text:
EpiDoc Workshops have been run on several occasions over the past few years, with the intention of disseminating skills and experience and encouraging discussion on the topic of TEI markup for the encoding of epigraphic, papyrological, and other ancient texts.
The training programme for the May 2019 workshop in Bologna, can be found here
If you would like to run or host an EpiDoc training workshop at some point, please in the first instance contact the Markup list to canvass the possible trainers for their availability.
Please be prepared to:
In-depth training events have been held at:
Notes, questions and feedback from previous events are posted to the EpiDoc Training blog at: http://epidocworkshop.blogspot.com/
All slideshows and training materials are freely downloadable, and licensed for re-use and distribution.
For more information on future EpiDoc training events, please inquire on the Markup list


text:
Picture: Thom York of Radiohead performing live at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa Florida, USA - 29.02.12
Radiohead and Jude Law have teamed up for a heart-wrenching new Greenpeace Save the Arctic campaign video.
The short film features a polar bear sifting though trash in London on a desperate search for food, smelling exhaust fumes from cars and wandering the streets alone.
The sad video ends as the bear dies under a tree in a park.
Radiohead's Everything in Its Right Place provides the soundtrack to the film, while Law urges viewers to get active and join the campaign to save the bear's natural habitat.
He says, "As the Arctic melts, the rush to exploit its resources is starting. Nobody will listen to her (bear) but they'll listen to you. Join the movement. Save the Arctic."
In a recent interview with British magazine NME, Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke announced the band would be backing the Greenpeace campaign, stating, "We have to stop the oil giants pushing into the Arctic. An oil spill in the Arctic would devastate this region of breathtaking beauty, while burning that oil will only add to the biggest problem we face, climate change."

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Tag Archives: How to use love vashikaran mantra
Love vashikaran mantra
Love vashikaran mantra is used to get desired love or lost love back in life. It's difficult to live life without love. Due to love our body generates emotions and that make our life sweet and salty. Love is wonderful feeling or we can say it is great boon of god. We don't know when we fall in love so it is truly said that love is blind. Love doesn't see color cast or religion when it happen it just happen. We always want that our beloved also love us the same way that way we love. But in all cases it's not happen. People who get love are so lucky in this world. All knows about that when you don't get desired love that breaks your heart. Feeling of broken heart is so painful that ruin your entire life.
What is love vashikaran mantra?
We all know that love is only thing in this entire world that is immortal. Vashikaran is process to control the mind of desired person. By vashikaran spells you can hold the mind of desired person and he/ she act upon the way you want. Vashikaran astrological art that used by gurus rishi from ancient time. Vashikaran mantra helps you to get your love back in life. You can also use vashikaran mantra to get desired love. These spells work instantly and convert the mind of you partner in which way you wants. Vashikaran is most commonly used to get love in modern time. Love vashikaran mantra mainly we use stop disputation and easily get lost love back and live joyful life.
How to use love vashikaran mantra
Don't be disappointed if you don't get love in your life. Here is vashiakarn is solution of this problem. It is very important to know how to use vashikaran for lost love back. Vashikaran is rare art. Only a few astrologers know about this art. Our guru ji one of the best astrologers to perform this spells. Vashikaran mantra have no negative effect but this should be perform under the guidance of expert otherwise this mantra gives you native effect. Guru ji get this mantra after years of worship and he will tell you how to do this spells on your partner to convert his / her mind. Guru ji performing this art from 35 years. So he has long term experience of love vashikaran mantra. He will guide you in proper way. Guru ji provide effective way to get love back by vashikaran mantra. So don't be late just contact Acharya ji to get lost love vashikaran mantra.


text:
What would you like?
Select one or more of the following
- Hispanic and Latino
- Fiction (42) Apply Fiction filter
- Nonfiction (41) Apply Nonfiction filter
- LGBTQIA+ (6) Apply LGBTQIA+ filter
- Best of (3) Apply Best of filter
- African American (1) Apply African American filter
- Dystopia (1) Apply Dystopia filter
- Romantic (1) Apply Romantic filter
- Trending Topics (1) Apply Trending Topics filter
We Recommend
More Recommendations
Your local librarians have profiles in our catalog (BiblioCommons) to share our interests, what we're reading and to create even more recommendation lists. Follow and like our profiles and learn more about getting social on our catalog.
Picks From Staff
Neighborhood Branch Spotlight


text:
Javascript recommended: FEC.gov uses Javascript to provide the best possible user experience.
Find elections. Search by state or ZIP code
Look up contributions from specific individuals
Learn about electronic filing
Find and contact your committee's analyst
Search across all legal resources
This data has been categorized and coded by the FEC. The FEC's multi-step process can take days (for electronic filings) or weeks (for paper filings).
This data has not yet been categorized and coded by the FEC. It's pulled directly from a committee's raw, electronic reports. It doesn't include paper filings.
The two-year period in which the transaction was reported.
Some transactions — such as earmarked contributions and partnership contributions — are reported more than once for clarity on the printed page but can lead to confusion when viewed as data online. Use the unique only filter to remove these extra transactions.


text:
|· Roof-Rack Ready
· Power Sunroof
|· 10-Way Power-Adjustable Driver's Seat
· Dual-Zone Automatic Temperature Control
| · Heated Front Seats & Steering Wheel
· Iso-Structure Construction
|UVO link seamlessly connects your compatible smartphone to your Soul, giving you access to remote lock/unlock, remote climate control, 24-hour roadside assistance, and much more.
|The dynamic mantra of the Soul hatchback carries on far beyond just looks and performance. Available interior-lighting will allow the interior to transform into an extension of your current mood or a space to create a party on the go as you crank up the music with a sound reactive light show.
|Get instant access to your compatible iPhone® or your Android™ right from your Soul's built-in, touch-screen display. Send a text via voice command, play your music, use Google Maps™, and access a wealth of popular apps all through your Soul's touch-screen display.
| ∙ 8" Head Up Display
|∙ Alexa™ and Google Assistant integration with UVO
| ∙ Bluetooth Wireless Technology
|∙ Steering-Wheel Mounted Controls
|∙ Wireless Smart Phone Charger
|∙ SiriusXM
| ∙ Lane Change Assist
| ∙ Blind Spot Collision Warning
| ∙ Lane Departure Warning System
|∙ Forward Collision Warning
|∙ Driver Attention Warning
|∙ Rear-Camera Display


text:
Sympros cooperates with a large number of domestic and international APP (iOS) freelancers, studios, teams, and companies (hereinafter referred to as "professionals") to deliver the most cost-effective APP (iOS) services to individuals and organizations in different stages of development, especially small and medium-sized businesses.
APP (iOS) professionals post and display their most comprehensive archive of information (business cards + resumes + services + public information) in the APP (iOS) Professional subcategory. Based on such information, clients and colleagues can know and contact APP (iOS) professionals. If there is any dispute between client and professional in private contact or any resulted loss, Sympros takes no responsibility.
Professionals can not only view APP (iOS) projects under the bidding project category of APP (iOS) service, but also contact Sympros for information about hundreds of APP (iOS) projects from US and international clients which are not displayed in public. Some projects are posted for bidding, and some are allocated directly to the cost-effective professionals we know well. Project co-operation is the best way to get to know professionals well, and the best way for professionals to know us better.
Sympros also organizes APP (iOS) related resource and information for clients and professionals.
Services of developing APP for the iOS system in iPhone and iPad.
Copyright © 2014-2020 sympros.com. All rights reserved.
Use of this website means that you have read, understood, and accepted the sympros Privacy Policy and Terms of Use


text:
Tagged: Houston Astros
2006/07 Offseason and In-Season Moves
They say it takes five years before you can truly evaluate a trade.
The 2007 season was an important one in the history of the Houston Astros. It brought the end of Tim Purpura's tenure as general manager, and the beginning of the Ed Wade regime. It brought the beginning of the Carlos Lee era.
And then there's Travis Phelps. More on that later.
Below is a list of the transactions between the end of the 2006 season and the beginning of the 2008 season, with just enough analysis to make it not completely boring.
October 15, 2006
The Astros had just finished the season, going 82-80, second in the NL Central by a game and a half. They'd won nine in a row and ten out of eleven to move to within a half game of the St. Louis Cardinals, who would go on to beat the Tigers four games to one in the World Series, but Houston lost two out of three to the Braves to end the season out of the playoff picture.
Definitely a disappointing season after Houston's 2005 World Series appearance, but hopes were still high that they were within striking distance of another National League crown. This had the potential to be a very big offseason, and indeed some big things happened. But before big things can happen in any offseason, first little things have to happen. And on October 15, 2006, those little things involved letting players depart via free agency.
Those players included Travis Driskill, Mike Gallo, Jesse Garcia, Carlos Hernandez, J.R. House, Joe McEwing, Eric Munson, Jailen Peguero, Tike Redman, Walter Young, Alan Zinter, and Brian Gordon.
Travis Driskill – Driskill put together a couple of nice seasons early in his career with Baltimore and Colorado, and his one relief appearance in 2005 may have qualified his as the greatest Small Sample Size (SSS) player on the roster: 1 IP, 2 K, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB. He had a FIP of -0.98. That's negative 0.98. I'm gonna be honest here and admit that I didn't know a negative FIP was even possible. He had a pretty good year in AAA for the Astros in 2006, striking out over 8 batters per 9 IP, walking fewer than 2 per 9 IP, and finishing 4-8 with a 3.20 ERA.
Mike Gallo – 2006 was the end of Gallo's miserable four-year run as an Astro. In 116 innings since 2003, he'd walked (3.65/9) almost as many as he'd struck out (5.35/9), going 4-3 with a 4.11 ERA, which actually out-performed his FIP (5.49) by a fairly wide margin.
Jesse Garcia – After a less-than-stellar career with the Orioles, Braves, and Padres, Garcia spent the 2006 with the Astros organization in AAA, where he posted a walk rate under 3% and slugged just .392, with a 72 wRC+.
Carlos Hernandez – Hernandez began his career with the Astros in 2001, and by the end of 2004, he'd thrown 170.2 innings in 35 games (33 starts). But in 2006, he only managed 14 innings for Corpus Christi, walking 10.3 per 9 innings.
J.R. House – House began his career in Pittsburgh, where he was ranked as high as the #21 prospect in all of baseball in 2001. He was signed by the Astros as a free agent prior to the 2006 season. He had a stellar year between Corpus Christi and Round Rock, but went 0-9 with 2 strikeouts in his limited time in the big leagues.
Joe McEwing – McEwing was a good-not-great super utility man for the Mets, Cardinals, and Royals before the Astros purchased him from Kansas City before the 2006 season. He spent the majority of the season mashing in Round Rock, with just 6 appearances at the major league level.
Eric Munson – The third overall pick in the 1999 draft, Munson had played pretty unspectacularly for the Tigers and Devil Rays before signing with Houston as a free agent. He finished 2006 under the Mendoza line, hitting 199/269/348 with 5 home runs and 19 RBI. Though dreadfully unlucky (.219) in BABIP, he didn't help himself with his walk (7.1%) and strikeout (20.5%) rates.
Jailen Peguero – An amateur free agent, signed by the Astros out of the Dominican Republic in 2000, Peguero never rose above the AAA level in Houston, though he would later go on to pitch 24 mediocre innings for Arizona in 2007 and 2008.
Tike Redman – Signed as a free agent after being released by the Tigers during the 2006 season, Redman had 121 nice plate appearances in Corpus Christi, with a .366 wOBA, but couldn't find a spot on the big league roster, perhaps owing to his reputation as a poor defender (he'd led the league in errors by a CF in 2005 for Pittsburgh.)
Walter Young – Young hit 277/309/410 in 366 plate appearances in Corpus Christi after being released by the Padres, but never moved up to Round Rock.
Alan Zinter – A former first rounder (24th overall) by the Mets, Zinter was a journeyman minor leaguer long before arriving Houston, having played in the Mets, Tigers, Red Sox, Mariners, Cubs, and Diamondbacks systems before joining the Astros. It was his second stint with Houston, who'd actually given him 44 of his 84 big league plate appearances, back in 2002.
Brian Gordon – Gordon was drafted out of Round Rock High School, and showed nice peripherals in the minors, but could never manage to stay healthy.
ANALYSIS: This is so early in the offseason that none of these moves can exactly be analyzed yet. Several of the players on this list did, in fact, come back and play for the Astros in 2007. Of those who didn't, not much was given up. Redman was worth 0.2 wins for Baltimore in 2007, but he's offset by Jailen Peguero, who lost 0.2 wins with Arizona. House was worth 0.1 wins in 2007 for Baltimore. So we've got a NET LOSS of 0.1 wins. Hardly worth mentioning.
October 30, 2006
The Astros let Russ Springer depart via free agency. A piece of the pennant-winning 2005 team, Springer was an extreme (60.5%) flyball pitcher with a tendency towards allowing home runs. He threw 59.2 innings in 2006, going 1-1 with 46 K, 16 BB, 1.039 WHIP, and 3.47 ERA.
ANALYSIS: Springer pitched 116.1 innings over the next two seasons for the Cardinals, going 10-2 with a FIP near 3 and a hefty strikeout total. His HR/9 total dropped from 1.51 to 0.41, owing largely to playing in a park where flyballs didn't leave quite as frequently. He was worth 1.7 wins over his two seasons in St. Louis, with 1.2 of them coming in 2007. So, a NET LOSS of 1.2 wins.
October 31, 2006
Craig Biggio, Roger Clemens, and Aubrey Huff departed via free agency. Don't worry, future Hall of Famer Biggio would be back for one final season.
Huff had come over mid-season in a trade with the Devil Rays for Mitch Talbot and Ben Zobrist. It's a good thing we're not analyzing that trade, which was a giant loss for the Astros. He hit 250/341/478 for the Astros down the stretch, but poor fielding and baserunning gave him replacement value. Clemens had gone 38-18 with a 2.40 ERA in three seasons in Houston, striking out 505 batters in 539 innings while walking just 101. He won a Cy Young Award in 2004 (his 7th) and finished in the top three in 2005, but 2006 had been a bit of a struggle for him, and all signs pointed toward him heading into retirement.
ANALYSIS: Huff signed with the Orioles for three seasons, and was worth 1 win in 2007. In 2007, he was worth four times as many. After struggling through the first half of 2009, he was traded to the Tigers for Brett Jacobson, who never advanced past the AA level. Clemens pitched for the Yankees in 2007, going 6-6 with a 4.14 FIP. He was worth 1.8 wins. For the 2007 season, this is a NET LOSS of 2.8 wins in 2007.
November 6, 2006
Andy Pettitte departed through free agency. Something of a foregone conclusion after the loss of Clemens, Pettitte had gone 37-26 over three seasons in Houston, with a 3.38 ERA. He'd been worth 3.5 wins in 2006.
ANALYSIS: Pettitte went back to the Yankees in 2007, where he's pitched ever since. 2007 shows a NET LOSS of 4.5 wins, as he went 15-9 with a 3.87 FIP for the Bombers.
November 10, 2006
Free agent Craig Biggio re-signed. Biggio came back for one final season, in which he hit a pretty lackluster 251/285/381, but he collected his 3,000th hit and solidified his Cooperstown credentials.
November 15, 2006
Free agent middle infielder Jesse Garcia re-signed.
November 24, 2006
Free agent outfielder Carlos Lee and free agent pitcher Woody Williams signed .
Lee had been a powerhouse for the White Sox, Brewers, and Rangers, and was signed by Houston to provide pop from the cleanup spot.
Williams was brought in to plug up the rotation with the departure of Clemens and Pettitte. An effective pitcher for the Blue Jays, Padres, and Cardinals, Williams' tenure in Houston was less successful.
ANALYSIS: Williams struggled in Houston, going 8-15 with a 5.27 ERA through 33 games (31 starts). He was worth -0.1 wins. It's hard to argue with the Lee signing, as – aside from a subpar 2010 in which his defense negated his 246/291/417 line – he consistently provided positive value. He was worth 10.7 runs over the next 5.5 seasons (at about $9.3m per win). Specifically for 2007, these two signings showed a NET GAIN of 3.3 wins, with Lee offsetting Williams' negative value.
However, signing Lee forced the Astros to surrender their first round pick (17th overall) to the Texas Rangers. The Rangers used this pick to select Blake Beavan, who they later traded to the Mariners (with Matthew Lawson, Justin Smoak, and Josh Lueke) for Cliff Lee and Mark Lowe.
Lee played the remainder of the season in Texas and then was signed by the Phillies, giving Texas two more draft picks in 2011, which they used to select Kevin Matthews and Zach Cone. Cone, in particular, looks like a win so far for Texas. He hit 262/326/421 in A-ball in 2012 (115 wRC+) and, if he can learn a little more patience at the plate, could eventually prove to be a solid center fielder in the big leagues.
For his part, Lowe has provided 0.4 wins over the past two seasons for Texas.
Losing the first round pick carries its own unique set of hardships, but since we're evaluating the 2007 season, we'll stick with the net gain of 3.3 wins.
December 12, 2006
And away we go. Perhaps believing – somehow – that Woody Williams alone wasn't quite enough to plug up the loss of Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens, GM Tim Purpura decided to pull the trigger on a trade: Taylor Buchholz, Jason Hirsh, and Willy Taveras to the Colorado Rockies for Miguel Asencio and Jason Jennings.
Whatever Buchholz's emotional shortcomings may have been (and they certainly may have been), he'd been a pleasant surprise for the Astros in their 2006 campaign. Though he'd gone just 6-10 with a 5.18 FIP, worth 0.4 wins. Nothing to write home about, but his future looked promising enough.
Jason Hirsh had shown command and control problems in his own rookie campaign in 2006, walking 4.43 batters per 9 innings and allowing 2.22 home runs per 9. An extreme flyball pitcher (69.9%), he didn't fit the profile of a MMP pitcher. But he certainly didn't fit the profile of a Coors Field pitcher, either.
Taveras was one of those frustrating leadoff hitters, all speed with no on-base skills. He drew just a 5.8% walk rate in 2006, with a wRC+ of 72, but saved 20.3 runs in center field and stole 33 bases. He'd boasted a .333 OBP, aided largely by his insane 42.9% bunt hit percentage.
Asencio had shown some early promise in Colorado, generating lots of groundballs, but could never quite command the strike zone.
Jennings was the real keystone of this piece for Houston. The 2002 NL Rookie of the Year had built a solid reputation in Colorado, going 58-56 with a 98 ERA+. Though he'd gone just 9-13 in 2006, he'd posted career-low ERA (3.78) and WHIP (1.373) totals.
ANALYSIS: For all the buzz that this trade generated, it was more or less a wash. Asencio spent 2007 struggling in the Astros' minor league system, while Jennings generated the highest flyball percentage (64.8%) and HR/9 (1.73) of his career to date. He went 2-9 through just 18 starts, with a FIP of 5.39 and just 0.2 WAR.
On the other side of the trade, Taveras was worth a career-high 1.1 wins in 2007. Hirsh provided 0.9 wins of his own, going 5-7 with a 4.81 ERA, and Buchholz was worth 1.7 wins in 2007, limiting the long ball and the free passes. Overall, this was a NET LOSS of 3.5 wins for the Astros in 2007.
January 4, 2007
The first transaction of the new year saw the Astros re-sign free agent Eric Munson, as well as signing free agent Kevin Walker, who'd been lackluster for the Padres, Giants, and White Sox. Walker never pitched a big league inning for the Astros.
January 5, 2007
The Astros signed free agent Ray Sadler, who'd shown promise in Pittsburgh, but never materialized on the Astros' big league roster.
January 8, 2007
The Astros signed free agent Mark Loretta. This was Loretta's second stint with the Astros, having played 21 games for them during the 2002 season. But mostly, he'd been with the Brewers, Padres, and Red Sox. He was an infielder with good on-base skills and a little power, but not a ton in the way of defensive ability. He performed as expected for the Astros, going 287/352/372 in 2007, for a NET GAIN of 1.3 wins.
January 10, 2007
The Astros re-signed free agent Travis Driskill.
January 16, 2007
The Astros signed free agent Travis Phelps, albeit not for the last time during this offseason. They also signed free agent left-hander Steve Randolph. Phelps would not play in the majors for Houston. Randolph, on the other hand, pitched 13.1 innings. He struck out 22 batters in that time (14.85/9), but walked 17 (11.48/9) and gave up 18 earned runs, 21 hits, and 4 home runs. He ended the season 0-1 with a 12.15 ERA and a 2.850 WHIP, providing a NET LOSS of 0.4 wins in the process. Pretty impressive for 13.1 innings.
January 17, 2007
The Astros signed free agent infielder Danny Klassen.
January 18, 2007
The Astros signed free agent outfielder Todd Self.
January 19, 2007
The Astros signed free agent outfielder Tim Raines. Not that Tim Raines.
January 27, 2007
The Astros signed free agent pitcher Brian Moehler. This was Moehler's second stint with the Astros (he'd thrown 13.2 innings in 2003 for Houston). He'd established himself as a capable pitcher with Detroit, Cincinnati, and Florida. Someone who could pitch out of the bullpen or as a starter. This was a fairly low-key signing, but Moehler would prove to be quite an asset for Houston in 2008, going 11-8 with a 4.57 FIP. In 2007, though, he was a replacement-level pitcher.
January 31, 2007
The Astros re-signed free agent Brian Gordon.
Februrary 2, 2007
The Astros signed veteran lefty Scott Sauerbeck and righty Rick White. Sauerbeck would not pitch at the big league level for the Astros, but White did end up contributing 29.1 miserable innings in 2007, with a NET LOSS of 0.3 wins.
March 2, 2007
The Astros signed free agent outfielder Barry Wesson.
March 6, 2007
The Astros signed international free agent Jose Altuve. Though he wouldn't begin contributing until 2011, the diminutive seventeen-year-old infielder may have been the second-best signing of the offseason. An All-Star in 2012, he's been worth 2.1 wins in roughly a season and a half in Houston. Still, for the 2007 season, he's a wash.
March 26, 2007
The Astros claimed Ezequiel Astacio off waivers from the Rangers. Though he'd pitched before in Houston, Astacio would not re-surface on their roster in 2007 or beyond.
Purpura also pulled off a low-profile trade, sending Wade Robinson to the Nationals for Danny Ardoin. Robinson struggled at the AA-level before Washington cut him, and Ardoin never made it to the big leagues for Houston, despite appearances in the past for Minnesota, Texas, Colorado, and Baltimore.
March 27, 2007
The Astros released Travis Phelps. Poor guy.
March 30, 2007
The Astros released Charlton Jimerson. Jimerson had gone 247/287/445 for Houston's AAA club in 2006, and had even contributed 0.1 wins for the big league club. After he was released, the Mariners signed him. Though he only had two plate appearances for Seattle in 2007, one of them resulted in a home run, for an impressive (on paper) line of 1000/1000/2500, 1.448 wOBA, 848 wRC+. He also flashed a good glove and stole two bases in his limited time for the Mariners, worth a NET LOSS to Houston of 0.2 wins.
This would be the final move of Spring Training before the Astros began the 2007 season. The dates, moving forward, will have the Astros' record for the sake of reference.
April 3, 2007 (0-2, t-5th NL Central)
The Astros released Kevin Walker.
April 27, 2007 (9-13, t-5th NL Central)
The Astros signed Travis Phelps. Hey, welcome back!
May 20, 2007 (21-22, 2nd NL Central)
The Astros released Travis Phelps. Oh, hey, never mind.
June 7, 2007 (24-35, 5th NL Central)
The 2007 Rule 4 Draft was, more or less, an unmitigated disaster for Houston. They didn't select until 111th overall. In total, they selected 42 players, only one of whom ever played in the major leagues. That one, Robbie Weinhardt, was drafted in the 38th round. He didn't sign. In 2008, Tigers drafted him in the 10th round, and he's contributed 0.4 wins for them
The small amount of upside is that they were able to flip 10th-rounder Matt Cusick to the Yankees for LaTroy Hawkins, who would go on to be worth 1.1 wins for Houston, but not until the 2008 season.
11th-rounder Robert Bono was part of the package sent to Florida for Matt Lindstrom in 2010. Lindstrom was worth 0.3 wins that season, and was later sent to Colorado for Jonnathan Aristil and Wes Musick, both of whom pitched in Oklahoma City in 2012.
June 12, 2007 (27-37, 4th NL Central)
The Astros signed veteran free agent pitcher Chan Ho Park. Park would not end up pitching in the majors for Houston, though he would have a productive year two years later for Philadelphia.
June 19, 2007 (31-40, 5th NL Central)
The Astros released Scott Sauerbeck.
June 28, 2007 (33-46, 5th NL Central)
The Astros released Rick White.
July 28, 2007 (46-58, 4th NL Central)
Despite being ten and a half games out of first place, Purpura still believed Houston had a shot, owing largely to the reputation the Astros had put together of being a "second-half team." It was the pressure to make a push for the postseason, no doubt, that prompted him to trade Dan Wheeler to Tampa Bay for Ty Wigginton.
At the time, this felt very similar to the deal that sent Talbot and Zobrist to Tampa for Aubrey Huff. Huff and Wigginton were both part-time rentals from Tampa Bay. They both played third base. They both had some power. In reality, though, this trade hurt Houston far less. Wigginton turned in a career-best 3.1 WAR in 2008, limiting his defensive liabilities. In just 187 plate appearances in Houston in 2007, he went 284/342/462 and was worth 0.8 wins.
Wheeler had been a key piece of the Houston bullpen in 2005 and 2006, and had been moderately less effective in 2007. He never again matched his 05/06 peak, finishing the season with 0.3 WAR for Tampa, but contributing 0.3 more over the following three seasons combined. This resulted in a NET GAIN of 0.5 wins for Houston in 2007.
July 31, 2007 (46-60, 4th NL Central)
Wigginton's signing made it pretty clear that Morgan Ensberg's days in Houston were done. Ensberg had been electric during the 2005 season, with 6.5 WAR, and another 3.8 in 2006. But he struggled in 2007, both in the field and at the plate, and was responsible for -0.5 WAR. He rebounded slightly after being traded to San Diego for cash considerations. This move resulted in a NET LOSS of 0.5 wins.
August 22, 2007 (57-70, 4th NL Central)
Danny Ardoin was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for cash considerations.
September 11, 2007 (63-81, 6th NL Central)
The Astros purchased Dennis Sarfate from the Brewers.
September 20, 2007 (67-86, 5th NL Central)
Ed Wade was hired as the general manager of the Houston Astros.
September 24, 2007 (68-88, 5th NL Central)
Wade's first move as GM is to ship Jason Lane off to San Diego for nothing. Lane, once one of the Astros' most highly-touted prospects, floundered at the Major League level, and in 2007 he was worth -0.5 WAR. Even after the trade, he resulted in a NET GAIN of 0.1 WAR. He's currently trying to rebuild his career as a pitcher.
Altogether, a net loss of a little over 7 wins. The 2006 Astros had won 82 games; eight fewer puts them at 74. Though they actually only won 68 games, Pythagoras had them good enough for 72. Between expected regression, a few bad bounces, and personnel decisions, two games of variance isn't too bad for this experiment.
The Chicago Cubs won the NL Central in 2007 with 85 wins, or roughly the cost of trading pieces for Jason Jennings and not replacing Andy Pettitte's value.
On Home Run Suppression at Minute Maid Park
Because I live in Los Angeles, California, I spend a lot of time during the baseball season at Dodger Stadium. An interesting thing happens at Dodger Stadium that doesn't happen at any other Major League ballpark. Well, a lot of things happen at Dodger Stadium that don't happen at any other Major League ballpark. For instance, attempted homicide in the parking lot.
But what I'm referring to in this entry is that every time a fly ball is hit in Dodger Stadium, everyone stands up and cranes their neck to watch the ball's flight. Well, not everyone. 40% of the Dodger Stadium crowd is, at any given point during a game, fixated on one of three hundred beach balls being batted around the stadium (they are not all fixated on this because they enjoy it; it's also a legitimate safety concern for fans of visiting teams. I've been the victim of attempted beach ball assault on more than one occasion). But of the remaining 60%, a very large number stand up to watch every fly ball.
Every fly ball. It could be a pop-up to the catcher behind the plate. People will stand up. It could be a long, graceful foul ball that lands somewhere near Vin Scully. People will stand up. It could be a high, looping fly-out to the shortstop. People will stand up. People will stand up because in a city like Los Angeles, at any given time, there are fifty-seven things more interesting than watching the Dodgers. But even in a city like Los Angeles, home runs are one thing people understand and want to see.
What makes this behavior particularly odd is that fly balls don't generally turn into home runs at Dodger Stadium. In 2012, 1.56 home runs per game were hit in Dodger Stadium. That's the sixth-least of any stadium in Major League Baseball. In fact, every year since 2006 – when the ESPN Home Run Tracker was created – Dodger Stadium has been ranked as one of the top ten home run-suppressing stadiums in baseball.
Minute Maid Park, of course, has the opposite reputation. It's known as a hitter-friendly park. One that encourages home runs. At least, that's the reputation.
But in looking at the Home Run Tracker, something interesting pops up. Though it's true that from 2006 – 2008, Minute Maid Park ranked among the top ten parks in home run rate, since then it has normalized, and in fact it's currently listed as a fairly neutral park. In fact, the hitter's advantage that MMP has been known for since its inaugural season of 2000 may not be such an advantage, after all.
Minute Maid Park Park Factors By Year (Batting)
|Park Factor
After four seasons, Minute Maid Park stabilized and has been more or less a neutral park ever since. But whatever the offensive environment in Minute Maid Park, it's been more or less understood that it allows more home runs – and fewer beach balls – than Dodger Stadium. Since 2006, an average of .43 fewer home runs a game per season. Over 81 home games, that's almost 35 fewer home runs per season.
Which makes it even more puzzling what happened in 2010. In 2010, Minute Maid Park allowed just 1.59 home runs per game. Dodger Stadium allowed 1.62. One's first instinct is to write this off as a bad offensive team, which isn't entirely untrue, but remember that this covers visiting teams, as well. And as you can see, visiting teams didn't exactly knock the ball out of Minute Maid Park, either (I include the Astros' road splits for context):
|Home SLG
|Road SLG
|Visitors SLG
Astros' hitters lost 43 points of SLG from 2009-2010 at Minute Maid Park, compared to 34 on the road. But visiting hitters lost 44 points themselves, only to completely rebound the following season.
A look at GB/FB rates doesn't provide any answers:
|Home GB/FB
|Visitors GB/FB
Looking at home runs per fly ball yields some interesting results, however.
|Home HR/FB
|Visitors HR/FB
The Astros' HR/FB rates tumbled in 2010 – down 2.4% from 2009 overall, but actually up almost 2% at home. Conversely, however, visitors in Minute Maid Park only saw 8.4% of their fly balls leave the yard – a 2.7% reduction.
So what happened in 2010 that kept fly balls from leaving the stadium, for both the visitors and for the home team? I don't see any evidence of a physical change that the stadium encountered that would have resulted in this.
One possible theory I can come up with is that Prince Fielder – who crushed the ball in Minute Maid Park – had a down year in 2010. Fielder slugged just .200 in Minute Maid Park in that season, far down from his career .627 (not a typo) slugging percentage there. Is it possible that his power slump in Houston was able to change the run environment that much? It seems unlikely. But something happened that year.
Do The Rangers Need to Make a Splashy Move?
Yesterday, my colleague over at Crawfish Boxes, David Coleman, posted his "Three Astros Things."
One of the Astros things was actually a Rangers thing:
They lost out on Zach [sic] Greinke. They lost out on James Shields. What's left for the Rangers?
Well, it appears our enemies to the north will try to load up on every other player they can. There's talk that they may re-sign Josh Hamilton. There's talk they may push through the Justin Upton trade. They may go after Michael Bourn, Anibal Sanchez, or any number of other players.
But, what if they don't get anything? How much will the Rangers be hurt if they stand pat? It almost seems like they may be better off not making these moves. They need to replace Josh Hamilton's offense, but adding Mike Olt may replace some of that offense, right?
Plus, they'd lose draft picks if they have to sign too many big-ticket free agents, which hurts the team down the road. In an Upton trade, they also would have to give up either Andrus or Profar.
I guess the question is are the Rangers good enough to contend without making a splashy move or can they still win the AL West with the team they have now?
My response will be longer than I'd feel comfortable posting in their comments section, so allow me to devote my own article to answering his article.
The usual caveats apply here – since I'll be spending a lot of energy talking about WAR. WAR is a nice tool, but it's not the only tool, and it's certainly not the best predictive tool. But it does put us in the ballpark of a player's value, so I'll be using it as a catch-all throughout this article.
I think that, to answer this question, you first have to answer three other questions. Namely:
1. Were the 2012 Oakland Athletics a fluke?
It's impossible to talk about the Rangers winning or losing the AL West without considering the team that did win the AL West in 2012, the Oakland Athletics. The Athletics seemed to overcome all odds in winning their division, despite having the second-lowest Opening Day payroll in all of baseball. They were built on youth without long major league track records: Yoenis Cespedes, Josh Donaldson, Chris Carter, Derek Norris, and Collin Cowgill were all rookie position players who were worth more than replacement value. Jarrod Parker, Tommy Milone, Ryan Cook, Sean Doolittle, A.J. Griffin, Travis Blackley, Evan Scribner, and Jordan Norberto were all rookie pitchers who did the same.
Pythagoras only put the 2012 Athletics two wins behind their actual performance. Then again, the Rangers only finished one game behind the Athletics in 2012, so I think it's safe to call that a toss-up. For all intents and purposes, the Rangers and Athletics were equally good in 2012. You could point at any of a number of reasons why the A's may have a sophomore slump in 2013, or why an additional year of playing together – with postseason experience – could make them play even better. Obviously, it could go either way. But there's no compelling reason, at this time, to assume that Oakland won't be in the mix in September and October 2013.
One problem with a young team is trying to define regression to the mean, since they are currently in the process of establishing the mean. As a result, I have no reason to think that the 2013 Athletics will be significantly worse than the 2012 Athletics.
Additionally, the Angels and Mariners could easily improve next season, putting added pressure on Texas to make a move. Or so it would seem.
2. What have the Rangers lost since 2012, and can they replace it?
Since the end of the 2012 season, Texas has lost 11 players with relevant (read: within the last three seasons) Major League experience, and they've gained 11 players with relevant Major League experience.
Using a 5/3/2 regression on incoming players, and 2012 rates for outgoing players:
Between Feldman, Napoli, Hamilton, Dempster, and Adams, the Rangers have lost a significant amount to Free Agency this winter. The Geovany Soto "gain" is actually a wash, as Soto was also on the roster in 2012. All told, the Rangers have lost approximately 12 wins from 2012. Prospects, such as Mike Olt, Jurickson Profar, and Leonys Martin, might make up some of the difference, but it's unlikely they'll make up all of it. Sure, Mike Trout had 10.0 WAR in his second rookie season of 2012, but counting on 13 wins from a trio of rookies isn't the best idea in the world.
I would pencil the trio in for somewhere between 4-8 WAR in 2013. We'll split the difference and call it 6.0. That leaves the Rangers with a 7-win differential from 2012, and an 8-win differential from the 2012 Athletics.
3. What, exactly, constitutes a "flashy signing"?
8 wins is a lot. 8 wins is Buster Posey. Heck, James Shields and Zack Greinke combined would be just over 9 wins. Re-signing Josh Hamilton would eliminate the loss of just 4 wins, and it seems to me that re-signing Hamilton might be a losing proposition. Not only did the Rangers make it clear that Greinke was Option 1 over Hamilton, but they also seem to have downplayed his contributions to an extreme. If I was Josh Hamilton (and let's make it very clear here that I am not Josh Hamilton), I would look for a payday elsewhere.
But what's interesting is that re-signing Ryan Dempster would bring the Rangers almost as close as re-signing Hamilton would. Of course, if Dempster's agent is to be believed, Dempster would rather go to an NL team with Spring Training in Arizona (that's the Diamondbacks, Cubs, Reds, Rockies, Dodgers, Brewers, Padres, and Giants, incidentally).
Dempster might not be as flashy as Hamilton, but he brings you almost as close to making up the win-differential from 2012 to 2013. After that, it's a matter of "finding" around 5 wins. Now we're in Michael Bourn/Justin Upton territory. But, heck, now we're in Jimmy Rollins territory, too. Or Miguel Montero territory. It's a lot easier to find 5 wins than it is to try and land one big free agent who can bridge the gap by themselves.
In short, I think a couple of non-flashy signings might benefit the Rangers at least as much as a big signing would. Anibal Sanchez has never been worth as many as 4.5 wins. Michael Bourn is coming off a personal-best 6.4, but he has a skillset that deteriorates with age.
I think a flashy signing might look nice to the fans in Arlington, but I have no reason to think that it's the best thing the Rangers could do to stay competitive. They'd almost be better off letting the prospects play and trying to catch lightning in a bottle the way Oakland did in 2012.
Of course, there's a reason why Oakland is Oakland, and why Texas is Texas. And I'd certainly never say that a team who has appeared in back-to-back World Series recently has any sort of a flawed method. But I do have to think that rushing out and signing a free agent just to sign a free agent isn't the best thing the Rangers could do for themselves right now.
Could Scott Kazmir Be a Fit in Houston?
The Houston Astros need pitching help. They need a lot of pitching help. Though GM Jeff Luhnow was able to acquire some arms during and before the winter meetings – Sam Demel, Josh Fields, and Alex White, notably – the rotation in particular looks a bit shaky.
Since the Astros aren't going to be major players in free agency (even my dream of acquiring Francisco Liriano looks far-fetched right now), it becomes incumbent on them to poke around in the bushes a little more with the hopes of landing a potential arm for the rotation.
One possibility may be Scott Kazmir, the former first-rounder for the Mets.
Kazmir, out of Cypress Falls High School, was supposed to be a stud. In 2005, Baseball America listed him as the #7 prospect in baseball. Ahead of Rickie Weeks, Hanley Ramirez, Matt Cain, Prince Fielder, and… well, all but six players in the universe (those six players? Joe Mauer, Felix Hernandez, Delmon Young, Ian Stewart, Joel Guzman, and Casey Kotchman). The Mets traded him, along with Jose Diaz, to the Devil Rays for Bartolome Fortunato and Victor Zambrano.
Though it's easy to look at Kazmir's time in Tampa Bay as disappointing, he did manage to strike out more batters than innings pitched, was never worth fewer than 2 wins in a season, and went to two All-Star Games. The lefty pitched well through 2008, when elbow issues forced him onto the DL in early 2009. That's when the real trouble began.
A string of injuries prompted the Rays to trade Kazmir to the Angels for Sean Rodriguez, Matt Sweeney, and Alexander Torres. His tenure in Anaheim was terrible. A rash of injuries led to a breakdown of his mechanics, and reduced effectiveness. His velocity had fallen from touching 94 in 2004, to the mid-80s in 2011. He also lost the feel for his slider, his other plus pitch. The Angels, mercifully, released him in June 2011.
In 2012, Kazmir pitched for the Atlantic League's Sugar Land Skeeters, and didn't fare terribly well there, either. 3-6 with a 5.34 ERA, only 1.55 strikeouts per walk, and a 1.672 WHIP. He pitched a little better in Puerto Rico this winter, pitching 4 games, throwing in the 90-94 range, and going 0-2 with a 5.12 ERA, striking out 21 (in 19.1 innings) and only walking 6. Perhaps the most encouraging statistic was his ability to generate groundouts (2.20 GO/AO), which would be a valuable asset for a power pitcher who's lost his power.
Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com recently mentioned that Kazmir may have multiple suitors. Ordinarily, if a player has a choice between more than one team, then it's unlikely that Houston is going to be the top choice. However, given that Kazmir grew up locally, there is a possibility. After all, he had his choice of Independent teams, and he chose to pitch for Sugar Land. Not to mention Houston is one destination where he may actually have a solid chance to not only make the roster, but to get penciled in as a starter out of Spring Training.
Grading the Winter Meetings
Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow's first Winter Meetings are in the rearview mirror, and as he leaves Nashville, it's time to look back and see how he did with the team's most pressing needs:
Upgrade the Bullpen
Last season, the Astros' bullpen was in the bottom 5 in the major leagues in ERA (5th-worst), batting average against (2nd-worst), save percentage (5th-worst), WHIP (3rd-worst), and home runs against (7th-worst). Upgrading the bullpen is at or near the top of the priority list for most GMs every offseason, and this year was no different for Luhnow.
The first thing anyone notices is the trade of Wilton Lopez to Colorado, in exchange for Alex White and Alex Gillingham. You might raise your eyebrows and wonder how the bullpen will be improved through the loss of Lopez, the team's best reliever, but it might have been. During the Winter Meetings, the Astros added several arms, including White, Gillingham, Rule 5 picks Josh Fields and Cameron Lamb, and Mickey Storey, claimed off waivers from the Yankees (who'd claimed him off waivers themselves from Houston before the Winter Meetings.)
Storey, Fields, and White should contribute immediately to the 2013 pitching staff. It's unclear whether White is being looked at as a starter or as a reliever, but the story on him since college is that he could be a fairly dominant reliever. What's helpful, too, is that he's a similar-type pitcher to Lopez, but under team control longer. Fields is a power pitcher, and Storey had a very nice season in 2012, with 10.09 K/9 and a 2.80 FIP.
Maybe the best news is that Jason Stoffel, who figures to be a good bullpen arm for the Astros in 2014 if not sooner, didn't get taken in the Rule 5 Draft. Of course, this is through no great display of skill by Houston, but it's noteworthy nonetheless.
Prior to the Winter Meetings, Houston had already picked up Sam Demel off waivers from the Diamondbacks.
Lamb and Gillingham won't pitch for the big league club this season, but Storey, White, Fields, and probably Stoffel will. Without signing a single free agent or spending any real money, Luhnow & Co. at least maintained the big league bullpen, whether or not they actually strengthened it.
Improve the Starting Rotation
Before the Winter Meetings, the Astros went out and snagged Philip Humber off waivers from the White Sox. Heading into Nashville, it didn't seem very likely that much else would be done to improve the starting rotation, which could benefit from a veteran presence that slots in either above or below Jordan Lyles, Lucas Harrell, and Bud Norris. Figure that the competition for the final two rotation spots is currently between Jarred Cosart, Dallas Keuchel, and Alex White.
Clearly, this is an area where the Astros could use an upgrade, even if it's just a veteran stop-gap who can hold down the fort until Cosart's put in some time in Oklahoma City.
There are still some veteran arms I like, including Francisco Liriano, and some more that I'll discuss later in the week. But during the Winter Meetings, unless you consider White a potential starter, Luhnow did not address the rotation.
Find a Designated Hitter
Despite reports that the Astros checked in on Lance Berkman, Travis Hafner, and Carlos Pena, no one was signed during the Winter Meetings with the express intent of playing DH for the Astros. Rule 5 selection Nate Freiman does look like someone who might be able to fill the role if no one else is signed, as he can provide pop at the plate, but I can't even imagine that he's Option A for anyone in the Houston front office.
Though Houston came out of the Winter Meetings arguably stronger than when they went in, there are still holes to address. Still, for Luhnow's first go-around, it was a pretty solid effort without spending any money or making any compromises.
Fields and Freiman join the Astros
In today's Rule 5 Draft, the Astros selected two players: Josh Fields, right-handed pitcher from Boston, and Nate Freiman, first baseman from San Diego.
Fields was drafted in the 1st round (20th overall) by Seattle in 2008, and was sent to Boston as a piece in the Erik Bedard trade. He's thrown just under 177 innings, almost all of them in AA, and has shown a remarkable inability to stop from walking guys. He walks a little more than five guys per nine innings pitched, but has limited hits enough to stay at a 1.291 WHIP. He's made up for it a little bit by whiffing 10.5 per nine innings. But what looks best is his ability to limit the home run: 0.5 HR/9 isn't a bad statistic.
On paper, a 1.291 WHIP, 0.5 HR/9, and 10.5 K/9 rate looks awfully good, but you also have to remember that this is a 26-year-old pitcher playing in the Eastern League. His age-appropriate seasons weren't quite as impressive.
After moving into the Boston organization, he was blowing guys away (10+ K/9 in all of his stops there, FIPs all under 4), so it's possible someone in their organization was able to "fix" him, but it's just as likely that his results were due to pitching to hitters two and three years his junior. He clearly profiles as a middle-reliever in the Houston bullpen.
Players taken in the Rule 5 Draft must spend the entire season – aside from any injury rehab assignments – on the 25-man roster. If Houston wants to send him to the minors, they'll have to arrange a trade. Otherwise, they'd have to return him to Boston.
Freiman was taken in the 8th round by San Diego, out of Duke University. He's climbed steadily but slowly through their organization – spending entire seasons in short season, A, high A, and finally double-A ball. In San Antonio in 2012, he had a .203 ISO and a .324 BABIP. He's never posted double-digit walk rates, but isn't exactly a strikeout king, either.
Good power, good on-base rate. The usual caveats about playing under his age bracket, but he looks like a potentially-solid bat, and should get a look at DH or first base.
Astros Claim Philip Humber Off Waivers
Today, the Houston Astros claimed Philip Humber off waivers from the Chicago White Sox. Houston then avoided arbitration with Humber, agreeing to terms on a one-year deal, with a club option for 2014.
So, the next natural question becomes: Who is Philip Humber?
There are things we know about Philip Humber. We know that he was drafted in the 1st round (3rd overall) by the Mets in the 2004 Rule 4 Draft out of Rice University. We know that he was part of the package that the Mets sent to Minnesota for Johan Santana in 2008. We know that from 2009-2012, he was claimed off of waivers by the Royals, Athletics, White Sox, and finally by the Astros.
Further, if we've paid attention we know that Philip Humber had a very good year in 2011, going 9-9 with a 3.75 ERA and 3.6 fWAR. We may also know that he threw the 21st perfect game in MLB history, blanking the Seattle Mariners 4-0 in what was actually the only complete game of his career, on April 21, 2012.
And now, we know that Philip Humber is a Houston Astro, for at least one season.
As Astros fans, and as an Astros blog, I feel that first it's incumbent upon us to say welcome to the Astros, Philip. Glad to have you aboard.
First, a bit of trivia. In 1995, a young Venezuelan pitcher named Johan Santana was signed by the Houston Astros as an amateur free agent. The Astros never promoted Santana above A-ball, and in 1999, the Florida Marlins drafted him in the Rule 5 Draft. They then traded him to the Minnesota Twins for Jared Camp, and Santana went on to win two Cy Young Awards for the Twins.
Then, in 2008, Minnesota traded Santana to the New York Mets for a package of prospects that included – wait for it – Philip Humber. Now, Humber comes to Houston. So in a roundabout sort of way, we can at least close our eyes and pretend that the Mets sent Humber to the Astros for Santana. It's not true, but at least we can now pretend to have closure.
So what happened between Humber's 3.5+ fWAR season in 2011, his perfect game at the beginning of the 2012 season, and his getting waived by Chicago at the end of the 2012 season?
It's an important question, and it's one that GM Jeff Luhnow must feel confident in knowing the answer to.
2011 (163.0) and 2012 (102.0) are the only two seasons in which Humber has thrown more than a hundred innings in the big leagues. The disparity between the two seasons is pretty remarkable. In short, there's almost nothing similar about them, from a numbers point of view:
Looking at these two seasons, it's as if you're looking at two completely different players. 2011 Humber (who we'll call PH11) didn't strike many people out, but didn't issue an unreasonable number of walks, either. He was aided by BABIP, to be sure, but he put a lot of balls on the ground and, of the balls he put in the air, fewer than 10% of them went for home runs.
2012 Humber (PH12), on the other hand, struck out more guys, but also walked significantly more, induced far fewer groundballs, and saw more than twice as many of the flyballs he induced leave the park.
Oh, and did I mention that PH12 spent some time on the disabled list with a mild right elbow flexor strain? Because he did.
A few other things are clear when looking at the data between 2011 and 2012: His arsenal doesn't seem to have changed significantly. By that, I mean his fastball didn't drop in velocity from one season to the next (in fact, it was a little faster in 2012, on average, by a few tenths of a MPH). His two-seamer, slider, and curveball all look like approximately the same pitch, velocity-wise. His changeup was 1.5 MPH faster in 2012, on average, but surely that couldn't have accounted for such a drastic shift in performance, and it's likely more a result of his throwing it far less (8.1% of PH12's pitches were changeups, down from PH11's 16.9%).
But his results were down across the board. Every single pitch lost runs from 2011 to 2012 (though, interestingly, his two-seamer gained runs above average/100).
He went on the disabled list in June 2012, but had clearly been experiencing problems before that. When he returned from the Disabled List, he only pitched 4 starts (going 2-1, allowing 15 runs in 20.2 innings) before being relegated to the bullpen, usually in mop-up duty. In his penultimate appearance with the White Sox, on September 4th against Minnesota, he recorded only one out while throwing 41 pitches, giving up 8 runs on 7 hits, 2 walks, and no strikeouts.
I'm not a clever enough statistician or scout to know what happened between PH11 and PH12. Whether the injury lingered longer than is generally known, or if something changed in his mechanics. I'm not the guy to figure all of that out. All I can do is hope that PH13 is closer to the former than the latter.


text:
COVID-19 Update:
A message from our CEO. View Message
Relief from The Classy Home family.
Get special 10% OFF. Use code "SPECIAL10"
Coast to Coast Imports, LLC is an international manufacturer and wholesaler of quality accent furniture and seating. With over 100 years of combined experience in the furniture industry, we have developed partnerships with manufacturers abroad to bring affordable quality accent furniture to every home. The Coast to Coast family includes hundreds of employees in Memphis, TN and Asia and over 100 sales representatives globally. Our operations include a 300,000 square foot distribution facility in Memphis, TN, 15 large factory partners in China and India, and showrooms in High Point, Las Vegas, and Tupelo. We also work with a talented staff in China as well as India. Our international team is focused on the highest level of quality control, support for product development, factory compliance, and timely shipping. The mission of Coast to Coast is simple: to deliver quality home accents for the greatest value. Our proprietary brands include Coast to Coast Accents, a collection of affordable home accent furniture; The Andy Stein Collection, higher styled home accents with a designer's touch; and Jadu Accents, a collection of beautiful rustic and industrial accent furniture from India.:
The dates below represent the closing schedules for the next several weeks.
|Tuesday, April 14, 2020
|7:35:00 pm EDT
|Thursday, April 16, 2020
|8:50:00 pm EDT
|Friday, April 17, 2020
|7:35:00 pm EDT
|Saturday, April 18, 2020
|8:55:00 pm EDT
|Friday, April 24, 2020
|7:45:00 pm EDT
|Saturday, April 25, 2020
|9:00:00 pm EDT
|Friday, May 1, 2020
|7:50:00 pm EDT
|Saturday, May 2, 2020
|9:10:00 pm EDT
You have successfully Added item to your wishlist.VIEW WISHLIST


text: Odd Todd Studios creates original animations for Fortune 500 companies and top media outlets. The instantly recognizable, personable and casually funny approach is ideal for science & tech explainers, product promotion and employee engagement. Odd Todd's acclaimed (Webby-winning) approach is far more effective than yawn-enducing whiteboard presentations. The hook is humor -- along with a hand-drawn style and every-man relatable tone. An Odd Todd cartoon is often received like a gift to the audience of a business or network. There's a reason HP, Time and ABC News have partnered with Odd Todd Studio for years -- the cartoons always connect.


text:
David Goldstein necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 27 diseños de 12 diseñadores freelance.
Boston Chocolate School
Boston Chocolate School is the sweetest education you'll ever get.
Sister company to Boston Chocolate Tours, Boston Chocolate School offers fun and interactive chocolate classes, private tastings, chocolate dinners, corporate chocolate events, and other decadent chocolate experiences.
With events and classes located across metro Boston, Boston Chocolate School is a fun, exciting, and new way sweeten your chocolate education!
Women of all ages love Boston Chocolate Tours. Our tour guests are primarily Boston residents, though we have seen an influx in out-of-state guests throughout the past few months.
Boston Chocolate School is a sub-brand of Boston Chocolate Tours, therefore we would like the logo to reflect some of the branding and design of our original logo (http://www.bostonchocolatetours.com)
We also like this logo (http://www.chocolateschool.org/), purely for the chocolate hat.
I also like this one: http://www.notterschool.com/, for the different shape of the logo (circles!) - if we could find a way to wrap in the hat, the circle, and Boston Chocolate School underneath, I think that would work well.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


text:
23 January, 2012
First and second U2 Sydney showsA few remarkable things I remember. First, I went with a mate and in those days, we just lined up and bought tickets at the window at the EntCent on the night, and because we liked them so much, we went a second night of this Sydney show, and bought tickets again! The other thing I remember is how basic the show was (especially compared with say U2360!), Bono with a mike, not much lighting and I recall he said very little. PeterA.
26 December, 2010
My first U2 showI was 18 at the time and this show was my first U2 show. I was also at the Airport when U2 touched down in Sydney. I was way up the back but the Sydney Entertainment Centre is quite small so the view was ok. Yes U2 did play Gloria twice. The show was incredible and it hooked me in for the next 26 years. I knew at the time that this young band would be special. I remember the show only cost me about $20. As an Aussie fan I always feel privledged that I was at U2's first Aussie show.
His Bonoship
21 May, 2010
Gothenburg 1987My first U2-show was on a rainy night, June 6th 1987 at Eriksberg Shipyard in Gothenburg! Treasures of the night were when Bono sang some snippets from "Rain", The Beatles song, at the beginning and at the end of "I still haven´t found! And a long intro before "Bad" where Bono talked about his friend who apparently was the main influence to that classic song! See you in Horsens! Peter
21 May, 2010
AaronMy first U2 show, and U2's first in Sydney. We had about 30 school mates there in pretty ordinary seats up towards the back....but it still went off! Remember the band playing Gloria (October) a second time due to audio issues - as Bono said...."to get it right this time!". So for a first Sydney show, it was special to hear that track twice at that point in the U2 timeline! Have seen many more shows since all over the world, but this one remains a special memory.


text:
This page last reviewed May 4, 2009
Local Actions for Climate Change
The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32) outlines a comprehensive, multi-year program to reduce California's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. AB 32 required the California Air Resources Board to identify a list of early action items, including a comprehensive framework of regulatory and non-regulatory elements that will result in significant and effective GHG emission reductions. "Guidance and protocols for businesses and governments to facilitate GHG emission reductions" were approved as early action items by the Board at its June 2007 hearing.
Small Business
Given the importance of small businesses to California's economy, a Small Business Toolkit was designed to help business simultaneously reduce GHG emissions as well as their bottom line. The Toolkit is a "one-stop shop" of guidance and resources that promote cost-effective, voluntary GHG emission reductions. Toolkit components include specific climate-friendly actions to save money; information about where to find money to get started; California success stories; a business specific carbon footprint calculator; and a small business award program. Stakeholder input was critical to Toolkit development. Moving forward, Staff will continue to incorporate stakeholder suggestions and research results to increase the Toolkit's effectiveness.
Local Government
Cities and counties have unique influence and exclusive authority over significant GHG emission sources. Local governments can help California meet its AB 32 targets through climate action planning. A Local Government Toolkit was designed to provide guidance and resources to help cities and counties reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save money.A variety of tools are available to assist with climate action planning including information on:
- How to calculate and inventory current GHG emissions
- A recommended target to reduce GHG emissions
- Cost-saving strategies to take action now
- Financial resources to get started
- Case studies to learn what other cities have been able to accomplish
Phase II of the Toolkit will include a decision support tool to help local
governments develop customized climate action plans, a peer-networking
online discussion forum, and a climate leadership recognition program
to recognize achievements for measured GHG emission reductions.
Check out the online home of the Toolkits at CoolCalifornia.org
- Small Business Toolkit
- Local Government Toolkit
- Climate Action for Individuals
- GHG Strategies for Schools


text:
Photo Gallery
To Buy
Corrections to First Edition
125 Easy, International Lunches Kids and Grown-Ups Will Love!
What's for lunch? Mexican, Italian, Chinese, and much more! With Vegan Lunch Box Around the World, it's easy to enjoy all your favorite international and American dishes, now free of meat, eggs, and dairy products.
Inspired by her son's request for sushi on the first day of school, vegan mom Jennifer McCann first began creating her unique vegan lunch boxes. Now she works her magic again, concocting 125 delicious plant-based recipes and menus that will take you on an adventure across the globe.
You'll find lunches and snacks that kids (and adults) of all ages will love, including:
Jennifer's recipes come with special icons, letting you know which recipes are especially quick and easy, kid-friendly, and free of wheat, gluten, soy, and nut allergens. Complete with color photos and helpful hints, Vegan Lunch Box Around the World is essential for every family raising healthy kids. Come take a trip around the world with your own vegan lunch box!
130 Amazing Animal-Free Lunches that Kids and Grown-Ups Will Love!
If you think vegan lunchtime means peanut butter and jelly day after day, think again!
From the simple to the sublime, Vegan Lunch Box brings you an amazing array of entirely meat-free, egg-free, and dairy-free lunches.
Transform how you look at lunchtime forever, with...
Vegan Lunch Box also features...
Dive in to this collection of outstanding, well-balanced lunches, and soon you'll be packing your very own Vegan Lunch Box!
"Vegan Lunch Box helps to illustrate exactly what's gone wrong with the National School Lunch Program, and how this dire situation could quickly be remedied...Make any one of these meals and you're bound to agree that these are all lunches worth going to school for!"
"Parents rejoice! At last, the innovative lunches and delicious recipes made famous on Jennifer's Vegan Lunch Box blog are yours to enjoy in this charming and inspired cookbook. Fit for the picky and adventurous alike, Vegan Lunch Box will make your meals 5-star successes!"
"Being a vegan kid just got a lot easier! The menus in Vegan Lunch Box make it easy to plan a balanced and nutritious lunch for your kids (or yourself!) The variety alone makes it worth having."
"Jennifer McCann's cookbook makes vegan cooking accessible and fun. It's informative but not stuffy, detailed yet concise, and the recipes are creative without being difficult. There are so many delicious, well put together options here, it's not only perfect for kids but for anyone who ever eats lunch!"
"Destined to become a classic, this is the book vegan parents have been waiting for. And who knew? A vegan mom started a blog describing the lunches she made for her son for one school year, and it won the 2006 Bloggie Award for "Best Food Blog" (not "Best Vegetarian Food Blog", but "Best Food Blog", period!) It inspired, delighted, and motivated not only vegan parents, but omnivores bored with their own lackluster lunches. This book will continue delighting with recipes that are as innovative, kid-pleasing, and healthful as they are delicious."


text:
Subscribe to our e-newsletter mailing list to keep up with NCCCO news and industry headlines.
In addition to paper/pencil testing, NCCCO also offers computer-based testing (CBT) for Written Exams (both initial and recertification) in most CCO certification programs. Exams are the same in content and length, but they are converted from paper/pencil format to a computer-based format. Although exams are electronic in format, they are not "online" (i.e., candidates are not allowed to test from their own computers; candidates must still visit a secure testing facility). However there are significant benefits to CBT exams, including quicker scheduling and same-day results.
To take a CBT exam:
Candidates should apply to take CBT exam(s) as soon as possible but no later than five business days before their preferred exam date. Please note that site availability is not guaranteed on the preferred exam date, and availability can only be confirmed when scheduling your appointment.
For more information:
Copyright, 1995-2019. All rights reserved.


text:
Fastminds Art 7 (Maggie)
You can view different aspects of the greeting card. Multiple options might be available, as detailed below.
Standard Front
Designed by Fastminds
See more cards from Fastminds
Personalise front: text
Personalise Inside: text images
Abstract Art Card using images taken from original painting by a member of Fastminds Adult ADHD support group in Kingston
Buy This
Please select product, quantity and then press 'ADD TO BASKET'.
Registered Members Only:
Buy 4+ cards (any size, any designer) for £2.50 each
Buy 8+ cards (any size, any designer) for £2.25 each
Discounts applied in the basket.
Cards can be personalised once they have been added to the basket.
Charity Information
Please note that if you are registered as a charity supporter, or have clicked a link promoted by a charity to visit our website today, then a 20% donation of the cost of this card will be made to that charity by weallsendcards.com should you purchase this card as well as the charity contribution below:
Amount to charity for each card sold (paid by the designer): 100p
Fastminds is a user-led community Adult ADHD support group where adults can find out more about themselves in a safe environment. Members can also be referred direct to our local ADHD Services for an assessment. Members have reported that the group is particularly beneficial as it combats isolation as these condition are so often misunderstood. We are organising our first Fastminds Neurodiverse Arts Festival 14th/15th September at the Kingsgate Church Kingston-upon-Thames to spread much needed awareness of Neurodiversity in all its forms and to celebrate the achievements of people with these conditions. We will be selling our art to raise much needed funds to keep our group going.
Add to Shortlist
Press this button if you want to add this to your shortlist, so you can refer to it later (even after you have logged out).
Card Sizes
Std: 175mm x 125.8mm
Copyright notices will be removed before printing. It is a criminal offence to download or copy these images without permission.


text: Although Citroën cars are not sold in the States, it's fun to run the occasional picture of what the company is up to. Like this, the Lacoste Concept, aired at a recent "Créative Technologie" showcase on the Champs-Elysées, one of the most famous Parisian streets. Citroën calls it a "back-to-basics vehicle." If by that the company means no doors, then it suddenly becomes understandable. What's a little more difficult to tell is whether the car is coming or going, because there's nothing so mundane as a windshield wiper to give any kind of clue. Ah well, vive la différence.


text:
Dedicated to superior fiber technology, Polyfibre, a Germany-based Company is extremely familiar with the properties and characteristics of all state-of-the-art fiber products currently available today. With more than 40 years of experience in the most cutting-edge fiber manufacturing technology, Polyfibre is also known for producing ground-breaking, superior quality and performance tennis strings. Up until now, the company has developed and sold over 30 different types of string in more than 40 countries. Per demand trends in worldwide market, Polyfibre has evolved into a multifunctional business entity, we no longer limit ourselves to just a high-end fiber manufacturer. We have decided to expand our high-end tennis strings to a full line of racquet sports product that includes racquets, strings, grips, machines and accessories that will give racquet sports players everything they need to be successful on the court.
To learn more about specific types of string, visit our String Technology Page. For assistance in getting the right string for you, read our guide to Choosing the Right Tennis String in the Tennis Express Buyer's Guide.


text:
Sacramento Studio 3/11: OPEN PAINT STUDIO ~ Paint What You Want ~ All Supplies Included ~ ONLY $25!
March 11th 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Paint what you want!
ONLY $25 ~ All art supplies included!
Let's tune out the day and paint away! Open Paint includes acrylic paint, easel, brushes, 14 x 18 canvas, aprons and a beautiful studio to paint in located in Midtown Sacramento at 1624 J Street! Bring some beer, wine, beverages and food to enjoy while you work. Or even order take out from one of our amazing neighboring restaurants to enjoy throughout your painting experience. We supply complimentary paper plates, cups, napkins, plastic cutlery, plastic wine glasses, bottle openers, designated food tables and a full refrigerator and microwave for your use. :)
There is no instruction for the painting, but one of our staff will be on site to help you with the process of setting up!
If you would like, we can sketch out one of our many painting images onto the canvas for you prior to you showing up for an additional $5. This fee is an additional charge and payable at the studio. If you would like a pre-drawn image onto your canvas, please let us know ahead of time which image you would like by stating so in the "comments box" at check out. You can view the paintings to pick from by clicking onto the "Gallery" tab at the top of our website.
The OPEN PAINT lasts from 12pm-3pm. Try to get in early to get the most studio time! :)
Looking for a Private event?
If you were interested in booking this time frame for a private painting party, please contact the studio at (916) 442-2675 to see if anyone has signed up for the Open Paint. If not, we can swap out the Open Paint for your instructed private party! :)
Give the gift of creativity by purchasing Gift Certificates for the ones you love! Gift Certificates can be purchased online from our website. They do not expire and can be used toward any class.
The Sacramento studio is for only ages 21 and up due to our licensing and California state law.
Class Details
|Event Date
|03-11-2020 12:00 pm
|Event End Date
|03-11-2020 3:00 pm
|Available Seats
|Individual Price
|Sacramento Studio


text:
"I purchased 2 mugs with pictures of my granddaughter and her best friends. They opened at Christmas. They were both so surprised and happy. FUN GIFT!"
"Love my coffe mug"
"We made a large coffee featuring a photo of us wearing a hand knitted gift and sent it to the friend who knitted our nose warmers. Delivered to US in less than a week. Double the Facebook posts and fun."
"Love these mugs!"
"The image was perfect on the mug. Job very well done"
Imagine your ideal weekend morning. Maybe it involves sitting outside on your patio, watching the sunrise with a newspaper in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. Perhaps you'd prefer to be cozying up on the couch with your kids, your cat and a mug of tea, watching a favorite movie. Or maybe you're more of an on-the-go type and your ideal day starts off with a trip to your favorite café for a refreshing iced coffee.
No matter how you start your day, we can think of one thing that would make your mornings even better. Ditch that old, stained mug for something truly special: a personalized photo mug from Shutterfly. Don't forget to check out the coupon codes before you check out to see if you can save on your customized designs.
Bring an extra smile to your day with a ceramic mug, stainless steel travel mug or acrylic travel mug featuring the printed "mug" of someone you love. Enjoy your chamomile with a mug in memory of your late, beautiful grandma. Sip some coffee at your desk with a constant reminder of your children's smiles, a favorite vacation or a family holiday from years past. Nurse a cup of hot cocoa with Fido by your side—and on your personalized mug.
With Shutterfly, you can choose from a vast collection of mug sizes and designs with plenty of room for customization. Edit text, upload favorite photos and choose your preferred colors to make a mug that's truly your own. From collages to monograms to an option for uploading your own design, the choices are virtually endless and there's sure to be something for everyone.
Are you prone to leaving coffee rings on your table or desk? We also offer customized coasters to help keep your home surfaces protected from damage in a fun and personalized way.
No matter what you're drinking, the important thing is to sit back, relax and enjoy it. A custom mug from Shutterfly provides the perfect excuse to treat yourself to a few moments of quiet indulgence. Light a personalized candle, fill up your mug with a favorite warm beverage and find some quiet space just for you, doing something you love. You deserve it.


text:
On-Site Management
Walden Marina is managed professionally by Safe Harbor Marinas, a Dallas-based marina company. To be sure that your needs are met in a timely fashion, a local management office is located on the docks for your ease and convenience. The marina manager is available to answer any questions as it relates to your boat, your storage agreement or about the surrounding area. Submit your inquiry online or schedule an appointment to meet with the manager on-site. Stop by and introduce yourself.
Marina Office Hours
Open 7 days a week 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
*Seasonal & Holiday hours may vary. Appointments are recommended.


text:
If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
Welcome to the Amazon Kindle Fire Forum @ Kindle-FireForum.com
Sep 26, 2011 - 11:25 AM - by wicked
New Amazon Fire Tablets
Sep 20, 2015 - 10:52 AM - by cali
[Rumor] Amazon May Be Gearing Up to Take On PayPal with New Payments Strategy
Jun 10, 2014 - 9:37 AM - by dgstorm
Amazon May Launch Their 3D Smartphone June 18th; Uses 'Okao Vision' for 3D effects
Jun 06, 2014 - 8:57 AM - by dgstorm
Mother's Day is Almost Here (Sunday, May 11th); Gift Ideas from Kindle-FireForum.com
May 05, 2014 - 10:45 AM - by dgstorm
» Recent Threads
» Search tags for this page
kindle fire forum,
kindle fire forums,
kindle fire forums amazon,
kindle fire hd forum,
kindle forum,
kindle forums
Click on a term to search for related topics.
» Stats
» Online Users: 138
1 members and 137 guests
Most users ever online was 7,301, 07-22-2012 at 05:34 PM.


text:
The use of music as a form of psychological torture has long been a staple of the United States government and your sketchy club-hopping upstairs neighbors. The media took note of this a few years back, when lists of the songs used by the military in prisons throughout Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay were circulated around as an amusing news item. Who among us wouldn't fold instantly at the prospect of a few spins through the oeuvre of Barry Manilow and Barney the Dinosaur we all chuckled.
But unlike fictionalized dinosaurs like Manilow and Barney, physically incapable of objecting (or love), some musicians took umbrage at having their music conscripted into the official Now That's What I Call War on Terror Volume 15 playlist, most notable among them Metallica. In a move that is mostly surprising only because the infamously royalty-hungry metal titans didn't think of it first, Canadian industrial metal veterans Skinny Puppy have taken their objections to the next level and issued an invoice to the U.S. Government, "according" to "reports."
In an interview with the Phoenix New Times earlier this week, band founder cEvin Key, who I'm sending an invoice to right now for torturing our grammatical sensibilities with that spelling, "says" they "billed" the government for unauthorized use of their music. The band "heard through a reliable grapevine that our music was being used in Guantanamo Bay prison camps to musically stun or torture people," Key explained. "We heard that our music was used in at least four occasions. We thought it would be a good idea to make an invoice to the U.S. government for musical services..."
That would be a totally good idea! And that's where most people stopped reading.
"Industrial band Skinny Puppy invoice US government for using their music at Guantanamo Bay," reads the NME headline. "Metal band Skinny Puppy send US government invoice after finding out their music was 'used as torture device in Guantanamo Bay'" trumpeted the Independent, whose piece is being widely circulated today. "Industrial group Skinny Puppy 'invoices' government for using songs at Guantanamo," wrote Raw Story, who at least had the decency to use square quotes. Death and Taxes chimed in as well, as did UPROXX.
Strangely, everyone covering this story left out the next part of the interview.
What became of that invoice? Did they respond to it?
We never sent it. The album cover is the invoice. The original impetus of recording the album was those two concepts: the torture and the invoice.
Hard to blame them, considering even the original source of the item selectively edited their own q+a, omitting the admission that it never happened.
Still though, haha, that would've been a great story. Let's go with it anyway, right?
As The Guardian reported a couple years back, the use of music as a form of military intimidation is as old as both the concepts of music and warfare themselves. A study from New York University in 2008 took a deeper look into the mechanisms behind how music works as a form of torture:
First, it is not at all clear that the music aimed at prisoners in detention camps has functioned as music. Rather, it has more often functioned as sheer sound with which to assault a prisoner's sense of hearing; to 'mask' or disrupt a prisoner's capacity to sustain an independent thought; to disrupt a prisoner's sense of temporality (both in terms of how much time had passed and in terms of the predictability of temporal units); to undermine a prisoner's ability to sustain somatic practices of prayer (both through behavior at the hours of prayer and through abstinence from musical experiences considered sinful); and to bombard the prisoner's body (skin, nerves and bones) with acoustical energy.
Key's thoughts on the use of his music as an instrument of torture are interesting nonetheless, without the ginned-up click-bait angle.
Given that so much of your music is protest oriented, how did that make you feel to learn that your music was being used to torture prisoners?
Not too good. We never supported those types of scenarios. It's kind of typical that we thought this would end up happening, in a weird way. Because, we make unsettling music we can see it being used in a weird way. But it doesn't sit right with us.
This story doesn't sit right with me either. In the oncoming War On Reading Comprehension, selective link-baiting like this will be used as form of torture. Consider all the headlines about this you're about to see shared into your feed the closest analogy to the "sheer sound with which to assault" your senses, "to 'mask' or disrupt" your "capacity to sustain an independent thought."
[Image via Skinny Puppy on Facebook]
Luke O'Neil is a freelance writer in Boston. Follow him on Twitter.