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Top Ten Things: July PPV Matches
Welcome to another edition of Enuffa.com's Top Ten Things, where I assemble a list of ten something-or-others and what-have-yous and decide what order they should go in.
Today I have a list of the ten greatest July PPV matches of all time. The July PPV wasn't invented until 1988, when the NWA created a Great American Bash special headlined by Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger for the World Title. For years the NWA/WCW was alone in presenting a PPV event in July, but in 1995 the WWF jumped in, filling the monthly gaps in their PPV schedule with a series of In Your House shows. In 20 years nary a July has gone by without a PPV event. While none of the Big Four shows have ever taken place during this month, the annual B-shows have supplied some real classics, some of which I'll talk about, startiiiiing...............now.
10. Midnight Express vs. Southern Boys - GAB '90 - 7/7/90
In 1990 the Midnight Express delivered some of the best matches of their career, and some of the best matches that year. After dethroning US Tag Champs Brian Pillman and Tom Zenk at Capitol Combat, the Midnights defended against hot new babyface team The Southern Boys (Tracey Smothers and Steve Armstrong) at the Great American Bash. The result was a blazing 18-minute tag team clinic that saw the Midnights retain. In a rather poor in-ring year for the NWA, the US Tag division stood above the rest.
9. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn - Battleground - 7/24/16
These former best friends-turned hated rivals clashed one last time at the 2016 Battleground, in a match intended to put their epic feud to bed forever. And what a battle it was. Zayn and Owens know each other so well and have worked together so long they'd be hard-pressed to have a bad match, but this bout pulled out all the stops and ratcheted up the drama. After a brief feeling-out process the big moves appeared fairly early in the match, with Zayn nearly killing himself on an errant springboard moonsault. Owens then attacked Zayn's vulnerable right arm before Zayn staged a late-match comeback, complete with multiple brutal-looking half-nelson suplexes. After several unsuccessful attempts to hit the Helluva Kick, Zayn finally nailed the move, picked Owens up almost with a look of regret, and hit a second for the win. This match easily stole the show and proved one of WWE's best bouts of the year, while giving Zayn a much-need big win.
8. Jeff Hardy vs. Rob Van Dam - Invasion - 7/21/01
The Invasion PPV should've been the start of the greatest angle in wrestling history. Unfortunately the WWF misfired at almost every turn, burying just about every non-WWF guy in the process. The one import that caught fire though was Rob Van Dam, who for about six months was pushed to the moon, beginning with this Hardcore Title match against Jeff Hardy. The two daredevils traded breathtaking high spots in a match that ranged all over the arena, before Van Dam snared his first taste of WWF gold. The Invasion show may have been a disappointment but this match delivered huge.
Posted by Justin Enuffa Ballard at 2:00 PM No comments:
Labels: NJPW, Top Ten Things, Wrestling Stuff, WWE History
Parents' Night In #10: Jaws (1975)
Kelly and Justin are back to talk about one of their all-time favorite films, one they just GOTS ta watch every summer, the Spielberg masterpiece JAWS!
Thanks for watching! Don't forget to subscribe and join us on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter (@EnuffaDotCom)!
Labels: Movie Stuff, Parents' Night In
Book Review: The Greatest Matches and Rivalries of the WrestleMania Era
Chad "The Doc" Matthews of LordsofPain.net fame is back with another countdown of the top 100 something-or-others of the WrestleMania Era (for Doc's purposes that's 1983 to the present). While his previous tomes focused on the greatest stars and champions of said era, his latest volume deals with the top 100 matches and rivalries of the past 35 years in both WWE and WCW.
Matthews' intent here is to create an objective match/feud ranking, taking into account not only the quality of key matches, but the buildup to them, the character interactions, and the feud's overall impact on the business for its time (The end of the book covers his scoring methodology in detail if you're interested). After poring through decades of matches and moments, Chad put each candidate head-to-head with its peers in an attempt to nail down a definitive Top 100 that any wrestling fan can reasonably agree with. As with all art forms, there is of course an unavoidable element of subjectivity when trying to argue that Match/Rivalry A is better than B, but Matthews does present a lucid, pretty compelling argument for the placement of each entry.
There are definitely inclusions (and exclusions) I didn't agree with, but I have to give the author credit for making a strong case for his rankings. For example Hulk Hogan vs. Shawn Michaels being in the top 40, above many other feuds/matches I would deem far superior. I wasn't a fan of this feud or match in general at the time and I've never felt the urge to revisit it. But between Hogan-HBK drawing a very strong buyrate, Shawn managing to carry the entire feud on his own (Hogan opted not to appear on basically any TV leading up to the match), and Shawn getting out of Hogan one of his best-ever bouts (though hardly one of Shawn's best), I can at least appreciate why Matthews rates it so highly. If you've read Doc's LOP columns you already know he's a fair and well-reasoned debater, and that comes across in the book as well.
Posted by Justin Enuffa Ballard at 11:15 AM No comments:
Labels: Wrestling Stuff, WWE Network
Brewery Reviewery: One Love Brewery (Lincoln, NH)
Welcome to another Brewery Reviewery here at Enuffa.com, where I sample some local beer flavor and tell you all what I think.
One Love Brewery
25 South Mountain Rd Unit 4
Lincoln, NH 03251
My latest brewery visit took place at One Love Brewery in Lincoln, NH, on the main drag through town, just off of 93. The family and I had just taken in a movie and wanted to grab a bite for lunch, and I wanted to drink some goddamn beers.
One Love is a German-style pub with a traditional feel; lots of wood with an open, multi-floor seating plan and 19th century decor; a very welcoming atmosphere. The food there is your typical pub fare, with lots of comfort food options plus German favorites like pretzels with beer cheese and spicy mustard (We had a serving of those and they were quite tasty). I wasn't super hungry so I just had a garden salad for my lunch entree, and it was actually very nice. I do love me some balsamic dressing.
But beer is the reason I'm here, so let's get to that.
Labels: Beer Stuff, Brewery Reviewery
Top Ten Things: Disappointing Wrestling PPVs
Welcome to another edition of Top Ten Things, here at Enuffa.com!
Today's topic is something we can all relate to as wrestling fans. You're all set up in front of the TV, maybe with a beer in hand, maybe some popcorn, maybe a slice of pizza, maybe a nice wholesome bowl o' broccoli. That warning screen flashes, instructing you against the unauthorized reception of the upcoming broadcast, and the anticipation has reached a fever pitch. You can't wait to see three or four hours of wrestling awesomeness unfold before your eyes.......And then you're treated to sports-entertainment shit sandwich. Nothing about the show lives up to your expectations. Your world crumbles around you. And you're goddamn pissed. The following are ten examples of such an experience for me.....
10. WrestleMania IV
After the unequivocal success (both commercial and critical) of WrestleMania III, the WWF had their work cut out for them to somehow make the followup even bigger than the Hogan vs. Andre-headlined blockbuster. They decided that a first-time-ever WWF Championship tournament would do the trick, and booked a brilliantly-executed swerve to vacate the Title. This 14-man tourney would be the centerpiece of WrestleMania IV, but the card would include a staggering eighteen scheduled bouts (only sixteen took place due to tournament draws) over a period of four hours. If that sounds like an overloaded show, that's because it was. There were simply too many matches crammed into this PPV and thus nothing got enough time to shine; the tournament final was given a skimpy nine-and-a-half minutes, making it the shortest WrestleMania main event ever until 1993. Where WrestleMania III featured both an in-ring masterpiece (Savage vs. Steamboat) and a tremendously entertaining spectacle (Hogan vs. Andre), 'Mania IV boasted no truly memorable bouts, and aside from Randy Savage's Championship coronation in the finale, boasted nary an historic moment. Couple all this with a largely uninterested live crowd comprised mostly of business guests of Donald Trump's, and what ensued was a dull, dreary WrestleMania that served as the WWF's worst PPV of 1988.
9. Great American Bash '88
The NWA's third-ever PPV event featured two huge firsts, Ric Flair defending the World Title against his former Horsemen protege Lex Luger, and a monumental five-on-five war inside a three-decker steel cage. Going into this I couldn't wait to see how this incredible, foreboding structure would be utilized, and I anticipated the company's new top babyface dethroning the heel Champion. Well, Luger came up short of the Title in just about the stupidest way possible - the Maryland State Athletic Commission stopped the match because Luger was bleeding from the forehead, despite Luger having snared Flair in his Torture Rack finisher. And the Tower of Doom as it was called consisted of the two teams essentially trying to race each other from the top cage to the bottom so they could each run away from the battle. This match was both boring and confusing to watch. Elsewhere on the card we got two very good tag team matches, neither of which had a clean finish, and a Barry Windham-Dusty Rhodes US Title match involving a heel turn that made no sense, from someone not involved in the match whatsoever (Ronnie Garvin). The nonsensical booking turned what should've been a pretty great show into an overthought calamity with almost no satisfying finishes. Fortunately the company would refocus under the new Ted Turner regime and string together several great PPVs over the next year and a half.
8. Survivor Series 1990
The 1990 edition of this Thanksgiving PPV introduced a new wrinkle. Not only would we be treated to the usual series of team elimination matches, but the survivors of each bout would meet at the end for a climactic Survival Match. Also the company teased the debut of a new character for weeks leading up to the event, as a giant egg appeared on WWF television and would apparently hatch at the PPV. The resulting show featured abbreviated elimination matches, the one involving WWF Champion the Ultimate Warrior stuck in the opening slot, and the big egg-hatching reveal turned out to be a man in a turkey suit dancing with Gene Okerlund. The Gobbledygooker was never involved in any match or storyline going forward and served no purpose whatsoever. Finally the big Survival Match main event went a scant 9:31 and played out like a warmup showcase for Warrior and Hulk Hogan. This PPV was a poorly assembled mess except for the debut of The Undertaker, the only good thing it's remembered for.
Labels: Top Ten Things, Wrestling Stuff, WWE History
Toys That Pissed Us Off: Playsets
Welcome to a new feature here at Enuffa.com! Today our very own Dan Moore and I will discuss some of the toy playsets from our respective youts (What is a yout?) that really burned our asses for one reason or another.
Playsets in theory were all kinds of awesome. You had your action figures and were all set to reenact some awesome movie sequence or what have you, but you needed a setting for the excitement to take place in. You could either use your imagination and pretend the top of your dresser was the Death Star, or you could fashion something out of cardboard boxes, or you could be like the cool kids and get the officially licensed playset specifically designed to go with your toys. And when it was good, it was AWESOME. The G.I. Joe line for example boasted nary a bad playset. From the Defiant shuttle to the Cobra Terror Drome, to the massive 7.5-foot USS Flagg, those playsets set the standard for action figure accessories. Sadly not all playsets were so well-thought out. Here are eleven such examples, in no particular order.
We'll start with one of the most beloved toy franchises, the original Kenner Star Wars line.
1. Jabba's Throne Room
Justin: Let's get one thing out of the way - the Jabba figure itself was spectacular. It was easily one of the best Star Wars toys Kenner ever produced, with incredible detail, movable arms and a tail that twitched when you turned Jabba's head. This toy looked fantastic. His throne though was a different story. The detail looked good, and it included a trap door into which Jabba could send his victims to be eaten by the Rancor. But there were one or two problems. First off, the trap door was the surface the Jabba toy sat on. So you'd have to remove Jabba to access it. Second, the door opened OUTWARD. The hell kinda trap door opens up like that? The victim would be catapulted across the room! Third, the area under the trap door was so shallow your Luke figure could only be placed there in a horizontal position. So there was no reenacting the Rancor scene with this stupid toy.
Dan: I wanted to LOVE this fucking playset. My cousin Jefferey told me all about it before I got it. How cool Jabba was. How awesome all the accessories were. And that it had a working pit. I was fucking PSYCHED. I had one of those Inhumanoid giant toys who could double for the Rancor so I was ready to play.
This giant fellow in the middle? Oh yeah, Rancor on 'roids!
And then I got the dumpster fart of a playset. Realizing that my dreams of having Luke get chased around under Jabba were crushed, I quickly dispatched with the playset itself and recreated one on my own out of a plain cardboard box, like a true poor person.
2. Ewok Village
Justin: To be fair, this was a pretty impressive playset for its time. A big walkway area with a fire pit, over which you could pretend the Ewoks were roasting a person, a tree elevator, and a net for capturing unwitting Rebels underneath. But compared to the setting in the film this was really skimpy. Only one place to roast people? A net underneath the village instead of off in the woods nearby? An elevator that only holds like two people at a time? Not to mention very little actually happened in the Ewok village in the movie - all the Endor action took place in the open woods.
Dan: I actually loved this playset a lot. But yes, my initial bitching about it was that there was no room to cook up both a Skywalker AND a Solo. I was PISSED. I refashioned the useless elevator into another roasting pit and I was happy about that. My parents were not happy, however, years later when they bought the Sherwood Forest playset from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and realized it's the SAME FUCKING TOY.
Also, the Friar Tuck toy was a Pig Guard from Jabba's palace with a new head. Blew my mind
Labels: Dan Moore's Stuff, Other Stuff
The History of NWA/WCW Great American Bash (1991)
Alright, time to hold my nose as I review this stinker.....
Legend vs. Legacy - Baltimore Arena - 7.14.91
Oh wait, scratch that. Change of plans....
Luger vs. Windham - 7.14.91
In a scant two years the NWA (morphing into WCW) went from being at the top of its game to being in absolute creative shambles. Nowhere is this more evident than at their 1991 summer spectacular. Ric Flair, the NWA's top star for the past decade, had reached a contractual impasse with the new management (led by the cosmically inept Jim Herd) and was forced out of the company while still in possession of its top championship. His scheduled match with Lex Luger was thus off, and WCW's scrambling to plug this roster hole seemed to have a domino effect on the rest of this PPV. Once again they shoehorned eleven matches onto a three-hour broadcast, and once again most of the matches belonged in a wrestling dump heap.
Case in fucking point: Steve Austin & Terrence Taylor vs. Bobby Eaton & PN News in a Capture the Flag Scaffold Match. Sweet merciful Christ, what the hell was this? Scaffold matches in general are terrible, but this achieved new levels of putrid. The scaffold itself looked so rickety and unsafe I don't know how these four guys were even coaxed up there. Once on the platform they did basically nothing for the better part of ten minutes, aside from trying to not die. After several agonizing minutes of a match three of these four guys should've been mortified to have on their resumes (I'll let you guess which three), Bobby Eaton captured the other team's flag to euthanize this shitshow.
Absolute drivel
Next up was one of several not-ready-for-PPV bouts: Tom Zenk vs. Diamond Stud, a forgettable free TV match featuring an enormously jacked Scott Hall a year before he jumped to the WWF and mainstream success. Stud won after some interference from DDP. Moving on....
We go from the future Razor Ramon to the future Diesel, as Ron Simmons faced Oz. Apparently every match on this show featured a future WWF talent from 1996. This also belonged nowhere near a PPV. A portly Kevin Nash looked lost for most of this, yet somehow got to dominate the match. Eventually Ron Simmons woke everyone up with a clothesline that sent Oz over the ropes, but Oz soon took over again. Simmons eventually won with a powerslam.
Simmons' reaction upon learning he'd be working with Oz: ".....DAMN!"
Labels: The History of NWA/WCW Great American Bash, Wrestling Stuff, WWE History
WWE Extreme Rules 2018: A Microcosm of Vince's Shitshow
Move over Backlash, there's a new sucky PPV sheriff in town. Extreme Rules felt like WWE was actively trying to put on a bad show, between the filler matches, the multiple instances of counterproductive booking, and the noteworthy moments WWE expects everyone to remember in place of good wrestling. This felt like a Bischoff-era WCW PPV, except without a show stealing Cruiserweight Title match. I'm hard-pressed to pick a match of the night; only two bouts are in contention but neither of them was even on par with the opening G1 match on night 3 (Michael Elgin vs. Hangman Page). WWE's product is in absolute shambles right now and it requires on my part a Herculean effort to even get annoyed with it. That's how little I care.
The show opened with a pair of utterly forgettable matches, one of which featured a title change. The B-Team defeated Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt for the RAW tag belts in a nothing, free TV-caliber match, and then Finn Balor "upset" Baron Corbin with a small package in another free TV-caliber match. It's adorable they're still trying to present Corbin as any kind of threat, but no, I'm not buying it. Balor's position in this company is so far beneath where he should be, but they have so many more issues beyond that I can't even focus on him. *1/2 for the B-Team match, *3/4 for the Balor one.
Case in point, the systematic sabotage of Asuka in service of the least deserving women's champion since the Kelly Kelly era, Carmella. I just want to sit down with Vince and ask him, "Why do you hate Asuka so much?" I also want to sit down with Triple H and ask, "Why are you letting Vince destroy stars you've so carefully built?" Going into WrestleMania 34 Asuka was something special. An undefeated, legit badass with gargantuan charisma. Three months later Asuka is just another one of the girls, just another dimwitted babyface who gets distracted by shiny objects at the expense of her title aspirations. That a nothing in-ring talent like Carmella even beat Asuka to the championship, let alone got to pin her twice on PPV is a microcosm of how ass-backward Vince's booking philosophy is these days. After five minutes of forgettable action, James Ellsworth predictably escaped his shark cage but got stuck hanging upside down, at which point Asuka forgot all about winning the title and instead beat up Ellsworth. And then Carmella rammed her into the shark cage and pinned her. Asuka could not have been made to look more ineffectual if WWE were deliberately trying (and I'm convinced they were). DUD
Labels: Wrestling Stuff, WWE PPV
The New Revolution - Baltimore Arena - 7.7.90
1989 to 1990 was quite a dropoff in quality for the NWA, and the Great American Bash PPV falls right in line with that. The long-awaited Ric Flair vs. Sting showdown had been in the works for months, and was originally booked for WrestleWar that February. But a knee injury sidelined Sting for four months and Lex Luger took his spot, turning babyface and feuding with Flair until Sting was ready. While this was certainly a huge marquee match, I wasn't a Sting fan at the time and therefore wasn't particularly excited about his inevitable Title win. I was also pissed that the company reverted just about all the top stars to where they were in 1988. Flair and the Horsemen were the top heels, Luger was a babyface again. It all felt like a retread.
As for this show, once again they crammed way too many matches in, and this time it was an astonishing eleven bouts, nearly half of which had no business on a PPV.
First up was Brian Pillman vs. Buddy Landell. This was a decent enough opener, as Pillman was obviously quite accomplished and Landell was a solid hand. I'm not sure what the purpose was though. They weren't feuding and Pillman had come off of a really strong US Title program with Lex Luger, followed by a US Tag Title run. Why was he being wasted in a throwaway showcase match?
Next was Mike Rotunda vs. The Iron Sheik. Seeing mid-80s WWF guys like Sheik, Orndorff, Bob Orton, and Junkyard Dog show up in the NWA in 1990 was so strange. I guess they just wanted recognizable names to help put over the younger NWA stars at this point. Rotunda had given up his Varsity Club gimmick in favor of a sailor persona, which was beyond stupid. Rotunda didn't have babyface charisma at all and the Captain Mike thing reeked of 80s jobber. Mike won a brief match that was out of my head the moment it ended.
The third consecutive throwaway match on this show, Dutch Mantell vs. Doug Furnas was designed to showcase newcomer Furnas, but the match went on far longer than it needed to, and again, I'm not sure why this was included on a PPV. Furnas won with an impressive belly-to-belly suplex after eleven ponderous minutes.
The oddly pleasant surprise of the night was Harley Race vs. Tommy Rich, in an incredibly physical match given Race's age (He was 47 but looked 60), that proved Race could still turn it up when he needed to. Contrary to expectations, Race did most of the crazy bumping, including his usual back somersault over the ropes ending with his head hitting the ring apron. This match had historical value since nine years earlier Rich upset Race for the NWA Title, but otherwise this was a superfluous match that was better than it had any right to be.
How'd Eaton not suffer massive spinal compression?
The proper PPV began with the Midnight Express vs. Southern Boys, another classic effort by Eaton and Lane. In the tradition of MX's battles against The Rock n' Roll Express and The Fantastics, this match began with babyface team dominance as The Southern Boys stayed one step ahead of the Champs for the better part of ten minutes. Eaton and Lane eventually took control after some heel tactics, and the match built to a melee with multiple finishers before Eaton rolled up Tracy Smothers in a small package for the win. The Midnights were in peak form in 1990 and this was one of the highlights of their year.
Awesomely Shitty Movies: Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Welcome to yet another edition of Awesomely Shitty Movies here at Enuffa.com, where I examine a film that is horribly, deeply, life-wreckingly flawed but for one reason or another I can't help tossing it into the DVD player every so often.
Today the film in question is the third installment of the original Mad Max Trilogy, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. I'm a huge fan of this series - the inaugural Mad Max is a mercilessly bleak dystopian film with an unrelentingly frantic pace, wherein our protagonist loses everything he cares about and becomes a sadistic revenge-seeker. The second film, The Road Warrior, is simply one of the greatest action films I've ever seen. This hugely influential piece of pop culture is essentially a Western set in a post-apocalyptic future, where Max has been aimlessly roaming the wasteland scavenging fuel and food, and lends his considerable survival skills to help a small band of colonists defeat a gang of homicidal marauders.
The first two movies make up two-thirds of a near-perfect trilogy. Unfortunately, as with many trilogies, the third episode falls devastatingly short of expectations. With Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, director George Miller stepped back into a Co-Director role after his longtime producer Byron Kennedy was killed in a helicopter crash. Right off the bat this movie would lack the main driving creative force behind the first two films. Still there was an interesting story to be told here, and some aspects of it worked quite well. Let's take a look at the pros and cons of Beyond Thunderdome.
The Awesome
None of these movies would work at all without Mel Gibson's thoroughly compelling turn as the emotionally broken Max Rockatansky. Gibson has lately revealed himself to be a totally crazy person with serious bigotry issues, but it's impossible to deny what an onscreen talent he used to be. When I first heard they were making a new Max film without Gibson I couldn't possibly picture anyone else in the role (I have to admit though, Tom Hardy proved himself a fantastic choice). Like Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones or Bruce Willis as John McClane, Mel Gibson was born to play Max. He brought rugged, taciturn charisma and a hardened heroic quality to this lonely but honorable character. We're able to completely sympathize with him despite his moral ambiguity.
Max is a BAMF
Labels: Awesomely Shitty Movies, Movie Stuff
Awesomely Shitty Movies: Mallrats
Welcome to another edition of Awesomely Shitty Movies, where I dissect a cinematic clunker that I also happen to enjoy.
Today's topic is Kevin Smith's second film Mallrats. After the indie success of his smart, slacker-centric Clerks in 1994, Smith was given a much larger budget by Universal Studios to do basically the same type of movie. But this time our pair of lovelorn, do-nothing 20-something protagonists spend their aimless free time at a mall, trying to repair their failed relationships. Returning from Clerks are the zany supporting characters Jay & Silent Bob, who in this film are given some action-comedy set pieces and get to directly affect the plot. The studio more or less took Smith's trademark formula and attempted to make it more mainstream, with very mixed results. At the time I found this film unequivocally hilarious, but it's probably aged the worst of Smith's View Askewniverse outings.
So let's look at what worked and what didn't....
Almost everything great about his movie begins and ends with Jason Lee. The former skateboarder became a major find for Kevin Smith, who would cast him in numerous subsequent films. But perhaps no role was as big a show stealer for Lee as Brodie Bruce, the mall-obsessed comic book and video game junkie whose lack of ambition has cost him his girlfriend Rene. Lee's brilliantly vulgar, reactionary delivery is responsible for most of the film's best lines, and his natural charisma allows the viewer to identify and root for this character in spite of his many flaws and obnoxious persona.
I fuckin' love that guy.
Shannon Doherty
One of two principles cast for their name value, Shannon Doherty gives a harsh but oddly likable performance as the strong-willed, no-bullshit Rene, who's reached the end of her patience with her lazy, inattentive boyfriend. The focus of the movie is on the male characters, but Doherty admirably conveys why the firebrand Rene is such a good match for Brodie.
Brenda??
Character actor Michael Rooker plays the film's main antagonist Jared Svenning, whose primary motivation is to keep T.S. Quint (Jeremy London) from dating his daughter. Svenning is an aspiring game show producer/host whose pet project Truth or Date serves as the film's Maguffin. Rooker plays this role with over-the-top relish, serving as both a villain and something of a buffoon who, as a television producer, is in over his head.
Don't eat the pretzels!
Posted by Justin Enuffa Ballard at 2:13 PM 1 comment:
NJPW G1 Climax 28 Preview & Predictions
It's mid-July and that means it's time for the most exciting four weeks on anyone's wrestling calendar, when twenty of New Japan's top heavyweights compete in a round-robin tournament for a slot in the WrestleKingdom main event. That's right, the G1 Climax is upon us!
This year's lineup is stacked as all hell, and similar to last year's (I'm not complaining by the way, the 2017 edition was pretty unanimously considered the greatest wrestling tournament of all time), but with championships having changed hands and certain participants looking to climb back up the mountain the stories should play out a little differently.
For those of you new to the G1, the format is two blocks of ten, each of whom wrestles everyone else in his block once over the four weeks. A win gets you 2 points, a draw gets you 1, a loss gets you 0. The two block leaders at the end face each other in the Finals, and the winner gets the #1 Contender's briefcase to challenge for the IWGP Title at WrestleKingdom, but with a caveat. Whoever had defeated the eventual winner during the course of the tournament gets to challenge him for said briefcase, which plays out over the fall PPV season. Thus far the briefcase has never changed hands, but there's a first time for everything. Also of note, since the implementation of the G1 briefcase in 2012, no G1 winners have gone on to dethrone the champion at the Tokyo Dome. It is a great honor and accomplishment to win the G1 Climax but by no means is it a guarantee of becoming the IWGP Champion. The G1 winners in the briefcase era were Kazuchika Okada in 2012, Tetsuya Naito in 2013, Kazuchika Okada again in 2014, Hiroshi Tanahashi in 2015, Kenny Omega in 2016, and Tetsuya Naito again in 2017.
But anyway, let's get to the analysis. I'll talk briefly about the 20 participants and then offer predictions and most anticipated matchups in each block.
Block A
The former IWGP Champ enters his first G1 in four years without the cherished gold. This radically changes the dynamic of his performances here, as he'll no longer be playing defense. Instead Okada will need to scratch and claw his way to the top of the standings if he wants to main event WrestleKingdom for the fifth straight year. We should feel a greater sense of urgency in his matches this time. Okada is, I would think, a lock for the Finals and a heavy favorite to win it all.
The previous company Ace still has some gas left in the tank. Can he climb back up the mountain and get one more run with the belt? Tanahashi's big matches the past year or two have carried a greater sense of desperation, as he struggles to stay at the level of his prime years. Tana will last deep into this tournament but likely fall short on the last A block night, falling to Okada again. Or will he?
Jay White
Fresh off losing the US Title in what has to be considered his best match to date, Jay White has gone full-on asshole heel and I love it. Being a former champion, he'll obviously have a bigger chip on his shoulder which should garner electric heat and make his matches emotionally engaging. Looking forward to seeing him grow as a performer over these four weeks.
Labels: NJPW, Wrestling Stuff, WWE Predictions
WWE Extreme Rules 2018 Preview & Predictions
.......Sigh.......another lackluster WWE show is upon us, folks. Time to pretend any of it's interesting and make some predictions. It continues to baffle me how badly WWE wastes their insanely talented roster on boring, tired matchups while leaving potentially great ones on the table (or ruining them with stupid booking, a la AJ vs. Nakamura). Of the ten scheduled matches this Sunday only two interest me, and there are a few others that should be decent despite my not caring about them. Sooo, let's get to it I guess. How did the B-PPVs actually get LESS interesting since they dual-branded them??
***Dave has taken the lead this season, with 26/42 (62%), Dan and I are tied with 25/42 (60%), and Landon has fallen slightly behind with 24/42 (57%). But Jeezus, none of us are doing well, thanks to the nonsensical booking that's plagued the product since 'Mania.***
Pre-Show Tables Match: The New Day vs. SAnitY
This was just added. Christ there's a lot of matches on this show. Tables matches are usually lame. New Day matches are usually good. I'm so torn. Anyway, SAnitY are the new team on the block so they win here.
Justin: SAnitY
Dan: 'The fuck is Sanity? I don't even watch the shows anymore. I don't care, Sanity wins.
Landon: SAnitY
Dave: New Day
Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin
First off, how the FUCK did this make the card but Sasha vs. Bayley still hasn't happened yet? They've been teasing that goddamn feud since February! Shit or get off the pot, for fuck's sake. Anyway, I have zero interest in seeing Finn attempt to get a good match out of Corporate Corbin or whatever the hell they're calling him now (Yeah, I know, it's Constable - because there's been one of those in this country in the last 200 years). Two years ago Finn became the first Universal Champion. Now he's curtain-jerking (or worse) against a hump like Baron. Welcome to WWE, home of the reverse ladder to success.
Justin: I guess Finn takes this? Christ, I hope so.
Dan: Yeah Finn
Landon: Corbin
Dave: Finn I guess.
RAW Tag Team Championship: Deleter of Worlds vs. The B Team
I have a feeling this gets bumped to the pre-show. Does anyone care about this match? A mongrel tag team defending against a jobber tag team? Pointless.
Justin: Matt & Bray retain
Dan: Matt & Bray
Landon: Champs retain
Dave: Matt & Bray
Extreme Rules RAW Women's Championship: Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax
Oh good, this match again. Look, I enjoyed their first two outings. In fact I'm one of the few who did. But why do we need it again? Ronda Rousey is going to be sitting at ringside for this so obviously it's setting up her next title shot at SummerSlam, presumably against Alexa. I guess the Extreme Rules stip could make this different.
Justin: Alexa retains
Dan: Alexa
Landon: Alexa
Dave: Alexa but who cares?
Labels: Wrestling Stuff, WWE Network, WWE PPV, WWE Predictions
NJPW G1 Special Review
New Japan delivers again. The G1 Special at the Cow Palace was yet another pretty stellar effort from the world's best wrestling promotion, featuring three excellent marquee matches and a host of fun undercard bouts, plus some newsworthy items.
The first three tag team matches were just a fun way to warm up the crowd, starting with a 10-man tag between the lower-tier Bullet Club members and the supporting members of CHAOS (RPG3K, Gedo and Yoshi-Hashi). The SanFran audience popped big for King Haku, who teamed with two of his sons (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa), plus Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens. The match was a briskly paced nine minutes and ended with Tonga scoring the pin on Gedo. Not much more than a showcase, but it didn't overstay its welcome and Tama Tonga in particular looked like a star here. More on that later. **
Next up was the best of the three undercard tag matches, as Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre resumed their feud with Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano. As expected this match shined when Suzuki and Ishii were pounding the snot out of each other. Their inevitable singles match will no doubt be a brutal spectacle. The finish came out of nowhere as Yano tried several times to hit a low blow on Sabre only for Sabre to block and counter. But Ishii leveled him with a clothesline, allowing Yano to cradle him for the pin. Very entertaining stuff. **3/4
The third showcase match pitted Tanahashi and Kushida against Hangman Page and Marty Scurll, and accomplished a lot in elevating Page. Very early in the match Page hit a death-defying shooting star press off the apron to the floor, landing on his feet(!) and knocking Kushida down. From there the pace was furious as the heavyweights and the juniors paired off, but in the end Page finished Kushida with his Rite of Passage finisher (reverse Tombstone piledriver). Page is rapidly proving himself a worthy New Japan star and I'm interested to see how he does in the G1. **1/2
The first important bout was next as Hirooki Goto defended the NEVER Title against Jeff Cobb. This was a rugged display of athletic power wrestling, full of suplexes and high-impact moves. This was my first time seeing Cobb and thus far I'm duly impressed. From what I understand this wasn't even one of his best efforts (at 12 minutes it felt a little short), but I'm hoping New Japan will bring him on board officially. Goto retained after the GTR. Solid midcard match. ***
Posted by Justin Enuffa Ballard at 12:50 PM No comments:
Labels: NJPW, Wrestling Stuff
This one's generally considered the best of the bunch....
Glory Days - Baltimore Arena - 7.23.89
1989 was in my opinion the best year in NWA history. The company had undergone major management and booking changes with the sale to Ted Turner, but the emphasis was still on simple storylines and athletic wrestling. It's no surprise that the 1989 Great American Bash was and is considered a classic PPV, with loads of star power and several standout matches. It's also a source of a bit of frustration for me, because with a bit of retooling this show could've been basically perfect. It was the first hour that got in the way.
The show opened with a two-ring Battle Royal showcasing several midcard stars and some of the company's newest talent. The 14-man bout included Eddie Gilbert, Terry Gordy, Steve Williams, Scott Hall, Bill Irwin, Brian Pillman, Ranger Ross, Mike Rotunda, Ron Simmons, Rick & Scott Steiner, Kevin Sullivan, and the Skyscrapers, who won the whole thing and split the winnings. While the two-ring format set this apart from traditional Battle Royals (and made for a nice unusual visual the whole night) this was pretty nondescript stuff, really only notable for monster heels Sid Vicious and Dan Spivey getting a big win.
I thought the Skyscrapers were pretty boss at the time
What didn't make sense were the next two bouts that followed. First Brian Pillman faced Bill Irwin in a ten-minute squash that clearly didn't belong on a PPV, then The Skyscrapers showed up again to annihilate The Dynamic Dudes, in another glorified showcase match. These two matches took up nearly 20 minutes that should've gone to some of the later bouts.
Another pointless match was next as Jim Cornette faced Paul E. Dangerously in a Tuxedo Match. I'm generally against manager vs. manager bouts full-stop, but especially when both of them are involved in one of the headlining matches designed to help settle their issue.
The show really got going in match 5, as the Steiner brothers faced Mike Rotundo and Kevin Sullivan in a wild Texas Tornado match. This was about as good as could be expected, with all four guys doing a lot with what little time they were alotted. Imagine how much better this could've been with five more minutes.
The really stacked portion of the show kicked off with Sting vs. Great Muta for the TV Title, a blazing match that's about as good as any 8.5-minute match you'll ever see. Sting began the bout by diving from one ring to the other on top of Muta. They crammed everything they could into this, with lots of wild top-rope spots and over-the-rope dives which were unheard of in 1989. It's too bad they weren't given fifteen minutes to really steal the show. After Muta accidentally spit mist into Nick Patrick's eyes, the finish was the old back suplex into double-pin spot, where it wasn't clear whose shoulders were down. Sting was declared the winner but the belt was later held up and Muta won the rematch. This was a damn fine little match but should've been a MOTY contender.
PLANCHA! PLANCHA! PLANCHA!
Posted by Justin Enuffa Ballard at 9:22 AM No comments:
Awesomely Shitty Movies: Face/Off
Welcome to another edition of Awesomely Shitty Movies, here at Enuffa.com, where I'll examine a movie that is horribly entertaining but also entertainingly horrible.
Today's entry in the series is John Woo's 1997 action thriller, Face/Off!
Face/Off stars John Travolta as FBI agent Sean Archer, whose son was killed by his arch-nemesis Castor Troy, a manic, sadistic terrorist played by Nicolas Cage. Six years later Troy announces to the FBI that there's a bomb hidden somewhere in Los Angeles which could potentially kill millions of people. The FBI attempts to capture Troy in an ambush but Troy ends up in a coma before they can learn the location of the bomb. After unsuccessfully interrogating every member of Troy's gang, Archer reluctantly submits to a radical new procedure wherein his face will be removed and replaced with Castor's, allowing him to impersonate his enemy and infiltrate the maximum security prison where Castor's brother/accomplice Pollux is being held. Archer's subterfuge fools Pollux, who reveals the bomb's location, but before Archer can arrange his release from prison, the real Castor Troy emerges from his coma, forces the surgeon to apply Archer's face to his, and then kills everyone who knew about the procedure. The real Sean Archer is now trapped in prison as Castor Troy, while the real Castor Troy takes over Archer's life.
This is one of the most convoluted premises of any action movie I've ever seen, but somehow the filmmakers managed to pull a pretty entertaining piece of crap out of what probably should've been a disastrous effort. So let's take a look at what worked and what didn't.
John Travolta & Nic Cage
First and foremost, the two leads do an excellent job in this film of convincing the audience that a) this scenario is at all believable and b) that for most of the film's running time they are each playing the opposite character. Travolta plays Archer as a spiritually broken man, haunted by the death of his son and consumed with catching the bastard who killed him. His relationships with his wife and daughter are in shambles and the only thing that will bring him peace is taking Troy down. Cage plays Troy as a high-wire act - oozing evil charisma and relishing his own depravity.
When the ol' switcheroo occurs, each actor gets to explore the other character. Cage as Archer brings an even greater sense of melancholy and develops a rather tender relationship with Troy's girlfriend Sasha (Gina Gershon), while Travolta's Troy rekindles the romance with Archer's wife (Joan Allen), and is actually able to identify with Archer's troubled teenage daughter (Dominique Swain). He also becomes an FBI hero when he locates and diffuses his own bomb and uses all the Bureau's resources to chase down "Castor Troy." Both actors are fantastic in both roles and have a lot of fun imitating each other.
NJPW G1 Special in San Francisco Preview & Predictions
Welcome to another round of NJPW Predictions here at Enuffa.com! Landon Wayne (of FalconArrowEmporium.blogspot.com) and I are back to sort out the matches and predictions!
In what is now an annual tradition, New Japan will be visiting American soil once again just before the G1 Climax, with a special PPV that airs live on AXS TV and then on-demand on NJPWWorld.com. The company really stacked their championship fields with gaijin to try and capitalize on the western audience, and with this show taking place at the Cow Palace in San Francisco this will be the largest American event in NJPW history. Stagnant ticket sales initially stoked fears that the company had tried to expand too fast, but from what I understand the event is mostly sold out now. Going from a 2300-seat venue last year to a 5000-seater this past March to 10,000 now was certainly ambitious but it looks like they'll be just fine.
Anyway this show is fairly stacked, with five big title matches and some showcase tags. Let's get to it...
10-Man Tag: Yoshi-Hashi/Gedo/Roppongi 3K vs. Chase Owens/King Haku/Yujiro Takahashi/Guerrillas of Destiny
Oh look at this, father and son teaming together. What a strange turn of events. Should be a fun little opening match. I'm not expecting it to go very long but it'll be a showcase for RPG3K (who are still chasing the Jr. Tag belts).
Justin: I have a feeling Haku will be super over, so they may give Bullet Club the win here.
Landon: Do we know if Haku is still the linear WCW Hardcore Champion? If not him, who is? Bullet Club
Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr.
It's a rematch from Dominion. This'll be great whenever Ishii is in the ring and silly whenever Yano is. Ishii vs. Suzuki is still being built as a blood feud and I imagine we'll get to see that at either Destruction or King of Pro-Wrestling, or both.
Justin: Suzuki-Gun pins Yano again
Landon: MORE. LANDON WANT MORE ISHII SUZUKI. Yano Pins Sabre
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kushida vs. Hangman Page & Marty Scurll
Shocking to see Tana in such a low undercard spot, but I guess he's got less name recognition than most of the western wrestlers. This should be another fun tag match. Kushida and Scurll will have excellent exchanges I'm sure.
Justin: Tana & Kushida get the win
Landon: Fucking weird, but Team WMB wins here
Bob Dylan's "Blonde On Blonde" Revisited
by Michael Drinan
@thesurfacenoise
I was twenty years old when I first listened to the album. Dylan was a name I had heard before but never paid much attention to or gave him a listen. When you grow up in the 90s you don't feel you need an artist like Dylan in your life because you already have so much to listen to as it is. So, when the 90s faded, along with the great music that came with it, I figured it was time to dive into the music of the 60s to see what the fuss was all about, and The Beatles and Dylan were the first artists to check out.
As a guide, I used VH1's list of "100 Greatest Albums of Rock & Roll" to point me in the right direction. Before you roll your eyes I will tell you that it was and still is the best list on the subject I've seen. Sixteen years later and I still find myself agreeing with the albums listed, even though we can always quibble on placement. Of course, The Beatles and Dylan were littered all over it and so it seemed to be the most logical place to start. The Beatles were easy to listen to since my dad had many of their albums. Dylan, I had to go to the music store and buy his albums to hear them.
So, I bought Blonde On Blonde along with Blood On The Tracks, two works that many deem to be his best. I went to my car, popped in Blonde On Blonde and went driving around the back roads of Hampton Roads in Virginia and listened, preparing to be blown away.
I didn't prepare myself enough. How could anyone?
The first track, "Rainy Day Women #12 and 35" I dismissed as being a playful little jam session where it seemed as if no one knew how to play their instruments. I still sung it out loud because I had heard it before off the Forrest Gump soundtrack. I began settling into the album on the second track "Pledging My Time", a muddy, bluesy stomper with a soaring harmonica intro. My foot kept tapping, my head bobbing back and forth and my fingers drumming along. I was into it.
The clincher came when "Visions Of Johanna" came on and opened with one of the greatest opening lyrics I've ever heard, "Ain't it just like the night to play tricks when you're trying to be so quiet." Mother. Fucker. What a line! I was instantly sold, not just on the album but with Dylan himself. I heard he was a great lyricist, the "poet of rock 'n' roll", but you're never prepared for when you realize it or when you believe it. That lyric was the one that sold me on that notion. He was the greatest lyricist in rock history.
Labels: Music Reviews, Music Stuff
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Star Blog
Cowboys in Spanish
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Dallas Cowboys Offense is a No Show, Again
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Cowboys Draft Target: Georgia State WR Penny Hart
in NFL Draft
by Brian Martin March 10, 2019, 11:59 am 14.2k Views
NAME: Penny Hart
POSITION: Wide Receiver
SCHOOL: Georgia State
CONFERENCE: Sun Belt
CLASS: RS Junior
JERSEY: No. 18
RECRUITMENT RATING: 2-star
HT: 5'8″
WT: 180
D.O.B.: 7/5/1996
Most Exciting WR in the SBC || Georgia State WR Penny Hart 2017 Highlights ᴴᴰ
Follow JBP on IG: https://www.instagram.com/justbombsproductions/(↓↓ click show more ↓↓)Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ScottTakadeFollow me on Ins…
Penny Hart has shown the ability to play both out of the slot or on the outside, but will likely find most of his success in the NFL as a slot receiver. Despite being a small school prospect, he is surprisingly well developed as a route runner and understands how to temper his routes to create space and separation. This is a testament to his football IQ and work ethic.
Hart's calling card is a short area quickness. He shows quick feet on film. It helps him quickly get off the line of scrimmage and also helps him when getting in and out of his breaks as a route runner. He accelerates and decelerates with ease, showing plus burst, and easily changes directions at the drop of a dime.
Looks natural catching the ball on film and shows the ability to extend to make catches thrown outside his frame. Rarely drops passes. Is a threat after the catch. He is slippery once he gets in the open field and has a little fight to him when he faces contact. Used as a "gadget" player on jet sweeps, reverses, and end-arounds. Also has special-teams experience as both a punt and kick returner.
The biggest negative about Penny Hart is obviously his size. It will likely limit him to strictly playing out of the slot in the NFL, although he did show the ability to be a vertical threat at Georgia State, averaging 14.6 yards per reception. There are also concerns about his durability and the level of competition he played against in college.
Hart doesn't show a lot of functional strength on film. This will hurt him against press coverage in the NFL and as a blocker in the passing game. He shows the willingness as the blocker, but gets overpowered by bigger defensive backs. Frame might already be maxed out.
His lack of size also comes into play as a pass catcher. He shows the ability to contort his body to catch passes thrown outside his frame, but he doesn't have a very large catch radius. Struggles in contested catch situations as well. Much better catching the ball over is shoulder as a down the field receiver than he is when he's square to the ball.
Cowboys Fit:
With the Dallas Cowboys, Penny Hart would more than likely step in and become Cole Beasley's replacement in the slot. He may not be as good as a route runner as Beasley is at this stage in his career, but his change of direction ability and speed should make him an immediate contributor as a rookie.
Hart should also figure into the Cowboys return game as well. He has experience as both a punt and kick returner, and should be in the mix to become their return specialist. Offensively, he can be used in a variety of different ways. He's shown the ability to play either on the inside or outside in the passing game and can be used on gadget plays such as jet sweeps, reverses, and end arounds.
Overall, there is a lot to like about Penny Hart and the variety of ways he can help the Cowboys. He would have some large shoes to fill, but he has the kind of skill set and game breaking ability that could endear him to fans immediately. He is projected to be a Day 3 pick, and I think he would be an absolute steal at that point in the draft for the Cowboys.
2019 NFL DraftDallas CowboysPenny HartWide Receiver
Written by Brian Martin
Level C2/C3 quadriplegic. College graduate with a bachelors degree in sports and health sciences-concentration sports management. Sports enthusiast. Dallas Cowboys fanatic. Lover of life with a glass half-full point of view.
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How drones minimize one of the only remaining restraints on whimsical war making.
Amitai Etzioni's contribution to the great drone debate makes the sensible point that drone strikes often offer our leaders a superior alternative to bombers, longer-range missiles and ground raids in places like Yemen and Pakistan. What drone critics miss, Etzioni says, is that all foreign attacks kill noncombatants, alienate locals and undermine their government. Drones (unmanned aerial vehicles is a more accurate but less common usage) do so with less trouble and offer various tactical advantages.
Etzioni is right that drone critics too often imagine that some antiseptic means can meet the strikes' objectives and thus that we can avoid choosing between lethal and humanitarian goals. (The same can be said of complaints about close-air support in Afghanistan.) Etzioni might have knocked another set of critics: those who want to replace drone strikes with a magical formula that will transform areas like Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Provinces into stable, peaceful ones.
The trouble with Etzioni's commentary is that it ignores critics of drone strikes that see the alterative as doing nothing, or at least doing something nonlethal. In that case, the question is whether the humanitarian toll and blowback is worth the benefit of the killing, not whether there is a better way to kill. I say we in the public lack the ability to make that judgment and should oppose the strikes until we have better information.
Actually, yes. The argument is that we make more careful judgments about lethal acts when we anticipate more costs to our troops. Free wars, as I noted here, are more likely to be dumb wars. That doesn't mean we should put troops in harm's way just to have more skin in the game and improve debate. But we should worry about how the absence of discernible consequences at home makes us more likely to casually bomb people. It is not pop sociology but orthodox price theory that tells us that lowering cost increases demand.
Now that we've mostly quit dividing war powers between governmental branches, cost—human and economic—is one of the few remaining restraints on whimsical war making. Drones are a wildly successful military innovation in part because they minimize that restraint.
The White House justifies increased drone strikes in Somalia with casual assertions that the Islamist insurgents there, the Shabaab group, have begun to target Americans. No congressional committee or even major newspaper presses them to substantiate that claim. We know about the limits on targeting there only because administration officials leak to David Ignatius. The most dovish mainstream position on our war in Afghanistan supports drone bases there in perpetuity, leaving the option of truly exiting Afghanistan and Pakistan's wars to the fringe. Amid the celebration of our killing of Anwar Awlaki in Yemen last week, the media took just slight notice of "civil-libertarians" and their quaint notion that the due process constitutionally owed to U.S. citizens before their government kills them may exceed a White House assertion in a press conference that their role as a terrorist leader "has been well established"— presumably by a secret memo that the administration wrote itself.
Even most avowed fans of drone strikes should admit that by lowering cost, they preempt debate and make killing easier. That is a problem for democracy.


When the First World War broke out in 1914, nobody could foresee the bloodbath that would ensue. The never seen before massacre caused by four continuous years of armed attack, and mindless killing was not warning enough. In a matter of just 21 years after the Great War, the Second World War was already burning on the horizon. Both the wars came at the cost of manslaughter, a tragedy unmatched in the history of mankind. Of all things lost in war, it is astounding what both the wars did to the alcohol industry all over the world. From witch hunting illegal breweries, enforcing new licensing laws, and increasing taxation, alcohol production underwent a massive crackdown.
David Llyod George, Britain's liberal gentleman politician, who was to become a Prime Minister in the coming years was pivotal in enforcing new licensing laws that affected British whisky distilleries even before the First World War broke out. His 'People's Budget' paved the way for the decline of smaller distilleries of the Highlands, Ireland, and British isles. Masked under the philanthropic appeal of aiding social reform, Llyod George, an advocate of Temperence caused a mammoth decline in the sale of whisky. Once the war was waged, he turned his attention to the whisky trade, passing the Immature Spirits Act in 1915. This Act made it compulsory for all Scotch whisky to be aged for a minimum of two years, which was increased to three in 1916. By 1917, owing to the U-Boat Campaign, pot distillation suffered a sudden death. Of the 130 odd distilleries functional during pre-war, only a handful were still in business at the end of 1918.
But, as they say, where there's a will, there's a way. British soldiers on the front were rewarded with rum, after a hard day at war. Officers would often pour a tot of rum into the glasses of a line of soldiers, who'd eagerly wait their turn. Only officers were permitted to buy fancy liquor, making whisky their most-loved liquor. The 9th Hole was a wartime favourite, cheap whisky that'd sell like hot cakes. An occasional peg of Johnny Walker was an indulgence that only the most high-ranked officers could engage in. The fighter pilots in particular were heavy drinkers. Jokingly nicknamed 'The Suicide Club', they were rumoured to have chugged peg after peg. Talk about liquid courage! Rules, or no rules, the British Army didn't shy away from downing whisky. The British women were not far behind. They were rather ahead of their male counterparts, thronging London pubs, and drinking whisky without a care in a world that was falling apart.
May 1917 saw the formation of the Whiskey Association, with the promise to uphold, and defend the interests of all Scottish and Irish whiskey distillers. Fraught with incompetent officials and loopholes, the Whiskey Association could not make much headway in terms of stabilising whisky trade. But, is was successful in momentarily putting whisky back on the shop shelves. It was around the same time that the threat of the Prohibition Era was looming large over the US, in the other corner of the world.
The alcohol industry found itself in dire straits one more time when the Second World War broke out. With the war came the growing demand for food grains. In face of growing food shortage, grain rationing was the only way of feeding the masses. Naturally, this meant a dearth in grains that could be used for brewing whisky. Scotland's famed single malt production came to halt, as distillery after distillery shut down in the wake of the grain crisis.
Meanwhile, in America, whiskey distilleries were put to a different use. The winding halls were needed by the army, and while distillation suffered, the distilleries were useful in military service. Most of the alcohol was used for medicinal purposes, and even as torpedo fuel. Owing to the lack availability of whiskey, pubs came up with a makeshift concoction called 'imitation whiskey'. Like the name suggests, is was a cocktail of sorts, made to fool the drinker into believing it was a cheap glass of whisky. Coupon rationing of whiskey started in 1942, where only a watered-down trifle of the tipple could be bought in exchange for coupons. Needless to say, there was a mad rush for coupons, and not much whiskey to sell. Brawls over whiskey were a common sight in such whiskey rationing stores.
The world wars may not have been kind of whisky, and the alcohol industry at large, but the people's love for whisky shines bright in their struggle to lay their hands on the drink of the gods.


text:
Q: Where can I find the source code for the _tkinter module? According to the Python 3 documentation, Chapter 25.1: tkinter - Python interface to Tcl/Tk:

The Tk interface is located in a binary module named _tkinter. This
  module contains the low-level interface to Tk

Where can I obtain the source code of this module?
I checked python/cython on GitHub, but could not find it.

A: Found it here on GitHub for cpython

A: Check also this answer here which is related to your problem and gives this source (https://hg.python.org/cpython/file/3.6/) from python.org.
How did I get there? In python,
>>> import _tkinter
>>> _tkinter.__file__
'/usr/lib/python2.7/lib-dynload/_tkinter.so'

Then in Google: "Python lib-dynload source".

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text:
Jerzy Kurczewski (ur. 13 października 1924 w Poznaniu, zm. 9 września 1995 w Puszczykowie) – polski dyrygent, kompozytor, twórca i kierownik Poznańskiego Chóru Chłopięcego w latach 1961–1991.

Życiorys
Syn Czesława Kurczewskiego i Franciszki z domu Kaszyńskiej. Mąż Danuty Feld. Ojciec Aliny Kurczewskiej, dziennikarki muzycznej Radia Merkury.

Przed wybuchem II wojny światowej ukończył 2 klasy w Gimnazjum św. Jana Kantego. W czasie okupacji pracował jako robotnik w niemieckim szpitalu wojskowym, prowadząc jednocześnie tajną działalność artystyczną. Kierował grupą muzyczną "Flimoni", do której należeli: Stefan Stuligrosz, Kornel Szymanowski, Jarosław Maciejewski, Aleksander Schmidt, Andrzej Matuszewski i Bolesław Mieczysław Bilewicz. Wtedy też zaczął uczyć się grać na fortepianie u swojego wuja. Działał czynnie w harcerstwie do 1950.

Po wojnie zdał przyspieszoną maturę, a następnie rozpoczął studia na muzykologii, oraz teorii specjalnej i dyrygenturze w PWSM. W latach 1949–1950 pracował jako etnolog i zbieracz muzycznej kultury ludowej w Państwowym Instytucie Sztuki, pod kierunkiem Mariana i Jadwigi Sobieskich brał udział w ekspedycjach naukowych. Był również muzykiem w poznańskim Teatrze Polskim, reżyserem muzycznym w poznańskiej Rozgłośni Polskiego Radia. Od 1957 należał do PZPR. Członek Rady Krajowej PRON w 1983.

W 1945 założył chór chłopięcy "Miniaturka" przy 21 Drużynie Harcerskiej w Gimnazjum im. św. Jana Kantego, działający następnie pod różnymi nazwami, ostatecznie jako Poznański Chór Chłopięcy. Prowadził go jako dyrektor i kierownik artystyczny do 1990. Po nim obowiązki te przejął Wojciech Aleksander Krolopp. W 1957 założył jedyną w Polsce "Szkołę Chóralną". W 1967 zainicjował Międzynarodowy Festiwal Chórów Chłopięcych.

Chór Jerzego Kurczewskiego koncertował ponad 2200 razy w wielu krajach na 4 kontynentach. Brał udział w wielu prestiżowych festiwalach muzycznych, występował w najważniejszych salach koncertowych świata, jak Carnegie Hall, Filharmonii Berlińskiej, wiedeńskiej Musikverein. Jerzy Kurczewski występował z chórem przed takimi osobami jak królowa Fabiola, Richard Nixon czy Jan Paweł II. Zespół zarejestrował kilkanaście płyt (m.in. pierwszą polską płytę kompaktową – w 1984. Dokonywał wielu światowych prawykonań utworów kompozytorów współczesnych.

Jest twórcą wielu opracowań utworów, kolęd na chór a cappella. Napisał muzykę do spektakli teatralnych zrealizowanych w poznańskim Teatrze Lalki i Aktora "Marcinek", m.in.:

 "Bajki" wg La Fontaine'a Benedykta Hertza; reżyseria: K. Cysewska, W. Łobodzińska, W. Barcik; inscenizacja i scenografia: J. Berdyszak (prem. 25 września 1964)
 "Bałwankowa bajka" Jana Wilkowskiego; reżyseria W. Wieczorkiewicz; scenografia: L. Serafinowicz (prem. 22 grudnia 1963)
 "Chochołowa muzyka" Hanny Januszewskiej; reżyseria: M. Korzeniowska, M. Lejman i S. Słomka-Rakowski; scenografia: J. Berdyszak (prem. 29 września 1966)

oraz trzech oper dla dzieci:

 "O Kasi co gąski zgubiła" libretto: M. Kownacka; reżyseria W. Wieczorkiewicz; scenografia: L. Serafinowicz (prem. 10 listopada 1967)
 "Lajkonik" libretto: M. Kownacka; reżyseria W. Wieczorkiewicz; scenografia: L. Serafinowicz (prem. 25 października 1969)
 "Koziołki z wieży ratuszowej" libretto: L. Serafinowicz; reżyseria W. Wieczorkiewicz; scenografia: L. Serafinowicz (prem. 10 marca 1979),

a także muzyki filmowej ("Koniec nocy"). Kurczewski skomponował dzieła instrumentalne, wokalno-instrumentalne. Otrzymał liczne nagrody i wyróżnienia, m.in. Nagrodę Prezesa Rady Ministrów (1955, 1975), Nagrodę Województwa Poznańskiego (1959), Nagrody resortowe (1968, 1972 - nagroda I stopnia), Nagrodę Trybuny Ludu, Krzyż Komandorski z Gwiazdą Orderu Odrodzenia Polski (1994), Krzyż Komandorski, Oficerski i Kawalerski tego orderu, Złoty Krzyż Zasługi, Medal 10-lecia Polski Ludowej, Medal 30-lecia Polski Ludowej, Medal 40-lecia Polski Ludowej, Medal Komisji Edukacji Narodowej, Odznakę tytułu honorowego "Zasłużony Nauczyciel Polskiej Rzeczypospolitej Ludowej", Odznakę "Zasłużony Działacz Kultury" oraz Krzyż "Za Zasługi dla ZHP".

Z zamiarem upamiętnienia postaci Jerzego Kurczewskiego corocznie wręcza się nagrody jego imienia osobom zasłużonym dla muzyki chóralnej. Laureatami są m.in.:
Jan Łukaszewski, Anna Szostak, Stanisław Adamczyk, Andrzej Koszewski, Henryk Wojnarowski, Stefan Stuligrosz, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, Affabre Concinui, Wojciech Kilar, Krzysztof Penderecki, Violetta Bielecka, Krzysztof Szydzisz

W skład kapituły wybierającej laureatów wchodzą m.in. Krzysztof Meyer, Agnieszka Duczmal, Jan Szyrocki, Henryk Wojnarowski, Jan Łukaszewski, Edmund Kajdasz, Stanisław Gałoński oraz córka dyrygenta Alina Kurczewska.

Został pochowany w Alei Zasłużonych na poznańskim Junikowie, wraz ze swoją żoną, matką i ojcem. Upamiętnia go skwer Kurczewskiego na Wildzie.

Przypisy

Bibliografia
 Patron na stronie Poznańskiej Szkoły Chóralnej Jerzego Kurczewskiego
 wydawnictwa okolicznościowe z okazji jubileuszy: Jerzego Kurczewskiego, Poznańskiej Szkoły Chóralnej, Poznańskiego Chóru Chłopięcego
 "Wszystko z pasją... dziesięciolecie nagrody im. Jerzego Kurczewskiego" pod redakcją Aliny Kurczewskiej, córki dyrygenta, dyrektorki Fundacji "Szkoła Chóralna Kurczewskiego" wyd. Ars Nova, Poznań 2009, .

Absolwenci Akademii Muzycznej w Poznaniu
Harcerze
Członkowie Rady Krajowej PRON
Członkowie Polskiej Zjednoczonej Partii Robotniczej
Laureaci nagrody "Trybuny Ludu"
Ludzie urodzeni w Poznaniu
Odznaczeni Brązowym Krzyżem Zasługi (Polska Ludowa)
Odznaczeni Krzyżem Kawalerskim Orderu Odrodzenia Polski (Polska Ludowa)
Odznaczeni Krzyżem Komandorskim Orderu Odrodzenia Polski (Polska Ludowa)
Odznaczeni Krzyżem Komandorskim z Gwiazdą Orderu Odrodzenia Polski (III Rzeczpospolita)
Odznaczeni Krzyżem Oficerskim Orderu Odrodzenia Polski (Polska Ludowa)
Odznaczeni Krzyżem Za Zasługi dla ZHP
Odznaczeni Medalem 10-lecia Polski Ludowej
Odznaczeni Medalem 30-lecia Polski Ludowej
Odznaczeni Medalem 40-lecia Polski Ludowej
Odznaczeni Medalem Komisji Edukacji Narodowej
Odznaczeni odznaką tytułu honorowego "Zasłużony Nauczyciel PRL"
Odznaczeni odznaką "Zasłużony Działacz Kultury"
Odznaczeni Złotym Krzyżem Zasługi (Polska Ludowa)
Pochowani na Cmentarzu na Junikowie
Polscy dyrygenci chórów
Polscy kompozytorzy muzyki poważnej
Urodzeni w 1924
Zmarli w 1995

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


This large mosaic is entitled "Amazonmachie", which in French means massacre of the Amazons, (the same suffix is used to describe bull fighting). The violence of this piece caught my attention.
Here we have another glimpse at funerary steles. This time in the Egyptian culture. What struck me here was the way both figures, man and wife, are placed on the same level as equals, gently embracing for eternity. There is no superiority of one over the other, regardless of what the situation was in life, in death, they are equals. This was a surprisingly reoccurring theme.
The beauty of this sculpture struck me. It's a two tone marble and bronze statue of Artemis, the Huntress. I loved how they incorporated the marbling of the stone into the folds of her clothes and the striking black and white contrasting materials.
This marble sculpture of one of Apollo's muses is a Roman copy of a Greek piece, created in the second century c.e. However, in the 18th century, a fanciful restoration, added the comedy mask and caused an ongoing commotion about the true subject matter of this piece.
Here is another roman re-creation of an original Greek statue, reconstructed from fragments. The Romans took the pose and features of this character but adapted her to suit their needs, placing her in a different tale of mythology altogether. In Greece, she was Diane, and in Rome, she became Atalante, one of Ovid's metamorphoses. But her dynamic posture caught my eyes, she seems ready to come to life at any second and run right past us.
200 c.e. restored in the 18th century.
This was the most impressive marble statue I saw in the Louvre. The presentation and location are the perfect backdrop for this monumental 10 foot tall statue of Athena (Pallas of Velletri). Her face is stern and her features almost masculine, shown as a figure of strength and victory. This is a Roman reconstruction from the 2nd century. The original Greek statue was a ten foot bronze of the goddess, this piece was apparently recreated from plaster molds of the Greek original, a piece that was never found.
Facing the Pallas Athena, is a long hall, filled with statues and busts of the goddess Athena/Minerva, showing her in different poses and dress.
You guessed it, more funerary steles. I was rather surprised to find one more example of this reoccurring theme in Roman culture. It was a surprise to see the similarities in each of these Mediterranean civilizations. Once more, we have the couple, man and wife, side by side, seated as equals, together, facing the afterlife. I think it is an important reminder of the position of the woman in the family structure, not as inferior, but as a partner. And it would seem that each culture added their own touch to this idea.
Stele of Zabdibol and Haggai, Syria 240 c.e.
During my Paris vacation, I had a lot of fun simply absorbing the atmosphere and being surrounded by art and beautiful things to look at. I wasn't quite sure how to approach this topic. Women have been a major theme and inspiration in every aspect of art and creation since the dawn of human kind. This topic is rather vast and I didn't want to do something bland or impersonal. So I decided to go on a "Treasure Hunt" of sorts through the city and different museums to simply record the different women I would encounter, photographing the ones that struck me or spoke to me. And this is how I hope this project will be read, as simply an exploration, a walk through the figures that captured my attention. Enjoy!
This ancient sculpture was apparently the stereotype of the female form, made around 6000 bce, this was one of the oldest I found. She has a generous, curvy figure sign of abundance and is comfortably seated with her legs crossed.
This figures date back to 2,700 bce from the Island of Keros. We saw similar things in our book, the stylized, recognizable but impersonal figures of these women. They all have the same poses. The museum also mentioned finding very slight paint residue on the Marble faces of these anonymous women.
These figures were magical talismans, promoting protection or healing. They fascinated me since they represented Egyptian, Greek and Semitic deities but in outrageous, caricatural and crude forms. These little figures were meant to attract the anger of supernatural forces being mocked, in order to distract them from plighting the owners instead.
This third century bronze embodies a culture much different from ours, where female goddesses were praised, worshiped and depended upon. Here we have a statue, blending the features of Isis and Aphrodite, showing a Mother figure with gentle curves, open arms and a soft smile. The Isis-Aphrodite cult was quite important in the ancient world and spread from Africa to England, all the way up the Middle East, showing a passion and love for the female aspect of the divine.


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Home » Food Automation & Manufacturing 2006 Conference and Expo Masters of Innovation
Food Automation & Manufacturing 2006 Conference and Expo Masters of Innovation
Kevin T. Higgins
Creativity and brainstorming are synonymous with innovation in many people's minds. Engineers and manufacturing professionals have a different view: innovation is linked with risk, and minimizing the effects of risk is the key to successful innovation.
Automation Coordinator Gerald Beaudoin explains how data collection and analysis enhanced OEE ratios at Leahy Orchards.
As keynote speaker at Food Engineering's seventh annual Food Automation & Manufacturing Conference, General Mills' Rory Delaney set the stage with an overview of how the Minneapolis-based corporation manages innovation and controls risk when developing new technologies. Delaney, senior vice president of strategic technology, oversees 150 members of General Mills' technology development team.
"If you're in the innovation business, you're in the risk business," he acknowledged, but innovation is vital in slow-growth industries like processed foods. A disciplined approach that nurtures development while managing the cost of failure will be critical for food and beverage manufacturers, particularly in the mature $300 billion US market.
Performance measurement specialists at Pattiglio Rabin Todd & McGrath blame high product development rates in food and beverage on the industry's immaturity in using established tools for managing across projects, portfolios and partners, according to Delaney. He blames "an overly marketing-centric approach to innovation" that overlooks the importance of project management and the need to align technology and business strategies. "The pendulum needs to swing back toward technology, and it's beginning to," he adds. To achieve technical advancement, companies must dedicate staff to development and, if internal expertise is lacking, form alliances with outside experts.
At General Mills, each business unit's technological health is assessed to determine its current and future competitive position. This helps prioritize where innovation investments need to be made. Projects are subject to a stage-gate process to prove the principle, the concept and the practice of a given technology. Engineers are key players on the proof-of-concept team, but the psychological profile of the individuals is as important as their skill level. General Mills has found M.J. Kirton's creativity continuum for grading participants as creators and adaptors to be a valuable innovation tool. "You need both," Delaney says simply, adding, "I wouldn't ignore the naysayers. Try to get the issues in the open, and listen to questions you don't want to hear. Those are the questions you need to answer."
General Mills' Rory Delaney outlined a disciplined approach to technological innovation, a critical need if food engineers are to contribute to their company's long-term financial health.
Innovation implementation
Technology rolls out on a bumpy road. Two speakers shared their experiences: Brad Galles of Wells' Dairy and Kathy Jordan of the Ross Products division of Abbott Labs.
Galles, process control manager at the LeMars, IA, ice cream manufacturer, guided development of the company's RFID implementation. "Most RFID experts were on the IT side," he recalled, but Wells' management wanted staff engineers to design and implement a program to meet the requirements of Wal-Mart and other customers. "If you throw out terms like OPC (open connectivity), they don't know what you mean," he said, explaining why RFID development wasn't assigned to IT.
Because of the plant's automation level, tags had to be formatted, applied and verified automatically. System redundancy was critical, customized firmware for data filtering had to be developed by Rockwell Automation, and staff engineers had to write middleware programs to interface with the plant's data-collection system. Along the way, new problems were uncovered, such as finding a tag adhesive that could remain tacky in a -40
The Expo portion of the program gave attendees an up-close look at products and services from 57 leading food industry suppliers.
Another speaker, John Helferich of Masterfoods USA, isn't so sure. "There have to be ways to share benefits up and down the pipeline or it isn't going to work," said Helferich, vice president of university research. Shared benefits imply shared cost, and that is not part of the Wal-Mart model for RFID.
Jordan, program manager of packaging R&D at Columbus, OH-based Ross, outlined the hurdles encountered when plastic packaging for the adult nutritional Ensure replaced a metal can. The change was needed to freshen the product's image among baby boomers who viewed it as a geriatric product. The impact on production was significant. "Pilot plants do not perfectly simulate production conditions," she noted. "At the end of the day, you have to use commercial facilities for your R&D, which is a good way to mess up manufacturing."
Out-of-spec bottles, shoehorning new equipment into an old facility and training operators without seriously disrupting line efficiencies were some of the issues confronted by Jordan. Supply-chain challenges such as accounting for old and new packaging with the same UPC codes had to be resolved. Processes had to be revalidated to satisfy kosher-certification inspectors. Whatever the issue, the key to resolving it was the involvement of personnel from cross-functional areas, including manufacturing. "I invited all the manufacturing guys to meet with us up front, even though they don't contribute much at the design stage," she said. "If you simply hear their concerns, very often they will find the solutions themselves."
Events like the barbeque dinner provided ample opportunity for networking in a relaxed setting.
Quality fixation
Product quality joined efficiency as a manufacturing priority years ago, and some conference participants questioned if quality-improvement techniques have lost their relevance. "If Six Sigma is your company's mantra, you're fighting the last battle," suggested Alan Huster, process engineering manager at Oregon Freeze Dry, Albany, OR. High quality is a requirement today, and "you had better win the quality battle and move on to the next battle, which is productivity."
Those are fighting words to Paula Marshall, CEO of Tulsa, OK-based Bama Foods Inc. Six Sigma and other continuous improvement tools are core values at her multinational bakery, which received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award two years ago. A disciple of W. Edwards Deming, Marshall pointed out the father of total quality management had as much to say about organization psychology as he did about the statistical underpinnings of quality measurement.
Eldon Roth of Beef Products Inc. makes a point while J.M. Smucker's Vernon Petty looks on. To the left are fellow Ask the Experts panelists Scott Butler of Del Monte Foods and Waheed Kahn of OSI Group.
Bama Foods' pursuit of quality improvement predates its 2001 embrace of Six Sigma. Interpersonal skills transcend standards and measures, and Marshall focused on transforming the people within an organization as a precondition to improving quality.
"When people get afraid in the workplace," she observed, "the probability goes up exponentially that they will not do quality work." Eliminating fear and improving communication pays off with increased quality and efficiency. To illustrate her point, Marshall cited the handheld pies her company produces for McDonald's: since 1990, the wholesale price of those pies has not increased.
"Innovation is talking together, talking to customers and putting together products that disrupt the market," she said. "Those are interpersonal conversations."
sidebar 1:
Expert panelists vent on labor issues, intellectual property
With an average of 30 years food industry experience, the engineers on the conference's Ask the Experts panel brought a diversity of experience to the forum. Despite that diversity, they spoke with one voice on the issue of immigrant labor and the consequences to the industry if it is sharply curtailed.
"If we shut the borders off and don't help these people help us, we should turn the lights off and go home," remarked Eldon Roth, CEO of Dakota Dunes, SD-based Beef Products Inc. "It's past just the low-paying jobs," with labor shortages impacting operations at Roth's machine-fabrication business. "We're starting to train Hispanics for those jobs because we're not getting a lot of takers at $20-$25 an hour" Roth said.
At least half the positions nationwide in further processed meats are being filled by "people of various backgrounds," pointed out Waheed Kahn, vice president-engineering and manufacturing strategy at Aurora, IL-based OSI Group. "The low-paying jobs are being filled by the immigrant community. We have to find a solution (to the foreign-worker situation) that makes sense to everyone."
Del Monte Foods and The J.M. Smucker Co. are affected on the raw ingredients side of their businesses. "We are tied closely to farmers, and California farmers are having difficulty accessing labor," noted Scott Butler, Del Monte's vice president-engineering and technical services. "Our supply side is concerned." Similarly, strawberry harvesting remains labor intensive, said Smucker's Engineering Manager Vernon Petty, and "the cost of that labor is not going to go down. (Immigration policy) is going to influence all of us going forward."
Protection of intellectual property (IP) drew a more diverse response. "If companies don't maintain their IP state, the future looks pretty bleak," insisted Vijay Arora, the Kraft Foods Fellow who posed the IP question and suggested manufacturers without important trade secrets and patents were doomed to be commodity providers. While some panelists sympathized with that view, others suggested execution trumped proprietary technology. Quoting a one-time mentor, Butler said, "In the food industry, there's a lot of secrecy and not many secrets." Speed to market, delivered price and quality are more important, he said.
Management missteps and other factors, not IP protection, relegated Apple Computer's superior operating system to a distant second in its industry, added Roth.
The case for energy ROI
Crude oil prices breached the $70 a barrel mark hours before she spoke, and Melinda DeLuca of Miller Brewing Co. cited that milestone in prefacing her remarks on getting an ROI from energy-efficiency projects. As manager of energy & utilities for the Milwaukee-based brewery, DeLuca monitors a handful of pricing forecasts every day to see if paybacks from energy projects remain on track.
Miller's eight US breweries can generate more electricity from coal, gas and oil than the 10-17 MW needed to operate the facilities, and deciding which fuel to use, when to go off the electrical grid and how much to invest in efficiency improvements requires accurate and timely measurement of energy pricing and consumption trends. "At the end of (efficiency improvement) projects, you are required to come back and say if you're going to get the return you expected," notes DeLuca. "If you're not going to get that return, it's not looked on favorably."
Advanced controls for a powerhouse infrastructure that includes boilers and turbines can deliver fast returns and ongoing efficiency improvements. She cited a $800,000 investment in Emerson Delta V distributed controls and EMS model predictive software at Miller's Trenton, OH, brewery as an example. Besides determining the optimal state for cogeneration of steam and electricity, the controls monitor real-time prices for energy. Instead of a two-year payback on the project, "the price of coal doubled, which gave us a one-year payback," DeLuca related. More importantly, the advanced controls are helping forecast when the plant should be buying energy instead of generating it. The facility had been generating 1 mW more power than it should have.
Grants from states, utilities and the federal government can change the economics of energy programs. Miller's Irwindale, CA, facility is installing a wastewater biogas system that will "substantially reduce" sanitary discharges and generate enough energy to run all of the treatment plant's new gas engines. ROI will be accelerated thanks to a $1 million rebate, she says. "Make sure you ask for funding; it's out there."
Recent Articles by Kevin Higgins
Staff vigilance: The first line of food defense
The devil's in the details
Shake your bottle
Creative support for craft brewers
Seriously committed
Kevin Higgins was Senior Editor for FE.
Food Automation & Manufacturing 2005 Conference and Expo: Information Abundance
Food Automation & Manufacturing Conference Report


Today, I'm looking at a pair of bargain light-up miniature buildings I found in drug stores last year. The larger is actually lights up AND plays music, while the smaller, cheaper one just lights up.
Let's start with the large, red thing labeled "Holiday Town." This was a fairly good looking piece (the snow, characters, building, and assorted decorations were all fused together), though it was quite a bit more pricey than the other. If memory serves, I found this at a Bartel, where it had at one point been $20. I'm sure I paid no more than $5 (probably less). Also, if memory serves, this had a fairly interesting light/music set-up.
Note how everything in the last paragraph is written in the past tense.
Every year, I buy crap like this and tell myself I'll take it right home, unbox it, and get my pictures. And every year I wind up shoving it into a box. Hell, I'm not 100% sure I picked this up last February and not the year before.
Did I mention this came with batteries?
Yes, those are Lusty brand batteries. And, yes, one of them exploded. Let's move on, because the jokes would just be too easy.
I pulled the batteries, but the connectors looked too badly damaged to salvage. I could have cleaned it and kept the piece as a display without the electronics, but it just didn't seem worth the effort. So I tossed it.
Let's move on tp the "Victoria Falls 5 Piece LED Lighted Porcelain House Set".
I have no doubt that this one would have fared no better had there been batteries inside. Fortunately, the company left those out and used a separate watch battery on a connected wire to power the "Try Me" feature. I'm sure they just did that to save some money, but it's actually a better policy for this kind of seasonal stuff.
The watch battery had long since died, so I popped in the AAA's and fired it up. It's not much to look at - just three small lights on an ugly wire - but it worked. In addition, this set came with four small miniatures: two wire trees, a malformed person, and a bird feeder.
This started out at three bucks or two-for-five, though I found it at a buck fifty at a Walgreens. It's pretty crappy, but it's hard to quibble at that price. Hell, you can find trees like those going for about that much at craft stores. So... I guess it's a deal. Sure, it's garbage, but it's a good price for garbage.
Still, I feel like it's missing something.
There. Now it feels like Christmas.


If you are working at home, this means that you have a lot of time on your hands. Can you imagine how much time you waste on the road? However, you have to understand that it can also be tricky. There are many instances wherein you will need to also consider changing your habits. There are instances wherein people who work at home tend to lag in terms of productivity. And in reality, this isn't exactly surprising. What exactly are the common mistakes that people make whenever they are working at home?
The very first mistake that people make is that they don't have the right internet connection. The right internet connection is a necessity considering the fact that people need to communicate with each other. You have to realize the fact that there are also bad internet providers and areas that have a bad internet connection.
The very first thing that you have to ensure before working at home is to have a good internet connection. You may also want to check the reviews regarding internet providers. This way, it becomes possible for you to get the best deal in your area. You want the internet to be uninterrupted and high speed.
You also need to invest in the right tools. The right tool for the right job can give you more work. Unfortunately, it is a reality for home-based workers to spend for their own computer. This means that you really want to get something that can last for years without breaking down. The last thing that you want is to have a computer that isn't even going to last for a year.
You also want to have a backup plan. You need to ensure that you have the right backup in case something malfunctions.
A schedule is something that you will need if you wish to have the right amount of work done for the day. You want to have a schedule even by the hour in order to track your productivity. Unfortunately, people tend to forget to have a schedule and just cruise through the day. Now, this can be a big mistake.
You will have to make sure that you prepare your body to work. Unfortunately, a lot of home-based workers work right after getting off their bed. Now, this can be a problem because you haven't really conditioned your mind that you are going to work. You have to understand that you need to be in the zone when it comes to your work.
If you are working at home, keep in mind that this can be a great opportunity. If done correctly, you will be able to do more things. You will be able to do a lot of activities that can bring balance to your life. Unfortunately, you will also have to consider the fact that working at home can backfire. This means that you should try to avoid these common mistakes.


The Royal Navy Historic Flight operates a flying collection of some of the rarest and most historically significant Royal Navy aircraft in the world. Based at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, Somerset, the Flight was established in 1972 by the Royal Navy to preserve and promote the Royal Navy's aviation heritage and to serve as a living memorial to the courage and sacrifice of all those who served in the Royal Naval Air Service and Fleet Air Arm and remains a Royal Navy Unit to this day.
The Flight's iconic aircraft, Swordfish, Sea Fury and Sea Hawk, represent a period of phenomenal technological development and achievement in Fleet Air Arm operations from the 1930s to 1960. RNHF display at air shows and public events around the country, representing the Royal Navy by raising awareness of the history, innovation and achievements of Naval aviation. The critical roles played by the Royal Naval Air Service and the Fleet Air Arm in our nation's history are not widely known, so in flying these historic aircraft today the Historic Flight is able to evoke the spirit of heroism and achievement of the daring Naval Aviation personnel and provide a powerful educational link between the Royal Navy's historic past its role in World-wide operations today.
Also operated by the Royal Navy Historic Flight, a Sea Fury T20 (G-RNHF) is on loan from the Fly Navy Heritage Trust and operates under a Memorandum of Understanding between the Royal Navy and the Charity. It provides an additional training and display aircraft, a function also served by the Historic Flight's Chipmunk.
The Flight is a Royal Navy unit but is only partially funded by the Ministry of Defence. Considerable engineering and design support continues to be provided by the Royal Navy and by industry, principally BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce plc. The Flight is also directly supported by the Fly Navy Heritage Trust, the charity that sits behind Navy Wings, which aims to raise over £900,000 annually to supplement the operating and maintenance costs of keeping the Royal Navy Historic Flight's and the Trust's historic aircraft flying.


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