Nestled in the woods, tucked away down a quiet gravel road, surrounded by thousands of acres of pristine forest, minutes from DuPont State Forest, Hunger Games Tours, East Fork Headwaters, Pisgah National Forest, Brevard, Caesar's Head, Raven Cliff Falls & Pretty Place you will find Cabins in Willoughby Woods.
Our cabins are fully furnished 2 bedrooms, 1 queen and 2 twins, 1 bath, full kitchens with all amenities, dishwasher, ice maker, washer/dryer, gas log fireplace, central heat/ air, WIFI, local TV, outside charcoal grills, covered porches and fire pits with benches and pet friendly and non- smoking.
We also have a secluded cozy 1 bedroom not pet friendly cabin also non smoking with queen size bed, 1 bath, living room with futon, fully equipped kitchen, central heat and air, No Internet, telephone, satellite TV and screened porch.
Hiking, mountain biking, bird watching, waterfalls, breathtaking scenery or just sit back and breathe in the fresh mountain air. Marked hiking trails are located just outside your cabin door to Raven Cliff Falls and many other beautiful trails. Enjoy the frogs, turtles and little fish in our farm pond. Picnic among the trees or under the pole barn.


This HeadCam video with accompanying map from the neighbor terrain of Jukola 2011 is a nice way to prepare for Jukola 2011. The Häppilä map featured in this video is one of the Jukola 2011 training maps. The video is from a national race in this terrain in early May this year.
Sit back and enjoy – the video is 37 minutes long… By comparing map and video you can understand how the map and the terrain compares – and get prepared for the challenges you will meet at Jukola 2011.
The video is made by Jarkko "Mr. Routegadget" Ryyppö. This is probably one of the most advanced HeadCam videos from orienteering events made yet. Follow the Routegadget page on Facebook to get updates from Jarkko.
Häppilä, training 29.5.2011 from Jarkko Ryyppö on Vimeo.


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Chim Chim Cher-ee! The umbrella-toting Mary Poppins is descending from the sky to the stage for a series of performances at Spectrum Community School. Drama and orchestra students are set to perform the musical - based off the 1964 Disney film - at 7:30 p.m. on March 3
Mary Poppins brings a spoonful of sugar to Spectrum
Mary Poppins is Spectrum's latest stage production, showing 7:30 p.m. shows on March 3, 4 and 5, and 2 p.m. matinées on March 5 and 6.
Jacob Zinn
Mar. 1, 2016 9:00 a.m.
It was only a matter of time before the Perfect Nanny flew with her umbrella to Spectrum Community School.
Mary Poppins is the high school's latest production, bringing the supercalifragilisticexpialidocious musical to Spectrum's theatre. Stagecraft teacher Tim Barss said he was inspired to take on the 1964 Disney film after seeing the Broadway musical on a school trip to New York about seven years ago.
"I remember being kind of indifferent about it because I sort of imagined it was kind of kiddish, but it was by far the best professional production I've ever seen," he said. "As soon as I saw it, I knew that we wanted to do it once it was available for other groups to license.
In October of 2014, Barss got the message from the company in New York that it would be available sometime in the following year.
"It was too late for us to choose for our 2015 show, which was already underway, so we decided that very day that our 2016 show would be Mary Poppins."
Based on the 1964 Disney film, the musical shows how an enchanting nanny and her chimney sweep friend Bert can cure the misbehaviour of the oft neglected Banks children, Jane and Michael, and teach the importance of family to their cranky father George.
Despite the film's release nearly 50 years before some of his students were born, Barss said the drama and orchestra classes were familiar with the musical and enthusiastic about bringing it to the Spectrum stage.
"They all knew it and they were all really excited about it," he said. "This is a huge show, it's definitely the biggest overall production that I've worked on.
"They were rehearsing three days a week at the beginning, and then we stepped that up to four in the new year. Tons and tons of big group numbers. Lots of singing, lots of harmonies, lots of choreography to learn."
Mary Poppins opened on Feb. 26, and Spectrum has five more performances scheduled, with 7:30 p.m. shows on March 3, 4 and 5, and 2 p.m. matinées on March 5 and 6.
The March 5 matinée will be a special singalong performance, with the lyrics to songs like "Chim Chim Cher-ee" and "Let's Go Fly a Kite" projected on a screen so the audience can join in.
"I was at a singalong of My Fair Lady in Vancouver and it was a really neat experience," said Barss. "It was in the back of my mind and I talked to some of the kids and they thought it was a great idea."
Barss said several of the shows have sold out, with the singalong matinée roughly 60 per cent sold. Due to the popular demand, there may not be tickets available at the door.
Potential attendees are asked to buy their tickets ahead of time through the school (957 Burnside Rd. W.) or call 250-479-8271 and have tickets set aside to be picked up and paid for at the door. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students.
jacob.zinn@saanichnews.com
Saint Michaels students stage Phantom of the Opera at McPherson
Oliver Swain and banjo to jam with renowned African drummers at UVic

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


This post is brought to you by Plum Organics®. All opinions are our own.
Transitioning your baby to solid food isn't supposed to be hard. Most babies just sort of naturally go through the stages to solid foods. By around 10 months, they're ready for fingers foods. It's not supposed to be a challenge. Unfortunately, my son completely missed that memo.
I kid you not, I thought Jacob was going to start preschool still eating stage 2 baby food! Transitioning my baby to solid food was more than a challenge! It was an epic journey! The thing is, he transitioned from a strictly liquid diet to cereal, stage one and stage 2 without a single problem. The moment I added any sort of chunks or real texture to it, though, he stalled.
How do you deal with major challenges in transitioning your baby to solid food?
When I say "stalled," I mean he completely refused to move on from that stage 2 food. We were well past his first birthday and moving towards his second birthday. I finally got him eating cereal puffs, but that was as far as it went. I knew he couldn't spend the rest of his days eating puffs and baby food. By his second birthday, I admitted I needed help. How did I handle it? Here are my tips, from personal experience.
Talk to your doctor…sooner than later. I assumed that Jacob stalled because he was a preemie. Then I thought it was no big deal, he'd move on when he was ready. By age two, I finally admitted that he should be eating more than just stage 2 baby food and talked to my doctor. He recommended an Early Intervention Program.
Use free therapy resources. Jacob was already in the Early Intervention Program because of his speech delay. I found out that they offered occupational therapy for eating challenges. They brought in a magnificent therapist to help me and Jacob transition to solid food. The program is free of charge to parents of all income levels.
Keep a log. During those challenging months of transitioning your baby to solid food, you'll be experimenting like a mad scientist, trying every flavor and texture imaginable. Keep a log of your baby's reactions. Even if he refuses it, make note of his face. Did he like the smell? Did he seem intrigued by the texture but not the flavor? Every detail matters.
Try different textures and flavors. Speaking of textures, try everything! Maybe your baby will surprise you and like the crunch of cereal or smoothness of a peach. With Jake, his delay seemed to be as much about texture as taste. Thankfully, Plum Organics has an incredibly diverse variety of both flavors and textures, so you can experiment away while making sure your baby is getting the best ingredients possible.
Make it fun. Jacob's therapist turned every session into a game. They played color games, where Jacob tried several foods of a single color. She let him thread cereal onto a big string or get messy with whipped cream. I know we grew up hearing "don't play with your food," but this made a huge difference in getting him to try new things.
Try, try again. Just because your baby refuses, say, zucchini, on the first try doesn't mean he'll never like it. Try it combined with different flavors next time! Plum Organics makes this easy by repeating flavors in many different ways. Also, if you find something your baby likes, try it mixed a different way next time to expand his palate.
By age 2.5, Jacob was eating some solid foods finally. He's always been a picky eater, but that part is all my genes. He enjoys a variety of textures and flavors. In fact, he loves things that I wouldn't touch! Yes, it's frustrating when you face challenges transitioning your baby to solid food. Just hang in there, though. You WILL get through it!
CafeMom is giving away a $250 gift card and a Plum Organics Prize Bundle valued at $50! This is an amazing giveaway for all parents, but especially spectacular for those of you who need to do a bit of experimenting to overcome challenges in transitioning your baby to solid food. That $250 gift card goes a long way to helping you find just the right flavor and texture combinations!
Did you have any challenges transitioning your baby to solid food? How did you overcome them?
That sounds tough! My nieces transitions without difficulties but it would have been stressful if they didn't.
I didn't know that kids have a problem with this. The most I got was a dirt look but he ate everything I gave him. I did discover over the year that he did not like peas, which is funny now because those are one of his favorites now.
Wow, I had no clue that some babies don't transition into solid foods as easy as others – I just naturally assumed they'd be curious to have 'grown up' food and go for it. That is so cool that an Early Intervention Program even exists, and how they make it easy for all parents to take advantage of.
This is a really great post and information. Thanks for sharing this giveaway. Plum Organics is a great company.
Luckily my son had no issues! We are working on potty training now and that is certainly a challenge!
I didn't really have issues transitioning. Both of my boys were excited to try new flavors.
My daughter-in-law gave her little one things over and over and now she eats most any veggie you can think of with glee (she's about to be 2). It really did help the transition by offering things to her again and again as she was switching over to solids.
My son is now two but do you know what, I can't even remember the stage of him transitioning to solid foods! I do remember him taking a big bite out of a salmon fishcake once and me being amazed 🙂 Now he's older he's become so fussy 🙁 Thanks for sharing your experience with Jacob.
My oldest two did great transitioning to solids but this toddler of mine has been a different story even know we have a hard time getting her to eat more than one or two bites of a meal. As an infant she didn't want anything to do with anything solid.
My daughter did really well with moving up to solid food, it actually wasn't so troublesome with me; I was super lucky!
My son did okay transitioning to baby food, it was moving to eating table food and what mom and dad were eating that was very challenging. These are great tips!
What awesome tips you've listed and I'm sure it will come in handy with parents everywhere. Thanks so much for sharing, when my little ones were small, I kept a log as well. You have a cutie patootie.
Hi Nicole – what a sweetie Jacob is! And, these are excellent points – I wish I had kept a journal of what my son ate – he was not and still isn't a picky eater – I did make his food fresh for him and he loved it – and never was sick – except at teething time – So nice to see that you take such great efforts for you little guy!
I am not a parent, and did not know that this was even a problem, but I do understand that our diets are very sterile, often lacking all of those good gut bacteria. The problem is with how to acquire all of those good ones, and not those bad ones – I feel like strengthening the immune system is key.
We skipped baby foods and did baby led weaning for both kids. Thankfully neither has had eating issues,so our transition from nursing has been rather uneventful. Pinning this to my parenting board for just in case!
My girl was fairly easy about it as well, it was all about texture really. To this day tho, she will not eat anything with potatoes.
Childhood Obesity: Kids are Not Fit – Blame the Parents?


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A Small, But Significant, Legal Win For Marijuana Workers
By Ben Markus
Brennan Linsley/AP
Budtender Miles Claybourne sorts strains of marijuana for sale into glass containers at The Station, a retail and medical cannabis dispensary, in Boulder, Colo., Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016.
Employees in the cannabis industry are on their way to getting greater workplace wage protections, following a U.S. Court of Appeals greenlight for a Colorado case brought by a former marijuana security guard. He argued that his work should have been subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act, and he should have received overtime pay.
Robert Kenney, a former security guard for Denver-based Helix TCS Inc., which provides security for marijuana companies and other services, sued the company, saying it misclassified him and other workers as exempt from federal wage rules.
In a motion to dismiss the case, the company argued that it doesn't have to follow those rules, because its business is in conflict with federal law. Cannabis is illegal under the Controlled Substances Act.
The U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court's denial of Helix's motion to dismiss, saying "employers are not excused from complying with federal laws just because their business practices are federally prohibited."
The court was careful to say they weren't drawing conclusions about the merits of Kenney's case, only that the case shouldn't be dismissed on the grounds the business is illegal under federal law.
Attorneys for Robert Kenney said they will continue to pursue the case in federal district court.
"The hard part is over now," said Rex Burch, an attorney for Robert Kenney. He said there's no question that the company didn't pay overtime. The only question was whether they had to.
Helix, though, disputes that the hard part is over.
"Helix pays all of its workers fairly and lawfully," said Jordan Factor, an attorney for Helix TCS in a statement to CPR. "We are disappointed in the court's ruling and believe they got it wrong. Congress did not intend to guarantee overtime to workers in the federally illegal marijuana industry. We are exploring all of our options, including an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court."
Curtis Graves, a lawyer at Employers Council, which handles a variety of human resource issues, said it was an interesting case, "but the result is not surprising," He added that a court in Oregon made a similar decision, building the case that cannabis workers should be treated like any other, despite marijuana's federal status.
"We work with a lot of marijuana businesses, and I don't know of any trying to get out of paying overtime," he said. "To the contrary, they tend to be super-cautious about all employment laws, because they don't wish to call attention to themselves, at all."


You may have heard of an amazing documentary on Hamburg refugee football team FC Lampedusa by Religion of Sports. Now's your chance again to see it with an audience of football lovers who welcome refugees in their hearts and lives.
Here to Stay was created in 2017 and FC St. Pauli Toronto Fans and many other FCSP supporter clubs from Buffalo to Glasgow screened the documentary shortly after to enthusiastic response.
Our friends at Grand River Union in Waterloo are showing it on April 7, 4:30-6:30 to a theatre audience at the Princess Twin Theatre and you are invited to attend.
After showing the film there will be a panel discussion on local refugee experiences and the power of sport in building community.
Cost: $10 to help cover facility rental. All profits generated will go to local refugee charity.
To learn more and RSVP visit here.


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Maine Supreme Court Upholds Lease For $1B Power Line Project
By DAVID SHARP
Robert F. Bukaty, ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE - Workers connect a section of the first pole of Central Maine Power's controversial hydropower transmission corridor, Feb. 9, 2021, near The Forks, Maine. On Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022, Maine's highest court upheld the lease for a small section of state land for a $1 billion electric transmission corridor, delivering a victory to the project's developers. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine's highest court on Tuesday upheld the lease for a small section of state land for a $1 billion electric transmission corridor, a victory for developers who hope to complete the project.
The Supreme Judicial Court ruled unanimously that the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands acted within its authority in leasing a 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) stretch of the 145-mile (233-kilometer) power transmission line. All told, the state lease covered about 32 acres (13 hectares) of land in western Maine.
The New England Clean Energy Connect remains on hold pending the outcome of another legal case focusing on the constitutionality of a referendum in which Maine voters rebuked the project.
Central Maine Power's parent company, Avangrid, and Canada's Hydro Quebec teamed up on the project that would supply up to 1,200 megawatts of Canadian hydropower to the New England power grid.
Supporters say such bold projects are needed to address climate change. Critics contend the power line would destroy woodlands while failing to deliver on promised environmental benefits.
"Today's ruling by the law court is yet another step in the right direction for Maine's renewable energy future. The serious need for the NECEC project to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, combat climate change, and lower energy prices remains unchanged," said Scott Mahoney, Avangrid's general counsel.
But opponents decried the court's conclusion that the lease didn't represent a substantial alteration or reduction of land warranting a vote of state lawmakers, as required under a 1993 amendment to the Maine Constitution.
State Sen. Rick Bennett, R-Oxford, accused the court of undermining the will of the people who amended the Constitution to protect public lands. "The job of the Supreme Court is to serve the people of Maine and to protect our Constitution," he said in a statement. "With this ruling, they have instead sucker-punched the people of Maine and subverted our Constitution."
Most of transmission line would be built along existing utility corridors, but a new 53-mile (85-kilometer) section was needed to reach the Canadian border.
Workers had been clearing trees and setting poles for months when the governor asked for work to be suspended after the referendum last year. The referendum on the project was the costliest in Maine history, topping $90 million and underscoring deep divisions.
The project would be funded by Massachusetts ratepayers, but supporters say the introduction of so much electricity to the grid would stabilize or reduce electricity rates for all consumers. The project would supply enough electricity for about 1 million homes.
Follow David Sharp on Twitter @David_Sharp_AP
Electric power transmission and distribution
Alternative and sustainable energy
Power and communication line construction
Organizations in this Story
Maine Supreme Judicial Court
People in the Story
5 minutes ago ago
an hour ago ago


Peter Widdowson, who has died of cancer aged 66, played an important role in revitalising the study of English literature through a long career in higher education, all of it spent in the old polytechnics and new universities - latterly at the University of Gloucestershire. He was an important voice in the debates about "theory" in the 1970s and 80s, and was an internationally renowned Thomas Hardy scholar.
Peter was born in Coventry and took pleasure in describing himself as a war baby. An only child of lower-middle-class parents, he was in many respects a classic postwar grammar-school boy, excelling at school and being the first in his family to go on to university: he went to Nottingham to read English in 1961. He also gained his PhD there in 1969, studying first world war poetry and painting; he had a life-long interest in the visual arts and was tempted by further study in this area. But in the event he continued with literature, going with his first wife, Frances, to teach in Sweden for three years in the late 60s, and then returning to the UK in 1971 to work at Thames Polytechnic as head of the division of English.
These were exciting times to be working in English. Peter was a leading figure involved in the ferments around the subject, co-founding the journal Literature and History in 1975, and bringing his fine analytical intelligence to bear on some of the founding assumptions of the discipline.
In a series of articles and books he articulated a distinctive and challenging historicising position in the debates about literature that have characterised academia over the past 30 years, and the collection of essays that he edited in 1982, Rereading English, occupied a pre-eminent position in the controversies around the re-conceptualisation of the discipline. His editing, with Peter Brooker, of A Reader's Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory, first undertaken by Raman Selden, has been an outstanding resource for generations of English students in this country and overseas for the past 20 years.
In 1986 he moved to Middlesex Polytechnic, where he became head of the school of English. He began to write extensively about Thomas Hardy, producing Hardy in History: a Study in Literary Sociology in 1989, and many editions, essays and collections about the novelist and poet. For Peter, Hardy's so-called minor fiction was as interesting as the best-known novels; as he put it, "The Hand of Ethelberta is as significant as Tess of the d'Urbervilles," and he saw it as part of his job to understand and explain why the opposite view has come to seem a matter of common sense. His scholarly work was marked by a high talent for exposition, scrupulous attention to detail, and the capacity to subject the commonplaces of the subject to forensic critique.
After his second marriage, to Jane Maxwell-Smith, he moved briefly to Brighton University in the early 1990s, and then in 1994 became professor of English at Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education, later the University of Gloucestershire. A very productive period included a book simply called Literature (1999), more work on Hardy, the foundation of the university's publishing imprint, the Cyder Press (of which he was general editor), an immensely detailed aid to the study of the subject, the Palgrave Guide to English Literature and Its Contexts, 1500-2000 (2004) and a study of the work of Graham Swift (2006).
Peter was a witty and engaging lecturer and speaker and a benevolent teacher who inspired great loyalty and affection among his students and colleagues. His remarkable powers of concentration and attention to detail made him an outstanding editor, and these qualities also meant that he was much in demand as a reader of colleagues' unpublished work, where his generosity and sharp editorial eye combined to produce at once a formidable and a supportive critic.
His career shows a lifelong commitment to the polytechnics and new universities, and this was perhaps most evident in his sustained work and support through the 1980s for the Council of National Academic Awards, the degree-awarding body for polytechnics. There are many thriving English departments today in the new universities that are indebted to the invaluable advice and time freely given by Peter and his colleagues at the point of their inception.
Though Peter had suffered from medical problems for some time, the final prognosis was made in February. He lived long enough to see the manuscript of a festschrift in his honour, due to be published later this year; the testimonies of affection that fill the book deeply touched him.
Generous and good-humoured, gregarious, a hospitable host, and a great raconteur, Peter responded, it always seemed, to the best in those he knew. He appreciated, perhaps more than most, what was distinctive and even recalcitrant in his students and colleagues. His death has come as he embarked upon his retirement, for which he and Jane had many plans.
He is survived by Patrick and Emily, children from his first marriage to Frances; and by Jane and their son Tom.


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THE DEATH SPIRAL
THE ESSENCE OF LIBERTY
VINTAGE TLC
 Convention of the States
A conference of 2,000 conservative and libertarian leaders earlier this year led to a great deal of discussion about using a Convention of the States to amend the Constitution and limit federal power. It's a herculean task — two-thirds of the states would have to call for the convention, and then three-quarters would have to vote to ratify any amendments the convention submitted. But many called the War of Independence equally impossible — and that turned out pretty well.
Those amendments written by the convention could conceivably include almost anything, but some of the leading ideas included tax reform, a balanced budget and, yes, term limits for senators and representatives.
The conference was organized by John Aglialoro, the man who funded the "Atlas Shrugged" film trilogy and a long-time supporter of the free market. "We can never count on Congress to reform itself or limit its power," Aglialoro told National Review. "We need to go around Congress to get this done."
But even if the amendments are never ratified by three-quarters of the states, there could be two excellent reasons to push for a Convention of the States. First, the process itself could be very educational for the American people, reminding them of the debates in which the Founders worked over two hundred years ago to protect individual liberty — and how far the nation has strayed from those values. In doing so, it would also provide a forum for commonsense proposals endorsed by the majority of American voters — like term limits. Second, the mere threat of such a convention could serve as an impetus to Congress to enact some of these changes on their own, something they are highly unlikely to do without strong external motivation.
There are, of course, risks. Sending politicians to such a conference may generate the same sort of lack of reform that we see from Congress. Delegates from liberal states could attempt to add socialist programs to the Constitutions. But there's risk in doing nothing, too.
And with approval levels for both the president and the Congress in the cellar, now might be the best time to push for solutions that don't involve the federal government at all.
LovesFreedom
Interesting article. Thanks. Some people say there cannot, nor will ever, be a Convention of States, but the process is meaningful and educational at the least, if not successful. Article V gives us the right and we should consider new Amendments so this kind of administration can never take hold in America again.
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We won the War for Independence, but we did so from a distracted British Empire that sent scrub troops. We won because France was eating up enough of England's revenue that it didn't want to prolong hostilities with the American colonies. And we didn't win the war of 1812, which was basically Britain slapping us uppity yanks in the face. But, again, they didn't have the will to go further. What really won us our freedom was the fact that God destined the circumstances of history to allow it. A constitutional congress is a veritable Pandora's box. Such an action would be akin to the chaos that proceeded from the Article of Confederation, as each state would try to impose it's will and advantages upon the rest. Besides being a way to inject what we may now deem necessary, it would also open the door to removal of such things as the Bill of Rights. The leaders of the French Revolution found out just how quickly the tide of a mob action could turn against them, as most of them eventually lost their heads. I'm not sure that the dumbed-down and morally diluted citizens of this country would have the kind of restraint and fortitude necessary to make such a convention more positive than negative.
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American wrestlers, American Wrestling Federation alumni, Central States Wrestling alumni,
NWA Florida alumni
Universal Wrestling Federation (Bill Watts) alumni
World Class Championship Wrestling alumni
Florida wrestlers
Wrestlers who have died
IWGP Tag Team Champions
Ray Fernandez
Disambiguation: Hercules redirects here. For another wrestler with a similar name see Mighty Hercules.
The Mighty Hercules
Super Invader
Masked Assassin #2
Mr. Wrestling III
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
May 7, 1956(1956-05-07)
March 6, 2004 (aged 47)
Eddie Sharkey
Raymond Fernandez (May 7, 1956 – March 6, 2004) was an American professional wrestler who primarily wrestled in Florida and Texas before joining the World Wrestling Federation. He was best known by the ring name Hercules or variations thereof. Fernandez was also a featured bodybuilder, appearing in several muscle magazines.
1.1 Early career (1981-1985)
1.2 World Wrestling Federation (1985-1992)
1.3 After the WWF (1992-1999)
2 Death
3 In wrestling
Early career (1981-1985)
Fernandez started wrestling in 1981, mainly performing in the Florida and Texas territories, as "Hercules" Hernandez. In 1982, Hercules joined the NWA Central States territory (which ran out of Kansas City and promoted shows in Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa). While in Central States, Hercules teamed up with Dewey Robertson, the future Missing Link, and the two won the Central States tag team championship on two occasions; they beat Mike George and Mark Romero (aka Mark Youngblood) both times. He also held the Central States Television title for a little over 6 months, winning it from, and losing it back to, his main rival, Mark Romero. His two other notable feuds in the Central States territory were with Manny Fernandez and Harley Race. His feud with Race garnered Hercules significant attention in the national wrestling scene, due to Race's stature as a former NWA World Champion. This feud began because Race had an issue with Oliver Humperdink's House of Humperdink stable, which Hercules had become a part of soon after joining the promotion. One match between the two had the stipulation that if Race won, he would get 5 minutes inside a steel cage with Humperdink. Hercules was caught using brass knuckles and disqualified, which meant that the cage match was on. When the match was about to start, Hercules ran to ringside, knocked Race out, in kayfabe, and threw him into the ring with Humperdink. In the end, Race recovered and piledrove Humperdink onto a steel chair (an act scripted to allow the "injured" Humperdink to leave the territory). After losing his manager, Fernandez did not stay in the Central States territory for long but instead signed up with Jim Crockett Promotions(JCP).
In JCP, Fernandez was paired up with Jody Hamilton, who had been wrestling as the Masked Assassin; Fernandez became the Masked Assassin 2, a gimmick that had been played by several other wrestlers over the years. The two competed at the first ever Starrcade beating the team of Rufus R. Jones and Bugsy McGraw. Fernandez's run as one of the Assassins ended less than a year later, after he was unmasked by Jimmy Valiant.
After being unmasked, Fernandez moved on to Bill Watts' Mid-South promotion, where he once again donned a mask. Mr. Wrestling II had recently turned on his tag team partner Magnum T.A. and become a heel. Mr. Wrestling II renamed himself simply "Mr. Wrestling" and got a new protégé, "Mr. Wrestling II", who was Fernandez under a mask (referred to as "Mr. Wrestling III" in magazines to avoid confusing their readers). Mr. Wrestling II seconded Mr. Wrestling in his feud with Magnum T.A. Later on, Fernandez unmasked and competed once again as "Hercules Hernandez", and feuded with "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan under the tutelage of Jim Cornette. Hercules would soon join Skandor Akbar's stable known as Devastation Inc. alongside future WWF co-worker Ted DiBiase. As part of Devastation Inc., Hercules would feud with the Junkyard Dog and Terry Taylor, before leaving for Florida.
In "Championship Wrestling from Florida", Hercules quickly won the NWA Florida Southern Heavyweight Championship from Brian Blair, and then won the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship from Hector Guerrero the following month; this made him a double champion. Some time during July 1985, Fernandez was fired from CWF after a dressing room fight with Wahoo McDaniel and stripped of both titles. After leaving Florida, Fernandez signed with the World Wrestling Federation.
World Wrestling Federation (1985-1992)
Fernandez debuted in the WWF in 1985, managed by "Classy" Freddie Blassie. His first major national exposure came when he competed at WrestleMania 2 in a losing effort against Ricky Steamboat. Blassie would soon retire, in storyline terms selling his stable to Slick. Hernandez soon found himself floundering in the WWF midcard. In late 1986, however, his contract was "sold" to Bobby Heenan. Soon after, he would drop "Hernandez" from his ringname, begin carrying a long steel chain to the ring, and re-emerge with a visibly changed, more-muscular physique. On the November 26, 1986 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, Hercules received a highly hyped shot at the WWF World Heavyweight Title, facing champion Hulk Hogan. Although he was able to put the 300 lb. Hogan in the "Hercules Backbreaker" torture rack, he came up short in what was arguably the biggest match of his wrestling career.
Also in the fall of 1986, Hercules would rekindle a feud with Billy Jack Haynes that went back through every promotion the two were ever in together. Both men at the time were using the full-nelson submission hold as their finisher. Heenan on an episode of WWF Challenge, called out Haynes saying he'd like to see him get out of Hercules' version of the hold. Haynes promptly answered the challenge and was waiting for Hercules to apply the hold when Heenan appeared to have second thoughts. Haynes grew tired of the charade and shoved Heenan. This gave Hercules the opening he needed and he clotheslined Haynes. Haynes was unable to defend himself and Hercules slapped the full-nelson on and maintained the hold until Haynes passed out. This incident set the stage for their match at WrestleMania III. The momentum swung back and forth throughout the contest until Haynes clotheslined Hercules over the top rope. When he refused to re-enter the ring, Haynes gave chase and successfully applied the full-nelson only to have both men counted out. Heenan attempted to break Haynes hold by driving a knee into his back. Haynes attention turned to Heenan once again as Hercules grabbed his steel chain and wrapped it around his fist. When Haynes turned to deal with his adversary, Hercules drove the chain into his forehead. Haynes bled profusely while Hercules and Heenan both gloated. The feud culminated some weeks later in a chain match that saw Hercules as the victor.
In the early part of 1988, during an episode of WWF Superstars of Wrestling, Hercules was swinging his chain in the direction of The Ultimate Warrior. Warrior caught the chain, and the two began a tug of war, which led to the steel chain snapping at the middle. The broadcast commentators gave credit to the Warrior for snapping the chain, to the chagrin of Hercules and Heenan. This led to their match at WrestleMania IV, which ended with Warrior pinning Hercules after pushing off from the turnbuckle while in Hercules' full nelson and landing on top of him. During the fall of 1988, Bobby Heenan sold Hercules' contract to "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase; DiBiase claimed that in Hercules, he had now purchased his own slave". This comment angered Hercules, who stated that he was owned by no man and turned face to feud with DiBiase. The two were on opposite teams at Survivor Series 1988 where DiBiase eliminated his "slave" from the match.
After the feud with Dibiase ended, Hercules had a series of matches with "King" Haku. Despite pinning Haku at WrestleMania V, he did not become "King". Hercules' career stalled following his feud with Haku. He was mainly used as a jobber to help push the latest heels such as The Earthquake, who squashed him at WrestleMania VI. In the summer of 1990, Hercules turned heel alongside Paul Roma and the two formed Power and Glory, managed by Slick. They had a high-profile feud with The Rockers, defeating them at SummerSlam '90 in Philadelphia and challenged WWF World Tag Team Champions The Hart Foundation. Yet, despite the fact that the two worked well together as a team, they were never given the opportunity to cement themselves as serious players in the tag team division. When the Legion of Doom squashed them in 59 seconds at WrestleMania VII, it was evident to fans that the team was not destined for greatness. After SummerSlam 1991, Roma left the WWF. Hercules spent the rest of his time in the WWF jobbing again, losing to wrestlers such as the Big Boss Man and Sid Justice, and then Intercontinental champion Bret Hart. His last televised WWF match was against Sid Justice at MSG where he was squashed in under a minute.
Hercules lasted nearly forty minutes in the 1991 Royal Rumble. In 1992, he lasted less than a minute.
After the WWF (1992-1999)
After being with the WWF for 7 years, Fernandez signed with World Championship Wrestling. He once again adopted a masked persona, this time as Super Invader, a supposed oriental assassin under the management of former rival Harley Race. As Super Invader, he beat Todd Champion at WrestleWar 1992 and beat Marcus Bagwell in a dark match before the Great American Bash 1992 PPV. The highlight of his run as Super Invader was his appearance at Clash of the Champions XX teaming with Rick Rude, Jake Roberts, and Big Van Vader in an elimination tag team match against Sting, Nikita Koloff, and the Steiner Brothers. Although Sting eliminated him early, Super Invader's team won the match. By the end of 1992, Ray Fernandez had left WCW and was competing on the independent circuit, as well as overseas.
One of the promotions he worked for was New Japan Pro Wrestling where he appeared as "Hercules Hernandez" once more, mainly teaming with fellow powerhouse wrestler Scott Norton to form The Jurassic Powers. The team would win the IWGP Tag Team Championship from the Hell Raisers (Hawk Warrior and Power Warrior) in August 1993 and hold it for about 4 months before losing it back to the Hell Raisers at NJPW's January 4 Dome Show (NJPW's biggest annual event). While holding the title, the Jurassic Powers successfully defended against teams such as The Japanese Jollyjacks (Takayuki Iizuka & Akira Nogami), Masa Saito and Manabu Nakanishi, and the Barbarian & Haku. The team also had a series of matches with the Steiner Brothers and made it to the finals of the 1993 Super Grade Tag League where they lost to Keiji Mutoh and Hiroshi Hase.
In 1994, Hercules wrestled in the American Wrestling Federation promotion taking part in the tournament to crown the first AWF champion. In 1999, Ray Fernandez retired from wrestling after working for various independent promotions across the world.
Fernandez died in his sleep in his home on March 6, 2004. The cause of death was attributed to heart disease according to his wife.
In wrestling
Finishing moves
As Hercules
Argentine backbreaker rack
As Super Invader
Powerbomb
Signature moves
Backbreaker
Elbow drop
Short-arm clothesline
With Paul Roma
Power-Plex (Superplex by Hernandez followed by a diving splash by Roma)
Oliver Humperdink
Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
Harley Race
Skandor Akbar
NWA Central States Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Dewey Robertson
NWA Central States Television Championship (1 time)
NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida version) (1 time)
Independent Association of Wrestling
IAW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
IAW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Paul Roma
IWF Can-Am Championship (1 time)
Mid-South Wrestling Association
Mid-South Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ted DiBiase
IWGP Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Scott Norton
(PWI) ranked him #220 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.
Retrieved from "https://prowrestling.fandom.com/wiki/Ray_Fernandez?oldid=1713303"
American Wrestling Federation alumni


While it's not like their heyday in the mid-'80s, the last couple of years haven't been too bad for the Mets faithful. They won the National League and were very close to a championship in 2015 and then last year they again reached the playoffs, albeit very briefly. The Nationals are still the powerhouse in the East, but the Mets have to like their chances to be quite competitive overall.
MM: The offseason is still in play.
If you ask 100 Mets fans how the offseason has gone, 95 would tell you that the Mets have done nothing to improve the team, but, at the same time, they signed one of the top five 'bats' in the game, that also was a free agent… outfielder Yoenes Cespedes. Cespedes opted out of his deal with the Mets and was on the free agent market, but Sandy Alderson knew that he would have no chance to return to the World Series without this guy.
The problem with the off-season is the inability to trade outfielder Jay Bruce so they can clear this salary. The trade was also supposed to target receiving either a quality reliever or a couple of blue chip prospect. Nobody seems to want Bruce and reports now out of the Mets camp is that he will start the season as the rightfielder.
MP: This offseason was very interesting, only because it was fairly uneventful. The only major transactions that were made were re-signings. (Cespedes, Neil Walker, Jerry Blevins, Rene Rivera, Fernando Salas, etc.) And, for the most part, I believe they did what was necessary. There are no gaping holes in the roster, and there is a good amount of depth. I am a little worried, however, that players like Jay Bruce that come with a hefty price tag and little production in Queens will hold up the development of younger players like Brandon Nimmo or Michael Conforto.
to complain about, an odd situation for a Mets fan in winter. Really what had to happen, besides Cespedes, was recovery from injuries for those who missed significant time in 2016. Other than David Wright experiencing a shoulder impingement, thus far everybody seems to be on his way back, knock wood, cross fingers, don't experience stiffness crossing fingers or get splinters knocking wood.
PRBS: The Mets had a solid offseason. They kept the core of a team that went to the playoffs together, and they should be in very good shape if they can keep their starting rotation off the DL. I would have liked to see them rework the outfield and acquire a better defensive centerfielder than Curtis Granderson, but upgrading the outfield defense might not have resulted in a stronger overall team.
CTM: The Mets basically brought back a team that made it to the postseason after a ton of injuries, so all they really need to do is get healthy. The jury's still out on that one. Getting rid of Jay Bruce is the obvious move they didn't make, but there were some little things they could have done to improve like bringing back Kelly Johnson (who will be on the team by August regardless…) and improving the bullpen. It's a good starting point though, we'll just have to wait and see how things go wrong from here.
MPR: If I had to describe the Mets offseason this year, I would use the term reassuring. Yoenis Cespedes professed his love for New York by signing a four-year deal to stay in Queens, GM Sandy Alderson shored up the bullpen by resigning lefty Jerry Blevins and by bringing back right-hander Fernando Salas, and youngsters Michael Conforto and Travis d'Arnaud are slowly gaining confidence as they try to live up to their expectations.
SS: The main thing the Mets needed to do was to bring Yoenis Cespedes back and they re-signed Cespedes to a four-year deal. They also needed to bring back Jerry Blevins or find another lefthanded reliever and they brought back Blevins. With Neil Walker becoming a free agent, the Mets needed to replace the player who had the second-highest OPS (.823) after Cespedes among Mets regulars last year, and Walker ended up accepting the Mets' qualifying offer.
The Mets, however, failed in their attempt to trade Jay Bruce. Bruce hit just .219 in 50 games as a Met, though he at least finished strong, hitting .500 in the last week of the season with 3 HR and 7 RBI. So Bruce could end up being more valuable to the Mets than generally expected, meaning that they were wise not to trade him if it just would have been a salary dump. But keeping Bruce means that Michael Conforto could be the odd man out in the crowded outfield. Conforto, who had such a promising debut in 2015 before a lost season last year, is off to a good start this spring and needs to be in the lineup.
AA: To some Mets fans, this offseason wasn't good enough, even though the team made one of its biggest moves in recent history when it brought back Yoenis Cespedes on a four-year deal. That was the anchor of the offseason for sure, and bringing back Neil Walker on the qualifying offer that he accepted should prove to be a good move, too. Bartolo Colon will be missed, but my biggest wish from the offseason was that they bring in more help for the bullpen. With a Jeurys Familia suspension looming, things look a bit shaky after you get past Addison Reed out in the bullpen.
DS: I am very happy with the team as currently constituted, although I would have been a bit more aggressive at addressing the bullpen. Bringing Yoenis Cespedes back was obviously huge, and retaining Neil Walker, Jerry Blevins and Fernando Salas was important, but I would've liked another arm. The Nationals got Joe Blanton for cheap. He was a guy I wish the Mets were in on.
C70: What are the expectations for Matt Harvey, both in when he will return and how effective he'll be when he does?
MM: I don't think the average Mets fan has much expectations for him right now. Harvey has caught a lot of flak for his attitude, the fact that he has Scott Boras for an agent, and the average Mets fan just know in their heart that this guy is just playing the string out until free agency rolls around.
I believe he will be effective because he always has been. With all the ups and downs, he has a 2.94/1.08, 9.09-K/9 stat line in the four seasons he has been a Met. My guess is the Mets brain trust will start the season off with a 6-man rotation and limit the innings for Harvey and the other pitchers coming off surgery (Jacob deGrom, Steven Matz, Zack Wheeler).
The hope here is that Harvey stays healthy and puts up killer numbers before the All-Star break so the Mets can put together a deal for 2/3 quality players/prospects for his service.
MP: I've never been a huge Matt Harvey fan. I believe his persona isn't a perfect match with the Mets, and I've said the best thing about him is his trade value. Unfortunately, with his injury and lack of production last year, he will need to put up some numbers this year to improve that value. I think Harvey will put up decent numbers, but won't come in handy as much as Noah Syndergaard or even Jacob deGrom will.
his 2013 All-Star level have diminished. If he exceeds 2016, he will make a lot of people happy, I among them.
PRBS: I expect Matt Harvey to start the year in the rotation for the Mets, but I don't know how effective he will be. The good news is that Harvey doesn't have to be the Mets' ace. Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom have both shown they can handle that role. If Harvey is even up to the standards he set in 2015, the Mets will have one of the best rotations in baseball.
MPR: As Harvey works his way back from another offseason mired in major surgery, Mets fans will be asked to muster up their enthusiasm when and if he takes the mound. Assuming he's ready for Opening Day, fans are hoping to experience more Dark Knight than Bruce Wayne. Matt has a lot riding on this season as he looks to get his baseball life back on track and become the dominant figure Mets fans witnessed early in his career.
SS: After a largely successful return from Tommy John surgery in 2015, Harvey had a disastrous 2016, going 4-10 with a 4.86 ERA, 1.47 WHIP and 76 strikeouts in 92 2/3 innings pitched. In his three previous seasons, his highest ERA was 2.73. Harvey's season ended in July when he underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome.
Coming back from Tommy John surgery is hard enough (just ask Zack Wheeler), but many pitchers have successfully done so. However, the track record is not as good for pitchers returning from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery, which often involves removing a rib. Harvey, now 28, struggled in his first spring start, topping out at 94 MPH (in his first game back from Tommy John surgery, his fastball hit 99 MPH) and complaining of a sore neck. He did better in his second start, but his velocity remained lower.
The hope is that Harvey can stay healthy and be productive, but a return to his Dark Knight heyday may be wishful thinking.
AA: Every indication has been that Harvey will begin the season on time. We'll see how things go for him as he ramps up for his return, but nothing has happened thus far that wouldn't have him taking a turn in the Mets' first time through the rotation. Given the history of pitchers returning from surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, I'd say expectations are a bit lower than they would be for him otherwise, but don't be shocked if he turns out better than people expect.
DS: That's the million dollar question. Harvey has consistently sat around 92-93 MPH during his spring starts, and that may be the new normal for him. Can he win like that? For sure. But you don't get as many mistakes to get away with when you're not throwing 97-98. Harvey may have to find a new way to get guys out, because the old Matt Harvey may be an idea of the past. For the Mets and my fantasy team's sake, I sure hope I'm wrong.
C70: What's the biggest weakness for this team?
MM: In my opinion, the pen. As of today, there are only three quality relievers under contract. One (Jenrry Mejia) is serving out his second lifetime ban for drugs and won't be available until (baseball's definition of "lifetime") the 2018 season. The second is all-star closer Jeurys Familia, who will start the season on the suspension list after smacking his wife around. And the last is Addison Reed, who can't do everything.
Familia will probably be back by the end of April, and future star Hansel Robles is expected to step into the 7th inning role, but one more ++ reliever would sure make a difference on this team.
MP: The biggest variable that will prevent the Mets from getting back to the Postseason will be their health. The Mets always seem to have issues with injuries, and keeping the rotation on the field throughout the year will be the key. Unfortunately, seeing players drop like flies the last few years has not given me much confidence, and has spotlighted the importance in having depth at each position.
they were last year, and they made the playoffs anyway.
PRBS: Defense. With Curtis Granderson projected as the regular centerfielder and Jay Bruce likely to start the season in right, there will be a lot of balls that fall in because no one was able to get to them. Good defensive positioning may be able to overcome lack of range in both the infield and the outfield to some degree, but the decision to prioritize offense will let opponents put some extra runs on the board.
CTM: Development of young non-pitching talent at the major league level. We've seen it before with Juan Lagares and Wilmer Flores, but Michael Conforto may be the most talented position player yet to be blocked from regular playing time with the Mets (most recently by "star" Jay Bruce). Everyone seems to agree that he needs to be playing just about every day, and yet that doesn't seem to happen. This is especially troubling when you consider that the next two big prospects to debut will be position players. They've gotten helping pitchers make that last big step down to a science, hopefully they start to recognize a need for a similar approach with position players.
MPR: You could say that having a rotation where four-fifths of the starters are returning from either rehab, or surgery, or a combination of both, is a weakness. However, if the 'Fab Five' of Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Steven Matz, Zack Wheeler, and the all-powerful Noah Syndergaard remain upright for the majority of the season, it could be seen as their biggest strength. The Mets were hampered last season with a dreadful batting average with runners in scoring position, so the offense needs to do more in that department to keep their young starters from pitching in too many high-pressured situations.
SS: The Mets have trouble scoring runs without hitting homers. They hit a franchise-record 218 longballs in 2016, fifth-best in MLB. But their 671 runs scored tied for 25th best. The Mets finished 25th in batting average and 28th in steals.
The Mets did finish 10th in runs after the All-Star break, and it was probably not a coincidence that they had Jose Reyes back as their leadoff hitter for much of the second half. His 60-steal seasons may be well in the past, but the Mets went 35-25 in games started by Reyes, and 52-50 in their other games. But Reyes, injury-prone as a younger player, turns 34 in June. In his brief stint with the Mets last season, he managed to find his way to the disabled list yet again.
The Mets have only two starters under 31 – the inconsistent and injury-prone Travis d'Arnaud (28) and Bruce (29). A younger lineup could conceivably be better able to manufacture runs without the home run, making it that much more frustrating if the 24-year-old Conforto starts the season on the bench or in the minors.
AA: Right now, it's the bullpen. The starting pitching depth behind the excellent major league rotation would be suspect if there's a need to rely on it heavily. The lineup looks pretty solid at every position, but it's the fifth, sixth, and seventh guys in the bullpen that concern me most at the moment.
DS: Catcher, but I can't wait for Travis D'Arnaud to shut us all up. I was very surprised the Mets didn't at least bring a guy in to compete, but this is a make-or-break year for him. Despite what Kevin Long says, Spring Training only means so much. He needs a strong start for his confidence. I may be in the minority, but I'd give Derek Norris a minor league deal as insurance, although he'll most definitely get a better offer than that elsewhere.
MM: This season, no. There are three 'nobodies' that should continue to carry their weight on this team… SPs Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo, and utility infielder T.J. Rivera, but the 'A' rated prospects won't begin to arrive until September when the minors shut down.
One long shot… watch for pitcher P.J. Conlon, who was the Mets minor league player of the year and had the lowest ERA last season in all of minor league baseball. Word is the lefty may be converted from a starter and fast tracked from AA-Binghamton to the Mets pen in Queens.
MP: I was genuinely impressed with T.J Rivera last summer, and while he will probably start the season at Triple-A or on the Major League bench, I think he might surprise a lot of people during the 2017 campaign.
and I wouldn't be surprised if he hits his way into playing more than currently projected.
PRBS: I think Jerry Blevins could transition from the lefty specialist role he's been used in during his first two seasons with the Mets to become a key late-inning reliever. If Major League Baseball suspends Jeurys Familia and Addison Reed is forced into the closer's role, Blevins could take over the eighth inning. While he's been great against left-handed batters, Blevins is also effective against righties. He limited them to a .243 / .332 /.387 line during his career.
CTM: No. We're at the point where we're wondering whether most of these guys can return to form and/or realize their full potential. We know what they all could be, so it's hard to call any of them unheralded. You would have to dig down into the minors to dredge up any names that would fit here, probably guys like Paul Sewald and Tomas Nido who will open the season in the upper minors and could be called on if there's an opening for a backup role at some point down the road.
MPR: Tim Tebow? He's as unheralded in terms of baseball acumen as they come. Seriously though, names you'll want to keep in your back pocket; outfielder Brandon Nimmo, who has shown patience at the plate, and could land himself a spot on the bench and pitcher Rafael Montero. Although he's been a disappointment in the past, the right-hander has been generating some buzz lately in Mets camp with better command of his pitches.
SS: In 2014, Jacob deGrom came up during the season as an unheralded injury replacement and ended up as the National League Rookie of the Year. Last season, Robert Gsellman came up in August as an unheralded injury replacement. In eight games, Gsellman had a 2.42 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 42 strikeouts in 44 2/3 innings. In six September starts, Gsellman's ERA was 2.06.
With Zack Wheeler likely to begin the season in extended spring training, Gsellman could break camp as the fifth starter, and with so many injury questions surrounding the Met rotation, the 23-year-old has the chance to stick around for a while and give the Mets yet another long-haired starter.
AA: Travis d'Arnaud isn't exactly unheralded in general, but he was awful at the plate last year. People seem to have lost confidence in him, but if he can stay healthy—a challenge thus far in his career—and hit nearly as well as he did in 2015, he'd be a major asset to this team. I'm expecting good things.
DS: Lucas Duda. It's hard to point out a guy who's hit more than 25 homers twice, but he's the guy. For some reason, a lot of Mets' fans are down on him, and I think he's got a lot left to prove and a lot left in the tank. Although he's streaky, his power bat makes the Mets' lineup that much deeper. If he struggles, he'll lose at bats, as he may already do so to Wilmer Flores against tough lefties.
MM: If everyone stays healthy (especially the rotation) I see 86-76 as a target, but Washington will easily win the division and Atlanta has done loads to improve their team. My prediction: Third place behind the Nats and Braves.
MP: If the Mets stay healthy, and play to their ability, they are definitely the best team in the National League East. However, like I said before, it's one of those things that's easier said than done. If I had to guess today, which I never really like to do, I'd guess 92 wins and a NL East Championship, but a lot of things will have to be done to get to that point, so there is a huge asterisk next to that prediction.
said, the Mets are a very sound club and I can see them winning the East or at least pushing Washington. Let me say they'll make the postseason one way or the other and exceed their 87 wins from 2016.
PRBS: I expect the Mets to finish right around 90 wins, which might not be enough to win the division but should give them a shot at the title as well as a wild card spot.
CTM: Last year I said 89-73 and second place, so let's go with that. Theoretically, they should be able to pad their record a bit with all those games against the non-Nationals segment of the division, but that didn't work out so well last year.
MPR: I have high expectations for this season and wouldn't be surprised if the Mets gave the Nationals a run for their money and win the NL East. With a combination of a top tier starting rotation, a strong veteran bullpen, and an offense with a high propensity to hit the ball out of the ballpark, there's no reason why the Mets shouldn't be expected to make a deep run in the postseason.
SS: 89-73 2nd place to Washington. The Mets won 87 games last year while being wracked with injuries and are bringing back largely the same team (alas, no Bartolo Colon, who actually led the team in wins last year with 15). But enough health concerns remain that it's hard to project them to do too much better than they did in 2016.
AA: I'll go with 93-69, National League East champions.
DS: I think this is the Mets' year to win the NL East. I think they'll make a mid-season trade for either a 3B or bullpen arm (or both if Jose Reyes gets hurt). I will go 90 wins. I think that's enough to win the NL East.
C70: Who is your all-time favorite Met and why?
MM: For me, this is an easy choice. I grew up a Brooklyn Dodgers fan and worshiped Gil Hodges. I danced in the streets when he became a New York Met and I cried quietly in my bedroom when he passed.
Many would answer this question with the name Mike Piazza. Others would say it was 'The Captain', David Wright. For me, it will always be Number 14.
MP: Considering I'm only 17 years old, I'll limit myself to players I've actually watched play, and, while he's currently an enemy, Daniel Murphy would be the guy that I would consider my favorite Met I watched. He was fun, enjoyable to watch (at times), great in the community and was a huge team player. Of course, David Wright possess all of those qualities as well, but the fact that Daniel Murphy did this without being the fan favorite like Wright has been is the reason I'll pick Murphy.
never stopped being so. The excellence, the professionalism, the articulate nature of what he had to say, the perfect motion, never taking losing well…nobody has filled the role of "pitcher," let alone "ace" the way Tom has in my eyes.
PRBS: Gary Carter. When the Mets traded for Carter, he was the last big piece they needed to turn a pretty good team with talented young players into a World Series champion. He was one of the best catchers to ever play the game, and he did it with a smile on his face.
I had the opportunity to meet and talk with Carter years later when he briefly managed the Long Island Ducks. He always made time to greet fans, take photos and sign autographs. While many players grow to resent autograph seekers over time, Carter found a way to use his fame to benefit a cause that mattered to him. He'd sign any Ducks merchandise for free, but he asked for a small donation in support of leukemia research.
CTM: There's only about a thousand to choose from, so… There were lots of better and more popular players who spent time with the team, but every time I think about this I keep coming back to Ed Kranepool. Kranepool was a September call-up as a teenager in 1962 and played all of his 1853 games with the Mets. Though he played almost all of those games before my lifetime, he has been active in the Mets community throughout the decades since his retirement. I first met him in the early '90s when he was doing signings at small card shows frequented by many of the '69 Mets, back when I was a kid who knew next to nothing about that team or the pre-'80s Mets in general. More recently, I had the opportunity to chat with him for a few minutes and he still remembered the details of that show, right down to the location and the promoter's name, more than 20 years later. He has been a great ambassador for the team, helping to link current fans to the team's history in a much more personal way than the team's afterthought of a museum at Citi Field ever could.
MPR: It's pretty hard to pinpoint an all-time favorite. I have such affinity for that '86 team, anyone of those players could be at the top of the list. But, if I had to choose, I would lean toward Doc Gooden. Now, I know, he's had plenty of chances yet continues to battle his inner demons. But as a kid watching him pitch, seeing how downright electric he was — it's just something you don't forget quickly.
SS: Decades after his retirement, Tom Seaver remains "The Franchise." When Seaver joined the team in 1967, the Mets were a national joke. Two years later, Seaver won 25 games and the Cy Young Award and the Mets were one of the most unlikely World Series champions in baseball history.
Seaver won a total of three Cy Youngs as a Met and also helped lead the Mets to the 1973 World Series. Of his 311 career wins, 198 came as a Met.
Seaver is the only player in the baseball Hall of Fame who achieved most of his success as a Met. Before Mike Piazza last year, Seaver was the only player in the Hall of Fame with a Met cap on his plaque.
AA: It changes, and it's tough not to say Carlos Beltran here. But at this point, it's David Wright. He's clearly the best position player in team history, and it's been tough to watch him deal with major injuries that have sidelined him for the majority of the past two seasons. Watching him hit a home run in the World Series in person is a top-five Mets moment for me and probably always will be.
DS: Well it used to be Bobby Bonilla, and then Todd Hundley, but that's all before Mike Piazza's time. Nobody can touch Piazza, as far as I am concerned. I have been part of so many magical moments in Queens with him, and he forever will be my favorite player. From the first game after Sept. 11 to the 10-run eighth inning on Fireworks Night, Mike Piazza will always be my number one.
Plenty of informative and interesting info here on the National League squad from the Big Apple. Thanks to all of these guys for the insight!


text:
A Thought on Quarantine
The first systematic use of the idea and word quarantine comes from Ragusa -or Dubrovnik as it is known now - when it was under the control of the city-state of Venice during the Plague. The Italian phrase quaranta giorni, or "forty days" was the length of time Venice required ships and people to wait on a nearby island before they were permitted to enter the port city. In a document dated to 1377, it is clearly stated that all persons and goods into had to wait a trentina, or 30 days, before entering the city. Shortly thereafter, the isolation period was extended to 40 days, and a new word came into common usage.
I wonder did they change it so it echoes other biblical ideas of purging: Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness being tempted by the devil; the great flood lasted 40 days and 40 nights; the Jewish people wandered the desert for 40 years.
In the year 1665, the village of Eyam was infected with the plague. A bale of cloth sent from London contained a damp cloth with fleas carrying the plague. None of the villages around it were affected, which created a conundrum: how to contain the infection while still getting the food and supplies the community needed to survive. The entire village opted to quarantine itself. Indoor church service were suspended, families buried their own dead, no one could to neighbouring towns.The people pledged to keep themselves quarantined as long as the neighbouring communities would drop off food and supplies at a designated spot. For 14 months, no one entered or left Eyam. While the disease didn't spread beyond the borders of the town, it did kill at least half of the population.
On Saturday, we broke our quarantine and had a socially distanced retirement party for Julian. Before leaving we all hugged. It was Julians first physical contact in 3 months. I think it was a strange experience for all of us. What will be the lasting physical and psychological effects of our quarantine?


How does Lesti_Fpc generates key?
A key is the identifier of an object. In this case of a page in your website. Other full page caches are using the url as a key. The good thing about that, you have more hits. The bad thing, you can't make a difference between currencies and parameters in the user session. For example the count of products in the category. That's the reason for an internal cache. I did need the parameters of the session. The cache builds a hash from these parameters. Here is a diagramm to show how Lesti_Fpc has build keys in the past.
This is the key after visiting a category page. If I visit the same category with a senseless parameter, the cache generates a new key.
That produces too much misses.
The solution was very easy. I replaced the uri with the full_action_name. But now I can't make a difference between two products. So I added a field in the configurations. You have to decide, which parameters in the uri have an effect on the hash-key.
You can add your own parameters in the configuration. Other parameters have no effect on the key. That should produce more hits.


I manage a surf site and I was wanting to give the users the ability to give surf reports via custom form that posts the form results to the activity steam of a particular group.
Ideally this would be another tab within the group (labelled Surf Reports) the the user fills out from a form, and then hits submit, and this posts the the groups activity stream.
Is it possible to create something like this with CustomPress, and if so, could someone suggest a way of achieving this please.
To create something like this with Custom Press is indeed possible but clearly falls into the realm of custom coding/designing which is beyond the scope of the support that we provide here though we will help in any event if we know the answer.
I will take a look at that plugin and keep looking for an option.
Thank you for letting me know and look forward to hearing form you regarding this project in any event.


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**Note: hours subject to change. No after hours emergency care available. For care outside of business hours or if Dr. Beverley is not in the office, some options are walk-in clinics such as Stitches or Urgent Care, other dental offices, and the Emergency Department at CRMC.


Ethical product development requires clinical proof. Safe, controlled clinical trials on human volunteers allow objective, unbiased data on safety and efficacy to be gathered on specific ingredients and products. Only under such controlled conditions, and in partnership with reputable academic institutions, can an understanding of physiology be gained and product safety and efficacy be firmly established.
Herbamed builds its development of products from the ground up beginning with in-vitro research to determine the feasibility and potential practical application of their advance technology. This lays the groundwork for clinical trials conducted according to strict scientific standards. Double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials are the gold standard of scientific investigation when it comes to determining the effectiveness of nutraceuticals and functional foods.


Some special types of Jobs require Coating of Paper for further use. Coating can be metalized or non-metalized. All types of Paper Mills & Paper Converters require Slitting of Paper for different type of applications. Our Coated Paper Slitter Rewinder Machine comes in use for Slitting of all types of Paper Material like Coated Paper, Ice Cream Cup Paper, Fax Roll, Photograph Paper, Stationery Paper, etc. OurCoated Paper Slitting Rewinding Machine is able to process all types of Paper of any GSM thickness.


at number 18: Compers News subscription..is it worth it?
Compers News subscription..is it worth it?
I decided to subscribe to Compers News back in November and I received my first issue in December. They were running a special offer £9.99 for 3 issues, I thought about it for a long time and read what people thought of the magazine. Most people were saying it was great and they won a lot of prizes through it. I thought for £9.99 its worth a go.
I received my first issue, I can not tell you how excited I was! I sat down with a cuppa when the children were in bed, at first I was slightly disappointed as I had seen most of the online competitions already. They have different sections in the magazine for each type of competition. The postal comps had quite alot that I hadn't seen and I entered a few.
What I do like about the magazine is that they have alot of competitions for subscribers only, puzzles in the magazine, stamp giveaways and other prizes. I have entered as many as these as I can. Also they have winners stories, and hints and tips of how to win competitions.
I think I was under the impression that if I subscribe to this magazine I would automatically win lots of competitions and I haven't, in fact I haven't won anything that Compers News have told me about! But after sitting down and reading that first, second and third issue that I have now received, I love it. I think it is so nice to sit down and have a good old fashioned read about competitions, before this all my comping was done online. I love reading the monthly letters, and the winners stories are great inspirations.
The last issue I received was the February issue, I worked my way through the magazine and ticked off every competition I had entered and crossed out the ones I didn't want to enter. I don't think anything is as easy as that online!! I can see in front of me what I have and haven't done. I just need to do the subscribers puzzles and send them off now! I have entered loads of postal comps that I would never have known about otherwise.
The magazine also has its own online forum that you can only access as a member, I have to confess I haven't really been on this much. i find the comps in the magazine, the creative ones from Superluckys blog and any facebook competitions I see is enough!
So I think if you are thinking about subscribing its worth it, just for the times you don't feel like going online. Or if you want to enter more postal comps, you can take the magazine with you, I write out all my postcards at work when I have a quiet period. If you want some inspiration, its great to read others stories, hints and tips. Plus you have all the different types of competitions in one place.
BEWARE- you may find yourself buying unnecessary things, for example, way to many apples because you want to win a pink car, or far too much chocolate to win one of a million moments, 5 boxes of cereal that your hoping the children will like because they are giving away thousands of prizes... but that's all part of the fun isn't it?
My first EVER video and competition!


Tristan Elmhirst is appealing for help to replace his stolen gypsy wagon.
A crowdfunding page has been set up to replace a gypsy wagon which was stolen last year.
Tristan Elmhirst spent nine months lovingly renovating the wagon when it was stolen from Weare Giffard between January 26-28 last year.
With still no sign of the missing wagon, police have now closed their investigation just over a year on from the theft.
But all is not lost as one of Tristan's friends has set up a crowdfunding page for Tristan to be able to replicate his project.
Tristan said the page, which was set up by a friend and is hoping to raise £5,000, was 'a lovely idea'.
The gypsy wagon that was taken from Weare Giffard.
He told the Gazette: "I was pretty disappointed as there were lots of good leads thanks to so many people sharing the original post, I must have had at least five actual sightings of it on it's way to London.
"Someone even got in contact and told me exactly who it was but wanted to remain anonymous so the police said they couldnt use that, which I thought was rather ridiculous.
"The original wagon was stolen about a month or two after I finally completed its renovation.
"The plan was to rent it out to events or for people to camp in it.
"I only managed to arrange two rentals before it was taken. I had only ever slept in it myself once which is the biggest shame.
The page is hoping to raise £5,000 and the description reads: "Although the wagon can never be replaced, perhaps a sad story can be turned into a happy one.
"Tristan's hoping to raise some money to go towards to hand-building a new wagon.
"With time he could build a similar structure to the one which was stolen, and even start a small business again.
A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed the investigation had closed following a 'full and thorough investigation' following a lack of evidence.
You can visit the crowdfunding page and donate here.


The world has become a toxic insensitive place to breathe in. With human life being shamelessly massacred and the rights being run over every single day, the tragedies have become a common sight. However, the way New Zealand collectively has stood against hate to protect their thin Muslim minority bracket and how PM Jacinda Ardern has put forth an appreciable and matchless example of compassion is enough to touch any humane heart.
New Zealanders have always taken pride in their secular values and diversity, wearing their multiculturism like a medal. However, the Christchurch mosque shooting and the incident of hate crime motivated by white nationalist ideology shook the island. Acting promptly, New Zealand moved to ban assault rifles, putting 25 years of US inaction to shame. With this, PM Ardern said that the lost lives are the ones she is going to own, while the country will even strip the attacker off his identity and name.
As today was the first Friday after the brutal attack claiming more than 50 lives and there was an obviously dominating sentiment of fear, New Zealanders belonging to different religious identities and walks of life stood outside mosques assuring protection to their Muslim minority while they prayed.
The beautiful example of love and compassion showed by the people and the leader of the state has won hearts across the world, including Pakistan. While it has given us a literal illustration of how to conduct ourselves in time of such crisis, providing ourselves to be a sane, humane nation – her love and compassion towards her own people and standing by state's secularist values rejecting all forms of hate has also lead to out leadership's admiration towards him.
The head of the state, government officials and people of Pakistan have collectively declared her conduct praiseworthy and honourable.