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Archive for February, 2005
Sickels Braves Top-20
John Sickels has now posted his ratings for the Top-20 Braves prospects. Enjoy!
Introducing Baseball Analysts
Richard Lederer of Rich's Weekend Baseball Beat and Bryan Smith of Wait Til Next Year have joined forces to create a new baseball weblog, Baseball Analysts. They describe the site as
an online site devoted to examining the game's past, present, and future. The Baseball Analysts will fully integrate Rich's Weekend Baseball Beat and Wait Til Next Year. The new site will feature full-length articles, interviews, and roundtable discussions daily, plus guest columnists weekly.
The topics of discussion will include college, minor league, and major league baseball. Lederer and Smith will generally write individual columns as in the past, but they will also collaborate on articles and with others on several new features to
offer a unique online magazine.
Congrats to Bryan and Rich on their new site, and I wish you guys the best of luck. I'll add a link to the sidebar shortly.
Sewanee Baseball is Underway
The Division III Sewanee Tigers opened the season this weekend. Though it was a tough road trip, I think the team looks pretty good this year. I expect good things, especially from the Economics majors. The Opening Day starter, Matt Woods, had a fantastic game with 6 Ks, no walks, and no HRs allowed in 7-1/3 IP. He had one hit batter, but we'll blame it on the DH. This is proof to all that Econometrics midterms are performance-enhancing. Matt was clearly fired up from Wednesday's test. 😉 You can follow Sewanee Baseball here.
The Smoltz – Alexander Trade
So, you think the Tigers got a raw deal in the Smoltz for Alexander trade? Studes at The Hardball Times has an interesting take on the trade.
The net effect of this is that dealing Smoltz was a great deal for the Braves, as he accumulated 168 weighted Win Shares for the Braves, while Alexander would have accumulated 12. That's a difference of 156 weighted Win Shares in favor of the Braves.
And for the Tigers, it was also a good deal. Alexander accumulated 74 weighted Win Shares for them, while Smoltz would have accumulated 66. That's a difference of eight weighted Win Shares in the Tigers' favor.
That's right. If you are willing to jump through all those hoops with me, this deal was a Win/Win outcome! Despite the lopsided nature of the initial Win Share totals, the Tigers actually made themselves a good deal. The Braves' side of the deal was much better, but that doesn't detract from the Tigers' side of the math. If a deal had a positive variance in your favor, you made a good deal for yourself even if the other team had a bigger variance.
Imagine that, a trade that benefits both parties! It's just so amazing how hard it is for economists to convince non-economists that trade is mutually beneficial.
Scouts Honor: The Anti-Moneyball
It looks like a response to Moneyball has come from an unlikely source. Bill Shanks has announced the release of Scouts Honor: The Bravest Way To Build a Winning Team. The book distributor's website states:
Michael Lewis's MONEYBALL was a huge success arguing the case for the new brand of baseball General Managers and operations people who were changing the game with their Harvard degrees and outside-the-box, number-centric take on what it took to build a winning team, using the Oakland A's as the focal point of his argument. Atlanta Braves television host Bill Shanks looks at what that approach has really meant to baseball and why the instincts of the old-school scouts and baseball veterans are the only true way to build a winning and successful baseball team in this 'new' generation. Using the Atlanta Braves as a focal point, Scout's Honor is an in-depth look at what instinct and gut-reaction means to baseball and how the numbers-don't-lie style of the new breed is not only misleading, but mistaken.
For those of you who don't know who Bill Shanks is, he is a journalist who covers the Braves for the MLB Scout site, Braves Center. He is vehemently anti-sabermetrics.
Given my fascination with both the Braves and sabermetrics — not to mention that I consider the Braves to be a pro-sabermetric organization — I think I have a duty to review to book. I have tried to obtain an advance review copy, but I can't really find a way to get in touch with the publisher. But don't worry, once I get my hands on it, I'll post a review here.
Braves Defense by PMR
Many of you are probably aware of David Pinto's fantastic new defensive metric, Probabilistic Model of Range (PMR). Using many factors affecting balls-in-play he evaluated the fielding of players based on actual outs versus predicted outs of MLB players. I'm not going to go into the specifics of his methods, but you can read more about it here. I got tired of going to look for the Braves numbers so I compiled a list here. In addition to the PMR "Difference" (Actual DER – Predicted DER) I include Runs Saved Above Average (RAA) conversion as calculated by Chronicles of the Lads. The ranks are by position.
|Johnny Estrada
|Eddie Perez
|Andruw Jones
|Adam LaRoche
|Julio Franco
|Brian Jordan
|Rafael Furcal
|Marcus Giles
|Nick Green
|Chipper Jones
There are certainly a few surprises here. Chipper and Jordan do a lot better than I expected. LaRoche and Furcal are much worse than I expected.
Brave Predictions
I've been doing a lot of thinking about the upcoming Braves season, and I've made some predictions in my head. I've stated them in various places, but I thought I'd put them down here for the record. Please, feel free to recall the record at any time when it turns out I was wrong.
1. Horacio Ramirez will not be in the rotation long, if at all. Injury or no injury it's going to be hard for him to get things together this year. The mental aspect of coming back from what happened last year is plenty. Then, add to this the fact that his peripherals have not been very good, ever. The stat that worries me the most is Defense Efficiency Record (DER). You can see his DER at The Hardball Times Stats Page for NL Pitchers. It was .770; compared to the NL average of .711 his DER was two standard deviations above average among pitchers throwing more than 50 innings. That put him third in the league, and that's what kept his ERA so low last year. So what's the big deal? Isn't a high DER a good thing? The big deal is that pitchers don't seem to have much control over balls in play. Having a good DER is like winning the lottery. You're happy it happened to you, but you don't expect it to increase your chances of winning any future lotteries. With his propensity for putting the ball in play, I don't expect him to have a good ERA unless he cuts out his walks, increases his strikeouts, or stops giving up the longball. I don't see any signs of that happening. He was very lucky last year, and expectations will be high. That's a lot for a young guy to cope with, especially when what used to work stops working.
2. Danny Kolb will be a middle-reliever, not the closer, by mid-season. He will be a valuable cog in the bullpen, though. Like Ramirez, Kolb was lucky last year on balls in play with a DER of .758. His ERA from last year may be a bit flukey, but he's got two very good things going for him. He rarely walks guys or gives up home runs. His low strikeout rate (3.3 Ks per 9) makes him a very different type of pitcher than John Smoltz. The fact that Kolb doesn't give up many free passes and can prevent the longball makes me think he will fit better into long relief. Keep the ball in the park and the game under control. I think Colon and Reitsma are better suited for closing duties.
3. Marcus Giles will be the MVP of the Braves for the 2005 season. Is this really a bold prediction? I mean the guy has been a stud for the past two seasons, but freak injuries have really slowed him down.
4. Brian Jordan will be a platoon player only. All this talk of BJ walking into his old role would be out of character for the Braves. He's old, but with some speed, power, and on-base ability. If he bats only against lefties, and Langerhans can handle the righties it might be a very productive platoon. He'll be 38 next season and he has a history of injuries; I just can't believe he was brought in to be anything but a part-time player.
5. If no one gets hurt in the infield, Andy Marte will play in the outfield this season. Again, I'm going to disagree with some popular reports to the contrary that say Marte will stay at third. This move makes perfect sense even if the Braves are willing to play him in the outfield. Why make a young slugger uncomfortable at a new position if situations may dictate that he return to his old position? Chipper is getting older, and I have to believe that nagging hammy may flare up again. Chipper may not be in the outfield, but he has to run the bases. If Marte has to step in, have him step in from where he's always been. But, I think that there is a good chance that Chipper may stay healthy just by his own will to stay healthy. If Marte, lights it up in the spring or early on in Richmond, he's going to get his at-bats in Atlanta. All indications are that he will be lighting it up. And if Schuerholz was willing to play Klesko in the outfield he won't flinch with Marte. And given that the Braves gave up after two days on a plan to groom him for the outfield, it makes me think that he did well rather than poorly.
Minor League Ball
John Sickels of "Down on the Farm" fame has bounced back with his new weblog, Minor League Ball. I urge you to visit it early and often. I'll add a link to the sidebar, shortly.
Thanks Doug!
I wanted to offer a big thanks to Doug Drinen for his posts here at Sabernomics over the past two weeks. As I had thought they would be, Doug's posts were excellent. However, I had not anticipated the spike in visits thanks to his work. I have to thank Eric at Offwing and Aaron at Football Outsiders (also thanks to other pointers of whom I'm ignorant) for spreading the word around the sports blogosphere. I hope the response has convinced Doug to start blogging full time. He needs to, and I'm doing all I can to convince him to start his own blog.
Doug and I watched the Super Bowl together last night and cheered for the "Green Eagles," as Doug's son says. Though the game was close and had many elements of seeming like a good game, I found the game lacking and sloppy at times. But, at least it seems we had two closely matched teams that played hard. Oh well, 55 days until Opening Day. Now, it's that time of year when I have to try really hard to stomach basketball.
Joey Galloway?
I owe you a blog on Joey Galloway and his place among the all-time greats.
Also, Football Outsiders posted a link to
the post that
necessitated an explanation of Joey Galloway's place among the all-time greats.
Interesting discussion ensued. The folks over
there brought up some points that I need to address. I'll do that here, and try to integrate the Galloway
First, let me elaborate a bit on my closing words.
Before I end today's entry with the list, keep in mind that a methodology stands or falls on its merits,
independent of the results it generates. If you like the methodology, you are not allowed to complain about the
list. If you don't like the methodology, you shouldn't even be looking at the list. But no fair changing your
mind after peeking.
I do believe this in theory but I'm also aware, as I betrayed in the first paragraph of the same post, that it's
not a feasible rule to live by in practice. I am a football fan and am therefore interested in who the greatest
wide receivers of all time are. A big part of putting together lists like these is to learn something I didn't
already know about football history. Equally interesting is the exercise of thinking through precisely what
criteria we want to use and how they fit together. To me, this is a fascinating puzzle where you have mountains
of data that is only very loosely connected and you have to make sense of it. It's an academic exercise, but what
do you expect? I'm an academic.
I've been around the internet block enough to realize that if you post an all-time list with Joey Galloway at #9, any thoughtful
critique of the method will at best be overcome by discussions about who really ought to be
at #9 or, much more likely, by allegations of crack use. That closing paragraph was my best attempt at a lightning rod.
Bill James — I think it was him, but I have a habit of assuming every good idea I've ever read is his — used
to have an 80/20 rule (note that this is not the same as
Pareto's apparently more well-known
80/20 rule). A methodology is good if it gives you about 80% what you'd expect and 20% surprises. If you're
getting more than 80% "right" answers, that means that the method was probably rigged to match your preconceived
notions. You can't learn anything from a method that simply confirms what you already thought you knew. On the
other hand, if you get more than 20% suprises it means that the method, while possibly sound in theory, has too
many loopholes. Or maybe it's just garbage.
I will concede that the method, as currently constituted, has a surprise rate north of 20%.
Joey Galloway can't possibly be the 9th best receiver of all-time. He just can't. But, if you read through
the first part of the post saying, "this sounds OK," then the proper response to seeing his name in that spot
is not to say, "well, so much for that." The proper response is to take a long hard look at Joey Galloway's
career. Maybe you'll learn that he's better than you thought he was. Maybe he'll lead you to a loophole in your
method. Probably some of both. At this point, you've learned something about the topic you were trying to learn
about (ranking the all-time great wide receivers), and you set to work on closing the Galloway loophole without
opening any others.
So what exactly is the Galloway loophole?
Well, first let me describe the method in slightly different terms, still using the college football analogy.
How do you objectively rank college football teams? Whether you're using a fancy computer scheme or having a
casual water-cooler conversation, the method is essentially the same: you start with the team's record and you
adjust it to account for strength of schedule.
Galloway has played games against Brian Blades, Mike Pritchard, James McKnight, Ricky Proehl, Tim Brown, Terry
Glenn, Darnay Scott, Sean Dawkins, and Rocket Ismail, and he has won most of those games. So he has a good
record. What about strength of schedule? One argument made by those who champion computer ranking systems for
college football is that, in order to know how Auburn compares to USC, you have to know how Oregon compares to
Arkansas, how Arizona compares to Ole Miss, and so on. Intutition only gets you so far. Our brains are only
capable of processing so much information, so we lazily lump Oregon and Arkansas together as "mediocre" and we
call Arizona and Ole Miss "bad." Many people won't even go that far, and lump all four into a category called
"unranked," even though there are significant differences among them. Same thing here. You've probably spent lots of time thinking about how Tim Brown and Cris Carter
compare. You probably haven't spent any time thinking about how Mike Pritchard and Ike Hilliard compare.
Well, it turns out that maybe Brian Blades and Ricky Proehl and Mike Prtichard and Darnay Scott and Rocket Ismail
and Terry Glenn aren't half bad. I won't bore you with the particulars, and I won't try to convince you
that any of these guys is Steve Largent, but all them had a fair amount of success at various points in their
careers. And in almost every case, they had more success competing against other receivers than they did
competing against Galloway.
Two years ago, Miami (Ohio) started appearing in the top 5 of some of the computer polls. Critics thought it was
ridiculous and mocked it accordingly. But when it comes down to it, why were they ranked so darned high?
Because they were 13-1. "Yeah, but who did they beat?" ask the mockers, "Bowling Green and Marshall. Pfft."
But if you take a close look at it, Bowling Green and Marshall weren't so bad. Ultimately, Miami was ranked so
high because they beat almost every team they played, and because the teams they played were beating other
teams as often as not. I shouldn't stretch this parallel too far, but you've probably figured out that Galloway
is Miami (Ohio), Brian Blades is Marshall, and so on.
Galloway has very frequently led his team in receiving, and the other receivers on his teams — while admittedly
seeming more Bowling Green-ish than Florida State-like — have at several different times led other
teams in
receiving. If you think my initial premise is reasonable, then isn't this evidence that Galloway is pretty good?
To press the point, what's the evidence that Galloway isn't good? His stats? As we are all aware, stats
are, in part, the products of context. To take one example of that, the quarterbacks on Galloway's teams have
been: Mirer, Mirer, Moon (age
41), Moon (age 42), Kitna, Aikman (his final season), Quincy Carter, Chad Hutchinson, Quincy Carter, Brian Griese.
What wide receiver is going to put up numbers with those guys throwing to him? Apparently, none. But Galloway
has done the best job of making something of a bad situation.
OK, fine. Maybe you're willing to consider that Galloway is not as dreadful as you thought, but number 9??!
That's a bit much. I agree. Unfortunately, there's not a loophole here that can be fixed. What there is is a
collection of
idiosynchratic issues that happen to all be working in Galloway's favor. The situation is similar to if Miami
happened to play Bowling Green on four days rest, Marshall when their star running back was hurt, some other team
in severe weather conditions that favored Miami, etc.
One issue with the system is that it punishes players pretty heavily for really terrible
seasons. It was pointed out in the Football Outsiders discussion that Mark Duper ranked #28 and Mark Clayton
was unranked (he's #58), which is curious because the two played on the same team and posted very similar
receiving yards totals for most of their careers. The difference is that Clayton had the 6/114/0 rookie year and
the 32/331/3 swan song in Green Bay, whereas Duper quit while he was ahead (Anthony Miller is another player who
rates surprisingly high in large part because he, like Galloway, never had a total dog of a season). If Clayton's
rookie year had
been 500 yards instead of 100 and he would have retired a year earlier, he leaps ahead of Duper to #25.
Likewise, if Tim Brown had retired instead of playing for the Bucs last year, it would have dropped Galloway a
couple of spots. Tim Brown's 2004 numbers have almost no bearing on an assessment of Tim Brown's career,
much less Joey Galloway's. This is a problem.
Tampa rookie Michael Clayton does not yet qualify as relevant and so was lumped in as a pseudoreceiver. This
dilutes the strength of Clayton's victory over Galloway last year. The same is true of Antonio Bryant,
who beat Galloway twice with Dallas. If you tinker with the definition of relevance to include guys like Clayton
and Bryant, you can shove Galloway almost out of the top 20 without changing the top of the list very much at all.
But this has unintended consequences, of course. To name a couple, Randy Moss and Marvin Harrison drop even
further down than they already were. It's not clear which list is more "right."
Ricky Proehl's career is just plain funny. The only really bad years he ever had were the years he was
Galloway's teammate. I doubt much of this is attributable to Galloway, but Galloway gets credit for it
nonetheless. Similar deal with Darnay Scott.
The common theme here is that too much emphasis is placed on distinctions that aren't meaningful. It's not
relevant in any real sense whether Tim Brown had 200 yards or 500 yards this year. It's not relevant whether
Darnay Scott had 200 yards or zero yards for the 2001 Cowboys.
A human can see that Brown's 2004 and Scott's 2001
are irrelevant, but it's not clear how to tell the computer exactly which seasons to throw out.
Probably the most serious issue is that Colley's algorithm was designed to work in a situation where about 100
teams are playing about 10 games each. I am forcing it into a situation where there are over a thousand teams,
some of whom are playing one game and some of whom are playing nearly 50. Colley's algorithm inherently assumes
some level of Kevin Bacon-style connectivity, and this is achieved in a college football season. But it's not a
achieved here. And that's a real problem. Terrell Owens, for example, only has games against pseudoreceivers,
Jerry Rice and one against Todd Pinkston. This is the equivalent of the Texas Longhorns having a schedule
consisting of five games against OU (losing 4), seven games against Sam Houston St., and one against Baylor. The
human pollsters would have no idea where to rank Texas, and neither would the computers.
There are a handful of parameters in my algorithm — like how many guys are deemed relevant, what the age
adjustments are, etc. — that I can tweak without violating the spirit of the idea. The resulting lists would be more or less reasonable, but
ultimately I don't think this method is capable of producing an all-time list that will pass the 80-20 test. That's
a shame, because I really liked the idea.
But, as always, it was still worth the time spent. I've gained a new appreciation for Joey Galloway and Anthony Miller, and I've given J.C. a break from the grind known as Sabernomics. I'll see you at next year's Super Bowl Extravaganza.


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When most of us went to summer camp, we roasted marshmallows and tied friendship bracelets and sang Simon and Garfunkel songs off-key. But that's just not good enough for certain celebrity offspring! No, children of the A-list wear designer threads and go to designer camps, literally. TMZ reports that North West, daughter of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, has been attending "design camp with a friend," where they learned, just guessing here, how to make patterns with crayons? The proud parents attended her fashion show on Friday, the culmination of all the kids have learned.
In the pictures, North is wearing a patterned dress and bright, tufted vest, though it's unclear how much of that outfit is her original work and how much she just picked out herself. It's true that the girl has style. Per the article, "Kourtney also came to the show with her kids Mason and Penelope.... Kim and Kanye took the whole crew out to eat at Carasoul after to celebrate." Gonna go ahead and assume that's a misspelling of "Carousel," since multiple Google searches failed to find an eatery by that name. But hey, if you've been to the place, let me know!
It's not surprising that North would be interested in fashion. Her mom's family have all been fashion influencers since long before the term was applied to every Instagrammer with a six-pack. Mom Kim launched and then killed the body-con dress craze of the early aughts, auntie Kendall is a runway star, and uncle Rob started his own sock line. And then of course there's North's dad Kanye, who's branched out from music into fashion over the past few years with his Yeezy line. The shoes remain popular, while the clothing has been met with mixed reactions. Maybe North can give him a few pointers from what she's learned at camp?
Related: Fendi's New, Family-Focused Campaign Stars Kim Kardashian, North West, and Kris Jenner

subset: commoncrawl


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One of the most successful animated franchises has finally returned to the box office. The third high-kicking instalment from the DreamWorks studio has already chopped down the screen opposition, beating the latest in The Divergent Series and big action release, London Has Fallen, in takings, raking in US$327.3 million (RO126 million) since its January release.
Po, the unlikeliest of martial arts experts, is back, and this time the loveable panda has got some growing up to do when he finds himself having to lead from the front.
When Po – voiced wonderfully again by Jack Black – reunites with his long-lost father Li, the pair travel to a secret panda paradise where they meet a host of new panda characters.
Menacingly on the horizon is a new villain, Kai, a warlord yak, who has stolen power from lots of kung fu masters and needs cutting down to size.
Step forward Po, who must do the seemingly impossible and train the clumsy rag-tag bunch of panda bears to become mean, lean fighting machines. Lessons in life, as Po must go from student to master and confront his past along the way, might not be the most subtle and the message of good overcoming evil is nothing new, but it's terrifically entertaining.
Superstars Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Kate Hudson and Jackie Chan all lend their voices to bring the animals to life, elevating the movie beyond mere animation.
It's perhaps the most dramatically visual of the three so far, so well worth seeing in 3D and the set pieces are excellent.
Kids will be charmed and adults will enjoy the return of the cuddly warrior hero as much as their little ones.
Review by Kate Ginn
Anthony Hopkins starring in a film about the FBI hunting a serial killer with the help of a clever but damaged psychiatrist? Sound familiar? This time, however, Hopkins is on the side of the goodies, playing retired forensic psychiatrist John Clancy, who is drawn into the hunt for a killer. The twist is that both the hunter and the hunted are clairvoyant. Colin Farrell takes on the role of the murderer, with Abbie Cornish playing the ingenue FBI officer (a poor woman's Clarice Starling). Silence of the Lambs it isn't and our advice is to avoid this movie.
Set in 1950s Australia, Kate Winslet (with a passable Aussie accent) is the eponymous dressmaker, Tilly Dunnage, who returns to the dusty backwater that used to be her hometown, armed with her trusty Singer sewing machine and a wish to make amends for past wrongs. Along the way, she sets her sights on a transformative fashion makeover for the town. It has echoes of Mary Poppins and Chocolat but lacks the guile and charm of those classics. Liam Hemsworth is the rugby-playing love interest.
Part of the 10th edition of the Muscat International Film Festival (MIFF), which runs until March 28, this 2014 Egyptian film weaves together three stories taking place over the course of a single day in Cairo. There's Lila, a retired actress who is searching for her last co-star, while Salma is facing a marriage break-up and Hazem, a young drug dealer on the run from Alexandria, picks up an old man with Alzheimer's. The six disparate characters are brought together by destiny. The film brings out pitch-perfect performances by some of Egypt's leading actors, including Ayten Amer and the late Nour El-Sherif, with the best of Cairo as the backdrop.
The wait is almost over as the highly anticipated battle between two superheroes is about to hit the screens in Oman. City Cinema Oman had a special screening of the movie on Wednesday, but the full release is set for this weekend. Fearing that Superman (Henry Cavill) has got a bit out of hand, Batman (a beefed-up Ben Affleck) takes on the man of steel, while arch-enemy Lex Luthor cooks up a plan to end the world. Can Superman and Batman put their differences aside and, with the help of Wonder Woman, save the world?


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Mariano and Chris catch up with each other and discuss Free Comic book day and Tabletop game day. Mariano explains how deep the Warhammer rabbit hole goes. We also talk about our love for Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm and some recent cross-promotions that sparked controversy.
(Published to Patreon 05-07-2017, Available publicly 05-15-2017)
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"Students are known well as individuals and there is a strong focus on respect. This results in excellent relationships and behaviour which impact very well on learning".
Ofsted 2011
We believe that good behaviour is essential if pupils are to thrive. We know from regular feedback from parents, pupils and visitors that the school is a secure, settled and happy place where pupils can succeed academically and enjoy their learning.
To set standards of behaviour in classrooms at Parkside, we employ a series of 'Whole School and Classroom Responsibilities'. These are based on long experience and were drawn up in discussions between staff and pupils and are implemented alongside a 'Restorative Approach' to behaviour management.
We believe very much in the maxim of "a culture of mutual regard", as described by Sir Alan Steer, and our expectations are intended to protect three basic rights for all:
– the right to learn
– the right to be safe
– the right to be respected
It is important to note that the vast majority of pupils at Parkside Academy demonstrate excellent behaviour at all times and that we are one of only a handful of secondary schools nationally to hold the "Rights Respecting School Award".
Safeguarding our Children 2019


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Cool – Three Moves Ahead
I have a younger brother. His name is Chris and yes, he's cool. At least that's how he signs his name, which took him a while to learn being he has Down's syndrome. But he did it and for some reason Chris was never enough. His signature has to be Chris Cool.
Some days Chris is pretty sluggish. There are moments when he'll shut down. Most of the time he needs to be pointed in a direction; then there are times when a burst of creativity will overcome him and he will light up a room.
One time I went with my mom to pick up Chris at Camp Friendship, a week-long retreat of recreational fun. Chris has gone to this particular camp for many years with its ups and downs. He likes to lead the campfire sing-along. I've seen group photos of him at the swimming pool. Everybody in the photo all smiles, but Chris just stands erect and passionless like a stoic prisoner in a Russian work camp. Usually, by the end of the week he's in a pretty good mood. And by the time he's ready to be picked up, he has an extra spring to his step. At least that's how he bounded out of the cabin door when Mom and I walked up the path.
Actually, he didn't bound. He swept. He moved towards us with composure of a Broadway actor taking a final curtain call. His hands gently rose into the air. Then he stopped.
This wasn't the cool part for anybody could have done this.
He then moved the same distance in reverse, shimmying backwards. But instead of going directly back, he arced along the face of the cabin like he was allowing the next person to make an entrance through the cabin door.
Once Chris reached the edge of the cabin, he again stopped. With his entrance complete, he sauntered towards us with a big grin. It was smooth. It was the coolest entrance I've ever seen but it wasn't the coolest thing he's ever done.
For a time after college I lived with my parents. And for a summer my cousin, Wendy, lived there too. One day we decided on a visit to Dairy Queen. Since it was only a few blocks away, we decided to walk.
By the time we returned, I had finished my ice cream cone but Wendy still had most of her Blizzard.
As she sat down at the dining room table, Chris grabbed a hold of me and pulled me into the adjacent living room. For a time this is how we greeted each other: by wresting on the floor. And if ever a person garnered an advantage, the other person would shout for help. Since Wendy was the closest, Chris yelled, "Dondy!"
Chris called Wendy "Dondy" for that's how he heard her name with his less than stellar ears.
Wendy immediately put down her Blizzard and jumped into the pile. Soon, they turned the tide and I was in danger of losing the edge.
"Lisa, need some help."
And that's how it went. Whoever walked into the room would be called in for reinforcements. Chris called for Chad and I chose Amy. And by the time Sarah jumped in, it turned into a melee for nobody knew which side they were even on. Even Wendy became confused and looked around.
"Where's Chris?"
The guy who started it all was nowhere to be found for he was at the dining room table enjoying the rest of Wendy's desert.
2 Responses to "Cool – Three Moves Ahead"
Thanks for the memory – Chris's cool Mom


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I want to upgrade my binoculars. I just cant justify thousands of dollars when I hunt in the midwest on private property via treestands. I am really considering the meopta meostars 10x42's. Anyone here have experience with the meopta brand binoculars? I have a couple of their scopes and they have been great on my rifles.


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We are pleased that you are considering the Smyrna Church of Christ as your new home. When we obey the gospel and are baptized into Christ we are added to His church (Acts 2:41). Placing membership allows you to put down roots, enjoy being connected with other Christians and be shepherded by the eldership.
Our prayer is that placing membership with us will be exciting and prove to be a decision that you will look back on several years from now as being one of the best decisions in your life.
Our values, vision and goals provide a framework for you to begin your spiritual journey as a member of the Smyrna church.
So, let's start this journey! Please complete the new member form. Once submitted, you will be contacted to meet with our Shepherds so they can get to know you and allow you to get to know us. Then, we will welcome you to the congregation by introducing you at the Sunday morning services. Soon after introduction, we will guide you to opportunities for service through discovery of your former church experiences and the spiritual gifts given to you by our heavenly Father. We look forward to walking this journey together!


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I have received wrong product or a defective product
Updated: 10/15/2014
The product should be the same as agreed upon. You should get the product you have ordered, and it should be functioning properly.
- Firstly, you have the right to demand that the product is repaired or exchanged.
- Reparation and exchange are to occur within a reasonable time period, and at no cost to you.
- If you do not want the product to be repaired or exchanged, you can demand a reasonable price reduction or cancel your purchase. Read more about consequences when the product is wrong in the article To file a complaint
I have received a different product than what I ordered
I demand that the right one is delivered:
I have received a product that does not work and I demand a repair
I demand a repair:
I have received a product that does not work and demand an exchange
I demand an exchange:
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The trader did not meet my demands
I want to cancel my order:
What happens after I have sent my letter?


text:
Home > Services > Cardiac Care > Cardiac Services > Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement
Download TAVR Info Sheet
Learn more about this less invasive heart valve surgery.
We are the first Northland hospital to perform the transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedure, an innovative structural heart therapy for people in need of a heart valve replacement.
Approximately 250,000 people in the U.S. have severe symptomatic aortic stenosis and need their aortic valve replaced. Some of those people, because of their age or health condition, cannot have open heart surgery. TAVR, a minimally invasive procedure, gives you a possible alternative.
When you are diagnosed with severe aortic stenosis, our heart team evaluates your condition to determine if you are a candidate for TAVR. Currently, TAVR is approved in the U.S. for aortic valve replacement for low-, intermediate- and high-risk patients who meet specific criteria.
TAVR is a less invasive technique during which a specially-trained cardiovascular specialist inserts a new aortic valve inside the damaged one using a catheter. The procedure lasts approximately 1.5 hours, and you will be under general anesthesia or moderate sedation.
TAVR reduces your length of stay in the hospital, shortens your recovery period and relieves your aortic stenosis symptoms. Most patients are mobile the same day as their procedure. With TAVR, you can avoid many of the risks associated with open heart surgery. In the long term, the procedure can improve your quality of life.
Should you be a candidate for TAVR, a dedicated team of interventional cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, anesthesiologists and clinical staff members will be with you every step of the way. Our cardiovascular specialists trained at the German Munich Center, where heart surgeons perform more than 500 TAVR procedures each year. Your heart team evaluates and monitors you in our valve clinic before and after your TAVR procedure.
Our videos provide details about the TAVR procedure. To find out if you are a candidate for TAVR, talk with your cardiologist.
Jim Dallas, 95, was the first TAVR patient at NKCH. Watch Jim's story.
Hilde doesn't regret being the first female TAVR patient at NKCH.


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Frequently Asked Questions
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Yes this is correct. We offer our clients that are living in the Netherlands the service 'free shipping'. So you can just hit the "NL shipping fee €0" button.
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Order at BOBBILLSTORE.com is quite simple. You will need to create an account in order to shop with us. This will only take a minute and once set up you'll be able to: Check out faster, save frequent addresses and many more. Just click on register (this option can be found at the top right of the website).
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Start shopping by selecting the product. Place your product in your bag by clicking the "add to your bag" button. Please note: make sure you choose the correct size! The product is now placed in your bag. Finished shopping and you want to checkout? Click on the "my bag" button (this can be found at the top right of the website). Follow all steps in order to checkout. You'll get 1 (one) orderconfirmation in your e-mail when you have placed your order. Please note: sometimes our e-mails will be marked as spam. Check your spam folder for the order confirmation and make sure to add BOBBILLSTORE.com to your safe list. When payment failed and BOBBILLSTORE.com didn't received payment for the order we will cancel your order.
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genre can be pronounced with /ʒ/
Dear all,
Are there words in English that begins with the /ʒ/ sound? All I have found is /dʒ/ sound, and it seems to me that there is no /ʒ/ at the begining.
I will be waiting for your reply.
Thanks a lot.
genre can be pronounced with /ʒ/
Last edited by nyota; 07-Mar-2011 at 17:43.
English has some French words and terms in it that have retained their French pronunciation to some extent. "Mot juste" is one, and the "juste" starts that way. Zsa Zsa Gabor, too. I can't think of any regular English word that begins with that sound.
From French we also have "au jus".
Wug test - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia with nonsense words starting with a g or a j you'd never hear a /ð/ - or at least very rarely {if the nonsense word looked as though it might be foreign })
'Fully anglicized' works for me
hey! I've got a question. few weeks ago I had had a test in English phonetics and phonology, I was asked about "ʒ" distibution and had no idea what to say, I tried to find some info on Internet but I failed and haven't found anything. :(
is it
Free variation
Complementary distribution
Contrastive distribution
and why
(I continued researching, found this ;)


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COAST GUARD (0-1) at MERCHANT MARINE (1-0)
ON THE AIR: The game will be aired live on WXLM-980 AM. There is both and audio and video stream available for the season opener. Those links can be found at www.cgasports.com on the football schedule page.
THE SERIES: Merchant Marine leads 28-13.
LAST YEAR: Senior John-Leon Gosselin ran for 146 yards and three touchdowns as Merchant Marine won a shootout 43-37 over Coast Guard to retain the Secetaries' Cup for the second straight season.
The Mariners had 396 yards rushing on 74 carries and finished with 521 yards of total offense while Coast Guard had 410 total yards, 273 passing.
Gosselin, who ran for 210 yards in the Mariners 35-28 win over Coast Guard in 2011, scored on runs of 34, 1 and 5 yards.
In a first quarter which saw each team score 14 points, junior Connor Kennedy opened the scoring with a three-yard run for Merchant Marine before senior quarterback Jon Resch threw a 20-yard touchdown to sophomore Blake Thompson, it was Thompson's first career touchdown to tie the game 7-7.
Resch threw a 15-yard touchdown to sophomore Collis Brown to give the Bears a 14-7 lead before senior quarterback Alex Coviello's 14-yard run tied the game at 14-14.
Coast Guard had a bad snap on a punt that went out of the end zone to give the Mariners a 16-14 lead with 8:06 left in the first half and Gosselin's 34-yard touchdown run pushed the lead to 23-14 with 5:40 left in the half.
Resch threw his third touchdown pass of the half, a 24-yard strike to senior Pat Meggers to close the first half scoring as the Bears pulled to within 23-20 with 1:11 left in the half, the PAT was no good because of a bad snap.
Coast Guard freshman Tyler Henning made a 35-yard field goal on his first career field goal attempt to tie the game 23-23 with 9:27 left in the third quarter.
Merchant Marine junior Mario Colangelo's and Coast Guard sophomore Jake Wawrzyniak each scored on 2-yard runs and the game was again tied at 30-30 with 2:28 left in the third quarter.
Gosselin's 1-yard run with 39 seconds left in the third quarter gave the Mariners the lead for good 37-30. He then scored on a 5-yard run with four minutes left in the game and following a blocked extra point the Mariners led 43-30.
The Bears responded when Resch threw his fourth touchdown of the day, a 5-yard pass to Brown with 1:57 left in the game.
Coast Guard tried the onsides kick and it looked as if the Bears would the ball as senior Dante Adams recovered the ball in Merchant Marine territory, but Coast Guard had touched the ball before it went ten yards. Merchant took over and ran the clock out.
Resch was 26 of 49 for 273 yards and four touchdowns and he also ran for 47 yards to finish with 320 yards of total offense while Brown had a career-high nine receptions for 76 yards. Junior Tyler Hames led the Bears with 98 yards rushing on just 11 carries while also registering seven receptions for 59 yards. Coast Guard did not turn the ball over while Merchant Marine lost three fumbles in the game.
Coviello carried 17 times for 100 yards and a score before leaving with an injury early in the third quarter. He was 2 of 5 for 45 yards throwing the ball while his backup sophomore Luke Stidham was 2 of 3 for 80 yards including a 56-yard strike to Kennedy which set up Gosselin's 1-yard run in the final seconds of the third quarter.
Merchant Marine wore down the Coast Guard defense holding a huge edge in time of possession 38:24 to 21:36.
LAST WEEK: Junior Michael Leffibine's 16-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Joseph Battaglia on 4th-and-six with just 1:21 left lifted St. Lawrence to a come-from-behind, season-opening 21-17 win over Coast Guard. St. Lawrence had not scored since 10:30 left in the first quarter before the game winning touchdown.
Coast Guard fell behind 14-0 in the first 4:30 of the game, yet rallied to take the lead 17-14 with 4:12 left on a 31-yard reverse by junior wide receiver Collis Brown, who made an acrobatic move to score the touchdown, before dropping the season opener. The Saints finished with 450 yards, 244 passing while Coast Guard ended with 276 total yards, 219 on the ground.
Coast Guard junior quarterback Blake Thompson making his first career start was 6 of 14 for 67 yards with two interceptions while he led the Bears on the ground with 94 yards on 15 carries while junior Jake Wawrzynkiak had 25 carries for 74 yards. Brown led the Bears with four receptions for 44 yards. Sophomore backup quarterback Drew Londo was 4 of 9 with one interception for -10 yards passing.
Merchant Marine's Matthew McDaniels made his first collegiate start at quarterback a memorable one, accounting for four touchdowns and over 300 yards of offense as the Mariners defeated Susquehanna, 35-28 at home in the season opener on Saturday. The Crusaders scored 21 straight points to start the game before the Mariners rallied back. It was the big plays that made the difference as USMMA posted three 65+ yard scoring plays in the victory including the final two touchdown runs of 88 and 66 yards by McDaniels, the final one, the 66-yarder with 6:12 left which proved to be the game winner.
THE SECRETARIES' CUP: Coast Guard and Merchant Marine meet for the Secretaries' Cup for the 33rd time this week. The Mariners have won 21 of the 33 games for the trophy. Merchant Marine has won 12 of the last 15 meetings between the two schools. The last four games have all been decided by seven points or less. Coast Guard last won the rivalry game with 10-8 in 2010. The Bears have lost eight straight games at Merchant Marine with the last win coming in 1996, a 23-13 win in the season finale. Nine of the last 14 games between the two schools have been decided by seven points or less.
IT'S AN HONOR: Coast Guard sophomore strong safety Joe Rizzardi, making his first career start, led the team with 14 tackles, 10 solo, to earn a spot on the New England Football Conference (NEFC) Weekly honor roll.
GEORGE MOVES TOWARD THE TOP SPOT: Coast Guard head coach Bill George entered the 2013 season with 46 career wins as head coach at the Academy just two shy of John Merriman's 48 wins which are the most in program history. Merriman was the coach from (1930-1945) and the Gymnasium is named is his honor. Last season, George passed NFL Hall of Famer and former Director of Athletics and head football coach Otto Graham, who had 43 wins in his two stints as head coach (1959-'65 and 1974-'75). Coach George led the Bears to a pair of NEFC Bogan Division championships in 2006 and 2007.
BREAK 'EM UP: The New England Football Conference (NEFC) has a new look in the 2013 season as the 16-team, two division format from the past no longer exists. Eight teams left to form the MASCAC football conference while the eight remaining teams will make up the new NEFC. Those teams are Coast Guard and Maine Maritime from the old Bogan Division and Curry, Endicott, MIT, Nichols, Salve Regina and Western New England from the NEFC Boyd Division. There is no longer and NEFC Championship game as the winner of the regular season will earn the automatic berth to the NCAA Playoffs.
BEARS PICKED SIXTH IN NEFC: Coast Guard was picked sixth in the 2013 NEFC Preseason Coaches Poll. Endicott were picked first earning four of the eight first place votes and 59 of the possible 64 points. Salve Regina garnered the other three first place votes while MIT also received a first place vote.
1-Endicott College--59 points (4)
2-Salve Regina University--53 points (3)
3t-Curry College--43 points
3t-Western New England University--43 points
5-MIT--34 points (1)
6-COAST GUARD--28 points
7t-Maine Maritime Academy--14 points
7t-Nichols College--14 points
(first place votes in parenthesis)
A LOOK BACK ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF 1963 TEAM: In 1963 NFL Hall of Famer Otto Graham led the Coast Guard Bears to the only undefeated and untied regular season in school history and the team earned a berth in the Tangerine Bowl. They will be honored during next week's home opener.
Each week, we will look back at a game in the historical season. This week, we look back at the second game of the season, Cecil (Golden Toe) Allison kicked a 27-yard field goal with nine minutes left in game to give the Bears a 9-0 lead and Coast Guard held on to beat Norwich 9-7 in New London. Norwich scored with 1:15 left and recovered the onsides kick at the Coast Guard 43-yard line, but the Bears defense held and ran out the clock for the victory.
Bill Peterman scored on a 2-yard run on 4th-and-2, in the second quarter to give Coast Guard a 6-0 lead. Bill Thompson's fumble recovery set up the fourth quarter field goal which proved to be the difference.
SCOUTING COAST GUARD: The Bears look to win the Secretaries' Cup for the first time since 2010 and win on the road in the rivalry game for the first time since 1996.
Coast Guard is coming off its first winning season since 2007 as the Bears finished 5-4 overall and 4-3 in the New England Football Conference (NEFC) Bogan Division last season. The Bears must however replace a large graduating class that featured seven All-division selections. Coast Guard returns just seven starters, four on offense, three on defense along with sophomore All-division selection Tyler Henning, who will handle both the kicking and punting for the second straight season.
Last week, Coast Guard junior quarterback Blake Thompson making his first career start was 6 of 14 for 67 yards with two interceptions while he led the Bears on the ground with 94 yards on 15 carries while junior Jake Wawrzynkiak had 25 carries for 74 yards. Brown led the Bears with four receptions for 44 yards. Sophomore backup quarterback Drew Londo was 4 of 9 with one interception for -10 yards passing.
Coast Guard ran the ball well last week finishing with 219 rushing yards, but the Bears passed for just 57 yards and turned the ball over five times with three interceptions.
The Bears defense played well in the season opener. After St. Lawrence drove down the field on its first possession, the defense kept the Saints off the board until the game-winning score with 1:21 left.
Coast Guard blocked three field goals in the season opener keeping the Bears in the game. Senior free safety Evan Rothfeld had a key interception on the 2-yard line to once again keep St. Lawrence off the scoreboard. Rothfeld also returned one of those blocked field goals 58 yards to setup the Bears first touchdown of the season.
Sophomore strong safety Joe Rizzardi led Coast Guard with 14 tackles, ten solo while senior Nick Phillips registered 11 tackles.
SCOUTING MERCHANT MARINE: The Mariners look to retain the Secretaries' Cup for the third straight season and improve to 2-0 for the first time since 2009.
Sophomore Matthew McDaniels had quite the collegiate debut as starting quarterback on Saturday as he ran for 196 yards and three touchdowns while passing for 113 yards and a score.
The Mariners triple-option totaled 491 yards in the win, 378 rushing and 113 passing. Sophomore fullback Zachary Boucher had 16 carries for 84 yards on Saturday. McDaniels was 5 of 9 for 113 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions. Senior running back Connor Kennedy had two receptions for 76 yards including a 71-yard touchdown. The offense turned the ball over twice, with a pair of fumbles.
Merchant Marine allowed 372 yards in the season-opener, 288 passing and 84 rushing. Susquehanna did not turn the ball over to the Mariners last week.
Senior linebacker Scott Cokeley led the team with 12 tackles, seven solo with two tackles for loss.
UP NEXT: Coast Guard will take on Hampden-Sydney in the home opener when the Bears will honor the 1963 team that went unbeaten during the regular season by wearing throw back jerseys that that team work during its remarkable season. The kickoff is set for 1 p.m.


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Marie Donovan
Marie Donovan is a former senior analyst for the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute. Her research focuses on the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and broader Iranian military and security issues. She holds a M.A in Middle Eastern and North African Studies from the University of Arizona and a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Thomas Aquinas College.
|Senior Analyst
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Iran News Round Up
Iran 2016 Elections Tracker: Parliament and the Assembly of Experts


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Level 2 Safe Driving at Work
What is it?
This 1 day course is aimed at anyone who needs to drive in the course of their daily duties. It also provides peace of mind for employers.
The Detail
At the end of this course, you will:
- Understand the importance of driving safely at work
- Know the hazards and risks associated with driving at work
- Know the measures for reducing the risks associated with driving at work
What's in it for me?
You'll have a safer approach to driving leading to a reduced risk of accidents and the potential to lower your insurance premiums.
Top Training Tip
Consider combining this with our Level 2 Emergency First Aid at Work qualification to create a Compliance and Employability package.


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I've been a little bit quiet on here and other forms of social media recently. This hasn't really been intentional but recently I've had zero motivation to do anything that isn't laying on the couch watching Grey's Anatomy or sleeping. I've opened drafts and tried to write new posts but I just sit and stare, I've tried reading and the words don't go in, I've tried playing games everything nothing has made me interested. I've been in the most ridiculous slump, like seriously unable to think of anything that's good in my life it feels like everything is shitty.
I kind of know what triggered me feeling like this and it sounds so ridiculous and stupid but to me it's a huge thing. I failed my driving test a few weeks ago and I've just been feeling so stupid and like a massive failure since. It's made me feel as if I'll never achieve anything if I can't even pass a driving test. Almost everyone I know can drive or has a car, so many people younger than me can do it, to be fair I can drive I'm fine until I sit a test and then I panic and I can't breathe properly and I feel like I'm going to throw up and I sweat like the there is no tomorrow it's ridiculous then I fail. Like I just can't even deal with failing it again like what happens then? I can't even describe how it makes me feel, it's properly put a mental block on me and I just feel like my life is going no where and like it won't until I pass which probably sounds ridiculous. But honestly I just spend so much of my time now wondering if I'll ever get a masters or a PhD, if I'll ever own a house, if I'll ever find someone who actually wants to a relationship with me, if I'll ever get married etc. Even to me it sounds irrational that failing a test has had this kind of effect where I feel like I'll never achieve anything I want to in life 'cause I can't pass something everyone calls so simple.
I probably sound like a crazy person right now but it's how I feel and I hate it. The past few days though people have tried to make me feel better by pointing out how much I've accomplished the past few years and failing a driving test isn't important. I guess I do have a few big and little victories and things to be proud of I mean here's a little list some will sound stupid but to me they're big things.
- I passed university with a 2:1 even though I spent most of my 3rd year an anxious depressed mess and spent the 2 moths before I finished/sat my exams pretty much on the verge of a breakdown every day.
- I have a full time job in a laboratory
- I can afford to live alone, I might not want to and most of the time I wish I could go back to living at my mams or even move in with my gran but neither can happen so I live alone and for that I should be grateful and proud that I can do it when so many people can't.
- I tried Octopus and liked it. HUGE deal because I'm a mega fussy eater.
I mean it's nothing amazing but I guess they're things to be proud of and to prove I can do anything and hopefully writing them down and reading them other will help bring me out of my slump. I'm not even sure why I've written this post or what the purpose of it is but putting how I feel into words always helps and that's what my blog is for more than anything. I'm really hoping I can get back into blogging soon since I have inspiration just no motivation plus next week I go to Disneyland and I'd love to be able to write about that 'cause I know I'll have hundreds of photos to share haha.
Anyway that was a bit random and rambley I'm sorry. From now I'll hopefully be blogging regularly and about happy topics haha.
Kloe. x
Friday, 11 November 2016
Time For Some Truth
1 comment:
Aw mate, don't get me started with driving. I passed my theory, then saw a reminder two years later on timehop which meant that actually it had ran out and I needed to retake it. I've since failed it three times, what the fuck?!? If I don't pass by the time I'm 30 then clearly I'm just meant to be a bus wanker for life! Hope you get out of your slump and enjoy disney! xxxxReplyDelete
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text: I'm new to this forum and will be visiting with family starting tomorrow. We're joining the rest of our family in Aruba for a reunion. We'll be there for two weeks and are staying in Oranjestad. We can't wait as the first reunion will take place within our immediate family with our 22 year old that we hadn't seen in months. We miss each other as well as his siblings--what a great place to reunite. We look forward to becoming acquainted with all that my father's birthplace has to offer. Only thing better would've been if he could've joined us. I'm a father of 3 kids; Marc Jr.(22), Nolan(16) and Ocean(9) and married 17yrs to my beautiful, wonderful wife Maggie. We're from Nassau, NY while my eldest son hails from Holly Springs, NC.


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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20204450.post7261935505761009694..comments2020-01-12T03:53:06.365+11:00Comments on WMASAW: What Men Are Saying About Women..: (Ed.FEMALE)Police officer held in vice raids..Christian J.http://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-20204450.post-87814074919664140612008-08-16T00:10:00.000+10:002008-08-16T00:10:00.000+10:00Gasp! But, don't you understand? She is a victim. ...Gasp! But, don't you understand? She is a victim. Dearies are always victims. They are withholding her name until they work out the details as to why she is a victim, and once she becomes an official victim, well victims are never named. Unless they are men. Or boys.

Anonymous age email@example.com


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Hye people (^__^)
good morning & have a fly friday....
tomorrow is weekends! yippie! honestly at this very end of my pregnancy all I wanna do is sit at home & relaks with Dinah & HUbs... But well, Hubs gotta go to work to make sure before I deliver everytg is set up for his trainees...
Hmmm... I feel sorry for him having to do all this simply because he doesn't want me to wait up for him.. Everybody know that its not very pleasant to have to go to work on weekends.. :'(
Its okay baby sabar2 bit2 je...Soon everything will be back to normal In Shaa Allah...
Allah will always be with those who 'sabar'
Anyway, on tuesday We went for my 2nd check up.. I was feeling a bit sick bcuz of the mild contraction.. Felt like throwing up, dizzy & all... So Doc scan the baby, evrytg is okay just that they did a urine test to see if its really contraction or just urine infection... & also they did CTG to monitor baby's movement, heartbeat & how strong is the contraction..
I had to lie down for 20min for the result.. & Alhamdulillah everytg is oukayh just a urine infection.. Well it is harmful to the baby but still manageable...
Doc gave me antibiotic & also a Ural water..
So far its working, no more pain..
Knowning that any day now the baby will come I can't really sleep at night, Hubs had to put his palm on top of my stomach then only i can fall asleep.. eleh, nak daddy pegang je eh baby? terus senyap & tdow.. If not means u main futsal dalam perut mommy..
Next check up will be after raya haji, I don't know if it will last that long..huhuh.. I really cannot wait to see this lil one... Hoping that he/she will come way before the due date... why? I don't know I just can't drag myself to work anymore... People around keep on asking why am I still
working... haha.. Well, I wanted to rest moreeee after delivery.. I wonder why private sector only give 60 days maternity leave rather than 90days?
Baby's stuffs Alhamdulillah all complete, only mattress left.. But my truly awesome officemate wanted to get for me.. :') TQ ladies!
well, nothing much to say really basically I am waiting for the big day... Hubs said that he will cook for me.. hehe~ can u feel the love? Well TQ baby u really truly my hero...
Ok then back to work!


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Tuesday, July 13, 2010
O My Love, Ow My Neck
Check it. New video from The Dead Flags for their ridiculously catchy song O My Love, O My God, off their equally fantabulous album, Gentlemen's Club.
One Saturday a few weeks ago, the Bear and I danced our bottoms off for two solid hours in The Joinery in Stoneybatter as part of the sexy crowd in this very video. We also ended up spending the following Sunday in unbelievable pain, taking turns to lie on the couch and wincing when we had to reach for the remote. The Bear messed up his neck for the day, but it made for some spectacular slow motion headbanging shots in the final cut, so it wasn't for nothing. Being a dancing girl in a video is certainly not as easy as it looks. Especially not the next day, when filming was followed by an almighty session. The kind where it's daylight when you're going home to bed. I do love that particular kind.
(Also, if you're looking for something to do of a Friday night, this Friday night that is, the boys are playing the Clockwork Apple show upstairs in Whelan's. Tenner in, 8pm. Do it.)
Grab This Widget Posted by Kitty Catastrophe at 5:38 pm
Labels: Music , Parties , The Dead Flags , Vidjoe
5 comments :
- Anonymous14 July 2010 at 10:48
You're faaaaamous!ReplyDelete
looks like sweaty fun. you coming to see Annie's exhibition in the selfsame joinery next thursday?ReplyDelete
Hermia - I know right? Totally worth the whiplash.ReplyDelete
Rosie - T'was the very sweatiest of fun! I can't make it to Annie's exhibition unfortunately, I'll be drunking it up in Amsterdam for the week. Would love to have gone, I know it'll be great.
where are you?ReplyDelete
In the pink top, visible for all of a second with hair flying in my face!ReplyDelete
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The Open Knowledge Network has an updated structure as of 20 April 2016, to include the following:
Open Knowledge Foundation
Local Organisers/Incubating Local Groups
Ambassadors/Established Local Group
Affiliated Groups
Working Groups
Open Knowledge Foundation
Open Knowledge Foundation (OKf) is the hub of the Network. OKF runs global projects with multiple stakeholders from within and outside of the Network. It aspires to facilitate dialogue and cooperation between and among nodes of the Network.
Open Knowledge Foundation is a virtual organisation that operates globally with no central office. Our staff currently work from various places around the world: the UK, the US, Europe, Mexico, Canada and Zimbabwe. Some staff are also involved in a volunteer capacity with various Open Knowledge network groups.
OKF supports Network groups and members in different ways for example involving them in ongoing projects, through regular communications, hosting events, etc. (see specific support in the support and responsibility section) . In general OKF does not offer financial support to Network groups, rather, we support groups that are as self sustainable as they can be. Occasionally, we offer small amounts of financial support that can help groups with a specific project or otherwise reach their goals. From time to time we do offer small grants to support capacity building by funding events or participation in an OKF global project. This support is generally available to Network members only.
Local Organisers/Incubating Local Groups
Local organisers represent Open Knowledge in a specific country. They organize local activities and cooperate with others in their home country, their region, and globally. Local organisers also participate in some of OKF's global projects and deploy them in their communities. Once a group is established and has been active for at least 9 months, it can move to the next level.
These groups are in a capacity building mode, they are either in their first steps of their involvement in open data and civic tech or building a network within the country to work with.
(Read more about support for Local Organisers below)
Ambassadors and Established Local Groups
Established local groups are local groups that have been working actively in a location for at least 9 months. These groups are led by Ambassadors (who were local organisers in the previous stage), the main point of contacts to OKF. The ambassadors sign a Code of Conduct with OKF and have a responsibility to support their local group. There is no strict limit to the number of ambassadors per country as long as the local group agrees on who will represent them. Ambassadors serve indefinitely on one year terms, and can be replaced at the local group's discretion.
Established groups have their own governance structures[m][n] and can decide to work on their own projects. These groups take part in Open Knowledge Foundation projects as they see fit and give regular feedback to OKF and the wider Network.
Affiliated Groups
Affiliated groups are established entities/organisations located anywhere in the world. They have their own structure and governance and do not carry an official Open Knowledge name, but they do take active role in Open Knowledge Network and its projects. Affiliates also sign a Code of Conduct with OKF.
Affiliates are an important part of the network. We support and collaborate with affiliates in the same way we do we our own local groups. Affiliates can decide, if they wish, to have an official OK ambassador if the wish.
Open Knowledge Chapters are autonomous and independent non-profit organisations that are officially part of the wider Open Knowledge Network. They are country based and are leading organizations working on open data and open knowledge in their area. Chapters sign an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Open Knowledge Foundation and a representative from each chapter sits on the OKF Advisory Board.
We currently have official Chapters in 11 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Finland, Germany, Greece, Japan, Nepal, Sweden and Switzerland.
Open Knowledge Labs serves as a technology and data wrangling "hub" for the Open Knowledge Network. In this role, it serves as the link between the technical work conducted at Open Knowledge and the communities of civic hackers, data wranglers and ordinary citizens intrigued and excited by the possibilities of combining technology and information for good. The aim is to make government more accountable, culture more accessible and science more efficient and to do so as a community effort.
Labs members focus on making things - whether that's apps, insights or tools, with strong preference for open data and free or open source software. The software platforms, tools, and databases currently developed by core OKF, for example OpenSpending and OpenTrials, depend on just such a vibrant community of makers and doers to expand and invigorate the open ecosystems across these domains.
Anyone can become a part of Labs, including members of a local/working groups. Visit the Open Knowledge Labs website for more info.
Working Groups
Working Groups are domain-specific groups focused on topical discussion and activity around a given area of open knowledge. Working group are usually a partnership of several organisations that lead the efforts of the group in a coalition. Members can contribute from anywhere in the world. A few of our working groups have grown to include a network of self sustaining local instances of themselves.
Working groups usually center around a central project and help to build it and grow a community around it.
Working Groups we initiate in conjunction with other organisation(s) around an active OKF project. They generally are initiated by OKF, but ideally are lead by a coalition of organisations invested in the success of the group.These are groups in their first year of existence, with an expected commitment from OKF of at least one year and viable funding for community coordination.
Working Groups that are actively operating, either 1. in coordination with an active OKF project or 2. happily on their own with passive support from OKF. They've generally been operating for one year or more.
Working Groups that are active, but no longer have a complimentary active OKF project (or otherwise direct connection to OKF) and are seeking a way to sustain themselves in the future without the primary support of OKF.


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For the third year in a row, MTV granted four incredible wishes for four very special girls on Sunday at the VMA. Grace Fulcher, Madison "Madi" Haggard, Sierra Mason (all 16) and Samantha Savioe (14) — spent four magical days behind the scenes of the awards show thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes for kids living with serious medical conditions.
"In a very short amount of time, we were able to create an incredible four-day experience for these incredible girls, who are all going through tremendously difficult and uncertain times in their young lives," said Matt McDonough, Senior Director, MTV Digital Strategy & Fan Engagement. These were wishes 18 through 22 for Matt says he's been lucky enough to be a part of at MTV.
They were treated to a spectacular moment on the stage, their names in giant lights, VO announcing them as winners, and their very own mini-statuettes. They hung out with Halsey and The Chainsmokers after their rehearsal. They hung out at the Taco Bell preparty with cast members from Teen Wolf and Baddie Winkle. They got to hang out with Bebe Rexha after her performance. They met the gymnasts. They met Kim and Kanye. They met Britney. You guys, they even met Beyonce! I'll say it again because they met Beyonce. One more time so it really sinks in, during her complex and choreographed red carpet entrance, BEYONCE stopped by, told them they looked beautiful, and shook their hands.
Photos via Instagram
Sources Matt McDonough and article by Deepa Lakshmin on mtv.com


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They're the worst form of war, except for all the others.
Over the years, I've shared many worries about the rise of drones: the illusion of withdrawal, the militarization of the CIA, the corruption of law, the evasion of congressional restraint, the risk of mission creep, and the proliferation of signature strikes. But civilian casualties? That's not an argument against drones. It's the best thing about them.
– William Salatan


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A member club of the Region 8 Association and the
Woroora men's and women's bowling sections.
The Club and its members have achieved a proud and
distinguished record of success in Club , Association ,
Regional and State events .The Club's objective has
consistently been able to achieve a competitive position on the green but always underpinned and complemented by a vibrant club life and an ethos of good sportsmanship and a positive involvement in the broader community which it serves.
Hamley Bridge Bowling Club
We are a Lawn Bowling Club. We hold different events other than bowling. We Cater Dinners and Social Days within the Club Premises for the wider Community.
A member club of the Region 8 Association and the
Would you like to join us at the Bowling Club?
We are looking for new members this season!
Please contact
- Mal O'Brien 0427 392 464
- Bob on 0427550700
Bowls Club Calendar
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Amarone della Valpolicella
Amarone della Valpolicella is today unanimously recognized as the finest among the Veronese wines and one of the most important of the Italian red wines. It is very appreciated by demanding consumers all over the world. It originated as an evolution of Recioto, one of the most ancient wines of our vine-growing and wine-producing history. In the 4th century after Christ, Cassiodorus, a minister of Theodoric king of the Visigoths, described in a letter a wine obtained with a special grape-drying technique. It was then called "Acinatico" and produced in a territory known under the name of Valpolicella (according to some people this name would came from Latin "Vallis-polis-cellae" and might mean "valleys with many cellars").
From Recioto to Amarone
Acinatico was without any doubts a forefather of Amarone. In the past they only wine produced in Valpolicella was Recioto, a sweet velvety wine (whose name comes from the vernacular word "recia, meaning "ear" because originally only the upper and better exposed part of the bunches were used). As time went by, owing to fermentation, the grapes started giving a much drier wine, though processes in the same way. If at the beginning this transformation could be a problem, then the resulting Recioto, rather bitter and dry, easily prevailed and was more and more appreciated and required. Such was the birth of Amarone that owes its name to the characteristic bitterness and was first bottled in the early years of the 20th century for family use or for friends; it was put on the market only after the second world war and in 1968 it received the controlled designation of origin (DOC). Being a product that requires very high quality of the grapes and special care, almost at a craft level, it only represents a small percentage of the wine production; although since the second half of the Nineties its production increased considerably, when compared to Valpolicella Classico and Superiore, true symbols and strength of this area, the quantity of this wine will be always limited. For the production of Amarone and Recioto della Valpolicella the maximum quantity of grapes allowed to be left to rest in crates is of 7.8 tons per hectare.
Amarone production techniques
Since Cassiodorus' times nothing has changed in the production method: the grapes are generally harvested in the third decade of September and the first week of October, unless there weather trend is peculiar and unpredictable. Lots of attention is put to the fact that the grapes must be perfectly sound and ripe, in order to effectively face the delicate drying phase. The current production specifications establish the blend composition as follows: Corvina (from 45 to 95%), nevertheless the presence of Corvinone is allowed to the extent of 50% in substitution of the same percentage of Corvina and Rondinella from 5 to 30%.
Non aromatic red-berried varieties recommended and allowed to be cultivated in the province of Verona can contribute to the blend to the extent of 15% of a Doc. A maximum of 25% in total in the winemaking can be represented by grapes coming from the following grapevines:
- non aromatic, red-berried varieties allowed to the cultivation in the province of Verona to a maximum extent of 15%, with a maximum limit of 10% for every single variety used;
- red-berried Italian varieties which have been classified as native according to the provisions of law nr..82/06, art. 2, and are allowed to be cultivated in the Province of Verona, for the remaining total amount of 10%".
Nowadays, more than in the past, the selection in the vineyard is very careful and, once harvested, the grapes are cautiously laid in wooden (often also plastic) crates or on bamboo fruit drying racks in a single layer in order to have better air circulation and avoid the crushing of the berries. These racks are then moved to grape-drying buildings called fruttaio built on top of the cellars, with perfect air circulation and suitable to grant an ideal preservation of the bunches.
The use of air conditioning systems operating at the same temperature of the traditional drying process is sometimes allowed during the crucial period of drying in situations in which the humidity could damage the grapes compromising their soundness. Grape-drying systems using heat for dehumidification are under no circumstances allowed. The grapes stay in the grape-drying buildings for three-four months until they lose at least half of their weight and reach a concentration of sugars equal to 25-30% due to water evaporation. They are kept under constant control and the bunches are turned regularly to avoid rot or bad moulds on the berries.
During this specific, and delicate, process several complex transformations take place into the grapes, eg. the decrease of acidity and the modification of the glucose-fructose ratio that lead to the concentration of polyphenols and to a considerable increase of glycerine and other substances rendering a wine obtained from drying completely different from a wine obtained from freshly crushed grapes. In the course of this operation, in the grapes destined to make Amarone, occurs also the development of a substance called resveratrol; the most reliable scientific-medical international researches have proved this substance to have an extraordinarily beneficial action, contributing to keep the arteries clean and to reduce the risk of arteriosclerosis and heart attack, within a moderate wine consumption.
When the drying process is over, after a careful check, the grapes are crushed. At present time in Valpolicella two vinification methods are used. The first is more traditional and, since the crushing occurs in January and February, is done with natural low temperatures; the contact with the skins is quite long and can last for some months. This method permits to obtain a wine that then requires longer ageing both in bottles and in barrels but gives strong emotions, unique characteristics and a flavour which is direct expression of the territory, even after a very long ageing.
The other method, more modern, uses specific "vinifiers" and thus offers the opportunity to obtain, youthful, softer wines with strong notes of fruits, which can soon be appreciated by the consumer and are stocked for less time in the cellar.
The refinement of wines in wood is a completion to both methods: the containers vary from big Slavonian oak casks to small 225-230 litre French barriques that permit a quicker maturation of the wines and fix the colour. Soon after the barrel and the bottling, they fine in the bottle, at the producer's, before being put on the market.
Amarone, unique and incomparable wine
Amarone is produced in strict accordance with the rules and is patiently left maturating until it becomes unique in the world and incomparable with its vivid bright colour, intense cherry, currant, chocolate, spices hints. Rich in substance, well-structured, full but at the same time soft, elegant perfectly balanced; very pleasant, soft, long-lasting to the palate, it will win everybody at the first sip. Unless other great Italian red wines for ageing, its round tannins and juicy fruits make it appreciable also when young although this is a magnificent wine for ageing. The most refined wine-lovers all around the world have learned to prize its unique accent, its character as an old but modern and up-to-date wine, able to testify the greatness, charme, authentic magic of Valpolicella.


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September Intentions and Vegan MoFo
I love new months- it's a chance for a new start.
September means a bunch of stuff to me. It means that the picture above is probably of my last locally grown watermelon this year. It means the heat of summer is winding down, and autumn is on my heels.
I love autumn, because it's the time of year where the universe seems full of possibility. I am no longer a student, or even a teacher, but I bought notebooks, pens, and a few new clothing items this week. Autumn seems the time to prepare for what's ahead.
September also happens to be VeganMoFo time (That's vegan month of food, for those of you who don't know), which is a time where vegan bloggers all around the internet aim to blog five times a week about vegan stuff in general. I am joining in, and super excited to put even more time into my little corner of the internet. I love blogging. It feels like coming home.
As I mentioned, new months feel like a new start, so I think it's wise to put some intentions for my time out there, and I reccommend you do the same. Declaring my intentions at the start of each month is something I've done for quite some time, and it helps keep me focused when there is no way that I could possibly do all the things that I want to.
Setting intentions helped me to write a book proposal, see clients, create a cookbook, propose (and be accepted) to speak at Vida Vegan Con 3, and take a vacation to The Stanford Inn, all in the month of August. These were my five main focuses of the month, and in between them, I made myself food that I wanted to share and felt proud of, worked out, made an effort to see more friends, and read. I would call August a giant success, and that's because of intention.
So what are my intentions for September you ask? That's a great question.
For September, I'd like to cook from a cookbook once a week (I cook most of my meals without a recipe, which is really too bad because I have an incredible amount of beautiful vegan cookbooks), make 10 new recipes for this lil' blog, focus on building my practice (want to be my client? OF COURSE YOU DO), and host a public dinner with the release of my e-cookbook collaboration project. My focus will continue to be diverted with various opportunities and stressors, I am certain, but with these intentions to guide me, I should be able to find a lot of clarity about how to spend my time.
So, what are your intentions? The more people you tell, the greater the chance of follow through (at least in my experience). So tell the world, how are you gonna show September who's boss this year?


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Mole Blue Leather Magnet Bracelet
A handmade navy leather multi-strand bracelet with a striped pattern,crystals and beads. It fastens with an overlapping silver magnetic clasp with a Boho Betty charm.
From the Dance Collection, a gorgeous multi-strand bracelet the perfect way to accessorise any outfit. Made using soft faux leather this versatile multi strand bracelet is easy to do up and adds a little bit of glamour to your look.
Each bracelet comes with a gorgeous velvet pouch and a care card making it perfect for gift-giving or safe-keeping.


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There's a batch of cherished pictures on my office wall. Most of them are no big deal, artistically, although there's a noirish Bert Hardy shot that is like a still from a documentary based on Graham Greene and John Le Carre.
But the best picture, artistically and topically, is one that arrived totally unexpectedly as a Christmas gift a few years ago. You may have seen it, though it's not as famous as it ought to be. Most of the picture is black space. At top center is a single spotlight and as you follow the line of light, you come to the bottom left hand corner and suddenly confronted by Ray Charles, his head thrown back with one of his great laughs on his face. There's no visible microphone, let alone a piano. It's just Ray, in his glory, dominating from below.
Dick Waterman took that picture. He sent it to me a few Christmases ago, totally unexpectedly, and if I've thanked him for it, it wasn't — couldn't be–enough. He's a fantastic photographer, and his book, Between Midnight and Day: The Last Unpublished Blues Archive, ranks with Ernest Withers for pure fascination and insight into the music and the musicians and singers. (The Ray Charles picture is in it.) Every day, though, I look at that picture he sent me and think of two great men: Ray Charles, who I had the pleasure of meeting on a few occasions, and Dick Waterman, a friend with whom I have had many long talks, and from whom I've learned much about blues and several other things. We've even jousted together at a windmill or two, sometimes successfully.
You want to walk into work in the morning and be inspired. I sit down with Ray at my back, because the light would be wrong if it were in front of me, and he and Dick have taken care of the day's first task.
I didn't know until Chico Harris's daily ••<(o)∆(o)>::AFFLATUS::<(o)∆(o)>•• e-newsletter pulled my coat to it that Dick was doing a blog. (Afflatus has some of the finest story-telling in my world, Chico shares my affinity for the Yankees [after the Tigers for me, but what are the odds?], Springsteen and dogs, and Afflatus also keeps me up to date on all worthwhile things in Oxford, Mississippi. It's a mailing list, so I can't link to it. You need to know somebody in Mississippi–if you don't, there's a worthwhile project in itself. Within limits.)
Dick has lived a long time in Oxford, and I sometimes get to see his columns from the paper there,. The blog is an assortment of riches. The blog has the best Father's Day story I've read since… well, actually since his one about Father's Day in '63, which involved finally locating Son House, and driving hell bent from Mississippi to Rochester as Jim Bunning pitching a perfect game on the radio, then stopping for a break and calling home to his fahter, who told him of the murders of Chaney, Schwerner and Goodman. This year's Father's Day tale is sweeter, though the end is bittersweet.
Dick not only helped re-discover Son House, he also played an important role in the late careers of other bluesmen, perhaps most notably Fred McDowell and Skip James. He worked for years with Bonnie Raitt. He knows as much about country blues as anybody I've met, and has been around the music and the performers almost all his adult life. He's also on my (ultra)short list of honest people I've met in the music business.
His latest column, about a Mercedes hot rod he owns, came along at a perfect time for me, just as I was succumbing to the reality that my '90 XJ6 was no longer fit for everyday use. It's not as fast as Dick's '86 560 SL but it served me well for its entire life and when it goes, I shall find some way to salute it, even if it did break down on the Hudson Parkway about three hours before an Alejandro Escovedo show three weeks ago. (I made it on time but that was thanks to a remarkably congenial AAA tow operator.)
So two noble lives, then, the car and the man, and the man even better than the vehicle.
The same cannot be said nearly often enough.