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The methods and concepts of sociology yield powerful insights into the social processes shaping lives, experiences, problems and possibilities in the contemporary world. The ability to identify and understand these processes, or what C.W. Mills called the "sociological imagination," is valuable preparation for personal and professional participation in a changing and complex society.
The well-educated sociology BA graduate acquires a sense of history, other cultures and times, the interconnectedness of social life, and different frameworks of thought. He or she is proficient at gathering information and putting it into perspective. Sociological training helps students bring breadth and depth of understanding to the workplace. A sociology graduate learns to think abstractly, formulate problems, ask appropriate questions, search for answers, analyze situations and data, organize material, write well, and make oral presentations that help others develop insight and make decisions.
Because sociology addresses the most challenging issues of our time, it is a rapidly expanding field whose potential is increasingly tapped by those who craft policies and create programs. Sociologists understand social inequality, patterns of behavior, forces for social change and resistance, and the workings of social systems. Sociology is an exciting discipline with expanding opportunities for a wide range of career paths.
Over 3000 colleges and universities in the United States offer sociology courses. A bachelor's degree in sociology provides an excellent liberal arts foundation from which graduates embark on a wide range of career paths. A BA in sociology is excellent preparation for future graduate work in sociology in order to become a professor, researcher, or applied sociologist. But while teaching and conducting research remain common careers held by the thousands of professional sociologists today, other forms of employment are growing both in number and significance.
Graduate Preparation – in any of the social sciences; in medicine, as doctors, nurses, and physicians assistants; in counseling and therapy, as practitioners and professionals
Social Services – in rehabilitation, case management, group work with youth or the elderly, recreation, or administration
Community Work – in fundraising for social service organizations, nonprofit, childcare or community development agencies, or environmental groups
Teaching – in elementary and secondary schools, in conjunction with appropriate teacher certification
College Settings – in admissions, alumni relations, or placement offices
Medicine & Health Services – in family planning, substance abuse, rehabilitation counseling, health planning, hospital admissions, and insurance companies
Government, Government Services, & Law – in federal, state, and local government jobs in such areas as transportation, housing, agriculture, and labor; in policy making and policy analysis; in law firms as case managers or research specialists
Publishing, Journalism, and Public Relations – in writing, research, and editing
Business – in advertising, marketing and consumer research, insurance, real estate, personnel work, training, or sales
Criminal Justice Work – in probation, parole, or other criminal justice workThere are really no limits to what a degree in sociology enables one to pursue in their careers.


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Hrithik Roshan to undergo brain surgery SundayJul 7, 2013 IANS
Mumbai, July 7 (IANS) Hrithik Roshan, one of the reigning stars of the Hindi film industry, will undergo a brain surgery Sunday at Hinduja Hospital.
Reportedly the actor's surgery will take place around 2 p.m. or 3 p.m.
Hrithik's father, filmmaker Rakesh Roshan, told IANS: "It's a clot between brain and skull. So, basically it's a clot in brain. He will undergo the surgery around 2 p.m. or 2.30 p.m. In the medical term, it's called chronic subdural hematoma. Me and my entire family is with him."
Hrithik, the star of films like "Krrish" and "Agneepath", informed everyone about the surgery through his tweet on the microblogging site.
The 39-year-old's tweet reads: "We all know that we create a life of joy using the power of our mind. I've had the privilege of creating wonders with this amazing gift given to us called the brain. Occasionally one must look within and realize its value. It gives us the power to see, hear, touch, smell and taste, it allows us to conquer fear and create courage to do things we never imagined. Maybe it's time for me to feel the power literally."
"I am going to go through brain surgery today and want you to know that I am going in with absolute power to recover fast. My thanks to all of you for using the power of your mind to contribute to my life. Love you all."
On June 27, Hrithik unveiled the first look of his superhero film "Krrish 3" on Facebook. The much anticipated sci-fi thriller is set to hit the screens Nov 4, a day after Diwali this year.
Click the Movie button below for more info:
Krrish 3
Hrithik Roshan Pictures
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subset: commoncrawl


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You really can't catch a break in the Mojave Wasteland. After Fallout: New Vegas starts with your recovering from a near-fatal gunshot wound to the head, the first downloadable episode, Dead Money, begins with your being gassed and fitted with an explosive collar. Not a nice way to start out, but it's an intriguing premise.
This is a game that stands outside of the rest of the New Vegas experience and has a number of interesting gameplay and narrative ideas, but is ultimately hampered by dull missions and far too much backtracking.
Before nuclear war ravaged the world as we know it, a new casino was built. But before the red tape could be cut and the fireworks launched, the world became a wasteland and The Sierra Madre casino never opened its doors. Now it stands as a relic of a forgotten time. A relic covered with a giant cloud of red poison. And a relic filled with treasure.
That's where you come in.
After investigating a radio signal coming from an abandoned Brotherhood of Steel bunker, you find yourself walking into a trap, and ambushed with knockout gas. When you come to, you're wearing a collar and given instructions: a man named Elijah wants you to enter the casino and find its treasures. The collar is in place to ensure you don't refuse his offer.
You'll also have to work with three other characters—each wearing an explosive collar as well—in order to succeed. It's a strange group that includes a super mutant with a split personality, a tortured young woman who's now a mute, and a jerk of a ghoul who claims he was once a famous lounge singer.
Fallout: New Vegas—Dead Money
- Release Date: now
* = platform reviewed
The cast of characters is the highlight of Dead Money. It's a strange group, but each is unique and has a background you'll want to learn about. Much of the early portion of the game is spent simply talking to these people, trying to convince them to go along with the casino heist so you don't all get blown to bits. The dialogue is great, though speaking with Christine, the mute, is a bit strange. The game uses text to describe what she's doing, such as when she's smiling or pointing at something. It feels out of place, especially considering how her animations never actually match the descriptions. It seems a bit lazy to tell you that she's doing something instead of actually having her do it and is especially frustrating, given that her growth is one of the highlights of the game.
Sierra Madre and its surrounding area are full of danger. There's the poisonous cloud, which will quickly kill you should you wander into it. But there's also a bevy of traps to watch out for and a new type of enemy: the ghost people. These strange creatures are quick, agile, and very difficult to kill. Most weapons will simply render them unconscious, so you'll have to either blow them up or slice them to bits to ensure that they're actually dead. It's not so difficult when there are only one or two, but when they come in groups, it's quite challenging.
You'll also have to contend with the collar. For some reason various electrical equipment will set off the collar's detonator. So when you hear that beeping, you either have to disable whatever it is that's causing the interference or run like hell.
All of this sounds like a recipe for a unique and challenging Fallout experience. You're navigating tight corridors, fighting challenging new enemies, and contending with a dangerous landscape—all while being forced to work as a team. But unfortunately the quests really let the experience down.
Most of the game is spent walking to an area, fighting some enemies, flipping a switch of some sort, and then walking back. You'll have to escort your teammates to various locations, but since you can only work with one at a time, you end up escorting them individually. This leads to quite a bit of dull backtracking, especially since you can't fast travel at all. You'll also need to utilize stealth quite a bit—especially when navigating past the new indestructible holographic guards—and that has never been the series' strong suit.
There also isn't really much in the way of cool new weapons or gear. There's a holorifle that's pretty effective, but the majority of new weapons actually focus on melee. Those include a slick new blade called the cosmic knife and a bear trap you can wear on your fist. They are useful, but not much more. You will need them, however, since you're stripped of all your gear when you enter the new area.
Dead Money really is a standalone experience. You can't leave until the job is done, and you can't go back once you leave. It even has its own form of currency, as you can use casino chips with vending machine-like devices littered throughout the level.
The way Dead Money is set up, it feels more like you're simply moving from one area to the next, instead of really exploring. And exploration is one of Fallout's biggest draws. But the explosive collar, difficult enemies, and treacherous new terrain run counter to this. There's little incentive to go poking around when you might run into a radio that'll blow your head off in a few seconds. The story is certainly substantial, and the new characters are worth getting to know. But you'll have to push through the actual game to experience it.
Verdict: Rent


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I call the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights to order. Today is Thursday, March 29, 2007, and our orders of the day are our continued study on Bill C-22, an act to amend the Criminal Code on age of protection and to make consequential amendments to the Criminal Records Act.
We have an impressive list of witnesses today, I dare say, starting with one individual, Mr. Paul Gillespie. He's a consultant and former member of the metro Toronto police department.
The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics is represented by Lynn Barr-Telford, director, and Karen Mihorean, assistant director.
From the Canadian Bar Association, we have Ms. Tamra Thomson, director of the legislation and law reform section; Mr. Kevin Kindred, branch section chair; and Margaret Gallagher, treasurer of the national criminal justice section.
We also have Ms. Judy Nuttall, coordinator of the White Ribbon Against Pornography; Mr. Steve Sullivan, of the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime; and Martha Mackinnon and Emily Chan, of Justice for Children and Youth.
We'll begin as the witnesses appear on the agenda.
Mr. Gillespie, you have the floor.


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- Health
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Pulmonary Valve Surgery
Why doesn't my heart valve work properly?
The valves in your heart may be damaged due to infection, rheumatic heart disease or birth (congenital) defects. The affected valve leaflets (cusps) may grow thick and brittle from scar tissue or calcium deposits, or they may become thin and weak resulting in an inefficient valve.
There are several terms referring to valve disease.
- Stenosis - the opening of the valve becomes smaller, thus allowing less blood to flow through.
- Regurgitation/Insufficiency (leaky valve) - the valve does not close properly and allows blood to flow backward as well as forward in the heart.
How will I feel?
Due to the damaged valve, your heart must work harder to pump blood throughout the body. You may tire easily and feel short of breath with less activity or exercise. You may experience an irregular heartbeat due to over-stretching of the heart muscle as in mitral stenosis, or dizziness and near fainting due to decreased blood flow to the brain as in aortic stenosis.
How will my valve be fixed?
Depending on the extent of your valve disease, you may need to have the valve repaired or replaced. To repair the valve, your surgeon may perform a commissurotomy or implant a valve ring. A commissurotomy is performed for a tight valve (stenosis). The valve leaflets are cut to loosen the valve slightly, allowing blood to pass easily. Another type of valve repair is a valve ring annuloplasty, which is sewn in place when the valve is leaking (regurgitant or insufficient). The valve leaflets are tucked in place with the ring.
Often the valve cannot be repaired and the surgeon must replace the damaged valve with a tissue (bioprosthetic) or mechanical valve. Tissue valve are valves from animals (e.g., cow, pig). They generally do not require long-term anticoagulation and are not as durable as mechanical valves. Mechanical valves are made from materials such as plastic or metal. They require long-term anticoagulation and are considered extremely durable, lasting longer than tissue valves.
Your surgeon will discuss the need for repair or replacement of the valve with you prior to surgery as well as the type of valve (tissue or mechanical) should replacement be necessary.
Annuloplasty Ring
Tissue Valve
Mechanical Valve
Valve Replacement Surgery: What else should I know?
Prevention of Valve Infection
To prevent an infection (endocarditis) from occurring around the new heart valve or ring, you should receive antibiotics before having any procedures that could permit bacteria to enter your body. Among these procedures are:
- All dental procedures (cleaning, filling, removing teeth, root canals, gum or ulcer treatment). You may use dental floss, In fact, we encourage you to reduce tartar with any approved method.
- Surgical procedures such as colonoscopy, cystoscopy, or other surgical procedures.
Discuss with your dentist or doctor whether the dosage of Coumain (warfarin) needs to be decreased or stopped before any of the above procedures.
Signs and Symptoms of Common Infections
Notify your family doctor if you have any of the following signs or symptoms of an infection:
- Respiratory: Fever higher than 101oF, or coughing up white, yellow or green tinged mucus.
- Urinary: Fever higher than 101oF, or burning, frequency, urgency or difficulty to urinate.
- Blood: Any fever that last longer than two days and is accompanied by chills, weakness, general feeling of ill health.
You will receive a valve identification card from the valve manufacturer that contains information about the type and size of your heart valve. Carry this with you at all times. Remember, you must tell any doctor or dentist caring for you about your valve and the need for antibiotics.
Valve Clicking
A mechanical heart valve (such as a St. Jude or Carbomedics) may produce a clicking sound as it closes. Some patients are more aware of this sound than others. It can be louder with activity or more noticeable when you are resting. As you adjust to the sound, it will become less distracting.


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Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitsch dropped his annual media awards column today, and there's plenty of good stuff in there for anyone who wants to take a look back at the best and worst of sports media from the last year. But nothing in the column is as delightful as Verne Lundquist's story about how he met his wife.
The story is from an interview Lundquist did with Deitsch in April. We somehow missed it then, but we present it happily now:
"We met in a bar, and I hasten to add it was an upscale bar in Dallas. It was a place called Arthur's. I walked in after I did the 10 o'clock news (at WFAA-TV in Dallas) and I didn't want to go home. Nancy and her date were at the bar and her date recognized me from local television and invited me over to have a drink. He introduced me to his date and her name was Nancy Miller. It was their first date, a blind date. So we sat and chatted and her date, Raymond Willie, said to me, "Listen, I know you are single. I'm going to fix you up with a friend of mine and we can all go to dinner." He looked at Nancy and asked her, "What are you doing Thursday night?" She said, "Nothing." He said, "Good, you'll be my date and we'll fix Verne up with this schoolteacher friend of mine and we'll go to dinner." Meanwhile, I'm looking at Nancy thinking she is the prettiest thing I have ever seen in my life. So, Raymond finally left to take care of his business and I asked Nancy, "So, how involved are you with Raymond? She said, "Oh, this is our first date and it's a blind date." So I said, "Well, forget what he is talking about on Thursday night. What are you doing on Saturday night?" She said, "I think I am doing whatever you are doing."
Verne! You rascal.


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Imagine I have an $N$ by $M$ rectangular lattice where I randomly assign one of $k$ colors to every vertex in the lattice. I then write down a list of the ${N*M}\choose{2}$ possible unordered pairs of vertices, noting the color of each vertex in a pair and the Euclidean distance between them. Finally, I count the number of pairs of vertices with the both the same vertex color combination and Euclidean distance as a previously recorded pair, $P$. For example, if I've previously recorded a "red" and a "blue" vertex with Euclidean distance $d_i$ between them, which we'll write as a tuple: {$c_1, c_2, d_i$}, another example of a "red" and "blue" vertex pairing with the same Euclidean distance, {$c_1,c_2,d_i$} or {$c_2,c_1,d_i$} (order of the colors does not matter), would increase $P$ by one.
With a hat tip to Gerhard Paseman, we can write that $P = $${N*M}\choose{2}$$-T$, where $T$ is the total number of distinct tuples: {$c_i,c_j,d_k$}, where the order of the colors do not matter and vertices of the same color are allowed.
As a function of $N$, $M$, and $k$, what is the expected value of $P$?


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|Version 30 (modified by anonymous, 13 years ago)
BioHackathon 2008
Towards integrated web service in life science with Open Bio* libraries.
The number of web service providers in bioinformatics field is increasing year by year. In theory, these services are interoperable and independent from computer langugages. However, each service uses their own definition of the data types and naming convensions for the methods. Moreover, these services are often not usable by specific languages (partly, due to the lack of compliance of the SOAP/WSDL specification in the langauge's library).
This situation prevents these services to be popularized for and used in combination by end users as a infrastructure of the daily research. The BioMOBY project has been tried to overcome the circumstances by defining ontologies for data types and methods used in the services. However, there are many major service providers are not yet participated in the BioMOBY framework. Especially, there are several web service providers in Japan such as DDBJ, KEGG, PDBj and CBRC but none of them are not integrated in any context.
Thus, at DBCLS, we started to develop a new proxy server which translates user's request for the appropriate web service provider. If all Open Bio* libraries support BioMOBY and other service providers, interoperability of these services can be significantly improved. Here, we need agreement for the future web services with every web service providers and client developers.
We believe gathering all web service providers to disucuss about the standardization of objects and methods among web services, and Open Bio* library developers from different programming languages to discuss about the implementation of the common infrastructure, must benefit usability and interoperability for the life science in the next era.
For this purpose, we hope to organize a BioHackathon? specialized for the web services in 2008.
- Standardizing the objects and methods in bioinformatics web services (BioMOBY)
- Discuss about the best solution of the framework and ontologies for the future in life science
- Utilizing every bioinformatics web services by 4 major computer languages (Perl, Python, Ruby, Java)
- Creating compatible classes for sequences, expressions, pathways etc. among Open Bio* libraries
- Providing various clients to create and execute bioinformatics workflows
- Connecting seamlessly: Web service - Grid, Remote - Local, SOAP/WSDL - REST, Async - Sync
- Encourage independent service providers to join the movement of integration and interoperability
- How to increase the number of SOAP compliant services (tools/databases)
List of meeting topics for BioMOBY, Open Bio*, Workflow clients, and web service providers:
DBCLS and CBRC will provide ideal environment for discussions and developments.
- Roppongi Academy Hills (Roppongi, Central Tokyo)
- CBRC Computatonal Biology Research Cener (Odaiba, Tokyo Bay Area)
We will prepare KML file for Google Earth.
- 2008/2/10 (Sun) - Arrival ( Narita airport, Japan)
- 2008/2/11 (Mon) - Presentations & discussions (Roppongi Academy Hills)
- 2008/2/12 (Tue) - Hack, hack, hack (CBRC)
- 2008/2/13 (Wed) - Hack, hack, hack (CBRC)
- 2008/2/14 (Thr) - Hack, hack, hack (CBRC)
- 2008/2/15 (Fri) - Hack, hack, hack (CBRC)
- 2008/2/16 (Sat) - Depature
If you could recommend any appropriate persons from the following groups, please let me know:
- NCBI web service developers
- BioPerl?, BioPython?, and BioJava? developers
Starting Points
- TracGuide -- Built-in Documentation
- The Trac project -- Trac Open Source Project
- Trac FAQ -- Frequently Asked Questions
- TracSupport -- Trac Support
For a complete list of local wiki pages, see TitleIndex.
- BioHackathon2008Tokyo.kmz (4.1 KB) - added by anonymous 13 years ago.
(212.0 KB) - added by yy
13 years ago.
Map of CBRC (venue after the 2nd day) and spots to visit nearby.
- CBRCMap.ppt (361.0 KB) - added by atsuko 13 years ago.
(52.9 KB) - added by atsuko
13 years ago.
Detailed schedule
(8.4 KB) - added by atsuko
13 years ago.
Adaptor plug left behind


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Vice President Biden "stands with NEA" to restore the American dream
Our students need leaders like Biden, says NEA President Van Roekel
CHICAGO - July 03, 2011 -
Speaking to more than 9,000 educators during the National Education Association's 90th Representative Assembly (RA) in Chicago on Sunday, Vice President Joe Biden told delegates that the current national debate is about a fundamental difference in vision for America.
"The debate is about whether or not for America to succeed we need to provide the best education for all our children—or for just some of our children," said Vice President Biden. "It is about social equality, economic opportunity and concentration of wealth."
The other team has a different vision for public education, said the Vice President.
"These are not bad guys, they just have a different point of view," said the Vice President. "It should be no surprise that the same people pushing vouchers for education push vouchers for healthcare."
Mr. Biden was introduced by NEA President Dennis Van Roekel. The crowd greeted the Vice President with cheers and a standing ovation, and applauded loudly when the Vice President talked about budget cuts in the states that are hurting working families.
"There is an organized effort to place the blame for budget shortfalls squarely on educators and other public workers," said Vice President Biden. "It is one of the biggest scams in modern American history."
The Vice President recognized that the voice of teachers is essential to improving education. He encouraged educators to work closely with lawmakers and others who genuinely want to improve public education so that all students in America have access to quality public schools.
Van Roekel agreed, saying students do best when all the adults in their lives take responsibility for their success and work together to find solutions.
"This is something the Vice President knows first-hand, and we're proud that he addressed our delegates who represent hard working and committed dedicated educators. Our students need leaders like him," said Van Roekel.
The RA is the top decision-making body for NEA. RA delegates adopt NEA's strategic plan and budget, resolutions, the legislative program, and other Association policies. The NEA Representative Assembly is the world's largest democratic deliberative body, with voting delegates from state and local affiliates across the country.
For photographs, please visit: http://bit.ly/l34xIi
For more information and a full listing of scheduled events: www.nea.org/annualmeeting.
Follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/NEAMedia
# # #
The National Education Association is the nation's largest professional employee organization, representing 3.2 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals.
CONTACT: Sara Robertson (202) 822-7823, email@example.com


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Lakai Fully Flared Intro (re-mastered in 720p HD) from tyevans on Vimeo.
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At home in both ultra-fashionable and family settings, IKEA's Söderhamn series is a design enthusiast's dream. Read this review then learn how to give yours the style it deserves with a Bemz cover.…
Because everybody knows it's the shoes that make the outfit.…
Product Information
Fabric information
Soon to be discontinued - be sure to shop while stocks last! A classic yet modern heavyweight basketweave in either neutral or fashion hues. Our Respect collection is made of 100% recycled material - a favourite of design-savvy, conscious consumers. Leftover cutouts from the fashion industry are transformed into a high-quality, sustainable fabric without using a drop of water or dye. A structured two-tone fabric with a tactile finish. Designed by Bemz. Woven in Europe.
Conscious by Bemz
80% recycled cotton 20% recycled polyester, yarn dyed
Ironing temp mediumWashing temperature 40Do not tumble dryDry in shadeDo not bleachLine dry
Färlöv Armchair Cover - Regular Fit, Brunna Melange, Ink Blue…
299 €
239.20 €


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A Calgary alderman welcomed federal money to upgrade a northeast recreation centre Saturday, but stressed the city needs more "substantial and predictable" funding commitments from Ottawa and the province.
"We've got such a huge infrastructure deficit," said Ward 3 Ald. Jim Stevenson. "The province and the feds are going to have to come to our aid, especially with the projection of another 300,000 to 400,000 people coming to Calgary over the next 10 years."
Stevenson was reacting to Saturday's announcement that Cardel Place is set to receive more than $200,000 in funding from Ottawa to pay for a new water treatment system and other upgrades at the sports complex.
The money will come from the federal government's $150 million Community Infrastructure Improvement Fund, which supplies funds to renovate infrastructure at community centres, recreational buildings and arenas.
"These improvements will create a modernized facility that continues to meet the sporting and recreational needs of north-central communities in Calgary," said local MP Devinder Shory.
Cardel Place opened in 2004. It houses three gyms, a pool, fitness centre, climbing wall and two NHL-size rinks in a total of 177,000 square feet. A Calgary Public Library branch is also at the site.
But the building is also in need of upgrades, and will use the $214,284 in federal dollars to install a new water treatment system and cooling tower. The sports complex will also improve elevator card access and put in energy efficient lighting.
In 2011, Cardell Place announced expansion plans estimated to cost between $40-$50 million. The sports complex hopes to raise 85 per cent of the funds from all three levels of government.
Saturday's funding announcement, however, is nowhere near the $100 million in federal dollars initially promised by Ottawa to pay for four recreation centres in the city.
The Harper government cancelled the plan in 2011, sparking outrage from city politicians and community organizations alike.
While Crown corporation PPP Canada recommended the city receive the funding, the Tory cabinet rejected the cash injection, with cabinet minister Jason Kenney saying later the government had made a mistake and the P3 Canada Fund was never intended to pay for recreation facilities.
"That was something that really bothered us because we felt they should have stuck with their commitment through the P3," said Stevenson.
Stevenson, who is also the vice-president of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association, said he plans to lobby federal ministers and Calgary MPs for capital funding when AUMA executives head to Ottawa during its Federal Advocacy Trip next month.
He said city needs to be moving forward on big capital projects, such as the southeast and the north-central LRT lines.
"If the feds and the province would give us some kind of commitment ... then we can plan to put that whole thing into action," said Stevenson. "We keep begging each year, but we need to have something that's more substantial and predictable for a few years."
With files from Colleen De Neve, Calgary Herald


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VANCOUVER — Miikka Kiprusoff should have signalled for the fair catch.
He didn't. He played the punt, er, dump in, handed it to Ryan Malone and the USA was off to the races —_and the gold medal final.
The Americans came to praise Finland, but wound up burying them 6-1 thanks to a first-period avalanche that had tones of Canada's first-period blitzkrieg of Russia in the quarter-finals.
Who says only the women play lopsided Olympic tournament games?
It might have, should have, been different. Believe it or not, the Finns opened the game with such complete puck control in the U.S. zone, it looked like a power play, except it was five-on-five, white and sky-blue Suomi shirts flitting around American goaltender Ryan Miller.
On a dime, the game turned at the two-minute mark as Kiprusoff, the Finnish goaltender, outraced Phil Kessel to a puck halfway to the Finnish blue-line, and inexplicably shovelled it right to Ryan Malone for the easy empty-netter (don't those usually happen in the final minutes?)
"I thought our 'D' (defence) was coming," Kiprusoff said. "It kind of opened up. I didn't take a second look. I put the puck right there, tape to tape."
What was Malone thinking?
"Make sure I put it in the middle of the net."
Kiprusoff hung his head, the Finnish bench sagged, and do did the proverbial roof, before caving in entirely. At the halfway mark of the first, the U.S. had a 4-0 lead. Game over.
"We had a chance to be in the final, it sucks," said legendary Finnish winger Teemu Selanne.
If this is Selanne's Olympic swan song, what a horrible note on which to leave. Selanne broke the career Olympic points record in this tournament. It could be farewell as well for fellow Finnish veterans Saku Koivu and Jere Lehtinen.
"I couldn't believe it was happening," Selanne said. "We sucked. Very disappointing — we didn't even compete. It's 2-0, they get a couple of lucky bounces, it's 4-0, 6-0 . . . at that point, we'd rather play curling."
After seven shots, Kiprusoff had surrendered four goals. Backup Niklas Backstrom came in and promptly gave up two more — six U.S. goals inside of 13 minutes of play in the first Olympic semi of the day. Patrick Kane scored two for the frolicking Americans. Zach Parise, Erik Johnson and Paul Stastny, on a high shot to complete a nifty passing sequence, had the others in the first period.
Kiprusoff's performance made a mockery of the pre-game statistics that had him leading all tournament goaltenders in save percentage. Perhaps the hockey gods were out to get Kipper for telling Finland he wouldn't come to Vancouver unless he was the starting goalie. He started, all right. But didn't finish.
Miller didn't finish either, for entirely different reasons. In a classy move by the U.S. coaching staff, backup Tim Thomas replaced Miller with little more than half the third period remaining. It has been Thomas' life long dream to play in an Olympics, and with Miller playing every minute of every game, time was slipping on the dream — at 35, this is Thomas' one and only shot at an Olympic appearance.
After stopping all 18 shots he faced, Miller enjoyed sitting on the bench for the final 10 minutes, though he admitted the view the from crease was equally fine.
"I got to watch most of it," he said of the lopsided game.
Antii Miettinen beat Thomas for Finland's only goal, with 5:14 remaining. The puck deflected off the foot of U.S. defenceman Jack Johnson and Thomas had no chance on it.
So, the Finns broke the shutout but didn't escape national embarrassment.
"It's not so easy to forget," said Finnish head coach Jukka Jalonen.
Crying shame about the Finns, but how about those Yankee doodle dandies, parlaying general manager Brian Burke's 'little-ol'-us'-underdogs role into five straight wins in this tournament and a place in Sunday's finale. They will play the underdog card right to the end.
"Would you take us in the gold medal game?" asked U.S. forward Ryan Kesler rhetorically. "I don't think so."
The Finns meanwhile, will try to regroup for Saturday's bronze game. One of their leaders will probably remind them they have won four Olympic medals since 1988, all silver or bronze. A fifth might look good — a few months from now, when the pain of this stinker subsides.


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There was a brief moment in the mid-Noughties when, in the wake of sweaty-lad guitar pop, the impending rise of excitable synth-jabbers paved the way for a narrative of new-dawn futurism. A few years later, the weekly music press responsible for said narrative repaid the crushed dreams of its readership - these burned-out, Bowie-needing, La Roux-having teens - by promoting the anti-climactic bliss music of bands like The xx. Tired of macho, rousing, organised 4/4 fun, such bands dared ask? Well here's something that, in the most deliberate sense, goes about its business in as boring a manner as can be afforded.
Somewhere in the middle sit Wave Machines, occupying the space between Green Man festival and a third-room student club night. You hesitate before writing the four piece off, however, because during their live show, Wave Machines wear masks. No concepts, mind. No costumes or alter-egos. But yeah, just masks. And you can contemplate the significance of identity and disguise in electronic music in this interesting piece over at the Quietus, an activity undoubtedly more enlightening than reading this review, or - depending on your threshold for heavy-atmosphere, light-substance synth-pop - listening to Wave Machines' second album, Pollen.
But they wear masks, see. Thing is, the necessary emotional and personal investment to justify such behaviour is untraceable. The saddest fact of Pollen is its lyrical vagueness. What blank atrocity, you wonder, hides behind the masks? It's like a cyber-mirage of Liverpudlian nesting dolls; a nothing wrapped inside an enigma wrapped inside utilitarian lyrics about outsiderdom and loneliness. The song someone decided to title 'Sitting in a Chair, Blinking' was perhaps a lost cause, but 'Blood Will Roll' is equally lethargic: its overegged ambience is imbued with the deflating air of New Order soundtracking men's fragrance ads.
There are passages of some inspiration, though these too wither and fade on repeated listens. Buoyant lead song 'Ill Fit' makes the familiar mistake of injecting by-numbers, falsetto-littered synth-pop with a crude Garageband funk add-on. It has an etiolated groove that's presumably what TV on the Radio sound like to people who don't like TV on the Radio. Meanwhile 'Counting Birds', with its spooky whispers of "white shadows", crowbars in some grandiose, album-opening strings and rattles on like a flat-pack These New Puritans, evincing the kind of twilit pop that belongs pitter-pattering in the speakers of a village library's teen fantasy section.
Wave Machines aren't the first alt-mainstream crossover hopefuls to (over-)produce melancholic, technically capable anthems while forgoing much sense of directness or identity. But ultimately what disappoints is the dour inevitably of it all, insert-climax-here tunes wafting and wintry, gliding wistfully in one ear and out the other.
4Jazz Monroe's Score


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