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El Valle Golf Resort Murcia Spain
The Polaris World El Valle golf resort opened in 2007 as the flagship resort. Polaris Golf Resort El Valle has been built in a Moorish style and is characterised by wide open spaces and breathtaking views. Only 668 homes have been built on the 1,100,000 square metres of the El Valle Golf Resort creating an exclusive environment.
View El Valle Golf Resort Property.
Location of El Valle golf resort
The Polaris El Valle Golf Resort is conveniently located for easy access via Spain's major airports and roads, just 15 minutes from Murcia city centre and 20 minutes from the beaches of the Mar Menor. El Valle resort is 10 minutes from Murcia International airport RMU (Corvera) airport, 50 minutes from Alicante airport. El Valle offers the most convenient location of all the Polaris World resorts for access to the historic city of Murcia and only 25 minutes to Cartagena.
The impressive club house at El Valle opened in June 2008. There is a restaurant, clubhouse bar, Irish pub and pro shop. There are magnificent views from the terrace of the clubhouse as far as the Mar Menor sea. In addition there are two tennis courts, a gym for residents and a large supermarket. Sports facilities include a tennis court and paddle court. There are several community swimming pools for use by residents in the apartments on the resort. Every villa comes with its own private pool.
Golf Course at El Valle
The beautiful golf course at El Valle has been created by Nicklaus Design. It is a professional 18 hole Par 71 golf course arguably one of the most challenging and picturesque at the Polaris World resorts. It is a favourite course for competitions and hosted the Spanish Pro Chamionship among other events.
El Valle Resale Apartments and Villas
At El Valle Golf Resort you can choose between apartments and three types of villas. Property is of a high specification often with marble bathroom flooring, fully fitted kitchens, air conditioning, central heating all as standard and with pools included for villas. Property on El Valle sold out several years ago and now buyers can pick up a bargain from our range of resale property being offered at El Valle golf resort by owners often well below the original off plan prices of 2004.
Apartments can be either two bedroom one bathroom or two bedroom two bathroom located on the ground floor, first floor, second floor or top floor penthouse.
The Alcor villa offers three bedrooms and can be located both frontline golf and second line. The four bedroom Algaba villa type is fronline onto the golf course, likewise the five bedroom five bathroom Adarga villa.
The resort at El Valle is fully enclosed and is a gated community with one entrance. A security service operates 24 hours a day with CCTV cameras and strict control of access to the El Valle resort.
For a wide choice of property for sale at El Valle golf resort please see our property listing El Valle property or call us on 0207 060 1476


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Board of Directors
Richard M. McVey founded MarketAxess in April 2000 and has been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since the firm's inception. Under his leadership, MarketAxess has emerged as the leading electronic platform for corporate bonds, creating an efficient and competitive marketplace for over 1,700 global institutional investors and broker-dealer firms to trade a broad range of credit products. Mr. McVey led the company's initial public offering in November 2004 and in 2019, the company posted record annual revenues of $511 million. MarketAxess has a market capitalization of approximately $18 billion as of September, 2020 and is an S&P 500 company.
MarketAxess has introduced multiple innovations in trading technology to increase the transparency and liquidity of global credit markets. The company has developed a range of new and innovative trading tools to connect bond buyers and sellers, including investor-to-multi-dealer and all-to-all electronic trading solutions. MarketAxess has been awarded 13 patents for trading technology.
Mr. McVey began his career in the futures industry and joined J.P. Morgan & Co. in 1992. From 1992 to 1996, Mr. McVey was managing director and head of J.P. Morgan's North American futures and options business, and in 1996, he was chosen to be J.P. Morgan's head of North American fixed income sales and investor client relations. Mr. McVey previously served on the board of directors of Blue Mountain Credit Alternatives L.P. and now serves on the board of directors for the Miami University Foundation and the Colby College Board of Trustees.
Mr. McVey was recently selected as an inaugural member of the SEC's Fixed Income Market Structure Advisory Committee. The Committee's will work closely with the SEC on the efficiency and resiliency of the fixed income markets and identify opportunities for regulatory improvements.
In 2012 Mr. McVey was Ernst & Young's "National Entrepreneur of the Year" for financial services and has also been named to Institutional Investor's "Tech 50" nine times.
Mr. McVey received a B.A. in Finance from Miami (Ohio) University and an M.B.A. from Indiana University.
Chris Concannon has been the President and Chief Operating Officer of MarketAxess since January 2019. In this role, Mr. Concannon oversees day-to-day operations, corporate development, long-term technology strategy and global data strategy for MarketAxess globally.
Mr. Concannon was most recently the President and Chief Operating Officer of Cboe Global Markets Inc, where he was responsible for Cboe's transaction businesses, including Global Derivatives, U.S. and European Equities, and Global Foreign Exchange – as well as overseeing the company's Technology, Operations, Risk, and Marketing divisions. Prior to his role at the Cboe, Mr. Concannon was the Chief Executive Officer of Bats Global Markets, where he led the company's initial public offering in 2016, as well as its acquisition by the Cboe in February 2017.
Mr. Concannon has more than 20 years of experience as an executive at Nasdaq, Virtu Financial, Instinet and as an attorney at Morgan Lewis and Bockius and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
He holds a B.A. from Catholic University, an M.B.A. from St. John's University and a J.D. from Catholic University's Columbus School of Law.
Nancy Altobello was most recently Global Vice Chair, Talent of Ernst & Young ("EY"), a professional services firm, where she was responsible for EY's talent and people strategy worldwide from July 2014 until her retirement in June 2018. Previously, Ms. Altobello held a number of senior positions at EY, including Americas Vice Chair, Talent from 2008 to 2014, Managing Partner, Northeast Region Audit and Advisory Practices from 2003 to 2008 and Managing Partner, North American Audit Practice from 1999 to 2003. Throughout this time, Ms. Altobello also served as an audit partner for a number of leading global organizations. She currently serves as a board member of MTS Systems Corporation and a trustee of the Fidelity Charitable board of trustees. Ms. Altobello received a B.S. in accounting from Fairfield University.
Steven L. Begleiter has been a Senior Principal at Flexpoint Ford, LLC, a private equity group focused on investments in financial services and healthcare, since October 2008. Prior to joining Flexpoint Ford, Mr. Begleiter spent 24 years at Bear Stearns & Co., serving first as an investment banker in the Financial Institutions Group and then as Senior Managing Director and member of its Management and Compensation Committee from 2002 to September 2008. Mr. Begleiter also served as head of Bear Stearns' Corporate Strategy Group.
Mr. Begleiter currently serves on the board of directors of WisdomTree Investments, Inc.
Mr. Begleiter received a B.A. in economics from Haverford College.
Stephen P. Casper was the President of TRG Management L.P., the investment manager of the TRG Global Opportunity Master Fund, Ltd., from April 2010 to August 2012.
From September 2008 to April 2010, Mr. Casper was a partner of Vastardis Capital Services, which provides fund administration and securities processing outsourcing services to hedge funds, funds of funds and private equity funds and their investment management sponsors. Prior to this, Mr. Casper was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Charter Atlantic Corporation, the holding company of Fischer Francis Trees & Watts, Inc. ("FFTW"), a specialist manager of U.S., global and international fixed-income portfolios for institutional clients, and Malbec Partners, a manager of single-strategy hedge funds. From April 2004 to January 2008, Mr. Casper was the President and CEO of FFTW. Mr. Casper joined FFTW as Chief Financial Officer in 1990 and was appointed Chief Operating Officer in May 2001. From 1984 until 1990, Mr. Casper was Treasurer of the Rockefeller Family Office.
Mr. Casper has been a member of the Board of Directors of the KLS Diversified Fund, the KS Rates Fund and the KLS Credit Opportunities Fund, all of which are fixed income hedge funds, since July 2012. Mr. Casper is Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of GMO LLC, a global investment management firm providing clients with asset management solutions and services, since May 2014. Mr. Casper is a member of the Investment Committee of the Brooklyn Museum.
Mr. Casper is a Certified Public Accountant and received a B.B.A. in accounting from Baruch College, from which he graduated magna cum laude, Beta Gamma Sigma, and an M.S. in finance and accounting from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Jane Chwick has been Co-CEO of Trewtec, Inc., a technology advisory firm designed to help board members and CEOs evaluate the technology function in their companies, since September 2014. Prior to this, she was a Partner and Co-Chief Operating Officer of the Technology Division of Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. where she was responsible for financial and business planning, technical strategy and ongoing management of an 8,000-person organization until her retirement in April 2013. During her 30 year career at Goldman Sachs, Ms. Chwick held a number of senior positions, including Global Head of Technology of the Securities Division and Global Head of Derivatives Technology. During her tenure, she drove the design, build and integration of technology across all of Goldman Sachs' derivatives businesses, including fixed income, commodities, currencies and equities.
Ms. Chwick is a member of the Board of Directors of Voya Financial, Inc. and also serves as a board member of the Queens College Foundation and of Girls Who Code.
Ms. Chwick received a B.A. in Mathematics from Queens College and an M.B.A. from St. Johns University with a concentration in MIS and Quantitative Analysis.
William F. Cruger was Vice Chairman of Investment Banking at JP Morgan and Co. where he was responsible for key client relationships on a global basis until his retirement in August 2013. Previously, Mr. Cruger held a number of senior positions at JP Morgan, including Managing Director in the Financial Institutions group from 1996 to 2011. During this time, he oversaw the rationalization of the firm's private equity investments in trading platforms and related ventures at LabMorgan from 2000 to 2001. Prior to this, Mr. Cruger ran the firm's investment banking practices in Japan from 1991 to 1996, Latin America from 1989 to 1991 and Emerging Asia from 1984 to 1988.
Mr. Cruger currently serves as a board member of People's United Financial, Inc. and Virtu Financial, Inc., and has previously served on the boards of Archipelago, Credittrade and Capital IQ.
Mr. Cruger received a B.A. from Clark University and an M.B.A. from Columbia University.
Kourtney Gibson is the President of Loop Capital Markets. She oversees all brand-building efforts at Loop Capital, including the cultivation and enhancement of strategic client relationships across the firm's various business lines. In addition, Ms. Gibson identifies and pursues firm-wide opportunities for growth and operational improvement. Ms. Gibson serves on Loop Capital's Management and Fairness and Valuation Committees.
Ms. Gibson started with Loop Capital as an intern in 1997, the firm's founding year. Across more than 20 years, Ms. Gibson has worked across multiple functions at Loop Capital including strategy, investment banking, sales and trading. In 2015, after a decade of running the firm's equity division, she became responsible for heading the firm's taxable fixed income division. Ms. Gibson was then named President in 2016.
Ms. Gibson is a member of The Economic Club of Chicago and the Treasury Market Practices Group sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Ms. Gibson sits on the board of trustees at the University of Miami, where she serves on the Executive Committee and Investment Committee, and Viterbo University, where she serves on the Finance Committee. She also serves on the board of the Dibia Dream Foundation and is Chairman of the board of the Chicago Scholars Foundation.
She holds Series 7, 57, 24 and 63 FINRA registrations and is a CNBC Contributor providing insight, analysis and outlook on the markets.
Ms. Gibson received an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a B.B.A. from the University of Miami.
Justin Gmelich is a Partner and Global Head of Markets with King Street Capital Management, where he is also a member of the Investment Committee. Prior to this, Mr. Gmelich was the Global Chief Operating Officer for Fixed Income, Commodities, and Currencies (FICC) at Goldman Sachs. Before being named COO of FICC, Mr. Gmelich was Global Head of Credit at Goldman Sachs. Additionally, while at Goldman Sachs, he was a member of the Firm's Management Committee, Firmwide Risk Committee, Securities Division Executive Committee, Securities Division Volcker Committee and the Global Recruiting Council. Earlier in his career, Mr. Gmelich worked as an associate trader at Chase and was a vice president at Salomon Brothers.
Mr. Gmelich serves as a trustee for Villanova University, where he chairs the Investment Committee, and serves on the boards of Teddy's Fund and Trinity Hall. Mr. Gmelich received a B.S. in Finance from Villanova University, an M.S. in Accounting/Taxation from the University of Southern California and an M.B.A. in Finance from Columbia University.
Mr. Ketchum was Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. ("FINRA") from March 2009 to July 2016 and served as Chairman of FINRA's Board of Governors from March 2009 to August 2016. Prior to joining FINRA, Mr. Ketchum held a range of senior regulatory positions in the financial industry over twenty years, including as Chief Executive Officer of NYSE Regulation, Inc., President of the NASDAQ OMX Group Inc., a predecessor of Nasdaq, Inc., President and Chief Operating Officer of the National Association of Securities Dealers Inc., a predecessor of FINRA, and Director of the Division of Market Regulation at the SEC. Mr. Ketchum was also the General Counsel of the Corporate and Investment Bank of Citigroup Inc. Mr. Ketchum currently serves on the board of directors of Greystone Managed Investments, Inc.
Mr. Ketchum received a B.A. from Tufts University and a J.D. from New York University Law School.
Emily Portney is the Chief Financial Officer for BNY Mellon. She is responsible for the controller, treasury, investor relations, strategic planning, corporate development and tax functions, as well as its leasing businesses. Prior to assuming the role of CFO, she led the global client management team for BNY Mellon's Asset Servicing business in the U.S. and Latin America and oversaw BNY Mellon's interest in the CIBC Mellon joint venture in Canada. Asset Servicing delivers investment administration, operational and technology solutions to alternative investment managers, asset managers, asset owners, insurance companies, banks and broker-dealers.
Ms. Portney was previously the Chief Financial Officer for Barclays International, where she helped to establish the non-ringfenced bank, and led a global organization spanning the Corporate and Investment Bank, the Private Bank, and the Cards and Payments businesses.
Ms. Portney joined Barclays from Visa where she was the CFO of North America. Prior to Visa, Ms. Portney spent 22 years at JP Morgan where she was the Global Head of Clearing and Collateral Management, a brokerage unit that provided agency execution, clearing, and collateral management services across derivatives and securities markets worldwide. Ms. Portney started with JP Morgan in 1993, and performed various roles over the course of her career, including the CFO of Equities and Prime Services.
In addition to serving on the Board of Directors for MarketAxess, Ms. Portney serves on the Board of Directors for The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC). She holds a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School and a bachelor's degree from Duke University.
Richard Prager was a Senior Managing Director of BlackRock and served on the firm's Global Executive Committee. In that role, he led the firm's global trading, liquidity and securities lending teams and played a leadership role in managing BlackRock's global investment platform for both active portfolios and the iShares ETF business. While at BlackRock, Mr. Prager also spearheaded several key initiatives to enhance risk management practices and improve investment performance. Before joining BlackRock in 2008, Mr. Prager worked for Bank of America as Global Head of Rates, Currencies and Commodities. He has also held senior roles at ING and Westpac earlier in his career. Following retirement from BlackRock in July 2019, Mr. Prager is currently a Senior Advisor at Tresata, a data analytics firm.
Mr. Prager received a B.S. from Duke University.
John Steinhardt has been Founder, Managing Partner, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chief Investment Officer, of KLS Diversified Asset Management since July 2007. From July 2006 until July 2007, Mr. Steinhardt managed a private investment portfolio. Mr. Steinhardt was the founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Spectrum Investment Group from January 2005 to July 2006. Until October 2004, Mr. Steinhardt was Head of North American Credit Markets for JPMorgan Chase & Co. and a member of the Management Committee of the Investment Banking Division of JPMorgan Chase & Co. Prior to the merger of J.P. Morgan & Co. and the Chase Manhattan Bank, Mr. Steinhardt was the Head of U.S. Securities at Chase Securities Inc. and a member of the Management Committee from 1996 to 2000.
Mr. Steinhardt currently serves on the board of directors of the 92nd Street Y and the board of trustees of the Central Park Conservancy.
Mr. Steinhardt received a B.S. in Economics from St. Lawrence University and an M.B.A from Columbia University.

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YA connector street lamp applications
Date:2017-08-24 source:admin
LED street lamp is refers to the production of LED lighting lamps, has the advantages of high efficiency, safety, energy saving, environmental protection, long life, fast response, high color rendering index unique advantages, main application, main roads, secondary roads and branches, factories, schools, gardens, city square, garden road lighting, has a very important significance the city lighting energy saving.
At present, the LED street lamp is installed outdoors, which is often attacked by unexpected weather, and has high stability and safety requirements. At the same time, there are many street lamps, but the product maintenance is difficult and the product price is higher.
(Application of YA waterproof connector on LED street lamp)
Cnlinko provides YA waterproof connector series products, and solves the problems of difficult installation and high maintenance cost of LED street lamps. The following are the features of YA connectors.
(Application of YA waterproof connector on LED street lamp)
1 quick connection, swivel locking
The YA power connector is connected with 1/4 on the bayonet joint. It can be locked by rotation when it is used. It is easy to operate and easy to install.
2 protection level
LED street lamp protection level a class product should not be lower than IP67; B class products should not be lower than IP66; C class products should not IP65. The waterproof grade of YA connector reaches IP67, and meets the requirements of class a LED street lamp.
3 average life
The average life expectancy of LED street lamps should not be less than 30000h. The YA socket connector is more than 1500 times, guaranteed for one year, and reduces maintenance cost.
4 temperature difference performance
Our YA connector can work at -40, ~80 degrees centigrade. Whether it's hot summer or cold area or season, YA can bring you light.
5 stability
The YA-20 power connector has passed the high strength withstand voltage test, high temperature test, antiknock test and corrosion resistance test. Because it uses imported PBT material housings from the United States, it provides stable electrical performance for connectors.


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Search among the over 800 members of the Washington County Chamber to find the business or organization you are seeking! Use the search fields below by entering a key word or phrase (either the type of business or product, or a word from the business name).
Please call us for personal assistance at any time during business hours. We will be happy to help you! (979) 836-3695
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Hampton Inn & Suites
The Hampton Inn & Suites would love to have your business!!! We are the newest hotel in town, with beautiful decor, wonderful rooms, and hospitable staff.
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Quebe Guesthouse
Perfect for your YaYa Weekend Girlfriend Getaway or any small group of 6 to 8 guests. Rent this secluded country home with 4 bedrooms and 2 baths. Relax on the gallery front porch. Full kitchen and seated dining for up to 10. Spacious 2100 sq.ft.country farmhouse full of Prairie Style antiques and collections. A time warp with amenities.


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With this book you'll finally gain control of your stick, TIG or wire feed outgit and learn how to get your "Buzz Box" to make more than just noise.Read more
Chapter 11: Brazing & Soldering
Chapter 11
Brazing & Soldering
There is nothing more useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.
—Peter F. Drucker
Section I – Brazing Basics
Brazing Basics
Brazing joins metals with the addition of braze filler metal, also called brazing alloy, which melts at temperatures above 840°F. Often two different metals are joined by brazing.
Here are the steps to braze a joint:
- Be sure that the joint surfaces are designed or modified for good fit with clearances of 0.001–0.003 inches. This provides the best capillary attraction to draw filler metal into the joint to assure maximum joint strength.
- Surfaces to be brazed must be cleaned of oil, paint, rust and dirt. Often an alcohol or acetone wipe-down is used to remove remaining oils.
- Flux is usually added to chemically clean—and sometimes etch—the joint surfaces to prepare them for the braze filler metal. Additionally, by creating a protective atmosphere, flux prevents both the filler and work metals from oxidizing during the heating process.
- The parts are positioned for joining and can be held in a fixture. Two flat parts can be merely placed one on top of the other.
- The joint is heated slightly above the melting point of the filler metal. The melting temperature of the filler metal is lower—sometimes substantially lower—than the melting point of the workpiece metal. Capillary attraction draws the melted filler metal into the joint. Inside the joint, the filler metal wets the base metal forming intermetallic compounds or alloys between the base and filler metals at their interface. See Figure 11-1.
- When the filler metal cools and solidifies, the joint is complete. Atomic attractive forces hold the joint together at the braze metal and base metal interfaces. This is called adhesion.
- The joint is then cleaned to remove flux, which is corrosive and could weaken the joint and affect its appearance.
Wetting & Capillary Attraction
Wetting action between the filler and base metals is facilitated by the ability of the filler metal to alloy with the base metal at their interface. For example, pure lead does not readily wet copper or steel or adhere to either metal, but a tin-lead alloy readily wets both copper and steel. This preference of filler metal for atoms other than its own causes the wetting action of the base metal. Although wetting is often called tinning, this term is misleading because wetting action occurs between many different metals, not just tin. If filler metal does not wet the base metal, and instead balls up to form small spheres, this is usually caused by a dirty base metal surface or the lack of a proper flux.
In summary, capillary forces draw the filler metal into the joint and when the filler metal cools and solidifies, interatomic forces hold the joint together.
Joint strength is greatly affected by the condition of the brazed surfaces. In addition to surface cleanliness, surface roughness influences brazed joint strength. A rough surface provides more surface area for the filler metal to bond to, forming a stronger joint. Also, a roughened surface often has a jagged contour that traps and locks the filler metal in place, further strengthening the joint mechanically. Brazed joint strength results from both atomic and mechanical forces. To achieve the required strength, the joint surfaces may be roughened mechanically or chemically.
Soldering vs. Brazing
The distinction between brazing and soldering is the temperature at which these processes are performed. Brazing takes place above 840°F and soldering below 840°F, but otherwise the two processes are quite similar. Brazed joints are considerably stronger than soldered joints because the strength of brazing filler metals is greater than the strength of solders. However, the joint strength of brazed joints on non-ferrous metals and steels can be greater than the tensile strength of the filler metal itself because of the thinness of the joint and the interatomic adhesion forces at work. On stainless steels, joints with tensile strength greater than 130,000 psi are possible. Brazing often achieves nearly the strength of a welded joint without the problems of heat distortion and, because the seam line is thin, the joint can be concealed.
Brazing vs. Braze Welding
Brazing uses capillary attraction to draw filler metal into the mating joint, while in braze welding the filler metal is deposited in grooves or fillets at the points where needed for joint strength. With braze welding capillary attraction is not a factor in distributing the filler metal since the joints are open and exposed to the welder. Wetting of the base metal by the filler metal results in atomic bonds which are the same for brazing, braze welding, and soldering.
Braze welding is not a brazing process, but a welding process that uses braze filler metal. Joint designs are similar to those for the oxyacetylene welding of V-groove butt joints, lap joints, T-joints, fillets and plug joints. Braze welding is an important and effective repair method for cracked or broken cast iron and aluminum parts, and many large machinery castings can be successfully repaired this way. For example, large areas of damaged aluminum outboard propeller blades can be built up or replaced using a low-temperature solder in a fashion similar to braze welding.
In one instance, a new hydraulic shear in a production department was misused by a maintenance man on a Saturday when no supervisor was present. The mechanic attempted to shear the maximum thickness for steel, but in stainless steel. The side of the shear casting snapped and was repaired with braze welding—a repair that lasted for more than 20 years.
As with brazing, braze welding does not melt the base metal and is performed at a lower temperature than welding, resulting in much less distortion of the work. Also, since braze welding is performed only on a small area of the part, the entire part does not need to be brought up to braze temperature at once. This is a big advantage when repairing large castings. See Section IX, Repairs Made with Braze Welding, page 315.
Metals Joined by Brazing & Soldering
Most common metals can be brazed including: aluminum, bronze, brass, cast iron, copper, stainless steel, carbon steel, titanium, some tool steels and tungsten carbide. Nearly all metals can be soldered. If two different workpiece metals can be wetted by the same filler metal, they can be brazed or soldered together.
Process Temperature Selection
Temperatures are selected so that the braze or solder metal is completely liquid, which allows it to readily flow into the joint and quickly wet the surfaces. This temperature, though, must be as low as possible so as not to affect the work metal, burn the flux, or burn the surrounding work. When using the correct flux and correct process temperature, both the capillary attraction and the wetting action occur in less than a second.
Brazing Advantages
- Low temperature process – The components being joined, such as semiconductors and other electronic components, are less likely to be damaged since the base metals do not reach their melting temperatures.
- Ability to join dissimilar metals – Steel is easily joined to copper, cast iron to stainless steel, and brass to aluminum.
- Able to join non-metals to metals – Ceramics and glass are easily joined to metals or to each other.
- Joins parts of widely different thicknesses – Either thin-to-thin or thin-to- thick parts may be joined without burn-through or overheating, which can be a serious problem when welding.
- Excellent stress distribution – Many of the distortion problems of fusion welding are eliminated because brazing has lower process temperatures, even heat distribution, and more gradual temperature changes.
- Economical for complex assemblies – Many parts can be joined in a single step. Often complex parts are more economically made by brazing several pieces together rather than machining the part from a single piece of metal. This method results in a savings of both raw material and machining time.
- Good for joining precision parts – Using proper jigs and fixtures, parts can be very accurately positioned.
- Parts can be temporarily joined – After being temporarily joined, parts can undergo other manufacturing processes and then be separated without damage.
- Parts can be assembled rapidly – Processes are readily adaptable to utilize batch brazing as well as automatic assembly operations.
- Mistakes are easily fixed – A misaligned part is simple to reposition.
- Ability to make leak-proof and vacuum-tight joints – Many tanks and vessels are soldered or brazed. High-power radio transmitter vacuum tubes and integrated circuits with metal to ceramic joints are also brazed.
- Joints require little or no finishing – With proper process design, brazed or soldered joints can be nearly invisible.
- Combined brazing and heat treatment cycles – When protective-atmosphere brazing is used, the brazing process may be incorporated into the heat-treatment cycle.
Brazing Disadvantages
- Brazing processes are rarely as strong as fusion-welded joints.
- The brazed parts and filler metal may have a poor color match.
Section II – Joint Design & Cleaning
Joint Design
Well designed braze and solder joints start with fundamental butt, lap and scarfed joints as shown in Figure 11-2 (top & center). Scarfed joints are stronger than if the same materials were butted together because scarfed joints provide more surface area to which the filler metal can adhere. The bottom of Figure 11-2 shows a detail of a brazed lap joint.
The maximum strength of a simple lap joint can be increased by an overlap of three times the thickness of the base metal (3T). This is sometimes called the Rule of Threes. More overlap without additional refinements will not improve joint strength, but tapers or smooth transitions in thickness, as shown in Figure 11-3 (left, bottom two joints), make stronger joints.
Thank you for reading excerpts from Welding Know-How. If you have enjoyed reading so far, please purchase the book from the link below.
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Chapter 1: Welding Overview
- Chapter 2: Safety
- Chapter 3: Terms, Joints, & Edge Preparation
- Chapter 4: Tools & Welding Tables
- Chapter 5: Shielded Metal Arc Welding
- Chapter 6: Wire Feed Welding
- Chapter 7: Gas Tungsten Arc Welding
- Chapter 8: Oxyacetylene
- Chapter 9: Controlling Distortion
- Chapter 10: Cutting Processes
- Chapter 11: Brazing & Soldering
- Chapter 12: Common Problems & Solutions
- Chapter 13: Design Tips
- Chapter 14: Fabrication & Repair Tips
- Chapter 15: Tools & Tooling
- Chapter 16: Pipe & Tubing
- Chapter 17: Metallurgy
- Chapter 18: Power Supplies & Electrical Safety
- Chapter 19: Bending & Straightening
- Index
- Credits
In almost all respects, this volume is a complete contrast, being 500 plus pages of bang up to-date material.Read full review
Machine Shop Essentials is an excellent book which presents a wide array of basic machinist's know-how...Even from a brief look through it, I learned some new things....Read full review


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Every SEO professional needs to know how well their sites rank for their target keywords.
They also need to keep track of competitors' rankings.
You can do this manually by typing queries into search engines. But that's time-consuming and can be inaccurate. Luckily, there are many awesome tools that do this automatically.
Here at Ahrefs, we have integrated keyword rank checking functionality into 3 core tools:
Shows every keyword for which the target website or web page ranks.
Tracks ranking progress for up to 10,000 keywords over time.
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Reveal every keyword for which the target website or web page ranks in the top 100 across 155 countries.
For each keyword we show:
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Ranking position
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This data comes from our database of ~500 million keywords (updated monthly).
Find rankings for specific keywords using the inbuilt filters and search functionality.
Check where a website or web page used to rank for any keyword, as far back as 2015.
Use this report to:
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See how your competitors' rankings are progressing.
Identify keyword cannibalization issues (i.e., when multiple pages rank for the same keyword)
You can also compare your site's rankings for any keyword against the sites of up to five competitors.
Track keywords in Rank Tracker to see a detailed snapshot of your sitewide ranking progress.
Get a set of important SEO metrics for every keyword you're tracking:
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Chicago teacher, activist, writer, media strategist
At first blush, I was outraged about the story of Benjamin Edelman, a Harvard Business School Professor who threatened legal action against a small local chain restaurant after being overcharged $4 for his dinner. My gut reaction was, "How dare this Ivy League corporate shill strongarm this small business owner over $4." I looked at it as bourgeoisie entitlement driving Edelman to waste so much time over $4.
Then I thought a little more deeply about it. Edelman may be acting out of entitlement. He may be used to getting his way all the time and this is little more than a tantrum for a time he didn't.
However, he may also be right. And his actions are actually good for consumers.
The facts are largely indisputable. Edelman ordered food from the Sichuan Garden restaurant in Brookline, Massachusetts. He received his full order, enjoyed a delicious (his words) meal and was charged $4 over the initial quoted price from the restaurant's website.
The debate centers around whether he was in the wrong by demanding renumeration of three times the overcharge (a total of $12) and threatening further legal action if he did not receive it. He cited a Massachusetts statute that prescribes tripling the overcharged amount to make whole a consumer who was intentionally overcharged.
The "optics" as they say in public relations is really bad for Edelman. He comes across as the rich guy bullying the small business owner, using the law as a blunt instrument. I've seen people describe this as a "David and Goliath" moment with Edelman being Goliath.
However, looking past the optics, what we have here is a consumer fighting for a broken promise by a business.
We have certain rights as consumers, some are obvious and others are so obscure only lawyers and business professors would know them. When we do not exercise our rights, we risk them being taken away. What is good is a right if it cannot be exercised?
In this incident, Edelman could clearly afford to eat his $4 loss and walk away. Not everyone is that fortunate. Edelman did a good deed for consumers by exercising not only his rights, but by being the voice of everyone who has been overcharged by this business.


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With responsibility for the racing machines of seven-time Grand Tour winner Alberto Contador and current world champion Peter Sagan among others, Tinkoff chief mechanic Christophe Desimpelaere has a tough job on his hands.
Fortunately, he seems to love it. Apparently, bike mechanics are a sentimental lot, with certain tools staying in the toolbox for decades, even beyond their use.
>> Subscribe to Cycling Weekly this Autumn and save 35%. Enjoy the luxury of home delivery and never miss an issue <<
>>> Pro Bike: Peter Sagan's Specialized S-Works Roubaix (video)
For Christophe, his spokes wrench is his favourite tool and he's had the same one for the last 18 years!
But, he tells us, that's not unusual for bike mechanics, many of whom have a lucky tool they've used since their childhood, when fixing bikes was still just a hobby.
>>> Secrets of the toolbox: Etixx-Quick Step (video)
Christophe also reveals that the fussiest rider he's ever had to deal with is the infamous Michael Rasmussen, describing the Dane as a "pain in the ass". In fairness, that's by no means the worst thing that's been said about the man…
Rasmussen apparently obsessively weighed each component before it was put on the bike and even asked for frame from the manufacturer to come without extra holes for a bottle cage for that extra advantage.
Christophe is adamant that, custom paint jobs asides (luckily for Sagan!), a team leader's bike should be the same as his teammates', especially given they contribute so much to a leader's success.


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"Kari," who didn't want to use her real name, says a sex surrogate changed her life in profound ways.
"It isn't that I got my life back - it's that I got a life," said Kari, a 43-year-old single professional. "It's mind-blowingly intimate."
Kari said she feels like she was let in on a secret: surrogate partner therapy.
"It's for so many people, it can help so many people," Kari said.
Shai Rotem was Kari's surrogate partner.
"She was very scared, very, very scared of human connection," Rotem said.
Kari's intense fear of touch and intimacy stems from her sexual abuse as a child. She said the abuse started when she was 7 years old and continued for many years.
"As children, when you are molested, you think you are unlovable," she said. "Assault, basically, is how I viewed touch."
Kari made progress in traditional talk therapy, but that could only go so far.
"I sat on the couch for an entire year with my therapist," she said. "So shame, fear, the lack of connection with myself, those are all issues I could intellectualize in talk therapy with him and we could talk and talk and talk."
That, however, wasn't enough. Kari said she realized she needed something hands-on.
"Can you teach somebody to swim by talk therapy or with talking? Can we teach someone how to ride a bike just with telling the story of how to ride a bike? No, the answer is no," Rotem said.
Kari and Rotem worked together with Dr. Vena Blanchard, the head of IPSA, the International Professional Surrogates Association based in Los Angeles.
"It takes a special person to be a surrogate partner - ethical and compassionate," Blanchard said.
Blanchard is a 30-year veteran of the field who now trains and certifies sex surrogates.
"It is as much a part of human life to desire sexuality as it is to desire to eat and breathe," Blanchard explained.
Mark O'Brien, a poet and journalist from Northern California, spent 43 years of his life in an iron lung, a respiration machine. He admits that he thought of killing himself.
"I think the boredom and the loneliness are the worst things," O'Brien said.
O'Brien, who came down with polio at age 6, explained his decision to hire a sex surrogate in the Academy Award winning 1996 documentary, "Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien."
"I thought of myself as the ugliest man in the world," said O'Brien. "I hired a sex surrogate and Cheryl was very kind to me."
Dr. Cheryl Cohen Greene has been a sex surrogate for nearly 40 years. She worked with O'Brien over a period of several months.
"Here was this man confined to an iron lung," said Cohen-Greene."He wondered what it would feel like to be touched in another way than just to be cared for and bathed."
"Most fun I've ever had. I think I'd like to do it again," O'Brien said.
O'Brien and Cohen Greene's experience is the subject of the upcoming movie "The Sessions" starring John Hawkes, William H. Macy and Helen Hunt as the sex surrogate. Cohen Greene says she hopes the film helps people understand her field.
"Most of us carry around invisible disabilities, mindsets that are negative about sexuality and really misinformation about how sex should be," Cohen Greene said.
For Kari and Rotem, most of their time together was spent talking, pushing through Kari's fear and building trust with exercises as simple as hand-holding.
"He worked so hard to create a safe space for me, so that I could trust him," Kari described.
"Only then can we explore the physical body and being more sensual with the other person," Rotem said.
It took two weeks to reach their breakthrough.
"I leapt off the cliff, and I said I'm going to do everything that I want to do to know that I am a fully functioning woman," Kari said.
Rotem describes the therapy process as life-changing - it was life-changing for Kari both in and out of the bedroom.
"Just being able to receive love, compassion, affection - it's a great way to live," Kari said.
Kari agreed to share her story in hopes that more people will learn about the therapy she calls remarkable. She has a book being self-published in December called "Chasing Olives." She wants people with questions about surrogate partner therapy from a client's perspective to contact her at email@example.com.
Cohen Green also has an book titled "An Intimate Life: Sex, Love, and My Journey as a Surrogate Partner."


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The big flower card is a card I made for the Demo Planner Challenge on splitcoaststampers for April. I used Brocade Blue for the card base and layered Ruby Red cardstock stamped with an image from Doodle That in Ruby Red ink on top of the card. I tied mustard grosgrain ribbon around it first. I also used the slit punch for the tab at the top. The flower is from Doodle This and is stamped with Staz-On Jet Black on Confetti White. It is colored with the metallic art pencils and blended with odorless mineral spirits (Mona Lisa brand). I threaded some beads from the Rich Regals group on a piece of wire from Wire Works and twisted it. It is attached with Crystal Effects. This was then layered on More Mustard and that whole thing was layered on the Ruby Red piece under the slit. Oh...and I inked all the edges with Basic Black before putting it together.
I made this card for this month's Planner Challenge. The card base is Apricot Appeal. I inked the edges with Basic Black. The strip in the middle is Pumpkin Pie. It is distressed with the distress tool from the cutter kit and inked with Basic Black. I tied rose and maize grosgrain ribbon around it before adhering to my card. I used the word window punch to make the word tag. I only inked the "thank you" portion of the stamp (Simply Said set) and stamped it on the tag. The white dots were made with the white gel pen. Next, I stamped the flower image with VersaMark on Regal Rose cardstock and embossed it with black detail emboss powder. I painted the flowers with bleach and after that dried, I painted it again with Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, and Apricot Appeal Classic ink. I dotted the middle of the flowers with the white gel pen and traced the stems with an Old Olive Stampin' Write Marker (the small end). The corners were punched with the ticket corner punch. It is layered on Summer Sun cardstock and the corners are dotted with a white gel pen. All the edges were inked with Basic Black, too. The flower piece and the word tag are both adhered to the card with dimensionals.
This was a fun challenge for me...I would not have used those colors together on my own but I liked it after I was finished.
Back to my playroom....or I guess I need to feed the kids first and then it's back to my playroom!
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Wish me Luck!!
I have gotten a lot of good response from my Growing Up layout (see pic in Crop Addict post). So today I took the plunge and submitted it to Creating Keepsakes. I thought that would be pretty fun! So wish me luck and if anything ever comes of it, I'll let you know!
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Interview with Steve Lund from Syfy's BITTEN
Bitten is SyFy's newest supernatural drama featuring one of the horror's classic creatures, werewolves. Elena Michaels, played by Laura Vandervoort, is the only living female werewolf in existence. She thought she left that supernatural world when she left Stonehaven, but a series of vicious murders directed at her pack family reluctantly calls her back. Now balancing her human life with her werewolf heritage without ever has become harder than ever.
We got to sit down with Steve Lund, who plays the fun-loving Nick Sorrentino in Elena's pack family, in a one-on-one interview about life on the set, and much more…
So you play Nick Sorrentino on Bitten. Tell us a little about him, what's his history? What about him made you gravitate towards playing this role?
Nick, he's a cool dude. He comes from a long line of werewolves, his grandfather was the former pack alpha, and his father is sort of the book keeper for the pack. Nick was born into the werwolf live and taught the ropes from a very young age. I don't think he ever really intended to follow in the footsteps, per se, of potentially in becoming a pack alpha, but he certainly enjoys the fruits of life, he leads a very fun life; he's more of a fun-loving character than some. He has his comedic moments. And that's actually what attracted me to the role. I liked that there the was this double life that all the werewolves live, and whenever the chips are down or stuff is hitting the proverbial fan, we all have to answer the call and bring this survival instinct. But in the human realm, we're very much living among the humans as best we can. And Nick does so in a very fun way.
You've been in quite a few science fiction shows, is it something you actively seek out or does it just fall right it front of you naturally?
I really do like the scifi genre. Even more so I like working it, but I don't necessarily watch a whole lot of television. I certainly do have my Star Wars toys and my Indiana Jones costumes and stuff like that. I'm certainly a geek in that respect. Y'know I think it's just the luck of the draw, to be honest. It just so happened that I was cast in a couple of successful shows that happen to be scifi, and I'm quite okay with that because it's a very fun genre to work in, and also has a very loyal following. Scifi fans are a different breed from any other. I'm very happy to be with them because they're so supportive and lovely, and they can be very intense. At the end of the day, we want people to love the product that we've made for them, I mean, we certainly love it.
Yeah, we're a very dedicated group, I can say that much.
Absolutely. That's putting it lightly.
So you mentioned Star Wars and Indiana Jones. I'm gonna put you on the spot and ask which do you like more, Star Wars or Indiana?
I'm gonna say Indiana Jones. Yeah. I mean, I do really love Star Wars — I've watched each of the movies many many times — but it's a clear-cut winner for me, Indiana Jones is the start of it all for me. I've always sort of credited that one character to the reason why I wanted to become an actor.
Awesome. You just kinda made my day I get a lot of flack for preferring Indiana Jones over Star Wars.
You're an Indy fan as well?
Very much so. Like you said, it was kind of my start towards becoming part of the geekdom. I don't know, I like Harrison Ford more than the other actors [in Star Wars], sorry Carrie Fisher! [Mark Hamill, I heart you for being the Joker for over 20 years]
[Laughing] Yeah I watched so much Harrison Ford, specifically Indiana Jones when I was a kid. So much to the point that whenever I see him, it feels like I'm looking at a father figure. There's this warmth that washes over me, and I'll be like "Aw, Dad!" He was so present in my childhood. I more or less learned a lot of things from him, I guess.
Out of the three, which did you prefer?
Um, that's a tougher question. [Laughs] It all depends on what I'm feeling that day. If I feel like the father-son tale and really different characters, then I'll go with the Last Crusade, and if I want just a truly good non-stop action movie, I'll pop in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Temple of Doom gets neglected the most, but I'm also a very large fan of that one, and if I ever feel like getting into the whole voodoo world, I'll pop that one in. They each have their own personality.
Yeah, for me, that's definitely how I feel about each movie. If they're on TV, I will definitely end up watching all of them.
No doubt. Do you have a clear-cut favorite?
Argh, tough question. For me, it's always gonna be Raiders of the Lost Ark. Then after that it's The Last Crusade, because Sean Connery. I also really like Temple of Doom because of Short Round, AND it takes place before the original — showing Indiana's progression towards becoming a hero rather than stay as this selfish jerk [who was in it for the glory].
Yeah, you're right, it's a prequel, not a lot of people realize that.
Ah, it's such a great movie once you realize little details like that. Then it's just a matter of powering through whenever Willie opens her mouth.
Yeah? You don't like her?
Uh…just not when she screams.
[Imitates Willie's shrieking]
Yes! Like that!
Y'know I think she married Stephen Spielberg after that.
Did she really? I guess I missed that somehow.
Yeah, I think they're still married, I don't know…
Okay, so back to the show…
Oh right yeah, that whole thing.
So you guys take off your clothes a lot, and you shoot, where, Nova Scotia? I know it's in Somewhere, Canada.
No, we're in Ontario.
Alright. So…what was the weather like? Wasn't it cold? [My assumption is that Canada is always cold.]
It's not cold all the time. You're in South Carolina?
[Sheepishly] Yeah.
Yeah, it's certainly not as temperate as your climate, but we're shooting in April, May to August and those are our hottest months, obviously, and it gets up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). On the flip side of that, this time of year gets to minus 30 degrees Celsius (-22 degrees Fahrenheit). It's gross.
Yeah, ew. Here in SC, we shut down because there was slush on the road, and no one knows how to deal with that.
I heard. The world's coming to an end.
It's #Snowpocalypse!
[Laughs] It's The Day After Tomorrow in Charleston!
So right when you guys are filming, you're not completely in the buff, are you? Or just hanging it all out there…[I drift off and mumble at this point.]
Heh, we have what's called a, um, we like to call it a "cock sock."
Awesome. Continue.
It's just this simple little satchel or marble bag, that goes over the important bits, and it's flesh colored. Often times, yeah, we're rollin' around set for all to see. Somebody's always at the ready with a robe to cast over us James Brown style when we cut.
So when you are, um, not wearing very many clothes, how often do you work out. I imagine you guys have to stay in shape at least a little bit.
Yeah, no doubt. We actively try to watch what we eat, make sure we fit in a healthy exercise regime, and stuff like that. When you have a busy schedule it gets pretty difficult at times, but we find the time. It's like a sport. You wanna feel good and happy and satisfied with your body especially when you're putting it to he test so much in the work that we're doing, whether it be an emotional or physical work. You wanna be loose and limber and strong. It's a very important part of my acting, not necessarily just for appearance's sake. We're trying at least to stay in the best shape possible, but it's tough sometimes, there's food everywhere.
Yeah, speaking of food, I remember this one episode where a table was just covered in meat and bread.
Was it the breakfast scene?
Yeah, that.
Yeah that was a fun day.
Was it all real food, or were some of them props?
All real food. There were several takes, so we were restocking. We were definitely eating all that food, for real. We have spit buckets but we were shooting it all, the entire dialogue sequence as one take for a couple of different set-ups, so we don't really have the opportunity to reach down and spit into the bucket without people spotting it. We were swallowing all that stuff. I remember we were a little sluggish for sure. There's a scene in episode two with my father and I. We were in a diner and get to leave when we see that the sheriff was there. In that scene, I was eating a piece of pie, but with the way the edit works, you don't really get to see that so much. But on the day, they really wanted me to scarf that pie, so I was eating it like I was some hungry hungry hippo. I ate, like, six to seven different pieces of pie. I was feeling so fat, and I didn't have the opportunity to spit it out because I had to get up and finish the scene, and then the scene after that I had to take my shirt off. I spent my whole lunch hour doing sit-ups in my trailer.
Well, if you need someone to eat pie for you, I will gladly step up. I am all about eating some pie.
[Laughs] Yeah, we need a pie eater on set.
On to the stunts. You had a couple sparring scenes with Laura Vandervoort and the guy who plays Clay [Danvers]. How intense did you guys go at it, what are stunts like on that show?
We went full kilt. That was the first one of the season and we were all really excited about it. I've never really done anything to that extent. Grayston [Holt], who plays Clay, I think had done a little bit, but Grayston seems to have never been in a fight in his life, so it was interesting for him. I think it may have been a little daunting to make it look as realistic as possible, so we worked really hard on it. We looked at video to study, and rehearse it as much as we could. But then Laura [Vandervoort] comes in, and she's, like, a second degree black belt in karate, or something like that…
Yeah! And she just kicked our asses, man. We left bruises on each other, for days. It was very intense. We wanted to make it look as good as possible, we went 100 percent.
Have you in particular read any of the Kelley Armstrong Otherworld books?
I have read two of them, yeah. There's a ton of books. They start to follow different characters and different species, and stuff like that. The whole Otherworld series, I think has 14 books? But I believe in terms of the Elena Michaels saga, there may be seven or eight books, I can't be sure.
Are they young adult, or are they…like True Blood types?
I wouldn't say necessarily that they're young adults, though they have read them. I think the target audience, as far as me making an educated opinion, would be slightly more adult, more mature that deals with a lot of sex and mature themes. But you know, teenagers are gonna be enticed by them, no matter what.
Oh the raging hormones that are teenagers.
I know, I know. Remember those days?
I don't want to…
How closely does the show follow the book series?
It's pretty tight. The developers and writers, at one point, worked pretty closely with Kelley Armstrong to collaborate to come up with something that all parties were happy with, and I think they achieved that pretty early one. Kelley gave it her blessing. Now that's not to say [the show] follows [the book] word for word. There are some characters that are expanded on, and there slight twists in the story… I think for the most part the show follows the books closely enough that devoted readers will be satisfied. The feedback we've gotten so far has been overwhelmingly positive. We're all pretty jazzed about that.
Is there any sign of vampires coming? Lately werewolves have become synonymous with vampires, and vice versa in shows, movies, and books. So are there any vampires in Bitten?
Not in the books that I've read. Apparently in the other Otherwold series, they introduce vampires, necromancers, ghosts and goblins, and things of that nature. But as far as I know, the design for us as series is to stay exclusively to the werewolves, to tell their story. Let everyone else take care of that other crap.
Yeah, good. So how is the dynamic with all of the other actors on set?
[Sarcastically] Pretty rigid, pretty tough. We don't really get along so well.
So all those times you guys are sparring, you're actually beating each other up because you hate each other that much?
Yeah we didn't realize any of the cameras were rolling. That was just…an argument that just got out of hand. [Laughs] No, no. I absolutely love everyone that I worked with. We had a very, very special bond. Something that I was not expecting, it was such a welcomed surprise. We just got along famously, and it really translates on screen. As the series goes on, you'll see us dealing with some very dramatic moments. The care and love that we have for each other as pack members, I think, really exists in our day to day lives as well — being there for each other on set, and just developing these friendships and this love that we share… it really made for some easy work for all of us.
That's so awesome. I've noticed that, with the exception of Laura Vandervoort, the cast is pretty much made up of all dudes.
[Laughs] Yeah, we're pretty dude heavy.
So do you have any bromances going on with the other…dudes?
Oh for sure, man. What do you expect, I mean, actors are weird. They push the boundaries. Grayston and I had a massive bromance. A lot of touching — he's a hugger, he hugs pretty much everyone he comes in contact with. I think he hugs clerks and restaurant employees, he's such a loving man.
That guy is massive!
Yeah, he's giant. He gives real bear hugs, it's awesome, I love it. I feel so safe in his arms. And we all really love Greg [Bryk]. He's our Alpha on set, as well. He's the constant joke-teller, but also he's a poet, and he's just the the most eloquent role model for all of us on set. There's an idolization there.
Greg is Jeremy?
Greg is Jeremy. Right, sorry. And then Michael Xavier, who plays Logan, we hit the clubs together.
Oh do you? I don't remember those days either…
Yeah, well, you're not supposed to, remember?
Of course. Yes…silly me. Of any of the shows you were on before Bitten, what was the most favorite role you played?
Man I had some great ones. Um…I had a lot of fun on Defiance. I got to play a homosexual man who was living with a secret, and then I got shot in that one. That was fun, and required a bit of acting. And then I got to play the Colorado Kid on Haven. This is a character that the entire series is based upon, from the title of the novella by Stephen King, The Colorado Kid. And it's a character that was alluded to for three seasons, but never introduced. So when I walked on set, there was like murmurs and whispers, and stuff like that. [Mimics whipsering] "The Colorado Kid!" Like I was just deity or something, that was really exciting. Then they met me and everyone was like, "Oh he's just some regular dude."
How many episodes have you shot already for Bitten?
We filmed all 13 episodes already. We wrapped in August.
[Slight spoiler ahead] Oh cool, alright. So at the end of episode 3, we left on a very unfortunate note for the Pete character. Is [expletive deleted] 'bout to go down?
I think it's safe to assume so. Yeah, there will be some vengeance exacted. Certainly some motivation that may not have been present. When at first we were dealing with just a rogue werewolf, that changed when it was made very clear to us that this was a direct personal attack when Peter was taken out. So yeah, [expletive deleted] 'bout to go down. [Spoiler ended]
When you finally got cast for this show, how many wolf videos did you watch on YouTube to prepare for this role?
[Laughs] Actually, I went up north and ran with a pack for a while. It was pretty wild.
[Playfully] Did you really?
No, not at all. Would've made for such a cool interview. Yeah no, I watched some stuff. I remembered some of my acting school training where we used to walk around like animals and all that crazy [expletive deleted]. But just trying to match that intensity that comes with playing a character of that nature, it was where the bulk of the work was done. Obviously there was some CGI, so we were never really acting like wolves, per se, but there are keen instincts that were tapping into, there are those animalistic urges that we are trying to display on camera… And also the transformation scenes that are very specific in line of the Kelley Armstrong books, so there's sort of a formula to follow, almost a blueprint for us to follow. That was very helpful for us to really all get on the same page in what the transformation looks like, what it feels like.
I'm gonna go into some of the fan questions now: @ThisIsTrex on Twitter asks "What is your favorite movie featuring werewolves?"
Oh geez… American Werewolf in London.
Right on, sir. Next, same guy asked this: "Who would win in a fight Sam Huntington from Being Human, or you?"
Sam Huntington, hands down.
Really? You're not going to try to defend yourself on this one?
I mean…yeah, he's just too good, man. I'm just, like…my bark is worse than my bite, let's put it that way. I admit it, I can kick some ass, but I'll just take one look at that amazing chin of his and I'll be done with.
He does have an epic chin.
He does. I'm very jealous of it.
Alright, now, there are two Teen Wolfs, Tyler Posey and Michael J. Fox. Who would you most be with?
I think I'm gonna go with Michael J. Fox. I mean, [the original Teen Wolf] is a fan favorite, I would say. Well, maybe not right now, it's a little dated. I'm a big Michael J. Fox fan so, I'm just gonna give a shout out to my homie, MJF. You can be on my team any day.
You can go van surfing all day with him.
Alright, that about wraps things up. Any words you'd like to say to those who haven't seen Bitten yet?
Let me see… Our show has something for everybody whether you're into beautiful ladies or attractive men, or very colorful bad guys, or very family-driven storyline…there's something in there for you. It's relatable, it's topical, it's very visceral and very emotional, so it's hard not to find something that's relatable to you. And I think we have characters that represent so many different facets of our society that you'll find a favorite in the bunch, guaranteed, and you'll want to root for them for 13 weeks straight.


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Another post, another trip abroad. Last time I was abroad for work I returned home on the day of the European Parliament elections. This time its the day of the Scottish Independence referendum.
This time, it was just a quick trip to a multi national meeting in The Hague. The home of the international criminal court. Its rather incredible that I can do a full day's work in Holland, travel from the Hague to Schipol, fly back to England and still be home for tea. Indeed it takes nearly as long to get from the airport home as it does to fly from Schipol to London.
I flew out from the United Kingdom, but may be returning to somewhere that will soon be different. Its somewhat ironic that I was at a meeting about countries working together more closely in the criminal justice field whilst Scotland are voting to distance themselves from the rest of the UK.
Its even more ironic that as the Scot's are voting for independence, their leader is pledging that if successful he will give that independence up by trying to get Scotland to be members of the EU. It smacks to me of a relationship break up when S is telling E, "Its not you, its me I need my space" whilst all along S is planning on getting into bed with E's nemesis EU.
I'm not sure Scotland are actually gaining independence by moving in with a new lover who is even more controlling and manipulative than their current partner. Indeed don't forget that Scotland will be like a Mormon wife in the new relationship, just one of many n a relationship with the EU.
So, if Scotland does vote for Independence will it be the land of milk and honey the leaders of the yes campaign promised? I doubt it very much. Will it be as bad as some in the No camp said? I doubt it.
If it turns out to be worse for the Scots than the status quo (are they still around? Rocking all over the World?) Will they come back seeking re admittance to the United Kingdom? Read the newspapers and watch the TV for the next x days to be bored witless by people pontifying on an issue they have no idea about.
Imagine needing a passport to go to Scotland. If that becomes a reality, it will be a strange situation. Who will make that decision? Not Scotland for sure. It will depend on the EU and whether they admit Scotland and force them to join the Schengen zone. Strange how getting your independence may result in someone else dictating border control issues.
A vote for independence will affect many walks of life that we don't already realise. University tuition fees?, the balance of power in Westminster, even the Olympic games teams.
A brave new world or a foolish bit of mindless nationalism? A nation led by a visionary or sheep following a false prophet on a wave of mindless jingoism?
Who knows? Not me that's for sure.
By the time you read this, the deed will be done, even if the result is not yet know.


text:
In my quirky way I want to put this under the category "Foreign Affairs."
Anyone else wonder why an Opthamologist aka Dr. Salomon Melgen is in the business of donating to Senator Bob Menendez, Hillary Clinton, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz; Florida Republicans Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. He's the lynchpin in this salacious story, but … influence peddling is the likely reason.
- Median expected salary for typical Physician – Opthamology according to Salary.com – $252,000
- Flying elected officials to Casa De Campo for a fun filled excursion – $29,250
- Having Senators and Representatives in your pocket – Priceless!
Maybe a good result of all this. Dominican prostitutes will be more likely to get paid the full monty, I mean money due for services rendered.