Testament -- Alex Skolnick Testament are one of the pioneers of the Bay Area thrash metal scene. After nine successful albums since the 80?s, the band are set to release their tenth studio album titled 'Dark Roots of Earth' in just a few days from now. A couple of weeks ago, Testament's guitarist Alex Skolnick had a chat to Metal Obsession about their new album, his departure from the band from 1993-2005 and Randy Blythe. Metal Obsession: Your tenth studio album 'Dark Roots of Earth' will be released very soon. I'd presume that you're excited for it? Alex Skolnick: I'm excited and relieved. Metal Obsession: Why relieved? Alex: Let me tell you straight out; a lot of work goes into these things. So it's just a huge relief to have it out. Metal Obsession: Do you feel that this album is your best work yet? Alex: I think so. I think it's the most diverse album, and I also think it has the least amount of repetition, and the most variety. Our new album should have something for everybody. Metal Obsession: The other guitarist, Eric Peterson stated in an interview that the band wanted to play more melodic rock. While the album remained more on the thrash side, you did get the chance to throw some melodic stuff in. Who was it that was more influenced by melodic rock? Alex: Well I guess that's a strange way to put it; 'melodic rock stuff' . I always want my music to be musically interesting. I like it to have a sense of harmony, and a sense of melody, so a little bit of sophistication. So if that qualifies as melodic rock stuff, then I suppose I'm guilty. *laughs* But I think that Chuck was also more interested in really using his voice and singing melodies. As you know, Chuck has a few different styles. He has his classic style, he has his 90?s death metal style. He's able to do both, and I think he wanted to rest the death metal vocals on this album, and explore more of the melodic range. Metal Obsession: That's what I was thinking. Because I could hear a lot more of the death metal vocals on your last album, The Formation of Damnation . I thought this album would be the same before I listened to it. Alex: Yeah, I'm pretty sure he wanted to do less of that. Metal Obsession: What's the current situation of the Testament drummer -- Is Gene Hoglan an official member of the band, or did he just help out with the new album and touring? Alex: I think things are different now than they used to be. I mean, album cycles last longer, bands in general don't release albums as often as they used to. Even the younger bands. So, this is no longer a younger band, AND it's just a period where albums don't happen as often as they used to. But you know, in the early 90?s, you could call someone a permanent member, then there'd be an album coming out every year or every two years with the same members. But now, this album will have came out... 3 years since the last one? Actually, 4 years ago. It came out in 2008. In the old days, even legendary bands wouldn't last that long. So for this album, yes; Gene Hoglan is the main drummer. He probably won't be at every show, because there will be occasional events on. He has some other commitments, especially Dethklok . But I know that most of the shows, he's going to be there. He's the first call guy. He's the guy on the album, the guy in the photographs, so he isn't so much the permanent drummer, but he's definitely the first call drummer. Metal Obsession: So you're at your tenth studio album now. How many more do you think you will do? Alex: It's really hard to say! When we did the reunion, it was unclear that we were going to do an album, and then it became clear, like "Yeah okay, we'll do an album!" Then with this album, it was talked about, it was reflected upon, then we decided that yes, we're going to do this album. But yeah, we really can't say. A couple of years ago, I don't think any of us would have predicted that there'd be two new studio albums. Metal Obsession: You took a 12 year break from Testament from 1993 to 2005. What was the reason behind leaving the band, and what made you want to come back? Alex: There were a lot of reasons, man. The main reason for me was that I consider myself a diverse musician. I spent just about all of my time out of the band building up my guitar techniques, and I appreciated many different styles of music. So I thought, why not do whatever I can do be a diverse musician? I had already been studying other styles of music, I knew I eventually wanted to do more jazz and funk music. It just got to the point where I really needed to focus on that full time. But to be completely honest, it was a little difficult to be in the band at that time. The original drummer also left the band shortly after I did. It's very rare for someone to last more than one record, other than the original line-up. But when I came back, I was ready to play metal again. Not just metal again, but... I knew eventually I was going to play metal again as well as continue my other styles. So I did, and I was trying to think of the right project. It was right around that time that I got a call from the guys from Testament, saying that they wanted to do this reunion. The reunion tour lead to an album, then that album lead to more tours, and it's been a nice little ride ever since. And now it's almost lasted longer than I was in the band the first time. Metal Obsession: Is there any chance of Testament making a festival appearance or doing a headline tour in Australia soon? Alex: Ah, I don't know about soon, we're pretty booked out with North American tours at the moment. But I think that next year is a very good chance of an Australian tour. I expect to see that in 2013. Metal Obsession: Do you have any favourite bands from down here in Australia? Alex: Yes I do. Obviously the big one would be AC/DC . But last time I was there, I got turned on to a lot of the bands from the scene that AC/DC came from, like Rose Tattoo , and some of these other bands that I really wasn't aware of. The whole 'pub rock' thing was really cool. I also don't know how well the band Wolfmother is thought of over there, supposedly some people think of them as hipster metal. But I think the direction is really good, I quite enjoy them. Metal Obsession: How about any thrash bands from Australia, do you know many? Alex: I remember some of the bands that have been on the bill when we played Australia, and they were really good. But yeah, I need to be turned onto more of them! Metal Obsession: How about your favourite band from the Bay Area, where you came from -- Whether it's just a local band or a big band that you've toured with over the years, who's your favourite? Alex: From the Bay Area? That's hard to say, but probably Death Angel . I think that they're a favourite of many of us. Metal Obsession: As I'm sure you're aware, the big news in the metal world today is Randy Blythe (Lamb of God) being arrested in another country, being charged with manslaughter. What is your view on all of the controversy over the past couple of weeks? Do you support the "Free Randy Blythe" cause? Alex: I'm honestly in shock about it, actually. Randy is a good friend, and I am very much in shock. He had to spend the night in jail, and for a start that's what it was. Then it turned into a weekend, then it turned into a week, now it's been two weeks, and I think it's outrageous! I think there will be a big backlash until this is resolved. I've been on Twitter trying to get the attention of politicians, media, and so far it's only been covered by local news in Randy's town. It really needs to be covered by the bigger media outlets. Somebody on Twitter made the point that Justin Bieber recently got a speeding ticket, and that was front page news. And here we have a grammy nominated musician arrested and charged with manslaughter in a different country, and there is no mention. Metal Obsession: I feel that they're only not covering the news for front page headlines being that he's a metal musician. It's quite unfair really. Alex: Yeah, I agree. And it's such a shame, because he's not just a metal musician, he's a very reflective and intelligent person. Nobody deserves this treatment, it's just horrifying. Metal Obsession: Is there anything else that you'd like to say? Alex: That's it I think. I'll say that I really appreciate all the support from Australia, I can't wait to go back there. I know we'll be seeing everyone from down under very soon! About Patrick Emmett While still being young, going to school, hitting up gigs whenever he can, and trying to broaden his knowledge on metal and other music genres, Patrick is a dedicated contributor to MetalObsession.net, and a big supporter of the Australian music scene. Some of Patrick's favourite Australian bands are Fester Fanatics, Party Vibez, In Malice's Wake, Elm Street, Electrik Dynamite, De La Cruz, Athenas Wake and Psychonaut. Add Patrick on Facebook and check out his Facebook page, Metalhead Simpsons Guy .


Passenger UAVs may be the future, predicts unmanned systems technology company Athena Unmanned aircraft may be flying passengers within the next 10-20 years, says the head of UAV technology provider Athena Technologies. Dr David Vos made the prediction while introducing the company's two new superlight navigation and sensor systems at the show. The Micro INS and the Micro GuideStar include GPS Inertial Navigational Systems (INS),and air data sensor system (ADAHRS). The Micro GuideStar also includes full flight control capability. He said that technology similar to that provided in the cell phone-sized guidance systems, which weigh only 110g (4oz), will mean that in 10 years' time, UAVs will be common in commercial airspace. The affordability and compact weight of the systems enables UAV manufacturers to use multiple identical systems in each UAV, so that in the event of damage or malfunction to one part of the system, identical auxiliary cells can take over to maintain the same functionality. Micro systems already offer reliability at the level of triple and quadruple redundancy protection. "Distributed high levels of extra redundancy on aircraft enable it to maintain functionality if damaged, adding dramatically to safety," Vos says. The Micros are able to navigate and autonomously control drones, missiles and general aviation aircraft, but it is in the UAV field that they will offer the biggest developments, Vos says. "Anything you can think of that a manned aircraft will do today; UAVs will do in the future. In years to come, unmanned passenger aircraft may be viewed in a similar way to that which unmanned airport shuttle trains are viewed today," he says. "The rate at which culture adopts new technology today is faster than ever. The young generation today are willing to adopt new developments at an incredibly fast rate, and this will speed up the rate at which this technology develops."


In physics , a force is said to do work when it acts on a body, and there is a displacement of the point of application in the direction of the force. For example, when you lift a suitcase from the floor, the work done on the suitcase is the force it takes to lift it (its weight) times the height that it is lifted. The term work was introduced in 1826 by the French mathematician Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis [ 1 ] [ 2 ] as "weight lifted through a height", which is based on the use of early steam engines to lift buckets of water out of flooded ore mines. The SI unit of work is the newton-metre or joule (J). The work done by a constant force of magnitude F on a point that moves a displacement (not distance) s in the direction of the force is the product, For example, if a force of 10 newtons ( F = 10 N) acts along a point that travels 2 metres ( s = 2 m), then it does the work W = (10 N)(2 m) = 20 N m = 20 J. This is approximately the work done lifting a 1 kg weight from ground to over a person's head against the force of gravity. Notice that the work is doubled either by lifting twice the weight the same distance or by lifting the same weight twice the distance. The SI unit of work is the joule (J), which is defined as the work expended by a force of one newton through a distance of one metre . The dimensionally equivalent newton-metre (N·m) is sometimes used as the measuring unit for work, but this can be confused with the unit newton-metre, which is the measurement unit of torque . Usage of N·m is discouraged by the SI authority , since it can lead to confusion as to whether the quantity expressed in newton metres is a torque measurement, or a measurement of energy. [ 3 ] From Newton's second law , it can be shown that work on a free (no fields), rigid (no internal degrees of freedom) body, is equal to the change in kinetic energy of the velocity and rotation of that body, The work of forces generated by a potential function is known as potential energy and the forces are said to be conservative. Therefore work on an object that is merely displaced in a conservative force field, without change in velocity or rotation, is equal to minus the change of potential energy of the object, These formulas demonstrate that work is the energy associated with the action of a force, so work subsequently possesses the physical dimensions , and units, of energy. The work/energy principles discussed here are identical to Electric work/energy principles. Constraint forces determine the movement of components in a system, constraining the object within a boundary (in the case of a slope plus gravity, the object is stuck to the slope, when attached to a taut string it cannot move in an outwards direction to make the string any 'tauter'). They eliminate all movement in the direction of the constraint, thus constraint forces do not perform work on the system, as the velocity of that object is constrained to be 0 parallel to this force, due to this force. For example, the centripetal force exerted inwards by a string on a ball in uniform circular motion sideways constrains the ball to circular motion restricting its movement away from the center of the circle. This force does zero work because it is perpendicular to the velocity of the ball. Another example is a book on a table. If external forces are applied to the book so that it slides on the table, then the force exerted by the table constrains the book from moving downwards. The force exerted by the table supports the book and is perpendicular to its movement which means that this constraint force does not perform work. The magnetic force on a charged particle is F = q v × B , where q is the charge, v is the velocity of the particle, and B is the magnetic field . The result of a cross product is always perpendicular to both of the original vectors, so F ⊥ v . The dot product of two perpendicular vectors is always zero, so the work W = F · v = 0, and the magnetic force does not do work. It can change the direction of motion but never change the speed. For moving objects, the quantity of work/time is calculated as distance/time, or velocity. Thus, at any instant, the rate of the work done by a force (measured in joules/second, or watts ) is the scalar product of the force (a vector), and the velocity vector of the point of application. This scalar product of force and velocity is classified as instantaneous power . Just as velocities may be integrated over time to obtain a total distance, by the fundamental theorem of calculus , the total work along a path is similarly the time-integral of instantaneous power applied along the trajectory of the point of application. [ 4 ] Work is the result of a force on a point that moves through a distance. As the point moves, it follows a curve X , with a velocity v , at each instant. The small amount of work δW that occurs over an instant of time dt is calculated as where the F.v is the power over the instant dt . The sum of these small amounts of work over the trajectory of the point yields the work, where C is the trajectory from x (t 1 ) to x (t 2 ). This integral is computed along the trajectory of the particle, and is therefore said to be path dependent . If the force is always directed along this line, and the magnitude of the force is F , then this integral simplifies to where s is distance along the line. If F is constant, in addition to being directed along the line, then the integral simplifies further to where s is the distance travelled by the point along the line. This calculation can be generalized for a constant force that is not directed along the line, followed by the particle. In this case the dot product F ·d s = F cos θ ds, where θ is the angle between the force vector and the direction of movement, [ 4 ] that is In the notable case of a force applied to a body always at an angle of 90 degrees from the velocity vector (as when a body moves in a circle under a central force), no work is done at all, since the cosine of 90 degrees is zero. Thus, no work can be performed by gravity on a planet with a circular orbit (this is ideal, as all orbits are slightly elliptical). Also, no work is done on a body moving circularly at a constant speed while constrained by mechanical force, such as moving at constant speed in a friction-less ideal centrifuge. Calculating the work as "force times straight path segment" would only apply in the most simple of circumstances, as noted above. If force is changing, or if the body is moving along a curved path, possibly rotating and not necessarily rigid, then only the path of the application point of the force is relevant for the work done, and only the component of the force parallel to the application point velocity is doing work (positive work when in the same direction, and negative when in the opposite direction of the velocity). This component of force can be described by the scalar quantity called scalar tangential component ( , where is the angle between the force and the velocity). And then the most general definition of work can be formulated as follows: Work of a force is the line integral of its scalar tangential component along the path of its application point. A torque results from equal, and opposite forces, acting on two different points of a rigid body. The sum of these forces cancel, but their effect on the body is the torque T . The work of the torque is calculated as where the T.ω is the power over the instant δ t . The sum of these small amounts of work over the trajectory of the rigid body yields the work, This integral is computed along the trajectory of the rigid body with an angular velocity ω that varies with time, and is therefore said to be path dependent . If the angular velocity vector maintains a constant direction, then it takes the form, where φ is the angle of rotation about the constant unit vector S . In this case, the work of the torque becomes, where C is the trajectory from φ(t 1 ) to φ(t 2 ) . This integral depends on the rotational trajectory φ(t) , and is therefore path-dependent. If the torque T is aligned with the angular velocity vector so that, and both the torque and angular velocity are constant, then the work takes the form, [ 5 ] A force of constant magnitude and perpendicular to the lever arm This result can be understood more simply by considering the torque as arising from a force of constant magnitude F , being applied perpendicularly to a lever arm at a distance r , as shown in the figure. This force will act through the distance along the circular arc s=rφ , so the work done is Introduce the torque τ=Fr , to obtain as presented above. Notice that only the component of torque in the direction of the angular velocity vector contributes to the work. The scalar product of a force F and the velocity v of its point of application defines the power input to a system at an instant of time. Integration of this power over the trajectory of the point of application, C = x (t), defines the work input to the system by the force. Therefore, the work done by a force F on an object that travels along a curve C is given by the line integral : where dx ( t ) defines the trajectory C and v' is the velocity along this trajectory. In general this integral requires the path along which the velocity is defined, so the evaluation of work is said to be path dependent. The time derivative of the integral for work yields the instantaneous power, If the work for an applied force is independent of the path, then the work done by the force is, by the gradient theorem , the potential function evaluated at the start and end of the trajectory of the point of application. Such a force is said to be conservative . This means that there is a potential function U ( x ), that can be evaluated at the two points x (t 1 ) and x (t 2 ) to obtain the work over any trajectory between these two points. It is tradition to define this function with a negative sign so that positive work is a reduction in the potential, that is The function U ( x ) is called the potential energy associated with the applied force. Examples of forces that have potential energies are gravity and spring forces. Because the potential U defines a force F at every point x in space, the set of forces is called a force field . The power applied to a body by a force field is obtained from the gradient of the work, or potential, in the direction of the velocity V of the body, that is Gravity exerts a constant downward force on every object. Near the surface of the earth the acceleration due to gravity is g=9.8 m.s −2 and the gravitational force on an object of mass m is F g = mg . It is convenient to imagine this gravitational force concentrated at the center of mass of the object. If an object is displaced upwards or downwards a vertical distance y 2 - y 1 , the work W done on the object by its weight mg is: where F g is weight (pounds in imperial units, and newtons in SI units), and Δ y is the change in height y. Notice that the work done by gravity depends only on the vertical movement of the object. The presence of friction does not affect the work done on the object by its weight. Consider a spring that exerts a horizontal force F =(-kx, 0, 0) that is proportional to its deflection in the x direction independent of how a body moves. The work of this spring on a body moving along the space curve X (t) = ( x (t), y (t), z (t)), is calculated using its velocity, v =( v x , v y , v z ), to obtain For convenience, consider contact with the spring occurs at t=0, then the integral of the product of the distance x and the x-velocity, xv x , is (1/2)x 2 . The principle of work and kinetic energy (also known as the work-energy principle ) states that the work done by all forces acting on a particle (the work of the resultant force) equals the change in the kinetic energy of the particle. [ 7 ] The derivation of the work-energy principle begins with Newton's second law and the resultant force on a particle which includes forces applied to the particle and constraint forces imposed on its movement. Computation of the scalar product of the forces with the velocity of the particle evaluates the instantaneous power added to the system. [ 8 ] Constraints define the direction of movement of the particle by ensuring there is no component of velocity in the direction of the constraint force. This also means the constraint forces do not add to the instantaneous power. The time integral of this scalar equation yields work from the instantaneous power, and kinetic energy from the scalar product of velocity and acceleration. The fact the work-energy principle eliminates the constraint forces underlies Lagrangian mechanics . [ 9 ] This section focusses on the work-energy principle as it applies to particle dynamics. In more general systems work can change the potential energy of a mechanical device, the heat energy in a thermal system, or the electrical energy in an electrical device. Work transfers energy from one place to another or one form to another. In the case the resultant force F is constant in both magnitude and direction, and parallel to the velocity of the particle, the particle is moving with constant acceleration a along a straight line. [ 10 ] The relation between the net force and the acceleration is given by the equation F = ma ( Newton's second law ), and the particle displacement s can be expressed by the equation The work of the net force is calculated as the product of its magnitude and the particle displacement. Substituting the above equations, one obtains: In the general case of rectilinear motion, when the net force F is not constant in magnitude, but is constant in direction, and parallel to the velocity of the particle, the work must be integrated along the path of the particle: For any net force acting on a particle moving along any curvilinear path, it can be demonstrated that its work equals the change in the kinetic energy of the particle by a simple derivation analogous to the equation above. Some authors call this result work-energy principle , but it is more widely known as the work-energy theorem : The identity requires some algebra. From the identity and definition it follows . The remaining part of the above derivation is just simple calculus, same as in the preceding rectilinear case. In particle dynamics, a formula equating work applied to a system to its change in kinetic energy is obtained as a first integral of Newton's second law of motion . It is useful to notice that the resultant force used in Newton's laws can be separated into forces that are applied to the particle and forces imposed by constraints on the movement of the particle. Remarkably, the work of a constraint force is zero, therefore only the work of the applied forces need be considered in the work-energy principle. To see this, consider a particle P that follows the trajectory X (t) with a force F acting on it. Isolate the particle from its environment to expose constraint forces R , then Newton's Law takes the form Consider the case of a vehicle moving along a straight horizontal trajectory under the action of a driving force and gravity that sum to F . The constraint forces between the vehicle and the road define R , and we have For convenience let the trajectory be along the X-axis, so X =(d,0) and the velocity is V =(v, 0), then R.V =0, and F.V =F x v, where F x is the component of F along the X-axis, so Integration of both sides yields If F x is constant along the trajectory, then the integral of velocity is distance, so As an example consider a car skidding to a stop, where k is the coefficient of friction and W is the weight of the car. Then the force along the trajectory is F x =-kW. The velocity v of the car can be determined from the length s of the skid using the work-energy principle, Notice that this formula uses the fact that the mass of the vehicle is m = W/g . Consider the case of a vehicle that starts at rest and coasts down a mountain road, the work-energy principle helps compute the minimum distance that the vehicle travels to reach a velocity V , of say 60 mph (88 fps). Rolling resistance and air drag will slow the vehicle down so the actual distance will be less than if these forces are neglected. Let the trajectory of the vehicle following the road be X (t) which is a curve in three-dimensional space. The force acting on the vehicle that pushes it down the road is the constant force of gravity F =(0,0, W ), while the force of the road on the vehicle is the constraint force R . Newton's second law yields, where V is the magnitude of V . The constraint forces between the vehicle and the road cancel from this equation because R . V =0, which means they do no work. Integrate both sides to obtain The weight force W is constant along the trajectory and the integral of the vertical velocity is the vertical distance, therefore, Recall that V(t 1 )=0. Notice that this result does not depend on the shape of the road followed by the vehicle. In order to determine the distance along the road assume the downgrade is 6%, which is a steep road. This means the altitude decreases 6 feet for every 100 feet traveled—for angles this small the sin and tan functions are approximately equal. Therefore, the distance s in feet down a 6% grade to reach the velocity V is at least The work of forces acting at various points on a single rigid body can be calculated from the work of a resultant force and torque . To see this, let the forces F 1 , F 2 ... F n act on the points X 1 , X 2 ... X n in a rigid body. The trajectories of X i , i=1,...,n are defined by the movement of the rigid body. This movement is given by the set of rotations [A(t)] and the trajectory d (t) of a reference point in the body. Let the coordinates x i i=1,...,n define these points in the moving rigid body's reference frame M , so that the trajectories traced in the fixed frame F are given by The velocity of the points X i along their trajectories are where ω is the angular velocity vector obtained from the skew symmetric matrix known as the angular velocity matrix. The small amount of work by the forces over the small displacements δ r i can be determined by approximating the displacement by δ r = v δt so


Time and again I've longed for adventure, Something to make my heart beat the faster. What did I long for? I never really knew. Finding your love I've found my adventure, Touching your hand, my heart beats the faster, All that I want in all of this world is you. You are the promised kiss of springtime That makes the lonely winter seem long. You are the breathless hush of evening That trembles on the brink of a lovely song. You are the angel glow that lights a star, The dearest things I know are what you are. Some day my happy arms will hold you, And some day I'll know that moment divine, When all the things you are, are mine!


How to build a cob oven -- step 1 I will now describe the first stages of how we built our cob oven; this process took us a few months as we needed to collect the materials first and we were determined to use as many recycled or free items as possible for this. There are many ways and shapes you can build your oven, and you can use different materials. We often hear TV chefs referring to these ovens as bread or pizza ovens....but you can do MUCH more than that in one of these! 'Cob' is an ancient building material, used the world over since the 11 th and 12 th centuries. Traditional 'English' cob was made by mixing a clay based soil with sand, straw and water. It is easy to learn how to make, fireproof and inexpensive, resistant to rain and cold. The big plus is that it is easy to form by hand and can be moulded into any shape you wish. We decided on a traditional rounded shape and as the first step is to make a very strong base so you can wide topped garden wall. A reinforced flat concrete base was needed on which to build. We had to purchase the cement and sand needed for this from a local builders yard, the cement and sand , of course, was purchased new...this was however our only main but necessary  expense . The materials for the cob used were local clay, sand and straw. To create the wall firebricks from old electric storage heater units were used. These have proved to be excellent as they retain the heat longer than normal bricks. Collecting enough firebricks was what took us so long to get started -- we got them from local Freecycle groups, recycling yards, house clearance ...in fact anywhere we could! Some were even brought down from holiday trips to the other side of the country once friends and family knew we were collecting them. Once we had sufficient a plan was sketched and measurements taken -- the door had to be wide enough to put in the heavy duty cast iron cookware and inside we needed it big enough to put two layers of cooking shelves. We also decided to have a chimney which was a little more difficult and not really necessary but well worth the effort. As each layer of bricks were laid the oven had to be left to dry out, so we continued to collect things we would need. A local wood yard has a skip of wood offcuts that can be had for free with permission from the owners, we had trees to lop, and often friends would donate their unwanted logs. Gradually a good supply of free fuel was collected and stored away in a dry place. Then there were the cooking implements to acquire! The heat in the oven would melt any normal cookware so I had to source some good th ick old fashioned cast iron pans. I found a couple of big casserole pots, some heavy cast frying pans and a baking tray. The frying pans had their wooden handles removed and are ideal for putting a roast of meat in. The tray is great for baked potatoes. The casserole dish is used for potatoes and vegetables or for a meaty casserole. I will put some of my recipes on my blog later. ALL my pots and pans are well cleaned up and are from either car boot sales or jumble sales; none cost more than 3.00. I keep them oiled up with a smear of Olive Oil to stop them rusting through and this also gives a slight non stick effect. Last but not least you need some good thick welding gloves to use to get your food out of the oven!


Our Latest News Get out of Bed Safely This article will explain a simple, effective way of getting out of bed for back pain sufferers. When you wake up, is your back stiff or sore? If so, spend a few moments breathing deeply and stretching your body long. While you are still lying on your back, bend your knees upward so that your feet are flat on the bed. Roll onto your side. As you do this, try to keep your spine moving as a unit, rather than twisting it. Imagine a steel rod running the length of your spine, starting from the shoulder area and moving down to the hip area. To achieve the rolling, let gravity help you. The key to this is to avoid intentional tightening of your back or abdominal muscles. Using both hands, push yourself up to sitting. As you are pushing yourself up, gently bend your legs at the hips and knees, remembering to keep your spine moving as one unit, rather than twisting it. Allow the weight of your legs to anchor your position, enabling you to push the rest of your body up. Go as slowly as you need to accomplish this movement safely and comfortably. Once you get to sitting, take a moment to rest. When you are ready, make sure you are sitting equally on both sides of your seat. Sit up tall and gently try to arch your lower back to help transition from many hours of lying down into standing. Place one leg in front of the other. Bend your trunk forward, from your hips, keeping your back straight. Straighten both legs at the same time. Bring the back foot forward to meet the front. You're up! The information provided is for general guidance only and must not be used for diagnosis or treatment of a health problem. This information is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice.


Note: the header pic isn't from yesterday's stoush, but it sure sets the scene. Israel precision strike takes out Hamas military leader Israel and Hamas appear to be at war and this is the footage that kinda sparked it off (you can argue that Hamas started it with their rockets into Israel... but then you could argue that it's a continuation of conflict that has been raging for 60 years). The footage shows the Israeli strike on Hamas' military commander, Ahmed Al-Jabari and his son as they drove along a city street yesterday. The war porn details an amazingly accurate missile strike that leaves the target a mere shell (below). Israel and Palestine's Hamas in 'Open War' Associated Press' Aron Heller gives us a concise account of just what is happening between Israel and Palestine. Heller points out that ground war is an option they're looking out for, meanwhile RT.com reports: "An IDF spokesperson says 30,000 reserve soldiers could be called to participate in Gaza operation, Haaretz reports." Naw, joy to the world! Twitter: Pillar of Defence Elliott Carver, James Bond's nemesis in 'Tomorrow Never Dies' (1997) who provoked war to sell newspapers, would be loving how events are unfolding in the Gaza strip. Not only did Israel launch Operation Pillar of Defence yesterday, but also they did so via Twitter. They've also been taunting Hamas: We recommend that no Hamas operatives, whether low level or senior leaders, show their faces above ground in the days ahead. Naturally, Hamas is using Twitter in a bid to control its side of the story. Check this tweet (WARNING: ACTUAL CHILD CORPSE IMAGE LINK): Shit is blowing my mind -- wartime propaganda is now delivered in real time. Of course, the Israeli campaign is a blend of new age and old school -- they've dropped leaflets for those Palestinians who don't have Internet access -- now that's thoughtful! Ultimately, Israel is going to win any propaganda war -- check this clip on the Guardian website. It illustrates the gulf between the two parties: Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu delivers his talk in English like he's just stepped out of a New York deli; Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum & leader Sami Abu Zuhri deliver their talks in Arabic. Unclear whether or not this is by Netanyahu, but it's certainly interesting. The tweet was deleted shortly after it was posted. The US openly supports Israel (Hamas is considered a terrorist organisation by the US), but, if it was real, the Guardian post suggests that the tweet was far more provocative than mere thanks. In response to their reactive attacks on Gaza, Hacktivist group Anonymous have attacked Israeli websites and, in at least one case, have posted a warning on an I.D.F. blog to Israel -- that they must cease fire. Furthermore, after the Israeli government threatened to cut off Internet access to Gaza (which to me demonstrates the absolute power they have over the region), Anonymous warned Israel to reconsider and followed up with this message to the folks in Palestine: Know that Anonymous stands with you in this fight. We will use all our resources to make certain you stay connected to the internet and remain able to transmit your experiences to the world. Okay, enough talk of death -- let's talk about New Zealand! Oh, actually... so, we all lose our shit now and then, but 13 year-old Jordan Nelson took his shit-loss a step too far. After 50 year-old Rosemaree Kurth took Jordan's Freeview TV receiver out of his room, Jordan loaded up a .22 calibre rifle, that Ms. Kurth's partner had taught him to use, and shot her in the back of the head as she worked on a jigsaw puzzle. But hang on Australia... didn't you just bend over backwards for America? Oh, I get it, you've got to balance relations between your wartime bum-chum and your peacetime cash cow, China. Obviously Asia is a big place, but when we think Asia and we trade with Asians , essentially China is whom we mean. Anyway, awkward Australia! Dear god (note: am not actually praying), how about I just post the link to the story and you can read it yourselves? Two priests slipping the same kid rufies on separate occasions? ONE LEMONADE; ONE FANTA? Using video games as the lead-in activity? Priest's name is RAPson? As an ex-Roman Catholic homosexual, I think I'm fully qualified to say -- the Catholic Church is absolutely fucked. Next/last story... Following Alan Jones' terrible remark that Julia Gillard's father "died of shame," 2GB estimates that it incurred losses of "up to $1.5 million" as advertisers cancelled, deferred or moved their advertising spend. That's advertisers putting their money where his mouth's not (did that play work)? Anyway, sucks to be you Alan -- it really sucks to be you.