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Harry Reid thinks Americans are stupid. That's why he believes that his lies about Romney not paying taxes for the last ten years are a positive for the Democrat party. Romney, who paid about $3 million in 2010, would have to have some pretty incredible accountants in order to not pay taxes considering how much wealth he has in investments making money for him. In fact, if Romney went ten years without paying taxes, his accountants probably should be in jail.
We already know Harry Reid is lying because McCain vetted Romney and knows he paid taxes during that time. On the other hand, nobody has vetted Obama. We didn't even see a valid birth certificate until last year.
Obama should release his tax returns from 1980 to 1983. Why? Because he didn't pay taxes during those years. In fact, its possible Obama didn't pay taxes between 1985 and 1988 either. Actually, aside from a short one year stint at Business International Corporation and New York Public Interest Research Group, Obama didn't have a real job for ten years after high school. Did he even file tax returns during that time? Perhaps to get the earned income tax credit. Obama should release his tax returns from the 1980s so that we can see if he paid a higher or lower rate than Mitt Romney when you look at their entire tax history. Just looking at Obama's work and school history, it's safe to assume he had a negative tax rate for much of the 80s. In other words, he didn't pay anything in, but he got money back.
Another valid question is whether Romney needs to release more tax returns when the one he has released shows more taxes in that one year than Obama has paid over the last ten years combined. Or what about the Democrats who are calling for Romney's tax returns? Pelosi won't release hers. Harry Reid who himself is worth about $10 million won't release his. But they'll happily lie about Romney to try to get him to release his.
Then there is the question of Obama's college transcripts. Apparently Obama attended and graduated from Columbia University. At least that seems to be the case, although we do know he was not an honor student. Yet somehow, this young man who grew up on foodstamps and smoked his way through his first four years of college ended up at Harvard. How? No really. They don't just let anyone into Harvard.
Harry Reid is a disgrace. With his blatant lies about Romney not paying taxes for ten years, Harry Reid should resign. And Obama should pay back the taxpayers of the United States for the 1980s when he freeloaded off the tax system, paying nothing and taking refundable credits. Or he should release his 1980s tax returns (and college transcripts) and prove me wrong.
Filed under: Mitt Romney, President Obama | Tagged: 80s, birth certificate, choom, college transcripts, columbia, earned income credit, Harry Reid, harvard, marijuana, Mitt Romney, obama, obama didn't pay taxes, obama grades, occidental, pelosi, reid, reid should resign, Romney, tax, taxes, ten years |


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How much rice do you eat at a time? Either white jasmine rice or brown rice. Actually any kind of rice I guess.
I eat a LOT of rice. There are two of us here and 5 kg (which is what, 12 lbs?) of jasmine rice lasts us about 9 weeks. Maybe 10. I've loved rice since I was a kid. One of my persistent memories is getting in trouble about age 8 for hokking my mother to serve it. I remember actually pinning a note to her pillow with the word "Rice?" on it. For some strange reason where I grew up, the only way most people ate rice was cold, with milk and cinnamon sugar. I never ate it that way until I was in my 40s (it's good, I just never considered it when I was younger). When we were served white rice at school lunch, there was always a bowl of cinnamon sugar out. I just ate it plain and everyone thought I was weird. I thought they were!
I eat less rice in the summer than in the winter when it's cold. In the winter with soup and curries and stuff I eat more.
I tried to get DH to eat brown rice but he doesn't like it.


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Facebook Takes Another Header
Aug 17, 2012 9:40 AM PT
By now Facebook must rue the day it went public -- or at least rue its initial offering price of US$38 per share. On Thursday, the company's stock closed at $19.88, after hitting a low of $19.69. Early Friday, it hit a new low of $19.01 -- half its IPO value, plus a penny. By mid-day, it had recovered slightly to $19.14.
From the first hour of its wildly anticipated IPO, Facebook trading was plagued with glitches, and the company's early expectations were disappointed. The stock has been under the microscope since then, and there's been little cause for encouragement.
The current slide is due to the expiration of a ban preventing early investors from selling their shares in Facebook. When the ban lifted, many of them began to unload.
Weathering This Particular Storm
With respect to this particular issue, the worst -- from the company's perspective -- is probably over.
The shares coming online are held by Microsoft and Facebook executives, as well as venture capitalists and lower-level Facebook employees, Andreas Scherer, managing partner at Salto Partners, told the E-Commerce Times.
"I don't see a major risk for the first two groups to unload shares in huge quantities. It's a different story for the latter two groups," he said. "For those, it could be tempting to sell as long as their shares are in the money."
In the short term, however, it's likely that Facebook will experience continuous up and down movement.
"On one hand, we have significant quantities of stock potentially entering the market," said Scherer. "On the other hand, I expect technical corrections due to overly aggressive short selling, as well as new investors buying up shares -- such as Soros."
The slide in Facebook's stock price is a reminder that the price of everything, including shares of any security, are determined by supply and demand, said Barry Randall, chief investment officer of Crabtree Asset Management and a Covestor model manager. "And with demand tepid, thanks to Facebook's mobile problem, the increase in supply brought on by the unlocking of shares is having the obvious effect: FB gets cheaper," he told the E-Commerce Times.
It is important to remember, he continued, that there really isn't an actual increase in the number of shares outstanding -- only a slow and steady increase in Facebook's "float," or the number of shares freely tradeable in the market rather than tied up in long-term venture capital or insider holdings.
"Specifically, today's unlock will mean that about 23 percent of shares outstanding will be free-floating. The balance of Facebook's 2.7 billion shares will unlock over the next year," Randall pointed out.
In short, the number of Facebook's shares outstanding is largely unchanged by this unlocking process, he concluded, and therefore the earnings per share estimates aren't being revised downward solely due to the unlocking of shares.
A Look at the Mid-Term
In the mid-term, other factors come into play, Salto's Scherer said. For instance, are its ads and sponsored stories more targeted and, as a result, more valuable?
This is a big question and it's a tall order for Facebook to prove that they are, he said. It has to sell the argument that its ads -- while not necessarily leading to the so-called last click, which Google dominates -- are triggering buying decisions.
"Facebook has to explain that its ads behave more like TV ads -- just better targeted, due to their social character," Scherer explained. "If they succeed, then we might see unprecedented highs. If they don't, then its stock will test the single digits."
Mobile Issues
Facebook also needs to get a grip on its mobile issues, said Crabtree's Randall.
"The problem isn't that Facebook's mobile customers aren't going to pay -- they will. Rather, the problem is simply one of recalibration: When Facebook went public, investors were counting on a trajectory of advertising revenue growth. Now that trajectory will be lower, as fewer ads can be sold against the mobile traffic than against traffic driven by PC access. But I think Facebook's mobile revenue will still be measured in the millions of dollars and be profitable," he concluded.
Facebook did not respond to our request to comment for this story.


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- A motion comic is a form of comics combining elements of print comic books and animation, and need any Multimedia player such as mp4 player (Mpeg4-ASP + AAC) most devices/phones play .mp4 natively.
- The earliest examples of motion comics are found in independent creations such as Broken Saints.
In 2005, Lions Gate released an animated version of the Saw: Rebirth comic, one of the first examples of an animated comic created to tie into a film franchise. The first major motion comics released, which is also the first use of the term "motion comic," were released by Warner Bros., the owner of DC Comics to coincide with the film premieres of The Dark Knight and Watchmen, releasing an adaption of Batman: Mad Love and Watchmen: Motion Comics, adapting the comic book of the same name.
Marvel Comics have also begun producing motion comics, beginning with an adaptation of Joss Whedon and John Cassaday's Astonishing X-Men and a Spider-Woman series by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev produced simultaneously in print comic and motion comic formats. They have also recently announced the addition of Extremis.
Examples from other companies include Peanuts Motion Comics, the Dead Space prequel comics and the "Lucy" element of the ABC News documentary Earth 2100.
A database of motion comics can be found online at Digital Motion Comics
Illustrated Films
- A sibling format to motion comics called illustrated films was developed by transmedia studio HALO 8 Entertainment with their Godkiller, which was produced at the same time as (but separately from) the Watchmen motion comic. As opposed to repurposing an existing comic book, Halo-8 created new sequential art that was designed from its inception to be transmedia art for both a comic book and an illustrated film. Godkiller creator Matt Pizzolo told Bloody Disgusting "Godkiller was just a slower production than Watchmen because we had to create 200 pages of art and story from the ground up first, rather than starting with one of the greatest comic books ever made as source material. Plus we had a dozen voice performers instead of just one."
Although aesthetically similar to motion comics, Pizzolo identifies illustrated film influences as including Liquid Television, the MTV cartoon adaptation of The Maxx, the Berserk anime series, Chris Marker's La jetée, the motion comic Broken Saints, and the experimental cinema of Ralph Bakshi.
According to Comics Alliance, Pizzolo stated "the difference between an illustrated film and a motion comic is kind of the difference between a movie that was shot in 3D versus a movie that was shot in 2D but got a 3D post-conversion. We're not repurposing an existing comic book here, we're building something unique from scratch."
Godkiller also diverged from motion comics with voice performances by a "genre-star-studded ensemble" (according to Fangoria [9]) featuring Lance Henriksen (Aliens), Bill Moseley (The Devil's Rejects), Danielle Harris (Halloween franchise), Nicki Clyne (Battlestar Galactica), Lydia Lunch, Justin Pierre (singer Motion City Soundtrack), and Davey Havok (singer AFI).
The 75-minute Godkiller feature was released theatrically in 11 cities before it was distributed on DVD and cable VOD.
Upcoming illustrated films from Halo-8 include Ben Templesmith's original project Black Sky and an adaptation of Tim Seeley's Hack/Slash.
- Reception to motion comics has been mixed.
NewTeeVee commented,
- "This first generation [of motion comics] is admittedly crude, but there is enough 'motion' in these motion comics to keep the viewer's attention, and so far the music and voice acting have been great. Plus, the level of experimentation and sophistication will grow as more are produced."
Comics Worth Reading asked,
- "When you add camera tricks and a soundtrack to a comic, is it still a comic? Or just a poor excuse for a cartoon, done on the cheap? Are they reaching a new audience, attracted by a new format in more modern sales outlets (that come to them)? Will those hypothetical new readers eventually wind up buying traditional-format comics? Could this be just another way to try and make more money from the same, previously existing content?"
Artist John Cassaday described his experience with the motion comic adaptation of Astonishing X-Men, saying:
- "I'd seen some motion comic animation, and the quality varied. When Marvel approached me, I was initially hesitant, but after looking at some test footage and hearing how committed they were, I knew what direction they were wanting to go."
Chris Cummins in Comics, Daily Lists says:
- The problem with motion comics is that they are by their very nature a lesser product. Not possessing the nuances of a comic or the visual flair of a cartoon, these things are weird creatures traveling through the night in search of their own identity. That may sound a bit grandiose, but think about it. Motion comics are designed for people who are too lazy to read a graphic novel. Yet they are also crafted in such a fashion that their inferior animation is their primary selling point (there's a thesis in here somehow about how the seeming half-assedness of motion comics is a reflection upon contemporary America's overwhelming ability to settle for mediocrity, yet I'm far too lazy to write it). Motion Comics have been called the Cliff's Notes of the comics industry, and that sounds like a fair assessment. Yet it seems that they are also, to make a timely reference, the Rodney Dangerfield of fandom. Just because you probably should read a graphic novel as opposed to watching one brought to life with the least amount of effort doesn't mean that there aren't some motion comics that are worth your time. Come to think of it, some of these are actually quite exceptional. You see, as long as you view motion comics as a companion to their source material instead of a replacement, they offer up a lot of enjoyment. So I'm going to stop poo-pooing them and begin giving them the respect they deserve. Here then is a look at the 10 best motion comics released. Thus far anyways.
- 10. Iron Man: Extremis
09. The Walking Dead
08. Batgirl: Year One
07. Superman: Red Son
06. Spider-Woman: Agent of S.W.O.R.D.
05. Batman: Black and White
04. Astonishing X-Men: Gifted
03. Watchmen
02. Peanuts
01. Axe Cop
One of the bigger struggles the wider audience has had with receiving motion comics is that a select few of them appear to be half hearted attempts at a cartoon with many viewers complaining about lip movement and body movement being too overdone (but not executed well enough) for the work to be acceptable as a 'comic'. The level of motion varies greatly from title to title with some sticking closer to traditional comic styles but using motion and sound to enhance the story telling, whilst others have a greater emphasis on the motion, music, sound and animation.
Source: Wikipedia
List of Motion Comics Released in this Post:
I Am Legend
Saw: Rebirth
Batgirl: Year One
Spider Woman: Agent of S.W.O.R.D.
Astonishing X-Men: Gifted
Batman: Black & White
Spartacus: Blood and Sand
Peanuts Motion Comics
The Walkin Dead
Batman Adventures: Mad Love
Iron Man: Extremis
Jonah Hex: Two-Gun Mojo
Marvel Knights Spiderwoman
Stephen King's N
Superman: Red Son
Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers
Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic
- 1. If you want to make a release in this type of comics, just make a reply post here with format as a new release (or see my post here as a template).
2. Reward given as you make an audiobooks release: 10 for post, 5 for first mirror then 1 for each one to max of 8 for mirrors.
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The streaming and download service is holding the fees until midnight tonight so buy a local album or 12.
by Morgan Mullin on March 20, 2020 at 6:20PM
The Bandcamp versus Spotify debate is one that's rolled on for years now in musician circles: Spotify is slick and user-friendly (and hence, more popular) but Bandcamp? Well, in the streaming age, it's the site where the (little) money is at, with fewer operating fees for artists and the option for people to pay artists directly for their work.
Now, Bandcamp has upped its game for one day only in the face of COVID-19, pressing pause on all fees so that more of your purchasing dollar lands in the pockets of musicians (which is especially needed as the number of cancelled concerts and tours leaves the live arts reeling). It's the excuse you need to download new albums, buy merch and rock out. And while there are hundreds of deserving, talented acts to choose from on the site, we're shouting out a few of our favourites who've recently released new tunes onto their profiles:
1Jennah Barry's folk-pop dreamland is the sort of music the world needs now more than ever. While we wait for the Mahone Bay-area singer's new record—out March 27—her single "Big Universe" has our toes tapping. Read more on Barry here.
2 Last week, Nomadic Homes—the bedroom recording project of Chris Rayner—sat down with The Coast to chat about its debut LP, a fuzzed-out, nostalgic bit of rock. Read—and listen—here.
3 One of the best EPs of 2019 was the Weezer-influenced Arrangements by Ashley Pringle. Last fall, Pringle showed us around the basement where he recorded the record. Take the tour here.
4 While we tide ourselves over until the spring release of neo-soul superstar-in-the-making Aquakultre's latest record, we're jamming hard to his collaboration with OG Halifax MC Ghettosocks.


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CMP 08 for July to September 2020 Oct 18th, 2020
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Online ticket sales end 3 hours before an event. Tickets may still be available at the door. Call the Box Office at 410-810-2060 to check on ticket reservations.
Garfield Improv Group
March 23, 2021 @ 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM
|Recurring Event (See all)
An event every month that begins at 8:00 PM on day Second of the month, repeating indefinitely
An event every month that begins at 8:00 PM on day Fourth of the month, repeating indefinitely
One event on December 18, 2019 at 8:00 PM
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Karl Lagerfeld staged his Spring 2013 collection in Paris this morning and OMFG WTF IS THAT A PURSE? Yes. That is a Chanel bag. It screams, I AM A CHANEL BAG GUYS LOOK AT ME. Like, where is she going? To a pool inside of Cirque du Soleil? To a beach in the future? Is this real life? It is. It is real life, and Karl Lagerfeld has a purse for you. Question: Who will be the first to rock this ridiculousness? Bryan Boy? Gaga? Place your bets, folks. Meanwhile, there were some other things in the show…
Mostly cropped, boxy jackets and sweaters, with slim dresses, skirts or trousers on the bottom.
The classic Chanel pearls showed up on denim jean dresses, on belts, and around necks.
You got your minaudière in my Lego! You got your Lego in my minaudière!
Ladylike lady stuff for ladies.
When you're not carrying around your giant hoop bag, you need a large hat.
Soft, luxe tweeds and florals.
There's a swinging Sixties vibe to some of these kicky little dresses, which are kind of weird without being too edgy.
More boxy, cropped jackets. Emphasis on the narrow waist.
Dance your cares away…
Worry's for another day.
Let the music play…
Down at Fraggle Rock.
Your girl Jennifer Lopez was there.
Apparently there were "13 enormous white rotating wind turbines erected underneath the glass ceiling of the Grand Palais" for this presentation.
Here's crazy Uncle Karl. Hi Karl!


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Leafs have one 'statement' game behind them—with a month of statement games to come…
- at 3:00 PM
24 comments:
Two statements really resonate with me, Michael: I've seen this movie before, and I'll wait a month before assessing where we are. I'm walking along beside the bandwagon at the moment!ReplyDelete
Two good games in the last three is promising, no doubt. The unmissed Clarkson, Ranger and Fraser an interesting aspect. Third and fourth string Hawks' goalies, well, you've got to take advantage, as Carlyle said post-game.
There was a lot to like last night, but the aspect of the win that's caught my attention is that the team was NOT playing according to the coach's oft-stated strategy. They played a rush game, and looked pretty darn good doing it. This can't help but resonate with those, and I'm one of them, who think Carlyle should either change his strategy or change the players. Is it possible Holland, Smith, D'Amigo et al represent the change we need on both counts? Hard to tell - we'll have to wait until the going gets a little tougher.
For today, I'm still enjoying our first defeat of the Hawks in over a decade (!), and looking forward to Monday and Tuesday's games.
I like that line, Gerund, that you're "walking along side the bandwagon". I think I'll occupy that perch myself. System change, player change. We'll see. Whatever the system, they have to work their tails off. Talk soon.ReplyDelete
- Oliver TDecember 15, 2013 at 6:23 PM
What has Randy Carlyle actually said about the Leafs not being a rush team? It just occurred to me that I have come across this idea several times, but never saw/heard the original comment(s). Thinking about the issue in a factual vacuum it makes sense to me that it shouldn't be an aspiration to be a rush team, since that will often lead to an ill-timed pinch (at least in hindsight) and an opposition goal on an odd-man rush the other way. However, that doesn't mean that you would necessarily discourage the players from utilizing their skills. I think it just means you would try to focus more on what happens after gaining entry into the attacking zone than you would on emphasizing the entry itself as a means to an end.ReplyDelete
I'm completely with you when you say we've seen this before. But I don't think a little bit of optimism can hurt anyone, so I'm choosing to look at it as a solid effort in two out of the last three games. One game at a time is all you can really worry about. Let's hope for the best tomorrow night, then take it from there.Replies
I believe it's OK to be hopeful/optimistic as well, Oliver. I think most long-time Leaf fans, those who have really followed the game and the team, understand there are always nuances here. We can have our opinions as fans, look at advanced stats and everything else, but the people who really know and understand the players best are obviously those who work with them every day.Delete
If Carlyle believe he has a system that works best for this personnel group, great. Now, whether it is the best system, I don't know. But he is an experienced coach who must have reasons for his assessment. These things don't just happen in a vacuum. For me, there is talent here; there is a system in place. Guys may not follow the system. Not every single guy on the roster may be at his personal best in the overall system or can provide what the coaching staff expects, but these are NHL players. They have the capacity to adjust.
And, they also have the ability to walk into the coach's offence and have a frank conversation if they feel there is another way to go, in terms of systems and approach. This can all be worked out. As you say, two out of the last three games have seen very good efforts. But the proof is in the pudding. And in this case, we need to, as you say, see how this squad does one game at a time. Thanks Oliver.
Hi Michael,ReplyDelete
Great win on Saturday. I certainly would not have predicted that one, eh. I guess that is why they say that they play the game on ice, not on paper. Turns out that on Saturday it was very true. Good game, very entertaining, enjoyed Mr. Cole in the booth. I wish he did more Saturday games for the Leafs. I really do like his style more than any of the other guys.
It shouldn't really come as a surprise to anyone who has read my comments here that I would find the following troubling. It has been reported/speculated since Saturday that the lineup decisions made for Saturdays game, were not the head coaches. There is video of the coach taking Ranger and Fraser aside breaking the news to them. It looked a little conciliatory, if you know what I mean. Not only my suggestion that it looked like he was saying, 'sorry guys, not my idea, this move is being made by the guy upstairs'. No coincidence to me that the Leafs played their best game of the year, with a more talent laden squad.
My position on the coach has been clear for quite a while now. For me, its not about whether or not he's a good coach. He is, so is every coach that even gets an interview in the NHL. They are the best of the best. There are only thirty of them at any given time in the whole hockey world. More elite than an all-star game, for the players. Really select company for a coach to be in the NHL. It really is about whether or not our coach is the right one for this team, at this time. I don't think he is, and recalling Troy Bodie so that he can sit on the bench for 56 minutes of a hockey game, didn't make any sense to me. Ashton is the better player now, and has more potential in the future. Bodie only makes sense as a security blanket for a coach that has lost his way.Replies
GM-coach conversations are pretty hard to decipher, I guess. I don't doubt that the coach has the "final" say the vast majority (always?) of the time when it comes to game-night rosters. But GM's can influence decisions, for sure. Whether Carlyle has suddenly lost some authority here, I would not want to say.Delete
Your comments regarding NHL coaches is a very important one. These guys are indeed, for whatever we as fans may feel at various times, the best of the best. But it's also fair to ask if a given coach is the "right" coach for a given team at a particular time, as you said.
It was indeed good to hear Bob Cole on a Leaf broadcast. Thanks Jim, as always.
Well that was a good Leaf game. They played to their strengths and were full measure for the victory. You mention Holland in your write up Michael and I think that is an interesting point. Holland plays with other skilled players, gets to play 16 minutes and picks up three points. Contrast that with his earlier games, plays on the fourth line with pylons gets 4 -5 minutes a night and is invisible. Wow what a concept, play your skilled guys and get a skilled game. There is no way in any universe that MaClement should be getting 20 minutes a night while Holland gets 5 ( which happened more than a few times over the last 3 weeks ). This is not a rip on MaClement he is the perfect 4th line winger and when he plays 12 minutes a night he is very effective. Also, Phanuef and Gunnarrson only got 18 and 15 minutes. Dion at 18-22 minutes a night is very good, Dion at 26 minutes a night is not so good. Rielly and Liles made mistakes and gave up some chances but so did Fraser and Ranger. The difference is Rielly and Liles also create some chances, something neither Fraser or Ranger does. I can live with the mistakes if they create.ReplyDelete
On the topic of coach changes you mention the grass is always greener on the other side. My counter to that is Ron Wilson, who I think most would agree was kept too long by Burke. Just because something fails in the past doesn't mean it is the wrong thing to do this time. The same goes for keeping young players, just because it was wrong in the past doesn't mean it is wrong now. Each and every case is unique in sports. I think with the proper coach this team could be a lot better than they are now. Being in thrall to the past and afraid to make a move because it didn't work in the past can be just as dangerous as making the actual move. This team is clearly not a cycle team, nor is it a particularly good defensive one. But you know what so are some of the more recent cup winners. Neither the Hawks or the Penguins are good cycle teams or strong defensively. They beat you with skill, speed, puck movement and goaltending. Things that with the right line up the Leafs have in spades just like last night.Replies
Yes, it is hard not to notice the difference in Holland when he has the opportunity to play with skill guys- and play real minutes. I'm always confused when our fourth line, whoever is on it, plays 3 or four minutes a night. I love McClement but like you, see him as a guy who should play a more modest and specific role.Delete
As for the coach, I understand the growing legion of Carlyle detractors. I do. Yes, I agree the past is not necessarily relevant, that each situation is different. But is Carlyle really that stubborn, and willfully not playing to the strengths of the roster he should know well? I assume Nonis is watching very carefully. Thanks Willbur.
- BlueANDwhiteDecember 16, 2013 at 6:11 AM
Hi MichaelReplyDelete
Agree with Jim on Bob Cole: He has the ability to lift viewers with his call and I wish we got him more often to call our games.
About Carlyle. He takes a lot of pride in representing a certain style that he has coached throughout his career. So when he was informed after the Chicago game that most of his teams goals came off the rush. It was interesting that he mentioned that it was a result of good offensive forchecking and cycling the board as he said wears the other team down thus resulting in creating rush chances. Hence I dont think he will change his style and stop preaching what he believes in, which is a good defensive, tough style
to play against that focuses primarily on the defensive end with his players taking away the chances between his goal to the slot 15 feet in front of the goal. However the St.Louis game resulted in goals against mostly in these very areas on the ice. I agree that this approach can result in success to an extent but the drawback is a lot of shots taken from the other teams players especially their defencemen from the perimeter. In addition a decisive amount of puck possession by the other team in our zone resulting in wearing down our team. The Leafs pressure is mostly put on the other teams forwards down low but when we do get the puck back in our zone, it probably results in fewer options to get the puck out as our players are mostly collapsed in front of our net. We avoided getting put into this position a lot this Saturday because our more mobile defensemen Liles, Reilly and Gardiner made better quick first passes out of our zone to the more defensive conscious forwards who came back and got open for the transition game to play effect.
Also on Saturday the Leafs did a much better job positioning themselves between our net and so to say "box the other team to the outside" of the dangerous areas.
You are correct in mentioning that the players need to buy into the system. This team is still learning what works and what is required of them on the ice. But it is nice to see them have success against Chicago with winning those one on one battles for loose pucks and creatively making accurate passes, getting open and just getting the puck to the net.
The first few comments on this thread are giving me a lot of food for thought. The Leafs played a great game, and did they play Carlyle's game? Is Carlyle compromising and allowing them to play their own game? Is Carlyle finally loosening the leash on Gardiner or is it happening by default?ReplyDelete
It would appear to be the death knell for a coach in the NHL to lose control of his personnel decisions and allowing the inmates to run the asylum. Carlyle is such a seasoned coach at this level, and it is hard to imagine him take his hands off to such a degree. If Carlyle is here to stay, then my best case scenario is that he is showing an ability to adapt and change, and not to be too stubborn.
Down at ice level, they simply played a great game against a great team. This shouldn't be such a surprise, they did that just a few nights prior against Los Angeles. The egg they laid against St. Louis was the real surprise. It should come as no surprise to hear me say that I was glad to see the lineup sans Fraser and Ranger. I of course am not an NHL coach, but seeing is believing. Too slow afoot, and too slow to make decisions in their own corners has helped keep the Leafs hemmed in their own zone far too often. The steady presence of Phaneuf, Gunnarsson, and Franson, plus the sheer speed of Gardiner and Rielly, seems to be a winning combination. Lest we forget, the much maligned Liles never did lose his NHL-caliber ability, and he belongs here.
I'll try not to get too excited about one game, as much as I tried to dismiss one terrible game two nights before. But the Leafs can look at themselves and assess what works and what does not just by watching video of the past week. Who shows up tonight?Replies
If I had to guess, Pete, I would say that tonight's Penguin game would be a better barometer of things to come (at least for the next while) then the past three games. I say that simply because just as it is natural and to be expected to have a terrible off-game (St. Louis), it is just as possible to have a breakout game against a high-flying team like Chicago and it really mean nothing. The Hawks had no goaltending and would no doubt say, if asked, that they were awful against the Leafs. So that win, while nice from our perspective, may not be meaningful except if it builds our confidence and momentum.Delete
So tonight against a different, also very good team, should give us a reading as to whether we are in fact on a bit of a roll, that the roster is really better this way and that either Carlyle or the players - or both - are adjusting. Thanks Pete.
I read your comment today with interest, BlueANDwhite. As I mentioned to Willbur, I know people are feeling that Carlyle is not playing to his team's strengths, etc. I just wonder if it is indeed his desire to stick with what he knows and feels has been successful in the past.ReplyDelete
Most coaches do have tendencies, just like players. That's why everyone watches film of everyone else. But most good coaches also evolve over the years, and/or adjust their thinking/system to meet the needs of a changing sport and also their own personnel and roster limitations. That Carlyle would not do this would seem shocking to me. Thanks BlueANDwhite.
- Pete CamDecember 16, 2013 at 10:01 AM
The manner of the win Saturday was gratifying. It gave a glimmer of the potential of this team and hopefully was a harbinger of future play.ReplyDelete
During the preseason many of us looked forward to a second line of Lupul, Kadri and Clarkson. These thoughts have become a train wreck with Lupul's injuries, Kadri's suspension and hiatus to the first line and Clarkson's suspensions and overall less than stellar play. Saturday's game produced a second line of Holland, Lupul and Raymond that gave an emphatic indication that it could be a combination that can shoulder some of the scoring and take some pressure off the first line. I hope that this line is kept intact and given a chancr to gel regardless of Clarkson's return.
I was impressed with the checking and overall energy of the McClement, Kuliman and D'Amigo line. That they chipped in with a couple of goals was an added bonus. They too deserve the chance to gel as an effective third line. Their stellar play also ate up some ice time and keep the first two lines fresh.
I believe that our top six defensemen were dressed Saturday. If they are going to keep Rielly then he needs to play and we need to realize that there will be inevitable rookie mistakes. I would like to see him paired with Lyles who would be a good and necessary veteran mentor. It, unfortunately, has been painfully obvious that Fraser has lost a step and Ranger has not yet recaptured his Tampa level of play.
At this point I am cautiously optimistic. I believe that the Leafs have the talent to compete favourably with most teams in the East. I also believe that it is vital that they achieve some consistency in their line combinations and defense pairings over a period of a number of games.
It was indeed refreshing to hear Bob Cole calling a Leaf game. Hughson is a poor substitute and I usually mute the sound when he is calling the game.Replies
We all recognize that various factors, including injuries. mess with well-thought-out plans in terms of roster and line combinations, Pete Cam. But it would indeed be nice if the Leafs could, for the most part, settle on line combinations and preferred roles so everyone can pull in the same direction. On paper, there is little reason this roster can't compete with the best teams in the East. But we all know that talent alone rarely wins much.Delete
Hi MichaelReplyDelete
On the risk of sounding pessimistic, we are not out of the woods yet. Tonight's game would be even more meaningful. Do they progress forward or put up another stinker in st. loo? Pun intended..;). It was interesting watching the first chapter of HBO 24/7. There were little glimpse into the inner workings and not surprisingly, there's seems to be less of cohesion within the dressing room. An interesting thing about Tatar reading out the starting lineup seems to be that it didn't show the Leafs having that type of team bonding moment. Whether that was left on the cutting floor or to be revealed later I do not know. Just some feeling that I have that this team does not have the cohesion needed to be mentally tough and ultimately tough to play against. I know it is minor but I always believe in team unity and just some small thing i noticed or biased towards. Who knows.
As far as some of the personnel changes, the one that I really approved of is Ranger not being in the line up. Although, Fraser's season has been poor, I have not seen glaring errors that resulted in poor position or poor choices, he has simply been beat and or have had some unfortunately bounces. On the other hand Ranger's decision making has be atrocious and no sign of it being any better. I am not sure what it is about him but at this stage, he is not able to do the job.
I will definitely look forward to the response tonight.
It's fair to want to wait to see which direction the Leafs are going. Big wins against good teams are nice, but consistently strong play is what's needed here.Delete
Your comments regarding Fraser are also fair- and interesting. As fans, we all think we know something about the game. We bring our individual experiences to the forefront and (when not emotional) make hopefully reasoned assessments about players, coaches, management personnel, etc.
Where some fans will criticize a particular player, another fan sees something entirely different. Who's right, or wrong?
Fraser, in hockey terms, is a warrior. But he suffered a serious injury at the end of last season. He has always been a borderline NHLer when it comes to talent. But he has that big heart. On good days, fans will fan in love with Reilly and Gardiner because of their sublime skill, but there may come a day when we will need Mark Fraser- slow afoot as he generally is. And I mention Fraser as one example only regarding how fans react, fair and sometimes not so fair. Thanks Lukas.
I think it is safe to assume that was not the game we were looking for in Pittsburgh. Part of me really wants to go on a rant about not being able to beat a minor league hockey team. The other part of me feels that this is just more of the same from the Leafs. Beat a team on Saturday night that they had no business beating, and then take tonight off. The level of inconsistency is astonishing to me. One night to the next, two completely different hockey teams. Not to mention the effort level of the teams best players. Our best players, are pretty embarrassing when I think about it.
I really don't know what the rest of the season holds for fans of this team. They are just as likely to win more games than they lose, or the exact opposite. I am having a lot of difficulty liking this hockey team. I gave up on the coach months ago, the players aren't willing to do much of anything on the ice most nights. None of these guys is doing anything to endear themselves to the fans. When Troy freaking Bodie is your most involved player, what does that say about everyone else?
There are many more things I would like to mention, too many really. Strange team this years edition, they are doing a great job of removing my will to care about them. That is something I never would have thought I would say. I should go, my kitchen appliances have me all perplexed this evening. Does anyone remember the old opening to Wide World of Sports on ABC? 'From the thrill of victory, to the agony of defeat' All in the course of two hockey games, a pretty good summation of this years edition of the Leafs.Replies
I feel the frustration, Jim. Not quite sure I have an answer. The talent is there in spots. The effort is there at times. Goaltending is great a times. They play well as a team at times. Lots of "at times".Delete
- BlueANDwhiteDecember 17, 2013 at 5:08 AM
Hi MichaelReplyDelete
As we all are, I am disappointed with tonights result. However I think after our first goal I thought we were going to get things rolling and get a couple of goals. But a missed gaping net by Kuleman, a partial breakaway by Raymond, and hitting the post late was the difference. This game could have been easily won.
I am still not sure on which of our goalies is the better one. They both have carried our team early on but both have not been stellar as of late. Not that I blame them for any of the losses in particular. I think Reimer is the ultimate battler who will strive towards doing anything it takes to keep the puck out while Bernier is better positionally sound. Wouldn't it be nice to see them take turns playing red hot rather than playing like the team is playing in front of them. I would love to have Reimer step up in goal this next game and keep the net for a while.
I was wondering if we had won tonight if Carlyle would have elected to keep Clarkson in the press box after his suspension was over. But it seems like he'll take Jerry D's place on that line. We still need Clarkson in the lineup and maybe a couple of games away from the ice will be a good thing for him and the team.
I noticed this season when we pull our goalie late, our players look gasped our there and show no desperation. Maybe the top players shifts are too long there at the end. Carlyle should perhaps then try the second line players if that is the case.
Now is the time I want to see Lupul, JVR, and/or Kadri step up and grab the bull by the horns. I have discussed leadership on this club before but we need someone to put this team on their backs now. We are still in control of our destiny, that being a playoff spot for now. Since we know now that we can beat Chicago, then we CAN beat any team but it will take a team effort to say the least. But teams need that one guy to rally behind.
Its time to forget feeling sorry for ourselves with the injury excuses, scheduling of back to back games, and take the game to the other team right from the puck drop. I am going to watch who that player will turn out to be. That is if there is one on this team. My wife suggested that Sundin was that guy in years past who when you needed that goal would come to the rescue. Even though he had Roberts and Mogilny to help him carry some of the load, but it was at the end One player.who the team looked up to to deliver. While we haven't found our Sundin on this team this year yet. Maybe Lupul, Kessel, JVR, Kadri. Maybe it'll take more than one...
But I'm watching who will emerge.Replies
It could have gone either way, for sure, BlueANDwhite. Leadership remains an elusive quality for this bunch. I think guys care and play "hard", but there is caring and then there is caring, just like there is working hard and then there is working hard.Delete
Your reflections on Sundin are accurate. He was so often the one to score or arrange the big play, the big goal. He had help indeed, but he was the guy for years. Ideally you'd like to have a few individuals who can carry the load. I think we are all waiting- and watching. Thanks BlueANDwhite.
Great teams bury their chances consistently. The Leafs are yet a team that can do that. Same as the LA game, their goalie played well enough that eventually, they caught up. There were swings in the game and we simply could not maintain it when Pittsburg gave it to us in the second and I would agree it's about leadership. We NEED a Gary Roberts type. Clarkson seems to have the make up to do that but for some reason hasn't. Not sure if it is because he is new to the team and are a little timid, especially after the 10 games suspension but he need and should step up to lead if not the scoreboard, the physicality.Delete
I am an avid of sacrificial games when the greater of the season is at stake. I would never have let Paluzzo get away with the hit(s) yesterday on D'amigo. Whether we lost a game because of it would have not mattered as it would have united the team through defending one another.
The thing about this team that I feel is missing is the passion. I don't see it on any of them save for a couple of player with Lupul the leader. It seems like everyone has the Kulimen style in them. This team needs, a Gallagher, a Marchand, a Ott, or even a Avery sans the stupidity. There is no Passion uniting this team I am sorry to say.
You mention Gary Roberts, Lukas. Darcy Tucker also comes to mind. Not everyone (myself included) always liked his antics, but we could not deny his energy and passion and that often rubbed off on teammates who were less that way. This bunch needs a bit (a lot?) of that- and yes, sandpaper, too. Who can forget Shayne Corson hurling himself in front of shots at playoff time? We need that, and more, now.Delete
Agreed completely....sigh.Delete


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Norma,Those are good research materials. I saw some of them when I did my research but did not wish to inundate you with them because of their highly technical nature. I wanted you to peel back only the first few layers of the onion, not all of the layers. When I spoke with the person at The Wright Group, he gave me contact information for ICL Performance, Clabber Girl Corporation and Innophos (http://www.innophos.com/). I started with Clabber Girl because you have been using their retail baking powder and thought that their foodservice division might be a useful source of information and possibly samples.Did you feel comfortable with your discussion with Nita? Peter
Norma,If you decide to proceed further with your pizza crust premix experiments, I was told that you should have no problem getting samples of the three leavening ingredients from Clabber Girl. Peter
AAAARRRRRGH! My head! Technical Overload!
Bill,This may sound strange but when you talk to the experts in the field this is the level of the conversations. They go even deeper into the chemistry than what I have given. Peter
Norma,As I was putting together my last reply, I came upon a discrepancy in the ingredients list for the Betty Crocker Pizza Crust Mix as set forth in Reply 23 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,13686.msg137206.html#msg137206 and that which is given for that mix at the General Mills/Betty Crocker website itself. The difference is as to the flour. As you will note from the photo below, the flour for the Betty Crocker Pizza Crust Mix as given at the GM/Betty Crocker website includes a first flour that is unmalted and, by its omission, presumably unbleached, and a second flour that is bleached and malted. I have to believe that GM is using its own flours in its mixes. This led me to look for an unmalted, unbleached flour at the GM flours website. Such a combination would not be very common inasmuch as most of the GM flours are malted. As you know, we had been operating on the premise that the flour in the Bisquick Original Pancake and Baking Mix was a bleached cake flour, which led us to elect bread flour to raise its protein content to get it into the pizza dough range. The only GM flour that I could find that is both unmalted and unbleached is the Sureflake Cake and Pastry flour, as described at http://www.gmiflour.com/gmflour/Flour_SpecSheet/Sureflake58431(West).doc. You might recall that I raised the possibility in Reply 206 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,13686.msg140111.html#msg140111 that the flour used in the Bisquick Original Pancake and Baking Mix was "either cake flour or pastry flour, or possibly a blend that has a protein content in the cake/pastry flour range, possibly a GM/Sperry bleached cake/pastry flour with a protein content of around 9%". The Sureflake Cake and Pastry flour has a protein content of 9.5% +/-0.6%. It's hard to say whether that is the flour that is used in the Bisquick Original Pancake and Baking Mix but the Sureflake flour was the only flour that I could find at the GM flour website that is both unmalted and unbleached.The second flour mentioned above can be almost anything. A bleached and malted flour is extremely common. But, if I had to guess, I would say that the second flour is either an all-purpose flour or a bread flour. But, either way, the predominant flour is the unmalted and unbleached flour. Peter
Norma,I decided to go back and re-read the various documents we found on chemical leavening systems to further solidify my understanding of such systems. I then decided to look at the chemical leavening systems used by General Mills in the Betty Crocker and Bisquick products that you experimented with to see if I could divine the logic used in those leavening systems. Here is the summary of the chemical leavening systems used in those products:Pouch Betty Crocker Pizza Crust Mix: sodium aluminum phosphate (aka SALP) and baking soda (this is a single-acting leavening system); there is also yeast in the mix.Pouch Bisquick Buttermilk Biscuit Mix: baking soda, SALP and monocalcium phosphate (this is a double-acting leavening system).Pouch Bisquick Cheese-Garlic Biscuit Mix: baking soda, SALP and monocalcium phosphate (this is a double-acting leavening system).Box Bisquick Original Pancake and Baking Mix: baking soda, SALP and monocalcium phosphate (this is a double-acting leavening system).Pouch Betty Crocker Muffin Mix: baking soda and SALP (this is a single-acting leavening system).Pouch Betty Crocker Banana Nut Muffin Mix: baking soda and SALP (this is a single-acting leavening system). What I concluded from the above pattern of use of the chemical leavening systems is that if a mix is to be made into a batter or other mixture quickly and the product is to go into the oven promptly, there is no need to use a fast-acting acid. A slow-acting acid (in a single-acting context) will suffice. The production of carbon dioxide will occur during baking. If there is to be an initial mix and some bench time, or if it will take more than just a few minutes to prepare the final product using the mix, then using a double-acting leavening system seems to make sense. In your case, with your experiments using the mixes with "goody bags", you inherited the chemical leavening systems used in the various General Mills mixes. Those leavening systems make sense for a dough that is going to ferment for several hours, much as it does for a biscuit mix that typically takes about 15 minutes to turn into biscuits. One of the things that I also learned is if a double-acting leavening system is used, there will be some initial production of carbon dioxide due to the fast-acting acid but it will cease (level off) after only a few minutes and will thereafter resume carbon dioxide production once the product in question is baked. If you were to decide that you want to make a really fast pizza dough within say, five minutes, you would perhaps go with a combination of SALP and baking soda. You wouldn't use the fast-acting acid (see more on this below). Alternatively, if you were to decide that a pizza dough that can be made within say, 15 minutes or more, is what you are after, then I think you would go with the baking soda, SALP and monocalcium phosphate. I believe that you could use a leavening system using sodium aluminum sulfate (aka SAS) instead of SALP, as is the case with the Clabber Girl retail baking powder, I think that the SALP may be a better choice for your purposes because it works more slowly than SAS. The final answer on this would depend on the desired mix, bench and fermentation times.For your additional information, I believe that the Clapper Girl baking powder you have been using conforms to the Double Acting Formula No. 1 as presented at page 72 of the article at http://www.google.com/books?id=rU1wQotD3jIC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA54#v=onepage&q&f=false. I can't tell you the actual percents of the three components--only that the pecking order of the Clapper Girl baking powder is the same as the Double Acting Formula No. 1. I don't think that you have to rush to make decisions on how to proceed in the short term. You might want to await the results of a dough formulation that tries to mimic the combination of the Bisquick Original Pancake and Baking Mix and the Bisquick Buttermilk biscuit mix that produced the Sukie pizza that you liked so much. I feel comfortable about how you might proceed once you get the various samples of chemical leavening ingredients. I think I have the math part under control also, although I have not yet put pencil to paper to come up with numbers. Using the neutralizing values (NVs), which is the math part, is considered to be a starting point. This means that some experimentation is likely to be necessary to come up with a final workable solution. I should also mention that all of the pizza mixes that were set forth in Reply 23 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,13686.msg137206.html#msg137206 use some combination of SALP and baking soda--but no fast-acting acid like monocalcium phosphate. That seems to be pretty much standard operating procedure for such mixes. All of those mixes also use yeast. The only pizza crust mixes that I am aware of that do not use any chemical leavening system is the Weisenberger pizza crust mix (http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,13931.msg139903.html#msg139903) and the Eagle Mills mix (Reply 25 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,13686.msg137231.html#msg137231). I have not conducted an exhaustive search for all pizza crust mixes so there may be other examples.Peter
I am just beginning to understand these different chemical leavening systems, that are in the different Betty Crocker products. I saved all my pouches of the biscuits and muffin mixes, and still have a box of the Original Bisquick here at home, but never thought to look if they used different chemical leavening systems. I wondered how the biscuit and muffins mixes all worked, used with your goody bag, when made into pizzas. I guess your goody bag with the Clabber Girl in it, is what made it work, since the Clabber Girl has a double acting formula. Do you also think that is why they all worked okay?
I wonder why the pizza mixes you set-forth in Reply 23 http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,13686.msg137206.html#msg137206 dont have any fast acting acid like monocalcium phosphate.
I dont know if you found any of these articles in your research on chemical leavening or not.
Norma,A lot of thought went into the "goody bag" (as discussed in Reply 63 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,13686.msg137736.html#msg137736), which first required that I try to reverse engineer the Bisquick Buttermilk biscuit mix (which took up most of my time), but to a certain extent luck came into play as well. The first thing that I had to do was to add more flour to the Bisquick Buttermilk biscuit mix to raise the total protein content to something that was more conducive to a pizza dough. Once I did that, I had to adjust the amounts of most of the other ingredients, including the Clabber Girl's baking powder quantity, to bring their baker's percents back into balance. Otherwise, their baker's percents would have gone down since those values are measured with respect to the total flour weight. (It's like making a dough with a high hydration and then using a lot of bench flour. Unless the amounts of the other ingredients are also increased, their baker's percents will go down because of the added bench flour. This is something that people rarely think about.) Also, I added regular yeast in order to get the benefits of yeast fermentation. Fortuitously, when I was done, the total weight, including the total amount of water that I thought might be needed, was enough to make a single 16" pizza or two roughly 12" pizzas, with a thickness factor of around 0.105, which is a value that is in a range that you like to use and is also high enough to make a decent pizza in a standard home oven (that is, not too thin and not too thick). I did not know that the "goody bag" would become a generic or one-size-fits-all type of addition. I am glad that that happened since it does simplify matters considerably. Some time, you might calculate the added cost from using the "goody bag", to see what the overall cost is with the cost of the pouch of the Bisquick Buttermilk biscuit mix included. I suspect that the total cost is reasonable, especially given the good results that you achieved. Peter
No, I did not find those articles. Had I found them and actually read them, someone would have come and taken me away to a nice, quiet place where I would not hurt myself. Then, even Bill (chickenparm) wouldn't be able to visit me because my keepers would suspect that you used Bill to smuggle in more articles on chemical leavening systems that you found for me to read.Peter
Norma,As between the Pureasnow cake flour and the pie and pastry flour, I think I would go with the Pureasnow just now, together with the KABF. However, out of curiosity, I checked the General Mills flour website to see if they offer a pie and pastry flour. As it turns out, there are two flours that are supposedly good for pie crusts--the Sureflake cake and pastry flour mentioned earlier (http://www.gmiflour.com/gmflour/Flour_SpecSheet/Sureflake58431(West).doc) and also a pastry flour called Cameo (http://www.gmiflour.com/gmflour/Flour_SpecSheet/Cameo50802(West).doc) that is unmalted and unbleached and appears to be quite similar to the Sureflake cake and pastry flour. I haven't checked the specs yet in detail to see what the differences are other than to note that they have the same protein content (9% +/-0.6%) and that the Cameo flour has a considerably lower ash content than the Sureflake flour.As with many commercial ingredients, dextrose comes in various forms. But, for now and for your purposes, I don't see any harm in using what Steve uses. I'd be be interested to see if it produces more fermentation and crust coloration when you do get around to trying it.Peter


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Delivered By
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Delivered On
December 29, 2019
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Psalm 24:1-10, Ephesians 1:3-14
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text:
|Publication Date
|OFR53 Kent County Groundwater Monitoring Project: Results of Subsurface Exploration
|Andres, A.S., McQuiggan, R.W., He, C.
|OFR52 Results of Groundwater Flow Simulations In the East Dover Area, Delaware
|He, C., Andres, A.S.
|OFR48 Results of the Domestic Well Water-Quality Study
|Pellerito, V., Neimeister, M.P., Wolff, E., Andres, A.S.
|OFR45 Characterization of the Potomac Aquifer, an Extremely Heterogeneous Fluvial System in the Atlantic Coastal Plain of Delaware
|McKenna, T.E., McLaughlin, P.P., Benson, R.N.
|OFR39 Basic Data for the Geologic Map of the Seaford Area, Delaware
|Andres, A.S., Ramsey, K.W., Schenck, W.S.
|OFR29 Sources of Ground-Water Contamination in Delaware
|Talley, J.H.
|OFR24 Saturated Thickness of the Water-Table Aquifer in Southern New Castle County, Delaware
|Demicco, P.M., Groot, J.J., Cherry, P.J.
|OFR26 Salinity Distribution and Ground-Water Circulation beneath the Coastal Plain of Delaware and the Adjacent Continental Shelf
|Groot, J.J.
|OFR20 Configuration of the Base and Thickness of the Unconfined Aquifer in Southeastern Sussex County, Delaware
|Denver, J.M.
|OFR23 Ground-Water Availability in Southern New Castle County, Delaware
|Groot, J.J., Demicco, P.M., Cherry, P.J.
|OFR19 Regolith Thickness of the Delaware Piedmont
|Woodruff, K.D., Christopher, M.J.
|OFR18 A Numerical Indicator of Water Conditions for Northern Delaware
|Jordan, R.R., Woodruff, K.D.
|OFR11 Effects of Earthquakes and Earth Tides on Water Levels in Selected Wells in the Piedmont of Delaware
|Talley, J.H.


text:
fruit, matured ovary of the pistil of a flower, containing the seed. After the egg nucleus, or ovum, has been fertilized (see fertilization) and the embryo plantlet begins to form, the surrounding ovule (see pistil) develops into a seed and the ovary wall (pericarp) around the ovule becomes the fruit. The pericarp consists of three layers of tissue: the thin outer exocarp, which becomes the
skin; the thicker mesocarp; and the inner endocarp, immediately surrounding the ovule. A flower may have one or more simple pistils or a compound pistil made up of two or more fused simple pistils (each called a carpel); different arrangements give rise to different types of fruit. A new variety of fruit is obtained as a hybrid in plant breeding or may develop spontaneously by mutation.
Sections in this article:
- Introduction
- Types of Fruits
- The Role of Fruits in Seed Dispersal
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Botany: General


text:
MONTREAL —_Tomas Plekanec couldn't wait to get back to work.
Plekanec was the first player on the ice Sunday morning as he rejoined the Canadiens following what he described as a disappointing experience with the Czech team at the Vancouver Olympics.
The Czechs were bounced by Finland, the eventual bronze medallist, in the quarter-finals and Plekanec said his first Olympic appearance taught him the value of team play.
"The one lesson I learned was the importance of five players being on the same page, playing together as a unit." said Plekanec, referring to the difficulty of bringing in players from different teams and different systems and trying to put together a cohesive team.
He went on to say that he was happy to be back in Montreal, where he is familiar with the system. Plekanec, the team's leading scorer, lined up between the Kostitsyn brothers, Andrei and Sergei, and it appears that will be a key unit as the Canadiens resume their pursuit of a playoff position Tuesday night when they take on the Bruins in Boston.
"I've played together with the brothers over the past two years and we've had some success," said Plekanec. "They're skilled players who play well together and my job will be to get them the puck."
Defenceman Andrei Markov also returned to the fold Sunday after representing Russia in Vancouver. The Russians were the pre-tournament favourites, but lost to Canada 7-3 in the quarter-finals.
"It was disappointing but we didn't play well," said Markov. "We made too many mistakes in the neutral zone and it cost us."
There has been concern over Markov's health. He missed the Canadiens' last two games before the Olympic break and his time in Vancouver was limited by Markov standards.
When asked about his health Sunday, Markov said he was "OK, but not great."
The only player still missing at practice was goaltender Jaroslav Halak and there was some question as to whether he would join the Canadiens for practice Monday, go directly to Boston or possibly avoid two coast-to-coast trips by flying south to California.
The Canadiens are in San Jose on Thursday and then play Saturday in Los Angeles and Sunday in Anaheim. If the Canadiens opt for the last option, Carey Price would start in Boston and Robert Mayer would serve as the backup. He was called up from Cincinnati of the ECHL last week to give the team an extra goaltender in practice.
The Canadiens made another roster move Sunday, recalling Tom Pyatt from the American Hockey League's Hamilton Bulldogs. He provides the team with an extra forward for what shapes up as a crucial road trip. The Canadiens come out of the break in the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference but most of the teams they are battling hold games in hand.


text:
I'm going to jump ahead a little and report on Hughes, who spoke on Friday morning. My notes on Hughes are decent by my standards. I'll come back and describe our presentation next and then get to Mann's. Neither Hughes nor Mann attended Thursday's session or reception. I missed meeting Mann on Friday as I spent a few moments after the Friday morning session chatting to people and when I looked up, Mann was gone. I introduced myself to Hughes after the Friday morning session. He was chatting with the BBC reporters about Liverpool soccer and a miraculous comeback last year by Liverpool in Istanbul (which I'd vaguely heard about.) We chit-chatted pleasantly about soccer and administration and such.
In his morning presentation, Hughes said that their mission was to discover something about the climate system. He described the calculation of a global mean as a "somewhat tedious afterthought". He made a very interesting distinction between the Schweingruber and Fritts approaches to disentangling temperature signals from tree ring data.
His first slide asked how central were reconstructions to the debate? Hughes argued that understanding of climate depends on understanding mechanisms of the climate system and that reconstructions are useful if they help us understand the system. Most of the potential of reconstructions has yet to be realized. He mentioned an article by Crucifix et al. He showed a graphing of forcings, noting that max and mean insolation have not had large changes in the last 2000 years, so we are looking for small changes. He noted that the instrumental record was incomplete, thus "natural archives" were necessary. (SM: I'm not sure that this metaphor of "natural archives" is the most apt possible metaphor for tree ring measurements.)
Hughes then asked why annual records were preferred. Hughes said that the reason for annual records was the need to maximize the number of degrees of freedom in the instrumental period (especially if seasonal or annual maps are made.) He said that it doesn't make sense to have Ougodogou in 1836 when everything else is in 1836. (SM: a few editorial comments. The issue of degrees of freedom pointed out here by Hughes is completely ignored in Ammann and Wahl's low-frequency "argument" against even consulting the r2 statistic. If you're trying to do calibration-verification on the instrumental record with 50-year bins for low-frequency, then you only have 2.5 samples and not enough degrees of freedom. Recall here that Hughes and Diaz, 1994 was a very influential programmatic article, which argued for the primacy of annual records, an approach which is being eroded by use of low-frequency proxies in, say, Moberg. I have some sympathy for Hughes' point here, despite all the tree ring problems. As a second editorial point, it's ironic that he should emphasize the need for synchronization given that Rutherford et al 2005, in which Hughes is a coauthor, contains an amusing collation error in which the instrumental data is incorrectly collated with the proxy data.
Hughes argued for the primacy in making maps in climate studies, because spatiotemporal maps made more rigorous checking possible. The question — is it physically reasonable? — can then be asked. One of the panel asked him how good were the historical records. His answer seemed to be couched in terms of pioneer accounts of the American West; he said that Chynoweth had discussed it; he also cited Fritts et al, J Interdisc History, 1980 and mentioned travel accounts in the American desert in the 19th century.
Hughes said that the calculation of a global or hemispheric mean was a "somewhat tedious afterthought" to these spatiotemporal maps. He cited Groveman 1979; and Bradley and Jones 1993 as originating the practice. He showed the Wiki spaghetti graph. He said that there was little overlap between the Briffa MXD series and MBH. He said that Oerlemanns, Moberg and Pollack were not dominated by tree rings. (SM editorial comment: we had previously brought the truncation of the Briffa MXD series to the attention of the panel, but no one asked Hughes about this truncation when he brought up this series. Oerlemanns and Pollack do not extend back to the MWP, nor does Briffa MXD, so his only example of non-overlap is Moberg. No one on the panel pointed this out to him.)
Hughes also asked why were the series so scattered in the spaghetti graph? He said it was partly due to different seasons; partly due to different regions, but still said that it was "remarkable" that they were "so consistent". He showed a diagram from Esper where the reconstructions were re-scaled to a consistent scale, which visually showed more consistency than the standard spaghetti graph.
He then turned to Bradley, Hughes and Diaz, Climate in Medieval Times, which appeared as a Science Perspective, which he said was not peer reviewed. He said that the study showed a cluster of maxima in the 20th century, but not in the MWP, creating a balance of evidence against the existence of the MWP. He then cited Osborn and Briffa 2006, who follow a somewhat similar strategy as Bradley, Hughes and Diaz, i.e. a somewhat non-parametric analysis of the proxy series. He said that results of Osborn and Briffa were robust to the removal of 1-3 records and thus "nor exclusively driven by any particular records". (Another SM editorial note– this point about O&B robustness to the removal of 1-3 records seems to be its main sales pitch. The article seems to be specifically designed to rebut our claims about non-robustness of MBH98 and other studies to a few proxies (bristlecones in the case of MBH; but the stereotypes include Yamal, Jacoby's Sol Dav, Thompson's Dunde, Briffa's old Polar Urals and a couple of others. Osborn and Briffa have collected nearly every proxy that I've ever questioned into one collection — there are even two separate bristlecone/foxtail series, one using Mann's PC method. So O&B "robustness" is not that of a random sample.)
Hughes said in support of the amplitude of MBH that Oerlemanns showed an increase of 0.6-0.7 deg C over the last 150 years; that Luterbacher benchmarks closely to MBH98 mutatis mutandi.
Hughes said that uncertainty increased prior to 1500 for several reasons. First, records are fewer and "thinner". (Wallace asked here about bristlecone dominance of the longer records. Hughes said that they dominated US Southwest long networks, but there were other long records elsewhere in the world comprised of shorter records, mentioning South America and swamp cypress (a non-temperature record.) The second uncertainty is potential for non-climatic changes. The third uncertainty comes from time-dependent biases e.g age detrending.
Hughes said that there were two main ways of temperature reconstruction using tree rings: 1) the Schweingruber scheme — choose sites to be temperature sensitive. (The Schweingruber sites are the ones in the Briffa network that decreases in the second half 20th). 2) The "Fritts" scheme: many records are put in the network, which are "empirically disentangled" using methods like PCA. (Another SM editorial note: I think that this is a pretty interesting distinction. Intuitively the "Schweingruber scheme" makes a lot more sense to me. The "Divergence Problem" comes from applying the Schweingruber scheme. The "Fritts scheme", as applied by Mann, assumes that you can skip worrying about whether proxies are temperature sensitive. I wonder whether Fritts would endorse Mann's method. But again, even if he does, Fritts may be high authority for matters dendro, but he is hardly a figure whose statistical methods are applied outside dendro. BTW Fritts always used RE after looking at r2).
Hughes asked: what is needed? More records; better records; better understanding of the records. He said that we can only get back to AD1500 with spatiotemporal reconstruction and that there can be no substantial progress until data improves. (SM- this is interesting. Hughes said that spatiotemporal maps are needed to check physical reasonableness, but he says here that this can't go prior to about 1500.)
Hughes pointed out that many records end in the mid-20th century and need to be recollected; also there was a pressing need to improve low latitudes and Africa. There was a need to improve physical and biological understanding — so that models did not rely on just correlation.
He brought up two possible explanations for the Divergence Problem (I don't recall how this topic came up.) He first referred to the explanation of Vaganov et al [1998], that the divergence was due to growth delayed die to increasing snowpack; and secondly to Briffa's speculation that trees may be damaged due to ozone.
Biondi asked whether such de-coupling have occurred in the past? Hughes: that's why you have to be wary of statistics; that's why you need multiproxy studies. If we could understand it, we could understand it better. Hughes was asked whether the 20th century disconnect means that a similar disconnect might have occurred in the past. Hughes said "That's the third explanation that I wasn't going to discuss". He was asked whether it precluded use of tree ring proxies to assess whether past climates were warmer than mid 20th century. My notes are a little sparse at this point unfortunately.
Cuffey asked about the potential impact of CO2 fertilization. Isn't there a danger of calibrating fertilization, if it is covarying with temperature in 20th century? Hughes said that it was "extremely difficult" to demonstrate the effect of CO2 on interannual tree ring widths. He said that Vaganov et al [Nature] reported interannual differences much greater than fertilization. "Of course we need to understand it better". He said that there were massive similarities, which have to be driven by something in common. (SM — but the bristlecone growth pulse is essential distinct, that's why you can still recognize the bristlecones in a PC4).
Dickinson asked about training over ENSO patterns, saying that he got uncomfortable extrapolating. Hughes- "so do I." That's why Hughes asks what are other proxies doing? Is it physically reasonable.
Hughes was asked – can you train centennially. He answered yes, by referring to a study that he did in 1984 on tree ring MXD in Edinburgh calibrated on very long instrumental records from 1810-1970. He said that this study went up only to 1970. (SM — it's an odd example, a study that's over 20 years old, using data that ends over 35 years ago.)
Turekian asked about CO2 and N2 but my notes here are illegible. Christy asked about the spaghetti diagram and again my notes here are illegible.
Cuffey again asked: do we know the temperature 1000 years ago within half degree. Hughes — no. Very few SH records. What about averaged over 100 years? Hughes thought for a while, saying that it was "extremely difficult" and I think that he said that the temperatures then were similar to mid-20th century. I don't have a clear note on his final answer.


text:
ATLANTA (AP) Rajon Rondo had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, and the Boston Celtics rallied to beat the Atlanta Hawks 89-81 on Saturday night.
Paul Pierce scored 17 of his 26 points in the third quarter as the Celtics erased a 19-point deficit in the second half and went on to consecutive wins for the first time since late November against Oklahoma City and Orlando.
Boston, which beat Indiana 94-75 on Friday night, had lost four straight road games.
Lou Williams scored 21 of his 28 points in the first half for Atlanta, which has lost two straight.


text:
Jarv's Schlock Vault: 2019: After the Fall of New York
"Have them double the guard at the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel and send six monk squads to comb the area between 34th and 48th street!"
The last time I wandered into the Vault it was to watch the flagrant 1970's Italian rip off of Star Wars Starcrash. This time out, I'm watching the 1980's flagrant Italian rip off of Escape From New York called 2019: After the Fall of New York. This, down to the brass tacks, is a cheeky, er, homage to Carpenter's classic except far more twisted and far more insane. As such, it was almost guaranteed that I would want to watch this film. It is strange and surprising that Europe would look at a quintessentially American film such as Escape From New York and decide to copy it so blatantly, and even more surprising that they would intentionally set the Europeans as the main villains of the film. Still, Italians are crazy, so while I am surprised, I really shouldn't be.
Contains massive amounts of cruelty to rats and Spoilers below.
2019 opens with a helpful voiceover. It is, unsurprisingly, 2019 and we are now in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Prior to the events of the film, a coalition of Europe, Asia and Africa (helpfully called "Euracs") pressed the button and nuked the entire planet. There were a variety of unexpected side-effects. The first is that America would be so utterly defeated but more importantly the second is that mankind is now going extinct as a result. The open sores, scarring and other signs of radiation poisoning amongst the population are bad enough, but the cherry on the post-apocalyptic cake is that as a result of all the nuclear fallout the female half of the population no longer produces viable eggs. There are two approaches to a solution here, the insane Eurac one, which has the population volunteering for vivisection or being killed (talk about Hobson's choice), and the second is the rather more sane American one: hole up in Alaska and hope for the best.
Confusingly, after a pleasantly brief and violent excursion in New York, the film cuts to Nevada. Our hero, Parsifal (Michael Sopkiw) is taking part in a death race. He's also, incidentally, remarkably free of any of the effects of the bomb. Anyhow, no sooner has he won his race, and received a few bonus points for killing the opponents, than he's riding off into the sunset with a frankly scary female slave. He's a nice guy though, and once they've spotted a few dead cyborgs, he decides to free her. Next thing you know, he's been captured by the American government (called, amusingly, the Pan-American Confederation), dragged to Alaska and instructed to bust into New York to rescue a woman with viable eggs. The plan is that they are going to launch a space mission to Alpha Centauri (probably because it's lovely there at this time of year), and harvest 500 eggs from the poor bint to repopulate the human race. I see a future involving needles and discomfort for her.
Anyhow, the President isn't a mug, and recognises that there's something familiar about Parsifal. Which is a fair point, given that he bears more than a passing resemblance to Snake Plissken, a man who famously didn't give a fuck about the end of the world. So, he sends out two heavies Ratchet (Romano Puppo), a big, eye-patch wearing lummox who is allegedly the strongest man in the confederation and cunningly named New York expert "Bronx" (Paolo Maria Scalondro), a man who hates Euracs with a vengeance and has an iron claw where his hand used to be, to accompany big P into the hell hole. Incidentally, this idiocy with flagrantly obvious names becomes a recurring feature in the film.
Breaking into the city proves to be no problem. They locate a helpful and very funny old wino ("They baked the big apple") who points them to a path through the sewers. No sooner are they inside Manhattan (after a brief pause so Ratchet can crush a rodent with his bare hands)when they blunder into the rat people. This manky looking bunch are led by a nutty Asian guy who likes beating rats with a whip. They also include the decidedly non-manky, but unarguably filthy, Giara (Valentine Monnier)but more on her in a moment. Anyhow, the rat people capture our trio (Parsifal went to help a midget) and force them to participate in the Rat Hunt, which is a cornerstone of their civilisation. The idea is that whoever bags the most rats gets to bang the female of her choice, and given that Giara is the only one of them without weeping sores on her face, it's probably a given that she's spent a lot of time as the trophy of choice. Anyhow, luckily for her, The Euracs attack and our trio plus Giara are arrested.
Which brings us on to the interrogation. Bronx refuses to give anything up under torture and uses his big metal claw to tear out his interrogator's eyes, but Parsifal under a slightly less scary form of torture (Ania- the main villain, played by Anna Kanakis, offers to shag him) and lets slip that Giara is the fertile woman. Except it's all a cunning ruse, and he breaks Bronx out, rescues Giara, shoots lots of people with an unconvincing ray gun and makes a bid for freedom. Bronx dies holding the Euracs back, and they hook up with Ratchet. Things are looking a bit bleak, but luckily a midget, called Shorty (see told you about the name thing) turns up to take them to his midget tribe in the sewer. The Euracs aren't stupid though, and deploy a sonic thingummy to exterminate the little people, and only Parsifal's cunning use of wax (and Ratchet's hideously obvious fake out) allow our main characters to escape. It's fine though, because Shorty knows where the woman is.
Back at Eurac base, the commander is undergoing eye replacement surgery and is pissed at Ania allowing them to escape, so he sets her a deadline- before he sees daylight again he wants them captured, alive, and bought in. Particularly Giara, who he believes to be fertile for no reason other than that the script demanded it.
Our travellers blunder into ANOTHER bloody Eurac assault, only to be rescued by a supremely dodgy circus troupe. The circus troupe are commanded by a large hairy dude called, and this may not come as a massive shock given the other names in this film, Big Ape (George Eastman). Big Ape is a reprehensible scumbag, and is happy to announce to all and sundry that he's potent, so potent in fact that he's thinking about auditioning for Jack Hell's gig in Hell Comes to Frogtown. Parsifal beats up one of Ape's underlings, and therefore is allowed to claim Giara as his own- which leads to a creepy kissing/ sex scene in front of the full audience. To be honest, I can see the attraction to claiming Giara, but not while some half wookie sits in the background polishing his sword.
Big Ape believes them to be spies, but Shorty is able to convince him of the existence of the woman. The Woman, Melissa, it turns out, is a professor's daughter frozen in a big cryo tube just before the nukes hit. Luckily, Shorty leads them to her and a convenient Station Wagon to allow our heroes to bust out taking her with them. Less luckily is that the only way out is the Lincoln tunnel, and apparently the Euracs have a fucking huge gun placed at the end of it. Even less lucky than that is that Big Ape is a filthy rapist bastard and has taken a shine to our girl's functioning ovaries. Anyhow, Parsifal, Ratchet and Shorty go off to a scrap yard to fetch armor for the Station Wagon leaving Big Ape and Giara behind. Big Ape wastes no time in chinning Giara and going and having his way with the unconscious woman (thankfully off camera).
Meanwhile in the scrap yard, our heroes have found the iron they need, but are unfortunately again ambushed by Euracs. Shorty, as big of heart as he is small of stature, decides to go out like a hero and buys his friends some time before a hilarious act of Seppuku. Back in the bunker our heroic group and Big Rapist kit out the car to make a charge on the tunnel, which goes swimmingly other than Big Douche getting microwaved at the end.
All over, bar that Parsifal has to have a showdown with Ratchet because Ratchet is a cyborg and Parsifal is prejudiced. The results of this fight are Ratchet with a caved in head and a very dead Giara, who has just enough time to talk about "One Small Step for Man, one giant leap for mankind and that leap is love" which is, in a totally demented film, an extra layer of insanity. Anyhow, Parsifal and coma girl are retrieved. The end.
Another spoiler heavy review, I'm afraid, and that's because this time I have to talk about the sheer med-discarding lunacy of this film. Not a god damned thing makes sense, not the death race at the beginning, not the basic premise, not the costumes, not the plan, nothing. It's a solid mass of contradictions and almost all of them either rewrite something from earlier in the film or just don't make sense at all. An easy one to pick on is the Eurac's plan- if you're trying to avert the extinction of the human race is it really a good idea to take potentially viable humans and subject them to experimental vivisection? And that's not alone, everything about this script is totally and utterly bonkers. Check this piece of dialogue out:
The President: "The memory banks in our genetic robot tell us there's a fertile woman hidden in New York. We have got to find her before the Euracs do. Before they start using her for their insane experiments."
Parsifal: "One fertile woman's not enough to recreate the entire human race!"
Parsifal, incidentally, is right. There's 500 eggs being produced on the mission to Alpha Centauri and a limited number of men on board. Say there's 10 with viable sperm, then that means that there are 5000 in vitro babies produced sharing at least 1/2 of the same common DNA. This means that the next generation down stand more of a chance of webbing appearing than the average West Virginian. This plan, I feel, is doomed to failure. However, El Presidente doesn't give a red one about this, probably because he's dying of cancer, so on with the mission!
Each of the various New York sections are also completely insane. I've no idea why a subterranean gang of midgets live in the sewers and I suspect the writers don't either. Neither, incidentally, do I particularly understand what the hell Big Ape and his circus freaks are playing at. However, most of all, I don't understand the Euracs. They ride horses, and yet seem to be wearing Kendo practice gear, they are also armed with laser guns but these look suspiciously like crossbows. Then, to make matters more confusing they have the high technology to give the Commander back his eyes, but they don't have the high technology to, say, harvest viable eggs or clone humans? Completely confusing and totally nuts.
Nevertheless, it doesn't really matter because this is a riotously entertaining film. It rockets along, and simply doesn't allow anything to stand still lest we realise that the plot has more holes than swiss cheese and the film is barking bloody mad. Events and motivations make no sense; take Shorty for example: He's got no way of knowing what our heroes are after, yet helps them. Within minutes of helping them the moleman version of Lilliput has been exterminated, yet he still continues to help them. Then in the scrap yard, instead of thinking "you know what, fuck this" he helps them again leading to his act of self-immolation. He's a brave little guy, but really, this is above and beyond the call of duty. Actually, self-sacrifice is quite a common theme in 2019. Almost every major character that dies, including Giara, dies saving Parsifal and crew. Apart from Ratchet- and it makes no odds that he's a cyborg, by the way.
Then there's the character of Big Ape. I'm not sure where to begin on this, and it's a combination of the writing and the performance. Eastman plays him with a twinkle in his eye (the exchange with Ratchet about the door is amusing) and he appears to be a kind of charismatic demagogue of sorts. However, he's also a filthy woman beating rapist. Parsifal's logic that they needed him to protect Melissa doesn't make sense, because they all should have been microwaved as well, but he's the only one boiled. He does, however, throw a mean scimitar, which is probably what got him on the trip out of New York in the first place.
Talking about violence, wow, this is an incredibly violent film. Aside from Bronx ripping the eyes out, Shorty's Hari Kari, Giara's filleting, almost every single scene in the film contains totally random and utterly gratuitous violence. It isn't that gory but it sure as hell feels like it, partially because it opens with the slum clearing, which has the totally excessive cremation of the old homeless guy. On this note, I'd like to give a special shout out to Ratchet's awesome wrist bola thingummys which are a totally stupid, but brilliantly hilarious, weapon.
It's just occurred to me that I've blithered on for 2000 words, so I'm going to wrap this up now. This is a film that I do cautiously recommend. While I had fun with it, it's completely fucking loopy, nonsensical and not for the squeamish. Basically, if you value sanity and competence then don't touch this film with a fucking bargepole. However, if you do value stupidity and lunacy then 2019: After the Fall of New York has it in spades. At the end of the day, it's a blast, but nobody is ever going to mistake this for quality cinema. Basically, is it nuts? yes. Does it make sense? no. Is it entertaining? Yes. Is it an EFNY rip off? Absolutely. So, I'm going to Approve 2019: After the Fall of New York, because I did have fun, but it is a cautious recommendation.
If nothing else, it's worth a watch for the nutty Death Race at the beginning. Oh, and no rats were hurt in the writing of this review. Apparently not the film either.
Until next time,