text:
1:00 pm
French In Action "Orientation" How to learn French, what the course is, what it does, and how it works (in English).G
1:30 pm
French In Action "Genese I" In Paris, Mireille Belleau is hurrying to class at the Sorbonne. On her way, she exchanges greetings with several friends and acquaintances.G
2:00 pm
Western Tradition "Mesopotamia" Trade, religion, and technology are, in part, responsible for the great river civilizations of the Middle East.G
2:30 pm
Western Tradition "From Bronze to Iron" War and trade extend the power of the great empires of the Middle East.G
3:00 pm
Biography of America, A "Contemporary History" The entire team of historians joins Professor Miller in examining the last quarter of the twentieth century. A montage of events opens the program and sets the stage for a discussion of the period -- and of the difficulty of examining contemporary history with true historical perspective. Television critic John Leonard offers a footnote about the impact of television on the way we experience recent events. D
3:30 pm
Biography of America, A "Redemptive Imagination" Storytelling is a relentless human urge and its power forges with memory to become the foundation of history. Novelists Charles Johnson (Middle Passage), Arthur Golden (Memoirs of a Geisha), and Esmeralda Santiago (America's Dream) join Professor Miller in discussing the intersection of history and story. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. D
4:00 pm
Design Squad "Backyard Thrill Ride" The teams bring the adrenaline rush of an amusement park ride to the backyard of 13-year-old Andreas Hoffman.G
4:30 pm
Biz Kid$ "Introducing Entrepreneurs" You'll discover an entrepreneur is someone who sees a financial opportunity and acts upon it. Learn the stories behind the Frisbee, the Slinky, and blue jeans. Meet an entrepreneur who started a lemonade stand to raise money for playground equipment, then grew so successful she was able to make over an entire park. D
5:00 pm
The Electric Company "The Wordball Is My Oyster" Lisa gets a case of stage fright when she's cast as the lead in Hector's play. Can Lisa overcome her fears in time to save the play, or will she have to give her part to Annie?. D
5:30 pm
Cyberchase "A Tikiville Turkey Day" Hacker steals the legendary Egg of Benedicta - and the lush landscape of Tikiville wilts and turns brown. The spirit of the Tikians is crushed and Creech is in big trouble unless the CyberSquad can help! When their attempt recover the Egg from Hacker fails, they hatch a new plan to replace the Egg. By studying patterns in nature, can they recreate the nest and restore peace and harmony to Tikiville? EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVE: Find the rule for a pattern you observe in the natural world and you can use what you have learned to make similar patterns of your own. D
6:00 pm
Lap Quilting with Georgia Bonesteel "What's Up In Wyoming" Classes at Stitch'n Time Shop in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, are featured along with a tour with store owner Kim Kerr.G
6:30 pm
Paint This With Jerry Yarnell "The Guardian, Part 5" In this final segment, Jerry shows his students different techniques for finishing the details and highlights of the entire bird with a special emphasis on how to create feathers. Then he shows how to finalize details and snow on large tree trunk and limbs. D
7:00 pm
Mexico -- One Plate at a Time with Rick Bayless "Sustainable Aquaculture in the Rich Waters of Ensenada" Two of Ensenada's best seafood chefs, Benito Molina and Alain Genchi, join Rick for a lesson in mollusk farming. Juan Carlos Lapuente of Acuacultura Integral de Baja California takes the trio to the rich coastal waters to see oyster and mussel farming. Along the way, we learn that the quality of these waters is what makes the seafood from this area so outstanding. D
7:30 pm
Joanne Weir's Cooking Confidence "Simply Delicious" Joanne shares a tuna and white bean salad recipe straight from the Mediterranean that will make you want to dine al fresca. Charlie joins in and learns a technique for cooking juicy lemon perfect for tossing with herbs and orecchiette for a light and simple pasta salad. They finish the meal with pineapple sprinkled with a secret ingredient for a perfect ending. D
8:00 pm
This Old House "Getting Around In Cambridge" Kevin joins the legions of Cambridge locals by biking to work on a vintage bicycle restored locally. Tom shows Kevin how he's gotten rid of the steps to the roof deck. Roger arrives to tackle the giant stump left over from the old Norway maple. D
8:30 pm
Rick Steves' Europe "Edinburgh" Edinburgh is the historical and cultural heart of Scotland. We'll explore the castle, peek at the new parliament, dabble in the local literature, sip a little Scotch, get wrapped up in a kilt, and then stowaway on Her Majesty's yacht Britannia.G
9:00 pm
Travelscope "Valencia, Spain" Travelscope goes to sunny Valencia to rub shoulders with the locals at their cafes, pubs and local markets. Joseph visits the city's textile and ceramic artisans and gets the inside story on Las Fallas - Valencia's yearly fiery celebration. D
9:30 pm
Lidia's Italy In America "Sicily In New York City" The Sicilians were a large immigrant community in lower Manhattan and other areas of New York City, and they brought with them several dishes from their homeland. Today, Lidia celebrates the Sicilians with a Stuffed Calamari Dish and a Broccoli with Garlic and Anchovies. She then makes a Cappuccino Cake which she actually discovered in New Orleans - another locale with a very large Sicilian population. D
10:00 pm
Cook's Country from America's Test Kitchen "Family Favorites" Bridget reveals how to make the ultimate Swiss Steak. Then, Jack challenges Chris to a tasting of tomato paste. Next, Adam reveals his top picks for immersion blenders. D
10:30 pm
Simply Ming "Pan Sauces with Guest Norman Van Aken" Front and center on this week's episode of Simply Ming are Pan Sauces - an easy way to use what's right in your pan to create great flavor. Joining Ming in the kitchen to demonstrate this indispensable culinary technique is Chef Norman Van Aken. Together they cook on the fly using surprise ingredients and Ming's East-West pantry to create: Pan Seared Steak, Beet Salad and Hash Browns and Pork Chop, Kimchee-Kale Pan Sauce and Sweet Potato Cake. D
11:00 pm
Mexico -- One Plate at a Time with Rick Bayless "A Whole New Enchilada" Rick's out to dispel the notion that an enchilada is all about smothering tortillas in sauce and gooey cheese. At Cafe Azul y Oro in Mexico City, he shows us the iconic Mexican version of the dish: a corn tortilla in a red mole sauce and rolled around a light, simple chicken filling. From that classic formula things can, of course, get more inventive and Rick shares with us one of the more unusual, though still classically grounded enchiladas on Chef Ricardo Munoz-Zurita's menu: an enchilada of jamaica, or dried hibiscus flowers that tastes like a cross between pickled beets and cabbage. D
11:30 pm
Rick Steves' Europe "Edinburgh" Edinburgh is the historical and cultural heart of Scotland. We'll explore the castle, peek at the new parliament, dabble in the local literature, sip a little Scotch, get wrapped up in a kilt, and then stowaway on Her Majesty's yacht Britannia.G


text:
Spring 2017: Been there, was that.
This season the collection is inspired by the energy of music subcultures from the 80s. Blurring the lines between key movements of that era, New Romantics & Goths, Metal heads, B-boys are some of the movements referenced. A fusion of the styles from each movement plays across genders to deliver a fresh new take for 2017. The notion to play and move between movements lives strong through the lines, as does the use of key stylistic elements from each genre, key items include the trench, bold graphic tees, and pastel track tops. The colour palette features accents from pastel to bold primaries against a foundation of blacks, greys and white.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
pantheman77 needed a new print or packaging design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 111 designs submitted by 30 freelance designers.
The Endless Weekend.
I am a Photographer, Sailor, and World Traveler. This summer I will embark on a trip around the world that will take me to 26 countries. I am creating my blog and website before i leave so i can post HDR photos and Hd video each day. This is not the first time I have run away someplace exotic.
I got on a plane when I turned 18 and moved to the caribbean with 300 dollars in my pocket. I am becoming one of the worlds experts in lifestyle coaching and am writing a book.
If you would like more about me and my story please the attached article entitled Stealing Time. You can also look at a rough draft of the table to content of the book in the file called table of contents.
My audience will consist of travelers,backpackers,sailors and people who dream about freedom. Here are 2 sites that have the same type of audience i will be going after.
1) http://www.stuckincustoms.com/
2) http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/trav…h-america/
I am interested in a header with a travel, adventure theme or just the name and tag line in a cool way similar to cris guillebeau.
Please read the requirement in the attached pdf and check out the jpgs in files.
I am very interested in the same audience that stuck in customs has but not the same header they have. The reason i am including the site is that i will be using the same dimensions they have for my blog.
My site will look almost the same as far as the layout as http://www.stuckincustoms.com/. It will have a blog layout with the exact same dimensions for the center and the side bar on the right. I measured it at about 1225 pixels across. That would be a good size for my header also. I actually am not a big fan of how the header looks on stuck in customs and i don't intend to use the same color scheme he does on his website. I intend to keep my website looking clean so my photos can stand out more. I will use light colors like white and grey on the borders and sides of the blog however i am open on what colors to use in the header.
I would like a header designed that says the name The Endless Weekend
with a optional tag line that says Adventures in Freedom, Travel and Lifestyle Mastery.
I am open to how to present this. It can be a bold way to say the name such as a neat font against a white background. One of my favorite designers is a man called http://www.fabienbarral.com/. I am including jpg's in the files of print's that he did that i think look neat. If we are going to go with a simple look i like the look of print on a light colored or white paper. I think it gives it more texture.
Feel free to incorporate maps compasses airplanes passport stamps into your design but try to keep it looking clean still. The name should still come across, as well as a color scheme of some kind so i can build a website around it.


text:
Charalambos Beslemes 11/3/2006 12:31:52 AMWell done, congrats! #550505
RaveN Tan 11/21/2006 5:31:39 AMCongratulation... Nice contrast and just love the light blue interacting with the rocks...
Lens Canon EFS 17-85 mm, ISO 100, 25 sec, f25, 68 mm
Exif: FNumber: 25, ExposureBiasValue: 0/2, ExposureTime: 25, Flash: flash did not fire, ISO: 100, WhiteBalance: manual white balance
Uploaded on 9/30/2006 4:49:11 PM
Camera: Canon EOS 20D Digital SLR Camera
Copyright for this gallery photo belongs solely to Miguel A. Leyva. Images may not be copied, downloaded, or used in any way without the expressed, written permission of the photographer.
Log in to follow or message this photographer or report this photo.


text:
Happy 241st Birthday Jane Austen!
Worth re-posting every year (and slightly edited and updated) for your FYI...
Remembering and celebrating her birthday today, Jane Austen, the woman who wrote the original Pride and Prejudice novel (which had been made into several TV and Film adaptations including the 2005 film, Pride & Prejudice), which was her first (can you believe unsuccessful?!) submission to a publisher back in 1797 (218 years ago) titled "First Impressions" (later changed to "Pride and Prejudice"). She revised "First Impressions" and published it entitled "Pride and Prejudice" in 1813 (203 years ago, 11 months ago this year!).
Her only six published novels (Pride and Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion, and Northanger Abbey) were all popular (esp. Pride and Prejudice, of course) and made into several TV and film adaptations for over 78 years (since 1938) to this day.
Here are some interesting Jane Austen trivia (via JA's profile on imdb.com)...
Jane Austen Trivia
- Listed in "People Weekly"s "Most Intriguing People" list. (December 25, 1995/January 1, 1996 issue)
- Was fluent in French.
- The Prince Regent was such a fan of her work that he asked her to dedicate her next book to him, which she did.
- In July of 2002 a first edition of "Pride and
Prejudice" was auctioned and sold for £40,000, nearly doubling the
previous record set for an Austen novel in 2001 of £23,500.
- Her books have never been out of print since they were first published.
- Between 1900 and 1975, there were more than 60
radio, television and stage productions of Austen novels. The first film
adaptation was in 1940.
- Her brother Edward's descendant married the daughter of Louis Mountbatten (aka Lord Mountbatten; assassinated in 1979 by the IRA), who in turn was a descendant of QueenVictoria.
- Anne Hathaway portrayed her in Becoming Jane (2007).
- Seventh generation aunt (through her brother Edward) of actress Anna Chancellor, who appeared in Jane's favored romance "Pride and Prejudice" (1995) mini-series and who also narrates the documentary The Real Jane Austen (2002) (TV).
- The film Clueless (1995) is based on Austen's novel Emma.
Jane Austen Related Links of Interest
- Jane Austen - IMDB Profile
- Jane Austen on Wikipedia
- The Republic of Pemberley (the largest Jane Austen site on the web)
- The Jane Austen Society of Australia
- The Jane Austen Society of North America (aka JASNA)
- The Jane Austen Society of United Kingdom
- Jane Austen.Org
- Timeline results for Jane Austen
- Austenprose (Laurel Anne's Jane Austen Blog)
- Austen Authors
- The Jane Austen Centre
- Jane Austen Today
- Jane Austen World


text:
Leah Kral
Leah Kral and her husband Rick served together in Jamaica as Peace Corps volunteers. They worked in inner-city Kingston from 2002-2004, where Leah taught information technology at a teachers' college and founded a campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity.
After completing their service Leah and Rick both came to Duquesne University as Peace Corps Fellows, Rick in the Graduate School of Business Administration, Leah in the Policy Center. Of her experience in the Policy Center Leah wrote, "After two years living on a fairly meager income as a Peace Corps volunteer, graduate school had seemed like a financial impossibility. Thankfully, the Community Development Fellowship enabled me to afford a quality graduate education, while at the same time gaining valuable experience working in the local community.
During her first year in the Policy Center Leah worked part-time as a Fellow for the City of Pittsburgh's workforce development initiative. "During my time there, I gained valuable experience participating in program evaluation. I learned much about monitoring the quality of contracts with community service providers. I gained a sense for the challenges faced by communities in administering and monitoring grants to achieve the best possible outcomes, no small task.
"Duquesne provided an opportunity to spend a summer studying European management at The University of Cologne, Germany. Courses such as 'Research Methods' and 'Quantitative Analysis' in particular provided critical and analytic skills that I use on a daily basis. Particularly memorable was the opportunity to work closely with Fr. Sawicki and Dr. Moors on a master's thesis on a topic I cared deeply about, property rights. Both the degree and the fellowship opened up career opportunities in the policy world that I wouldn't have had otherwise."
After graduating from Duquesne, Leah and Rick moved to Washington, D.C., where Leah began a one-year, paid program in nonprofit management run by the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation. After completing that program she was hired by one the foundation's grantees, The Mercatus Center at George Mason University, a research center that focuses on the role of markets in moving nations from poverty to prosperity. There Leah works directly with the chief operating officer in a management and program evaluation role.


text:
At IF we have lots of different kinds of dropouts, each type is made out 3 different materials: Steel, Stainless Steel and Titanium. Today we're going to take a look at a few of them, up close and personal style.
Below are pictured the steel disc dropouts. They are covered in a scale that is a result of the heat treatment process:
58 degree steel road bike dropouts (we use different angle dropouts to match up to the angles of the seatstays):
Steel track drops (with dried coffee stains):
Mitered titanium track drops:
Titanium road dropouts used on bikes with carbon monostays:
Steel slider dropouts:
Finally, titanium slider dropouts:
If there anything you would like us to FOCUS on, let us know in the comments below...
Thursday, April 30, 2009
FOCUS: Dropouts
Posted by Indy Fab at 1:44 PM
3 comments:
- Dan Mc said...
I'd love to see a FOCUS on your tubing inventory.
- April 30, 2009 at 2:30 PM
- scott said...
I'd love to see you focus on employee bikes. I am always curious what your personal rides look like.
- April 30, 2009 at 2:37 PM
- daisuke yano (if-japan) said...
tyler, FOCUS on employee's girl/boy friends or wife/husbands.
- April 30, 2009 at 8:34 PM
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Your browser does not support iframes.
Across a vast ocean, 11 boys from Bedford, Virginia are buried overlooking the windswept beaches of Normandy. Bedford lost 19 during the D-Day liberation…the greatest proportional loss suffered by a single town on that day. In words inscribed on the wall of a chapel that lies amidst the rows of crosses we are given the following charge: "Think not only upon their passing. Remember the glory of their spirit."
Last week, President Barack Obama was in Cairo, Egypt to give a speech that his administration billed as an appeal to a new beginning between the United States and the Muslim world. It did not disappoint.
I got to spend the end of last week in the company of heroes.
On Thursday and Friday, I attended the Overlord Echoes conference, hosted by Liberty University and the National D-Day Memorial Foundation. Along with the historians, several World War II veterans spoke. There were soldiers, including a silver star recipient, a P-51 pilot and an airborne soldier who arrived in Normandy on D-Day via a glider.
Anyone familiar with the political mindset at Lynchburg's Liberty University should not be surprised that the little college has banned its Democratic party student chapter. The real shock is that it ever allowed one in the first place.
The very existence of the humble and courageous chapter, a handful of proud Democrats in a lion's den of right-wing religious fanatics, is due to the high popularity of President Barack Obama among young people.
This is the remainder of my attempt at the theological response that David McLoughlin sought for his letter published in our March 13 edition.
I'll make one last note on the Old Testament before going on to Mr. McLoughlin's allegation that the New Testament contains multiple, conflicting Christologies.
Staunton River will get its office space renovated this summer but students at Bedford Primary School will have to continue to wait to see if they will get a gymnasium. Let's hope that wait isn't too long.
Keep the Memorial going
The headlines of both the Roanoke Times and The News&Advance read "National D-Day Memorial at risk of closing."(May29, 2009. ) As a volunteer of the Memorial and a citizen of Bedford County I implore the residents of Central Virginia not to let that happen.
Needed: More job fairs
On behalf of the Bedford County Ministerial Association I'd like to thank Thaxton Baptist Church for holding a job fair on Friday, May 15. On that day representatives of 12 companies that are hiring met with 30 people who came looking for work. I have no idea of the results but I'll bet somebody who was unemployed on May 15 will be working soon, if not working already, as a result of that job fair. If so then every bit of work that went into that event was worth it.
Liberty University decided last week to remove its financial support of the LU College Democrats group, a move that seems in keeping with the pro-life and pro-family principles the college espouses. In fact, the university appears to be bending over backwards to make some accommodation for the group, but, apparently, to little avail.
As the summer months quickly approach and families start to plan vacations, our country continues to struggle with high energy costs. Unfortunately, Congressman Henry Waxman, Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and other Democrats in Congress are strongly pushing legislation which implements a cap and trade system or more accurately: cap and tax. The simple truth behind the Waxman energy plan is that it raises taxes, kills jobs and will lead to more government intrusion.
Like a dazed dragon you thought you'd slain, former vice president Dick Cheney has arisen from the muck and the ruin of the Bush administration to become the new spokesman for something he really believes in: torture.
Republicans may have thought they had it bad enough when their only spokesman seemed to be radio fanatic Rush Limbaugh. Now they're saddled with the angry and smug countenance of a man many of them are horrified to see as the new face of their party.
In our March 13 edition, a frequent letter-writer named David McLoughlin, wrote expressing skepticism about the Bible (Which Bible?) and who Jesus is. Then, in our May 13 edition, he noted that nobody responded to his previous letter and asked if that means there is no theological response.
With the thought in mind that atheists have their own holiday (April 1), area pastors may have simply chosen to ignore the letter. Here, at the risk of demonstrating that I'm not as wise as they, is my attempt at a theological response.
Republicans and Democrats alike should at least be able to give President Obama credit for stating this truth about the abortion debate to the 2009 Notre Dame graduating class Sunday: "No matter how much we want to fudge it ... the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable."
Don't revise zoning laws: abolish them
As the Bedford County Supervisors are considering a major revision to the county's zoning laws, now is the time to ask a fundamental question: Who really owns the land?
Amazingly each year there is a national immigration 'lottery' by which approximately 50,000 foreign nationals get green cards to become legal permanent residents of the U.S. Each successful applicant is chosen at random and given permanent resident status based on pure luck. The visa lottery program threatens national security, results in the unfair administration of our immigration laws, and encourages a cottage industry for fraudulent opportunists.
Whether you're a marketing genius, a frustrated artist or a history buff, there's a task for you in your community. Turn a habit or a passion into a way to help others. To submit information for your non-profit group, contact Mary Wiley, Bedford Community Health Foundation, at 586-5292 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
Only a few weeks remain now until Virginia Democrats must pick their nominee for governor to face Republican Attorney General Bob McDonnell in the fall.
The paper's policy forbids a direct endorsement of any candidate by its correspondents and writers, and I'm happy to abide by that. But I can tell you what many Democrats are weighing as they consider whether to select state senator Creigh Deeds, former delegate Brian Moran, and former DNC chair Terry McAuliffe.
Congratulations are in order for the Bedford area's General Assembly delegation.
The Family Foundation released its report card for the Virginia General Assembly, covering our state legislature for 2008 and 2009. The delegates and state senators were rated on their record for family-friendly votes. Senator Steve Newman, Delegate Lacey Putney and Delegate Kathy Byron all received a score of 100 percent.
The temperatures are up, the sunscreen is out and the boats are back in full force at Smith Mountain Lake.
National Safe Boating Week is May 16 – 22, which makes now the right time to remind boaters to be safe on the water. "First and foremost, boaters need to think about life jackets and plan to wear them," a release from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries states. Why? Because a significant number of boaters who lose their lives by drowning each year would be alive today had they worn their life jackets.
Appreciates work
On behalf of the Bower Center for the Arts and the Wharton Memorial Foundation, we want to express our appreciation for the work done by Amy Carter as our executive director. As some of you may be aware, in this period of economic downturn, we, like many other non-profit organizations, are unable to continue to fund a salaried position. We therefore regret that we have had to eliminate the executive director position which Amy Carter has so ably filled.
Copyright © 2019
The Bedford Bulletin is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Bedford County and Bedford, VA and the surrounding area.


text:
A15 is available in all stainless steel ATEX approved versions. Certified for the use in Z1/2 and 21/22 (GAS and DUST).
This is essential when no electricity is allowed such as refineries, chemical-, paint-, steel industries. The NON electrical compressed air machines can also be a valid and an economical alternative to other Z1/21 approved electrical machines (3-phases).


text:
Marketed by a number of distributors, the cyanine dyes (Cy2, Cy3, Cy5, Cy7, and their derivatives) are readily available as reactive dyes or fluorophores coupled to a wide variety of secondary antibodies, dextrin, streptavidin, and egg-white avidin. The cyanine dyes generally have broader absorption spectral regions than members of the Alexa Fluor family, making them somewhat more versatile in the choice of laser excitation sources for confocal and fluorescence microscopy. For example, using the 547-nanometer spectral line from an argon-ion laser, Cy2 is about twice as efficient in fluorescence emission as Alexa Fluor 488. In an analogous manner, the 514-nanometer argon-ion laser line excites Cy3 with a much higher efficiency than Alexa Fluor 546, a spectrally similar probe. Emission profiles of the cyanine dyes are comparable in spectral width to the Alexa Fluor series.
The PtK2 cell culture appearing in the digital image above was immunofluorescently labeled with primary anti-tubulin mouse monoclonal antibodies followed by goat anti-mouse Fab fragments conjugated to Cy3. The epithelial cells were also stained with DAPI, which preferentially binds to nuclear DNA. Images were recorded in grayscale with a QImaging Retiga Fast-EXi camera system coupled to an Olympus BX-51 microscope equipped with bandpass emission fluorescence filter optical blocks provided by Omega Optical. During the processing stage, individual image channels were pseudocolored with RGB values corresponding to each of the fluorophore emission spectral profiles.
© 1995-2019 by Michael W. Davidson and The Florida State University. All Rights Reserved. No images, graphics, software, scripts, or applets may be reproduced or used in any manner without permission from the copyright holders. Use of this website means you agree to all of the Legal Terms and Conditions set forth by the owners.
This website is maintained by our


text:
One of my favourite SEM tools through the years has been the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, it's provided insight into sites of the past, content, look and feel and I have even been able to retrieve content from crashed sites using their services. Now this great tool has got a well due make-over and is looking good. The GUI and the way that they have made it more simple to use is fantastic, I have however experienced some data collection problems with the screens only showing me the word "soon…" with three dots behind it.
Optimize Your Web
European Search Personality of the year 2014, Kristján Már Hauksson, is the Co-Founder and COO of SMFB Engine, based in Oslo, Norway. This newfound digital activation/marketing agency works closely with the award winning creative agency, SMFB, in making sure that each idea has the digital presence to make it fly. Kristján is a publish author on the topic Internet Marketing and Search Engine Marketing.http://www.smfbengine.com


text:
Greatest Game Cosplay Ever (This Week): Atomic Wonder Woman, Demon Hunter, Officer Vi + More
Do you like to play with others? Well, we love multiplayer games here at Arcade Sushi, and we're honoring them today in the Greatest Game Cosplay Ever by featuring outfits from some of the most popular massively multiplayer online titles. You'll see some of the most famous cosplayers decked out in outfits inspired by characters from games like League of Legends, Infinite Crisis and WildStar. Check them out below and get ready to feel the need to jump online.
Are you a cosplayer or a cosplay photographer? Maybe you're both! If you have a particular cosplay or portfolio you'd like us to check out, please submit a link to John-at-ArcadeSushi.com. Additionally, if there are any cosplayers or photographers that we've highlighted that wish their works to be removed, please reach out to let us know.
All of the photos were shot by the talented Martin Wong. Support him and his work by heading to his Facebook and becoming a fan.
Lindsay Elyse as Rule 63 Ezreal (League of Legends)
Jessica Nigri as WildStar Character (WildStar)
Lisa Lou Who as Officer Vi (League of Legends)
Lindsay Elyse as Navi (The Legend of Zelda)
Danquish as Yaiba (Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z)
Monika Lee as Demon Hunter (Diablo 3)
Meagan Marie as Atomic Wonder Woman (Infinite Crisis)
Monika Lee as Esper Aurin (WildStar)
Danielle Beaulieu as Haunted Zyra (League of Legends)
Vandersnark as Kayle (League of Legends)


text:
Burning Questions for "Game of Thrones" Season 8by IMDb-Editors | last updated - 28 Aug 2017
"Game of Thrones" Season 7 has ended, leaving us with hope, excitement, dread, and also several questions. Here's what we'd like to see addressed in Season 8. Be warned: Spoilers ahead!
9 images
"Game of Thrones" Season 7 has ended, leaving us with hope, excitement, dread, and also several questions. Here's what we'd like to see addressed in Season 8.
Be warned: Spoilers ahead!
What does Jon Snow's true lineage mean for his relationship with Daenerys Targaryen?
There's no denying it now: Jon Snow (Kit Harington) is the heir to the Iron Thone. Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) confirmed it with a three-eyed-raven look back in time to the wedding of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen and the subsequent birth of their son, Aegon Targaryen (Jon Snow). What this unfortunately means for the new couple is that Daenerys is not only Jon's aunt, but her claim to the Iron Throne is now potentially at risk now that Jon is in line. We don't know how long it will take for Jon and Daenerys to discover who he really is. But once they do, there's a good chance everything is going to become very complicated.
Did Tormund Giantsbane survive the attack on the Wall?
The last time we saw Tormund Giantsbane (Kristofer Hivju), he was warning everyone to run for their lives as the undead Viserion (ridden by the Night King) toppled the Wall with a stream of blue fire. Although Tormund was still high up when the wall crumbled and fell, we did not see him go down with it. So, we are holding out hope that in Season 8 our favorite wildling will crawl out of the snowy rubble and march south to continue his fight for the living.
Will Cersei's duplicity put Westeros in jeopardy?
When Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) announced that she would not only call a truce with Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) but also march her armies north to join in the battle against the dead, we figured it was too good to be true. And indeed it was. Now we know that Cersei plans to hire the 20,000-strong mercenary army, the Golden Company, to bolster her forces. But will she wait until the battle between the living and dead is decided? The doomsday scenario is that Cersei's anger and paranoia will drive her make an early move against Daenerys, which could ultimately give the Night King the advantage he needs to be the one who ends up on the Iron Throne.
How is Jorah going to react when he learns of Daenerys and Jon's relationship?
Poor Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen). He's survived exile and greyscale to be by the side of his queen. And now … Jon Snow. Although Daenerys dashed his hopes for a relationship a few seasons ago, we're not sure how he might react to the possibility of Jon and Daenerys. Will he stoically continue at her side? Will he council against it? Will he sacrifice himself in battle to prove his love to a queen he will never have? Whatever the outcome, we feel for Jorah, forever devoted to a queen who's destined to be always beyond his reach.
What's next for Sir Jamie?
The fact that Jamie Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) survived a wicked scene with his sister, where Cersei (Lena Headey) essentially put him on private trial and called him a traitor and conspirator, was a surprise. Though he's long been one of our faves, Jamie's become more of a background player on the show. And we were certain that the Mountain was about to chop him down on Cersei's command. We last saw him heading out on his own after the first flakes of snow fell at King's Landing, and we're curious as to how he will play into Season 8. Will he become an advisor of sorts to Daenerys? And regardless of where he's headed, will Bronn (Jerome Flynn) join him?
Does Theon have a chance against Euron?
Theon (Alfie Allen) made our hearts soar in the season finale as he mustered the courage to have a brotherly talk with Jon Snow. Then he proved himself to the small band of Ironborne warriors loyal to Yara (Gemma Whelan) to go after Euron (Pilou Asbæk) and save his sister, their queen. It's an impossible mission and yet Theon's only option as this point, and we're back in love with him for choosing his own fate. First, he has to realize that his uncle's not headed back to the Iron Islands though, right?
Who will lead House Stark into the long winter?
We're not exactly sure when Sansa (Sophie Turner) and Arya (Maisie Williams) became aware of Littlefinger's (Aidan Gillen) plot to pit them against each other. But watching the tables turn on Littlefinger inside Winterfell's Great Hall was not merely one of the season finale's best scenes: It will go down in Westerosi folklore as a great example of how the North remembers. But this leaves Sansa without an advisor and Arya straying from her kill list as winter has arrived. And soon they will learn that Jon Snow is not their brother. Assuming Sansa becomes the Queen of the North, will Arya perhaps become an advisor?
Is a season finale truly a season finale without a peep from Lord Varys?
Usually there's enough dialogue to go around on "Game of Thrones," but we were surprised and disappointed not to get any sort of shady quip from Lord Varys (Conleth Hill) during the 70-plus minutes of "The Dragon and the Wolf." With essentially every principal character present in the dragon pit scene and then Tyrion's solo mission to convince Cersei to enter into a truce, we have to imagine that Conleth had a line or two in the shooting script. He was there for the drama, after all! Ditto for Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson), whose face we glimpsed at the opening of the episode but who never uttered a word or a command.


text:
The Final Comeback of Axl Rose
Four years after disappearing from public view, Axl Rose is back on the scene, looking like a wax figure of himself, absorbing the crushing blows of Tommy Hilfiger, biting the legs of security guards, and gyrating, shrieking, and storming off stages across the land. John Jeremiah Sullivan grapples with the ghosts of the greatest—or weirdest—frontman of all time
He is from nowhere. I realize that sounds coyly rhetorical—in this day and age, it's even a boast, right? Socioeconomic code for I went to a second-tier school and had no connections and made all this money myself.
Yeah, I don't mean it that way. I mean he is from nowhere. Given the relevant maps and a pointer, I think I could convince even the most exacting minds that when the vast and blood-soaked jigsaw puzzle that is this country's regional scheme coalesced into more or less its present configuration after the Civil War, somebody dropped a piece, which left a void, and they called the void Central Indiana. I'm not trying to say there's no there there. I'm trying to say there's no there. Think about it; let's get systematic on it. What's the most nowhere part of America? The Midwest, right? But once you get into the Midwest, you find that each of the different nowherenesses has laid claim to its own somewhereness. There are the lonely plains in Iowa. In Michigan there is a Gordon Lightfoot song. And Ohio has its very blandness and averageness, faintly comical, to cling to. All of them have something. And now I invite you to close your eyes, and when I say "Indiana"…blue screen, no? And we are speaking only of Indiana generally, which includes Southern Indiana, where I grew up, and Northern Indiana, which touches a Great Lake. We have not even narrowed it down to Central Indiana. Central Indiana? That's like, "Where are you?" "I'm nowhere." "Go there." And when I asked Jeff Strange, a morning-rock deejay in Lafayette, how he thought about this part of the world—for instance, did he think of it as the South? after all, it's a Klan hot spot (which I am inclined to read as a somewhat desperate affectation); or did he think of it as the Midwest or what—you know what he told me? He goes, "Some people here would call it 'the region.'"
That's where he's from.
William Bruce Rose Jr.; William Bruce Bailey; Bill Bailey; William Rose; Axl Rose; W. Axl Rose.
That's where he's from. Bear that in mind.
On May 15, he came out in jeans and a black leather jacket and giant black sunglasses, all lens, that made him look like a wasp-man. We had been waiting—I don't really know how to calculate how long we'd been waiting. It was the third of the four comeback shows in New York, at the Hammerstein Ballroom. The doors had opened at seven o'clock. The opening act had been off by eight thirty. It was now after eleven o'clock. There'd already been fights on the floor, and it didn't feel like the room could get any tenser without some type of event. I was next to a really nice woman from New Jersey, a hairdresser, who told me her husband "did pyro" for Bon Jovi. She kept text-messaging one of her husband's friends, who was "doing pyro" for this show, and asking him, "When's it gonna start?" And he'd text-message back, "We haven't even gone inside." I said to her at one point, "Have you ever seen a crowd this pumped up before a show?" She goes, "Yeah, they get this pumped up every night before Bon Jovi." I didn't want to report that last part, but in the post-James Frey era, you have to watch your topknot.
Then he was there. And apologies to the nice woman, but people do not go that nuts when Bon Jovi appears. People were: Going. Nuts. He is not a tall man—I doubt even the heels of his boots (red leather) put him at over five feet ten. He walked toward us with stalking, cartoonish pugnaciousness. I feel like all anybody talks about with Axl anymore is his strange new appearance, but it is hard to get past the unusual impression he makes. To me he looks like he's wearing an Axl Rose mask. He looks like a man I saw eating by himself at a truck stop in Monteagle, Tennessee, at two o'clock in the morning about twelve years ago. He looks increasingly like the albino reggae legend Yellowman. His mane evokes a gathering of strawberry red intricately braided hempen fibers, the sharply twisted ends of which have been punched, individually, a half inch into his scalp. His chest hair is the color of a new penny. With the wasp-man sunglasses and the braids and the goatee, he reminds one of the monster in Predator, or of that monster's wife on its home planet. When he first came onto the scene, he often looked, in photographs, like a beautiful, slender, redheaded 20-year-old girl. I hope the magazine will run a picture of him from about 1988 so the foregoing will seem a slightly less creepy observation and the fundamental spade-called-spade exactitude of it will be laid bare. But if not, I stand by it. Now he has thickened through the middle—muscly thickness, not the lard-ass thickness of some years back. He grabs his package tightly, and his package is huge. Only reporting. Now he plants his feet apart. "You know where you are?" he asks, and we bellow that we do, we do know, but he tells us anyway. "You're in the jungle, baby," he says, and then he tells us that we are going to die.
He should be pleased, I think, not only at the extreme way that we are truly freaking out to see him but also at the age range on view: There are hipsters who were probably born around the time Appetite got released, all the way up to aging heads who've handed in their giant rock hair for grizzled rattails, with plenty of microgenerations in between. But why should I even find this worth remarking? The readers of Teen magazine, less than one year ago, put him at number two (behind "Grandparents") on the list of the 100 Coolest Old People…Axl Rose, who hasn't released a legitimate recording in thirteen years and who, during that time, turned into an almost Howard Hughes—like character—ordering in, transmitting sporadic promises that a new album, inexplicably titled Chinese Democracy, was about to drop, making occasional, startling appearances at sporting events and fashion shows, things like that—looking a little feral, looking a little lost, looking a little like a man who's been given his first day's unsupervised leave from a state facility. Now he has returned. The guitarists dig in, the drummer starts his I-Am-BUil-DINg-UP-TO-THE!-VERSE! pounding section, and although it may give away certain deficiencies of taste on my part, I must say: The sinister perfection of that opening riff has aged not a day.
There's only one thing to do, and you can feel everybody doing it: comparing this with the MTV thing in 2002. If you've seen that, you may find a recounting here of its grotesqueries de trop, but I say, never forget. About the guitar player Buckethead. About the other guitar player. About Axl's billowing tentlike football jersey or the heartbreaking way he aborted his snaky slide-foot dance after only a few seconds on the stage projection, like, "You wanna see my snaky dance? Here, I'll do my snaky dance. Oh shit, I think I just had a small stroke. Run away." Or the audible gasp for oxygen on the second "knees" in Sh-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na knees, kn[gasp!]ees. The running and singing that came more and more to resemble stumbling and squawking as the interminable minutes groaned by. The constant, geriatric-seeming messing with the earpiece monitor. I'll stop. My point is, it's different tonight. For one thing, these guys can handle or choose to handle Slash's parts. Bucket-head has been replaced by a guy called Bumblefoot (again, reporting), and Bumblefoot can shred. So can Robin Finck, formerly of Nine Inch Nails. Remember those experiments where they shot up spiders with acid? If they'd shot up storks instead, and one of the storks had broken loose and dressed in womany wizard's clothing and learned how to play guitar, that'd be Robin Finck (but then, all extremely tall people are inherently misshapen). Listen, these guys aren't fake-booking, like happened on MTV. Everything's note for note. And although we could get into the whole problem of virtuosity as it applies to popular music—namely, that for some reason people who can play anything will, nine times out of ten, when asked to make something up, play something terrible—still, if you mean to replace your entire band one instrument at a time and tell them, "Do it like this," you'll be wanting to find some monster players.
The whole arc of the show has this very straightforward plot, and I hope my crudity is in the service of truth-telling here: It's a battle between the dissonance of seeing all these guys who were not in Guns N' Roses jumping around with Axl and playing Guns N' Roses songs—between the off-putting and even disturbing dissonance of that—and the enduring qualities of the songs themselves. The outcome will determine whether tonight was badass or "Sort of sad, but it's Axl, y'all." What happened? Well, call me a twisted fanboy, but I thought he won. His voice is back, for starters. He was inhabiting the notes. And his dancing—I don't quite know how to say this. It has matured. From the beginning, he's been the only indispensable white male rock dancer of his generation, the only one worth imitating in mockery. I consider the moment in the "Patience" video when he does slow-motion snaky slide-foot dance while letting his hands float down as if they were feathers in an airless room—one fleeting near-pause in their descent for each note that Slash emphasizes in his transition to the coda—the greatest white male rock dance moment of the video age. What Axl does is lovely, I'm sorry. If I could, I would be doing that as I walk to the store. I would wake up and dance every morning like William Byrd of Westover, and that would be my dance. And while I cannot say he is dancing as well tonight as he used to, that so fluidly are his heels gliding out and away from his center they look each to have been tapped with a wand that absolved them of resistance and weight, and although he does at particular moments remind one of one's wasted uncle trying to "do his Axl Rose" after a Super Bowl party, he is nevertheless acquitting himself honorably. He is doing dammit just dropped a bowling ball on my foot spin-with-mike-stand dance; he is doing prance sideways with mike stand like an attacking staff-wielding ritual warrior between-verses dance. And after each line he is gazing at the crowd with those strangely startled yet fearless eyes, as though we had just surprised him in his den, tearing into some carrion.
Very-near-verbatim exchange with my wife, Mariana, June 27, 2006:
HER: What?
ME: Oh, my God. Axl just bit a security guard's leg in Sweden. He's in jail.
HER: Is that gonna affect your interview with him?
ME: No, I don't think they ever really considered letting me talk to him… Biting somebody on the leg, though—it forces you to picture him in such a, like a, disgraced position.
HER: Does anybody help Axl when that happens?
I'd been shuffling around a surprisingly pretty, sunny, newly renovated downtown Lafayette for a couple of days, scraping at whatever I could find. I saw the house where he grew up. I looked at his old yearbook pictures in the public library. Everyone had his or her Axl story. He stole a TV from that house there. Here's where he tried to ride his skateboard on the back of a car and fell and got road rash all up his arm. He came out of this motel with a half-naked woman and some older guys were looking at her and one of 'em threw down a cigarette, not meaning anything by it, but Axl freaked out and flipped 'em off and they beat the crap out of him. Hard to document any of this stuff. Still, enough Wanted On Warrant reports exist for Axl's Indiana years to lend credence to the claim that the city cops and county troopers pretty much felt justified, and technically speaking were justified, in picking him up and hassling him whenever they spotted him out. One doubts he left the house much that they didn't spot him, what with the long, fine, flowing red hair. Must have been sweet to be Axl.
I went to the city cops. They've mellowed along with the town. In fact, they were friendly. They found and processed the negatives of some heretofore unknown mug shots for me, from '80 and '82, the latter of which (the one where he's shirtless) is an anonymous American masterpiece. Then the ladies in the records department rummaged some and came back with this report, which I've never seen mentioned in any of the bios or online or anything. It's written by an officer signing himself "1—4." I took it back to the Holiday Inn and spent the rest of the afternoon reading. Let's call it The Sheidler Incident. It begins:
Here's how it all went down that day—allegedly. I'm about to cherry-pick the pivotal bits. A little kid named Scott Sheidler was riding his bike in front of an older kid named Dana Gregory's house. He made skid marks on the sidewalk. Dana Gregory ran out, picked Scott up under the armpits, kicked over his bike, and ordered the boy To get on his hands and knees and scrub the skid marks off the sidewalk. The kid went squealing to his old man, Tom Sheidler. Tom Sheidler went to Gregory and asked if it was true, what Scotty had said. Dana Gregory said, "Yes and I'm going to beat the fuck out of you." The mom, Marleen, ran up to the scene and began to shout. Around the same time, Bill Bailey appeared, red, green, slender, and fair. And here I need to let the report take over, if only temporarily, as I can't begin to simulate its succinctness or authority:
M. Sheidler stated that Bailey was also arguing with Sheidler and that he was using the "F" word in front of her kids. M. Sheidler stated that she went up to Bailey and pointed her finger at Bailey and told him not to use the "F" word in front of her kids. M. Sheidler stated that Bailey, who has a splint on his arm, then struck her on the arm and neck with the splint. I looked at M. Sheidler and could see some red marks on her arm and neck which could have been made by being struck.
This matter of which hand it was subsumes the narrative for a stretch. Marleen Sheidler says "with the splint," and little Scott says "with a splint," but Dana Gregory's younger brother Chris 15 says "with the opposite hand that his splint is on" (adding that Bailey struck Sheidler in response to "Sheidler Strikeing [sic]" him). Bill Bailey himself then goes on to say that he "struck M. SHEIDLER in the FACE with his LEFT HAND the hand with out the SPLINT." Once again, this only after "MARLEEN SHEIDLER struck him in the face" (though seconds earlier, by his own admission, he'd told her "to keep her fucking brats at home"). The story ends with a strangely affecting suddenness: "BAILEY stated SHEIDLER then jumped at him and fell on his face, he then left and went home…"
The thing I couldn't stop wondering as I read it over was: Why were they so freaked out about the skid marks? Is making skid marks on the sidewalk a bad thing to do? It makes me think I spent half my childhood inadvertently infuriating my entire neighborhood.
Local lafayette morning rock deejay Jeff Strange, on Axl's extremely brief but long-reported fisticuffs with the diminutive and seemingly gentle designer of mall clothes Tommy Hilfiger; actually, "fisticuffs" is strong—accounts suggest that the fight consisted mostly of Hilfiger slapping Axl on the arm many times, and photos show Axl staring at Hilfiger with an improbable fifty-fifty mixture of rage and amused disbelief, like, 'Should I hurt it?':
"Man, I saw that, and I thought, That is straight Lafayette."
I found Dana Gregory. I called his stepmom. He's Axl's oldest friend and worked for him at one time in L.A., after Guns had gotten big. When I sat down at the table in the back-patio area of a pub-type place called Sgt. Preston's, he had sunglasses on. When he pushed them up into his bushy gray hair, he had unnervingly pale mineral-blue eyes that had seen plenty of sunrises. Sunrises surrounded by laughing dolphins and swirly, twirly pinwheels. He'd been there. You knew it before he even spoke. He'd done a spectacular amount of crazy shit in his life, and the rest of his life would be spent remembering and reflecting on that shit and focusing on taking it day by day. The metamorphosis of Bill, the friend of his youth, in whose mother's kitchen he ate breakfast every morning, his Cub Scouts buddy (a coin was tossed: Bill would be Raggedy Ann in the parade; Dana, Raggedy Andy), into—for a while—the biggest rock star on the planet, a man who started riots in more than one country and dumped a supermodel and duetted with Mick Jagger and told Rolling Stone he'd recovered memories of being sodomized by his stepfather at the age of 2, a man who took as his legal name and made into a household word the name of a band—Axl—that Gregory was once in, on bass, and that Bill was never even in…This event had appeared in Gregory's life like a supernova to a prescientific culture. What was he supposed to do with it? I found him intensely compelling.
I said, "Do you call him Bill or Axl?"
He smiled: "I call him Ax."
"Still talk to him much?"
"Haven't talked to him since 1992. We had sort of a falling-out."
"Over what?"
He looked away. "Bullshit." Then, after a few pulls and drags, "It might have been over a woman."
He was nervous, but nervous in the way that any decent person is when you sit down in front of him with a notebook and are like, "I have to make a two-thirty flight. Can you tell me about the heaviest things in your life? And order more spinach-'n'-artichoke dip. I can expense it."
He finished beers quickly. He used, repeatedly, without the slightest self-consciousness, one of my favorite American idioms—"Right on," spoken quickly and with the intonation a half octave higher on "Right," to mean not "That's correct" or "Exactly" but simply "Yes," as in "Hey, you like to party?" "Right on."
"Tell me about L.A.," I said. "You said you were working for him out there. What kind of stuff?"
"Fixing shit that he broke," Gregory said.
"Did he break a lot of shit?" I said.
"His condo had these giant mirrors going all around it. And every now and then, he'd take that spaceman statue they give you when you win an award on MTV and smash up the mirrors with it. Well, he slept till four o'clock in the afternoon every day. Somebody had to let the guy in when he came to fix the mirrors. Shit like that."
He told me another L.A. story, about the time Axl picked up Slash's beloved albino boa constrictor and it shat all over Axl. And Axl had on some expensive clothes. He got so mad he wanted to hurt the snake. He was cussing at it. But Slash picked up his guitar—here Gregory imitated a tree-chopping backswing pose—and said, "Don't. Hurt. My. Snake." Axl backed off.
I guess we sat there a pretty long time. He has four children and four grandchildren. When I said he seemed young for that (can you imagine Axl with four grandchildren?), he said, "Started young. Like I was saying, there was a lot of experimentation." His ex-wife, Monica Gregory, also knew Axl. She gave him his first P.A. Gregory said he talks to her only once a year, "when I have to." He said what he wants is to lower the level of dysfunction for the next generation. He told me about how he and Axl and Monica and their group of friends used to go to a park in Lafayette after dark, Columbian Park—"We ruled that place at night"—and pick the lock on the piano case that was built into the outdoor stage and play for themselves till the small hours. I'd wandered around Columbian Park. It's more or less across the street from where those boys grew up. Not twenty feet from the stage, there's a memorial to the sons of Lafayette who "made the supreme sacrifice in defense of our country," and it includes the name of William Rose, probably Axl's great-great-great-grandpa, killed in the Civil War, which I suppose was fought in defense of our country in some not quite precise, rather abstract way. And now, as Gregory talked, I thought about how weird it was, all those years of Axl probably reading that name a hundred times, not making anything of it, not knowing that it was his own name—he who one day, having discovered his original name while going through some of his mother's papers, would sing, I don't need your Civil War and ask the question What's so civil about war, anyway?
Back then, Gregory said, Axl played all kinds of stuff. He mentioned Thin Lizzy, which you don't hear done much anymore. "But the only time I ever really heard him sing was in the bathroom. He'd be in there for an hour doing God knows what. Prancing around like a woman, for all I know."
"So, what is there of Lafayette in his music, do you think?"
"The anger, man. I'd say he got that here."
"He used to get beat up a lot, right?" (More than one person had told me this since I'd come to town.)
"I beat him up a lot," Gregory said. "Well, I'd win one year, he'd win the next. One time we was fighting in his backyard, and I was winning. My dad saw what was going on and tried to stop it, but his mom said, 'No, let 'em fight it out.' We always hashed it out, though. When you get older, it takes longer to heal."
It was awkward for me, trying incessantly to steer the conversation back toward the Sheidler business without being too obvious about it. Did he honestly have no memory of the fracas? He kept answering elliptically. "I remember the cops wanted to know who'd spray-painted all over the street," he said, smiling again. "The night he left for L.A., he wrote, 'Kiss my ass, Lafayette. I'm out of here.' I wish I'd taken a picture of that."
Finally, I just grew sort of exasperated and said, "Mr. Gregory, you can't possibly not remember this. Listen: You. A kid with a bike. Axl and a woman got into a fight. He had a splint on his arm."
"I can tell you how he got the splint," he said. "It was from holding on to an M-80 too long. We thought they were pretty harmless, but I guess they weren't, 'cause it 'bout blew his fucking hand off."
"But why were you so mad about the skid marks in the first place?" I asked.
"My dad was in construction. Still is. That's what I do. It's Gregory and Sons—me and my brother are the sons. Mostly residential concrete. My brother, Chris" (this was little CHRIS GREGORY 15, I realized, from the report, the one who probably spared Axl a battery charge by corroborating the assertion that M. SHEIDLER had struck first), "he's dead now. He was 39. A heart thing. My dad still can't bring himself to get rid of the 'Sons.' Anyway, see, we poured that sidewalk. He'd get so pissed if he saw it was scuffed up—'Goddammit, you know how hard it is to get that off?' He'd think we done it and beat our ass. So, I saw [little Scott Sheidler's handiwork], and I said, 'No, I don't think that's gonna do.' "
That was all. I couldn't get too many beats into any particular topic with Gregory before his gaze would drift off, before he'd get pensive. I started to get the feeling that this—his being here, his decision to meet with me—was about something, that we had not yet gotten around to the subject he was here to discuss.
"You know," he said, "I've never talked to a reporter before. I've always turned down requests."
"Why'd you agree to this one?" I asked.
"I wasn't going to call you back, but my dad said I should. You oughta thank my dad. My son said, 'Tell him what an asshole that guy was, Dad.' I said, 'Ah, he knows all that shit, son.'"
"Is it that you feel it's been long enough, and now you can talk about all that stuff?"
"Shit, I don't know. I figure maybe he'll see the article and give me a call. It's been a long time. I'd really love just to talk to him and find out what he's really been into."
"Do you still consider him a friend?" I said.
"I don't know. I miss the guy. I love him."
We were quiet for a minute, and then Gregory leaned to the side and pulled out his wallet. He opened it and withdrew a folded piece of white notepaper. He placed it into my hand, still folded. "Put that in your story," he said. "He'll know what it means." I went straight to the car after the interview and remembered about the note only when I was already on the plane. Written on it in pencil were a couple of lines from "Estranged," off Use Your Illusion II:
Axl has said, "I sing in five or six different voices that are all part of me. It's not contrived." I agree. One of them is an unexpectedly competent baritone. The most important of the voices, though, is Devil Woman. Devil Woman comes from a deeper part of Axl than do any of the other voices. Often she will not enter until nearer the end of a song. In fact, the dramatic conflict between Devil Woman and her sweet, melodic yang—the Axl who sings such lines as Her hair reminds me of a warm, safe place and If you want to love me, then darling, don't refrain and Sometimes I get so tense—is precisely what resulted in Guns N' Roses' greatest songs. A lot of people will try to convince you that the band's street-tough image and attitude are what made them so massive. Of course, that's foolish. The "media" adore street-tough image and attitude and, via a curious circular maneuver, will frequently work to convince you that street-tough image and attitude are the reason you love some band, but you, the people of the world, tend to buy 15 million copies of a debut album because it's chockablock with hits. G N' R wrote four or five untouchable pop songs, and that's why we're still talking about them—that's why the mere fact of Axl's mounting a comeback is newsworthy. You go, 'Dude, speaking of circular! You're a widget in the whole tremendous machine that's trying to make it seem newsworthy!' Yes and I'm going to beat the fuck out of you.
Take "Sweet Child o' Mine," which, in my unassuming view, shares with the Wrens' "I've Made Enough Friends" the distinction of being the most perfectly achieved rock 'n' roll song of the past twenty years. It's not that you don't love it from the beginning, what with the killer riffs and the oddly antiquated-sounding chorus, yet a sword hangs over it. You think: This can't be everything. Come on—I mean, Now and then when I see her face / It takes me away to that special place? Then, around 5:04, she arrives. The song has veered minor-key by then, the clouds have begun to gather, and I never hear that awesome, intelligent solo that I don't imagine Axl's gone off somewhere at the start of it, to be by himself while his body undergoes certain changes. What I love is how when he comes back in, he comes in on top of himself ("five or six different voices that are all part of me"); he's not yet all the way finished with I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I when that fearsome timbre tears itself open. And what does she say, this Devil Woman? What does she always say, for that matter? Have you ever thought about it? I hadn't. "Sweet Child," "Paradise City," "November Rain," "Patience," they all come down to codas—Axl was a poet of the dark, unresolved coda—and to what do these codas themselves come down? Everybody needs somebody. Don't you think that you need someone? I need you. Oh, I need you. Where do we go? Where do we go now? Where do we go? I wanna go. Oh, won't you please take me home?
I know the collage number gets cute fast, but I beg you to indulge me in a personal-experience thing. It's about when I drove back to Indiana with my oldest friend, Trent. We'd grown up in the same small river town and both went off to school elsewhere at about the same time, so we romanticized our childhood haunts and playmates a little, the way you do. The summer before our senior year of high school, we made a sentimental journey home to drop in on everybody and see how each had fared. This is 1991, when Use Your Illusion came out. "Don't Cry" was on the radio all the time. It turned out to be one of the more colossally bleak afternoons of my life. To a man, we'd divided along class lines. Those of us who'd grown up in Silver Hills, where kids were raised to finish high school and go to college, were finishing high school and applying to colleges. Those who hadn't, weren't. And there were these two guys from our old gang, Brad Hope and Rick Sissy. Those aren't their real names, though their real names were just as strange. Their fathers were working-class—one drove a bus and the other a concrete truck; the latter couldn't read or write. But the public elementary where we met them was mid in every sense. And there's something about that age, from 9 to 11—your personality has appeared, but if you're lucky you haven't internalized yet the idea that you're any different from anyone else, that there's a ladder in life.
We stopped by Ricky's house first. Ricky had been a kind of redneck genius, into everything. You know those ads in the back of comics that say you can make a hovercraft out of vacuum-cleaner parts? Ricky was the kid who made the hovercraft. And souped it up. He was taller and chubbier than the rest of us and had a high-pitched voice and used some kind of oil in his hair. Trent got into the University of Chicago and wound up writing a 200-page thesis on the Munich Conference, and even he would tell you: Ricky was the smartest. One time Ricky and I were shooting pellet guns at cars in the small junkyard his father maintained as a sort of sideline. We were spiderwebbing the glass. All of a sudden, Ricky's dad, who had just been woken up from one of his epic diurnal naps, hollered from the window of his bedroom, "Ricky, you'd better not be shooting at that orange truck! I done sold the windshield on that." I'll never forget; Ricky didn't even look at me first. He just ran. Dropping the pistol at his feet, he ran into the forest. I followed. We spent the whole rest of the day up there. We found an old grave in the middle of a field. We climbed to the top of Slate Hill, the highest knob in our town, and Ricky gave me a whole talk on how slate formed, how it was and was not shale.
I remember the scared, ecstatic freedom of those hours in the woods. When Trent and I found Ricky, he was sitting alone in a darkened room watching a porn movie of a woman doing herself with a peeled banana. He said, "What the fuck is that thing on your head?" I was in a bandanna-wearing phase. This one was yellow. He said, "When I saw you get out of the car, I thought, Who the fuck is that? I 'bout shot you for a faggot." We asked him what was going on. He said he'd just been expelled from school, for trying to destroy one of the boys' restrooms by flushing lit waterproof M-80s down the toilets. Also, he'd just been in a bad jeep accident; his shoulder was messed up somehow. All scabbed over, maybe? This entire conversation unfolded as the woman with the banana worked away. Ricky's dad was asleep in the next room. Retired now. We told him we were headed over to Brad's next. He said, "I haven't seen Brad in a while. Did you hear he dorked a spook?" That's what he said: "dorked a spook."
Brad had a real mustache already. He'd always been an early bloomer. When we knew him well, he was constantly exposing himself. Once I watched him run around the perimeter of a campsite with his underpants at his ankles going, "Does this look like the penis of an 11-year-old?" And it did not. Brad used to plead with his mom to sing "Birmingham Sunday" for us, which she'd do, a cappella, in the kitchen. Now he was all nigger this, nigger that. Trent was dating a black girl in Louisville at the time. Neither of us knew how to behave. Brad must have noticed us squirming, because he looked at me at one point and said, "Ah, y'all probably got some good niggers in Ohio." That's where I was living. "We're fixin' to have a race war with the ones we got here," he said. He had dropped out of high school before they had a chance to expel him. It had been only four years since we'd been sleeping over at his house, doing séances and shit, and now we had no way to reach one another. A gulf had appeared. It opened the first day of seventh grade when some of us went into the "accelerated" program and others went into the "standard" program. By sheerest coincidence, I'm sure, this division ran perfectly parallel to the one between our respective parents' income brackets. God, if I could I'd drop lit waterproof M-80s down every "tracking" program in the country. I remember Ricky and I running into each other in the hallway the first day of seventh grade and with an awkwardness that we were far too young to handle, both being like, "Why aren't you in any of my classes?" When I think about it, I never saw those boys again, not after that day.
Axl got away. That's what I wanted to tell you.
And then about three hours after I wrote that last sentence, I was sitting there thinking, Did he?
There were hundreds of blue flags draped along the south bank of the Nervión in Bilbao, and across the top of each it said GUNS N' roses. The flags were of Moorish blue, and they shook against a spotless sky that was only barely paler. Late that night, in the hills over the city, the band headlined a three-day festival, and the river valley echoed the sound so clearly, so helplessly, people in the old part of town could, if they understood English, make out the individual words, but for now Bilbao retained its slightly buttoned-up tranquillity and charm. There's a fountain next to the Guggenheim that fires bursts of water every four or five seconds, and the olive-skinned kids jump up and down in it. They just strip to their underpants and go wild, male and female, and to watch them at it was lovely. Can you imagine, in the center of some major American city, a bunch of 12-year-old girls in their panties capering in the water, their lank hair flinging arcs of droplets? Hard to say which would be greater, the level of parental paranoia or the actual volume of loitering creepy creepos. Here things seemed so sane. Axl and the boys hadn't landed yet. They were still in the air.
The district where they played is called Kobetamendi. It's high up, and from there you could see the city, the river, the spires, the flashing titanium scales of the museum. When it got dark, you could see the lights. When there aren't stages set up at Kobetamendi, it's just a large empty field with a road and, across the road, some modest farmhouses. As I reached the crest of the hill, a rap-rock band was playing. I don't "get," as they say, rap-rock, and I'm a person who's cultivated a taste for some fairly awful music. The justification for rap-rock seems to be that if you take really bad rock and put really bad rap over it, the result is somehow good, provided the raps are being barked by an overweight white guy with short hair and forearm tattoos. The women from those few little farmhouses had gathered at their fence; they leaned and mumbled and dangled their canes. One of them was one of the oldest-looking old people I have ever seen, with stiff white hair and that face, like the inside of a walnut shell, that only truly ancient women get. She and her friends were actually listening to the rap-rock, and part of me wanted to run over to them and assure them that after they died, there would still be people left in the world who knew how horrifying this music was, and that these people would transmit their knowledge to carefully chosen members of future generations, but the ladies did not appear worried. They were even laughing. I'm sure they remembered Gypsy circuses in that field in eighteen ninety something, and what was the difference, really?
Want to know how to get backstage at shows, peckerheads? Okay, I'm 'a tell you. First, find a Portuguese model. And we're not talking the kind of model who hip-hop dances in halftime shows; we're talking the kind who gets flown to Tokyo for the day. She will have brought along two friends from Lisbon, but there will be a pass waiting for only one of them. Somebody forgot to forward un correo electrónico. Now, there will be two passes waiting for you, because when you first requested the passes, you thought you were bringing a photographer, but in the event, you've come alone. Stand and listen to her and her two friends be like, "What'll we doooo?" for a while. Choose your moment. Go up to her and say, "I couldn't help overhearing that you need another pass. I happen to have an extra. I even have an extra special-access badge I can give to your friend." At this point, the model will say, in the Spanish she turns out not to speak all that much better than you, "It's a miracle!" Next, she will get you stoned. This really happens! Her friend to whom you gave the pass will boast of being the owner of the third-largest collection of Axl Rose paraphernalia in the world, and the revelation that he intends to include your spare, mint-condition media badge in this collection will lead to levels of bonhomie and group fealty beyond your prior imagination, until finally, when the security guard on the back ramp leading up to the stage, who does not even make eye contact with the Portuguese model as she floats past him, puts his palm against your chest, as if to say, "Whoa—that's a little much," she will turn around briefly and say, "Está conmigo." She will say this with about the level of nervousness and uncertainty with which she might say, to a maître d', "Smoking." Before you can thank her, you'll be watching Axl dance from such an inconceivable propinquity that if you were to bend your knees, thrust your hands forward, and leap, you would be on the front page of the entertainment section of El País the next day for having assaulted him in front of 25,000 people.
Jesus. I've been a part of plenty of virtual seas of screaming sweaty kids before, but to see one from the stage, from just above, to see that many thousand people shaping with their mouths some words you made up in your head one time while you were brushing your teeth (needless to say, I was trying to imagine I wrote them)…it's heady. Two half notes followed by two quarter notes in immediate succession, followed by a beat of silence, that's the staccato rhythm of the chant: "Guns and RO-SES, Guns and RO-SES"…Axl's pounding with the base of his mike stand on the stage in time to it. There's a kid with a beard who looks at you every ten minutes or so, puts his hands on his ears, and mouths the word "pyro." Then you're supposed to put your hands on your ears, because the explosion is about to take place ten feet away. Sometimes the kid forgets—he's busy—and then everyone goes "Aaaarrrgh!" and clutches rather than cups their ears.
There's a sort of shambling older dude next to me in a newsboy cap, with a guitar in his hands—a tech, I figure, or else someone who already knew about the Portuguese-model trick. Then he runs out onto the stage, and I'm like, "That's Izzy Stradlin."
Izzy, I'm convinced, is the reason the band sounds so much better than they did two months ago in New York. He started joining them for three or four songs the very next night and has been showing up periodically ever since. His presence—or to put it more accurately, the presence of another original member of the band—seems to have made the other guys feel more like they are Guns N' Roses and less like, as El Diario Vasco will put it tomorrow, "una bullanguera formación de mercenarios al servicio del ego del vocalista," which I'm pretty sure means something like "a noisy bunch of mercenaries in the service of the vocalist's ego." (Cognates, you know.)
The Spanish press—man, they weren't kind. They said Axl was a "grotesque spectacle"; they called him "el divo" (I intend to steal that); they talked about the endless, Nigel Tufnel-esque "solos absurdos" that he makes each of the band members play, in an effort to get the audience to emotionally invest in the new lineup (it's true that these are fairly ill-advised, as has been the rock solo generally since Jimi died). One article says that "Las fotos de Axl dan miedo," which translates literally and, I think, evocatively as "The pictures of Axl give fear," "with his goatee that gives him the look of a Texas millionaire." In a crowning moment, they say that he has "the voice of a priapismic rooster." They say he demands his room be covered in Oriental carpets and that he not be required to interact with the other band members. That he arrived on a separate plane. They say security guards have been ordered never to look him in the eye. They say the other band members also hate one another and demand to be placed on different floors of the hotel. They say he's traveling with a tiny Asian guru named Sharon Maynard, "alias Yoda," and that he does nothing without her guidance, that she chooses the people he should hire by examining their faces. But mostly the Spaniards are fixated, as have been all the European media gangs on this tour, with the secret oxygen chamber into which he supposedly disappears during the shows and from which he emerges "más fresco que una lechuga"—fresher than a head of lettuce.
I cannot confirm or deny the oxygen thing, and it's hard to say whether the constant mentions of it in the press are evidence of its being real or just a sign that people are recycling the same rumor. The manager of a Hungarian band called Sex Action, which opened for G N' R, claims to have seen the device itself, but Hungarians make up tales like that for entertainment, and anyway, I heard people in the men's room at the Hammerstein being like, "Maybe he keeps an oxygen tank back there or something—ha ha!" trying to account for the way he kept bolting from the stage—fleeing, that's how it looked—not just between songs but during them as well.
What I can tell you, based on my privileged vantage point, is that there is a square cell entirely covered in black curtains just to the rear of stage left. You cannot see as much as a crack of light through the curtains, and I kept trying. Axl runs into this thing about fifteen times during the course of a show. Sometimes he emerges with a new costume on—makes sense—but sometimes he doesn't. Sometimes he goes in there when one of the guys is soloing or something—makes sense—but sometimes he goes in there at a moment when it's really weird and distracting not to have him onstage. I do not know whether Sharon Maynard is in this cell. I do not know what he does in there. If he's huffing reconstituted gas, I don't know whether it's in a Michael Jackson "This is good for me" sort of way or if he has a legitimate lung problem. I don't know anything about what goes on in the cell, only that it exists and that being in there is important to him. Past that, let's give the man some privacy. Crissakes, you people are Nosey Parkers.
I'm afraid that, overall, I can't agree with my fellow ink-stained wretches in the Old World. This show kicks much ass. He is sounding fuller and fuller. Every now and then the sound guy, just to make sure the board is calibrated, pushes his mike way up in the mix, and we hear nothing but Axl, and the notes are on. Nor is he fat. In fact, he looks pretty lithe. At one point, he puts on a rather skimpy T-shirt and sprints from one end of the stage to the other, and it is not a fat boy's sprint, with quivering man dugs, a sight from which one must turn away; it is the sprint of the cross-country runner he used to be. Dana Gregory told me Axl used to run everywhere. Just run and run. Dana Gregory said there was one time out west when G N' R played in a stadium that had a track around it, and Axl just started sprinting around the track during a song. When a security guard, believing him to be a crazed fan, tried to tackle him, Axl kicked the guy in the face. "That happened ten feet in front of me," Gregory said. And now here the bastard was, ten feet in front of me. The moon looked like she was yelling for help because some dark power was erasing her side. They brought out a piano so that he could do "November Rain," and the way they positioned the piano, he was facing me directly. Like we were sitting across a table from each other. This is as close as I ever got to him and as close as I ever wanted to get, truth be told. And what I noticed at this almost nonexistent remove was the peace in his features as he tinkled out the intro. Absolute peace. A warm slackness to the facial muscles way beyond what Botox can do, though I'm not saying it didn't contribute. His face was for now beyond the reach of whatever it is that makes him crazy.
After the final encore, he and the rest of the band ran down a ramp into the open door of a waiting van. Big, heavy men in black ran alongside them, like drill instructors. The van squealed away. Big, heavy black cars pulled out alongside the van. And then there was quiet. The Basque country.
They were the last great rock band that didn't think there was something a tiny bit embarrassing or at least funny about being in a rock band. There are thousands of bands around at any given time that don't think rock is funny, but rarely is one of them good. With G N' R, no matter how sophisticated you felt yourself to be about pop music (and let's leave aside for now the paradoxical nature of that very cultural category), you couldn't entirely deny them. They were the first band I got to be right about with my elder brother. You know what I mean? I think it was that way for a lot of people in my generation. All my life, my brother had been force-feeding me my musical taste—"Def Leppard sucks; listen to the Jam"—and now there was finally one band I wouldn't have to live down; and I recall the tiny glow of triumph, blended with fraternity, that I felt when one day he said, "Dude, you were right about Guns N' Roses. That's a good record." That was Appetite, of course. Things got strange after that. Now, I've read all this stuff that said Nirvana made Guns N' Roses obsolete. But Guns N' Roses were never made obsolete. They just sort of dimmed. What, you think if they got back together, with something even approximating the original lineup, and put out a record with, let's say, one good radio song on it, the record wouldn't sell a jillion copies? I saw that show in New York City; I saw the crowd. It would.
Closer to the case is that G N' R made Nirvana possible. When you think about the niche that Nirvana supposedly created and perfected—a megaband that indie snobs couldn't entirely disavow, no matter how badly they wanted to—G N' R got there first. They didn't get all the way there, I realize. They dressed silly. They didn't seem to know the difference between their good songs and their crap songs. But we have to remember, too, how they came along at a time when bands with singers who looked like Axl and thrust their hips unironically, and lead players who spread their legs and reeled off guitar-god noodling weren't supposed to be interesting, melodically or culturally or in any other way. G N' R were. They were also grotesque and crass and stupid sometimes, even most of the time. Even almost all of the time. But you always knew you were seeing something when you saw them.
I don't know where this new situation is headed. Velvet Revolver? Are they any good? Seriously, I'm asking. Everybody I know who's heard the leaked Chinese Democracy tracks says the album sounds like a bummer. Shouldn't the band just get back together? Don't they know how huge that'd be? But Dana Gregory told me Slash and Izzy will never play full-time with Axl again: "They know him too well."
I don't know him at all. Maybe if his people had let me talk to him, he'd have bitten and struck me and told me to leave my fucking brats at home, and I could transcend these feelings. As it is, I'm left listening to "Patience" again. I don't know how it is where you are, but down south where I live, they still play it all the time. And I whistle along and wait for that voice, toward the end, when he goes, Ooooooo, I need you. OOOOOOO, I need you. And on the first Ooooooo, he finds a note so tissue-shredding it conjures the image of someone peeling his own scalp back, like the skin of a grape. I have to be careful not to attempt to sing along with this part, because it makes me, like, sort of throw up a little bit. And on the second OOOOOOO, you picture just a naked glowing green skull that hangs there vibrating gape-mouthed in a hyperbaric chamber.
Or whatever it is you picture.
JOHN JEREMIAH SULLIVAN is a GQ correspondent.


text:
It is not only holiday-makers who appreciate the lifestyle and outstanding living conditions on Mallorca, the largest and best known Balearic island in the Mediterranean. Whether you prefer Mediterranean finca style or modern villas, there is something for every taste! In the following article we will show you the unique living atmosphere of our properties in Llucmajor and Santa Ponsa.
Mediterranean luxury finca in perfection
The property in Llucmajor combines outstanding quality, exquisite materials and modern ambience with absolute privacy. The entire house is inspired by traditional finca architecture and clad in exclusive natural stone – each individual stone was trimmed by hand.
The Mallorcan estate was completed in 2012 and has an entrance hall with open-plan living and dining area, a large kitchen, a utility room and three bedrooms with en suite bathrooms.
The open living area with its very high ceilings leads to the outdoor area with covered terrace, BBQ area and stone oven.
A special highlight: the spacious outdoor area with an own well, a 20 metre heated salt water pool with automatic cover and water feature, and an idyllic garden. E&V ID: W-01R7Y5
Modern living in Santa Ponsa
The defining characteristics of this lavishly renovated villa in Santa Ponsa are spaciousness, modernity and luxury. The exclusive estate with its lush gardens is in a prime location with views of the surrounding mountain landscape, and close to the local golf course.
The modern design of the villa is reflected in particular in the open-plan living and dining area.
Surrounded by gardens and with a panoramic view of the surrounding mountains, the pool area of this modern villa is a perfect place to relax and unwind in complete privacy. E&V ID: W-01G737


text:
On Friday, February 1, Columbia University Chief Digital Officer Sree Sreenivasan and Laurie Burruss of lynda.com will speak at Columbia as part of a day-long conference to explore issues around technology in higher education and academic life. The opening remarks will be given by John H. Coatsworth, Provost of Columbia University.
The conference, "New Media in Education 2013: Bits to Breakthroughs," is hosted by the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning and will also include presentations by faculty, administrators, and information technology professionals. Faculty speakers include Paulette Bernd, Director of Clinical Gross Anatomy at the Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons; Grant Ackerman, Professor of Management at Columbia Business School; and Dennis Tenen, Assistant Professor of English and Comparative Literature.
Sessions will address how emerging technologies affect education in areas such as online learning, digital publishing, digital humanities, managing research, and dissemination of scholarly work. A session led by Columbia Technology Ventures will feature Ben Moskowitz, Program Development Lead at the Mozilla Foundation and Tim Honaker, Director of the University of Chicago's Office of Technology and Intellectual Property.
The conference is free and open to Columbia faculty, staff, and graduate students. Limited registration is available for guests from outside the Columbia community.
For more information, visit the New Media in Education 2013 Conference website at ccnmtl.columbia.edu/nme2013 or contact Courtney Lockemer at 212-854-7783.


text:
General information
Full course calendar 2018
New courses
Trainers' profiles
What are the courses like?
Local accommodation
Submit a training bid
Other course providers
If you are interested in further information, have any requirements (e.g. an alternative course date), or have difficulty booking a course online then please contact Jennie Phelps. It is recommended that courses are booked online. If this is not possible, then please print off, fill and fax or post the Training Course Booking Form.
Seymour House
12 Edward Street
+ 44 (0)121 233 9300
+ 44 (0)121 233 0321
The OR Society is a trading name of the
Operational Research Society, which is
registered in England.
No 663819 and a registered charity No 313713
Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy
Copyright © 2019 The OR Society
Website design and build by OMNIX Software Solutions in partnership with the OR Society


text:
Here's another Employee Profile about one of the many commuters who ride to work here at Performance HQ, in honor of Bike to Work Week (May 16-20). They ride different bikes and different routes, but they've all got great advice on how to make your commute easier and more fun!
Christopher Danz.
What do you do at Performance?
I'm a Merchandising Assistant in the Hardgoods Components division.
How often do you ride to work?
Most days.
How far do you ride?
17 miles each way.
What bike do you ride?
I usually commute on my trusty GT Peace Tour.
Why do you commute by bike/what's your favorite part of commuting by bike?
I love not being in a car. Cagers (people who spend half of their lives in their steel cages) are always so angry, I like not being a part of that culture. I race in endurance mountain bike events so the extra training time that I don't have to take from my family time is also key.
Any advice for someone who's thinking about commuting by bike?
Just go for it! For me, I can't value my waterproof panniers enough (I use Ortlieb Back-Roller Classic Panniers). I also always keep a good rain jacket in there as I never know when I'm going to be caught in an unexpected storm. Otherwise, just riding is most of my secret. The more you do it, the easier it gets as it starts to become part of your routine and your fitness increases.


text:
Smoke Bulga (Feat. Jim Jones) - Money On My Mind
Smoke Bulga Ft. Jim Jones - "Money On My Mind" - Directed by DanTheMan
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
Comments will only be displayed by verified emails. No Spamming or Racism.


text:
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Energy stocks in the S&P 500 closed the week with a 1.2% gain, lifted by, but nonetheless lagging behind, a 2% advance by the broader equities market that carried the Dow Jones Industrial Average into record territory.
The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE, +0.29% rose 0.5% Friday to 78.99 points while the NYSE Arca Oil Index XOI, +0.29% slipped less than 0.15 Friday to 1,347.2, leaving it with a 1.6% gain for the week.
The Dow DJIA, +0.70% , on the other hand, rose nearly 2.2% this week to 14,397, surpassing its previous closing high of 14,164.5 in October 2007.
Energy stocks got some support from underlying commodity prices. The April crude-oil futures contract CLJ3, +0.00% settled Friday at $91.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 1.4% for the week and in line with oil stocks gains. See the latest on oil futures.
Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM, +0.77% , one of the Dow 30 companies, rose 0.3% Friday but fell 0.5% for the week. Exxon came under pressure Wednesday after telling analysts it expects its oil and gas production levels to slip in 2013.
Chevron Corp. CVX, +0.21% , also a Dow component, rose less than 0.1%, while ConocoPhillips COP, -0.38% shares advanced 0.9%.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. has invited several international firms to place bids to renew a shared license to operate some of Abu Dhabi's largest oil fields. Chevron was among the companies invited, with Exxon already operating in the emirate.
Meanwhile, shares of oil-field-services company Noble Corp. NE, -1.60% advanced 2.9% to $35.05. Noble on Thursday reported a fleet contract update, saying unpaid downtime for its rigs this year is expected to average 4% to 4.5%.
Noble stock has been "stuck in neutral" so far this year, flat compared with peers, analysts at Tudor Pickering Holt said in a report. The market is "nervous about potential operational hiccups given [Noble's] 11 new-build rigs to be delivered next couple [of] years," the analysts said. "Low $30s is where stock risk/reward whets our appetite."
U.S.-listed shares of Royal Dutch Shell PLC RDS.A, +0.50% retreated less than 1%. Crude-oil exports from Nigeria's Bonga field, operated by Shell's Nigerian arm, are delayed by about five days, Dow Jones Newswires reported, quoting unnamed oil traders.
The delay adds to already-disrupted supply from Nigeria, but it won't affect enough crude to have a big impact on prices, the traders were quoted as saying.
U.S.-listed shares of BP PLC BP, +0.40% declined 0.6%.
The civil trial over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill continued in New Orleans this week, its second, with an expert testifying BP should not have proceeded with the cement job the day before the explosion, and another saying the well's blowout preventer had a dead battery and other problems. Follow MarketWatch's continuous updates on the BP trial here.
Providing critical information for the U.S. trading day. Subscribe to MarketWatch's free Need to Know newsletter. Sign up here.


text:
Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a form of
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
This syndrome almost always involves a mother abusing her child by seeking unneeded medical attention for the child. It is rare and poorly understood. The cause is unknown.
The mother may fake symptoms of illness in her child by adding blood to the child's urine or stool, withholding food, falsifying fevers, secretly giving the child drugs to make the child throw up or have diarrhea, or using other tricks, such as infecting intravenous (given through a vein) lines to make the child appear or become ill.
These children are often hospitalized with groups of symptoms that don't quite fit any known disease. Frequently, the children are made to suffer through unnecessary tests, surgeries, or other uncomfortable procedures.
The parent is usually very helpful in the hospital setting and is often appreciated by the nursing staff for the care she gives her child. She is often seen as devoted and self-sacrificing, which can make medical professionals unlikely to suspect the diagnosis of Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
Her frequent visits unfortunately also make the child accessible to her so that she can induce further symptoms. Changes in the child's condition are almost never witnessed by hospital staff and almost always occur only in the mother's presence.
Munchausen syndrome occurs because of psychological problems in the adult, and is generally an attention-seeking behavior. The syndrome can be life-threatening for the child involved.
- The child's symptoms do not fit a classical picture of illness or do not fit together well.
- The child's symptoms improve at the hospital but reappear at home.
- The parent is overattentive or "too helpful."
- The parent is often involved in a health-care field, such as nursing.
Signs and tests
- Blood samples used for lab work do not match the patient's blood type.
- The presence of drugs or chemicals in blood, stool, or urine samples cannot be accounted for.
Once the syndrome is recognized, the child needs to be protected and removed from direct care of the parent. The affected parent should not be accused directly, but offered help.
Because this is a form of child abuse, the syndrome must be reported to the authorities. Psychiatric counseling will be recommended for the parent involved, but since the disorder is rare, very little is known about effective treatment.
Expectations (prognosis)
This is a difficult disorder to treat in parents. There is little information available about the best types of treatment or what the outcome will be. It usually requires years of psychiatric support.
Children may require medical care to treat injuries the parent inflicted, as well as psychiatric care to deal with depression, anxiety, and other conditions that can be provoked by child abuse. Some children may die from infections or other injuries inflicted by parents with Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
The child can have complications from injuries, infections, medications, surgeries, or tests. Risk for psychological complications like depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and others is increased in survivors of child abuse.
Calling your health care provider
This condition is diagnosed by the health care provider when the child is treated for various symptoms. If you find that you have urges to harm your child, seek psychiatric care immediately.
Recognition of Munchausen syndrome by proxy in the child-parent relationship can prevent continued abuse and unnecessary, expensive, and possibly dangerous medical testing.