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Perkins poised for trip to China
Swimmer is going for the gold on U.S. Paralympic team
DEL MAR - Roy Perkins doesn't have to work this hard. The Del Mar native is the owner of world records in the 50-and 100-meter butterfly and is ranked in the top five in the world in three other events.
Perkins doesn't have to spend his summer in a gym. With an acceptance to Stanford University in his pocket, he should be shopping for extra-long twin sheets and enjoying the last three months before his college career begins.
EARNIE GRAFTON / Union-Tribune Roy Perkins, 18, trains for the upcoming Paralympic Games in Beijing, at the Kearny Mesa Community Pool. He holds world records in the 50- and 100-meter butterfly and is ranked in the top five in the world in three other events.
Since then, Perkins has set 20 American records and five Pan-American records and has traveled the world in the process. Named to the 2008 U.S. Paralympic team in May, he has one more spot to fill in an already bloated trophy case - a gold medal in Beijing.
"I've been looking forward to it for so long," he said, "but I still can't really imagine what it's going to be like."
Perkins will be part of the 20-member swim team that will travel to China in September and should figure prominently in the U.S. squad's fortunes. He is slated to swim in a whopping six or seven events this fall and will be the favorite in at least two.
He said the schedule will be hectic, but it will give him a chance to bring home a load of hardware if all goes according to plan.
"It's going to be stressful, especially since I'm doing so many events," he said. "But it's going to be exciting. I'm going to have to drop a lot of time, but I'm hoping to medal in some of those other events."
AdvertisementAlthough Perkins will be in China for the first time in his swimming career, he'll have familiar faces by his side. Kendall Bailey and Michael DeMarco, both members of Perkins' Peninsula Aquatics San Diego club, are also part of the U.S. roster.
"We've all been training for the same thing," Perkins said.
Which brings the story full circle to the La Jolla YMCA, where Perkins will grind out his weight-training schedule for the next two months in preparation for the biggest sports stage of his life.
"The hardest part was going to school during the day and having the energy to work out," he said. "I just need to make sure I'm on my game every day at practice. I definitely need (the coaches) on my off days."
Milosh, who has worked with Perkins for four years, the swimmer's off days are few and far between.
"He doesn't want to be told he can't do it," Milosh said. "If you tell him he can't, he's going to do it just to prove you wrong. This summer's no joke. He's an Olympian, and he's got to train like one. He's probably working out four hours a day."
One of the men entrusted with readying Perkins to compete at the highest level, Milosh said the two have developed a chemistry that will be essential during the upcoming weeks.
"It's frustrating at times because I can't sense what he's feeling," Milosh said. "With an able-bodied athlete, I could do the (exercise) motion, but he's very understanding."
And with the pressures of school, training and four years of Olympic-sized expectations surrounding his pupil, Milosh said his own job can be as simple as taking Perkins' mind off the work at hand.
"I sense (nervousness) a little bit," he said. "I try to stay as balanced as I can. I like to think I can let him (escape). I have one focus for him: to get him ready to swim. Let's just work out and talk about movies or something, escape from reality."
Watkinds has trained Paralympic athletes for years and believes the London games in 2012 could be Perkins' best, after his body and experience have caught up to those of his competitors. But Watkinds also knows the kid he first spotted at the San Diego Triathlon Challenge has the raw material to be a world champion in a few months.
"He swam well, and he looked like he wanted to get better," Watkinds said. "All I'm interested in is people trying to get better."
To say Perkins has a lot on his mind these days would be an understatement. Add to the training and the Paralympics perhaps the most important event of all - the arrival of his first car, complete with a retrofitted steering mechanism and accelerator - and it would be hard to blame him for taking a day off now and again. Instead, Milosh says, Perkins is moving full speed ahead with his summer workouts.
"This is why I got into this business," Milosh said. "It's rewarding to work with people of this caliber both morally and from a talent standpoint."
As the intensity of the workouts increases, he said Perkins has one area that could use improvement.
"I'm still trying to get him to eat his veggies."


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Cancer Is No Match for This Grandmother
Determined to see her granddaughter grow up, Christie refuses to give in to metastatic cancer. Here's how she keeps her fighting spirit.
On summer weekends, you might find 59-year-old Christie Bonadio of Long Island, NY, any number of places: the beach, the zoo, an amusement park. But no matter the activity, you can bet her 3-year-old granddaughter, Jasmine, is right there with her. Watching them laugh and play together, you'd never guess that two years ago, a surgeon said Christie's spine was so weak, it was on the verge of collapsing. And that shocking diagnosis came just three weeks after receiving the devastating news that she had breast cancer.
Christie wound up in the surgeon's office after her oncologist found "little spots" on a PET scan of her spine. He referred her to Sumeer Sathi, MD, a neurosurgeon at Long Island Neuroscience Specialists in East Patchogue, NY. After reviewing her bone scan, Dr. Sathi confirmed that Christie needed surgery—immediately. The cancer had spread to her breastbone and spine, causing severe bone loss and broken vertebrae. If she didn't have surgery, he said, her spine could collapse.
Christie thought about her recent back pain, which didn't seem unusual since she had a demanding job at a nursing home. But one day when she picked up a 70-pound boy that she cared for on weekends, she felt a snap in her back. "I just assumed I had pulled something," she recalls. Dr. Sathi also noted Christie's stooped posture and slight hump on her back—telltale signs of bone loss.
During the four days before surgery, Christie focused on the one person she wanted to get healthy for: Her granddaughter, who was only a year old at the time. "She's my bucket list," Christie says. "All I want is to see her grow up and be there for her as much as I can. And as scared as I was about having spine surgery, I had to get stronger for Jasmine."
During the operation, Dr. Sathi "glued" titanium screws and rods into the broken areas of Christie's spine. This would help the vertebrae to fuse as new bone grew between them. Christie did well after surgery, and later had radiation to treat the cancer in her bones, and a mastectomy plus radiation to treat the original tumor.
As part of her ongoing treatment, Christie has a PET scan every three months. Her oncologist has also prescribed two medications, one to help keep the cancer from progressing, and another to help prevent bone loss and further fractures.
When asked how her back feels now, Christie replies: "I have a new lease on life. I still work five days a week, clean my house—you name it. I can do almost anything I want." And that includes chasing after Jasmine. "We go to the park, play at the beach. All my treatment goals revolve around her: I've made camp, I've made preschool—and my doctor says I'll make kindergarten. This is what it's all about."


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Picture a recovering alcoholic falling off the wagon. First he says he can handle a few drinks. Then, when his inebriation can't be denied, he insists it's only a temporary lapse. But eventually he turns mean. "What's so great about being sober?" he growls, reaching for another bottle.
As a drunk is to alcohol, the Bush administration is to budget deficits.
During the 2000 campaign George W. Bush often pledged to maintain fiscal responsibility. Right up to the passage of the 2001 tax cut his people said they could cut taxes, pay for new programs like prescription drug coverage, and still pay off most of the federal government's debt.
As soon as the bill passed, those rosy budget projections fell apart. Then came Sept. 11. "Lucky me, I hit the trifecta," declared Mr. Bush, claiming — falsely — to have said during the campaign that his budget promises didn't apply in the event of recession, war or national emergency. But until this week officials insisted the deficit was temporary.
Now the budget director, Mitch Daniels, has admitted the obvious: The federal government faces the prospect of large deficits as far as the eye can see. And sure enough, the drunk has turned mean. As the administration reaches for another bottle — another long-term tax cut for the affluent — its officials sullenly denounce the "fixation" on budget deficits, dismissing it as nonsensical "Rubinomics." (So much, by the way, for the war on terror as an excuse for deficits. "What did you do in the war, daddy?" asks Ronald Brownstein in The Los Angeles Times. "I got a big tax cut, and passed the bill on to you.")
Economics aside, the administration's ever-changing rationale for tax cuts says a lot about its character. If the Bush team never cared about deficits, Mr. Bush's promises of fiscal responsibility were dishonest. On the other hand, if administration officials didn't decide that deficits are O.K. until that belief became convenient, that suggests that they're tough talkers who make excuses when confronted with real problems. That's a scary thought; is this the kind of administration that would, say, call North Korea names and talk about pre-emptive war, but back down and offer aid when the country actually threatens to restart its nuclear program? Nah, couldn't happen.
The administration's top economist certainly changed his mind about deficits very late in the game. Glenn Hubbard, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, recently denied that deficits raise interest rates and depress private investments. Yet Mr. Hubbard is also the author of an economics textbook; as Berkeley's J. Bradford DeLong points out on his influential Web site, the 2002 edition of that textbook explains how, yes, deficits raise interest rates and depress private investment.
There's a reason Mr. Hubbard used to worry about deficits. When the government sells bonds it competes with private borrowers. By the usual rules of economics, this competition should, other things equal, drive interest rates higher and investment lower. There are exceptions to economic rules, but someone who suddenly discovers such an exception at the precise moment his political masters need a cover story isn't credible.
Will this alcoholic eventually go back on the wagon? Not for a while; he has too many enablers. The Congressional Budget Office will soon start using "dynamic scoring" to assess proposed tax cuts — that is, it will build in the supply-side assumption that tax cuts raise the economy's growth rate, and therefore generate indirect revenue gains that offset the direct revenue losses. In the past, budget officials have opposed this practice, because it's so easy to slide from objective analysis into wishful thinking. With Republicans controlling both the White House and Congress, does anyone doubt that future C.B.O. analyses will take a very favorable view of big tax cuts for rich people?
It's O.K. to run a deficit during a recession, as long as the deficit is clearly temporary. But both the numbers and the administration's search for excuses tell us that there's nothing temporary about the red ink. On the contrary, we'll probably be on a deficit bender until the baby boomers retire — and then it will get much worse.
Trust me: we're going to miss Rubinomics. Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of our lives.
Originally published in The New York Times, 1.17.03


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Line drive nearly closed down Street
OAKLAND – The nasty black-and-blue bruise on closer Huston Street's right forearm is a reminder of just how close he came to seeing his season dramatically altered.
Street got clobbered by a line drive off the bat of Oakland's Ryan Sweeney Friday night. Although Street said he's going to be all right, and might be able to pitch tonight, there were a few anxious moments Friday night when he thought his arm was broken.
"After the ball hit, it went numb, then if felt like fire in my arm," said Street, who held on to notch his 17th save in 18 opportunities. "I was thinking, 'Did I break it?'^"
Street realized his foreamr was not broken when was able to rotate his wrist and squeeze the ball. But when his forearm started tightening up, he rushed through the ninth inning as quickly as possible.
"I didn't want everybody to come out and start talking about how bad it was, because then it really would start tightening up," Street said. "I just wanted to get on with it."
Street said he never saw Sweeney's drive coming.
"I didn't even see the ball," he said. "It was the first time in a long time, or maybe ever, when I didn't even see the ball. After it hit me, I just remember thinking, 'Where's the ball? I need to make a play.'^"
He did, throwing Sweeney out at first, then striking out Bobby Crosby to end the game on two biting sliders.
For tonight's game, Seth Smith leads off and gets the start in left field. Second baseman Clint Barmes, in the No. 9 hole Friday night, is back to his usually spot, batting second. His two hits Friday helped put him back near the top of the order.
Garrett Atkins, following two straight three-hit games, will be the DH again tonight. Carlos Gonzalez, looking to get his offense in gear, starts in center field.
Here are tonight's lineups:
LF Seth Smith
2B Clint Barmes
1B Todd Helton
RF Brad Hawpe
SS Troy Tulowitzki
3B Ian Stewart
DH Garrett Atkins
CF Carlos Gonzalez
C Paul Phillips
LHP Jorge De La Rosa
2B Adam Kennedy
C Kurt Suzuki
LF Matt Holliday
DH Nomar Garciaparra
1B Jason Giambi
SS Orlando Cabrera
RF Jack Cust
3B Bobby Crosby
CF Rajai Davis
RHP Trevor Cahill


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new record
I'm taking a few days off from posting. My band The Ribeye Brothers is recording a new record and I have to massage my 1/4 octave vocal range into something that resembles listenable and write some words that don't sound like a mean spirited greeting card. We've been trying to come up with an album title and since none of us can agree we're just going to name it after a song on the record. Here were some of the titles that we couldn't agree on:
Ribeye Brothers IV-SoSo
Obscured by Clods
Your Pie, Sir
Cakes for all Occasions
Give the People What They Don't Want
Super Fez, Big Mufti (a tribute to North African rock)
Tales from the Alcoholic Oceans
Worm Apartment Guide
The Horses are Shooting Themselves
A Day at the Zoo
Songs From The Kissing Booth
Everything Went Brown
Rubber Tires, Nylon Hose, Bourbon, Butter, and Other Picture Postcards


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Emblematic Antarctica
* Subject to availability.
- Wildlife: The highest concentration of Gentoo, Adelie and Chinstrap penguins in Antarctica; Minke and humpback Whales, Weddell seals, sea Leopards, and numerous sea birds: Cape Petrels, Albatrosses, imperial Shags, and snow Petrels.
- Landscapes: A multitude of drifting icebergs, ice floe (or pack ice), calving of imposing icebergs, tall snowy mountains.
- Visits: to research stations and former whaling stations.
- Hiking possible.
- Outings everyday in Zodiac® dinghies.
- Promise of an extraordinary journey in the footsteps of Great Explorer.
- Educational discovery in the respect of environment
- Exceptional landing sites in the North of the Antarctic Peninsula, in South Georgia and in the Falkland Islands with the possibility to cross the Antarctic Circle (weather permitting)
Staterooms & Suites
There are no staterooms available for booking. Please contact our cruise advisors.
Designed in 2013 and loyal to the PONANT spirit, Le Soléal like her sisterships embodies the subtle alliance between luxury, intimacy and wellbeing which is Ponant's signature. The elegance of her exterior and interior lines and her intimate size (only 132 staterooms and suites)make this a rare and innovative yacht on the cruise market.
Interior Design
With her fluid lines and a modern colour scheme combining natural wood with shades of grey and white, Le Soléal presents references to a nautical theme.
Port of call & excursions
UshuaiaEmbarkation 14/01/2017 from 16H00 to 17H00 . Departure 14/01/2017 at 18H00 .
Capital of Argentina's Tierra del Fuego province, Ushuaia is considered the gateway to the White Continent and the South Pole. Nicknamed "El fin del mundo" by the Argentinian people, this city at the end of the world nestles in the shelter of mountains surrounded by fertile plains that the wildlife seem to have chosen as the ultimate sanctuary. With its exceptional site, where the Andes plunge straight into the sea, Ushuaia is one of the most fascinating places on earth, its very name evocative of journeys to the unlikely and the inaccessible…
15 January 2017▸16 January 2017 – Drake PassageArrival 15/01/2017. Departure 16/01/2017.
If there is one place, one sea, one waterway dreaded by tourists, researchers and hardened seafarers alike, it is undoubtedly Drake Passage. Situated at the latitude of the infamous Furious Fifties winds, between Cape Horn and the South Shetland Islands, it is the shortest route to connect Antarctica to South America. Seasoned navigators will tell you that you must earn your visit to the White Continent! As the Antarctic convergence zone where cold currents rising up from the South Pole meet warmer equatorial water masses, Drake Passage harbours a very diverse marine fauna. Don't forget to look to the sky to catch a glimpse of elegant albatross and Cape petrels, playfully floating about in the wind around your ship.
17 January 2017 – Port LockroyArrival 17/01/2017. Departure 17/01/2017.
During your cruise, you'll have the opportunity to stop over at Port Lockroy, a spectacular natural harbour nestled in the very heart of the Antarctic Peninsula on Goudier Island. Discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charcot in 1903, the site has served over the years as a stopover for whaling ships, a British military base and later a research station. The port is currently one of the most visited sites in the Antarctic, thanks to its tiny museum which allows visitors to experience the base as it was in the 1950s and to take home a souvenir from its gift shop. While you're here, don't miss the chance to send your loved ones a post card from the southernmost post office in the world!
18 January 2017 – Pleneau Island, Port CharcotArrival 18/01/2017. Departure 18/01/2017.
19 January 2017 – Paradise BayArrival 19/01/2017. Departure 19/01/2017.
With its spectacular landscapes composed of towering glacial peaks plunging down into the icy waters of the Antarctic, Paradise Bay is true to its name. Discovered and named by whalers in the early 20th century, this protected natural site is currently home to a wide variety of fauna, from Antarctic cormorants and leopard seals to sheathbills and gentoo penguins, who mingle on the long stretch of rocky beaches. With some luck, you'll even be privy to an unforgettable underwater dance between passing humpback whales. During your excursion, head off to discover the old Argentine base Almirante Brown, which is only occupied for a few weeks each year, during the austral summer.
20 January 2017 – Weddell SeaArrival 20/01/2017. Departure 20/01/2017.
Amidst the eerie stillness of the Weddell Sea, you'll wend your way through a veritable labyrinth of majestic table icebergs. Sweeping ice platforms sculpt a landscape unlike any other, populated by fur seals, penguins, wandering albatross and other imposing seabirds. The Weddell seal, king of this realm, will welcome you to his territory with a haunting cry that pierces the surrounding silence. You'll recognise him by his dark grey coat and spotted belly. Weddell seals have the impressive distinction of being able to stay underwater for more than an hour.
21 January 2017 – Antarctic Sound - Deception I.Arrival 21/01/2017. Departure 21/01/2017.
Situated between the east and west of the Antarctic Peninsula, this famous sound links the Bransfield Strait to the Weddell Sea. It is named after the ship Antarctic on which Otto Nordenskjöld led a Swedish Antarctic expedition in 1902. The Antarctic Sound is one of the mythical White Continent's most spectacular sites and it is one of the "alleys" down which can be found majestic tabular icebergs that have broken off from gigantic ice shelves. At the heart of this icy landscape, the polar light creates multiple reflections, humpback whales live under the water's surface, and broken pieces of ice shelf float freely, carrying Weddell seals basking in the sun.
22 January 2017▸23 January 2017 – Drake PassageArrival 22/01/2017. Departure 23/01/2017.
If there is one place, one sea, one waterway dreaded by tourists, researchers and hardened seafarers alike, it is undoubtedly Drake Passage. Situated at the latitude of the infamous Furious Fifties winds, between Cape Horn and the South Shetland Islands, it is the shortest route to connect Antarctica to South America. Seasoned navigators will tell you that you must earn your visit to the White Continent! As the Antarctic convergence zone where cold currents rising up from the South Pole meet warmer equatorial water masses, Drake Passage harbours a very diverse marine fauna. Don't forget to look to the sky to catch a glimpse of elegant albatross and Cape petrels, playfully floating about in the wind around your ship.
UshuaiaDisembarkation 24/01/2017 at 07H00 .
Capital of Argentina's Tierra del Fuego province, Ushuaia is considered the gateway to the White Continent and the South Pole. Nicknamed "El fin del mundo" by the Argentinian people, this city at the end of the world nestles in the shelter of mountains surrounded by fertile plains that the wildlife seem to have chosen as the ultimate sanctuary. With its exceptional site, where the Andes plunge straight into the sea, Ushuaia is one of the most fascinating places on earth, its very name evocative of journeys to the unlikely and the inaccessible…
The information below is current but subject to change at any time without advance notice from government authorities. Please consult your respective government agencies for visa and health information.
Passport valid for at least six (6) months beyond the completion of your trip. Passport must contain at least two completely clear, blank, unused visa pages for each visa required, not including any amendment pages. Visa pages with stains or ink from other pages in the passport are not usable. Guests who deviate from the scheduled embarkation or disembarkation port should research the foreign entry requirements for the port country. Due to government regulations, regrettably, Ponant will have to deny boarding to any guest who fails to obtain the appropriate travel documentation for this trip.
Warning about the use of drones: the use of drones aboard PONANT ships, whether they are sailing at sea, at a port of call or anchored, is strictly forbidden. The use of drones on land in the Arctic and Antarctic regions is also strictly forbidden by international polar regulations. In other regions, it may be possible to use drones on land if permission has been obtained from the relevant authorities of each country and each region travelled through, as well as a pilot's licence that should be obtained from your home country. Passengers are responsible for obtaining these permits; they should be able to present them at all times. Passengers who do not obtain these authorisations expose themselves to the risk of legal proceedings.
Argentina: should you require a visa to travel to Argentina, we recommend you apply for a double-entry visa as a technical stop in Chile might be scheduled.
We remind you that all our ships have a doctor on board and medical facilities. However, these cannot, under any circumstances, be compared to any medical structure on land. Given the remote areas in which we will be sailing for a number of days, safety requirements mean that we are obliged to ask each passenger signing up for this program to provide us, no more than 45 days before departure, with a medical certificate from their GP, as well as the completed medical questionnaire received during registration.
Polar Expedition
Discover the unique concept of PONANT polar expedition cruises: explore the world's extreme regions while enjoying luxurious comfort and service.
A luxury expedition voyage
Choosing a PONANT expedition cruise means choosing a state of mind: the alliance of elegance and authenticity, of exploration and comfort, of adventure and refinement… The comfort of your ship and your stateroom, personalised and attentive service, refined gastronomy: a very special atmosphere that we take great care to maintain. In the heart of the ice floes of the Arctic and the Antarctic, our luxurious services will ensure that your expedition cruise is an unforgettable experience.
PONANT, polar specialists
With almost 20 years of experience in the extreme regions, PONANT, the world's number 1 polar cruise company, is a real polar specialist. PONANT will take you to the most remote regions in total safety: our Captains and crew are professionals, specially trained to sail in icy waters. Our latest-generation fleet has the most modern technology to guarantee both your safety and respect for the regions visited. The size of our ships means we can get as close as possible to areas that are difficult to reach, offering a privileged access to preserved sites. Our flexibility enables us to adapt to the surprises inherent to these expedition itineraries.
Professional expedition teams, varied activities
After scouting missions in the field, our Expedition Leaders and their teams of naturalist guides design exceptional itineraries in the polar regions. During the cruise, they organise daily outings and shore visits in Zodiac® dinghies and hikes on land so as to get as close as possible to nature and wild fauna. In the Arctic and in Alaska, the close relationships that our teams have been able to build with the local communities will enable you to understand the life of these peoples of the Far North, and to share it for a few hours. On board, the naturalist guides will share their knowledge during various conferences on fauna, the history of the great explorations, geology and climatology…
Important information
Expeditions programs include activities such as Zodiac® outings (often with "wet landing"), moderate walks to more active hikes. All this accompanied by your expedition team of naturalist guides. Calls, landings & zodiac® cruises will depend on weather conditions, position of ice (during polar cruises) and winds and the state of the sea. These can force a change of plans at any time.
Taking into consideration the unusual and exceptional character of expedition itineraries, the calls shown are an indication only. The final route will be confirmed by the Captain and Expedition Leader, who will take into account the touristic quality of the sites and above all, the safety of the passengers. Their decision will be subject to that of local authorities and the expert pilots present on board during the navigation in polar and /or isolated zones.
Travelling to polar/isolated regions is an exhilarating experience. The raw beauty and untouched wilderness offer an unusual chance to experience a place where there is little evidence of human presence. Inevitably, there are some consequences that come with such remoteness: please remember that you are far from modern hospitals with full medical facilities, thus evacuation is highly expensive. Without the necessary medical coverage, all expenses will have to be immediately paid for with your personal funds. We urge you to subscribe a full coverage insurance, choose your insurance company very carefully and be extremely vigilant and ensure your insurance is fully comprehensive.
Dressing tips:
- Water-resistant parka offered on board (for adults only) on Expedition cruises where the stamp "Parka gift" appears
- Half calf rubber boots with non-slip soles, which will allow you to land in 20 cm of cold water, keeping your feet dry for walks and visits on steep paths. You can also bring water-resistant hiking boots. A boots rental will be offered onboard (for adults only) on Expedition cruises where the stamp "Boots offered" appears
- Comfortable pants: classic Winter pants, warm cotton tracksuit
- Water-resistant windbreaker over pants - COMPULSORY
- Winter pants with water-resistant over pants is the ideal combination: water-resistance and comfort suitability of pants are essential
- Pullover, sweat-shirt or fleece jacket
- Thermal sweater
- Fleece muffler and fleece cap or thermal beanie covering ears (avoid scarfs which do not stand still)
- Water-resistant and supple gloves
- Polarized sunglasses with high UV filter
- Walking sticks (highly recommended)


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I played some old Atari 2600 games over the weekend and so was inspired to jot down a little post about it. I was once again struck by how much fun this ancient system of my youth can still be when played with an opponent. Yeah the solo play on an old-school Atari is still fun in short bursts too, but two-player head-to-head competition is where it really shines. And a few Founders Centennial IPAs down the gullet certainly didn't hurt any.
We played several oldies - including Bowling, Surround, Slot Racers, Combat (possibly my all-time favorite Atari game) and one that I recall playing with my little brother - Football.
Atari Football came out in 1978 and for you youngsters out there (i.e. anyone younger than 40 - God I'm getting old) the graphics will appear quite archaic, but you have to remember that just 1 year earlier when you looked at the screen of the cutting edge football game on the market you saw this:
So give it a break already.
I didn't realize it until I started writing this, but Football for the Atari Video Computer System (pre-2600 days) was designed by Bob Whitehead while he was still with Atari. Whitehead also designed several other personal favorites after co-founding Activision like Chopper Command and Stampede as well as two of my favorite sports games on the Commodore 64 - 4th and Inches and Hardball. So I'm a fan of his work.
Here is an advertisement for Football from a 1978 games catalog.
I can only assume this odd picture represents some sort of play action pass in the making - maybe a fake reverse. This ad came out before the game was actually published so I'll grant them some leeway, but either they were intentionally exaggerating the technical capabilities of the game or else they couldn't quite figure out how to make everything work because some of the bold claims proved to be false. "Bewilder the defense with a razzle-dazzle double-reverse." "Break tackles on your way to a 90-yard open field gallop". "You're up against cunning opponents, time limits, and crazy bounces.". OK let's take these in order. 1) There is no way to actually run a razzle-dazzle double-reverse - or even a single reverse for that matter. You can call a running play if you want and reverse the direction in which you are currently running - that's it. 2) There is no breaking tackles whatsoever. Whitehead DID implement that nifty little feature 8 years later on 4th and Inches on the C64 but not here. In Atari Football once any defender touches even one loose thread of your jersey you collapse to the turf like a Matrixian Sentinel after an EMP burst. 3) There is a time limit, and I suppose you could even call your opponents cunning if you like, but there are absolutely no crazy bounces. If you touch the ball you catch the ball. If you don't you miss it. No fumbles or kickoffs or deflected passes or anything else like that that might constitute a bounce, crazy or otherwise.
But even with those broken advertising promises - this little game remains a gem.
There are 3 variations in the game but honestly I don't think I have ever even played any of them except number one. Just like with cock pushups - one is all you need. Before each snap you move your joystick to call your "play". I put the word in quotation marks because which play you choose is more or less meaningless - just basically tells your 3 lineman which general direction to move, but nevertheless there are 5 different plays on defense and 4 on offense plus the option to punt if it's 4th and long. But your chances of scoring on any given play are so good that I completely ignore the punt option. OK, I forgot about the punt option. But if I'd remembered it I'm certain I would have ignored it. Once you snap the ball you can either run it for a running play or hit the button and throw a pass. You really have to step carefully if you run the ball because one touch drops you immediately. But if you choose to pass - in a delightfully retro thumb in the eye of realism - you can remote control the pass after it leaves your hands. So you are able to move it left and right as needed to thread it between defenders. Yeah!
Now admittedly I had played this game as a child much more than my opponent Pungent Onion, so I probably had a bit of an unfair advantage, as evidenced by the final score of 154-35 or so. But even with the lopsided score this old game remained great fun. For me anyway. And Pungent acted like he was enjoying it too I think. And as high-powered as the offense was, it was the defense that really put us over the top. Interception after interception returned for 7 points. A touchdown scores 7 points automatically - there are no extra points or field goals. But you CAN score a safety if you are able to tackle your opponent in his own end zone - alas, I was unable to spread that icing on the football cake. And one more feature - the game indicates the first-down marker with a line across the field - same as television broadcasts do digitally, but first downs are not all that plentiful as more often than not if you make it past the first down marker you are likely well on your way to taking it to the house for 7. But still it is a nice little addition. One thing I wish they had been able to add would be the ability to speed up your players by rapidly tapping the fire button a-la Track & Field. Here everyone runs at exactly the same speed so once you get past the defense it's off to the races.
The graphics are admittedly weak - your blocky football players look like dumpy versions of the Berzerk robots. And the sound effects are pretty shaky too but you know, the 2600 games weren't exactly known for their kick-ass sound, especially in the early years of the system. Some white noise static for crowd noise, a beep for completions and a simple little bleep bloop song for a score. Geez the more I write and look at the picture I don't feel like I'm doing the game justice. I guess this is just a game you have to play to appreciate. But it is literally unplayable as a 1-player game so you gotta have a friend to play.
So if you are looking for a completely intuitive almost-as-old-as-it-gets-old-school football game that is perfect for playing while drinking beer and producing minimal brain wave activity then Atari Football is the game for you. Not at the absolute top of my Atari 2600 favorites list, but it's on up there.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Football on the Atari VCS
I played some old Atari 2600 games over the weekend and so was inspired to jot down a little post about it. I was once again struck by how much fun this ancient system of my youth can still be when played with an opponent. Yeah the solo play on an old-school Atari is still fun in short bursts too, but two-player head-to-head competition is where it really shines. And a few Founders Centennial IPAs down the gullet certainly didn't hurt any.
Posted by MadPlanet at 9:40 PM
Labels: Atari 2600
4 comments:
- PungentOnion said...
No question, the entertainment value of a 2-player 2600 game is pretty hard to beat. The head-to-head 2-players are the best. Playing 2600 Football in 2013, however, confirms that I suck at video sports games, always have, probably always will. But it is still great fun. You know the game isn't going to last 20 minutes....you know switching out to slot racers only take about 6 1/2 seconds....there are no system or game updates from the master command center half-way across the universe. Just enjoy and then try another game on a moments notice.
Without much question, Slot Racers was always one of my all-time favorites and it's doesn't hurt that I'm halfway decent at it. The game runs at just the right speed that it's quick, but you can often see your immenent death long before it occurs. You push the joystix just a bit harder to outrun the large square 'bullet', but of course you never ever go any faster. Your voice slowly gets louder and louder as the bullet approaches until you finally get hit, just as you knew you would, but you're still slightly surprised you couldn't quite get out of the way.
I am fortunate to have the 2600 hooked up to a 40" plasma with stereo sound, so it's awesome to play. But in the midst of the action, the game was just as good on a 13" B&W.
- November 29, 2013 at 8:42 AM
- MadPlanet said...
And Atari carts are so dirt cheap these days you can build up a nice collection of the 2-player head-to-head games for not much $. Or get a Harmony multicart and have them all.
Admittedly you outpace me on slot racers. And you're right, I did keep pushing that damn joystick forward to accelerate but wasn't sure if it was doing any good or not.
- November 29, 2013 at 1:12 PM
- MadPlanet said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- November 29, 2013 at 1:13 PM
- SEO Tutorial said...
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- July 17, 2014 at 12:55 AM


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How were the federal courts established? What kind of cases do they hear? What is the difference between state and federal courts? These might be some of the questions you're asking when you visit uscourts.gov, and the answers are a click away.
Our Founding Fathers understood the need for an independent Judiciary, which was created under Article III of the United States Constitution. The Judicial Branch is one of the three separate and distinct branches of the federal government. The other two are the legislative and executive branches.
If you would like to learn more about the federal Judiciary and how the courts work, take a few minutes to visit the links below.


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TORONTO — The average first-time homebuyer in Canada is 29 years old and expects to be able to put down a down payment of $48,000 on $300,000 home, according to a recent poll by the Bank of Montreal.
But the study, released Tuesday, also found that price expectations vary widely, depending on where the homebuyer lives in.
Those in Atlantic Canada say they expect to spend an average of $224,000 ...
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Crisp orange shortbread
Nutrition and extra info
- Freezable
- Easily doubled
- Gluten-free
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal154
- fat9g
- saturates5g
- carbs20g
- sugars5g
- fibre1g
- protein1g
- salt0.2g
- 100g butter, softened
Butter is made when lactic-acid producing bacteria are added to cream and churned to make an…
- 50g golden caster sugar
- grated zest ½ orange
One of the best-known citrus fruits, oranges aren't necessarily orange - some varieties are…
- 175g gluten-free flour (try Doves Farm)
Flour is a powdery ingredient usually made from grinding wheat, maize, rye, barley or rice. As…
- ½ tsp gluten-free baking powder (we used Supercook)
Baking powderbay-king pow-dah
Baking powder is a raising agent that is commonly used in cake-making. It is made from an alkali…
Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Lightly oil a baking sheet. Beat the butter, then cream it with the sugar and orange zest until light. Stir in the flour and baking powder and mix together to form a dough.
Divide the mixture into 10 balls, arrange on a baking sheet. Press each ball fl at with the tip of a round-bladed knife. Chill for 15 mins, then bake for 12-15 mins until light golden. Leave on the baking sheet for 2 mins before releasing with a palette knife. Slide onto a rack to cool. Will keep stored in an airtight container for up to a week.


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A New Way to Look at Your Business
Built with the power of Google and Salesforce combined, FLP360° gives you access to a some of the best Google Apps and tools that can help you on your journey to build a strong business. We're excited to announce that what you'll see the next time you login, is a whole new experience!
We've taken the look and feel of FLP360° and given it an upgrade. With new, sleek colors and design, you'll feel an integrated experience with all of the Forever sites. Plus, you'll get a streamlined view on your dashboard to easily review what's most important to your business. What will you get on the home page? Snapshots of your volume and recruitment, a list of your recent orders and your latest emails.
With recent updates, you'll also notice that you've been automatically added to your upline's Chatter group and your downline is automatically added to yours. This makes communication simple and fun among your teams, so you'll always stay connected.
All of the same detailed reports and charts are available to help guide you toward the strong points and opportunities in your business. You'll also get all of the great email templates in the Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) tool to send out communications to your leads, team and customers!
In addition to the updates you'll see on the Web version of FLP360°, the FLP360° Mobile App has also undergone some enhancements. Now, when you search through mobile, you can see an unlimited number of generations in your downline. That's a whole lot of information at your fingertips!
If you haven't had the opportunity to check out FLP360°, then now is the time! With these latest upgrades, this tool is sure to help catapult your success and give you a new way to look at your business.
Learn more about the features of FLP360°.


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WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sen. Robert Byrd was released from the hospital Tuesday, after a six week stay that kept the 91-year-old West Virginia Democrat away from Capitol Hill.
A statement from Byrd's office said that he is "resting comfortably at home, where he will continue his recuperation and physical therapy." The statement did not say when the senator would return to work. The Senate is currently in recess for the Fourth of July holiday.
Byrd was hospitalized on May 15 with an infection and was expected to return to work after a few days. But the Senate's longest serving member developed a staph infection while being treated for his original infection.
Previous statements released by Byrd's office indicated that he was "resuming some of his official duties while recuperating, including signing several … bills as president pro tempore of the Senate, and working with staff on upcoming appropriations bills."
Byrd served in the House from 1953 to 1959 and moved across the Capitol to the Senate in 1959.
If he were a typical 91 year old senior he would not have been allowed to be in the hospital for 6 weeks. They would have sent him to a nursing home to recover since Medicare or even the supplimental insurance some seniors can afford wouldn't allow such a long hospital stay.
With that said, I remember President Obama promising each American would get the SAME insurance that their representatives got in Congress. We shall see Mr. President will we?
Hey Byrd ... time to fly away ... far, far away from the Senate. Give it up, old boy!
We have term limits...they are called ELECTIONS!
If the senator or representative is not doing a good job, then don't re-elect them. If they are doing their job, then keep them.
Obviously, we do have gerrymandered districts for the House, but Senators are elected by the whole state, conservative and liberal districts.
The people in WV can keep Sen. Byrd as long as they want. He will eventually pass away, as all humans do, but if the people of WV want to reward him by keeping him in the senate as a figurehead then let them.
its nice to hear he is better, but how and why is he still serving in the senate? byrd is a good argument for why we need term limits. 50 years? even the president can only serve for 8 yrs. it is time for the senator to retire.
He was in the hospital?
I agree that Byrd should resign and should have a LONG time ago. He's tying up a job that someone younger could use! All of these senior citizens who don't HAVE to work should retire and give these jobs to people who NEED them!
Senator Byrd was elected fair and square. If he wasn't worth voting for he would be retired and by my calculations that would have put him, what – in his 80's last time around? Last time I checked we still vote in this country. People are clamoring for change all over this country but I don't see more youthful people being as dedicated to their nation as Sen. Byrd. Quit whining for someone to fix the problem and become part of the solution. Join the Army today! Sorry, little bias there.
With all due respect...this man is TOO OLD to be in politics. I'm sorry, but too old is too old. Can't this guy retire and take up some cause besides babysitting the Senate?
I like the guy. But he 91 and trying to be strong, but he has to give it up. Term limits are in order.
God Speed Mr. Byrd. Come on back home and enjoy the mountains for a while. You've done your part.
He lived long enough to see his boy-'hood' dream come ture courtesy of the Democrtic party and the Democrat voters who support them.
Without their division tactics, we may have been very very close to Dr. King's dream by now.
Him and Kennedy need to just go
Retire Byrd!
It would be a pity if he has a flashback of one of the blazing "grand old parties", and I'm not speaking of the GOP.
If Mr. Byrd were not a Senator and Obama's healthcare plan was in place, he would not be alive since there will be rationing based on age, not on contributions to society.
I wish the man no ill will. Its sad that he won't return the favor, and resign. Ultimately, its all about whose needs are being met. Mine, or his. Clearly, he cares more about himself.
Meh. He may be more conservative than most Democrats, but I like his enthusaism.
Besides, the GOP is simply barbaric. 😛
There are mandatory retirement rules in nearly all industries and public service. Can't we impose the same rules on politicians that our own bosses impose on us at work?
I hope we all live that long, on the other hand with Obama in charge...
I thought I saw him still in his hospital sheets
Sen. Byrd is old, but he's not stupid. He was one of the few in the Senate who stood up in 2002 and said that invading Iraq is a really dumb idea. 91 is probably time to hang it up though.
If there ever was an arugment for TERM LIMITS.
This OLD COOK and Teddy (I'm sober now) Kennedy should resign or be "recalled".
If he were a commercial pilot he would have been FORCED to retire many many years ago. Retire and let some forward thinking person have a chance. How much more "sick" time do you have left this year from your "job" before YOUR employer terminates you like would happen to us in the same predicament. WE DON'T get unlimited time off for sickness, why should you???
One big, big benefit of Byrd retiring at his age would be .... he won't be around for very long to collect that great pension senators receive (plus medical benefits).


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Impeachment Trial
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Chinese city quarantines 11 million as virus spreads
Air tanker crash kills 3 Americans battling Australian wildfires
First U.S. coronavirus patient had at least 16 close contacts
Trump: U.S. service members hurt in Iran attack had "headaches"
Man arrested with nearly $4 million worth of drugs in his car
Another inmate found dead inside understaffed Mississippi prison
4 killed in plane crash at Southern California airport
Rapper Juice WRLD died of oxycodone and codeine overdose
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Complete coverage of the proceedings
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Celebrity Plastic Surgery Disasters?
Plastic surgery doesn't always turn out the way people want it to - and that's true for celebrities as well as the rest of us.
Just take a look at these 14 A-listers - and what plastic surgeon Dr. Anthony Youn, who writes the popular
Celeb Cosmetic Surgery blog
, has to say about each.
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Kenny Rogers
"Kenny Rogers gambled with plastic surgery - and lost!" says Dr. Youn.
"I'm not happy about it," the country crooner told People magazine in 2006 of a botched eyelid lift. "It drives me crazy."
With his tight eyelids, he no longer looks like the scruffy, masculine man we knew in the 70's, says Dr. Youn.
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Joan Rivers
Joan Rivers admits to having had lots of plastic surgery, including a facelift, neck lift, and eyelid surgery - and she makes no apologies. Some might say her "work" has been overdone, but who cares?
"She's A Piece of Work (in a good way)," Dr. Youn says.
Getty Images
Donatella Versace
The first thing one notices about Donatella Versace is her overly plump upper lip. Natural lower lips tend to be about 50 percent larger than the upper lip. But in Versace's case, the proportions are reversed, yielding what Dr. Youn calls a "trout pout."
In addition, the designer's skin looks waxy, possibly the result of multiple laser treatments.
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Michael Jackson
A whittled-down nose, lightened skin, an unnatural cleft in the chin, a chin implant, lip augmentation, and God knows what else - Michael Jackson was a classic case of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), Dr. Youn says.
BDD is a psychiatric condition that makes it impossible to see oneself as others do. This unrealistic view causes BDD sufferers to undergo multiple plastic surgeries in a misguided attempt to correct a defect - one that wasn't there to begin with, according to Dr. Youn.
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Jocelyn Wildenstein
"Jocelyn Wildenstein is a poster child for plastic surgery gone wrong," says Dr. Young.
The "Lion Woman of New York" reportedly underwent dozens of plastic surgeries - all in a misguided attempt to win back her husband.
Dr. Youn thinks she might have undergone a brow lift, facelift, lip plumping injections, chin augmentation, fat grafting and/or cheek implants, upper and lower eyelid surgery, and canthopexy, a procedure that elevates the eyes to give them a catlike appearance.
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Heidi Montag
What more can be said about Heidi Montag?
"She underwent 10 cosmetic surgeries in one day... and now she looks less like a person and more like a Barbie doll," says Dr. Youn.
"In my opinion, none of these ten plastic surgeries have benefited her except in giving her more publicity and more reasons to do more surgery," says Youn.
The reality star admitted to having a mini brow lift, botox in her forehead, a nose job revision, fat injections in her cheeks, a chin reduction, neck liposuction, ears pinned back, second breast augmentation, liposuction on waist, hips and inner thighs, and a buttock augmentation.
"This troubled fame addict needs a shrink, not a plastic surgeon!" says Youn.
Montag herself has since called the surgeries a mistake.
"People have fewer scars from car accidents than I have on my body," she told Life & Style Weekly.
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Jennifer Grey
"Jennifer Grey is a good example of how a nose job (rhinoplasty) can dramatically alter one's appearance," says Dr. Youn. "The removal of the bump (dorsal hump) on Grey's nose made her look very different from the 'Baby' character she played in 'Dirty Dancing.'"
That nose was one of Grey's defining features (like Julia Roberts's lips, Cindy Crawford's mole, and David Letterman's gapped teeth).
While her altered appearance didn't stop Grey from winning "Dancing with The Stars," it might have gotten in the way of movie roles.
"I personally think she looks better since it's just a tad smaller," says Dr. Youn. "But the problem is that she doesn't look like she used to."
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Mickey Rourke
Mickey Rourke appears to have undergone a facelift and upper eyelid lift, as well as hair transplants, according to Dr. Youn.
A badly done facelift can cost a man his sideburns, and Dr. Youn says this seems to have happened with Rourke.
"The unnatural curve between his ear and cheek and his now-attached earlobe are also telltale signs of a facelift," he says.
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Carrot Top
These days, "Carrot Top is looking more and more like a muscle-bound cartoon character," says Dr. Youn.
He seems to have undergone quite a few changes over the years, Dr. Youn says, yielding an excessively arched brow and a smooth face, possibly the result of laser treatments or chemical peels.
"At least it appears he's left his eyelids alone," Youn says, "although maybe they're next."
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Priscilla Presley
What if Elvis could see Priscilla now? Dr. Youn says he might be "All Shook Up."
A few years ago, says Dr. Youn, Priscilla Presley revealed that she got silicone injections in her cheeks - by a phony doctor. That may explain her puffy face - but not her face's waxy look. Dr. Youn says the latter might have been caused by a combination of repeated laser treatments and Botox.
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Dubai recently announced its partnership with China in the creation of a billion dollar investment fund. Saudi commitment to double oil exports to China by 2010. These two announcements exemplify Chinas Middle East energy strategy: to entrench itself economically in the region, even at a loss, so as to obtain the political leverage required to secure access to oil and gas. The mandate of the newly created China Dubai Capital fund (CDCF) is to target high-potential investment opportunities in China, which will then be listed on Dubais...
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1991 Chevy Truck EBC Brakes - Bulletproof Brakes
EBC's Slotted Rotors And Kevlar Pads
There are many different ways to upgrade your truck's brake system: bigger calipers, aftermarket master cylinders, hydro boost, and larger rotors all come to mind. But a quick and easy upgrade is better brake pads and rotors. EBC is a British-based company with nearly 30 years of experience making performance disc-brake pads for motorcycles, mountain bikes, mining equipment, autos, and trucks. So when EBC offered to let us test a set of its performance pads and rotors we jumped at the chance.
The old rotors and pads on our 7,700-pound '91 Chevy worked, but were nothing to write home about. We had learned to leave a fair distance between us and the other crazy drivers in front of us, but that didn't account for the many brainless individuals who nonchalantly cut us off and then come to a screeching halt for no apparent reason. It's almost funny how many people do not realize that when you cut off a big truck with 37-inch tires and a massive front bumper, it may not be able to stop all that quickly and could end up on top of you. Plus this big monster has become a weekend camping rig used for exploring lots of mountain trails, and the curving winding scenic byways are so much nicer when you know you can slow down the momentum quickly and not go sailing off a cliff. Thus you can see our desire for brakes we can depend on, and so we took a short afternoon of wrenching to swap in the EBC pads and rotors in our driveway.


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Question: I've had a lot of loss in my life and my husband has lung cancer and I'm facing more loss in my future. And I would like to know how I can use the grief that I feel to come to a deeper place of truth. And also when I notice myself in this kind of spiral of feeling my own pain and suffering and then other's pain and the pain of the world, do I just stop and focus on my breath, or is that trying to escape feeling that?
Ram Dass: I know from our conversations, you have really indeed had loss after loss after loss. And now to be faced with your second husband having bone cancer, it's like the life of Job. I mean you're just faced with such a continuing barrage of suffering. And each time we form an attachment to another human being it is of course inevitable, sooner or later, that one of you is going to die. So that in a way in the nature of attachment to human beings there is loss built in. And that's part of what makes it precious and frightening at the same moment. It's what actually intensifies the attachment. The attachment has in it the recognition at some level of the changing nature of phenomena -that everything is changing all the time. And it's uncertain.
So actually there is that thing that many of us have felt. The fear of loving too much. The fear and the pain of loving when you know there will be loss. And when there is loss, there is of course deep grief. And the way we deal with grief has a lot to do with whether or not the grief heals and strengthens us or ends up depriving and starving us. And we have learned a lot of things about grief over the years. We have learned that that strong 'grin and bear it' 'stiff upper lip' response to grief, which involves denial, is not an optimum strategy for dealing with the mourning period. And my own reaction to people that are grieving is to really give them a lot of support in grieving. And letting the process run its course. And that means just not the grief of the loss of a person, but the grief of the loss of any dream in life. Of any thing that you have invested in where it is lost. There is a reaction to a loss that is a grieving process. And if you don't deal with the grieving in a way that is true to your being – it's just as untrue to grieve when you're not feeling it as to not grieve when you're feeling it. And you can't really demand any person be on schedule. You have to ask them to be true to their own heart. To say to somebody "You haven't grieved enough" because they said I'm not feeling anything isn't really necessarily tuning appropriately to another person. But when they don't grieve in harmony with their deepest truth, they end up veiled from their hearts and they end up with increasing cynicism about life and increasing fear also. Fear of future involvement; fear of any risk.
So how you go through these processes as you're asking is really very critical to your own evolution. And again from a spiritual perspective all of these things, including your husband's bone cancer, from your spiritual – from your soul's point of view – are offerings being made to you to give you the stuff through which you can grow clearer and stronger and emptier and more available. With your heart more open if you approach it with a certain strategy. And part of that is the way in which you deal with suffering in general. Just the way in which you, we talked some about this already, develop the ability to live two levels simultaneously. One of them where you look at the universe of suffering. You recall the story of the Buddha where a woman came to the Buddha with her dead baby and asked the Buddha to bring the baby back to life. And the Buddha said, "Well, in order for me to do that, if you will go to a nearby home and find a mustard seed that comes from a house where death has not visited, I will help you." And she went and she couldn't find a house, because they would say "My father died" "my mother" "my child died"… And finally she came back recognizing the reality of the nature of death. And she was released from that kind of predicament that 'only my child has died.' She became aware of context in which life and death exist.
So developing a contextual appreciation of suffering – that suffering is part of the fabric of a human incarnation, as is death. And not feeling that death is the enemy, but that death is part of a process. Just like Autumn and Winter aren't enemies of Spring and Summer. They are just continuing parts of the process. Now part of that is aided a lot by understandings and deepening faith in the fact that there is soul or there is spiritual contact in which physical existence dwells. And as you develop that spiritual context and appreciate that suffering from within that context is the stuff of growth, then under those conditions you are much more capable of handling the physical conditions even though your heart is breaking as I said the other day. And it is breaking and it will break and you will feel depressions and you will feel like crying and you have to be honoring that psychological process that is going on. At the same moment you keep cultivating the other part of you. And instead of judging God, "Why have you done this?" says, "Let me understand. Give me the wisdom to understand and to grow strong through this. And to appreciate the way in which all things are changing constantly and all of life is an inter-connected circle from birth to death."


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First Hybrid SACD Edition of The Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas
"Peter Takács proved to be a marvelous pianist. His command of the instrument is outstanding. His emotional resources are lively and diverse. His musical intelligence is acute." (New York Times)
Peter Takács
The Complete
Beethoven Piano Sonatas
32 Piano Sonatas
Andante in F major
Sonata in C major, WoO 51
Sonatina in F major, WoO 50
Three Sonatas (Kurfurstensonaten)
Sonata in E-flat major, WoO 47, No. 1
Sonata in F minor, WoO 47, No. 2
Sonata in D major, Wo0 47, No. 3
Sonata in D major for Piano Four Hands, Op. 6
11 Disc, Hybrid SACD Boxed Set – Cambria CD-3800
Beethoven's piano sonatas which span almost his entire life radiate human struggle and heavenly certitude. While Bach summarized all that has come before, Beethoven pointed to the future. Embarking on a life-long project, pianist Peter Takács, for the very first time presents in one package — Beethoven's complete sonatas — the standard "32" plus all the early piano sonatas without opus numbers and also the one and only sonata for piano four-hands. This unique release is presented in a lavish 11-Disc, Hybrid SACD boxed set, which includes a 144-page fully illustrated hardcover book providing an essay on The Mind of Beethoven and extensive and detailed notes on interpretation of each of the works. Additionally, Beethoven's life, times and world, are outlined in a handy, concise, separate 22 x 22 inch, double-sided fold-out chart. Recorded in 5.1 Surround audio on an Bösendorfer Imperial Concert Grand, this set is truly one of a kind.
A special Limited, Numbered Edition of 250 units will be signed by Peter Takács and available through the Cambria website.
CD-3800A - Regular Edition $109.95
CD-3800B - Signed Limited Edition Price $149.95
"Follow PDI" – My Experiences as an AAF B-25 Pilot During World War II
by Dan Bowling
"Follow P-D-I" tells the story of a young B-25 bomber pilot's military life while attached to the Mediterranean Theater during World War II. As a squadron lead and group lead pilot of the 57th Bomb Wing, 321st Group, 445th Squadron, twenty-two year old Dan Bowling flew sixty-seven combat missions over Northern Italy between August 1944 and May 1945.
Hardback $23.95
The Sari Biro Legacy
Historic Piano Performances
In celebration of the centenary year of her birth, Cambria is honored to release The Sari Biro Legacy — a four disc, box set chronicling her remarkable recording career between the years 1944 and 1972. Sari Biro (pronounced sha-ri) was the only women pianist to ever perform nine major piano concerti in three consecutive concerts — a feat she accomplished several times in her career including Carnegie Hall (1949).
(Four CD Box Set) $27.95
"The Hollywood Flute of Louise DiTullio"
Louise DiTullio (flute)
Sinfonia Toronto, Ronald Royer (conductor)....CD1194
Remembering James Melton -- The Tenor of his Times
Historic Performances (1925-1956) (Thirty-Five Memorable Selections)....CD1148


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This screen print can be viewed in 2D and 3D! With 3D Chroma Depth glasses that allow the viewer to see the screen print designs POP off the fabric! The glasses take the colors of the rainbow and designate each color a distance orientation for each color. Blue recedes to the back round while Red comes to the foreground and the green, yellow, and orange colors fill in the middle distances. Giving the effect that the screen printed images are floating off. Each screen print comes with there very own 3D Chroma Depth glasses! Including the prints as well!
- Title Acto-Bomb Pop 2
- Media Screen Print on Fabric
- Size 18" x 40"
- Price $165
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- Phone
- 804-561-7510 (Park office)
- 804-933-7275 (Customer Care Center)
- City
- Rice
- Locality
- Prince Edward
- Social
Nearly a quarter of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's army, more than 7,700 men, were killed, wounded or captured on April 6, 1865, at the battle of Sailor's Creek. Lee surrendered his army 72 hours later at Appomattox Court House. The Overton-Hillsman farmhouse, circa 1780, is open to the public for guided tours. The house was restored to reflect the 1865 conditions the family and soldiers experienced when the house served as a Union field hospital.
The park's visitor center houses exhibits showcasing artifacts and research about the battles of Sailor's Creek and the war's impact on the citizens of Southside Virginia. Visitors will be taken back that wet spring day when both armies and a galaxy of generals met at Sailor's Creek for what was the last major battle of the American Civil War in Virginia. Living history events take place every April during the anniversary of the battle.
Please contact the park office for information about interpretive programs. Motorists traveling along Lee's Retreat can learn more about the battle by tuning their radios to AM 1610.
- Family Friendly
- Pet Friendly
Price Information
- Parking
Additional Links
Last Updated: 02/25/2019
What's Nearby
Sailor's Creek Battlefield State Park
Farmville, VA 239660.13 MI
202 Pisgah Church Road
Rice, VA 239662.54 MI
5368 B Lockett Rd.
Rice, VA 239663.99 MI
Rt 460 off Monroe Church Road
Farmville, VA 239015.68 MI
147 Monroe Church Road
Rice, VA 239666.43 MI


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* * -'•"f , . . , .*
Ohio River evening.
After sunset, as the lights
go on, Bruce and JoAnn
Ballenger enjoy the view
from the walkway to a
floating restaurant in an old
riverboat facing downtown
Cincinnati. Suspension Bridge
at left was opened to traffic
in 186j, 103 years before the
completion of Riverfront
Stadium in background.
Fountain Square, focal point
of downtown Cincinnati, is a
favorite spot for lunch hour
relaxation in the sun. Here
staff accountant Dwight
Calhoun and secretary Sheila
Crawley select carnations
at a flower stall.
In background is the Fifth
Third Bank, HirS client, and
a sculptured fountain
extolling the blessings
of water to man.
Cincinnati leaders.
Oreson H. Christensen,
partner in charge of the
Cincinnati Office, talks
things over at the Queen
City Club under the gaze of
William Howard Taft, a
former club member.
A distinguished son of
Cincinnati, Taft was the
only man in American history
to serve both as President
and as Chief Justice of
the United States.


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Gov. Pat McCrory's first budget cuts conservation funding so deeply it could affect the state's economy, says Land for Tomorrow, a coalition of pro-conservation groups.
The proposed budget cuts:
-- The Clean Water Management Trust Fund to $6.75 million from $10.75 million this year, and includes an appropriation only for the first year of the biennial budget. The grandaddy of North Carolina conservation funds, Clean Water once got $100 million a year.
-- The state Parks and Recreation Trust Fund to $15.5 million from $27.5 million.
-- The Natural Heritage Trust Fund to $4.23 million from $9.9 million. The budget also removes the fund's dedicated funding, a portion of the deed stamp tax.
Advocates have pointed lately to conservation spending's effects on the North Carolina economy, including the creation of new state parks, 250,000 acres of state gamelands and protection of the borders of Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune.
"The creation and consistent funding of North Carolina's conservation trust funds have been the result of bipartisan leadership over the past 25 years," said Katherine Skinner, executive director of the Nature Conservancy in the state. "These land protection successes have played a major
role in the state's economy – boosting agriculture, the military, tourism, forestry, hunting,
fishing and outdoor recreation. As our economy continues to recover, we need to
continue a strong investment in these economic drivers. Gov. McCrory's proposed
budget doesn't reflect the level of investment needed to carry us forward."
Stay tuned for how legislators respond.
Friday, March 22, 2013
McCrory's budget slices conservation funds
Gov. Pat McCrory's first budget cuts conservation funding so deeply it could affect the state's economy, says Land for Tomorrow, a coalition of pro-conservation groups.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
NC was 5th-largest solar market in 2012
North Carolina was the fifth-busiest state for solar installations in 2012, says an annual industry analysis, and now ranks No. 6 in total solar capacity.
California became the first state to install more than 1,000 megawatts in a single year, said the analysis by GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association. Nationally, the market size of the U.S. solar industry grew a record 34 percent in 2012.
North Carolina trailed only California, Arizona, New Jersey and Nevada in installing 132 megawatts last year, enough to supply about 22,000 homes. The state now has a total of 229 megawatts installed, good for sixth-place nationally, the report says.
Falling prices for solar components get credit for the strong growth, but so does North Carolina's renewable-energy portfolio standard. The law forces utilities to get some of their power from the sun and created new markets for solar developers.
Regardless, Republican state legislators filed a measure Wednesday that would gut the standard.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Bill introduced to kill NC renewable-energy standard
A measure to eliminate North Carolina's renewable-energy standard, the first in the Southeast when it was adopted in 2007, was introduced in the N.C. House Wednesday.
House majority whip Mike Hager, a Rutherford County Republican and former Duke Energy engineer, was among the bill's primary sponsors.
Hager had targeted the law for "picking winners and losers" in the energy marketplace. He's said the law unfairly forces consumers to subsidize renewable energy, which costs more to produce than traditional energy forms.
At the end of 2012, Duke Energy Carolinas, which serves Charlotte, was charging residential customers 22 cents a month to recover its costs of complying with the law. Progress Energy Carolinas, serving the state's eastern half and Asheville, charged 41 cents a month.
The N.C. Sustainable Energy Association, which represents the renewables industry, calls the portfolio standard "the first real opportunity for clean energy companies to compete with the utilities and offer consumers a choice."
The association says the standard has had too powerful an economic impact to destroy. Its 2012 jobs census found the equivalent of 15,200 employees working for 1,100 energy-related companies that pull in $3.7 billion a year.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Ban on limiting greenhouse gases before Senate committee
A measure that bans state agencies or local governments from regulating greenhouse gases comes before a North Carolina Senate committee today.
The bill, sponsored by Republican senators Brent Jackson, Andrew Brock and Jim Davis, allows limits only if they're required by federal law. Jackson, who's from Sampson County, and Brock of Davie County co-chair the Senate Agriculture / Environment / Natural Resources Committee, which meets this morning. [Update at 12:50 p.m.: The bill was pulled from the committee agenda.]
It's not immediately clear what impact the bill would have it becomes law.
Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx signed the city to a U.S. Conference of Mayors climate-protection agreement in 2009, committing the city to curbing greenhouse-gas emissions. But the city hasn't set a firm reduction goal.
The North Carolina Sierra Club says the bill is so sweeping it's hard to know whether it would apply to cases in which greenhouse gases are collected for purposes unrelated to climate change, such as methane capture at landfills.
But Sierra notes that Duplin County, in Jackson's district, is also the planned site of a 100-megawatt solar farm that would be by far the state's largest.


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StoryCorps Shorts: Just Like Yesterday
Special | 2m 37s
In 1989, Tabinda Sheikh immigrated from the Dominican Republic and got a job in a New York City hotel as a housekeeper. It was there that she caught the eye of a fellow employee who was working behind the hotel's front desk—Tariq Sheikh. This is the story of how they fell in love.
Aired: 01/24/19
Expires: 01/23/22Video has closed captioning.
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Major funding for POV is provided by PBS, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Bertha Foundation, Marguerite Casey Foundation, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts, with special support from The Fledgling Fund.


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Hotels that host royalty take pampering to the ultimate level
Author CHRIS WRIGHT
ALL LUXURY HOTELS offer variations on a single fantasy, one in which the beds are softer than our own, the food is better than we're used to and everyone around us is almost alarmingly nice. At their best, these places make us feel like monarchs, indulged and coddled to within an inch of our humility. And the ones that create this illusion most adeptly very often tend to attract actual royalty.
When Spain's King Juan Carlos I stayed at the Grand Hotel Excelsior in Floriana, Malta, he signed the guest book thanking staff for the "grand service" (which, let's face it, beats even the gushiest TripAdvisor review). Although most visitors won't receive an honor guard salute upon arrival, they'll still be able to waltz through the regal lobby, climb the grand staircase and survey the ancient clutter of Manoel Island while nibbling lovingly prepared delicacies. Book the Presidential Suite, and you'll have something in common with Spanish royalty and Enrique Iglesias.
Set in California's starkly beautiful Yosemite Valley, the Ahwahnee Hotel — whose more unusual claim to fame may be that it inspired the interior sets for The Shining — has a venerable tradition of hosting royalty, including Queen Elizabeth II. The hotel's aesthetic is a study in castle-like elegance: exposed beams, granite walls, roaring fires. Decorum dictates that a possible stay last year by newlyweds Prince William and Kate Middleton cannot be confirmed, and yet, like the nightly visitation of the ghost said to roam the Ahwahnee's halls, the glittering couple's visit persists as part of the hotel's mythology.
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud liked the Four Seasons brand so much that he bought the company — or at least a chunk of it. The Saudi royal is said to have a particularly soft spot for the Four Seasons Los Angeles. The hotel is set away from the commotion of downtown, in a Beverly Hills suburb, providing the peace and privacy that Saudi billionaires require; the décor is unflaggingly exquisite. The scent of lilies fills the halls, wafting behind you as you make your way to the hotel's signature restaurant, Culina, where you just might spot a gentleman in a kaffiyeh muttering "buy" into his phone.
On the Greek isle of Spetses, the Poseidonion Grand Hotel more than lives up to its billing as a "destination for high society": Greece's Prince Nikolaos and Princess Tatiana celebrated their 2010 wedding here, then returned for their first anniversary. Located in a restored Côte d'Azur-style chateau, the Poseidonion is known for stunning views, fantastic food and an über-elite clientele. It doesn't hurt, of course, that the resort is situated on a tiny patch of paradise a mere few hours' drive from the royal palaces of Athens.
The lavish Emirates Palace hotel is such a favorite haunt of Abu Dhabi royals that they have their own entrance, which is reasonable, seeing as they bankrolled the place. From the moment you enter through its stately arch, the Palace transports you into an appealing parallel universe, where Italian marble and gold leaf are commonplace. Out back you'll find the blue waters of the Persian Gulf — but you may be too busy reclining, emir-like, on lavender-scented pillows to concern yourself with natural splendor.
Founded by Adolphus Busch a century back, Dallas' gilt-edged Adolphus has welcomed the aristocracy of sports (The Babe), business (The Donald) and, well, aristocracy (The Queen). A photo of Elizabeth II hangs in the lobby, near a Steinway grand that, legend has it, had been earmarked for the Titanic. Guests can also feast their eyes on Flemish tapestries and Chinese jardinieres, and the French Room restaurant is among the finest anywhere. Not bad for a hotel built by a beer baron.
Looking out on a landscape that makes words like "paradisiacal" seem flimsy, with an interior that makes the average English country manor look like a YMCA, the Huka Lodge is the kind of place that leaves you disappointed if you don't spot a royal in the dining room. The Taupo, New Zealand, resort started out as a fishing lodge but has since gained a reputation for comfort and calm that has attracted pretty much every monarch in Europe. Queen Elizabeth II has slept here, more than once, as have the royals of Holland, Belgium and Denmark. If the clinking of regalia gets to be too much, though, you can retire to one of the decks, where the only sound is the soft whoosh of the Waikato River, part of your own private kingdom, sliding by.


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Many of the record 4,400 attendees at GAC headed to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to meet their Congressional representatives and garner support for issues key to credit unions.
Scroll down for a real-time look at some of those meetings via Twitter posts.
Thank you House Majority Leader Cantor for your remarks and support of Virginia #CreditUnions #CUNAGAC pic.twitter.com/tmeKeuktU9
— Bill Cheney (@billcheney) February 26, 2014
"Your issues are my issues." - @SenatorTimScott (Heritage Trust FCU member) #crashthegac14 #DontTaxMyCU pic.twitter.com/KX88JZZ9Cz
— Will Crosswell (@WCrosswell) February 26, 2014
Dakota #credit unions meeting with senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson. #cunagac #donttaxmycu pic.twitter.com/amjYOI6H3l
— Robbie Thompson (@cuadceo) February 26, 2014
Hiking the hill to make a difference!!#crashthegac #CUNAGAC #DontTaxMyCU pic.twitter.com/AD4E9YvuEp
— Ryan Neumann (@ryan_neumann) February 26, 2014
Our senior senator @LindseyGrahamSC: "I will not support removing your tax status." #crashthegac14 #DonTaxMyCU pic.twitter.com/q2UYeNx2b5
— Will Crosswell (@WCrosswell) February 26, 2014
@mncreditunions are now meeting with a GREAT CU champion, @USRepRickNolan. #CUNAGAC pic.twitter.com/9mwErKBgRK
— Minnesota CUs (@mncreditunions) February 26, 2014
Congressman @tomcoleok04 on #DontTaxMyCU: "That's not a fight members of Congress want right now." #CUNAGAC
— Cornerstone CULeague (@Cornerstone_CUL) February 26, 2014
Visiting with members of the Alabama Credit Union Association about issues of importance to them @LeagueofSECUs pic.twitter.com/KoAFSZCJji
— Rep. Martha Roby (@RepMarthaRoby) February 26, 2014
NY CU leaders thanking @GregoryMeeks for his tremendous support. #CUNAGAC @CUANYtweets pic.twitter.com/v6KUTL6gKA
— William Mellin (@wjmellin) February 26, 2014
@USRepRickNolan's office has kept all of the #DontTaxMyCU postcards they've gotten & made a tower. How cool is that?! pic.twitter.com/zPhMYQmos7
— Minnesota CUs (@mncreditunions) February 26, 2014
One last meeting before heading back to the deep freeze. @mncreditunions met with @alfranken to talk CU issues. pic.twitter.com/CkVui6xwD6
— Minnesota CUs (@mncreditunions) February 27, 2014
Advocating for Credit Unions with @chriswolgamott #HikeTheHill #CUNAGAC #UniteForGood #DonTaxMyCU pic.twitter.com/26sqUKyIhR
— Mr Winter (@corey_winter) February 26, 2014
House got called to vote so advocates networked. You never know what's going to happen on Capitol Hill! #CUNAGAC pic.twitter.com/6CC6niWm5P
— Northwest CU Assoc. (@NWCUA) February 26, 2014
Productive meetings with @RepGraceMeng during #CUNAGAC Hill visits today. pic.twitter.com/Ho0h1sgyN7
— CU Association of NY (@CUANYtweets) February 26, 2014
Thank you @SenWarren for supporting credit unions! I love your innovative ideas! #CUNAGAC #DontTaxMyCU pic.twitter.com/4Orhqy9Rw6
— Carrie Birkhofer (@carriebirkhofer) February 26, 2014
On behalf of the over 600K #CreditUnion members in ID, thank you @CongMikeSimpson for taking time to listen. #CUNAGAC pic.twitter.com/TLHi8dyscm
— Nick (@onthegreen88) February 26, 2014
@SteveDaines supports #DontTaxMyCU #montana #crashthegac14 pic.twitter.com/E0lBwvd8EL
— Kelsey Hovey (@thekelseyhovey) February 26, 2014
Had a wonderful meeting with Stephanie from @repblumenauer's office on taxation, regulatory relief and more. #CUNAGAC pic.twitter.com/QS1dVIRnTJ
— Stephen Pagenstecher (@spagenstecher) February 26, 2014
Great seeing the local #creditunions today! http://t.co/xqUUIKiZfw cc: @cuna @CUNAadvocacy #DontTaxMyCU pic.twitter.com/TBNByMynSQ
— Steve Chabot (@RepSteveChabot) February 26, 2014
Just heard from @PattyMurray that #creditunions are a key part of economic recovery. #CrashTheGAC14 #CUNAGAC pic.twitter.com/CrP4sJ4yOm
— Brian Griffith (@bvg1981) February 26, 2014
Having a great meeting with great credit union supporters @RonWyden and @SenJeffMerkley #CUNAGAC #NWCUA #DontTaxMyCU pic.twitter.com/e8cjvAx2zC
— Rob Mills (@robertlmills) February 26, 2014
On behalf of 216K CU members in IL District 18, thank you @RepAaronSchock for meeting with our delegation! #CUNAGAC pic.twitter.com/Cv2WdUs5oy
— Illinois CU League (@IllinoisLeague) February 26, 2014
Debating the Durbin Amendment, merchant data breaches, fraud liability and EMV in Durbin's Senate office was an experience! #CUNAGAC
— Christopher Danvers (@kingofpayments) February 26, 2014
Thanks to @RepChrisGibson for stopping to say hi to NY CUs while running to the floor @CUANYtweets #CUNAGAC pic.twitter.com/FNPCiHRG3d
— Allison Doney Barna (@allson12) February 26, 2014
Thank you @davereichert for taking the time to meet with @NWCUA CU advocates & supporting Credit Unions! #CUNAGAC pic.twitter.com/2NZejvFrq7
— Troy Stang (@TroyStangNWCUA) February 27, 2014
The Capitol Rotunda #crashthegac14 pic.twitter.com/2G20igfSGH
— Will Crosswell (@WCrosswell) February 26, 2014
our #cuadvocates meeting with Rep @Ann_Kirkpatrick to talk about #DontTaxMyCU at the #cunagac to #uniteforgood. pic.twitter.com/uoHf3SBhgF
— Arizona CU Advocates (@azcuadvocates) February 26, 2014
Senator Heitkamp supports #creditunions and understands how over regulation impacts rural CUs #cunagac #donttaxmycu pic.twitter.com/iRoGoyjQyj
— Robbie Thompson (@cuadceo) February 26, 2014
Hiking the Hill to speak for credit unions #CUNAGAC #UnitefirGood pic.twitter.com/FAGK7sgBlI
— Amy Nigrelli (@AmyNigrelli) February 26, 2014
our #cuadvocates meeting with Rep @RepMattSalmon to talk about #DontTaxMyCU at the #cunagac to #uniteforgood. pic.twitter.com/5omRvGlHd2
— Arizona CU Advocates (@azcuadvocates) February 26, 2014
MA Credit Union folks had a great meeting with Congressman McGovern on Wed. #CUNAGAC pic.twitter.com/I8UiUW0Xtf
— DailyCUScan (@DailyCUScan) February 27, 2014
Thanks to @RepTerriSewell's staff for meeting with us to discuss credit union issues! #DontTaxMyCU #CUNAGAC pic.twitter.com/vb4B5ye1Lb
— Alabama Credit Union (@AlabamaCU) February 26, 2014
@LeagueofSECUs @LSCUGovAffFL @cuna Florida credit unions representing #donttaxmycu #cunagac pic.twitter.com/rSbLUx3GMK
— meghan lynn storck (@meghanstorck) February 26, 2014
Congressman Mark Takano with California credit union leaders on Capitol Hill. #CUNAGAC pic.twitter.com/halbwpaRoX
— Matt Wrye (@MattWrye) February 26, 2014
Congressman Scott Peters with California credit union leaders on Capitol Hill. #CUNAGAC pic.twitter.com/quCfzATGTY
— Matt Wrye (@MattWrye) February 26, 2014
MO #creditunion leaders meet with @RepBlainePress on Capitol Hill during #CUNAGAC. http://t.co/wOAluqlSws
— Amy E. McLard (@AmyMcLard) February 27, 2014
@RodneyDavis met with a 2nd group from the IL delegation at #CUNAGAC. Thank you for hearing our story. #DontTaxMyCU pic.twitter.com/IHhPpSSqBO
— Illinois CU League (@IllinoisLeague) February 27, 2014
@CongressmanRuiz Thank you for stopping by the Credit Union House and for your support. #DontTaxMyCU #CUNAGAC pic.twitter.com/GKKyxZGNzE
— Eric Maldonado (@EricMaldonadoCU) February 26, 2014
Thank you @SenThadCochran & reps for visiting with MS #creditunions today! #CUNAGAC http://t.co/BH75ufqvGx
— MSCUA (@MSCUA) February 26, 2014
On behalf of 3 million IL CU members, thank you @SenatorKirk for meeting with our delegation! #CUNAGAC #DontTaxMyCU pic.twitter.com/H3kd2rWWxO
— Illinois CU League (@IllinoisLeague) February 26, 2014
Ohio Credit Union Leaders visit our capital! #CUNAGAC #GAC2014 pic.twitter.com/JAeh5LVAaj
— TopMark FCU (@TopMark_FCU) February 26, 2014
Thank you @SenDonnelly for your time today. Appreciate your support of Indiana credit unions and for being a CU member for 41 yrs. #CUNAGAC
— Doug True (@truestory) February 26, 2014
Wisconsin credit union delegation visiting with Ron Kind in DC during GAC. pic.twitter.com/AzO0maR0uQ
— Rudy Pereira (@CEOtweetRCU) February 26, 2014
.@tweetRCU @CEOtweetRCU Thanks for making your voices heard & engaging on this important issue. #DontTaxMyCU
— Sen. Tammy Baldwin (@SenatorBaldwin) February 26, 2014
Congressman and Col. Paul Cook with California credit union leaders on Capitol Hill. #CUNAGAC pic.twitter.com/ORHGxGB2wf
— Matt Wrye (@MattWrye) February 26, 2014
@NWCUA @RepPeterDeFazio A wonderful visit with Congressman DeFazio #DontTaxMyCreditUnion #CUNAGAC pic.twitter.com/QmwGyEwpvf
— Melissa Vigil (@MelisVigil) February 26, 2014
Hike the Hill #CrashTheGAC14 #CUNAGAC pic.twitter.com/cRQpa71eYJ
— Whitney Thompson (@Whitney2585) February 26, 2014
North Carolina Credit Unions Hiking the Hill! @TheCCUL #CCULatGAC #crashthegac14 @Bullfeathers91 pic.twitter.com/43PmwGYuch
— Laura Jo Engle (@laurajoengle) February 26, 2014
First meeting with the Western New York delegation! #crashthegac14 #CUNGAC @CUNAadvocacy pic.twitter.com/Z0hBWQXFI9
— Cara Carlevatti (@ciaocarabella) February 26, 2014
@NWCUA Congressman DeFazio says he has always been a believer of Credit Unions, over 40 years #CUNAGAC #DontTaxMyCU pic.twitter.com/yGv7Slxzac
— Melissa Vigil (@MelisVigil) February 26, 2014
@nwcu With a group of NWCUs finest to meet with Oregon legislators on the hill #CUNAGAC #DontTaxMyCU pic.twitter.com/dV14cGYuv6
— Melissa Vigil (@MelisVigil) February 26, 2014
Congresswoman and CU champion Linda Sanchez with California credit union leaders on Capitol Hill. #CUNAGAC pic.twitter.com/poOvJdlfBE
— Matt Wrye (@MattWrye) February 26, 2014
Great meeting this afternoon with US Rep @cathymcmorris to talk about #creditunion issues as part of the #CUNAGAC http://t.co/X1sdXBKPvi
— Debie Keesee (@debiebcu) February 26, 2014
Congressman Eric Swalwell (right) talks with California credit unions leaders on Capitol Hill. #CUNAGAC pic.twitter.com/KNpP2P6g5Y
— Carol Payne (@pay3ne) February 26, 2014
Final prep before the Capitol Hill meetings this afternoon! #supportcreditunions #hikethehill… http://t.co/jOyRtXEJVq
— Amanda Kissner (@AmandaMarieKiss) February 26, 2014
Encourage Members of Congress to make public statements supporting tax status @RyanDonovan #CUNAGAC http://t.co/clJmV2OIFa #DontTaxMyCU
— CUNA (@CUNA) February 24, 2014
What Issues Will You Stress When You Hike the Hill? http://t.co/sMti81JBqD #CUNAGAC #HiketheHill
— Craig Sauer (@CUNACraig) February 26, 2014


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Game, Fish and Parks to Stock Trout in 2 Areas Near Pierre
PIERRE – A state fisheries biologist says rainbow trout will be stocked in two areas near Pierre starting the first week of April.
Robert Hanten of the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department says the department will stock catchable-size rainbow trout at Oahe Marina and Downs Marina.
Trout released in Downs Marina migrate out of the marina and spend several weeks in and around the LaFramboise Island causeway fishing piers.
Hanten says the department is hoping that having trout available to shore anglers at LaFramboise causeway, in addition to Oahe Marina, will make trout fishing in the Pierre area more accessible. He says trout range in size from 9 to 11 inches and can provide many hours of fishing enjoyment.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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The Old Globe Theatre's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is probably as good a production as Tom Stoppard's play will ever see. The reason: director Adrian Noble knows the text to its inches. He has a flair for its theatricality and has encouraged excellent performances from the leads. Jay Whittaker (Guildenstern) and John Lavelle (Rosencrantz) are, often at the same time, a comedy tandem à la Laurel and Hardy, Samuel Beckett's stranded clowns in Waiting for Godot, ramshackle philosophers — oh, and minor figures in Shakespeare's Hamlet.
R and G were Hamlet's schoolmates before he went to college at Wittenberg. King Claudius sent for them to hang out with the Dane, study him, and find the cause of his "transformation." Is he mad — or just faking? The king wants secret agents. Although some stagings make them treacherous, the text doesn't tilt one way or the other. And in Stoppard's version, they have nary a clue.
Journalists ask the seven basic questions (who, what, where, etc.). Rosencrantz and Guildenstern ponder number eight: huh?
Stoppard said R and G's "about two people at Elsinore — and not about the generalizations you might drag out of it." Fine, but just where are they in Elsinore? Simple location is tricky. Like Hamlet's father's ghost, they only exist between the footlights and the proscenium. In any "real world" sense, they're "dead."
In the "actor's nightmare," you're on a stage, but with amnesia: you don't know the play, your lines, or the blocking, and the audience is a restless, seething behemoth, ready to pounce on your next speech.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are the reverse: the "character's nightmare"? When doing a scene in the play, they're fine. They talk to Hamlet or King Claudius and fit right in. But offstage, they know nothing, not even whose name is whose. Sometimes actors only use "sides," just their lines and accompanying cues, not the whole play. All R and G know are their "sides."
Otherwise, they're outside of time and probability, since a coin comes up heads 92 straight times (but where did they get the coins?). Their lives are mere fragments and "incidents." In Act Three, Guildenstern says, "give us this day, our daily cue." As we watch them, Shakespeare's tragedy unfolds behind the scenes, like a play within the play. And R and G become as perplexed, in their own way, as the Prince of Denmark.
One of director Noble's most striking touches: a small TV crew is filming the play — Hamlet: The Miniseries? A single camera, bright lights, and a fuzzy, wind-muffed boom mike shadow the performers. Hamlet (a hyper-agitated Lucas Hall) and King Claudius (a blaring Triney Sandoval) stick their faces right into the lens. The acting's so vein-bulging, you shudder to think how the movie will turn out.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern play downstage. Compared to Noble's comic tragedy behind them, their dilemma becomes tragi-comical. At one point they see Hamlet mumbling to himself. He's actually doing the "To be or not to be" soliloquy. R and G do one, too. In fact, along with an always engaging, entertaining surface, much of the play is an extended riff on being, not being, and their being stuck in-between the two.
Stoppard puts the Player and his acting troupe into a similar state. Since children's companies are all the rage these days (a gripe Shakespeare includes in Hamlet), these frayed souls will do anything for a guilder, poor Alfred (a harried Stephen Hu) most of all. Their costumes, at least a decade old, look allergic to soap, thanks to Deirdre Clancy's top-notch designs. And their leader, the wonderfully stagey Sherman Howard, is funny and so wise it's as if he's already read the play. "Life is a gamble, at terrible odds," he says, "if it was a bet, you wouldn't take it."
He also tells R and G that uncertainty is the way things are and that they're "nobody special."
Now just hold on there, Mr. Player! This may be the case in classical tragedy, where hubris humbles and kings fall, but not in Stoppard's. He makes the partial lives of alleged nobodies matter. They may be merely the "common man," but they raise the same questions as the melancholy Dane — albeit in prose, not iambic pentameter — and speak not for the two percent but for everyone else.
Jay Whittaker makes Guildenstern the frustrated man of reason. He craves order and wants the drama of his life divided into acts and scenes. If onstage alone, Whittaker's at times strident deliveries would be shrill. But when combined with John Lavelle's amazing Rosencrantz, the tandem is unbeatable.
Marshmallow-soft, split-second precise, and a veritable calliope of squeaks and spouts, Lavelle's a delight throughout. Much of the play resembles a coin spinning in the air — comedy/tragedy/comedy. Even one of Rosencrantz's defining lines won't hold still. In Act Three he confesses, "I can't think of anything original. I'm only good in support." By the time Lavelle utters the words, they evoke their opposite: if Rosencrantz is just a "second banana," he must be one of the funniest "straight men" in the theater!
There's a play-outside-the-play at the Lowell Davies outdoor stage: a tragedy at that. For the past four years, Adrian Noble has helmed the Old Globe's Summer Shakespeare Festival. He has done consistently spectacular work. For reasons unexplained — wasn't his contract for five years? — Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is his last official show. [not true: I have since learned that Noble chose to move on after four years. I hope he comes back in the future; his work's been so outstanding]. ■
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, by Tom Stoppard
Old Globe Theatre, Lowell Davies Festival Stage, Balboa Park
Directed by Adrian Noble, cast: Miles Anderson, Allison Layman, Lucas Hall, Donald Carrier, Winslow Corbett, John Lavelle, Triney Sandoval, Robbie Simpson, Ryman Sneed, Adam Gerber, Kushtrim Hoxha, Charles Janasz; scenic design, Ralph Funicello; costumes, Deirdre Clancy; lighting, Alan Burrett; sound, Dan Moses Schreier
Playing through September 30. Runs in repertory with A Midsummer Night's Dream. 619-234-5623
More from SDReader
- More stories by Jeff Smith
- Hamlet — infinite tragedy — Aug. 23, 2017
- The importance of seeing Travesties at Cygnet — Oct. 9, 2013
- The Old Globe stages Shakespeare's merry sport, The Merchant of Venice — July 3, 2013
- He May Be Mad — Nov. 19, 2008
- Spare, Well-Spoken — July 26, 2007