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Excerpt When the archaeological, geographical and epigraphic evidence is reviewed in detail, it is clear that the infamous cities of Sodom and Gomorrah have now been found. What is more, this evidence demonstrates that the Bible provides an accurate eyewitness account of events that occurred southeast of the Dead Sea over 4,000 years ago... Continue reading
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This article was originally published in summer 1999 issue of Bible and Spade.
The names Sodom and Gomorrah(1) are bywords in our modern society. An especially wicked place is described as a "Sodom and Gomorrah." Pastors are sometimes said to be preaching "fire and brimstone." And we have the legal term sodomy for unnatural sex acts. These allusions, of course, stem from the Biblical account of events that occurred in the days of Abraham in Genesis 19.
But did these places ever exist and will they ever be found? Most scholars think not. In his Anchor Bible Dictionary article on Sodom and Gomorrah, M.J. Mulder concluded that they were,
Two legendary cities from prehistoric Israel in the neighborhood of the Dead Sea...it is highly uncertain, if not improbable, that the vanished cities of the Pentapolis will ever be recovered (1992: 99, 102).
In their textbook on the history of Israel and Judah, Miller and Hayes state:
The Sodom and Gomorrah story reflects yet another motif pattern known from extrabiblical literature, that of divine beings who visit a city to test the hospitality of its people and eventually destroy the inhospitable city. One can compare in this regard the Greek myth of Baucis and Philemon. The presence of such traditional motifs in the Biblical narratives raises the possibility that at least some of these narratives are purely products of the storyteller's art, which of course raises serious questions about their usefulness for historical reconstruction (1986:60).
Looking for the Sites
Sodom and Gomorrah were two of five cities referred to in Scripture as the Cities of the Plain. From references to the "plain of the Jordan" (Gn 13:10), "the Valley of Siddim (the Salt Sea)" (Gn 14:3) and Abraham looking down to see the Cities of the Plain from the area of Hebron (Gn 19:28), it is clear that the cities were located in the vicinity of the Dead Sea. Since the mountains come close to the shore on both the east and west, the cities must have been located either north or south of the Dead Sea. Various commentators over the centuries have suggested locations both north and south (Mulder 1992: 101 102). The reference to "bitumen pits" in Genesis 14:10, however, tips the scale in favor of a southern location (Howard 1984). Bitumen (a natural petroleum product similar to asphalt) was commonly found in the shallow southern basin of the Dead Sea in antiquity. (Bilkadi 1984; 1994; Clapp 1936a: 901–902; 1936b: 341–342).
One popular theory, repeated yet today, is that the Cities of the Plain were located in the plain south of the Dead Sea and later covered by the waters of the southern basin, never to be seen again. The level of the Dead Sea has receded substantially in recent years, causing the southern basin to dry up. (2) Extensive exploration and activity in the area has produced no evidence to indicate that there were ancient sites there (Rast 1987a: 193).
It wasn't until 1973 that solid archaeological evidence for locating the Cities of the Plain was found. At that time an archaeological survey of the area southeast of the Dead Sea was conducted by Walter Rast and Thomas Schaub in conjunction with their work at Bab edh-Dhra, an Early Bronze (ca. 3300–2000 BC) site on the east side of the Lisan peninsula.(3) Rast and Schaub discovered four additional sites south of Bab edh-Dhra, which they suggested might be related to the Cities of the Plain of the Old Testament (Rast and Schaub 1974). Subsequent excavations at Numeira, 13 km (8 mi) south of Bab edh-Dhra, have verified its close affinity with Bab edh-Dhra. Follow-up work at the other three sites, Safi, Feifa and Khanazir, however, has not been as rewarding.
Explorations at Safi, Feifa and Khanazir
When Rast and Schaub visited es-Safi in 1973 they discovered a large Early Bronze Age cemetery. To the east of the cemetery they observed wall remains and Early Bronze sherds indicative of a settlement site (1974: 911). Unfortunately, in the years following their survey, homes have been constructed on the site and "subsequent visits have been unable to confirm the presence of a[n Early Bronze Age] town site" (Schaub 1992: 895).
Less than a month of excavation was carried out at Feifa and Khanazir, 16 December 1989–13 January 1990. An enormous Early Bronze Age cemetery was found at Feifa by Rast and Schaub in 1973, as well as a fortified enclosure (1974: 11–12). Upon excavation, the enclosure turned out to be an Iron Age II (eighth century BC) fortress constructed over part of the Early Bronze Age cemetery (de Vries 1991: 262; MacDonald 1997: 65). At Khanazir, walls observed by Rast and Schaub in 1973 (1974: 12–14) were in reality rectangular structures marking Early Bronze IV shaft tombs (deVries 1991: 262; Rast 1992: 560; MacDonald 1997: 65; Schaub 1997b: 62).
Even though the locations of three of the Cities of the Plain remain elusive, evidence is strong that the two most important, Sodom and Gomorrah, have been found.
in Madaba, Jordan, depicting Palestine in the sixth century. Zoar is shown on the southeast shore of the Dead Sea, just south of the Zared River (Wadi Hesa) (Donner 1992: 42, No. 18). This places ancient Zoar in the vicinity of modem Safi, although its exact location is not known at present (Schaub 1997b: 63–64). The Bible tells us that Lot and his daughters lived in a cave in the mountains near Zoar (Gn 19:30). At the edge of the mountains just to the east of Zoar, the Madaba Map depicts the Sanctuary of St. Lot, a church built in memory of Lot. H. Donner and E.A. Knauf discovered the ruins of the church in 1983 (Donner 1992: 42), although McDonald claims to have found the site in 1986 (Politis 1993: 338). Built in front of a cave thought to be where Lot and his daughters lived, the church is located 7 km (4 mi) northeast of Safi on the north bank of the Wadi Hesa. The earliest evidence of occupation at the site is from the Early Bronze Age. Since the other four cities are always mentioned in pairs—Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim—it is logical to presume that Sodom would have been located near Gomorrah and Admah near Zeboiim. Thus Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira should be identified with one of these pairs, but which one? Turning to the site to the north of Safi, Numeira, we can make a linguistic connection with one of the Cities of the Plain. Many times ancient names are preserved in modem Arabic place names. The consonants of the name Gomorrah are c (ayin) MR and the consonants of Numeira are N M R. The ancient and modem names match, except for the first letter. Initial laryngeals like the ayin in cMR were commonly lost or transformed in the process of time, or when they came over into other languages or dialects. In this case, it is possible that nasalization took place, so the ayin in Hebrew cMR became the N in Arabic NMR (Shea 1988: 17). Jericho has been called the lowest city in the world, being at an elevation of 220 m (720 ft) below sea level. Bab edh-Dhra is at about the same elevation. The title of the world's lowest city, however, must now go to Numeira since it is situated at 280–290 m (920–950 ft) below sea level. The site to the north of Numeira, Bab edh-Dhra, would then be Sodom. Since Bab edh-Dhra is the largest ancient ruin in the region it stands to reason that it should be identified as Sodom, the most famous of the Cities of the Plain. It was occupied throughout the Early Bronze Age for a period of over 1,000 years.
The Evidence General Geological studies have shown that the level of the Dead Sea was at a low point during the Early Bronze Age (Neev and Emery 1995: 62) and thus the shallow basin, or "plain" south of the Dead Sea, would have been dry land and probably cultivated. (5) The location of the Early Bronze Age sites along the eastern edge of the plain fits the Biblical description of the cities as being of the plain. "Cities of the Plain" is in the construct state in the Hebrew, which means that the word "cities" has a close association with the word "plain." The cities were not in the plain, or on the plain. If that were the case, a different construction would have been used. Rather, the cities were "of" the plain—they had a close association, or connection, with the plain. They were doubtless dependent upon the plain for their livelihood. Paleobotany The first description of the Cities of the Plain in the Bible is in the account of Lot separating from Abraham in Genesis 13:10–13. There, the plain is described as being "well watered" as far as Zoar (Gn 13:10). The Hebrew words translated "well watered" are kullah, an intensive form of the verb meaning "to be complete," and masqeh, from the verb meaning "to give to drink" or "irrigate." The meaning of kullah masqeh, then, is to be completely and totally irrigated. Paleo-botanical studies have shown that there was a rich diversity of crops grown at Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira. Most common were barley, wheat, grapes, figs, lentils and flax. Less common were chickpeas, peas, broad beans, dates and olives (McCreery 1980:52). Several of these crops could only have been grown with the use of irrigation:
There is little doubt that agriculture was an important component of the economic base of the EB cities in the region and that irrigation was a key element of the agricultural industry (McCreery 1981: 168; cf p. 167, 1980: 52).
City gate at Bab edh-Dhra. Located on the northeast side of the site, this is the gate that was in use at the end of the life of the city. The angels met Lot in the city gate. (Gn 19:1–3). The arrow shows the direction of entry.
It appears that each of the five Cities of the Plain controlled the water from the principal streams that flowed into the plain from the east. Fortifications When the two angels came to Sodom to warn Lot of the impending doom, they found him sitting in the city gate (Gn 19:1). This indicates that Sodom was fortified. Bab edh-Dhra, which means "gate of the arm," had imposing fortifications. The city wall, enclosing an area of 9–10 acres, was a massive 7 m (23 ft) wide and made of stones and mud bricks (Schaub 1993: 134). Evidence for settlement was found outside the walls as well. The total population at the time Bab edh-Dhra met its end was between 600 and 1,200 (Rast 1987b: 47; 1992: 560; Schaub 1993: 134). Within the walls were a sanctuary on a high spot at the southwest end of the city, domestic and industrial areas, and a gateway on the northeast side. The gateway was comprised of two flanking towers with massive stone and timber foundations. They were ca. 4 m (13 ft) wide and 10 m (33 ft) long, with a 3–4 m (10–13 ft) passageway between. When Lot saw the angels, "he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground" (Gn 19:1). He then invited them to his home. Houses at Bab edh-Dhra were of the typical Early Bronze Age "broad room" style. They were rectangular, being about 5 m (16 ft) long and 2–3 m (7–10 ft) wide with an entrance in one of the long sides (Rast 1987b: 46). At Numeira, a town smaller than Bab edh-Dhra, the city wall was found to be about 4 m (13 ft) wide. Inside were houses very much like those at Bab edh-Dhra. It appears that the residents of Numeira buried their dead in the enormous cemetery at Bab edh-Dhra since no cemetery was discovered at Numeira. Supporting this hypothesis is the fact that pottery from Numeira was found in burials at Bab edh-Dhra (Rast 1987b: 47).
The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. They also carried off Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom (Gn 14:11).
The Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. Thus He overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation of the land. (Gn 19:24–25).
Evidence for Destruction at Bab edh-Dhra Throughout most of the life of Bab edh-Dhra the main entrance to the city was located on the west side, giving access to the plain below. Within the last 100 years of occupation, the west wall and gate area underwent a major destruction (Schaub and Rast 1984: 46; Rast 1987b: 47; Schaub 1997a: 249). This resulted in the citizens intentionally blocking up the west gate and constructing a new gate in the northeast (Schaub and Rast 1984: 46; Schaub 1993: 134). The new gate was founded on a meter of burned destruction debris resulting from the calamity (Rast and Schaub 1980: 28; Rast 1981a: 20). Shortly thereafter, at the close of the Early Bronze III period, the fortified city at Bab edh-Dhra met a final fiery end. Even though the site is badly eroded, enough evidence remained in several areas to show the severity of the disaster. The northeast gate was destroyed by fire as indicated by charcoal, broken and fallen bricks, and areas of ash (Rast 1981: 21). There was a massive pile-up of mudbrick in the west end suggesting heavy destruction in this part of the city (Rast 1981: 31). At this time the city wall fell and the mudbrick superstructure of the sanctuary collapsed, apparently after burning (Rast 1992: 560). The many stone and boulder fields within the city came from walls that were disrupted and transported downslope (Donahue 1980: 51; 1985:136). Following the destruction, there was occupation at Bab edh-Dhra in the Early Bronze IV period, but almost exclusively outside the destroyed Early Bronze III fortified town. Following this brief period of extramural settlement, the site was permanently abandoned.
This earliest phase of occupation was destroyed by fire; the walls and rooms that collapsed over the ashy destruction debris consisted of considerable mudbrick detritus, many large wooden beams, and carbonized grasses and reeds still tied by the ropes that had held them together as thatch. On the occupational surface of Room V (NE 10/2 Locus 5) was the skeleton of a mature male who had perished in the destruction of this earliest phase (Coogan 1984: 79).
Under the topsoil (desert pavement) and a naturally deposited windblown sandy soil, the entire area was covered by the ashy debris of the final destruction of the town, up to 0.40 m in depth. This ash contained fragments of wooden beams that had supported the roofs of the dwellings and lay immediately over the latest occupational layer within each room, sealing the material beneath it. Not infrequently there was mudbrick detritus over the ash, which had resulted from the collapse of the mudbrick superstructures after the final conflagration (1984: 76).
Over the final layer was a thick (0.50–0.10 m) layer of ashy debris, in which were found the skeletons of two mature males who perished in the final destruction of the town; over this was mudbrick detritus and rockfall (Coogan 1984:80).
In Room 4 just inside the southern wall were fragments of human bones above and on the final surface (Rast and Schaub 1980: 44). Numeira met a tragic end and was never again occupied.
It is possible to estimate the time span between the earlier destruction and the final destruction at Numeira. The area adjacent to the inner (west) face of the tower was used as an outdoor activity area. More than 20 alternating layers of chaff and carbonized material were found between the earlier domestic phase and the final destruction layer. The nature of the layers suggests seasonal activity (Coogan 1984:80). Thus, we can estimate the time span between the two destructions as being a little more than 20 years, which agrees with the Biblical time frame (14 to 24 years) between the events of Genesis 14 and 19 (Shea 1988: 18–19). Trade With Syria In 1975 a great archive of clay tablets dating to 2400–2350 BC was discovered at Tell Mardikh, ancient Ebla, in northern Syria (Archi 1997). One of the tablets is a geographic atlas listing 289 place names. An analysis of two segments of the list by William Shea indicates that they are sites located in Palestine, possibly places visited by merchants from Ebla (Shea 1983). The second segment, sites 188–219, traces a route from Syria south through the central hill country of Cisjordan, along the western shore of the Dead Sea, south of the Dead Sea Plain and then north along the east side of the Plain and Dead Sea. In the area corresponding to the east side of the Dead Sea Plain there are two places named—Number 210, Admah, and Number 211, Sodom. If Shea's readings are correct, this would be the only confirmed mention of the Cities of the Plain outside the Bible. (7) But why were not the other three cities, Gomorrah, Zoar, and Zeboiim, mentioned? The excavations at Numeira perhaps can shed some light on that question. These excavations revealed that Numeira (= Gomorrah) was in existence for only a short period of time, less than 100 years. It appears that the Ebla Atlas was composed prior to the founding of Numeira. The same may true of Zoar and Zeboiim. There has been some corroborating evidence from Bab edh-Dhra for this proposed contact. Among the cultural items that reflect foreign contact...the majority—including architectural features, cylinder seal impressions, jewelry, some forms of pottery, and a carved bull's head—show Syrian, if not Mesopotamian, influence (Schaub 1993: 135).
Geological Investigations At first reading it would seem that the destruction was caused by a volcanic eruption. When geologist Frederick G. Clapp visited the region in 1929 and again in 1934 he found that there was no evidence to indicate that lava or ash eruptions had taken place as recently as 4,000 years ago. He determined that topographic relationships render it probable that the last outburst in the vicinity took place thousands of years before Abraham's time (Clapp 1936a: 906; 1936b: 339–40). More recent assessments support that conclusion (Neev and Emery 1995: 147). Clapp found that the region south of the Dead Sea is very unstable, being bordered by fault lines on the east and west. Earthquakes are common in this area. After surveying the geology of the district, Clapp concluded that combustible materials from the earth destroyed the cities. He found bitumen and petroleum in the area. Natural gas and sulfur, which normally accompany bitumen and petroleum, are also present. These combustible materials could have been forced from the earth by subterranean pressure brought about by an earthquake resulting from the shifting of the bounding faults (Clapp 1936a: 906; 1936b: 40). Geologists who have studied the area in recent times agree with Clapp's reconstruction (Harris and Beardow 1995: 360; Neev and Emery 1995: 13–14; 33, 37). If lightning or surface fires ignited these combustibles as they came spewing forth from the ground, it would indeed result in a holocaust such as described in Genesis 19. It is significant to note that both Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira lie at the edge of the plain, exactly on the eastern fault line! Abraham, after having previously spoken with the Lord, knew of the impending judgment. Rising early in the morning he looked toward the Cities of the Plain from his vantage point at Hebron, high on the Mount Judah range west of the Dead Sea. Smoke rising from the plain south of the Dead Sea would have been readily visible from Hebron. In fact, mist rising from the Dead Sea can be seen almost any day from there. Abraham's eyewitness description fits the theory of a conflagration of petroleum products, for such a conflagration would result in a thick black smoke being forced into the sky by the heat and pressure of the burning materials shooting out of the fissure in the earth. Evidence at the Town Sites That an earthquake occurred at the time the cities were destroyed is clear from the work of geologist Jack Donahue of the University of Pittsburgh. At Bab edh-Dhra he found that during the period of occupation there was sedimentation, or infilling, and a build up of cultural debris (Donahue 1985: 135). Following the destruction, this changed to an erosional regime, brought about by an uplift of the area (Donahue 1980: 50; 1985: 134–36). The uplift produced an increase in the elevation differential between the town site and the Wadi Kerak on the north side of at least 28 m (92 ft) (Donahue 1985: 134).This resulted in severe erosion on the north side of Bab edh-Dhra, causing the north wall to eventually collapse into the wadi (Donahue 1985: 136).
At Numeira the findings were similar:
It is suggested here that the tower collapse and extensive burn layers over the site were caused by an earthquake generated by fault movement (Donahue 1985: 139).
Evidence at the Bab edh-Dhra Cemetery We have detailed the evidence that both town sites were destroyed by an overwhelming conflagration. Additional evidence from the cemetery at Bab edh-Dhra demonstrates that the destruction included areas outside the towns, thus involving "the entire plain" (Gn 19:25) and that it "came out of the heavens" (Gn 19:24). During the Early Bronze III period the dead at Bab edh-Dhra were interred in charnel houses built above ground. Five of the buildings that were excavated, A8, A22, A41, A51 and A55, were in use at the end of the life of the city. In each case the building was extensively burned (Schaub and Rast 1989: 326–26, 344, 384; Rast and Schaub 1978: 24; Rast and Schaub 1980: 37). The explanation the excavators offer for this burning is that it was intentionally done by a human agent that also destroyed the town (Rast and Schaub 1978: 24; Rast 1987:49; Schaub and Rast 1989: 396). The evidence we have discussed above points to destruction by earthquake rather than by a human agent. Even if Bab edh-Dhra was destroyed by an enemy, it seems highly improbable that a conqueror would go into a cemetery located several hundred meters away and systematically set fire to and demolish all the burial houses. This would be an unprecedented act for which there are no known parallels. There is a more logical explanation.
Plan and section of Charnel House A22 at Bab edh-Dhra. The largest of the excavated charnel houses, or funerary buildings (51 x 26 ft), the structure was destroyed by fire at the same time the city was destroyed. The fire started on the roof and spread to the interior when the roof collapsed. This provides graphic evidence that "the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens" (Gn 19:24).
The extensive burn is clear evidence of the tomb's destruction by fire. Burning was concentrated along the interior wall in the center of both sectors, where the majority of posts and beams were uncovered. Along the south wall impressions of desiccated beams angled down toward the interior transverse wall, indicating that they had collapsed in the center across the interior wall (Rast and Schaub 1980: 37).
"I will surely return to you in the spring, and Sarah your wife shall have a son"..."At the appointed time I will return to you, in the spring, and Sarah shall have a son" (Gn 18:10, 14, RSV).
It is remarkable, for example, that the grapes in Locus 17 of SE 3/1 were preserved even with their outer skins, due perhaps to the burning material which collapsed over the area and sealed these items (Rast 1981: 43). Although carbonized whole grapes have been reported from Salamis, Hesban and Jericho, the size of the Numeira hoard, which consisted of over 700 whole grapes, is very uncommon (McCreery 1981: 168).
It is remarkable, for example, that the grapes in Locus 17 of SE 3/1 were preserved even with their outer skins, due perhaps to the burning material which collapsed over the area and sealed these items (Rast 1981: 43).
Although carbonized whole grapes have been reported from Salamis, Hesban and Jericho, the size of the Numeira hoard, which consisted of over 700 whole grapes, is very uncommon (McCreery 1981: 168).
The infrequent small finds included...more whole carbonized grapes with the stems attached and what preliminary analysis indicates were carbonized watermelon seeds (both evidence for dating the destruction of the site to late spring) (Coogan 1984:77).
When the archaeological, geographical and epigraphic evidence is reviewed in detail, it is clear that the infamous cities of Sodom and Gomorrah have now been found. What is more, this evidence demonstrates that the Bible provides an accurate eyewitness account of events that occurred southeast of the Dead Sea over 4,000 years ago.
Bible and Spade Summer 1999
Footnotes (1) For previous articles on Sodom and Gomorrah in Bible and Spade, see Wood 1974, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1983; Shea 1988. (2) Large pools of water can be observed in the former area of the southern basin, but these are artificial ponds associated with thriving potash industries operated by Israel and Jordan. Water from the Dead Sea is directed to the pools (salt pans) where it is evaporated, allowing valuable salts to be harvested. (3) The Lisan peninsula divides the main, northern, body of the Dead Sea from the shallow southern basin. (4) We find such references only for Zoar. There are no later references to the other Cities of the Plain, Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah or Zeboiim, as living communities. (5) The "Valley of Siddim (the Salt Sea)" in Genesis 14:3, 8 and 10 is undoubtedly the shallow basin south of the Lisan Peninsula which, in later times when the level of the Dead Sea was higher, became an extension of the Dead Sea. The valley had many pits of hemor or bitumen. This asphalt-like petroleum product was commonly found in the southern basin of the Dead Sea throughout antiquity. The name "Siddim" derives from the verb saded which means "to harrow." Wherever the verb is used in the Old Testament, it is in an agricultural context (Jb 39:10; Is 28:24; Hos 10:11) (Howard 1988a). (6) It is possible that these two events, the attack of the coalition of Mesopotamian kings described in Genesis 14 and the destruction of the Cities of the Plain described in Genesis 19, were significant contributing factors in the demise of the Early Bronze III culture in Canaan. (7) The original epigrapher of the Ebla expedition, Giovanni Pettinato, claimed in 1976 to have found the names Sodom, Gomorrah and Zoar/Bela in the Ebla tablets. Alfonso Archi, Pettinato's successor as Ebla epigrapher, vigorously contested this. See the discussion in Shea 1983: 608–609. (8) 1450 Exodus (1 Kgs 6:1; Jgs 11:26) + 430, length of Egyptian Sojourn (Ex 12:40), + 130, Jacob's age when he entered Egypt (Gn 47:9), + 60, Isaac's age when Jacob was born (Gn 25:26), + 1, the pregnancy of Sarah with Isaac = 2071 BC. (9) Carbon 14 dates for the end of the EB III period at both Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira are much too early and have been disregarded by the excavators (Rast and Schaub 1980: 45–47). Similarly, C14 dates for the end of the succeeding EB IVA period of 2200 BC (Schaub 1993:136), may be too early. (10) The end of EB III is given as 2350 BC in the Anchor Bible Dictionary (Dever 1992: 110), 2200 BC in the New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land (vo\. 4, p. 1529) (1993), and 2300 BC in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East (vol. 5, p. 413) (1997). (11) The grapes of Sodom and Gomorrah are referred to in Deuteronomy 32:32. References
Archi, A. 1997 Ebla Texts. Pp. 87-89 in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, vol 4, ed. E.M. Meyers. New York: Oxford University Press. Astour, M. 1992 Zoar. P. 1107 in The Archaeology of Ancient Israel, ed. A. Ben-Tor. New Haven: Yale University Press. Ben-Tor, A. 1992 The Early Bronze Age. Pp. 81–125 in The Archaeology of Ancient Israel, ed. A. Ben-Tor. New Haven: Yale University Press. Bietak, M. 1997 The Center of Hyksos Rule: Avaris (Tell el-Dab'a). Pp. 87–139 in The Hyksos: New Historical and Archaeological Perspectives, ed. E. D. Oren. Philadelphia: The University Museum. Bilkadi, Z. 1984 Bitumen—A History. Aramco World November–December: 2–9. 1994 Bulls From the Sea. Aramco World July–August: 20–31. Clapp, F.G. 1936a Geology and Bitumens of the Dead Sea Area. Bulletin of Petroleum Geologists 20: 881–909. 1936b The Site of Sodom and Gomorrah. American Journal of Archaeology 40: 323–44. Coogan, M.D. 1984 Numeira 1981. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 255: 75–81. Dever, W. G. 1992 Palestine, Archaeology of (Bronze Iron Ages). Pp. 109–14 in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 5, ed. D. N. Freedman. New York: Doubleday. Donahue, J. 1980 Geology. Pp. 47–52 in Preliminary Report of the 1979 Expedition to the Dead Sea Plain, Jordan, eds. W.E. Rast and R.T. Schaub. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 240: 21–61. 1984 Geologic Reconstruction of Numeira. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 255: 83–88. 1985 Hydrologic and Topographic Change During and After Early Bronze Occupation at Bab edh-Dhra. Pp. 131–40 in Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan 2, ed. A. Hadidi. Amman: Department of Antiquities. Donner, H. 1992 The Mosaic Map of Madaba. Kampen, Netherlands: Kok Pharaos. Gentry, P.J. 1999 Personal communication, October 1. Harris, G.M., and Beardow, A.P. 1995 The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah: A Geotechnical Perspective. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology 28: 349–62. Howard, D.M., Jr. 1984 Sodom and Gomorrah Revisited. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 27: 385–400. 1988a Siddim, Valley of. Pp. 499–500 in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. 4, ed. G.W. Bromily. Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans. 1988b Zoar. P. 1203 in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. 4, ed. G.W. Bromily. Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans. Kitchen, K.A. 1991 The Chronology of Ancient Egypt. World Archaeology 23:201–208. 1996 The Historical Chronology of Ancient Egypt, a Current Assessment. Acta Archaeologica 67: 1–13. McCreery, D.W. 1980 Paleobotany. Pp. 52–53 in Preliminary Report of the 1979 Expedition to the Dead Sea Plain, Jordan, eds. W.E. Rast and R.T. Schaub. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 240: 21–61. 1981 Flotation of the Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira Plant Remains. Pp. 165–69 in The Southeastern Dead Sea Plain Expedition: An Interim Report of the 1977 Season, ed. W.E. Rast and R.T. Schaub. Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research 46, ed. J.A. Callaway. Cambridge MA: American Schools of Oriental Research. MacDonald, B. 1997 Southern Ghors and Northeast 'Arabah. Pp. 64–66 in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, vol. 5, ed. E.M. Meyers. New York: Oxford University Press. Mazar, A. 1990 Archaeology of the Land of the Bible. New York:Doubleday. Miller, J.M., and Hayes, J.H. 1986 A History of Ancient Israel and Judah. Philadelphia: Westminster. Mulder, M.J. 1992 Sodom and Gomorrah. Pp. 99–103 in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 6, ed. D.N. Freedman. New York: Doubleday. Neev, D., and Emery, K.O. 1995 The Destruction of Sodom, Gomorrah, and Jericho: Geological, Climatological, and Archaeological Background. New York: Oxford University Press. Polotis, K.D. 1993 Deir 'Ain 'Abata. Pp. 336–38 in The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, vol. 1, ed. E. Stem. New York: Simon & Schuster. Rast, W.E. 1981 Settlement at Numeira. Pp. 35–44 in The Southeastern Dead Sea Plain Expedition: An Interim Report of the 1977 Season, ed. W.E. Rast and R.T. Schaub. Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research 46, ed. J.A. Callaway. Cambridge MA: American Schools of Oriental Research. 1987a Bab edh-Dhra and the Origin of the Sodom Saga. Pp. 185–201 in Archaeology and Biblical Interpretation, ed. L.G. Perdue, L.E. Tombs and G.L. Johnson. Atlanta: John Knox. 1987b Bronze Age Cities Along the Dead Sea. Archaeology 40: 42–49. 1992 Bab edh-Dhra. Pp. 559–61 in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 1, ed. D.N. Freedman. New York: Doubleday. Rast, W.E., and Schaub, R.T. 1974 Survey of the Southeastern Plain of the Dead Sea, 1973. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 19: 5–53, 175–85. 1978 A Preliminary Report of Excavations at Bab edh-Dhra', 1975. Pp. 1–32 in The Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research, vol. 43, ed. D.N. Freedman. Cambridge MA: American Schools of Oriental Research. 1980 Preliminary Report of the 1979 Expedition to the Dead Sea Plain, Jordan. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 240: 21–61. Schaub, R.T. 1992 Safi. Pp. 895–96 in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 5, ed. D.N. Freedman. New York: Doubleday. 1993 Bab edh-Dhra. Pp. 130–36 in The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, vol. 1, ed. E. Stem. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1997a Bab edh-Dhra. Pp. 248–51 in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, vol. 1, ed. E.M. Meyers. New York: Oxford University Press. 1997b Southeast Dead Sea Plain. Pp. 62–64 in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, vol. 5, ed. E.M. Meyers. New York: Oxford University Press. Schaub, R.T., and Rast, W.E. 1984 Preliminary Report of the 1981 Expedition to the Dead Sea Plain, Jordan. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 254: 35–60. 1989 Bab edh-Dhra: Excavations in the Cemetery, Directed by Paul W. Lapp (1965–1967). Reports of the Expedition to the Dead Sea Plains, Jordan, 1. Winona Lake IN: Eisenbrauns. Shea, W.S. 1983 Two Palestinian Segments From the Eblaite Geographical Atlas. Pp. 589–612 in The Word of the Lord Shall Go Forth, ed. C.L. Meyers and M. O'Connor. Winona Lake IN: Eisenbrauns. 1988 Numeira. Archaeology and Biblical Research 1:12–23. deVries, B. 1991 Archaeology in Jordan. American Journal of Archaeology 95:253–80. Wood, B.G. 1974 Have Sodom and Gomorrah Been Found? Bible and Spade 3: 65–89. 1977 Sodom and Gomorrah Update. Bible and Spade 6:24–30. 1978 Specialists Help Reconstruct Life in the Cities of the Plain. Bible and Spade 7: 91–95. 1980 Results of the 1979 Season at Sodom and Gomorrah. Bible and Spade 9: 111–18. 1983 Sodom and Gomorrah Update. Bible and Spade 12:22–33. 1992 Kiln. Pp. 38–39 in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 4, ed. D.N. Freedman. New York: Doubleday.
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What about the western location some people have promoted and who offer sulfer balls, salt formations as their evidence? is it possible that sodom and gomorrah were located on the western shores of the dead sea? i am not challenging the above but would like to see the reasons why the west side is disqualified fromcontention. i dismiss and reject the northern location as it just does not fit nor has any credibility but am curious about this other option.
dr. david tee - 7/30/2008 9:52:04 AM
abraham aina - 9/8/2010 6:49:17 AM
FATHER YOU are great! I don't care what anyone says...my GOD lives and judges.
Emma - 12/10/2011 9:52:46 AM
What an amazing story there is no shortage of them from the middle east. Thank you to the bibble and spade. Believe in god first.
David Cohen - 5/12/2012 4:50:23 AM
You can't carbon date burned rafter remains? So all you have to go on are transcribed verbal histories?
John B. Egan - 3/20/2013 6:08:01 PM
To Mr. John B. Egan:Sir, carbon dating is a very inaccurate science as it is anyhow, therefore, carbon dating burned rafter remains wouldn't give you any good information anyhow. Carbon dating has been proven time after time to be nothing more than a shot in the dark. To bad too, however, the Holy Bible has been proven time and time again to be 100% accurate, even when science tries to dis-prove the Bible. The fact is, God provides only the most important information. You might ask, "What information is that?". The answer, to this question is best discovered by reading the Bible, which I will leave up to you.The most important thing here, is not the location of the "Cities of Sin", just the reason why they were destroyed. My God is the only reason why any of us are even breathing as He holds our very breath in his hand. Our lives, are a gift from God, and so is the Salvation that he offers each and every one of us. Thank you Jesus for saving a Wretch, like me.God Bless you all...
Dee - 7/2/2013 9:29:05 PM
I am a little surprised that there was not at least a passing reference to the possibility that the destruction came from actual burning sulfur from the sky, rather that burning sulfur from an earthquake type event. The text could also mean actual burning sulfur originating from the sky.
D. Thigpen - 1/6/2014 9:13:40 PM
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A Start up is not a smaller version of a large company
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Lao-tzu
If you read the academic literature or business press, you might believe that large companies and their business models are brought by the stork.
This series of posts are going to offer a new three-stage model of how startups grow into large companies. And I'll end with some thoughts about a new approach to entrepreneurial education using this model.
Children, Adolescents and Adults
In the Middle Ages children were considered to be smaller versions of adults. We now know that the human life cycle is more complex; children aren't just small adults, and adolescents are not simply large children. Instead each is a unique stage of development with distinctive behavior, modes of thinking, physiology and more.
The same is true for startups and companies.
In the past, most business literature has treated the life cycle of corporation as if the practices that make sense for a large corporation were equally appropriate for a startup. They only differed by timing or scale.
I argue that as a scalable startup grows from a garage into a Google, it progresses through three distinct stages – each presenting a unique set of challenges and decisions – and each requiring vastly different resources, skills and strategy.
Let's take a closer look at the first two of these stages.
Stage 1: The Scalable Startup
A scalable startup is designed by intent from day one to become a large company. The founders believe they have a big idea – one that can grow to £100 million or more in annual revenue—by either disrupting an existing market and taking customers from existing companies or creating a new market. Scalable startups aim to provide an obscene return to their founders and investors using all available outside resources.
Entrepreneurs who have run a startup know that startups are not small versions of big companies. Rather they are different in every possible way – from goals, to measurements, from employees to culture. Very few skills, process, people or strategies that work in a startup are successful in a large established company and vice versa because a startup is a different organizational entity than a large established company.
Therefore, it follows that:
a) Startups need different management principles, people and strategies than large established companies
b) Any advice that's targeted to large established companies is irrelevant, distracting and potentially damaging in growing and managing a startup
Getting From Here to There
If you would ask a startup CEO to create a diagram showing how their startup will become a large company, you'd probably get a simple line extending from "here's where we are" to "here's where we're going."
All the activities of a scalable startup such as Customer Development, Agile Development, Pivots, search for a repeatability, scale, business model, team building etc. would be inside the box to the left. In this simplistic model, on the day a startup achieves product/market fit, they would stop doing all the startup activities and magically become a "large company" – somehow acquiring a completely new set of skills, executing a known business model, generating profits and achieving liquidity for its founders and investors.
Since we know the world doesn't work like this, the question is, "what is the process that transforms a a startup into a large company?"
Stage 2: Metamorphosis – the Transition
Any entrepreneur who has been successful (lucky) enough to grow their startup into a large company knows that this process is not a simple linear transition – it's a metamorphosis. Startups traverse a clearly defined and chaotic stage before they become a large enterprise.
And once again, very few skills, processes, people or strategies that work in a scalable startup or in a large established company are successful in this transitional stage.
The transitional period between a startup and a company is a different organizational entity than either a startup or a large enterprise. While it is no longer an early stage scalable startup, it is not yet a large company.
This is the "they fired the founders and took away the free sodas" stage.
The new taxonomy for understanding how startups differ and grow into large company's looks like this:
Each stage is an entirely different business entity with different management needs and requirements.
Post from Steve Blank and can be found on steveblank.com

subset: commoncrawl


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Cool Stuff: Drew Struzan: Oeuvre Book [Exclusive Images]
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
One of the first things I purchased on preview night of the 2011 San Diego Comic Con was a limited edition signed version of Drew Struzan's new book Drew Struzan: Oeuvre. It is one of the best purchases I've made this year, and a must have for any film fanatic.
Drew Struzan has created some of the most iconic movie posters of the last 30 years, from Harry Potter to Hellboy, Raiders of the Lost Ark to Back to the Future. This extravagant hardcover edition of DREW STRUZAN: OEUVRE, with a Foreword by George Lucas, film producer, screen-writer, director and founder/chairman of Lucasfilm Ltd., features over 250 pieces of art, including all of Drew's most iconic movie images, as well as other career highlights, from record album, book, and comic book covers, to stamps, trading cards, promotional artwork and very personal original works. —This right-up-to-date collection of Struzan's work includes recent and never-before-published pieces including Star Wars: Episode III poster art; Indiana Jones 4 poster art; Walking Dead poster art; Hellboy 2 poster art; Pan's Labyrinth poster art; Lord of the Rings trading cards; and never before published personal works.
Titan Books has given us a bunch of exclusive images from the book, full sized poster artwork without the logos and text. I can't tell you how awesome these images look on the large full pages of this coffee table book. The book will be released on October 4th 2011. Preorder it now on Amazon for $31.33, 37% off the $50 cover price.
Images from the book:


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Hi Folks,
The "Dharma Book Talk" thread led me to think that maybe we could have a "Dharma Book Club." I have some books that I would like to recommend. Maybe folks might all read the book together, perhaps a chapter a week (is that a good pace? We can set a reading schedule.). Then, people would be "on the same page" and would be able to discuss the chapter in common here.
The book I would really like to recommend as a start is "Everyday Zen" by Ven. Joko Beck. Even if you have read it before, it is one of those books that merits reading any number of times. The practice in her lineage is a little different from what we do here (they are somewhat more into Koan based meditation), but it is all the same too.
What do you think? Maybe you could all get a copy, and we could start reading it in about two weeks.
Gassho, Jundo


text:
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Once a week we have a meal consisting of black beans. I really like black beans and having them on nachos is a super fast, delicious, and filling meal. Sometimes we go with the grown up version of this dish and have Mexican pizzas. Last night I think they could be called Mexican mountains.
These were extra special because we had grabbed some fresh peppers at the grocery store. Mr. J is strangely extremely knowledgeable about pepper varieties. We always end up with too many when he goes shopping.
Mr. J didn't realize that the bag of tomatoes was suppose to be for multiple meals. Instead he chopped them all up and added to the heaping pile.
We finished these off with a bit of spinach.
Cheese and siracha sauce.
Bake for about 20 miuntes until cheese starts to brown. The heaping mountain becomes more of a plateau with the heat and weight of the cheese.
It is so good. The most time consuming part is the chopping which can be done in advance. Canned beans work great. If you are really in a rush you can buy the preshredded cheese as well.


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This Is Not My Brooklyn
By Vanessa Martir @Vanessa_LaLoba
Say, "I'm from Brooklyn" like there's a grenade exploding from my mouth.
I walk different after saying it. My step is a little harder, my shoulders more square, nose held higher in the air. It's a momentary self-assuredness that follows me for a spell. I feel it rise into my jaw when I see her approach across the water as I'm crossing the Williamsburg Bridge; when the train doors close on First Avenue and the L snakes under the East River. The thing is, the Brooklyn I'm from isn't the Brooklyn of today. It's not that funky Brooklyn that I keep in my back pocket in case somebody tries it. (You don't wanna mess with a girl from 1980s Bushwick.)
My Brooklyn is the Brooklyn of the Domino sugar factory and rubble and crack. Nostalgia can be a confusing thing. It isn't always for the neat and pristine. It's sometimes a longing for something you know wasn't always pretty, but was always home.
***When people speak of the old Brooklyn, when they refer to it in articles & essays, the Brooklyn before the organic markets and food co-ops, before there was a trash can on every corner and community gardens, they talk about it like it was all bad, like all there was was poverty and crack and single moms (because you know we're the bane of existence, right?), violence and high school dropouts.
When I discovered my seven year old self in a picture in an exhibit by Meryl Meisler, I hesitated before reaching out to her. I was far too familiar with the images of my old neighborhood from way back when. Yes, there was drugs; yes, there were addicts and there was violence and the blaring sirens from the fire trucks were so common that they became white noise; but you know what? There was also love, there were people who thrived in that and loved in that and raised families in that. What I loved about Meryl's work was that that's what she focused on. There's no images of the crack vials in the gutter or the mother pulling hard on her pipe while her child looks on. There's none of that. Why? Because there was more than that and that's what Meryl documented.
Photo Credit: Meryl Meisler/merylmeisler.com
So when people talk about gentrification like it's something that saved the neighborhood, that saved my people, it's real reminiscent of the defense of colonization and the idea that the white man came to the new world to civilize the savages. There's something insidious about that mindset. It's called Columbusing.
When I think of Brooklyn, the first word that comes to mind is home. But my home isn't today's Brooklyn. Those quaint cafés and yoga studios were not built for me. My Brooklyn isn't the Brooklyn where a townhouse just hit the market with an asking price of $40 million dollars.
There's something about losing our homes that's particularly grating. Humans have a natural pull to where we're from, like umbilical cords that keep us linked to a maternal figure, a patria, something greater than ourselves; a place of where we felt safe & welcome, where we could be our full selves. To have that taken away and be made to feel like strangers in our own land is jarring and painful in so many ways.
I miss the sense of community of the old neighborhood. I miss the intrinsic Latino flavor that signaled that I was home as soon as I stepped off the L train on Myrtle Avenue. The piragüero on the corner who knew me by name and always asked for my mother. The borinqueña waving in the wind from every other window. The bodeguero Miguel who gave us credit when the food stamps ran out. And our Boricua neighbor from next door who gave us a tembleque during the holidays and mom gave her tamales.
We all need to feel like we belong somewhere, & that's what Bushwick gave me, especially after I left for boarding school at 13 and found myself rootless in the world. Nostalgia is strange like that. Sometimes it's a longing for the gritty and profane.
My mind goes to that woman who came to the Bushwick Open Studios Exhibit I co-curated with Meryl Meisler (Defying Devastation: Bushwick Then & Now) and read my work on gentrification. She shifted uncomfortably as she read, breathing heavily, her leg started shaking and she folded her arms over her chest, folding and unfolding several times. "But Nyssa's white," she told me, as if I hadn't notice this fact about Nyssa, the owner of The Living Gallery. "What's your point?" "Well, you're talking about us." "Is that all you got from the piece?" She rolled her eyes, shrugged and walked away.
She didn't want to understand where I was coming from, or at least I didn't see her making any attempt to. I heard the defensiveness in her voice, the "us versus you" in her tone. It didn't matter that the exhibit was an attempt at a dialogue about gentrification and how we can possibly connect those who have been here for a long time and those who are fresh arrivals, new to the city and this neighborhood that has so much history, so much life, where so much existed before even this woman was born. I wanted to tell her that before she came to this earth, I'd had my first kiss less than a mile away in the hallway of 365 Palmetto Street. Across the street and three blocks down was where I started to come out of my shell and saw that maybe I did have a knack for this writing thing. And a block over from there was where I practiced for months before hopping on a plane to Turkey in April of 1989 to represent the US at the NATO Children of the World Festival. The irony does not escape me that a group of brown and black kids from Bushwick were chosen to represent the US at this festival all those years ago.
These days, when I go back to Bushwick what I remember isn't what is. The corriente that ran through the neighborhood is gone. There's no Jerry Rivera blasting from passing cars. La doña who never left her spot at the window of her second floor apartment on Grove Street, is gone. She took her PR curtain flag with her. The cuchifrito spot on the corner is gone too; there's a $5 cappuccino spot there now. When I went in to order a café, the barrista said, "You mean coffee?" "No," I said, "I mean café." I almost slapped him when he charged me $3 for an eight ounce cup. The café wasn't even good.
I read on Twitter that on her desk writer Tayari Jones has "a tiny jar containing a few spoonfuls of earth from Lorain, Ohio. This is how much I love Toni Morrison." I thought of that junk yard next to our building at 383 Palmetto Street, and that backyard where I'd climb up the plum tree. In those connected yards was where I started telling myself stories. There are the roots to this writing life I created for myself. In that junk yard, among the debris, the lumber with rusted nails sticking out at all angles, the piles of car tires and license plates, the feral cats that nested beneath all that rubble, there I started telling myself stories, I started imagining a different life, I imagined myself the female Indiana Jones and that I was a dancer like Leroy and Coco in Fame.
If I could, I'd have a tiny jar containing spoonfuls of that soil. The soil from back then. The soil that fed mami's garden those two years that she planted her tomatoes and peppers and eggplant, before she brought her plants inside because there she could protect them, outside she could not.
That soil didn't need anyone to save it. That soil is what did the saving. That soil is what molded and saved this girl, who is now writing this essay at her desk, living this life that she started imagining way back in the Brooklyn people denigrate.
The other day at a reading in Greenpoint, an audience member asked, "Where are you from and how does that shape your work?" I said, "I'm from Brooklyn," like I had a grenade exploding in my mouth. I survived boarding school and Columbia University and those people that said I couldn't and I shouldn't because I'm brown and woman and poor, I survived all that because I'm from Brooklyn. Nearly 40 years old and that's still true.
Thank you, Brooklyn. Como tú, no hay y nunca habra otra.


text:
Investigators are operating under the theory that there were multiple attackers in the slayings of eight people from one Ohio family, authorities confirmed Thursday after months of noting that was a possibility.
Local and state investigators have released few details about the April shootings near Piketon, saying they don't want to jeopardize chances of catching and convicting whoever's responsible.
Offering just the slightest bit more detail Thursday, a spokesman for Ohio's Attorney General Mike DeWine confirmed to The Associated Press that investigators are working with the theory that it wasn't a single attacker.
Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader also referenced the suspicion of multiple "killers" Thursday while testifying in a court hearing related to custody of two of the three young children who weren't harmed in the attack, The Columbus Dispatch reported. Speaking in support of closing those proceedings to the public, Reader said he believes the children are still in danger and worries that making information about them public would amplify that.
Seven adults and a teenage boy from the Rhoden family were found dead at four homes on April 22. A coroner determined all but one of the victims had been shot repeatedly, and some had bruising.
DeWine has said the top-priority case might be the biggest in the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation's history in terms of manpower and resources.
A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
U.S. & World
The victims were 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr.; his ex-wife, 37-year-old Dana Rhoden; their three children, 20-year-old Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden, 16-year-old Christopher Rhoden Jr. and 19-year-old Hanna Rhoden; Frankie Rhoden's fiancee, 20-year-old Hannah Gilley; Christopher Rhoden Sr.'s brother, 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden; and a cousin, 38-year-old Gary Rhoden.


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Data centers are going through a true revolution in design, scalability and economics in order to respond to evolving business demands, which have forced IT organizations to move at warp speed to evaluate, select and implement new technologies. The pressure is on to select the right IT platform to transform the data center from expensive, stodgy and rigid to agile, cost efficient and lithe.
This rapid change can seem scary, but the reality is we've been down this path before. Server virtualization was a major step forward for data centers; it delivered efficient, cloud-like computing in its different iterations. All too often, however, infrastructure managers and data center administrators were hampered in their efforts to extend those same virtualization benefits to storage and networking.
Organizations are discovering that proven, high-performance options are widely available to build out a software-defined data center (SDDC). Research indicates that SDDC market growth will exceed 26% on a compound annual basis, with worldwide market revenues eclipsing $83 billion by 2021.
To leverage the full potential of the SDDC in modernizing data center architecture, organizations need to plan for three initiatives:
- Continue the rapid pace of innovation in implementing virtual infrastructure that lowers total cost of ownership and improves long-term scalability.
- Support innovative infrastructure designs such as hyper-convergence in the long-overdue server refresh cycle.
- Enable proactive management and predictive maintenance that spans the entire SDDC for both local and remote resources.
Fortunately, VMware has made SDDC and data center modernization a high priority throughout its product portfolio, particularly with its popular and widely adopted hyper-converged storage software, VMware vSAN. While thousands of enterprises have adopted vSAN, VMware has maintained and even accelerated vSAN's pace of innovation to help data center managers keep up with the exciting developments in hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI).
Focused on lowering operational costs with intelligent and automated infrastructure, VMware has made important new upgrades to vSAN. In addition, HCI solutions powered by vSAN are further bolstered by a strategic collaboration with Intel on the latest x86 architecture that is likely to be a key element in enterprises' next server upgrades.
VMware's latest moves align tightly with the three major initiatives highlighted earlier in this article.
- Lower operational costs with new vSAN release. The seventh generation of vSAN—version 6.6.1—further trims operating costs by streamlining and removing common tasks. vSAN 6.6.1 introduces a single-click tool to upgrade to new releases, the easy identification of failed storage devices for quicker maintenance and faster performance tuning by adding performance diagnostics to vSAN Cloud Analytics.
- Enjoy a competitive advantage with HCI powered by vSAN and the latest Intel x86 architecture. Many IT organizations have been craving upgrades in performance, scalability and cost efficiency for their x86 server infrastructure, and the new Intel Xeon Processor Scalable Family is designed to meet that need. VMware and Intel have teamed up to reduce IT costs by enabling 2.5 times more virtual machines per cluster, resulting in greater workload density. HCI solutions powered by vSAN and this latest x86 architecture were available on Day 0 to help customers improve application performance, lower latency and deploy the latest flash storage technologies.
- Expand management and monitoring of complete SDDC and multi-vSAN clusters. As vSAN deployments increasingly expand across the enterprise, IT executives have set their sights on native HCI and vSAN support for their existing management. The new vRealize Operations 6.6 management framework supports native vSAN integration, enabling one-click vSAN monitoring. The new management software is well suited for large-scale data centers demanding multi-cluster management, predictive analytics for performance and capacity management, rapid troubleshooting and easy monitoring.
vSAN 6.6.1 represents VMware's focus on helping customers lower costs and discover greater agility through SDDC and data center innovations. This strategy, including its partnership with Intel, goes a long way toward enabling concurrent implementation of new virtualization features for both compute and storage functions in HCI environments.


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Since deciding to switch Slow Cooker Day from Sunday to Friday, I've ended up making a lot more meat dishes than I had originally planned for this In the Slow Cooker series. I promise, there will be a dairy recipe coming soon.
For now, though, I am beyond excited to share with you this AHHHHmazing recipe for Coffee Braised Pot Roast from Joy of Kosher.
The flavor was exquisite (did I just write that?), but still mild. I am not a coffee drinker, so don't worry that this is going to taste like java – it doesn't!
I served it with roasted potatoes, parsnips and carrots – but it would also be great with a pilaf. We were four adults and five kids and there wasn't a bit left!
Coffee-Braised Pot Roast
- 1 (4-pound) beef roast, trimmed of fat (Mine was still mostly frozen when I put it in the slow cooker. This is the second time I've done this – and it's been fine. I haven't even needed to increase the cook time.)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced (4 cups)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary (the original recipe calls for thyme)
- 1/2 cup strong brewed coffee
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch or potato starch mixed with 2 tablespoons water
- Season beef with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a (very) large skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef and cook, turning until well browned on all sides, 5-7 minutes. Transfer to the crock of the slow cooker.
- Add remaining oil to the pot and saute onions for 5 minutes until translucent. Add garlic and rosemary and saute for another minute.
- Stir in coffee and vinegar and bring to a quick boil. Pour over the roast in the crock.
- Cook on high for 4-5 hours, or on low for 7- hours.
- Remove liquid from slow cooker and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, mix cornstarch with water. Add to the liquid, whisking constantly, until the gravy thickens.
- Remove beef from slow cooker and let cool. Carve and serve with gravy.


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Install Mplayer and Multimedia Codecs (libdvdcss2,w32codecs,w64codecs) in Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty)
Sponsored Link
Install Mplayer in Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty)
You need to add the following lines to /etc/apt/sources.list file or you need to make sure you have enabled Universe and multiverse repositories Using GUI.
sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
Make sure you have the following two lines save and exit your file
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jaunty universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jaunty universe multiverse
Now you need to run the following command to update the source list
sudo apt-get update
Install mplayer using the following command
sudo apt-get install mplayer
If you want to open mplayer go to Applications—>Sound&Video—> Mplayer Movie Player
Install Mplayer Front-end
1) Smplayer
Qt Mplayer front-end, with basic features like playing videos, DVDs, and VCDs to more advanced features like support for MPlayer filters and more. One of the most interesting features of SMPlayer: it remembers the settings of all files you play. So you start to watch a movie but you have to leave… don't worry, when you open that movie again it will resume at the same point you left it, and with the same settings: audio track, subtitles, volume…
sudo apt-get install smplayer
Install smplayer themes using the following command
sudo apt-get install smplayer-themes
2) gnome-mplayer
A simple GUI for MPlayerIt provides a simple and clean interface to MPlayer. GNOME MPlayer has a rich API that is exposed via DBus. Using DBus you can control a single or multiple instances of GNOME MPlayer from a single command.GNOME MPlayer can be used to play media on websites when used in conjunction with Gecko Mediaplayer.
Install gnome mplayer using the following command
sudo apt-get install gnome-mplayer
Install libdvdcss2 and w32 video codecs in Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty)
Support for WMV, RealMedia and other formats has been bundled into the w32codecs package. This package is not available from the Ubuntu repositories due to licensing and legal restrictions.To play encrypted DVDs, the libdvdcss2 package is essential.
For Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty) Users use the following procedures
sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/jaunty.list --
Then, add the GPG Key using the following commands
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install medibuntu-keyring
sudo apt-get update
For i386 Users install Codecs using the following command
sudo apt-get install w32codecs libdvdcss2
For amd64 Users install Codecs using the following command
sudo apt-get install w64codecs libdvdcss2
Using above download locations you can install most of the mutimedia codecs for ubuntu.
Mplayer Plugin for Firefox
If you want to install Mplayer with plug-in for Mozilla Firefox run the following command
sudo apt-get install mozilla-mplayer


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Just to let people from around the country and the world know, we are fine. Our area had some places that were hit hard but our immediate neighborhood and our house were never in any danger. Within a half a mile or so there were some road closures as creeks overflowed onto roadways but it was not too bad for us. People in Charleston and Columbia had it much worse than us, and Little River to our north had 20 inches of rain in the worst day, washing away some road beds.
I appreciate the concern people have, but we are fine and always were. For us it was a minor inconvenience. I feel for the people for whom this was total devastation.


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"For fundamental contributions to statistical mechanics and the theory of quantum fluids, including: the circle theorem, off-diagonal long-range order and flux quantization, Bose-Einstein condensation, and one- and two-dimensional statistical mechanical models."
Dr. Yang is a native of China and became a U.S. citizen in 1964. He received his Ph.D. in 1948 from the University of Chicago. In 1949 he joined the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton where he was a Professor from 1955 to 1966. In 1966 he joined the State University of of New York at Stony Brook where he is Albert Einstein Professor of Physics. He is also Director of the Institute of Theoretical Physics at SUNY- Stony Brook.
Dr. Yang is a member of the US National Academy of Science, the Academia Sinica, Taiwan and the American Philosophical Society. He also holds foreign membership in the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society (London), the Chineses Academy of Science, and several other academies. He received the Nobel Prize in 1957, the Rumford Premium (1980), the National Medal of Science (1986), the Benjamin Franklin Medal (1993), the Bower Prize (1994), and the N. Bogoliubov Prize (1996). He holds honorary Doctorate of Science degrees from Princeton University (1958) and a dozen other universites.
Nigel David Goldenfeld (Chair), Robert M. Mazo, Leo Kadanoff ('98 Recipient), Moses Chan (Vice Chair), Katepalli Sreenivasan


text:
I recently received a sample of this jerky and I must say it was absolutely outstanding! My wife and I were fighting over it and we finished it all in a couple of minutes. I definitely give this product two thumbs up!
Chef Guy Mitchell
Guest Chef at the White House
"This is an outstanding elite product bursting with flavor. I would definitely buy this again &again..." EL WINGADOR |
Seriously, Jim's Jar Head Jerky rocks. It is unlike any other. My 5 1/2 year old inhaled the bag last night with in minutes. Between my husband, myself and my daughter we were passing the bag to each other and the jerky was gone in no time. If you have not tried it you better because you are missing out!
Fan of Jim
Another person that loves JJJ!
"Jim, your jerky is simply the best and the purpose is honorable. Please keep up the great work you do for our troops and let us all keep them in our thoughts and prayers!" Jim Beach NJ State Senator District 6 (Chairman, Senate Mil & Vet Affairs) |
I felt guilty the other night as started to eat another brand of Jerky - Let's just say I am glad I did. Now I can say with out a doubt what a superior product you have! Who want's to feed their wild side when they can GRUNT! Keep up the good work. Semper Fi!!!
Richard Jacobowitz
Satisfied Customer!
"Just want to let you know that my future Nephew who is in afghanistan says he cannot put the beef jerky down ... he loves it sooooo much!!!" Terry |
Hello all I just wanted to say that I had the pleasure of meeting Jim and his wife this past Saturday at Barbs Harley Davidson. I had never met Jim or his wife or Jar Head Jerky before Saturday. Me being a Marine was naturally drawn to Jim and his stand that he had set up. I immediately started talking to them and also tasted the Jar Head Jerky. I must say that it was the best jerky I've had. It's packed with full of flavor and spice. It was so good that I actually ate two bags. I also had the pleasure of learning about how Jar Head Jerky started and about Jim being a Marine himself. I just wish I would have met Jim last year before my daughter, who is a Marine was sent to afghanistan. I would have gladly bought cases. Jim invited me to set my Harly up next to his stand and show off the graphics of my daughter and the Marine Corps. His personality and kindness are an indication of how much pride and dedication he puts into his product his jerky. Good luck Jim I hope to see you Soon.
Dan Battista
Police Officer
"We just got our Hoodies and samples of your Jerky. We couldn't wait to get home to try it. No words can describe how awesome it was. MMMMM MMMM Good!! My husband and I thought we could just have one piece. Well... that didn't happen. In a matter of minutes one entire bag is gone. You are a spectacular person doing a wonder duty! Semper Fi Marine!!" CBS1025 |
My buddy Cpl Devon Richio and I just got a few bags of your jerky in some care packages last week. We live on a remote patrol base where we live off of MRE's. We tried to make the jerky last but the two of us COULD NOT stop eating it and once word spread throught the platoon about how AMAZING your jerky is, the six or seven bags we had only lasted about a day and a half! Your jerky has indeed boosted morale at times when we desperatly needed it! I cannot thank you enough! Semper Fidelis.
CPL Andrew Einstein
"Unbelievably good. I could live off this stuff. Couldn't stop eating it. The best jerky ever!" Audrey Kernan Judge |
My platoon went nuts over your awesome jerkey! We snacked on it during many long hours as we convoyed across western Afghanistan. Thanks so much!
1LT Avraham (Avi) Behar
Proud Supporter and Eater
"Jim, what a great guy you are, Marine!!! Box was in the mailbox when I got to work this morning. I?ve already opened it (beautifully packed!) and have had a piece of the delicious jerky. Although I?d love to keep the extra bag you sent for me, I?m going to send it as a second bag to one of my men who is a SSgt with 18 men. He can divide two bags so that everyone gets a taste. I?m sending a second Christmas box to him with a small stocking for each of them plus a pair of socks. Socks are gold! You were so generous to send this jerky when you were already tapped out for this month. My men are going to be thrilled when they open their boxes and Jarhead Jjerky is on the top! I?ll get to the post office this afternoon and get their Christmas on the way. It may be too early, but I want to be sure all the packages make it by Christmas. As you know, mail is delivered sporadically. Jim, none of my men in Afghanistan are assigned to a base?they are all out on the front line." Ruth Marine!! |
I just wanted to share a recent email from my nephew in Afghanistan! "Hi Aunt Peg & Uncle Fred, "I got your package the other day. Thank you so much!!! You don't know how much I appreciate it. Jim's Jarhead Jerky is amazing! I ate a whole bag in one day :) I've been debating if I should share or not, LOL. If you see Jim, tell him I said thank you and give him a big Semper Fi from me. Love Mike." Mike's email says it all! Jim's Jarhead Jerky is AMAZING!! God Bless the entire Ewen family, they are the best!
Proud Aunt of a US Marine
"This is hands down the best jerky i have ever had and i have had a lot. I wasn't even hungry but I tried it anyway when I was offered a sample and after I tried it, I was starving " Ed From Medford |
In May I sent an email to Jim Ewen. We have a wonderful nephew, Mike, who is on his 2nd tour in Afganistan. I remembered reading an article about a local family making & sending beef jerky. I contacted Jim's Jarhead Jerky to purchase some jerky for Mike & his fellow Marines. Jim dropped off a case of Jerky !! We can't thank Jim & his family enough for their kindness & generosity! Jim's Jarhead Jerky is the absolute best jerky we have ever had! Yes, we did taste a bag before we shipped it off!! A Big Ooh-rah! Semper Fi & God Bless You!!
Fred & Peg Hettinger
Proud Aunt & Uncle of a US Marine!
"Jim's Jar Head Jerky, This is the best jerky I've ever had! Once you have a bite you don't stop until the whole bag 's gone." Iraq Veteran -5326 Combat Swimmer William Brown Jim Jar Head Jerky Rocks! |
This is my second round with a bag of Jim's Jarhead Jerky and it is the "REAL DEAL!" This stuff is addicting......I cannot stop eating it. It's peppery, spicy, chewy and has a marvelous aroma that keeps you coming back for more. Well Done Jim!
Mark Wagner
Jerky Lover
"I met Jim in the parking lot of Shop Rite when he graciously gave me a jump for my car. When he got out and had the Semper Fi T shirt on I immediately knew I was ok, as my husband is a Marine too. He handed me his card and explained the jerky and I thought of my son's buddy who is in Iraq. He made 3 bags of jerky for us NO CHARGE to send to him...I am getting it to the post office today...unfortunately there is only TWO bags to go in the box...my son just wanted to TASTE it and ended up eating the whole bag! I am ordering mugs and a tshirt today and I will spread the word..... We all thank you and admire what you are doing for our boys!" Fran Marziano Thank you |
Received a sample bag of jerky. It is some kind of wonderful to be sure! Having been to Iraq I can assure you that troops definately appreciate what you're doing, especially with the high quality of your jerky. Thank you for what you're doing!
Air National Guard A-10C Warthog Crew Chief
"Hi guys! My name is Adam S. I wanted to say thank you so much for all the awesome jerky you send us here in Afghanistan. The team and I absolutely love it! Not only is the jerky great by itself, but your commitment to everyone over here keeps us going. I just want you both to know that it really does mean the world to us and brings us great comfort knowing that we have true patriots back home that support what we do. Again, thank you for the jerky, and thank you for all you do. I hope to tell you in person next time Im back in the great state of New Jersey. Semper Fi and De Oppresso Liber!" Adam S. Captain, Special Forces |
Jim I bought a bag of your jerky at the BHR poker run sunday. Didn't even
open the bag until I went home. Wish I had purchased more. I see Canals in
Hainsport sells your jerky, I'll be stopping to pick up some more. Best of
luck with this fantastic product.
Robert P.
We came across this fabulous beef jerky at Okie's Butcher Shop in Long Beach Island, New Jersey. We have quite a few friends in the military so that is why it caught our eye. My husband LOVES beef jerky but we can never find a quality product in PA where we live. Needless to say it was AMAZING and goes great with a few beers! The whole bag was gone within minutes. We just got home last evening and I immediately went online and ordered 6 more bags. Thanks for making such a quality product and everything you do for the troops! C. Wells |
"Their advertisement is true--it is definitely the best jerky I have ever
had. It was a huge morale booster for all of my Marines and it made their and
my day."And it made my day to know I had done something that made a Marine's day a
little better!
Thank YOU!!
Simply the best Jerky ever. I have tried countless varieties of Jerky, but Jim's Jarhead Jerky is simply the best. I find myself craving the stuff. I cleared out the whole display at Traino's in Marlton and was begging them to get more in. I see now there is a much larger display and I am no longer worried about running out...... Thanks for a great product and please try to get some into the Mt. Airy/Chestnut Hill area as soon as you can, I need a source closer to home! Thanks again, gotta go, there is a little black bag with a red label calling my name.... |
Wow, heard about your company on WXTU on Veteran's Day. My son has been working with his OSO to get into the CORPS after graduation, so I knew that some jarhead jerky would be the perfect Christmas gift. Ordered my jerky on Saturday (thought it was odd that I wasn't charged any shipping costs) and my order arrived today, Tuesday via priority mail. What a class act! Thank you!
Maureen Glanzmann
I have been eating AND making jerkey for 20+ years and after 1 bag of Jims Jarhead Jerkey I put away my Food Dehydrator and try to stay stocked up on Jims! I have had jerky from all over the world from high-end specialty stores to truck stops but nothing comes close! I dont write reviews or give feedback often but I couldnt keep quiet about this stuff. Friends and family buy me jerky for Christmas and my birthday and Jims is the only one on my list this year . I just wish I could buy 1 pound bags or more :)
Thank you for your service for our country and our jerky ! |


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Macon County explores TDA options
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer
Macon County business leaders are devising a plan to ensure that the county's lodging tax will promote tourism and travel throughout the county.
An audit two years ago sparked county officials to re-examine the allocation of the occupancy tax. The county collects the 3 percent tax from all visitors who stay at hotels, resorts or vacation rental. Last year the tax generated $141,653 for Franklin Chamber of Commerce, $243,039 for Highlands Chamber of Commerce, and $19,628 for Nantahala. The county also keeps a 15 percent administration fee, which was $71,442.
Right now county commissioners distribute the money to the Highlands and Franklin chambers of commerce, both private organizations. Dishing out taxpayer money directly to private organizations whose budgets are not public record has been interpreted by some as a violation of state law, so now county officials have proposed creating a tourism development association to distribute the revenue.
But the progress of creating the association has been stagnant until a few weeks ago. County commissioners have appointed a nine-member committee to develop a plan of action for the creation of a TDA and the allocation of the money. The committee is comprised of business leaders and town officials from Franklin, Highlands, and Nantahala.
Committee members began brainstorming for a way to distribute the tax money to best serve the county' needs last week (Nov. 28). A majority of the committee members agreed that a tourism development association should to be formed.
Related Items
"The authority would oversee the lodging tax money and would have the power to give (the chambers) the money," County Commissioner Bob Simpson explained to committee members.
Simpson said that the tax collected from Nantahala needs to be returned to that community. In the past Nantahala did not receive any money directly since it did not have its own organization like Highlands and Franklin.
"Nantahala has never had a fair shake and should get some of that back," Simpson said.
The small, rural community has some rental cabins and homes that are becoming more popular for those who want to vacation in a secluded area. Ron Baker, owner of Nantahala Mountain Resort, said that the community has never expected to get any of the lodging tax revenue.
"We always felt we were feeding the economy of the county," Baker said.
In the last six months, all lodging tax generated from Nantahala has been placed in a reserve, Macon County Director of Finance Evelyn Southard said. Nantahala currently has $12,905 in reserve.
Simpson also advocated for hiring a part-time county worker to promote the county.
"We've got to promote," he said. "Macon County has always been a tourist-oriented county but has never been interested in it."
But one of the struggles with promoting the county as a whole is the marketing of its three communities. Each area is very different and attracts a different type of tourists. Visitors who go shopping in Highlands for expensive merchandise are probably not going to go gem mining in Franklin or whitewater rafting in Nantahala.
One way to remedy this situation if to create a countywide advertising campaign.
"We need to focus on advertising," said Bob Kieltyka, Highlands Chamber of Commerce executive director. "It's extremely important that we promote the various interests. It is critical to the success of the program and will drive tourism to the county."
But finding a concrete solution to this problem will be one of the many issues that the committee must hash out before any money is spent.
The committee is under the gun to create the tourism development association guidelines because the budget for both chambers of commerce is at a standstill. Under the current distribution guidelines the Highlands chamber receives about $240,000 from the county's lodging tax and the Franklin chamber receives about $140,000. Both use this money differently. In Highlands a visitor center is funded from the money, while in Franklin the chamber uses it for grants for various travel-related organizations.
Committee members
The committee members developing a plan of action for a Tourism Development Authority and the allocation of the room tax dollars include:
• Bob Kieltyka, Highlands Chamber of Commerce executive director
• Linda Harbuck, Franklin Chamber of Commerce executive director
• Rick Siegel, Highlands business owner
• Ron Baker, Nantahala business owner
• Josh Drake, Franklin business owner
• Hank Ross, Highlands commissioner
• Mike Grubermann, Franklin alderman
• County Commissioner Bob Simpson
• County Commissioner Brian McClellan


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"If you had Bruce playing with you, that's all you would need to do just about anything." – Bob Dylan
Folk music legend Bruce Langhorne has passed away, according to acolyte Dylan Golden Aycock. Langhorne was a session guitarist and percussionist and a friend to Bob Dylan. He inspired the song 'Mr. Tambourine Man', contributed the spidering guitar solo on 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' and played on Dylan's tracks 'Maggie's Farm', 'Love Minus Zero/No Limit,' and 'She Belongs To Me' and on The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.
He contributed to many film scores, including Stay Hungry (for which Arnold Schwarzenegger won the Golden Globe for Best Acting Debut), Jonathan Demme's Melvin and Howard and many Peter Fonda films including Idaho Transfer and Fighting Mad.
Langhorne notably scored Fonda's The Hired Hand, which has recently been revisited in celebration of Langhorne's guitar-playing via a tribute album called The Hired Hands put together by Aycock, Loren Connors and Suzanne Langille. It includes contributions from Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo and Steve Gunn, as well as an archival recording from guitar icon John Fahey.
In 2015, Langhorne went into hospice care after suffering a debilitating stroke. The tribute album and release shows in London and Brooklyn were intended to raise money for help with his bills.


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Rope tuned with tough synthetic shells. Hand-selected goatskin heads. And solid, authentic tones that you can carry over your shoulder. No matter what your playing style, Freestyle is the djembe to beat.
- Lightweight and durable seamless synthetic shell
- Ideal for drum circles, facilitators, teachers, and all levels of players
- Excellent bass tones and highs
- Low stretch Alpine rope with braided cores produces a rich bass tone (especially in the 10" and 12" sizes), with sharp, piercing rim tones and ensures stable tuning
- Hand-selected goatskin head for authentic look & sound
- Protective rubber/non-slip bottom
- Bali red finish – 12" head 24" tall
- Patented


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The posts this week about the first section of Part Wild have made me think a lot about a wolf-hybrid I lived with in the late eighties. I thought I'd share some of my impressions of life with an Inyo-like creature as part of our ongoing discussion about the distinction between tame and domestic, and the liminality of the domestic condition.
The photos here show Alika, who was 75% wolf and 25% husky playing with my German Shepherd, Alyosha (named after the kind brother Karamazov, but known to his friends and family as "Loshy"). Anyone who has read Part Wild will recognize the wolfiness of Alika's lithe, leggy frame and note how it contrasts Loshy's burly, more softly contoured silhouette. They were both amazing creatures, fast friends and allies. They shared a love of big sticks, woodchucks, swimming in the pond, and doing anything the humans were doing (writing dissertations being the most common activity). And yet they were also very different, and many of Terrill's difficulties with integrating Inyo into a domestic space rang true with my days with Alika.
Loshy was one of those incredibly perceptive dogs who never needed "training." He was eager to please, played outfield on an intramural softball team, worked as a therapy dog in the University of Michigan hospital, and took his duties as mascot of the girl scout camp where I lived very seriously. He loved everyone but feared pizza boxes. He was a vigilant guardian of my person but would have watched quietly while thieves took my last possession.
Alika was different. (See Corinne's reminder that we need to consider animals as individuals as well as representative of a species.) Her powers of perception could be extraordinary, but I would not characterize my interactions with her as "training." She was extremely attentive to her "pack" of humans, domestic canines, the living room couch, and a large grey cat. She was very gentle and very shy. She ate normal dog food and whatever the campers gave to her. But she could not be confined. Like Inyo, she would destroy or thwart the most elaborate and expensive containment system out there. When we were home all was well, but if she got loose while we were gone she would run. And run, and run and run. We spent hours, sometimes days, searching for her, only to have her reappear at the camp when she thought we were home. Loshy taught her to hunt woodchucks and she taught him to chase deer. She could not fathom why the humans discouraged this activity. Unlike Inyo, she figured out a way to live in mixed company, but the part of her that was wild – intractably, genetically, evolutionarily not domesticated – eventually undid her. These old photos remind me of her gentle, ghostly beauty.
I could go on for quite a while, but will stop for now. Kara's insightful queries about dogs' "sixth sense" also reminded me that we still need to talk about cross-species communication. So if you get a chance, have a look at Patricial McConnell's latest post about how humans misinterpret dog affect due to our own sign stimuli.


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A few tapping ideas that I've been using lately and hopefully get a few of you to develop calluses on "the other hand."
Chops: Advanced
Theory: Beginner
Lesson Overview:
• Understand the fundamentals
of 8-finger tapping.
• Create smooth, legato lines
that combine open strings
with linear phrases.
• Develop a more precise hammer-
on and pull-off technique.
Hey there! Right now you are either saying, "Who the heck is this guy?" or "Hey, I know that dude!" If it's the first, here's the story: I might be one of the busiest guitar players you've never heard of. I have a double major in working my butt off and remaining relatively unknown. I play with the band Night Ranger, the hit Broadway show Rock of Ages, and also tour with Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
When I was a kid growing up in the '80s, I was lucky enough to have a great guitar teacher named TJ Helmerich who got me going with the 8-finger tapping technique. After missing the first wave of commercial relevance for this technique in the rock world (see "shred era") and entering a seemingly endless period where nobody thought lead guitar was even remotely cool, I now find myself with three really great gigs where this technique is not only used, but has proven to be a major asset for me—an ace up my sleeve if you will.
Here I'll share a few tapping ideas that I've been using lately and hopefully get a few of you to develop calluses on "the other hand."
To start, we are just going to work on Fig. 1, which is a simple chromatic exercise that will strengthen all of your fingers. It's really important to start very slow to make sure all of the notes come out nice and clear. This can be done on any eight frets and any string of course, but to keep things easy, we'll just go with the 5th fret through the 12th fret on the second string.
Fret the index finger of your left hand down on the 5th fret and then use some simple hammer-ons moving up to the 8th fret. Now the real fun starts! Use your right-hand index finger on the 9th fret, and while keeping your index finger down (all four left-hand fingers should still be down), fret your middle finger on the 10th fret, ring finger on 11th fret and pinky on the 12th. The next part is where most people run into trouble with this technique: pull-offs. Work your way back down by lifting your pinky up and across the string. You'll notice the pull-off will sound much better by lifting the pinky up instead of down. Pushing down is the equivalent of pushing up for a pull-off with your left hand—not good. Now that you have the important info, let's keep going. Lift the ring off to the middle, middle to index, and then index off to those left-hand fingers that are still waiting. Now simply repeat the process and move it around. It's an easy concept, but a great way to get all your fingers going.
For those unfamiliar with Rock of Ages, it's a Broadway show based on all the hit rock songs from the '80s. It begins with me playing something similar to the Steve Vai intro solo to the David Lee Roth song "Just Like Paradise." During this part I'm at the front of the stage with a fan blowing my hair. The director liked the moment so much upon first viewing that she said, "Can we add to that and go two more times around?" I had about two seconds to think of something before she changed her mind, but immediately I thought of tapping as a perfect signature technique of the '80s and came up with Fig. 2.
Basically these are simple triad arpeggios that outline the G–D–A progression.
Night Ranger has a built-in need for this technique, thanks to Jeff Watson's groundbreaking signature solo on the song "(You Can Still) Rock in America." My ability to duplicate Jeff 's work in the band these days alongside the amazing Brad Gillis has been very important. Most fans are there for those classic songs and solos and I do my best to give them what they want. Recently, I recorded my first album with Night Ranger, Somewhere in California. So, in an effort to continue that element of the band's sound, I squeezed in a few 8-finger moments of my own. Fig. 3 is an example of what I came up with on the song "Say it with Love."
Another advantage of this technique is the ability to grab wide interval jumps with ease. Fig. 4 is from the song "Lay It on Me" on the latest Night Ranger album. It's a great illustration of how tapping simple octaves can give your lines a more angular sound.
I hope this inspired some of you to try something new, or maybe it's revisiting something old for some of the vets out there. Now get working on those calluses!
Joel Hoekstra is a New York City-based guitarist that plays for Night Ranger, the hit Broadway musical Rock of Ages, and the Trans- Siberian Orchestra. Hoekstra can be heard on Night Ranger's latest album, Somewhere in California, Jack Blades' Rock N' Roll Ride, and Jeff Scott Soto's Damage Control. His solo effort, 13 Acoustic Songs, is available at his website joelhoekstra.com.


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Lexicon® Begins Shipping Highly Anticipated PCM Native Reverb Plug-In Bundle
November 30, 2009
Salt Lake City, Utah – After meeting extremely favorable reviews at its AES introduction in October, Lexicon today began shipping the new PCM Native Reverb Plug-In Bundle. The newest addition to Lexicon's legendary processing family provides seven Lexicon reverb algorithms that are designed to deliver the highest level of sonic quality and function while offering all the flexibility of native plug-ins.
As the ultimate studio reverb package for creating professional mixes within popular DAWs like Pro Tools, Logic, and Nuendo, the PCM Native Reverb Plug-In Bundle is one of the most highly anticipated introductions from Lexicon yet. It includes unique plug-ins for each reverb including: Vintage Plate, Plate, Hall, Room, Random Hall, Concert Hall, and Chamber, and comes complete with over 950 of the most versatile and finely crafted studio presets.
"We are very excited that the new PCM Native Reverb Plug-In Bundle is now available to our customers," said Randy Garrett, Marketing Director for Lexicon. "Ever since the introduction at AES, the response has been outstanding and we know that this product will exceed our customers' expectations once they experience the distinctive smooth, rich reverbs for themselves."
The user interface is extremely intuitive and displays nine of the most logical parameters for customization, but also provides the ability to transition deeper into the algorithm to edit the full matrix of parameters. Input and Output Meters allow a user to quickly assess the audio levels going to and from each reverb and the EQ section makes it possible to visually dial in the settings for both the early and late reflections. To add another tool to the user's arsenal, each plug-in is complemented with three multi-dimensional real time displays that offer additional insight to help shape the sound.
The PCM Native Reverb Plug-In Bundle is ideal for recording and post-production environments where unsurpassed quality is required. It is a fully functional cross-platform plug-in that is compatible with Windows XP, Vista, and 7 along with MAC OSX 10.4, 10.5, 10.6, Power PC and Intel based. The Bundle is Native only, and requires iLok authorization. It is now available from authorized Lexicon dealers with a suggested retail price of US $1899.
The Lexicon PCM Native Reverb Plug-In Bundle feature set includes:
- Seven legendary Lexicon reverb plug-ins
- Over 950 brilliantly crafted studio presets
- Multi-platform compatibility (Windows XP, Vista, and 7; Mac OS X 10.4, 10.5, 10.6, PowerPC and Intel)
- Formats that work seamlessly in any VST, Audio Unit, or RTAS compatible DAW
- Graphical real-time display illustrating the frequency stages of each reverb
- Visual EQ section for easy adjustment of both early and late reflections
- Presets can be stored in a DAW independent format and easily transferred to a different DAW
- Full parameter control and automation
- Input and output meters for quick assessment of audio levels
- iLok authorized
Lexicon is a unit of Harman International Industries, Incorporated (www.harman.com). Harman International designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment products for the automotive, consumer and professional markets, and maintains a strong presence in the Americas, Europe and Asia, employing more than 11,000 people worldwide. The Harman International family of brands includes AKG®, Audioaccess®, Becker®, BSS®, Crown®, dbx®, DigiTech®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson®, Revel®, QNX®, Soundcraft® and Studer®. Harman International's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "NYSE: HAR."


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The Sandy Hook Elementary school provided the heart for the unquestionably garish and excessive 2013 Super Bowl (did you know a 30 second ad during its commercials costs four million dollars!?!).
Tackling America The Beautiful, the elementary school choir sang their little hearts out before Diva, Jennifer Hudson- who has suffered her own tragedies as a result of gun violence- brought the grown-up soul to the affair. In theory it was a grouping that shouldn't have worked, but the voices were masterfully kept in balance so that the youthful and light voices of the children could still be heard complimenting Hudson's resonating pipes.
It was a strangely self-aware and humble take on America The Beautiful. Not because of the way it was sung, but because of those who were chosen to sing it. It points to an awareness of the issues the country still faces in this modern age. Something which isn't usually communicated by other renditions of the patriotic song.
Simply beautiful.