizing a Steroid-Eluting Spacer Following Endoscopic Sinus Surgery
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is an inflammatory condition of the nose and sinuses. It affects about 5 to 10% of Canadians. Patients suffer from congestion in the nose and sinuses, nasal discharge, pressure in the face, and a reduced sense of smell. This affects people's enjoyment of life. Medical management uses sprays or pills to treat these symptoms but for some patients sinus surgery is needed. This type of surgery is called endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS).
There is no single correct approach to take care of patients after sinus surgery. Most experts would use a nasal spray and a short-course of oral steroid pills to reduce sinus swelling and minimize complications related to scarring.
"Steroid-eluting nasal spacers" are devices placed inside the sinus during surgery and slowly release topical steroids into the sinuses better than steroid sprays. These "spacers" have been shown to improve results following sinus surgery. When using these special "spacers", there may no longer be a need for oral steroid pills following surgery. This would help to avoid potential side effects associated with these medications.
The purpose of this study is to find out whether taking oral (systemic) steroid pills following sinus surgery is necessary to improve surgical results, now that steroid-eluting nasal spacers are commonly used during surgery.
|Chronic Sinusitis Endoscopic Sinus Surgery Post-operative Care Steroids Drug-eluting Spacer
|Device: Steroid-eluting middle meatal spacer (Nasopore (TM) spacer impregnated with 1 cc of 40mg/mL triamcinolone liquid) Drug: Post-op Oral Steroids
|Study Type:
|Study Design:
|Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Quadruple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose: Treatment
|Official Title:
|The Role of Postoperative Systemic Corticosteroids When Utilizing a Steroid-Eluting Middle Meatal Spacer Following Endoscopic Sinus Surgery: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo Controlled Trial
- Health Related Quality of Life Score (based on SNOT-22, VAS, and RSDI questionnaires) [ Time Frame: Up to 2 years ]Do systemic steroids following sinus surgery improve surgical results in patients where a steroid-eluting nasal spacer is placed at the completion of surgery. This will be based on validated chronic sinusitis-symptom specific HRQOL questionnaires (SNOT-22, VAS, RSDI)and mucosal disease grading scores via endoscopic examination (POSE, Lund-Kennedy).
- Sinus mucosal disease endoscopic grading score (based on Lund-Kennedy and POSE Scoring systems) [ Time Frame: Up to 3 years ]Do systemic steroids following sinus surgery improve surgical results in patients where a steroid-eluting nasal spacer is placed at the completion of surgery. This will be based on validated mucosal disease grading scores via endoscopic examination (POSE, Lund-Kennedy).
|Study Start Date:
|April 2012
|Study Completion Date:
|December 2013
|Primary Completion Date:
|September 2013 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
|Assigned Interventions
Experimental: Systemic Steroid Group
Will receive post-operative oral steroids for 10 days as per usual protocol.
Device: Steroid-eluting middle meatal spacer (Nasopore (TM) spacer impregnated with 1 cc of 40mg/mL triamcinolone liquid)
All study arms will receive bilateral Nasopore spacers impregnated with 1 cc of Triamcinolone to remain in the nasal cavity for 1 week post-operatively as per usual protocol.Drug: Post-op Oral Steroids
Post-operative oral prednisone 20 mg QD x 5 days , then 10 mg x 5 days, as per usual protocol.
Placebo Comparator: Placebo
Will receive placebo pills for 10 days post-operatively
Device: Steroid-eluting middle meatal spacer (Nasopore (TM) spacer impregnated with 1 cc of 40mg/mL triamcinolone liquid)
All study arms will receive bilateral Nasopore spacers impregnated with 1 cc of Triamcinolone to remain in the nasal cavity for 1 week post-operatively as per usual protocol.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years and older (Adult, Senior)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria:
- Adult ( > 18 years of age)
- CRS defined by 2007 Adult Sinusitis Guidelines19
Electing endoscopic sinus surgery for the indication medically refractory CRS, as defined by having persistent symptoms despite the following "maximal medical therapy":
- Received 3 months of topical corticosteroid spray
- Received a 2 week course of a broad-spectrum antibiotic combined with a 2 week course of systemic corticosteroid
- Provide written informed consent
- Subject must be able to complete all study evaluations and HRQoL questionnaires written in English
Exclusion Criteria:
- Children (< 18 years of age)
- Unable to complete questionnaires or clinical testing or cooperate with study evaluations in English.
- Unwilling to provide written, informed consent
- Patients who have not undergone previous "maximum" prescribed medical therapy
- Patients with suspected systemic inflammatory disease
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01564355
|Canada, Alberta
|Richmond Road Diagnostic and Treatment Centre
|Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2T 5C7
Publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):
|Responsible Party:
|Dr. Luke Rudmik, Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Calgary
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT01564355 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|Study First Received:
|March 22, 2012
|Last Updated:
|December 1, 2014
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Paranasal Sinus Diseases
Nose Diseases
Respiratory Tract Diseases
Respiratory Tract Infections
Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases
Triamcinolone hexacetonide
Triamcinolone Acetonide
Triamcinolone diacetate
Anti-Inflammatory Agents
Hormones, Hormone Substitutes, and Hormone Antagonists
Physiological Effects of Drugs
Immunosuppressive Agents
Immunologic Factors
Enzyme Inhibitors
Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 21, 2017


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NOVELTY BETTING: The two month wait is over as TV viewers finally discovered that 10/1 shot Stacey Slater murdered Archie Mitchell in Eastenders to put a huge smile on the bookies faces.
In an interview with betrescue.com, Coral's David Steven's said: "This has been one of the most talked about TV betting events ever, with thousands of bets placed on the outcome and industry turnover of more than £1 million, and although Stacey had been favourite at one stage, there were big gambles on several other characters, including Sean Slater, Tracy the barmaid and Ben Mitchell, all of which proved to be wrong.
Credit to the producers, as this was kept completely secret, and as for the result, bad news for Stacey was good news for the bookies!"


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Woohoo! More casting for Quentin Tarantino's WWII movie "Inglorious Bastards". You know what that means. Yup, I get to call someone a bastard in the post header who is, never was, or will be one. Because, you know, that's just how we roll around these here parts. Anyhoo. Diane Kruger, formerly of the "National Treasures" franchise, has jumped on board Tarantino's flick to play a German actress who helps the Yanks take the Nazis down a peg or two. Brush up on those long-winded dialogue skills now, Diane!
Besides Kruger, Christoph Waltz and Paul Rust also join the cast that already includes Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, Mike Myers, Michael Fassbender, B.J. Novak and Samm Levine, says Variety. Kruger will be playing the role of Bridget Von Hammersmark, who Nastassja Kinski was originally thought to be playing. She's since dropped out, leaving the primo spot open for Kruger.
But the name to remember is Christoph Waltz, who will be playing the Nazi Colonel Hans Landa, the big baddie in the film. When we first meet Landa, he's just convinced a French farmer to sell out the Jewish couple hiding under his house using, according to the script, a 15-minute dialogue sequence. Yeah, same-o Tarantino. Talk talk talk — then bang bang bang.
Both Waltz (pictured, below) and Kruger, incidentally, are actual Germans. Paul Rust, on the other hand, is from Iowa. No idea what role he'll be playing, but since Tarantino has mentioned that he wants to cast only Germans for the German roles, and Rust is not from the Fatherland, I'm guessing Rust will be one of the Jewish soldiers in Brad Pitt's Nazi-killin' unit.


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Hi HG!
I have severe nerves when it comes to cooking. I don't make anything in the kitchen, because I'm afraid I'll screw it up. Please help! I want to make your recipes. Thank you!
Rachel's Really Scared
Dear Rachel,
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not be scared to cook. I promise you, Hungry Girl recipes are SO easy to make. I am not a professional chef. I'm really a regular person with very basic kitchen skills. And that's EXACTLY the type of person that HG recipes are for. There are no fancy cooking terms or complicated instructions (NONE!). And the ingredients called for are familiar and easy to use. Most of the recipes are more like food "assembly" than anything else. To get you started, here are some insanely easy recipes now...
"Egg Mug" Scrambles - You don't even have to work a spatula to make these morning mini-meals. They cook up in the microwave!
Foil-Pack Recipes - People love these because they're basically foolproof. Just plop your food in the center of some foil, wrap it up (doesn't have to be perfect, I promise!), and toss in the oven. Then unwrap and eat!
Hip, Hip, Parfaits! - If you can get dressed in the morning, you can put together a parfait. It's all about layering. A little of this, a little of that, and you're good to go!
So do yourself a favor and work up the courage to go into the kitchen and try a few. Look for recipes that appeal to you at hungry-girl.com or in the book Hungry Girl 200 Under 200. They are CRAZY-SIMPLE and you will succeed with flying colors. I am sure of this! Just do it... for me? You'll be so happy you made the leap. Good luck and stay in touch! :)
Hungry Girl,
What are some foods that people assume are pretty good choices but really aren't? By now, everyone knows that tuna salad is a bad choice because of all that mayo. But what else is lurking out there?
Warn Me
Dear Warn Me,
There are definitely a lot of fattening foods around that people THINK are good choices. The biggest offenders, in my opinion, are as follows:
1. Wraps. Try a little experiment: unfold a wrap and see how HUGE the tortilla is. A lot of times the tortilla itself contains 300 - 400 calories. And that doesn't include any of the filling!
2. Salad dressing. This isn't really a "hidden" source of calories, but most people don't realize just how bad it can be. Full-fat dressing can easily add 500 calories or more to your meal. (Don't believe me? Click here!) Wasting that many calories on some goo is just silly.
3. Grilled veggies. In THEORY these are good, but often they're loaded up with oil, so WATCH OUT. (Case in point? The Cheesecake Factory's 1,133-calorie Grilled Portabella on a Bun!) Order veggies steamed or grilled DRY. If they arrive looking shiny, blot them with a napkin to soak up some fat.
Other things to look out for -- low-fat muffins (they're usually too big and have too many calories), cottage cheese (ask if it's low-fat or fat-free -- if it isn't, it's more fattening than you'd think), and smoothies (often have 400 - 700 calories each... Eeeks!). Be careful out there!


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WASHINGTON, July 15 (RIA Novosti) – Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova has announced on her website that she has hired US tennis legend Jimmy Connors as her new coach.
Sharapova, ranked number two in the world, was eliminated in a stunning upset in the second round at Wimbledon in June. She announced that she had parted ways with her previous coach, Thomas Hogstedt on Friday.
Hogstedt had worked with Sharapova since 2010, joining her team as she worked on a comeback after a shoulder injury. He became her head coach a year later and since then, she won last year's French Open and reached two more Grand Slam finals, as well as an Olympic final.
Connors, 60, is an eight-time winner of Grand Slam tournaments and has worked with Sharapova before, having coached her prior to the Australian Open in 2008, which Sharapova won.


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Dustin Lynch, 'She Cranks My Tractor' Video
Artist: Dustin Lynch
Video: "She Cranks My Tractor"
Why We Dig It: This one's for the guys. While Dustin keeps a low profile in his new video, showing up only in performance shots, his leading lady steals the show. Dressed like an old school pinup girl, the actress goes from 'Rosie the Riveter'-type work to skinny dipping, heating up the screen in every shot. (In fact, be careful who sees your screen if you're watching this video at work!)
Watch Dustin Lynch's "She Cranks My Tractor" video below.
Watch Dustin's 'She Cranks My Tractor' Video


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Secure the home with Oplink Security for a lifetime, for free.
Oplink Security, a leader in delivering do-it-yourself wireless home security solutions, today announced that it is giving away free home security for life to one lucky winner as part of the company's first annual Black Friday Facebook sweepstakes. Contest entrants will have the chance to win an Oplink Security TripleShield™ wireless security, monitoring and surveillance system, accompanied by complimentary support service for a lifetime. Five other entrants will win a free Oplink Security TripleShield system, valued at $299, with complimentary service for the first two months. TripleShield is a wireless, plug-and-play home security system that can be quickly and easily installed in about 15 minutes and is controlled through an easy-to-use smartphone app. The system can be expanded at any time by simply adding additional cameras or sensors and is also completely portable, making it ideal for anyone that owns or rents a home or apartment.—
"Home owners and renters alike want the peace of mind that comes from knowing their home is safe and their family is protected," says Joe Liu, CEO of Oplink Security. "Oplink strives to bring this peace of mind to everyone by connecting them to their home with a solution that is not only easy to use and easy to install, but is affordable and can be managed by their smartphone from anywhere in the world."
How to Win Lifetime Home Security on Black Friday - To enter Oplink Security's Home Security for Life sweepstakes, simply visit the company's Facebook page, click "like" on the contest page and complete the entry form. As a bonus, Oplink Security is offering all contest entrants an unlimited number of entries if they share the contest with friends; each friend who enters the contest through the shared link will gain the original contest entrant an additional entry. The more friends who take action, the higher the chance an entrant has of winning home security for life. Winners will be announced on Monday, December 2. To enter, please visit the contest page here.
About Oplink Security:
Oplink Security, a division of Oplink Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: OPLK), is a leader in do-it-yourself, affordable home security systems. The company's ultra simple, wireless security solutions use proprietary plug-and-play technology to eliminate the need for professional installation, and are controlled by a smartphone app. All Oplink Security solutions leverage the company's dedicated, intelligent cloud infrastructure, which enables multi-location monitoring, multi-user, multi-tier authorization, mobile alerts (including recorded video), easy expansion, and portability. Oplink Security's affordability, simplicity, and ease of use enables everyone to have the peace of mind that comes with staying connected to their home, and the people and things they care about the most.
Contact Info:
Name: Leslie Schmidt
Source URL: https://marketersmedia.com/oplink-security-kicks-off-free-home-security-for-life-contest-on-facebook/26132
For more information, please visit http://www.oplinksecurity.com
Source: MarketersMedia
Release ID: 26132