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Watch Survivor Redemption Island Season 22 Episode 11: A Mystery Package Online S22e11 Free Stream Megavideo Article by StreamThatSeries Horray!time for another dose of very exciting reality series with lots of twists.You must watch survivor redemption island season 22 episode 11 tonight with a title of “Mystery Package” coz surely this will stir things up on the merge tribe murlonio. But in case you will the episode on your television set at home , just follow through the link here to watch survivor redemption island season 22 episode 11 a mystery package online for free at anyhotstuff.com Here’s some sort or recaps and tidbits for last week’s episode: 5. Rice Capades – I don’t really know where to begin with talking about Phillip this week. I know that I certainly don’t want to use the c-word to describe Phillip’s behavior. However, through all of the histrionics in this episode, one thing is clear: You can no longer make the argument that Phillip is playing a game with any sort of strategy. Phillip told us last week that his intention was to get Boston Rob to want Phillip next to him at the end of the game. However, at this point Phillip is not showing any signs that winning this game is his objective at all. Phillip is certainly entitled to having an opinion and feeling the way he does but part of being a good Survivor player is occasionally hiding your feelings in the interests of winning the game. Phillip’s aggressive behavior has all but assured himself a zero percent chance at the million dollars. Even if Phillip makes it to the final three, he would need five votes to win the game. Considering that there will likely be five Zapatera tribe members on the jury, this incident is going to stick to Phillip like a certain color on rice. 4. The Great Divide – Besides for Phillip, I think the most unique thing about this season of Survivor is the lack of a merge. Oh, it technically happened, but this is the only season of Survivor I can remember where the merged tribe not only has a separate alliance but separate shelters and separate food rations too. Actually, this isn’t that uncommon, I know a lot of people in bad marriages who live the same way. The big question going forward will be how much will the Zapateras hold Boston Rob accountable for being shut out to this degree? Phillip has done a lot to take the heat off of Rob but don’t be surprised if at the end of the game, the Zapatera tribe continues to act as a group and completely vote together for whomever treated them best – which is why I maintain one of the three Ometepe women have a great shot to win this game. 3. Saving Sheppard – This season, I have spent much more time breaking down Boston Rob’s decisions in the game than any of the other players. In my opinion, Rob has far more control in this game than any other Survivor may have had at this point in history. Since Rob is controlling the vote, did Rob make the right move by keeping Phillip this week? On the one hand, he realizes that getting rid of Phillip would end a lot of the drama around camp and may even create some goodwill among the remaining Zapateras. Instead, Rob chose to keep Phillip around for another week and I agree with his decision. Phillip Sheppard is the best thing that happened to Boston Rob this season because Phillip’s distractions keep everybody from thinking about the game. When Phillip is going off about rice, feathers or kung fu, nobody is ever asking themselves about their position in the tribe or some big move they’re going to make – and that’s exactly how Boston Rob wants it to be. 2. Tribal Counseling – It was no surprise that the feud between Phillip and Steve spilled over in to this week’s tribal council. I thought that Jeff Probst showed why he is the best host on television by exploring both sides of the debate. What I still don’t understand is what happened to Phillip’s shirt? Has there ever been a Survivor contestant to attend tribal council topless before? Now with Julie gone the prospects seem pretty slim that Phillip will ever find his bathing suit. Phillip now can only hope to win a reward at some point to find the first clue to the hidden bathing suit. 1. Three’s Company – This week we had our first ever three-way duel on Redemption Island, which ended in Mike and Matt moving on and David getting eliminated. I think the top 2 people advancing at Redemption Island seems like it would help Matt in his quest to return to the game since it seems unlikely he would ever come in last (unless the duel involved having a strategy of some sort). Unfortunately, it looks like Redemption Island is starting to really take its toll on Matt. In Matt’s prayers he says that he doesn’t want to be on Survivor anymore but is simply carrying out God’s will. You would think that having an extra person on Redemption Island might help cheer Matt up a little bit, but apparently Mike Chisel isn’t that great of a roommate. What you waiting for, watch Survivor: Redemption Island season 22 Episode 11 a Mystery Package Survivor: Redemption Tropical isle Year twenty-two Event 11: We all Can’t stand A lot of our Tribe is currently approaching globally regarding tv set landscape an important subject due to this usually are We all Dislike Much of our Tribe. So that it signifies usual account a single tribe has long been dislike other tribe the reason why? Inside the landscape with the Survivor: Redemption Tropical isle Month or year twenty-two Show 11 On line aboard just what occur inside this landscape. He together with Kristina duel at Redemption Island. On the Ometepe campy, tribe unity commences to help you out unravel. Thus test in order to savor Survivor: Redemption Tropical isle Length twenty-two Show 11 online. Survivor: Redemption Tropical area Period twenty-two Show 11:. Of which CBS Survivor: Redemption Tropical isle 22?11 show on tv alongside subject We all Can’t stand Many of our Tribe Survivor: Redemption Tropical isle Season twenty-two Event 11: EVERY Puzzle Deal. This particular CBS Survivor: Redemption Tropical isle 22?11 show on tv combined with subject ANY Puzzle Package deal shown about Saturday, Annual percentage rates 29 2011 for 08: 00 EVENING HOURS. This can be a new conclusion regarding Survivor: Redemption Tropical isle Year or so twenty-two Event 11: VIRTUALLY ANY Puzzle Deal: About Redemption Tropical isle, He will be having a mechanical disappointment, one more castaway will be voted through your video game. Previous shows: Episode 10 “Rice Wars” Phillip and also Steve clash. Episode 9 “The Colleague System” Rob tries to be able to secure an Ometepe connections, but Grant may really do the one to jeopardize the item. Survivor is an American version of this Survivor reality television sport show, itself derived from the Swedish television series Journey Robinson originally created in 1997 by Charlie Parsons. This series premiered on May perhaps 31, 2000 on CBS. It can be hosted by veteran television system personality, reporter and one-time performance show emcee Jeff Probst, who might be also an executive designer, and also executive that is caused by Mark Burnett and main creator Charlie Parsons. WATCH HERE : Watch Survivor: Redemption Island Season 22 Episode 11 The show maroons a small grouping strangers (as one or longer tribes) in a destitute locale, where they ought to provide food, water, open fire, and shelter for themselves, while competing in challenges to earn either a reward, or an immunity from expulsion from the game yearly of the successive votes for elimination. While a great deal rarer than elimination by vote, medical conditions, such as injury or infection, need eliminated several contestants. The last 2 or three survivors face a jury historically made from at least the final seven players voted shut off. That jury interrogates one last few, and then votes for those winner of the distinction of Sole Survivor in addition to a million dollar prize. The first U. S. season of Survivor followed identical general format as the particular Swedish series, but, subsequently, the show has introduced several twists over the core rules to keep the players on their toes and prevent players from influenced by strategies that succeeded with prior seasons. These alters have included tribal buttons, seasons starting with well over two tribes, the abil vity to exile a gamer from a tribe for a few days, and hidden immun ity idols that players are able to use to save themselves for tribal council. Season 22 It season’s cast features typically the return of Rob MICHAEL. and Russell. This is Russell’s third time for the show and Rob METERS. ‘s fourth. It is the very first time in the show’s hist ory that your cont estant has played several individual times. This per iod also feat ures two past NFL players (Grant and also Steve). CBS today annou nced 16 of 18 castaw ays who will compete against each additi onal on SURV IVOR: REDEMPTI ON TROPICAL ISLAND, when the Em my Award-win ning series returns as for the 22nd season, Wednesday, February. 16 (8: 00-9: 00 EVENING, ET/PT) on the CBS Video Network. Two of your 18 cas taways, to be reve aled later this 7-day period, are form er casta ways who will return to seek redemption. This edition of SURVI VOR will include a new twist when, for when, castaways who have been elimi nated th rough the ga me will have possibi lity to seek rede mption and re turn for the opport unity to win the mil lion mone tary prize. Each week at Tribal Coun cil beca use a cast away is vot ed from, they will be brou ght to an isola ted isl and gen erally known as “Rede mption Isla nd, ” where they ‘ll live alo ne in ex ile. To last on Redempt ion Isla nd, they must com pete in a duel about the next person elimin ated wit hin Tr ibal Cou ncil and pumped to the Island. The winner of each duel earns an appro priate to contin ue figh ting for ena ble you to retu rn to the game and the chance to compete for the subj ect of Sole Sur vivor; the part icular los er is sent hou se. The bat tle unfolds in Nica ragua where 18 casta ways will pos sibly be divi ded into two Trib es of nine: the Omet epe Tr ibe and then the Zapatera Tribe. The tr ibes are derived from indivi duals fro m all dif ferent bac kgrounds aid ed by the same ultimate goal: for being the Sole Survi vor. While 16 of yo ur cont estants are new to the competi tion, two are former castaways that will be gi ven an other opportu nity to com pete for the million dollar prize andf the other last shot at redem ption. About the Author Watch FULL EPISODE here for Free
‘Silent Hill: Revelation 3D’ Review As far as sub-literate, incomprehensible pieces of garbage are concerned, ‘Silent Hill: Revelation 3D‘ is one of the year’s best. With an asinine plot, risible dialogue and atrocious acting, this sequel to a half-remembered video game adaptation still manages to provide a great number of base thrills with its nightmarish imagery. As such it is a quagmire of dread both within and without, disturbing to watch and to think about. This makes for a strange alchemy: in time you identify with the lead character (a young woman in peril) not because you are engaged with the film, but because enduring such an atrocity becomes its own act of survival. How ’bout that for a neat trick, eh? Which isn’t to say ‘Silent Hill: Revelation 3D’ isn’t gorgeous to look at. I have almost no recollection of the first film, other than a handful of striking images. That’s back again: the snow, walls of skin, faceless undead, buildings disintegrating into ash, contorted mannequins and an enormous bruiser with a metal pyramid over its head. Whether popping out of shadows for jump-scares or merely lined up in a tableaux, they are creepy and mysterious and get under your skin more so, frankly, than any other disturbing images in a mainstream horror film released this year. Even the “normal” scenes, the blue collar town and its mundane interiors, are saturated with bright, bold colors. There’s such a fine attention to the look (and sound, if your theater has nice speakers) it is shocking that the filmmakers would allow such truly wretched dialogue. It’s just a few scenes in, when Sean Bean is having some sort of flashback with the previous film’s Radha Mitchell, where the belly laughs come. The words trip from their mouths like when little kids pretend at acting in a classical play. But in time you’ll put together that our lead, young Adelaide Clemens (playing 17 but, no offense, she could pass for 32) [Ed. note: she's 22] must not ever, ever, ever go to the mysterious town of Silent Hill. This is made abundantly clear. Yet when strange creatures begin following her, such as twitching, skinned, faceless creatures and, worse, Martin Donovan in a ruffled raincoat, loose tie and dirty hat, it’s only a matter of time before she hits the road. Ostensibly she’s searching for her father (Bean) who is tied up in some ‘Flash Gordon’-ish chamber, but she’ll quickly discover that her visit will lead to an epic battle between good and evil, summoning a dormant spirit and…I dunno…there’s something to do with a giant coin that, when shoved into Malcolm McDowell’s chest does something to unleash….something. Even with Jon Snow from ‘Game of Thrones‘ hammering us with exposition in a really strange Canadian accent (though the film is set within a night’s drive of West Virginia,) I’m fairly certain that there is no one person out there that can explain the entirety of the baffling plot to ‘Silent Hill: Revelation 3D.’ I’m sure the video game purists will delight in all the boxes that need to be ticked before elevating to the next level; the rest of us will just wonder where the hell they’re running now. The thing is that with better acting and a reevaluation of the script, you could almost take this movie seriously. Many of the scenes have a ‘Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me’ vibe, but whereas David Lynch will intentionally derail the narrative to evoke an uncomfortable response, ‘Silent Hill: Revelation 3D’ does it all au naturale. The overall disconnect (one minute an atmospheric ‘Carnival of Souls,’ the next minute unreleasable trash) is something that, I must confess, I enjoyed, but that is because I admire the occasional baffling moviegoing experience. Your mileage up this hill, as they say, may vary. ‘Silent Hill: Revelation 3D’ is now playing in theaters. Jordan Hoffman is a writer, critic and lapsed filmmaker living in New York City. His work can also be seen on Film.com, Badass Digest and StarTrek.com.
All branches of the Imperial War Museum are commemorating the 70th anniversary of 1940 - the year which saw the introduction of rationing; Winston Churchill come to power; the evacuation of Dunkirk; the Battle of Britain; and the Blitz - with a range of special exhibitions, events and engaging online content. Whether you’d like to attend an air show at Imperial War Museum Duxford, want to review the new Explore History 1940 display at Imperial War Museum London, or are simply seeking background information on the momentous events of 1940, members of the press can find all relevant information on this page. Press releases For information on any of the 1940 anniversary events or exhibitions taking place at the Imperial War Museum, please refer to one of the press releases below: The Imperial War Museum Commemorates 1940, ‘Britain’s Finest Hour’ Imperial War Museum Duxford Commemorates the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain Duxford in May: Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (Saturday 15 May) and Spring Air Show (Sunday 16 May) A Snapshot of Life at Duxford: Duxford in the Battle of Britain Photography Exhibition Explore History at Imperial War Museum London, from 21 May 2010 1940s Activities at the Churchill War Rooms Images and Film A selection of high-resolution images, complete with captions and copyright information, is available to download from Pictures for Press. For broadcast-quality film, get in touch directly with one of the Museum’s press offices who can provide a selection of archive and contemporary content on DVD. Contacts If you can’t find what you’re looking for above, please contact one of the Museum’s press offices: Imperial War Museum London, Ellie Farrell: 020 7416 5497, efarrell@iwm.org.uk Churchill War Rooms and HMS Belfast, Nicola Osmond-Evans: 020 7416 5316, nosmond-evans@iwm.org.uk Imperial War Museum Duxford, Esther Blaine: 01223 499 320, eblaine@iwm.org.uk Imperial War Museum North, Alex Knight: 0161 836 4040, aknight@iwm.org.uk
Yep – It’s Another Do I Have To Dance All Night Post Sometime in the past 24 hours, the Heck Of A Guy-produced Do I Have To Dance All Night video1 passed 30,000 views (see above screenshot). (The Heck Of A Guy video of the 1980 version of Do I Have To Dance All Night has logged 9,663 views.) Cue the festivities: Woo Hoo After all, 30,000 views on YouTube, a site where videos displaying cats performing cuteness beneath misspelled captions ring up millions of views isn’t much to email home about. In fact, while an unbiased self-assessment may be intrinsically impossible, my best efforts in that spirit would hold that the personal significance of reaching this YouTube milestone breaks down to - Self-adulatory braggadocio – 20% - Rationalization for publishing yet another post about Do I Have To Dance All Night – 80% Indeed, spreading the awareness of Do I Have To Dance All Night, Leonard Cohen’s dandy, underappreciated song has become a moral imperative for this site. The title of the first Heck Of A Guy post featuring this song (on July 6th, 2006) is revelatory: Do I Have To Dance All Night – The Best Leonard Cohen Song You’ve (Probably) Never Heard, I could then legitimately report … even someone who was a Big Leonard Cohen Fan probably hadn’t heard Do I Have To Dance All Night,2AKA The Best Leonard Cohen Song You’ve (Probably) Never Heard, unless he or she were 1. A Big Leonard Cohen Fan who went to the right concerts in the late ’70s or 2. A Big Leonard Cohen Fan who bought his or her 45s in Central Europe or 3..2 Indeed, Do I Have To Dance All Night was and continues to be available only as a seven inch single that was originally recorded at a 1976 concert in Paris and pressed in Holland for sale in Central European countries.3 And, I have repeatedly pointed out that this is a great, altogether wonderful Leonard Cohen. Heck Of A Guy hosts items about the semi-funky 1976 version of the song with Laura Branigan and the 1980 more gypsy, less disco rendition, videos constructed for both of these versions (1976 Do I Have To Dance All Night Video and 1980 Do I Have To Dance All Night Video), a groom singing Do I Have To Dance All Night at his wedding reception, a Christmas download of a MP3 of the song, and 30+ more. So, 30,000 views of a song by a singer routinely said to have a cult following, a song that singer most recently performed over 30 years ago, a song that was only briefly released in 1976 as a 7 inch single in central Europe, a song that existed on the 2006 iteration of the internet in obscure bootlegs and as a single, hideously flawed MP3 in file-sharing systems … ain’t bad. The crusade continues. Leonard Cohen – Do I Have To Dance All Night (1976 version) - Do I Have To Dance All Night is also the 1st Heck Of A Guy video; there are currently more than 4o such videos dealing with Leonard Cohen. [↩] - According to the Wikipedia, “Cohen wanted to include “Misty Blue”/”Do I Have to Dance All Night” as a free bonus single with the [Recent Songs] LP, but Columbia, his record company, rejected the idea.” [↩] - Do I Have To Dance All Night is Side A on the single; Side B features “The Butcher,” which is available on the Songs From a Room album. [↩] I agree, it is an addictive song. Very sexy. I wonder if LC ever hums it to himself?
I’ve never seen Meatworks full before in the numerous times that I’ve passed by it. Was a bit skeptical about the food, but when I finally tried it out, I’m pleased to report that they do a pretty good steak! Service was also pretty decent, even though I’ve read several reviews that mention otherwise. The steak that I ordered was the Hanging Tender $26 and it lived up to its name. Every bite was really flavourful yet tender. The only thing I didn’t like was the herb butter which I chose. I think if given the choice again, I would go for the Cabernet Sauvignon Mushroom sauce. Come to think of it, it should have been common sense to order that sauce, but I was kind of hoping that the butter would be special too. But given that the steak is so heavy already, you don’t really want more fats via the butter. On the whole, still one of the best steaks I’ve had for this price range. The Partner had the Ribeye. He was looking for grassfed Ribeye, but the only grassfed option was for the Sirloin which he doesn’t like. still, it was a tasty Ribeye and I enjoyed stealing bits of it too. The steak fries were also very good, crispy just the way I like it. Definitely going to come back again to Meatworks. But a huge grouse is that they don’t serve alcohol! Something along the lines of them wanting to be Halal, so the waitress said. To intensify the pain, they haven’t actually removed the alcohol page from the menu!You have to go to the supermarket on the same floor to get the wine if you need some, and corkage is charged at $20 per bottle. Steak really tastes loads better when you have a glass of wine in hand. And for some reason, I really was hankering for a glass after all that energy spent on shopping earlier. We plodded through without the wine, but certainly for the next round, I will buy a bottle or sneak one in! MeatWorks ION Orchard 2 Orchard Turn #04-12 Singapore 238801 T +65 6634 0026 F +65 6634 8901 E talktous@meatworks.com.sg
Rhonda D. McLaughlin vs Bank of America – Sandusky Woman Sues Bank of America Over “Robo-” Foreclosure Since we are on the subject of BOA today, here is another little gem… Sandusky woman sues bank over “robo-” foreclosure A Sandusky woman filed a lawsuit Wednesday claiming the foreclosure of her North Larchmont Drive home was spurred on by “robo-signing,” where bank employees signed affidavits without bothering to review documents. Rhonda D. McLaughlin filed her lawsuit against Bank of America, N.A., and Rhonda Weston, a vice president of Bank of America. Fannie Mae and Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray also are named as defendants in the suit. Sandusky attorney Dan McGookey, a foreclosure specialist, is McLaughlin’s attorney. It may be the first lawsuit filed in the U.S. by a private citizen seeking to undo an already completed foreclosure on grounds that a robo-signer was used, McGookey said. McLaughlin lived at 1608 North Larchmont Drive in Sandusky when Bank of America foreclosed on the home in 2007. McLaughlin, still a Sandusky resident, lost the home when Erie County Common Pleas Court Judge Roger Binette granted a motion for summary judgment in 2008. The summary judgment was based on an affidavit from Weston, who said McLaughlin was in default on her mortgage. Binette has been assigned McLaughlin’s new lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges Weston was a “robo-signer” who didn’t actually review documents she referred to in her affidavit. The suit cites news stories that say robo-signers signed thousands of affidavits each month without reviewing the mortgage documents, while banks tried to rush through as many foreclosures as possible. The lawsuit refers to an Associated Press citing court depositions from a Florida attorney, who said employees at Bank of America and other banks commonly approved phony paperwork. “Until now, only a handful of depositions from robo-signers have come to light,” said the Oct. 12 news story. “But the sheer volume of the new depositions will make it more difficult for financial institutions to argue that robo-signing was an aberrant practice in a handful of rogue back offices.” McLaughlin’s lawsuit asks for Fannie Mae, now the owner of the North Larchmont Drive home, to give the home back to McLaughlin. It seeks $50,000 in damages and other costs and fees. You can check out the rest of the report here… And you can check out the complaint below… ~ 4closureFraud.org ~ Rhonda D. McLaughlin vs Bank of America I have an “Assignment” of the Security Deed only by MERS to BOA signed and dated May of 2008 and a letter from BOA in May of 2009 which states BOA was “seeking ownership but did not yet possess” an interest in the property and instructions to “get out of the house….” MERS recorded this “Assignment” of the Security Deed ONLY in Sept 2010 and BOA then performed a non judicial sale of the property in October 2010 based on MERS assignment—–not an assignment by the original lender American Home Mortgage. The President of BOA cannot produce the original note or an assignment of the note by the original lender and foreclosed and took possession of the property without EVER recording anything on the land records here Can you say: “Fraud?” The documents themselves do not “sync” and in GA MERS cannot be a trustee, mortgagee, or act independently of written instructions and said docs recorded….. I am pretty close to filing against BOA and MERS—-American Home Mortgage is defunct—so I don’t know who really owns my property, p note or security deed…. The courts have to rule on these things. Pissed Off European ‘Lynch Mob’ Is Coming After Bank Of America you just made me laugh… I have to read that WESTON could not have been a VP in 2007. I have a document that list ALL BAC “ROBO” SIGNORS on a interoffice memo ( or what looks to be ) whereby RHONDA WESTON WAS NOT certified VP by the CORPORATION until 8/7/2009. This document could be a get-out-of-jail free card for some people who falsified AFFIDAVITS! My comments are redacted, this case has that document for BofA ROBO’S. Observation…….how could WESTON have claimed VP before the designation was affirmed by corporate in 2008 over a year before? Why did attorney not provide a “CHAIN OF TITLE ” ? I think this one is in the Barn for Plaintiff! Good Luck! do you or anyone else have a copy of the paper that she was not certified as a vp. i would love a copy! thanks!! Good posts!!! This is Foreclosure Terrorism. It seems obvious that the judges are lining their pockets and looking the other way. How do you define treason? Well one way would be to say that anyone, any company, any court, any entity that willfully supports Fraud on a scale as massive as this which actually puts children in the streets is directly involved with these crimes against American Home Owners. I call that treason. Where is the FBI in all of this? They just now started making arrests in a handful of cases. But this has been going on for years. What happened to law in this country? It was bought and paid for by the Wall Street Banksters. Spineless politicians are also lining their pockets to look the other way. It is no coincidence that they can’t seem to find a law to stop any of this. It is not possible that they are that incompetent. There are obviously billions in bribes going to the useless bastards who get a nice house on the hill while putting children in the streets. Stop voting Republican or Democrat. They have demonstrated that they are equally involved. It’s time to clean house. We need Joe American in the White House. A child could run a better country and still have time to play in the sandbox after lunch. J Glenn Lowe – Die Banker Die – Agreed Glenn!! This is most certainly treason, and should come under the heading of “Crimes Against Humanity”. Neither republican nor democrat is innocent in this mess. This is very interesting. I’m guessing that she won’t be the last person to try this. And why shouldn’t she? If a bank did not have the proper paper work? If they forged documents? If these “Vice-Presidents” that are attesting to the authenticity of these documents are just poor, temp-employees that are signing because it’s either that or go broke and starve? If all of this “stuff” (that’s the polite word) the banks are using as proof, is all fales, then why should we or the banks just assume that they have the legal right to take anyone’s private property. I get so ANGRY! when I hear paid shills for the banks get on the radio or TV saying that we should just assume that the banks have a right even if they have been caught forging documents and lying to courts of law.
It just seemed so celebratory at first. After rain and a backlog of matches, the Sony Ericsson decided to pluck Kim Clijsters and Ana Ivanovic from the main stage and instead put them on Court 2. Delighted fans cheered at their luck, convinced they were waiting for the conclusion of a doubles match involving Nuria Llagostera Vives. The players were jovial, too, laughing as they walked onto the tiny court; they almost looked like dolls too big for their playhouse. In the first set it seemed everyone was getting used to the surroundings, including the crowd. Clijsters fell hard early on and everyone screamed and then chuckled in embarrassment for the outburst. They gasped when Ivanovic hit a laser forehand and seemed concerned when Clijsters hit some of her signature splits. It was tennis’ version of keeping it real. The level was very high in the first set. Although not the most entertaining points, many rallies ended quickly with a winner and both women held serve throughout fairly easily. Clijsters knows how to win much better than Ivanovic these days and she closed out the set in a tiebreak. In the second with Ivanovic up 2-0, I thought about the difference between 3-0 and 2-1. Clijsters was broken in the first serving at 2-0 and it changed the set; Ivanovic held for 3-0 and pretty much rolled through the second. Funny thing about Clijsters: when she drops her level, she becomes an amateur. She lost her timing, seemed confused on the court, sprayed balls well out or mishit them so badly they landed at the service line on her side of the court. Ivanovic took the set 6-3. The third set was all about focus. Ivanovic had it; Clijsters didn’t. The result? A quick 5-1 lead for Ivanovic and 0-40 on Clijsters’ serve. Done, right? Wrong. Typically at this point you see kids with large balls making their way to the front of the court. It’s not really possible on Court 2 but we did get a rush of photographers who swooped in to catch match point. And the newest vulture out there, Cari Champion from Tennis Channel suddenly emerged, ready to do her on-court interview. But focus changed quickly. We’ve seen this before from both women and usually Kim wins them and Ana doesn’t. All I can say is: it went fast. Truthfully, although there was some nice play at times from both players, it wasn’t really a thrilling match until it became about nerves. Ivanovic couldn’t hit through five match points; Kim only needed one at 6-5 in the tiebreak to win it. Poor Ana. I thought parties were supposed to be fun?
Glenn Beck is at it again with his strange Utopian dreams of "how America is supposed to be." Living in his own little fantasy world, he has let his naive fascination with Ayn Rand and his loose grasp on reality convince himself that he could start the country from scratch and make it work. Thus, we learned today of Glenn Beck's plan for Independence, America. Announced on his show and reported on by Mike Krumboltz of Yahoo News, "Beck-town USA" will be a self-sustaining community of real Americans, and I can only assume it will be located somewhere between Brigadoon and Shangri-La. This paradise will allow all the John Galts of America to escape the progressive hell they currently occupy, and it will also free them from the horrors of consumer culture. Apparently, Glenn Beck has some contempt for successful American corporations like The Gap and Ann Taylor, as he plans to ban them from his Eden, saying "if you want the Gap or Ann Taylor, go someplace else." Beck-ville is supposed to be self-sustaining - like the hippie communes of the 1960s - for it will also feature a ranch where people will "grow food" and "teach others" how to grow food. Hmmm. Sounds like Glenn Beck is going a little Mao Ze Dong on the country. Perhaps all Beck-ville-ites will smelt their own iron and sew their own cotton into their own clothes as well. These happy little "nationalists (?)" will be entertained, of course, by shows featuring Glenn Beck running the Beck media center. I'd imagine that HBO and ESPN and Hollywood films will be unavailable because they are all products of the commie elite in this country. Sounds like a great little paradise that Beck has plans for. Where it will be, I'm not sure. However, I'd bet the states of Mississippi or Alabama would love to be freed from the chains of all the federal aid they currently receive. Or perhaps Beck could just convince the state of Texas to secede with him. This isn't the first time that Glenn Beck has revealed a colossal misunderstanding of history and economics. Last time, he stole from Founding Father Thomas Paine and bastardized the classic tome Common Sense. Of course, I don't think Glenn Beck really has a plan for his utopia. However, he is all but too happy to sell a bunch of Republican conservatism to under-educated or ideologically naive people for a nice little profit. 1 comment: If you're interested in joining a real libertarian community with a proven track record, check out the Free State Project. freestateproject.org/fsn42
Adalyn and mommy goofing around. She had so much fun making faces. After A went to bed, Cayden got some mommy snuggles. I love this baby boy. Last Monday night Adalyn was sitting on the counter making dinner with me as she does most nights. I took the skillet off of the flat top burner and turned my head for one second and she put her hand on the burner. It was horrible. I've never seen her in such pain. Her cry was horrible and I felt horrible. I called the Dr after hours and she didn't feel that we needed to go to the ER. We finally got A calmed down and she ate a little dinner. We had mini cupcakes in the house so we gave her one after dinner to help her feel better. I think it helped. What do you think? She decided eating her cupcake with no hands was better than eating it with one hand. (She did the same thing for her birthday cupcake.) Funny girl. She has big blisters the length of each finger still. Poor thing. She's so not a complainer tho. We went to the Dr the next day and she gave us a rx for burn cream and A lets us put it on her and has been good about keeping a sock over her hand to protect it. Sweet babies. I love these two and how much they love each other. On Sunday Adalyn went and found her sunglasses in the junk drawer and put them on her head to wear them around. I guess she's seen mommy do that. Jonathan and I couldn't believe how old she looked. Even her little pose in this picture... She's growing up! I always give Adalyn a "pony" on the top of her head. But I had never tried to give her a real pony tail with all of her hair. I put this in on Sunday and she loved it and showed me her pony and then would point to mine. This didn't help with how old she was looking that day!! We've had a bit of TV drama. VERY long story short, our old TV was an extremely good TV that we got an amazing deal on 3 years ago. For a few months it's been acting weird to the point that we have to unplug and replug it to get it to work. We had purchased the extended protection plan at Best Buy (usually a waste of money but we got our monies worth out of it!) and had it serviced 4 times without any good results so Best Buy put us in for a replacement. We took both kids to run into the store to pick out our new TV. It turned into multiple hours in the store. They delivered the TV the next weekend and from the moment it was on the wall we both absolutely hated it. I know it's petty because it was a 52 inch flat screen TV. We shouldn't complain about teeny tiny things like how crisp the picture, color and sound were, but we felt like we had given up our amazing old tv that we still loved for a piece of crap. We went back and did an exchange and waited till the next weekend for our new TV to be delivered yet again. We went back to our original brand (Samsung) and from the moment we plugged it in we loved it. We were back to the original quality of our old TV. (Guess that wasn't really a "long story short"...more like a "long story".) Adalyn was quite enthralled with the different TV's going on and off the wall and the Best Buy guys delivering the new TVs. She even tried to help her daddy hang the new TV so I had to get pictures. She was serious about it. My sweet smiley boy. He is an absolute joy. I love him so much! He has found his voice and his tongue. He's constantly talking and squawking and blowing raspberries now. I think he's trying to compete with his sister because he is LOUD! :) 6 comments: That pony tail is too cute and she does look grown up! I want our babies back! Hope A's hand heals soon! Yay for a new TV! Pictures are the best and that's really all that matters. I remember not having much time at all, but I do have a ton of pictures to look back on! :) I hope her burn is better.. that is so scary! K got burned on her bottom really, really bad when she was little all from going down a hot slide in her bathing suit. So just an FYI, always check slides in the summertime. I know after that everyone I know does, including K. Ack! I can't believe my baby girl is getting so old! The picture of her with her pony tail reminds me so much of Kennedy. Where did our baby girl go? Ok. I totally get the tv scenario.. my hubs feels the same way about picture quality, etc. So much so that it takes us months to decide on one! What is that double Sophie thing C is holding? Very interesting! He is flipping adorable and growing too fast. A is precious in her glasses and pony! Poor baby with that hand! Yay...I always love seeing your blog pop up on the reader! :) Thanks for the update. Glad all is going well. Poor A with her hand! I can't imagine the pain {both of you!} where in! :( I'm in lov with Adalyn's pony...precious! Her poor little hand - I imagine that was quite traumatic. Hope she is feeling much better! I love, love all the little faces - those will be so much fun to look at years from now. C is getting so big. I can't believe our babies are going to be 1/2 year old soon - how did that happen?
And I had Crazy Retired Man Auditing Classes ---- did I tell you the funny stories about him? remind me to tell you about his rant about aliens. No, I'm not kidding. But he was a sweetheart and as long as you could keep him on track he made a lot of good contributions to the class ---- well, he was taking a pottery class along with mine and he made me a mug! See? It is currently decorating my office, but I don't trust his glazing skills enough to actually use it. That's ok; it's pretty. And it makes me want to take cool pottery classes every time I look at it. This semester I have a different little sweetheart, who is out and proud and not only willing to step up and testify on that front but also bring up issues of race and social justice in the class, which is awesome. And he catches whatever little risque jokes or off-color puns I accidentally make but I don't feel like I'm about to get into trouble. A while back he asked me some questions after class --- those questions that don't really seem to have a point except for the subtext of "I like you!" --- And I have been there with that awkward I-don't-know-what-to-say-to-a-favorite-teacher-but-I-don't-want-the-class-to-be-over situation and totally love that. So the next day he dropped by my office hours with a big plastic shopping bag. "Dr. Cog, I just wanted to give this to you!" Awwwwww. So I opened it up, and found ... Hmm. On the one hand, I totally appreciate this. And I drank them, so it's not like I am worried he was poisoning me or anything. Every day I'd open one and go "sweet! I don't have to spend any money on my caffeine habit!" But I also, because I have to overthink everything, wonder if this is making some sort of comment on me, or on my caffeine habit or weight or something. But no! Stop this! Just drink your damn gifts and revel in the fact that you were offered them. If they start offering me whiskey to mix with it, that's when I know I have a problem. 4 comments: One former student gave me a big jug of homemade maple syrup. :) (Her family makes maple syrup, along with growing farm stuff.) WAY COOL! And soooo yummy! I'm still waiting for the Porsche and the diamonds. /nod This is all so so sweet. Well, except for the anaphylactic death part. Oh, just enjoy the goodies. My first - and certainly most memorable - was a bag of comfort food: mac & cheese, diet coke, cookies, candy bars - from a student in one of my very first classes. She brought it by when she found out I was prepping for my MA exams, along with best wishes from all the friends she'd met in that class. I've had the occasional student give me perfume or scented lotions, which have a less-dramatic version of the effect of coconut on you (headache, not anaphylactic shock), but nothing more interesting than that. I sort of like the idea that he actually observed your habits and came up with something that fit them (well, at least until he shows up on your doorstep at midnight one night, but that doesn't seem likely).
Making noise in the land of well produced internet shorts is the acclaimed comedy film series PERIODS., a collection of improv comedy bits primarily based on different eras in human history created and directed by Victor Quinaz. With a special (and hilarious) guest appearance by White Collar’s Willie Garson, their latest short, awesomely entitled FOPS, represents the best three and a half minutes this gang of hooligans has come up with yet – just in time for Bastille Day this weekend. Keep reading if you like delicious cakes … FOPS is obviously a sendup of COPS. Only this time the chase involves a couple of gungho peasants (Matt Hobby and Philip Quinaz) hunting down decadent cake and candy inhaling richies armed with nothing but some of that homemade piss and vinegar spray everybody was carrying around back in the days of the French Revolution. There’s even a snitching hillbilly fop (Brian Shoaf) who gladly gives up the head cake-eater (Garson) hiding out in the woodlands . WATCH FOPS below and take a gander at Garson’s scene-stealing turn as the strung out King getting caught with icing on his lip. The PERIODS. crew has been doing it and doing it well for a while now, starting with the almost instantly viral PILGRIMS. The series is co-created by Quinaz’s wife Anna Martemucci and usually stars his brother Philip Quinaz, both from whom a large portion of the hilarity originates. Featured in the The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Film Independent, and on Funny or Die, they have quickly become known for taking on serious subjects such as the rich and their problem with cake abuse, Ponce de Leon, pillaging and raping, religion and lesbians, and the classic film Deer Hunter (we feel that NAM is the golden sleeper egg of the entire series). Shot in the style of a reality show with a historical twist, this is done with the kind of deceptively intelligent, slow burning improvised humor that will still resonate a week later when you remember the image of Philip Quinaz stroking his own nipples in the midst of foliage. If you don’t believe us check out Adam’s (of Adam and Eve) apple ball-gag in RE: CREATION. (The wigs in that are amazing, by the way.) While you’re doing that see what his homey God has to say about … whatever. Always these shorts are released with some timely relevance. Like with FOPS and Bastille Day. While we’re pretty sure only the French care about this upcoming day (or even know what it is, really) we still have to give the PERIODS. crew props for their ingenious ploy for attention. Actor Zachary Quinto might have something to do with all the buzz as well. His name is attached to the series as occasional co-star and regular producer with his company Before The Door Pictures in association with Robinson Film, Inc., and Nomadic Films. There are big things on the horizons for these guys, including a feature film produced by Anonymous Content and Before The Door Pictures that is due out sometime this fall. Quinto will also be in attendance to introduce the PERIODS. short series with Quinaz and Martemucci at the Hollyshorts Film Festival on August 9th. In the meantime, ‘God’ commands you to go watch all the shorts and subscribe to the PERIODS. Films channel on Youtube for more tomfoolery involving fabulous wigs and costumes with just a skotch of controversy thrown in. All the jokes about a woman’s time of the month aside, we dig the pantaloons out of it. Period.
Hmmm… It seems I should re-name heirloom·modern. Maybe, Heirloom Tomato Modern? Of the now five entries in this occasional editorial feature, three are for tomato soup. Why? I have no idea. Perhaps in the past tomato soups were more flexible, more interesting, more varied. Or, maybe I just really like tomato soup! heirloom·modern: Eldress Hall’s 1907 Shaker Tomato Bisque What was the occasion that called for yet another tomato soup? I had just pulled “the best thing ever to come out of my kitchen” from the oven, and while it was cooling I realised I needed a simple foil for this “best thing.” I didn’t feel like running to the market, my brain felt wibbly from hunger and exertion, I wanted something quick and easy. I poked my head in the fridge. Aha! A carton of Pomis! I poked my nose in The Best Of Shaker Cooking. Aha! A simple tomato bisque! (The Shakers are so reliable for simple, quick recipes). Et voila! Dinner was decided. There are three recipes for tomato soup in this amazing book, but this one from Frances Hall intrigued me with its inclusion of baking soda. Although she is not noted as being a member of the faithful at Hancock Village, this reference leads me to believe that Frances Hall was actually the last eldress of this beautiful village that is now a working museum (and definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area, A. because it didn’t bore me as a 7th grader on a field trip and B. There’s an amazing restaurant there). And what of the baking soda? As near as I can figure it added a delicate lightness to this soup which would be very, very necessary if you followed the original recipe which calls for 1 quart of milk (most likely whole and with cream back then) and 1/2 cup of heavy cream! I did not follow those measurements and, after tasting the soup sans dairy and realising it tasted just like Campbell’s, embarked on some very necessary modernising. I cut down on the dairy, added some garlic and tossed in some slightly spicy, seductively smoky Spanish pimenton de la vera. The pepper added such a lovely, almost bacon-y flavor. Utterly delicious! And what is “the best thing ever to come out of my kitchen?” You’ll just have to stay tuned til tomorrow (or snoop around on my flickr page, should be pretty obvious from there). Head below the jump for my adaptation of Eldress Hall’s Tomato Bisque. heirloom·modern: Eldress Hall’s 1907 Shaker Tomato Bisque prep time: 5 minutes ~ cooking time: 20 minutes - 1 tsp Butter - 1 tsp Flour - 3 cups Tomato Puree - heaping 1/4 tsp Baking Soda (the recipe called for 1/3 tsp, but I don’t have one of those, so I just used a heaping 1/4 tsp) - 2 tsps Salt - 1 tsp Sugar - Lemon Juice - 2 cloves Garlic, minced - 1/2 tsp (or to taste) Pimenton de la Vera - 2 cups Milk Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low to medium heat. Add the flour and cook gently for 2 minutes or until the flour is cooked. Add the tomato puree. Stir to incorporate. Add the salt, sugar and baking soda. Stir to incorporate. Simmer 5 minutes. Taste. Adjust seasoning. Add a dash of lemon juice if the soup is too sweet. Add the minced garlic and Pimenton. Stir to incorporate. Allow the soup to cook another 10 minutes. In another small pan heat the milk. Do not allow it to boil. When the milk is just warm add it to the tomato mixture, stir to incorporate and serve immediately, piping hot, preferably with some freshly made buttered bread. And don’t forget to Shaker your plate! (Not that I have any fear you won’t!) I´m just about to make some tomato soup. Different version, but I´ll use your tip about the milk. Thanks. great recipe! I’ve been looking for a simple tomato soup that’s a bit interesting and this appears to be both those things. Many thanks! I love the way this soup looks–the beautiful red color has my mouth watering. I’ll bet this would be good made with goats’ milk! I’m guessing the baking soda is added to balance the pH and keep the milk from curdling. I have a yummy tomato soup recipe of my mom’s that includes it as well. Any chance I could see the original recipe as it was? Riatta — You can buy the book here for as little as $1 here, or you can check it out from your local library. I am not comfortable publishing other people’s copyrighted material on my site. Thanks Ann for the link. I’ve ordered the book. Can’t wait to see how you tweaked the recipe. I’m always a little afraid to eperiment. Oh good Riatta! I hope you love it. There’s so many great recipes in there.
Turning the Research Lens on Ourselves I’m working on a research project again this year exploring the scholarly habits of undergraduate students at my university. One of the methods we’re using to collect data is a mapping diary. We ask students to record all of their movements through the course of one typical school day–time, location and activity–and draw a map to accompany their time logs. Last year’s responses from students at my own campus were fascinating, and I’m looking forward to interviewing this semester’s students when they finish their logs. Many of last year’s participants told me that they really enjoyed the opportunity to reflect on what they do and where they go all day. Now that the semester is firmly underway and things are busy as usual, I wonder whether it might be a good idea to do some research on myself. I’ve often wanted to join the Library Day in the Life project in the past, but it always seems to be scheduled for days that I’m either out on vacation or before the semester has begun (that is, not really a typical day for me). Maybe it’s time for me to pick a day (or week, or month) to record my activities? It’s all too easy to fall into the trap of thinking that there’s not enough time for everything I want to do. Of course that’s true on one level, because no one can do everything, but I also think that we may be less busy than we realize. A post on Prof Hacker over the summer popped into my mind when I was considering this, a review of a book called 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think (168 is the number of hours in a week). The review isn’t completely positive, but does highlight the use of time logging to inject a dose of reality into how we perceive that we spend our time. Judging from my interviews with students last year, this kind of reflection can help with both time management and task prioritization. Though it sounds like more work to add a time log to my to-do list here in the thick of the semester, I think it’s worth a try. And maybe the next time the Library Day in the Life date rolls around I’ll be ready to participate, too. Posted: October 10, 2010 by Maura Smale in Just Thinking. Tags: diary, reflection, research, time log, time management Pingback from Weekly Link Roundup « Posted: October 14, 2010 at 11:04 pm [...] Turning the Research Lens on Ourselves, from ACRLog. [...]
AdaCamp DC, the second conference for women in open technology and culture, wrapped up on Wednesday. About 100 people attended, who lived in at least 10 countries, including Japan, India, Myanmar, Argentina, Spain, Italy, Australia, the UK, Canada, and the US. Ages ranged from 18 years old to over 50. Their open tech/culture fields included Python workshops, soft circuits, fan fiction, Linux, open geographical information, open data, open courseware, and Wikipedia and related projects. Attendees were volunteers, professionals, students, hobbyists, and academics, and came from the government, large corporations, non-profits, volunteer communities, small businesses, and educational institutions. We’re very pleased with the diversity of our attendees. We ran over 65 sessions over 2 days. Session topics included Hands on Hacking, Geek Moms, Women Editing Wikipedia, Burnout and Lifehacking, Fandom, Feminism & Social Change, Soft Circuits, Job Seeker/We’re Hiring!, and Feminist Hackathons, to name just a few. In total, over 40 of the sessions were documented on PiratePad. The Impostor Syndrome session was so popular that it ran in at least three separate sessions. One attendee said, .” One of the most popular sessions was the Python Beginners Workshop in which several attendees learned to program for the first time. “It is hard to do workshops at un-conferences, but you can’t put a price on getting someone in front of a terminal and writing a new line of code. It’s empowering to enable the success of another human being,” said Connie Berardi. Leslie Birch said, “I’m leaving with new tools like IRC, bug trackers and mentor lists. I have a new found desire to reach out to other women that identify as ‘geek’, ‘feminist’ or both.” One popular feature of AdaCamp was the “Wall of Compliments.” The idea is to combat Impostor’s Syndrome and increase everyone’s enjoyment of the conference by writing compliments on sticky notes and adding them to a wall. Other attendees “take a compliment” and either keep them or give them to other people to wear on their badges. Finally, AdaCamp DC got a lot of compliments on the conference food. Rebecca Garcia tweets, “#AdaCampDC You are spoiling us! First Ethiopian food now Lebanese food? :) Best conference food ever.” Sisi Wei writes, “Ethiopian food for lunch? #adacampdc and @adainitiative are putting other conferences’s cuisines to shame.” Remember, bad conference food is a choice, not a requirement! Thank you to everyone who helped make AdaCamp DC a success, starting with our conference organizers, Caroline Simard, Deb Nicholson, Kellie Brownell, NoÃrÃn Shirley, Sarah Stierch, Katie Bechtold, and Denise Paolucci. Thanks especially to Sarah Stierch for organizing the conference dinners, writing a dining guide for DC, helping arrange photography, and spreading the word about AdaCamp DC and the various travel scholarships available to AdaCamp DC attendees. Selena Deckelmann also helped arrange photography, organized the sessions, and gave the organizers general assistance. Gayle Karen Young graciously offered to facilitate our feedback sessions and offered various organizational resources. Katie Bechtold was our eyes and hands on the ground in Washington, DC. We thank all of our day-of volunteers who ran registration and helped with setup and cleanup. Finally, we thank everyone who attended.
Index back to New Zealand, New Zealand ... 'Janeway to Auckland Control, roger. Landing approach at one-three-one-mark seven.' 'Roger, Janeway,' the bright New Zealand voice on the other end of the channel replied. 'Enjoy your stay.' She set about the business of guiding her slim shuttle past the island's rugged mountains without dignifying the Kiwi's sarcasm with a reply. " [More in New Zealand, pg. 17-29, 35, 61, 66, 228.] 'Don't tell me you've actually read Nietzsche and Derrida. Or Aquinas, for that matter.' 'You don't have to eat the entire turd to know that it's not a crab cake.' 'You are an arrogant impossible boy.' " 'The Superman shouldn't care what the ondergeskik thinks of him, you mean? 'I teach you the Superman.' ' He shook his head and fell silent for several moments. 'Maybe,' he said at last, 'in terms of education, physical training, wealth, eugenics, perhaps soon even genetics--maybe by some standards we Draka have become Nietzsche's superman. We certainly like to flatter ourselves into thinking we have.' He shook his head. 'But one would think that a superman shouldn't have to fear. And we do. We fear everybody else on the planet.' 'With good reason,' the Archon said. 'Everybody else on the planet fears us. Hates us, too...' " Admiral Hans Laban Verwoerd lay sprawled in the center of Cornet castle's ancient courtyard. A heavy boot ground itself into his spine, pinning him to the rough stone flagging. Banners, printed with motivational slogans, hung limp in the dawn air. Verwoerd turned his head, scraping his cheek against the rough flagstones. I want gremlins around me, the nearest one read, for I am courageous. " [This quote is from Nietzsche. There are many quotes from and references to Nietzsche throughout story. It is the main religion/philosophy referred to in the story. Not all refs. in DB.] ' 'What is the best remedy? Victory!' Or 'I want gremlins around me, for I am courageous'?' 'Yes. What ever does that one mean?' 'What do Nietzsche's syphilitic rambling ever mean? 'Courage creates gremlins for itself' is the rest of that particular quotation.' He washed out his brush and dabbed a new color. 'Just be glad I'm not hanging those banners all over town the way Security wants me to. They're supposed to remind my troops they're Draka supermen.' He made a face. 'Are they? They don't act like it.' " He daubed his brush in a mixture of colors. 'There was a time in my life when I thought of little else but Nietzsche. I was a young man at the time; I'd spent my life in British boarding schools, thought of myself as British, but I was still Draka. I guess I was trying to discover who I was.' Sally rolled her head around, stretching her neck muscles. She resumed her pose. 'He's almost your state religion, isn't he?' Verwoerd snorted. 'The Draka worship nothing but themselves. 'Serfs look up because they wish to be exalted; the superman looks down because he already is exalted.' when you're the oppermans, it's rather had to admit some entity might be superior to yourself. That's why the attempt to revive the Norse mythology, Naldorssen and all that, failed so miserably. Probably also why religion has always fascinated me so.' " Verwoerd smiled weakly. 'Since when did you start reading Nietzsche?' he asked. 'Since you started hanging it up in the courtyards.' " [Other refs. not in DB include pg. 208-209, 218-221.] ...Verwoerd's voice was barely audible. Courage did create its own gremlins: the courage to hope. "; Pg. 214: "'Pity's the greatest danger, Hans. That's what Neechee says, an' it's true. Dangerous for them. Dangerous for us.' " 'There's no way you can escape, Hans. The courtyard is swarming with commandos.' 'Nietzsche was right all along,' Verwoerd said as if he hadn't heard her. 'Right about so many things. 'Once I thought of little else but Nietzsche'--would that I had ever been able to stop! 'Those three days I stared into the abyss--'thou heaven above me, thou pure, thou luminous heaven! Thou abyss of light!--and it stared back at me.' ...' 'And what have I hated more than passing clouds, and whatever tainteth thee? And mine own hatred have I even hated, because it tainted thee!' ' " [More.] 'Then I visited that accursed city [Salt Lake City], saw that same Will channeled into their [Mormons] morality, their serf dreams. To 'never never never' fall under the yoke, to be gods looking down in pity on mere superman. To will the absurd fantasies of religion into reality--entire nations that don't have to conquer or murder or . . .' He composed himself. 'I knew then my people [Draka] were too evil to let them continue to exist. I dedicated my life to destroying the Domination.' " 'You admire Neitzsche?' 'He was crazy. Let's just say I have less contempt for him, and for Desade, then I have for most intellectuals.' " [See also pg. 239.] --Friedrich Nietzsche " Nietzsche, continued
SARANAC LAKE - Historic Saranac Lake has announced the opening of a new exhibit on Saranac Lake history in the John Black Room of the Saranac Laboratory. The exhibit officially opens on Wednesday with an evening gathering open to all current members of Historic Saranac Lake. Six large panels in the John Black Room outline the development of the village, from its early days as a small logging town to its growth as a destination for outdoor recreation and a center for scientific research and patient care. The final panel explores the village's effort to find new life after the decline of the tuberculosis industry. Interspersed among the exhibit panels are historic photos on loan from the Adirondack Room of the Saranac Lake Free Library. A jitney from Trudeau Sanitarium is parked in front of Leonard’s Department Store on Main Street at Broadway.(Photograph 83.801, courtesy of the Adirondack Room of the Saranac Lake Free Library) "Hundreds of visitors come here each year eager to learn more about the community," Historic Saranac Lake Executive Director Amy Catania said in a press release. "This new exhibit will orient visitors to our fascinating history and help them understand who we are today. They are beautiful panels that really bring to life our local history." Historic Saranac Lake plans to supplement the new panels with more artifacts and interpretation. The organization is raising funds to allow for the installation of case lighting and an expansion of this first phase of the exhibit. Five of the panels feature large historic photographs courtesy of the Adirondack Room of the Saranac Lake Free Library. The final panel features a present day photo provided by Saranac Lake photographer Mark Kurtz. The planning and design of the exhibit was supported by a Museumwise Get Set grant and by grants from the New York Council for the Humanities. The exhibit script was written by Field Horne in consultation with local history experts and Christopher Clarke. Kevan Moss Design led the planning effort and the design of the John Black Room panels. The fabrication of the exhibit panels was supported by a donation from a friend of Historic Saranac Lake, Henry Parnass. The main laboratory space also features new interpretation for the summer season. Designer Karen Davidson created an exhibit panel interpreting the architecture of the Trudeau Sanatorium and another panel showing the human lungs that once lined the basement shelves. Visitors can tour a new "cure room" displaying artifacts such as a cure chair, medicines and medical devices that were a part of the patient experience. Founded in 1980, Historic Saranac Lake is an architectural preservation organization that captures and presents local history from its center at the Saranac Laboratory Museum. The museum is open year-round, Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and also on Saturdays through Oct. 6. Admission is $5, and members and children are free. For more information visit or call 518-891-4606. 54 Broadway , Saranac Lake, NY 12983 \| 518-891-2600 © 2013. All rights reserved.\| Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Cleanup Blog Don’t think about it, just do it That’s what my grandmother always says. Whenever I have a problem, a challenge or am faced with anything in life, my grandmother has the same advice every single time. “Don’t think about it,” she says, with the wave of a hand. “Just do it.” I know it sounds … like a sneaker ad… But it’s really good advice and it seems to crop up when I least expect it. But her voice crept into my head not long ago when management let the residents of my apartment complex know that they would be conducting their annual inspections recently. It’s funny how content one can be being incredibly messy – until one is going to have people in her dwelling space. My spare room was, at one time, used for guests. But over time, as my schedule got busier and guests became more sporadic it went from spare room to catchall. There are extra lamps, a television, my desk (which sadly does not get used enough), a guest bed, boxes (and boxes) of notebooks and … well you get the idea. Some people like to make an organized plan of cleaning. In some cases, that’s my plan of action. While I have a particular method to cleaning the kitchen, it’s a completely different story when it comes to the rest of the house. Don’t think about it, just do it… Even with a weekend chock full of things to do, physical fitness training, wrapping up work items that didn’t get done from the week, writing articles for other outlets that need to be finished by their deadline, I dropped everything suddenly and cleaned out that room. And it wasn’t just a surprise – it was a relief. Until the other day, I never opened the door to that room to hide the mess. Now, I don’t mind going in there. I might even clean my bedroom. I said ‘might.’ Cleaning for Travel I travel quite a bit for work. Not too much, but just enough that returning to my own apartment can sometimes be the sweetest feeling in the world. Or, depending on its cleanliness, make me yearn to be back on the road, in the comforts of a generic hotel room, orderly and sterile-ish. Last week I spent several days in Las Vegas for a convention at the Venetian. I left on a Sunday and spent the entire morning packing and picking up around my apartment. My place looked presentable…but for some reason that wasn’t good enough. I think deep down I knew I couldn’t spend a week in Vegas – of all places – and come home to an apartment that was unclean. I decided to finally get to all the hard-to-reach places and pain-in-the-neck tasks that are so often neglected. I broke out the Cooktop cleaner. Scrubbed the bathroom. Even cleaned out the refrigerator. It was possibly the most productive few hours I’ve ever spent during a weekend. So when I left the apartment and headed to the airport, I felt good. A little grossed out by the scrubbing and some things I found in my fridge, but overall pretty good. But the big payoff was yet to come… When I arrived home after several days in Sin City and a full day of traveling back from Pacific Time, I was so relieved to have an apartment worth coming home to. It was clean, it smelled halfway decent, and I was proud of the work I’d put in before my trip. It made it all worthwhile. Early Spring Cleaning Of the 115 Groundhog Days on record since it began in 1887, Punxsutawney Phil has only predicted an early spring 16 times. Fortunately, this year we’re lucky the groundhog did not see his shadow, so 2013 is off to a great start! Based on my calculations, what with the vernal equinox falling on March 20 and Phil’s gift of six weeks less of winter, that means Spring should be happening….now? This is actually fantastic news. Not only because flip flops are my favorite and I will wear them as soon as my toes can tolerate the weather, but because my apartment needs a spring clean like it’s nobody’s business. More often as of late, when I have people over, I feel like I’m showcasing the “fake apartment.” You know, the one that is beautiful and aesthetically pleasing, but heaven forbid someone opens the wrong door and ski equipment tumbles out of it (but you don’t even ski). This needs to end! And I know exactly how to put a stop to it. One thing that I really need to procure is a dresser for my clothes. I don’t know how it happened, but my bedroom floor is now an extension of my closet. It’s relatively organized, but there are piles everywhere. I’ve been putting it off, but I know I need to buckle down, pick one that I like and get organized! Dusting is also a major issue. I’m allergic to dust, so you’d think I’d have this under control, but apparently I’m a glutton for punishment. It just isn’t something that crosses my mind, coupled with the fact that I have yet to find a duster/product that I like. But I know dusting really does make a huge difference in the appearance of all surfaces so this is definitely another thing I need to tackle. Lastly, the kitchen is always a big one. Getting grime out of those harder to reach corners and concentrating on spots that are often overlooked (I completely ignore that area underneath my dish drying rack) will definitely be a focus. I also need to actually clean the sink, not just the dirty plates in it, and give my stove a good scrub as well. There’s definitely a lot to be done, but it’s totally manageable! And thanks to this year’s early spring, I’m going to get a head start on turning my “fake apartment” into a clean one. Work it Out, Clean it Up If you’re anything like me, you probably don’t have a ton of spare time. Between work, family, social obligations, time just flies by and I hardly have a minute to myself. So what happens when your days seem to shorten and a few free minutes are tough to find? Things get prioritized, other thing get cut out entirely. Unfortunately for me, what ends up on the cutting room floor is usually the gym and cleaning my apartment. These routine-driven activities are just too easy to push to the side and marginalize when faced with deadlines, commitments, and other responsibilities. It’s a shame too – both activities leave you feeling refreshed and feeling better about yourself. These endeavors can put you in a better place than you were when you started, and that’s pretty hard to replace. So what I do is try to combine the two. I know that sounds silly but hear me out a second. When you carve out the time to clean your apt, throw some reps in there too! For example, for every dish you scrub and dry by hand, drop and do five pushups. Vacuum for 30-seconds then do 30-seconds of jumping jacks. How about throwing in a few lunges when taking the trash out? Will you look like a crazy person? Maybe, but that’s for your neighbors to decide. Point is, cleaning and exercise are two aspects of your life that shouldn’t be compromised. In this month when so many New Year’s Resolutions have died or on their last legs, recommit yourself to finding the time. Ok, so maybe reaching the highest shelf to dust isn’t part of a typical yoga vinyasa, but you can get creative. And don’t worry about the neighbors; they’ll go from asking “what is she doing?” to “how does she do it?” Downright Domestic Catch Affresh this weekend on the lifestyle list tv show, Downright Domestic! Show host, Rebecca Webster, provides ideas and information on how to improve your domestic life. The segment airs: Saturday, November 24th: CTV TWO Kitchener and London, 11:30am Sunday, November 25th, CTV TWO Toronto, 11am Don’t miss it!
This article, I hope, will be widely read by economists working on field experiments. And it comes with David Card’s name right on the title page; this is certainly not a name that one associates with structural modeling! Field experiments and randomized control trials are booming at the moment. Until the past decade, an average year saw a single field experiment published in any of the top five journals. Now, 8 to 10 a year are. The vast majority of these papers are atheoretical, though I have a small complaint about the definition of “theoretical” which I’ll leave for the final paragraph of this post. The same atheoretical nature is largely true of lab experiments; I generally am very receptive to field experiments and much less so to lab experiments, so I’ll leave out discussion of the lab for now. (That said, I’m curious for the lab types out there: are there any good examples of lab experiments which have overturned a key economic insight? By overturned, I mean the reversal was accepted as valid by many economists. I don’t mean “behavioral theory” like Kahneman-Tversky. I mean, an actual lab experiment in the style of the German School – we ought call it that at this point. It just seems to me like many of the “surprising” results just turn out not to be true once we move to economically relevant behavior in the market. The “gift reciprocity” paper by Fehr and coauthors is a great example, and Card, Dellavigna and Malmendier discuss it. In the lab, people “work” much harder when they get paid a surprisingly high wage. In field and natural experiments trying to replicate this, with Gneezy and List (2006) being the canonical example, there is no such economically relevant effect. I would love some counterexamples of this phenomenon, though: I’m trying my best to keep an open mind!) But back to field experiments. After noting the paucity of theory in most experimental papers, the authors give three examples of where theory could have played a role. In the gift reciprocity/wages literature mentioned above, there are many potential explanations for what is going on in the lab. Perhaps workers feel inequity aversion, and don’t want to “rip off” unprofitable employers. Perhaps they simple act under reciprocity – if you pay me a high wage, I’ll work hard even in a one-shot game. A properly designed field experiment can distinguish between the two. An even better example is charitable giving. List and Lucking-Reiley ran a famous 2002 field experiment where they examined whether giving to charity could be affected by, for example, claiming in the brochure that the goal of the fundraising drive was already almost reached. But can’t we learn much more about charity? Do people give because of warm glow? Or because of social pressure? Or some other reason? List, Dellavigna and Malmendier have a wonderful 2010 paper that writes down a basic structural model of gift-giving, and introduces just enough randomization into the experimental design to identify all of the parameters. They find that social pressure is important, and that door-to-door fundraising can actually lower total social welfare, even taking into account the gain from purchasing whatever public good charity is raising money for. And their results have a great link back to earlier theory and to future experiments along similar lines. Now that’s great work! The complaints against structural models always seemed hollow to me. As Card, Dellavigna and Malmendier note, when interpreting results, every paper, structural or not, is making implicit assumptions. Why not make them in a way that is both clear and is guided by the huge body of theoretical knowledge that social science has already developed? The authors note a turn away from structural models in experiments after the negative income tax papers of the 70s and 80s were thought to be failures in some sense due to the difficulty of interpreting their results. This argument was always a bit ridiculous: all social science results are hard to interpret, and there’s no way around this. Writing up research in a way that it seems more clearcut to a policy audience does not mean that the evidence actually is clearcut. I do have one quibble with this paper, though – and I think the authors will sympathize with this complaint given their case studies. The authors divide experimental papers into four groups: descriptive, single model, competing model and parameter estimation. Single model, to take one example, is defined as a paper that lays out a formal model and tests one or more implications thereof. Similar definitions are given for competing models and parameter estimations. Once we get over Friedman’s 1953 model of economic methodology, though, we’ve got to realize that “testing” models is far, far away from the only link between theory and data. Theory is useful to empirics because it can guide interesting and nonobvious questions to look for, because it can be used to justify nontestable econometric assumptions, because it allows for reasonable discussion of counterfactuals, because it allows empirical studies to be linked into a broader conception of knowledge, because it allows for results to be interpreted correctly, etc. I’d argue that checking whether papers “test” models is almost irrelevant for knowing whether empirical papers properly use theory. Let me give my favorite example, which I used in a presentation to empirical economists last year. Imagine you study government-mandated hospital report cards, and find that two years into the program, there is no evidence that hospitals or patients are changing behavior based on the ratings, but that 20% of patients were looking at the report cards at some point. An atheoretical paper might suggest that these report card programs are a waste of money. A theoretically-guided paper would note that game theorists have shown reputational equilibria often are discontinuous, and that perhaps if more patients were induced to look at the report cards (maybe by directly mailing them to each household once a year), hospitals would begin to react by giving better care. There is no testing of a theoretical model or anything similar, but there is certainly great use of theory! (Perhaps of interest: my two favorite job market papers of the last couple years, those of Ben Handel and Heidi Williams, both use theory in one of the ways above rather than in the direct “let’s use data to test a theoretical model” framework…) Similar comments apply to theorists’ use of empirical research, of course, but let’s save that for another day. (February 2011 working paper – forthcoming in the JEP) Hi, I’m a recent PhD graduate from a “behavioral economics” graduate program–just wanted to reply about your quip about lab experiments. First one funny story—Norbert Schwarz, a fairly famous social psychologist, was giving a talk at Harvard’s experimental/behavioral econ seminar about 2 years ago. He was presenting some findings on accessibility (e.g. that easy to pronounce stock market ticker names did better at IPO—how’s that for market relevance?) and received the standard econ question about incentives and whether that would change his observed lab experiment. Upon which he remarked, “have incentives ever really been shown to truly change a bias once it is demonstrated in the lab? can you take even one important bias and show that it goes away?” Apparently he’s not familiar with John List’s work I don’t believe anyone in the audience replied–Ed Glaeser didn’t come that day, else I’m sure he would have made a caustic retort. But to you I would direct a similar critique. There are numerous examples of biases that don’t change in the face of market incentives. Medical decision making is one place where it’s very difficult to square people’s choices with a rational model. I would check out some of Peter Ubel’s work in that vein. But to offer you a better example–how about this QJE paper of Ariely and Loewenstein on Coherent Arbitrariness. You have a lab study that essentially creates a market and shows that anchoring effects are not altered by market exchange. In general many of the canonical biases in Kahneman and Tversky don’t seem to change very much in the face of incentives–Holt and Laury’s paper on risk aversion comes to mind. So I think there are problems on both sides. (Not to mention the methodological issues with trusting studies in each camp–theres plenty of con in econometrics, and plenty of file drawer and other dirty secrets in social psych– the researcher degrees of freedom problem to me presents the most serious problem in trying to understand what papers have the most external validity) Coherent Arbitrariness: (though here’s one replication failure for more common market goods: I’ve run anchoring studies and found them to be pretty stable–friends as well) Risk Aversion: I’d be curious to know what you think… Oh yeah, one more obvious example comes to mind…all of Thaler’s stuff on default effects on retirement decisions. People have huge incentives to be rational there, but don’t seem to be… Thanks for the citations, Paul. I’ll definitely check them out. Concerning Thaler and retirement, though, I suppose I question the extent to which lab studies about anchoring “convinced” the profession rather than simple evidence of the choices people actually make with their retirement accounts. Two followups to that statement: first, I have nothing against “behavioral economics” per se – it’s clearly useful – but I’m less sold on the lab experimental method of behavioral social science. Second, you might wonder why I care about whether A or B is found convincing by the profession. I’ve written a few times here that I subscribe to a philosophy of science that puts a ton of weight on subjective judgment of quality of research by practitioners, so I actually think the question of credit is pretty important here. I’m with you that there certainly need be more conversations between different methodological schools, however. I’m sure Ed would have been caustic upon hearing Schwarz’ remark, and I recall a lecture here at NW by Ernst Fehr where that eminence grise was nearly driven out the room with pitchforks.
IPv4 Allocation Policy 1) Abstract This document describes the guidelines for IPv4 address allocation and assignment in the AFRINIC service region (Africa and Part of the Indian Ocean) .They have been developed through an open, bottom up policy development process of AFRINIC's Policy Working Group. 2) Introduction AFRINIC (The African Network Information Center) is a non-for-profit independent organisation serving as one of the five Regional Internet Registries (RIR's). Its service region incorporates the African continent and part of the Indian Ocean (Seychelles, Mauritius, Madagascar, Comoros). AFRINIC is responsible for the allocation of IP (Internet Protocol) address space, AS (Autonomous System) Numbers and management of reverse domain names within the region. 3) Scope This document describes policies for the responsible management of unique IPv4 address space in the AFRINIC region. The policies in this document apply to all IPv4 allocations and assignments within the AFRINIC service region and must be implemented by all AFRINIC's Local Internet Registries. This document does not describe policies related to IPv6, AS numbers, private addresses and in-addr.arpa domains. These policies can be found at It does not describe conditions of AFRINIC membership decribed at nor does it examine the policies of the other Regional Internet Registries. 4) IPv4 address space For the purpose of this document, IPv4 addresses are 32-bit binary numbers (used as identifiers in the IPv4 protocol) and are usually in three types: a. Public/global IP addresses that are assigned to be globally unique according to the goals described in section 6 of this document.. c. IP ranges reserved for experiments: These are described in RFC3330 (). Some ranges are also reserved for multicast. 5) Hierarchy of address space distribution IP addresses are distributed in an hierarchical structure in which IANA (The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) allocates address space to AFRINIC, to be redistributed throughout the African region. AFRINIC allocates address space to Local Internet Registries (LIRs) and also delegates to them the authority to make assignments and sub-allocations. LIRs sub-allocate and assign address space to their customers in accordance with the policies and procedures described in this document. 6) Definitions The following terms and their definitions are of particular importance to the understanding of the goals, environment, and policies described in this document. 6.1 Internet Registry (IR) An Internet Registry (IR) is an organization that is responsible for distributing IP address space to its customers and for registering those addresses. IRs are classified according to their primary function and territorial scope within the hierarchical structure. 6 four RIRs: APNIC, ARIN, LACNIC, RIPE NCC. AFRINIC is the fifth 6. 6.4 Allocation To "allocate" means to distribute address space to LIRs for the purpose of subsequent distribution. 6.5 Sub-Allocation To "sub-allocate" means to distribute address space (by LIRs) to ISPs for the purpose of subsequent distribution. 6. 6. 6. 7) Goals of the Internet Registry System 7.1 Goals It is AFRINIC's primary duty, as a custodian of a public resource, to ensure that for all Ipv4 allocations and assignments, the following goals are met: - Uniqueness - In order that each host on the public internet can be uniquely identified, each public unicast IPv4 address must be globally unique. - Registration - Every assignment and allocation of public Internet address space must be registered in the AFRINIC whois database. This is necessary to ensure uniqueness and to provide information for Internet trouble shooting at all levels. - Aggregation - Distributing Ipv4 addresses in a hierachical manner permits the aggregation of routing information. This helps to ensure proper operation of internet routing, and to limit the expansion of Internet routing tables (RFC2519). - Conservation - To maximize the lifetime of the public Internet address space resource, addresses must be distributed according to actual need and on the basis of immediate use. Therefore, stockpiling of address space and maintaining reservations must, in general, be avoided. 7. 7.3 Documentation. 7.4 Fairness All policies and practices relating to the use of public address space will apply fairly and equitably to all existing and potential members of AFRINIC regardless of their location, nationality, size,or any other factor. 8) Registration Requirements a) All communication with AFRINIC will be in English. b) All allocations and assignments will be registered in an AFRINIC database. Any unregistered assignemnts / allocations / sub-allocaion will be considered invalid. The registration data (name, IP block/range, contacts, status, etc..) must be correct at all times. This is necessary to support network operations. Allocation policies and guidelines 8.1 Introduction AFRINIC allocates ranges of IPv4 addresses to Local Internet Registries (LIRs). LIRs reassign or sub-allocate that space to their customers. An Allocation is a range of IPv4 addresses from which sub-allocations and assignments are made. All LIR's assigning address space allocated from AFRINIC are also advised to adopt a set of policies that are consistent with the policies described in this document.. (CIDR - "Classless Inter-Domain Routing", is exlained in RFC1517-1959,).. 8.2 First Allocation a) AFRINIC's minimum allocation is /22 or 1024 IPv4 addresses. b) The organisation must be an AFRINIC member in good standing, and c). 8.3. Slow start mechanism for first allocations AFRINIC shall apply a slow start mechanism to all new LIRs. With respect to allocations made by AFRINIC, the first allocation an LIR receives will be the size of the minimum practical allocation described in Section 8.2 (a) unless otherwise justified. The slow start policy is used by all RIR's to prevent allocations of large blocks of address space that may then remain substantially unassigned. AFRINIC implements the slow start mechanism in a consistent and fair manner for every LIR, and will apply the same principles and standards to every applicant for address space. 8.4 Additional Allocation. AFRINIC will always try to allocate contiguous address ranges, allowing the LIR to minimise the number of route announcements it makes. However, it will not always be possible to allocate a range contiguous with the LIR's previous allocation. 8.5 Sub-Allocations The minimum size of a sub-allocation is /24. It allows a reasonable number of small assignments to be made by a downstream ISP. An LIR may not sub-allocate IPv4 space above its suballocation). 9) Assignment policies and guidelines LIR's must request approval from AFRINIC approval for all sub-allocations above their Sub-Allocation Window (see section 10.0 for SAW policy). The following guidelines are intended to help LIRs and end-users in their search for equitable compromises: 9.1. Request forms are available at When making sub-allocation from their SAW, LIR's should also ensure that such information is given by the end-user. 9.2. 9.3 Utilisation Immediate utilisation of assignments should be at least 25% of the assigned space. After one year, unless special circumstances are defined, it should be at least 50%. 9.4. 9.5. 9.6. 10) Sub-Allocation Window (SAW) An sub-allocation window (SAW) refers to the maximum number of IPv4 addresses that the LIR may sub-allocate to the end-users without seeking approval from AFRINIC. The SAW size is expressed in CIDR notatation. AFRINIC will review sub-allocation made by the LIR's using their SAW in to ensure that policies are followed correctly. LIR's should also ensure that documentation for sub-allocation made using the SAW be similar to that requested for larger requests. Below are a few guidelines for the SAW: 10.1 All new LIRs have a SAW of zero. All sub-allocations will need prior approval by AFRINIC. 10.2 The LIR cannot make any sub-allocation to the end-user above their SAW in a 12 months period (1 year). At the end of a calendar year from the approval of an SAW, the SAW is refreshed for one more year. In case the LIR's SAW is exhausted for a particular end-user, approval must be sought from AFRINIC for any other sub-allocation to the same end-user. 10.3. 10.4. 12) Abbreviations - AFRIN Aggregateable - PI Provider Independent - RIR Regional Internet Registry 13) Useful links - RFC documents: - IANA web site:
Scattered around writing blogs is the sage advice along the lines of “3 Ways of Writing a Killer First Line,” or “The Top 10 First Lines of a Novel” or “How to Hook Your Reader in the First Line.” I have a problem with this. I don’t read the first line of a new novel and stop, judging its worth and merit on a single sentence alone. I liken it to looking at a Van Gogh painting and focusing on a single brush stroke and missing the beauty and grandeur of the night sky. A great first line can hook you in. But it’s when you understand it within the context of the first paragraph, the first page, the first chapter through to the closing line of the novel that its true power and beauty is revealed. I read beyond the first line. I want to be caught up in the artistry of the writer, from the first line to the first paragraph to the first page to the first chapter to the closing line; to have the sentences form sedimentary layers over me as I delve into the artistry of the written word. Or like being covered in a large bucket of spaghetti, tangled in the complexity and power of words (you chose which simile works best for you). The first sentence encapsulates the power, breadth, beauty and depth of a novel. It retains its power because the remainder of the novel bears out the enormity and scope hinted at in the first line. But every sentence must work for the reader. Every sentence must be crafted as delicately and intricately as the first. Stand back and admire the beauty of the whole. Then step closer and examine the individual brush strokes to understand why it has captured your imagination. I used to write “clever” titles for blog posts and bizarre / “captivating” first paragraphs – I learned it really hindered technical writing LOL. I like opening gambits that make you want to sit in a corner and read the whole thing undisturbed. I notice however that some of the most innocuous opening sentences are the best. Cheap theatrics like ‘compelling’ first sentences have more to do with the way blog posts appear on a web page more than literature – and even less to do with the reality of the writing it often turns out. You know, it’s terrifying to comment on Adam’s posts because I become acutely aware my grammar and syntax may not pass scrutiny. It’s teh interwebz. No one cares about syntax or grammar, only trolling Blogging can have cheap theatricality, but I write from an essayist’s perspective (curse of being an English teacher) That was another excellent post today. Thanks so much for sharing. Keep up the fantastic job. Enjoy writing? Feel free to join our writing group – It’s worth getting into. They pay very well also. Join Today – Writers Wanted I don’t stop reading after the first sentence either, unless it’s a really bad first sentence. I like to try and write good first lines but you’re right, they’re not the be-all and end-all. I think a good first few paragraphs are a more solid foundation, but I can’t help thinking that a coherent style, a solid structure and an interesting plot are more important. That said, I often write my first line last, after I know what is to come, so the first few lines can act as a better statement of intent. There is a lot of buzz about first lines right now and it’s interesting to look at them on their own, but you’re absolutely right, they are only as good as the sentence that follows. When choosing a new book, I’ll give it at least one page, but if I’m not pulled in by something, no matter how good the blurb is, I won’t buy it.
tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319673092013-02-25T17:50:04.874-05:00Aimless<a href=""><img alt="[Aimless Blog Front Page]" src=""></a> <br>The Adventures of an American Vagabond <br>(& stories from ridiculously long walks)Ryan M. Powell's Pizza BlogHey everyone, come check out <a href="">my new pizza blog</a> if you want to learn how to make the best pizza on the planet in your own kitchen. I share ALL my secrets on this blog (because I'm less of a dick than you probably think I am).;">Underside of a NY style pizza I made on<br />the grill. One of my favorite pics.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />This <a href="">New York style</a> post is just for you, ER. (No it's not. It's for everyone who might be able to take something from it. You think you're special or something?) I've also written a post about how to make <a href="">Malnati's style deep dish</a> and a post about how to clone <a href="">Pizza Hut thin</a>..;">Looks like Malnati's to me, except my pan is half an inch too deep.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I'd love it if y'all would <a href="">"like" the blog on Facebook</a> so I might be able to reach more people and rescue those who are stuck in a neverending cycle of looking in the wrong places for answers to their pizzamaking questions.<br /><br />This just occurred to me: I went to jail a year ago today <em>for walking</em>. Land of the Free, baby!<br /><br /.<br /><br /.<br /><br /.<br /><br /><a href=""></a><br /><br /><a href="">Become a fan</a> of Aimless on Facebook. <br />-- <br /><a href="">Aimless</a><br /><a href="">Aimless Video Evidence</a>Ryan M. Powell in Rhode IslandWhydibuy asked in a comment on the previous post how my court appearance went. Unfortunately I can't answer that because they did it without me; I was in a holding cell during my court appearance. I didn't even know it was happening until after it happened. From what I've heard, though, the prosecution extorted my folks for a couple hundred bucks.<br /><br />I.<br /><br />I'm in suburban Baltimore now. Probably gonna take a train to DC this afternoon to visit my good friend Jeff. It's cold and raining/snowing.<br /><br /><a href="">Become a fan</a> of Aimless on Facebook.<P>--<br /><a href="">Aimless</a><br /><a href="">Aimless Video Evidence</a>Ryan M. Powell I ended up in jail for 16 daysI know at least one person has been waiting patiently for this story, so here's why I was in jail:<br /><br />After.)<br /><br /.<br /><br /.<br /><br /. <br /><br />I could have been out of jail after only one day if those piece-of-shit motherfuckers hadn't gone way out of their way to fuck with both me and my mom, breaking countless laws in the process just because they enjoy making people hurt.<br /><br />By the time I received Mom's second letter, which informed me that I could post bail, I only had a couple days remaining until my court date. I decided to just wait it out.<br /><br />So much more to it than that. Wait till you find out what happened only three days before I was put in jail. I originally was not going to write about it, but things changed, and now I think it's a very relevant story.<br /><br />Oh yeah, and the walk is over. I have no need for any more of this kind of bullshit. (You now know about 10 percent of the story.)<br /><br />I've been hanging out in Manhattan the last five days. (You would have known that five days ago if you followed me on Twitter.)<br /><br /><a href="">Become a fan</a> of Aimless on Facebook.<p>--<br /><a href="">Aimless</a><br /><a href="">Aimless Video Evidence</a></p>Ryan M. Powell just spent the last 16 days in jail. I should have a lot to say about it pretty soon.<br /><br /><a href="">Become a fan</a> of Aimless on Facebook.<P>--<br /><a href="">Aimless</a><br /><a href="">Aimless Video Evidence</a>Ryan M. Powell #5<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656268502300517058" /></a></p><br />I made it into Rhode Island at 12:17 yesterday. This is the sign they gave me, instead of a "Welcome to Rhode Island" sign. If you wanna know more, follow @AimlessRyan on Twitter.Ryan M. Powell close-up<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5655263058263992914" /></a></p><br />And here's a close-up of the sandwich someone left outside my tent about a week ago.Ryan M. Powell<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654481420978196498" /></a></p><br />This one's for you, ER. This is where I slept last night. I think it's at the first intersection south of NH on Rte 78 in MA (about 4 miles into MA). I know it's a shitty picture, but I've been getting up and moving really early lately. Not much I can do about that.Ryan M. Powell Cowboy<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654480494974572562" /></a></p><br />This staircase in Brattleboro, Vermont reminded me of the staircase from the party scene in Midnight Cowboy.Ryan M. Powell #4<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654479248864905922" /></a></p><br />This was yesterday at 6:00 or so. I did 20 miles yesterday. Don't ask me how I'm doing this because I don't know. Looks like the rain may have killed my pedometer this morning.Ryan M. Powell'<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5653803416621940450" /></a></p><br />I made it to Vermont at about 3:40, I believe. That was a very quick 13 miles for my current condition, which is still pretty gimpy. Looks like I'll be in Assumchusetts sometime tomorrow. By the way, that was a very difficult sign to get in a picture with myself, particularly because of where the sun was.Ryan M. Powell earbuds blow<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5653676008405911042" /></a></p><br />Apple earbuds are literally the most useless product I have ever used. They suck in every way they possibly could suck. I would be happier with my iPhone if it came with no earbuds instead of these stupid, worthless, irritating earbuds. Apple should be ashamed of themselves for even creating this garbage, which is beginning to make me hate my favorite music.<br /><br />I may have a lot more to say about this retarded-ass product, so come on back to this post every once in a while.Ryan M. Powell again<a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652678232343854434" /></a><br />This.<br /><br /.Ryan M. Powell flexor?I spent today sitting around at Burger King, Wendy's, and Dairy Queen, in an effort to give my hip a rest. I think this is the first time I've ever just sat around all day during a walk, excluding the rare occasions when I actually had somewhere to stay during last year's walk.<br /><br />Oh,. <br /><br /><a href="">Become a fan</a> of Aimless on Facebook.<P>--<br /><a href="">Aimless</a><br /><a href="">Aimless Video Evidence</a>Ryan M. Powell day<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649629864934424898" /></a></p><br />I only put the vest on the outside of the rain jacket when I know it's gonna be raining for a long time. After raining all night, this is gonna be going on for at least several more hours. Several miles south of Epsom, NH.Ryan M. Powell obstacles<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5648622745369140322" /></a></p> <br /).Ryan M. Powell walk...<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5648575294511651154" /></a></p> <br />This is one of the biggest milestones ever for me because a week ago I was 90% sure this walk wouldn't last any longer than ten miles. Anyone who has spent any time around me over the last 11 months is probably just as amazed as I am because I've barely been able to walk AT ALL since last September.Ryan M. Powell on asphaltI'm safe now. Man, that was fucking scary; the scariest position I've ever been stuck in. Every step presented about a hundred different ways for me to die. No one would have found me. I'll post some pictures later, when I get a chance to charge. <br /> <br /><a href="">Become a fan</a> of Aimless on Facebook.<P>-- <br /><a href="">Aimless</a> <br /><a href="">Aimless Video Evidence</a>Ryan M. Powell what I mean<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5648480211590836466" /></a></p>Ryan M. Powell I don't update within the next hour or two, it means I'm on Half Mile Road and I'm in desperate need of help. I'm fine right now, but I'm in a very dangerous place, where no one will find me if I get hurt and lose consciousness, which is very possible. <br /> <br /><a href="">Become a fan</a> of Aimless on Facebook.<P>-- <br /><a href="">Aimless</a> <br /><a href="">Aimless Video Evidence</a>Ryan M. Powell kind of road<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5648464740778144674" /></a></p> <br />This is the kind of road Google Maps is steering me down this morning. Six miles to New Hampshire.Ryan M. Powell road<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5648124814098852210" /></a></p> <br />This is a very good walking road, despite the heavy traffic. Can you figure out why?Ryan M. Powell, Maine<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647873526198418994" /></a></p> <br />This is a few hundred feet from where I slept last night, near the train station.Ryan M. Powell outta Portland<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647032707731233698" /></a></p> <br />2.34 miles so far. Not much, but it's a start. Tells me I should be able to hit my goal of 10 miles today.Ryan M. Powell walk began at 7:50 this morning in Portland, Maine. Can I actually do it? I don't know, but I'm gonna try. Actually, I know I can do it; I just don't know if I can do it <I>right now</I> because I'm still so beat up from last year. Every step I take is dangerous because my nerves are messed up. There's a ton of muscle in my legs, but that doesn't mean much if your nerves are messed up. My first step is just to try to do at least ten miles today. I'll let you know how that works out. <br /> <br /><a href="">Become a fan</a> of Aimless on Facebook.<P>-- <br /><a href="">Aimless</a> <br /><a href="">Aimless Video Evidence</a>Ryan M. Powell took a train from Boston to Maine tonight. That means the proposed 48-state walk has technically already begun. Officially, however, it begins with my first step tomorrow morning. My legs and hips have felt a little better the last few days, so I might actually be able to do this. <br /> <br /><a href="">Become a fan</a> of Aimless on Facebook.<P>-- <br /><a href="">Aimless</a> <br /><a href="">Aimless Video Evidence</a>Ryan M. Powell
The fashionable Tokyo thoroughfare of Omotesando invariably bustles with hordes of young people, but turn away from its rows of Zelkova trees and head down one of its back streets, and peace and quiet prevail. This is where it all started for hairdresser Hideaki Iijima, 61. He is the founder of Soho, the second-largest chain of hair salons in Brazil. Soho has 28 locations in Sao Paulo, and serves more than 700,000 customers annually. On Jan. 10, during a brief trip to Japan, Iijima visited hair salon 'imaii,' where he learned his trade. It was the first time he had returned there in more than a decade. Despite dredging through his memories, he had a hard time remembering exactly where the place was. Suddenly, he came to a standstill in front of a leaning power pole, rubbing his hands as he spoke. "This is it, right here. I was brought here several times a day to be scolded beside this power pole in front of the salon." Imaii, which has a floor space of only six tsubo (just under 20 square meters), is now located in a fashionable building that stands diagonally across from the power pole. Its proprietor, Hideo Imai, trained at the Vidal Sassoon salon in the United States in the 1970s, and is responsible for popularizing the innovative "Sassoon cut" in Japan. Before joining Imai's salon, Iijima had already worked at several other establishments and become a competent hair stylist, but was troubled by a lack of confidence in his skills. Then one day he saw a magazine article about Imai who had just returned to Japan, and wasted no time in asking him for a job. "Mr. Imai was strict, but I acquired the kind of skills and theory that I could be satisfied with, and I gained confidence in my abilities," Iijima says. Before he knew it, he had become a popular hair stylist. There was no end to customers requesting Iijima's services, and in one month alone he cut the hair of 760 clients. His days off were spent traveling the country to give seminars for hairdressers, and magazines and industry shows eagerly sought his expertise. Eventually, his monthly wages topped 1 million yen ($12,000). "He brought us more business not only with his hairdressing talent, but also his cheerful conversational skills," Imai recalls. However, after about five years, Iijima called time out on his career as a "charismatic hairdresser." He accepted an invitation from one of his former trainees who was managing a hair salon in Brazil, and emigrated there with his wife, 4-year-old son, and infant daughter. He was 28. "I had dreamed of moving overseas since I was little," he says. "If I had stayed where I was, I thought I'd most likely end up regretting it." * * * Adjusting to life in another country wasn't easy. He found himself at odds with his former trainee, and was fired after two years. The 10 million yen he had saved in Japan soon ran out. He borrowed three mirrors, and decided to test his mettle by working at a local salon. For him, it was like a battleground. The most senior hairdresser took the position closest to the salon's entrance, and newcomer Iijima was given the spot farthest back. Even if a customer came in without an appointment, they rarely made it into Iijima's chair. Names of non-existent clients were written in his column on the salon's appointment board, as well as other tricks intended to prevent him from gaining actual business. It was the underhanded work of his colleagues. "I live off my daily income. I wish I had the stability of a fixed salary, like office workers do," Iijima lamented to his neighbor, Kenichi Shiomi, who worked for the local subsidiary of The Bank of Tokyo (currently Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ). Shiomi, now 64, remembers it so well because Iijima wasn't the type to feel sorry for himself. His oldest son, Dai, 37, agrees. "At the time, my father didn't understand much Portuguese," Dai says. "I think he couldn't communicate well with his customers, which must have really bothered him." One day, Iijima came up with a plan. The shampoo sink was at the rear of the salon, so every customer had to pass by him. He carved his name into an eraser and made a stamp, then used it to add his name to the salon's business cards that he handed out to customers. Each time he would make a pitch for himself in broken Portuguese, saying, "I'm Iijima from overseas." In order to make himself stand out while cutting a client's hair, he deliberately exaggerated his movements, clicking his fingers and flattering customers by saying things like "Fantastic!" to put them in a good mood. To make allies of the salon's assistants and coffee-making staff, he gave them money on the sly. This used up a third of his wages. * * * When Iijima began to consider striking out on his own, he remembered a certain prophecy: "Your life will change when you turn 32." It had been told to him by a client who read his fortune soon after he came to Brazil. Believing it, he opened a hair salon in an office district on his 32nd birthday, which attracted a clientele of businessmen. He opened at 9 a.m., and stayed open for as long as he had customers. Some days he even worked until 1 a.m. Within seven months, he had paid back the $90,000 he had borrowed from his friends and was eventually able to expand to a chain of shops. Two days before his 40th birthday, in September 1990, Iijima awoke to discover that he had lost his sight. He had no idea why, and even wondered if he was about to die. After much agonizing, he came to accept that his fate was still his own, even if his luck had abandoned him. When he made the decision to retire from hairdressing and just manage his Soho shops, he regained his sight, but only in his right eye. "Maybe it was because I'd taken a load off my mind," he says. Three years later, thieves broke into his home. A gun was pressed against his temple and his neck was slit with a knife. He barely escaped death by handing over his money and valuables. After this string of nightmarish incidents, Iijima came to regard his life beyond the age of 40 as a bonus. At the time, Brazil was wracked by inflation and the price of living escalated rapidly. The government froze savings accounts, which caused cash flow problems. While several of his rivals gradually went out of business, Iijima raised his prices almost every week and just managed to stay afloat. Training his 1,100 staff members also posed difficulties. "Many Brazilians don't think ahead, so it was difficult for them to understand what I meant when I talked about having dreams," he says. "It was a near-impossible task to improve their skills on an ongoing basis." But Iijima himself has an awkward side and maneged to turn his complex into a driving force. He is aware of how others feel when they fail to accomplish something. Gradually, people began to flock to him. "If you stay true to yourself and have a purpose, it gives you the courage to confront adversity," he says. "I'll keep doing things the Iijima way until I die." * * * Hideaki Iijima Born in 1950 in Saitama Prefecture. Graduated from Kodama High School in Saitama, and gained his hairdressing license in 1970. Worked for several salons in metropolitan Tokyo before joining Hideo Imai's studio in Harajuku. Received acclaim for his hair-cutting techniques, becoming a popular stylist. Described as one of the first "charismatic hairdressers." Emigrated to Sao Paulo in 1979. Opened salon Soho in Sao Paulo in 1982, and turned it into Brazil's second-largest hair salon chain. Memo Family: Iijima divorced six years ago, and is currently single. He lives with his eldest son, Dai, and his wife, to whom he handed over the management of his salon business five years ago. His eldest daughter, Ai, also lives in Sao Paulo. His two children were born when he was still living in Japan, but he had the intention of moving overseas one day, "so I gave them names that could be easily pronounced by non-Japanese." Motivation: Iijima's father ran a barbershop in Saitama that his eldest brother eventually took over, so he became a hairdresser to avoid becoming a commercial rival. He always used his favorite Japanese-made Tenyo scissors, which he sharpened himself. On weekdays from 4:30 a.m., for an hour and a half, Iijima helps clean a park near his home. He has never missed a day in the past 15 years. - « Prev - 1
Another Movie Guy?: "Funny People," "Burma VJ," misc.Posted: July 31st, 2009 \| Filed under: Uncategorized \| Comments Off Welcome to”Another Movie Guy?”! This week I wondered whether I’d be able to find a connection between two new releases, Funny People and Burma VJ. One is a documentary about journalists who expose the truth about a military junta, whereas the other is a comedy about ill-behaved comedians. After Funny People, I left the theater in a beleaguered state, and it dawned on me that both movies are about forty minutes too long. Moreover, I wanted to like them more than I did. Unfortunately, the respective directors had too much faith in weak material. Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to watch an open mic night. Several comedians performed, including one who embarrassingly bombed. At first the audience gave him the benefit of a doubt. Then he began a tedious bit about plastic surgery, and good will gave way to jeers and sarcastic laughter. The comedian’s only recourse was to discuss his insecurities and to insult the audience. Such a breakdown informed my thoughts on Funny People, Judd Apatow’s ambitious new comedy. It shrewdly examines a man who only knows how to be funny and mean, and what might happen if he’s forced to take stock of his life. The result is honest, yes, but not particularly rewarding. Short on laughs and long on running time, Apatow’s third directorial effort falters. Adam Sandler stars as George Simmons, a sellout comedic actor who gains massive wealth with high-concept Hollywood garbage (not unlike Sandler himself). Leaving his mansion for the doctor’s office, George gets bad news: he has a rare blood disease, and the experimental treatment he’s given only has an eight percent success rate. Without friends, Simmons wanders to a comedy club, a place where he can be honest and people might listen. There he meets Ira (Seth Rogen), a struggling comedian who is jealous of his successful roommates (Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman). Much to Ira’s surprise, he’s asked by George to write some jokes for an upcoming corporate event. Ira agrees, and quickly becomes George’s confidant/whipping boy. Abusing the younger comedian is not rewarding enough, so George turns to Laura (Leslie Mann), his One Who Got Away. She still has feelings for George, and the two even consider a future together. Too bad Laura’s Australian husband (Eric Bana) is in the way. Funny People is clearly more ambitious than Apatow’s prior movies, and here he overreaches. The problem is not with the actors. Rogen successfully plays a goofball who has trouble handling a serious situation. Sandler plays a character not unlike his roles from the mid-90s; like Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison, Simmons can be obnoxious and cruel, with little empathy for others. Unlike Sandler’s goofy characters, George’s bad behavior has real consequences, and he’s a believable jackass. Some moments, particularly as Ira and George get to know one another, Sandler notably juxtaposes humor and buried pain. Still, the problem is that Funny People lacks the warm emotional core found in The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. Apatow’s characters are realistic and their drama is authentic, yet that does not engender an overwrought climax. The sequence in question is a long weekend at Laura’s home. Even if it gives Leslie Mann (Apatow’s wife) a chance to really act, the climax becomes tedious. Character choices are unclear, and too often these scenes announce emotion instead of showing it. The vulgar best friends, usually an Apatow highlight, are unfunny because they’re too selfish in such a dramatic universe (this is especially true during Ira’s romantic subplot, which never gains speed). Oh, and there are numerous cameos, from celebrities and up-and-comers alike, and their clever one-liners cannot save the exacerbating final scenes. Perhaps Apatow loves his movie too much to pare it down. Like the characters of Funny People, comedians are great company when they’re on point. When they’re not funny, their company can be almost unbearable, especially with a two and a half hour running time. With Burma VJ, director Anders Østergaard tries to accomplish a noble thing with meager material. Late in the summer of 2007, Burma saw the beginnings of an uprising, one that eventually escalated to violence. After the 1988 riots left hundreds dead, the Burmese were too afraid to speak out. Everyone considers the monks a legitimate political force, so when they protest nearly 20 years later, ordinary citizens take to the streets. Østergaard documents the uprising with the help of undercover journalists (like the recent Tehran protests, borders were closed to foreign press). Using the pseudonym Joshua, a journalist serves as narrator, and is never shown on camera. He describes how he and his colleagues would risk their lives for newsworthy images. Secret police scatter throughout the city, and Joshua can never be sure when they will spot him. As the conflict escalates, Joshua flatly notes that more deaths are the only way to stir global conscience. The principle weakness with Burma VJ is the quality of the smuggled footage. Joshua and others had to contend with military police and omnipresent fear, and it follows they could not always get the best shot. I realize the journalists were brave and did the best they could, yet they give Østergaard little to work with, and so his documentary lacks emotional power. At the height of the protests, for example, a journalist snags a shot of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (recent Gandhi prize winner), who has been living under house arrest. It should be a climactic, stirring moment, one that inspires others to act. Joshua says the image is blurry and the woman is at a distance, yet is moved to tears. Audience members lack Joshua’s immediate investment in the struggle, and will not have a similar reaction. That is not to say, however, that all the footage is uninspiring. Journalists catch moments when ordinary Burmese proclaim their desire for martyrdom, and there is suspense as a journalist hides from gunfire. Some especially stirring shots capture the scope of the protests. Østergaard and Joshua have moving stuff, just not enough for a feature-length documentary. That’s it for this week’s “Another Movie Guy?”! Tune in next week when romantic comedy overload continues.
Rapping sensation- P. Sanders blew the roof off and kept the Big Apple wide awake and full of energy when he performed at the Gramercy Theatre stage in NYC at the Pop Explosion concert on March 2, 2013. P. Sanders celebrated a very successful night that night with a rockin’ performance that had fans go wild; and even reached 100, 000 followers on Twitter! The hard-working rap-master P. Sanders has his very own EP, “Underrated” available on iTunes; and has a lot more thrilling, upcoming projects planned for his fans! Speaking of upcoming projects… I, Alexisjoyvipaccess caught up with P. Sanders since our last VIPAccessEXCLUSIVE interview over the summer in the Big Apple and I got the inside scoop on P. Sanders’s upcoming projects he’s working on, pre-show rituals, and more when I interviewed him backstage at the Pop Explosion NYC concert! In only a matter of a couple of months since our last interview, P. Sanders’s success has grown rapidly! Hear what the awesome and super talented P.Sanders had to say in our updated VIPAccessEXCLUSIVE interview below! Thanks for the excellent catch-up interview, P. Sanders! Catch P. Sanders and many more fantastic artists on the Pop Explosion Tour! Follow Pop Explosion Tour on Twitter: @PopExplosionTR to not miss out on when the Pop Explosion Tour comes to YOUR city! **Since the video may be a little difficult to hear, you can also read my VIPAccessEXCLUSIVE interview with the terrific P. Sanders below! Alexisjoyvipaccess: Can you tell us what are some pre-show rituals that you have? P. Sanders: I usually just put on my headphones and I walk around; and just blast my music and kinda zone out because it’s kind of like my world; so I gotta get into my world and my zone; and once I’m in my zone, then I own it! Alexisjoyvipaccess: Nice!! So can you tell us any upcoming projects you’re working on? P. Sanders: Yeah! I have a lot of big stuff coming, a tour is coming up- Pop Explosion Tour! But there’s a few other tours that I might be doing as well simultaneously; so it’s about to be really big, a lot of shows, a lot of places not even just in America but overseas as well, so can’t wait!! Alexisjoyvipaccess: Yay! We’re excited for that! So lastly, if you could bring out one message to your fans, what message would that be? P. Sanders: Never give up, ’cause honestly, your dreams may seem unreachable; but they are tangible things; so I would say, grab ‘em, own ‘em and live your life!! Alexisjoyvipaccess: Great! Thank you so much for catching up with me! P. Sanders: No problem! Alexisjoyvipaccess: And I look forward to seeing you perform tonight! Follow P. Sanders on Twitter: @TheRealPSanders/ “Like P. Sanders on Facebook: / Subscribe to P. Sanders on Youtube: / Check P. Sanders out on iTunes and buy his EP “Underrated”!<<
And do you like the new header? Totally rocks! Created by the awesome Retro Zombie Jeremy - contact him if you'd like an interactive header as well. You the man, Jeremy! Mark Koopmans is hosting his annual Got Green? Blog O’ Hop on March 15. Scattergun Scribblings is hosting the Overcoming Adversity Blogfest February 4-5. Entries will be compiled into a book and the proceeds will go to funding college for his son, Andrew, who has cerebral palsy. SA Larson created this writer’s creed. See her site to sign up and get your badge. Hilde McQueen’s latest book is out, Where the Four Winds Collide. Congratulations, Hildie! “It's stupid to fall for your brother's ex. It's even worse to enlist another's help to win the ex over…” Find Becca Ann on Facebook Find her book on Goodreads and purchase the eBook or paperback at Amazon. And don’t forget to save the date for my next blogfest, March 18 – to be announced next month! Mel has worked so long and hard on this book, and it’s finally available! ML Chesley. website. You can also follow her blog or on Facebook. Purchase Adversarius Amazon or Smashwords. Congratulations, Mel!!! Movie Trivia Answers? This is Spinal Tap Hosted by the awesome LG Keltner, we are to post about our writing beginnings. Want to know how CassaStar began? There were many influences. I was always a Star Trek fan. Star Wars came along and redefined movies and space operas. I enjoyed the likes of Bradbury and Heinlein. And then, a single image for an upcoming TV series caught my attention: Frank Frazetta’s artwork for the series Battlestar Galactica. What ignited my imagination was the setting – a rocky planet and a downed ship. The characters, stranded and ready to defend themselves, also caught my attention. (And in the central character, you can probably see the beginnings of Byron.) I imagined two people, a pilot and a navigator, their fighter shot down on a rocky planet and forced to make a sacrifice. That scene, written when I was a teen, was the only part of the original story to survive. (And the scene changed some during the rewrite.) But that image ignited the story behind CassaStar, which eventually became my first published book. Now it’s an Amazon Best Seller and has spawned two sequels. A picture really is worth a thousand words! Excited about the new books and blogfests? Are you picking up Adversarius? Get any of the movie trivia right? And how did your writing begin? Don’t forget to visit M. Pax’s Spacedock 19! 149 comments: You had some great influences there. Thanks for participating in my blogfest! And your new header is awesome! I enjoyed learning about the motivation for CassaStar! Your new header looks great Alex! Jeremy did a terrific job. Congrats to the authors, and I'll have to check out some of these blogfests. Julie Wow, your new header caught my attention right away - it's awesome! Nice to find out where it all started. The new header is very eye catching - well done Jeremy! I missed the last Got Green? blog hop, so I'll be taking part this time. Should be a blast! Thanks for the shout out! Love the header! And yes, Frazetta is the man. Mmm... I started writing "poetry" (i.e. silly long rhymes) when I was seven or eight. First novel started when a character walked into my head while I was reading. I was thirteen. :-D It's amazing that one picture can inspire so much, and that in itself is inspiring. :) Cool new header! Lots of great blog fests and links today. Jeremy is so talented! I'll hit M. Pax soon. I'm not surprised to see Battlestar Galactica being a major influence for Casastar. :) Great to hear the beginnings of Cassastar! I think pictures can be really inspiring, too...I've frequently wished I could draw instead of write. :) I love the header! I can see how that picture would inspire you. Neat beginning! This is Spinal Tap is so awesome. Thanks for the heads up about the Overcoming Adversity blogfest. Star Trek was the thing that inspired me to create stories as well :) Love that echo of Battlestar G in your story - awesome! LG, thanks for hosting! Nick, you're welcome. Ciara, you can probably see that really easily! Hey there! I love your new header. When it's time for a new look I think I'll contact Jeremy too! I'll treat myself when I hit a certain number of page views! Your new header is AWESOME!!!!!!!! Really, really, really cool. It feels like a videogame in here now! Congratulations to Mel and all the authors with new books. And Alex, nice to hear about your inspiration. I love hearing how books began. Love the new header! And Frazetta has inspired a lot of folks, I think. You're in great company there. Love the awesome header! Beautiful work, Jeremy. Enjoyed your interview over at Spacedock 19 with Mary. Yes, please discuss cloning next. :) Congrats on the new releases, Hilde, Becca, and Mel. Frazetta is head and shoulders above everyone else when it comes to those sorts of paintings. Like the new look! I love that you've had the story all these years and finally acted on it to such success. Very inspiring for another late starter. Though only in my actual writing. My story premises are much more recent. I should've known A Fish Called Wanda. I love that movie! And I love Frank Frazetta. He's one of the few artists I used to try to emulate. I'm loving Frazetta's picture. It's mezmerizing. I think it's awesome, too, that you wrote a scene as a teen, with the picture as your inspiration for CS, Alex. Very cool. Thanks as always for all the tasty bites of info. I'll be checking out the blogfests. xoRobyn As always-- great information. The new header looks fantastic. I also liked Galactica. Never missed it. I think it was movies who inspired me to start writing too. Movies and way too much time alone. Jolie, he does a great job. Cathy, like a videogame - funny! Laura, cloning is on the list. Donna, it's never too late. Robyn, that scene was just so powerful. Great Battlestar Galactica picture! This series is one of my favourites. Interesting to know how Cassastar came about. Great post. Yvonne., I absolutely LOVE your new header. Wow. Cool. And the fact that that teaser picture for Battlestar Galactica was the impetus for CassaStar is fascinating. So amazing how inspiration strikes. And I am dying to read How I Fell for the Funny Fat Girl. So many books, so little time... Whoa! That header is totally awesome! Love to hear how CassaStar came into being. Oh, hey, did you know that Indie Life thing I did today was inspired by you? Not my thing in it, but the people that put that together were inspired by you. Love the new header, Alex! I'm heading over to Spacedock 19 now. :) Wow! lots of news! I enjoyed reading about the beginnings of your first book. Thanks for sharing. :) How cool that an image got you started! It's one of my favorites, too. Sadly, I missed the signup for this blogfest, but I have other surprises in store for today. :) Flashy new header! And interesting to find out your novels were inspired by that artwork. Definitely like the new banner for your blog and also some great info and links. Going to check them out! Now I REALLY want to read Adversarius. I shall have to keep my eyes out for this one. Thank you for sharing the story behind part of CassaStar, I love hearing back stories behind books! Zoltan, it was a favorite of mine. She'll, just one image started it all... Andrew, I did! David, sorry you missed it. Love the header! Inspiration is everywhere if we are just alert and open to it. That is a really cool image - I can see why it inspired your writing! Frank Frazetta is an amazing artist. I'm going to his Website now and spend some time just looking at his images. And good luck to all the writers and their new releases! 2013 is going to be a great year! Love the pic and the story behind CassaStar! Pictures are inspiring. I'm saving the date for your fest and Mark's. And my writing started with the story of a dancing hat . . .and then another about a pencil that escaped from school. (elementary school stories influenced by my love of tap dancing movies, and my strong dislike of school) Congrats to ML! Header is awesome :) And that picture is awesome; definitely inspirational... hehee, so punny. Congrats on all the books! A picture is worth a thousand words indeed. Will read your guest post and thanks for keeping us informed. I love the new header! Thanks for the news. I'm totally gonna check out Nick's blogfest, and I can't wait to read REASONS. Al, I do like your new header. Jeremy was done a very, very appropriate job. It evokes a very CassaNinja feel. I am curious about your blogfest, and Mary Pax, Nicki Elson and I will be announcing one for March 1 this Friday, too. As for the beginnings of CassaStar, I love that a picture was literally worth a thousand words. And I was also interested to know that the first scene was written in your adolescence! I like that detail very much, the idea of an entire world pulsing with promise since then. That BSG picture is fantastic. Love the new header. Signed up for Nick's blogfest. I can see Byron in that picture! I'm getting reallly frustrated. Choosing to read "CassaStar" to my kids was a wrong move. I read to them at bedtime, and at best get a chapter in before they zonk. Sometimes I sneak and read ahead...but don't tell them! As an old school BSG fan, I'm amazed that I've never seen that picture before....very cool! I always find it very interesting how just one spark can ignite something bigger. Better writing through chemistry :) Nice header, Jeremy! I'm keeping away from blogfests until April--at least that's my plan. My last couple of weeks with illness and holidays have already set me a year behind in blogging. Please don't come up with any blogfests I can't refuse! Lee Tossing It Out I do love your new header! It amazes me how much things happen every week. I feel so left behind. So awesome to hear the story behind that! I've always wondered. Can't wait for your blogfest announcement :) You new header rocks. Love the flash, Alex. Fits with your uniqueness! Great looking header. It's good to hear how it all began for you too. What a fun new header! Great new header! and thanks for all the updates. Best :) Lots of stuff going on. Always good to come over here to catch up, and find out yet another interesting fact. Although I'm an avid Bradbury reader (and a couple of Heinlein), and loved BG, I write totally different stuff. Thank goodness for authors like you who feed my addiction to that genre. Love the new header! Great job, Jeremy. That is cool that BSG inspired you, and that you wrote the first scene as a teen! Yes I like your new header! Jeremy is really good at creating headers that capture the tone of the blog. SO techi... so interesting, such fun! Both you and your header. The cool factor on that banner is very high! One of my buddies approach to painting mini's is inspired by Frazetta. Nice new banner! I love the golden-brown color scheme. I've been writing since I was 4 years old, literally as long as I could write. It's just what I've always done, no special inspiration to have started. I love the new header, Alex! I've been to Spacedock 19 - I'm on my way:) Cool new header and interesting how one picture can spark an entire series! Stephen, you could get lost at that site... Tyrean, a dancing hat! That is definitely original. Suze, excited to hear about your blogfest! Yes, there was a really crappy first draft of CassaStar written in my teen years, all stemming from that one scene. Mark, I think the black and white version was in the old TV Guide magazine. Lee, you might not be able to refuse mine... Clarissa, it amazes me as well. Joylene, thank you! ML, I'm trying. Carrie-Anne, that's a long time... Off to visit M-Pax! Liked to BG artwork :). Hadn't seen it before. Great seeing your inspiration for the start of the Cassa series. Cool backstory on your book, Alex! And congrats to all the writers in today's post - there's a lot of exciting news swirling about the blogosphere. Well, it was ST:TNG for me when I was in middle school, though I'd watched the original series and the original Battlestar Galactica in reruns with my dad. I also used to page through my dad's Frank Frazetta art book (though I think there was stuff in there young kids weren't supposed to see). Very cool that your scene survived all those years (and revisions), Alex. ML's cover looks awesome! It was fun and enlightening to talk to you Alex. Glad you visited the Spacedock. Your clones are welcome any time. Love the new header! And Congrats to ML! That picture is very inspiring. I loved BSG - the original and the remake. I thought something looked different over here ;) Thanks for the mention, too! You rock! And I think the only images that have inspired me are ones of hot guys without their shirts on. That counts, right? :) Congratulations! Your new header is an inspiring eye-catcher. A picture really is worth a thousand words! I work together with people from different countries and I can't count how often we use pictures. M Pepper, I bet there was a lot you shouldn't have seen! Oh well. Emily, the only one that did. Mary, thanks for having me. Becca, you are welcome! Thanks for the information; you are like the Blogger Times:D I got my Writer's Creed badge, and am off to visit the Beginnings Blogfest, M. Pax, and all the other goodies you have lined up for us. ooh! Fancy new header is fancy! Blinking lights and everything! Love the new header. I started writing back in the dark ages to amuse my friends. It was supposed to be a novel but everyone wanted to be a character, and everyone wanted their character to do this and that, so it ended up being a sprawling continuing story that was still going when my dad got transferred during my senior year (oh, the agony of it all) and we had to move. Yes, exquisite headboard, love the dynamic light shows. I love what Jeremy did for your blog header. Very cool--much like Jeremy himself. I like the sound of Adversarius and the hero's code of honor. I'll be checking that out for sure! Hope your week is going well, Alex! Blessings, my friend. The header is really neat! I loved the old Battlestar. And had such a crush on Richard Hatch. Alex, I did like how the header came out as I described it as... Space battle in the Matrix... thank you for letting me be creative. So many things going on today, I enjoyed the Battlestar... I as a kid had a cardboard Viper, that I sent in for from the back of cereal box... oh the memories. Great Day! Jeremy The new header is awesome! I'm already signed up for Nick's blogfest, but I'll have to pass on Mark's for a very good reason. I'll be here! :D Congratulations to Hildie, Becca Ann, and M.L.! I'm off to visit M. Pax now. :) So interesting hearing your inspiration! Finally some trivia I knew (well 2 questions anyway). Not a big sci/fi fan, but I loved Battlestar Galacticia (the original TV) I do like the new header! Thanks for all the news and notes. Appreciate you keeping us in the loop. I know I'd totally be out of that loop otherwise! :) I love the header! I see animated pirate ships in my future. :D Thanks for the shout out, Alex! And my writing started after I created Kayta for a D&D game. Geek to the core! XD My first writing experience was when I was 8, but my real writing experience was probably when I joined my current writing group 10 years ago. Everything I write comes out twisty and dark no matter how I try the opposite. Horror it is! LOL. Frank Frazetta’s artwork is amazing. I used to paw all over it when I was young. I get a lot of my writing inspiration from art as well. There is so much to do and see that I'm not sure what I'm doing next! Love the new header Alex. A million thanks for my book shout out. Have a beautiful day! Edi, hoping you'll enjoy those last thousand words. Sarah, I know - it rocks! LD, you should dig it up. Sia, he IS cool. Jeremy, that's funny. And the header rocks. Carrie, yes, you will be my guest that day! Mel, you're welcome. And you need to have him do that. Spruce up your header while keeping the ships and the feel. Lynda, I pawed over it as well, but I'm sure for a different reason. Hildie, you're welcome! Thanks for the secret origin of the Cassan universe! Dunno how you keep up Alex. Liked the sound of Adverstarius so bought it for my Kindle. Love your new header. Very flash. No good at movie trivia. Don't get to see too many movies. Interesting how Cassa Star began. Love that picture. I never missed an episode of the original Battlestar Galactica. I believe I have some of his artwork on collector's cards. Fascinating artwork that really drew my eye. I found them in a little shop in a tiny town near the coast of Oregon (while looking for X-Files cards, haha). I do love inspiration in all forms. Wonderful to hear where CassaStar came from. Shannon at The Warrior Muse Love the new header. Very cool. And I think it's amazing how your whole life was essentially changed by that picture. Think about it. The blog. All these people. How much would be the same if you'd never seen that and never decided to write Cassa Star? Maybe it all would've happened in some other way, but you never know. I think that's the best thing about life. How even the most innocuous-seeming things (like a picture) can impact you for years to come. :) Too much going on! AH! It's all good though. Nice getting a glimpse into 'the beginning'. Thanks for sharing. Heather Jo, I just do my best. Susan, I didn't either! Shannon, that is very cool! I have a game with his artwork on it. Tamara, none of it would've happened... Very cool beginning. A picture or a piece of music an inspire a whole series. I'm off to the Spacedock now! Alex, I think you are at the point now that you need this comment box at the top of the comment list instead of the bottom :) That is a very cool header and I like it a lot. I will throw some work Jeremy's way if I decide to go that route at some point. Hey I got three of the four movies I named, right!! Amazing. Lots going on this first week or so in 2013! Nothing like starting with a BANG!!!!!! I got one from the trivia! Yeah! Can't wait to stop by M.Pax's blog to check out the post. :) Cool banner! ~Stephanie Chuck, I'll see what I can do about the comment box, And I think one of Jeremy's headers would look awesome on your blog. Stephanie, glad you got one right. It was nice to read about your motivation for Cassa Star! I'll go check out your interview with Pax. Some really great blog hops coming up and I'm so stoked for Becca's book! :) I love your header!!! Jeremy rocks, flashes and glows ;D What the heck...a month? C'mon Captain...no fair-I need a hint! Off to check out MPax-I miss her~ I'm so behind, but playing catch up is fun! I love how fun and kind your blog is! Congrats to all! Mel you rock ;D Yeah, that image would catch my attention too. ......dhole Franzetta's Battlestar Galactica is epic. Great inspiration Alex. Love the new banner. I wondered if Retro Zombie was the creator. Hard to beat Frazetta, and yes, I can see Byron in that center figure. I love how the Cassa trilogy, and by extension this blog, came about because of that single image. It's a pretty awesome way to begin :) Jamie I'm not surprised that a powerful image you saw as kid helped to inspire your novel. The older I get, the more I'm amazed at how much the world we lived in when young still affect us. One of these days, I swear I'm gonna answer all your trivia questions. Hey, it's cool to know how you got started with CassaStar. I didn't realize you began writing it when you were a teen :) Oh I read and reviewed Adversarius! It's a great book. Congratulations to Mel Chesley :)) Great header! It was interesting reading about what inspired CassaStar. Dude. Your new banner looks awesome! Ella, thank you. And I will give you a hint - it involves a top ten list. DG, figured you would see Byron. Jamie, it is wild when you think about it. Helena, don't give up hope that you'll answer them. Rachel, I did! Many, many years ago... Michael, you're a speed reader. Man I love those moments where inspiration strikes is right on down! :) Nice story for the blogfest. I have yet to read any of your books but they are all high up on my TBR! and thousands of fans! awesome picture! art is so inspirational! fabulous new look! love it! cant wait to see what you do next! Great new banner! Loved Frazetta's artwork and all the newsy stuff! Love the new header, noticed it right away :). A new blogfest? Hmmm...I am most intrigued! Happy Wednesday! Jen Awesome banner!!! And so many blogfests to enter. Congratulations to all that have new books out. I love the story behind the inspiration for CassaStar. That image can really stir some creativity, and I'm glad it caught your eye. I have a funny story about my inspiration for Forged by Greed :-) I'm off to M Pax's blog to read the post. I love the new banner! It's spectacular! The new banner is AWESOME, Alex!!! Love it. =) Going to check out books. =) Your new header is great! So what should I do now, shut my blog down or change header? I totally identify with using artwork for inspiration! I'm working on a high fantasy project, and I've developed a habit of finding scifi and fantasy pictures on pinterest to help me envision locals and characters and even events for my story. :D Trisha, thank you!! Tara, I hope I have that many fans. Angela, you need to post that story. Jay, or contact Jeremy to do a new one! Liesel, smart idea. Oy! Totally forgot it was Wednesday yesterday. Better late than never. Good thing I dropped by. I'd miss all the news without your posts. So many blogfest! And so little time. I loved the BG from the late 70's early 80's. had big crushes in Apollo & Starbuck. Not surprised you'd find it inspiring. Funny where we find that nugget of inspiration. That's so cool to learn the inspiration behind Cassa Star! I remember when that picture came out! :) It's amazing what can come from a simple picture. I know I've had my fair share of image-based muses. Love the new header. Absolutely gorge!!! Alex, the new header is jazzy. I like it. It boggles my mind when I come here and see all these blog posts I want to visit and all these new books I want to read. I need more hours in my day. Yes, interesting CassaStar roots. I love the new header! Awesome lightning effects... very atmospheric! I enjoyed the Cassastar beginnings... It seems like the blogfests never end... there are so many new ones... Nancy, it was a cheesy show, but I dug it. DL, glad someone else remembered! Patricia, I am here to boggle... I love the new header!! Great job, Jeremy! Alex, lucky you, yes it's me, Penny the Jack Russell dog and modest internet superstar! You are having another blogfest? We will check that out. We do so hope you join our "Groundblog Day" blogfest. That's "Groundblog", not "Groundhog". Clever, eh? You are having another blogfest? We will check that out. We do so hope you join our "Groundblog Day" blogfest. That's "Groundblog", not "Groundhog". Clever, eh? Went by Nick's blog. I'm in. Working on a story tonight. You've got a hear of gold, Alex. And thanks for the spam info. Followed all. So far, so good. :))) I'm a very visually-oriented gal, so I can see how this image would've jump started your creativity! It's truly amazing what can spark a story idea! As always I can count on you to keep me busy...LOL, Not that I need it, But nice to know what needs checing out :) Gary, I won't have to listen to I Got You Babe, will I? Gary, I won't have to listen to I Got You Babe, will I? Thanks, Kittie! And glad that nixed the spam. Gotta learn outlining...heading over there now. And it turns out that by sheer luck that I DID know the first trivia answer (it just popped into my brain) even though it's been YEARS since I slept through the movie... Tina @ Life is Good Thanks for providing these links and all this info. Lots to go through. I especially love the rebel writer's creed. YES, I love the header! It's perfect for this blog! I also loved Sheri's writer's creed. It's full of great reminders. Thanks for sharing all the great news. It's so exiting. That's a cool story of how you came up with your novel concept! GOT GREEN!!!!! You know, I'm the reigning champion for that blogfest, I've got to really step it up this year if I'm to win again... And LOVING the new look... I'm commenting just ahead of a new post. LOL I'm so far behind, I can't even see what's behind be me anymore. LOVE the new banner. Jeremy is major-league talented. Frank Frazetta is one of my all time favorite artists. His Wolfman is on my wall here at home. What wonderful news all around the blogosphere. I love hearing all this great news. I love Star Trek too and Star Wars! Though some of my guy friends make fun of me for it since they are "guy movies/shows" but I'm a geek. :) I'm excited for all of the new blogfests! That header is FANTASTIC!! I love it! Thanks for the links and news. I love the new header. Tina, good for you! Morgan, the pressure is on. Melissa, Jeremy did an awesome job. Krista, no, you are an uber-cool chick in my book! Hi Alex - so pleased you highlighted Nick's blogfest for his son - raising funds via an anthology - it will be great. I have to catch up - so much happening - how does anyone keep up .. Cheers and I love the header - talented bloggers around .. let alone writers! Have a great year - Hilary I was wondering where you got that great new header! It's awesome! Jai Aloha, I'm about as late as late can be, but wanted to say Cheers for the O'shout out and may your eyes not glaze over if I add to the "Wow, dude, cool new header" gang :)
OberonViking I agree completely with you here. I actually have the trouble of needing to retrain my players as they began by mistrusting me. Probably because they are students at the school I teach at, perhaps becausew they are only 13 and 14, maybe because they have come with a background in computer RPGs and mmorgs. – OberonViking 2012-07-06 10:10 UTC shortymonster sadly, because I play with a mixed group from various other gaming groups, this kind of untrustworthiness seems to have been firmly established long before I got there. using an NPC as the guy who wired them’s second in command who was supposed to be very helpful indeed, even going behind his boss’s back on occasion for reasons of his own that were all in the player’s interests, and they still thought he was lying or withholding information. – shortymonster 2012-07-06 10:18 UTC lior An interesting point. On the one hand, we are trying to make the game world dangerous and full of evil. But then we avoid almost all things which are truly evil. We slaughter lots of creatures without problem and are happy when countless villagers are massacred because that is the next adventure hook. But torture, abuse, despair, we do not want to have those in the game. Why should we? If its ugly in the real world, how could it be fun in play? There is something delusional about our hobby. – lior 2012-07-06 11:30 UTC -C It’s weird, I do this all the time and the players never really have a problem trusting anyone. I’ve never had a player do any of the things. Threaten to torture somebody? Never. Sometimes they’ll say “I don’t want to get screwed!” and I’ll say, “Well, you probably won’t” and that’s pretty much the end of it. – -C 2012-07-06 12:28 UTC @Lior: I think there is nothing delusional about it at all. It only seems delusional if you make broad simplifications. Let me dig a bit deeper: Or: Or: We might get into real world ethics, of course (the ends justifying the means, is there a just war, human(oid) rights, war conventions) – but I think the key is how people feel at the table even if they cannot express it clearly. There’s a line to be drawn everywhere with respect to “how much we can take”. Just as we do not experience risk in mathematical terms, we don’t experience cruelty and pain in statistically relevant terms. It matters whether we’re doing it, or it is being done to us, or we hear about other people doing it, the amount of graphic detail is important, our own sensibilities play an important role (people who enjoy watching Saw movies and I are not in the same boat). – AlexSchroeder 2012-07-06 12:31 UTC Alex takes a couple shortcuts to get to game content he enjoys and is interested in. That is not delusional. It’s a question of where you draw the line in descriptions and where you lift the veil about NPCs. “His eyes dart around nervously as he tells you this” or “you have the uncanny feeling he is not telling the truth” is not the same thing as everybody always being nice, even if they’re supposed to be the bad guys. Example: In Alex’ Wilderlands campaign there is a red dragon who got seven virgins every year; the reasons long forgotten by the humans. Yes, the dragon is going to sacrifice these innocent people in a ritual (and that is all I as a player needed to know) … but the ambiguity of real life starts beyond this; the dragon does this to seal a demon kings’ soul so he doesn’t resurrect himself in this part of the material plane. And the goal of that subset of the campaign, chosen by the players, was to ensure the dragon doesn’t need to do that anymore. So: – Harald 2012-07-06 12:42 UTC @-C: If your players never suggested torture, more power to them! What about the other issues, however: When your players release prisoners, the freed prisoners go and fetch friends to chase after the player characters? If so, do the player characters continue to release prisoners? When your non-player characters lie to your player characters, will the players still trust other non-player characters? Perhaps your player characters never trust any non-player characters? Or perhaps sifting through the statements the non-player characters make is part of the game? It also seems to be what you’re saying in On Ignorance of Skill Based Play: This would be similar to me openly admitting that the non-player character seems to be lying once they player ask me “is he lying?” or “I watch his face and try to figure out whether he’s lying.” In response, I’ll provide something pretty obvious like the examples Harald provided above: “His eyes dart around nervously as he tells you this” or “you have the uncanny feeling he is not telling the truth.” – AlexSchroeder 2012-07-06 12:45 UTC lior @Alex, @Harald: Let me rephrase. We want dragons sacrificing virgins, but we do not want to think about what that would mean and how and why that is horrible. We want a road flanked by dozens of crucified criminals. But we do not want to imagine what that really means. Crucifixion → bad, human sacrifice → bad. Those are trivial conclusions. We want them in the game, but we want them to stay trivial. Also, I did not say Alex is delusional, far be it from me. In fact I think Alex’ method is a mature way of not dealing with unfun issues. I am deliberately saying “There is something delusional about our hobby” because I think it applies to almost all of us, myself very much included. I suspect those players who are OK with torture are so because it does not touch them emotionally as easily. In other words, it stays trivial for longer. – lior 2012-07-06 13:30 UTC AlexSchroeder @Lior: I suspect that this is an aspect of all sane humans and is true for almost all endeavors: too much detail makes you crazy; too much terrible detail makes you crazy. It protects you from the tedium and horror of everything, of the entirety of our human existence. The repression of horrible details and (sometimes) their sublimation into action (or adventure in the case of role-playing games) seems to be one of the most basic mechanisms allowing us to function. But then again, I’m not a psychologist and have my reservations regarding Freud. – AlexSchroeder 2012-07-06 14:07 UTC Brendan Question: how are lying NPCs different from trapped dungeon rooms? Is it a question of context? If so, maybe NPCs encountered in a dungeon are unreliable, while those encountered in a town are trustworthy? That seems like it might be a reasonable assumption, much like how players usually don’t feel the need to probe the floor in a tavern with a 10 foot pole. – Brendan 2012-07-06 22:43 UTC AlexSchroeder @Brendan: I think looking at the difference between traps and lying non-player characters is a good way of considering the issue. Context is a good point. I’d say that a non-player character joining the party and moving from the tavern context to the dungeon context warrants a bit more thought: Is the non-player character now a liability or does he “stay trustworthy?” My players might be expecting the character to stay honest and I tend to agree. Another aspect I like is how traps or liars are discovered. Here’s how I think traps ought to be used: there must be ways of discovering traps that doesn’t involve rolling dice. I like to say: “If you need to roll dice, it’s already too late.” Thus, examining the floor might yield “a line across the floor” or “a dried puddle of blood” or something along these lines. I like -C’s traps on his Hack & Slash blog because he discusses this discoverability of traps. What about lying non-player characters? I feel that they need the same kind of discoverability. In the original example on G+ the Philip Watson had the evil cleric drink booze instead of joining combat in the first round and similar hints out there, so as far as I’m concerned, that’s good enough. – AlexSchroeder 2012-07-07 10:04 UTC
Charming, sun-soaked and obsessed with death. Tokyo's all-girl power trio Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re is irony personified. It's a hard-rock band with punk sensibilities, danceable beats and a sharp-toothed metal roar. (How that roar comes from the vocal cords of three petite women is beyond me.) Singer Mari's warm delivery masks the often racier themes of tragedy and sex. To non-Japanese speakers oblivious to the meaning of the lyrics, some of the contrast is lost. But then there are the violent fits thrown by the feisty guitar and thumping drums, which help drive home the band's contradictory aesthetics. "And the speed of the cars is fast. Everything is fast!" The songs aren't always so heady or obscene. Sometimes they're just about food. In "Fish Cakes," each member plays a different ingredient in a hot pot, and in "No-Miso Shortcake" Mari invites us to eat her brain (all in Japanese, of course). Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re introduced itself to America in 2004, when it toured alongside several other Japanese acts. A year later, the band reached the ears of thousands of Yanks as the opening act for the Suicide Girls Live Burlesque Tour. In a collectively answered e-mail interview, Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re's love for America is explicit. The fact that its current tour is the band's seventh in the States is also a testament to its adoration for the red, white and blue. "You can be unrestrictive about your feelings in the United States," the group says. "And the speed of the cars is fast. Everything is fast!" The band's travels have been mostly glee-filled, but on one occasion, Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re found itself in a haunted hotel room. "We stayed at one place where a ghost seemed to be in the bathroom," the three band members say. "Everyone was afraid to go into the shower alone." Then there was the dive bar. "There was no door in the restroom stall." Just as Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re has come to lust for American life, so too have Americans come to adore the band. "The fans in the United States dance in a frenzy, even if they don't know us," Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re says. "In Japan the crowd is shy. Even if they love us, they won't dance alone." So who's coming out to Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re shows? It's a colorful, brainy bunch. "A young person and an elderly person can both love Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re," the band says. "A lot of clever persons are in the fan base, too. For instance, scientists and college professors." You don't need an advanced degree to see Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re in Albuquerque; you just have to be 21 or older. The band plays Burt's Tiki Lounge on Tuesday, Sept. 9. Static Static (L.A.) and Calico (here) are also on the bill. Entry is free as a bird.
No sugar beets today! Instead I go outside to take my kid to school this morning and this is what we find. Ironically we had to drive 300 miles the day before for a family issue so it was 'good luck' that it didnt happen then. So there is no happy challah bread, half eaten. No happy easy eggs with avocado. No happy easy eggs with avocado and red chile. Only my car, and a tree knocked over by the 'weather' - fortunately it was the driver door mirror that was damaged, well that and my now deep seated psychological problems stemming from trees, weather, cars, and strange neighbors 'washing' it. (I dont know this guy) I fell behind on comment response since we were 300 miles away (well we were really only 160 miles away it was 320 round trip, I like to exaggerate to make my anguish more anguishy) and I did not take my laptop. 34 comments: You are lucky that the damage was so minimal. And I love the kindness of fellow New Yorkers giving you a free car wash! What are the chances! Stace stace: incredibly lucky (I guess) and yeah pretty funny - I didnt tell him it was my car I just snapped a few pictures and let him do what he wanted to do... Good thing it wasn't major damage, just before Christmas!I guess you have other things to use time and money on! Do you keep your camera in your pocket? anette: I do, I take my camera everywhere I go! New Yorkers are an interesting group of people...good thing he was using a water hose! I was on jds223's page with the hose!Gee who woulda thought that it was a tree you had to watch out for in the wilds of NYC? hey, my car needs washing:) the eggs n chile n avacado look wonderful.. jds223: that IS a good thing! starrlife: yup, trees and mold and blinding fashion! snugs: bring it on over to my block, I am sure this guy will oblige...and those eggs and avocado and chile were damn good. Yep, lucky!!! I absolutely pissed myself laughing when I read that you dont know the guy with the hose!!! WHAT THE????????? Maybe hes blind and he used to water the tree so now hes watering your car>>>>>> ha ha ha ha Well that car got busted deep! Is nature taking it's revenge? Or is nature trying to get your attention? Sorry about your ride dude. At least is wasn't a '57 Impala with chrome hubcaps and a chainlink steering wheel. mandi: I wanted to give him a bucket of soap.... sofia: busted barely, actually, but nature is always the champion. Loose one sideview mirror and find another. francesco: how do you know I dont have a chrome chain link steering wheel? andres: if only life could be so simple... New Yorkers are NUTS!!! and I'm so glad that you weren't IN the car when this happened and it was only the mirror. I mean, who actually uses that particular mirror anyway, right? I wondered where you were....I hope everything is ok with your family. No drama, ya know? Drama sucks. xoxox no it was just sitting on the street like normal....and yeah we had drama... New Yorkers are NOT nuts - the rest of you goombas are nuts! Now you got firewood for those roof top bar-b-que's. Stuff like that drives me nuts! Just enough damage to inconvenience you during the holidays... micky-t- ok mister half full - thats a bright side except the wood is still green and it is a city tree -but I do like the positive twist. buff: EXACTLY! Eww, what DOES a city tree smell like when it burns. LOL Let it air dry on the roof for 3 months...it'll be good to go! Oh man--sorry about your car! Bad tree! Those eggs with chile and avocado look SLAMMING! Who cut up the tree? Was it this same stranger who is washing your car? I didn't think there were nice people like that anymore? Must be the holidays. One night in 1986, my husband and I parked our 1 year old Cadillacs side by side, mine backed in beside his, so he could get out his driver's door and open mine for me. There was a rainstorm that night; the next morning, the tree behind our cars had come down and crunched in the driver's sides of both cars. Homeowner's insurance paid for them, but it took a while. Relatively speaking, you were lucky. And you can send that neighbor to wash my cars in December, if you want! I have a chiminea ready for the wood...and I will make you one of my 'Happy' Egg Nog drinks and we will have a good laugh about what life throws at us! Glad you and your son are ok... Hope your weekend goes a little better! Glad the damage was only to the car. sheesh I hate it when that happens...man that bread looks good!!! You poor thing! You sounds like you're having a rough time! Why was that guy washing your car? Weird! My husband would have freaked. ouch! You're lucky the damage wasn't worse! Do we get an example of your deep seated psychological problems? An altar boy stories you can share? Okay, so you are the THIRD person I read that had damange done to their car, but at least you weren't driving it at the time like the other two were! And some random person was washing your car? Strange, but kinda nice too, huh? First off..the picture of your egg platter...priceless. You kill me with the colors. Secondly...I am totally loving that you took a picture of the guy washing your car without letting him know that you were the owner...awesome! OMG - I'm so happy the damage wasn't worse than what it was! Well, at least he wasn't peeing on your car. And who needs a driver's side mirror anyway! :-) "strange neighbors 'washing' it. (I dont know this guy)" you still crack me up. Happy Holidays.
Carlton Books Ltd., Hard cover, ￡12.99, 384 pp. For your money, you received not only a book that looked good, but also one that actually told you something. When it comes to coffee table books, the two can never be taken for granted. Fourteen years on, the book is enjoying a renaissance. It was last updated in 2000 and has now been pored over again, the cobwebs blown away, and the facts and figures updated for a new era. But what you don’t get anymore are the pictures, which is a shame as this is a book crying out for illustration. Don’t get me wrong, Roger’s words are as clear and crisp as ever, drawing on his four decades of banging on brewery doors and seeking out beers of quality, but the book, in its new, compact, monochrome format, has a rather dry feel to it. The contents begin with the art and science of beer making, and the basics of brewing are explained extremely well, with more detail than is often found in catchall beer books. Then Roger describes his travels; zipping around the world, country-by-country, summing up the local beer scene, selecting the best exponents. Chapter Three takes us on a pub and bar tour of the world, with paragraphs on all of the best places to drink, before Chapter Four explores what it describes as “the culture of beer drinking”―anything from the origins of pub names to the latest licensing rules in the UK. Throughout, it’s clear that Roger knows his stuff; much of it gleaned firsthand through visits to the breweries and bars themselves. Producing a revised edition of a book this extensive and detailed is always going to be fraught with danger―danger that an odd fact may be overlooked, danger that new information is sidelined in favor of just updating the existing text. Being picky, I did find examples where the story is not quite up-to-date and also stumbled across some notable omissions. I also noted that the absence of web details makes the book seem somewhat dated. That all said, it’s a good, solid, informative work―nearly 400 packed pages of text from the world’s leading beer writer―that I will certainly consult on a regular basis. The lack of gloss and glamour in this new version can, of course, be a bonus. Think of the World Beer Guide as a solid primer―a fundamental, almost school textbook-like introduction to the world of beer, bars and brewing that cuts to the chase and leaves the frills for other titles. The added bonus, of course, is that you have a coffee table book, without the coffee table price.
Last we left the adventuring party, they were camping outside the Cave of Marsh. I anticipated dying to the wizards guarding the crown many times because of their paralytic touch and massive damage. Their attack on the mages can quickly take them out. I retrieved the crown and prepared for the battle coming next. Astos is the first real boss to face off with the party. Garland is too early to be much of a challenge, and the last two plot related fights (pirates and wizards) are more like mini-bosses. Astos has a spell, Rub, that has a good chance of instantly killing a party member. In fact, it's usually his first action followed by either Fire 2 or 3. Astos decided to focus his efforts on buffing himself instead, while Kili took MVP for the fight, basically killing him single-handedly (I'm not sure Tont's 2 HP of damage really pushed it over the edge). With the crown I was able to get the Crystal Eye, which the witch Matoya requests in exchange for some powerful herbs that revive the elf king who has a mystic key to unlock magic doors. Behind one of the doors are some explosives that a dwarf needs. This is the longest chain of fetch quests I've seen in the games for this blog. Beyond the TNT, I also uncover a lot of powerful equipment that I can't use. At least it gets me a lot of gold to help afford the costly spells. With the TNT, a dwarf blow up a land bridge that opens up the wider world . Now the main quest really begins and I can finally do something about these orbs. I've just reached the first town beyond, and the Earth Cave is awaiting my approach. Session Time: 1h30m (Total Time: 5h30m) Sorry for the lack of updates. Life has been really stressful and work is crazy. Still is, but I've spent too long away from this, so I'm trying to get back into it. Thank you all for stopping by again and checking it out. I'm definitely devoting more time to this project going forward. Welcome back! Life is always more important than video games, of course, but hopeful this is a de-stressor for you... It does help, but it also creates some stress at home when I play for long periods, so I'm trying to limit the longer sessions. Glad you're back! Sorry to hear about real-life stress, I hope things are better now! Not really, but I'm tired of waiting for them to get better. I've been following your blog for quite some time, but not commenting until now. Glad to see you're back! Have you considered trying one of the patches for Final Fantasy? I wound up having my Final Fantasy cartridge ROM reburned with a bugfix patch that really made the game a whole lot more fun to play. Vanilla NES Final Fantasy has a ton of bugs, notably that none of the "special" weapons that are supposed to deal extra damage to specific creatures (The Giant Sword for example) actually does any additional damage. There are spells that do the opposite of what is intended (I believe LOK actually reduces your To-Hit, rather than increasing) and a great deal of the elemental protection spells (AFIR, ALIT, etc) don't do anything at all. A little QA would have gone far. I was unaware of bugfix patches for my favorite FF game, though I knew about the bugs. I'll have to go search one out... I wish I remembered which patch I found, but it was compatible with the cartridge's ROM and the guy running nesreproductions.com burned it for me. Works great. I think I'd rather stick to unmodified versions, or at least officially released versions. The special weapons are really only a drawback for Gioz. I guess the light axe also is limited, but I don't remember many undead once it's found. The spell limitations and handicaps I can work around as well. I really don't like using buffs and debuffs much as I feel like they waste a turn in casting them, especially when the debuff just doesn't work. I actually bought the PS1 version recently. I could switch to that version... nah I'll just stick with the original for now. I've beaten it before. @archivis: Someone named AstralEsper made a great patch called Final Fantasy Restored. I highly recommend it. It fixes pretty much every bug; the only one still unfixed, I think, is the INT bug (i.e., higher INT is supposed to increase the power of Black Magic, but doesn't). I have noticed that Gioz's spells will sometimes out-power Kili's. Wow, I was reading that and I saw Garland and now I can't get that ancient webcomic, 8-bit theatre out of my head. I never heard of 8-bit Theater until now. Thanks for wasting the rest of my free time for today.... I'll have to check out 8-bit theater and lose some more free time then. Don't worry, it goes downhill pretty quickly, I just kept reading it out of habit. Lies, Canageek, LIES! All those consecutive hours I lost watching the Youtube episodes and then continuing in the comics are proof of its OBJECTIVELY perpetual funniness! .... Seriously, though, I am sad it won't continue forever especially with 5 more sprite-based Final Fantasy's to draw from.... IMAGINE! PS: Glad to see you back,Zenic. I kinda dropped off my usual blog-reading spots (bet I have a few hundred hours of CRPG Addict back-logged,too), so I am sorry this greeting is more than a bit late :) Thanks, and good to see you back as well. Wizardry's been teaching me the true meaning of an unfair game. I'm hoping I've seen the worst of it and can move on soon. Strangely, I'm enjoying it more than Phantasy Star II. That could have to do with grinding while also playing Star Saga Two. Good to see you posting - and to see your exploits are continuing. :) Glad to be back. I hope I can get through the 1990s of gaming by the end of the summer at least. We'll see how quickly I can start ramping up my play time. I quite enjoyed this section of the game. Because I used the peninsula of power on my playthrough I kind of breezed through it. Really enjoyed the battle with the elf guy. I think the peninsula of power is a less powerful in this games. I remember easily grinding there in Dawn of Souls (the game used MP instead spell points per level). I suppose it's good before getting the mystic key, although at level 11 I was getting hit for nearly half my HP. The ever present mummies at the north castle are a constant source of experience. The giants in the Earth Cave are seem to be a good deal as well, but take some time to kill. I remember the eye in the ice cave being another good source, but he's hard to get to and can easily kill your party without the right equipment. Beyond that, I can't think of any particularly easy places to grind for levels. I hope you'll write up your thoughts when we get to the final posting on this game. It'll be interesting to read up on the differences between the versions. I'm catching up on older articles, so I'm fine with you being less frequent :D Glad to have a new reader. I'm eager to move forward though, so I hope I can get back to my goal of at least once a week. I'm glad to see you back, and glad to see Kili kicking ass and taking numbers! Kili is definitely one of the most powerful characters with his nukes. I think the animation you recall for the blowing up of the canal is from one of the myriad of remakes. Glad to see you back blogging! I did play through the GBA Dawn of Souls version, so maybe I'm remembering that. I also remember tent/cabin/house animation, but I'm pretty sure that's Final Fantasy II (SNES). Yes, the GBA version, as well as the superior PS1 and other remaks have these animations for blowing up the canal, and at other set points, as well as tent/cabin/house animations.
62 Reasons You Might Be All Groan UpPosted on December 27th, 2011 Are you a GROAN UP? Someone in that awkward limbo between growing and grown? If so, you’re not alone. I recently unwrapped the theory of Emerging Adulthood, which suggests that there is a new developmental stage between the transition from adolescence to adult called “emerging adulthood”. However, I’ve also been conducting my own less-than-academic research around emerging adulthood and my theory of being a GROAN UP. And after months of collecting answers from twentysomethings/thirtysomethings from around the World of Web-ernet (and sprinkling in my own), I present to you what it REALLY means to be ALL GROAN UP – someone in between growing and grown. 1. When you buy loads of cute accessories for your teenage sister, because obviously you are too GROAN up to wear them! - Kay 2. The thought of becoming an adult makes you toss up a few Fruity Pebbles. 3. You see nothing wrong with still eating Fruity Pebbles. 4. You take your nieces to see cartoon movies just so you don’t look like a weirdo watching a kids movie – Linzy 5. TGIF still means something more to you (aka you might own the entire DVD set of Boy Meets World). 6. You de-stress by coloring with crayola crayons. - Cara 7. At the first sight of snow you hope work is cancelled tomorrow. 8. You stop laughing at Friends and start thinking that Joey’s comments about sex are inappropriate. – Josh 9. You’ve had a new job (or no job) nearly every year for a decade. 10. You still eat mac n cheese for dinner (but now add peas) – Robin 11. When Father’s Day is for YOU 12. When you realize YOU have to DEAL with the car mechanics instead of your dad doing it for you! – Linzy 13. You can’t believe you’re married 14. You can’t believe you’re NOT married 15. You still don’t really know how taxes work but you pretend like you do. ~ Katie 16. You still get called “the girl” at work – A Girl Who Dreams 17. You ironed your dress shirts for the first month of your new job, and then decided a much easier strategy was just to stop believing that wrinkles exists. 18. You say things like, “That Fred Savage was dreamy” ~ Blunt Delivery 19. You bring empty Tupperware to work to take home leftover office food 20. When you make comments like “I was NEVER allowed to wear something like that when I was her age…I wore stretch pants and an over-sized t-shirt!” ~ Alyssa 21. When the last of the ketchup bottle makes a fart noise and you don’t laugh. ~ Julian 22. You realize on the morning of that Mother’s Day is not just for your mom, but also for your wife, who is now a mom. So you run out and buy a glass swan (I might be speaking from experience here) 23. You love listening to NPR now. I mean, it’s talk radio! ~ David 24. You still giggle when someone says balls (maybe just a groan up guy thing) 25. You go back to your home town and talk about all the “developments” that have happened since you’ve been gone ~ Lindsay 26. You thought Mary-Kate and Ashley were adorable. And now they kinda scare you. ~ Katie 27. When you never run out of underwear because you actually stay on top of laundry ~ Ashley 28. When you’re losing hair and gaining babies. 29. Every evening at 7:30pm you scurry to turn on Jeopardy ~ Rachael 30. You grieve all the day when you spill coffee on something that is “dry clean only.” 31. When your first reaction to finding out a friend is pregnant is “congratulations!!” instead of “holy &^%$, what happened!!” ~ Kate 32. You start taking over the counter pain relievers after a really active day of play/moving/living because you actually need them. ~ Lindsay 31. You feel like a kid most of the time, until you see a real kid and think, “good Lord, kids are really young these days.” ~ Mike 32. You chug two-day old coffee because you’re running late and you know if coffee doesn’t enter, you’re not leaving. (Note to Kid-Self for when time machines become available at Best Buy: Never fight the nap). 33. You realize that the cliques in high school are alive & well in the real world too … ~ Jocelyn 34. You need a vacation to recover from your vacation. 35. You have a 12 year old say to you, “My youth pastor was talking about Vanilla Ice and my friends and I thought he was talking about an ice cream flavor,” and you aren’t sure whether to laugh or cry because she was completely serious. ~ Lindsay 36. You get zits on your jawline and think, “Really? Still?” ~ Katie 37. You think girls today are a bit hoochy but then you see pictures of you with shirts that exposed your belly button ~ Katie 38. You know that Jerry Maguire was not Lizzy Mcguire’s dad. ~ Katie 39. You’ve made a prank call on a pay phone. ~ Katie 40. You’ve used a pay phone period. And you’ve said your name is, “Mom, come get me.” ~ Katie 41. You stop feeling entitled to winter breaks, spring breaks, and summers off. ~ Lindsay 42. The only reason you maintain your weight is so you never have to buy new dress pants 43. When the manager at Chipotle comes outside to the patio, tells the high school kids to stop throwing forks at cars and lighting things on fire, and then turns and apologizes to YOU. ~ Mike 44. You start saying, “this generation’s music really sucks” ~ Will 45. You think you’re not that old and then you realize that the kids who just graduated high school this year were born in 1993. ~ Lindsay 46. You still can’t believe your parents turned your old bedroom into an office. Did your time with them mean nothing? Shouldn’t your bedroom remain a permanent shrine? 47. When going to bed early on Sunday night to prepare for the week becomes a priority. ~ Ryan 48. You begin repeating phrases your parent’s always used to say, that you swore you never would. And then deny it. 49. You utilize your Flex Spending Account, because you know what that is now. ~ Kendra 50. When your wife complains that you drive like her grandfather just to get better gas mileage. ~ Brandon 51. When you complain in agony, “when I got my license, it only costs $20 to fill up my car!” ~ Stephanie 52. Having lower lumbar support has become a major concern. 53. “Do you have any kids” has somehow become a normal question people ask you. ~ Mike 54. You now understand what your parents meant when they said, ‘You’ll understand when you get older.’ 55. When you wrinkle your brow and make comments about “kids these days” ~ Kendra 56. You rake piles of leaves and are about to jump in, but stop because ‘what would the neighbors think’ 57. When you overhear 16 year olds talking about “that lady” and realize it’s you ~ Sarah 58. Your birthday slowly transitions from best day of the year to worst. 59. You really want to go sledding again. Until you actually go sledding again. Then you don’t ever want to go sledding again. 60. You still debate, “Who was hotter – Kelly Kapowski or Topanga Lawrence?” 61. When you would rather listen to the classical radio station because the alternative radio station “feels” to loud ~ My Brother Chad 62. You’ve caught yourself saying more than once, “I’m getting too old for this.“ What part of being Groan Up did we leave out? Let us know via comments below. Seriously sharing this with everyone I know. Serrrrriously. Thanks Megan! And thanks for encouraging me to put together this post. When you reference The Never Ending Story and your intern looks at you like your so out of touch………FALCOR!!!!!! Those silly kids and their lack of appreciation for cinematic masterpieces! Haha- these are hilarious! My favorite so far is “you’re losing hair and gaining babies” My own to add is when you find yourself starting a lot of your sentences with “Maybe I’m an old lady, but…” and you’re only 26. When you start to be annoyed at getting carded buying drinks. when you start to be annoyed because YOU’RE NOT getting carded buying drinks! When you FORCE your ID onto anybody selling you alcohol, before they’d even have a chance to ask for it for fear that they might not. Two drinks puts you out of commission for at least the first 5 hours of the next day. You understand more references made by your 50 year old co-worker than your 17 year old niece. You’ve considered buying a mini-van. Abby — Too funny! Well said. “You understand more references made by your 50 year old co-worker than your 17 year old niece.” My favorite for sure. When kids ask why you did something or why they can’t do it…and you tell them that it’s something grownups do. …..when having your commute home from work take less time than it usually does due to a lack of traffic congestion is the most exciting thing that happens to you some days. When you will drive out of your way to avoid having to spend the night at someone else’s house. Sleepovers are zero fun. When you go to a home decor store and don’t buy anything, strictly because you don’t want to dust it.
My family really doesn’t take vacations to exotic or even genealogical places. We go where family is located – the places we called home at one time. However, along the way we have periodically stopped to see a historical site or be tourists for awhile. In the summer of 1994, I took a little over three weeks’ vacation back to my mom’s and a few days at my in-laws. Just me and four kids! On the way from Ohio back to Missouri, we stopped at Billie Creek Village located in Parke County, Indiana. If you enjoy stepping back into time and covered bridges, this is a wonderful place to see. Motoring on toward Missouri, we stopped in Hannibal (as we normally do to fill up with gas) and decided to see some Mark Twain historical sights. We toured the Haunted House on Hill Street Wax Museum, sort of. The Wax museum part of it was okay for four young children but as soon as we started into the Haunted area, with chains rattling and screams emanating from the dark, three of the four tore out of there. We walked down the street and took pictures of Samuel Clemens’ boyhood home and the Becky Thatcher House among others. Two years ago when we reached Hannibal, we stopped so the youngest daughter (not so young any more) could go through the Haunted House. During the Fourth of July Riverfest in Hannibal, the streets are packed with cars and the closest place to park would have been several blocks away. With a dog traveling with us, one person would have to stay behind with her. That’s when we stopped to turn around at a service station and noticed the Molly Brown Birthplace and Museum. (Molly Brown was a Titanic survivor.) Daughter decided that was just as good as the Haunted House. The home, as expected wasn’t much, but I learned a lot more than I ever thought I could learn about this woman. We spent at least twenty minutes lingering over all the news clippings, studying the furnishings and listening to the guide explain how the small rooms were used by the family. On the way from Missouri to Ohio recently, we passed through Springfield, Illinois. I mentioned to my husband that “sometime we’ll have to stop to see Lincoln’s home”. Then I began wondering where he was actually buried. As a Lincoln history buff, I would surely have remembered! So as we returned from Ohio retracing our path back to Missouri, as we got closer to Springfield, I asked my husband if we could just see how far the house was off the highway. So we detoured into Springfield through the old part, following the signs until we got there. Once again, we had the dog with us so our daughter volunteered to stay with her while the rest of us went into the Visitor’s Center to get the information we needed about walking through the house. It’s a free tour, but not self-guided. The tour didn’t start for 30 minutes, and I didn’t feel we should take that long with the daughter waiting on us. The parking is $2 (basically on the honor system) which is a deal when you consider so many historical sights now charge for tours. So we inquired about the tomb. It wasn’t that far away – however, it was closed for three days while they did some cement work. We were allowed to walk to the house, walk around the house, and see two other houses (inside too) that had been restored to their original condition. It appears that the historical society is restoring several of the surrounding homes and buildings in that area. You can go to Lincoln Home and Lincoln’s Tomb for more information. The moral of the story is . . . if you even think you might get to stop at a historic sight or even a courthouse or cemetery on your genealogical quest – call, write or email to make sure it is open when you will be there, if there are any fees for parking or tours, hours of operation, what type of parking you can expect, and if there are any other festivals happening at the same time.
Twitter +. Much easier to have a computer track this down for you — and then ask the computer to write up a story about it, too. That’s what Narrative Science, the start-up that specializes in robot-written stories, did earlier this week. The result isn’t elegant, but it gets the job done, in a brute force sort of way.. No Pulitzer for that one, but that’s not the point. This is a work in progress that’s meant to illustrate an interesting project Narrative Science is working on: The Chicago-based company got its start by creating stories out of “structured” data sets, like baseball box scores. Now it is looking at “unstructured” data — like the thousands of messages that Twitter puts out each second — as story fodder, too. Stories about things people say on Twitter aren’t super compelling (though if you check Techmeme, you’ll see that my fellow typers and I sure make a lot of them). But if Narrative Science gets good at this, it could end up somewhere interesting. “This is a really basic story, but it’s fully automated,” says CEO Stuart Frankel. “No human touched it at all. You can see where this thing is going.” Meanwhile, Frankel says, Narrative Science’s core business is taking off. The company, which raised $6 million last year, now has 30 clients, many of whom use the company to produce stories and reports they use internally. But you can see public examples of it via publishers like Forbes, which is using the service to crank out automated earnings previews. Again, those previews aren’t made up of sterling prose, but they are very serviceable. Which means Forbes can either save the money it would have spent paying someone to mash that stuff out — or it can free up a writer to do the interesting kind of stories that only humans can do. And now I’ll save myself a few minutes of work by citing myself from last year, where I tried to assure myself that Narrative Science wasn’t going to put me out of business: “The trick for content makers like myself is to find work that only content makers like myself can do — work where human qualities like experience, judgment and creativity get rewarded. And if we can’t do that, we ought to be doing something else, anyway.”
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BEE-spoke-data/falcon-refinedweb-100k_en_med-sample

A sample from falcon-refinedweb:

more than 512 & less than 8192 llama2 tokens
en only (via fasttext-langdetect)
100k samples

Downloads last month: 8

Size of downloaded dataset files:

1.1 GB

Size of the auto-converted Parquet files:

1.1 GB

Number of rows:

200,000