text:
Posts Tagged 'Wallace Stevens'
Home » Wallace Stevens
When literary tête-à-têtes ends in fisticuffs…
The subject of the fistfight: Lewis and Tolkien
It's not often that two guys having a literary discussion end up by hauling off and whacking each other. And yet it happened in the city of my alma mater, after several hours of serious drinking:
A 34-year-old Ann Arbor man was sent to the hospital with a head injury after another man punched him on Saturday during a literary argument, according to police. … the man was sitting on the porch with some people he had just met, talking about books and authors.
The 34-year-old man was then approached by another party guest, who started speaking to him in a condescending manner. An argument ensued and the man was suddenly struck in the side of the head, suffering a cut to his left ear …
The injured man – who was smacked so hard his glasses flew off and a lens popped out – was treated at a local hospital.
The story jumped from Ann Arbor to The Guardian, whose blogger, Sam Jordison, telephoned Michigan to get the scoop: "The details remain sketchy, but the prominent rumour around town is that the men were disputing the relative merits of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis."
Virgil says: Don't watch. Don't listen.
Then Jordison shares his own self-satisfaction and his derision of his betters (Henry James, for example, is "the old windbag") – apparently, he never loses a fight and is always right, just like the rest of us. (It is the one thing we all have in common.) Then he asks a question:
But all this does make me wonder whether anyone else has experienced book-based violence. Have you had a literary argument so heated that you've only been able to resolve it with blows? Or could you imagine doing so – or at least losing your cool? And what's your tipping point? If, for example, I were to inform you that J.M. Coetzee's Disgrace is a clever book for people who don't like to think, would you hold it against me? And how do you like to annoy other book-lovers?
Here's a few.
Mad men: Mailer, Gore
There's the time Norman Mailer punched Gore Vidal. "As usual, words failed him," quipped Vidal.
And two Nobel laureates ended a friendship when Mario Vargas Llosa socked Gabriel García Márquez – story recounted here and here.
Then there's the fistfight between Ernest Hemingway and Wallace Stevens, confirmed by others but recounted by Hemingway in a February 1936 letter:
"Nice Mr. Stevens" and Hemingway
Nice Mr. Stevens. This year he came again pleasant like the cholera and first I knew of it my nice sister Ura was coming into the house crying because she had been at a cocktail party at which Mr. Stevens had made her cry by telling her forcefully what a sap I was, no man, etc. So I said, this was a week ago, 'All right, that's the third time we've had enough of Mr. Stevens.' So headed out into the rainy past twilight and met Mr. Stevens who was just issuing from the door having just said, I learned later, 'By God I wish I had that Hemingway here now I'd knock him out with a single punch.'
So who should show up but poor old Papa and Mr. Stevens swung that same fabled punch but fertunatly missed and I knocked all of him down several times and gave him a good beating. Only trouble was that first three times put him down I still had my glasses on. Then took them off at the insistence of the judge who wanted to see a good clean fight without glasses in it and after I took them off Mr. Stevens hit me flush on the jaw with his Sunday punch bam like that. And this is very funny. Broke his hand in two places. Didn't harm my jaw at all and so put him down again and then fixed him good so he was in his room for five days with a nurse and Dr. working on him. But you mustn't tell this to anybody.
Then there's the time that Desmond Leslie punched journalist and theater critic Bernard Levin in front of 11 million viewers over an article Levin had written about his wife, the actress Agnes Bernelle. The incident occurred the TV show That Was The Week That Was in 1962.
I am forced to come to the conclusion that book-lovers are a quarrelsome lot, not so much from these incidents as from some of the unsupported character assassination in the reader replies (though they did tip me off about where to find the best fights). Basta! What is it in us that likes to watch a fight? As Virgil says to Dante in the Inferno: "To hear such wrangling is a joy for vulgar minds." It's one reason the Inferno has always been more popular than the Purgatorio or the Paradiso. Something to remember when one indulges in the "Comments" sections.
The two who come out best from the whole mess are … those two tweedy Oxford dons, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Lewis, in particular, was generous and self-sacrificing to an extreme, and though the two men disagreed, they remained gentlemen and friends.
Tags: Agnes Bernelle, Bernard Levin, C.S. Lewis, Dante Alighieri, Desmond Leslie, Ernest Hemingway, Gabriel García Márquez, Gore Vidal, Henry James, J.R.R. Tolkien, Mario Vargas Llosa, Norman Mailer, Virgil, Wallace Stevens
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on When literary tête-à-têtes ends in fisticuffs…
Kind of cool: Andrew Sullivan, Czesław Miłosz, the Book Haven and moi
"That's me."
Andrew Sullivan's "The Dish" picked up one of our posts over at the Daily Beast. Not that we noticed. We were in Paris at the time – but a friend tipped us off today.
It's not the first time we've rubbed elbows. He kindly picked up our "Orwell Watch" gripe on the much-abused phrase, "I take responsibility for…" And we wrote about one of his posts about the ideas of René Girard over here.
In the February 5 post, he quotes Czesław Miłosz's poem, "At a Certain Age." Here's the unfortunate part, though: He left off the punchline(s).
Oh well. As he pointed out, you can read the whole poem here.
And read the post he mentions, "The Final Dwarf of You," where (as he puts it), I "examine" old age. As well as Wallace Stevens and T.S. Eliot. It's here.
(Doesn't really need to be "examined" … rather it something to be endured. If one is lucky.)
Tags: Andrew Sullivan, Czeslaw Milosz, T.S. Eliot, Wallace Stevens
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Kind of cool: Andrew Sullivan, Czesław Miłosz, the Book Haven and moi
"The final dwarf of you": late-life poems of Wallace Stevens, T.S. Eliot, and Czesław Miłosz
Crowd-pleaser
It is bitter cold, dropping below freezing in northern California – but still, a standing-room-only crowd gathered tonight to hear Helen Vendler speak on "Wallace Stevens as an American Poet."
To be honest, the draw for me was Helen, not Stevens. She was one of the contributors to An Invisible Rope, and we spent some time together in Kraków last spring. Stevens is not exactly foreign territory, but I've never been attracted enough to make deeper excursions into his poetic terrain.
Then Helen quoted from Stevens's poem, "The Dwarf," and I eagerly looked up these incantatory lines later when I got home:
Now it is September and the web is woven.
The web is woven and you have to wear it.
The winter is made and you have to bear it,
The winter web, the winter woven, wind and wind …
It is all that you are, the final dwarf of you,
That is woven and woven and waiting to be worn …
"The web is woven and you have to wear it."
The subject of the poet's approaching winter holds an increasing fascination for me … well, we are all growing older. But growing older has been a great surprise – the psychological landscape and vantage points of late summer and autumn are not at all what I had been told or had been expecting.
Helen referred to Stevens' sense of crustiness and limitation, the disillusionment of approaching old age – the horror and defeat of knowing that change is no longer possible. But was it ever? Was it ever really?
I wonder, now, whether "progress" and "change" is imaginary even in youth – perhaps our sense of change is merely that we cannot yet detect which way the twig is bent. Later, with 20-20 retrospection, the years have a certain inevitability to them – partly the illusion of rewriting the past to fit what we now know to be true, partly the result of our decisions. "Choice" may be no more than whether we pull up the weeds or roses from our gardens, and which plants we water. Even in old age we have the same choices: the decision, for example, of whether to abandon our vices before they abandon us.
So why do we go kicking and screaming as we are dragged through the first snow? Obviously, age brings with it strange and bitter medicines of its own. T.S. Eliot put it astringently in "Little Gidding":
"Then fools' approval stings..."
Let me disclose the gifts reserved for age
To set a crown upon your lifetime's effort.
… the conscious impotence of rage
At human folly, and the laceration
Of laughter at what ceases to amuse.
And last, the rending pain of re-enactment
Of all that you have done, and been; the shame
Of motives late revealed, and the awareness
Of things ill done and done to others' harm
Which once you took for exercise of virtue.
Then fools' approval stings, and honour stains.
The final pill at the bottom of the bottle: a quiet self-acceptance – and with it, a welcome humility. To return to poetry, isn't it simply a matter of metaphors? Why do we choose metaphors of old, unbending, twisted trees – isn't age, at best, more a distillation, like attar? The loss of distracting imagination and the fantasy of the infinitely wondrous "me," the increasing laser-like focus on the one or two things one does well, whether it is writing poems or collecting seashells. And the gratitude for the time to sustain such efforts – an option that was not given to the peers we buried.
Or, again, another metaphor: why don't we describe age in terms of botrytis, the rare "noble rot" of the vineyard, that yields the mellow depth and gentle surprise of late-harvest dessert wines?
Surely Czesław Miłosz knew what I am talking about – his late poems reflect the magic and wonderment of this new territory, and the self-surrender of humility – a final sense of proportion and graceful humor about "the final dwarf."
In his late poem, "At a Certain Age," he admits "We wanted to confess our sins but there were no takers." After exploring several options, from pets to psychiatrists, he concludes:
Churches. Perhaps churches. But to confess there what?
That we used to see ourselves as handsome and noble
Yet later in our place an ugly toad
Half-opens its thick eyelid
And one sees clearly: "That's me."
On the other hand, there's also his late-life prose poem, "Awakened":
In advanced age, my health worsening, I woke up in the middle of the night, and experienced a feeling of happiness so intense and perfect that in all my life I had only felt its premonition. . . . As if a voice were repeating: "You can stop worrying now; everything happened just as it had to. You did what was assigned to you, and you are not required anymore to think of what happened long ago." . . . The happiness on this side was like an announcement of the other side. I realized that this was an undeserved gift and I could not grasp by what grace it was bestowed on me.
Tags: Czeslaw Milosz, Helen Vendler, T.S. Eliot, Wallace Stevens
The bashing of Helen Vendler
Has she been "slimed"?
The internet has been warmed this week by the fires between Harvard critic Helen Vendler and former U.S. poet laureate Rita Dove. The upshot: Vendler didn't like Dove's Penguin Anthology of Twentieth-Century American Poetry, and Dove didn't like that Vendler didn't like it. Angry letters have been pouring in against Vendler.
Vendler's Nov. 24 article in the New York Review of Books, "Are These Poems to Remember?" notes: "Multicultural inclusiveness prevails: some 175 poets are represented. No century in the evolution of poetry in English ever had 175 poets worth reading, so why are we being asked to sample so many poets of little or no lasting value? Anthologists may now be extending a too general welcome. Selectivity has been condemned as 'elitism,' and a hundred flowers are invited to bloom. … Which of Dove's 175 poets will have staying power, and which will seep back into the archives of sociology?" Why only six pages for Wallace Stevens, and no more than the single poem from James Merrill?
Vendler takes particular aim at Dove's introduction:
"She denigrates Frost's 'Design' and 'Acquainted with the Night,' for instance, as 'blunt and somewhat smug,' calls Eliot 'a sourpuss retreating behind the weathered marble of the Church,' and says that Elizabeth Bishop 'somehow managed to chisel the universe into pixilated uncertainties.' Merrill, whose 'formal verse placed him squarely on the side of the poetry establishment,' is said to have shed 'the jeweled carapaces of formalism in favor of the rules of the Ouija board.' Can Dove think that a poet of Merrill's depth can be confined to the putative space of a vague 'poetry establishment,' or that placing poets on one side or another of such an assumed 'establishment' says anything about their abilities? And as a poet herself, she must know better than to refer metaphorically to formal verses as 'jeweled carapaces': carapaces belong, after all, to insects and tortoises. Such cartoonish remarks are not helpful to the understanding of poetry. …
She stands by her review.
These are the kind of passages that makes every writer cringe. Who among us can throw the first stone? Haven't we all written hastily, sloppily sometimes? On the other hand, that's exactly what critics are for: to spank us when we do.
Dove responded in a 1700-word letter. She could have done it more effectively with far fewer words. She has some good points to make. Taking on Vendler's comment, "Did Dove feel that only these poems [five early poems by Stevens] would be graspable by the audience she wishes to reach? Or is it that she admires Stevens less that she admires Melvin Tolson, who receives fourteen pages to Stevens's six?"
Ah, here we go, totting up pages of poetry rather than the poems themselves. Tolson is represented by two poems (actually, one poem and one section of a book-length poem); Stevens by six. Should Tolson be denied representation because he writes long poems? As far as the selection of early Stevens goes, my original choices included several middle-period poems, but rights problems prohibited their final inclusion. I can't expect Vendler to know this, and though it is a sad comment on the deplorable state of the American reprint permissions process, I accept responsibility for the resulting omission. However, in juxtaposing a great Anglo-American poet with a great African-American one, Vendler immediately draws unsubstantiated conclusions that fit her bias."
But then Dove goes too far. She accuses Vendler of racism, and stoops to attack the critic rather than the criticism. Finally she foams: "I would not have believed Vendler capable of throwing such cheap dirt, and no defense is necessary against these dishonorable tactics except the desire to shield my reputation from the kind of slanderous slime that sticks although it bears no truth … she not only loses her grasp on the facts, but her language, admired in the past for its theoretical elegance, snarls and grouses, sidles and roars as it lurches from example to counterexample, misreading intent again and again."
Vendler's response is short: "I have written the review and I stand by it." It's not a "cheeky" reply, as The Atlantic Wire wrote. It's professional. And The Atlantic is also wrong in asserting that "what they're really fighting about" is "each other's credentials."
Largely, the two women have a different idea of what anthologies should do, and it's a discussion worth having. Is Vendler looking for a "Top Ten," Dove asks? Truly, there is a lot to be said for favoring a minor, relatively unknown poet who lights a fire in a few souls over some widely accepted canonical poets. How to balance the worrying, risky – and inevitably biased and unfair – process of winnowing against the easy out of letting 175 flowers bloom?
Also, Vendler is reacting to a literary world where poets often have an eye to classroom sales. Bashing off a quick anthology with a breezy introduction is a cash cow for an otherwise poorly remunerated profession. I've seen some shamefully sloppy stuff from some very prominent poets – they get away with it because their names are big.
Fortunately, James Fenton at the London Evening Standard takes a more even-handed p.o.v., and slaps down political correctness and Penguin, too, while he's at it:
The best thing Dove could have done was shut up and let people draw their own conclusions. Vendler is known to "bear, like the Turk, no rival near the throne". Perhaps this was just another example of territoriality.
Excepting that it wasn't. In most, though not in my opinion all, of her criticisms, Vendler put her finger on blatant weaknesses, although she ignored the most obvious weakness of all: nothing by Sylvia Plath, and nothing by Allen Ginsberg. Dove explains in her introduction that her permissions funds did not run to such expensive poets, and she says to the reader: "For these involuntary gaps, I ask you to cut me some slack."
This is just not good enough, and the fault here is largely with Penguin for not seeing the difficulty Dove was in and coming to her aid. A small publisher might plead for the reader's understanding over such omissions. A large one has to decide whether it is prepared to stump up the money to do the job properly.
Fred Viebahn offered this tidbit in the comments section of the London article, pointing out Dove's words in the Dec. 2011 edition of The Writer's Chronicle: "… the worst offender by far [demanding outrageous fees] was the publisher of Sylvia Plath and Allen Ginsberg, whose 'couldn't care less' attitude resulted in none of this house's authors being included … Negotiations dragged on literally until the day when the anthology went into production; seeking common ground, I offered several solutions, including reducing the overall number of poems … while meeting their exorbitant line fees … The answer was nothing less than shocking: All or nothing. In other words, if I didn't pay the same high line fees for all their poets as well as, unbelievably, take all the poems I had initially inquired about, I couldn't have Ginsberg nor Plath … Pleas from upper Penguin management and even from one of the affected poets, who declared his willingness to forgo royalties, fell on deaf ears; the day before the anthology went into production, [the publisher of Plath and Ginsberg] withdrew all pending contracts and declared the negotiations closed." He adds that paying more for some permissions would have violated agreements with other publishers that did not permit to "robbing Peter to pay Paul."
He ought to know. He's Rita Dove's husband.
Helen Vendler will be speaking on "Wallace Stevens as an American Poet" at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 17, in the Stanford Humanities Center. The event is free and open to the public.
Tags: Fred Viebahn, Helen Vendler, James Merrill, Melvin Tolson, Rita Dove, Sylvia Plath, Wallace Stevens
Voilà! Diane Middlebrook Memorial Writers' Residence
Voilà! The Diane Middlebrook Memorial Writers' Residence has been launched. I attended the dedication ceremony this afternoon, way up in forested hills around LaHonda, Skyline, and Woodside. (I wrote about the venture earlier, here.) Got mightily lost, too.
"Above all, radiant" (Photo: Amanda Lane)
Renowned chemist, novelist, and playwright Carl Djerassi, Diane Middlebrook's husband, assured the 50 or 60 gathered in the brilliant August day about the "green" nature of the four new domiciles built in memory of the gifted and groundbreaking biographer, who died in 2007. The Djerassi Resident Artists Program currently hosts about 60 artists a year. The spare new residences, overlooking the hills, will add a few more.
The 87-year-old Djerassi read a poem written by the person who had been the second oldest resident ever – Janet Lewis, the wife (and by then widow) of legendary Yvor Winters. She was 90 at the time – two years younger than the composer who holds the record in the program. The poem Carl read, "Landscape near Bear Gulch Road," had been written during her residency.
Carl recalled his wife worked only on ambitious projects. When her cancer diagnosis gave her only months to live, she turned to her personal brand of therapy, he said – that is, "to immerse yourself totally in intellectual work." Middlebrook tackled a biography of Ovid, which, "though unfinished, has been published posthumously in portions as 'A Roman in his Prime' in the Norton Critical edition of Ovid's Metamorphoses; and as 'Ovid Is Born,' in Feminist Studies," according to the program's website. I had wondered what happened to it.
Until today, I wasn't aware that Dana Gioia, Diane's student, had published the author's only collection of poems, Gin Considered as a Demon, in 1983, when he was editing a series of chapbooks for Elysian Press. He waved the volume at the gathering. He also waved the battered paperback of Wallace Stevens's poems that he had studied with Diane way back in 1971.
He described Diane Middlebrook as "above all, radiant." Such people are rare, he said: "in the warmth, enlightenment, and clarity of their presence we discover ourselves."
Dana read Stevens's "Final Soliloquy." But Diane's daughter, Leah Middlebrook, read a rapt and haunting poem that Dana had composed at the Djerassi home-in-the-hills, "Becoming a Redwood." It concludes:
Something moves nearby. Coyotes hunt
these hills and packs of feral dogs.
But standing here at night accepts all that.
You are your own pale shadow in the quarter moon,
moving more slowly than the crippled stars,
part of the moonlight as the moonlight falls,
Part of the grass that answers the wind,
part of the midnight's watchfulness that knows
there is no silence but when danger comes.
Tags: "Dana Gioia", Carl Djerassi, Diane Middlebrook, Janet Lewis, Leah Middlebrook, Ovid, Wallace Stevens, Yvor Winters
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Voilà! Diane Middlebrook Memorial Writers' Residence
As 9/11 anniversary approaches, litcrit's Marjorie Perloff speaks out on American insularity
No comfort in Whole Foods Market
I've had a chance to finally go through Marjorie Perloff's "Language," which has been open on my MacBook Pro forever…well, at least since August 7, when it was published in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Perloff, one of the preeminent lit critics and a champion of the Language Poets and other avant-garde movements, takes on the changes in the nation since the events of 9/11.
In her essay, she argues that an event that should have made us more attuned to the outside world haa, paradoxically, made us more inward instead:
A new worldview
"The very language of the decade expresses our anxiety about the outside world. Talk of the 'third world' and 'emergent nations,' expressing as it does a first-world confidence and sense of control, has given way to the ubiquitous 'our planet,' as in, 'saving our planet.' …"
"When most Americans talk of saving our planet, they have a myopic view: They mean the environment they witness every day, with its SUV-clogged freeways, plastic-bottle glut, and absurd excesses of electricity and water consumption. In this context, a session at Whole Foods Market may feel comforting, but what about those places on the planet where there is not enough electricity to speak of excess or where there are no paper diapers to clog landfills? Better not to think about them, and to focus on such issues as childhood obesity (Michelle Obama's cause) or the relative effectiveness of the various sunscreens on the market."
Time to look outward again
She concludes:
"Perhaps, now that a decade has gone by since 9/11, it is time for us once again to look outward. The increasingly tedious discourse of self-reflection—based on the assumption that we are the leaders of the 'free world'—must give way to a more accurate sense of who and where we are in relation to the developing nations and cultures in our 'global' backyard. Language study—not just of 'foreign' languages but also of our own—will help us to deal with the reality that, as Wallace Stevens put it, 'we are not / At the center of the diamond.'"
I don't find her final argument terrifically convincing. "We are not the center of the world" has been the mantra of President Obama, but so far I don't see Brazil or South Korea or even China stepping up to the plate of "world leader," though their economies may be (comparatively) booming and their populations swelling. Perhaps the role of "world leader"itself is one of the 21st century's early retirees, and there are no cops on the beat anymore.
She quotes Stevens, but W.H. Auden makes a more foolproof bet:
"I told you so"
Time will say nothing but I told you so,
Time only knows the price we have to pay;
If I could tell you I would let you know.
Tags: Marjorie Perloff, Michelle Obama, President Obama, W.H. Auden, Wallace Stevens


text: Q: MAUI/Xamarin Create Web API on mobile platform majority of mobile users consume some sort of web API. I want create web API on android, NOT consume, and then connect let's say 192.168.16.6:3000 to configure my program through this endpoint. Is it possible ?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Backtime 2012 Big Finish: Day 12
Appropriately Day 12, the last day of '12 is in the Big 12, at a cold and isolated midwestern outpost. A brilliantly awful morning here in Stillwater - about 34 and freezing rain. I got one last load of laundry done yesterday and the end is in sight. Dinner reservations have been made at Brooklyn's.
In just over 24 hours I'll finally be back home, so you know where I'll be when the ball drops: in bed, sleeping on Tulsa Time.
Tonight it's Gonzaga at Oklahoma State for some hoops at Gallagher-Iba. Oklahoma State has an exciting freshman guard combo, Marcus Smart and Phil Forte.
Smart (right) is the 6-4 point guard, consummate team leader. Forte is the 5-10 shooter. They played high school together in Flower Mound, Texas, where they won back-to-back state titles. They go back way farther than that and have a 6th sense for each other on the court.
Smart and Forte join Le'Bryan Nash and Markel Brown on a resurgent Oklahoma State team that looks to give Kansas and Baylor a run in the Big 12 season. But before turning the page into conference play, the Cowboys have the Zags tonight, who have already whipped four Big 12 opponents this season.
Should old acquaintance be forgot, Backtime returns tomorrow from home base.
Posted by BACKTIME at 9:24 AM No comments:
Labels: 2013, Backtime, Brooklyn's, Gonzaga Basketball, Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State Basketball, Phil Forte, Stillwater OK, Tulsa Time
X's And O's At Eskimo Joe's
After years of Big 12 basketball and countless trips to Stillwater, Oklahoma, a number of things can be relied on at Eskimo Joe's. It's a top sports bar with signature chili cheese fries, gear for the kids, and TV coverage of the NFL when you're away from your Sunday Ticket.
Big Monday basketball meant a lot of Sunday travel, and some huge late-season and playoff games games in Eskimo Joe's living room.
After a flight delay I arrived in-progress to Super Bowl XXXIX. It was the Eagles' lone Super Bowl under Andy Reid despite 5 NFC Championship appearances.
It was the Patriots' 3rd championship under Belichick and Brady, but people forget it was tied 14-14 after 3 quarters. It turned out to be the story of two WRs: Terrell Owens coming off a knee injury and having a heroic effort, and Deion Branch catching 11 passes and an MVP award for the Pats.
But when the game was on the line, Donovan McNabb was hyperventilating, costing the Eagles valuable time in their comeback. The Patriots held on 24-21.
The 2006 NFC Championship game was a blowout, with the Bears ending the Saints year-after-Katrina run with a 39-14 finish. But it wasn't always a runaway.
After the Bears took a 16-0 lead, the Saints cut it to 16-14 after rookie Reggie Bush caught a short toss from Drew Brees and went 88 yards for a score, sending Joe's into a frenzy.
But the Bears D (forced 4 turnovers) and a pre-Jet Thomas Jones (123 yards, 2 TD) pulled away and the Bears were headed to the SuperBowl despite having Rex Grossman in the cockpit.
The Colts beat the Patriots later that day but we watched at another restaurant.
With a bye on the line for the Packers and a season on the line for the Vikings, Adrian Peterson ran past 2,000, cinched an MVP award, and launched Minnesota into the playoffs in an awesome regular season finale: 37-34.
So when 2013 rolls around, the Vikings will be in the playoffs, and I won't be near chili cheese fries again anytime soon. That's a shaky New Year's resolution.
Labels: 2006 NFC Championship Game, Adrian Peterson, Big 12 Basketball, Eskimo Joe's, NFL Sunday Ticket, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater OK, Super Bowl XXXIX
Empty The Saddlebags
There's a lot to do along the way to a 62-28 final. Every off-the-field story and far-fetched production element ran in the 3rd quarter:
> Arrests were made in the investigation into the murder of Marion Grice's brother.
> Navy backup QB Rafi Montalvo is recovering from a major car accident.
> Former Arizona State recruit Angelo Richardson being paralyzed six years ago, his scholarship honored, and now he assists with the team.
> The future of dominant ASU DT Will Sutton.
> Navy's season in review.
> The game being played at the home of the World Series champion San Francisco Giants.
> Numerous promos and some sales obligations.
Next time we'll have to do soundbites too, because there was nothing left for the 4th quarter, except tape of the game's opening coin toss.
Yes, while Washington sits on the precipice of a fiscal cliff (CLIFF!), Senator John McCain, USNA '58, was flipping an Oreo. I'd call this a self-serving political photo-op, except it's an awesome photo. The home state he serves in the US Senate hammered his alma mater, but guess what - he wins either way. Sorta like being in politics.
Labels: Angelo Richardson, Arizona State Football, Fiscal Cliff, John McCain, Marion Grice, Navy Football, Rafi Montalvo, San Francisco CA, San Francisco Giants, Will Sutton
Backtime Walkabout: The Streets of San Francisco
While I always love a trip to northern California, being plopped right in the middle of downtown San Francisco isn't really my thing. I lived in New York for 6 years and Times Square is for tourists. Ditto for Union Square, SF.
You think of San Fran as a progressive city with their liberal lawmakers and their clean, green taxicabs.
But actually it's really grungy (and I don't mean that in a good way), and very expensive. The streets aren't that clean, there are panhandlers on almost every corner, and tourists from all over the world still blow cigarette smoke all over the place.
During my downtime I found a pretty good mexican joint and a grabbed a coffee and sat on a park bench and people-watched. It was a nice chance to exhale. It's got to be all downhill from here.
Outside of getting a great workout for the calves, I'm not a huge fan. Next time I'm staying in Pacific Heights, or maybe my next flight to the Bay area will involve a side trip to Napa.
Labels: Napa Valley, Pacific Heights, San Francisco CA, Union Square
Backtime 2012 Big Finish: Day 8
OK the blog streak ended at 165 days (just 200 short in a non-election year), and lasted way longer than my plants. I was just too busy working, with the responsibilities of a TV producer and digging myself out of a blizzard. Or as they call it in Detroit, "snow," a mere 4-6 inches doesn't qualify as anything more.
My 7th Detroit Bowl game was a lot like many of the previous ones, wild. The 4th quarter involved a (carried over) 9-minute drive, a 7-minute drive, a TD with a fumble upheld, a TD run overturned, a blocked punt in the end zone, and a very questionable 4th down play call. Central Michigan ultimately prevailed over Western Kentucky.
The 19 buses from Bowling Green, Kentucky all managed to arrive in Detroit for the game, and several pulled up in front of our hotel after the game. It was a mad house. Not only were there 5 inches of unplowed snow in front of the hotel but they couldn't even take may car for close to an hour. The story works better visually, but I just can't take pictures everywhere I go.
It was still fully dark when I dropped off the rental car in the slush at Detroit Metro in the morning. While I undersell the holidays, I know what to ask Santa for before my next Christmas in Detroit: a hat, gloves, scarf, and boots. Almost none of which are needed in Savannah...ever.
My seat assignment from Detroit to San Francisco, 21D, reminded me of my first day as a Delta Platinum in 2008. I was traveling from Detroit to the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio and I drew 29E - a middle seat. Welcome to Platinum. Well I must have more clout now, because I was the first one called to be upgraded.
And traveling at 30,000 feet with Wi-Fi and a charger, it was a productive and relaxing experience. I didn't mind the snow so much...while flying over Yosemite.
Labels: Central Michigan, Delta Airlines, Detroit MI, Ford Field, San Francisco CA, Snow, Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, Yosemite
Backtime Walkabout: Christmas Morning In Detroit
"Twas Christmas morning in Downtown Detroit. Not a creature was skating, but the trees were just the right hoit."
This is my 7th Christmas in Detroit assignment, so it's become very familiar to me. Being in the TV business, I'm not a big holidays guy.
I've worked full-time on college basketball since '93 and college football since '96, however when I wanted to break in as a MLB producer in 2000, the opportunities were rare. But there was almost always a slot for me on Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day, when the network would run games all day.
And for years I worked the Egg Bowl, the annual battle between Mississippi and Mississippi State on Thanksgiving Day. That's actually how I met the mother of my children - a story for another time.
So I rarely make plans with family or friends on the holidays, I try and fill my schedule. I use the time to provide for my family instead of spend it with them.
While I'm desensitized to Christmas (because I am a working professional and Jewish), I'm not exactly bah humbug. I still get into the spirit somewhat. I've seen It's A Wonderful Life dozens of times, and I enjoy Christmas music. Except for Baby It's Cold Outside, which has been described as a date-rape anthem.
In previous years we would stay at the GM Renaissance Center, which wasn't bad, but removed from downtown Detroit. It's farther away than it looks, and on the 70th floor you're practically in Canadian airspace where cell phone service is very dicey.
So this morning I took a walk. It was kind of a ghost town on Christmas morning. Even though hockey is out, the Zamboni guy was working the rink at Campus Martius. There was a dusting of snow from Christmas Eve, and no sun this morning. Having lived in Michigan for three years that's not unusual.
And if my soul was any bit empty from the dreariness, solitude, and cold, that got remedied at American Coney Island with a 10:30 AM chili dog.
OK, back to business. But first a side trip to see my sister and brother-in-law in Toledo, who are doing the holidays with his family. Everybody in the world has family in Ohio.
Posted by BACKTIME at 11:59 AM No comments:
Labels: American Coney Island, Baby It's Cold Outside, Campus Martius, Christmas, Detroit MI, Holidays, It's A Wonderful Life, The Egg Bowl
Backtime Dateline: Hockeytown
Detroit is a great sports town but one of its beloved sports teams is MIA. It hasn't been on my radar much, I haven't followed hockey with any regularity since I was in my early 20s. But I know the Red Wings are a big thing around here, and for the second time in less than ten years their fans may be deprived of even a single game this season.
I know that the absence of hockey hasn't made much of a dent in the national sports landscape (which is part of the owners' point in hard-lining player salary structures), but it does affect a lot of people. That includes the mostly-local TV crew I am working with here in Detroit, who count on the home NHL team to provide 40 events they can put on their calendar - not including playoffs.
But what else is lost, is the identity of a city, and a fan base that may not return even after the sport does.
As a baseball guy first, I remember the MLB labor dispute in 1994 and what it cost my team. The Yankees were 70-43 and dominating the AL East. Paul O'Neill was hitting .359 and Jimmy Key was 17-4 when the season was interrupted and then ultimately disbanded.
What if the season had been completed? How would life have been different for Buck Showalter? Don Mattingly? Joe Girardi?
Only the Montreal Expos had a better record in 1994. But what if they went on to win it all? Could they have kept Pedro Martinez or Larry Walker a little longer? Could the franchise have been saved?
But today in the NHL, in Hockeytown, there aren't even "what ifs," only ifs.
Labels: Detroit MI, Detroit Red Wings, Hockeytown, Montreal Expos, New York Yankees, NHL Lockout
That's the street sign across the street from my hotel. No bad act ever dies, they just play half-filled theaters in Vegas.
That's why after the sports were done yesterday, I went to the show at my hotel: Jimmy Stewart and Friends starring Rich Little. But I wanted to go, and that officially makes me old and washed up.
Little is 74 now, and the impressions are still very good. The one-man act is Jimmy Stewart narrating the sequence of events of his life, with the interactions of others along the way.
Little of course nailed Johnny Carson, Andy Rooney, Cary Grant, and Ronald Reagan. His one foray into the modern was a riff from the Geico voice-over guy.
And there was some creative stuff too as Little reenacted a scene from It's A Wonderful Life with Lionel Barrymore as Mr. Potter and George Bailey, played by Humphrey Bogart.
The crowd, which I estimated at 250 or so, was there because they remembered how big he used to be. They were and older and whiter Fox News crowd, and Little threw some Republican bones along the way.
It was a good show that Little is trying to take to Broadway (or at least the Catskills), but he could use an infusion of some popular culture. Maybe Simon Cowell, Chris Berman, or even a little Joe Biden would liven up the act. But that's just some unpaid advice.
The advice you can count on me for in Vegas is: drink water. If you're drinking or smoking (smoking is still everywhere here), in the steam room, or just out in the desert air, keep yourself hydrated.
Now here is where you would probably be not too wise to take my advice, since I haven't made a football bet in a year:
1. IND Colts (-5) at KC
I don't generally like road favorites. But the Colts can clinch a playoff spot, their coach is returning, and they've got a goal-oriented Andrew Luck at QB. The Chiefs have folded the tent. This one will be done early.
2. DAL Cowboys (-2.5) vs Saints
A desperate team at home against the most inconsistent team in the NFL. The number that popped into my head was 41-14.
3. JAX Jaguars (+14) vs Patriots
That's an awful lot of points to get at home against anyone. And the Patriots are ready for a let down after an emotional comeback came up short last week vs San Fran. And they go on the road to the most dreary and lifeless stadium in the NFL.
4. DEN Broncos (-11.5) vs Browns
The Broncos are 11-3 and shooting for a bye if not home-field. They've won 9 in a row while only playing two home games since Halloween. This has got the makings of a late afternoon snoozer all over it.
So there you have it, three home teams out of four, three favorites out of four. Three out of four would make for a very good day.
But in the meantime, here's some exceptionally bad advice:
So there's pressure on you McElroy. My $20 to win $18.20. Not long after the Jets are a memory, I take the red-eye to Detroit to get back to work on the rest of the grind.
Labels: Greg McElroy, It's A Wonderful Life, Jimmy Stewart And Friends, Las Vegas NV, LVH, Rich Little, Riviera Hotel
Backtime Memo-Random: Las Vegas
I have less than 48 hours between jobs, so I touched down in Vegas today for the closest thing to a vacation I can get.
I got a room for $59/night, plenty to eat and drink, an awesome gym, and of course it's an NFL weekend. I have two Bowl games and a New Year's Eve hoop game to prep and complete before I return home, so it's a nice opportunity to recharge the batteries.
It's only my second ever trip to Sin City as a tourist, and I have no personal experiences to share (y'all know the expression). But I have been there to work on a number of occasions, and one particular event stands out:
It was my first "season" as a 25-year old full-fleged associate producer for the network. And while I still had my hands in some MLB and World Cup Soccer, I was traveling on Arena Football.
The games rated fairly well back then, and increased that year once baseball went on strike and took the rest of the year off. But on that night, we had a fairly nondescript game between the Cleveland Thunderbolts and the Las Vegas Sting.
Former West Virginia QB beast Major Harris played for Cleveland, but there weren't any other players that anyone would remember. The coaches, however, had some history. Las Vegas was coached by former Patriots QB Babe Parilli, and Cleveland was coached by Earle Bruce (yes, that Earle Bruce). I was still wide-eyed at that point at who I was sitting with in coaches' meetings.
The game was at MGM Grand Gardens, which was extremely convenient since we were staying at the MGM Grand. I remember calling housekeeping to ask for an iron, and they said "the" iron would be brought right up. The iron? The place has over 5,000 rooms and one iron?
The thing that was important in my world was that we were going to debut an innovation in our graphics. If a flag was thrown during a play, we would flash "flag" in the upper corner of the screen. We were still using those funky espn2 graphics at that point, so it really stood out.
Some management types were alerted to this ahead of time and we were told they'd be watching. But a funny thing happened shortly after we went on the air. Remember the date of the event? What else happened that day?
A white Bronco made a slow ride down a Los Angeles freeway, and ESPN, along with every major network, broke away for live coverage. NBC even ditched coverage of the NBA Finals to cover the breaking news. We on espn2, however, were told to just keep covering the game since O.J. Simpson was already wallpapered across the nation.
So we did our game, ran our "flag" graphic innovation, and nobody said a word about it because nobody watched. In later weeks we fine-tuned it, and later it became part of what we see in today's football coverage, along with the constant clock-and-score and the yellow 1st down line.
In this business, there's no real personal credit for innovations. I'm not the Neil Armstrong of "flag" graphics, and nobody has called me to set up an exclusive one-on-one interview with a visionary. I can only be in the right place at the right time.
And while I was one of the few people in America that didn't see the Bronco chase live, I just happened to be in LA for pivotal outcomes of the Simpson case. I was there for a Reds-Dodgers playoff game in 1995 when he was exonerated.
And then I was there for a Laker game in 1997 when Simpson was found liable in the wrongful death civil suit.
Simpson later made a regrettable trip to Las Vegas, and he was ultimately sentenced to 33 years on multiple charges, including kidnapping and armed robbery. He has been in prison in Nevada for the last 5 years.
Sorry Juice, I'm only in Vegas for a quick trip. I won't have time to visit.
Labels: Arena Football, Babe Parilli, Bronco Chase, Cleveland Thunderbolts, Earle Bruce, ESPN2, June 17 1994, Las Vegas NV, Major Harris, Neil Armstrong, OJ Simpson
Flash Backtime: Waco On The Way
It's kind of a glorious morning in Waco. The above picture was taken from the 11th floor of perhaps the tallest building in the city.
The trip to Waco jump starts a very ambitious road trip, but it was a trip I made here several years ago that was the culmination of one. In fact, that's when I sat down a started this little pocket of the internet.
Three hundred and fifty posts ago, Backtime's first entry was titled Waco On The Way.
When you're on a long stretch on the road like I am, the Super Mario-like obstacles that impede your progress become less annoying and more comic.
Some years ago, I stopped complaining about the "now" and focused on the "next" – the only problem about problem-solving is my mind often races in 5th gear when my body is in neutral.
It all started earlier this week when my 2-day business trip got extended to 9 days thanks to the Oklahoma ice storms. The "now" was I wasn't going to get home for a while. The "next" was a shopping spree at the JC Penney in Coralville, Iowa. I had three more games to produce and I didn't feel right going to work in sweats.
After 4 days barnstorming in Iowa (I can now identify in some measure with the presidential hopefuls), I headed for the final outpost between the road and home: Waco, Texas.
On my half-filled commuter flight from DFW, some cowboy moved to the empty seat in front of me right before takeoff, then reclined his seat back all the way back as soon as we were in the air. This was a breach of frequent-flying etiquette and I pondered how to let him know.
If it were longer than a 20-minute flight I probably would have kicked his chair or unfolded my newspaper in such a way that he'd be wearing it as a hat. But I let it go.
It reminded me of the best revenge I ever got on a fellow traveler – it was many years ago. This husky 300+ pound guy sat next to me, dominated the armrest, fell asleep immediately and snored in my face for over 2 hours. When the flight was over, he had no clue where his shoes were. That was pretty mean, but it felt so good.
So I landed in Waco about 8:45 on a Saturday night and got to the Hertz counter. But there was no agent. In fact, there was no agent at any counter. But I had a reservation. There was nobody to cry to, so I collected my mountain of baggage and found an airport policeman outside. It was a helpful conversation.
EP: Excuse me officer, I have a reservation at Hertz, but there's nobody there.
COP: Yeah, she goes home about 6 on Saturdays.
EP: Can I call a cab?
COP: Might take about a half-hour. Waco's only got one cab company and they're clear across town.
EP: Who do you have to be to get help around here, George W. Bush?
COP: Well he's just John Q. Citizen now. If his helicopter lands at this airfield at this time on a Saturday night, he's SOL. He'll just have to call his wife to pick him up like everyone else.
I thanked him. I was just as helpless as before, but at least I was smiling. Out of the corner of my eye I caught the American flight crew piling into a hotel shuttle. I jumped in with them even though it wasn't my hotel. I humped my gear a couple of clicks up to my hotel and got on line to check in. When it was finally my turn, an old woman in wheelchair cut me off – she nearly ran over my foot - and started asking the guy at the front desk a bunch of inane questions.
What was I going to do? Tell off the rude old lady in a wheelchair? The front desk guy took pity and told her "let me check this gentleman in first." My first victory in Waco. Not even the ATF could take it away from me.
If you've never been to Waco, this is a very Christian town. The hotel doesn't offer laundry service on Sundays. So here I am, at a coin-operated laundromat for the first time since I was an NYC bachelor. Oh, and I had to walk since I don't have a car.
But the trip will get better. We're looking forward to enjoying the Super Bowl at Cricket's. My man Bubba was in Vegas for last night's big UFC battle and he threw down some scratch for me. Big Monday is at Baylor for the first time in 8 years and it should be a great scene.
And I will be home in 48 hours. But got to finish the job in Waco on the way.
Labels: Backtime, Cricket's, George W. Bush, Waco On The Way, Waco TX
So today it began. Gone for 12 days. Holidays? What Holidays? I got a cash register to ring up. I got everything done at home (I hope) and won't return until January 1. Don't worry y'all, I set the alarm before I left.
If the Mayans are correct, which is hard to imagine since they don't exist anymore, then I won't be returning at all. But in the meantime I will tackle the tasks in front of me.
The first leg of the trip was a mid-afternoon flight. The network must have had to save money on holiday travel because I was not on my preferred airline. Which meant a $25 check baggage fee, and almost an additional levy on top of that as my fortnight suitcase came in at 48 lbs, just under the oversize limit.
I flew coach both legs, first to Charlotte, and then a window seat in the last row to Dallas. We were fighting heavy headwinds so we landed in Dallas a half-hour late. Then I waited 30 minutes for the bag and 20 minutes for the rental car shuttle. Then I looked around the lot for about 10 minutes before finally stumbling on a vehicle with satellite radio.
After a brief bout with construction and traffic, I was in Waco less than two hours later. Got Baylor hoops hosting BYU tomorrow evening, and BYU football is on the big screen right now at Cricket's where they have about a hundred beers on tap.
Cricket's was where I watched the SuperBowl four years ago. It was the Pittsburgh-Arizona classic where Santonio Holmes was a Steelers hero instead of a Jet malcontent.
Alright, Waco tonight. Driving back to some airport hotel at DFW after the game tomorrow.
Labels: Baylor Bears, BYU Cougars, Cricket's, DFW Airport, Mayan Calendar, Santonio Holmes, Waco TX
What Is Backtime?
I was sitting on The Front Porch just a couple of days ago, and during our fireside chat Mr. Hodesh asked about the derivation of this blog's title.
Backtime, in TV terms, is the time left in your show. This is of course presuming that everything goes to format. You'll need to expand or compress your content to fit the show's length.
Life of course has no given length, but there are only 24 hours in a day. And if you're a Dad, a frequent business traveler, writer, researcher, and someone who wants to remain in reasonably good physical shape, that may not be enough time. So you learn how to maximize your time to get the best content on the air, which in this case means your life.
So my constant evolvement as a Dad, my road adventures, memoirs, perspective on sports, TV and book reviews, and not-too-serious political commentary are all a part of who I am. They all need to be cultivated, watered like plants, to keep my mind sharp and focus on whatever the hell comes next.
Yesterday was a good example:
7:30 AM - Homework at coffee joint
9:30 AM - Haircut
11:00 AM - Holiday Feast at the kids' elementary school
12:30 PM - Car wash
1:30 PM - Conference call (90 minutes)
4:30 PM - Monitor kids' karate and gymnastics class
6:00 PM - Address and stamp 75 holiday cards
7:15 PM - My karate class
9:00 PM - Prepare food for Wednesday holiday party
10:00 PM - Write blog
Then I set the alarm for 6 AM, with a 7 AM personal training session hanging over my head. And a 12-day, 4-event road trip begins on Thursday.
My son is only 8, but he saw my "must" do list for the week and he was moved to say, "That's a lot of stuff." Come May, I'll likely be sitting on my own front porch devouring a book or just watching the traffic go by. But for now, this is the season. You can set your watch to it, I am the traffic.
Labels: Backtime, The Creative Coast, The Front Porch
Just Offensive
It's too easy to blame Mark Sanchez or the anemic offensive line. The Jets offensive problems lie in a repetitive pattern of history, constantly hiring the wrong man for the wrong job at offensive coordinator.
It hasn't always been awful, just mostly awful. Charlie Weis had three good years when the Jets had briefly changed their identity under Bill Parcells from 1997-99, and Paul Hackett actually had moderate success working with Chad Pennington in the Herm Edwards years from 2001-04.
But if you're a Jet fan, the list below will inspire nothing but seething anger at all the years of miserable play-calling and brain-dead clock management. Years of our lives that have been thrown away on a collection of has-beens and never-will-bes.
Joe Walton 1981-1989
Walton was actually a good offensive coordinator in 1981 & 1982, although that just happened to coincide with the NFL debut of Freeman McNeil. Once Walton was promoted to head coach, it was a disaster. For years, the fans chanted "Joe Must Go!" and management didn't listen.
After his second year as head coach, the offensive coordinator duties were unloaded on...
Rich Kotite 1985-1989, 1995-1996
Kotite saved Walton's job at first. Then he gradually took the Jets offense down the tunnel to hell. And for good measure he was rehired as the worst head coach in Jets history. In 1995 & 1996, the Jets were 4-28.
After a brief search on the internet, I found the picture that all Jet fans would cover their dart board with, the only picture living on the web of great minds Walton and Kotite together.
Bruce Coslet 1990-1993
He was hailed as a visionary after great success as the Bengals OC in the late 80s. But after 4 non-winning seasons in the dual role of Head Coach & Offensive Coordinator, he was shown the door. That paved the way for the one-year fiasco that was the Pete Carroll era, a few years too early.
Coslet returned to his assistant role with the Bengals until David Shula was fired, then he drove the Bengals into the ground too. His career record as an NFL Head Coach: 47-77.
Brian Schottenheimer 2006-2011
"Schottie, you suck," said Mark Sanchez on HBO's Hard Knocks, after Sanchez called a preseason game-opening drive for a TD.
Personally I thought Schottenheimer was awful. I know he got stuck with Brett Favre, and a rookie Mark Sanchez, but somehow the team succeeded despite him. He was a classic game-planner that would rather trick you than just beat you. Thank goodness the Jets had a punishing RB like Thomas Jones who had a couple of brilliant seasons in that stretch.
Tony Sparano 2012-
Sparano got dealt a bad hand too. A few years ago, he had success running the Wildcat with the Dolphins. But since then the gadget offense, as any fad in the NFL, was figured out and dismantled. But the word came down from up high (no pun intended) to involve Tim Tebow.
Early in the season, the results were mixed. But later in the year, all it did was take Sanchez out of rhythm and bring any semblance of cohesion in the offense to a grinding halt.
Does he deserve to stay? Rex Ryan? Sanchez? Tebow? Does anyone?
Who could forget one-year wonders like Ray Sherman (1994), Ron Erhardt (1996), Dan Henning (2000), or Mike Heimerdinger (2005)?
This is the problem with the Jets and their offensive coordinators: they mostly hire retreads, and when they don't they hire guys who have to justify their existence by being fancy.
My only advice, whether hiring an offense-minded head coach, or just a new OC, please do not hire Andy Reid, Norv Turner, or Todd Haley.
Find a guy who's hot, innovative, on the way up, and throw a bunch of money at him. Like they do in college.
Labels: Brian Schottenheimer, Bruce Coslet, Charlie Weis, Dan Henning, Jets Offensive Coordinators, Joe Walton, Mark Sanchez, Mike Heimerdinger, Paul Hackett, Ray Sherman, Rich Kotite, Ron Erhardt, Tim Tebow, Tony Sparano
2012 New York Jets: Playing Us For Dummies
"So you're telling me there's a chance." ~ Lloyd Christmas, Dumb and Dumber
At 6-7 and headed into a Monday Night game in Nashville, the Jets have a chance, and they're better than the one-in-a-million that Mary Swanson quoted Lloyd. But do we buy it? And why exactly should we?
The Jets finish at Tennessee (4-9), home for San Diego (5-9), and at Buffalo (5-9). All three teams have already thrown in the towel and the Jets could win them all, especially the finale. There's an old expression in the AFC East that applies there:
"As long as they've got Chan Gailey, we've got a chance."
So the Jets need to win out and then need help. It's not as preposterous a situation as you might think and the Jets have been in this position before, backing into the playoffs in 2009 and then making a deep run, leading 17-6 in the AFC Championship game before falling to Peyton Manning in Indy.
The simplest route (assuming the Jets can win out and finish 9-7) is for the Bengals to beat the Steelers this weekend, then lose the final week to the Ravens. The Jets would win a tiebreak with the Bengals, but not the Ravens or Steelers. The Jets would get further help if the Colts lost out and met them at 9-7, but they've got a game at KC this weekend so that's unlikely.
This is all assuming the Jets can sweep to the finish, making 5 straight wins to close the season. Which is a dumb assumption.
Labels: Chan Gailey, Dumb and Dumber, Lloyd Christmas, Mark Sanchez, Mary Swanson, New York Jets, Peyton Manning
The Most Thumb-derful Time Of The Year
My daughter's birthday falls in December, so between that and Hanukkah and Christmas, you'd might as well move the toy store here.
The problem is she plays with them all. Everything is opened and fully diagnosed. Nothing gets re-gifted. And I am obliged, between events and on little sleep, to assemble everything. It's not an armoire or anything, but it does take some effort.
And there is no procrastination allowed - you can't just do it tomorrow. Tomorrow is a flight or a conference call or a million other things. So I'm stuck with these moderately intricate directions, and a 6-year old peering over my shoulder ready to pounce.
Whether it's a multi-level Barbie House or a customized Hello Kitty headband-maker, these are mentally challenging exercises.
Even the Monster High and Bratz dolls are so accessorized, that even if you manage to get through the plastic shell, there are a million tight bands and tie wraps to cut your way through before you can extricate Frankie Stein from the box.
Video games are tough too, because the directions, rules and controller functions don't fall on the kid but the dad. The Monster High Skultimate Rollermaze on Wii is fairly simple, and thus is kind of a waste of time to play. Tangled and Brave are much more intelligent and strategic if I'm going to play video games with my daughter.
Just an observation: boys' video games are all about racing and competition. Girls' video games are more about teamwork and task completion. We can learn a lot about society from this. Except if you're playing Monster High Skultimate Rollermaze, which isn't really about either.
But you'll never really know until you get it out of the box and put it all together.
Labels: Barbie, Brave, Christmas, Frankie Stein, Hanukkah, Hello Kitty, Monster High Skultimate Rollermaze, Tangled, Wii
Backtime Dateline: Chapel Hill
It was an 18-hour hit & run in Chapel Hill, enough time for a nice dinner and an IPA at the Carolina Brewery on Franklin Street, and then a noon matinee at the Dean E. Smith Center.
The headline today wasn't that East Carolina was in town to play the Tar Heels, but rather that their coach, Jeff Lebo brought his team where he starred over 20 years ago. It was so long ago, that Roy Williams was the #3 guy on Dean Smith's staff.
It's a good look for Lebo to go scorched earth on the dome in his advanced age. I can relate. Who loves ya, baby?
East Carolina didn't put up much of a fight for most of the game, but finished with a barrage of 3's to close within 4 before a tough 93-87 road loss. They scored 61 2nd Half points, so (North) Carolina's going to have to work on some D.
I hadn't done a Carolina hoops game in Chapel Hill in quite a while. I've been there for football, women's basketball, and women's soccer (they just won their 21st NCAA championship) since my last game at the Dean Dome. My homecoming wasn't quite as noteworthy as Lebo's.
That's because I had my one brush with the law in Chapel Hill in December 1995, in the aftermath of a house party hosted by some members of the women's swim team. I can't blog any further without a lawyer present.
Labels: Chapel Hill NC, Dean Smith, East Carolina, Franklin Street, Jeff Lebo, North Carolina Tar Heels, Roy Williams
Red Flags (In A Good Way)
It's weird. When I'm in the house I prefer beer, but when I'm on the road I prefer wine. I've had every generic red wine in each airport bar, off the room service menu, or in the hipster college town eatery.
So, much like when I watch the production of live sports events on TV I'm desensitized. A glass of wine has got to be exceptional or awful to get my attention these days. Which is why I've been so pleasantly surprised twice in the last 48 hours.
First in the Hyatt Place in Sugar Land, Texas. It wasn't even a bar, more like an upgraded pantry. I asked what reds they had seeing if they even offered Pinot Noir. I was sure I'd get a glass of Mirassou like I've had a thousand times. Sure enough she reaches up on a shelf and pulls down a Hangtime from Marlborough, New Zealand. Best glass of Pinot I've had in a while and it was only $7.
Then, surprisingly enough, the "house" red on my United Express flight from Houston to Raleigh was an Australian Fox Grove Shiraz/Cabernet blend. The bottle retails at $12.50 according to the website, but it really seemed a lot bolder than that.
Maybe I was caught off guard by these two wines since my expectations had become so low. But it was also where I received them. So now the bar has been raised in mid-level hotels and on commuter jets, and thus the bar has been raised at the bar as well.
Labels: Beer, Fox Grove Shiraz-Cabernet, Hangtime Pinot Noir, Hyatt Place Sugar Land TX, Marlborough New Zealand, Mirrasou, Red Wine, United Express
Backtime Walkabout: Sugar Land
Staying in Sugar Land, Texas, one of the well-to-do suburbs of Houston. And you'd think like in most of Texas you can't really walk from one place to another. But here, that isn't the case.
You leave your brand-new hotel and cross a brand-new bridge over a man-made lake, and you find yourself in an upscale outdoor mall with a number of restaurants and shops.
I made the walk last night with a friend to an excellent pizza/pasta/wine bistro, called Coal Vines. The pizza was very reminiscent of John's in New York, which is the gold standard for brick oven pizza.
My colleague had to pay since he had lost our bet on the election. I would have preferred to split the tab, and just remind him every time I see him that he still owes me dinner. But like a good little Republican he didn't want to be beholden to his debt.
So the walk this morning was in search of a good breakfast joint. But no greasy spoons were to be found in Sugar Land, the one-time "fittest city in Texas." Instead I found the largest Whole Foods I had seen in my life.
I went up to the breakfast bar, and shoveled a lump of migas (when in Texas...) into an eco-friendly container, ordered a dirty chai, and got out of there spending just $6.75 - a new record.
Now it's off to work - going to go see the Harrison twins, in a possible sneak preview of Kentucky's next basketball championship in 2014.
Labels: Coal Vines, Harrison Twins, Houston Suburbs, John's Pizza, Migas, Sugar Land TX, Whole Foods
Homeland Blows Its Cover
There's one more week left in Season 2 of Homeland, which means there's one week before I cancel Showtime once and for all.
I enjoyed the first season, though I thought it was a guilty pleasure. It was a major reach to win the Emmy for Best Drama. I really do like depiction of the CIA intelligence gathering operation, and the on-the-ground stuff in the Middle East. But the hierarchal aspect is so contrived and far-fetched, it makes me cringe even in the comforts of my living room. The second season was gaining some steam but completely blew up into an off-brand version of 24.
Damain Lewis is the show's only great character. As the tormented Sgt. Brody his performance is complicated and nuanced. With all that's happened with him, as a POW, a terrorist, a US Congressman, and a double agent; every reaction to every situation has multiple emotions. You can see it on his face. Excellently played.
Mandy Patankin as CIA veteran analyst Saul Berenson is believable as a super-intelligent hothead. But he clashes with his superiors too often to think he'd still have a job, if not erased fro the earth. CIA assistant director David Estes is just an asshole, and Vice President William Walden (thankfully deceased) was just a bigger asshole.
Mastermind terrorist Abu Nazir was also a preposterous character. He had a nice role in Brody's flashbacks, and how he went from being torturer to spiritual mentor. But once he showed up in the US, able to invisibly evade military TAC teams (and killing them) and move around an unlimited army of terrorists, he became farcical. I'm glad he's dead too.
Which brings us to the show's lead character, Carrie Mathison. Claire Danes's portrayal transcends unrealistic and unsympathetic to absurd. Matheson, despite a schizophrenic condition that should be a constant disability, continues to be the smartest and most dogged ex-agent ever. She's got heart coming out of her neatly tucked blouse.
She goes rogue more often than Jack Bauer and Dr. House combined, but she continues to get away with it because she's always right, nobody can do her job as well as she can, and nobody knows the terrorists like she does.
I'm not-so-secretly hoping that everyone dies in the Season 2 finale. Then the show will have gotten it right.
Labels: 24, Abu Nazir, Carrie Mathison, Claire Danes, Damian Lewis, David Estes, Dr. House, Homeland, Jack Bauer, Mandy Patankin, Nicholas Brody, Saul Berenson, Showtime, William Walden
MoneyBall vs CashBall
I would have plenty to comment on the Yankees postseason moves...if there were any. Usually there are transactions and plenty of distractions, but this year there's mostly inaction.
Don't get me wrong I think the brain trust knows what it's doing, but this is just boring. They re-signed Hiroki Kuroda and Andy Pettitte to 1-year deals. And just now as I write, Kevin Youkilis has signed a 1-year deal to hold down third base for a bit. And all signs point to Ichiro re-signing for one year as well. There is Moneyball, and there is Brian Cashman-brand CashBall.
This is not a calm before the storm, but rather a method to the madness - as I mix metaphors. The Yankees' over-inflated payroll has cost the team a fortune in salary cap luxury tax. Now after seeing the exponentially diminished ROI on the A-Rod investment, they are being a lot more frugal to keep their payroll in line. As opposed to teams like the Dodgers.
The 1-year deals make sense, not just for the veteran pitchers, but for Youkilis as well. Alex Rodriguez still has multiple years left on his contract and will be set back by hip surgery to start the year. It would be difficult to see him playing anything other than DH when he returns. And if he can't hit, that would make for a very ineffective DH. Youkilis is a proven hitter (though not last year) and a strong defensive 3B.
There is still a fairly large hole at the catcher position, after Russell Martin signed a free agent deal with Pittsburgh. I don't have a problem with this as I see catcher as a defensive position first, and it's not like Martin set the world on fire with his bat (.211, 21 HR in 2012). For historical reference, the Yankees replaced Mike Stanley with Joe Girardi in the mid-90s, which coincided with a dynasty. Hmm.
But the Yankees now are down to three catchers on the 40-man roster: Chris Stewart, Francisco Cervelli, and Austin Romine. We don't expect much at the plate, but which of these perennial backups and career minor leaguers will handle a venerable pitching staff?
What you do see is an emphasis on speed: Brett Gardner, Chris Dickerson, Eduardo Nunez, and Ichiro Suzuki (if he's back) are all guys that can steal 30+. So what we see here is not only a re-shaping of the Yankees organizationally, but on the field as well.
The upcoming season promises to be interesting, even if the offseason hasn't been.
Labels: Austin Romine, Brett Gardner, Brian Cashman, Cashball, Chris Dickerson, Chris Stewart, Eduardo Nunez, Francisco Cervelli, Ichiro Suzuki, Joe Girardi, Kevin Youkilis, Moneyball, New York Yankees, Russell Martin
Flash Backtime: It's A Wonderful Life (This Week Anyway)
It's that time of year again. Time to celebrate the holiday season, the spirit of giving and unselfishness. When we all live in Bedford Falls.
But would George Bailey's story play today? In this economic and divisive political climate?
An conservative cohort once admitted his incongruous love affair with It's A Wonderful Life, "Isn't it clear that George Bailey is a socialist community organizer?"
The Backtime archives on Barack Obama's first week in office:
I was on a plane during inauguration, so it took me a few days to get up to speed. It unfolded like a Capra film - there was Mr. Obama going to Washington to bring conscience to the DC consortium. And the masses braved the cold to see the man who came from nowhere to be the ultimate example for everyone's dreams.
Just like George Bailey, Barack Obama is driven by a responsibility to others. His self-expression has to take a back seat while he tries to bail out the US Savings & Loan. And the supporting cast was right there to fill out the party.
Ted Kennedy's moment of the week was something Uncle Billy easily could have pulled at the big gala. Caroline Kennedy was Violet Bick, outcast through a web of unspecific innuendo. And who was Clarence the angel? The good-natured oddball dimwit who showed President Obama how important he is to the world? I'm going with George W. Bush. And tell me Dick Cheney in the wheelchair didn't conjure up thoughts of the warped, frustrated Mr. Potter. Fortunately Potter's reign is over and Bedford Falls can thrive across America.
If only this were a black and white film.
Labels: Barack Obama, Bedford Falls, Caroline Kennedy, Dick Cheney, Frank Capra, George Bailey, George W. Bush, It's A Wonderful Life, Mr. Potter, Ted Kennedy, Uncle Billy, Violet Bick
Tebow Issue A Non-Starter
You know the story: hometown hero takes the local team on his back, fills the stadium, pulls out victories, and propels the squad to new heights.
That was the Tim Tebow story last year in Denver, but it wasn't good enough for the hometown team. The 2-11 Jaguars could have had him too...twice. They could've gotten him from Denver in the offseason if they ponied up anything more than the 4th & 6th round picks the Jets did. Then during the season, they probably could've gotten him wholesale at the trade deadline.
You wonder what the downside would be for the Jags, unless they've decided what 31 other NFL teams including the Jets have, that Tebow can't play QB at this level.
The Jets' acquisition of Tebow has been a non-starter, as he has been. And it's not that Mark Sanchez or the Jets offense couldn't have used his jolt of energy. But ultimately, even at 6-7, the Jets must have decided that the plusses will never outweigh the minuses in replacing Sanchez with Tebow.
And at 6-7, the Jets aren't quite done. They've backed into the playoffs before, and all the way to the AFC Championship game. The two wins since the rock-bottom Thanksgiving night effort haven't been things of beauty: a 7-6 win vs Arizona and a 17-10 snoozer at Jacksonville.
Sanchez was just barely above flatline, passing for 111 yards, though 37 of them were on a crucial 3rd & 8, late. Tebow never got off the sideline even in his hometown.
Can conspiracy theorists run with this? Could Jacksonville purposefully be tanking interest in the team? Will Shahid Khan move the team after all? Or is it merely a football decision not to go for Tebow? They wouldn't be alone.
Labels: Jacksonville Jaguars, Mark Sanchez, Nease HS, New York Jets, Shahid Khan, Tim Tebow
Flash Backtime: It's A Wonderful Life (This Week A...
Backtime Walkabout: Clemson
Paper Backtime: SubPrime Time
Backtime Soaks It All In: It's A SpongeBob Christm...
Now Taking Volunteers
Off The Clock?
Eating On The Fly
The Right Team Won
Backtime Dateline: Providence

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Appraisers that cover counties near Lee County.
Remember that These Appraisers do Not Normally Work in Lee County, but may be willing to help you.
Travis County is 31.3 miles away, and has 1 appraiser.
Williamson County is 31.6 miles away, and has 1 appraiser.
Travis County is 32.6 miles away, and has 1 appraiser.
Travis County is 33.0 miles away, and has 1 appraiser.
Williamson County is 33.4 miles away, and has 1 appraiser.
Travis County is 35.4 miles away, and has 1 appraiser.
Cities/Towns in Lee County, Texas: Dime Box, Giddings, Lexington, Lincoln.


SMPC was officially inaugurated in 1981 with the purpose of manufacturing LPG cylinders for the domestic and global market. The containers were targeted to represent both the trademarks of our customers' and SMPC's manufacturing trademark. Our highly extensive experience and stringent quality control systems, together with our relentless and continuous development mindset have propelled us to the forefront of our industry. SMPC is one of the leading LPG container manufacturers in the world. Our integrated state-of-the-art production technology enhances our manufacturing performance and enables us to achieve higher quality products. SMPC's recognition speaks volume of the devoted and our focused executive management. We are accredited with ISO, AS, BS, DOT, EN, and TPED.
Copyright © 2008 : Sahamitr Pressure Container Plc.


Proactive Personnel Limited is working with a well established client who are looking to offer an amazing opportunity to bring in an experienced PSV Technician. The Job Role: To maintain and service the companies Fleet of bus and coach vehicles whilst dealing with all contracted work vehicles to VOSA standards Liaise with the Service and Parts teams for updates and availability Health and safety of the workshop and staff Safety inspections and preparation of vehicle for MOT Attending vehicle breakdowns and callouts on behalf of the client when required Experience / Requirements: The successful candidate will have in-depth knowledge and experience of service and repair work and maintenance on bus and coach vehicles (minimum 5 years post apprenticeship) A PSV licence would be preferred. Essential that candidates applying for the role have minimum City & Guilds Level 3/NVQ Level Three Qualification (PLEASE NOTE - Applicants without this will not be considered for selection) To apply please contact Christopher Campbell.
The Engineering Training Projects Manager is an essential role for the continuous development and improvement of the engineering training function. Reporting to the Engineering Training and Competence Manager you will provide a facility within the team to develop new training, competence and learning content, using an array of multi-media solutions leading to enhanced employee engagement. In this role you will develop and manage a new Learning Management Resource System as well as assessing the current training modules, ensuring they are fit for purpose before uploading them into the new LMS. Another project you will lead upon is the development and management of a new competence management system. Overseeing the migration of current competence records onto the new system you will also ensure integrity of data. Liaising closely with engineering staff you will ensure processes and procedures are applicable to their training and development needs. It would be great if you have commenced your career within technical / mechanical / engineering sectors before moving into a training based role, you will therefore offer a strong knowledge of engineering practices (preferably gained through previous technical or management positions). You must hold relevant training qualifications' or equivalent (A1, CTTLS, NEBOSH) and demonstrate a good knowledge and understanding of training and competence frameworks. Proven project Management skills and experience is essential. This management grade role attracts a salary of £39k per annum plus exceptional benefits including one of the best pensions available. This role could be based at any of the following locations : Newcastle, York, Leeds, Manchester or Liverpool.
Role: Materials Planner Location: Manchester Employment: Permanent Industry: Engineering Salary: £33,000 - £36,000 This is an exceptional opportunity to join a large and prominent manufacturing company on the outskirts of Manchester who have a global presence. As a Material Planner, you will be taking a lead in multi step operational demand planning processes to create accurate forecasts to help the business plan and forecast availability and deliverability. You will need to be a tenacious character with experience in a busy engineering/manufacturing environment with demonstrable experience in getting the best services from your customers and service providers. In return you will be joining a company with strong resources and progression opportunities alongside a very competitive wage and benefits package. Duties & Responsibilities. * Maintain the up-to-date visual management whiteboard * Oversee demand planning and management processes for new and existing products * Develop and execute product demand plans * Developing seasonal demand forecasts and anticipating customers' reactions * Work with internal stakeholders including; Manufacturing Assembly, Logistics & Shipping teams * Maintain demand plan to ensure cost effectiveness and to meet customer demands * Assist in risk assessment and mitigation activities. * Update customers and sales team about product availabilities. * Maintain inventory levels based on future customer demands. * Schedule monthly revenue forecast and target plan for brand team. * Maintain demand planning processes and systems to improve forecasting accuracy * Expedite shop floor control For more information regarding this role please call Lee Powell on or to make an application send a CV . Thank you for your interest in this vacancy. Omega Resource Group is a technical and engineering specialist agency and we also recruit for mechanical assemblers, test technicians, mechanical fitters, production operatives, general associates and electronic assemblers. Omega Resource Group Ltd is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.
Field Service Engineer Doncaster £28,000 - £30,000 Basic + Overtime (OTE £40,000+) + Specialist Training + Technical Progression + Vehicle + Phone + Laptop + Pension Great opportunity to join a specialist manufacture who give unique training & technical progression to help you become a highly skilled engineer. As a company who operate within a niche field of engineering, they will make you a specialist within this interesting field of engineering. This company manufacturer automated machinery for manufacturing companies across the UK. As a company who have doubled their head count over the last 5 years, there looking for more highly motivated field service engineers to help them grow further. Gain specialist training to become a highly skilled and respected engineer. The Role: * UK/ regional based field service work * Electrical & mechanical fault finding & installation * 2-4 nights staying away from home per month * Giving a great customer service to customers The Person: * Electrically qualified engineer (NVQ, 17th, HND, HNC or equivalent) * Strong mechanical skills * Industrial or machinery electrical engineering background * Highly motivated to learn a new industry * Ex forces engineers more than welcome * Relatable job titles: service engineer, service technician, maintenance engineer, mobile engineer, electrical engineer, field engineer, electrical service engineer.


text:
Football: Russia want national coach Fabio Capello to stay for 2018 World Cup
Aug 2, 2013, 4:28 pm SGT
http://str.sg/Zqss
MOSCOW (AFP) - Russian Football Union (RFU) chief Nikolai Tolstykh wants Fabio Capello to remain as national team coach for the 2018 World Cup on Russian soil.
"Capello has repeatedly said that he's happy with his job in Russia and the conditions that the RFU created for him here," Russian daily Sport Express quoted Tolstykh as saying in Friday's issue.
"The RFU value Capello's professional skills and his personal qualities of character highly.
"We're happy with the results that the country's national team show under his coaching. The RFU is very interested in further co-operation with Capello."
Last month the 67-year-old Italian manager dismissed rumours about his possible resignation after reportedly receiving an offer to replace Carlo Ancelotti at French champions Paris Saint-Germain.
"When a coach achieves some success in his profession it's natural that serious clubs show their interest in his services," Capello said last month.
"However, I can say that I love Russia and I'm completely happy to work here."
Russia are lying second in 2014 World Cup qualifying Group F with 12 points from five matches, two points behind leaders Portugal, who have already played seven matches.
Russia face hosts Northern Ireland on August 14 in a qualifier held over March because of heavy snow in Belfast in March.


Of course we are proud of this project. Even the World Trade Center 1 building in New York contains BGT glas!
A particularly challenging project, built for years, but finally opened in 2017: The Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg.
London has many distinctive buildings, of which 20 Fenchurch, London is one. The large amounts of glass in it are from BGT.
From the Glacier Skywalk in Alberta, Canada, you have a great view. Here too, Scheuten takes care of the glass for a safe look, but here in a different way and with a specifically extra safety glass.
The Tanzende Türme in Hamburg show a challenging playful image of buildings, which obviously do not necessarily have to be rectangular.
Nieuwe Havenhuis in Antwerp: Currently one of the most spectacular buildings in the region, with the cooperation of both SAGT and BGT.
It's been there for a while already, but remains a beautiful project: The Reichstag in Berlin.
Also the striking and well-known glass of the world famous British Museum in London is BGT glass!
A well-known building, which is regularly at the center of attention, with glass from BGT for a clear view outwards.
BGT supplied 1,040 Optisol® BIPV panels for the Farwaniya Courts Complex Kuwait. The total surface of 1,500 m² generates 109 kWp output.
Thanks to the striking ADAC colours you can see the ADAC building from afar!
Al Hilal is an Islamic bank from the United Arab Emirates headquartered in Abu Dhabi.
A really striking and almost futuristic building in the Swiss city of Basel, which was provided with glass by BGT.
Looks like a yacht, but it is a building - and of course we supplied the glass here too!


Marvin D. Nelson, Jr., MD, MBA, is chairman of the Department of Radiology at Children's Hospital Los Angeles and professor of Radiology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC). He received his bachelor of science degree in chemistry from Loma Linda University and his medical degree from Loma Linda University Medical School, then served his internship and residency in diagnostic radiology at Loma Linda University Medical Center.
Dr. Nelson completed three fellowships: neuroradiology, the National Hospital for Nervous Disease, London; interventional neuroradiology, the Foundation Ophthalmologique A. de Rothschild, Paris; and pediatric radiology, Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago. In addition, he has earned a masters of business administration at the USC Marshall School of Business.
In 2002 , Dr. Nelson received the John L. Gwinn Professorship in Pediatric Radiology at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. His research includes the use of spectroscopy and other advanced imaging techniques in diagnosing such conditions as brain tumors, pediatric acute hydrocephalus and sickle cell disease damage.
He serves on the editorial board of Pediatric Radiology, and has served as a reviewer for many prestigious medical journals. He is a past president of the American Society of Pediatric Neuroradiology and the Western Neuroradiology Society.


text:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <string name="hello">Hello World, ATKWizardClient!</string>
    <string name="app_name">ATK Wizard</string>
</resources>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


"Life is short and it's time to be free"
In the April 6 episode of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman on Netflix, Jay Z says he was happy his mother was free.
In the shadows people see you as happy and free, because that's what you want them to see.
Living two lives, happy but not free.
You live in the shadows for fear of someone hurting your family or someone you love.
The world is changing and they say it's time to be free.
But life is short, and it's time to be free.


When your website is properly moved you probably want to see the changes at the new location. You can do that before the DNS is converted with the website: webpagetest.org.
You can do the same changes with this site as with your hosts file; testing the live site at a different IP.
The test will now be done on the IP of our server regardless of where the DNS actually to refers.


The type specimen of the genus Amebelodon is installed in the Nebraska State Museum, the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. It consists of a mandible with tusks and teeth, all of which are dense and perfect, barring minor cracks and breaks. One toe bone and part of a rib found associated with this mandible may belong to this animal. It was discovered by Mr. A. S. Keith on his farm near Freedom, Frontier County, Nebraska; was secured for the palaeontological collections of Hon. Charles H. Morrill by Mr. Phillip Orr, April 4, 1927; was briefly described and figured in a Museum bulletin June, 1927.1 After a long but unavoidable delay, this mandible has just been mounted and the first photographs with correct measurements are now possible and are presented herewith. Preliminary drawings and measurements were made while the specimen was still in its plaster cinches. This unique specimen, representing a new group of longirostral mastodonts, has been named Amebelodon fricki, and the group designated the Amebelodonts, or shovel-tuskers. Amebelodonts are such distinctive elephants that they plainly belong in a group by themselves, namely the sub-family Amebelodontinae. In them is realized the culmination, in the late Pliocene or early Pleistocene, of the flattened tusks and lengthened mandible of Phiomia osborni of the Egyptian Oligocene.


Where do we come from? Where do we go? Amidst the turmoil of species going extinct and global climate crises, I wanted to show the pull between two world views. I also wanted to give eyes to the animals as the ones who have more intelligence when it comes to survival!


text:
An der 22. Handball-Weltmeisterschaft der Männer, die vom 13. bis 30. Januar 2011 in Schweden ausgetragen wurde, beteiligten sich 24 Mannschaften. In dieser Liste wird der Kader der japanischen Mannschaft sowie die Einsätze, die erzielten Tore und die über die Spieler verhängten Strafen dargestellt.
Der folgende Mannschaftskader wurde von der IHF bekannt gegeben:

Legende
Die sogenannten erweiterten Mannschaftskader umfassen bis zu 28 Spieler. Aus diesen werden nur 16 Spieler für die Weltmeisterschaft tatsächlich aufgestellt; während des Turniers können Spieler aus dem erweiterten Kader als Ersatz für Verletzte nachnominiert werden.

Die Zahlen (Länderspiele/Tore) im vorderen Teil der Tabellen sind die Angaben vor Beginn der Weltmeisterschaft.

Betreuer

Spielerkader

Erweiterter Spielerkader
Toshihiro Tsubone, Kairi Kochi, Satoshi Fujita (Toyota Auto Body); Kota Ozawa, Masakatsu Izuma (Osaki Electric); Morihide Kaido, Takeshi Fujiyama (Toyota Boshoku Kyushu); Hiroki Shida, Hiroki Motoki (Nippon Sport Science University); Masatoshi Kimura, Ryota Tanimura (Wakunaga Pharmaceutical); Akinobu Imamura (Toyoda Gosei)

Einzelnachweise

Kader
Handball (Schweden)
Japanische Handballnationalmannschaft
Kaderliste

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


CANADA – The 2017 statistics for Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC) have been released and indicate that membership continues to decrease to just over 56,000 members.
In 2017, LCC counted a baptized membership of 56,620, down 2.8% from the year previous, when baptized membership was at 58,216. Confirmed membership has also declined, sitting at 43,494 in 2017 (down 2.7% from 44,666 members in 2016). LCC's baptized membership has been in uninterrupted decline since 1999, while confirmed membership has been in uninterrupted decline since 2001.
Blue represents baptized membership and red represents confirmed membership. (Click graph for a larger image).
The number of adults received into membership in 2017 increased by 6.3% to 189, compared to a year prior when 177 adults were received. The number of children baptized held steady in 2017 at 645 and while the number of juniors confirmed in 2017 dipped to 382 from 419 in 2016 they are still greater than 2014's record low of 370.
Average weekly attendance at congregations also continued its decline in 2017, down to 57 from 60 the year prior. Average communion attendance, remained steady with confirmed members of LCC communing an average of seven times in 2017 for the third year.
President Teuscher continues, "Instead of bemoaning the declining numbers and of then succumbing to the temptation of jettisoning our Christ-centered and Bible-based heritage of the cross in favour of non-biblical and cross-less efforts to supposedly build and grow the church, consider for a moment the 'statistics' that come from the lips of our Lord Jesus Himself." Quoting, "There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance" (Luke 15:7).
Blue represents children baptized, red represents juniors confirmed, and green represents adults baptized/confirmed. (Click graph for a larger image).
The number of congregations holding Sunday School classes in 2017 dipped slightly to 177 (from 180 the year prior) with the number of pupils also dropping to 1,611 compared to 1,777 in 2016. The number of congregations holding Vacation Bible Schools was also down to 101 from 109 the year prior, likewise with a drop in over-all attendance to 4,502 in 2017 from 4,807 in 2016. While weekday religion class attendance dropped in 2017 to 1,336, reported attendance at Bible Study classes, however, rose to 1,815 compared to 1,633 a year earlier.
In 2017, Lutheran Church–Canada counted 298 congregations. 118 congregations did not send in statistical reports for the 2017 year (compare with 94 who did not send in reports in 2016). LCC congregations are reminded that statistical reports for the 2018 year must be submitted to LCC by March 31, 2019.
President Teuscher concludes, "It was Albert Einstein, of all people, who put this matter of statistics most succinctly and, surprisingly, even biblically: 'Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted'".
In 2014, The Canadian Lutheran published an in-depth analysis of Lutheran Church–Canada's statistical data and the challenges they represent. "Lutheran Church–Canada in Numbers" situates LCC's current situation in the context of wider Canadian society and further suggests steps that may be taken to begin reversing these troubling trends. Read the article for more information.
According to the Quote Investigator site, "Not Everything That Counts Can Be Counted," William Bruce Cameron, and not Albert Einstein, should be credited with the quoted statement. The quote is from page 13, in Cameron's 1963 book, Informal Sociology, a casual introduction to sociological thinking.
Carl, what are you doing at this site? Correction as usual, now you are a cross border commentator?
Just wondering how the LC-C determines membership and other numbers and percentage changes in various categories when 40% of the congregations did not provide their data in 2017 and 30% of the congregations did not provide data in 2016.
Are data from only consistently reporting congregations used, with a final adjustment factor used to give estimated LCC-wide values? How is the bias determined (or avoided) in such an approach?


Nuclear power has long been one of the world's major sources of energy, especially electricity. Touted as a viable alternative to fossil fuels, nuclear energy does create waste but its waste is not carbon-based and therefore not a greenhouse gas. Fossil fuel energy production, on the other hand, is a culprit in global warming and climate change as well as in overall air pollution. Nuclear energy is, however, not a direct substitute for fossil fuels and should not necessarily be viewed as such. The waste created by nuclear energy production is highly hazardous, which is why nuclear power generation is receiving dwindling consumer and policy support ("Guide to UK nuclear power"). Moreover, nuclear energy cannot be used as a source of fuel for the internal combustion engine. The non-electricity consumer or business products that nuclear power can provide are relatively limited.
Nuclear power accounts for about 20% of generated electricity in the United Kingdom and slightly less than that worldwide ("Guide to UK nuclear power"). However, the UK scaled back nuclear power production for the past several decades due to a number of drawbacks associated with the process of transforming the atomic energy into electricity. During the 1990s, Great Britain gave the go-ahead to build the Sizewell 'B' station and last year authorized further investment in nuclear power technologies (Johnston 2008). In fact, Great Britain currently the "most ambitious plans" for new nuclear power plants in Europe if not the world (Anderson & Crooks 2009). At the same time, the BBC predicts that by 2023 only 4% of Britain's electricity will be generated by nuclear technology, down significantly from today ("Climate Change"). The main factors fueling investment in nuclear power technology include environmental, cost, and security concerns.
The problems with nuclear power processing were made painfully clear in the 1980s. A string of large-scale disasters like Three Mile Island and Chernobyl turned public attention toward the pitfalls of nuclear power generation. Technology and lack of attention to basic safety procedures were as much to blame as the nuclear power processing procedures themselves. Still, the hazards associated with nuclear waste are grim, grave, and worthy of attention. According to the BBC, the Chernobyl disaster of 1986 is still affecting an estimated 16 million people ("Climate Change").
Creating nuclear power is relatively simple and astonishingly powerful in the scope of its applications. The atom bomb, with its characteristic mushroom cloud, is as much a product of nuclear power as the light bulbs in our kitchen. Nuclear power was in fact first discovered in the early 20th century and military applications became immediately apparent. By 1956, the first commercial, electricity-producing nuclear power plant became operational in Cumbria.
The main source of nuclear power is uranium, a naturally occurring element that like coal must be mined. Mining uranium poses a set of social and environmental problems similar to the excavation of any ore or coal. Plutonium and other elements can also produce energy when their atoms are split, but uranium remains the most common element used in nuclear power production. Nuclear fission is the primary process upon which nuclear power generation is based: an atom is split up into its constituent parts and the result is an unstable state inherently charged with energy. Concentrated uranium is formed into rods, which have an average shelf life of four years ("What is nuclear reprocessing?"). Nuclear reprocessing allows outdated rods to be recycled.
"Nuclear Power." 10 February 2009. Web. 25 April 2019. <https://www.essaytown.com/subjects/paper/nuclear-power-long-been-one/894509>.
"Nuclear Power." Essaytown.com. February 10, 2009. Accessed April 25, 2019.