text:
IFNγ production in peripheral blood of early Lyme disease patients to hLFAαL (aa326-345)
Maria JC Gomes-Solecki1,4,
Gary P Wormser2 &
Raymond J Dattwyler3
BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders volume 3, Article number: 25 (2002) Cite this article
It has been proposed that outer surface protein A (OspA) of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto contains a T helper 1 (Th1) cell epitope that could play a role in an autoimmune response to hLFA1.
We used two peptides, hLFAαL (aa326-345) and Borrelia burgdorferi OspAB31 (aa164-183), as stimulating antigens to measure Th1 proinflammatory IFNγ cytokine production in peripheral blood of Lyme disease patients presenting with EM without history of arthritis, as well as in peripheral blood of healthy individuals.
IFNγ responses to hLFA1 peptide were observed in 11 of 19 Lyme disease patients and in 3 of 15 healthy controls. In contrast, only 2 of 19 of the Lyme disease patients and none of the controls responded to the homologous OspAB31 peptide.
IFNγ was produced in response to stimulation with peptide hLFAαL (aa326-345) in peripheral blood of 58% of patients with early Lyme disease without signs of arthritis, as well as in peripheral blood of 20% of healthy individuals, but not in response to stimulation with the homologous OspAB31 (aa164-183) peptide (p < 0.05). Our results suggest that reactivity to the hLFA1 peptide in peripheral blood may be the result of T cell degeneracy.
Lyme disease is a multisystem disease caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi [1, 2]. Although most patients respond to two to four weeks of antibiotic therapy, a few individuals continue to have clinical manifestations after treatment. These patients do not respond to additional courses of antibiotics raising the possibility that a post infectious immunologic process is responsible for these persistent clinical manifestations.
T helper 1 responses are associated with antibiotic refractory Lyme disease [3, 4]. Outer surface protein A (OspA) from B. burgdorferi sensu stricto contains a helper T cell epitope with a similar sequence to a segment in human leukocyte function-associated antigen-1 (hLFA1). Gross et al. found that individuals with treatment resistant Lyme arthritis, but not other forms of arthritis, generated Th1-IFNγ responses to OspA, hLFA1 and their highly related peptide epitopes in synovial fluid. These authors proposed that cross-reactivity between an OspA epitope and hLFA1, allows OspA primed T cells to remain activated by continued stimulation through cells expressing hLFA1, even after elimination of the spirochetes by antibiotic therapy, initiating an autoimmune response to hLFA1 in the joint [5, 6]. Thus, the ongoing clinical manifestations in refractory Lyme disease may not depend on persistent infection, but to the immune response to a cross reactive epitope in the etiological agent [7].
Since an autoimmune cross reactivity between B. burgdorferi OspA, human LFA1 and antibiotic resistant Lyme arthritis has been suggested [6] and it is known that only a subpopulation of Lyme arthritis patients are resistant to treatment we wanted to further dissect the involvement of OspA as well a possible reactivity to the hLFA1 peptide in a population of early Lyme disease patients using healthy individuals as controls. We used borrelia whole cell sonicate and the two peptides first identified by Gross et al. [6], hLFAαL (aa326-345) and OspAB31 (aa164-183) to measure antigen-specific T cell reactivity in peripheral blood of two groups, early Lyme disease patients without history of arthritis and healthy individuals. Th1-IFNγ production in response to the peptide hLFAαL (aa326-345) was more frequent than Th1 reactivity to the OspAB31 (aa164-183) peptide in peripheral blood of Lyme disease patients presenting with erythema migrans as well as in a subpopulation of healthy individuals.
Patients and controls
Samples were obtained from nineteen adult patients from an endemic area enrolled in ongoing Lyme disease studies at the Lyme Disease Center at the State University New York at Stony Brook, NY and at New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY. Sixteen of these patients presented with early localized infection typified by the presence of well defined erythema migrans (EM). They had no other signs of disseminated infection. None of these patients developed Lyme arthritis. Seven patients were evaluated within 1 month of EM presentation (acute) and nine different patients at 3 months post EM presentation (convalescent). Also, three patients presenting with Lyme disease symptoms (EM or arthralgia, mialgia) that had been previously vaccinated with recombinant OspA were tested. All patients were treated with suitable antibiotics at the time of diagnosis. We did not test antibiotic resistant Lyme arthritis patients because we didn't have any in that category during the course of the study. We don't see those patients often in either Long Island or Westchester County, highly endemic areas for Lyme disease. Twenty-one healthy adults from the same endemic area, with no prior history of Lyme disease and no prior serologic screening, were recruited as controls. Whole blood samples were drawn from each enrolled patient into a heparinized tube. The blood was kept at room temperature and used within 24 h after it was obtained.
Two synthetic, twenty amino acid peptides, B. burgdorferi OspAB31 (aa164-183), GYVLEGTLTAEKTTLVVKEG and hLFAαL (aa326-345), acetyl-ELQKKIYVIEGTSKQDLTSF, were custom contracted through the Small Scale Peptide Synthesis laboratory at the HHMI Biopolymer / Keck Foundation Biotechnology Resource Laboratory (Yale University School of Medicine, CT). Suitably protected peptide chains were constructed in an automated, stepwise solid-phase protocol using FMOC N-protection for N-alpha protection at each cycle. The peptides were all synthesized on substituted benzhydrylamine-resins to yield amidated C-termini. The amide group is a better approximation of peptide bonds than are free carboxyl termini.
Since T cell receptors recognize structures rather than amino acid sequences and both peptides of 20 residues are about 70% different we did not use an unrelated peptide as control. Borrelia whole cell sonicate derived from B. afzelii, strain Pko, was developed by CSL Biosciences (Melbourne, Australia) in collaboration with CDC (Fort Collins, Colorado, USA), as a stimulating antigen for the T cell Lyme assay. This antigen was found to have a higher stimulation rate in blood from Lyme disease patients than that of B. burgdorferi sonicate used in [8]. This antigen was kindly provided by Dr. Roland Martin (CSL Biosciences) and was used as an internal control to check the performance of the assay.
T-Cell assay
We used the QuantiFERON®-CMI test (CSL Biosciences, Melbourne, Australia). This assay allows detection of cytokine production, which may occur in the absence of proliferation. In persons exposed to B. burgdorferi, an early, vigorous, and sustained specific T-cell response develops that precedes a measurable antibody response [9]. The production of IFNγ 16–24 hours after antigen stimulation is dependent on the presence of T-cells capable of rapid response kinetics (antigen-primed effector and/or antigen-primed memory population). These T-cell populations are short lived and are strictly dependent on the presence of antigen [10]. This assay is based on the release of gamma-interferon (IFNγ) from sensitized lymphocytes during a 16 to 24 hour incubation with antigens specific for the pathogenic agent and subsequently quantification of IFNγ levels by a single step ELISA. The ratio of IFNγ response to antigen versus the response to negative control is quantified to determine if IFNγ production is due to prior exposure. The assay is simple to perform and does not require the isolation of lymphocytes [8]. Incorporation of the positive control mitogen in the test allows for the detection of immunocompromised individuals (eg. due to AIDS) and thereby removes the risk of detection of false negatives.
The test was carried out as instructed by the manufacturer. A healthy individual is expected to have 0.8–1.2 × 106 Th cells/ml of whole blood. First, heparinized whole blood was aliquoted at 1 ml/per well (about 106 T helper cells/ml) in a 24 well cell culture cluster (Costar) and stimulated with 120 μl of the following antigens and controls: sonicated borrelia or WCS at 2.5 μg/ml, peptide hLFAαL (aa326-345) at 2.5 μg/ml, peptide OspAB31 (aa164-183) at 10 μg/ml, mitogen (PHA) and negative (PBS) controls.
After overnight incubation (16–20 h) at 37°C in a humid chamber, the plasma was removed and the amount of IFNγ was determined by a rapid single step ELISA provided with the test kit, as per protocol. The single step ELISA was run against a standard curve of human IFNγ standards. The OD results from patient blood stimulated with B. burgdorferi antigen (corrected for the saline control) were converted into International Units per ml (IU/ml) from a standard curve of the human IFNγ standards. The IU/ml IFNγ values were used to calculate the % specific response to the antigen for each sample. The % specific response is the ratio of IFNγ response to test antigen (Ag) minus negative control (N) versus the response to mitogen (M) minus negative control (N), times 100. We determined the cutoff at 10% specific response.
The comparison between the response to OspAB31 (aa164-183) and hLFAαL (aa326-345) was done using the McNemar's exact test for correlated proportions [11] because the same population of patients was tested in a paired-sample design. P values of < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Samples were obtained from nineteen (19) adult patients and twenty-one (21) healthy adult individuals from endemic areas. The production of IFNγ in peripheral blood stimulated with borrelia whole cell sonicate antigen (WCS), hLFAαL peptide (aa326-345) or OspAB31 (aa164-183) peptide was evaluated. Sixteen of the nineteen patients presented with early localized infection typified by the presence of well defined erythema migrans (EM). They had no other signs of disseminated infection and did not develop Lyme arthritis. Seven patients were evaluated within 1 month of developing EM (acute) and nine other patients were evaluated 3 months post EM presentation (convalescent). The additional three patients tested were OspA vaccine failures who presented with acute Lyme disease. These samples were not screened for anti-OspA antibodies. The 21 healthy individuals samples were used as controls.
The optimal concentration of antigen used in the assay varies for each specific antigen. The concentration of the WCS (2.5 μg/ml or 2.5 μg/~106 Th cells), was previously determined at CSL Biosciences by dose response curve as the optimal concentration of antigen to be used in this T cell assay [8]. We used the peptide OspAB31 (aa164-183) at 10 μg/ml (or 10 μg/~106 Th cells). This was the same concentration of OspA peptide used in Gross et al. for 3 × 105 Th cells [6]. The hLFA1 peptide was used at 2.5 μg/ml (or 2.5 μg/~106 Th cells), the same concentration determined for the WCS. All antigens at the proposed concentrations were tested in blood from known healthy individuals to determine the background level stimulation.
To confirm the performance of the Th1-IFNγ assay, we evaluated the results obtained with the borrelia whole cell sonicate antigen (WCS) in both Lyme disease and healthy individuals (Table 1). Of the 19 Lyme disease patients studied, 5 acute, 4 convalescent and 3 infected OspA vaccinated patients (63%, 12/19) produced IFNγ when stimulated with WCS. Of the 21 healthy individuals tested, 6 produced IFNγ when stimulated with WCS (29%). The sensitivity of the assay obtained for the Lyme disease patients was equivalent to data obtained independently with the a borrelia whole cell sonicate stimulating antigen [8].
Table 1 IFNγ Specific Human Response (HR>10%) in LD Patients with EM and Healthy Individuals
When we compared the Th1 reactivity between the two peptides in the Lyme disease patients (Table 2) we found that 58% (11/19) produced IFNγ when stimulated with the hLFAαL (aa326-345) and 11% (2/19) produced IFNγ when stimulated with the OspAB31 (aa164-183) peptide (p < 0.05, McNemar's exact test for correlated proportions). There was no correlation between the IFNγ response weather the patient was studied at less than one month or three months post presentation (p > 0.05). Twenty percent (3/15) of the healthy individuals that did not react to borrelia WCS produced IFNγ when stimulated with the hLFAαL (aa326-345) and none (0/15) produced IFNγ when stimulated with the OspAB31 (aa164-183) peptide.
Table 2 IFNγ Specific Human Response (HR>10%) in LD Patients with EM and Healthy Individuals that were WCS Negative
Observing the three vaccinated patients that came down with Lyme disease, we verified they were all responsive (100%) to the Borrelia WCS, 2/3 were positive for hLFA peptide (67%) and none (0%) was positive for the OspA peptide. This last result was surprising since these patients had been previously vaccinated with OspA. However, this could be explained by the obvious vaccine failure which is supported by the fact that all three patients reacted with borrelia whole cell sonicate.
Our results show that the Th1 proinflamatory cytokine IFNγ is produced in peripheral blood of patients with early Lyme disease without any signs of arthritis when stimulated with the peptide hLFAαL(aa326-345) but not when stimulated with the homologous OspAB31 (aa164-183) peptide. This observation was also verified for healthy individuals.
It has been postulated that hLFA1 autoreactive T cells play a major role in the pathogenesis of chronic Lyme arthritis [6]. However, the hLFAαL (aa326-345) peptide was not recognized by any of the OspA (aa164-175)-specific T cell hybridomas generated from a B. burgdorferi OspA immunized DR4 transgenic mouse, illustrating that individual T-cell receptor (TCR) possess different patterns of cross-reactivity [12]. In addition, analysis at the clonal level demonstrated that hLFAαL (aa326-345) behaves as a partial agonist for OspA-reactive T cells, not as a full agonist [13].
Antigen specificity of a single T-cell clone can be degenerate and yet the clone can preferentially recognize different peptides derived from the same organism. This demonstrates that flexibility in T cell recognition does not preclude specificity. If recognition were not degenerate, the immune system would be incompetent since the limited number of T-cells in an organism would allow recognition of small fraction of a mixture of randomized peptides [14]. There is ample evidence suggesting that cross-reactivity leading to T cell activation is a very frequent event [15–17, 14, 18, 12]. In fact, the presence of cross-reactive T cells is normal and required for the maintenance of memory T cell responses. T cell reactivity between a microbial peptide and a self-peptide alone is not sufficient to induce autoimmune disease [12].
TCR recognition of peptide-major histocompatibility complex antigens can elicit a diverse array of effector activities. Itoh et al., analyzed TCR engagement and the production of multiple cytokines in a clonal Th1 CD4+ cell population. They verified that low concentrations of TCR ligand elicit only IFNγ production. Their findings provide strong support for a model of T cell activation in which different effector functions have a hierarchical arrangement of elicitation thresholds, such that the ratio of elicited effector molecules changes with antigen concentration [19]. Rogers et al., used a model of differentiation that is dependent on the initial dose and affinity of peptide presented to a naïve CD4 cell. They used this system to confirm that LFA 1 interaction can suppress differentiation of cells secreting Th2 cytokines and that this interaction is only seen over a range of peptide doses [20].
We detected a Th1 response to hLFAαL (aa326-345) in peripheral blood of patients with Lyme disease without any signs of arthritis and in a subpopulation of healthy individuals. We observed that the reactivity to hLFA1 was significant and was dissociated from the response to OspA. The hLFA1 peptide was used at the same concentration determined for the WCS and four times less the concentration used for the OspA peptide. We anticipated that differences in data obtained for a concentration of 25 μg/ml for the hLFA antigen compared to 10 ug/ml of the OspA antigen as in Gross et al. [6] could cause skepticism. For that reason, and to minimize the amount of variables in the study, we chose a semi-empirical route.
Taking into account all previous findings, the greater response to the hLFA peptide as compared to the OspA may be explained by the different doses of hLFA peptide and OspA used. An additional, and in our opinion better explanation, is that reactivity to the hLFA1 peptide in peripheral blood is in large part the result of T cell degeneracy. This could explain the number of healthy individuals who reacted to the hLFA1 peptide. An alternative to this model could be that some individuals may have been infected with a previous pathogen that triggers activation of T cells reactive to the hLFA1 peptide. In any case, this does not rule out the possibility that primed hLFAαL reactive Th1 cells homing to a specific milieu such as the joint could potentially be involved in the pathogenic mechanisms associated with chronic Lyme arthritis. Additional studies are required to define the role of T cell reactivity in the immunopathogenesis of antibiotic refractory Lyme disease.
We detected a significant Th1 response to the peptide hLFAαL(aa326-345) in peripheral blood of patients with early Lyme disease without any signs of arthritis and in a subpopulation of healthy individuals. Our results suggest that reactivity to hLFA1 peptide in peripheral blood may be the result of T cell degeneracy.
Benach JL, Bosler EM, Hanrahan JP, Coleman JL, Habicht GS, Bast TF, Cameron DJ, Ziegler JL, Barbour AG, Burgdorfer W, Edelman R, Kaslow RA: Spirochetes isolated from the blood of two patients with Lyme disease. N Engl J Med. 1983, 308 (13): 740-2.
Nadelman RB, Wormser GP: Lyme borreliosis. Lancet. 1998, 352 (9127): 557-65. 10.1016/S0140-6736(98)01146-5.
Dong Z, Edelstein MD, Glickstein LJ: CD8+ T cells are activated during the early Th1 and Th2 immune responses in a murine Lyme disease model. Infect Immun. 1997, 65 (12): 5334-7.
Kang I, Barthold SW, Persing DH, Bockenstedt LK: T-helper-cell cytokines in the early evolution of murine Lyme arthritis. Infect Immun. 1997, 65 (8): 3107-11.
Gross DM, Steere AC, Huber BT: T helper 1 response is dominant and localized to the synovial fluid in patients with Lyme arthritis. J Immunol. 1998, 160 (2): 1022-8.
Gross DM, Forsthuber T, Tary-Lehmann M, Etling C, Ito K, Nagy ZA, Field JA, Steere AC, Huber BT: Identification of LFA-1 as a candidate autoantigen in treatment-resistant Lyme arthritis. Science. 1998, 281 (5377): 703-6. 10.1126/science.281.5377.703.
Sigal LH: Immunologic mechanisms in Lyme neuroborreliosis: the potential role of autoimmunity and molecular mimicry. Semin Neurol. 1997, 17 (1): 63-8.
Sikand VK, Rothel JS, Martin RM: Diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis by a whole-blood gamma interferon assay for cell-mediated immune responses. Clin Diagn Lab Immunol. 1999, 6 (3): 445-
Dattwyler RJ, Volkman DJ, Halperin JJ, Luft BJ, Thomas J, Golightly MG: Specific immune responses in Lyme borreliosis. Characterization of T cell and B cell responses to Borrelia burgdorferi. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1988, 539: 93-102.
Bell EB, Sparshott SM, Bunce C: CD4+ T-cell memory, CD45R subsets and the persistence of antigen – a unifying concept. Immunol Today. 1998, 19 (2): 60-4. 10.1016/S0167-5699(97)01211-5.
Rosner B: Fundamentals of Biostatistics. Boston, Massachusetts: PWS-Kent Publishing Company. 1990, 3
Maier B, Molinger M, Cope AP, Fugger L, Schneider-Mergener J, Sonderstrup G, Kamradt T, Kramer A: Multiple cross-reactive self-ligands for Borrelia burgdorferi-specific HLA-DR4-restricted T cells. Eur J Immunol. 2000, 30 (2): 448-57. 10.1002/1521-4141(200002)30:2<448::AID-IMMU448>3.3.CO;2-0.
Trollmo C, Meyer AL, Steere AC, Hafler DA, Huber BT: Molecular mimicry in Lyme arthritis demonstrated at the single cell level: LFA-1alpha(L) is a partial agonist for outer surface protein A – reactive T cells. J Immunol. 2001, 166 (8): 5286-91.
Hemmer B, Gran B, Zhao Y, Marques A, Pascal J, Tzou A, Kondo T, Cortese I, Bielekova B, Straus SE, McFarland HF, Houghten R, Simon R, Pinilla C, Martin R: Identification of candidate T-cell epitopes and molecular mimics in chronic Lyme disease. Nat Med. 1999, 5 (12): 1375-82. 10.1038/70946.
Tabira T: A view for understanding the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis. Rinsho Shinkeigaku. 1995, 35 (12): 1493-5.
Hemmer B, Vergelli M, Pinilla C, Houghten R, Martin R: Probing degeneracy in T-cell recognition using peptide combinatorial libraries. Immunol Today. 1998, 19 (4): 163-8. 10.1016/S0167-5699(97)01217-6.
Ufret-Vincenty RL, Quigley L, Tresser N, Pak SH, Gado A, Hausmann S, Wucherpfennig KW, Brocke S: In vivo survival of viral antigen-specific T cells that induce experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. J Exp Med. 1998, 188 (9): 1725-38. 10.1084/jem.188.9.1725.
Grogan JL, Kramer A, Nogai A, Dong L, Ohde M, Schneider-Mergener J, Kamradt T: Cross-reactivity of myelin basic protein-specific T cells with multiple microbial peptides: experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis induction in TCR transgenic mice. J Immunol. 1999, 163 (7): 3764-70.
Itoh Y, Germain RN: Single cell analysis reveals regulated hierarchical T cell antigen receptor signaling thresholds and intraclonal heterogeneity for individual cytokine responses of CD4+ T cells. J Exp Med. 1997, 186 (5): 757-66. 10.1084/jem.186.5.757.
Rogers PR, Croft M: CD28, Ox-40, LFA-1, and CD4 modulation of Th1/Th2 differentiation is directly dependent on the dose of antigen. J Immunol. 2000, 164 (6): 2955-63.
The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here:http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2474/3/25/prepub
We thank Priscilla Munoz, Maria Tyler, Mary Johnson, Diana T. Lombardo, Laura Hannafey, Claudia Gomes, Denise Cooper and Susan Bittker for excellent technical assistance. We thank Dr. John Glass for his advice and Dr. Roland Martin, from CSL Biosciences, Australia, for providing the borrelia whole cell sonicate antigen. This study was supported by grants from NIH, SBIR, number 5 R44 AI44572-03, NIH program project grant 431P009A and New York State legislative initiative in Lyme disease grant number 860042.
Brook Biotechnologies, Inc., Stony Brook, NY, 11790, USA
Maria JC Gomes-Solecki
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, 10595, USA
Gary P Wormser
Department of Medicine, SUNY at Stony Brook, NY, 11794-8161, USA
Raymond J Dattwyler
Present address – CMM, Center for Infectious Diseases, SUNY at Stony Brook, NY, 11794-5120, USA
Correspondence to Raymond J Dattwyler.
MGS carried out the T cell assays, performed the statistical analysis and drafted the manuscript. GPW participated in the design and coordination of the study. MGS and RJD conceived of the study, and participated in its design and coordination.
All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Gomes-Solecki, M.J., Wormser, G.P. & Dattwyler, R.J. IFNγ production in peripheral blood of early Lyme disease patients to hLFAαL (aa326-345). BMC Musculoskelet Disord 3, 25 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-3-25
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-3-25
Erythema Migrans
Lyme Arthritis
Early Lyme Disease


text:
package com.eatle.persistent.generator;

import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.sql.SQLException;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

import org.mybatis.generator.api.MyBatisGenerator;
import org.mybatis.generator.config.Configuration;
import org.mybatis.generator.config.xml.ConfigurationParser;
import org.mybatis.generator.exception.InvalidConfigurationException;
import org.mybatis.generator.exception.XMLParserException;
import org.mybatis.generator.internal.DefaultShellCallback;

/**
 *
 *@Title: 生成器启动类
 *@Description:
 *@Author:xt
 *@Since:2012-7-3
 *@Version:1.1.0
 */
public class MyBatisGeneratorTool {
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		List<String> warnings = new ArrayList<String>();
		boolean overwrite = true;
		String genCfg = "generatorConfig.xml";
		File configFile = new File(MyBatisGeneratorTool.class.getResource(genCfg).getFile());
		ConfigurationParser cp = new ConfigurationParser(warnings);
		Configuration config = null;
		try {
			config = cp.parseConfiguration(configFile);
			DefaultShellCallback callback = new DefaultShellCallback(overwrite);
			MyBatisGenerator myBatisGenerator = null;
			myBatisGenerator = new MyBatisGenerator(config, callback, warnings);
			myBatisGenerator.generate(null);

		} catch (SQLException e) {
			e.printStackTrace();
		} catch (IOException e) {
			e.printStackTrace();
		} catch (InterruptedException e) {
			e.printStackTrace();
		}catch (InvalidConfigurationException e) {
			e.printStackTrace();
		} catch (XMLParserException e) {
			// TODO Auto-generated catch block
			e.printStackTrace();
		}
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


What is it we cash expect in the next round of mass manipulation of the younger generations to bolster the will of the corporate state?
Superiority of race was the programming pushed upon the children under the Third Reich, today the children are given a superiority complex under the climate script. To achieve success in this regard the religious foundation of the target nation has to be so completely undermined, that the age old and global norm of child obeys parent, can be overturned, with the private enterprise controlling the shift and into who's arms go the brainwashed children, and from the former example in Germany, all the children were slaughtered. More on this later in the story.
Dividing the generations is an essential requirement for destroying the continuum of culture, morality and racial sovereignty. Through the arts, music, film and the media, the script is released, when you have the education platform in your hands as today the corporate realm has across the globe, dividing the generations becomes easy.
Standing tall above all of the above we find 'The Tavistock Institute,' a serious piece of kit for the programming of the masses, using the mystery school doctrine from the Egyptian Book of the Dead to ensure global society moves in the direction of the new world order coveted by the supreme elect of Roman families also known as the Illuminati. With the House of Rothschild merely the court financiers for this elect royal cabal incorporating the now global intelligence web born of the East India Companies.
Tavistock is this global intelligence network which was thrust into the public domain and rebranded the Tavistock Institute for Human Relations after the First World War under the guise of correlating data on what was termed shell shock. What they achieved was to improve their ability in the use of such war damaged men to serve in the formation of a British underworld, headed by Winston Churchill utilising the entire British intelligence network to that end. See Peaky Blinders for a great insight in England post WW1.
From this same network was formed the Round Table groups coming out of the Milner Group which acted as the hidden hand to ensure the First World War was possible. Today the global head of this NGO network operates through the Royal Institute for International Affairs, with many international headquarters all moving to the overall plan set by the central banking network. It was the Round Table of Cecil Rhodes that presented to the world the decided fact that the cabal of none western rulers had chosen the British monarchical system to front the global takeover, and to become the final cover system to administer the will of the Illumined atop the global government that is the United Nations.
The new world order is being forced upon mankind through the climate change taxation and regulatory grid, which also serves as the foundation of the one world religion. The Clinton Global Initiative is a serious piece of wizardry in this regard, interlocking with Sir Richard Branson as a director for the overriding controller of the UK's big six energy companies.
So that is what they have achieved, the next question would be….How?
In pre WW11 Germany the youth underwent a program based in the Froebel method, but not before it underwent a tweaking at the Tavistock in London. The program was all about the superiority of race and was driven into the minds of the children in readiness for the man-god doctrine of Adolph Hitler, today the same program is being driven into the minds of our children through the fully incorporated Academy platform, but not in so much as superiority of race, but in the superiority of the generation to which they belong, over the proceeding generations, especially that of their parents who, according to the corporate program, have ravished the planet and taken their future away, encouraging them to become warriors for Gia. From this we can deduce that in the not so distant future will appear a new man-god for the programmed generation and as was launched in Germany, when the children turned against the adults and became Brown Shirts, today as the modern expression of the same, we are witnessing the building of the 'Green Army'. Brown Shirts or Green Shirts, the outcome will be the same.
All our newspapers will be of all possible complexions, aristocratic, republican, revolutionary, even anarchical-for so long of course, as the constitution exists. Like the Indian idol Vishnu they will have a hundred hands, and every one of them will have a finger on any one of the public opinions as required.
When a pulse (or impulse formed by our works) quickens these hands will lead opinion in the direction of our aims, for an excited patient loses all power of judgement and easily yields to suggestion.
Those fools who will think they are repeating the opinion of a newspaper of their own camp they will be repeating our opinion or any opinion that seems desirable for us. In the vain belief that they are following the organ of their party they will in fact follow the flag which we hang out for them.


You arrive just outside the entrance of the dungeon after a long and weary trek. You go to push open the iron doors, but as soon as you lay a hand upon them you hear the crumbling of rock above you. Two statuesque, bat-like creatures spring to life and dart towards you, their claws outstretched. This accursed place is guarded by gargoyles.
Today we're dusting off a fantasy staple, the gargoyle. If you somehow have never heard of a gargoyle, their unique property is that at first glance they appear to be statues that are either part of a building or a decoration of the room you are in. The gargoyle will seemingly out of nowhere come to life and strike you when you have let your guard down.
That being said, they are some of the most perfect guards for a spooky castle, church, or evil lair. They are not very bright, but they take orders well enough and can discretely watch over your base of operations while not requiring any food, water, or sleep.
Back into the Monster Manual, we go. Today we're talking all about the ever-vigilant guardsmen, gargoyles!
Gargoyles can actually be found in real life, well to a degree at least. They're very commonly found on churches, castles, and other old, stone architecture. While they are impressive pieces of artwork to adorn your fancy stone building, they also serve a purpose.
Gargoyles were hewn into the stone with spouts that would carry water away from these stone buildings. This was necessary as rainwater would erode the mortar between the stone walls of these buildings. Think of them as medieval gutters.
For the record, not every gargoyle you'd see is necessarily a fancy-looking gutter. Some of these statues were carved simply for decoration. These statues are called grotesques.
I love the look of the 3.5e gargoyle. It's lanky, but just the right amount of terrifyingly demonic. Art by WotC.
In D&D lore, gargoyles are purely creatures, so they're probably closer to grotesques than a true real-life gargoyle. These creatures are not particularly bright, but they're loyal to a master with superior cunning and intelligence. Common masters of gargoyles include evil magic users and demons.
Gargoyles can handle simple tasks, but they handle them well. Instruct them to guard, torture, or anything else that will provide them with an avenue to harm intruders without requiring any complex decision making and your gargoyles will be extremely happy.
They typically look demonic in nature, and it's intentional. For one, it's a great way to ward off interlopers if your statues look terrifying. Also, it checks-out with their demeanor. To quote the Monster Manual, "Gargoyles have a reputation for cruelty".
You can find the gargoyle statblock on page 140 of the Monster Manual.
Gargoyles have a decent ability score spread for a CR 2 creature. Their two -2 modifiers are in Intelligence and Charisma, which are two of the least-used saving throws in the game, even less so in the early game of 5th edition.
If you hadn't guessed, the stone creature that is literally created to be a guard is very gifted defensively. 15 AC via natural armor and a +3 Constitution modifier play into their role quite nicely. They have a fair amount of damage resistances and immunities which makes their 52 HP that much more effective.
Their +2 Strength modifier still allows them to dish out some ok damage, but it's nothing particularly great. Their Dexterity and Wisdom is average.
They also have a fair amount of mobility, which is unexpected for a creature made of stone. 60 flying speed and 30 ground speed is pretty damn great for a CR 2 creature. Couple this with their high defenses and you can play a bit risky to force intruders to move out of position to make any attacks against you.
As expected, gargoyles have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons. Interestingly though, any type of adamantine weapons are able to cleave through their stone skin. Adamantine is a very rare metal in D&D that can make extremely sharp weapons and extra durable armor. It's not magical, but it's basically a step above your typical metals used for these types of equipment.
Since they're not a creature that needs to breath, and they don't have internal organs, they are immune to poison damage and the poisoned condition. It makes sense, and it's their best condition immunity by far due to how common it is.
Exhaustion is an increasingly deadly condition, but for creatures, having immunity to it is mostly for flavor. That being said, it can get pretty nasty, so if your party has a way of imposing the exhaustion condition on a creature it's decent.
This justification is the same for their immunity to being petrified. It's a rare condition so you won't see a lot of mileage out of the immunity, but it's flavorful and nice to have just in case.
Their passive Perception is nothing to write home about, but at least they have darkvision!
It's also going to be tough to role-play your way out of a hostile scenario with a gargoyle since they only understand Terran.
The artwork for the 5e gargoyle makes them a bit bulkier. It's definitely closer to a traditional gargoyle. Art by WotC.
True to form, False Appearance gives the gargoyle a way to appear to be a statue just like their lore and historical references would have you believe. The only catch is that the creature has to remain completely motionless.
Thankfully, gargoyles can stay completely still pretty much indefinitely since they do not require food, drink, sleep, or air to live. Therefore, their best tactical decision is to use their False Appearance unless they are required to move.
This is a particularly great trait to use to really screw with your players. If they're expected gargoyles you can throw in some plain old statues and watch them freak out or waste resources to demolish the statues.
A two attack Multiattack is average. A gargoyle can deal an average of 10 damage between two attacks. These attacks are two different damage types, but it's pretty rare to have resistance or immunity to slashing or piecing and not for piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning.
For a CR 2 creature, 10 damage per round is a bit below average. It's clear that gargoyles are not meant to be brutish damage dealers, but guardsmen that will occupy intruders until more offensively-gifted allies arrive to start dishing out damage.
Gargoyles have what I'd call a solid defensive baseline. They aren't reliant on any specific scenario to help their survivability. They have high AC for their CR and it's natural so there aren't a lot of ways to lower it. Their HP by itself is respectable at 52.
Nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage are by far the most common damage types for low-level PCs. A low-level creature with resistance to these damage types can almost double their effective HP considering how much damage they'll be reducing during a typical combat encounter.
Higher level PCs with magical weapons and items will most likely cut through gargoyles like butter. If you were to scale-up gargoyles, giving them resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage out-right would be the first order of business in my opinion.
Poison damage and the poisoned condition are both common for magic using PCs to have access to. Immunity to both of these is solid.
Gargoyles have a very solid baseline with some great perks.
Gargoyles become much more lifelike when they are not using their False Appearance. Art by Albe75.
Flying speed is always a noticeable perk. For one thing, it is typically unrestricted movement which can mean that the creature can either advance upon or retreat from the enemy much more efficiently.
Flying speed is also an enormous perk in terms of a combat encounter. Gargoyles can swoop down from their post high up on a tower and strike an unsuspecting adventurer with ease. They can also bank on their heavy natural armor and large health pool to fly out of combat range and hide behind cover.
Flight offers a lot of extra choices and variables. In battle, the side with more decisions and options is generally at an inherent advantage. Even more so when it's at a point in the game when the party doesn't have access to spells or items that grant them flying speed, making them sitting ducks.
Flying speed at a low CR is always a very solid benefit.
You probably saw this weakness from a mile away. An average of 10 damage between two attacks is mediocre even for a CR 2 creature. It would be a different story if this damage had some sort of effect tied to it.
Both of their attacks are at melee range as well. They're just two very standard melee attacks with o.k. damage.
If anything, this weakness is a necessity for how strong a gargoyle's defenses are. That being said, in actual play I tend to find that great offensive ability is much more important than strong defenses in 5e. It's generally better to crush the other side than it is to last a lot of rounds in a fight.
Gargoyles are basically a low-level martial character's worst nightmare. They have flying, high AC, and resistance to basic weapon attacks. Even if you're a ranged character you're still going to have some difficulties dealing with a gargoyle.
Magic users, on the other hand, will be able to pelt gargoyles from the sky, atop buildings, or anywhere else. They still have to deal with cover if a gargoyle hides behind a building, wall, or structure, but at least they'll be reliably dealing their full damage.
Gargoyles aren't immune to a lot of early game conditions like blindness, incapacitated, or dazed (among other 1st and 2nd level conditions) which can leave them open to being crowd controlled if they're not careful.
On top of that, a lot of these conditions require a Wisdom save which with a +0 modifier is a literal roll of the dice to see if you've passed the saving throw.
Unless your magic user is strictly using poison damage spells they're going to be the bane of a gargoyle's existence.
Gargoyles come in many different shapes, sizes, and appearances. Art by TheRafa.
By staying completely still and making good use of False Appearance, your gargoyles can bide their time until the ideal opportunity presents itself. This trait gives gargoyles a way to offset their low damage output by picking their battles.
Let's put it this way, the gargoyles' master will have told them to guard a specific location. This could be the entrance of the dungeon or an important room. Their instructions could even be to guard a specific item or creature within the room, but regardless, they are confined to a location until they are given different instructions.
Once the party of unsuspecting adventurers enters the room, the clock begins to tick for the gargoyles. False Appearance will make the gargoyles indistinguishable from a statue, so they're safe. However, the party will eventually move past the room.
As soon as a great opening presents itself, your gargoyles need to strike. Perhaps through a surprise round if they can muster it. These openings could be the party planning their next steps together, inspecting the building or furniture, or even when they try to take a short rest.
Due to their excellent natural defenses and flying speed, gargoyles are great fighters in large spaces. They could swoop down from the rooftops of a castle or church, or pop out from a crevice within the room to flank the unsuspecting party.
Gargoyles have a lot of maneuverability with their 60 ft. of flying speed. They can swoop at a nearby victim, make their two attacks, and then fly behind some cover.
With their high AC, HP, and damage resistances, gargoyles can afford to risk their target making an opportunity attack against them if it means that they'll be able to take cover. Cover can either give your gargoyles a bit of an AC boost or flat-out not allow ranged characters to target them. This minimalizes the impact that magic-users can have on your gargoyles and makes them last a bit longer in the fight.
Large spaces are great, but an ideal space has a lot of outcroppings, walls, and other forms of cover that your gargoyles can temporarily hide behind.
Use cover to your advantage! Art by R-Valle.
A small group of gargoyles is probably not going to deal enough damage to TPK a party by themselves. That's not where their strengths lie as a creature.
They're basically made to eat damage to either buy time for their allies to arrive, or to simply wear-down the party and force them to expend resources; making the party an easier kill for their master. But, they're damn good at that considering how much damage they can soak.
The party is going to have to make a choice each time they are in a combat encounter against your gargoyles. Will they expend valuable class resources and spell slots to drop the gargoyles quickly, or will they duke it out and take a fair amount of chip damage? Either way, your stone guardians have achieved their purpose.
Gargoyles are pretty basic. They don't have a lot of interesting mechanics to play around with, but they're pretty well-made thematically speaking. They're fun guards to use if you want to play mind games with your players. Halfway through the dungeon delve they'll be sure to question and inspect every stone statue.
They're great creatures to use to slowly chip away at the party's resources before they meet the master of the gargoyles. If they somehow manage to take-down their intruders they can always drag them down to the dungeon for torturing, or they could present their prisoners to the master of the dungeon.
In my opinion, they're a fun, defense-minded creature that does what they are built to do well. Simple tasks that seek to cause harm to sentient creatures.
Also, I'm just a sucker for gargoyle artwork.


text:
Core i5-3570K, -3550, -3550S, And -3570T: Ivy Bridge Efficiency
By Chris Angelini published 22 May 12
After recommending Sandy Bridge last year, we weren't particularly impressed by the new Ivy Bridge-based Core i7-3770K as an upgrade. But are Intel's more mainstream third-gen Core i5 processors any more attractive? We grab four models to find out.
Page 1: Four Ivy Bridge-Based Core i5 CPUs, Compared
Page 2: Lining Up The Contenders: Are There 95 W IVBs?
Page 3: Test Setup And Benchmarks
Page 4: Benchmark Results: PCMark 7
Page 5: Benchmark Results: SiSoft Sandra 2012
Page 6: Benchmark Results: Adobe CS 5.5 And Content Creation
Page 7: Benchmark Results: Productivity
Page 8: Benchmark Results: File Compression
Page 9: Benchmark Results: Media Encoding
Page 10: Benchmark Results: 3DMark 11
Page 11: Benchmark Results: 3DMark 11, Integrated Vs. Entry-Level Discrete
Page 12: Benchmark Results: Real-World Games
Page 13: Power Consumption And Max. Temperature
Page 14: Efficiency
Page 15: Low-Power CPUs: Specific Applications Only
If you've already read my launch coverage of Intel's Ivy Bridge architecture, then you probably also saw that I charted power consumption across all of our benchmarks, facilitating an average, a precise time measurement, and a representation of watt-hours based on the product of those two.
The only hiccup we encountered was that Intel's older Core i7-2700K wrapped up faster than the Core i7-3770K. This was because the -2700K doesn't support DirectX 11, and consequently skipped through 3DMark 11. Thus, I'm leaving Sandy Bridge out of this comparison altogether.
It's typically pretty hard to read these line charts, particularly with more than 30 or 40 minutes worth of data from five different CPUs crammed in. However, the peaks are perhaps most telling. We clearly see that the 77 W Core i7-3770K spikes the highest, followed by the Core i5-3550, the Core i5-3570K and Core i5-3550S fairly close together, and finally the Core i5-3570T.
In an effort to make it easier to digest that consumption information, I averaged together the lines for each CPU. The result is surprisingly subtle.
As we'd expect, the Core i7-3770K uses the most power. The other two 77 W models follow behind closely. Interestingly, the 65 W Core i5-3550S ends up less than 1 W behind the Core i5-3570K. The most significant reduction comes from the Core i5-3570T, which drops down to 82.9 W of system power, on average.
Of course, the compromise you make when you cut power is generally a corresponding loss of performance. We see a gradual scale down from the Core i7-3770K at just under 38 minutes to the Core i5-3570T, which takes almost 47 minutes to finish our benchmark suite.
All of those results trump what we saw in my original review of the Core i7-3770K. In fact, even a Core i7-3960X mated to a GeForce GTX 680 took more than an hour and nine minutes to wrap up. So, what the heck happened? Knowing that the major difference between that platform and these is integrated graphics, that PCMark 7 is able to exploit Quick Sync, and that the results we garnered for PCMark were so much higher than anything seen before, it's safe to assume that the most significant time-savings comes from Futuremark's synthetic metric.
We can take those average power consumption numbers and multiply them by the fraction of an hour taken to complete our in-house suite to come up with energy used in watt-hours.
What we find is that the two fastest processors—both K-series SKUs—use their superior performance to finish up workloads faster. The fact that they use slightly more power, on average, than the purported low-power parts is completely counteracted by their ability to drop back to idle sooner.
Although Core i5-3550 is the least-efficient model in our comparison, the –T and –S parts fail to impress. There's really only one reason to buy either SKU, and I'll get into that as we wrap up.
Current page: Efficiency
Prev Page Power Consumption And Max. Temperature Next Page Low-Power CPUs: Specific Applications Only
Chris Angelini
Chris Angelini is an Editor Emeritus at Tom's Hardware US. He edits hardware reviews and covers high-profile CPU and GPU launches.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
package com.microsoft.projectoxford.visionsample;

import android.content.Intent;
import android.graphics.Bitmap;
import android.net.Uri;
import android.os.AsyncTask;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.v7.app.ActionBarActivity;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuItem;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.EditText;
import android.widget.ImageView;

import com.google.gson.Gson;
import com.microsoft.projectoxford.vision.VisionServiceClient;
import com.microsoft.projectoxford.vision.VisionServiceRestClient;
import com.microsoft.projectoxford.vision.contract.AnalysisResult;
import com.microsoft.projectoxford.vision.contract.Category;
import com.microsoft.projectoxford.vision.contract.Face;
import com.microsoft.projectoxford.vision.contract.Tag;
import com.microsoft.projectoxford.vision.contract.Caption;
import com.microsoft.projectoxford.vision.rest.VisionServiceException;
import com.microsoft.projectoxford.visionsample.helper.ImageHelper;

import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;

public class DescribeActivity extends ActionBarActivity {

    // Flag to indicate which task is to be performed.
    private static final int REQUEST_SELECT_IMAGE = 0;

    // The button to select an image
    private Button mButtonSelectImage;

    // The URI of the image selected to detect.
    private Uri mImageUri;

    // The image selected to detect.
    private Bitmap mBitmap;

    // The edit to show status and result.
    private EditText mEditText;

    private VisionServiceClient client;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_describe);

        if (client==null){
            client = new VisionServiceRestClient(getString(R.string.subscription_key));
        }

        mButtonSelectImage = (Button)findViewById(R.id.buttonSelectImage);
        mEditText = (EditText)findViewById(R.id.editTextResult);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
        getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.menu_describe, menu);
        return true;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
        // Handle action bar item clicks here. The action bar will
        // automatically handle clicks on the Home/Up button, so long
        // as you specify a parent activity in AndroidManifest.xml.
        int id = item.getItemId();

        //noinspection SimplifiableIfStatement
        if (id == R.id.action_settings) {
            return true;
        }

        return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
    }

    public void doDescribe() {
        mButtonSelectImage.setEnabled(false);
        mEditText.setText("Describing...");

        try {
            new doRequest().execute();
        } catch (Exception e)
        {
            mEditText.setText("Error encountered. Exception is: " + e.toString());
        }
    }

    // Called when the "Select Image" button is clicked.
    public void selectImage(View view) {
        mEditText.setText("");

        Intent intent;
        intent = new Intent(DescribeActivity.this, com.microsoft.projectoxford.visionsample.helper.SelectImageActivity.class);
        startActivityForResult(intent, REQUEST_SELECT_IMAGE);
    }

    // Called when image selection is done.
    @Override
    protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
        Log.d("DescribeActivity", "onActivityResult");
        switch (requestCode) {
            case REQUEST_SELECT_IMAGE:
                if(resultCode == RESULT_OK) {
                    // If image is selected successfully, set the image URI and bitmap.
                    mImageUri = data.getData();

                    mBitmap = ImageHelper.loadSizeLimitedBitmapFromUri(
                            mImageUri, getContentResolver());
                    if (mBitmap != null) {
                        // Show the image on screen.
                        ImageView imageView = (ImageView) findViewById(R.id.selectedImage);
                        imageView.setImageBitmap(mBitmap);

                        // Add detection log.
                        Log.d("DescribeActivity", "Image: " + mImageUri + " resized to " + mBitmap.getWidth()
                                + "x" + mBitmap.getHeight());

                        doDescribe();
                    }
                }
                break;
            default:
                break;
        }
    }

    private String process() throws VisionServiceException, IOException {
        Gson gson = new Gson();

        // Put the image into an input stream for detection.
        ByteArrayOutputStream output = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
        mBitmap.compress(Bitmap.CompressFormat.JPEG, 100, output);
        ByteArrayInputStream inputStream = new ByteArrayInputStream(output.toByteArray());

        AnalysisResult v = this.client.describe(inputStream, 1);

        String result = gson.toJson(v);
        Log.d("result", result);

        return result;
    }

    private class doRequest extends AsyncTask<String, String, String> {
        // Store error message
        private Exception e = null;

        public doRequest() {
        }

        @Override
        protected String doInBackground(String... args) {
            try {
                return process();
            } catch (Exception e) {
                this.e = e;    // Store error
            }

            return null;
        }

        @Override
        protected void onPostExecute(String data) {
            super.onPostExecute(data);
            // Display based on error existence

            mEditText.setText("");
            if (e != null) {
                mEditText.setText("Error: " + e.getMessage());
                this.e = null;
            } else {
                Gson gson = new Gson();
                AnalysisResult result = gson.fromJson(data, AnalysisResult.class);

                mEditText.append("Image format: " + result.metadata.format + "\n");
                mEditText.append("Image width: " + result.metadata.width + ", height:" + result.metadata.height + "\n");
                mEditText.append("\n");

                for (Caption caption: result.description.captions) {
                    mEditText.append("Caption: " + caption.text + ", confidence: " + caption.confidence + "\n");
                }
                mEditText.append("\n");

                for (String tag: result.description.tags) {
                    mEditText.append("Tag: " + tag + "\n");
                }
                mEditText.append("\n");

                mEditText.append("\n--- Raw Data ---\n\n");
                mEditText.append(data);
                mEditText.setSelection(0);
            }

            mButtonSelectImage.setEnabled(true);
        }
    }
}


Washington Area Bike Forum > Forum Topics > Bikes & Equipment > Maintenance > broken chain link and jacked up gear shifter?
View Full Version : broken chain link and jacked up gear shifter?
I ride a homemade road bike. It's a Specialized, carbon fiber frame (very light and easy to ride around) with a mode-podge of components added to it. My boyfriend's brother made it for me. I ride it 5 days a week to and from work (approx. 6 miles total) I've been riding pretty problem free for about a month now.
I'm wondering if anyone has any kind of explanation here. And if so is there a way I can fix this without having to take it to a bike shop here in D.C. If not, is there something I was doing that caused this? Is there a way to prevent this from happening again?
Welcome! Sorry to hear about your malfunction. I think best case scenario, you just lost a pin in your chain, which caused it to separate (could be an installation error or just a dud...) and you just need to fix the chain. You can do this by either buying a new chain or buying a link (if the chain is old, it may be worth it to just get a new one...a link is like $4 and the shop can help you figure out exactly what you need). Either way, you will need a chain breaker tool and probably some quick Googling to install everything, although a shop can do it pretty cheap and quick. Regarding your "silver gear shifting thing" (aka, the front derailleur :D), my hope (going back to the best case scenario) is that it looks misaligned because it's half-shifted, and not because it's actually busted. If you toggle a downshift (little lever on your left shifter), it should release the tension and realign.
Worst case is that your front derailleur needs to be fixed, but even that would be a relatively simple job for a shop or a relatively skilled buddy (wouldn't really recommend you doing that one yourself).
I have been experiencing some difficulty when shifting gears.
What kind of difficulties? Like the chain suddenly slipping, or like the gears shifting at random times? I would say in general that chain's probably history, but depending on what the difficulty is, there might be other drivetrain parts needing replacing as well.
Regarding your "silver gear shifting thing" (aka, the front derailleur :D), my hope (going back to the best case scenario) is that it looks misaligned because it's half-shifted, and not because it's actually busted. If you toggle a downshift (little lever on your left shifter), it should release the tension and realign.
It could also be turned out of alignment, e.g. rotated around the downtube (for lauren: the tube it is attached to), so it could need a simple turn and retightening to line it back up. Let's hope it's not busted.
By the way, the technical bike term for what the status of your chain is "toast."
I like the suggestion that the silver shifting thingie rotated or otherwise shifted position, thereby setting the whole train of events into motion. That fits with the observation that the bike was assembled out of parts that the brother had lying around or could get for free.
You are assigned to my team in Freezing Saddles (http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?9632-Registration-for-Freezing-Saddles-2016-is-now-open!)!
Except with way more chuckling knuckleheads dispensing the (more or less) bo-oh-oh-oh-gus advice.
In the first picture, the front derailleur seems much too low. This could happen if it wasn't installed tightly enough, slipped down, and then the chain got stuck when you tried to shift.
My recommendation is to take it to the Bike Rack (conveniently located at 14th and Q) and have them take a look. It's very likely you need a new chain, but beyond that it's tough to judge from photos.
All this feedback is so very helpful!..I have new found optimism that this isn't the end for my beloved (and fast!) bike!...I think I'll start with getting a new chain and see if I can "toggle" the "silver gear shift thing" (aka front derailleur) to get it back into place. If it's has in fact slipped though I may need some more experienced hands in which case I'll take it to the shop.
jrenaut, you recommend Bike Rack on 14th and Q?...I'm willing to give it a shot. I've been to several bike shops in D.C. and for the most part they are kind and helpful. I just would rather learn how to do some of this basic maintenance stuff on my own instead of paying to have it done for me. I have some people I know that can help fix it for free, which is nice to have on had, but at the end of the day, I think it will be much more efficient (and cheaper) if I can figure it out...plus I'm curious and want to learn!
Ah, this makes sense. However, it feels pretty tight on there to me. I can't seem to move it around at all. But maybe these are micro movements?
It just doesn't shift smoothly. My other bikes have different shifters and I don't feel the shift as much. It's been tough for me to get the hang of the positioning of these shifters on the dropped down handle bars but also, when I shift it can take a few trys before it feels like it actually moves. Does this make sense?
I had this happen to me a few weeks ago. One link of the chain started to separate from the pin. The chain was catching something on every rotation, probably at the rear derailleur. I GINGERLY biked 3 miles to Phoenix and borrowed their chain breaker to fix it. I broke and reassembled the chain at that link without issue. This means the chain may not be toast yet. You can always just take out the one link that is bent from this incident (which will shorten the chain a bit). If you can get the bike to shift into both the big chainring and rear cog, then the shorter chain is still sufficiently long to work.
I wouldn't replace the chain unless it was too stretched.
The first and fifth pictures suggest that the front derailleur is too low and may have slipped down the seat tube. The third picture suggests this is not true. Because of the angles of the photos, I can't tell whether your front derailleur needs adjustment.
Having the bike not shift smoothly suggests that the chain problem has been slow in developing. If it were a bad shift that caught the front derailleur, my guess is that the chain would make mincemeat out of the derailleur rather than the other way around.
This sounds like a derailleur adjustment issue, though in rare cases it could be caused by a frayed cable. If you're at the shop to get a new chain anyway (or have it evaluated), I can't imagine it would cost more than $10 or $20 for labor to get the shifting tuned up; if you do need a new chain, adjusting the shifting may be part of the installation anyway.
If you ask nicely, some shops will let you watch, or walk you through, what they're doing, so you can pick up some good info that way. Also, a lot of shops do clinics on a pretty regular basis (REI definitely does, and I think BicycleSpace).
And there's always the interwebs.
I just would rather learn how to do some of this basic maintenance stuff on my own instead of paying to have it done for me. I have some people I know that can help fix it for free, which is nice to have on had, but at the end of the day, I think it will be much more efficient (and cheaper) if I can figure it out...plus I'm curious and want to learn!
So I'm going to reverse my MO and suggest that you head over to the Facebook Women & Bicycles group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/WomenandBicycles/) (I'm forever telling people there to come here). There are women-focused maintenance classes at various bike shops and coops (Phoenix and Velocity). People there know more details.
I can't imagine it would cost more than $10 or $20 for labor to get the shifting tuned up; if you do need a new chain, adjusting the shifting may be part of the installation anyway.
I have been riding bikes and doing most of my basic maintenance since way back in the last century. But with the advent of index shifting (to the eternal chagrin of dismal) I have struggled to get my shifting adjusted just right when I do it myself. I can do it usually, but it takes me a lot of trial and error. OTOH, my mechanic gets it done in just a couple of minutes.
When you talk about your shifting being skitchy, I'm thinking you are talking about the rear derailleur*, not the front (that is, you experience the problem when you shift the right-side shifter). It is quite possible that is entirely unrelated to your chain and front derailleur problem. I'm hypothesizing that your rear derailleur just needs some adjusting.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that whatever you end up doing with the chain and front derailleur, I highly recommend you have the shop adjust your shifting for you. They'll get it right for either free or close to free.
My guess. The chain link plate came off the roll pin. Open plate end caught the front "shiftier thingy" AKA front derailleur cage and bent it. This is the lock up that was experienced.
New chain or punch the bad link and replace with a master and unbend and tune the front derailleur. Hour labor and $3 for a master or $25 for a chain for the fix. Full mid level clean/tune up and a new chain for the long game.
If you go in for help when a shop isn't too busy, they'll often show you how to fix it while they're doing the repair. This is how I learned how to fix a flat, how to get the wheel off my internally-geared-hub/disc brake bike, how to line my wheels up for the disc brakes properly, how to play with normal brakes and chains and cables, how to raise or lower my handlebars, etc. Key thing is to find a friendly shop on a slow day. As long as you're paying them one way or the other, they're often happy to discuss what they're doing and why. Or they'll just show you for free when they're in a happy mood.
I do recommend Bike Rack. They're good people. They're also open at 8am so it's super convenient if you find yourself with a problem on the way to work.
If you want to learn how to fix stuff yourself, you have a couple options. Many people on this forum are happy to teach you all sorts of things, most of them work for beer. The Bike Rack does maintenance classes, check their website for a schedule. I think they fill up quickly. And Annie's Ace Hardware at 13th and Upshur hosts the Bike House Saturdays 12-3 (although I think not over the winter). You can just take your bike there and they'll help you out (donations encouraged).
It's normal for a chain and gears to wear out, so if you need to replace them, that's okay. Chains stretch and gear teeth wear down.
Did you manage to get it fixed and get home on your bike?
I second the recommendation of the Facebook Women & Bicycles group. They are very informative and supportive (or so I have heard).
Also: I routinely ride out of the city on longer rides (commuting and recreation), so in addition to riding with a chain breaker tool, I generally keep a couple of the KMC Missing Links with me (see here: http://kmcchain.us/connectors-list/page/2/ ). Popping a pin out of a cranky/broken chain is pretty easy. Seating a pin back in just right is rather hard, especially away from home.
Having these quick and easy links on hand for both home installations as well as field repairs makes me a lot less stressed (and a lot more likely to make it home on my bike). Just make sure you get the right ones for your chain/cassette (9, 10 or 11-speed are different links). They're on amazon and available at many shops.


David Brink [share_ebook] Essentials of Statistics - David Brink by David Brink | Free eBooks Download - EBOOKEE!
students find that the obligatory Statistics course comes as a shock. The set textbook is difficult, the curriculum is vast, and secondary-school maths feels infinitely far away. "Statistics" offers friendly instruction on the core areas of these subjects. The focus is overview. And the numerous examples give the reader a "recipe" for solving all the common types of exercise. You can download this book free of charge.
2012-09-25David Brink, "Essentials of Statistics - Exercises"
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Movie Review: Dames of Thrones
by johnnygayzmonic
The Grimm Brothers meet Miyazaki and Tolkien while Charlize Theron meets utter fierceness in the dark, alluring Snow White and the Huntsman.
WARNING: FLASHING CURSOR ON THE SCREEN, THERE MAY BE MILD SPOILERS SEEN!
The Kingdom is in distress, ruled with an iron fist and a venomous heart by the wicked Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron). Years earlier, she married then killed King Magnus (Noah Huntley) and imprisoned his daughter Snow White (Kristen Stewart) in a tower. Ravenna wields powerful black magic, which she fuels by draining the beauty of other women. When Snow White comes of age, Ravenna learns that devouring Snow's heart will grant her immortality. However, Snow escapes before Ravenna can do the deed, so the Queen sends a reluctant Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) to track her down. Upon meeting her, the Huntsman instead joins forces with her, a band of dwarves and the few citizens willing to risk their lives in order to finally end Ravenna's reign of terror.
Not exactly what you'd call a "meet-cute."
In what has become a far-too-common occurrence in modern cinema, dueling films based on the same property have come out within months of each other. In this case, Snow White and the Huntsman follows the release of the other Snow White movie, Tarsem's action/comedy Mirror, Mirror. Other than sharing a common source and a few minor plot details, Huntsman couldn't be more different. Whereas Mirror was light and glossy, Huntsman is dark and dramatic, mining the Grimm Brothers' classic fairy tale for the shadows at its core.
Helmed by British commercial director Rupert Sanders and written by Evan Daugherty, John Lee Hancock and Hossein Amini, Huntsman is an alluring, at times dreamlike, film that highlights the dark edges that most adaptations of the story only hint at or ignore altogether. The Dark Forest outside the castle walls isn't just dark. It's a desolate place of decay and despair, littered with hallucinogenic spores meant to entrap visitors in their own fears. Ravenna's subjects similarly reflect the land's erosion with their gaunt faces and desperate struggle for any scraps Ravenna tosses from on high. Even Ravenna herself must destroy others to maintain not only her magic, but her youth and beauty as well. This is not a land of singing birds and glass coffins. Snow White even escapes the castle through a sewage drain.
Milk. It does a wicked queen good.
Such a take on the Snow White story requires a revision of the characters, as well, and Huntsman turns a character commonly seen (thanks to Disney) as an archaic, submissive stereotype into a fiercely resourceful young woman who ends up becoming her own rescuer. Her relationship with the Huntsman is clearly a teacher/student connection, albeit an affectionate one, while her romance with Prince William (Sam Claflin) is wisely downplayed. Sanders and the writers narrowly avoid the near-obligatory "love triangle" subplot that muddied up the recent Red Riding Hood, focusing instead on Snow's quest to discover herself and how she relates to the kingdom and its people.
Kristen Stewart does a fantastic job as Snow, although part of this may be lowered expectations due to her prominent association with the banal Twilight series. Stewart is a much better actress than people give her credit for. In the end, it isn't her fault that Bella Swan has about as much depth as a stick figure line drawing. She can only do what's in her abilities with the material she's given, and even the best actress in the world would face an uphill challenge transcending Stephanie Myers' weak characterizations. However, Stewart's given much meatier material here, and she seems to relish the chance to be the dynamic force in the film, instead of the passive center, best exemplified by an inspirational monologue she gives that starts out in a shaky whisper and ends in a defiant, triumphant roar that nearly makes the audience want to stand up and charge into battle with her.
Snow of Arc.
Chris Hemsworth faces a slightly similar challenge, best known for playing the bombastic superhero Thor, and he succeeds well in playing against that type. The Huntsman (who is never given a proper name) is a broken, self-destructive man, escaping his grief over the loss of his wife through drink and gambling. He hints at a past that seems to involve a similarly self-destructive, Crusades-like war, and it's only through his association with Snow White that he rediscovers hope for the future. Thankfully, the word "love" is never spoken between Snow and the Huntsman, and there is no obvious romantic ties between the two. The relationship instead grows organically as the Huntsman sees parts of himself in Snow that he's suppressed, and Snow realizes through the Huntsman the power that can come through coping with loss.
The dwarves, sadly, don't get as much screen time as they probably deserve, but they are also not the focus of the film. Played by a who's who collection of British character actors like Bob Hoskins, Toby Jones, Nick Frost and Ray Winstone shrunk down Gimli-style, they're not given much to do, but still have distinct personalities. Sadly, some of their dialogue is muddled by some accents that seem too theatrically thick, and it's possible that a lot of their portion of the film was cut to focus on Snow's fight against the Queen. Thankfully, like the film's treatment of the Huntsman, the dwarves never follow Snow out of love, but out of hope, knowing that she's the only way to reclaim the land that was taken from them.
Axe. It does a huntsman good.
The true star of the movie, however, is Charlize Theron's fierce, villainously fabulous Queen Ravenna. Clearly modeled after Elizabeth Bathory, Ravenna may be the cruelest depiction of the Wicked Queen archetype in recent memory. Vicious and without remorse, everything she does is to secure the power she has, by any means necessary. Her power lies in her beauty, something that remains unquestioning until the day her magic mirror informs her that Snow White has surpassed her as the fairest in the land. Once she sees Snow as the first genuine threat to her power, she does everything she can to destroy her. Despite this, Ravenna is a very human character, her cruelty motivated by self-doubt and an unquenched vengeance for the men who have wronged her, and by her own logical extension, all women everywhere. It's revealed that only Ravenna can speak with or see the being in the magic mirror, which seems to be a death's shroud made of liquid gold, suggesting that the mirror itself may be simply a mundane extension of Ravenna's own insecurities. Theron tears into the role with enthusiasm, never crossing over into camp. She has a clear grasp on Ravenna's motivations and secrets and every moment is filed with conviction. Simply put, she's fascinating to watch and ranks among Theron's most memorable and entertaining performances.
The female of the species is deadlier than the male.
The film itself is similarly mesmerizing, with Sanders creating a lush visual world that still seems real and tactile, lacking the glossy sheen of films like Mirror, Mirror. The castle walls are not gleaming, and the only person in a stunning gown is Ravenna herself (thanks to the award-winning Colleen Atwood). The only points of brightness come during scenes set in Sanctuary, a faerie realm as yet untouched by Ravenna's poisonous reign. Sanctuary is clearly modeled after the works of Hayao Miyazaki, stag-leaping from inspiration straight into homage. It's especially indebted to Princess Mononoke, which may be Sanders' way of highlighting the film's larger themes of wholeness and consequence. While not an ecological allegory like that film, it's impossible to ignore the similarities. Ravenna uses power for her own end and for her own benefit, and the land spoils. Snow White seeks to use her power to benefit all, and the land in response blooms. Indeed, it could be said that Snow is the land itself, as she was born after her mother pricked herself on the thorn of a rose and made a wish for a daughter as drops of blood landed on the ground.
This is further strengthened by the duality found in the relationship between Ravenna and Snow. The two are different sides of the same coin, studies on how power can corrupt or how it can inspire. Ravenna puts herself first, Snow puts others first. Ravenna uses her beauty as a weapon, while Snow seems largely unaware of her own beauty. Ravenna is a manifestation of the power of the physical, while Snow is the power of emotion. Neither woman is wholly good or wholly evil. Flashbacks to Ravenna's past reveal tragedies that have taught her to protect herself by dominating those around her, while Snow doesn't hesitate to don armor and lead a near-suicidal charge on Ravenna's castle. This is why Ravenna decides to imprison the young Snow White, instead of kill her immediately. The two are bound in ways that neither one can fully comprehend, just as both are seemingly bound to land around them, like one spirit split into light and dark halves.
Snow White: Troll Whisperer.
The film does seem oddly bereft at times, as if portions of the journey were cut for time. The near-incestuous, possibly mystical relationship between Ravenna and her brother is never fully explored, and once William and Snow are reunited, William is essentially shunted aside by the rising action. Although it's nice not to have the romantic angle dominate Snow White for once, Sam Claflin is a fine prince, a daring rogue that could give Legloas a run for his money in the archery department (and not too hard on the eyes, either) and deserved better treatment. The climatic battle seems slight, despite its build-up, almost like an afterthought, the scenes of military struggles never as fascinating as the Huntsman and others fighting warriors made of obsidian shards powered by Ravenna's dark magic.
Talking to the man in the mirror.
The film would be served better by inserting more character development and backstory, but as it stands, it's a gorgeous epic, more a myth than a fairy tale. It's informed by modern sensibilities, but it's firmly rooted in traditional fantasy. There's no irony or satire, but there's also no melodrama or crushing sense of self-importance. This is a classic, rousing fantasy adventure that happens to also share plot points with the tale of Snow White. Underneath its CGI and legendary trappings, though, it's a study of the power of beauty and femininity that has thrilling set pieces to accompany Theron's admittedly fabulous fashions. This is what happens when faerie tales are taken for the explorations of the human game that they truly are.
Rating: 7 out of 10 / B
JOHNNY M (aka Snarky the Dwarf) is a frequent FBOTU contributor and the fairest in the land. <a href="http://www.fanboysoftheuniverse.com/index.php/forums/member/21/" title="
About johnnygayzmonic
Writer, musician, DJ, Dark World ambassador, geek, mutant, half-elf rogue/sorcerer, lover of muscle men, master of snark, bane of frat boys.
johnnygayzmonic.wordpress.com
"There's a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your friends better batten down the hatches. 'Cause when it hits, you're all gonna wonder how you ever thought you could live so large, and leave so little for the rest of us."
— Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) , The Dark Knight Rises


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The Southeast Regional Board of the Governor's STEM Advisory Council convened by Regional Manager Kristine Bullock recently at the UI/KCC Regional Center.
One of the earliest and most significant questions asked of and by the Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council back in 2011 was how to deliver inspiration and innovation locally throughout the state. A working group of volunteers assembled around the question, chaired by DMACC President Rob Denson. Their product was a network of six regions administered by Regional STEM Managers housed at competitively awarded and cost-sharing Hub institutions, guided by Governor-appointed Advisory Boards, analogous to a model operating in Massachusetts shared by then-Council member Isa Zimmerman.
Scott Fortune, owner of Upper Iowa Tool & Die in Cresco, and a charter member of the Northeast Regional Advisory Board, serves because he wants to be a part of the change in the education of Iowa students (future employees). The most rewarding aspect for Scott is when the Board meets students impacted by their programs, "especially those in grade school or middle school" who can explain in great detail how their project works, the failures they ran into and what they did to overcome those problems. Says Scott, "This tells me our work as a Board in supporting the STEM education of students is working."
Alan Ladd, Iowa State University Regional Education Extension Director in Atlantic, is a 5-year member of the Southwest Regional Advisory Board. His commitment to the Board springs from "... the excitement generated by STEM" when "both kids and parents' eyes light up when they see what STEM is and how much fun it is for the youth and for parents to see potential jobs for their children." Alan sees his role as supporting Regional STEM Manager Deb Frazee in making connections throughout the Southwest Region, "...and being a part of something bigger than ourselves."
Last year alone, Regional Managers collectively made 569 new connections across stakeholder groups thanks to this model. Iowa's network of Regional Advisory Boards is the backbone of the state's STEM initiative. Details on Regional Boards may be accessed at https://www.iowastem.gov/regions.


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Tokyo's Halloween Party Train Rides Again
The legend of the Yamanote Line comes to life again
David Michael Weber (crossfire) Print Article
A Masked Wrestler Enjoys a Drink on the Yamanote
©2005 D.Weber
"O friend and companion of night, thou who rejoicest in the baying of dogs and spilt blood, who wanderest in the midst of shades among the tombs, who longest for blood and bringest terror to mortals, Gorgo, Mormo, thousand-faced moon, look favourably on our sacrifices!" - HP Lovecraft
On a particular Saturday night in late October at a particular station in the heart of Tokyo, I found myself standing on the platform waiting for a particular train with a Halloween costume in my bag and a bottle of Jack Daniels in my back pocket. Around me small clumps of gaijins (foreigners) and Japanese, some in costume, some not, stood conspicuously inconspicuous on the platform of the northbound Yamanote Line. We were all there waiting for the same train. Some of us were seasoned veterans, while others were newbies waiting for proof of a Tokyo urban legend -- the Yamanote Halloween Train.
The Yamanote Line is one of the main arteries of Tokyo's extensive public transportation system. Pumping the city's lifeblood in the form of salary men, office ladies, school kids, English teachers, and foreign employees, the Yamanote consists of 29 stations in a circular loop around the center edge of Tokyo. It takes about one hour to do a complete loop barring any delays from people congestion, accidents, and suicides. It's possible to ride around and around Tokyo all day, or most of the day, if one catches the right train. There are no restrooms on the train, however, as many of the partiers found out to their horror three beers into the party.
A group waits ever-so-not-secretly for the Yamanote Halloween Train
The legend of the Yamanote Halloween Train goes that sometime in the 90s a group of gaijins and Japanese literally took over a Yamanote Train -- at least a car or two -- and partied on it as it looped around Tokyo. The tradition continued through the years it spread by word of mouth to become an urban legend. Some people thought it only a myth or just a one-time occurrence.
For the police, the Yamanote Halloween Train was no myth and some years later they helped to shut it down whenever it got too rowdy -- sometimes before it even began. In previous years, some of the partiers reportedly vented their anger at a faceless public transportation system with its inhumanly overcrowded trains and eyesore advertisements by ripping down ads and unscrewing the lights. Tired of being packed in like livestock, the cattle had rebelled against the cattle car. Obviously, this didn't sit too well with the authorities.
According to some there was a hiatus period of a few years in which the Yamanote Halloween Train didn't run. After waiting in vain last year for the train, one German gaijin decided to take matters into his own hands and initiated the call via a mass email that got spread around. In the past, so the stories say, the party would be announced surreptitiously through the free weekly English magazine: Metropolis then known as the Tokyo Classified.
Obviously a passenger for the Halloween Train at Shinjuku Station
Meanwhile that night the clumps of gaijins and Japanese slowly started to congeal together as we realized we shared a similar purpose. Many of them were like myself; they had heard of the Halloween train for years, but had never seen it. Some of us were worried the message was a fake or that the police would be in force to prevent any party from forming. But as the appointed time and train arrived, our fears were put to rest and the Yamanote Halloween Train ran once again.
Commuters suddenly found themselves deluged with a motley horde of vampires, power rangers, masked wrestlers, pirates, playboy bunnies, ninjas, one bloody Grim Reaper, and Darth Vader. Many of the commuters must have thought we were a large group heading to a Halloween party. What they soon came to realize was that we were the party.
Death on the Yamanote Express
Out came the booze and snacks. It was a strictly BYOB affair but the spirit of generosity moved the partiers to share their elixirs with one another and also with the bemused commuters. A certain "Death" with a family-sized package of potato chips swinging from his skeletal arm wandered about the carriages offering swigs of Jack Daniels -- alright that was me, but don't tell anyone.
Whenever the train would pull up to a station, revelers would play a type of "Russian Roulette" -- Yamanote-style -- by dashing from one car to the next before the doors would close. As we got further along the loop, we would start chanting the names of the stations as we arrived. Then we would greet on coming passengers and entreat them to join us. With salary men commuters we would comment on the excellence of their costumes depicting Japanese salary men. I'm not sure they quite understood or appreciated our "compliments," but they were more than happy to take a few pulls on the old whiskey bottle.
A few commuters joined in on the chanting of station names while others snapped photos. I have to give credit to the ordinary Japanese passengers. They either ignored us completely, watched in silent amusement, or joined in and helped themselves to the liquor and food. I saw little in the way of contempt. Very good sports, I would say.
All in all it was a civil and friendly debauchery that bred more good will and cheer, rather than any animosity or even any "vomitry." We left the train in better condition than drunken spewing salary men on a Friday night bender do. Nor was very much hostility present towards the Yamanote Line as there seems to have been in the past, by some accounts. Most of us were chanting "Yamanote!" like lovesick rock fans.
A Clown and a Ninja enjoy the Party
After one loop was completed many of us got off, while a small number rode for one more. In the past supposedly the party would continue till either the trains stopped running or the police shut it down. This year many partiers were just happy to be able to get one or two loops out of the Halloween Train before any mishaps could occur. It was enough just to be part of a Tokyo Legend -- to have rode one loop of the notorious Yamanote Halloween Train. I got off after the first loop, but around 11ish I tried to catch the train again but alas by that time the Yamanote Halloween Train faded back into the frenzied dream from which it had sprung.
An Ancient Tradition Descends With Dusk
- A View of the Party (.MOV)
- Partiers Welcoming Commuters (.MOV)
- A Cowboy Leads the Chant (.MOV)
A native Tennesseean, David M. Weber is currently at the grammatical grindstone cranking out gerunds, dangling modifiers and perfecting tenses as an English teacher in Japan. In his travels, he has hiked the Inca Trail, been mugged in Mexico City, broke his leg in Switzerland, attempted to bike through Mexico and failed, climbed Pyramids in Egypt and Mexico, drank great quantities of beer at Oktoberfest and gambled at Monte Carlo.
Other articles by reporter David Michael Weber


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This page is presented by Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, its Parks Committee (contact chair Gary Ossewaarde) and its website www.hydepark.org. Support our work, join the Conference.
A Bessie Coleman park council was formed in 2005. The group later chose to take the form of a block club. Both before and since, substantial improvements were made in the park in cooperation with the Chicago Park District and others.
A children's book on Bessie Coleman has the heart of the story: Nikki Grimes, Talking About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman. Available at 57th St. Books. Coleman was cameo's on a PBS program in The History Detectives series, sleuthing who built Lindbergh's engine.


How super cool is this: wallpaper made from thousands of hand-applied stickers. I love that the overall effect is of traditional wallpaper, but up close it's anything but traditional. The installation is by Brian Kaspr and Payton Turner and is called The Salon at Sundown.