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FORT MYERS, Fla. - Texas Sun Devils head coach Matt Thompson watched June's Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft about as intently as anyone in the country. He experienced euphoria while hearing the names of five of his 2011 players selected in the first three rounds, and then a sense of dread while he contemplated his job at hand.
"I had one of those moments when I was really happy for everyone, but then I thought, 'You've to a lot of work to do,'" Thompson said Monday morning from City of Palms Park before his 2012 Texas Sun Devils team played its third of six pool-play games at the Perfect Game 18u BCS Finals.
The Beaumont, Tex.-based Sun Devils came into the tournament as a defending champion of sorts. The Sun Devils won last year's 17u BCS Finals national championship but came back this year playing up an age group. And it's basically a whole new outfit.
Ten prospects who filled roster spots on last year's 17u BCS Finals championship team were selected in the 2012 MLB amateur draft, including first round selections Gavin Cecchini (12th overall, N.Y. Mets), Stryker Trahan (26th, Arizona Diamondbacks) and Ty Hensley (30th, N.Y. Yankees).
That left Thompson and his two assistant coaches, J.R. Bardin and Glenn Cecchini with some serious holes to fill.
"I don't think anybody can truly recover from losing that many kids to the major league draft, but our coaches did an outstanding job of recruiting new players," Thompson said. "We have a talented team; it's a new team, but it's a talented team."
There are Sun Devils veterans on this team, including outfielder Cameron Dishon (2012, Beaumont) and Dishon has signed with Ole Miss and will be in Oxford, Miss., in the fall and Menard joins left-hander Sterling Wynn (2012, China Spring, Tex.) as Baylor signees.
"I'm really looking forward that," Dishon said of enrolling at Ole Miss in the fall. "I have a lot of thanks owed to the Sun Devils and Perfect Game for giving me the opportunity to be seen. I feel like the Sun Devils and Perfect Game really helped me get my scholarship."
In all, there are nine 2012s on the roster who have signed with NCAA Division I schools, a list that also includes outfielder/left-hander Rock Rucker (Auburn), left-hander/first baseman Sterling Wynn (Baylor) and right-hander Taylor Butler (LSU).
The Sun Devils won all three of their pool games Sunday and Monday, and will play three more decisive pool games Tuesday and Wednesday in an effort to make the 16-team playoff field.
"Obviously, we want to defend our title and win it again, and we have some mainstays that have been with us for four years," Thompson said. "But the new guys, although there's tons of talent there, they're still kind of learning about these tournaments and playing 10 games in (six) days, that's a lot of baseball in a short amount of time. But I'm happy with where we are right now."
Thompson is quick to point out how different this team is from the one that won last year's 17u BCS Finals. The 2011 Sun Devils featured big arms and powerful bats, where the strength of the 2012 team has been its team speed.
"We're going to be doing a lot more hitting-and-running and a lot more moving runners up and trying to score them on singles," he said. "This is a little bit of a new style for us that we haven't been used to.
"We're not going to have a Ty Hensley on the mound this year when you can just sit back and watch 95 (mph fastballs) but we've got a lot of good pitchers that can throw backwards and throw off-speed in full counts."
Thompson also said he will rely heavily on the defensive abilities of his two middle infielders, Steven Keenum (2012, San Antonio) and Kennon Fontenot (2014, Lake Charles, La.)
The majority of the 2011 17u Sun Devils had been playing together for two or three years and some of them since they were coming out of eighth grade. That familiarity bred success and Thompson admits he'll have to do a lot more coaching this year than he did a season ago.
"That system kind of ran itself," Thompson said. "I take for granted how smart our team was last year just from being together so long, and this year there's a lot more meeting at the hotel to make them understand that this is why we do this in certain situations."
The Texas Sun Devils' good fortunes as an organization may have arrived in 2008 when the Cecchini family from Lake Charles, La., first came on board. Top middle-infield prospect Garin Cecchini joined the program, and his parents, Glenn and Raissa, came on board as assistant coaches.
Garin and Gavin Cecchini, then a senior and sophomore, respectively, at St. Charles High School, played together with the Sun Devils at the 2009 PG WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla., and both are now playing professionally. Glenn Cecchini remains on the Sun Devils' coaching staff.
"We wouldn't be what we are without Glenn Cecchini," Thompson said. "Obviously, having his boys in the past helped us be good but, really, Glenn is the backbone of a lot of what we do. He is a guy that brings more energy than I've seen in a coach; he's 20's years older than me and he wears me out because he's just non-stop as a coach."
The Sun Devils played in the PG WWBA 2012 Grads or 18u National Championship in Marietta, Ga., June 29-July 6 where their 5-2 pool-play record wasn't good enough to advance to the playoffs. They also played in several local tournaments in southeast Texas, and this will be the last big tournament before the 2012s head off for college.
Once they depart to the proverbial next level, Thompson plans to have this team - with some necessary additions, of course - play in the PG WWBA South Qualifier in Austin, Texas, Sept. 14-17. He then hopes to send a team to the PG WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla., Oct. 25-29.
This group played strictly 18u this summer. It took a lot of work due to the attrition inflicted by the draft, but Thompson feels like he and his staff built a team that was ready to contend in that age-group.
"I like to think we do an outstanding job looking for talent, looking for tools and then trying to mold it and shape it into a baseball player," he said. "We did a lot of work this spring and early summer looking for players and evaluating what we wanted. Hopefully, we're good at our job, and if we are then there are potential top-five round draft picks in that group right there."
Dishon has enjoyed himself while playing in the Sun Devils' organization.
"It's been really good. We've been surrounded by great coaching and great competition with Perfect Game," he said. "We've always played ahead of our age group and this year is finally the year we're playing with our own age group."
And just because about half of the squad that won the 2011 17u BCS Finals championship is now getting paid to play the game, don't think for a minute the 2012 Sun Devils feel like they're going to be over-matched down here this week.
"Anytime you're picture is on the cover of the (tournament program) after winning it last year and your new guys see it, as a coaching staff we tried to make them understand on the way here that we're not coming down here to just mess around and have fun," Thompson said. "We're coming down here to win it and there's a target on our back. And that's how we want it."


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On Tuesday I decided to pack up my new Les Paul and EMS it back home.
I used a heap of 100 yen tape to put together a makeshift guitar box out of the Pepsi boxes that seller "kindly" gave me. A true PITA!! I probably should have sent it earlier as it's not going to make it there for Christmas Day, but it will be fun "racing" it back to Australia. I'm glad I sent this one instead of the Tele. 10.3Kg would be no fun carting to Narita.
I left home with good timing. This time I adhered closely to my list and up to now it seems I hadn't forgotten anything. The dolls, the Elmo, the guitar stuffs, iPhone and oh, some clothes too.
The usual 9 hour flight was stretched out to about 13 hours. It wasn't so bad. I watched four movies - 500 Days Of Summer, Funny People, Up and District 9. All good. I'd recommend them all.
500 Days has Zooey Deschanel who I like because she reminds me of Katy Perry who I also "admire" DEEPLY. Anyway, this film won me over with the Tourette's-like yelling of the P word. Secret be told that during my time in Japan I have devised an entire language using that sole word. Seeing this made me giggle like a schoolgirl on the inside.
District 9 was better than others made out. A truly, original film. Definitely much better than that um, 2012 film that I talked up. Funny People was pretty good too. I could actually take Adam Sandler seriously in this one. IT was great to see Eric Bana act with his true Aussie accent. Pretty funny! Up was a nice animation, reminiscent of Pixar's kind of stories. It was real sad when his Ellie dies. Oh spoiler, s*** sorry!
The transit stops in Taipei and Hong Kong were made less boring by the free internet access. What did we do before the internet?
Arriving back in Brisbane I was so tired. I can't sleep on planes, and I wanted to see all those movies too. I'm sure drinking the complimentary beer didn't help either. I'm glad my Tele got back to me in one piece. "Free" delivery, YAY!
Brisbane welcomed me with muggy humidity. I know it was Christmas Day and quiet, but this place seems VERY slow compared to Tokyo. It was too overcast to do too much today so I took my car for a drive and played my guitars.
Good to be home again.
Friday, 25 December 2009
Happy B'Day Sweet Baby Jesus!
On Tuesday I decided to pack up my new Les Paul and EMS it back home.
Posted by Jimmy In Japan at 9:20 pm 0 comments
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Tomorrow Wendy
The last day before I head back to Australia, we had two things to do -
1. Go see the Christmas Shinjuku Lights and Suica Penguins near Takashimaya Square, and 2. Go to Wendy's for the first and last time.
The Suica Penguin is still one of our favourite characters here in Japan. Damn, any penguin is still cool in our books!
I hadn't bought the gf a Christmas present yet and I was truly stumped what to get her. I thought the best idea was to go to a clothing store and get her to choose something. She liked a United Colors of Benetton jacket that was on sale for 14,000 yen. It looked good. Problem solved.
Not long ago Wendy's announced that they would be closing down in Japan on the 31st of December. Apparently Wendy's are the third biggest burger chain in the world. Strangely enough the ones in Australia sell icecream so I think it must be somebody else.
Seeing that I wouldn't be here, we thought it'd be good to try them out before they are gone for good. Looks like other Japanese think the same thing, as there have been more people than usual since the announcement.
These burgers aren't half bad! I'd have to say they are at least on par with Burger King or better. Better than Macca's, but that's not too hard. Shame about them leaving.
Maybe in many years time they'll rise like a phoenix and come back like Burger King did. Who knows?
I'd like to dedicate this song to them ;) See YOU!
Monday, 21 December 2009
Cow A Saki
Instead of the usual militaristic kindergarden classes today I was assigned to do time in Kawasaki.
Not bad, I like it there. It's a little Yokohama, and that's not such a bad thing. It gave me the chance to head to my favourite Hard Off store in that vicinity. I got tempted more than once, guitar stuffs, hentai doll stuffs, everything!
They had a 20% UP promotion which I thought was a discount, but it looks like the "up" means some kind of extra cash for what you sell to them.
Although I could've bought more than I did I only got an Evangelion EX Daibouken Figure: Dark Brigade - Asuka hentai doll. Pantsu you see.. hmm.. OH, and a guitar, but you're sick of hearing me talking that huh?
By the time I got back near work I went to the B Select store, another kind of Off, and saw two watches, One that looks like the JR Yamanote train signs, and another Pimpin' Ain't Easy one that was pretty difficult to read the time. Who would buy SUCH things? Um.. I did.. both of them -_-
Anyway.. after a fairly good day I was surprised to be invited to an impromptu last Christmas party at an izakaya after work. It was up near the top of one of the buildings, and the view over Kawasaki was fantastic.
A great "Last Christmas" finale before I head home!
Posted by Jimmy In Japan at 11:51 pm 0 comments
Sunday, 20 December 2009
Inokashira Park and my new LP Custom
I don't know what it was about this week but I got quite a bit of rudeness from Japanese people in a relatively short space of time. Japanese rude? Yes, I'm afraid so.
One day I was actually DISSUADED from buying a Sony UMPC that had a very nice sticker price. The Sofmap salesman flatly told me there was no adapter, no guarantee. Basically if it didn't turn on, too bad. Now that probably doesn't sound so bad, but the WAY he said it made it seem like he didn't want to deal with a foreigner possibly complaining.
I went to Macdonalds for a coffee while I searched the internet about the cost of an adapter and a battery. Seems like it wasn't too bad so I went back to the store. Unsurprisingly by the time I got back it was gone. I was NOT happy :(
Another time I was in Maccas having my meal. I sat at a 4 person table because there weren't any single seats available after I got my order. Before I was even finished I was told by a server that where I was sitting there had to be at least 3 people. She didn't offer me another seat. I suppose she just expected me to hurry up and leave.
On Friday before I had to go to Ikebukuro, I decided to go and take a look at a Les Paul Custom in Kichijoji that had a GREAT price. I was circling the block for 30+ minutes looking for a guitar shop. Time was almost running out. I had to get to work but I didn't want to waste my train fare and time coming here.
In desperation I asked passers-by for help with the address. A woman totally ignored me and kept on walking. The next guy was MUCH more helpful. Not only did he help me find them but also called them on HIS phone to find where they were! So much of my faith in Japanese had been restored at that very moment. Looks like there is some kindness in this world after all.
To my surprise the shop I had been looking for was actually just an apartment, and a very small one at that! The guy said someone else was coming to look at the guitar that afternoon but I could call back later. He let me take a look at it, but I didn't get the chance to test it out. It was obviously used but considering it's condition and the price it wasn't too bad.
With help from the gf she organised a time today to try again and get the chance to buy it. The person coming to see it didn't buy it but what peeved me was that he held it for that person but he said if someone came in the meantime he would not hold it for me. That made me so mad.
Luckily it was still there. I didn't have an all-nighter from last night's party so I could wake up with a level head. I was surprised I didn't have much of a hangover at all. I might have to give up that trashy cheap chu-hi I've been drinking. Looks like the biru is much better for me.
We got there and I tried it out. It sounded fine and he was helpful enough to pull it apart to show me the wiring and insides of the guitar. I took a lot of photos so I wouldn't have to pull it apart myself. I asked for a discount but he did that Japanese laugh and said, "NO discount, you won't find guitar at this price". Sad to say, he was right, but he didn't have to be an a**hole about it. Rubbing salt in he also said there'd be no guarantee but he could arrange repairs at a price. Great. He didn't even give me a guitar cardboard box he had outside saying they were for his business. ahh.. right. Hello? He gave me some Pepsi boxes to make my own. Thanks..
We made our way nearby to Inokashira Park.
It's the first time I'd been there. They have a nice lake and some boats. I definitely recommend to check it out.
Nice huh? Only a few more days to vacation. Can't wait.
Posted by Jimmy In Japan at 11:57 pm 1 comments
Saturday, 19 December 2009
'Tis the Season To Be Yopparai
I managed to go to two Christmas Parties this year. The first, in Aobadai, I wasn't expecting to be any good. Aobadai is the kind of place where young people settle down to start their families. It's very residential so as you can gather, my expectations were quite low.
One of my regular students kept pestering me to come along to the school parties, so seeing that I didn't have any alternative plans, I decided to stick around.. for three and a half hours! I was considering having a sleep in the kids classroom but somehow I stayed awake until party time.
There was a good mix of people. About half and half guys and girls and even another two teachers came along as well! It just goes to show that if you give us an incentive to be at work unpaid for our troubles we might actually show up!
There was another school's party I planned to go to. Especially when I saw their memo in the teacher's room. I don't know about you, but "On The House" in my language usually means "my treat/shout". Apparently in Japanese it means 3,000 yen? When I showed them the poster, they said it was a mistake. It was up for about 3 weeks. Pass. No, thank you.
Anyway, the one that I most look forward to each year is the Yokohama Christmas party.
I was also asked to go to the Shinjuku party on the same night enticed by free alcohol and no cost to teachers, but I'd have to backtrack and I also thought I'd go straight to Yokohama instead of going home to change.
I arrived a little earlier so I had a drink or two in the teacher's room. I was surprised looking out that quite a few students had shown up filling out the foyer in no time. It was strange to be stared at, but with a little push from the SD I went out to mingle.
For some reason tonight lacked a certain something that I had felt in previous years. I still had a great time and had a lot of fun conversation and drinking with my peers and students.
The after party was going to be at another bar but somehow between closing time and the bathroom, I found myself heading home on one of the final trains. I had other plans for tomorrow.
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Michael Jackson in Yokohama!
As per usual station beers is still alive and well after a hard day's work in Yokohama.
It's been quite different lately with one of the clan absent for quite a while, but last I heard he's doing better. If you're reading this, there're a lot people missing you 'round here! Come back soon ya' hear?
Anyway, it's always interesting and amusing to see what happens as people make their way home going back to the station. Tonight we were fortunate to witness a live performance from a Michael Jackson wannabe. I didn't have my camera with me, so unfortunately it's iPhone video for you. Here you go..
He came closer to us and one of the new guys got into conversation with him which meant he was hard to get to leave. First rule of station beer club, do NOT make contact with any salaryman, or any old Japanese men for that matter. That means NO eye contact too buddy. This rule is thrown out the window when we're talking about those sweet J girls.
Quite a long while back I mentioned how some mothers thought I looked like Matsumoto Jun. For some reason, mentioning that brought quite a few admirers to my blog (him, not me). Now that my hair is much longer and tied back most of the time, those comparisons have pretty much disappeared. Sorry girls.
You'll be pleased to know no doubt that our good friend Jun is now peddling finger lickin' chicken for KFC. Good work bro.The KFC checkout chick surely thought I was strange taking this pic. "Crazy gaijin desu" so, so, so..
Posted by Jimmy In Japan at 11:59 pm 1 comments
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Twenty Twelve
It's not long since I went last to the cinema, but I really wanted to see 2012 on the big screen.
I spoke briefly about discount movie theater tickets in Japan, but I didn't really give much detail. The normal adult price is 1,800 yen for an adult. If you go between 3.30 and 6PM on a WEEKDAY it's 1,200 yen. On the first of the month it's 1,000 yen!
Again we went to Wald9 in Shinjuku. The only problem was that the only session that we could both make was at 11.50PM! It wasn't an ideal time, but I'm up late most nights so it wasn't a big deal. I was quite surprised how many people that showed up. I'm sure they all lived relatively close by, because no trains are running when it finished.
From watching the trailers, I think the movie is a "must see" on the big screen. The images and sound really warrant it. The storyline was pretty good. The gf thought it was really funny. Yes, an apocalyptic end of the world movie is hilarious. Some parts were a bit over the top, but that's Hollywood for you.
Just like Mt Fuji, it's wise to go once, fool to see it again. That's my verdict.
Posted by Jimmy In Japan at 11:50 pm 0 comments
Thursday, 26 November 2009
New Shoes
I went to Ochanomizu and Akihabara today again on my day off.
I shouldn't do it, but I love looking at lots of pretty guitars that I wish I owned. Although I didn't buy anything, I did try a 50s LTD Les Paul that was a green colour instead of the blue that I sadly missed out on. This sounded good too, but was too scratched up to persuade me to get it.
With every pair of shoes I've had, they've all eventually lost their waterproofing, and I've often found myself uncomfortable in soggy, wet socks.
I didn't want to spend a lot of money on shoes so I was going to torture myself with another pair of Sanpei shoes, but I found a pair of comfortable shoes in Fareg Shoes called "Field Trip" on sale for only 1,980 yen.
There were some Gorilla 517-NBL hiking style boots for 2,980 yen that I liked the style of, but they were a lot more pointy, and they didn't have any smaller sizes so I settled on the other ones.
On the way home we popped into Maccas. It was the last day of our free coffee coupons so we had two cups. McChickens at the moment are 100 yen so I had two of those, and a hot apple pie too. I was hungry and I didn't care if that meant Macdonalds was the chosen option.
Oh, almost got a Darth Vader helmet with a voice changer for 1,050 yen in Akky today. I was *this* close to getting it. :O
Posted by Jimmy In Japan at 11:53 pm 4 comments
Monday, 23 November 2009
Hip Hip Hooray
My special day has come up once again.
Last year I attempted to organise a get together which only left me feeling worse than not doing anything at all.
This year, I did just that. Nothing. Maybe if I was much younger I'd expect a big fanfare, but now I'd rather forget.
What reinforced this was that all the well-wishes were from people not even in Japan! Many others all over the world sent me messages which was great to hear though. Thank YOU.
One thing about teaching here is that a lot of the teachers are just out of uni and they can be so immature. So much of the backstabbing and gossip reminds me of high school sometimes. The stuff I hear about others only makes me think what people are saying about me behind my back.
Anyway.. I know it must be hard, nay impossible for the gf to choose things for me. I'm a bit of a prick in that I don't let on or give hints about what I like.
So.. this time I got a Elmo Live! talking plushie. Dunno what to say. It appeals to my otaku senses. I remember seeing it in Shibuya last time we were there. I once wanted a "Tickle me Elmo", but this is kind of sweet. Irritating sometimes, but so is a gf.
We did eventually leave the house to eat at Paul's and later walked around Jingu Gaien to see some Autumn leaves. Of course I had to have a drink or two to celebrate in the final hours. That along with finally finishing the Pecorino cheese. It takes a long time to finish two 1 kg chunks of cheese! I'm sure I'll pick some more up when I go home this New Year's.
かんぱい everyone!
Thursday, 19 November 2009
Michael Jackson's This Is It
It might be hard to believe, but I'd never been to the movies in Japan before now.
The average price for entry is 1,800 yen. Compared to Australia, that's quite pricey, and therefore it'd have to be one special movie for me to fork out that kind of money.
There are all kinds of promotions for discount tickets - first of the month, between certain off-peak times and *cough* "Ladies" Day. (No, there isn't a men's day)
The gf had been bugging me to see "This Is It", the Michael Jackson doco/rehearsal movie. They said it was only going to be shown for two weeks, which now has been predictably extended for as long as people show up I guess.
I found a streamed online cam video of it online. We watched it together and it sounded alright. The picture was washed out, but it was good enough to see what it was like.
I think cam videos are a good way to encourage people to see the real thing. It got us to go there! So, today we decided to see it at Wald9 cinemas in Shinjuku. It's on the 9th floor of the OIOI building.
It was a 5pm session so it only cost us 1,200 yen each. Not too bad. We bought some overpriced popcorn and drink sets for the full "cinema" experience. By the looks of things we were one of the few to do that.
The cinema had quite a few people there. Unlike back home, everyone is allocated a seat. Ours were on the left side. This multiplex screen was a bigger than the ones in Australia so that's a good thing.
So what about the movie? It sounded great, very punchy. Michael talking to his musos and crew was unusual. He would never be too demanding and quite modest for his requests. He referred to them as his family.
What made it quite surprising, yet sad, was that his voice and dancing was in top form, so it's even more hard to believe he's not with us anymore. What an amazing talent to have lost. He'll never be forgotten.
So, this will definitely not be the last cinema experience. I (again) watched a cam video streaming of 2012, and it looks amazing. The story is pretty good and this is DEFINITELY one to witness on the big screen.
Do yourself a favour. See you at the movies!
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
I Need A Hug
I didn't need to do it. Two things.. UFO catcher and.. I'll get to the other thing in a minute..
The bear was cute. Back home we called it a Huggies bear. It was used in ads to show how soft the fabric softener was in the laundry, and it was SOo cute. Ne?
In Japan they call it something different, but it works on the same principle.
I've been good lately. Real good. Haven't played for a while, but someone else had a go at Taito in Shibuya, and it looked like it wouldn't be too hard to get.
I lose my count when I am in the throes of catcher ecstasy, but I kind of remember having 1,300 yen in my wallet to try for it. At the end there was 600 in coins, so even with my poor maths I had spent 700 yen all up.
I'm sure I'll find it in a shop someday, but I've realised that's not the point. It's the hunt that is the reward. I took a photo of my face as I was about to put the next coin in.
While I was in Shibuya I thought of going to Tower Records for no particular reason. In the two and a half+ years here I'd never been. It was just a music shop right?
Actually it's really good. Not just for music. If you go to the 7th floor they have an excellent foreign book and magazine floor that had everything that I'd think to look for. Nice.
In my opinion it's definitely better than my previous top pick, Kinokuniya in Shinjuku. The music floors have plenty to choose from as well. Do yourself a favour.
Ok. Onto the other thing I didn't need to have done.
I booked a plane ticket back home for Christmas. My father asked this morning if I was going to come and I told him it would be too expensive to go. The last time I checked Jetstar had sold out it's tickets, so I felt it would've been prohibitive in cost.
On a whim I checked the Best Flights website. It's one of the few sites (apart from the airlines themselves) I can book flights from Tokyo myself. I found a fare that including the booking and credit card fee, airport taxes and of course the ticket, came to approximately AU $1530.
That's still quite expensive but MUCH less than the $2300 I spent last Christmas *shudder*.
I didn't need to go. I'm not homesick at all since I was home not long ago in Australia's winter season. Still, I'm not used to Tokyo's cold so I'll be happy to go home to soak up the sun and hopefully go down the coast for some eye candy and surf.
It'll give me a chance to bring back some more
junk, lovingly acquired new guitars and stuff.
So see you VERY soon Australia. OH, after deliberating on a few names ("Killer"? "Bruno"?), the bear's been dubbed "Huggy". Aww..
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Last night we had station beers outside Yokohama station as usual.
What added a humorous (or maybe sadistic) twist, was watching people doing the "shimmy" on a seemingly innocent slippery part of the walkway. Although it was mostly Japanese people, even one of us almost fell down in the same place.
It gave me a good laugh that's for sure. By the way, did you realise it was Pocky Day yesterday (11/11)?
Today I planned to wake up earlier for two reasons. In the morning I wanted to see if that blue guitar that was "on hold" was still there in Ochanomizu, and while close by a quick look around Akiba for good measure.
From 1 o'clock we were all geared up to go celebrate "Cheese Day" at Cheese Festa 2009. If you look back here you can see we went there two years ago quite satisfied. I wanted to go last year but it slipped my mind and we missed out.
This year it was held at Bellesalle in Harajuku. It's not all that far from Aoyama, that it was held at last time I went.
It was much the same. They used the sample ticket system as before and there were again, a heap of almost all, Japanese people. I'm surprised more foreigners weren't there.
A nice touch was a Japanese troubadour playing Italian songs like "The Godfather theme" and "Volare". He sounded pretty good and was nice background music to the consumption of cheese and wine (500 yen a glass).
There was much more lighting in this place which made it much easier for me to take photos.
There were quite a few demonstrations which gave us more opportunities to eat. I didn't understand much of what they said though. I was only thinking, "Hurry up, bring out the cheese!"
This guy reminds me of Mr Miyagi from the Karate Kid. He's part of the Japanese Pizza Association (Yes, there is such a thing apparently). He told a really emotion-charged story about the origin of the Margherita pizza. Sure had a lot of "flair" with all them pins. He's sure to get promoted at TGI Fridays.
The German smoked cheese was my favourite this year. They had a constant cheese song playing in the background reminiscent of the Ponyo song, but I didn't mind it too much.Like last time, people were a little pushy (and hungry I guess) to get their samples, but I still really enjoyed it. If you're here next year, I strongly recommend it.
Just to give everyone a little advance notification, it's pizza day on the 20th. See here (Japanese flash site, damn!) for details. Good eating everyone!
Monday, 9 November 2009
I kept this secret for quite a while now.
On the 23rd of October I decided to mail my headless Steinberger to the US of A for a very special modification to add a Sustainiac pickup to it. What do they sound like? This.
It was quite a spur of the moment decision.
I wrapped my gig bag in bubble wrap and made my way to Japan Post. In broken English, the girl said it had to be in a box to transport it. Problem was, I didn't have one, so on the way back to the apartment I looked for places that might have a cardboard box.
The guitar is an unusual shape, so that wasn't easy to find. There was someone selling some clothes out of cardboard boxes from outside a house near my street, so I asked if they had one to spare. It wasn't the right size but I figured I could cut it and tape it up into a custom made box perfect for shipping.
Luckily it was a Friday so I had a little time up my sleeve to do all this. It cost me 6,900 yen ($75 US) weighing about 3.9kg. I love EMS. Japan Post is really efficient. It only took 3 days to get there. (Same to Australia as well).
The Sustainiac is a special pickup made by Maniac Music in Indianapolis, USA. His website is a little basic, but the price wasn't too bad. (If I save a bit of money from him not having a costly website to maintain, I wouldn't care if he did himself in Frontpage).
I was quoted $229 for the actual pickup, $175 for the installation including the additional routing for the electronics and battery cavity, $16 for the battery case and $69.50 for Express shipping back to Tokyo. That's $489.50 US dollars total. Including my shipping from this end that comes to about US$564.50 all up.
In Japan there IS a company that has a Fernandes Sustainer quite similar to this, SO.. why didn't I just get it done here?
Of course that did cross my mind, but there were a few issues involved. I did attempt to go to a few music shops here for an idea of installation costs, and they were all quite hesitant to do a modification on such a small guitar. The Fernandes version is bigger, uses toggle switches, and would require a lot more wood taken out of it.
The cost here is 31,290 yen (US $348) JUST for the pickup. I imagine the cost of routing and installation would've been about the same, but they couldn't give me a firm price on that. The language barrier didn't help either.
The guitar arrived back to me on Monday, 9th of November taking only slightly longer (4 days?) to get back to me. Thankfully, I didn't have to pay any extra fees in relation to duty through customs either way. I told the gf I was "Happy as a pig in ****" to getting my hands on it finally, which confused her quite a bit.
From reports on the internet, the consensus is that the Sustainiac is a better unit (than Fernandes). They had to remove my tone knob for the mode switch toggle, but the on/off works simply as a push/pull pot on the volume control. It doesn't get in the way of the whammy at all.
I wish the rear panel was indented into the body like the original cover (would have increased the cost), but it was a clean job overall.How does it sound?
Pretty darn good. It took a bit of fiddling to find the best mode (Fundamental, Harmonic or Mix) for the most ideal areas of the fretboard, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. I'll hopefully make a video of it sometime.
It's a heap of fun playing around with my whammy bar. Flutters are much easier than before, and a bent note goes on and on. The harmonic mode screams like an amp on "11" feedbacking nicely. E-bow sounds are much easier to control with all the hardware built-in to the pickup.I kind of wish the neck pickup had a fatter humbucking sound, but with the versatility of this unit, I guess it's an ok compromise.
One thing that I'm really happy about is that unlike the Fernandes, when you take the battery out, or if it goes dead, the passive pickups CONTINUE to work, so no worries of a dead guitar on stage. Perfect.
Alan Hoover is the guy who's in charge and he's been great to talk to. If you want to do this to one of your guitars I'd highly recommend getting in touch with him.
Look here for an install on a Ibanez Jem. I like to keep my uber-expensive Jem stock considering how much it cost, but on a guitar like this it's a no-brainer. If guitar makers had any sense, they'd make these standard on all guitars. It's the world's best kept secret for sure.
It's definitely going to encourage me to play that Steinberger even more. I wish more people would play these guitars so the strings would be a little cheaper (in Japan they are). You can use standard strings though, with a special string lock up top. The choice of locked bridge or whammy takes away the pain of tuning (including drop D), and string changes are easy and quick. Great transport guitars too.
C'mon people!
Sunday, 8 November 2009
Yokohama Music Fair 2009
If you've been reading my blog for a while you'd know that I like a guitar or twenty.
You'd think that I love going to guitar shows but to the contrary, the last one I went to I had a massive headache from too many "widdly-widdly" solos and "Stairway To Heaven" etc. There's something very un-musical about people playing their own thing in different keys and not so well at that.
I mentioned the Yokohama Music Fair about a month ago when I thought it was going to be on. I was highly recommended to go by one of the other muso teachers and I'm really glad I did.
Of course I brought my camera, both lenses this time AND she drove my other camera so we had pictures-a-plenty.
The Fair was held at the Pacifico convention center, not far the sail-shaped Intercontinental and Minato Mirai.
At first sight Pacifico resembles the sails of the Sydney Opera House sort of, well not really. Good for fisheyeing!
Inside the Pacifico complex.
A cool trio of Fender Japan telecasters guitars - the "Donald", "Mickey", and "Minnie". I'd seen a Mickey Strat before, but I prefer teles. I liked the "Donald" the best but I was trying to see where the duck cues were here.
Aria isn't a brand I get excited about, but I like mirror guitars and this is no exception.
Fujigen are a company most foreign musicians wouldn't be aware of but they used to make Fender Japan guitars and Ibanez as an OEM. They also make their own high quality guitars too.
If there was one company that stood out more than any other it would undoubtably be ESP.
How're you supposed to play these guitars? Great attention to detail, but it looks all a bit gay to me.
Sexy Finger? I don't think so..
A guitar for the Mad Max generation.
These guitars looked pretty cool, but normal in comparison to the other ones.
A "grim reaper" bass. I don't see this selling too well.
I like this really tastefully done Strat. Not sure about the fluffy one though.
I was happy getting some freebie picks at the show. Player, I'm a "playa".. ne.
One thing I kind of missed was the lack of hot car show girls fawning the guitars. That would've added a little pizazz to the proceedings. There were these girls though. I could insert a tasteless joke about liking girls that blow horns. Oops, I guess I just did.
I thought I'd be safe here thinking the guitars weren't for sale. In the Premium Guitar Show area there were plenty. Uh oh. Take a deep breath..
Some were so expensive they had "ask" for the price. This "Koi" Fender Strat looked amazing and yes, I was too afraid to ask how much it was.
I'm a sucker for Les Pauls and this one wasn't too bad. 108,000 yen! The tuning pegs weren't original but I couldn't talk them down much more than that. I was close to buying this one. It was about an '89 model, almost the same as my 1990. A good (heavy) weight too.
Another surprise was this taxi yellow Parker Fly guitar. It was the lightest guitar I ever picked up. Unlike other Parker's, this one didn't have a piezo pickup. Sounded pretty nice though. Much better than I expected and the fingerboard felt like butter. Lots to like here. I like the colour. I'm not crazy for the shape and it was more than I'd want to spend anyway.
I had little time to decide to make more big money decisions so I passed and we ventured out around Minato Mirai.
We went south of the Red Brick warehouse to quite a newly developed area leading to the sea bus terminal. It was nice to walk around there at night.
Almost enough to keep my mind off guitars for the rest of the evening.
Saturday, 31 October 2009
Spiderman's Halloween 09
One way to travel light is to go out with the clothes you're wearing. In my case, it was a Spiderman costume.
Before I left for work I was deliberating whether I had the balls to go out in public with nothing else. After I locked the door behind me, there was no going back. I literally didn't have the time to go and change into my normal clothes. There wasn't a "Plan B". It was Halloween. People would get it.
I had the mask covering my face so no one would recognise me. In the morning it didn't feel that strange. Most people just acted not a whole lot different than seeing a gaijin on the train. Surprised me quite a bit. I thought there'd be a bit more reaction.
Yotsuya Station. Looks like I wasn't the only one wearing a mask. Ha Ha. This is my "full body" protection for swine flu.
Here I am on the Yamanote Line. You can see "Harajuku" on the TV screen.
You'd think people would notice Spiderman a bit more than this.
I'm only including this picture for the look on that guy's face. Ha, Priceless.
Coming back into Shibuya after work, there was a noticeable difference. Everywhere I went I heard.. "SPI DAH MAAN" and people sneaking photos on their cell phones. In Shibuya I couldn't resist taking snaps of myself in front of the very busy Shibuya crossing. It was PACKED and I stood out, just a little bit.
Shibuya is easily the most popular, social nightspot in Tokyo, and the Hachiko statue is where everyone chooses to meet up with their friends on a Saturday night. I couldn't resist to go one better and have my Spidey photo taken with him up close. Many others took the opportunity to get a picture to. I posed for a few minutes before moving on.
I wanted to take a photo here at the JR Hachiko entrance before catching a train for the Ikebukuro party. An old man tried to "shoo" me away, but some nice costumed J girls said "Happy Halloween", and gave me a chocolate biscuit. Nice. Thanks!
The party wasn't bad, but I was the only native English teacher there. Not surprising when they ask us to PAY to attend. With some of the students my head hurt trying to figure out what they wanted to say. I just wanted to drink. The staff harassed me so much to come along, I decided to come. They did put me on the spot asking me in front of students which didn't make me happy. Yokohama was my first party choice, but here was a little closer to home for a drunk spider.
On the way home the cameras were out in force where I
happily er, drunkenly posed for them. The worst thing someone said was "Spiderman.. OTAKU! (geek)". Meh.
As I was about to walk across the Yotsuya crossing, a Joker (Heath Ledger style) yelled out to me and I went to shake his hand. I don't remember what he said, but it doesn't matter. Even though Halloween doesn't mean that much to me, I was part of something special tonight.
If anyone has any Spiderman sighting photos of me somewhere on the web (yes, that was intentional), link me the picture. I'd love to see them.
Posted by Jimmy In Japan at 11:59 pm 1 comments

subset: commoncrawl


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Sleep disorders affect about 50 – 70 million Americans. Most sleep disorders go undiagnosed or untreated. When untreated, sleep disorders have been associated with increased risk for injuries and accidents. They are also linked with additional physical and mental health issues.
In a study conducted at Brigham and Women's Hospital, researchers measured the impact of sleep disorders on police officer health, safety, and performance. The findings are published in the December 21, 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Over a period of two years, researchers gathered data from 4,957 police officers in North America. The police officers were categorized into two groups: Those who participated at an onsite police facility and those who participated online.
The onsite survey was performed at the Philadelphia Police Department and at the Massachusetts State Police Department. The onsite officers were screened for sleep disorders and surveyed about health and performance.
The online survey involved a sample of municipal, state, county, and other law enforcement officers from across North America. They were used to compare data that was collected from the two intensively sampled onsite municipal and state police departments. Follow ups were conducted over a period of two years.
The most common sleep disorder among the police officers was sleep apnea. It was estimated that 33 percent of the police officers screened had sleep apnea. Massachusetts State Police were at significantly lower risk for sleep apnea than the municipal or nationwide police officers. The researchers hypothesized that the comprehensive on-the-job physical fitness program may account for the lower rates of sleep apnea and obesity in this group.
Moderate to severe insomnia affected six and a half percent, and 28.5 percent of police officers showed fatigue.


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After opponent Manny Gamburyan (12-7 MMA, 1-2 UFC) was forced off the lineup with multiple injuries, his opponent, Chad Mendes (13-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC), has confirmed he's also off the card for next week's UFC 157 event.
Mendes made the announcement via Twitter.
The featherweight bout was scheduled for the main card of UFC 157, which takes place Feb. 23 event at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
"Well guys it looks like I'm off the Anaheim card," Mendes wrote on Twitter. "Sucks pretty bad. Ill keep everyone updated with what I find out. Sorry.
"Manny was injured and no one would step up."
UFC executives haven't officially confirmed the removal of the bout. However, a fight from the night's FX-televised prelims likely will take its spot on the pay-per-view main card.
Mendes, a former title challenger, was set to fight for the first time since back-to-back knockout wins over Cody McKenzie and Yaotzin Meza in 2012. Gamburyan, meanwhile, hasn't fought since an August decision win over Michihiro Omigawa, which halted a three-fight losing streak in the WEC and UFC.
The latest UFC 157 card includes:
MAIN (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
- Champ Ronda Rousey vs. Liz Carmouche – for women's bantamweight title
- Dan Henderson vs. Lyoto Machida
- Urijah Faber vs. Ivan Menjivar
- Josh Koscheck vs. Robbie Lawler
PRELIMINARY (FX, 8 p.m. ET)
- Lavar Johnson vs. Brendan Schaub
- Mike Chiesa vs. Anton Kuivanen
- Court McGee vs. Josh Neer
- Caros Fodor vs. Sam Stout
PRELIMINARY (Facebook, 6:30 p.m. ET)
- Dennis Bermudez vs. Matt Grice
- Brock Jardine vs. Kenny Robertson
- Neil Magny vs. Jon Manley
For more on UFC 157, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.
(Pictured: Chad Mendes)


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There is growing evidence of a link between global warming and natural disasters such as droughts and flooding, the head of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said on Friday.
GENEVA There is growing evidence of a link between global warming and natural disasters such as droughts and flooding, the head of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said on Friday.
But Michel Jarraud, secretary general of the United Nations weather agency, said more research was needed into the links between global warming and extreme conditions like hurricanes.
Jarraud told a news briefing: "We know for certain that there is an intensification of the hydrological cycle, which translates into greater risk in some areas of a rain deficit and accentuated problems of drought linked to climate change."
"In other regions there is a higher risk of flooding and in others a risk of greater frequency of heat waves," he said.
The WMO said last week that greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide -- blamed for global warming and climate change -- had reached their highest levels in the atmosphere.
Scientists warn that greenhouse gas emissions must be slowed and reduced if the earth is to avoid climatic havoc with devastating heat waves, droughts, floods and rising sea-levels sinking low-lying island states and hitting seaboard cities.
Carbon dioxide, which the WMO says accounts for 90 percent of warming over the past decade, is largely generated by human activity involving the burning of fossil fuels.
"We must accentuate research efforts to better understand the links between climate change and a certain number of extreme phenomena," Jarraud said.
He noted 2005 was a record year for hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean, including Hurricane Katrina which devastated New Orleans.
"There is not yet a consensus in the scientific community on the link between hurricanes and global warming, but there are leads. I am fairly confident that in two or three years we will have more credible answers," Jarraud said.
Research into the link between climate change and El Nino could take five years, he added.
El Nino, caused by interaction between abnormally warm or cool seas and the atmosphere, typically triggers drought in eastern Australia and Southeast Asia, and floods in western parts of North and South America.
Source: Reuters
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TIME's cover story this week (available to subscribers here), penned by our China bureau chief Hannah Beech, traces two separate yet equally convoluted political intrigues that have rocked Beijing and, as Beech writes, "riveted the world." The first is the scandal of Bo Xilai, the charismatic politico and Communist Party scion whose astonishingly public fall from grace began with the mysterious arrival of his deputy at an American consulate. Subsequent revelations blew open a lid on corruption, deceit and murder at the heart of the Chinese state, all at a time when the head honchos in Beijing hoped for nothing more than a smooth, quiet leadership transition at the top.
The second story line has to do with Chen Guangcheng, the blind activist (and member of the TIME 100 class of 2006) kept under house arrest for half a decade until his dramatic escape this week to the U.S. embassy in Beijing. Chen has subsequently left U.S. protection, taken to a hospital where he was reunited with his family. According to some reports, Chen claims he was removed from the embassy compound against his will and wants desperately to be spirited away from the country altogether. The tense negotiations that took place between U.S. and Chinese officials — not to mention a fair amount of confused messaging — did little to dispel a bubbling sense of political crisis.
On one hand, the U.S. is keen to follow through on its stated commitment to human rights; handing over a high-profile activist to an uncertain fate is, if nothing else, a dangerous political move for the Obama Administration in an election year. But, given the depth and intricacy of the U.S. relationship with China, Washington has to play a delicate game and be careful not to provoke Beijing. Before the Chen debacle, top U.S. officials like Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner were already slated to be in China for a strategic and economic powwow with their Chinese counterparts, where key issues of global trade and security — Syria, North Korea — were to be discussed. Those talks now occur under the long shadow of the Bo and Chen incidents — political imbroglios that, in the Chinese context, are necessarily highly sensitive. As China scholar Orville Schell tells TIME:
"These [two incidents] are like lava, these eruptions of disaffection that pop up like gushers," says Schell, head of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society in New York City. "In an open society, when these things happen, nobody notices. But in a controlled society they take on enormous symbolic importance and thus can become very toxic."
The two controversies exposed profound cracks in the edifice of a state pinned together still by powerful narratives of propaganda. Beech writes:
A leadership that prefers to shroud its decisionmaking in secrecy has been forced to deal with unexpected crises that speak to the manifold issues facing the incoming crop of communist rulers — massive abuse of power and corruption within party ranks, a stunning lack of rule of law in a nation obsessed with bureaucracy, and an increasingly restive, wired populace no longer content to accept the say-so of government propagandists … China has lost face during the Chen episode. A state obsessed with stability can only be humiliated when a blind man evades what is supposed to be the world's most comprehensive security apparatus, one that received $100 billion in funding last year, according to official figures. Beijing has been responding to the crises by buttressing its legitimacy.
A jittery political environment historically leads nationalist, nondemocratic governments — not least the mandarins of Beijing — to crack down on dissent at home. The dragnet is already falling on a number of Chinese activists and netizens who formed Chen's local network of support. But the current climate also can lead to a hardening posture abroad.
As it is, there are deepening concerns in Beijing over the direction of Washington's much trumpeted strategic "pivot" away from the Middle East and toward Asia and the Pacific — a shift in American policy that some argue amounts essentially to a containment strategy for China. While the world watches the Chen affair play out, tensions have flared once again in the South China Sea, a body of water that China claims almost in its entirety, but which is contested by a host of Southeast Asian countries, some of which have U.S. backing. For the past three weeks, a handful of Chinese fishing vessels and patrol ships have been locked in a standoff with a Philippine coast guard ship after the Chinese boats were spied operating off the Scarborough Shoal, a set of bare islets in the South China Sea that are widely recognized to be in Manila's jurisdiction. The U.S. has not overtly picked sides in the dispute, but promised to support Philippine security. Last year in Hanoi, Clinton suggested that the South China Sea — a vital conduit of global trade — was a "national interest" of the U.S., a claim that surely raised Chinese hackles.
(MORE: Chen Guangcheng Tells TIME: 'I Want My Family to Leave China')
The current Chinese-Philippine impasse is nothing new for the region: in recent years, such confrontations — whether involving fishing boats or oil-exploration rigs or surveillance craft — have occurred at an increasingly alarming clip, particularly over the disputed Paracel and Spratly archipelagoes. Chinese rhetoric over its supposed maritime sovereignty has grown more strident, in keeping with the country's ballooning military expenditure and rapidly modernizing navy. As a result, other countries agitated by China's new assertiveness, like Vietnam, have sought to tighten military links with the U.S. The territories at the heart of the disputes over the South China Sea — mostly inconsequential, uninhabited spits of land in the sea — have come to carry a heavy geopolitical weight, lodestones for nationalist publics around the region. An International Crisis Group report about the politics of the South China Sea cited the role that symbolism plays in policymaking:
Beijing has deliberately imbued the South China Sea disputes with nationalist sentiment by perpetually highlighting China's historical claims. This policy has led to a growing domestic demand for assertive action. While Beijing has been able to rein in nationalist sentiment over the South China Sea when it adopts a specific policy, this heated environment still limits its policy options and its ability to manage the issue.
And so, as troubled waters get further roiled, it's hard to imagine this current round of U.S.-China diplomacy bearing much fruit. The two countries are of course not poised for direct confrontation. But in an overly heated moment — from the corridors of power in Beijing to the American election cycle to a lick of coral and rock in the South China Sea — the outlook for progress dims.
MORE: Bo Xilai's Low-Profile Elder Son Says Scandal 'Destroyed' His Life


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Warner's The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies took in $9.96 million on Thursday. The third and final chapter of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy was down a sharp 59 percent from Wednesday's performance. The large daily percentage decline on Thursday isn't the greatest initial sign going forward, though it should be noted that such a large percentage of Wednesday's reported gross coming from Tuesday night shows does inflate Thursday's percentage decrease a bit. In comparison, 2002's The Two Towers fell 47 percent on its first Thursday to gross $13.88 million. With a two-day start of $34.41 million, The Battle of the Five Armies is running 14 percent behind the $40.04 million take of The Two Towers. At its current pace, The Battle of the Five Armies appears headed for a five-day start in the neighborhood of $85 million.
Fox's Exodus: Gods and Kings held steady in second place with $1.22 million. The pricey Ridley Scott directed biblical epic starring Christian Bale was down 7 percent from Wednesday. Exodus: Gods and Kings placed in second for the week (behind The Battle of the Five Armies) with a seven-day start of $30.84 million. While that was on the low end of pre-release expectations, the film is off to an underwhelming start with its price tag in mind and has been displaying early signs of being significantly front-loaded for a December release.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 took in $1.09 million to remain in third. The third installment of Lionsgate's blockbuster franchise increased 6 percent over Wednesday and was down a healthy 24 percent from last Thursday. Mockingjay - Part 1 placed in third for the week with $17.28 million. That represented a 38 percent decline from the previous frame and brings the film's four-week total to $281.48 million. Mockingjay - Part 1 is now $18.52 million away from becoming the second release of 2013 to reach the $300 million domestic milestone.
Penguins of Madagascar placed in fourth for the day with $0.502 million. The 3D computer animated film from Fox and DreamWorks Animation was up 9 percent from Wednesday and down only 2 percent from last Thursday. Penguins of Madagascar placed in fourth for the week with $9.11 million. That was down 30 percent from the previous week and brings the film's 23-day total to an underwhelming $60.65 million.
Paramount's Top Five continued to claim sixth place with $0.439 million. The critically acclaimed comedy starring and directed by Chris Rock was down 2 percent from Wednesday. Top Five rounded out the week's top five with a seven-day start of $8.89 million, which was on the low end of expectations. The film will be playing in 1,307 locations this weekend.


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I have a created a custom context menu using
ICommandBar and am displaying it on create feature mouse-down right click. I am constructing a point collection on each mouse down and then creating a polyline. For each point I am refreshing using
On right click, I created a custom context menu to finish the sketch. Sometimes, I get the default "Sketch Tool/Select Elements" context menu, which I do not want to get on right click.
The code that I'm using to display the context menu:
public override void OnMouseDown(int Button, int Shift, int X, int Y)
if (Button == 2)
_objContextMenu.Popup(0, 0);


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Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Formation of a PI bond
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- Do not get over excited over happiness and do not get over depressed over sorrow.
- Do not get over bonded with anyone and anybody because it can lead to problems and sorrow.
- Never think that my duty is the topmost or lowermost. Every duty is respectful. The responsibility undertaken or given as per the position is the noblest duty.
- Elevate yourselves, family, society and nation and never denigrate yourselves, family, society and nation.
- We are our own closest relatives and if not properly utilised we will become our closest enemies.
- There are possibilities of success and failure in any endeavour. One cannot assure success always.
- Death is inevitable for everyone in this world. In any endeavour at the maximum an individual may die.
- People may say good and also they may say bad. Approach them with stabilised mind.
- Take anything after scientifically, logically and rationally analysing them.
- Perform your duty, responsibility and accept the privileges eligible for you.
- First change ourselves and then try to change others.
- We are all instruments /tools in the hands of the nature for performing the duty. So do not think that I am doing the duty. Think that I am an instrument to do the duty.
- Results of action may not be sweet always. Accept what ever may be the result.
- Follow the path of great scholars who guided the world. Listen their messages.
- Results and rewards will come and go but stick to your duty with devotion, dedication and sincerity.


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I'm Loving It!
"Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong."
--Peter T. Mcintyre
I wrote a very little code in the 1970s, got paid to write a little more in the 1980s, and have been writing code professionally, ever since 1990. I started with C++ -- self taught -- right when it came out in 1990. C++ was hard language to learn by myself, but I read Stroustrop, Eckel, Booch, Coplien, Meyers, Thielen and more, and these guys were pretty darn good teachers.
There are a lot of things I believe about good code that I adopted from my teachers or the hard way, by trial and error. Two of these things are: if code is well-written, elements are well-named, and methods are singular and small then comments are generally superfluous. A second is that well-named methods that are singular in nature and very short -- one or two lines of code -- are highly composable and very easy to debug. Many people have argued with me on this point over the years but most of these people spend a lot of time wrangling with code and debugging; I generally don't so have been satisfied with this posture.
Recently, I was asked to help cobble together a broad spectrum training plan for some mainframe to WinTel developers, and believing that reading should be a part of every such plan I picked some titles. I picked some standbys like Fowler's Refactoring and Design Patterns, but I also stumbled across Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship by Robert C. Martin. The first selling point is that James O. Coplien wrote the forward. For me, that is a pretty strong endorsement.
I haven't finished it yet, but in Clean Code Martin makes a stand and sets forth what he believes the characteristics of clean code are. Martin does so unwaveringly and unapologetically. This book is long overdue. Martin doesn't need my endorsement about what constitutes clean code and what does not, but I am happy to have his.
Alas, if you don't know who Coplien, Martin, Stroustrop, Eckel, Booch, Fowler, or Meyers are then sadly you have not broken bread with arguably some of the brightest minds in our industry today.


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2008 New York Auto Show: All-New 2009 TSX Makes World Debut
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NEW YORK – Acura provided a one-two punch with the world debut of the all-new second-generation TSX sports sedan along with the appearance of the redesigned RL luxury performance sedan at the New York International Auto Show today. With new engines, refined drivetrain, and Acura's latest Keen Edge Dynamic styling, the all-new TSX and RL highlight a new direction for Acura sedans.
"With powerful looks and performance, the debut of the new TSX has taken an enthusiastic bite out of the Big Apple," said Dick Colliver, executive vice president of sales. "Besides offering enhanced performance, the 2009 TSX has improved fuel economy, lower emissions, added safety features, and more technology than ever before."Producing 201 hp from a 2.4-liter engine, the DOHC VTEC® in-line 4-cylinder now delivers its power across a much wider rpm range. Along with more torque, the new 2.4L is also cleaner as it meets EPA TIER 2-BIN 5 and CARB LEV II Ultra Low Emission Vehicle standards.Merging crisp, dynamic design with a bold new signature Acura grille, the 2009 TSX is more distinctive and sporty. Due to its greater length and width, wider track, and longer wheelbase, the new TSX provides additional interior room while new fully independent front and rear suspension with dual-stage dampers provides more agile handling.The TSX is equipped with an impressive list of standard equipment which includes a power glass moonroof, dual-zone automatic climate control, leather seats, power windows/mirrors/locks, a premium 7-speaker sound system (with CD, AM/FM and XM® Radio), Bluetooth® HandsFreeLink®, and USB port and AUX jack music interface.
The available Technology Package features leading-edge electronics including the AcuraLink® Satellite Communication System, Acura Navigation System with Voice Recognition™, AcuraLink® Real-time traffic, Traffic Rerouting™ and AcuraLink® weather. Included in the Technology Package is an audiophiles dream in the form of a 415 watt, 10-speaker Acura/ELS™ Premium Surround Sound System with DVD-Audio designed by Grammy® Award winning producer/engineer Elliot Scheiner.
Designed with an emphasis on safety, the 2009 TSX now makes use of Acura's esteemed Advanced Compatibility Engineering™ (ACE™) body structure. The 2009 TSX, with ACE™ and a host of other safety features, is expected to achieve the highest ratings in both governmental (NHTSA)* and independent (IIHS) crash testing – including IIHS's TOP SAFETY PICK.
Also making its first appearance in New York is Acura's new 2009 RL luxury sedan which features bold new styling, an all-new 3.7-liter engine, chassis enhancements and numerous technological upgrades. Performance improves with the 2009 RL thanks to a new 300 horsepower V-6 that incorporates the first ever SOHC use of VTEC® valvetrain actuation for both the intake and exhaust valves. The top-of-the-line Acura furthers cutting edge technology with the addition of new high-tech items including AcuraLink® weather, AcuraLink® Traffic Rerouting™, a new Note function for XM® Radio, Active Sound Control, and Bluetooth® Audio to an already robust list of features found on the previous RL. To enhance handling, new chassis technology abounds in the form of enhanced Super Handling All-Wheel Drive™, a revised steering system, firmer coil springs, better performing shock absorbers, larger rear stabilizer bar, and larger wheels and tires.Acura offers a full line of technologically advanced performance luxury vehicles through a network of 268 dealers within the United States. The Acura lineup features five distinctive models including the RL luxury performance sedan, the TL performance luxury sedan, the TSX sports sedan, the turbocharged RDX luxury crossover SUV and the award-winning MDX luxury sport utility vehicle. For additional information about Acura vehicles, please visit www.acura.com. For media inquiries, please visit www.acuranews.com.
*Government star ratings are part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA's) New Car Assessment Program (www.safercar.gov). Safety claims based on internal test results.
Source: Honda


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HistoryPoints News
Entertained by Cardiff hangings
Large crowds used to gather on Cardiff's St Mary Street, by the present-day market entrance, not for shopping but to watch people being hanged. The magnificent Victorian market hall stands where a prison ...
was once located, complete with gallows. This is where Dic Penderyn was hanged in 1831 after what was widely regarded as a miscarriage of justice. On the day of a hanging, hawkers and beggars would also make a beeline for Cardiff's streets. For more about the history of the site - including why traders weren't allowed to sell eggs on the ground floor of the market - use your mobile to scan the HistoryPoints QR codes at each of the entrances. Or click here


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- 1,200 +/- Sqft
Property TypeCommercial Sale – Industrial
SubdivisionValley Airpark
Listing Date06/09/19
Year Built2019
Property Description
Brand new construction with pre-paid tap fees included in purchase price! Industrial units with 16' bay doors, separate man-door entry, high ceilings, with 1,000', 1,100' and 1,200' units available. Assignable and overflow parking with each unit, all LED lighting, 3-phase electric available in each and 50' depth for RV storage.; Building + Land
Presented By
- See Remarks
- Natural Gas
- Separate Meters
Financial Information
About Gypsum
There's perhaps no other community in the entire valley that has evolved and grown as much as Gypsum has in recent years. Home to the Eagle County Regional Airport, Gypsum is not only easily accessible from just about anywhere, its ultra downvalley location also provides convenient access to Glenwood Springs and Aspen. Gypsum's motto is to "Live, Work, Play & Be Healthy." Its outdoor recreational amenities and affordability make it an easy motto for residents to live up to. The public Gypsum Creek Golf Course has also created a community hotspot just outside of town, where it's common to find locals soaking in the views from the beautiful deck at the clubhouse's restaurant, The Gypsum Creek Grill, on any summer afternoon. Like its neighbor Eagle to the east, Gypsum's lower elevation equates to fewer snow days. You could hit the slopes in Vail or Beaver Creek — a little more than 30 minutes away — and be home in time for an afternoon ride on your mountain bike or 9 holes at the Gypsum Creek Golf Club. The Gypsum Recreation Center underwent more facility upgrades in 2018 after just 11 years since it was built. The Rec Center is one of the town's most exciting hubs. It offers a gymnastics facility, basketball courts, a state-of-the-art fitness facility, a swimming pool that includes lap lanes as well as a lazy river and waterslide for the kids, yoga studio/fitness room, spinning classes and much more. Gypsum is also home to one of the valley's two public high schools, Eagle Valley High School. Historic single-family homes surround the immediate town center, while newer construction is available in several developments around Gypsum Creek and the airport. If value, accessibility and affordability aren't enough, the fact that Gypsum is home to a Costco helps it score even higher on the convenience scale.
Area Market Data
We get asked this question a lot. Below is a tool that gives you the ability to see what the market is like in your community. Find out what homes like your own are selling for right in your back yard. Simply enter in your address, choose the proximity of the search and find out market data for other homes that are selling near you.
While we'll provide you with plenty of information, this is a snapshot of your market data and there are real people behind the high-tech and automated tools. If you would like more detailed information or help in understanding the results we are here to help.
Until then, enjoy the tools!
The data relating to the real estate for sale on this website comes in part from the Internet Data Exchange program of the Vail Multi-List Service, Inc.
Copyright © 2020 Vail Multi List, Inc. (VMLS). The information displayed herein was derived from sources believed to be accurate, but has not been verified by VMLS. Buyers are cautioned to verify all information to their own satisfaction. This information is exclusively for viewers' personal, non- commercial use. Any republication or reproduction of the information herein without the express permission of the VMLS is strictly prohibited.
Listing courtesy of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices - Edwards


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At UNC Greensboro, students and staff take charge of online groups and collaboration
Staff and students at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro are longtime users of Google and G Suite for learning and communication needs, taking advantage of new tools and capabilities as they are launched. The University's IT department encourages the campus community to adopt G Suite tools to work together with ease.
Nick Young, IT manager at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) believes in two ingredients for campus technology. First, students and staff should adopt tools because they find them useful, not because IT requires them to do so. Second, students and staff should be able to manage the technology largely on their own, with minimal help from IT. During UNCG's long history using Google–starting in 2005 with Gmail–ease of use and organic adoption have driven the spread of G Suite for Education among the school's 20,000 students and 3,500 staff.
"We try to listen to what students and staff want–we don't want to tell people what to do," Young says. "We make apps available and keep things open in terms of which tools people can use, and we try to encourage adoption that way."
As students and staff saw the value of Gmail and other G Suite tools like Google Docs, they also gradually adopted the new capabilities that Google added to G Suite over the past 10 years, such as Google Meet and Google Groups. These new tools and features, Young says, helped the campus community realize the value of collaborating with each other and sharing useful information.
'Google Groups have become a big part of our communication plans on campus.'Nick Young, IT Manager, University of North Carolina Greensboro
Self-service tools for collaboration and storage
"We don't have a huge staff of developers," says Young of his IT team. Nor does the university have a large administrative staff, considering its size. Young is always on the lookout for ways to use G Suite to help students and staff save time and work together more efficiently, without heavy intervention from IT. "We look for improvements that are scalable–where we can create the biggest bang for the buck," he says. That means self-service tools that students and staff can operate on their own.
For example, Young suggested that student life associations and dorm leaders share messages using Google Groups to replace bulk email tools. The manually-maintained email lists made it difficult to manage tasks like adding and deleting members. Emails were often ignored, since the messages were buried in recipients' other emails. By using Google Groups for specific campus groups, Residence Life staff and students created online communities where conversations could flourish. Google Group members can visit the online hub for their groups and see how discussions are progressing – or check up on important notices from group leaders–without waiting for emails.
"Google Groups have helped us reduce infrastructure associated with email lists, like server maintenance and software backups," Young says. Group leaders can easily add and remove members, and use features like Q&A forums to ask questions of other members and receive members. "Google Groups have become a big part of our communication plans on campus–we're starting to add more of them for various alumni groups," Young says.
Team Drives help eliminate ownership headaches
Young is helping UNCG departments take advantage of Google Vault for email retention, as well as for transferring e-mails when employees leave the university. "This helps us do a better job of handling employee offboarding," Young says.
Young is also encouraging staff and students to use Google's Team Drives to share and store documents. Since files in Team Drives are managed by a group and not individuals, if a member leaves the group, the documents remain.
"With Team Drives, ownership of the documents won't be a pain point," Young says. As with Google Drive and other G Suite tools, managers of Team Drives can control permissions and membership–without asking for help from IT.
Collaborating with other campuses
Because G Suite is widely used in the University of North Carolina system of schools, administrators like Young can easily share ideas for improving processes. For example via a Google Meet, a "Monthly Admin Meet" brings admins together from across the UNC system to talk about new ways to use G Suite.
"You rarely have an issue that other admins can't help you work through," Young says. "It helps that we're all using Google so we can interact on the same platform–the Meet give us an easy way to solve problems."


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Expanding Your Development and Investment Perspective......Connect with Rock County
(Janesville, WI) By Jim Leute, Gazette
Local real estate sales in 2013 reached levels not seen in several years and are reflective of what brokers call a more normal market.
In Rock County, real estate agents sold more than 1,800 existing homes in 2013, a number not surpassed since 2007.
More important, the average price of those homes sold was nearly $119,000, an amount last topped in 2009.
"It's just becoming a more normal market," said Adam Briggs, broker/owner of Briggs Realty Group in Janesville.
When compared with other markets around the country, the Rock County market is typically referred to as stable. Generally, it doesn't get too hot or too cold.
It did, however, warm up in 2006 and 2007, when homes sold for an average of $136,000 to $138,000.
"That wasn't reality," Briggs said.
Shortly after the arrival of the Great Recession and the departure of General Motors, the local real estate took a nosedive, both in average prices and numbers of sales.
Both, however, have been slowly improving.
"Last year was better than the year before, which was better than the year before that," Briggs said.
Briggs said the returning normalcy of the local real estate market is the result of several factors, including:
-- Buyers, he said, seem to be more interested in buying, rather than just looking around, he said.
"The buyers we're dealing with just seem more real, more genuine about the market," he said. "It's refreshing, in a way, to be dealing with people who are truly interested in buying, and they're doing their homework and then following through."
-- Sellers, he said, are taking a more reasonable approach in pricing their properties.
"For the most part, they're pricing according to market," Briggs said. "They are realizing that they probably aren't going to get what their neighbor got in 2006 or 2007."
-- The local market has nearly rid itself of a significant number of distressed properties—foreclosures and short sales.
Rock County foreclosure filings in 2013 were 44 percent fewer than they were in 2012, according to the Rock County Clerk of Court's Office.
Distressed properties dramatically impact sales prices because they're often completed at pennies on the dollar. Not only do they drag down average sales prices, they put off typical sellers who don't want to compete in that market.
"It's certainly a better time to be a seller because you're not competing with those comparables—bankruptcies and foreclosures," said Jim Zanton, sales director for Shorewest Realtors in Janesville and president of the Rock-Green Realtors Association.
In addition, local real estate agents have sold more higher-end homes, which has helped boost average prices.
Both Zanton and Briggs said interest rates continue to be stable. Freddie Mac, the government-backed finance company, said the December average commitment rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage was 4.46 percent.
Both men said attractive programs exist for first-time buyers.
"We're seeing movement all across the market," Briggs said. "First-timers are getting in, and that bumps everyone else up.
"These are people who are selling and buying something else here. They're no longer selling and heading for the hills."
Briggs said he expects the momentum of 2013 to carry into this year.
He's been spending a lot of time recently on market analyses for prospective sellers. That, he said, is a sign that more homes will go on the market and give a needed boost to the local inventory.
"Last year was definitely a good year, and I expect this year to be even better," Zanton said. "There's nothing on the horizon to suggest otherwise.
"We were hit a little harder than most communities, so it's taken a little longer to recover, but things are definitely returning to normal."
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We accept articles in just about any popular format: rtf, MS Word, text, etc. Photos in JPEG format are preferred, but we can handle TIFF, GIF, PNG, and probably whatever else you have. You can either send articles, photos, and graphics to firstname.lastname@example.com, or enter them directly into our WordPress editor. It's easy to use and you can format the article to your taste. Of course, we reserve the right to change formatting or in some (probably rare) cases not to accept a submitted article for posting.
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|System: PS3, X360, PC, Wii
|Review Rating Legend
|Dev: Neversoft
|1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid
|4.0 - 4.4 = Great
|Pub: Activision
|2.0 - 2.4 = Poor
|4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
|Release: Sept. 28, 2010
|2.5 - 2.9 = Average
|5.0 = The Best
|Players: 1-4 (Up to 8 Online)
|3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
|ESRB Rating: Teen
|3.5 - 3.9 = Good
These modes are also where you will be allowed to play your downloadable content. You will also be able to import a select few Guitar Hero titles of the past as long as you have the specific ownership code. I really like this since I dont like changing discs and this way I have a gigantic Guitar Hero library of music from which to pick and choose.
Graphically, you cant really knock Guitar Hero for trying to keep the same level of over-the-top caricatures while trying to real them up to match their competitors. I think this is one of the more enduring aspects for the characters designs this time around. Their transformations link them back to the extreme models Guitar Hero became known for, the same with the stage designs and other venues throughout the game. All well polished, all rambunctious, and all well within the ideals of the splintered genres of rock n roll.
The music and other sounds in the game are just as raucous as the visuals. The sound effects still fully represent the Guitar Hero experience, but the real star is the set list of this latest entry. You have everything from Creedence all the way to Avenged Sevenfold, giving fans of rock an engrossing, diverse experience in the music that has been controversial and revolutionary since its beginnings. Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock also features one of the greatest songs created, in my personal opinion. I am referring to 2112 by Rush. All seven parts are playable during Quest Mode, but if you want a challenge, play the entire seven-part song on expert in one sitting. Maybe then it will finally make sense why Rush is one of the most respected groups. Youll also have a lot of fun doing so.
In a nutshell, I think the word that best describes Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is fun. In the past, Guitar Hero has felt more like a chore at first and then became fun as you progressed, but Warriors of Rock is not like this. I was reminded why the first entry was so successful people love the idea of playing these phenomenal songs. Sure, some of the people playing the game may be able to play the songs for real and some may want to learn to play them, but none of them can deny the urge to play these songs in such a relaxed and simplistic way. Soon the music genre will be challenged with realism, but it is great to see Guitar Hero remember why the genre has been so successful.
Matthew Walker
CCC Site Director
Game Features:


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Stay up to date with the latest Illuminate information and check out the Illuminate Photos and Videos by clicking these links.Illuminate Videos Illuminate Images
Illuminate Vacation is a family friendly music vacation at Walt Disney World, bringing your favorite Christian music artists to the "happiest place on earth" for a week of fun in the Florida sun. We hope you will choose to vacation with PREMIER. Please follow us on social media to keep up with the ultimate Christian music vacation at Walt Disney World.


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Jackson recalls role in Cubs-Nats altercation
MESA, Ariz. -- On Sept. 6, benches cleared in the game between the Cubs and Nationals after Chicago's Lendy Castillo threw inside to Bryce Harper. Edwin Jackson was on the Nationals' staff at that time. Now he's with the Cubs. Where was Jackson during the fight?
"I wasn't a negotiator," Jackson said Tuesday, "but I was kind of right there."
Video replays show Jackson charging out of the dugout along with his teammates and needing to be restrained by Washington bench coach Randy Knorr.
"I was a peacemaker, but I was right there," Jackson said. "Somehow I end up in the middle regardless of whether I'm doing anything or not. I can just be standing around, just watching everyone and observing and oh, like, 'Oh man, I'm in the middle.'"
The television cameras caught Jackson yelling from the sidelines and the Nationals broadcasters said the pitcher was "still hot" after the players had been separated. Jackson said he didn't recall specifics.
"I was just standing around, watching what was going on," he said.
Cubs catcher Steve Clevenger was fined and suspended one game after the incident.


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MONDAY, March 18, 2013 (HealthDay News) -- When selecting a health care provider, people may have a personal preference between a man or a woman, but a doctor's gender does not affect patients' health care costs or their risk of early death, a new study reveals.
The findings challenge some previous studies' conclusions that better doctor-patient communication and other medical-practice behaviors often associated with female doctors mean that their patients may use health care services less often and therefore have lower costs.
In this new study, researchers analyzed data from more than 21,000 people aged 18 and older who took part in the U.S. Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys from 2002 to 2008. The investigators found that a doctor's gender did not affect patient health care costs, prescription drug costs, deaths, or the number of visits to hospitals, emergency rooms and medical offices.
The study appears in the March/April issue of the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.
The findings suggest that if the goal is to reduce costs and the risk of death, there is no reason to emphasize recruitment or training of either male or female doctors, lead study author Anthony Jerant, professor of family and community medicine at the University of California, Davis, said in a university news release.
Instead, the focus should be on patients' smoking habits and diet, which are known to increase the use of health care services and the risk of death, he suggested.
Jerant and his colleagues also found that female doctors were more likely than their male colleagues to care for female patients who were young, college educated and resided in cities. This suggests that certain patient characteristics may be associated with preferences for male or female doctors.
The study also found that more female doctors than male doctors were non-white.
"Female providers are contributing to greater diversity in the health care provider workforce, which is an important aim both for social equity and to ensure that patients can choose providers they feel comfortable with," Jerant said in the news release.
"However, our findings clearly emphasize the importance of looking beyond gender to determine the patient and provider characteristics that can positively influence the process, quality and costs of care," he added.
More information
The U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality offers tips for choosing quality health care.


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CENTER VALLEY, Pa. -- Larry Backer, W. Richard and Mary Eshelman Faculty Scholar and professor of law and international affairs at Penn State University, will be the featured speaker for the next Faculty Lecture Series at 1 p.m., Nov. 5, in Room 302 at Penn State Lehigh Valley. Backer will discuss "Globalization: Governments as Private Actors in Global Markets." This event is free and open to the public.
Backer's presentation will focus on his research on governments as private actors in global markets and the development of law and social norm systems to regulate business and human rights. His research is on globalization, especially as it relates to the emergence of ways of understanding constitutional and enterprise law. His most recent work touches on the regulation of multinational corporations, sovereign wealth funds, transnational constitutionalism, and the convergence of public and private law.
Backer splits his teaching between Penn State Law and the School of International Affairs, teaching classes in constitutional, corporate and transnational law and policy. He is a member of the American Law Institute and the European Corporate Governance Institute.
The Faculty Lecture Series is supported by the student activity fee in cooperation with Alumni and Corporate Relations, Teaching International and the Penn State Lehigh Valley Undergraduate Research Symposium.
For more information, call 610-285-5000. Media inquiries can be directed to Allison Goodin, 610-285-5067 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Kathryn Davis decided to give a gift to celebrate her 100th birthday: $1 million to galvanize college students' pursuit of an elusive goal – peace.
A philanthropist with a lifelong interest in international affairs, Mrs. Davis launched 100 Projects for Peace last summer. She was so pleased with the creative, practical proposals the winners came up with that when she turned 101 this year, she put out a call for 100 more.
"I started Projects for Peace because I was really a little discouraged about our world," Davis says in a phone interview from her winter home in Hobe Sound, Fla. "I got tired of feeling sorry for the younger generation.... I thought maybe [they] would come up with good ideas if I gave them the opportunity."
Rather than focus on wars and military policies, Davis says, many of the projects addressed "the fundamentals of life," such as the need for clean water in a village. "You can't expect people to be interested in peace in the world if they can't get water to quench their thirst," she says.
Colleges see the need to prepare young people for a borderless world, but very few can provide grants large enough for such projects outside the United States, says Brian Rosenberg, president of Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., one of the schools that ran competitions for the peace grants. "This is an experiment in encouraging students to be individual social entrepreneurs," he says.
Significant contributions
About 15 percent of the peace projects took place in the US, with the rest spanning the globe from Zimbabwe to Brazil. Solo or in teams, students taught conflict resolution through soccer games and theater workshops. They made their mark on everything from health to sustainable development.
In Dafna Ashkenazi's experience, one weekend can be enough to start a person on the path to peace. She's an Israeli student at Wellesley College near Boston, where Davis will celebrate her own 80th reunion in May. The school is one of about 80 US colleges chosen to run the peace grant competitions because of their affiliation with the Davis United World College (UWC) Scholars Program, a group that fosters cross-cultural understanding and is funded by Davis's son, Shelby Davis.
With their $10,000 grant from Mrs. Davis, Ms. Ashkenazi and her twin sister, then a student at Grinnell College in Iowa, set up weekend Arabic courses in Arara, a small Arab village in Israel about 50 miles outside their hometown of Tel Aviv. The cultural-exchange weekends were subsidized so a wide variety of Israelis could attend. One group included soldiers, Orthodox women, and a grandfather-grandson pair. A nonprofit is continuing the first-of-its kind program in Israel because people want to cross barriers, Ashkenazi says.
One participant wrote that the weekend bridged "the gaps which are filled with stereotypes, stigmas, ignorance and fears.... [It] filled my heart with joy and hope." Participants returned home, Ashkenazi says, "with eyes open and a willingness to ... increase the cycle of change."
Davis's penchant for peace stems partly from Quaker schooling as a child. "They didn't believe in fighting; they would just keep working toward a compromise ... And I think that's what we all have to do," she says. "Many people are very cynical about peace. They say it's in man's nature to fight, and I say, man has to get over that nature because war has become so dangerous."
A family trip to England after World War I launched a lifetime love of travel. Davis earned a PhD at the University of Geneva and visited Russia more than 30 times
"She understands geopolitics; she understands leadership.... She also understands that governments don't do everything in the world, and she was looking for more initiative and fresh ideas," says Philip Geier, who oversees the peace grants as executive director of the Davis UWC program.
Now, in addition to her philanthropy, the golden-haired centenarian enjoys painting (she took it up at 96 when she stopped playing tennis) and visiting swans near her Florida home by pedaling an adult-sized tricycle (she can turn on a motor if she needs a little help getting up hills).
A manifestation of justice
Derron Wallace used his grant to launch a peer-taught literacy program for rural and special-needs students in a violence-prone area of his native Jamaica.
A graduate of Wheaton College in Norton, Mass., he says the most humbling and rewarding moment came when a sobbing mother embraced him and declared of her son, "He can read." Before, the boy had repeatedly failed fourth-grade reading tests.
"These children were often the most violent in their schools.... Many of them are from poor families; many were not given equal access to education.... If afforded education, they, too, could be peacemakers in their own communities," Mr. Wallace says in a phone interview from Uganda, where he's working with refugees as a Watson Fellow. "True peace for me is about an active manifestation of justice and a disruption of inequality, and that was what this project enabled me to do."
Such sparks of inspiration encourage Davis, especially as she longs for a peaceful future for her seven great-grandchildren. "I hope it's not just a dream on my part – I hope it's a reality," she says.
To that end, she envisions funding 100 Projects for Peace for at least five more years. "I would like to see what's going to happen in those next five years," she says with a chuckle.