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Virgin Blue's Velocity is urging travellers to keep their options open for a chance to fly to outer space!
Monday 2 February 2009: Virgin Blue's multi-award winning Frequent Flyer Program, Velocity, is putting a rocket up the competition (literally) by giving punters a chance to one of four amazing prizes, including a sub-orbital spaceflight with Virgin Galactic^ valued at 25 MILLION Velocity Points, PLUS an additional 25 percent bonus Velocity Points for simply transferring their points from selected credit card partners to Velocity¹.
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* Velocity is owned and operated by Velocity Rewards Pty Ltd as a trustee of the Loyalty Trust. Velocity Membership, Points earn and redemptions (including transfers) are subject to the Velocity Membership Terms & Conditions as amended from time to time, available at velocityrewards.com.au. Velocity Points values are based on Virgin Blue redemption class fares unless otherwise indicated. Taxes, fees and surcharges are payable in addition to Velocity Points redeemed. Redemption values are valid as at 15/01/09 and are subject to change. Qantas Frequent Flyer Points values are based on economy class redemption fares with Qantas unless otherwise indicated and are shown on the points calculator at www.qantas.com.au as at 15 January 2009.
¹Points Transfer: for full details, including offer eligibility, minimum points transfer requirements and Card Partner Terms & Conditions visit velocityrewards.com.au/bonus Once Card Partner points have been redeemed for Velocity Points, they are governed by the Velocity Membership Terms & Conditions and cannot be reversed. #ANZ Business One Rewards members receive 50% bonus Velocity Points until 15 April 2009.
^ Entry is open to Australian Velocity Members (over 18 years old). Entry is automatic on points transfer unless Member requests to be opted out. See velocityrewards.com.au/bonus for full details, Terms & Conditions. Promotion period commences 1 February 2009 and closes at 11.59pm AEST on 30 June 2009. The prize is 25 million Velocity Points which the winner must redeem for one of the four mentioned prizes. For full details of prizes see velocityrewards.com.au/bonus. The draw will take place at Anisimoff Legal, Suite 1, Level 1, 34 Chandos St, St Leonards NSW 2065 on 11 August 2009 at 12 noon AEST. The winner will be notified by mail and their name will be published in The Australian on 8 September 2009. The promoter is Velocity Rewards Pty Ltd of 518 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley QLD ABN 98 116 089 448 NSW Permit No. LTPS/08/ 12522 VIC Permit No. 08/ 5705 ACT Permit No. TP08/ 5066 SA Permit No. T08/ 4739.
^^ V Australia flights are subject to regulatory approval.

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Well its another swelteringly hot koh samui day! I first wrote this in 2011 and have made updates where needed
My bald head is a little reddened and, in an effort to get away from the sun(as much as i love it) and into my office which has the guilt laden luxury of air-conditioning ,i guess its time to post another blog.
Many of the questions we are asked by people making enquires revolve around "how do we get to Samui?" "Where is Samui?" "How far is your hotel from the Phuket/samui airport?". "And of course how do we get to Elements?"
So i guess i will make an effort to answer some of these questions and maybe even make the odd observation along the way (something i rarely resist doing).
So I guess the simplest place to start is "where is Samui?"
Ko Samui island of Surat Thani Province (or Koh Samui, Thai: เกาะสมุย, Thai pronunciation: [kɔ̀ʔ samǔj]), or often, simply Samui as it is referred to by locals, is an island off the east coast of the Kra Isthmus inThailand, close to the mainland Surat Thani town. It is Thailand's second largest island, with an area of 228.7 km2 and a population of over 50,000 (2008). It is rich with natural resources, white sandy beaches, coral reefs and coconut trees.
Thank you wikipedia!- bit out of date but in the main correct.
In other words, get the map of Thailand and surrounding areas look towards the bottom bit of Thailand (that means China is above) . The long thin bit that joins with Malaysia-see it? Well about half way down on the right hand side where the regions known as Surat Thani and Nakhom Si Thammarat meet you'll see some small Islands. The big one , thats Samui.
Sorry if that sounds like im trying to make fun , im not, thats how i remember things when relating to maps. Anyone wanting co ordinates 9°30′N 100°00′E( thanks again wikipedia)
Now this is important, Phuket is on the left of the long thin bit and is a very different island from Samui. Im not making fun here. When i first came to Thailand i had no idea! I essentially looked in Lonely planet for a good place to get away with nature ,diving etc. My friend who i was traveling with wanted a place to go where there were parties. Koh Samui had both(North/South) . Phuket was considered first but someone mentioned that Samui was cool and not developed like Phuket. We of course wondered if we could drive from one to the other or maybe get a boat. And thats how we learnt the truth. In my opinion Samui is much different and cooler than Phuket but im biased!
Phuket and Samui are chalk and cheese to each other
Which leads to the next question , "How do i get to Samui? "
By plane! Koh Samui is not the most difficult island to get to by plane though since we are honest it is also not the cheapest .It is believed, though not proven 🙂 that the main reason that flights are more expensive to the island than to other Thai destinations is that Samui has only one privately owned airport. Funnily enough the company that owns it also owns Bangkok airways, so nearly all flights are supplied by them and not it has to be, said on a budget basis. However the service is excellent and the airport is very chic .Comfy sofas, free internet,snacks and soft drinks are offered as standared.
They also offer good discounts for early and late flights.
Flights are offered to Samui by Bangkok airway s from the following(direct). Bangkok, Phuket,Krabi, Trat,Pattaya Chang mai,Singapore, Hong kong. All these airports are major international hubs so to link from anywhere in the world is easy.
It is actually cheaper(though not easier) to fly from Hong kong and Singapore by flying first Air Asia or Nok to Phuket or Bangkok and then to Samui via Bangkok airways.
There is unfortunatly only one flight per day from Hong kong and only 2 from Singapore, this causes major difficulties for travellers in peak season ,so if from there buy your tickets first before booking a hotel(trust me). This is something all us hotel and resort owners hope and pray will one day change.
There are also daily flights once per day from Bangkok with Thai airways.
If you wish to travel from Malaysia there are very good value flights to and from Kuala Lumpor or Penang with Firefly. Malaysia is also a good international hub and a good point to start from or go to.
Airplanes ,automobiles and hmm boats.In order to offer alternatives for people wanting to travel more budget there is now a service from bangkok to surrathani airport ,then coach to the Ferry that comes to Samui. Cost is less than half of Bangkok airways and time is 4+ hours. Personally im planning on giving this a go as i enjoy the ferry ride and think the roads to Surrathani are not uninteresting . But this option is not so good if in a rush. Since i wrote this blog many people have told me this is a good way to travel and saves OVER 50% on cost of flying direct
I recently checked flights to Chang Mai/Samui return and for 2 hours more travel i saved 8000 baht per person. So if not in a rush take the time to look for Thailands budget airlines. They offer nice price and the longer time taken travelling can actually be a nice experience.
Just as an aside. Lomprayah offer a speed express ferry from Samui with a coach pick up to take you onward to the airport.The ferry only takes 45 minutes rather than the nearly two hour trip by the slower ferries, The last person we know of who took this more expensive but speedy ferry then had to wait at the mainland ferry terminal for the coach to the airport to arrive on the slower ferry. Amazing but true and fairly normal. I will have to check to see if this has been corrected yet.
Automobiles and of course boats again.Obviously being an island there are boats involved. Ferries to Samui are regular and are the major lifeline of the islands commodities.
Thailands highway infrastructure is in good shape unlike a lot of the region so travelling from one point to another is not usually a problem .Coach seats can be bought from most parts of Thailand and even Malaysia. They are modern ,comfortable, air-conditioned and have refreshments and of course toilet facilities. But can take from half a day to a whole day. Quite a few people do drive to and from Phuket which is on the other coast of Thailand , with the ferry this will take 6-7 hours. Kuala Lumpor is about 16 hours.
And of course trains. Ive left this till last for a reason. I did my fair share of train journeys in my younger budget travel days, even managing to travel the length of China in 92. I must say i used to love it ,even the more rough journeys. However i have not travelled Thai trains and am not qualified to comment.
Our guests who have deigned to travel this way have without exception expressed the same dislike of the train service. First class came with dirty seats, linging smells and , oh yes free cockroaches ! Since i first wrote this blog there have been new rolling stock added and now I am informed most of the trains are very very pleasant
The rail infrastructure is again quite comprehensive but it doesn't strike me as the way you want to be traveling to a luxury hotel. When i have more information or am convinced to give it a go I will update. Lonely Planet i am sure can offer more colorful insights
Of course when on Samui you then can travel by Ferry or speedboat to the marine park, Koh Tao and Koh Phangan very easily and of course visa versa.
Getting to Elements? Ah the easy bit. Getting to Elements is reasonably easy, whilst we are based at one of the furthest southern points of the island it has to be remembered that the island is actually not that big, you can drive round the whole thing in a few hours and people regularly cycle the whole island in one day! I haven't asked why yet!I think the current record for walking around the island is 48 hours and that was done at an easy going pace.
So from the airport.
Taxi or as i call them island sharks. They charge 1200 baht to our resort which takes about 40-45 minutes, if you haggle you can get a better price. For our driver to come and pick you up and bring you to the resort is actually a cheaper option(1000 baht per car).Of course with an air-conditioned car offering sparkling wine, beer and soft drinks
You can also hire a car from the airport from Budget or Avis, but to be honest i don't recommend it you will find much cheaper options elsewhere.
There isnt really any other option from the airport as the local version of buses dont tend to hang about that area,but i believe this is soon to change.(never did)
From the ferry terminals around the islands it is possible to travel by Taxi by Songkeaw(local bus). Just remember to haggle with a smile. Or simply let us know where you will be and we will meet you upon your arrival.
I hope this blog has been informative enough without being to longwinded, if anyone has any questions or needs more info please just email me email@example.com and i will be glad to help.
Happy traveling


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In Defense of Jay Feaster
Kent Wilson
March 02 2013 12:23PM
The fall-out from the Ryan O'Reilly debacle is still on-going, but there seems to be a strong, gathering sentiment that Jay Feaster should be fired for the near misstep. After some consideration I have (surprisingly) come down on the side of the beleaguered Flames GM.
I'll first establish that his is not a blanket endorsement of Feaster, Calgary's roster, or the Flames management in general. Regular readers know I have been consistently and loudly vocal whenever I have found reason for criticism over the years. I think there have been mistakes made, that the current team is in rough shape and that the organization is nearing a very critical crossroads. To be honest, I don't really know if this is the managment team I'd prefer at the helm when the tough decisions have to be made.
That said, in this instance, Feaster's actions and the resultant error were defensible.
First, because it was the right move from a hockey perspective. Ryan O'Reilly filled some very real short-term and long-term needs for the Flames organization, so he was an appropriate target for this kind of action. In addition, Feaster and company structured the contract in such a way to maximize the chances of the Avalanche walking away (ie; maximize the pain of matching) so although Colorado chose to match the offer, they will be facing some rather awkward consequences down the road as a result. I'm okay with the Flames messing up a divisonal rivals balacne sheet, even if the gambit to secure the player in question failed.
So this was a sound move strategically. In fact, it's the kind of tactic I'd like to see more of from Calgary's decision makers down the line.
Secondly, the offending CBA clause is so new, so obscure and so ambiguous that none of the parties involved in this situation - be it the Avalanche, the Flames or even the player's agent - seemed to have been aware of it. In fact, in retrospect, ignorance of this clause seems to be a far greater misstep for Colorado's management than for Calgary's. Not only could they have short-circuited O'Reilly's leverage in negotiations by publicizing this clause, but it also would have increased their leverage in any trade talks they had with other teams. No chance of an offer sheet means no alternative but to negotiate with the Avs directly for the player.
There's an argument that Sherman and company knew about the clause but wanted to potentially trap teams into offer sheets, but it doesn't hold water. Particularly since Colorado matched the Flames contract immediately even though it's structure is rather uncomfortable for them.
In addition, not even the players own agent knew about the waiver rule.
O'Reilly's agent, Pat Morris of Newport Sports Management, said Friday that he didn't know his client would head to waivers if Colorado chose to not meet Flames GM Jay Feaster's offer -- a compelling twist to an already intriguing saga that was reported by Sportsnet.ca's Chris Johnston earlier in the day.
"Certainly not, or I never would have put Jay or Calgary or any other team in that situation," Morris told Jeff Marek and Greg Wyshynksi on the duo's Marek vs. Wyshynksi podcast. "When you're dealing with Europe, there's some complicated situations."
Again, there's an argument that Morris did in fact know and was protecting his players interests by nevertheless garnering offer sheets from unaware teams. This is certainly possible since an agents first priority is upping his clients market value, although that means he would have had to find out at some point after O'Reilly played in the KHL in January (which triggered the clause) and kept it to himself - otherwise Morris would have simply advised his client not to take to European ice once the NHL season started.
This strikes me as rather implausible overall. It's one thing to fight for a players interests within the confines of the CBA, but upping his value by banking on the misinterpretation of an obscure rule (that would ulimately undermine and humiliate the team he reached an agreement with) seems like a pretty poor way to do business since it would probably tarnish both the agent's and the agenice's reputation in the eyes of the Flames and Avs. I suppose Morris could try to protect himself from backlash had this all gone down by pleading ignorance, but I doubt he'd get much sympathy from the Feaster, Sherman or the GM's in the league in general.
In fact, given how often the possibility of an offer sheet was openly discussed in the media and with various executives around the league prior to the Flames proffering one, it's seems nobody had taken the time to pour over the clause in question and effectively understand it. One wonders if the NHL would even have had the presence of mind to enforce it had the Avalanche walked away (and Chris Jonhston had not independently done the due diligence to uncover the issue and bring it to everyone's attention).
Certainly the consequences of this error would have been massive for the Flames. That and the fact the team is again completely underwhelming on the ice seems to be fueling the antipathy for Calgary's general manger currently. And fair enough. The offer sheet, at least how it was structured and whom it targetted, was the right move, however. And the error, given the circumstances of the CBA, the wording of the rule and the general ignorance of it from all parties involved - including, perhaps, the bulk of the NHL - makes it an easy one to make.
It's arguable to say the Flames should have double-checked the proceedings with the NHL prior to doing the offer sheet, but that's easy to suggest in hindsight - as mentioned, prior to Johnston digging up the clause in the wake of the Avs matching, no one in the league or the media had noted that O'Reilly was eligible for waivers and therefore not a viable target for an offer sheet. Not TSN, not Elliotte Friedman, no one with the Avalanche nor anywhere else. It therefore strikes me as a mistake anyone in this situation would have made and, as such, not an egregious example of negligence or incompetence.
As mentioned previously, I think there are other reasons to be critical of Feaster and the Flames organization. With Calgary facing a 4th straight year out of the playoffs and with an aging core and no apparent way to meaningfully improve in the short-term, there's plenty of room for criticism.
On this particular issue, though, I think the vitriol is misplaced.
It isn't hard to make an argument that the Flames passed the crossroads a long time ago. To take a different path at this point means they have to turn around and that they have wasted valuable time on the wrong path.
I don't think Feaster should be fired for this gaff, though a little more honesty from both him and the organization as a whole might have gone a long way. Few seem to be buying their claims to have noticed the potential issue and being prepared to argue their case with the NHL. If you messed up, 'fess up. Sherman helped you dodge a bullet, move on and don't lie to us.
It's just a messy situation for a very messy franchise. If the higher-ups are interfering with Jay's ability to run this club, maybe they need to step back and let the man they hired to run hockey ops do his job. Owner interference certainly didn't do the Leafs any favors during the Ballard days, it's the main reason the Isles are saddled with the Dipietro contract.
Giving up a 1st and a 3rd in a very deep draft which would leave a team needing to rebuild with no picks in the top 3 rounds is not a good hockey move Kent. Especially for a player who has never reached 20 goals in a season in junior or pro.
Giving up a 1st and a 3rd in a very deep draft which would leave a team needing to rebuild with no picks in the top 3 rounds is not a good hockey move Kent. Especially for a player who has never reached 20 goals in a season in junior or pro.
I agree with your point. I'd rather have the prospects going forward, especially if the Flames wind up with a high lottery pick. ROR is a very good player but he's not good enough to single-handedly turn the Flames around and carry them on his back. I just hope this mess tips management towards at least a quick rebuild. Ship some of these guys out of town and stop trying to convince us that this team is the answer. There is obviously something very wrong with the lack of consistency and compete in the veteran core.
You are probably correct.
The vitriol is rather comical however. Perhaps most revealing for me is how the guys who have proven themselves most incompetent are the most indignant on the gaff. I'm sure that those who follow this stuff closely will find that statement to come direct from the book of captain obvious... but hey.... I like that book!!
I agree that Jay Feaster should not be fired. I hope that he makes more moves to acquire these types of players in the near future. It let me know that they are not happy with their hockey team and that they intend to do something about it.
March 02 2013, 12:52PM
Agreed that those draft choices are of great potential value to this org. But, even in a deep draft year, there is no guarantee that the players you take in the first and third round will ever score 20 goals in their NHL careers. In short, if the Flames got a single NHL player out of those 2 picks of equal skill/value to ROR, I think you would have to be satisfied. Sure, they could potentially do better, but could also do way worse. In 2003 (another strong draft class) they got Dion 1st, Tim Ramholt 2nd, Ryan Donally 3rd. Would COL trade ROR straight up for Dion at this point? Doubt it.
Having said all that, my preference is to clean house and pick in the top 5 this year. But, I can see the sense/value in the RFA signing that they attempted.
Agreed that those draft choices are of great potential value to this org. But, even in a deep draft year, there is no guarantee that the players you take in the first and third round will ever score 20 goals in their NHL careers. In short, if the Flames got a single NHL player out of those 2 picks of equal skill/value to ROR, I think you would have to be satisfied. Sure, they could potentially do better, but could also do way worse. In 2003 (another strong draft class) they got Dion 1st, Tim Ramholt 2nd, Ryan Donally 3rd. Would COL trade ROR straight up for Dion at this point? Doubt it.
Having said all that, my preference is to clean house and pick in the top 5 this year. But, I can see the sense/value in the RFA signing that they attempted.
At least we picked up Dion in that draft. Looked like an excellent pick at first. It still wasn't terrible in my opinion. Can't blame the draft itself for the fact the Flames gave a perfectly good asset to the Leafs for a bucket of pucks, half a ham-sandwich and the much-maligned Matt Stajan contract. Feaster and co already have a better drafting record than Sutter; if only because they aren't afraid to draft players who grew up east of Manitoba. Despite their apparent fetish for college players, they have shown a tendency to think outside the box a little and I commend them for that. Even if none of these guys they drafted pan out, they realized the status quo wasn't working.
Now if only they'd wise up and realize the status quo on the ice and in the veteran core wasn't working and do something about it.
The easy part of the schedule is over and the trade deadline is near. These next few weeks should be interesting.Feaster shouldn't be fired but he has to do something with this team. Is he going to move some of the core?
What difference does a deep draft year make? The Flames need a top 10 pick, not 10-15, not 10-20. Heck, they need a top 5 pick.
It's hard for me to believe that Feaster and co. would not have done their due diligence. The fact that the agent didn't know speaks volumes about how fresh the new CBA understanding is. The arrogance by Gillis comments are disgusting, earth to Mike, Feaster just like you is also a lawyer! Ken Holland was much more forgiving. Any GM could have made this mistake but it will be magnified and the media and everyone has made the Flames the laughingstock of the league.
I also read this recently: 'All Players on a Club's Reserve List and Restricted Free Agent List will be exempt from the application of CBA 13.23 Waivers in the case of a mid-season signing. For further clarity, if Club A trades such a Player to Club B and Club B signs the Player to an SPC, such Player will be exempt from the application of CBA 13.23' which someone said it should supersede the NHL rule.
Agreed. And good point about the Avalanche's apparent ignorance of the rule being at least as egregious as the Flames'. I think it was an understandable, if potentially unfortunate, error. I also think it was just a one-off occurrence. I doubt management would develop a pattern of systematically misinterpreting the CBA going forward, especially after this incident, so I find calls for Feaster to be fired a little knee-jerk.
March 02 2013, 01:05PM
The easy part of the schedule is over and the trade deadline is near. These next few weeks should be interesting.Feaster shouldn't be fired but he has to do something with this team. Is he going to move some of the core?
Iggy and JBo to Boston for Dougie Hamilton + draft choices?
We can only hope and pray. At this point I think it's in the best interests of the team and the players that someone sits back and honestly evaluates the state of this team. The veterans deserve better, the rookies who are stapled to the bench deserve better, the kids in Abbotsford deserve better and most importantly we the FANS deserve better.
Change the direction. It seems everyone but current management is of the opinion the current direction isn't working. Pretty soon it will be too late to turn around and we're staring down the barrel of Jarome leaving this circus behind with zero return. Best case scenario is his rights get traded to a team who wants to negotiate with him early. Such a return would probably be a 2nd rounder at best, even that might be optimistic.
Calgary used to be a place players wanted to come play. With this fiasco being tacked on to all the other issues plaguing the team the Flames are in danger of becoming the Oilers; only minus the boatload of young players who still may or may not pan out. At least Tambellini can still peddle hope for a brighter future, even if that message is wearing thin with Oiler faithful. Flames can't even sell that right now.
Iggy and JBo to Boston for Dougie Hamilton + draft choices?
The B's don't have the cap space and I doubt they would ever go for it. Much more likely to see Iggy lining up alongside Crosby. If he is ever traded.
I can't agree with you. The fact that the prior CBA made O'Reilly waiver required and the fact that the MOU was ambiguous is reason enough Feaster should have done diligence by clarifying the wording. Holland and Gilles both said as much.
Let's also remember that the jury is out on the correct interpretation of the rule. While management should have checked with the league in hindsight, they may actually be right about the rule.
Agreed Kent. I think if the worst-case scenario actually played out Chris Johnston would probably be the most hated man in Calgary.
I want to see these next five games. It's a brutal schedule: at home vs Vancouver and San Jose, then on the road in Anaheim and LA (they play in LA again on Monday). Very possible they go 0-5. Then what? This could very well be the defining season of Feaster's tenure here in Calgary.
March 02 2013, 01:10PM
The B's don't have the cap space and I doubt they would ever go for it. Much more likely to see Iggy lining up alongside Crosby. If he is ever traded.
Capgeek says both Pitt & Boston have $8mil in cap space currently. Both could be targets, if the Flames pull their heads out their butts.
I just very simply disagree.
As has been said - there is no room for interpretation. It does not matter what Jay Feaster thinks about the rule, it's about what the league thinks and they say he'd have to go through waivers. You do not risk this. You don't. Not at the NHL level.
If this deal had come to fruition, it would have been locked up in litigation between the NHL and the Calgary Flames.
Meanwhile? The Flames would continue to stink it up on the ice, making that 1st round pick better and better and better for whoever ends up with it.
The team on the ice right now is a farce. Matt Stajan is the only NHL center, they're 14th in the West and they seem deadset on grinding their way up to 10th.
This team is more embarrassing than anything the Oilers have done. The arrogance showed by management is indefensible.
We made a management change to help address the problems that this team faced - and the new management has not done that. All they've accomplished? Continued asset erosion and bad hockey.
March 02 2013, 01:31PM
I give Feaster full marks for the attempt.... it was a bold move and one that a lot of people on FN have been calling for. The contract offer was clever and aggressive. HOWEVER if we assume that Feaster and others would have been fired if we lost ROR to waivers then I'm not sure I can give them the pass now... the point isn't really moot, a huge mistake was still made. We just got lucky and didn't have to pay for it. No punishment but the crime was still made... On the bright side I assume every GM in the NHL is salivating at the opportunity to wheel and deal with uncle Feaster come trade deadline day as he's liable to fumble away what few assets we have left... I don't have a lot of confidence in managements ability to win trades.
Honestly, I'd fire Ken King before Feaster. Should have happened a long time ago.
Agreed that those draft choices are of great potential value to this org. But, even in a deep draft year, there is no guarantee that the players you take in the first and third round will ever score 20 goals in their NHL careers. In short, if the Flames got a single NHL player out of those 2 picks of equal skill/value to ROR, I think you would have to be satisfied. Sure, they could potentially do better, but could also do way worse. In 2003 (another strong draft class) they got Dion 1st, Tim Ramholt 2nd, Ryan Donally 3rd. Would COL trade ROR straight up for Dion at this point? Doubt it.
Having said all that, my preference is to clean house and pick in the top 5 this year. But, I can see the sense/value in the RFA signing that they attempted.
We can't keep using the old We don't draft well anyway excuse. IF this draft is indeed as strong as 2003 we could be trading away an opportunity to draft the equivalent of a parisse AND a Shea Weber for a player who has never scored 20 goals. Sorry, that is not a smart hockey move at all. To get better this team MUST draft better not trade away their drafts.
Honestly, I'd fire Ken King before Feaster. Should have happened a long time ago.
I totally agree with you. He is one of the biggest db's in hockey, only guy I know with similar levels of arrogance and suspect competence is Dan Tencer.
King is the ticket seller guy and the barn is full, so by that metric, he is doing his job...... sadly. Plus... edwards has put up with him for this long so in all probability HE AINT GOIN ANYWHERE.
He hooked his wagon to Darryl Sutter saying if Dutter was fired someone else could sell tickets.
Yup..... hes that kinda guy. As my Dad used to say.... if your word isn't worth anything who gives a rats a** about your signature.
March 02 2013, 02:03PM
The drafting under Feaster has been a breath of fresh air and I'm excited to see what he does in New Jersey this year. Didn't the Canucks also tender an offer for O'Reilly? Do they get a free pass because Calgary's draft pick is going to be better?
Good article, Kent. I have been quite vocal about my opinion that Feaster and his posse need to be fired. I am more certain than ever that he has to go. Not just for this near-horrific, franchise paralyzing mistake, but because I don't think this group can make the important decisions we HAVE to make in the next month. This can't be looked upon as an "aw shucks" moment.
Regarding ROR, I wanted him as a Flame as bad as anyone. But ONLY if it came in the way of a trade, and only by involving the likes of a Glencross, Giordano etc. We can NOT keep getting rid of picks and ever get this mess sorted out.
I realize they won't fire anybody, certainly not this close to trade deadline. And I'm sure Jarome will sign a 4 year, $22 million deal to stay, and Sven will ride shotgun on the dancing bear's line, and Comeau will conitinue his torrid...amount of ice-time..........
Kent, I cant agree defending this management team. A 1st & 3rd in this years draft is huge for a franchise like the Flames. Now, to draft up & offer a 10 million contract without doing any proper due diligence is unacceptable. Are you telling me that we were going to risk these picks & no one looked at any film of what ROR did over in Europe & not uncover that he played in games after Jan 19th. & lets get one thing clear, this waiver issue was questioned this time last year when Nashville brought Radulov over & many GM's felt he should have been placed on waivers. So I dont buy pleading ignorance as an excuse that all the scouts & Weisbrod & Conroy werent investigating every angle on this Oreilly kid even while he was in Europe. Surely they would have tried to get as much film as possible to see if there was any injuries(which I believe there was) that could impact his ability to step right into the lineup. Feaster said as much that they looked into every aspect of this & felt their interpretation was correct to move forward. With so much at stake, & the fact you were interpretting the CBA rules, how can you not ask for a written clarification from the league office. If they clear it, Flames would have been protected, in the case it was true the league missed it & Johnson bird dogged it.
I guess many could debate the move in the 1st place & I didnt like what they did but you are right, ROR is a definite piece Flames need going forward, post Iggy & Kipper anyway. So Ok. I was so happy we were up 3-0 because then I knew we have to at least win 55% of our games so we dont give away a top 10 pick. I was excited when we offer sheeted him but actually relieved when Colorado matched.
Feaster wont get fired from this, but he will get set up to fail then fired. The Flame fans will just be the big losers. Feaster wont be able to trade Iggy/Kipper, he doesnt have the young horses to make the playoffs, but dont kid yourself, King & Edwards expect playoffs, I'm sure that making playoffs is in Hartleys & Feasters performance agreement. Iggy walks to a contender, we get nothing. Then we hire a new puppet GM who thinks this team is close with the quality of veterans we have. Then the alarm clock goes off & its Monday over again & over again & over again.....................
March 02 2013, 02:56PM
do we know for sure that feaster and the flames were totally ignorant of that clause?
or did they simply interpret it a certain way and then move forward with that interpretation?
March 02 2013, 02:58PM
Would love to have got Parise and Weber in '03, so would have 29 other teams. Good luck with that in 2013. It obviously does happen, but not predictably for any given team. Perhaps the Flames are due. I hope they do it. Might want to pick up a few 6/49 tickets while you are busy counting those chickens though.
Imagine a spaceship landing in Calgary once a year on this day to assess how this Cap team with Top 10 revenue is doing. The answer is the same every year: middling to poor. In music, this is like Taylor Swift or Biebs. Our team is popular(ticket sales-wise) and terrible. Just like Taylor and the Biebs.
The media should use this ROR management flub to draw attention to our endless plight with Ken King and his band of salesmen. Certainly not to defend it. This smacks of the same sincerity as the Budwieser Goal Light blog. Wanna get paid, get writin (says the man with the money).
Anyway, I don't know what it will take to get this team headed in the right direction but it feels like forever.
March 02 2013, 03:07PM
The blatant grandstanding when they announced the offer sheet screams arrogance. Feaster and company pulled their stunt in the AVS building, definitely a violation of the code amongst GMs.It almost backfired to the extent of being the worst front office move in the history of front offices. Couple this near disaster with a questionable draft selection in Janko and the comical goaltending contract movement and management has got to be on very thin ice. Intellectual honesty great phrase just like guarnteed playoffs. time for edwards to scorch the earth and bring in real hockey people not a snake oil salesman and his gang of gypsies.
You hate to say it, but that gaffe should have cost Feaster his job. Whether Colorado matched or not, is not relevant. Could you imagine this deal going the other way. Colorado passes on the deal, get the Flames 1st and 3rd round picks. Then a team like Minnesota or Detroit get the opportunity to pick up ROR on waivers. There is no excuse for not knowing the rules, that's why these guys are paid.
Ken King won't be fired, the Flames also own the Stampeders and he know hows to bring in money. Calgary Flames season ticket renewal 97% with a five year waiting list. He shouldn't be involved with hockey matters whatsover, nor should Murray Edwards.
The Flames are suffering big time now when they could have hired Bob Nicholson, Steve Yzerman and John Davidson most recently.
March 02 2013, 03:24PM
You hate to say it, but that gaffe should have cost Feaster his job. Whether Colorado matched or not, is not relevant. Could you imagine this deal going the other way. Colorado passes on the deal, get the Flames 1st and 3rd round picks. Then a team like Minnesota or Detroit get the opportunity to pick up ROR on waivers. There is no excuse for not knowing the rules, that's why these guys are paid.
I would love to know what the other GMs are truly thinking about the showboating that surrounded the annoucement of an offer sheet. In the Avs barn, they grandstand only to dodge a fatal bullet. I wish the Avs didnt counter and the house of cards came crashing down. Intellectual honesty.
The reason i go to lawyers before signing a business contract,is to ensure that i understand every aspect of the document.My lawyer goes over all the clauses that he feel,s are important for me to understand,and then makes sure all the t,s are crossed and the i,s dotted.That,s what lawyers do!
Edward,s and Feaster are both lawyers,who appear to be in need of a good lawyer
I don't think Feaster should be let go for this move alone, but it's a culmination of moves that has me moving the scales to him getting fired. The offer sheet itself was a bold move and a good one in terms of team need, as long as the pick didn't become a top 5 pick, and with a healthy Backlund/Kipper along with ROR, very much doubt that happening.
However it was the bull headedness not to talk to Daly/the league about the clause, rather deciding to make the move and challenge it after the fact(I think they would have won, but thats besides the point) is what should get him fired. Signing ROR to an offer sheet wasn't a spur of the moment decision, they had LOTS of time to discuss it with the league. Combine that with the MacGratton decision(who is now playing over much more competent NHLers, hello Blair Jones), the goalie mess we have, the 49/50 contracts we are now at which limits our flexibility.
I don't know who makes the game day Rosters, playing Aliu over Cervenka, but that's another big issue, is player usage. I thought this team was suppose to be more skilled, up tempo, possession, but instead it looks like we are gonna fill our bottom six with knuckle chuckers.
The big thing to me will be this summer, in what happens to Kipper/Iggy, how do we move forward with them.
I like the Feaster/Wisebrod drafts and some of the signings/trades they made(the stempniak trade, the Regehr trade) but the longer that tandem is going, the worse the trades are coming out and the worse the player management looks.
March 02 2013, 04:39PM
Questioning Feasters management or ability to manage to me is not about the fact that he (and obviously many people) missed the fact that O'Reilly would have to have cleared waivers. Is that embarrassing, sure it is, though it could have been much more embarrassing, as we all know.
What makes me question Feaster as a GM, is the actual offer sheet itself.
First, as some have stated, what is a priority to the Flames, a solid 2nd line Center (and thats a reasonable evaluation), or for a team with minimal organizational depth, the 1st and 3rd picks in a top heavy draft?
Even if the answer is still that ROR fills a bigger need, then there is still the question of simple management. This team will be going through some serious changes in the next two years. By the summer of 2015 the Flames will have only have 6 current players under contract. That means the next two years would be ideal to look into reshaping this team and eliminating those contracts you dont want and building a younger more talented team.
Makes some sense right?
But then if thats the case, how are you going to manage a team payroll full of young players coming off ELC's or entering the prime of their careers when you have the ROR contract as the basis for negotiation?
How do you address Baerstchi and any other young player coming off even mild success and tell them, forget it, you arent getting the same money as our #2 center?
That O'Reilly contract, with the fact that in 2015 you would have to offer at least that much to maintain his negotiating rights, leading to what? a $7 mill deal for a #2 center? would be an absolute disaster for your teams salary structure.
You can overpay for superstars, no-one would say nay if Feaster threw an offersheet out there overpaying a young Stamkos, because you know he will be your best player. But when you do that for someone like ROR who you know in the long run is not a "franchise player" (and you know that Feaster, that was a bit disingenuous), then everyone wants the same treatement.
That is why I question Feasters ability to be a solid GM, not for his desire to improve the team, but moreso the lengths he might go to do so, in the short term, can be very destructive in the long run.
March 02 2013, 05:12PM
@Old Soldier
You call ROR a #2 C. Fair enough. So then who would be our #1 C?
If ROR was functioning as a #1-2 C as a 20-21 year old in COL, is it not reasonable to assume he is still improving as a player and will evolve into a solid #1 C or a well above average #2 at very least? I expect he would have been the most solid #1 this franchise has had in quite a long time.
Not unhappy that COL matched though, as I am looking foreward to the '13 draft and the assets it may provide. I'm with you on the rebuild. But to say ROR is a finished product with a defined #2C roll at the ripe old age of 22, that is just wrong.
The only criticism I can complain about Feaster and the whole ROR fiasco is trading valuable picks. I thought if there was one thing that Feaster would have done better than Sutter was the ability to build from the draft. Now I'm not so sure. I think the Flames have another GM who sacrifices long term stability for short term glory.
March 02 2013, 06:01PM
Kent, I usually agree with most everything you write on here, but not in this case. Feaster et al interpreted an ambiguous new rule, and didnt bother to check with the league prior to exposing themselves to the consequences of that rule. That is an egregious error, and an error for which someone should be fired.
Also, did the agent not know about the rule, or not know about the actual interpretation of it? Feaster says that he, the Flames, and the agent were all certain that waivers would not be a part of this transaction.
I agree. One thing i would add, is for all we know Feaster et al did check with the league office, and then decided they still disagreed with the interpretation and felt confident they would win an arbitration (I still feel like they wouldn't have lost him on waivers).
I think this summer will be their last best chance to turn things around. If they don't do it right this trade deadline/draft, they'll be pretty close to the chopping block come next christmas.
March 02 2013, 06:30PM
What I would like to understand is the rationale behind the rule. It makes little sense to have one team lose the player, one team to lose picks and the third team to get the player. Seems to me that the rule is meant to dissuade players from playing in another league while not playing for the team holding their RFA rights. So the waiver process itself that kicks in if the offer isn't matched should be dependent on any team making a claim first having the picks in question (1st and 3rd in this case) and having to surrender them in order to sign the player. Feels like a broken rule.
Kent, once again, says exactly what I think about a subject but in a much more eloquent and reasonable way.
Not to mention that I agree with the guys at Offside on the interpretation issues.
Other teams may very well stay away from dealing with Feaster moving forward.Won,t want to deal with the dysfunctional reputation he,s helped create
@Tonelli's Stache
The purpose of the rule is to stop team's from loading up on unsigned talent as part of a stretch or playoff run. Imagine some team signing every UFA in the KHL on the last day of the season.
The reason I think the clause would be interpreted not in the way Daly suggests (which is all well and good for the league to say after the fact when it doesn't matter and when it is in their interests to put more pressure on hold out RFAs) but in the Flames' favour is the new CBA was supposed to eliminate "Re-Entry Waivers" which were designed for players that were coming back from the minors or Europe, which is how I see O'Relly's status.
But reasonable people could disagree.
March 02 2013, 06:46PM
I am with you on that. It makes sense to apply waivers in UFA situations, not so much in RFA situations. I wonder if it will be addressed in the final CBA as a result of this fiasco. Seems like it needs some attention from whatever NY law firms are taking this on.
I certainly agree with the premise and the overall tone of this article Kent.
Like a lot of Flames faithful, I was elated at the news that O'Reilly had been inked to an offer sheet. The airwaves were filled with those singing the praises of Feaster, for ownership for the gutsy move. Even after it was announced that the Avalanche had matched, it did not diminish the admiration for the effort made to improve the club.
Fast forward (what, twelve hours?) and the revelation that the Flames (and potentially 3 other clubs who tendered offer sheets to O'Reilly's camp)had dodged a bullet because of the match, that the transaction could have been a disaster for the franchise due to an obscure wrinkle in the as-yet unsigned CBA.
Then the talking heads have demonized Feaster and ownership as being uninformed, of being incompetent and due their pink slips. Sorry, don't buy it. They made the effort and it did not work. The roster did not change. The draft picks remain in place.
I still admire Feaster and ownership for the effort. They made it just like they did when they tried to get Brad Richards into a Flames uniform. I expect them to try again. And I, for one, am looking forward to those continued efforts.
March 02 2013, 07:11PM
Brilliant Kent....I've been looking for words for a day now and this about sums it up
No defense from me! This is an embarrassment! They wouldn't have fired him even if avs didn't match! The only thing I think is strange is why the nhl isn't more responsible for what took place because apparently 4 other teams presented offer sheets too! What a joke betteman!
Off my mobile so I can give a slightly more detailed response.
First, I really want O'Reilly. Fits a big need for the team.
But I was never supportive of an offer sheet. I said the same thing on the blog suggesting such.
First, Colorado was always going to match. It is rumored they were looking for Del Zotto, Kreider, and a pick from the Rangers. They weren't going to take a first and a third. All the offer sheet did was add O'Reilly to Colorado's lineup reducing our chances of making the playoffs.
Second, 5-million (and 6+ in just over a year) is too much for O'Reilly. Especially when you have to give up a 1st and a 3rd in addition. That is really really poor asset management. He is a good player. But not at that cost. The guy has one year of production for crying out loud.
Third, there is no way that Feaster has any business going forward with an offer sheet without doing due diligence and speaking to the NHL first. I don't care if all 29 other GMS would have made the same mistake. That doesn't make it right or okay. Especially with Murray so close to the CBA process and Feaster being a lawyer by trade.
I know the crowd here really really likes O'Reilly. I get why. But wanting the player doesn't excuse this fiasco.
Del Zotto Kreider,and a pick for O,Reilly.That,s a wild rumour .If Sherman thought he was worth all that he would have surely signed him last summer
If he thought he was worth less he surely would have had him traded long ago.
It isn't about what he is worth. It is about what the incompetent Colorado management thinks he is worth.
They were never going to take a 1+3. Proven by the fact they matched in record time.


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I wish I could take pictures half as good too.
These were actually taken by a friend of mine who is a photographer. I was going to take some pictures with my phone, but it didn't do those beautiful headphones justice. So I asked him, and as always he surprised me with the quality of his pictures.


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By GARY ARRINGTONSports Writer
Layton Christian defeated Bryce Valley for the Utah State 1-A boy's basketball championship in Richfield at the Sevier Valley Center 64-58 to culminate the high school season. Bryce Valley had been the top-ranked team most of the season but Layton Christian would not be denied this season. Wayne High defeated Rich in the game for third and fourth by the score of 56-49.
Green River went to Richfield with a 17-4 season record and returned home after playing four games in four days in the seventh-place slot. Liahona defeated the Pirates on the final day 75-43.
Green River opened the tournament on Wednesday morning playing the winner of the previous night's play-in game. After Valley defeated Wendover, Green River played Valley and snuck out a win in the final quarter of play. The Pirates won 37-35.
After leading 9-7 after the first quarter of play, Green River did not score in the second quarter of play and trailed 20-9 at the half. Justin Johnson led the effort with 13 points followed by Spencer Marshall with 9, Erick Mendez with 6, Nick Corrigan with 4, TJ Hughes with 3 and Adrian Escalante with 2 points.
On Thursday, Green River faced Rich in a quarterfinal match-up. Rich had defeated Piute on Wednesday to get to this game. The game was neck and neck through about a quarter and half until the Pirate shooters went cold and Rich went on a 10-0 run.
After trailing 14-13 after the first quarter, Green River trailed at the half 34-26. After three periods the score was 47-35. In the final period, Green River narrowed the gap to 47-42 only for Rich to close out the game on a 15-7 run.
Johnson regained his scoring form and led the team with 29 points. Marshall scored 8, Escalante scored 6, Jordan Olsen scored 3, Hughes 2 and Mendez 1 point.
On Friday, the Pirates defeated Tabiona to stay alive in the tournament with the final score being 71-62. Johnson scored 30 points to propel the Pirates past their opponent. After trailing at the half 29-25, Green River won the third quarter 26-8 to break open a close game and then the Pirates cruised home in the final period for the win.
Also scoring in this game were Marshall with 13 points, Mendez with 12, Hughes with 6 and Corrigan and Olsen with 5 points each. On Saturday, Liahona won every period in grabbing the game for fifth place. Johnson scored 40 points in the final game but only two teammates were able to get on the board to help him. Mendez scored 2 points and Hughes scored 1 point. Johnson averaged 28 points a game in Richfield after averaging 34 points a game throughout the season.


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Adobe Air  188.8.131.5270 Beta
# Notable Fixes and Enhancements:
- [iOS 5.0.x] Using the property, File.preventBackup causes a crash
- [Win 8] When I speak into the mic, it sounds high pitched and harsh
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- Can't render local video with front camera
– Packaging for iOS Simulator should not validate the signing options provided. It is now possible to package an IPA by providing dummy arguments as signing options instead of using a valid certificate. This change is not yet incorporated in Flash Builder and Flash Pro.
- iOS stage video MP4 fails to render
- And more!


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The Harrisburg High School girls' golf team finished in a tie for fifth, while Alexa Burtis grabbed All-Conference honors at Tuesday's Southern Illinois River-to-River All-Conference Golf Tournament at Hickory Ridge Golf Course in Carbondale.
Harrisburg tied West Frankfort for third place with a 437 on the Ohio side of the River-to-River as Herrin won with a 361 and Massac County shot a 364.
Nashville won the Mississippi side with a 323, as Carterville finished second with a 397 and Sparta was third with a 443. Du Quoin (456) and Anna-Jonesboro (486) rounded out the other scoring.
Burtis was one of 10 girls named to the All-Conference team as she finished with a 91 for sixth place.
Skylar Street finished with a 109, while Gabriella Tison tacked on a 116. Amy DeNeal fired a 121 for the fourth and final score.
Lindsey Murray finished with a 125 and a Collins Lambert had a 126.
Location, ST | website.com


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Public park-like setting dedicated to the Veterans and Heroes of our nation.
This is a memorial for troops lost in Operation Iraqi Freedom & Operation Enduring Freedom.
Civic Center Authority Visitor Center
The Bedford Park Heritage Corridor Visitor Center is full of information and literature of exciting things to do and see throughout the Heritage Corridor. The Visitor Center provides National Heritage Corridor promotional literature and I&M Canal related resources to the public. It is operated by the Civic Center Authority in partnership with Heritage Corridor Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Village of Willow Springs. The Center is staffed by volunteers recruited and managed by the Civic Center Authority. Open Saturday 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM and Sunday 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM.
CITY:Bedford Park
This memorial is dedicated to the 50+ men from Blue Island who served in the Union armies.
CITY:Blue Island
Illinois Aviation Museum at Bolingbrook
Providing the nation with access to the rich history of aviation in Illinois, the Illinois Aviation Museum at Bolingbrook focuses on technology, research, education and community service.
iPic Theaters & Salts Sports Bar & Lounge
IPic Theaters has a passion for movies and provides you with the ultimate escape. A premium and affordable movie-going experience, there is something for everyone. Enjoy fresh seasonal cocktails at Salt Sports Bar, full menu selection, billiards and more.
The Letourneau Home Museum is the one time home of George R. Letourneau. A contemporary of Abraham Lincoln, George R. Letourneau was the only person to have had the distinction of having been village president and mayor of the city of Kankakee. Today the Letourneau home is a museum that contains many artifacts and is maintained by the Bourbonnais Grove Historical Society. The museum is open on the third Sunday of each month (except January, February and holidays). Call (815) 933-6452 for cancellations or further announcements.
Exploration Station, A Childrens Museum
A hands-on exploration and discovery museum for children and their families. Tuesday & Thursday are donation afternoons, where after 2 p.m. a suggested donation of $1.00 per person is requested.
Witness the history of the universe from its fiery birth to the formation of our own solar system on a state-of-the-art digital projector that gives a multimedia and full-dome show. Open year round, there are several shows scheduled during the week.
Calumet City Historical Society
Come discover Calumet City's fascinating heritage and history.
CITY:Calumet City
Calumet City Historical Society & Museum
An 1836 log cabin is located next to Veteran's Park at Burnham Avenue & 166th (Heritage Drive) where our annual festival in September is held with entertainment & food. Our museum at 760 Wentworth Avenue, Calumet City, Illinois has exhibits of local interest.
CITY:Calumet City
Located on the main campus of Prairie State College, the Christopher Art Gallery hosts six to eight shows annually, featuring local, regional and national artists, as well as student works. Programming varies by media, theme, and artists represented.
CITY:Chicago Heights
Union Street Gallery & Art Studios
Union Street Gallery hosts 10 art exhibits per year, classes and workshops. There are 16 artists' studios to compliment the experience. Free Admission, free tours and field trips available. First floor galleries and studios are handicapped accessible.
CITY:Chicago Heights
Bringing drama to the South Suburbs since 1931, The Drama Group is one of the oldest volunteer community theatres in the country. This drama group is a not-for-profit community theater.
CITY:Chicago Heights
Our beautiful Country Club Hills Theater is an intimate, 2500 seat outdoor amphitheater located just 35 miles south of Chicago that combines stylish, modern architecture and state-of-the-art audio and video technology with the same kind of rustic, community charm that our city is famous for.
CITY:Country Club Hills
Lotton Art Glass Gallery & Studios
Experience the thrill of watching magnificent works of art being created daily out of hot glass. Meet the world famous Lotton family; tour gallery & studio.
Carmelite Campus National Shrine of St. Therese
The National Shrine of St. Therese is a Roman Catholic shrine, chapel, and museum dedicated to St. Therese of Lisieux. The Shrine is home to the most wonderful collection of relics, personal effects and memorabilia of Therese outside of France. The Shrine chapel celebrates Mass every weekday at 11:30 am. Tours are available for groups of 20 or more, including a private tour of an exact replica of St. Therese's monastery cell in France. The shrine sits peacefully on a 50-acre estate owned and operated by the Carmelites of the Most Pure Heart of Mary. Adjacent to the Shrine is the Carmelite Spiritual Center, offering meeting room rental, lodging, meals and spiritual retreats as well as organized Shrine tours.
The Flossmoor Sculpture Gardens is an outdoor arts program that places sculptures in the village square, along charming residental streets and in the Flossmoor Sculpture and Garden Park.
KidsWork Children's Museum is a cultural institution that brings children, families and the community together to engage in fun, hands-on interactive play.
Lincoln-Way North Performing Arts Center
Now in its 35th season, the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) is the largest performing arts organization in Chicago's Southland - providing professional orchestral music of beauty and excellence to the region. The IPO's repertoire ranges from Baroque and Classical masterpieces, to world premieres and modern favorites.
Frankfort Area Historical Society
Small museum with unique display areas and photographs of Frankfort memorabilia.
Annie Lee and Friends Art Gallery
Come visit one of Chicagoland's largest full-service art galleries, featuring original art by nationally known artist Annie Lee. The gift shop offers hundreds of unique gifts and collectibles.
Three floors of fun! Shop our 1st floor boutique, create in our upstairs art studio and upcycle with vintage soul re-sale in our lower level.
Travel through time and space! Walk through a replica of the I & M Canal, window shop on a turn-of-the-century street, take a virtual ride on a replica trolley, live the legend of Route 66, land on the moon in a walk-in simulator, and experience space exploration and the Apollo missions. Temporary exhibits change often in our Special Exhibition Gallery. There's always family fun in our discovery room, and remember your visit with a souvenir from our Gift Shop.


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Rocket Dog Jazzin Sneaker
Sorry, this item is sold out!
Looks like you've got more shoe shopping to do - have fun!
Looks like you've got more shoe shopping to do - have fun!
Item # 273001
The Jazzin sneaker by Rocket Dog sure is jazzy with its fun neon trim! This easy lace up sneaker will have you skipping around town in style.
- Canvas upper
- Lace-up
- Flexible rubber sole
- Imported
- View more Women's Rocket Dog Shoes
By: JAVan
Location: Knoxville, Tn
June 27, 2014
Runs Really Large!!!
"My original order was for a size 7. When I received it I could not believe how "huge" these shoes were! I tried them on with thick socks and, honestly, I walked right out of them....they were that huge!!! No amount of tightening the laces helped even a little bit!I returned them to a store near me and they ordered me a size 6 & a half. They still fit on the large/loose side but at least I'm not walking out of them. I can wear thick socks with them or none at all...that just makes them a little looser, but not to bad. So if you are not so sure of how these shoes will fit you...I suggest you purchase 2 pairs, one in your regular size and one a half size smaller. I really don't think any one will have a problem with these shoes being to small! They also run a little wide in the toes! These are really cute and fun shoes and are kind of funky at the same time! I get complements and good natured laughs! I'm an adult I can handle the fact that not every one will love or even like these shoes and laugh at them...it's no biggie!!! I love the bright colors and they are comfy....not really comfy...but nice. I wouldn't do any serious walking in them at all...they are not "that" kind of comfy! I just wear them around the house or running errands! Mostly I am concerned with the quality of these shoes! I have never purchased the Rocketdog brand before and if this is an example of the quality of all their shoes, I most likely won't buy the brand again! They are not very well made at all which makes me think they will not last for very long! They are made to look some what "raggedy" and frayed so they shed black threads all over! Not sure if this will stop after a while or not. All in all they were a great bargain price and I will get some good use out of these shoes, around the house but not for wearing for an extended length of time or extended walking!"
By: KenKel
Location: Milwaukee
May 02, 2014
"very fun shoe"
By: Couters
Location: Florida
March 18, 2014
Clown Shoes
"I like the colors on these but the shape is really awkward. They are very wide in the toe and I felt like they we're so clunky and front heavy I would trip. I would have kept them if they were more narrow in the front."
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|Posted by nancy on March 25, 2002 at 21:54:33:
|In response to Re: shower mixet value
And what is a balancing spool?
What EXACTLY would a limit adjuster look like?
since I posted, I went to Home Depot and the guy sent me home with a new cartridge that is too small in diameter--- said they only come in one size... mine looks like 1'5 ", he sent me with 1/2 inch...He said there wasn't an adjustment area....don't know the truth in that, he didn't seem like he had ever seen one before...He said I might have trash in the line on the hot side... maybe... it is MOEN brand, single handle adjustment.
I kind of gave up for the day when I couln't get the water to the house shut off, none of the knobs seem to work (clockwise does nothing)... thought I would have to go out to the street meter. But what does a limit adjuster LOOK like? now that I have a new sample from HD to view easily, If I can see it on this one, I'll try again in the shower!!
: If the faucet has a limit adjuster, it will be in the handle. You could also have a stuck balancing spool, (I just came back from freeing up a stuck one), that is not operating.
: : my shower has never gotten warm enough water since I bought the house, all the other faucets & showers are fine except this one. I took off the front of the faucet (MOEN) & thought I could see how to adjust it, but I have no clue.... can anyone help? the copper pipes appear to be soldered in, but is ther a different part that can be adjusted with taking it all out?
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BBHHF Operations provides direction, support, and oversight to facilities for the care of individuals in the State of WV with Behavioral Health and Medical needs. Operations oversees all seven state-owned facilities in West Virginia. These facilities are comprised of one Acute Medical Hospital: Welch Community Hospital; two Acute Psychiatric Hospitals: Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital and William R. Sharpe, Jr. Hospital; and four Long Term Care Facilities: Hopemont Hospital, Jackie Withrow Hospital, John Manchin, Sr. Health Care Center and Lakin Hospital. Operations includes the Human Resource and Workforce Development component for the Bureau which supports 1,800 employees, including support for the facility HR process. Compliance and Quality Assurance work with not only the state facilities, but also the agencies with whom BBHHF contracts services to support individuals on an outpatient basis. Forensic Services rounds out the Operation component by working with the Courts and the applicable placements to provide services for individuals under the care of DHHR directed by Chapter 27-6A of the West Virginia Code.
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What do Sarah Palin, Billy Graham, Franklin Graham, Rupert Murdoch and where Franklin buried his mother Ruth (against her wishes) all have to do with each other and the morphing of the old Republican Party into the new American lipstick fascism?
Herein is a story about the people are who believe in "legal" torture but not in universal health care... and all in the name of Jesus no less.
A little background:
I remember my late father -- the evangelical leader often called the "father of the religious right," Francis Schaeffer -- screaming at Mom one Sunday when I was a child, then he threw a potted ivy at her. Then he put on his suit and went down to preach his Sunday sermon in our living room chapel.
It was not the only Sunday Dad switched gears from rage to preaching as I describe in Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back. And this was the same chapel that the Billy Graham family sometimes dropped by to worship in, along with their Swiss-Armenian, multimillionaire in-laws, after Billy---like some Middle Eastern potentate---arranged for his seventeen-year-old daughter's marriage to the son of a particularly wealthy donor who lived up the road from us in the ski resort of Villars.
Did the followers of Billy Graham know he'd plucked his seventeen-year-old daughter out of her first semester at Wheaton College to marry a man much older than her that she had never met? Would they have cared? Or do evangelicals always sweep their dirty laundry out of sight while they point their holier-than-thou middle fingers at others?
Fast forward from the 1960s to the present
Franklin Graham -- Billy's son and nepotistic "heir" to the Graham empire -- says he wants to help the poor. So what is he doing standing next to Sarah - "death panels" - Palin at a press conference as she denounces health care reform as a "Government takeover of the US economy"?
What is Franklin Graham doing promoting Palin's plan to destroy the Republican Party in order to push for a pure far right agenda that would leave old style Republicans (like the late William F. Buckley or Barry Goldwater) screaming bloody murder about incipient fascism?
Franklin is part of today's evangelical "leadership" that has remained mute on the blasphemous misuse of the Bible in the infamous Psalm 109: 8 T-shirt scandal wherein the verse calls for the death of the President (dressed up as a "prayer request.") But Franklin has lent the Graham family name to Palin's book tour. And he stood next to her as she urged the defeat ("some changes") of all incumbent congressmen who vote to give health care to all Americans.
Franklin Graham-- the Islamophobe and gay-basher -- is now backing the symbol of the "America" that wants legal torture but not universal health care. He is impressed by the "spirituality" of a bare faced liar who equated health care reform with "death panels."
What's wrong with this picture? Or to put it in terms Franklin might use himself: What would Jesus say?
I know about God business nepotism. A little more background.
One morning in the early 1980s, I looked out over several acres of pale blue polyester and some twelve thousand Southern Baptist ministers. My evangelist father was being treated for lymphoma at the Mao Clinic, and in his place I'd been asked to deliver several keynote addresses on the evangelical/fundamentalist circuit. I was following in the proudly nepotistic American Protestant tradition, wherein the Holy Spirit always seems to lead the offspring and spouses of evangelical superstars to "follow the call."
A few weeks before, after being introduced by Pat Robertson, I had delivered a rousing take-back-America speech to thousands of cheering religious broadcasters. And not long after, I would appear at a huge pro-life rally in Denver. Cal Thomas--once the vice president of Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority, who later became a Fox News Commentator--would introduce me as "the best speaker in America." The "anointing" he said, was "clearly on this young man!" They were saying that I was a better speaker than my famous father.
At that moment the Schaeffers were evangelical royalty. When I was growing up in L'Abri, my parents' religious community in Switzerland, it was not unusual to find myself seated across the dining room table from Billy Graham's daughter or President Ford's son, even Timothy Leary. The English actress Glynis Johns used to come for Sunday high tea. I figured it was normal. They were just a few of the thousands who made it through our doors. Only later did I realize that L'Abri attracted a weirdly eclectic group of people who otherwise would not be caught dead in the same room. My childhood was, to say the least, unusual.
When Gerald Ford died in January of 2007, I recalled that the day he had assumed the presidency, his daughter-in-law Gayle was babysitting my daughter Jessica as her job in the work-study program at L'Abri, where Mike Ford, the President's son was a student.
Mom and Dad met with presidents Ford, Reagan and Bush Sr. and stayed in the White House several times. In the 1990s when my mother Edith---then in her eighties---heard that George W. Bush might run for the presidency, she exclaimed, "What? But Barbara asked me to pray especially for young George. She didn't think he had what it took to do anything."
Back to the present
As I explain in detail my new book Patience With God: Faith For People Who Don't Like Religion (Or Atheism)maybe the problem is that big time American religion is as corrupt -- and frankly nuts -- as Palin is. And maybe we are seeing the first stages of the sordid getting into bed with America's version of Evita Peron by our religious leaders, just as the Roman Catholic bishops in so many places seemed inordinately comfortable with emerging fascist leaders in the 1930s.
But who is Franklin as he blesses our very own Evita/Mussolini wannabe?
Sarah Palin's memoir is a perfect metaphor for what ails America and the Republican Party and evangelical Christianity. And now she's hooked up and been blessed by Franklin Graham the circle of low life scratching low life is almost complete.
Sarah Palin's fortunes are inextricably linked to the evangelical community, those same people that put George Jr in power and kept him there by voting for him and aiding and abetting the stealing of two elections to boot and the starting of a dumb war for no reason, thus the murdering of over 4000 of our troops and countless Iraqi civilians too. Her book is published by the Zondervan publishing house, formerly an evangelical family-run religious publishing powerhouse now owned by Rupert Murdoch. (Back in the day my family's and many evangelical leader friend's books -- for instance the Billy Graham books -- helped put Zondervan on the map, this was when I was a young religious nut activist in the 70s).
Palin's book was ghostwritten by the editor of the far, far loony right fundamentalist World magazine founded by Marvin Olasky (of which more in a moment). The advance was paid out of the huge profits Murdoch made off Rick-stop-gays-prop-8-Warren's Purpose Driven Life.
Celtic Diva at Blue Oasis website has this interesting bit of speculation on how Miss Palin has been traveling on her book tour:
Sarah Palin arrived in North Carolina Sunday by way of Asheville. She was slated to have a much-touted dinner with Franklin Graham and his father Billy. While this is a video made by a fan (so pardon the drippiness) it does provide a good view of the plane she arrived on...and the call number. You may also see some "interesting" dynamics at play:
"Linda, Thought I would let you know. The plane Sarah flew in to Asheville had the N number 262SP. The SP does not stand for Sarah Palin but the plane is owned by Samaritans Purse [one of Franklin Graham's organizations] . I checked it out at the FAA registry. Wonder if that plane is being used at Rochester and other book signing destinations? Samaritan donations being put to good use to haul Palin's carcass around."
As if that was not interesting enough, he wrote back later:
Tried to check the flight activity for this airplane (N262SP) at Flightwise.com. The flight activity for this plane is blocked by the owner. Guess he doesn't want anyone to know where he is flying. This is a good site to track an airplane's activity. Might come in handy for checking the use of AK state airplanes.
Yup, especially those Alaska planes now leased by Samaritan's Purse up here.
It seems that one must apply to have their plane's schedule made "private" and in doing so, a reason must be provided. I'd love to see the reason Franklin Graham gave for blocking access.
Want to know who Franklin is and why he and Sarah are such soul mates and why he's allegedly been secretly flying her around in a "non-profit" plane dedicated to an organization supposed to help the poor? Here's a guy that would do to America what he did to his mother.
Only in the strange—dare I say obscene—world of big-time American consumer religion could the following story be possible, combining as it does the ego, commercialism, betrayal, nepotism, and personality cult aspects of American "Christianity."
According to newspaper reports ("A Family at Cross-Purposes: Billy Graham's Sons Argue Over a Final Resting Place," Washington Post, December 13, 2006), a family feud erupted in Billy Graham's family over where he and his wife, Ruth, were to be buried. Was it to be in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the Billy Graham "museum" erected in the vicinity of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association headquarters? Or should their remains go to a small private site near their home in Montreat?
Franklin Graham, the 56-year-old "heir" to Billy's ministry, insisted that the burial spot be at the $28–$30 million, 40,000-square-foot museum. It creates a "farm setting" to look like the place where Billy grew up outside of Charlotte. Other family members—including Ruth Graham—wanted to have a quieter final resting place.
The Washington Post called the family "debate" a struggle worthy of the Old Testament, pitting brother against brother, son against mother. After Ruth's death, Billy was trapped in the middle pondering what to do with her remains. The Post said Ruth had signed a notarized document with six witnesses, saying she wanted to be buried near her home. After her death her wishes were ignored, and Billy was talked into doing what Franklin wanted.
Ruth (whom I knew and liked and who was close to my mother) was laid to "rest," against her wishes, in what amounts to an amusement park for the greater glory of—what? Consultants had worked with the Walt Disney Company to create a large "barn" and "silo" as a reminder of Billy Graham's early childhood on a dairy farm near Charlotte. Today, visitors wishing to visit Ruth's tomb pass through a 40-foot-tall glass entry cut in the shape of a cross and are greeted by a mechanical talking cow. From there, they walk on paths of straw through rooms of exhibits. At the end, a stone walkway shaped like a cross takes them to a garden where Ruth lies (as will Billy Graham when he dies). The Post also reported that tourists have more than one chance to get their names on a mailing list and later, therefore, to be solicited for funds.
And now Franklin Graham has dragged his father into backing Sarah Palin. As David Gibson noted in Politics Daily ("Sarah Palin's Visit with Billy Graham: Dinner, Prayer and a Photo-Op", posted 11/28/09)
[Billy] Graham was certainly effusive in his praise of the former Alaska governor and GOP veep candidate, releasing a statement after the meeting:
"It was an honor having Governor Palin and her family in our home this evening. I, like many people, have been impressed with her strong commitment to her faith, to family and love of country. I appreciated hearing her speak of her own spiritual journey and her life in Alaska. I shared with her my own memories of preaching in the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage in 1984. We had an opportunity to pray together. Life in the spotlight is not easy and I pray that whatever lies ahead for this family that their faith in God and His Son, Jesus Christ, would remain strong and that God would put a hedge of protection around her and all those she holds dear. Sarah and her family will always be welcome in the Graham home."
Graham's son and heir apparent, Franklin, told The Charlotte Observer that his father has "followed her career and likes her strong stand on faith...Daddy feels God was using her to wake America up."
He may also have burnished her thin foreign policy credentials, though only with the slice of the American electorate that reads the Bible looking for End Times scenarios. Franklin said Palin quizzed Graham what the Bible says about Israel, Iran and Iraq.
The evangelical/fundamentalist religion is no different in its core "values" from the celebrity-worshiping, entertainment-oriented society it claims to be a prophetic witness to. In this vein it's no coincidence that Billy Graham's alma mater, the aforementioned Wheaton College, also has a "museum" attached to its campus in which Disneyland-like experiences are offered. (The very same school from which Billy plucked his underage daughter to marry the son of a wealthy supporter his daughter had -- up to that moment -- never met!)
This attraction is described on the school's website as a "journey through the Museum [that] takes you on a Walk Through The Gospel, with a stirring three-dimensional presentation of the Christian message." But that is only after you have experienced an "encounter [with] one of the loveliest and most fascinating presentations of the basic Christian message in The Cross of The Millennium. From here, you'll enter a major section of the Museum which highlights the Life and Ministry of Billy Graham."
Since it turns out that Franklin Graham has cornered the market on his parent's remains for his amusement/fund-raising/empire maintaining park, (much as Palin has cornered the market for what's left of the Republican Party) perhaps Wheaton can cut a deal for at least a lock of hair, toenail, or some other Billy relic, to be placed in a suitable jewel-encrusted reliquary, or, given today's fashions, incorporated into a giant cross-shaped roller coaster ride. Now it looks like he's backing Palin in a bid to become her spiritual advisory/Rasputin.
Star power is seductive. Then again the Palins and the Grahams have family weirdness and dysfunction in common. Ruth Graham the daughter of Billy wrote to me after she read my memoir Crazy For God saying that she identified with my own journey out of the evangelical fold and saying that she and the other Graham children were "sacrificial lambs." Maybe Ruth Jr can counsel Sarah Palin's children in later years as they try to also get the ringing out of their ears of being thrown under the bus of public life for their mother's greater glory.
Here's a woman whose husband associated closely with the Alaska secessionist party, which itself associates with lunatic fringe secessionist groups and far right militias nationwide. Here's a woman who stabs John McCain in the back, the man who brought this small town mayor and one time Alaska Governor to national prominence. Here's a woman who quit the job of governor to become a full-time rabble rouser in the style of a Munich 1930s of beer hall putsch.
And what's her backing? The Rupert Murdoch/Reconstructionist Empire, the marriage of hard right capitalism with harder right Old Testament would-be theocracy. And now the cherry on the cake: Franklin Graham signs on.
They belong together. Franklin Graham is a religious extremist. His hateful words make that clear.
Franklin On Muslims:
"The god of Islam is ... a different god, and I believe a very evil and a very wicked religion." (CBC, Sunday, October 22, 2006)
Franklin On Nuclear Holy War/Genocide against Arabs:
"But let's use the weapons we have, the weapons of mass destruction if need be and destroy the enemy."
Franklin On blaming gays for AIDS:
"I believe that God created one man and one woman. He gave sex to us, God did, and sex is to be enjoyed and is to be used within the bounds that God created.... In sexual behavior outside the parameters that God created, we're at high risk, and we're seeing the evidence of this with HIV/AIDS. We're outside of these parameters, and we have a huge global problem now."
Franklin On the Katrina tragedy:
"This is one wicked city, OK? It's known for Mardi Gras, for Satan worship. It's known for sex perversion. It's known for every type of drugs and alcohol and the orgies and all of these things that go on down there in New Orleans... There's been a black spiritual cloud over New Orleans for years. They believe God is going to use that storm to bring revival."
Franklin On Hindus:
"..we traveled to the subcontinent of India, with its hundreds of millions of people locked in the darkness of Hinduism… These people were bound by Satan's power." Franklin Graham "Rebel With a Cause" (pg 138-139)
No wonder Franklin looked so at home giving the prayer and invocation at Bush Jr's inauguration! Bush/Graham they needed each other. And without Fox News Palin be nothing, just as without the evangelicals Bush would have been nothing. And without the 5 million Murdoch paid Palin for her book she'd be stuck scraping by on $100,000 speaking fees. Without the millions of evangelicals who are Fox News' audience Fox would not exist. And who ghosted the book for her? Another of Franklin Graham's good friends.
Lynn Vincent, the features editor of World, an fundamentalist flagship magazine.Vincent also ghost wrote the memoir of Lt. Gen. William G. "Jerry" Boykin, the former head of the Army's Special Forces Command, who believes that his job in the U.S. military was to defeat Satan for the Christian nation of America.
Of our enemies in Somalia, Boykin said, "I knew that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol." And why does the world hate us? "We are hated because we are a nation of believers." And how do we defeat terrorism? "[W]e come against them in the name of Jesus."
And what about the founder of World magazine? Marvin Olasky the editor in chief is a far right Reconstructionist who (like Franklin Graham) has been working to more or less turn America into a theocracy ever since the late 1980s and early 1990s. The 16-book Turning Point Christian Worldview series was largely funded by far right banker-fortune Howard Ahmanson, Jr.'s Fieldstead Institute, which champions the cause of "total integration of Biblical law into our lives." (Ahmanson once donated 150,000 to one of my far right projects in the early 80s).
Ahmanson funded four of Olasky's 30 books, and Michelle Goldberg, author of the book Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism, places Olasky in a crucial role to Christian reconstructionism and dominionism, saying "I'm not sure whether he actually identifies himself as a Christian reconstructionist, but he's very close to Christian reconstructionism."
Olasky -- someone who used to be a big fan of mine and my late father and quoted Dad and me often when I was a religious right leader -- was an adviser on Bush's first Presidential campaign, influencing Bush and the Republican Party.
So now we have it: a far right operative who -- with the help of a ghost writer who believes that Roosevelt was a secret communist -- trashes the Republican Party for her own personality cult agenda, was "blessed" by a preacher before she ran for governor who cast out "witches", who claims in her book the "God's hand" has been on her "every step in the way", and that she's going to "fulfill" destiny. She's funded directly via the huge advance by Murdoch and is coached by the Olasky/reconstructonist wing of the hard right. And now the Graham empire signs on to the emerging party of American theocracy.
As I said, between Murdoch, Sarah Palin and Franklin Graham we have "leaders" who believe torture should be legal but that health care should not be available to all. What would Jesus say about his American self-proclaimed representatives? Nothing. He'd be too busy throwing up.