text:
Gomez v. United States District Court for the Northern District of California
- Syllabus
- Opinion,
- Dissent, Stevens
The Court of Appeals granted Robert Alton Harris a stay of execution pending a review of his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim that his execution by lethal gas would be cruel and unusual in violation of the Eighth Amendment.
Held: The application to vacate the stay of execution is granted. Harris' action is an obvious attempt to avoid the application of McCleskey v. Zant, 499 U.S. 467, to bar this successive claim for relief. He has made no convincing showing of cause for his failure to raise this claim in his four prior federal habeas petitions. Even assuming that he could avoid the application of McCleskey, his claim should not be considered on the merits. Since he is seeking an equitable remedy, the State's strong interest in proceeding with its judgment and Harris' obvious attempt at manipulation must be taken into consideration. This claim could have been raised more than a decade ago, and there is no reason for this abusive delay, which has been compounded by the last-minute attempts to manipulate the judicial process.
Application granted.
Per Curiam Opinion
Harris claims that his execution by lethal gas is cruel and unusual in violation of the Eighth Amendment. This case is an obvious attempt to avoid the application of McCleskey v. Zant, 499 U.S. 467 (1991), to bar this successive claim for relief. Harris has now filed four prior federal habeas petitions. He has made no convincing showing of cause for his failure to raise this claim in his prior petitions.
Even if we were to assume, however, that Harris could avoid the application of McCleskey to bar his claim, we would not consider it on the merits. Whether his claim is [p654] framed as a habeas petition or § 1983 action, Harris seeks an equitable remedy. Equity must take into consideration the State's strong interest in proceeding with its judgment and Harris' obvious attempt at manipulation. See In re Blodgett, 503 U.S. 236 (1992); Delo v. Stokes, 495 U.S. 320 (1990) (KENNEDY, J., concurring). This claim could have been brought more than a decade ago. There is no good reason for this abusive delay, which has been compounded by last-minute attempts to manipulate the judicial process. A court may consider the last-minute nature of an application to stay execution in deciding whether to grant equitable relief.
The application to vacate the stay of execution of death is granted, and it is ordered that the orders staying the execution of Robert Alton Harris entered by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in No. 92-70237 on April 20, 1992 are vacated.
STEVENS, J., Dissenting Opinion
JUSTICE STEVENS, with whom JUSTICE BLACKMUN joins, dissenting.
In a time when the Court's jurisprudence concerning the imposition of the death penalty grows ever more complicated, Robert Alton Harris brings a simple claim. He argues that California's method of execution -- exposure to cyanide gas -- constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, and therefore violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. In light of all that we know today about the extreme and unnecessary pain inflicted by execution by cyanide gas, and in light of the availability of more humane and less violent methods of execution, Harris' claim has merit. I would deny the State's application to vacate the stay imposed by the Court of Appeals and allow the courts below to hear and rule on Harris' claim. [p655]
Execution by cyanide gas is "in essence asphyxiation by suffocation or strangulation." [n1] As dozens of uncontroverted expert statements filed in this case illustrate, execution by cyanide gas is extremely and unnecessarily painful.
Following inhalation of cyanide gas, a person will first experience hypoxia, a condition defined as a lack of oxygen in the body. The hypoxic state can continue for several minutes after the cyanide gas is released in the execution chamber. During this time, a person will remain conscious and immediately may suffer extreme pain throughout his arms, shoulders, back, and chest. The sensation may be similar to pain felt by a person during a massive heart attack. [n2]
Execution by gas. . . . produces prolonged seizures, incontinence of stool and urine, salivation, vomiting, retching, ballistic writhing, flailing, twitching of extremities, [and] grimacing. [n3]
This suffering lasts for 8 to 10 minutes, or longer. [n4]
Eyewitness descriptions of executions by cyanide gas lend depth to these clinical accounts. On April 6, 1992, Arizona executed Don Eugene Harding.
When the fumes enveloped Don's head, he took a quick breath. A few seconds later, he again looked in my direction. His face was red and contorted, as if he were attempting to fight through tremendous pain. His mouth was pursed shut, and his jaw was clenched tight. Don then took several more quick gulps of the fumes. [p656]
At this point, Don's body started convulsing violently. . . . His face and body turned a deep red, and the veins in his temple and neck began to bulge until I thought they might explode.
After about a minute, Don's face leaned partially forward, but he was still conscious. Every few seconds, he continued to gulp in. He was shuddering uncontrollably, and his body was racked with spasms. His head continued to snap back. His hands were clenched.
After several more minutes, the most violent of the convulsions subsided. At this time, the muscles along Don's left arm and back began twitching in a wavelike motion under his skin. Spittle drooled from his mouth.
Don did not stop moving for approximately eight minutes, and after that he continued to twitch and jerk for another minute. Approximately two minutes later, we were told by a prison official that the execution was complete.
Don Harding took ten minutes and thirty-one seconds to die. [n5]
The unnecessary cruelty of this method of execution convinced Arizona's Attorney General that that State should abandon execution by gas in favor of execution by lethal injection. [n6] His conclusion coincides with that of numerous medical, legal, and ethical experts. [n7]
The prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment "is not fastened to the obsolete, but may acquire meaning as public [p657] opinion becomes enlightened by a humane justice." Weems v. United States, 217 U.S. 349, 378 (1910). Accordingly, we have "interpreted th[e Eighth] Amendment 'in a flexible and dynamic manner.'" Stanford v. Kentucky, 492 U.S. 361, 369 (1989) (quoting Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 171 (1976) (opinion of Stewart, Powell, and STEVENS, JJ.)). When the California statute requiring execution by cyanide gas was enacted in 1937, the gas chamber was considered a humane method of execution. Fifty-five years of history and moral development have superseded that judgment. The barbaric use of cyanide gas in the Holocaust, the development of cyanide agents as chemical weapons, our contemporary understanding of execution by lethal gas, and the development of less cruel methods of execution all demonstrate that execution by cyanide gas is unnecessarily cruel.
The traditional humanity of modern Anglo-American law forbids the infliction of unnecessary pain in the execution of the death sentence.
Louisiana v. Resweber, 329 U.S. 459, 463 (1947) (opinion of Reed, J.).
Nowhere is this moral progress better demonstrated than in the decisions of the State legislatures. Of the 20 or 80 States to adopt new methods of execution since our ruling in Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976), not a single State has chosen execution by lethal gas. Ten years ago, 10 States mandated execution by lethal gas; one by one, those States have abandoned that method as inhumane and torturous. Only California, Maryland, and Arizona currently mandate execution by gas. [n8] Of the 168 persons executed in the United States since 1977, only 6 have been executed by lethal gas. We have frequently emphasized that
[t]he clearest and most reliable objective evidence of contemporary values is the legislation enacted by the country's legislatures.
Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302, 331 (1989). These "objective [p658] indicia that reflect the public attitude" toward execution by lethal gas, Stanford v. Kentucky, 492 U.S. at 370, clearly exhibit a nearly universal rejection of that means of execution. [n9]Cf. Enmund v. Florida, 458 U.S. 782, 788-796 (1982); Coker v. Georgia, 433 U.S. 584, 593-597 (1977). All of this leads me to conclude that execution by cyanide gas is both cruel and unusual, and that it violates contemporary standards of human decency. [n10]
More than a century ago, we declared that "[p]unishments are cruel when they involve torture or a lingering death." In re Kemmler, 136 U.S. 436, 447 (1890). In light of our contemporary understanding of the methods of execution, and in light of less cruel alternatives presently available, I believe that execution by cyanide gas is "incompatible with 'the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.'" Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 102 (1976) (quoting Trop v. Dulles, 356 U.S. 86, 101 (1958) (plurality opinion)).
The State contends that Harris should have brought his claim earlier. This is not reason enough to upset the stay issued by the Court of Appeals and dispatch the considered judgment of the 14 appellate judges who voted to rehear the case en banc. Indeed, although reluctant to recognize [p659] as much, the State itself could have avoided this last-minute litigation. In 1983, seven States authorized executions by exposure to cyanide gas. In that year, three Members of this Court indicated that that method of execution raised sufficiently serious questions under the Eighth Amendment to merit review by writ of certiorari. See Gray v. Lucas, 463 U.S. 1237 (1983). Thereafter, four States (Colorado, Mississippi, Oregon, and Wyoming) abandoned cyanide gas as a method of execution. In light of these events and the decisions of other legislatures, California as well should have revisited its 55-year-old statute.
More fundamentally, if execution by cyanide gas is in fact unconstitutional, then the State lacks the power to impose such punishment. Harris' delay, even if unjustified, cannot endow the State with the authority to violate the Constitution. It was this principle that animated Justice Harlan's opinion in Mackey v. United States, 401 U.S. 667, 692-693 (1971), and that a plurality of this Court embraced in Teague v. Lane, 489 U.S. 288, 306-307 (1989) (opinion of O'CONNOR, J.). As Harlan emphasized, there are some instances in which the State's interest in finality must give way. When the challenged conduct falls clearly beyond the State's legitimate power,
[t]here is little societal interest in permitting the criminal process to rest at a point where it ought properly never to repose.
401 U.S. at 693. For these reasons, the State's interest in an immediate execution must yield to a deliberate and careful study of the merits of Harris' claims.
Accordingly, I dissent.
1. Exhibits in Support of Motion for Temporary Restraining Order in No. 92-70237 (ND Cal.) (hereinafter Exhibits), Vol. 1, Exh. 1 at 6 (Declaration of Dr. Terence B. Allen).
2. Exhibits, Vol. 1, Exh. 5 at 4 (Declaration of Richard J. Traystman, Ph.D.).
3. Exhibits, Vol. 1, Exh. 1 at 2.
4. Exhibits, Vol. I, Exh. 7 (Execution Records, San Quentin Prison).
5. Exhibits, Vol. II, Exh. 17 at 3-4 (Affidavit of James J. Belanger).
6. Memorandum in Support of Emergency Application for Temporary Restraining Order in No. 92-70237 (ND Cal.) at 8. A bill to substitute lethal injection for lethal gas as the State's method of execution is currently pending before the Arizona legislature. See Exhibits, Vol. IV, Exh. 62 (H.B. 2055).
7.See, e.g., Exhibits, Vol. 1, Exh. I at 3; Vol. 1, Exh. 2 at 3 (Declaration of Robert H. Kirschner, M.D.); Col. I, Exh. 4 at 3 (Declaration of Kent R. Olson, M.D.).
8. As noted above, Arizona is considering abandoning lethal gas as a means of execution. Supra n. 6. Maryland has not yet resumed executions.
9. Notably, a memorandum prepared by California corrections officials correctly observes that
[l]ethal injection is considered to be more humane than other methods of execution (e.g., hanging, firing squad, lethal gas, or electrocution).
Exhibits, Vol. 1, Exh. 11 at 4.
10. In Wilkerson v. Utah, 99 U.S. 130, 135-136 (1878), we ruled that punishments of "unnecessary cruelty" violated the Eighth Amendment, citing the ancient practices of drawing and quartering and "public dissecting" as examples. Similarly in In re Kemmler, 136 U.S. 436, 446 (1890), we indicated that "burning at the stake, crucifixion, [and] breaking on the wheel" were as well cruel and unusual. To that list we might have added the garrotte, a device for execution by strangulation developed -- and abandoned -- centuries ago in Spain. See G. Scott, The History of Capital Punishment 159-160 (1950). To my mind, the gas chamber is nothing more than a chemical garrotte.


text:
The General Program introduces basic Buddhist view, meditation and action, along with various other teachings and practices, all within the Mahayana Buddhist tradition of Atisha and Je Tsongkhapa, to help practitioners deepen their knowledge and experience of Buddhism.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Pop at the Laundromat
From the blog Book Calendar:
I spent some more time reading Pop Goes The Library by Sophie Brookover and Elizabeth Burns at the laundromat. I usually sit and drink coffee while the laundry spins. I got up to the section on technology. My favorite part of the book are the quotes from practicing librarians at the ends of the chapters.


text:
James Corden, host of CBS' "The Late Late Show," will emcee the 2016 Tony Awards.
The actor and comedian has an extensive theater background, having won the 2012 Tony Award for best actor in a play for his turn in "One Man, Two Guvnors." He made his Broadway debut in 2006's "The History Boys" – a role he would reprise in the film adaptation.
Corden also starred as the Baker in 2014's "Into the Woods" film.
Entertainment News
Corden took over as host of "The Late Late Show" in 2015 after Craig Ferguson left the show. Several of his segments have been hits online – particularly his "carpool karaoke" bits with singers and actors.
He's also been known to reference his theater career, including in a recent video in which he appeared in a touring production of "The Phantom of the Opera."
"I'm absolutely thrilled to be hosting the Tony Awards," Corden said in a statement. "It's going to be fun; I can't wait to dust off my tap shoes!"
The 70th annual Tony Awards will air live on CBS from the Beacon Theatre on June 12.
Nominations will be announced on May 3 in New York City.


text:
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text: Please distribute. Apologies for cross posting. This is the 2nd CFP. ***DEADLINE FOR PAPERS: 1st Feb 2012*** The 4th AISB Symposium on Computing and Philosophy: Computing, Philosophy and the Question of Bio-Machine Hybrids * * July 2nd to 6th, 2012 University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK As part of the AISB/IACAP World Congress 2012 in honour of Alan Turing<http://events.cs.bham.ac.uk/turing12/> Organised by - Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behaviour (AISB) <http://www.aisb.org.uk/> - International Association for Computing and Philosophy (IACAP)<http://www.ia-cap.org/> *Website:* http://extranet.smuc.ac.uk/events-conferences/AISB-symposium-computing-philosophy/Pages/default.aspx ** *Poster:* http://extranet.smuc.ac.uk/events-conferences/AISB-symposium-computing-philosophy/Documents/AISB-Symposium-2012-Poster.pdf ** *Symposium Overview* Turing's famous question 'can machines think?' raises parallel questions about what it means to say of us humans that we think. More broadly, what does it mean to say that we are thinking beings? In this way we can see that Turing's question about the potential of machines raises substantial questions about the nature of human identity. 'If', we might ask, 'intelligent human behaviour could be successfully imitated, then what is there about our flesh and blood embodiment that need be regarded as exclusively essential to either intelligence or human identity?'. This and related questions come to the fore when we consider the way in which our involvement with and use of machines and technologies, as well as their involvement in us, is increasing and evolving. This is true of few more than those technologies that have a more intimate and developing role in our lives, such as implants and prosthetics (e.g. neuroprosthetics). The Symposium will cover key areas relating to developments in implants and prosthetics, including: - How new developments in artificial intelligence (AI) / computational intelligence (CI) look set to develop implant technology (e.g. swarm intelligence for the control of smaller and smaller components) - Developments of implants and prosthetics for use in human, primate and non-primate animals - The nature of human identity and how implants may impact on it (involving both conceptual and ethical questions) - The identification of, and debate surrounding, distinctions drawn between improvement or repair (e.g. for medical reasons), and enhancement or "upgrading" (e.g. to improve performance) using implants/prosthetics - What role other emerging, and converging, technologies may have on the development of implants (e.g. nanotechnology or biotechnology) But the story of identity does not end with human implants and neuroprosthetics. In the last decade, huge strides have been made in 'animat' devices. These are robotic machines with both active biological and artificial (e.g. electronic, mechanical or robotic) components. Recently one of the organisers of this symposium, Slawomir Nasuto, in partnership with colleagues Victor Becerra, Kevin Warwick and Ben Whalley, developed an autonomous robot (an animat) controlled by cultures of living neural cells, which in turn were directly coupled to the robot's actuators and sensory inputs. This work raises the question of whether such 'animat' devices (devices, for example, with all the flexibility and insight of intelligent natural systems) are constrained by the limits (e.g. those of Turing Machines) identified in classical a priori arguments regarding standard 'computational systems'. Both neuroprosthetic augmentation and animats may be considered as biotechnological hybrid systems. Although seemingly starting from very different sentient positions, the potential convergence in the relative amount and importance of biological and technological components in such systems raises the question of whether such convergence would be accompanied by a corresponding convergence of their respective teleological capacities; and what indeed the limits noted above could be. *Suggested topics* (in relation to computing and philosophy as pertaining to bio-machine hybrids include, but are not limited to): - Cognitive science; - Artificial intelligence; the Turing test; machine understanding; Searle's Chinese Room argument; - Foundations of computing; - Simulation of behaviour and agency; - Ambient intelligence; - Artificial life; computational biology; - Implant technology; - Biosemiotics; - Constructivism; - Second order cybernetics; - Enactivism and sensorimotor theories of perception; - Converging technologies (e.g. ICT, Nanotechnology, etc.); - Information / computer / nanotechnology ethics; - Cognitive / epigenetic robotics. Symposium Organisers Prof. Mark Bishop, Department of Computing, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK: email: [log in to unmask] Dr Yasemin J. Erden, CBET, St Mary's University College, Twickenham, UK: email: <[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask] Dr Slawomir J Nasuto, School of Systems Engineering, University of Reading, Reading, UK: email: [log in to unmask] Dr Kevin Magill, Department of Philosophy, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, UK: email: [log in to unmask] Questions should be directed in the first instance to: [log in to unmask] Submission and Publication Details Submissions must be full papers. Submitted contributions should be sent via EasyChair: https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=aisb12-cp Text editor templates from a previous convention can be found here<http://www.aisb.org.uk/convention/aisb08/download.html> . Submitted papers are limited to eight pages. Each paper will receive at least two reviews. Selected papers will be published in the general proceedings of the AISB Convention, with the proviso that at least ONE author attends the symposium in order to present the paper and participate in general symposium activities. Following the symposium, authors of a selection of the best papers will be invited to submit an extended version of the work to a proposed special issue (SI) of the *Philosophy and Technology *journal in 2013. Confirmation of the SI of this journal, and further details about revised submissions will be circulated in August 2012. *Important Dates * Full paper submission deadline: *1 February 2012* Notification of acceptance/rejection decisions:* 1 March 2012* Final versions of accepted papers (Camera ready copy): *30 March 2012* Convention: *2-6 July 2012* Symposium dates: *Thursday* *5 and **Friday** 6th July 2012* Additional Information *Joint AISB / IACAP Congress* The Congress serves both as the year's AISB Convention and the year's IACAP conference. The Congress has been inspired by a desire to honour Alan Turing, and by the broad and deep significance of Turing's work to AI, to the philosophical ramifications of computing, and to philosophy and computing more generally. The Congress is one of the events forming the Alan Turing Year <http://www.mathcomp.leeds.ac.uk/turing2012>. The intent of the Congress is to stimulate a particularly rich interchange between AI and Philosophy on any areas of mutual interest, whether directly addressing Turing's own research output or not. The Congress will consist mainly of a number of collocated Symposia on specific research areas, interspersed with Congress-wide refreshment breaks, social events and invited Plenary Talks. All papers other than the invited Plenaries will be given within Symposia. *Conference proceedings* Please note: there will be a separate proceedings for each symposium, produced before the Congress, and available to conference delegates. Each delegate at the Congress will receive, on arrival, a memory stick containing the proceedings of all symposia. *Awards and bursaries* In previous years there have been awards for the best student paper, and limited student bursaries. These details will be circulated as and when they become available. Programme Committee Prof Igor Aleksander <http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/people/i.aleksander> (Imperial College London, UK) Dr Paul Baxter <http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/pebaxter> (Plymouth University, UK) Dr Victor M. Becerra <http://www.personal.rdg.ac.uk/~shs99vmb/> (University of Reading, UK) Prof Rosalyn W. Berne<http://www.sts.virginia.edu/stshome/tiki-index.php?page=Rosalyn+Berne> (University of Virginia, USA) Prof Mark Bishop <http://www.gold.ac.uk/computing/staff/m-bishop/> (Goldsmiths, University of London, UK) Dr Mark Coeckelbergh<http://www.utwente.nl/gw/wijsb/organization/coeckelbergh/> (University of Twente, NL) Dr Edoardo Datteri <http://www.episteme.formazione.unimib.it/datteri/> (University of Milano-Bicocca, IT) Dr Yasemin J. Erden <http://www.smuc.ac.uk/tph/staff/yasemin-j-erden.htm> (St Mary's University College, UK) Dr Tom Froese <http://u-tokyo.academia.edu/TomFroese> (The University of Tokyo, JP) Dr Phil Hutchinson<http://www.cheshire.mmu.ac.uk/ids/staffprofiles/profile.php?id=31> (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK) Dr Stanislao Lauria<http://www.brunel.ac.uk/siscm/disc/people-in-disc/academic-staff/drstanislaolauria> (Brunel University, UK) Dr Rui Loureiro <http://www.mdx.ac.uk/courses/robin.aspx> (Middlesex University, UK) Dr Peter J Lovatt<http://psydb.herts.ac.uk/staff_list/FMPro?-db=staff_list_email&-format=recorddetail.html&-lay=details&-sortfield=surname&-max=2147483647&-recid=33629&-findall> (University of Hertfordshire, UK) Dr Kevin Magill <http://www.wlv.ac.uk/default.aspx?page=7890> (University of Wolverhampton, UK) Dr Richard J. Mitchell <http://www.personal.rdg.ac.uk/~shsmchlr/> (University of Reading, UK) Dr Slawomir J Nasuto<http://www.reading.ac.uk/sse/about/staff/s-j-nasuto.aspx> (University of Reading, UK) Prof Ian Sillitoe <http://www.wlv.ac.uk/default.aspx?page=23015> (The University of Wolverhampton, UK) Dr Porfírio Silva<http://welcome.isr.ist.utl.pt/people/index.asp?accao=showpeople&id_people=242> (Institute for Systems and Robotics Lisbon, PT) Dr Mark Sprevak <http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/mark-sprevak> (University of Edinburgh, UK) Prof Steve Torrance<http://www.sussex.ac.uk/informatics/people/peoplelists/person/17306> (University of Sussex, UK) -- Dr Yasemin J. Erden Postdoctoral Research Fellow Centre for Bioethics & Emerging Technologies St Mary's University College Waldegrave Road Twickenham, TW1 4SX United Kingdom +44 208 240 4250 www.smuc.ac.uk/cbet


text:
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- Security system
- Yes
- Side impact bars
- Yes
- Stability control
- Electronic Stability Control (ESC) And Roll Stability Control (RSC)
- Traction control
- ABS And Driveline
- Basic distance (km)
- 80,000
- Basic months
- 48
- Roadside assistance distance (km)
- 80,000
- Roadside assistance months
- 48
- Scheduled maintenance distance (km)
- Scheduled maintenance months
- GVWR (kg)
- 2460
* Please note that all the above options, with the exception of 'Installed Options', are drawn from the generic 'base' version of the vehicle. The options listed might not exactly match this specific vehicle.
* Manufacturer warranty may not be available for pre-owned vehicles, please inquire with dealer about availability for this vehicle.
Land Rover Lakeridge
280 Achilles Rd
Ajax , Ontario L1S 7S3
* Although every attempt is made to ensure the accuracy of the data above, due to the possibility of human error, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the displayed information, the availability of this vehicle, or the accuracy of its photo or stock photo. Such information may not reflect exact vehicle colour, trim, options, price or other specifications. Please contact the dealership for verification or if you would like more information on this vehicle. * Prices for the provinces of Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia include dealer-installed accessories, optional equipment physically attached to the vehicle, transportation charges and any applicable administration fees, but do not include taxes, insurance or licensing fees. For all other provinces (excluding Quebec), prices exclude taxes, insurance, licensing and other applicable fees. Price may not include dealer installed options, accessories, administration fees and other dealer charges. * All prices are in Canadian Dollars unless otherwise stated. * The Payment Calculator is for comparison purposes only and is based on the vehicle price, the entered term in months and the entered percentage rate. Taxes and License are additional. All financing is OAC. Please contact our dealership for more information. Vehicle may not be exactly as shown. Some vehicles may be shown with optional equipment or equipment not available in Canada.


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Now that the chibi Death Note character is uploaded, I can now submit my second chibi lesson that will show you "how to draw chibi Bleach", step by step. Some of you may be asking yourself, "why are you labeling the lesson by the name of the series?" My only response to that is the fact there is a bunch of characters that make up each individual series of manga and anime. Instead of uploading the whole cast, I can simply start off by drawing one or two figures that you guys are familiar with, and call it by the manga title name. This lesson on "how to draw chibi Bleach", includes tutorials on two very popular faces, Ichigo, and Orihime. Did you know that the creator of these two famous faces of manga, and anime said that both Ichigo and Orihime have the hardest faces to draw? It's true. Because Tite Kubo wanted both characters to show how important they where, their appearances had to be faces that one can remember, and leave a lasting impression on ones mind. I actually have the chibi versions of Ichigo and Orihime as lessons that you can check out in the chibi section under the "Anime/Manga" category of the site. I can honestly say that Bleach is one of my ultimate favorite mangas around. The second would have to be Naruto, and then Death Note. There are others anime's that I enjoy, these titles are just the main three. When it all boils down to it, I think you will find that learning how to draw chibi Bleach, is going to be a butt load of fun. I mean lets face it, it's always exciting when you draw a new chibi face. I will be back with my last submission for the day so don't go anywhere guys, cause I'll be right back. Adios peeps!
DragoArt members upload artwork and drawing tutorials! They are also allowed to leave comments on tutorials, profiles, etc. Many more features, as well; it's way better than just being a boring guest! Register Now!


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WordPress Plugins
Selling Products on your Blog
If you want to sell digital products such as eBooks, templates, plugins etc. on your site then the WP e-Commerce plugin will do the job for you.
On adding the plugin you get a new admin menu called Products. Under this you first need to set up your settings. The free version of the plugin will allow you to take payments by PayPal, Google Checkout or Chronopay.
To get started with this plugin, you need to create your product groups. You can either have Categories or Brands, or both. So you could create a category for Templates, and a second for Plugins. Then once you've got your product categories created, you can move on to adding the individual products under Manage Products. For digital products you then upload the file when adding the product. This is then stored as an encrypted file on the server so that people cannot access it directly.
The plugin automatically creates the pages needed to display the cart on the front end. To alter the way the cart looks you can modify the CSS file in the themes directory within the plugin's directory. You can have the cart to initially display a list of the Product categories or just display all the products available. There is also the option to have a breadcrumb trail display so that when someone clicks to view a product it will give them the trail at the top of the page to return to either the product's category or the front page of the cart.
The great point with this plugin is that when someone makes a purchase of a digital product, they'll be sent off to pay, eg. on PayPal, and then they'll be returned back to the site and providing their payment has been confirmed they'll automatically be able to download the products purchased. This means that you don't need to do any work once your products are up for sale, besides the occasional update to the products!
Finally, there is a marketing section to help you improve your sales and offer discounts to people. You can create coupon codes for either a certain number of uses or to expire at a certain date. You can also add a cross selling feature, and also display the latest products added in your sidebar.
So, as you can see, if you want to get some digital (or physical) products up for sale on your blog to help make a bit of additional income, then it's easily done with this free plugin. There are some commercial add ons as well, to give you extra features, however the free version does everything you need to get started 🙂
WordPress Plugins
7 Must-Use WordPress Plugins to Engage with Your Audience
WordPress is a great platform where you can run your blog. However, a success of a blog is not determined by the tools you use. Ultimately, it's not important if you're using the best WordPress plugins or the most responsive themes if you can't engage people with your content, and the best tip for engaging and updating your audience with your blog is WordPress RSS feed plugins because that's the most popular mechanism used by people to stay updated with their favorite sites.
Also, writing an informative and useful post is one thing. But to get people excited with your posts and encourage them to participate and discuss your content with others is another thing.
Eventually, you need to get people on board with what you write if you want to consider your blog as a success. By building a sustainable readership over time, you can increase your influence over them and get them to commit to your calls to action – whether it's to subscribe to your mailing list or buy something from you!
To boost your engagement with your audience, below are the right plugins that you need to use and leverage.
1. PushEngage
Email marketing has been an effective way of engaging with your audience. But if you are handed a better alternative, it's always a smart thing to try and check it out too.
PushEngage is a simple plugin that allows websites to send web push notifications to reach and engage with its visitors on desktop or mobile. It's where you can easily create customized updates or offers to get them to convert into paying customers or high-value followers.
In 3 easy steps, you can already integrate and start using it on your site. Fortunately, for new site owners with less than 2500 subscribers, PushEngage will always be free.
2. Feedify
Feedify is intended to win you more fans and customers by communicating with them through the use of surveys, feedback forms, personalized messages, and intelligent notifications.
By getting your customers feedbacks, think of how much improvements you can make on your site. This may be the key to increase your website's traffic leading to the boost in your sales and customer base.
This plugin also provides profound insights that allow you to target based on your visitor's location, time zone, the device used, and a lot more.
3. Engage Form
Engage Form stays true to its name. This plugin is a drag and drop form builder that is easy to use even with no coding experience required. With the Engage Form plugin, you simply copy and paste the shortcode into any page of your site, and it will be displayed accordingly. This plugin is also integrated with Askimet, so you don't need to worry about spam.
Many people seem to forget the importance of having a good user experience for their visitors. A web form's role is to be the medium where your audience reaches out to you to ask for more information about what's on your site. This way, you add more opportunities for them to engage with you without hassle.
4. WP Quiz
The WP Quiz plugin helps you build a responsive, dynamic, and highly interactive quizzes that you can ask your visitors. Apparently, people like to know more about themselves so testing them with a particular topic they are interested in is going to inspire and challenge them at the same time.
With this, You don't only interact with your audience; you also encourage them to share their results on social media. This is another advantage of integrating quizzes on your site because according to Huffington Post, it's one of the most shared pieces of content online.
To get you started, you can start with a trivia type quiz to spark your readers' interest. Finally, WP Quiz doesn't cost you a penny because it's being offered for free to everyone.
5. Disqus
Building a base of a loyal audience is tough for all website owners. You want them to interact with your content and vice versa regularly; you also want to keep in touch with them. Installing the plugin called Disqus is a quick upgrade to the default WordPress commenting system.
Disqus has made itself a name in the industry as being one of the top commenting systems that most websites in different formats used for the longest time. Moreover, it's not a secret that there are a lot of spams and trolls that are lurking on the web. With this plugin, you can easily monitor and ban users according to their reputation to avoid any headaches they may cause.
6. Related Posts for WordPress
Related Posts for WordPress plugins helps readers navigate within your website by showing them content that's related and recommended by you. If it's a struggle to keep them after reading one article you created, perhaps you're missing an opportunity to get them to stay.
Additionally, this plugin helps increase your blog's internal traffic without having to sacrifice its speed. Related Posts for WordPress also focuses on performance; it has its cache to avoid stressing your server.
7. WordPress Calls to Action
Adding Call to Action (CTA) buttons on your website is a no-brainer. It's always been an effective strategy to convert your casual visitors into full-on subscribers. Fortunately, installing the WordPress Calls to Action Plugin helps site owner create their Call to Action buttons while monitoring and tracking its effectiveness. Using this plugin, you can also A/B test which of your CTAs are working well or failing miserably.
The WordPress Calls to Action Plugin by Inbound Now is fully extendable and customizable, meaning, you can also create your custom designs and pop-ups to improve your conversion rates.
Final Thoughts
There are many ways to improve engagement with your audience to give you leverage and helps you better understand your website traffic. It's always important to keep track of all the behavioral patterns of your visitors, and it's not that hard to do so.
You must not forget the importance of your visitors' experience within your site especially now that websites are no longer limited to only providing informational content, but also being a medium of communication for sharing info with other end users.
By just adding the relevant plugins as mentioned you're a step closer to utilizing and harnessing your site's capabilities further.
Best Plugin to Add Schema Microdata To WordPress Pages
You must often be reading about how small blogs are scoring on search engines. Yes, it is true and how do they do this I am going to tell through this post on the best plugin to add schema microdata to WP pages. Before going deep into the best plugin to do so, et's explore a little about schema microdata.
What is schema?
Schema is basically an organized microdata which you exhibit on your webpages with HTML code to communicate the search engines about added statistics in your post.
The plugins help you in adding productive info and can also mechanically take in http://schema.org/Blog and http://schema.org/BlogPosting graphics to your pages and posts.
To set up plugins may sound little technical to you with no experience of trying anything like that. But don't worry it does not require any expertise and you can easily establish these plugins in your webpages.
Google extends a Rich Snippet Testing Tool to analyse and verify the added microdata in your pages and content.
What is Microdata?
Microdata is a description for machine decipherable data to be entrenched within the current content of HTML records. To execute schema using microdata, basically you will be
To implement schema using microdata, mainly you will choose your present HTML and affix numerous aspects and perhaps components. You will have to correct your theme for the following standards. If you are using a theme made by someone else, then be sure you generate a child theme; otherwise your alterations could be overwritten if the author revises their theme.
Type of schemas microdata for your webpages can be –organisation pages, movie analysis, personal and products details, book info, and reviews.
Best Plugins to add Schema Microdata to WP pages
1)Recipe Schema
With Recipe Schema, you can insert thumbnails to the Google results for your Recipes. The plugin adds schema microdata to your WP blog and flashes your page correctly on search engines. Through Recipe Schema you can add recipes from various sources like you can import from an existing post or the web, and also add a recipe into a post.
- Take recipes from current posts by Selecting and Tagging recipe segments
- Recipes are spontaneously arranged and can be modified using CSS
- Write new recipes with the help of free-form text entry, as an alternative to irritating fields for each line
- Distinct configuring and a print button makes it easy for guests to print recipes
- Allow users to quickly save recipes to their Facebook Timeline
2) SchemaNinja
Yes SchemaNinja is my baby product and I made it with love to help bloggers out who are looking schema rating plus recommendations.
It is a Rich Snippet and Recommendation Plugin to add Schema Microdata to your WordPress pages. This plugin trails all the Google Standards and operates according to that. It helps in adding the following types of Schemas like- review, software, product application, video, and articles. So far this plugin has 70 plus installs and no one has complained any breaks. It is one of the most advanced Schema Rating WordPress Plugin.
The plugin is suitable for all type of content and is beneficial for generating Schema Ratings to your website or blog. The plugin is best for bloggers, CPA and affiliate marketers, product sellers, and freelancers.
- Star Ranking
- Schema Amalgamation
- Affiliate Link Combination
- Personal Licence
- Commendations
- Cal-to-action controls
- Personalisation
3) Author Hreview
The plugin enables the writer to insert Schema.org markup preferences for merchandise reviews. You can easily add a reviewed product to any blog/website, and this plugin will show stars below the post. You can even conceal the ratings from readers. Attaching this schema.org markup will display your rating, writer's name and price in the search engines results and also enhance your overall ranking.
- It is an all-inclusive plugin for blogs
- It is simple to install and easy-to-use
- You can get Maximum 5 ratings
- Fully adjustable plugin as you can change the presentation as per your need
- Boosts CTR and overall ranking of the page
4) itemprop WP for SERP/SEO Rich Snippets
Append schema.org itemprop cipher to the (custom) post substance for search engines and boost your SERP outcomes. Itemprop plugin is very uncomplicated. It operates using WordPress basic utility to sieve constituent attributes and affixing < meta > tags with schema.org item properties.
This plugin will not fix poorly encoded WordPress sites. This plugin will generate minor codes within your full content, with new microdata from schema.org. The plugin presumes that your content page is not incorporated wholly with HTML5's data properties for microdata
- Works on single pages
- Easy to implement on webpages
- Best option for properly coded website
5) All-in-one Scema.org Rich Snippet
The plugin is the best solution to add schema microdata to WP pages and also help in increasing your website's Click Through Rates and enhance SEO and Rankings. You can install this plugin directly through your dashboard. At present, it supports all types of content that are published by schema.org at one location.
- Enjoy bug-free blogging with All-in-one schema.org rich snippet
- Provides search engines with relevant info to be displayed
- Assist your blog in ranking high among other competitors
- Interactive approach vis reviews, star ratings, price, author, apps
- The updated version will cover up-breadcrumbs, local business, and books.
6) Facebook Open Graph, Google+ and Twitter Card Tags
it is a lightweight plugin that inserts Facebook OpenGraph and Schema.Org corresponding microdata to headings to help out search engines to display rich snippet and mark your blog far better. This plugin also allows Facebook, Google+ and Twitter handlers to share your blog with correct title, explanation, URL and picture.
- Customised citation of the Facebook Share/Like explanation. Takes the first 250 typescripts of the blog post if no custom citation is found.
- The post refers to Facebook Share/Like and Microdata title.
- Capacity to outline default thumbnail if no picture is found from the post
- Appends more rich snippets to make the webpages stand out
So, adding Schema to your WP pages will help the search engines and other apps to understand the content of a web page and then display it in a particular manner. Now it is up to you to decide which plugin you are going to choose from the above-mentioned best plugins to add schema microdata to WordPress pages. What are you favorite plugins to add Schema microdata to your WordPress pages.
WordPress Plugins
My Personal List of Best WordPress Plugins for 2017
I love WordPress. It has been my CMS of choice for years. However, at its core, the WordPress framework is very minimalistic.
My WordPress sites would be useless without the right plugins. I have found a number of really cool plugins that provide the functionality my blogs need. Here are the ones that I recommend for 2017.
Bloggers depend on forms to receive feedback from their followers. There are a number of form plugins, but most are too basic.
WPForms is one of the best I've come across. This plugin lets you create contact, email opt-ins, e-commerce order and other forms your site may need.
There are plenty of reasons WordPress is an awesome CMS. Security is not on the list. Nearly three-quarters of WordPress sites are vulnerable to hackers. Over 16,000 WordPress sites were hacked between January and September of last year.
If you don't have a decent web security plugin installed, you need to get one immediately. Sucuri is one of the best.
There are many reasons cautious bloggers are using Sucuri to keep their sites secure:
- Sucuri is one of the best defenses against DDoS attacks.
- Sucuri cleans up hacked up websites. If your site has been blacklisted by Google or flagged for malware, these problems can be reversed after you install Sucuri and get the problems resolved.
- Sucuri identifies and disables brute force hacking attempts.
This is a premium app, so you will need to pay based on the level of protection you want. The cheapest plan costs $16.66 a month. This pales in comparison to the cost of having your website hacked, which most free plugins aren't as equipped to protect against.
Disqus Commenting
The default WordPress installation allows visitors to leave comments on your posts. However, it isn't the most engaging setup. The commenters can provide comments to you, but can't really interact with other commenters.
Disqus is a more seamless and sophisticated commenting platform. It allows child comments, so users can create discussions with each other, instead of just commenting on your post. Your users can even be emailed when someone replies to their comments.
It turns your blog into a mini-social network. Many people will likely return to your blog just to engage with other users on Disqus. It's also important to note that blog commenting was one of the most used methods for growing engagement and backlinks to websites and blogs in an ethical matter. This is according to more than 60 experts who were asked about their preferred methods of content creation and link building.
NextGEN Gallery
If you're running a blog in a very visual niche, you'll need a plug-in that lets you showcase lots of images at a time. NextGEN Gallery does the job very well.
It has been downloaded over 16 million times in the past 10 years, because it's the best gallery management plugin available.
This plug-in makes it easy to upload multiple images at a time, sort and rearrange images, create thumbnails and import meta-data.
CSS Hero
If you want to make any modifications to your theme, then you will need to do so through the CSS templates. Unfortunately, CSS is pretty complex and many bloggers aren't willing to take the time to learn it.
CSS Hero is a great plugin that handles your CSS coding for you.
The Ever Growing World of WordPress Plugins
While I've listed some of my favorite WordPress plugins for you to consider, it would be a huge mistake to simply stop here. Be sure to check out the ever-growing list of plugins available through WordPress' directory. No matter what you would like to accomplish with your site, there is a good chance there will be a plugin out there for you.
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Hi yet again guys,
Excuse my absence but I didn't get much further in my research due to sortin some professional and personal things recently, and decided to put aside my "fascination" with the UFOs for a little rest. Well, partially these times have passed, and as I didn't have much to write about I withheld myself from doing so. However, I'd like to inform you about two things. First, there was no luck with that military fellow, although I know him well, after asking some questions (I didn't rush into UFOs, military involvement directly at all), and all in all what he told me after he finally got where I was heading was that - it was out of his league knowing so high up secrets, and even if he had any information, he guessed he wouldn't have given them to me, simply cause he wouldn't be allowed to do so.
The second thing is someting that I think I'm still failing at emphasising enough - there are reasons why I think these were very advanced crafts and we didn't see any ordinary military testing. I will bring you back to the triangular object and will try doing it in a clean decent way and will present a little conversation adding to more credibility to my suspicions. Few facts:
- The object was solid and black - we could observe this because it came between us and the town and village lights from the distance, it had a very distinguishable contrast background to it, so it was the best possible position to observe it in the circumstances that night.
- We saw again as clearly as the shape of the triangle, its movement and position while flying - as I mentioned it stayed perfectly perpendicular to the horizon, and was flying in horizontal direction. Meaning that it was facing the forces of air resistance absolutely head-on with its flat surface, probably the worst way of handling air resistance, right? Unless...
- Recently, I had the luck to meet with a friend of mine from several years ago. He is about to get an Engineers degree in Aeronautics (he actually studied and trained for a pilot several years with hundreds of hours of flying when he decided in the end he would be far better off as an Engineer), and I decided he would be able to shed a light regarding this particular object and the way it flew. His words are as follows: "Flight of a solid object in the manner as you describe it is out of the reach of our technology. To work around the air resistance in such a case, and for the object to remain absolutely stable, and no sound generated by its flight, it would require antigravitational propulsion. We don't have this technology, we are still at odds with these on the theoretical side. Are you sure you weren't drunk?" Well, it appeared he has never been interested in informing himself about the black world of technology, because even after I told him I believe it's possible for humans to have this technology and use it, he still rejected this possibility. He laughed when I asked if it's possible for anything such as this to be held somewhere in the U.S. bases on Bulgarian territory.
So, I stand by my original statement, that in my experience and knowledge, the triangular object (the very least) was "a bit" more advanced than what we originally admit to have in our hands. And if it's us, and they're flying those in the Balkan Mountains in Bulgaria, why is that?
All in all, guys, I require any possible mundane explanation of the facts I mentioned above, in laymen's terms if you'd like. I explained the reasons why I believe it is someting much more advanced than the usual we see on army recruite videos or at wars. And I also found someone to shed a little light on this, as I'm not the most informed on aerodynamics and the such, who backed my thoughts, that's why I come back and ask you - please, give me a mundane explanation of how an average craft could behave this way, and when I say this, I'm not being sarcastic at all. I'm trully sincere when saying that I'd be thankful if I receive one, as it will lift a great weight that's been pulling me down and around for the last few months.


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In 2011, the final offseason of a 10-year cycle of major, annual improvements to Fenway Park introduced several upgrades to the 99-year-old home of the Boston Red Sox. Renovations that were completed for the 2011 season included three new state-of-the-art high definition video display and scoring systems, upgrades to the Gate D concourse, and the repair, waterproofing and seat replacements of the lower seating bowl in right field. Once again, the park hosted musical events: two concerts with New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys in June, and two nights with Dropkick Murphys and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones in September. The 2011 Red Sox fell just short of playoff baseball despite superb play throughout most of the season. A classic September swoon became an epic collapse and led to a race for the Wild Card that came right down to the final game of the year, which ended in utter disappointment. Shortly after the season ended, manager Terry Francona concluded his excellent eight-year run as skipper of the Red Sox, along with general manager Theo Epstein, who resigned from the Red Sox to become the new President of Baseball Operations of the Chicago Cubs. Senior Vice President/Assistant GM Ben Cherington was named the new Red Sox general manager on October 25, 2011.
Record: 90-72, 3rd in American League East
Manager: Terry J. Francona
Attendance: 3,054,001
The 2011 season was one of great disappointment, despite superb play through most of the season. The year started poorly, with the highly-touted team losing its first six games, all on the road, en route to a 2-10 start. But during May, June, and July, the Red Sox put together respective monthly records of 19-10, 16-9, and 20-6.
There were injuries and disappointments, but also triumphs and comebacks. Daisuke Matsuzaka was lost for the season in May and would undergo Tommy John surgery, while Clay Buchholz pitched his last game of the year on June 15. After appearing in only 18 games in 2010 due to injuries, Jacoby Ellsbury had a career year and was named American League Comeback Player of the Year. Ellsbury played in all but four games in 2011, leading the team with 32 homers and ranking second in RBIs with 105 while batting .321. Newcomer and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez led the team with 117 runs batted in, with his .338 batting average second in the league (he ranked third in the league in on-base percentage and third in RBIs). Left fielder Carl Crawford, in his first season with the Red Sox, struggled to get going and suffered near-career lows offensively.
Dustin Pedroia's 91 RBIs and 21 homers were both career highs. David Ortiz had another productive year and helped fortify the middle of the order. The catching combination of Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jason Varitek drove in 92 runs, while Marco Scutaro played an admirable shortstop. Relief pitching, particularly fine work by Jonathan Papelbon and Alfredo Aceves, was generally strong.
There were highlights, of course, such as the first triple play at Fenway in years, and the team continued its record-setting sellout streak (at the end of 2011 regular season, the streak stood at 712 consecutive games). The team was riding high through August, completely recovering from the slow start, and was in first place in the AL East by 1 1/2 games over the Yankees and had a nine-game lead in the Wild Card standings. But the team went 7-20 in September and lost the Wild Card spot on the final night of the season.
Shortly after the season ended, manager Terry Francona concluded his eight-year run as skipper of the Red Sox, saying that he had, in essence, experienced difficulty in motivating some of his players and that he believed it was time for "a new voice" in the clubhouse. A few weeks later, general manager Theo Epstein resigned from the Red Sox to become the Chicago Cubs' President of Baseball Operations. Senior Vice President/Assistant GM Ben Cherington was promoted and named the general manager on October 25, 2011, as the team prepared for an important offseason of work.
In 2011, the final offseason of a 10-year cycle of major, annual improvements to Fenway Park introduced several upgrades to the venerable home of the Boston Red Sox. Renovations that were completed for the 2011 season included three new state-of-the-art high definition video display and scoring systems, upgrades to the Gate D concourse including new and extended concession areas, and the repair, waterproofing and seat replacements of the lower seating bowl in right field.
The completion of these improvements fulfilled a pledge made by the ownership group led by John Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino to improve every facet of the ballpark, while preserving and protecting the park for future generations. The improvements completed at Fenway Park over the past 10 years have been designed to ensure that the park will remain structurally sound, and the home of the Boston Red Sox, for the next several decades.
With a 2010-2011 offseason investment estimated at $40 million, the investment for the 10-year program is estimated to total approximately $285 million, the largest investment in the history of the iconic ballpark.
The Red Sox selected ANC Sports to install the trio of state-of-the-art Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Vision LED video screens. The largest of the three displays, a 38-foot-high by 100-foot-wide screen, now serves as the main video board in center field, while two additional Diamond Vision screens -- a 1,700-square-foot screen in left-center field and a 480-square-foot screen above the right-field bleachers -- flank the main display. As part of this project, the club also renovated Fenway Park's control room, an area on the fifth level of the ballpark from which the Red Sox video productions department operates the video boards and other ballpark displays.
In addition to the new video boards, the club performed concrete repair, waterproofing and seat replacements in the right-field lower seating bowl, completing the repair and waterproofing of the entire lower seating bowl that began in 2007. Dugout, Field Box and Loge Box seats in this area were replaced with new seats, while Grandstand seats in right field were refurbished and fitted with self-rising mechanisms allowing easier mobility for fans entering or exiting the rows.
The Red Sox also improved the Gate D concourse area, including a new merchandise stand and expanded concessions. The Gate D concourse was also re-graded with new concrete and the entire ground level concourse running from Gate D to Gate C was repaired and upgraded. Outside of Gate D, a new ticket window booth was constructed and the old will call window inside the gate was removed to create better movement into and out of the Gate D area.
In 2011, The Cape Cod League All-Star Game was again played at Fenway Park with the Eastern League All-Stars besting their Western counterparts by a score of 4-1. The annual Futures at Fenway event also continued for its sixth straight year at the ballpark, but Red Sox affiliates dropped both ends of the double-header.
|2011 Non-Red Sox Baseball At Fenway Park
|July 29
|Cape Cod League All-Star Game: East 4, West 1
|August 20
|Futures At Fenway: Binghamton Mets 6, Portland Sea Dogs 4 (11 innings)
Syracuse Chiefs 3, Pawtucket Red Sox 1
**From 1975 to 1987, on a biennial basis, Fenway Park hosted an all-star game between the Cape Code Baseball League and the Atlantic Collegiate League. The all-star game alternated between Fenway Park and sites closer to the ACL's teams, such as Yankee Stadium and Veterans Stadium. In 1988, the Cape Cod Baseball League returned to an intra-league format for their annual all-star game and in 2009, Cape Code League All-Stars returned to Fenway Park for the Cape Cod League All-Star Game, which was played again in 2010.
2011 was Fenway Park's 100th season, and was full of planning for the official 100th anniversary in 2012. Once again, the park hosted musical events - two nights of concerts with New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys in June, and two nights with Dropkick Murphys and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones in September. There was also a first-ever "Faith Day at Fenway" inspired by some of the players themselves and featuring testimonies by Adrian Gonzalez, Daniel Bard, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and J.D. Drew.
The park also hosted a number of special events such as the Fenway Park Bridal Festival, the Comcast Latino Family Festival, and -- for about two weeks in late October and early November -- "The Fear at Fenway" presented by Spooky World. Fenway Park also added to its silver-screen résumé with a pair of filmings that took place at the ballpark.
|2011 Non-Baseball Events At Fenway Park
|May 8
|Mother's Day Walk
|May 22
|Run to Home Base
|June 11
|New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys Concert
|June 19
|Father's Day Walk
|June and July
|Filming of "Ted"
|July 24
|Picnic in the Park
|August 21
|Comcast Latino Family Festival
|Filming of "R.I.P.D."
|September 8 and 9
|Dropkick Murphys and Mighty Mighty Bosstones Concerts
|September 18
|Faith Day at Fenway
|October and November
|"The Fear at Fenway" presented by SpookyWorld


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|Members List
|Today's Posts
|Mark Forums Read
|Topic Review (Newest First)
|Oct 27th, 2010 02:24 PM
|Prince Adam was also a bit overbearing when others were in the kitchen. He was VERY proud of his cooking.
|Oct 26th, 2010 06:23 PM
|HA HA of course I never caught these when I was a kid in my Transformer's PJs eating Ghostbuster's cereal on Saturday morning but man He Man was really purple! I had every one of the He Man figurines, my mom threw one out though, I think the character's name was Stink-or and he actually smelled like a skunk. I looked all over for it and gave up it for lost, until my mom told me two years ago she tossed it because it smelled so bad. I think the 1980's subconsciously messed me up some how (judging from this site and board I am not the only one), I look at myself now in my 30's and I am pop culturally retarded. I am actually proud of it but my parents aren't, they regret plopping me down in front of the TV and giving me cheap comics, I thank them.
|Jan 10th, 2009 05:15 AM
|the Platinum Poppy
|In my obviously confused childhood me and my sister had both He-man and c:o and some my little ponies. Actually they were perfectly fitted to each other. All the He-man action figures were bow-legged and just the right size to ride my little ponies. We used to play that both He-man and my little ponies came from an alien planet and were to conquer earth where the barbie dolls lived.
|Jan 7th, 2009 05:03 PM
Well Orko was Trollan from another Dimension,and he had a "girlfriend"
unless she was just some manned of beard? Hmmmm
Gotta disagree with the bit about Teela,some episodes are just
laced with sexual tension between not only her and He-Man.
It was with Prince Adam too. Maybe a ***-hag,but none too
Sapphic by my estimation.
|Jan 6th, 2009 10:28 PM
|Fisto! Ram Man! Holy crap, I haven't laughed so hard in ages. Nearly soiled myself. Thanks, man.
|Sep 27th, 2008 10:18 AM
|Zbu Manowar
|Speaking of handlebar mustaches, you should add Rio Blasto to that list. The cowboy outfit only adds to the ghey and considering that his special 'power' is to pull a magical gun out of his torso and 'blast' people...well, it writes itself. Him and Extendar probably go out clubbing on their nights off from the S&M scene and have mescaline with Singapore Slings on the side.
|Sep 24th, 2008 02:29 AM
|You go Ram Man wear that skirt with PRIDE!
|Jun 25th, 2008 07:18 AM
Ah damn.. there went my childhood..
Although in retrospect, yeah the Masters of the Sodomverse were total ghey!
|Apr 18th, 2008 03:42 AM
Here's the full version of "Beastman vs. Skeletor"
|Mar 25th, 2008 02:25 AM
|Thank you for ruining my childhood memories. I'll never be able to look at He-Man the same way ever again...
|Feb 13th, 2008 11:06 PM
|Moss Man
I'm honestly rather surprised that Skeletor didn't make it onto the list..Although I'm glad Beastman made it. Maybe you should've extended it to 20 characters, hah.
Here, I'm pretty sure this would make you reconsider putting Skeletor on the list:
I'm surprised nobody brought this up (Or maybe someone did...I just glided through the comments). Now, I strongly suggest that the younger readers don't watch the link. It's from CKY, the earlier Jackass, starring Brandon DiCamillo. Bam makes a few appearances here. Just listen to the lyrics, and you'll see.
|Feb 13th, 2008 04:00 PM
|Action Ham
|This leads me to wonder who the ten straightest MOTU are.
|Feb 11th, 2008 02:40 PM
|Dr. Boogie
|Feb 11th, 2008 01:40 PM
|yeah there were some pretty wrong moments, but still loved this one as a kid.
|Feb 8th, 2008 11:03 PM
|that is great. 1 and 3 are my favorites.
|Feb 7th, 2008 04:41 AM
|Badgers ate my FaCe
I have to say, I like the inclusion of Zodac on the list. He was always a little fruity to me, being the "cosmic enforcer" and all, and the S&M mask comparison is also spot-on.
I guess I never saw the gay in the figures, as I had the entire lot of them as a kid, but now I will always think of He-Man in that pink shirt dancing like Hasslehoff.
|Feb 7th, 2008 02:40 AM
|Yeah, Skeletor has the attitude to be gay, but judging from the fact he's a skeleton, I think he lacks the parts required for such a lifestyle. Still, he might be one of those gay men who isn't all that focused on sex in the least. Kind of like Dumbledore. Or not.
|Feb 4th, 2008 11:17 PM
|I know that Skeletor is totally gay, and there are definitely some others that could have made the list, but I had to limit myself to ten, and the choices of who to pick weren't exactly easy...
|Feb 2nd, 2008 09:21 PM
|really funny should of had Snout spout or Two bad in the list
|Feb 2nd, 2008 05:02 PM
|Count Mek
|Aw man that was hilarious, I've never really seen He-Man myself, although I've known of it for many years, awesome piece Protoguy!
|Feb 2nd, 2008 04:53 AM
I was way too young (not even born yet) to experience He-Man and the Masters of the Universe when it was popular, but ever since I got cable I wondered whether He-Man might be worth a gander (no, not like that! A gander at the SHOW!). So I watched one episode, and I couldn't stop laughing. There's no way that sort of unintentional humor would go on in today's cartoons. But then again, I remember Dragonball Z having certain connotations that could not be overlooked unless you were blind.
When I was a kid we had Transformers: Beast Wars and Pokemon to be raised on. I was too poor to have cable (but not too poor to be eating koalas in desperation), and my parents decided that it was too expensive. But really, by the time I was older and wealthy enough to get cable I knew I would appreciate these cartoons more, because I was wised up enough to join the dots. Seriously, watching Spongebob Squarepants as a young adult makes a whole lot more sense to me than it did as a kid.
Still, as a He-Man n00b, all I remember of it when I saw it were the outrageously camp voices. I agree, Skeletor is such a sugar daddy!
|Feb 2nd, 2008 02:37 AM
|Tetsu Deinonychus
|Feb 1st, 2008 07:29 PM
|Colonel Flagg
On a second reading, I noticed 2 things:
Ram Man is definitely gayest - he even has a flat head that you can rest your beer on.
You put a reference to "wide stances" in Fisto's bio. Excellent!
|Feb 1st, 2008 05:36 PM
|Sleazeappeal is absolutely right about this: Skeletor was the ruler of Eternia's velvet underground. He sounded more jacked-up than Cobra Commander...that had to be some kind of a clue....
|Feb 1st, 2008 01:22 AM
'the pure amount of perversion made the show practically unwatchable for me.
IM sure as hell glad this never made it to live action film... '
"Hehehe...That's because the live action movie has been put off until 2009..."
|This thread has more than 25 replies. Click here to review the whole thread.


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National New Play Network selects William Missouri Downs
The National New Play Network, an alliance of 26 professional nonprofit theaters that champion the development, production and continued life of new plays, has chosen popular area playwright William Missouri Downs among six writers whose works will be presented as staged readings at its ninth annual showcase Nov. 18-20 in Philadelphia.
The National Showcase of New Plays is a traveling annual new-play festival that presents six plays to about 100 invited theater professionals and agents from around the country. The showcase is a unique opportunity for production-ready scripts to be heard by the people most willing and likely to produce them.
"The vast majority of the scripts read at the showcase go on to professional productions within and outside the National New Play Network," the NNPN said in a statement.
Downs, adjunct professor of religious studies at the University of Wyoming, was chosen for "The Exit Interview," submitted for consideration by the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre. Here's its description:
Dick Fig, a Professor with a PhD in the works of Bertolt Brecht, is getting the hatchet from Eunice, an unctuous HR pawn at a nameless university. His exit interview gets off to a rocky start, though, when a masked gunman starts rampaging through the campus. From there, Downs' witty, delirious play caroms through Brechtian interludes, a pair of politically-radicalized cheerleaders, a pompous newsman, a mysterious past, and two German doctors debating science and religion on C-SPAN before reaching its surprising conclusion.
Downs, a former professor at the University of Colorado-Denver, is the author of nine books (with three more to be released in 2012), and 16 produced plays. He is among the most-produced local playwrights in Colorado. Last year, his "Kosher Lutherans" was presented by both Bas Bleu (Fort Collins) and Threshold Productions (at the John Hand Theatre). Vintage staged his "Books on Tape" late-night.
Downs' "Innocent Thoughts," which was the first play ever presented by Denver's Shadow Theatre Company, was re-staged there last year as a tribute to late company founder Jeffrey Nickelson.
In 2005, Miners Alley Playhouse presented the world premiere of Downs' "Dead White Males" in Golden. In 1994, the Rivertree Theatre staged his "Jewish Sports Heroes & Texas Intellectuals," and in 1991, the Players Guild staged his "Bare-Handed Catch" in Arvada.
"Egyptian Song," by James Christy, Jr., submitted by Playwrights' Theatre of New Jersey: Christy's moving and urgent play follows the adolescence of an Egyptian brother and sister between the world wars. While the gifted young Zahia tries to sing her way to personal liberation following the example of Josephine Baker, her brother Nahal falls in with a group of radicals bent on liberating Egypt from foreign influence. Two actors play almost a dozen characters in this very theatrical story of two world views colliding.
"The Etiquette of Vigilance," by Robert O'Hara, submitted by Woolly Mammoth, Washington, DC. A searing two-hander from the writer of Antebellum and Bootycandy, "The Etiquette of Vigilance" explores changing definitions of freedom in the decades since Martin Luther King, Jr. In the Clybourne Park house made famous by "A Raisin in the Sun," Travis and his daughter Lorraine struggle to answer the question, "What do you owe to the generation that fought to give you freedom?" The play alternates Travis and Lorraine's forward-moving narrative with backward-moving scenes from the play Lorraine is trying to write about her family's history.
"The Feast," by Tony Fiorentino, submitted by PROP Thtr, Chicago. Tony Fiorentino takes ferocious, funny aim at the healthcare industry with his dysfunctional-family Thanksgiving Day play. Vincent Baker, the CEO of a major healthcare company, is hosting the kids this year: Lawrence, the company's often-drunk and far-too-liberal medical director, and Brady, the company's farther-right General Counsel, and their assorted family members. When a brick comes through the window demanding a liver-transplant for a terminally-ill patient, the plot thickens and the turkey gets thrown out the window.
"Happy," by Robert Caisley, submitted by New Theatre, Coral Gables, FL. Alfred is happy about his life. He's happy with his job. He's happy with his fourteen year marriage. He's even happy raising his special needs daughter, who's confined to a wheelchair. But when his bohemian artist best friend Eduardo invites him to dinner to meet the latest woman in his life, a dour twenty-two year-old art student suspicious of anything 'upbeat,' things spin out of control. Alfred begins to doubt the authenticity of his happiness, and in turn, makes everyone's lives utterly miserable. Happy is a play about how vicious and enviable we can be of people possessed with a natural joie de vivre.
"Leveling Up," by Deb Laufer, submitted by the playwright. How do you straddle the fuzzy line between reality and virtual reality when you're playing video games 20 hours a day? Ian, Zan, and Chuck are two years out of college when the government comes looking for expert gamers to launch remote missiles. And the bombs and the guns and the screams and the victories look so much like the ones on their Xbox. Laufer, whose play "End Days" was an NNPN Rolling World Premiere, returns to the Network with this funny, jarring look at what constitutes "reality" in a remote-control world.
The upcoming staged readings in Philadelphia will take place at InterAct Theatre Company, 2030 Sansom St. The plays will be under consideration (with no guarantees) for next year's NNPN class of "Eolling World Premieres."
What's a NNPN "Rolling World Premiere?"
Each year, the NNPN alliance selects a number of new plays for a "Rolling World Premiere." That means it commits to given every selected play a minimum of three full stagings by its member companies, within a 12-month period. So the playwright develops his or her new work with three different creative teams, for three different communities of patrons, ensuring the resulting play is of the highest possible quality.
Denver's Curious Theatre Company, a NNPN member, will present "Collapse," chosen from last year's field, from Nov. 5-Dec. 10.
More about the National New Play Network:
Since its founding in 1998, The National New Play Network has commissioned over a dozen playwrights, provided seven MFA graduates with paid residencies, and supported nearly 50 productions nationwide through its innovative Continued Life of New Plays Fund, which creates "Rolling World Premieres" of new plays. Through these activities and others, NNPN has granted nearly $500,000 to theaters and artists in the past 10 years. Hundreds of artists have gained employment through these efforts in the 24 regions of the country where NNPN member theaters are located. NNPN receives substantial support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Shubert Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The NNPN's 26 member theaters are:
Actor's Express Theatre (Atlanta)
Actor's Theatre of Charlotte (N.C.)
Borderlands Theater (Tucson, Ariz.)
Curious Theatre Company (Denver)
Florida Studio Theatre (Sarasota)
Fountain Theatre (Los Angeles)
Horizon Theatre Company (Atlanta)
InterAct Theatre Company (Philadelphia)
Kitchen Dog Theater (Dallas)
Magic Theatre (San Francisco)
Marin Theatre Company (Mill Valley, Calif.)
Mixed Blood Theatre Company (Minneapolis)
New Jersey Repertory Company (Long Branch)
New Repertory Theatre (Watertown, Mass.)
New Theatre (Coral Gables, Fla.)
Orlando Shakespeare Theater (Orlando)
Performance Network Theatre (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
Phoenix Theatre (Indianapolis)
Playwright's Theatre of New Jersey (Madison)
Prop Thtr Group (Chicago)
Riverside Theatre (Iowa City, Iowa)
Salt Lake Acting Company (Salt Lake City)
Southern Rep (New Orleans)
Unicorn Theatre (Kansas City, Mo.)
Victory Gardens (Chicago)
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (Washington, D.C.)


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20 July 2005
Successful Sourcing(HKTDC Electronic Components & Parts, Vol 03,2005)
Smart buyers from all over the world have found there is nothing like sourcing online when it comes to saving time and making money. Take, for example, M-EE Ventures Son BHD director Lau Chee Dai, who discovered the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (TDC) Sourcing Guide when he was developing a retail business in the relatively specialised area of children's footwear for the Malaysian market.
"We found the online Sourcing Guide extremely helpful," Lau recalls. "Being central to a huge array of suppliers and manufacturers from the most vibrant manufacturing hub in the world-the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan-Sourcing Guide allowed us to make initial contact and provided a quick, effective and comprehensive evaluation of potentially suitable suppliers, notwithstanding the relatively specialised nature of our business."
His enthusiasm is echoed by Rajdhani Bristle Traders proprietor Jagmohan Kapoor. "I had no problem using the TDC's online database to locate my matching suppliers," he insists. "It provides a wide range of products and services that can be utilised to the full to make the TDC and hkenterprise.com the masters of B2B online trade."
Their comments are music to the ears of TDC head of publications and e-commerce Clare Wong, who has seen the website develop in size and scope since it was introduced in 1996.
"There was an obvious need for an online sourcing tool that would allow buyers worldwide to search for high quality, competitively priced products on the Internet," Wong recollects.
Sourcing Guide at hkenterprise.com was instituted to meet this demand, and its success can be judged by the fact that its marketing, sourcing and partnering services currently draw an average of two million hits a day.
The introduction of a Greater China version now allows visitors to search for potential suppliers in the whole of the Greater China region as well as Hong Kong. The navigation bar allows a buyer looking for toys, for example, to search for toy makers by individual market-Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland, Taiwan or Macau-or by region.
Type in a product name or keyword and a list of Greater China suppliers and their details will appear on-screen. "We have more than 3,000 categories to cover all products," adds Wong.
She says Sourcing Guide is convenient, can be accessed whenever and wherever the buyer is online and is also efficient, as just one click provides access to banks of information.
"It is very cost-effective as buyers enjoy free access once they have registered online," Wong adds. "Sourcing Guide also features popular specialties like enquiry baskets, a message centre, new product alerts and recommended categories."
Sourcing Guide is a key component of the TDC's trade portal, tdctrade.com, which was rated as the "Best of its Kind" among 12 trade promotion websites in Asia by ACNeilsen in 2003, was recognised by the Web Marketing Association of the US with the Standard of Excellence WebAward in 2002, 2003 and 2004 and received CMP Asia's fourth Annual Intelligent20 Award in October 2003.
Sourcing Guide had 566,769 registered buyers as at January 31, 2005 as certified by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, and some 34,929,179 company records were retrieved last year.
Most visitors to hkenterprise.com are from the US (32%), followed by Asia (28%) and Europe (25%), with the rest split between Australia and Africa. "Just over 26% of visitors are importers, 16% are manufacturers and nearly 18% are wholesalers/retailers, providing a comprehensive balance that meets the needs of all business sectors," Wong maintains.
Reaction from Greater China advertisers and buyers has been highly positive, and the trade portal continues to go from strength to strength. "We are recruiting more advertisers from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan every day," Wong says.
These advertisers are doubtless attracted to hkenterprise.com by its keen pricing. "It costs US$1,500-4,000 a year to advertise on hkenterprise.com, giving small and medium-sized enterprises huge exposure for a very small price," Wong advises.
She believes that hkenterprise.com, together with print advertising in the TDC's flagship publication Hong Kong Enterprise and 13 other trade magazines, is a truly comprehensive package that cannot be beaten.
"hkenterprise.com is, ultimately, part of a one-stop-shop TDC sourcing service that will continue to evolve to meet the needs of local companies and worldwide buyers alike," Wong concludes.


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INDIANAPOLIS – A school-record six athletes from the UMBC track and field teams have advanced to the NCAA East Preliminaries to be held at North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, N.C. on May 23-25. The Retrievers' total doubles the previous school-best of three which was set just last year.
Sophomore sprinter Mercedes Jackson (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown) moves on to the regional meet for the second-straight year after another record-breaking season. A Second Team All-American in the indoor 60m dash, Jackson goes to The Tar Heel State to compete in both the 100m and 200m dash competitions where she is seeded 19th and 23rd, respectively. This spring season, she set new career and school-best times in both events, with a time of 11.51 to win last week's ECAC title in the 100m, and her gold medal-winning time of 23.58 at the America East Championships.
Sophomore Mercedes Jackson
In the throws, eight-time America East shot put champion Amanda Deller (Aberdeen, Md./Aberdeen) advances for the second year in a row, as well. The senior, who won the conference title at each of the four indoor and outdoor meets in her career, set a new career-best this year with her toss of 14.84m (48'8.25") at the conference championships.
For the men, seniors Dennison Long (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt, FIU) and Trae Proctor (Brandywine, Md./Thomas Stone), as well as sophomore Thor Serafenas (Olney, Md./Good Counsel/Clemson) and freshman Vincent Rentzsch (Oranienburg, Germany) will all travel south for the Retrievers.
Senior Amanda Deller
Long helped UMBC claim its best-ever finish at the America East meet, second place, by winning the 100m and 200m dash events, and anchoring the 4x100 relay to a win. For his efforts, he was named the conference Most Outstanding Male Track Performer. He will compete in the 100m dash in Greensboro after posting a career-best time of 10.39 while winning the event at the Mason Spring Invitational.
A two-time conference individual gold medal-winner, Proctor makes the road trip after breaking a 38-year old school record in the 110m hurdles at the Mason meet (14.12). Proctor earned his gold at the conference meet with his second-best time of the spring, 14.33.
Already in control of the school record in their respective events, Serafenas and Rentzsch lead the Retrievers in the throws. Serafenas broke the school mark twice this season, first at the Big Dawg Invitational on Mar. 30 at UMBC Stadium, and then again just last week at the IC4A meet at Princeton with a throw of 57.26m (187'10").
Rentzsch, meanwhile, set a new standard in the javelin on four separate occasions as a freshman, including during his first ever outdoor meet, the Florida State Relays on Mar. 22. After two more record-breaking performances, the versatile rookie reset his career-best to 65.40m (214'7) while taking top honors at the Morgan State Legacy meet. Though not breaking his record, Rentzsch won the event at the America East Championships, and followed that by taking the gold in the decathlon.
April 27, 2013 Two Straight: Women's 4x200 Relay Breaks School Record Again
April 16, 2013 Proctor and Jackson Sweep America East Track Awards
April 6, 2013 Personal-Bests Highlight Second Day of Duke Invitational
March 30, 2013 School Record Performances Highlight Big Dawg Invitational
March 12, 2013 Jackson Named Second-Team USTFCCCA All-American in 60m Dash
January 11, 2013 Personal Bests Fall as Track and Field Competes at Gotham Cup
January 10, 2013 Track and Field Heads to New York for the Gotham Cup on Friday
January 8, 2013 UMBC Earns All Four America East Weekly Track and Field Awards
January 4, 2013 Track and Field Opens 2013 at Penn State Relays on Saturday
December 4, 2012 Jackson Named America East Female Track Performer of the Week
November 7, 2012 Track and Field Reveals Tough Indoor and Outdoor Schedule


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Adam Shankman approaches causes important to him with a certain sense of humor.
The choreographer-turned-director, who was at the helm of the recent "Hairspray" and "Rock of Ages," has long been an HIV/AIDS activist and an advocate for "all areas of LGBT freedom fighting," he said in an email.
In 2010, he publicly proposed to fellow "So You Think You Can Dance" judge Nigel Lythgoe when the California Supreme Court ruled Proposition 8 unconstitutional. (He was quickly rebuffed.)
And in 2008, Shankman signed on to direct a three-minute short for the comedy site FunnyOrDie.com.
PHOTOS: Celebrities react to DOMA on Twitter
"Prop 8 — the Musical," which now has 7.5 million views, starred John C. Reilly, Allison Janney and Maya Rudolph in choruses on opposite sides of the ballot measure — until Jack Black as Jesus and Neil Patrick Harris bridge the gap with a shrimp cocktail and a song-and-dance number.
"Funny is my go-to defense strategy," he said. "I like holding up a mirror to hypocrites and those who are mired in the culture of fear and hatred, and showing them and everyone how ridiculous and idiotic they are. It's just my way."
It seems fitting that Shankman had a potent, yet funny moment, when he learned of the Supreme Court's rulings that struck down a key part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act and cleared the way for same-sex marriages to resume in California.
PHOTOS: Hollywood stars on stage
"[I] was at the David Bowie exhibit" in London, said Shankman, who first saw the news on Twitter. "I very embarrassingly gasped audibly and started sobbing. I think people just thought I was a crazy Bowie fan."
Shankman said that while there's talk of a sequel to "Prop 8 — the Musical, " Wednesday's high court rulings affect him on a more personal level.
Shankman is planning a wedding with fiance Frank Meli, whom he calls "the great love of my life."
But the "The Wedding Planner" director said his own nuptials will be a small -- and perhaps even serious -- affair.
"What I want to say to [Meli] in the vows is very personal and private, and I just don't want to make a production out of it," he said. "Besides, making 'The Wedding Planner' put me off the whole wedding thing forever. Too much work."
Tony Kushner: Gay marriage rulings help to realize his themes
Gay marriage rulings: Prop. 8 playwright Dustin Lance Black reflects
Gay marriage rulings: Twitter reacts with #MarriageEqualityBroadway


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There is nothing better than a walk in the fresh fall air, unless that walk is to benefit breast cancer. October has always been my favorite month. I can still remember the woodsy smell of the leaf piles we used to play in when growing up in northern Ontario. Growing up I looked forward to the blazing colors on the trees, now I eagerly anticipate the pink lined shelves of my supermarket. Aside from the colors, there are the events. During the month of October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the local news here in Metro Detroit showcases survivors and their efforts to raise money and breast cancer awareness through the different events sponsored by organizations truly committed to finding a cure for breast cancer. What's not to love about October?
This past weekend, was the three day walk of 60 miles. In the next few weekends, there will be the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walks hosted by the American Cancer Society. I love to hear the stories of how breast cancer brought people together for these events and motivated them to go beyond their usual level of comfort. Truthfully though, I have never participated in one of these walks; the timing has always been off for me. However, I have been a great sport when it comes to shopping to raise money!
I would love to hear from any of you that have participated in these walking events. Many people are reluctant to get involved because they don't know what to expect. You can help by sharing your story. I know some of you have very special stories to tell. Throughout October you can get involved with the American Cancer's Making Strides against Breast Cancer by going to their website.