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Category: Dailies
Bud Norris
It's still early, but after today's pitching performance, Bud Norris is the Astros' best player, with 1.2 WAR so far this season. He's been a very pleasant surprise so far this season; let's see if he can keep it up.
The Thirty Greatest Astros of the Minute Maid Park Era
Minute Maid Park is now over a decade old, but when it opened, it signaled a very obvious change for the Houston Astros organization. Gone were the pitching-friendly confines of the Astrodome, and in their place was a new park with a reputation (deserved or otherwise) as a hitter's paradise.
On Opening Day, 2000, the ceremonial first pitch was thrown by Kenneth Lay (oops) to open what was then known as Enron Field, now Minute Maid Park. Since then until the end of last season, no fewer than 97 position players and 124 have donned a Houston Astros uniform.
The Astros have been through a lot during that period – 4th place in their division in 2000, and then starting a string of success that would culminate in the 2005 National League pennant, followed by a sharp and dramatic decline.
As we step forward into a new era – one in which no single player who saw that ceremonial first pitch is still an active player for the Astros – I got the idea to look back and answer a very basic question: "Which Astros have been the best players during the Minute Maid Park era?"
For this, I looked at a number of stats, mostly WAR, only factoring in seasons in which the Astros called MMP (or Enron Field) home. Most of the players were chosen for their total team value, though some were given the nod for big contributions over the course of just a few seasons. A twenty-five player roster proved to make some decisions much too difficult, so I expanded it to 30.
What this is not is a look at the best hitters in Minute Maid Park. No attention was paid to home-road splits, although I may revisit that idea down the road. Also, I used B-R's WAR, which sometimes varies wildly from FanGraphs' WAR. It is what it is.
The largest single-season WAR for any position player was posted by Lance Berkman in 2008, and the largest single-season WAR for a pitcher was the 7.2 that Roger Clemens put up in 2005. In fact, not surprisingly, it was the pitching that year that propelled Houston into the playoffs. Of the top five single seasons ever put together by an Astros pitcher in the Minute Maid Park era, 3 of them came that year: #1 Roger Clemens (7.2), #3 Andy Pettitte (5.8), and #5 Roy Oswalt (5.3). Only one position player from that season, Morgan Ensberg (third at 6.5), had a season in the top ten of all-time seasons by an Astros position player in the MMP era.
So without further delay, I present to you the 30 Greatest Astros of the Minute Maid Park era:
Starting Pitchers
1. Roy Oswalt. Of the ten best pitching seasons in the Minute Maid Park era, Oswalt has four (2002, 2005, 2006, and 2007). He's far and away the leader in overall WAR, owing largely to the fact that his 291 starts dwarfs any other pitcher – Wandy Rodriguez has the second-most, with 167. Oswalt came up with the Astros in 2001, and played his entire Astros career in the MMP era. With 5 Cy Young top-five finishes, 3 All-Star appearances, 4 appearances in the Top 25 of MVP voting, and a Rookie of the Year runner-up, he's easily the most-decorated pitcher of the era. But it wasn't just longevity that aided Oswalt. His 4.2 WAR-per-season as a pitcher is second in the MMP era only to…
2. Roger Clemens. Clemens was already a six-time Cy Young Award winner by the time he needled (see what I did there?) his way into Houston in 2004 to begin a three-year stretch of dominance that saw him win one more Cy Young, a second top three finish in the voting, two All-Star appearances, and two MVP top-25 selections. He also threw at his son, Koby Clemens, who had earlier homered off of him in an exhibition game. I mean, I'm just saying that that happened.
3. Wade Miller. When Miller's name is mentioned around Astros fans, it usually takes them a moment or two to remember who he was, but he did post double-digit wins three years in a row (2001-03). Unfortunately for him, the World Series year of 2005 was his first away from the club. If one includes the 10.1 innings he pitched during the Astrodome era, Miller was 58-39 as an Astro, with a 3.87 ERA, 117 ERA+, 1.309 WHIP, 7.7 K/9, and 2.15 K/BB. He also struck out 6 Braves in 7 innings in his only playoff appearance, Game 1 of the 2001 NLDS.
4. Andy Pettitte. Astros fans can be forgiven for thinking of Pettitte and Clemens as one in the same. The strong lefty-righty combo came into town – and left town – at the same time, from the same New York Yankees, and back to those same New York Yankees. Pettitte's 7.5 WAR over that time pales in comparison to the other three names on the list, but he did finish fifth in the Cy Young voting in 2005 and helped propel the team to their first World Series appearance. Pettitte also left town with a cool 1.230 WHIP and more than three strikeouts to every walk he issued as an Astro in the MMP era.
5. Wandy Rodriguez. At first glance, Rodriguez's place on this list seems to owe itself more to the fact that he's the longest-tenured current Astros pitcher of the MMP era, and there is some merit to that. His 167 starts is second among Astros pitchers during this time. But his 1.3 WAR-per-season isn't bad – the only pitchers not on this list who can match it are Shane Reynolds (1.3) and Chris Holt (1.9). Wandy's been successful as an Astro largely by keeping the ball in the park – he's allowed just 1.0 home runs per 9.0 innings pitched since coming up in 2005, and his WHIP has been on a downward trend ever since the career-high 1.60 he posted as a sophomore. Rodriguez has also posted three seasons (2008, 2009, 2010) with an ERA+ above 100, and has had three double-digit win totals: His rookie campaign in 2005, 2009, and 2010.
6. Brett Myers. Myers may look out of place on this list, as he's only had one full season as an Astros pitcher, but that season ranks among the best all-time in the MMP era. His 4.7 WAR-per-season is second only to Clemens' 5.1, outpacing even Oswalt's 4.2. In his lone season as an Astro, Myers finished 10th in the Cy Young balloting and posted a career-high 123 ERA+.
Relief Pitchers
1. Octavio Dotel. There aren't a whole lot of surprises on this list, but the first might be seeing Dotel ranked above closer extraordinaire Billy Wagner. A case could be made for either of the last two in the once-vaunted Lidge-Dotel-Wagner trio that was once used to mop up opponents during the early years of the MMP era, but Dotel wins on tenure. His 10.6 WAR over the course of 5 seasons as an Astro during this period is the best for any reliever, and his insanely-good 3.05 K/BB ratio (which does include 85.1 IP during the Astrodome era) is pretty impressive, too.
2. Billy Wagner. When the hard-throwing lefty came up in 1995, he captured Astros nation and held it for nine seasons, five of which came in the MMP era. The final year of the Astrodome era was his best and earned him 4th place in the Cy Young balloting, but he pitched well even in the new ballpark. In fact, it was his final year in Houston, 2003, that saw him post his career-high 44 saves, and he earned 2 of his 3 All-Star Game appearances as an Astro in the MMP era.
3. Brad Lidge. It's easy enough, after watching Brad Lidge struggle through the end of his tenure as a Houston Astro, to forget how dominant he could be. But from his first full season in 2003 through the World Series year of 2005, he owned opposing hitters, striking out more than 3.75 batters for every one he walked, posting a 1.078 WHIP, and putting together a string of devastating ERA+: 122 in 2003, 230 in 2004, and 185 in 2005. He finished 5th in the Rookie of the Year balloting in 2003, 8th in the Cy Young voting in 2004, and earned an All-Star nod in 20
4. Chad Qualls. Qualls was never quite as flashy as Lidge, Dotel, or Wagner, but he did post consistently-high ERA+ during his tenure as an Astro in the MMP era: 124 (2004), 130 (2005), 119 (2006), and 146 (2007). During these four seasons, he posted a 1.236 WHIP, 6 saves, and 23 wins out of the bullpen.
5. Dan Wheeler. Wheeler has never enjoyed greater success as a pitcher than he did during the 3+ seasons he spent as an Astro during the MMP era, an era during which he posted an amazing 1.088 WHIP and a 145 ERA+ over 268.2 innings. The 3.9 WAR he posted over the course of that time is incredible for a middle reliever, which he's been for the overwhelming majority of his career.
6. Jose Valverde. Antics aside, Valverde proved a useful commodity in the retooling years of 2008 and 2009, with a 3.3 WAR and a 1.159 WHIP. He struck out 3.16 batters for every walk he issued, and 9.9 for every nine innings he pitched as an Astro – a full 139 of the 552 batters he faced (over 25%).
7. LaTroy Hawkins. Hawkins is much-maligned around certain (ahem, Cubs) circles, largely because he always seemed like a setup man who could never really step up and become a full-time closer. That may well be true, but he pitched well during his Astros tenure, from midway through 2008 through 2009. He held down a 1.71 ERA during those two years, and an amazing 244 ERA+. Like Rodriguez, he was a guy who kept the ball in the park, allowing just 0.7 HR/9, with a 1.091 WHIP. His 3.3 WAR for less than two full seasons is pretty remarkable for a middle reliever.
8. Brandon Lyon. Though Lyon has pitched just one full season in Houston, 2010, his 2.0 WAR in that single season ranks among the best single-season WAR for any Astros reliever during the MMP era. Never truly dominant, he did post a 125 ERA+ and allowed just 0.2 HR/9.
9. Dan Miceli. A case could be made for lefty Tim Byrdak, but Miceli gets the nod for his 1.6 WAR in 2004 and parts of 2003, which saw him pitch for 4 major league teams. His 375 ERA+ over the course of the 30.0 innings he pitched as an Astro that year reek of bad sample size, but striking out 3.03 batters for every walk issued is a pretty solid argument, as well.
1. Brad Ausmus. Ausmus wins on playing time alone. Sure, he posted a 2.8 WAR as an Astro during the MMP era, his second stint with the team, but it took from 2001-2008 for him to do it. He also won three Gold Gloves during this time, and much of his value came on defense, unlike:
2. Mitch Meluskey. Meluskey took to Minute Maid Park like a pig to mud, ranking fifth in Rookie of the Year balloting during the park's inaugural season, after which he departed, only to return in 2003 to much more dismal numbers. That rookie season alone was enough to win the hot-headed backstop a spot on a thin roster of Astros catchers. Despite losing 0.5 wins to his poor defense, he made up for it at the plate, where he hit .300/.401/.487.
1B Lance Berkman. Since getting 6th place in the Rookie of the Year balloting in MMP's inaugural 2000 season, Berkman has been a mainstay, first as a corner outfielder (plus who remembers his 1,292.1 innings as a center fielder over parts of five seasons?) and then as a first baseman. With five top five finishes in the MVP balloting and five All-Star selections, the switch-hitter has been nearly-synonymous with the MMP era, picking up where legends like Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio left off, as one more Killer B. His 46.1 WAR over this time dwarfs any other player. Of course, as we all learned last night, he isn't any less deadly in MMP as an opposing hitter, either.
2B Craig Biggio. The consummate team player, Biggio changed positions with some regularity. After coming up in 1998 as a catcher, he moved to second base, later to the outfield to make room for Jeff Kent, and then back to second base. In my mind, he will always be a second baseman, a position he defined for the Astros over the course of 17,154.2 innings at the position. His finest days may have been behind him once the move was made to MMP, but he never took a pitch off, amassing 10.9 WAR from 2000-2007.
3B Morgan Ensberg. Though Ensberg played in MMP's inaugural 2000 year, he didn't work his way into being a full-time starter until three years later. In parts of seven seasons, though, he put together a .266/.367/.475 line, including the 2005 season which saw him finish 4th in MVP voting, earn his only All-Star selection, and win a Silver Slugger award en route to leading the Astros offense that won the NL pennant.
SS Adam Everett. Everett is another player whose value came mostly from having a longer tenure than anyone else at his position during the MMP era, but he also provided 6.9 WAR over 7 seasons as a defender alone.
LF Moises Alou. Alou was already well-traveled, having played for Pittsburgh, Montreal, and Florida before he landed in Houston in 1998 with a campaign that saw him earn an All-Star nod, a Silver Slugger award, and third in the MVP voting. It wasn't until he resurfaced with the team in 2000 and 2001, though, that he got to be a part of the MMP era. And during his time in Houston, he made his mark on that period with two more MVP top-twenty finishes and another All-Star nod before departing for Chicago to blame fans for interfering with balls he would never have caught in a million years.
CF Richard Hidalgo. Fans may have trouble remembering Hidalgo, who played for the Astros in parts of 8 seasons, including 2000-2004 in the MMP era. Certainly, Mets and Rangers fans would have liked to have seen him continue the .278/.356/.501 line he put up during his tenure as an Astro, or the 17.4 WAR he accumulated, all but 3.3 of which came during the MMP era.
RF Hunter Pence. It's difficult not to think of Pence, now a team leader in his fifth season with the club, as the goofy 24-year-old that surfaced in 2007 with a rookie campaign that earned him third in the ROY voting. He boasts a 6.6 WAR over that time, despite losing 1.1 wins on the defensive side of the ball (all in 2010), which actually ranks him third after Berkman and Hidalgo among players who have manned right field for the Astros in the MMP era.
1B Jeff Bagwell. Bagwell played five full seasons, and part of a sixth, during the MMP era, and though he might not have been the force he'd been earlier in his career, he did amass three seasons (2000, 2001, and 2003) with numbers good enough to finish in the top 15 of MVP voting, including a 1.039 OPS in 2000. From 2000-2003, he posted four consecutive seasons with an oWAR over 3.5, and all told, he added over 20 wins from 2000-2005.
2B Jeff Kent. One of two future All-Stars to man the second sack for the Astros in the MMP era, Kent had already solidified his career in Toronto, New York, Cleveland, and San Francisco by the time he landed in Houston from 2003-2004, where he posted a .293/.350/.521 line and 5.9 WAR.
3B Ken Caminiti. Caminiti had already spent 8 years in Houston during the Astrodome era before parting for San Diego in 1995, but he would return in 1999 and play his final year for the Astros in 2000, the inaugural year of MMP. The 1.5 WAR he posted that season was far from the best of his career, even of his Astros career, but the fading slugger did well enough that year to warrant a spot on the thirty best.
UTIL Ty Wigginton. After the Rays dealt Wigginton to the Astros in 2007 for Wheeler, he put together probably the best stretch of his career, going .285/.347/.506 in 161 games, split between third base, first base, and both corner outfiel
d spots. The 2.8 WAR he put together in such a short time is the best of any team he's played for.
OF Michael Bourn. Bourn's still got a lot of holes in his game, but the All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner has amassed 7.1 WAR over the last two seasons, after a disastrous first year which saw him give away 2.1. He led the league in dWAR, Total Zone Runs, and Stolen Bases in 2010, and seems to be maturing before our very eyes.
OF Carlos Beltran. Beltran played just 90 games for the Houston Astros after a midseason three-team trade that saw John Buck go to the Royals and Octavio Dotel to the Athletics, but he made his time here count, putting together 3.5 WAR and leading the charge deep into the playoffs, where he posted an OPS over 1.5. Only Lance Berkman has carried this team on his back better than Beltran did in the second half of 2004 during the MMP era.
The First
It's a silly thing, being proud of the day you were born. Maybe if you were Calvin Coolidge: A U.S. President who was actually born on the same day (July 4) as the country you lead. You can say it was your destiny, I suppose.
In a way, I think it's fair for me to say that it was my destiny to be a baseball fan. That sounds a bit ridiculous, I'll admit, but in a way I feel like my birthday – April 15 – was the day that baseball was really born. Baseball the way we understand it and play it today. Because it was April 15, 1947 when the Brooklyn Dodgers played the Boston Braves in Ebbets Field and batting second for the Dodgers was first baseman Jackie Robinson.
Yes, I'm proud to share a birthday with modern baseball. With a Major League Baseball that incorporates people from around the world. People of all colors. Because as much as people want to rave about Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb or any player before 1947 being the best ever, the truth stands that they did not compete on an even playing field with the best players in the world.
Jackie Robinson was a very special player and a very special human being, and I'm proud to be tied – even in such an indirect way – to what he accomplished.
Happy Jackie Robinson Day, everybody.
When No Press Is Good Press
There's a fairly brilliant article over at MLBTradeRumors.com featuring the Astros' former lefty reliever, Tim Byrdak, who now pitches for the Mets. In the article (which you should read in full,) Byrdak talks about following every minute whiff of a story involving a left-handed reliever.
For those of us who follow trade rumors, it's sometimes easy to forget that there are some people who are very interested in these rumors: The players themselves.
When one lefty gets signed, it can have a dramatic influence on other lefties. The difference between a major league signing and a minor league invite are major – they are, literally, the difference between getting a job offer and getting an offer for a job interview.
Byrdak, who pitched pretty well for the Astros over three years, wound up in New York. But the way he tells it, it sounds like a cyclone, spinning you around and around with no idea where you're going to land until you wake up the next morning and take stock of your surroundings.
Excerpts below, but you should read the entire article.
"I thought we'd have more of an opportunity to secure a big-league job," Byrdak continued. "So you have to keep watching the wire, MLB Trade Rumors, all these sites to see who is going where, who has interest in guys. So it became a pretty valuable tool for me to keep an eye on other lefties that were still on the market, and how that market was developing."
What may seem like a minor post to a reader about a team's interest in a middle reliever is seismic to someone like Byrdak, and he found it hard to avoid getting frustrated by some of the things he read.
"There were a couple [of times]," Byrdak said. "You would hear from a couple of different teams, and you thought you'd be starting the negotiation process. People have asked me, 'How come I don't play for the White Sox' [Byrdak is from nearby Oak Forest, IL], and I tell them, 'Well, you know, they've never offered me a job."
"I read somewhere, Chad Durbin said the same thing, that you've got to take what was out there," Byrdak said. "There wasn't a big-league job out there for us to get. I'm a guy who usually is coming into camp – you're in shape – but it's about getting your arm strength, getting everything together without the pressure. It was different this year. You have to compete, put up zeroes as early and often as you can."
Rosenthal Weighs In
Yesterday, Ken Rosenthal included a blurb about the Astros in this article:
The Astros are at their payroll limit, but would like to add a left-handed hitting outfielder to platoon with Jason Michaels if they go with Carlos Lee over Brett Wallace at first base, which is hardly a sure thing. Wallace is hitting .362/.388/.617 this spring.
The team's greater need is a replacement for catcher Jason Castro, who is out for the season due to a torn ACL in his right knee. The Astros like the Royals' Brayan Pena, but the Royals won't trade him with Jason Kendall still recovering from shoulder surgery.
I know I've been something of a J.R. Towles fanboy, and I understand that the team might be reluctant to give him another shot to translate his skills to the Major League level, but if going .344/.382/.594 in Spring Training, with more at-bats than any other player at your position, doesn't earn you a chance to be the starting catcher, then I don't know why we even have Spring Training. Of course, I understand that Humberto Quintero and Chris Corporan have posted comparable, and at times better, numbers. But Towles' minor league production backs up his spring numbers, and I just happen to think he's due one last chance to either be the starting catcher or to be traded or released.
As for the speculation about Carlos Lee, I think Brett Wallace has to be installed as the everyday first baseman to start the season. You have to believe that he's going to find his power stroke at the major league level, and the thought of platooning Jason Michaels with any other options isn't promising. Brian Bogusevic, the obvious in-choice left-handed outfielder, isn't performing well this spring and needs to swing the bat a few more times in Oklahoma City before he should be called up. That means going out and getting a free agent, which more or less is limited to Ryan Church, as every other option with big league experience is right-handed, to my knowledge.
So, really, it just makes much more sense to me to put Lee and his diminished defense in left field, with Wallace and his potential big bat at first; rather than Lee at first and a combination of Jason Michaels and any other human being in left field.
It seems like an annual Astros' Spring Training rite: Determining who the starting catcher will be. This year, and for the foreseeable future, you can blame Ed Wade and the gang for assuming that they'd locked the question up. Jason Castro was going to be given the reins of the team. That much, then, was settled.
Until it wasn't.
Castro's season came to a screeching halt when he tore the ACL in his right knee, leaving the Astros once again fielding the question: Who will start at catcher?
Defensive stalwart Humberto Quintero is an option, if not a great one on the offensive side of the plate; former top prospect J.R. Towles is also lingering around, after a few unsuccessful major league stints.
There are a few options that may be available via trade, but in my opinion, a rebuilding team like the Astros would be foolish to give away any piece of merit for what amounts to being – at best – a one-year stopgap behind the plate.
Then there's Bengie Molina.
Molina, a thirteen-year veteran with the Angels, Blue Jays, Giants, and Rangers, is leaning towards retirement, but has said that he would be open to signing with a team where he could get full-time employment.
He would certainly become the number one option behind the plate, probably with Quintero filling in from the bench. He would no doubt be available at a reasonable price, similar to the Ivan Rodriguez deal.
Though last year was not a good one for Molina, it was the first time since 2003 that he slugged below .400. The last time the Astros had a catcher with over 150 plate appearances who slugged .400 or better, the year was 2001 and the catcher's name was Tony Eusebio. Molina also brings a veteran presence to a team that seems to get younger by the minute.
My First-Ever Mailbag
I got an intriguing email from a fellow Astros fan today:
RR15: Why weren't the Astros buyers at the trade deadline? They've been playing over .500 since late May, they're still within conceivable striking distance from the top of the division, and there's a pretty good team out there available for bargain prices: Saltalamacchia, Lopez, Ludwick, Maholm, Church, Edwin Jackson, Tejada, and Haren, just to name a few.
There's a lot here to digest, so let me try to break it down piece-by-piece.
It doesn't matter that I'm largely pleased by the trades Houston has made this week, even if they mean two of my favorite Astros – Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman – will be finishing their careers elsewhere.
Jeff Bagwell, Hitting Coach to the Stars
Last year, Houston fans were quick to point to hitting coach Sean Berry and label him as one of the biggest reasons why the Astros weren't successful. This year, as the offensive woes intensified, many fans' wish came true. Berry was let go this morning and replaced by former superstar first baseman Jeff Bagwell.
The Kids Are Alright
It wasn't the first hit of Chris Johnson's career, but it may have been the most important one. For when the young third baseman hit a sharp line drive to center field off of the Giants' Tim Lincecum, it may have signaled the beginning of an era.


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Hi my name is Laslund! I am currently trying to seek skilled coder(s) for my friend Jorge Fuentes'd 16 bit Casltevania 3 remake. It has been on hiatus for a while since the original coder left. I'm not sure what program it was started in but i can open it up in Visual studio 2010 and it seems fine. So far their are only 1 player, 1 boss and a handful of enemies coded in. The majority of the levels are done so far. Jorge has alot of artwork done in his project as it stands. Myself and my buddy Reiko are part of another similar project. We have alot of sprite art for players and extra boss animations,etc. We also have a game maker 8 engine that has alot of gml coding in it. I figure because we are having error issues in our engine that it may be best to see if someone who has good C++ and use our gml engine for use to transfer code. Granted i will have to talk to jorge on that if someone does. Also not sure, and i'll run it by him,but their may be possibilities of non repeat bosses. I'll have to talk with him about that though. But the reason i'm suggesting it is because we have 4 players and alot more bosses and enemies implemented in gmk engine than his engine and it may be easier to view code and transfer some things. We are just having issues with gmk file at this time. Jorge's game is a very professional looking game and has many levels so far and game kick but! If any C++ coder or coders are willing to help you can try contacting him here at:
Here are some of his videos of his game footage:
I dunno if he's interested or not but we have several other skins we'd done in our engine, and i know he mentioned he had done some work on alucard and sypha.:
Sypha ver 1with trevor:
sypha ver 2 with trevor:
He is the forum admin at caslevania dungeon. Also if you need you can contact me if you need at firstname.lastname@example.com
Any questions or concerns please ask and i will run it by him.
IN all honesty he has a great fan game, he just needs solid and adament C++ code help. Alot of people agree.Thanks again for your time!

subset: commoncrawl


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Emergency Preparedness & Your Pet
Minneapolis Animal Care & Control (MACC) is prepared to respond in a disaster. You and your pet should be too. Here's what you can do:
1. Microchip and license your pet: If you and your pet are separated, these identifiers could be crucial in reuniting you with your pet. Make sure the microchip number is registered and your contact information is current at MACC.
2. Make an emergency supply kit for your pet that includes:
- Food & Water: Keep at least three days of food and water in an airtight, waterproof container.
- Medicines and medical records: Keep an extra supply of medicines your pet takes on a regular basis and a copy of their medical records in a waterproof container.
- First Aid Kit: Kits should include cotton bandage rolls, bandage tape and scissors, antibiotic ointment, flea and tick prevention, latex gloves, isopropyl alcohol, saline solution, and a pet first aid reference book.
- Collar with ID tag and leash: Your pet should wear a collar with its rabies tag and identification at all times. Include a backup leash, collar and ID tag in your pet's emergency supply kit.
- Important documents: Place copies of your pet's registration information (license and microchip), adoption papers, vaccination documents and medical records in a waterproof container.
- Sanitation: Include pet litter and a litter box if appropriate. Also include newspapers, paper towels, plastic trash bags and household chlorine bleach (to use as a disinfectant).
- A picture of you and your pet together: If you become separated from your pet during an emergency, a picture of you and your pet together will help you document ownership and allow others to assist you in identifying your pet.
3. Plan in advance what you will do in an emergency:
- Evacuation: Secure appropriate lodging in advance for you and your pet should your home need to be evacuated. Options include family and friends outside the area, a hotel or motel that takes pets, and animal boarding facilities. Always consider your personal safety first. If you go to a public shelter, keep in mind that your pets may not be allowed inside.
- Develop a buddy system: Plan with neighbors, friends or relatives to have someone available to care for or evacuate your pets if you are unable to do so.
- Talk to your pet's veterinarian about emergency planning: Discuss the types of things you should include in your pet's emergency first aid kit and if they board client's pets in emergencies.
- Gather contact information for emergency animal treatment: Make a list of contact information and addresses including MACC, the Humane Society, and emergency veterinary hospitals.
- Obtain "Pets Inside" stickers and place them on your doors or windows: include information on the number and types of pets in your home to alert first responders and rescue workers.
Pet emergency preparedness information and toolkit
Information on the City of Minneapolis' emergency preparedness
Last updated Sep 27, 2018


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Participation in INI programmes is by invitation only. Anyone wishing to apply to participate in the associated workshop(s) should use the relevant workshop application form.
Organisers: M.Broue (Paris), R.W. Carter (Warwick), J Saxl (Cambridge)
Programme Theme
There is a famous formula, due to Hermann Weyl, for the characters of the finite dimensional irreducible modules for simple algebraic groups over the field of complex numbers. This has found many and varied applications ever since its discovery. If instead we consider such groups over fields of positive characteristic p the situation is more complicated. A main aim is to find an analogue in this situation of Weyl's formula. There is a conjectured character formula due to G.Lusztig. This has now been established for all primes p "sufficiently large"; on the other hand for no fixed particular value of p is the conjecture known to hold! One of the main themes of the meeting will be to clarify the situation regarding Lusztig's conjecture. Another will be to investigate the irreducible representations of the corresponding finite groups of Lie type (i.e. algebraic groups over finite fields) where the characteristic of the representation is a prime which is not necessarily equal to the characteristic of the group. The subgroup structure of the algebraic groups and related finite groups is closely connected to this representation theory, and will be another theme for investigation.


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Erie Cattaraugus Rail Trail | News
ORCHARD PARK, NY - It's a rare day that human development gets returned to nature, but a fledgling project in WNY aims to do just that. The Erie Cattaraugus Rail Trail is truly a grass roots effort, attempting to convert an old stretch of railroad into a multi-use nature trail.
Erie Cattaraugus Rail Trail, Inc. is a group of concerned citizens based in Orchard Park. The group, along with NY State Parks, are currently in negotiation with the Buffalo-Pittsburgh Railroad to transform the 27 mile long trail into a benefit for the many communities located along the line.
The railroad has been a fixture in the area since 1880, but time and disuse took it's toll on this line. A few years ago, an opportunity arose. Deborah Fennis VP of Erie Cattaraugus Rail Trail, Inc." There was a window of opportunity during which time any entity interested in acquiring the corridor could step forward and say we're interested, this is valuable, we want to do something with it, and the only two entities that really stepped forward the parks department of NY State and Erie Cattaraugus Rail Trail."
That was just the first step. The finished product will become a "linear park", one that unfolds in a fairly straight line,in this case extending from Orchard Park to Springville,and touching a number of small towns and villages along the way. But before it becomes a reality there is much work to be done. " Negotiations just take time."Fenn explains." We, Erie Cattaraugus Rail Trail have to do our due diligence, we have to take a look at the corridor, see what the liabilities might be, see what issues might be, the rights of way up and down the corridor, all of that kind of thing we have to take a look at."
The infant trail is already returning to it's roots. Almost all of the rails have been removed, and Mother Nature is slowly reclaiming her own. Fenn says that soon the many communities along the trail will be able to decide what they'd like to do with their individual sections. " What has to be done to this trail to make it active and to make it a working usable trail is really up to each individual community. Every town gets to kind of take ownership and really do something the way they want to do it with their particular section of the trail."
The benefits of the new trail will go beyond it's recreational value. Erie Catt Rail Trail says that the many communities along the trail will see economic benefits to local businesses and an increase in property values. Fenn says the trail's backers have gathered considerable support. " Erie Cattaraugus Rail Trail has talked with, negotiated with, sat down with the leaders of communities up and down the corridor and met with community groups up and down the corridor. We have currently about six thousand supporters, which is really pretty terrific."
The future of this verdant dream lies with continued hard work and support from communities and their representatives alike. Once it is complete the Erie Cattaraugus Rail Trail will be yet another jewel in Western NY's natural heritage." What's so nice about a linear park is that is really traverses so many different kinds of environmental communities, so many different terrains and wildlife places. So you can really begin to appreciate the extent of the beauty that is Western New York."
The tail is not open to the public yet, but you can help hasten it's completion. For more information, visit their website at www.ecattrail.org


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Police: Indiana mom died after killing 2 kids
Police say a woman found drowned in a southern Indiana creek with her son and daughter had killed the children and believed her family was being stalked by "demonic presences."
The body of 35-year-old Jaime Clutter was found in March, along with the bodies of her 10-year-old son, Brandon, and 6-month-old daughter, Katelyn. The naked bodies were recovered in a park in New Albany, less than a mile from where the family lived.
New Albany Police Chief Sherri Knight said during a news conference Friday that authorities don't know whether Clutter killed herself or downed by accident. Knight says hypothermia was a significant contributing factor. Knight added that Clutter thought she and her children were being stalked by "demonic presences."
New Albany is about 5 miles from Louisville, Ky.


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Barkley's position was always love Everton, hate Koeman.
Barkley's position was always love Everton, hate Koeman. Koeman was threatening to sell him, imagine him saying that to Lukaku as a means to get him to stay.
Just watching England and Loftus-Cheek has a bit of the Ross Barkleys about him.Strong, balanced, both footed, good technique, likely to get dropped in town for shaggin another lad's bird.. etc etcAll the key attributes.
Yeah i agree. Quite like him.Barkley light years above him, like.
People talk as if Barkley has never made an assist in his life.
No I rate Barkley. Just wouldn't say he was "light years" ahead.
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This is Kelsar Dexter, but we just call him Dexi. Dexi is special for so many reasons. One is that he is an extremely striking cat, with unusual markings and a long body. But he also has a great personality and is never happier than when licking something fluffy. He'll do this even the toy mice he has, and my fluffy bean bag, which has now become his personal hidey hole!. He still has some of that kitten clumsiness (like falling off the back of the sofa, running headlong into the door because he missed the gap...) but he's fast growing into a lean, powerful cat. Also, he's one of the most vocal cats I've ever met. He has an incredible range of calls, whimpers, mewls, and general chatter, so that he charms everyone who meets him.
Good morning, Dexi! I agree with your biographer that you are an extremely striking cat! I think you are gorgeous with your green eyes, golden brown coat and beautiful markings! And I like your fun-loving personality, playing with your toy mice, or enjoying your bean bag hidey spot! How neat that you have a lot to say, too! I can see why everyone who meets you is thoroughly charmed -- I know I am! Dexi, as you grow and develop more physical power, I hope you never lose the wonderful power you have to give your family tons of smiles, joy and happiness. Could you please have your caring person give you some extra petting today or maybe a delicious treat to celebrate YOU! Happy Cat of the Day, beautiful Dexi!


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Monday, April 13, 2009 - No comments
Life Lessons While You Wait
* There are a plethora of uses for the leftover loose tea in your çay danlık (Turkish teapot). Rub it in your hair after conditioning for extra shine, on your feet every night for a week if they are stinky, on a wound to keep it from getting infected, on your hands if they smell like onions, on your bald spot to make it vanish....kidding.
* One of the most important parts of being a wife is to have food your husband loves on the table, right on time, all the time. Oh, and you're supposed to be sure he never sees any "unpleasant sight" in the house. Like dust.
* Manly men must never drink bag tea or wear shiny clothes.
*Supposedly the reason "we" (or at least Turks and French people) say "Alo?" when we answer the phone dates back to Alexander Graham Bell and his beloved, Alessandra Lolita Oswaldo. At first, the only operating phone in existence was hers, so when it would ring, he would answer using her nickname, "ALO." Time passed and telephone use became more widespread in the town. When Alessandra got jealous of Alex's love for his invention, she left the two of them to themselves and broke off the relationship. He was heartbroken, and every time the phone rang, he would answer with a heart full of hope: "ALO?" Everyone else caught on, and the rest is history. Supposedly.
* There are a whole host of "eerie" similarities between Lincoln and JFK. A few that stuck out: Both died on a Friday, both killed by triple named men who themselves were killed before they went to trial. Lincoln died in the Kennedy Theatre, Kennedy in a Lincoln car. Both Presidents' wives miscarried while living in the White House. Lincoln's secretary's name was Kennedy, and Kennedy's was Lincoln. Both were succeeded by a Johnson; Andrew, born in 1808, and Lyndon B, born in 1908. And the best one: a week before being assassinated, Lincoln was on vacation in Monroe, Maryland, and Kennedy was on vacation with Marylin Monroe.


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Ebbets Field snagging analysis
Welcome to Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1913 through 1957:
lower deck on the 3rd base side had a double cross-aisle as well, and it doesn't look like the ushers were quick to kick people out:
Welcome to Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1913 through 1957:
Hey, Zack….thanks so much for this. For me,Ebbetts Field is, well, I'm not sure of the right words. I'm 55, grew up in Queens, (live in the midwest now) and have been to the Stadium, Shea, and the Polo Grounds(Mets). Never got to Ebbetts Field. It makes me ache when I think about it. Both my folks were from Brooklyn, and I was schooled in baseball by New Yorkers who had experienced decades of great players, the Series over and over, and when I came along, Willie, Mickey, and the Duke were in their prime. Forget snagging for a minute….seeing a game at Ebbetts Field would be sublime. Giants-Dodgers anytime….Yankees Dodgers in October….oh, man. Now, getting a ball in Brooklyn would be the best, and you've showed us we'd have a good chance. Now, figure out the time travel thing, give me a call, and I'll buy the tickets !! -Dave
P.S. I got so excited, I misspelled Ebbets ! -Dave
Wait why does the side by side comparison of Ebbets and Citi make you sick? Is it cuz you hate that the Mets copied Ebbets' design, or is it because you wish you could have seen Ebbets for yourself? Or is it a good sick (like how people say "Wow! Sick shot there!!)
Great analysis buddy! The letters on the sign lighting up happens at RBiA too. There's an Ozarka water sign that the "K" lights up for a visiting team strikeout, and a Southwest airlines sign that the "H" lights up for a Rangers' hit ( & on occasion the "E" lights up for a visitor's error). I've always been enamored by Ebbets Field. All of that history, it's just to good to imagine. Thanks for the entry.
If Ebbets Field was still here I would go. The street outside right field would be the best. I was angry that Citi Field looked alot like Ebbets. Oh well can't do anything now. Great Post!
Zeeeeeeeeeeee —
The Abe Stark sign in the 4th picture down — right under the Schaefer Beer scoreboard — was famous at Ebbets. Stark had a men?s clothing store on Pitkin Avenue in Brooklyn, and the copy beside his name read, ?Hit sign, win suit.? Any player who hit the sign with a fly ball got a suit — free. Legend has it that Stark was pee-oh?d that the first player to do it was Mel Ott — of the Dodgers' crosstown rival, the Giants. Another part of the legend is that The New Yorker ran a cartoon showing Abe standing in the outfield in front of the sign wearing a large glove to minimize the giveways. Wish we had laughs like that today.
Both the J.R.R. and the design of Citi Field would make a lot more sense if it was in Brooklyn. Nevertheless, I think Citi Field is one of the best looking stadiums around from the outside. And after seeing these pictures, it seems like a cool modern day tribute to an important stadium of the past. Therefore, no, the side-by-side doesn't make me sick. In fact, maybe it makes me like Citi Field a little more. That said, I have no ties to, or strong feelings one way or the other about, the Mets, so it is probably natural for someone in my position to have a different feeling looking at the side-by-side shots that someone in your position.
dont get me wrong… I love citi field, and I love the mets, but they should have saved the design for the dodgers, it would be more appropriate if they used it. This entry raised my level of likeness for the dodgers a little, but I'm still not a huge fan of them.
Hi Zack,
I'm taking a trip to Chicago this summer to see the Cubs and White Sox. I looked through your blogs during months of MLB games and wasn't able to find anything on Wrigley or U.S. Cellular. So I'm posting because I was wondering if there were any specific locations in each stadium that is particularly good for snagging balls. Can't wait for Opening Day and I assume you feel the same. Good luck with the book.
What an excellent analysis! I love 'em!
It's very interesting to see these old parks, especially because i'm pretty young.
I can't wait for this week. Sunday I am going to a Royals' open workout/BP at Kauffman (which is an excellent opportunity to break in my new glove and practice for the season). Then Monday is Opening Day vs. Detroit! I'm also going Thursday and fri/sat/sun vs. Boston. I hope there won't be TOO many Red Sox fans.
I'm looking forward to your blog entry of your first game of the new decade!
You're welcome. Glad you enjoyed it. It makes *me* ache that I wasn't even alive then.
Because Citi Field is an ill-conceived abomination.
Cool. I don't remember the Ozarka sign from my recent trip there. I'll have to go back through my pics…
I'm just really bothered by the inside of Citi Field. It's all wrong.
Thanks for the insight. If you find a link to that old cartoon, please share it.
Citi Field wants to be something that it's not, and in fact, it's the complete opposite.
As my dad said when he visited Citi Field for the first time, "The Mets don't have any history so they had to steal someone else's." (I'm paraphrasing, but that's the gist.)
You can find my recent Chicago entries on this page:
Just click the dates on the left and you'll get the blog entries.
Have a great time at the K. Wish I could be there, too. Maybe I'll make it out there for a few games in the second half of the season. If not, then I'll almost definitely be back in 2011.
There's one in your 5/1/09 entry, third pic in the entry. The Southwest airlines sign would be to the left of the Ozarka sign, facing the 3B side of the stadium.
lots of changes to citi field, not much to do with ballparks but alot to do concerning history, mets memorabilia, and whatnot.
anyway, i thought the nyc area ballhawks would find this interesting
For each regularly-scheduled Saturday and Sunday game*, Citi Field will open a half-hour early (three hours before scheduled game time) exclusively for Season Ticket holders. Simply present your regular Season Ticket for the game at the far right turnstiles at the Jackie Robinson Rotunda – nearest the Team Store and Mets Hall of Fame and Museum – then be the first to catch a ball during batting practice (on occasion, batting practice may be held indoors), or beat the lines at Shake Shack and 2K Sports FanFest! (*For make-up games, early opening times, if any, will be determined on a case-by-case basis.)
and fyi, idk why that comment posted at 5:02 pm, its not even that time right now yet
you have some great analysist on all the old ballparks…..keep up the great work zack and good luck on the upcoming snagging season….wish me luck as well and check out my blog to see were I will be going this season at
Thanks for pointing that out. I just took a look…and I really miss that stadium.
I've found that when a stadium opens three hours early, it actually sucks. BP usually doesn't start that early, so you run in, and there's no action, and then the place fills up before the first pitch is thrown. As for the weird time-stamping, I've noticed that. I don't know what's up with it. MLBlogs is screwy sometimes.
Thanks and good luck to you, too.
Hi Zack~I hope you do this one of these days for the old Comisky Park!
Anybody have any photos from the corner of McKeever Place & Montgomery Street which shows the street sign? Thanks. Please let me know, email@example.com
Snuck into Ebbets a few times by way of right field. O'Malley didn't seem to mind, and didn't try to keep the kids out.
Mickey Mantle claimed that a tunnel went under Bedford avenue to a bar cross the street from Ebbets Field. He said he went there with Whitey Ford. A customer was at the bar and yelled"Hey Mantle, you're a bum.


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Alauddin Mansour's translation of the meanings of the noble Qur'an into Uzbek, (1430 AH). NB. The translation of some verses (indicated) are corrected by the Rowwad Translation Center. Original translations are available for comments, assessment, and development.
EQE is a portal featuring free and trustworthy translations of the meanings and exegeses of the noble Qur'an in many world languages. These renditions have been prepared by reliable translators under the careful supervision of specialized bodies. They are both accessible and shareable on social media.
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A large number of translations of the meanings and exegeses of the noble Qur'an are published on EQE portal, accessible on all systems, smart devices, and electronic networks.


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2 killed in single-vehicle Milwaukee car crash
Police also investigating two weekend shootings
MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Milwaukee police are investigating a single-vehicle crash that killed two people, along with a pair of apparently unrelated shootings that left one teen dead and a man injured.
The police department said the car crash happened Saturday about 12:45 a.m. Officers said the occupants were a 49-year-old Milwaukee man and an unidentified man. Both were killed, and police say speed and alcohol are believed to be factors.
The first of the two shootings happened Friday shortly before midnight. A 17-year-old Greenfield boy was shot and killed as he sat in a vehicle.
The other shooting happened two hours later. A 26-year-old Milwaukee man who was also sitting in a vehicle was shot in the leg.
Police have no suspects in either shooting.


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Buster Red Review
- Publisher: Edwin Iskandar
- Genre: Entertainment
- Released: 22 Jan, 2010
- Size: 15.5 MB
- Price: $0.99
- Easy to pick up and play.
- Too simple, no longevity.
As far as arcade shoot'em'ups go, Buster Red does the job in a very simple fashion, however there are better alternatives available.
- Full Review
- App Store Info
Buster Red is a simple, top down arcade style space shooter in which you advance through levels by simply shooting through the many waves of enemies that fly onto the screen.
You control your ship by dragging your finger around the screen to move whilst avoiding enemies and enemy fire. To save you from RSI, your ship is constantly firing so you need only drag it to the appropriate places on the screen to shoot the waves of enemies. The game offers early powerups to give you maximum firepower from the get-go, although with no variation in the weapons, this feature feels almost unnecessary.
The game's visuals are very simple with crudely drawn scrolling backgrounds offering no real sense of place which is not aided by the fact that the enemies take on no real identifiable form either. However, due to the nature of the game and the fast paced shooting, this isn't a terrible detriment to the gameplay. Audio is very basic and without any options within the game, the music will simply disappear if you're listening to your iPod.
Buster Red is connected to the OpenFeint network allowing you to record high scores for comparison, but with only 10 levels and shallow gameplay, you may find that the game gets old quickly and lacks replay value. For a quick, pick up and play shoot em up, it serves its purpose, however there are plenty of better options available.
DescriptionPress/Player Commentary
"... this vertical shooter is bound to keep you playing for hours on end. The wonderfully colored levels and hand drawn graphics that are outlined in black all come together in a perfect package that challenges you and keeps you hoping for more powerups" - nukoda.com
"It looks great, has a really cool soundtrack, and the special attacks are particularly kickass. Good stuff. " - destructoid.com
"As far as fun factor is concerned this game is awesome." - indieappolis.com
"Buster Red is a fun game that keeps me occupied for long amounts of time" - appmodo.com
"Kickass pen-and-ink art, rocking chunes, great enemies and bullet patterns -- shooter fans need apply." - itunes review
"Most addictive app ever - I strangely find myself playing this all of the time!" - itunes review
"I've played many of the shooters on iTunes and this is one of the best. Such a small price to pay for so much fun" - itunes review
- 30 unique and challenging levels and boss rush
- 5 playable ships
- auto-save for on the go gaming
- addictive and frantic 'pick-up and play' gameplay
- stylized graphics
- rockin soundtrack
- easy, normal and nightmare modes
- powerups/shields and "Buster Moves"
- original enemies & bosses galore
- lots of bullets
- gamecenter see how you match up with players around the world
What's New in Version 1.6.3Fixed in this version
- Fixed achievement notification bugs
- Removed Openfeint
- Improved GameCenter integration
Also check out our new game "Brutal Fantasy" now available in the appStore!


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I have an old friend that collects vintage comic books. He owns several World War II-era Superman comics, many first issues of comics from the Silver Era, and lots of other issues with significant value. He mostly collects comics that were printed prior to 1980 and is meticulous about storing them.
This is his primary hobby. He actively hunts for deals on these comic books, participates in many forums about them, organizes and stores them, and so on. It's his passion.
Having observed this hobby for a long time, I can say without question that he spends thousands of dollars on it each year.
At first glance, a person might think this is a wasteful hobby. Thousands of dollars a year on comic books?
Here's the catch: his collection is retaining at least all of the value he's putting into it.
Just like many of us, he's spending a lot of money each year on something that entertains him. He gets a great deal of personal enjoyment from it.
The big difference is at the end of the day, he can sell off the items he has been purchasing and not only recoup his money, but likely make a nice return on all of it.
Whenever we spend a dollar, we get something in return for it. Sometimes, we're buying a service, which means the only value we get in return is whatever the service is worth to us. At other times, we buy consumable things – food, electricity, and so on.
At other times, though, we spend our money on things for personal enjoyment. We buy books or DVDs or golf clubs.
The problem with many of these purchases is that they depreciate rapidly almost the second we buy them. When we pop the wrapper off of a DVD, it loses most of its value. We can only sell it for a portion – and usually a small portion – of what we paid for it. That money's gone. The same is true for a book or for golf clubs.
One great way to find financial success is to find things you can purchase for personal enjoyment and fulfillment that won't depreciate in value, or at least won't depreciate very much.
Collectibles – provided that you know the field intimately – can be one example of this. Many collectibles with a stable and broad set of potential buyers can retain their value for a long time.
What kinds of collectibles? Comic books are just one example. Trading cards are another. Art is another, for that matter. Sports memorabilia is certainly one.
Other hobbies along these lines include any hobbies where you make things that can potentially be sold (meaning you buy supplies and increase their value), hobbies where you can ply a trade, or hobbies that directly revolve around earning more money (such as stock investing or frugality).
A big part of these kinds of hobbies is that much of the enjoyment tends to come from hunting bargains, craftsmanship, and participating in the community of other hobbyists.
It usually does not come from buying the latest and greatest thing. Hobbies that continually require you to buy new things (without actually making things that you can sell for a return) tend to be money drains.
This isn't to say that hobbies that cost money are bad things. It merely means that you should be wary of them and it might be worth your time to look for alternate hobbies that involve things that retain or produce value.
If you want to live a more financially stable life, one of the first places to look is at your hobbies. Are you spending your money on things that maintain their value or produce value to make up for the cost? Or do your hobbies mostly absorb money? Thinking about those questions might lead you down a much more stable life path.
The post Hobbies That Retain or Create Value appeared first on The Simple Dollar.


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Visit to Berlin during european tours to Germany
When people think of Berlin, the first thing that usually comes to mind is its most famous landmark – the Brandenburg Gate. For decades a symbol of division, the monument has always been the beating heart of a major city bursting with ideas, inspiration, art, culture and creativity. European tour packages usually include visit to Berlin during european tours with european tour operator. Highlights in the western parts of Berlin include the Kurfürstendamm, as elegant a shopping street as you'll find anywhere, the Kaufhaus des Westens department store (better known as KaDeWe), on-trend boutiques and exclusive galleries, as well as beautiful residential streets and, of course, Berlin's famous nightlife. And speaking of nightlife, no trip to Berlin would be complete without an evening at Friedrichstadt Palast, Germany's leading variety theatre. The cosmopolitan vibe also permeates the government district, which spreads out to the east from Brandenburg Gate and from the neighbouring Reichstag. There's a sense of peace and freedom in the air here – in stark contrast to the days when Berlin was responsible for unthinkable crimes. The memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe, a work by New York architect Peter Eisenman located near the Brandenburg Gate, serves as a reminder of those atrocities, as does the Topography of Terror documentation centre at the former Gestapo headquarters.Berlin's prestigious Unter den Linden boulevard extends eastwards from Brandenburg Gate towards Alexanderplatz square, passing the Museum Island World Heritage site, as well as Berlin Cathedral, the Neue Wache and the baroque Zeughaus (armoury), which today houses the German Historical Museum. Keep going far enough and you'll reach the TV tower, which to this day remains the tallest structure in Germany. The view from the top, stretching across Berlin and all the way to Brandenburg, is a major sightseeing highlight. Nearby is Gendarmenmarkt, widely lauded as Berlin's most beautiful square. The German Cathedral, the French Cathedral and the Concert Hall form an ensemble of great majesty and grandeur here. The atmosphere of the Hackesche Höfe, also within the central Mitte district, is somewhat less grand, but all the more laid-back, easygoing and relaxed for it. This retail complex is the largest series of enclosed courtyards in Germany and has been heritage-listed since 1977. For an authentic taste of Old Berlin, explore the courtyards' vibrant mix of art galleries, cinemas, theatres, variety venues, restaurants and bars, not to mention all the welcoming little shops and big-name flagship stores. There's also no escaping the city's artistic flair here. A characteristic that, nearly a quarter of a century after the fall of the Berlin Wall, remains a defining feature, perhaps more so than in any other capital. Berlin is the creative workshop of Germany, a trendsetter and a capital of fashion, design and music. The progressive spirit of optimism that engulfed the reunified city was – and still is – astounding. Hundreds of backyard art studios emerged from the shadows and art soon began to take over streets, the walls of buildings and even entire districts. Famously, artists have also appropriated the remains of the Berlin Wall: the section from Oberbaum bridge to Ostbahnhof station, now going by the name of East Side Gallery, has become an illustrated encyclopaedia of street art. Today, Kreuzberg, Prenzlauer Berg, Neukölln and Wedding are the districts of choice for more than 20,000 artists. It is this creative force that lies behind the city's distinctive vibe – a vibe that renders Berlin the capital for alternative and established art alike. Immerse yourself in this creative cosmos. Let yourself be inspired, seduced and enchanted. Get to know the people of Berlin. Besides all the sightseeing, the locals are arguably the best reason to discover this incredible city – and the perfect excuse to come back and visit.


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- This event has passed.
Crawford State Park StoryWalk®
July 22, 2019
An event every day that begins at 12:00 am, repeating until July 31, 2019
The June-July StoryWalk® book on the trail at Crawford State Park is "The Berenstain Bears: Gone Fishin'" by Mike Berenstain.
Papa can't wait to use his fancy new gear on a fishing trip with his cubs. But Brother, Sister, and Honey prefer to fish with their bamboo poles and bent pins. Can the cubs' simple tools be any match for Papa's shiny new gear?
Find out how the story goes on the trail at Crawford State Park. Then, visit Crawford Library for an activity related to the story.
Contact Crawford Library at 970.399.7783 for more information.


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Simplified Spraying
When it comes to spraying areas with chemicals and fertilizer, you have several different options. If you want to discover a more efficient way to do the job look no further than your utility vehicles or utility work machines.
"It's a lot less time-consuming using a utility vehicle compared to a hand-held sprayer on a backpack," says Mike Amerman, attachment product representative, Bobcat Company. "You're going to be able to cover more ground faster with a utility vehicle sprayer attachment."
Landscapers and groundskeepers get the best of both worlds with utility vehicle sprayer attachments because they can also come with a spray wand for quickly tackling small jobs that require spot spraying. For large area coverage, operators just need to attach the tank and boom and turn on the attachment. You can even make sure you obtain consistent coverage in critical areas by utilizing the utility work machine's exclusive cruise control feature.
There are several different applications in which you might use a utility vehicle sprayer attachment. The attachment is designed for chemical applications ranging from spot spraying for weed control to broadcast spraying of liquid fertilizer and chemicals. For example, you could use the sprayer attachment to treat areas of land for weeds and mosquitoes in the summer and to melt snow and ice along sidewalks in the winter.
Traditionally, landscapers and groundskeepers turned to hand-held sprayers to perform these types of tasks, overlooking the versatility that their utility vehicles could provide. But today, Amerman says an increasing number of people in these industries are realizing the efficiencies of utility vehicle sprayer attachments.
So what makes utility vehicle sprayer attachments a more efficient option for some applications?
Well, first, lawn care professionals can choose a tank size to fit the size of the area they plan to treat. For example, Amerman says you could choose to equip your utility vehicle with either a 75-gallon tank or 50-gallon tank sprayer attachment. The 50-gallon sprayer attachment is appropriate for most utility vehicles, while the 75-gallon sprayer can only be used with utility work machines.
Not only is tank size important, but so is the type of sprayer heads on the attachment.
"There are a variety of different nozzles and heads that can be utilized on these sprayers," Amerman says. "Depending on your sprayer head and your speed of travel, it's really going to determine what kind of coverage and rates you get."
Inside each sprayer head is a strainer screen that regulates the amount of fluid coming out. Depending on the liquid pressure in the tank, an operator could achieve as much as 18 gallons per acre while traveling 4 mph, or as few as 4 gallons per acre while traveling 18 mph. "The general rule of thumb is the quicker you travel, the less coverage you'll achieve," Amerman says. "Typically, on average, I would say between 6 and 8 mph would be the optimal speed for getting the best coverage."
In addition to fewer tank fill-ups with the 75-gallon sprayer, the attachment also has a 30- to 40-psi maximum boom spraying pressure, whereas the 50-gallon sprayer attachment has a 30-psi maximum boom spraying pressure. Sprayer flow is controlled by a pump on/off switch conveniently mounted in the console, or within reach on the front of the sprayer frame for utility vehicles.
Sprayer attachments disperse the chemicals and fertilizer in a reversed triangle pattern, which means the spraying pattern is narrow closest to the sprayer head and widens as it shoots away. This pattern is designed so that with each pass you're getting 30 percent spray overlap, Amerman says.
Even though most operators are usually concerned that they won't achieve enough coverage, there is such a thing as overspraying or saturating an area. That's why Amerman says the cruise control feature on a utility work machine is extremely beneficial when you're using the sprayer attachment for an application where consistent coverage is critical. With cruise control, you can just push a button inside the cab to ensure the machine stays at a constant speed. This feature reduces operator fatigue when spraying large areas, because the operator no longer has to focus on holding the foot pedal at the exact position to maintain a consistent speed.
For smaller, more precise jobs, look for a sprayer attachment that comes with an adjustable pattern wand. "You can drive up to right where you need to spray, hook up the wand, and then cover what needs to be sprayed," Amerman says.
The last thing landscapers want to worry about while spraying is possibly disturbing the ground. Though utility vehicles exert minimal ground disturbance, one with all-wheel steering is even better for sensitive jobs, Amerman says. Couple the machine's standard all-wheel steering feature with turf tires, and he says you'll have a perfect solution to avoiding ground disturbance.
Unlike hand-held sprayers that operators typically hold while they walk and spray areas with a wand, sprayer attachments for utility vehicles are mounted in the rear and electrically powered by the machines. Amerman says a majority of the sprayer attachments on the market are powered by a 12-volt system.
All sprayer tank components are mounted to a formed steel skid-frame, which is fastened to the bed of utility vehicles by drilling holes in the tailgate and securing it with bolts. This construction enables operators to easily remove the tank and sprayer from the bed of the machines within minutes.
Another major component of sprayer attachments is their spring-loaded booms, Amerman says. Look for sprayers with more than one section of booms and that offer boom flexibility. Amerman says the nice thing about the three-section booms is that you can avoid obstructions such as trees, fences and poles by folding in either side of the boom. A control switch on the tank will then shut off water to the section of the boom that is folded in.
The advantage of the spring-loaded feature is that it's a safety net if you happen to hit an object. "It's going to flex a little bit so that if you hit an object, it won't break," Amerman says. "Then once you get past the object, it's going to spring back into place." The same goes when traveling over rough terrain. If the operator happens to hit a low spot in terrain, the boom will not hit the ground rigid. Instead, it will flex so that none of the boom sections break.
"A lot of times when this attachment is being used, the utility vehicle … is going over hills and valleys where that could happen," he says. "Plus you have trees and poles that you might need to maneuver around, so this is a great feature to have."
And when you're done using the sprayer attachment, the boom wings can be folded in so you don't have to worry about them hitting an object while transporting the utility vehicle or utility work machine to the next site.
Tara Deering is a technical writer for Two Rivers Marketing (Des Moines, Iowa).
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We seek student researchers who are excited about the field, interested in developing and presenting projects of their own, and willing to encourage enthusiasm at their home campuses. We invite submission of relevant academic projects at all stages of development, with the understanding that a substantial amount of research will be accumulated in time for a fall presentation. Learn more
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BALTIMORE – UMBC senior attackman Matt Gregoire (Crofton, Md./South River) scored two of his game-high four goals in the fourth quarter as the Retrievers opened the home schedule with a 10-8 victory over Monmouth before 641 fans at sun-drenched UMBC Stadium.
The Retrievers improved to 1-1 on the young season, while Monmouth was playing its first-ever NCAA Division I contest.
UMBC freshman attackman Max Maxwell (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg) added a second-half hat trick for the hosts. Senior face-off specialist Phil Poe (Harwood, Md./DeMatha) controlled the draws, capturing 17 of 22 in the contest and recording nine ground balls.
MU was paced by freshman attackman Dan Bloodgood, who scored three goals and added an assist.
The Retrievers stormed out to a 4-0 first quarter lead, as Gregoire scored twice and freshman middie Dylan McDermott (Westminster, Md./South Carroll) and sophomore midfielder Steve Winsor (Chapel Hill, N.C./Chapel Hill) each added their first career scores.
But Monmouth answered with a 4-0 second quarter to send the game to the half knotted at 4-4. Bloodgood scored the Hawks' first-ever goal at the 11:23 mark of the period.
The Hawks would take their first lead on a score by junior midfielder Zach Johannes 2:02 into the third quarter. Maxwell would help the Retrievers re-take the lead with back-to-back scores, but MU scored twice in a span of 49 seconds to surge ahead, 7-6. UMBC junior attackman Ty Kashur (Manassas, Va./CCBC-Essex) scored his first collegiate goal with 2:13 to play in the third to tie the game for the fourth time at 7-7 heading to the final 15 minutes.
Gregoire gave UMBC the lead for good, getting inside and converting a feed from sophomore midfielder Jack Gannon (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Sachem North) just 1:38 into the stanza. Maxwell completed his hat trick and put the Retrievers ahead, 9-7, finishing a fast-break on a feed from junior midfielder Kevin McDonough (Oak Beach, N.Y./Binghamton) at the 10:45 mark.
MU cut the deficit to 9-8 on a Tyler Keen unassisted score with 6:05 remaining. But Poe got possession on the draw and the Hawks were called for an illegal procedure penalty. On just its second man-up opportunity of the game, UMBC cashed in, as sophomore attackman Nate Lewnes (Arnold, Md./St. Mary's) found Gregoire inside and the tri-captain beat MU reserve netminder Garrett Conaway to reclaim a two-goal advantage with 4:38 to play.
The Hawks got an extra-man chance in the final two minutes, but UMBC red-shirt freshman keeper Connor Gordon (Bourne, Mass./Tabor Academy) made a save on Bloodgood with 1:29 remaining and the Retrievers kept possession for the remainder of the contest.
UMBC outshot the Hawks, 38-33, and Gordon came up with double-digit saves for the second consecutive game, posting a dozen stops. Conaway, who entered the game in the third quarter, took the loss, making eight saves, but allowing six second half goals.
UMBC returns to action next Saturday, March 1, when they welcome Richmond to UMBC Stadium for a 1:00 p.m. contest.
Notes: Gregoire's four-goal game was the fourth of his career… UMBC won its second consecutive home opener after three straight setbacks… Gordon made ten first-half saves for the second consecutive week.


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Loaves & Fishes Ministries
Statement of Purpose
As Co-workers our aim is to:
To minister to each other
To recognize and understand the poor
To recognize the dignity of all people
To recognize that all things are from God
To provide loving, nonjudgemental and free service
To depend on God's provision and to share the Gospel
To provide prayerful service
To pray together
To respond to the Christian mandate of loving service
To love as Christ has loved
To bring the peace and joy of Christ to our world
To love, serve and empower the homeless poor.
- adapted from Mother Teresa's Co-Worker Statement of Purpose
Loaves and Fishes Ministries was created in 1982 in response to the critical need for shelter in our Lansing community.
In establishing the program the original five co-founders took inspiration from the social justice teachings of Jesus as exemplified by Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you invited me in.
(Matthew 25: 35-36)
831 N. Sycamore, Lansing, MI 48906


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Hello friends..
Posting for the first time since i am really an amateur to java.
What i am trying to do is making a GUI based Application in Netbeans.
I have a JFrame form in my application. Now i need to open this JFrame Form into full screen and maximized(obviouslyd different systems have different resolutions. So how to get to open my application in fullscreen on any machine??)
Also I Would like to ask about how to put up a picture in a JPanel. I have a surface knowledge of the topic that you have to pass the image as an object but i really don't know how.
Please help
Thanks in Advance..
And Thanks to all the members of the forum, You guys are doing a really Great Job helping out people with their problems.


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WASHINGTON (AP) _ A U.S. official says "about a dozen" of the victims of an Afghan insider attack on Tuesday were Americans, and at least one American was killed.
The official says many details of the attack early Tuesday were still unclear and the numbers could change. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss details of the attack by name on the record.
A man dressed in an Afghan army uniform opened fire on foreign troops at Camp Qargha, a base west of the capital, Kabul. Among the wounded was a German brigadier general.
Gen. Mohammmad Zahir Azimi, a spokesman for Afghanistan's Defense Ministry, said a "terrorist in an army uniform" opened fire on both local and international troops. Azimi said the shooter had been killed.


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You are made of 70 trillion living cells. They work. They talk. They think. They are what make you alive.
This is the story of the trillions of cells that form our bodies, from our beginnings as a single cell to the complexity of a whole body: it's the story of who we are. Join Raj and Sooki on a totally ex-CELL-ent immersive journey. Get shrunk down by the Shrink-a-tron, go back in time with the Retroscope and see an exploded view of all the body systems courtesy of the Cell-o-tron. Recommended for elementary and up. 24 minutes.
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Once a year, I have an opportunity to put my otherwise worthless compendium of cinema knowledge to work for those faithful readers who plan to enter an office Oscar pool.
Last year, 7 of my 9 Academy Award predictions turned out to be correct, including Best Picture, Director and all 4 acting categories. I only missed on both screenplays, though I did warn that, "The scriptwriting categories aren't as easy to handicap." Because there aren't any prohibitive favorites, except maybe Jamie Foxx for Best Actor, the 2005 Oscars are proving to be particularly challenging to forecast. A not of caution before I proceed to offer my best guesses, please remember that gambling is illegal. So, if you lose your shirt relying on my prognostications, don't call me, call Gambler's Anonymous.
Best Picture: Ray was #1 on my 10 Best List, so obviously that's the film I think deserves to win. Though I did enjoy the excellent Sideways and Finding Neverland, neither of those entries has managed to generate enough buzz to prevail on Oscar night. Thus, this race has shaped up as a close one between two dreadful, but well-hyped movies, Million Dollar Baby and The Aviator. Because Million Dollar Baby seems to be suffering from some 11th hour fallout over its insensitivity towards the handicapped, I sadly have to say that The Aviator will win, but more by default than by acclaim. Snubbed: The Terminal, A Fond Kiss and Maria, Full of Grace.
Best Director: Since this category is almost always paired with Best Picture, Martin Scorcese will finally get that coveted Oscar which has proven to be so elusive for him. The perennial also-ran stands to benefit from the "body of work" sympathy vote, having been nominated a half-dozen times before. My personal choice would be Taylor Hackford (Ray), but he already has an Oscar, as does Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby), who deserved to win last year for Mystic River. Mike Leigh (Vera Drake) can't expect much when his movie wasn't even nominated, and Alexander Payne's picture, Sideways, was essentially a sophisticated sitcom, and the prudish Academy generally doesn't cotton to comedies. Snubbed: Steven Spielberg (The Terminal), Ken Loach (A Fond Kiss) and Joshua Marston (Maria, Full of Grace).
Best Actor: No mystery here, Jamie Foxx (Ray) is a shoo-in. John Depp (Finding Neverland) had the best shot at an upset, but his hopes were dashed when his studio, Miramax, decided to bet more of its marketing money on The Aviator than on his much more deserving flick. Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda) has no chance because of the poor box-office support for his movie and Eastwood was simply underwhelming in a sleepwalked role. Snubbed: Tom Hanks (The Terminal), Tom Cruise (Collateral) and Paul Giamatti (Sideways).
Best Actress: Unfortunately, the two best performances in this category, namely Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full Of Grace) and Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake) aren't even in the running. I'm projecting 46 year-old Annette Bening as the winner of a sympathy vote for a couple sensible reasons. First, she's been nominated twice before and she's getting to be a little long in the tooth, given the average actress' shelf-life. Second, Annette's prime competitor is Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby) who beat her out in a American Beauty-Boys Don't Cry showdown 5 years ago. Hilary still has a puncher's chance while Kate Winslet would have been better off if she'd been up for Finding Neverland instead of the best forgotten Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Snubbed: Kimberly Elise (Woman, Thou Art Loosed) and Tea Leoni (Spanglish).
Best Supporting Actor: Although movie "Man of the Year� Jamie Foxx (Collateral) was easily the best of this bunch, Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby) will triumph on the "body of work" theory, ala Bening, because he's been nominated three times before, but ultimately unsuccessful. Neither Alan Alda (The Aviator) nor Clive Owen (Closer) have any business being up for anything, though Thomas Haden Church was impressive enough in Sideways to warrant consideration for a Best Actor nomination. Snubbed: Stanley Tucci (The Terminal), Freddie Highmore (Finding Neverland), Reverend T. D. Jakes (Woman, Thou Art Loosed) and Kumar Pallana (The Terminal)
Best Supporting Actress: Though I personally found her portrayal of Katherine Hepburn to be comical, Cate Blanchett (The Aviator) prevails, here, in a tight race with Natalie Portman (Closer). Anticipate Blanchett to benefit from Aviator's overall momentum, while Portman's praiseworthy performance came courtesy of a pretty disappointing production. Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda) and Laura Linney (Kinsey) have each enjoyed far more impressive outings, for instance, Dirty Pretty Things and Mystic River, respectively. So, for my money, Virginia Madsen (Sideways) was the only stand-out among this pathetic crop of picks, a travesty in a year with so many overlooked, more deserving performances. Snubbed: Catherine Zeta-Jones (The Terminal), Sandra Oh (Sideways), Regina King (Ray) and Irma P. Hall (The Ladykillers).
Best Original Screenplay: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind will win, Vera Drake deserves to win, Spanglish was snubbed. Best Adapted Screenplay Sideways will win, Finding Neverland deserves to win, Woman, Thou Art Loosed was snubbed. Best Animated Feature The Incredibles will win and deserves to do so. None snubbed. In sum, I expect The Aviator to take home around 7 or 8 Oscars, proving that a good marketing campaign is far more important than a good movie when it comes to the Academy Awards. It'll be a long evening for Clint and the Million Dollar Baby contingent, with everybody getting edged out repeatedly except for Morgan Freeman. Though far more substantial and satisfying flicks than The Aviator, Ray, Finding Neverland, and Sideways will each be lucky to land more than 1 award. The tie-breaking question in most pools is "How many minutes will the Academy Awards run over?"
Given that host Chris Rock has already put his foot in his mouth with his comments about gays, the producers will be keeping him on a short leash, especially after the paranoia generated by Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction. With Chris afraid to improvise, the event will end 2 minutes early!
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Black Star News has been producing stellar investigative journalism since 1997, including focusing on police brutality and other abuses targeting marginalized communities. We have broken several major stories. We welcome news tips to email@example.com and email@example.com
We need your advertising support to produce strong journalism, especially during periods of economic instability, so please contact email@example.com for advertising rates and long term packages.
All content is copyright Black Star News © 2011. All rights reserved.


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Investigation reveals big gap in cellphone privacy protection
Expert: Tougher penalties needed to ensure phones wiped clean
Following an Action News investigation, a legal expert says more needs to be done to protect consumers when they exchange their cell phones.
VIDEO: Watch Paul Van Osdol's report
Last month, Jeff Casino got a text from a stranger showing pictures of his fiancée, Kim Maier, and her son, Drew.
"This guy has pictures of our house, pictures of our bank account, emails, who knows what kind of information he has of ours," Maier said.
Casino had turned in his broken phone at an authorized Verizon Wireless retailer. They later resold it without wiping his personal information from the phone, though the company said they tried.
The stranger told Casino he bought the broken phone on eBay.
On Wednesday, eBay had more than 87,000 used phones for sale and thousands more broken phones. It's unclear how many had personal information.
But a recent experiment by the antivirus company Avast may hold a clue. Avast bought 20 used phones on eBay and found all of them had personal information -- a total of 40,000 photos, 750 emails and text messages, 250 contact names and addresses, and one completed loan application.
"It didn't take us long. We always found personal information and in some cases we found very private photographs," said Jude McColgan, president of Avast Mobile.
Most of us understand we can't just reach inside someone's mailbox and start grabbing their letters. Federal law clearly prohibits that. But a legal expert said the law is murkier when it comes to protecting what's inside our smartphones.
"Yes, it's a problem," said Pitt Law School professor and cybersecurity expert David Thaw.
He said Casino's nightmare shows the government needs tougher penalties for companies that fail to wipe phones before reselling them.
"And when the government puts that in it's a greater deterrent. People are more likely to say let's not make the business risk decision of doing a partial job of wiping the phone, let's make sure we get it right," Thaw said. "Your life is on your device. There's a tremendous amount of personal information on there."
Consumers should wipe their own phones and remove the storage card before turning them in or selling them.
Every phone has a different wipe procedure. Avast has an app for Android phones that can help ensure they are wiped clean.