text:
Bodhidharma meets Emporer Wu in this famous case. Can we meet ourselves with the same integrity?
When you see smoke on the other side of the mountain, you already know there
is a fire.
When you see horns on the other side of a fence, right away you know there is
an ox there.
To understand three when one is raised; to judge precisely at a glance, this
is the everyday food and drink of a patch-robed monk.
Getting to where she cuts off the myriad streams, she is free to arise in the
east and sink in the west, to go against or to go with, in any and all
directions, free to give or take away.
But say, at just such a time, whose actions are these?
Look into Xuedou's trailing vines.
The Case
Emperor Wu of Liang asked the great master Bodhidharma, "What is the
highest meaning of the holy truths?"
Bodhidharma said, "Empty, without holiness."
The Emperor said, "Who is facing me?"
Bodhidharma replied, "I don't know."
The Emperor did not understand.
After this, Bodhidharma crossed the Yang Tse River and came to the kingdom of
Later, the Emperor brought this up to master Chih and asked him about it.
Master Chih said, "Does Your Majesty know who this man is?"
The Emperor said, "I don't know."
Master Chih said, "He is Mahasattva Avalokitsvara, transmitting the
Buddha mind to you."
The Emperor felt regretful, so he wanted to send an emissary to go get
Bodhidharma to return.
Master Chih told him, "Your Majesty, don't send someone to fetch him
back. Even if everyone in the whole country went to go after him, he still
wouldn't return."
The Verse
The Holy Truths are empty.
How can you discern the point?
Who is facing me?
But henceforth, he secretly crossed the river.
How could he avoid the growth of a thicket of brambles?
Though everyone in the whole country goes after him, he will not return.
Wu goes on and on, continually reflecting that.
Give up recollections.
What limit is there to the pure wind, circling the earth?
Master Xuedou looked around, to the right and left and said, "Is there
any ancestor here?"
He answered himself, "There is."
"Call them here to wash this old monk's feet."
I would like to consider with you these cases from the Blue Cliff Record. The
Blue Cliff Record is a collection of 100 stories of the old Zen masters, stories
that originally came from real events, and real dialogs, and were polished up
for hundreds of years by thousands of monks and nuns, until the stories actually
have a sheen to them from being handled by so many people, intimately, who put
their own blood and sweat and pain and joy into each and every one. Even though
we get a sense in these stories of the individuality and the personality and the
character of the great teachers of the past who are good examples for us – each
one different from the others – each one quirky and unique, we also get, more
importantly, the actual life blood of the many practitioners who through the
years have honed these stories down.
And now it is our turn to pick them up in our hands and add the oil and the
warmth of our skins to the polish and the shine.
There is a preface to the Blue Cliff Record. It tells the story of two kings
who were going to make a trade. One king owned a priceless jewel. And he was
going to trade it to the other king in exchange for 15 cities. The first king
sent an emissary with the jewel to the second king. The second king looked at
the jewel, and at the last minute got cold feet, and wouldn't give up the 15
cities. The emissary threatened to take the jewel and smash it into a million
bits, and finally the king relented and held up his end of the bargain. And then
it says in the preface:
"Unless we are willing to give up our attachments, we
cannot appreciate the priceless jewel of our true nature. Each case of the Blue
Cliff Record shows us not only where to find the jewel, but also how to dig it
out, and cut it, and polish it to bring out its inherent beauty and
In meditation this means that we really have to be willing to let go of all
of the contents of our minds. And thus, be content to return to our breath and
our posture, to return the ineffable luminosity of the present moment.
It doesn't mean that we should judge the contents of our mind, or hate the
contents of our mind, or repress the contents of our mind. But it does mean that
we can't hold on. We really have to be willing to let it all go. And then the
jewel of our true nature, which is not something that we can produce or control,
can shine through. So we let the jewel do its work. Our work is simply getting
out of the way.
The Blue Cliff Record was compiled, and capping verses added to the stories
by the monk Xuedou (shway-do) Chongxian who lived from 980 to 1052 CE. He
was three generations after the famous Yunmen (yewn-men). And Yunmen was
five generations after Shitou (sheer-toe) Xiqian, who
wrote the "Merging of Difference and Unity" that we frequently chant.
Yunmen was a great Zen teacher and a lot of people think that Yunmen was one of
the first important teachers to bring up the old stories and quote them, and
play with them and teach them. So it is fitting that three generations later,
Xuedou would come along and make a collection like this of a hundred stories. Of
course, Shitou is in our lineage, too. Right after Shitou the streams branch,
and Yunmen and Xuedou are not in our line of Zen teachers.
There are a couple of important legends about this book, the Blue Cliff
Record. One is that Dagui (da-gooee), who is the famous monk following
after Xuedou, saw that the Blue Cliff Record was becoming very popular and
pernicious, so he destroyed it. He destroyed the printed book, and tried to get
a hold of the woodblocks and burn them, too. But, somehow, a contraband copy
survived, and the book still exists.
Another legend is that Dogen Zenji, the night before he was to leave for
Japan from China after his study there, discovered this text, the Blue Cliff
Record. He was so amazed by it that he stayed up all night and copied it out by
hand and brought it home to Japan, which seems a little far-fetched since the
book is so long. But that is the legend. They call that version, "One Night
Blue Cliff Record".
So Xuedou collected the cases together and made a verse for each one. Another
monk Yuanwu, who lived from 1065 – 1135 CE, commented on Xuedou's cases and
verses. And his commentaries were given in a series of lectures that he gave in
his temple. The place he was living at the time was called the Blue Cliff
Hermitage, and that is why the book is called the Blue Cliff Record. We can
imagine that it was a nice little place there – the Blue Cliff.
It is fitting that the Blue Cliff Record's hundred cases start with the case
of Bodhidharma's coming to China, because Bodhidharma is the legendary founder
of the Zen stream of teaching. Really, of course, Shakyamuni Buddha is the
founder of Zen. But, we credit Bodhidharma with developing Zen style and the Zen
attitude and outlook. So, Bodhidharma's story takes its place as the first case
of the Blue Cliff Record.
The three great koan collections are the Blue Cliff Record, the
Mumonkan or The Gateless Gate Barrier, and the Shoyoroku or
The Book of Serenity.
The Mumonkan begins with Zhaozhou's Mu. I always think of the Mumonkan as
a very action-oriented book. Zhaozhou's Mu is an action-oriented story,
presenting a technique and a way of practice.
The Shoyuroku begins with the story of Buddha himself. Buddha ascends the
seat and someone strikes the gavel and says, "Clearly observe the Dharma of
the Dharma King. The Dharma of the Dharma King is thus." Then Buddha gets
down from the Dharma seat without saying anything. That is case one of the
Shoyuroku that emphasizes Suchness. Not action. Suchness.
The Blue Cliff Record, which begins with Bodhidharma's story, emphasizes the
essential general method of Zen practice.
In the Pointer to the Case, it says:
"When you see smoke on the other side of the mountain, you already know
there is a fire."
A few years ago I was on a hike in the mountains when there was a giant fire
in Yosemite, and from miles away we could see the smoke in the Valley. It wasn't
even smoke, just some strange haze in the air. And we knew something was going
"When you see smoke on the other side of the mountain, you already know
there is a fire.
When you see horns on the other side of a fence, right away you know there is
an ox there.
To understand three when one is raised; to judge precisely at a glance, this
is the everyday food and drink of a patch-robed monk."
Bodhidharma is famous calling Zen "a special teaching outside the
sutras", beyond words, pointing directly at the deepest heart of human
beings. This pointer is saying the same thing. That to study Zen is to study
Buddhadharma, which is not necessarily to extensively understand and study all
about Buddhism. You don't need to examine the fire when you see smoke. Seeing
the smoke, you already know the first – you've got the point. That's enough.
Just to really let go and see on a single point. This is all we really need.
Not to say that Buddhism as a culture, as a psychology, as a philosophy,
isn't deeply profound and worth mastering. But to really study Zen practice, it
is not necessary to know all about Buddhism. Just to penetrate a single
essential point.
This is the way many Zen teachers emphasize – that our way is beyond
Buddhism. So there is Zen archery, Zen painting, Zen Christianity, Zen Judaism,
Zen Paganism, because any culture or understanding comes down to this basic,
single point.
And Yuanwu writes in the Pointer:
"Getting to where he cuts off the myriad streams, he is free to arise in
the east and sink in the west, to against or to go with, in any and all
directions, free to give or take away."
He or she, becomes free — can move, and respond in a variety of ways,
according to the situation. Not bound by rules and philosophy. When she cuts off
the myriad streams. This means letting go off all your concerns. And there is
work involved. It is not necessarily too easy. But you just have to stay firm,
on your cushion, with a courageous, heroic spirit.
Make up your mind that you will, no matter what, keep on coming back to the
present. And you can use the sensations of the body, even unpleasant ones.
Certainly you can use posture; and you can use breathing in the belly; and the
sensation of breathing in the belly, as ways to bring you back firmly to the
present. In the present something's there, strong, beyond the winds of the
concerns that arise. And take it from this old story of Bodhidharma and these
words of Xuedou that you can have confidence that if you do that, even though it
does not seem to make sense, you will find some space, some room to turn around,
some freedom, some peace.
I am not an idealist. I know we all have lives and issues, and problems, and
concerns, and decisions to make, and bills to pay. We have deep, troubling, and
often contradictory and confused emotions. One can't be a human being without
all of this. And we can't use Bodhidharma's words as an excuse to get us out of
dealing with our lives and with the world around us.
Bodhidharma's message in this case is exactly to deal with our life – to deal
with it with some accuracy and some depth, and some real strength – but
especially with some freedom.
First it's necessary to deeply clarify our mind and our heart by cutting off
the myriad streams. You really have to do that. It is no joke. You have to be
willing to let go of 15 cities. That story about the kings is very astute.
Because you'll see for yourself that just as you are to receive the jewel, you
get cold feet and don't want to give up things. Even if the cities are full of
crime and corruption and bad government, poverty, faulty sewage systems. Still
you don't want to give up them up.
This is probably really true for all of us. We know that, to begin with.
Nevertheless, stay firm. Have confidence and return to your sitting. Return
to the present moment. Return to the sensation of the body, the posture, the
breath. Even though you keep holding on to those cities, time and time again, be
patient with yourself. It won't do any good to complain about yourself. Just
have confidence and come back. Have confidence and come back. Have confidence
and come back.
The other day, I was in Mount Tremper Zen Center watching the Zen Archery
exhibition. It was truly impressive. Afterwards, we had a chance to ask
questions of the archery instructors. Someone asked, "How do you know when
to release the arrow?" The instructor recognized this as a very profound
question. He said, "I don't really know when to release the
The question perplexed him quite a bit. And then he responded at some length.
He said, "I don't really know when to release the arrow or even whether
anyone does release the arrow. But I do know that it is necessary to do
everything very, very carefully." Because, if you have ever seen Zen
archery you that many, many actions, precise actions preceed the shooting of the
He said, "I don't know who lets go of the arrow, but I do know that it
is very important that we do all of the preliminary activities very, very
carefully. And part of the preliminary activities consists of aligning yourself,
making a strong relationship to the target."
It is very profound to see a Zen archer stand there, quietly, and then at one
point, simply turn toward the target. And they look at the target, and they turn
their head to the target. And you see how they align their body and all their
actions with the target. And he said, "If you align yourself with the
target, and do everything carefully, then the arrow will go when it is time.
Then it will find the target." In Zen archery it actually doesn't matter
whether you strike a bulls eye. Just that the arrow finds the target, somewhere.
I think that this is very characteristic also of our Zen practice. I urge all
of you to be very careful with your sitting. And your sitting includes not only
sitting, but eating, and bowing, and walking. Sitting down with each period of
zazen, very meticulously, aligning your posture, taking your time. There is no
rush to sit down. Just sit down carefully. Sway from side to side. Stretch your
back. Stretch your posture. Align your spine. Find your real self. Carefully
align it up with your cushion. Every moment, carefully aligning ourselves with
We say conventionally that this is the one-week sesshin. But truly, don't
think of it that way. If you think of it that way, it will be miserable. A
miserable experience, if you think that it is a one-week sesshin. Give that up,
please. This is a one-moment sesshin. In this moment, just align yourself with
Dharma. And the next moment align yourself with Dharma. That is the way we do
So now we are at the case:
"Emperor Wu of Liang asked the great master Bodhidharma, 'What is the
highest meaning of the holy truths?' And Bodhidharma said, 'Empty, without
The Emperor said, 'Who is this facing me?'
Bodhidharma replied, 'I don't know.'
The Emperor did not understand, and after this, Bodhidharma crossed the Yang
Tse River and came to the kingdom of Wei."
Bodhidharma, who is someone who lived in the 6th century, was a
Central Asian Buddhist monk. That is why the Chinese always refer to him as
"the Barbarian", because everybody who doesn't come from China is a
"barbarian". So we are barbarians, Bodhidharma is also a
At the time that Bodhidharma came, there was already a great deal of Buddhism
in China. Bodhidharma wasn't transmitting Buddhism to China. The 1st
century of the millennium was a creative time for Buddhism and the Chinese
gobbled it all up. And it got very complicated.
Bodhidharma was a severe fellow who came to simplify Buddhism, to cut through
all the complication. Zen is really Buddhism simplified, to the essence. So
Bodhidharma had this encounter with the Emperor, as mentioned here, and then
after it, he went off to the kingdom of Wei, where he sat in a cave, facing the
wall, for nine years. He didn't establish a big temple. He had only a few
This teaching of cutting to the quick of Buddhism, of letting go of the
complications was unpopular with the establishment. Bodhidharma was not
appreciated by the religious establishment, and his life was under threats. Many
attempts were made on his life but all of them were unsuccessful. And the story
goes, that finally they poisoned him, and since he had completed his work, he
said what the hell, and allowed himself to be poisoned and died.
After his death, he was seen wearing one sandal, so the legend goes, and
riding on a reed across the sea, going back to Central Asia. And for some
reason, I don't know why, when I think of this legend of Bodhidharma, I always
think of my friend, Phil Whalen. He reminds me of Bodhidharma. I see him in my
mind's eye gliding along, with one foot on a reed, skating off to Central Asia.
Bodhidharma is usually depicted with a shaggy beard, which supposedly was
red, quite a red beard. That's probably true. Once he got away from Central
Asia, he let his hair grow out and he had a long beard. In Japan there is a
popular Bodhidharma doll – I think it has a weight in the bottom of it. You
knock it over and it bounces back. So that is good to remember.
Bodhidharma is also credited with starting the tradition of martial arts at
Shao Lin Temple. Fetting even more far out, they say that Bodhidharma, in order
not to fall asleep doing zazen, cut off his eyelids, and that from the eyelids
sprang the first tea plants.
Anyway, the Emperor Wu was an enterprising fellow who strong-armed his way
into becoming the Emperor of one or another of the splinter kingdoms in Eastern
China. After becoming emperor, he was a great supporter of Buddhism. He built
many, many temples, gave many donations, sponsored the ordination of thousands
and thousands of monks and nuns. He studied Buddhism himself, and even,
according to Yuanwu, our commentator, donned Buddhist robes and got up on the
high seat to expound sutras. Flowers would rain down from the sky when he spoke,
and the whole world would appear to be golden. So he was a very good Buddhist,
and did lots of good for Dharma.
When he heard about this Central Asian monk coming to China, he summoned him
to his court immediately. He was like a lot of people in these days,
enthusiastic about Dharma, always looking for the next great teacher, or the
next great teaching. Going to Los Angeles to sign up and attend lectures, taking
notes, buying the tapes. He was a kind of early version of that. So he summoned
Bodhidharma to see him right away.
He asked him, "I've been building temples, and building stupas, and have
studied the sutras, ordained all these monks, can you tell me, how much merit
did I acquire from doing all this?"
Bodhidharma said, "No merit."
Now, of course, in Buddhadharma, there is always merit in good deeds, good
activities. Wholesome activities bring wholesome results. This is one of the
most important teachings of Buddha. And we should definitely try our best to do
wholesome activities, to produce wholesome results for ourselves and for others.
And conversely avoid unwholesome activities that will produce unwholesome
results, for sure.
So, the Emperor asked an obvious question. He already knew the answer he
wanted to hear. Since he knew it, Bodhidharma didn't waste time telling it to
him. Instead, he brought up the other side – the deep and fundamental nature of
merit, which is no merit. The nature of merit, the fundamental nature of merit,
of karmic results, is non-karmic results.
What is merit? Merit, fundamentally, is non-merit. Deeply we have to
understand merit and goodness in that way. We do meritorious and positive
actions with that spirit — so that there is no sense of accumulation or
possession in our activity. No sense of arrogance about all the good that we are
This dialog is the background to the question that appears in the Case
itself, where the Emperor says, "What is the highest meaning of the holy
Usually the phrase "holy truths" refers to the Four Noble Truths.
But Yuanwu says in his commentary that in this case, the "holy truths"
refers to the Two Truths of the relative and the absolute, which is the subject
matter of Shitou's poem.
You can understand the Merging of Difference and Unity in these terms. You
can understand difference as the relative, and unity as the absolute. So, the
reason the Emperor is asking about that is because merit is the relative, and
he's interested in merit. No merit is the absolute. So in a sense, the Emperor
here is asking a followup question. "What is the merit of my
"No merit."
"Oh, well, then, what is the highest meaning of the holy truths?"
Relative and absolute, aren't they the same? Aren't relative and absolute
And of course Bodhidharma replies, "Empty, nothing holy."
Very severe. Very serious and foreboding. Not to mention, nervy! Because
after all he's talking to the Emperor. Maybe the Emperor had given up 12 or 13
cities in exchange for merit. Maybe he was even willing to entertain the idea of
giving up some more cities. But still he was holding onto something, a shred of
something, and Bodhidharma set a match to it and burned it down.
If the Emperor had felt the heat of the flames, maybe he would have awakened,
but he was dumbfounded, and he said to Bodhidharma, "Who is facing
If the Emperor had understood he would not have had to ask that question.
Because there is never any need to ask "who is facing me? What is facing
me?" Any time there is anything facing me, whether it is a thought, a
sound, a visual object, a person, a situation, a decision, an emotion, whatever
is facing me, it is always the same. Each and everything is just myself. Just my
real self.
And who is that real self? Just drop everything. "I don't
And the story goes on. Later the Emperor brought this up to Master Chih and
asked him about it. And Master Chih said, "Does Your Majesty know who this
man is?" And the Emperor said, "I don't know."
Master Chih said, ""He is Mahasattva Avalokitsvara, transmitting
the Buddha Mind Seal."
The Emperor felt regretful, so he wanted to send an emissary to go invite
Bodhidharma to return. Master Chih said, "Your Majesty, don't say that you
are going to send someone to fetch him back. Even if everyone in the whole
country were to go after him, he still wouldn't come."
So Master Chih, I think, is Master Chih I, who is a real historical figure of
his time in Chinese Buddhism. He is actually the greatest of all Chinese
Buddhists in a way, the most famous. He practiced on Mount Shin, and founded the
Shinto school, which was transmitted to Japan as the Tendai School, one of the
most expansive and powerful and elaborate of all the Buddhist schools.
Yuanwu says in his commentary that Chih I died in the year 514 CE, and that
Bodhidharma came to China in the year 520 CE. Modern scholars don't really know,
or are more dubious about the dates than Yuanwu was. Anyway, Yuan was telling us
that historically this didn't happen because Chih I was already dead. So this is
a mythical story. But, it has a powerful point. (Other scholars identify the
Master Chih here as another, far more obscure, Buddhist master.)
Chih I's style of Buddhism is complexity. He tried to make sense and include
in his Tendai School all the different schools and philosophies of Buddhism at
the time. And the Tendai School is a maze of complicated philosophical
comparisons, trying to fit all these myriad kinds of Buddhist doctrine into one
unified approach. I was just reading – Tom Cleary recently translated a part of
Chih I's great work "Mo Ho Chih Kuan" "Stopping and Seeing".
I was reading this thinking, what a worthy subject for sesshin lectures.
I read a little part of it in Chinese many years ago. Twenty, thirty years
later I get to see a translation. Boy, is it elaborate and complicated! If I
lectured on this, you would instantly fall asleep, even more than you are
falling asleep now! And you would wonder, what does this have to do with
So the point here is, Bodhidharma cuts through all this. Master Chih is not
presented here like a fool, he appreciates Bodhidharma. And he has some
understanding of who Bodhidharma is. Some understanding. He says,
"Bodhidharma is the Mahasattva Avalokitesvara, coming to transmit the
Buddha Mind Seal." Avalokitesvara is the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion.
What a surprise! This guy does not sound like Mr. Compassion, does he?
You would think he would say, "This is the Bodhisattva Manjusri,
bringing transcendent wisdom to China." He doesn't say that. This is the
Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, coming with compassionate, loving teachings. So I
give Master Chih I credit for seeing around the surfaces, through the surfaces,
to the real heart of Bodhidharma's teaching. As we come closer to the jewel that
is our real self, we begin to see the softness and the compassion that
only can arise when we touch our self at that depth.
So we can't fool around. Bodhidharma doesn't let us fool around.
But, I don't agree with Master Chih when he says, at the end of the case,
"Even if you sent everyone in the whole country, still he wouldn't
return." Thus saying, Chih I shows his limitations. In the Blue Cliff
Record, Xuedou has these little sayings that he appends to every line of the
story, like footnotes.
The saying that Xuedou applies to the final line of this story is this:
"Again Master Chih deserves thirty blows. He doesn't know that the great
illumination shines forth from under his own feet."
So, it is not a question of sending out everybody and still he won't come
back. He is here already! He never left!
The Verse
"The holy truths are empty. How can you discern the point?"
"Who is facing me?"
Again, he said, "I don't know."
"Henceforth he secretly crossed the river.
How could he avoid a thicket of brambles?"
He crossed the river and went into a cave to mind his own business and look
deeply on all of this. Thus, there's all these Zen people running around all
over the world, a thicket of brambles….
"Though everyone in the whole country goes after him, he will not
Wu goes on and on, continually reflecting back.
Give up recollections.
What limit is there to the pure wind, circling the earth?
Master Xuedou looked around, to the right and left and said, 'Is there any
ancestor here?'
He answered himself, 'There is.'
'Call them here to wash this old monk's feet.'"
So this line, "Give up recollections. What limit is there to the pure
wind, circling the earth?" This is what I have been trying to say, in
different ways, this morning. Let go of the contents of your mind. Just let it
go. Come back and practice. Feel the wind, the limitless wind. The peaceful
wind. Just being present. Beyond our concerns.
Yuanwu comments on this verse:
"When you get here, can you figure it out by means of emotive
consciousness? This is why Yunmen said, 'It is like flint struck sparks, like a
flash of lightning.' This little bit does not fall within the scope of
intellectual activity, intellectual consciousness or emotional conceptions. If
you wait until you open your mouth, what good will it do? As soon as judgment
and comparison arise, the falcon has flown past your ear."
In other words, you are lost. You are out of the country.
So, again, during sesshin, our practice is like sparks from a flintstone.
Like a flash of lightning in the sky. We really come back over and over again.
We will see how the mind is unknowable and ungraspable. Just like a flash of
lightning in the sky, a spark that illuminates, and then, goes. Nothing to grasp
anywhere. No final solutions to any problems. Nothing to complain about. Nothing
to congratulate ourselves about. Zazen really isn't mental or intellectual or
emotional activity. We have to let go of that whole swirl and just be here.
All of us in this room are somebodies. Each one of us is some particular and
unique somebody, with a history, a point of view, a style of confusion, a hope,
and a disappointment. So that is the whole point. That is understood. We don't
have to make any judgments or comparisons about it. It is just being human.
But at the same time, everyone in this room really possesses a great treasure
that shines through at every point. And we will suffer ourselves, and we will be
unable to alleviate the suffering of others, unless we open up and let go and
find this jewel. Find this treasure.
What is this jewel like? What is its shape and color? Where does it come
from? Where is it going? We don't know.
Well, I have kept you here long enough.
This talk transcribed by Judith Gilbert, edited and proofed by Tim Burnett.
® 2001, Norman Fischer


text: Slow down with power and control by sorting out your braking system. There have been big leaps in braking technology in recent years - notably from motorbike-derived disc brakes - but whatever set-up you have, it needs to be up to the job. We have mountain bike disc brakes for ultimate power and control, and rim V-brakes for lighter trail use and commuting, while traditional road bike callipers have also increased in power in recent years. In addition to full systems, we also have mountain and road bike brake levers and spare parts. Brands include Avid, Hayes, Shimano, SRAM and Campagnolo.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
tucked in the back seat
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text:
This is WEEKEND EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon.
SIMON: Vivien Leigh was one of the great stars of all time. The British actress won Oscars for portraying two definitive Southern belles: Scarlett O'Hara, in "Gone With The Wind"; and Blanche DuBois, in "Streetcar Named Desire."
SIMON: She also had a long-term artistic and personal partnership with her husband, Laurence Olivier, but they were more successful onstage than off. This November marks 100 years since her birth and to observe the occasion, the Victoria and the Albert Museum in London is exhibiting some of Vivien Leigh's personal belongings: diary entries, film scripts; letters from Winston Churchill, the Queen Mother, Marilyn Monroe, to name just a few of the minor names.
Keith Lodwick is curator of the upcoming Vivien Leigh exhibit. He joins us from the United Kingdom. Thanks so much for being with us, Mr. Lodwick.
KEITH LODWICK: Well, thank you for inviting me on. I'm delighted to speak to you.
SIMON: So more than 7,000 letters - at least, that's what you have your hands on. It seems as if she kept every letter she ever received.
LODWICK: That's right. They're all quite extraordinary. There's a number of letters from Churchill, Winston Churchill. I have a facsimile in front of me, which I can read, if that's OK.
SIMON: Please, yes.
LODWICK: It says, (Reading) Dear Lady Olivier, how very kind of you to have given me the glass goblet which accompanied the lovely flowers you recently sent me. Thank you for the charming thought. I so much enjoyed seeing you and your husband the other night. We had the most agreeable evening.
So obviously, they'd had some social event together. And we do know that the film she made in 1941 with Olivier, called "That Hamilton Woman" - where she played Emma Hamilton to Olivier's Lord Nelson - was Churchill's favorite film.
SIMON: What do you think continues to fascinate so many people about Vivien Leigh?
LODWICK: As you said in your introduction, she did play two definitive Southern belles, Scarlett O'Hara and Blanche DuBois. I guess also extraordinary that really, a classic English rose would play these two very famous roles in American literature. And I think both her accents are very convincing in both those films. But a number of her performances do continue into the modern age.
I think her life was relatively short. She died really at 53. But she certainly packed quite a lot in. I mean, she never stopped working, even after bouts of illness. She always was able to come back to work on stage and screen. And I think she really liked to play a variety of roles, and wanted to stretch herself as an actress.
SIMON: Is there an item in the exhibit you would especially like to draw our attention to?
LODWICK: Well, what's been interesting for me is reading her correspondence with the film director Elia Kazan, who directed the film version of "Streetcar." And she'd written a very, very long letter to him, really analyzing each scene and putting her thoughts down on paper. It begins with, "I am 5-foot-3 and a half tall in my bare feet, without shoes on" - which is rather sweet.
And there's something that struck me later on, where they've obviously had a telephone conversation; and she says in the letter: "You do know that when I said over the phone I'm worried about the way I'll look, I didn't mean good. I meant right" - really meaning that she was very keen to deglamorize herself, if the part called for it.
And she'd played Blanche in London in 1949. Now, remember that "Gone With The Wind" had been showing throughout the war in London - was very, very successful - and so audiences were thinking they were going to see the stunning Scarlett O'Hara. And of course, they were seeing a rather faded Southern belle in Blanche. But she really was prepared to look exactly as the character was written. And that was a very brave thing to do because, of course, she was one of the most beautiful women of the mid-20th century.But she will go to great lengths to make herself look like the role. And I think that's very, very brave.
SIMON: Keith Lodwick - he's the curator of the upcoming Vivien Leigh exhibit in London. Thanks very much for being with us.
LODWICK: Thank you very much for asking me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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After the delicious and rich December challenge of chocolate and coconut French Yule Log, January's challenge was almost like a much needed detox! We've known the Daring Bakers' challenges to be rich, lush and delicious in the past but trust me this month's challenge was for me - God sent!
This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They chose Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.
All this month Tom and I have been really cutting back on heavy and rich foods and sweets. We've been good too and I have learned that I can control my sweet cravings, which initially I thought was unthinkable! So, when the two girls announced the January challenge of Tuiles I thought this is really awesome.
The mission was quite simple we had to use one of the batters given, shape it and pair it with something light like a fruit, sorbet, a mousse, or a fruit soup. We also had the choice of making nougatine, chocolate or savory tuiles. I knew almost from the beginning what flavor my tuiles would have and how I would pair it.
I decided to go for delicate flavors of lemon and honey. My tuiles included the aromatic zest of organic lemon and I decided to pair it with a honey ice-cream. I was excited as I found lovely chestnut tree honey at my organic store and instantly decided to use this for the ice-cream.
Not going too over the top, I kept everything as light and simple as I possibly could. I love tuiles and always am wowed by the extravagant shapes one sees in patisseries or when served in restaurants, however, I always found a delicate charm in the simple thinly shaped circles.
I had to do a tiny bit of tweaking to the original recipe as when I mixed the batter I found the consistency not quite right for spreading. I added an extra egg white and substituted the confectioner's sugar for fine grained sugar. Instead of the vanilla extract or sugar I used lemon zest.
You can view the original recipe for the tuiles by Angélique Schmeink, I have included the recipe with my tweaks for the lemon tuiles in this post. If you can get your hands on them, Meyer lemons would be just perfect for these tuiles. They are less tart and have a more floral aroma. You can also substitute mandarin or tangerine zest for another gorgeous tuile flavor.
Recipe: Lemon Tuiles
Printable version of recipe here.Makes approx. 40 tuiles
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and warm
60 g all-purpose flour
100g fine grained sugar
3 large egg whites
1 tablespoon lemon zest
Good pinch fleur de selMethod
- Start by pre-heating the oven to 150 degrees C and placing a rack in the center of the oven. Line 2 baking sheets with silicone mats and lightly butter them.
- In a small bowl beat all of the ingredients together with a balloon whisk until everything is well incorporated. The batter should be thin and runny but still spreadable almost like a thin porridge.
- Using a teaspoon drop some batter onto the silicone mat about 5 cms apart. Make sure you are only preparing one baking sheet at a time.
- With a offset spatula or the back of the teaspoon spread the batter into rounds or ovals.
- Bake the tuiles until they are golden brown around the edges but still pale in the center - about 10-15 minutes. Mine were perfect after 10 minutes. Please make sure you watch them after about 5 minutes into the baking time carefully.
- If the tuiles are not baked long enough, they will not become crisp when cooled.
- Remove the tray from the oven and as soon as you can , gently coax a metal spatula under the cookie without breaking it. At this point you can shape the tuiles any way you want to. I draped them on a rolling/bottle of wine for the arched shape. You'll have to work fast as they begin to harden and get crisp quit quickly.
- Repeat the process until you have used, baked and shaped all of the tuiles.
Tuiles tips and tricks:
- I personally find using silicone mats the best for tuiles. You can use baking paper or even foil, but I have not always had the best of results with them. If you are using foil make sure you use the dull side and really flatten out all creases. If you do not, the tuiles batter will seep into them and you will not be able to loosen them easily after baking. With baking paper I found that the batter runs more easily, not giving perfect rounds or oval. The slightly roughness of the silicone mats keeps the batter where it's supposed to be and makes loosening the baked tuiles with the spatula a lot easier.
- The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week, however they really are best when enjoyed on the same day, when they are their crispiest.
- Even a tiny bit too much flour could result in thick and tough rather than a thin and crisp tuile so it is vital that the flour is measured accurately. I would actually advice not putting in the entire amount straight away, instead remove 2-3 tablespoons from the given amount and then add the remaining after checking the consistency.
- The lemon tuiles are a perfect partner to Chestnut Tree Honey Ice-Cream
My pairing of choice for the lemon tuiles was a heavenly honey ice-cream. It's an ice-cream flavor I absolutely adore and have made it using all kinds of different flavored honey - lavender, eucalyptus, heather, clover - whatever you have. My honey flavor this time was chestnut. It's a strong, aromatic and intensely flavored honey. In my opinion perfect for mousses, sorbets or ice-creams. Mixed with the rich creaminess of cream and milk this ice-cream reminds me of the simple warm honey milk my mum used to make for us when we were growing up.
The slight tanginess of the lemon tuiles is absolutely the perfect partner for the honey ice-cream. You'll see that you won't be able to resist eating too much of this!
Recipe: Chestnut Tree Honey Ice-Cream
Printable version of recipe here.450 g heavy cream
240 ml whole cup
170 g chestnut honey. Search no more! Buy the chestnut tree honey! (or use your favorite honey)Method
- In saucepan mix all of the ingredients gently until the honey has dissolved.
- Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, just until tiny bubbles form around the edges of the pan, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and allow to come to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.
- Take out of the refrigerator and stir the mixture again to blend.
- Transfer to an ice-cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Serve as it is or if you prefer, transfer to a box and freeze for a few hours then serve.
Serving tips: I adore serving this ice-cream with berries. The berries I froze last summer are perfect for this. Take a handful and place in a bowl suitable for the microwave. Turn microwave on and warm for just a short period until berries are warm and soft. Pour over the ice-cream - heaven! You can use blueberries, raspberries or blackberries - these were really best with the ice-cream. You do not need a huge amount per serving just a few, as the berries are tart you do not want them to overpower the honey flavor of the ice-cream.
The ice cream is perfect with Lemon Tuiles.
I loved the freedom of this challenge. To some it might not seem like a challenge, but I would like to digress. I find the quintessence of the group is not always trying to find a recipe with the highest degree of difficulty but to allow us to challenge ourselves with the flexibility allowed within the recipe. It's this inspiration that teaches me to be innovative and challenges my creativity to go beyond my comfort zone. After all anyone can follow a recipe rigidly. Then you only have two outcomes - it works or it does not!
The tuiles were light, delicate and crisp. I loved the lemon flavoring in this. The honey ice-cream has always been a favorite but we really liked the paring with the lemon flavored tuiles.
Would I make this again?
I have made tuiles on a few occasions in the past. However, I had forgotten how grandly they add to desserts. As I was making these I began thinking up several other flavor varieties everything from chili chocolate to sumac and tahini!! I think in the future I will experiment a little more with these flavors.
What did I learn from this challenge?
That flexibility gives you wings to be creative and find new pairing ideas!
A huge thank you to Karen and Zorra for lovely, light and sensational challenge. Please do visit all my fellow Daring Bakers for their versions of this challenge.
More Daring Baker Challenges from WFLH:
Tangy Lemon Meringue Pie | Strawberry Mirror Cake | Perfect Party Cake |
The current mingle is in full swing and my guest hostess this month is Michelle of What's Cooking Blog. The theme this month is Healthy Family Dinners and we've been getting a few fantastic submissions already.
If you want to join us for the fun all you need to do is send us your entry by 9 February 2009. We're looking forward to it!
I am also the hostess of this months Hay Hay it's Donna Day together with Tartasacher of Mil Postre . We've got two exciting Donna Hay creations for you. You'll find all the necessary details here.
Daily Tiffin Reading Tip:
- My Favorite Kitchen Gadgets written by Donna
All photographs and written content on What's For Lunch, Honey? © 2006-2009 Meeta Khurana unless otherwise indicated. | All rights reserved | Please Ask First


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Learn some new tricks for your Android smartphone with our tips on maps, storage, data plans and more.
Throughout the past year, Android skyrocketed in popularity and currently holds 79% of the global smartphone market. When it comes to number of users, Google's operating system trumps even Apple's iOS. Together, Android and iOS make up 93.2% of the global market, but Android's share has been rising while Apple's share dropped.
Android's surge contributed to smartphones outselling feature phones globally for the first time in Q2, according to Gartner.
What gives Android the current edge? The smartphones are well-known for their customizable interface, which continues to attract new users. You can make the devices your own with apps, games and custom settings.
You can also optimize your Android's performance with personalized shortcuts, search boxes and widgets. Many people take personalization to a new level by adding custom words to the Android dictionary, adding contacts' images to the home screen or downloading animated backgrounds for a fun (though battery-draining) touch.
Android's many options and features are numerous enough to overwhelm even smartphone veterans. For every feature you know, there is another that can help you do something new with your smartphone.
Consider, for example, the Android's ability to run Google Maps offline. With Google Maps for Android, you can select and download a specific area on the map. The downloaded section can be used in places that have limited or unavailable Internet connection and on devices that don't have a data plan. If you don't have an unlimited data plan, using an offline map will save you the cost of accessing Google Maps on a mobile network.
To create an offline map, enter Google Maps for Android and display your desired map on the screen. As of July 11, 2013, there is a button that says "Make this map area available offline" to simplify the process. The estimated size of the area in your map will appear on the screen. If it is too large, you will be asked to choose a smaller area. You can store up to six maps on your device.
Click through our slideshow to see more things you can learn about your Android smartphone. If you have further suggestions to share with your fellow readers, please add them in the comments section.
Want even more Android app suggestions? Check out our round up of classics: 10 Epic Android Apps.
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What Happens Next
After the death of a loved one, you may need emotional support and clerical assistance to guide you through what happens next. During this time, J. Geils Funeral Services will help you step-by-step through memorial planning, helping you get the necessary documentation together so that you can begin the healing process.
Experienced and Caring Staff Always Available
Working with knowledgeable funeral home staff will take some stress away from Bensenville funeral planning. We have the information you need and the emotional support you seek. With guidance, you may ask the director and staff members any questions you may have, and discuss the details of arrangements in person.
The funeral director will help you during the initial call and assisting in transporting your loved one to the funeral home. From there, you will set up a date and time to meet at the funeral home, as well as receive a notification as to what you should bring along.
The funeral director will also ask if there are arrangements in place. If there are none, we will assist you in every way we can through the difficulties of losing a loved one, and the planning process in its entirety.
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Upon your initial visit to the funeral home after the death of a loved one, a funeral arranger will share a general price list with you. As we guide you through the arrangement process, we work to carefully explain how you can design the perfect celebration of life. You know your loved one best, so we listen to your wishes and create a plan based off of them.
The arrangement process may include:
- Preparing and filing the official death certificate
- Scheduling the date, location, and time for the service
- Selecting a casket, urn or other items
- Preparing an obituary notice
- Scheduling vehicles
- Selecting pallbearers
- Signing necessary authorizations or making arrangements to have them signed by the appropriate individuals
If you have a favorite song in mind, or want to share photos and other memorabilia, bring them in. A funeral arranger can help you include these pieces within the service. Throughout the arrangement process, we will help you create a heartfelt, meaningful tribute to your loved one.
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Small details can be hard to remember at the easiest of times, never mind after the death of a loved one. This helpful checklist shows what information and items from the deceased will be needed for your meeting with the funeral arranger:
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If you have urgent questions or needs, we're here for you. You can call to discuss what's next with a devoted staff member.


text: After opening the month with a 5 percent market melt-up, investors were expecting a follow-through this week that would take the averages higher. There was even talk of a possible break through the ceiling of this almost six-month trading range. Instead we only managed a couple point gain over last week's close on the S&P 500. That was despite some "good" economic news on the unemployment front. Initial unemployment claims were down by 27,000 and continuing claims fell 2,000, the best in two months... The bears argue that not all states submitted employment numbers so optimistic estimates were used instead, in some cases. They also point out that once a person's unemployment runs out they are no longer officially counted as unemployed. The advance guard of this group (those who were left go early in the recession and still have not found a job) exhausted their extended benefits beginning in June. Unfortunately, as time goes bye, more and more unemployed Americans will fall into this category well into the middle of next year. Over in euro land things were a bit dicier with increased concerns over European debt levels, problems with Anglo Irish Bank and the "news" that Europe's bank stress test understated lender's holdings of risky government debt. Readers may recall that I had grave reservations over this very same issue when the results were first announced weeks ago. Most of the market's attention has turned to the Obama administration's non-stimulus, stimulus plan. That some Wall Street players got an advanced look at the administration's thinking was, in my opinion, the source of last week's rally. Now that we have the details, the markets seem to be decidedly unimpressed. As readers recall, I explained that a good portion of the money from the first stimulus plan was deliberately held back until this summer in order to help the incumbent party get re-elected. That may have been a miscalculation on the part of the Democrats, who could have been overly confident of the economic impact of Stimulus One. To date, 77 percent of the $288 billion that was earmarked for tax benefits have been spent, only 53 percent of the $275 billion available for contracts, grants and loans has been distributed and only 64 percent of entitlements, or $144 billion out of $224 billion was doled out to the country. Obviously those levels of spending weren't enough to jump-start the economy or reduce unemployment and people (voters) are angry. The Obama administration can read the polls as well as you or I. Since offense is always better than defense when running for re-election, the general consensus among Democrats is "we need more spending." The president's new initiatives could cost as much as $250 billion or $300 billion or slightly less than half the first stimulus plan. His agenda includes tax cuts for new business investments and R&D, $50 billion more spending on infrastructure and extending the Bush tax cuts for those Americans who make $200,000 or less ($250,000 if married). It is not being called another stimulus plan because that might be seen as an admission that the first plan has failed. However on Friday, while addressing the nation on the economy and unemployment, the president did concede that "progress has been painfully slow." Wall Street is already discounting the package as too little, too late and they may be right. They are putting the blame squarely on the president and his party. And this country loves to find a scapegoat. In the meantime, the markets continue to vacillate on low volume. I'm still expecting stocks to move a bit higher into the 1,130 level on the S&P 500. Only then will there be another opportunity to break out of this trading range decisively and re-take the higher ground. If stocks do succeed in breaking out, I am prepared to change my mind about my 950 S&P target level. But I'm not holding my breath.


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Apple is gearing up for a massive legal battle against mobile phone industry heavyweight Nokia. Nokia is the largest phone market in the world while Apple has one of the most popular and profitable smartphones in the world with its iPhone.
The legal storm has been brewing for months and Apple is gearing up by retaining some of the best IP lawyers in the country to fight Nokia. Bloomberg reports that since 2008 Apple has been the most sued technology firm in the world. The legal team Apple has put together has been responsible for winning some of the biggest patent suits in the technology world.
Nokia sued Apple in October of 2009 alleging that Apple was infringing on several of its patents. Apple filed a countersuit of its own alleging the same thing. Apple claimed at the time the goal in the Nokia suit was to get Apple to turn over proprietary technology that sets the iPhone apart from the other smartphones on the market. Nokia denies the charges.
Attorney Lyle Vander Schaaf, who has handled IP cases before the ITC before says, "These are very well-known, deep-pocketed, high-end manufacturers. Usually you have one 800-pound gorilla going after a new entrant. Here you've got 800-pound gorillas fighting each other."
In addition to bringing in outside legal assets to fight the suit, Apple also has a new in-house attorney that specializes in IP, Noreen Krall. Krall was chief IP counsel for Sun Micrososystems and a staff IP attorney for IBM in the past. The other legal assets Apple has called in included Robert Krupa from Kirkland & Ellis. Krupa negotiated the settlement between Apple and Creative Technology in 2005 that had Apple pay $100 million to Creative.
William Lee from WilmerHale represented Broadcom Corp. in the legal fight against Qualcomm is part of the team. Apple also has Matt Powers from Weil, Gotshal, & Manges LLP that represented pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co in a patent case over its drug Singulair. Most expect the outcome of this suit to be a settlement between Apple and Nokia to license each other's tech. Rob Enderle from Enderle Group said, "It's [the legal battle] going to get a lot worse before it gets better."


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Oscar Wilde, the famous Irish playwright, was not known for his love of sport, but his warning "to expect the unexpected" could certainly apply to the world of football, not least at Heart of Midlothian, where the colourful owner Vladimir Romanov continues to resist the path of predictability. Just two games into the Scottish Premier League (SPL), the volatile Lithuanian decided to sack the club's manager Jim Jefferies, replacing him with the former Sporting Lisbon manager Paulo Sérgio. The popular Jefferies was in his second spell as Hearts manager after a ten-year absence, retaining much goodwill for delivering the Scottish Cup in 1998, ending 36 years without a trophy.
The timing seemed quite strange, not just because the change in manager came so early in the campaign, but also because Hearts had secured third place behind the Old Firm last season. Moreover, Jefferies had been allowed to bring in four new recruits: the imposing forward John Sutton from Motherwell, Danny Grainger from St. Johnstone and two experienced midfielders from Kilmarnock, the Moroccan Mehdi Taouil and Jamie Hamill. In theory, the addition of these new players to a talented squad, including the exciting wingers Andrew Driver and David Templeton plus the commanding captain Marius Žaliūkas, should have been the catalyst for a successful season.
"The Romanov revolution"
However, if you scrape below the surface, there is some method in Romanov's apparent madness, as Hearts' last victory was way back in March last season. As the man himself said, "With only one competitive win in 15 games, only fools and idiots would not raise questions and suspicions." The club's third place in 2010/11 was also a little deceptive, as the run-in was disappointing in the extreme, so Jefferies' dismissal was not completely unjustified.
Of course, Romanov has plenty of previous when it comes to hiring and firing with Sérgio becoming the ninth manager during his seven-year tenure. That's not counting caretaker or interim managers, though no Hearts manager could confidently describe his position as permanent. As Scotland manager and former Jambos legend Craig Levein said, "I don't understand what boxes need to be ticked at Hearts to keep you in a job. You would need to be insane to do this job. At times it defies logic."
"See you, Jimmy"
The owner's lengthy list of victims includes John Robertson, George Burley, Graham Rix, Valdas Ivanauskas, Anatoly Korobochka, Stephen Frail, Csaba László and, of course, Jefferies. Of those, Burley was perhaps the unluckiest, being given the boot with Hearts top of the SPL after nine unbeaten matches, though Ivanauskas went just a few months after winning the Scottish Cup and qualifying for the Champions League in 2006. However, the most telling image of the problems during Romanov's reign came when three senior players (club captain Steven "Elvis" Pressley, Paul Hartley and Craig Gordon) held an impromptu press conference at the club's training ground to inform the world of "significant unrest."
To put it mildly, Romanov is an interesting character, who polarises opinions in the game, even among Hearts' own supporters. Some view him as the "great dictator", while others consider him to be the saviour of the club.
It is true that there is rarely a dull moment with "Mad Vlad", who also owns the Lithuanian club FBK Kaunas and Belarusian club FC Partizan Minsk. Prone to numerous verbal outbursts, including accusations that Celtic and Rangers were "buying off" match officials, his club has received several fines from the Scottish football authorities. Some have attributed this to language difficulties, but his son Roman, now Hearts' chairman, once joked, "He has all the words he needs: 'Yes, 'No' and 'You're fired'." Managers have complained of constant interference, including transfer choices and team selection, such as when he ordered Jefferies not to pick Žaliūkas during a contract dispute.
"One careful Driver"
On the other hand, there is little doubt that he has kept the club alive. Before his arrival, Hearts were in dire straits financially. Auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) described the club as being technically insolvent, while the Hearts Supporters' Trust said, "We were heading for the abyss." Former chairman, George Foulkes, summed it up, "Most fans have mixed feelings about Romanov. If (former CEO) Chris Robinson was still there, we'd probably be in the First Division and playing in front of 5,000 people at Murrayfield."
This was a reference to Robinson's 2004 plans to sell Tynecastle, the club's famous old ground, which he claimed was "not fit for purpose", and instead rent Murrayfield from the Scottish Rugby Union. Although this deal would have reduced the club's burgeoning debt, it was deeply unpopular with supporters, who launched a Save Our Hearts campaign to prevent the move. Despite this opposition, a deal was still signed with a housing developer for £20 million, but this was called off after Romanov purchased the club, so the initial response to the Lithuanian was very favourable.
The previous board's willingness to go against the supporters' wishes by selling the stadium highlighted the seriousness of the club's financial challenges, and it was with some relief that the fans saw Romanov steadily increase his stake in the club throughout 2005 to become by far the largest shareholder. In return, Romanov got hold of a venerable football institution, part of the inaugural Scottish league in 1890, which has won the championship four times, though two of these victories came in the 19th century, while the last victory arrived back in 1960. However, history doesn't pay the bills, so Foulkes was right to give Romanov credit for "the fact we remain a going concern."
This can be seen by the increasing debt, which reached £36 million at the time of the last published accounts in July 2010. That is simply enormous when the turnover is only £8 million and follows a series of what the club itself described as "significant operating losses." The debt mainly comprises £24.3 million owed to the parent company UAB Ukio Banko Investicine Grupe (UBIG) at 4.5% interest, repayable in December 2011; £8.9 million owed to another group company UAB Hearts Developments (HD) at 3.5%, where the repayment date has been extended to August 2012; and £2.5 million convertible loan stock at LIBOR.
There is a fairly confusing paper trail for this debt, as it was owed to AB Ukio Bankas at the beginning of the year, then transferred to UBIG and another company called ImpExNet. The latter balance was then again transferred to HD during the course of the year. I'm not sure why this has to be so complex, but the important point is that all of these companies are under the effective control of Romanov. As Hearts director Sergejus Fedotovas said, "The key fact, that sets Hearts apart from many other clubs, is our debt is in the form of funding from our own parent company." That's true, but can occasionally be a double-edged sword if the owner loses patience with his investment.
"Paulo Sérgio wonders what he's let himself in for"
That said, the debt position in 2010 would have been even worse without a £7.9 million forgiveness of debt from the parent company (effectively Romanov), which was not enough to prevent net debt from rising by £1.3 million. Actually, the debt would be horrifically high without several timely interventions from the owner, such as a £12 million debt-for-equity swap in 2007/08. Excluding these adjustments, the debt would stand at £56 million – seven times annual turnover.
After the latest accounts closed, there was yet another debt-for-equity swap to the tune of £10 million. While this "demonstrates that UBIG remain committed to providing ongoing support" and reduces the club's interest burden, it does also further strengthen Romanov's hold on the club. Depending on your perspective, there are two ways of looking at this situation: on the one hand, the club would almost certainly go bust without Romanov's backing; on the other hand, he is largely responsible for the increase in debt from the £20 million or so at the time of his takeover, due to his hefty spending on players.
Either way, according to PwC's annual review of Scottish Premier League football, Hearts have the highest net debt in the SPL, which has been the case for the last few years. In fairness, only St. Johnstone and Hamilton are operating debt-free, but the magnitude of Hearts' debt is more worrying, accounting for a third of the SPL's net debt of £109 million.
This, in turn, means that Hearts have the weakest balance sheet in the SPL with net liabilities of £24 million. With the exception of Dundee United and Hamilton, all other SPL clubs have net assets. Of course, like all football clubs, the value of the players on the balance sheet is under-stated, as this equals acquisition cost less cumulative amortisation. In Hearts' case, the book value of the players is just £370,000 compared to an estimated value of £18.5 million on the respected Transfermarkt website.
The noises coming out of Tynecastle suggest that Romanov has given new manager Paulo Sérgio no less a target than winning the league this season. Although the Portuguese said that he did not feel under any additional pressure, he did emphasise that the squad needed strengthening, "Everyone knows what a team such as Hearts needs. If we get the money, we can compete with the biggest clubs in Scotland, Rangers and Celtic."
Fedotovas claimed that the club was working on bringing two to three new players in before the transfer window closed on 31 August, potentially including former captain Michael Stewart, but Sérgio should be aware that criticism of the owner for not spending in the transfer market helped lead to the downfall of Csaba László, the longest serving manager under Romanov's regime – at all of 19 months.
History suggests that Sérgio is unlikely to see Romanov put his hand in his pocket for new players, as there has been only one season at the club (2005/06) when Hearts have made net purchases – and that was just £2.3 million. Although there have been many arrivals, almost all of these have been on a free transfer with Hearts' record buy being Bosnian international Mirsad Bešlija in 2006 at just £850,000. Indeed, since 2005 there have been net sales proceeds of £16 million, largely derived from the big money sales of Craig Gordon to Sunderland, Roman Bednar to West Brom, Christophe Berra to Wolves, Lee Wallace to Rangers and Paul Hartley to Celtic.
Given the limited budgets in Scottish football, this lack of spending is not too surprising with only the "Big Two", Celtic and Rangers, having the resources to spend reasonably large sums. That said, over the last five years, nobody has spent less than Hearts.
Nine of the current 12 SPL clubs have net sales over that period, but Hearts lead this league table with net sales of £18 million. Of course, this could be considered as a sign of good financial management, but it does mean that Sérgio, like many managers before him, is likely to be disappointed if he expects to see any big money purchases.
This tight-fisted approach is not just down to the whims of the owner, but is also symptomatic of the financial pressures under which Hearts are operating. Only this week the club was threatened with a winding-up order by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) over an unpaid tax bill for the second time in two years. Although this was swiftly paid in full, as happened on the previous occasion that they faced administration proceedings, this is clearly not good news.
Fans have become all too accustomed to the club sailing close to the wind with many reports of wages and bonuses being paid late, but these frequent cash flow problems are not exactly an indicator of a thriving business. You only need to ask the fans of Dundee, Livingston and Gretna to appreciate that football clubs in Scotland can enter administration.
Indeed, the club itself states that it "does not have formal funding facilities in place that allow it to meet its liabilities as they fall due" and is "dependent on the continued support of UBIG." That's fine, so long as the money continues to be pumped in, though the auditors have regularly noted their concerns in the accounts, partly attributed to the lack of available information that might allow them to conclude that UBIG would be "able to meet its commitment." In plain English, they don't know whether UBIG can provide the club with enough money to pay its bills on time.
The fundamental problem is that Hearts make colossal losses, at least for a club of this size. The apparent recovery to break-even in 2010 is misleading, as this is almost entirely due to the debt forgiveness of £7.9 million. If this once-off factor were to be excluded, the club made an underlying loss of £8 million last season and completely unsustainable cumulative losses of £38 million in the last five years. The figures would be even worse without the substantial £10 million profit on player sales in 2008, largely Craig Gordon.
Although these losses might not seem that terrible compared to some made in other leagues, they need to be placed into context. A loss of £8 million on turnover of £8 million means that the club spends £2 for every £1 of revenue it generates. A similar business model would have produces losses of £62 million at Celtic and £56 million at Rangers in 2009/10.
Another problem that the club has is the large amount of interest charged. Again, this might only be £1.6 million in 2010, but this represents 20% of Hearts' revenue of £7.9 million and is clearly too high for a business of this scale.
In fairness, there have been some slight signs of improvement with the operating losses (excluding player sales and interest payable) falling from £11.8 million to £6.9 million in the last three years, despite revenue declining in the same period. This is because the club have cut the wage bill and managed to introduce some operational efficiencies (seen in Other Expenses). They're still a long way off their stated aim of "reaching operational break-even in the medium term", but at least they're heading in the right direction.
Even with the debt forgiveness, Hearts have the second highest losses in the SPL over the last two years with £8.6 million, only surpassed by Rangers. Excluding the debt forgiveness in 2010, Hearts would have comfortably held the unwanted title of least profitable club in the SPL. To be fair, only three clubs were profitable during this period, namely Hamilton, Hibernian and St. Mirren, though five other clubs restricted their losses to below £1 million.
This poor financial performance is all the more depressing when you consider that Hearts have the third highest revenue in Scotland with £7.9 million, just ahead of their local rival Hibernian and Aberdeen, who both have turnover of £7.1 million. This goes some way towards explaining Romanov's expectations of the team, though they are still miles behind the Old Firm, who enjoy revenue around £60 million.
This revenue is obviously a lot lower than their counterparts in the Premier League, but more worryingly it is also worse than all but two teams in the English Championship. Indeed, clubs like Cardiff City, Leicester City and Ipswich Town generate twice as much revenue as Hearts, even without the benefit of parachute payments from the Premier League. Little wonder that players head south at the first opportunity.
Hearts' plight has not been helped by the fact that their revenue has actually been declining from a peak of £10.3 million in 2006 and 2007 to last year's £7.9 million – a fall of only £2.4 million, but that's almost a quarter of the club's revenue gone. Three years ago the Heart of Midlothian Shareholders' Association warned, "The club needs to generate more revenue and that is difficult in the short-term", and how right they were. In fact, revenue is now lower than 2005 levels.
Two other points are evident from this graph. First, the club's revenue is to a certain extent linked to success, as the year when the club finished second in the SPL and won the Scottish Cup produced revenue of over £12 million. Second, Hearts earn half of their revenue from match day income, which is different from many other leagues, where TV money rules. As the PwC review stated, "The majority of the income for Scottish clubs is actually coming from fans coming through the turnstiles."
Hearts' accounts proudly refer to match day revenue increasing to over £3.9 million, but the reality is that this is 27% lower than the £5.3 million generated in 2006. The fall is partly because of shorter cup runs, but is largely due to a significant reduction in attendances from just under 17,000 (almost full capacity) to 14,484. which further declined to 14,185 in 2010/11.
Nevertheless, crowds have increased since 10 years ago and Hearts are the third best-supported team in Scotland, only behind Rangers 49,000 and Celtic 45,300, for the sixth year in succession. They are also only one of three teams in the SPL to fill more than 80% of their stadium's capacity, which is pretty good in the current tough economic climate. This might be due to the relatively low cost of watching football at Tynecastle. According to a recent BBC survey, only four teams in the SPL are cheaper. However, the good news end there, as every single team in the Premier League and 18 teams in the English Championship had higher attendances.
One reason why gate receipts are so crucial is the incredibly small amount of television money received for the Scottish Premier League rights, which worked out last year at £1.5 million for Hearts. In the SPL 48% of the TV revenue is divided equally, while 52% is distributed to teams dependent upon their final league position, so the higher up the table that a club finishes, the more money it will receive.
While TV revenue has powered revenue growth in other leagues, this is clearly not the case in Scotland. This disparity can be seen by looking at the TV revenue earned by clubs in the "Big Five" leagues, which absolutely dwarf Hearts' revenue: Barcelona £146 million, Milan £116 million, Manchester United £105 million, Bayern Munich £68 million and Lyon £64 million. Scottish clubs can be boosted by European revenue, but even Ranger only earned £18 million, while Celtic's adventures in the Europa League only added £1.5 million to their domestic revenue.
In fact, the entire annual payment to all SPL clubs is only £13 million, which puts them behind TV deals in Greece, Portugal, Poland and Romania. To place that into context, it is less than a third of the £40 million that the team finishing bottom of the English Premier League can expect to receive this season. A still more amazing statistic is that the total SPL payment is worth only 1% of the Premier League rights. Actually, even a club in the English Championship now earns more than a club in the SPL with £3.5 million a season (including the solidarity payment from the Premier League).
The situation was not helped by the collapse of Setanta last year. The upstart Irish channel was replaced by a combination of Sky and ESPN, but there was a harsh price to pay, as the new deal was worth only £65 million over five years, compared to the previous £125 million over four years. Sky had offered more than twice as much the year before, but the SPL clubs got greedy and gambled on the higher Setanta bid. There is some optimism, as there is a break-clause in the current TV deal after three years, and rival broadcasters might be encouraged by an increase in viewing figures, as outlined by SPL chief executive Neal Doncaster, "Early indications this season are that TV viewer numbers for SPL matches are well up on last year, which in turn showed a huge improvement on the year before."
Commercial income had been on a rising trend, but has been shrinking in the last couple of years, falling 44% from £3.3 million in 2008 to £1.9 million in 2010, even though the 2009 accounts confidently stated, "Hearts expect to improve commercial revenues." In fairness, PwC's annual review of Scottish football noted that the global downturn had impacted discretionary spending on corporate sponsorship, hospitality and merchandise.
After six years of their shirts being sponsored by Romanov's bank Ukio Bankas for a "six-figure deal", Hearts have a new two-year agreement from this season with short-term loans company Wonga. Financial details have not been divulged, but the club say that it is the biggest deal in Scotland outside of the Old Firm. Their shirt manufacturer Umbro has extended the original three-year deal for a further two years until 2012. According to the club, this "could be worth almost £1 million per year, depending on shirt sales." The latest accounts also "expect improvement" from the new retail franchise agreement with SRM Hearts Limited.
One of the toughest issues for Hearts is their hefty wage bill. At £9.1 million, it is the third highest in Scotland, but to a certain extent is in "no man's land", as it is a lot lower than Celtic (£36.5 million) and Rangers (£28.1 million), but is twice as much as their main opposition: Hibernian £4.8 million, Aberdeen £4.6 million, Kilmarnock £4 million, Dundee United £4 million and Motherwell £3.4 million.
The dilemma is whether to try to hang on to the coat tails of the Big Two in an attempt to meet Romanov's aspirations, when doing so leads to an unsustainable wages to turnover ratio. It looks like this was their strategy in the first part of Romanov's reign, when the wage bill exploded from £4.5 million to £12.5 million, but since then the taps have been turned off, as the wage bill has been cut three years in a row, though it is still more than double the amount before his arrival, partly due to Hearts having one of the largest squads in the SPL.
The accounts do specifically mention the "exit of some of the club's higher earners", including the likes of José Gonçalves, Michael Stewart, Christian Nadé and Laryea Kingston. This trend is likely to continue in 2010/11 "as a number of players reach the natural end of their contracts", demonstrated by the hard line taken by the board during contract negotiations with Žaliūkas.
The reduction in wages has lowered the wages to turnover ratio, but only from 126% to 115%, which is still hideously high. To place that into context, it is even more than big spending Manchester City (107%), while the next highest in Scotland is 76% from Motherwell and St. Mirren. Indeed, the average in the SPL is a respectable 61%. If Hearts wanted to lower their ratio to UEFA's maximum recommended limit of 70%, they would either have to increase revenue by an unrealistic £5.1 million to £13 million or (more likely) cut their wage bill by a further £3.6 million to £5.5 million.
That, of course, would bring its own issues, as Hearts would then struggle to attract and retain good quality players. Recently, two prominent Scottish strikers have moved to England, rejecting offers from Rangers in the process, starkly highlighting the problem: David Goodwillie went to mid-table Premier League side Blackburn Rovers (wage bill £47 million), while veteran Kenny Miller joined Championship team Cardiff City (wage bill £17 million).
More encouragingly, Hearts have managed to cut their operating costs by over 40% from £7.7 million in 2007 to £4.5 million last year. Even though there was a slight increase in 2010, the club say that "these are expected to reduce significantly in the current financial year following a series of improvements."
Nevertheless, the continued support of Romanov is still paramount, as can be seen from the cash flow statement. Sometimes, poor figures at a football club do not reflect reality, as the P&L is affected by non-cash items such as player amortisation and depreciation, but this is not the case here, as the cash flow from operating activities is negative every year. Even in a year when a relatively large amount of cash is received from player sales, e.g. £9.3 million in 2008, this is not enough to turn cash flow positive. The only way this has been achieved is by Romanov's company putting in additional loans: around £38 million since the takeover.
Another note of concern regarding cash flow is the huge increase in the average creditors payment period from 36 days in 2004 to 94 days in 2010. This might just be astute commercial practice of obtaining improved payment terms, but it could also be a warning sign that the club is having difficulty in paying its bills on time.
Perhaps the most puzzling aspect of Romanov's involvement is the fundamental question of why he would invest in Hearts at all, as Scottish football is not exactly booming. Attendance levels keep falling (most of the stadiums are half-empty), they have one of the worst TV deals in Europe and commercial opportunities are suffering from the economic downturn. Although SPL profits improved in 2009/10, the PwC survey noted that if they excluded exceptional factors such as debt forgiveness and Rangers reaching the Champions League group stages, there were still large underlying losses and warned of "more pain to come as the league strives to find a sustainable financial footing."
"Stevenson's rocket"
This has resulted in countless proposals to reform the game in Scotland, usually revolving around the number of teams in the league. The current momentum seems to be behind a reduction to a 10-team league, though the majority of fans would prefer a return to a larger division with 14, 16 or even 18 teams. The problem is finding a formula that somehow manages to eliminate the tedium of teams playing each other four times a season without reducing the number of games (with its consequent impact on revenue) and/or imposing an artificial structure, such as the mid-season split. Other possibilities include a winter break, a move to summer football and an earlier start to the season.
Some insight into Romanov's strategy was provided by the 2007 annual report, "Future revenues will be generated through increased participation in European competitions, larger attendance in a redeveloped Tynecastle stadium and an associated greater sponsorship and retail income."
However, the European dream seems further away then ever after the drop in the UEFA coefficient, which means that Scotland now only has one place available for the Champions League (and that is only for the qualifying rounds, no direct entry). Furthermore, it will be a long time before Scotland gets back up to two places, as the calculation takes into consideration the last five years, so next year will drop the very successful 2007/08 season, which featured Celtic reaching the last 16 of the Champions League and Rangers being UEFA Cup finalists.
"John Sutton heads for the heights"
Paradoxically, this might actually work in Hearts favour, as the Old Firm's revenue has been badly impacted by reduced involvement in the Champions League, which means that they can no longer attract the calibre of player that they could in the past, theoretically making the title race more competitive.
If Hearts were to reach the Champions League group stages, it would make a massive difference to their revenue. In the last two seasons, Rangers received an average of £15 million from UEFA, excluding additional gate receipts. The Europa League is nowhere near so lucrative with Celtic only receiving £1.5 million from their 2009/10 participation. That said, the speed with which Hearts sold out their glamour tie in the Europa League against Tottenham Hotspur demonstrates that the appetite in Scotland for watching top players remains undiminished, as did the astonishing 58,000 crowd that watched Hearts play Barcelona in a pre-season friendly at Murrayfield in 2007.
Romanov has wanted to redevelop Tynecastle for some time with a planning application submitted in 2008 for a £51 million development that would include a new 10,000-seat main stand and other facilities such as a hotel, restaurant, offices and corporate hospitality. At the time, the deputy chief executive said, "The project will enable the club to be self-sufficient in the future and naturally to reduce the debt to zero."
"Home is where I want to be"
However, the club's statements in this area have often appeared overly ambitious, as the plans have been scaled back pretty much every year. The 2006 accounts spoke of turning Tynecastle into "a truly top class European football venue" by increasing the capacity to 26,000, which had been lowered to 23,000 in the 2007 accounts and 20,000+ the following year – which also said that the new main stand would be fully operational for the 2011/12 season…
Although the 2010 accounts continued to focus on "revenue generating opportunities through a redeveloped Tynecastle", they did also note that the planning application had been unable to progress because of restrictions placed on the stadium zone, so it was perhaps no surprise when the club announced in May that it was going to formally revisit the possibility of selling Tynecastle and moving to a new, purpose-built stadium in Edinburgh, though the reviled Murrayfield is apparently no longer an option.
Frankly, the financial projections around this project have never been entirely convincing. Even though the club would be able to reduce its debt by selling their stadium, it would have to raise much more to build a new stadium, which might prove difficult in the current credit crunch. The club would hope that a significant chunk of the funding would come from other companies who would want to avail themselves of some of the commercial opportunities, but the only realistic source of financing might prove to be a certain Lithuanian bank.
"David Templeton - example of Project Youth"
The club would also have to write-off £1.4 million of costs so far incurred in the plans to redevelop Tynecastle, which are currently sitting on the balance sheet, booked as "assets in the course of construction."
It looks increasingly likely that Hearts will have to rely on profitable player trading to balance their books, so they have invested in their academy, as any money received for players developed in-house is a pure gain in the books. The success of this strategy can be seen through the emergence of Lee Wallace, Andrew Driver, Eggert Jonsson, Calum Elliot, David Templeton and Scott Robinson.
Some have put forward more scurrilous suggestions to explain Romanov's investment, such as Hearts being used as a vehicle to launder money, especially after Ukio Bankas was involved in such an investigation in Belgium last year. If this is the case, then it is a particularly ingenious scheme, as little money appears to be going back to Romanov or his companies. Interest charged on his loans is not paid, rather it is accumulated as additional debt. In fact, much of it has been written-off, including £2 million in 2010 alone. Admittedly, there is a raft of related party transactions, but the money involved is small beer.
"A message to you, Rudi"
There has also been conjecture that Romanov's involvement in Hearts is an elaborate way to curry favour with the natives, so that they would look favourably upon his application to open at branch of Ukio Bankas in the UK, but no licence has been granted to date with Romanov complaining, "This is another example where the contribution to the economy is not wanted."
Maybe he considers Hearts as a good place to showcase the talents of Lithuanian footballers, as many have been transferred or loaned from FBK Kaunas to the Scottish capital. Or is it just a plaything, where he can give his family and friends good jobs in the world of football?
Whatever his motives, Romanov's actions resemble more those of a traditional benefactor, rather than a hard-headed businessman. That's fine, while he is around and his other companies provide enough funds to support the football club, but the concern is that the club would collapse (in the same way that Gretna did) if he left for any reason.
"Eggert Jonsson - value for money at Iceland"
There seems little chance of Romanov ever getting his money back, as it is difficult to imagine that he would find someone to take the club off his hands, unless he substantially reduced the price. Even then it would hardly be a fait accompli, as the club's business model in its current form is unworkable. As a pertinent comparison, it took Rangers an eternity to find a buyer.
In fairness to the owner, he has been at the club for nearly seven years now, so he cannot be accused of being "here today, gone tomorrow." Under new manager Paulo Sérgio, the club has had a couple of encouraging results, but the most important man at the club remains Vladimir Romanov, a man maybe best summed up by Winston Churchill's famous quote, "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma."


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"No matter what the outcome is on January 26th, I'm gonna be happy with everything because I've trained very hard and I've trained to destroy Glover." - Quinton Jackson
If anything, the nearly six year run of Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in the UFC has been interesting. Whether in the Octagon or outside it, and for good or bad, the Memphis native has always been right in the thick of the news cycle, a way of life he was seemingly born for.
So garnering plenty of headlines in the time leading up to his UFC swan song and network television debut on FOX in Chicago this weekend is almost business as usual for Jackson, even if they're not focusing solely on his fight with Glover Teixeira. Yet despite this being the last fight on his UFC contract and his ill feelings toward the organization, he wants to keep things positive for the time being.
"I just want to be a positive person, and I have to get rid of all the negativity out of my life," said Jackson, whose tumultuous relationship with the UFC has been well-documented, with the former PRIDE star lashing out at a perceived disrespect from the promotion, an odd notion for someone who has headlined eight events over the years. But no matter which letters are on the fight poster, on Saturday night, there's a fight taking place, and Jackson knows that he's in for one with Brazil's Teixeira, even if he thinks it's not a fight he would prefer.
"He's a guy who says he's gonna knock me out, says he's gonna stand with me, but he's training on taking me down and fighting me on the ground," said Jackson on a recent media teleconference. "He's just like the other guys I've fought. It sounds like they're too cowardly to say exactly what they want to do and trying to get me to focus somewhere else, but I'm smarter than that now. I've pretty much found out from his pictures and stuff on the internet that he's basically trying to wrestle me and take me down to the ground. So I kinda lost some respect for him. I used to respect him a lot as a fighter, but now I see his game plan, and it's one of those things where you get disappointed in your opponent. But I'm looking forward to a good, exciting fight and I'm ready to go anywhere."
It's been a consistent complaint from Jackson, who has made no bones about his dislike for fighters who won't stand and trade with him in the Octagon. Then again, it is a mixed martial arts bout, so if the bout does stray to the mat, it's well within the rules to do that, and most fighters know that a key to beating Jackson is taking him out of his comfort zone. It worked for Rashad Evans in 2010 and worked for Ryan Bader last February. And if Teixeira – a jiu-jitsu black belt – sees the opening for a takedown and ground attack, you know he's likely going to take it. Why? Because it's probably the best course of action. But Jackson isn't buying it.
"I used to respect Glover because I seen him fight and he throws them things and he's aggressive and he comes at you," he said. "Then I saw his videos he's putting out and he's trying to hold me against the cage and wrassle me and take me down. I was really respecting him because I thought he was like a true fighter."
If it sounds like sour grapes, only the 34-year-old Jackson knows for sure, and he hasn't been doing much talking in the lead up to Saturday's bout, opting to get out of southern California to train in the north of England with his longtime mates on the Wolfslair team.
"There are a lot of tough guys here and a lot of good sparring partners, and it was Christmas time and I didn't want my teammates and my coaches to have to leave their families for Christmas this year," said Jackson. "It was easier for me to come here than all of them to come to America."
From all reports, the trip out of the country did Jackson good, and he agrees that he's had one of his best training camps in England. If true, and if the old "Rampage" shows up in the Windy City this weekend, you have to wonder whether Jackson will consider re-signing with the UFC, or whether he's content to walk off and test the market. He says that though his "heart is with MMA" he may just try a new form of fighting.
"I put my time in, I did my thing," he said. "I just feel like I want to entertain people. My next challenge is that if I go somewhere, I want to be very exciting. Maybe I want to try some boxing or kickboxing."
Or maybe, just maybe, in a sport where you can never say never, the former UFC light heavyweight champion will return to the place where he scored memorable wins over Chuck Liddell, Dan Henderson, Wanderlei Silva, and Lyoto Machida. That's probably a conversation for another day though.
"No matter what the outcome is on January 26th, I'm gonna be happy with everything because I've trained very hard and I've trained to destroy Glover," said Jackson. "I've trained in every aspect: on the ground, wrestling, standup, everything. I trained to be strong and then leave the UFC on a positive note and go on with my life."
UFC 117 Fight Between Anderson Silva And Chael Sonnen…


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Clayton Kershaw (2-1, 2.56) vs. Ian Kennedy (3-2, 3.91).
After last year's run under manager Kirk Gibson's guidance, the Diamondbacks were picked by many to win the NL West. So it's quite a surprise to see them for the first time this year (the Diamondbacks are the only NL West team we haven't yet seen), and find the Diamondbacks five games under .500, 8.5 GB the Dodgers. Who would have guessed that the snakes would be so happy and docile?
Pitching has been the Snakes' demise; their team ERA ranks 13th in the NL (4.23, versus the Dodgers' 3rd-best 3.21 team ERA). Kennedy leads the Snakes with three wins and five quality starts, so he's as close as it comes to the Snakes' ace--but the 3.91 ERA isn't exactly overwhelming this season (though he is 3-1 lifetime against the Dodgers, with a 4.75 ERA).
Luckily, Kershaw is as successful against the Diamondbacks as he is against the Giants; .750 winning percentage (6-2 record against each, though his 1.34 ERA vs. SF is better than his 2.15 ERA against the Snakes). We may not have the big bat of Matt Kemp in the lineup tonight (or any time soon, for that matter), so we'll have to hope that Kershaw confounds the Diamondbacks tonight...and hopefully goes as late into the game as possible.
And I'd keep an eye out for these Snakes. They may look happy now...but as we all know, snakes can be dangerous.


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