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One Direction GQ Covers Interview
Jonathan Heaf
July 26, 2013
There will be a short vignette somewhere amid all the smooth hairless torsos, hot white grins and hair product of One Direction's new feature-length documentary, This Is Us, wherein the film-makers ask a certified doctor to explain precisely what happens physically to a teenage girl's body when she listens to a One Direction song. It's something the director of the film, Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me; Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden?), has always been keen to capture on camera, though that isn't to say he's more than a little concerned about convincing a medical professional to go on record about such a potentially taboo-shattering "scientific" experiment. "It's more than likely," he tells GQ, laughing his head off, "that I'll have to source my legit doctor from Europe rather than the States. Somewhere a little more progressive!"
Although such an experiment is no doubt titillating for the audience, at the time of interviewing Spurlock, I wondered whether it was absolutely necessary. After all, by now we all know the immense transformative power of a boy band to turn a butter-wouldn't-melt teenage girl into a rabid, knicker-wetting banshee who will tear off her own ears in hysterical fervour when presented with the objects of her fascinations. Hasn't this spectacle of the natural world – like the aurora borealis or the migration of wild bison across America's Great Plains – been acknowledged? It was Keith Richards, after all, who testified in the documentary Crossfire Hurricane to "rivers running down the aisles" while playing those first Rolling Stones gigs way back in 1963. Women like seeing men parade around on stage to music – we get it.
Well, try telling that to the women sitting in GQ's immediate vicinity on Row J, Block 112 at the O2 Arena, only two minutes after One Direction have bounded onto the stage, all big waves and jeans that appear to be at once both skinny and baggy.
These women don't care about the Rolling Stones. They don't care about the meta-modernist cycle of cultural repetition. They don't care about history. All these female fans care about is their immediate vociferous reverence: the beatification of St Harry, St Zayn, St Niall, St Louis and St Liam.
Inside the venue a hormone bomb has gone off: 20,000 females all turning themselves inside out, some almost literally, to the sight of Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne. GQ's overriding feeling (as a 34-year-old man in a Burberry biker jacket with a notepad and pen) is one of hapless isolation, marooned between a 20-year-old mother of three girls to my left and five screaming teenagers all aged between 15 and 17 to my right. I am an interloper trapped within Harry Styles' very own Lynx advert – I'm scared, bewildered and ever so slightly deaf.
Ever since this boy band were forged in the black dystopian kilns of The X Factor by music mogul Simon Cowell in 2010, the five boys, now five men, have gone on to become bigger than even their creator could have dared dream. Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Facebook, One Direction. They were the first band to break globally through social media – now with more than 13 million followers on Twitter, and that's not even tallying the members' own individual handles. In March 2012, 1D's debut album topped the Billboard charts. No UK act had ever done this before. Not the Beatles nor the Stones, not Coldplay nor Mumford & Sons. And they continue apace: 19 million singles sold, ten million copies of their two albums – Up All Night (2011); Take Me Home (2012) – with a feature film out this month and a third album being recorded, the business empire fronted by these cherubic faces now stretches well into the hundreds of millions of pounds, with licensing deals that include everything from lunchboxes to their own fragrances. Their ambition, or at least their management's ambition, is seemingly infinite.
Tonight, the multi-tiered circular arena – the entirety of which is being filmed in 3-D as part of Spurlock's ambitious project – is brighter than usual, so the six colossal F65 cameras are able to capture every tear, every flushed crimson cheek, every homemade (and often fantastically rude) poster. For GQ, the extra illumination only serves to spotlight the astonishing scenes: an ocean of 20,000 wide-open mouths, hundreds of pleading white eyes, 40,000 palms raised skywards, a dark-pink oil slick that howls and moans and undulates with every impish crotch-thrust from their idols' plinths. Thousands of female fans caught on the cusp of their own sexual awakening, a band beckoning them on with lyrics such as, "I want to stay up all night/And do it all with you", and GQ caught slap-bang in the middle like a substitute teacher at the annual school disco.
Forty minutes in, I make a break for the exit. Spurlock's advice echoes and bounces off the endless rows of merchandise stalls and nacho stands: "Best thing about a One Direction concert for us guys? No rest-room queues." Out in the foyer is a man, mid-forties, a lone father I suspect, nursing a numbing pint just behind one of the venue's giant structural pillars. He takes a long drag on his electronic cigarette and nods empathetically. The long escalator takes me down and out and into the sharp night air. Behind me I hear the shrill sonic boom of a whole generation of women coming of age.
An hour earlier and I'm waiting for the band to arrive at the venue. The room I've been ushered into – down a warren of back passages and through more security checks than the Gaza Strip – can be found directly behind the main dressing rooms, about 50 yards behind the stage. To get into the room, named the FAB Room, you have to walk through a wardrobe – yes, just like in the books.
Thanks to some creative sort in charge of artist hospitality, Narnia has been relocated from the novels of CS Lewis and can now be found somewhere within the concreted walls of Britain's Second Biggest Live Indoor Music Venue, a phantasmagorical literary portal now made real and sponsored by a mobile-phone conglomerate. The room is as gaudy as you'd expect from an "entertainment suite": purple sofas, a bar that serves jellybeans rather than Jim Beam, and row upon row of trompe l'oeil vinyl "records" that line the walls like the fake anthropological relics of a forgotten world. Presumably poor Mr Tumnus will be in at any moment to serve us Frappuccinos.
The rules of The Interview were crystal clear long before my arrival in Fake Disco Narnia: two 15-minute slots, with the five band members split into two separate groups – Liam and Niall, followed by Louis, Zayn and Harry. An application for a proper, grown-up chat with each of the boys was vetoed by their scrupulously efficient PR man: "No time." As I know the dangers of interviewing band members together – their cubbish jovial inter-band mumbling always cloaking any sort of straight answer – I suggest I interview each of the members for six minutes alone. No ball. Which makes any journalist wonder whether the talent has something to hide or, in fact, nothing to give. Aside from the time restrictions, there were two other cast-iron "no-go areas": "In terms of parameters for the interview, Taylor Swift is off limits for Harry. And Zayn will not discuss the story from earlier this year alleging he had cheated."
Liam Payne, and Niall Horan, both 19, skip like two Slinkies in sportswear. They are almost intolerably bouncy; all the baggy, soft, cotton leisurewear making them appear like a couple of animated cartoon humans which have escaped a Pixar movie. They are, of course, politeness personified and at first seem blissfully unaware of their intergalactic fame or, indeed, the impact their words can have beyond these four heinously decorated walls. "I've come to a point now where I just go wherever people tell me to go," begins Liam, coolly. "That's what life is like. People say, 'Go here,' and I oblige." The singer, who it has been said can be prone to a bit of a grumble, then adds with an agreeable dollop of West Midlands nonchalance: "So long as you tell me what object to aim towards, I'll just keep moving."
After their six-night stint at the O2, ending tomorrow night, the band will go on to export their good-looking pop-rock extravaganza to Europe, the US, Australia and New Zealand – an eight-month, 128-date arena tour that will take in everywhere from Berlin to Brisbane.
The way One Direction write songs, or more accurately the way One Direction build hits, is how most manufactured pop acts build hits. And it isn't meant as a criticism; teenage girls and grown men alike are a long way past being ignorant about how our pop songs get onto the radio – if it's a hit, it's a hit. It's one thing if you learn H from Steps has been writing lyrics for Alex Turner, but if I told you Rihanna's "Umbrella" was written by a smorgasbord of writers including a producer called The-Dream, Christopher Stewart and Kuk Harrell, would that taint your listening experience next time you were getting your swag on to RiRi in the car or in a club?
Pop acts have forever had big, epic songs delivered to them, and for 1D this isn't the problem. Neither is genuine talent. All five members can, in fact, hold a pretty decent vocal; the televised A&R experience that is The X Factor ensures all artists off the conveyor belt come with fully authenticated voice boxes. No, the problem now seemingly for One Direction, the huge tuneless white elephant in the room, is that they've never really had any proper big hits. Yes, they've sold a lot of high-energy pop-rock records to tweens who would just as easily bop about to the sound of Peppa Pig sitting on a giant pink keyboard, but if they want this third record to take them into the realms of long-lasting, legitimate, market-bridging, gold-plated pop then they're going to need some tunes. And fast. The ticking clock isn't so much about the record industry – 1D exist within their own self-sufficiently successful microcosm – as about the age of their fans. The older their fans get, the more One Direction's legacy will become about the music.
It's the music that Harry Magee – one half of Modest!
Management, the business brains behind the band – knows will keep this band from disintegrating while entering through adulthood's problem-prone atmosphere. "The scale of this band is unprecedented.
None of us involved in the band, from the management, to the agents, to the licensees, to retailers, have ever worked on anything this big before. There might be huge acts that have been going longer than 25 years but they are not nearly as broad as One Direction, especially when it comes to selling tickets and selling merchandise. In the US last summer, we broke the merchandise record in every single venue we played at – same for Europe. Whether it's the Backstreet Boys, Justin Bieber, Michael Jackson or a rock band like Metallica, or Live Aid, in terms of per-head numbers for merchandise we have broken all the numbers. We need more stands at the gigs. More people serving. "But you have to underpin all this with good music. Listen, I would be very surprised if any of them went solo. We have an 18-month to two-year plan and all the members have signed up for this. But you need to keep it fresh. The band have not had that many big radio hits. Their debut single 'What Makes You Beautiful' is a classic pop record with a really good lyric that resonates with teenage girls, but since then, the music has admittedly not always been the driving thing. We strive for that. We need to keep having hits. And you hope that when you have a hit it goes beyond your [original] fanbase. This is also what the band want. Their primary interest [in One Direction] is getting the right songs and making the right record."
It may come as a surprise – or not – that McGee ensures he never attends a One Direction gig without one essential piece of equipment: "Earplugs! Well, you've got to haven't you? It's just too loud…" "We started writing and recording in January," explains Julian Bunetta, a 30-year-old LA-based producer and songwriter who has been working with One Direction on and off for two years. "We knew the new record would take time, partly because of what we wanted to accomplish and partly because the band are making a feature film and on a world arena tour, so the only time they're going to have is the evening, the early hours. These boys are very busy."
So how do five young pop artists, most of whom have had no professional songwriting experience, go about writing a smash-hit single to compete with the likes of Lady Gaga or Daft Punk? "It happens a lot of different ways. We spend a lot of time around the band, soaking up the conversation. Then one guy might have an idea for a riff or a melody they recorded on their phones.
Sometimes it's really quick, sometimes – like last time in London – it can take two days before anyone agrees on what we want a song to say." What are the band like in the studio?
"I've only written with three of them so far – Louis, Liam and Harry. Harry likes to just freestyle a lot – you give him some chord and he'll just come out with some crazy improv stuff. Louis takes a more executive role. Almost a producer role. Niall, as everyone knows, can play guitar. And Liam the other day started playing bass on one of the new records." But Bunetta is emphatic about one thing: "What they don't do is use Auto-Tune."
So, the band has the talent plus the industry framework behind them – what's the big hold-up? "They need to accurately represent who they are in real life. And for the songs to be more about them.
They have an audience and they have that audience's ears for now.
They need to evolve the sound and to also take some risks. The boys want to be honest about their age and their situation as young men.
They aren't the naive, clean-cut guys next door any more – they're rock stars and this new record will reflect that. They are travelling the world, having new experiences and playing for hundred of thousands of people. But as well as the insane highs, you get the lows. They'll be away from home and they'll be getting really f***ing lonely. And maybe they still need to meet a girl who is going to love them for who they really are. These are real, tangible things and situations they are going through, that everyone can relate to – not just the female fans. It's these things that cut to the core of being a human."
Harry Styles wears, presently, One Direction's only pair of visible cojones. The rest of them might as well be eunuchs. He is the band's libido: their inner mojo made physical – and with great hair. If Julian Bunetta feels that what this band needs more of is a human face – real and tangible and, perhaps more importantly, readable – then Harry Styles is the only one who currently delivers outside of the world of tween girls. Fact. He's the youngest member of the group – just as Robbie Williams was in Take That – and just like Williams, he seems to be the most willing to just go out and enjoy himself, minder or no minder, pop band or no pop band. He's their rock star. The cool kid. The one who goes out all night with urban aesthetes such as Kate Moss, Jamie Hince, Rita Ora, Cara Delevingne and Nick Grimshaw, the Radio 1 breakfast host who has scarified one million listeners in order to make the station cool again. According to one source very close to Grimshaw, speaking to GQ, the ingratiating of Styles into such a usually impenetrable London clique is, in fact, solely through the 28-year-old radio host. Grimshaw is Styles' enabler so far as cool London is concerned, and for a period they seemed inseparable, swapping clothes or staying out all night together. At times, rumours circulated that the pair were indeed more than just close friends. It's all credit to Styles, really, that such a relationship seemed perfectly credible.
It's also well known, however, that Styles is fond of a female companion. He's like Russell Brand, just minus the needy braggadocio. From one of Rod Stewart's daughters, and TV host Caroline Flack to (whisper it) Taylor Swift and one of the blondes off Made In Chelsea (really, Harry?), Styles seems to be, quite frankly, working his way through his fair share of pretty young things. And why not? As Styles himself so famously whispered to X Factor winner Matt Cardle live on ITV in front of 19.4 million viewers, when you're a pop star, "just think of how much pussy you're going to get". Styles is also the only band member you feel has the natural charisma to go it alone with a solo career. For magnetism, he can't be matched.
Which I don't mind myself. I mean, who wants to grow up anyway? (Liam Payne)
What else do we know about Harry Styles? "Harry has plenty of money," explains Morgan Spurlock, who has spent the best part of a year on the road with the band. "They have bought houses, property, they've invested in gold. They are all being smart [with their money]. It's not like they're driving around in Lamborghinis. But they are low-key. Harry is currently staying in a friend's attic.
He's got a house that's being renovated and so he's living with Ben [Winston], who is also a producer on our film. Ben and Harry have been friends for a long time. These guys like having familiar faces around them – their extended family, people they can trust. The other day, I went over to Ben's house and crept upstairs to film Harry waking up. There's this moment when he's all sleepy and in bed rolling around in the covers pretty much naked. All I could hear in my head was 18 million girls screaming."
Harry has also invested in art. A London art dealer who was recently involved in some of Styles' acquisitions, preferring to remain anonymous, told GQ: "He bought a sculpture by Polly Morgan – she's the taxidermist artist who was on the fringes of the YBA but didn't quite make it. She's popular with pop stars, fashion folk [Kate Moss], so not a surprising buy. Her work tends to be low five figures so around £10,000 to £20,000. Quite gothic/post-pop, so stuffed animals, skulls… [Harry] also bought a couple of sculptures by Ben Turnbull: Jesus wearing boxing gloves, and also a Ben Turnbull sculpture of a small gun behind glass. He also bought some Turnbull prints. Again, quite poptastic art with a frisson of darkness, and again the sculpture would be around £10,000 upwards, with prints cheaper. So not bad purchases for a young collector. On the plus point, it's impressive he's buying sculpture, because most younger collectors tend to go for painting; his taste seems rooted in contemporary takes on pop art, and he likes a little bit of controversy or gothic in there."
It comes as no surprise that Styles is, of course, fiercely protected by the 1D team. And as I'm waiting to meet the three remaining members, I get the distinct impression that the whole group-interview scenario is more for Styles' benefit than anyone else. Of course, the gods have a punchy way to deliver happenstance. And this morning, for GQ at least, it comes in the form of a road-traffic accident inside the Blackwall Tunnel, the main traffic artery from inner London to the O2. This means that although Harry made it through, the other two, Louis and Zayn, are held up. Harry is, at least for a glimmer, all by himself, alone.
At this point, Zayn and Louis walk in. Which is a pity, as Harry is just getting into his stride. He's confident and can handle himself well. He's charming, funny and you can see why the girls (and boys) swoon. If One Direction have ambitions to broaden their audience they are going to have to learn to reveal a little more of themselves – or be allowed to. With the other two in the room the talk reverts back to "band issues".
What do they think of the likes of Noel Gallagher telling them their music can "f*** off"? "At the end of the day you kind of want Noel Gallagher to be a knob," replies Louis, the oldest in the group, now 21. "You expect him to be a knob. That's cool in a way. He says shit like that but that's definitely what we would expect from someone like him.
He's predictable."
Harry adds with a wry smile: "It's easy to have a pop at the kids from X Factor. Thing is, his kids are coming to our show on Saturday…"
I go on to ask Zayn about his Muslim upbringing. He shuts me down immediately: "I don't like talking about my religion." Why not? "I just don't like talking about it." Fair enough. Back to the pop questions, then.
GQ: What was the last record they bought?
Zayn: "The Evolution Of Robin Thicke."
GQ: Is there anything they wouldn't endorse?
Louis: "Weapons. A One Direction handgun. Although don't rule anything out. Could be big in our thug market!"
For those with girlfriends, is it hard to remain monogamous while on tour?
Louis: "I don't think it is. The type of girls that would sleep with you in a heartbeat aren't the type of girls I'd want to take home anyway." Meanwhile, Harry, together with his big, visible cojones, has long left Narnia.
GQ: How will One Direction be remembered?
Zayn: I want a monument put up in Bradford! They will build statues of us. No, I want to change pop culture…
Louis: As a boy band that didn't dance.
Niall: It would be great to just be remembered.
Liam: It was nice to win a Brit. What was it for again?
Niall: You know when the Backstreet Boys and New Kids On The Block came back a few months ago? And all they did were arena tours. That's how I'd like to be remembered.
Liam: Yeah, just pop in and do an arena tour every ten years…
Niall: Sell out Wembley. Smash it hard. Home in time for tea.
Liam: Fingers crossed, eh?


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Sweet Potato and Cumin Soup With Feta Yogurt
- Yield: servings
- 3tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1large onion, peeled and chopped
- 4cloves garlic
- 1 heapingteaspoons ground cumin
- pinch dried red pepper flakes
- 2 and 1/4pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced
- 5cups chicken or vegetable stock
- -- sea salt
- 3ounces feta, crumbled
- 5 and 1/2ounces Greek yogurt
- 2tablespoons finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes (optional), to serve
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes until soft and glossy, stirring occasionally.
- Add the garlic, cumin and red pepper flakes and cook for a minute longer.
- Add the sweet potato, and continue to cook for another couple of minutes, stirring frequently. Pour in the stock and season with salt, bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes, by which time the potato should be very tender.
- Purée the soup in batches in the blender. Return it to the saucepan and season with a little more salt, if necessary.
- Combine the feta and yogurt in a bowl and dollop a spoonful on top of each bowl of soup. Scatter a teaspoon of chopped sun-dried tomatoes on top, if using.
Recipes from Soup, Glorious Soup by Annie Bell (Kyle Books; 2011)
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Group Homes for Teens from North Dakota
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Adventure Therapy Alternative
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Call us today at (844) 413-2722 to see how we can help your troubled teen and the whole family.


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Pistorius Granted Bail Pending Murder Trial
ResumeDouble-amputee track star Oscar Pistorius will be allowed to go free as he awaits trial in the Valentine's Day shooting death of his girlfriend.
A magistrate in South Africa granted bail today after four days of arguments from prosecutors and defense lawyers.
He said the affidavit from Pistorius, in which he gave his version of the events that took place in his home, had helped his application for bail.
Pistorius shot and killed model Reeva Steenkamp in the predawn hours of February 14th. The athlete says he shot her accidentally, thinking she was an intruder in his house. Prosecutors say the shooting followed a loud argument between the two. They say he intended to kill her, and they've charged him with premeditated murder.
Pistorius last year became the first double-amputee runner to compete in the Olympics. He is known as the Blade Runner because of the high-tech artificial legs he uses.
- Lydia Polgreen, Johannesburg Bureau Chief for The New York Times. She tweets @lpolgreen.
This segment aired on February 22, 2013.


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"The Connecticut Wagner" sold for $282,000
Robert Edward Auctions (May 1, 2010)
Every T206 Wagner naturally has a great story, sharing the Wagner legend that is now part of classic American folklore, and every Wagner also has an additional story relating to its provenance. Collectors have always been fascinated with all aspects of the history of Wagners: how they were discovered, where they have been purchased, when, for how much, where they have been, how they have happened to survive. This is a particularly interesting card in that it has never been up for auction, or been photographed, or even been seen before in the modern collecting world. To Wagner scholars, it would appear to be a newly discovered card. That conclusion, however, would not be accurate. Despite having never been seen before, this is not a newly discovered Wagner. It has been known for many decades and may even be one of the earliest known of all Wagners. It has simply not had occasion to be seen or made its whereabouts known in any way in modern collecting times. It has been the prize possession of two private family collections going back many decades. We have taken the liberty of calling this example "The Connecticut Wagner" simply because that is the state in which it was long ago purchased by our consignor. The card has actually been consigned by a father-son collecting team, who had (and still have) a great interest in vintage cards, and were very active in the 1980s, even setting up at local card shows to sell new cards to make money to buy old cards for their personal collection.
In 1985 they were set up at a small local card convention in Connecticut when an older gentleman came up to their table and asked if they would be interested in the complete T206 set. "With the Wagner," he stressed. The father and son naturally found this to sound incredible, all the more so because they did, in fact, have a great interest in a T206 set. And they especially had a great interest in a Wagner! If the gentleman really had one. He did! The son, who was then just sixteen years old, vividly recalls, "He showed me the card. My heart nearly leapt out of my chest. It was in a simple lucite holder. From the instant I saw it, I knew it was authentic. Not in great shape, but not trimmed or cleaned up or anything." The owner of the collection explained to our consignors that he not only had the Wagner, but he also had Plank, Magie, and every card and variation in the entire T206 set, all 523 cards, and he proceeded to show the balance of the set. (The rare Doyle was unknown at this time; in 1985 this was considered complete including all rarities.) He was a very old-time collector, and he explained that he meticulously collected this set with his father! The Wagner and the entire set had been in their family for decades. He had come to the show to sell their T206 set, that they had meticulously checklisted and assembled with such great care over so many years, and he knew exactly what he wanted for it: $10,000 for the entire set, including the Wagner. They bought the set.
While $10,000 today, of course, sounds like a very modest sum for a Wagner (let alone also including the balance of the entire T206 set), in 1985 this was real money. It was a reasonable price, it may have even been a good deal, but it was not a "giveaway" price. As the son fondly recalls today, "The gentleman who sold us the set - his name has been lost to me - he had made up his mind to sell it, and he happened to pick that particular day, that particular show, and our table. An incredible coincidence, one that I haven't really stopped thinking about, even after all these years."
The Wagner has been locked away, eventually put into a safe deposit box due to its escalating value, and has not seen the light of day for the past twenty-five years since purchased at that show in Connecticut. The card is not being sold because the owners don't like it. They do! They are still collectors and are keeping the balance of their collection and the T206 set! But, as they have continued to see the card go up in value to stratospheric levels over the years, they think the time has come for them to sell the single most prized T206 Wagner card. It is strictly an economic decision. While they are sorry to see it go, as the son communicated to us, for them it is just "the right thing to do." As the son wrote us, "I will miss having the card, but like the man who went into the card show that day, I have made my decision. The only reason we are selling it is because I have a young family and I could use some extra financial breathing room. It's just too valuable for us to keep. We can't justify having a baseball card that might be worth as much as a couple hundred thousand dollars, or maybe even more. Whatever it sells for, we know we're going to make out very well, and we'll put the money to good use. Depending on exactly what it sells for, we may even take a small percentage to buy a few cards. That way we can have our cake and eat it too!"
The Card: This very attractive T206 Honus Wagner has bold colors, perfect registration, a bright orange background, and a crisp, bold portrait. It is also very well centered. The advertisement for Sweet Caporal Cigarettes is boldly printed on the reverse. Graded PR-FR 1 by PSA, the card naturally has various condition flaws, including rounded corners, creases, and a small area of surface flaking. Yet it also has a very pleasing overall appearance, with a central portrait image that presents beautifully, and is unaffected by the most serious creases of the card. It is a given that most T206 Wagners are in low-grade, so for a Wagner, the overall appearance is of greatest significance and cannot be communicated by just a numerical grade. Every card is different. No one is ever going to confuse this card with the famous Gretzky-McNall Wagner. But this card needs to make no apologies for its appearance. This low-grade example of the T206 Wagner compares very favorably with most other Wagner examples, and is a great-looking card that elicits a positive response from everyone who sees it. It has its condition problems, as do most other Wagners, but that is why it is graded PR-FR 1 and is not valued in the millions of dollars! The T206 Wagner is the one baseball card that generates the greatest interest wherever it is displayed. Kids and adults, and collectors and noncollectors alike, all know about the card, and want to see it in any condition.
Whether this card will be valued by collectors at more than "The All-Star Cafe Wagner" (graded PR-FR 1 by PSA, sold for $399,500 at REA in 2009), or a level lower than the SGC Poor 10 example that sold at Heritage for $227,050 in 2008 is completely unknown. Valuing Wagners is very subjective. That's for the bidders to decide. Whatever they decide, it has been a great pleasure for us to properly document the history of this card that for so many decades has been a "lost to the world" example of card collecting's greatest treasure.
Final Bid with Buyer's Premium: $282,000


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Colen Campbell 1715 Engravings of London Townhouses & County Estates
While our images are electronically watermarked, the antique prints themselves are not.
The Elevation of Sr. Walter Yonge Bart. his house in Devonshire VTB180 $275 Sale Price: $185 Each single print measures approximately 11 inches wide by 17 1/4 inches long
We are delighted to offer these exquisite & extremely rare black & white copper engravings from the first edition of Vitruvius Britannicus or, the British Architect. Containing the Plans, Elevations, and Sections of the most Regular Buildings both Publick & Private in Great Britain.
Colen Campbell (1676-1729) was a Scotsman & a lawyer who took up architecture. Vitruvius Britannicus was the first English architectural publication since Elizabethan times, & catalogued the work of great architects of the time, including Inigo Jones and Sir Christopher Wren, as well as Campbell himself.
It was a time when Britain was growing tired of the excesses of the ornate Baroque period and returning to classical or Neo-Palladian architecture. It was also the beginning of a building boom amongst the aristocracy & Whig politicians of the day. Campbell's work secured him many commissions & for a short time he served as a government advisor.
These superb engravings are certainly testament to the extent & grandeur of this new architectural style, epitomized by the magnificent Blenheim Palace, home of the Duke of Marlborough, set in sweeping parks in Woodstock, near Oxford.
The grounds of this palace have long been open to the public, & we played in them as children. In keeping with modern aristocrats, the present Duke has made a business of his ancestral home & one can even fish in Blenheim's great lake. It is definitely worth a trip when in the UK, as it is an oasis of tranquility in the midst of a very populated area.
Each single print measures approximately 11 ½ inches wide by 18 ½ inches long & the doubles 21 ½ inches wide by 18 ½ inches long, on strong creamy white chain linked paper without blemishes & occasional crown watermarks. In most cases, the plan for the building accompanies the view, so it is a "two for one". A copy of the original title page accompanies each print, along with a copy of the book listing from the 1800's, pricing the work at two guineas. The photos are very accurate, so please review carefully. All our prints are authentic antique prints and guaranteed to be from the date stated. These prints are about 295 years old, over a quarter of a millennium!
We accept credit cards, PayPal, checks, and money orders. Florida state residents pay Florida state sales tax. Shipping in the USA for this item is $12.95 and international shipping starts at $30.00. Items can be combined to save on postage. Our environment is smoke free. We pack professionally using only new materials. All items are beautifully wrapped and suitable for sending directly as gifts. You may return any item within 7 days if not satisfied. To order, you may call us toll free at 1-888-PANTEEK, or email.
PANTEEK is a registered trademark
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Scout Moor Wind Farm Under Construction
Wed, 28 Nov 2007 14:04 moomooland |
- -- -- -- - - -- -- -- - The above photographs show the delivery and construction of the Scoutmoor Wind Farm in Lancashire including the arrival and construction of the very first tower sections in November 2007, the arrival and construction of the final turbine tower in May 2008, and the official opening of the wind farm in September 2008. The 26 wind turbines are spread out across a total of eight different grid squares with seven towers alone in SD8218 |
Thu, 13 Dec 2007 16:28 moomooland |
Now completed the wind farm consists of a total 26 wind turbines, each with a generating capacity of 2.5MW. The wind farm has a total capacity of 65MW of electricity, which is enough power to supply the average needs of 40,000 homes. Turbine details: Tower Height: 60m Blade Length: 40m Total Max Height: 100m Manufacturer: Nordex Model: N8O Electricity is exported to the National Grid via the newly built dedicated substation, shown below, located south of the A680 near Ashworth Moor Reservoir. Eight miles of new access roads were constructed on the moor to enable the transportation of the turbines to each of the 26 turbine base locations. Turbine Tower number 21,shown below, was the first tower to be completed. With all the gale force winds in January and early February construction was delayed. Engineers made up for lost time in the second week of February thanks to fine calm weather conditions. This resulted in daily deliveries of turbine tower parts by road. With even more calm weather over the second two weeks of February 2008 engineers made rapid progress and completed the building of two more towers within a week. By early March 2008 a total of eight towers had been completed. By mid March 2008 a total of nine towers had been completed with a further two under construction which was quite an accomplishment due to all the high winds the country had suffered at that time of year. By the 19th of March 2008 Turbine Tower Nos 8,9,10,12,15,16,18,19,21 and 25 had been completed with just some internal work to be done. Construction continued on tower No 7 below which was the eleventh out of the total of twenty six towers to be built. April the 1st and construction has moved on to turbine base No 3 (below) after the completion of turbine towers 6,7,8,9,10,12,15,16,18,19,21 and 25. Turbine Tower No 3 was completed on Tuesday the 9th of April 2008 and was the thirteenth tower to be completed meaning the project had reached the halfway point. April the 6th 2008 Turbine No 25 became the very first turbine to begin generating. Early on Sunday morning technicians from the turbine manufacturer Nordex connected a laptop as part of the commissioning process which monitors more than 300 different parameters like temperature sensors, hydraulic sensors, pitch parameters, wind sensor set and power output. April 13th 2008 and a milestone day on Scout Moor when the first turbine No 25 went live and began generating at full power. May 3rd 2008 With the exellent weather conditions in April 2008 construction of Scout Moor Wind Farm picked up pace with 19 turbines erected, and works underway to complete the complex electronic, fibre optic and other control systems of each turbine. Once these systems are fitted each turbine will then be subject to rigorous testing and commissioning procedures, and once complete they will be ready for generation of electricity. The commissioning of the installed turbines occured at the same time as the remaining turbines were erected and made ready for internal fitting out as described above. This resulted in some turbines generating electricity whilst others were being installed, and commissioned at other locations across the site. May 20th 2008 Construction had continued over the previous three weeks at a steady pace leaving just 4 Turbine Towers awaiting construction. Two met masts were built over the last two weeks of May one next to Turbine No 16 and one next to Turbine No 2. May 31st 2008 Saw the delivery of the very last Turbine Tower sections to Scout Moor Almost 6 months to the day since the first tower was delivered in November 2007 the final two towers to be constructed were Turbines No 17 and 23 June 4th 2008 Turbine No 17 below was completed during the afternoon. The cranes and equipment then moved on during late afternoon to start consruction of the final tower Turbine No 23 below which, was due to be completed by week ending 7/06/2008 June 7th 2008 This was an historic day on Scout Moor as construction of the wind farm came to an end. At 13:00 the very last blade was attached to Turbine No 23 and all superstructure building work was complete. Ground crew engineers are seen below in front of the final blade just before it was lifted into position. June 23rd 2008 Generation of electricity from the wind farm increased over the following weeks as the final tests and commisioning works to the 26 turbines were completed. Construction of the wind turbines began back in November 2007 at Turbine No 16. By June 2008 engineers had constructed 26 wind turbine towers and installed 78 turbine blades 450 metres above sea level up on Scout Moor much of the time amid adverse weather conditions of thick fog,gale force winds,torrential rain,snow and ice during the winter months of 2008. With the project now complete I would just like to take this opportunity to thank construction site manager Martin Hewitt and project manager Jamie Mathlin without whose help and co-operation during the construction of the wind farm many of the close up pictures above would not have been possible These photographs are just a small selection from over 6500 pictures i took on Scout Moor between November 2007 and July 2008. |
Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:52 Lordelph |
News article in which you get a mention! |
Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:11 moomooland |
Nordex Production Line Photograph |
Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:11 moomooland |
Update 16/07/2008 |
Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:02 moomooland |
McNicholas Press Release Scout Moor turbines spinning McNicholas project manager Jamie Mathlin and his team have successfully overcome some extreme weather conditions during the construction of a 26-turbine wind farm scheme at Scout Moor in Lancashire. Wind speeds of up to 210 kph, temperatures as low as minus 12 degrees Celsius, ferocious hailstorms and 25 days of snow were among the difficulties they faced. They even had to cope with the unusual problem of cranes becoming frozen in the extreme cold. Scout Moor is near Rochdale in south-east Lancashire and the 65MW project, which began in November 2006, is due to be commissioned in September this year. All 26 Nordex turbines have been erected and 12 are already connected to a new sub station. Nearly 25km of new roads have been built, floating on a geotextile mesh laid on top of the peat bog, which is a feature of the site. Over 70km of cabling was installed during the works. Project work included plugging disused coalmine shafts with 7000 cubic metres of grout to stop them collapsing. Care has also been taken to protect nearby reservoirs from pollution. The project's carbon footprint has been reduced through sourcing 95 per cent of the raw materials required from within a radius of 16km. Scout Moor is being developed by Peel Holdings and the electricity generated will be bought by Scottish Power under a 15-year agreement. "It has been really challenging," said Jamie, "but we are on the home straight now and everyone involved can be proud of the project." McNicholas |
Sat, 6 Sep 2008 04:37 moomooland |
Peel Holdings Press Release As of the 26th August 2008 21 of 26 turbines have been commissioned. Of the three electrical circuits that make up the wind farm one circuit of turbines is fully completed with the second set expected to be completed at the end of August. Commissioning and testing of the turbines is the last stage in the installation and construction of the wind farm. It is a lengthy process in which the individual turbine control systems are installed. During this time the electrical and mechanical systems are set-up, calibrated and fine tuned to ensure that the wind farm operates at the capacity intended to produce as much electricity as possible. The cabling works, which include the installation of many kilometres of fibre-optic cable need to be installed during the internal fitting out of the wind turbines, and linked from each individual turbine to the central system control known as the SCADA. The SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) is a computer system which collects data from each turbine on the performance of that turbine in real time. Data from the turbines is logged and any faults that may occur with the turbines are recorded here. If a fault occurs with a wind turbine it is recorded, and an instant message, either through email or SMS text to mobile numbers is sent, so that the problem can be fixed in a short space of time and thereby minimising turbine downtime. In order to make sure that all the turbines are working and commissioned properly and to ensure the turbine control and SCADA equipment is functioning properly it is sometimes necessary to turn turbines on and off intermittently, this will take place until the completion and final commissioning of the wind farm. On some occasions during this commissioning period a turbine that might have been running for a period of time will have to be switched off, or run at a lower production output whilst any defects are identified and fixed to ensure that the turbine is operating correctly and will continue to do so for the next 25 years. To date the wind farm has produced over 4,000 MWh of electricity which has been exported to the National Grid. Source Peel Holdings |
Sun, 28 Sep 2008 23:26 moomooland |
The Official Opening of Scout Moor Wind Farm 25th of September 2008 and Peel Wind Power Ltd, the developers of the site, welcomed dignitories from across the North West to the official opening of the Scout Moor Wind Farm. Children from Edenfield Primary School were on hand to cut the ribbon at Turbine Tower No 22. Richard Dibley, wind power development manager at Peel, said at the opening: "We have welcomed people here today to thank them for their patience and understanding during the construction period and for them to see the wind farm in action at close quarters. I think we have chosen the perfect site here as it is more than 50% windier up here than it is in the surrounding area. These turbines will be generating power for years to come using a natural resource that will never run out." Head Teacher at Edenfield Primary School, Janet Reidy, said: "It was superb for the children to be involved with the official opening after all the work they had done about the wind farm in their lessons. I think they will all remember this in future years and now they know what it's like to be film stars with all the camera crews here!" Today the wind farm is up and running with a life expectancy of at least 25 years and judging by the people that visit the site at weekends it has become something of a tourist attraction. The best place to park should you wish to visit the wind farm is next to Ashworth Moor Reservoir near the Shack Bar This is on the main A680 and from this point it is about a 40 minute walk up hill to the nearest turbine. Once up there you can make good use of the 8 miles of access road that has been constructed linking all the 26 turbines together. |
Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:52 moomooland |
Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:17 moomooland |
An electrical fault caused the turbines at Scout Moor windfarm to grind to a halt with about a third of the wind farms 26 turbines not working for a few days in early November 2008 as a result of a problem at the sub station pictured below. Richard Dibley, development manager for Peel Energy, said: "As part of our normal checks for the wind farm, we discovered an intermittent electrical fault which meant that some of the turbines weren't operating as well as they should have. "Our engineers immediately investigated and installed a new piece of equipment to correct this. As part of the diagnosis, a third of the turbines were shut down to allow the engineers to run technical tests". "This did not affect the overall performance of Scout Moor wind farm because we factor in this maintenance time." The company also moved to deny rumours that the wind farm had rarely been working fully since its opening in September. The engineers got the turbines up and running again by the 12th of November 2008 February 2009 and the Scout Moor Wind Farm has been fully operational for over four months and running at full capacity and is likley to do so for at least the next 25 years. Footnote On the 27 October 2008 Nordex completed it's 1,000th turbine in its N80/N90 series. Some 60 people worked in shifts on the jubilee machine. As with every turbine at Nordex, it passed through six production stages with a total of around 570 parts being installed from the gearbox down to the smallest screw. The Number 1,000 was constructed at the Lisset Airfield project below. At the site, above, Nordex installed twelve N90/2500 turbines for Novera Energy Ltd in January 2009. |
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About Mini Mori Birthday Coupon
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Kansas City, MO – Luke Hochevar tossed the second shutout of his career as the Kansas City Royals defeated the Tampa Bay Rays, 8-0, in the opener of a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium.
Hochevar (5-7) struck out eight while scattering seven hits and a walk to record his first shutout since September 18, 2009.
"I just felt like I made good pitches tonight," Hochevar said. "I felt [Royals catcher Salvador Perez] called a great game, we played great defense and obviously swung the bats really well. When everything like that comes together, it usually makes for a pretty good night."
Yuniesky Betancourt had three RBI while Eric Hosmer homered and knocked in a pair for the Royals, who snapped a three-game slide.
Alex Cobb (3-4) gave up eight runs on 13 hits in his first career complete game for the Rays, whose bullpen was shorthanded after a day-night doubleheader on Sunday.
"The first three, four innings it was a grind. I felt like everything I was throwing up there was getting hit, almost like they knew what was coming," said Cobb.
Tampa Bay, which did not record an extra-base hit in the contest, lost for the fourth time in six games.
After the Rays left a man on second in the top of the first inning, Kansas City broke through in the bottom of the frame when Alex Gordon hit a leadoff double and came home two batters later on a double to right by Mike Moustakas that bounced off the tip of Ben Zobrist's glove.
Tampa Bay stranded the tying run on third in the third inning before the Royals added to their lead in the home half.
Alcides Escobar and Gordon started the rally with back-to-back singles and moved up to second and third on a wild pitch before both came home on Betancourt's base hit up the middle.
Jeff Francoeur, Hosmer and Perez would later hit three straight RBI singles to extend Kansas City's advantage up to 6-0.
Betancourt's sacrifice fly in the fourth inning and Hosmer's solo shot to left-center field in the eighth capped the scoring as Hochevar did not allow a runner to advance past first base after stranding a man on second in the fifth inning.
Game Notes
Hochevar improved to 2-2 in seven career appearances against the Rays...Cobb fell to 1-1 in two starts against Kansas City...Tampa Bay leads the all-time series between the teams, 65-49...The Royals hit 6-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left three men on base...The Rays went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded six.


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Bring Bandages for your Thumbs!
There comes a time in every entertainment franchise where the question "What the heck?" comes into play. Sometimes it has to do with the repeat of the same old formula. Other times it means that the storyline has been played out so much that no one wants to rescue the princess, protect the village, or relive the code and heritage of Dynasty or Samurai Warrior. When a series reaches any of these aforementioned points, developers look for a way to breathe new life into them. KOEI has done what they thought best by combining two of their fabled series into one game. However, was there really any point to doing this? Well it must be in the eye of the beholder, so read on and decide for yourself.
The basic storyline is that the warriors we have come to know and love have been ripped from their timelines and now face a new foe, Orochi, a serpent king with a nasty penance for having allies with serpent-inspired names, one of the things I disliked about Warriors Orochi. Instead of being a little more creative about the enemies you encounter, you are assaulted throughout the game by hulking enemies with names like Diamondback, Copperhead, and, of course, Python. On the plus side, there are four different storylines for you to follow – Shu, Mei, Wu, and Nobunaga. Each storyline has its rather than there own missions that lead them ultimately to Orochi. Let me tell you when you finally do reach this time and space bending tyrant, you will not be prepared. This says a lot considering the gameplay itself is the truest sense of button masher.
While anyone will be able to pick up this title and enjoy the simplicity of charging into the hordes of enemies and repeatedly jabbing their finger onto the controller, there's more to it than just that. Instead of charging, hacking, and being victorious, this title is than an excuse to try to break your thumb. Obviously, you have your special attacks to calculate for maximum damage, but the interesting thing here is the strategic RPG essence built into the game. You start with two additional characters to switch to on the fly. Throughout your quest, you will run into other characters that will join you in your attempt to take down the Serpent King. Each of course will have their own style to bring to the combat, and fans will recognize them from previous titles. You will also earn growth points on missions, and these points can be distributed amongst your team members or can be used to fuse weapons together until you have an all-powerful weapon to take down your enemies. While it might be extremely tempting to fuse several weapons and add attributes to your weapons, it will be best to have the growth points go to your characters since you have the ability to achieve level 99 with each of your characters. Additionally, this will also aid you in taking on Orochi. This brings me to another factor of the game that I grossly disliked. Throughout the entire storyline, no matter whose storyline or difficulty you are playing, Orochi himself will be the most insane villain you will face in the game. Normally, this would not be a problem. After all, too often in recent years the final boss is so lackluster that it loses something with the game. Here, however, it is not leveled gameplay. Make them all equally and gradually difficult or keep them on the same playing field, don't go from easy kills to "Dear Lord this is insane!"
Graphically, Warriors Orochi is a bit of a let down in many areas. With opening CGI that looks phenomenal, you would expect the in-game graphics to look very close to the beauty that opens the title. Regrettably, this is not the case. In several instances, the character models don't spring from the screen the way they should. I mean they tend to blend in too much with the countless drones you fight. The environments suffer a little dose of bland as you trek along the vast maps; you will actually wonder to yourself if you had already been in this area. However, these are a few things that fans of both series have not been bothered by since the beginning, therefore nothing real major to complain about. The sound of the game is along the same lines as well. The soundtrack leans more to a techno metal mix instead of utilizing the opportunity to capture epic tunes for the game to fit the time period. Voice acting makes no advances past the usual dry dribble that has always been present in the games. Again, another area that I wish we could see grow.
With all the complaints a new player to the franchise could find, this game feels more like a dedication piece to all the fans of both series. Does this mean that new players may not appreciate the title or enjoy it not entirely? The appeal of these games is the simplicity, the old "my thumb is numb from playing" titles. There's no reason whatsoever to think you would dislike this installment, especially if you enjoy these types of games. However, I have to say that if you are debating this title, just remember in a market where most games cost 60 bucks, it is nice to see a title available for less than the industry standard. For this reason alone you should look into picking the title up. The other reason for you to look into the title is for the simplistic destroying of countless soldiers and hours of thumb numbing fun.


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Scientists at a biomedical research laboratory in Cambridge have developed a computer model to test drugs for adverse side effects before they would be given to people in clinical trials. If proven successful, such an approach could be a significant step toward solving a major problem facing the pharmaceutical industry.
Adverse drug reactions are a costly liability, causing about 20 percent of drugs in clinical development to fail, according to the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development. The ability to detect them early in the development process could spare patients harmful reactions and save the time and expense of launching clinical trials on drugs that carry problematic side effects.
Already, companies test drug candidates in animals and in the lab to minimize the possibility that drugs with toxic effects are tested in people. But those offer only a limited way to mimic how a drug will act in humans, so crafting tests that could flag molecules likely to have side effects has become been a priority.
"I think this is an extremely powerful tool," said Kenneth Kaitin, director of the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development, who was not involved in the study. "One of the major challenges for the industry is that compounds enter clinical testing without a very good understanding of how the drugs work and what the side effects are going to be, so you're essentially entering blind."
The team of scientists, from the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research in Cambridge and the University of California San Francisco, focused on drugs' "off-target" effects. Drugs are usually designed to do a particular job in the body, but they also interact with a person's biology in complicated and sometimes unpredictable ways. For example, the weight-loss drug fen-phen was withdrawn from the market because of patients' deaths. Scientists later discovered the biological reason: In the body, the drug also activates a separate biological pathway, leading to heart disease.
In the study, published Sunday in the journal Nature, the researchers started by creating a database of 73 proteins that were associated with adverse side effects. They used a computer program that could rapidly analyze drug molecules to predict whether a library of 656 approved drugs were likely to interact with any of the proteins linked to side effects.
They made more than 1,000 predictions and verified them by doing extensive searches of published materials and conducting new tests in the laboratory. About half of the predictions were correct, and 151 of the interactions were previously unknown.
For example, they found that a prostate cancer drug had an unexpected off-target effect. It acted in a similar way to a class of painkillers that includes aspirin.
Those drugs, called nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, can cause problems with the gastrointestinal system, which helped explain a previously mysterious side effect of the prostate drug: upper abdominal pain.
The technique is already being used at Novartis.
"The beauty of computer programs [is] they are very inexpensive," said Eugen Lounkine, a computational biologist at Novartis who led the work. "They don't need the actual physical compounds, so they can assess thousands of those virtual compounds, and that allows us to very, very early on prioritize what compounds we want to look at in further experiments."
Kaitin said the company's publication of the results marks an interesting shift in the pharmaceutical industry, which has been more protective of its tools and approaches.
"Safety of patients is of global interest and a huge ethical issue," said Laszlo Urban, global head of preclinical safety profiling at Novartis. "It gives the scope of what can be done, by any company, to make a safer and faster way to the clinic."
Carolyn Y. Johnson can be reached at email@example.com. Follow her on Twitter @carolynyjohnson.


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We create and convert existing websites into SEO friendly WordPress environments efficiently and economically, for a quick agency turnaround time.
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The Powerhouse Coach:
MUSIC - PHOTOGRAPHY - TRAVEL - WRITING: Learn to travel. Travel to learn. A Better World Media Production promoting the work of KB Image and Design.
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***** This is a small but well-maintained neighborhood park that, although it appears not to be listed as part of the Seven Hills Trails sys...
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Take one standard, slightly boring bird ornament |
make templates from paper before transferring to grungepaper. Stamp with your choice of stamps. I used Crafty Individuals; they are one of my favourite companies in the uk. |
Then let your imagination run wild and this is the end result!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
The chained decoration is actually a belt, just perfect for the slightly martial theme I developed. |
Showing the back in a bit more detail |
I love the "Mohican" style cresting |
The main body; I stamped onto white tissue paper before adhering to the body, then I inked over. The head was painted with Ferro gold metal paint. |
The back was embossed using Tim's folder (I learn't my lesson on the wings!) |
I love the textures you can achieve with all the various products available. |
Finished |


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An Fender Custom Shop 1962 Stratocaster replica with a gold-sparkle finish
Boasting an eye-catching, gold-sparkle finish, this 1962 Stratocaster replica is an early example of the quality craftsmanship coming out of the Fender Custom Shop.
Signed by then Custom Shop manager John Page, the certificate of authenticity is an important component in determining the value of this Strat.
Hector Montes, whose name is stamped on the neck next to the date stamp, was most likely responsible for sanding the body to shape its contour.
Hi Zach,
I have an early Fender Custom Shop
1962 Stratocaster replica with a gold-sparkle
finish. And after disassembling
the guitar, I've found some interesting
information about who was involved
in building it. I also have the original
case, a certificate of authenticity
signed by John Page, and all the case
candy. Is this trash or treasure?
Richard Grant in Guelph, Ontario
Hi Richard,
Do you really need to ask if it is trash or
treasure? Maybe a more appropriate question
would be to ask how much of a treasure it is!
The Fender Custom Shop is one of the finest
custom-guitar facilities in the U.S. and they've
certainly produced some amazing (and valuable)
instruments over the years. Let's begin
with a little bit of Fender Custom Shop history.
Back in 1985, Fender nearly went bankrupt under the ownership of the Columbia Broadcasting System before an investment group led by Bill Schultz purchased the fledgling company from CBS. Schultz and his crew then began revamping Fender to return the company to its roots. The Fender Custom Shop got its start in 1987 with luthiers John Page and Michael Stevens at the helm. Known for producing outstanding luthiers, both of these craftsmen would later go on to start their own successful guitar businesses after their tenure with the Custom Shop.
Part of the motivation behind the start of the Custom Shop was that Fender's R&D department was fielding a lot of requests for custom guitars by artists, and the company wanted to shed the dark image of CBS. Under their ownership, customization of guitars was not often an option. So Page and Stevens were summoned to head up this boutique lutherie shop where the plan was to produce five or six guitars a month. But work orders for custom guitars reached nearly 600 in the first month, and the operation expanded to keep up with demand.
Your Fender Stratocaster has a serial number of VO469XX, but what is more important is the neck-stamp date of October 29, 1990. The name Hector Montes is also stamped on the neck right next to the date. According to John Page, he believes Montes was probably responsible for sanding the body to shape its contour. Art Esparza was doing the final set up on guitars in the early 1990s, and his name is printed in the neck's mortise joint. Page mentioned that J.W. Black probably painted your guitar. And Black was known for painting the sparkle-finished guitars at his home instead of at Fender so to not contaminate the paint booth. Page also thinks that your guitar was one of several early Fender Custom Shop instruments sent out to select guitar dealers to promote the Custom Shop.
Your guitar is based on a 1962 Fender Stratocaster and boasts many unique features including Lace Sensor pickups, a highly figured maple neck, a Brazilian rosewood fretboard with abalone-dot inlays, pearloid pickguard, gold hardware, and the ultra-hip, gold-sparkle finish. The cool thing about your Strat coming from the Custom Shop is that it is more than likely a one-of-a-kind guitar.
An important component that helps determine the value of a custom instrument such as yours—or any guitar for that matter—is how much documentation you have. Whenever possible, get as many details as possible in writing if the guitar has a history. This applies to a famous person previously owning the guitar to the origins of where it was built. It's fantastic that you have the certificate of authenticity documentation from the Custom Shop manager, and all the original equipment that came with the guitar. Without all this, it's nothing but a story that would be reflected in the value.
Evaluating Fender Custom Shop guitars is often a difficult task because each instrument is unique. I typically look at what the guitar is based on (in this case, a 1962 Stratocaster), the value of the additions/improvements (pickups, hardware, finish, etc.), how old the guitar is (20 plus years in this case, which is an early Custom Shop model), and who worked on it. Of course, the overall evaluation factor is also based on the desirability of the guitar. In mint condition, I estimate your guitar is currently valued between $2,500 and $3,000. Keep all that documentation and case candy, and this guitar will be a treasure for years to come!
Zachary R. Fjestad is author of Blue Book of Acoustic Guitars, Blue Book of Electric Guitars, and Blue Book of Guitar Amplifiers. For more information, visit bluebookinc.com or email Zach at email@example.com.


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Is Cara Delevingne Responsible For Declining Tweezer Sales?: Model Cara Delevingne may be the reason more women are interested in fuller eyebrows, The Daily Mail reports. Delevingne's heavy "power brows," have become one of the latest beauty trends, possibly intitiating a decline in tweezer sales.The Daily Mail reports that "[Google] searches for 21-year-old Cara Delevingne and her statement brows have increased, less and less people have been googling the term tweezers." Similarly, "searches for 'fuller eyebrows' are also on the up whilst search terms such as 'eyebrow plucking' have fallen since November 2012." [The Daily Mail]
Miley Cyrus Twerks For Terry Richardson: Photographer Terry Richardson posted a series of provocative images of Miley Cyrus to his website, Terry's Diary, yesterday. The singer, who was recently shot in couture gowns by Richardson for Harper's Bazaar, was pictured twerking and flipping off the camera in a Nike sports bra and gym shorts. [Terry's Diary]
Kim Kardashian Finally Steps Out With North: TMZ released exlusive images of Kim Kardashian's first pulic appearance since the birth of her daughter, North West. Kim is seen rocking a not-so-shocking chambray shirt, black leggings, and moccasin boots to an LA doctor's office, and is accompanied by Kanye, a nanny, and baby North. [TMZ]
New Vending Machine Dispenses Bras: Lingerie brand Wacoal unveiled a new bra-dispensing vending machine at Une NaNa Cool store in Japan. The machine -- clad with a sizing chart -- allows customers to insert money and select an item to be released immediately. Although the vending machine enhances convenience, PSFK reports unsurprisingly that women are hesitant to purchase lingerie without the ability to try it on first. [PSFK]
Vivien Leigh Exhibit to Open at V&A Museum: Hollywood icon Vivien Leigh -- best known as her role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind -- is the new focus of an upcoming exhibit at the V&A Museum in London this fall. The exhibit "contains intimate diaries, annotated film and theatre scripts, her awards, as well as personal letters to friends and colleagues... and even the visitors' book for Leigh and husband Laurence Olivier's Buckinghamshire home." The items were donated by Leigh's children and have never been publicly displayed. [Vogue UK]


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Election 2012: In Senate, a mighty struggle to maintain status quo
| Washington
This was supposed to be the year that Republicans stormed back into power in the US Senate, after enduring six years in the minority. But that scenario is looking less certain as Nov. 6 nears – thanks to a few missteps by GOP candidates, strong campaigns by some Democrats in red states, and presidential battleground states that lately are tilting toward President Obama in the polls.
As a result, political control of the Senate remains up for grabs – and the likelihood is rising that the winning party will hold only the narrowest of majorities. The upshot? Hope is fading that Election 2012 will yield a decisive mandate that can break the partisan gridlock that has immobilized Washington policymaking in recent years.
"When you have parties that are this polarized, unless one party really dominates the whole government – 60 votes in the Senate, a majority in the House, White House – then everything has to be a compromise," says political scientist David Karol at the University of Maryland. "And there's no basis for compromise."
Senate Democrats hold only a 53-to-47-seat majority, and this election they are defending nearly two dozen seats – twice as many as Republicans.
Presidential coattails in Virginia
Still, the electoral picture for the GOP has become less rosy as the campaign season unwinds, and not least among the reasons is the way the presidential contest has been playing out. Senate races in several 2012 battleground states are taking place in the shadow of the much larger and better-funded presidential operations – and a number of these states, polls show, currently lean toward Mr. Obama.
Virginia is one of four tight Senate races taking place in presidential battleground states. Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney are jamming the airwaves with ads and building deluxe voter-turnout campaigns that will influence races down the ballot. Tim Kaine (D) and George Allen (R), both former governors, have been locked in a match so tight that there was, until recently, no daylight between them. (Mr. Kaine opened up a single-digit lead in a pair of recent surveys.)
Virginia is "the Senate race in the country that gets decided by the presidential" political picture, says Jennifer Duffy, the Cook Political Report's analyst on Senate contests.
The presidential race is also expected to affect Senate battles in Ohio, where Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) is up for reelection against state Treasurer Josh Mandel (R); in Florida, where Sen. Bill Nelson (D) is defending his seat against Rep. Connie Mack (R); and in Nevada, where Sen. Dean Heller (R) is up against Rep. Shelley Berkley (D). So far, polls show the three incumbents leading.
In Virginia, the Allen and Kaine campaigns are well funded and draw on a well of experienced political hands. But in terms of political electricity, they don't hold a candle to the juggernaut of a presidential race.
The Senate candidates are watching as Obama and Mr. Romney spend heavily, in time and treasure, in the Old Dominion. The state's four major media markets – Washington, D.C.; Norfolk; Richmond; and Roanoke – are all in the top 20 for presidential campaigns' ad buys. That distinction is matched only by perennial swing-state Ohio, according to an analysis by the Wesleyan Media Project.
Virginia has collected 52 visits from the presidential contenders, their wives, and their vice presidential picks, trailing only Ohio (63) and Florida (68), according to data compiled by The Washington Post.
How should the Senate candidates campaign? Hold on for the ride, says Virginia-based political analyst Quentin Kidd, and be careful.
Kaine, one of the first governors to endorse Obama in 2008 and chairman of the Democratic National Committee at the start of the president's term, is tied deeply to Obama's popularity in the state. Mr. Allen is in a trickier situation, needing to embrace Romney enough to ride his coattails should he win in Virginia but not wanting to come too close in the event Romney falters.
"The extent to which George Allen is going to link himself and his turnout operation very closely with the Romney campaign is limited," says Mr. Kidd, a professor of political science at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va. "If Mitt Romney slides among independent [voters], George Allen doesn't want to be too closely tied to that because he needs those independent voters to vote for him."
Against the grain in the Big Sky
Another type of race in 2012 will feature either a Democrat running strong in a "red" state that is expected to go for Romney, or a Republican running strong in a "blue" one probably destined to pick Obama.
Among these contests are Republican Sen. Scott Brown versus consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren in liberal Massachusetts, and the campaign by Republican Linda McMahon, cofounder of World Wrestling Entertainment, to take down Rep. Chris Murphy (D) in left-leaning Connecticut.
On the other side, former Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp is trying to beat Rep. Rick Berg (R) in right-leaning North Dakota, and Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly is vying against state Treasurer Richard Mourdock in conservative Indiana.
In each case, the candidates going against their state's presidential preference are championing their moderate bona fides and arguing that they wouldn't be a rubber stamp for their own party's agenda in Washington.
That's the case in Montana, where incumbent Sen. Jon Tester (D) and the state's only congressman, Denny Rehberg (R), are neck-in-neck in the polls while battling to answer one question: Who is more Montanan?
The candidates are asking "who is the rancher or farmer?" says political scientist David Parker at Montana State University. "Who is more like you?"
Senator Tester, the only member of Congress who works his family farm, has cut advertisements highlighting his vote against the Wall Street bailout package – and taking viewers on a spin on a combine around his farm in Big Sandy, Mont.
Representative Rehberg, who claims a ranching lineage five generations deep, also touts his independent streak. Although a member of the House Republican leadership, he twice voted against the GOP budget plan championed by Rep. Paul Ryan, now the party's vice presidential nominee, and criticized House leaders for failing to move on the farm bill.
The Montana Senate race may also be a proving ground for outside groups spending big money to try to tip it – and control of the Senate – their way. It has been flooded with more advertisements than any other Senate campaign – more than 44,500, according to the Wesleyan Media Group. That ad spending, $4.5 million, comes from the two campaigns and 19 outside groups, by Mr. Parker's count.
That amount doesn't compare with the $12.5 million spent just on the Republican Senate primary in Texas, but money goes a lot further in Big Sky country.
"It's just amazing ... all this money and sway in a state of a million people [with] 300,000 voters – a lot of them who have already made up their minds," says Parker.
Republicans are hurting, too, because two Senate races they had expected to lock up may now be irretrievable.
The Missouri seat, held by Sen. Claire McCaskill (D), was the GOP's top takeover target. But GOP challenger Todd Akin's errant comments about "legitimate rape" and conception have probably derailed his campaign.
And in Maine, GOP Sen. Olympia Snowe's abrupt announcement earlier this year that she planned to retire threw that previously "safe" seat into the hopper. Former Gov. Angus King, an independent who many believe will caucus with Democrats, leads a three-way battle there.
Postelection, will Washington work again?
Gridlock didn't begin with the tea party-fueled wave of House Republicans in 2010, as Democrats say. It also didn't set in, as Republicans argue, with a recalcitrant Senate failing to pass a budget since 2009.
Rather, Congress's recent standstill took root after the 2006 midterm election, when Senate Republicans latched onto the filibuster, a procedure used to halt votes on legislation barring a 60-vote supermajority, as a tool to exert the will of the minority party, says Julian Zelizer, a congressional historian at Princeton University in New Jersey.
Republicans "decided to use the power of the minority in an extremely aggressive fashion," he says.
Since 1917, motions to end Senate filibusters have been made some 1,300 times. Nearly one-third date from the three terms of Congress since 2007.
Could this election outcome shake up that dynamic? It's not likely.
Neither party has a plausible path to 60 votes. And freshman lawmakers, no matter how strong their bipartisan intentions, have a hard time breaking through – just ask Sen. Mark Warner (D) of Virginia, a popular former governor who in his first term has led a thus-far quixotic charge for a bipartisan debt-reduction deal.
The "reality is that the institution – the way it's structured, the way in which the parties conduct their business – is set in place," Mr. Zelizer says. "There's a lot of pressure from the Senate leadership of each party to toe the party line."