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Underway and on top
Somehow, we got this game underway despite the threat of rain. That's not to say we'll make it all the way through, but it's looking like we might. And Manny drove in the first run of the game with a first-inning double.
Casey Blake was a late scratch because Joe doesn't want to risk his hamstring tightness on wet grass…otherwise, just another day in Pittsburgh.
Here's the lineup:
Furcal, SS
Pierre, CF
Manny, LF
Kemp, RF
Belliard, 3B
Loretta, 2B
Martin, C
Hudson, 2B
Wolf, P
No Comments
I see we have a new thread, Thanks Josh.
L O R E T T A, nice hit.
Go going M A R T I N.
At least we look a little more perky with the gloves tonight. Now we got to get the bats going.
Anyone know why Charley Steiner is calling the game on TV today?
Tonight looks a lot better than the last few games. Already some nice defense and heads up baserunning.
That was a good inning. Good to see Loretta get a couple of hits and drive in a run. Also Martin's RBI ground out is a good sign.
Forget what I said about Loretta batting 8th lol.
It would take Andy to break up the glee.
Damn not Andy there Wolf speciality.
I hope they get this game in (no tie and rain or something), they play day/night double headers now.
I will really mess up the day.
That should be "it" not "I"
It is an official game now regardless if the rain continues. Looks like Torre made the right decision holding Blake back because of the danger of him tweaking his hammy by slipping on the wet grass.
So far tonight's heading in the right direction.
Another good outing by Wolf so far. If they can only get him a few more runs to make it a little easier.
Yeah another good QS from the Wolfster
Blah losing Young when the counted 0-2.
Urgh a 0-2 hit with risp and 2 out.
urgh 2 hits on a guy that was batting around .210 ish
Hope Wolf can make it through another 15-20 pitches.
Well the ball's in Kuo's hands for the moment.
Martin is looking tired. Two wild pitches that he might have been able to catch if he was moving quicker.
Sherrill needs a quick out and then hold them in the 8th.
Suprisingly poor outing for Kuo.
That's should've been a strikeout.
Get that McCutchen.
God damn it.
So much for that.
Another ND for Wolf.
*(&^*%$$*! Wolf must be frustrated now. what a revolting development that is!
That was an ugly inning. 3 walks to the bottom feeders of the Pirates lineup. That should have never happened.
Take the walk manny
He had Diaz struckout stupid home plate ump.
That last strike on Kemp looked a little outside but you got to swing when it is that close with two strikes.
Cmon Loney, keep your RISP reputation going.
I like that move pinch hitting for Martin!
SOCK IT THOME! SOCK IT THOME! SOCK IT THOME! SOCK IT THOME! Finally a big hit and we score some runs!
Nice to see Thome come through. I hope his foot heals in time for the WS.
Come on Loney this game is always bs.
oops already not always
Big spot for Russell.
Come on Martin need a gapper.
Holy crap did he PH for Martin?
Looks like it's Andre instead.
Now can we hold a 2 run lead against these Pirates.
Fabulous at-bat Andre!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good eye E T H I E R.
GoodEye ODOG.
Well we got the lead back, let's try to hold it this time.
hahaha love the 1 out hold for Elbert.
Much, better……let's finish this game with a big win!!!!!
Troncoso did his job, but like Lyons said he's was not getting his sinker down. I hope he can correct that by the playoffs.
Let's get the imaginary 10 hits. I wonder what are record it when we get more than 10 hits in a game?
Thanks Belliard come on Ethier.
I am torn between rooting for the Cardinals or the Rockies to win. Obviously it is good to reduce the magic number for the division but it is also good to get the home field advantage. I guess a split in today's game and tomorrow's is the best thing for the Dodgers.
How did the Dodgers get that 8th run.
Belliard homered
What does Johnny Say??
Way to kick it up a notch, Dodgers…..nice win!!!!! Let's do it again tomorrow!!!!
What does Broxton says? It's been like 2 weeks since someone mention that lol.
This MLB.TV is something.
The Dodgers scored during one of my freeze frames.
Well it's finally official.
Right on cue Nelly
Belliard homerun after Kemp grounded into a dp
That HR Belliard hit, which I never saw, cost Broxton a save. lol
All right WTG Dodgers! They made it to the playoffs! It didn't look like it would happen tonight during the Pirates seventh inning. Now I want them to get home field advantage for selfish reasons. I don't want to change my plane tickets and have to play a penalty.
truebluewill – You are NOT going to have to change your plane ticket. You are going to have an outstanding time!!!!
Thank you Nelly I need all the help I can get.
I will be in San Diego for the two game series with my good friend LuvtheDodgers23 (because of Gibby). I was hoping the Dodgers would clinch there so that Vin Scully would call that but it does not look that way. That is Ok though, they can clinch anywhere. BTW, did anyone mentioned whee Collins is?
Congrats to the Dodgers and to all their fans, the 10th player! Real celebration comes later!
6-3 Cards, bottom of the 9th.
With Truebluewill coming to LA for the playoffs, it got me thinking about home field advantage. I can't remember if it has always been that way but it must make it very difficult for teams and fans to plan for tickets, travel etc. I guess in a close race between the division champs, teams would not know until that last day of the season how to create tickets and travel arrangements for the postseason. Fans like TBW would have to change their travel plans from Oct 7 to Oct 10 without much notice.
St Louis is now up 6-3 in the 9th. Magic number will be 2, barring another unbelievable come from behind win by the Rockies.
The Cardinals now lead the Rockies 6 to 3. I think I like to see the Dodgers play the Phillies in the first round of the playoffs. Because of their left handed hitters matching up against our left handed pitchers. Also the way their bulllpen has been melting down recently. I think it's a better match up then playing the Cards.
The STL-COL game is on MLB TV and the Cards are about to pop the champagne in Denver.
S/B MLB Network (cable/sat TV not computer)
Magic number is down to 2 🙂
The magic#'s 2
Like to take it tomorrow.
32and53fan ~ You are absolutely correct. I already have my plane tickets for leaving on the 6th and returning on the 9th. If they don't get home field advantage I'll have to change that and pay more money. I remember when divisional play first started I think record didn't matter and they just alternated home field advantage each year. I'm not 100% sure about that, but I think it's true.
This is so bitter sweet, I hate the Cardinals.
Home field advantage is to get teams to play hard right to the end and not just go through the motions.
oldbrooklynfan ~ Maybe someone else will knock them out in the first round.
Poor Angels
It look like a legend is going to play her last game for the Sparks if the Sparks could rally that That's 19-7 the Mercury had could be the big blow they finally shown up in the 2nd and 3rd.
I could understand hating the Yankees, Giants and Red Sox but why the Cards?
Parker and Jones surely pick the wrong tiem to not show up.
I am watching a movie about the real Mannywood – the area of NY and NJ next to the George Washington bridge. Cop Land shows some gritty and corrupt people and places. This area where Manny was raised seems a million miles from LA.
OBF, TBW – do you ever get over to that part of town?
They really missed KRod and Shields.
Well the Mercury won and we going to missed you Leslie.
Wow so sad the Angels bullpen is awful.
From the city by the bay…………………………….
If anything, the Giants ought be relaxing at this juncture. They're essentially out of the postseason race. The pressure should have vanished.
Just think……………Brad Penny gets to watch the playoffs from home once again. It's great to be a Dodger fan right now 🙂
It's our Dynamic Duo once again………………….LA Times Style.
Congrats Dodgers! Playoff bound again, we never let up all year and maintained 1st place. Everyone is gonna doubt us again this year but we'll prove them wrong. Lets win this division and take it all the way this year. GO DODGERS!!!
Correct me if I'm wrong, and maybe somebody else posted it, but if the Dodgers and Rockies end up tied for the division, there's no one-game playoff. The Dodgers would win the division based on head-to-head. That's a long way of saying the magic number is really 1.
Get rid of Manny if you wanty a shot at this


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Dallas County Sheriff
Reserve Division
What is a Dallas County Sheriff's Reserve Deputy?
Brief History of the Dallas County Sheriff's Reserve:
The Dallas County Sheriff's Reserve was started in June 1951 from an idea at a meeting between Sheriff Bill Decker and Col. Harold B. Younger of the Texas State Defense Guard. The guard had been put on inactive reserve status upon the return of the National Guard units after World War II. Many of these state guardsmen felt that they did not want their training to go to waste as they still wanted to be of service to their country in case of an emergency.
From that June meeting, Class I was created. On July 24, 1951 a total of 59 guardsmen began their training.
Reporting for training once a week for two hours, the class met in the old Criminal District Court # 2 of Judge Robert A. Hall. The reservists were directed during their training by Sheriff Bill Decker and Deputy Charles Polk Player.
Class I held their graduation in the same court room where they had received their training on December 11, 1951.
The Dallas County Sheriff's Reserve has been called to duty many times in its 58 year history. What started out as reserve officers to supplement the patrol section, grew to cover all areas of the sheriff's department. (Patrol, Warrants, Fugitive, and Detention Services) In addition to the every day functions of the department, the Reserve Division has been mobilized for major events and disasters throughout Dallas County.

subset: commoncrawl


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Eye care and healthcare provider, Specsavers, understands consumers expect a seamless experience across channels. It has its sights on an exciting digital future for its business and, with Accenture's help, is bringing that vision to life.
Specsavers is an international company providing trusted eye care service, affordable glasses, contact lenses and hearing care in Europe and across the globe. As the company developed its future vision to become a digital business, it found that its disparate systems hampered its ability to change and be more agile.
Consumers now expect to be able to buy seamlessly from a retailer across any channel and at any time. Specsavers needed to reduce application and technology deployment times by providing continuous service improvement. To speed up digitalization, Specsavers collaborated with Accenture to consolidate and manage its Legacy IT applications and infrastructure. In addition, Accenture continues to help Specsavers develop new capabilities to support its digital transformation.
Accenture is working with Specsavers to help manage the performance of all business transactions. As part of the five-year agreement, Accenture is providing Specsavers with the following services across its entire IT landscape in eight European countries, Australia and New Zealand:
The team successfully completed the complex service transition quickly, achieving 100 percent service level agreements. Continuous improvement efforts, encompassing automation, analytics tools, an IT template for new store launches and the creation of a centralized operations bridge, are a key part of the service Accenture provides.
Accenture is also helping Specsavers prepare for digital beyond the application and infrastructure services work by conducting:
Technology process and system reviews to see how the team could bring innovation to daily operations
Innovation workshops looking at new business growth areas and connecting them to relevant startup companies that can help solve business critical issues
An IT readiness assessment for strategic program initiatives
The combined work is helping Specsavers prepare for a new operating model and IT platforms, as well as establish new business partnerships:
With Accenture's help, Specsavers is preparing for new digital opportunities and a future operating model that supports an omnichannel approach. It now has a more manageable application portfolio, with enhanced business services and significantly lowered costs:
application batch
hours per month
Reducing major
incident duration by
Lowering priority
1 to priority
3 incidents by
Reducing service
desk calls by
Operations are more efficient, enabling Specsavers to provide a global 24/7 service.
With Accenture's help, Specsavers can focus on its goal of becoming a digital business and offering customers innovative new products and services. With these improvements, Specsavers can transform the customer experience and build its digital future in an ever-changing, hyperconnected, omnichannel world.
Previously, a single build for new store openings took 24 days.
Now it takes just over 24 hours.


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It was a big year in California politics.
It was a tough year in California politics.
And when Cailfornians turned to Prop Zero to make sense of it, they sought to reckon with the big issue: how could the budget crisis be resolved?
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
From a look at the below list of the top 5 Prop Zero posts from 2011 by traffic, readers were worried about the whole thing, and curious about solutions.
A post that asked whether the establishment of online gaming could help the budget drew the heaviest traffic. But readers were interested in the cuts to higher education and in the fights with the Democratic coalition -- and a post that looked at the tricky labor politics involved.
Here are the five most popular items, with highlights from each:
5. "Caution: State Laws Hazardous to Your Health."
The piece focused on legislation brought by special interests in the health filed, including "AB 783 by Assemblymember Mary Hayashi, which would allow physicians to employ physical therapists in their offices. Physicians who support the bill say it promotes continuity of treatment. Independent therapists and their allies counter that the law could enable some physicians to prescribe unnecessary or sub-par treatment within the cozy confines of their own offices, thereby discouraging independent assessments of the physical therapist."
4. Brown: 'These Cuts Will Be Painful'
Gov. Brown's budget plan dominated the news -- though he got only pieces of it enacted.
Prop Zero's Larry Gerston showed all the ways that budget cuts were decimating the California State University and University of California systems. "The latest round of cuts to higher education will impact the state for a generation or more. Two changes are responsible for the crisis--the need to raise tuition and new admission procedures. Together, they will wipe out the next generation of talent and taxpayers."
2. A New Party Within a Party? Labor-Skeptic Democrats
The post noted that two Democratic politicians -- Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard Parks and San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi -- were taking on public employee labor unions. "What binds Adachi and Parks together is their critique of public sector workers and their shared sense of alarm at the long-term threats to their cities' fiscal viability. Each argues that public employee perks must be reined in -- not in the name of lowering taxes or other right-wing ideological gains -- but so that there's enough money to protect progressive programs that benefit the public at large. That's a powerful argument."
But not powerful enough. Adachi lost his bid for mayor--and his pension initiative didn't pass. Parks remains politically isolated in LA.
1. Forget Cellphones; Casinos Say Poker Is Answer to State's Budget Woes
A report on a push by casinos to legalize Internet poker (and make money for the state by taxing it). The plan didn't make it this year, but the future looks bright, particularly in the wake of a new legal opinion from the Obama Administration that suggests Internet gaming does not violate federal law.


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There is little doubt that Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry is one of the best players in the NBA. His ability to score from all over the basketball court is what separates the All-Star from other guards in the Association, at least from a scoring standpoint.
Always confident in his game, Curry took it to an entirely new level on The Dan Patrick Show (via Pro Basketball Talk).
Note: You'll find the remarks at about the 4:00 mark.
Better offensive player, me or LeBron? That's the first time I have ever been asked that question. Um, me. Gotta be, right?
Patrick then chimed into the conversation, indicating that Curry was a better shooter but that James is a scorer. At which point, Curry responded…
I don't know, because he obviously demands a lot of attention on the floor. But I like to say I can distribute, get my teammates involved.
As the conversation continued, Curry indicated that he could score more at will than King James.
First off, I am glad Curry didn't go as far to say he was the better all-around basketball player. The All-Star struggles a great deal on the defensive side, mainly due to a lack of a solid NBA-type frame. Meanwhile, James is one of the best defenders in the NBA.
In terms of who the better offensive player is, that has to be James as well. While Curry is the best shooter in the recent history of the game, he cannot do what James does all over the court on the offensive end. From driving the lane to distributing the ball, James has to be considered the best player on that end of the court in the Association.
The stats don't lie.
I like the confidence Curry displays here, but some sense of reality is always a good thing. When comparing yourself to the best player on the planet, maybe stay humble next time.
Photo: USA Today


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Personal Barrel of Fun Tathra
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Lesson includes: Soft G-board, steamer wetsuit & leg rope
Lesson includes: Soft G-board, steamer wetsuit & leg rope
What to bring: Swimmers, towel, sunscreen & a water bottle


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The second launch of Google's Google TV is remarkable because of how much the search titan is trying to downplay it.
"We don't believe the Web is going to replace linear TV," Mario Quieroz, head of Google TV, told the New York Times. "This is designed to be complementary to cable TV... . It's not a new strategy, but I think we're articulating it better now."
The message was also given to others. "There was a perception that we were a cord-cutting product, and that's something that we didn't do enough to dispel," Rishi Chandra, director of Google TV product development told Wired. "Our point of view is that there's new content coming, content that you just haven't been able to access with your TV. Now we're bringing that content, and adding the discovery experience on top of it."
U.S. & World
"We're working with a lot of cable providers and with networks to bring whatever content they think is appropriate to TV," Quieroz told Bloomberg Businessweek. "Our goal is really to bring content that adds value as opposed to replicate redundant content."
Basically Google's talking points seem to be saying, "Yeah, we overhyped it the first time and everyone was disappointed and it really, really hurt salest. So, now we're keeping expectations low."
Google TV still doesn't have any of the networks on board, as we have previously reported, but it recently signed up cable channels TBS and TNT. It's also reportedly working on original content channels for YouTube, so there are some tricks up Google's sleeve -- just nothing it's willing to talk about right now.
As for the new Google TV, it's supposed to give users a "unified TV-watching experience," Quieroz said. Apparently that means the service has much better search, looks more streamlined and integrates with social media -- so you can see if your friends tweeted about watching a program or movie and then see if it's available to watch. According to Wired, one of the best features is a new-and-improved YouTube app that delivers speedy video and HD content. (And because it's on the Android platform, users can use apps from the Android Market.)
So, this new Google TV is better -- not revolutionary, but definitely better than the first. However, we think with Google having so many irons in the fire; original content on YouTube, ongoing talks with Hulu and networks and Google+ integration, that Google TV has some amazing potential.


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I'm sort of at a writing loss this fall. First, I fell behind on mindful52. Recently, I'd been trying to catch up, but noticed that the organizer lost some steam as well and posts and responses have become fewer and far between and maybe even stopped completely in October. Then, I gave up on NaNoWriMo (although I've kept up with NaBloPoMo).
I was really looking forward to Reverb, which last year took place during December. But today I received an email from the main organizer who has decided not to host it this year. She encouraged everyone to write our own Reverb prompts and then comment on them throughout the month, possibly inviting others to respond to our prompts. I can tell the community feels a little abandoned and irritated that she waited until the last minute to let everyone know, and I certainly feel this myself. It's just not the same as being given a new prompt each day, with several thousand other people responding to the same prompts on the same day in a sort of collective group meditation. And tomorrow is already December 1—not a lot of time to come up with our own list. However, there are a few people seeing this as a challenge: brainstorming ideas and posting them on twitter. Maybe I'll end up following one of those, or come up with a list tomorrow morning…
Although it's disappointing, I can't really blame the organizers for petering out on mindful52 or reverb. They put a huge amount of time, energy, and resources into creating and maintaining these challenges, and who knows what is happening in their personal lives?
If not for December, I like the idea of writing the prompts ahead of time for my February light box month.


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Workers & Warriors
The Fugitive
The Great World
In March, 1940, a group of thirteen-year-old Javanese boys emerged from the playground of their school in Jogjakarta. They were rounded up by Japanese soldiers, sealed in a cargo train without anything to eat or drink, and taken to Batavia, where they were added to eight thousand other Indonesians. They were then put on two ships bound for Singapore. One was sunk by a torpedo, four thousand drowned. The rest got off in Sumatra, where they were put to work on a railway line. But first the Japanese guards gave them a little demonstration. Eight boys were ordered to lift up a track. When this proved impossible, the Japanese decreased their number, until there were only four. When they, too, failed to lift the track, they were lined up and beheaded. "This," said the Japanese commander, "is what happens to lazy workers."
It is but one story out of many, one story to illustrate the brutal statistics: more than 300,000 Indonesians were sent overseas to work for the Japanese as so-called romusha, or warrior-workers; barely 70,000 returned alive. Of the 120,000 on Sumatra, 23,000 survived, and of the 31,700 sent to British Borneo, 2,500 came back. Asian slaves were treated so badly, that even the Western POWs working on the Burma railroad, who were used to a thing or two, were horrified.
But it is, as Monsieur Le Pen might put it, a mere detail of the war, which has escaped the attention of most people in the West. The suffering of British, American, Dutch, and Australian prisoners is of course well known. Who can forget the sight of Alec Guinness stiffening his upper lip in the sun-baked punishment hut in The Bridge on the River Kwai? Or the harrowing drawings of emaciated men in loincloths made by Australian and British artists in captivity. The suffering of Indonesians, Malayans, or Chinese, however, fails to strike quite the same chord in most European hearts. They are too far removed from our lives. And the idea of a Malay slave worker might appear to be less incongruous, and less degrading, than a full-blooded Brit or American reduced to that level. Indeed it might seem almost natural. After all, as they used to say at the planters' club, these people are used to it. They don't feel pain as we do. Life in the East is cheap. And so on.
There is a passage in David Malouf's superb new novel that sums up what I mean. His two main characters, an Australian pair called Digger and Vic, are captured by the Japanese in Singapore and put to work on the death railroad in Thailand. Digger watches the Asian road gangs, and
He thought of the look on that fellow's face who had told him once, "They wanna make coolies of us": the savage indignation of it, at the violation of all that was natural in the world, their unquestionable superiority as white men; but there was also the age-old fear in…
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Charlie, if you want to get back to "winning," start with a big apology to your old bosses. And take a shower.
That's Alec Baldwin's advice to Charlie Sheen in a Huffington Post column the "30 Rock" star wrote explaining how the "Two and a Half Men" star can save his career. Baldwin says he knows from experience that TV stars can't survive a clash with TV suits, like "Men" boss Chuck Lorre.
"Take a nap. Get a shower. Call Chuck. Go on Letterman and make an apology…and then beg for your job back," Baldwin writes.
U.S. & World
Sheen has waged a vitriolic war on his once and possibly future employers, calling Lorre a "worm" and worse. And even if he was television's highest-paid star on its highest-rated show, Sheen should know he is not expendable, said Baldwin.
"[Execs believe] no actor is greater than the show itself when the show is a hit," Baldwin wrote. "And, in that regard, they are often right. Add to that the fact that the actor who is torturing their diseased egos is a drug-addled, porn star-squiring, near-Joycean Internet ranter, and they really want you to go."
Sheen's best hope is that the viewing public is a lot nicer than the studio bosses, Baldwin adds.
"You want to really p--- off Chuck and Warner Brothers and CBS? Beg for America's forgiveness. They will give it to you. And then go back. You are a great television star. And you've got the gig."
Selected Reading: Huffington Post, Vulture, People


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The February monthly crop is coming up. I was browsing online wondering what to create this month for the make-n-take. I came across this great tutorial for a Flower Pocket Card on Stephanie Luman's blog.
Supplies: Big Shot, Sizzix Dies {flower & tag}, Button, Metal Brad, Kaiser Rhinestone, Pop-up Glue Dots, Chatterbox Bradmaker circle Punch, Fiskars Edge Punch, Willow Satin Ribbon from Savvy n Sassy, Natural Hemp Twine, Inkadinkadoo Stamp, Fancy Pants Paper, Bazzill, Staz On, Chalk Ink, Stickles, Smooch, ATG Gun, Sandpaper.


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San Pelegrino has announced the best restaurants in the world 2012. For the third consecutive year Danish Noma with Rene Redzepi is the winner. Last year we tried to get a reservation but failed. Not very surprising – we were not alone. They received over 300.000 requests.
Noma has made the jury interested in what's cooking up in the north. This year we have three Swedish restaurants on the top 50 which must be a record. Frantzen/Lindeberg ended up on 20th place. Far up in the north at Fäviken, Magnus Nilsson is experimenting with lichen and moss which gave him the 34th place on the list. My favorite restaurant and chef, Mathias Dahlgren, captured a well deserved 41st spot.
I hope to see the Swedish restaurants even higher up on the list in 2013. Here is the complete list.


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"We aim high within our industry, so we look for partners that have similar standards."
Curtis Folz, Chief Operating Officer, Georgia Ports Authority


text:
Download Mary Oliver Study Guide
(Poets and Poetry in America)
Mary Oliver's poetry bears witness to a difficult childhood, one in which she was particularly at odds with her father, a teacher who died without their being reconciled. Her childhood experience profoundly influenced her poetry, as the body of her work develops a journey of healing from the effects of trauma. In "Rage," she writes of a childhood incest scene, detailing its damaging and continuing effects on daily adult life. Her poetry is remarkable for its limited focus on herself as a personality while showing a path out of terror and sorrow to acceptance, safety, joy, and freedom.
Oliver attended Ohio State University for one year, then transferred to Vassar College, but left after a year. She has taught at several institutions: the Fine Arts Workshop in Provincetown, Massachusetts; Case Western Reserve as Mather Visiting Professor; Sweet Briar College in Virginia as Banister Writer-in-Residence; and Bennington College in Vermont as Catherine Osgood Foster Chair for Distinguished Teaching (1996-2001).
(The entire section is 930 words.)


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Not quite a fixture on the blog, but also not far from it, Prop4g4nd4 has been busy developing his complex and abstract illustration style, putting his native Greece on the map with some really artful jazz and music flyer designs. Don't forget to check out Prop4g4nda's Myspace or his DeviantArt for more, as well more of his work that we featured previously on Flyer Goodness.
Animated GIF Mexican Club Flyers for KRZFCKRS
Ran into these club flyers for KRZFCKRS events in Mexico, and you can tell why they're pretty attention grabbing.
Posted by Flyer Goodness
Tags: animated, club flyer, mexico
Mean Clean Design by Andrei Robu
This one is overdue, but fellow design archiver and design director Andrei Robu from Bucharest, Romania has a habit for good design work. The man has good taste, which you can check out for yourself on his refined selection of only the highest quality design sites Designers Go To Heaven & Typeverything.
Really digging his angles and colorways. I can only imagine how much design he sifts through in a week. Because inspiration doesn't come from nothing, it's to people like Andrei that aggregate such great design pieces that we owe our retinas to.
Posted by shaun homsapaya
Tags: Bucharest, graphic design, pattern, romania, typeface
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We've just bought the new Athlon 1500+.
Q1 : It is showing 1010Mhz at the startup ? why ??? i checked the packing of the CPU. It is 1500+
Q2 : The temperature at which the CPU is getting to at the initial startup is 71 C, at which it is stable until i remain in the BIOS Setup. Is it normal ?
Q3 : My motherboard is GB 7DX+. It isn't recognizing the soundcard (built-in) ???? any suggestions...
I've initially installed Win98. and now i'm just going to do WinXP 2000


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In the 24 May 1882 issue of the Jeffersonville Daily Evening News, on page 2, was a very nice article about the 50th wedding anniversary celebration of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Davey. The story starts out with some facts about their nuptials in Cornwall and then some very nice things about Mr & Mrs Davey:
"Golden Nuptials," A Pleasant Celebration by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Davy.
Mrs.[sic] Thomas Davy and Miss Mary Nicholos were married May 23d, 1882 at St. Agnes Church, St. Ann's Parish, Cornwall, England, by Rev W. V. Snowe. This venerable and highly respected couple have been living in Jeffersonville for twenty-three years. They are greatly respected by their many friends in this city for their many virtues as good citizens. Mr. and Mrs. Davy have raised a large family of children, all of whom bear good characters, and have followed the scriptural injunction "honor thy father and mother."
Note there were several misspellings: Davy for Davey and Nicholos for Nicholas.
One of the best part of the article was where it listed their living children along with their residences. This will give me clues as to where to find them in census and city directories. Here is the transcription:
Mr and Mrs Davy have seven children living to wit: Mrs. John J. Flynn, of Jeffersonville; Mrs. Wellman, of Cincinnati; Thos. Davey, of Carthage, Mo.; Mrs. Mary Hawkins of Lawrenceburg; Mrs. Colby, of New York; Mrs. Rose McFall, of Indianapolis; and Fred Davey, of Carthage, Mo. Those present of the children last evening were Mrs. Flynn, Mrs. Wellman and Mrs. McFall. Also Mrs. Elwood Dedrick, grand-daughter of the bride and groom. The others were kept away by unavoidable circumstances.Mrs. John J Flynn is Thomas and Mary's eldest child, Elizabeth. Mrs. Wellman is their second child, Susan. Thos Davey is their third child, Thomas Nicholas. Mrs Mary Hawkins is Mary Jane Davey, and a new surname for me! Mrs. Rose McFall is Catherine Rose Davey, and Fred Davey is their youngest son, the only one born in the United States. He is our ancestor; my husband's great grandfather.
The last paragraph has more flowery narrative about the couple, written in that 20th century prose:
The News congratulate Mr and Mrs Davey, as well as their numerous progeny on this very happy occasion, and altough [sic] Mr and Mrs Davey are now 75 and 71 respectively, we trust there are many years of quiet happiness in store for them. But be this as it may, it can be truthfully said they have lead a noble life. Mrs. Davey has always been active in the temperance reform, and her husband has ever stood conscientiously for every measure he believed to be for the public good. There are few better people than Mr. and Mrs. Davey, and they are well deserving of the good old age they now enjoy.These accounts of milestones when written up in newspapers can bring such depth to your family history and many clues for you to further your research. If I hadn't already known about their marriage in Cornwall, this accounting would have given me clues to which parish they were married in. Surprisingly, the information completely coincides with the marriage records from Cornwall. If only the information about when they arrived in the U.S. was consistent.
Copyright © 2013 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails into the Past


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Sunday, April 14, 2013
Japanese Junk shipwrecked amongst the Makah, 1834
As the result of a special request, I am writing part of the story of the Japanese shipwreck on the shores of what would become Washington State, in 1834.
Although Alexander Caulfield Anderson never saw the Japanese boys for himself, the fact that he wrote so much about the shipwreck in later years makes him a major resource for all who want to research this story.
So, from The Pathfinder, I will quote a bit of the story and go on from there:
[p.40] "After spending the winter of 1833-34 at Fort Vancouver, Anderson once again boarded the brig Dryad, along with 40 other men, on May 1, 1834.
"At Fort George [Astoria], Chief Trader Peter Skene Ogden joined the party, and the ship continued its journey downstream to the river's mouth.
"Once there, the captain found the breezes too light to carry the ship safely across the bar, and the Dryad anchored in Baker's Bay."
"Sometime during the eight days of forced inactivity at Baker's Bay, Queen Sally, a Cathlamet Native who lived near the mouth of the Columbia River, boarded the vessel and told the story of a shipwreck.
"Anderson wrote of this encounter: In 1834, at Cape Disappointment, on our way to the northwest coast, Indians boarded our vessel and produced a map with some writing in Japanese characters, a string of the perforated copper coins of that country; and other convincing proofs of a shipwreck.
"The Hudson's Bay gentlemen examined the drawing and admired the coins, but as they were unable to take any actions, Ogden sent the woman to Fort Vancouver with her message.
"McLoughlin dispatched Captain William H. McNeill to locate the site of the shipwreck, and the Lama eventually returned to Fort Vancouver with three Japanese sailors who had been enslaved by the Natives."
So let us look at some resources and see where the information for this story comes from.
The first glimpse any fur trader had of the wreck appears in the Journal of Occurrences at Fort Nisqually:
January 1834: [p.22] "Wednesday 29th. Two men employed squaring wood for Bastions.... An Indian arrived with the unpleasant intelligence that a vessel has been lately wrecked at Cape Flattery and that all hands perished except two men who are now with the Indians there.
"Thursday 30th. ... Ouvre getting a canoe in readiness to set out tomorrow to ascertain the truth of the Indian report about the ship wreck. Rained heavily during the day.
"Friday 31st. ... Ouvre set off with an Indian for the purpose above stated. Rained all last night and this day with a hurricane wind."
The wind blew at hurricane force for five more days, and Ouvre finally returned to Fort Nisqually.
February 1834: [p.23] "Friday 7th. ... Late in the evening Ouvre returned and reported that the story about the shipwreck is a mere fabrication which he ascertained at the Chlallum village New Dungeness."
But the story wasn't a fabrication, and Captain William McNeill was able to rescue the boys and bring them to Fort Nisqually, on his way to Fort Langley and Vancouver.
Hence, in later Fort Nisqually Journals, more mention was made of the Japanese boys:
June 1834: [p.28] "Monday 9th. the men resumed squaring logs for the Store and roofing this building. About 3pm we heard a couple of Cannon shot, soon after I started in a canoe with six men, and went on board the Llama with the pleasure of taking Tea with McNeill who pointed out two Chinese he picked up from the Natives near Cape Flattery where a vessel of that Nation had been wrecked not long since.
"There is still one, amongst Indians inland, but a promise was made of getting the poor fellow on the Coast by the time the Llama gets there."
McNeill remained at Fort Nisqually for three days and then sailed for Fort Langley.
On his return to the west coast of Washington where he found the first two Japanese sailors, he picked up the third and brought them down to Fort Vancouver.
The source for these following letters is Fort Vancouver Correspondence, B.22/b/10, fo. 13-20, HBCA:
On the 28th of May, 1834, John McLoughlin wrote to the Governor and Committee:
"Last winter the Indians informed us that a vessel had been touched somewhere about Cape Flattery, and I sent a party along the coast to recover the crew from the natives but our people could not reach the place and a few days ago I received through the Indians a letter written in Chinese characters and I have written to the captains of our vessels to do their utmost to recover those unfortunate men from the Indians.
"I am informed that only three of them are alive and that forty of them are either dead of sickness or have been drowned.
"The Indians say the vessel was loaded with China wares."
On June 23rd McLoughlin wrote to William Kittson, who I presume had just taken charge of Fort Nisqually: "If Captain McNeil fails in recovering the Chinese from the Indians you will do your utmost to accomplish the humane object."
But in July he addressed McNeill: "I am happy to find that you have been so successful in procuring the poor Chinese whom it seems the natives were much inclined to keep in slavery."
On November 15th, 1834 McLoughlin gave instructions to Captain Darby of the brig Eagle, sailing for London:
"The three Japanese you will take to England and I request you will have the goodness to see that they are as comfortable and as well taken care of as their situation will admit. They are supplied with clothing &c sufficient to take them to England but if they should be in want of any little necessary article you will please supply it on the Hudson's Bay Company's account."
In his report to the Governor and Committee, on November 18th, 1834, McLoughlin reported on the incident:
"A Japanese junk was wrecked last winter in the vicinity of Cape Flattery and out of the crew of fourteen men only three were saved and [rescued] from the Indians by Captain McNeill on his voyage this summer to Fort Langley......
"The Japanese intrusted the letter W to the natives and it was forwarded from tribe to tribe till it came to us.
"I also send a piece of carved wood with Chinese characters on it, and if I understand the Japanese correctly it is the name of the vessel that she was from Yahongau and bound to Yidda, the capital of Japan with a cargo of rice nankins and porcelain ware.
"They were first driven from their course by a typhoon and subsequently a sea unshipped their rudder or broke their rudder irons when the vessel became unmanageable, and that they were about a year from the date they left their home when they were wrecked at which time they had plenty of rice and water yet on board but that a sickness had broke out among the men which carried off all except these three.
"A little after the vessel grounded and before the natives could get any thing worth while out of her a storm arose and broke her up."
I have previously told you that Alexander Caulfield Anderson was with Peter Skene Ogden when Queen Sally came aboard their ship and showed the fur traders the collection of papers and coins that she carried south, toward Fort Vancouver.
According to Anderson's various writings (all of a much later date), this is what he witnessed at the mouth of the Columbia River in 1834:
From: "Notes on the Indian Tribes of British North America, and the Northwest Coast," Historical Magazine, March 1863 [this resource is available online]:
"All the tribes of this portion of the Pacific Coast, I look upon as originating from the islands of the West -- from Japan, the Kuriles and elsewhere.
"Nor is it unsupported hypothesis alone that leads me to this conclusion: within the limited period of my own experience on this coast, I have learnt the possibility of a fortuitous immigration, such as we may be justified in assuming to have led to the gradual peopling of this portion of the continent in the earlier ages.
"For instance, in 1834, at Cape Disappointment, on our way to the northwest coast, Indians boarded our vessel and produced a map with some writing in Japanese characters; a string of the perforated copper coins of that country; and other convincing proofs of a shipwreck.
"Rumors of this had been heard before, and after this corroboration, the company dispatched a vessel to the point indicated.
"It was south of Cape Flattery (at Queen-ha-ilth, I believe).
"Three survivors of the crew were ransomed from the natives, afterwards sent to England, and thence to Japan.--
"In as far as could be understood by us, they were bound from some port in the Japanese Island of Yesi, to another port in the Island of Niphon.
"Losing their reckoning in a typhoon, they drifted for many months, at the mercy of wind and wave, until at length stranded at the point of shipwreck.
"The crew had originally consisted of forty, of whom the greater portion had perished at sea during the transit; three only surviving to reach the shore...."
He gives more information in: The Dominion at the West; a Brief Description of the Province of British Columbia, its Climate and Resources [Victoria: Richard Wolfenden, 1872]:
"Whether the immigration in the remote past has been voluntary or fortuitous, it is of course vain to conjecture: but the possibility of the latter supposition has been convincingly established, even within the limit of my own experience.
"For in 1834, in consequence of Indian rumours which had reached the Columbia River during the preceding winter, a vessel was dispatched from Fort Vancouver to Queen-ha-ilth, south of Cape Flattery, to enquire into the circumstances of a reported wreck.
"Captain McNeill, the Commander, on arriving there, found the remnants of a Japanese junk, and purchased from the natives a quantity of pottery and other articles that had formed portions of her cargo.
"He likewise brought away three Japanese, the survivors of a crew originally consisting, as we understood, of forty; the rest having perished at sea of hunger.
"It appeared that, having been dismasted in a typhoon and lost their reckoning, the junk had drifted for many months until at length stranded....."
An identical description as above can also be found in Anderson's Guide to the Province of British Columbia.
In addition to these resources, there is a more important one that is a little more difficult to find.
This is Alexander Caulfield Anderson's "Historical notes on the commerce of the Columbia River, 1824 to 1848," in the Beinecke Library, Yale University Library, New Haven, Conn.
The collection consists of an somewhat inaccurate article labeled "Pioneer Ships: History of Early Commerce on the Columbia River," author unknown -- and Alexander Caulfield Anderson's written response when he corrected some of the information contained in the piece.
In the article itself, the author writes (somewhat inaccurately) about William H. McNeill:
"In March 1833, a Japanese junk was cast away fifteen miles south of Cape Flattery.
"Out of seventeen, three survived the wreck, to be made captive by the Makah Indians.
"Dr. McLoughlin, hearing of the captivity of the wrecked Japanese, sent overland to Nisqually, and thence down the Sound, Thomas McKay, to redeem them.
"Of this trip and its hero, Dr. W. F. Tolmie writes: Dr. McLaughlin had sent the renowned 'Tom McKay' to Puget Sound to endeavour to reach Cape Flattery by canoe, with the view of bringing about the liberation of the Japanese.
"Tom got no further than the Sinahomish camp, Nigwadsooch [Scadjett Head], and idled away time there as it was suspected.
"On being cross-questioned by the late 'hyass Doctor,' as to the cause of his failure, all he could say, that is remembered, was: 'It blowed, sir, it blowed -- my God! How it did blow!"....[end of W.F. Tolmie's supposed quote].
"After Tom Mackay had returned from his unsuccessful mission, the Llama, Capt. McNeil [sic], was sent to Neah Bay to redeem the Japanese captives.
"In June 1834, [McNeill] was at Fort Nisqually with two of them rescued, the third being in the interior.
"McNeil [sic] returned to Cape Flattery, received the third, proceeded to Fort Vancovuer, and in October the three were sent to London, educated in the English language and sent to their native country."
In Alexander Caulfield Anderson's handwritten letter, not necessarily included with this article, is his response to the above statement:
"From notes in my possession, supplemented by memory, I may state, regarding the Japanese Junk, as under -- Vague memory had reached Ft. Vancouver during the winter 1833/34 of the wreck of a ship upon the coast at some indefinite point between Gray's Harbour and Cape Flattery.
"Mr. Thomas McKay was dispatched in canoe via Baker's Bay and the portage to Shoalwater Bay, with orders to follow the Coast and endeavour to ascertain correct tidings, if not to afford relief.
"The severe storms prevalent in the early spring prevented his accomplishing the object of his mission; and he returned, having penetrated, as I understand, no further than Gray's Harbour (Chehalis) -- and bringing little intelligence beyond what had already [been] received through the Indians.
"It was not till May that direct confirmation was received.
"Mr. [Peter Skene] Ogden was then on his way, accompanied by myself, to establish a fort on the Stikine River (1834), and our vessel, the Dryad, was anchored in Baker's Bay.
"Sally, the widow of Old Chenanium, boarded the vessel on her way from Shoalwater Bay to Chinook Point, bringing with her a number of articles, including perforated copper coins and a rude chart drawn in Chinese or Japanese paper, with writing in their common character, which at once proved to us the fact of the wreck and indicated the probable nationality.
"Mr. Ogden forwarded the articles to Vancouver, and Captain McNeill was afterwards sent with the Llama -- affecting the release of the surviving as stated in the notice.
"Captn. McNeill afterwards told me that the Inds: were averse from giving up the men (3 in number); that he then seized one or two of the Chiefs as hostages, after which the survivors of the crew were brought on board the Llama and ransomed by him.
"He afterwards bought from the Inds a large quantity of crockery-ware saved from the wreck, which was subsequently sold in the sale-shop at Vancouver....."
The Cathlamet woman Sally was known by the fur traders as Queen Sally, and so I referred to her in that manner in my book.
The crockery-ware mentioned here is an important story in itself, and I will speak of it on a later occasion.
Right now we will continue following Anderson's remarks, in his response to the newspaper article labelled "Pioneer Ships":
"I think Dr. Tolmie has confused Mr. McKay's visit to the Skatchet, as connected with the Japanese wreck, with another occasion -- probably connected with the murder of McKenzie in 1828.
"I was at Vancouver (after my return from the coast in the Cadboro) when McKay returned from his fruitless attempt to reach the [Japanese] wreck before referred to, and I never heard any imputation cast upon the good faith of his proceedings on that occasion....
"McKay... was a zealous and daring officer; and not likely to be deterred by trivial difficulties or to advance a questionable excuse to cover an obvious failure to fulfill his orders.
"It may be interesting to know that the spot where the Japanese Junk of whose wreck Mr. McKay was in quest, was stranded very near, if not identical with, the locality in which his father lost his life, on the destruction of the "Tonquin" in 1811."
Thomas McKay's father, Alexander, was one of the first to die when the PFC ship Tonquin was attacked by Natives at Clayquot Sound, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, in 1811.
So Anderson appears inaccurate here, but he does say he believed that the Japanese junk was wrecked at a place the fur traders called Queen-ha-ilth.
In some research I did some years ago, I seem to remember having discovered that Queen-ha-ilth was at Destruction Island, on the Washington coast.
If that was where the Japanese shipwreck actually occurred, Destruction Island is a very good name considering how quickly their ship was destroyed.
I almost forgot that I said, on Twitter, there was a movie.
It is a Japanese film, entirely in the Japanese language but with subtitles in English for the part of the movie when the sailors are at Fort Vancouver.
Johnny Cash plays Dr. John McLoughlin!
The movie's title is Kairei; it was filmed in the 1980's, and its ISBN is 4-264-02095-6 (Life Entertainment, World Wide Pictures, website: http://wipm.or.jp or http:/www.gospeltv.jp)
But for more information on the film (which I was sure was filmed at Fort Langley, not Fort Vancouver) follow this link to Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, NCRI Report, and see page 6, "John McLoughlin and Johnny Cash."
John McLoughlin and Johnny Cash
Just so you know, it is not historically accurate, but it is fun!
3 comments:
Yes, the movie is fun - seeing Johnny Cash was a surprise to say the least. Thanks for the extra information.ReplyDelete
oh my gosh - SOOOOO GORGEOUS! Cannot WAIT to try this!!!ReplyDelete
Tacoma Roofing
Hey! I am getting bored, please fchat with me ;) ;) ;) ████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████ReplyDelete
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The Louis Vuitton Speedy 30
Isn't she gorgeous? This was actually my first LV purchase and I had the hardest time deciding on the perfect one. I knew I wanted a timeless piece. Well, once I saw these pictures of Audrey Hepburn wearing it so wonderfully, I was sold. Please take a look at the below pics.:
I absolutely love the style of this purse. It is the perfect transition bag from work to an evening out. However, I will be looking for a shoulder bag in the future as I'm sure carrying in my hands and in the crook of my arm will get old. Leave me a comment if you have any questions on the Louis Vuitton Speedy 30.
Sorry for the quick post! I need to get my beauty sleep. ;)
The Healthy Fashionista


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Sergeant Jonstan Kantor
Emergency Services Division
For Emergency services call 911
For all non emergencies call 801-794-3970
Office phone number 801-851-4140
SCATEAM MISSION STATEMENT: The mission of the Utah County Sheriff's Communications Auxiliary Team (SCATeam) is to provide emergency support and communications for the Utah County Sheriff's Office and, through it, other agencies under the direction of the Emergency Services Division, thereby serving the public welfare in any emergency, disaster, or catastrophe.
OVERVIEW: The Utah County Sheriff's Communication Auxiliary Team, better known as "SCAT" is a volunteer organization made up of 30 citizen volunteers from throughout the County and is overseen by the Emergency Services Division of the Sheriff's Office. The team was formed in 1981 and has several members with over 20 years of dedicated service to the Sheriff's Office and the citizens of Utah County.
SERVICES PROVIDED: During an average year the SCATeam volunteers countless man hours in support of Sheriff's Office emergency call outs and planned events through out the County. Some of these calls to service include supporting Search and Rescue on major calls, and assisting Cities during their summer festivals (Orem Summer Fest, BYU's Stadium of Fire and many others) by providing communications and traffic control. The SCATeam also trains and is ready to assist the Sheriff's Office and local citizens if we experience any type of natural disaster.
MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS: All members of the SCATeam start with obtaining their "HAM" radio license. Once this is completed, potential members need to join the local ARES group. After a couple of years with ARES, potential members may submit an application to join the team, all members must pass a back ground check to be considered.
WEB SITES: If you are interested in learning more about this outstanding team of volunteers you may visit these two web sites. www.scateam.org, www.ucares.org. It is both a pleasure and a privilege to serve with the dedicated volunteers who make up the SCATeam. We at the Sheriff's Office appreciate all of their hard work.


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Toastmasters is a place where you can grow - both personally and professionally. By joining a community of learners, you learn by doing. No matter what you do in everyday life, you will build and improve your skills to express yourself in a variety of situations. You progress through your speech / speaking opportunities at your own pace.
Every Thursday morning - Come and visit and see for yourself!!
Check out www.auburntmclub.org or find us on Facebook.
Do you want to delete all occurrences of the recurring appointment "Auburn Morning Toastmasters", or just this one?
Delete this occurrence.
Delete this series.


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ExxonMobil Sounds Silent Peak Oil Alarm
SYNOPSIS: The fine print of The Outlook for Energy: A 2030 View report downplays the potential of oil shale, a misnomer, and Canadian tar sands.
Without any press conferences, grand announcements, or hyperbolic advertising campaigns, the Exxon Mobil Corporation, one of the world's largest publicly owned petroleum companies, has quietly joined the ranks of those who are predicting an impending plateau in non-OPEC oil production. Their report, The Outlook for Energy: A 2030 View, forecasts a peak in just five years.
In the past, many who expressed such concerns were dismissed as eager catastrophists, peddling the latest Malthusian prophecy of the impending collapse of fossil-fueled civilization. Their reliance on private oil-reserve data that is unverifiable by other analysts, and their use of models that ignore political and economic factors, have led to frequent erroneous pronouncements. They were countered by the extreme optimists, who believed that we would never need to think about such problems and that the markets would take care of everything. Up to now, those who worried about limited petroleum supplies have been at best ignored, and at worst openly ridiculed.
Meanwhile, average consumers have taken their cue from the market, where rising prices have always been followed by falling prices, leading to the assumption that this pattern will continue forever. In truth, the market price of crude oil is completely decoupled from and independent of production costs, which average about $6 per barrel for non-OPEC producers and $1.50 per barrel for OPEC producers. This situation has nothing to do with a free market, and everything to do with what OPEC believes will be accepted or tolerated by the United States. The completely affordable market price--what consumers pay at the gasoline pump--provides magisterial profits to the owners of the resource and gives no warning of impending shortages.
All the more reason that the public should heed the silent alarm sounded by the ExxonMobil report, which is more credible than other predictions for several reasons. First and foremost is that the source is ExxonMobil. No oil company, much less one with so much managerial, scientific, and engineering talent, has ever discussed peak oil production before. Given the profound implications of this forecast, it must have been published only after a thorough review.
Second, the majority of non-OPEC producers such as the United States, Britain, Norway, and Mexico, who satisfy 60 percent of world oil demand, are already in a production plateau or decline. (All of ExxonMobil's crude oil production comes from non-OPEC fields.) Third, the production peak cited by the report is quite close at hand. If it were twenty-five years instead of five years in the future, one might be more skeptical, since new technologies or new discoveries could change the outlook during that longer period. But five years is too short a time frame for any new developments to have an impact on this result.
Also noteworthy is the manner in which the Outlook addresses so-called frontier resources, such as extra-heavy oil, "oil sands," and "oil shale." The report cites the existence of more than 4 trillion barrels of extra heavy oil and "oil sands"--producing potentially 800 billion barrels of oil, assuming a 20-25 percent extraction efficiency. The Outlook also cites an estimate of 3 trillion barrels of "oil shale." These numbers have figured prominently in advertisements that ExxonMobil and other petroleum companies have placed in newspapers and magazines, clearly in an attempt to reassure consumers (and perhaps stockholders) that there is no need to worry about resource constraints for many decades.
However, as with all advertisements, it's best to read the fine print. ExxonMobil's world oil production forecast shows no contribution from "oil shale" even by 2030. Only about 4 million barrels of oil per day from Canadian "oil sands" are projected by 2030, accounting for a mere 3.3 percent of the predicted total world demand of 120 million barrels per day. What explains this striking disconnection between the magnitude of the frontier resources and the minimal amount of projected oil production from them? Canadian "oil sands" are actually deposits of bitumen (tar), which are the result of conventional oil degradation by water and air. Tar sands are of a completely different character than conventional oil deposits; making tar sands usable is a capital-intensive venture that requires special procedures such as heating to separate the tar from the sand, mixing the tar with a diluting agent for pipeline transport, and constructing specially equipped refineries for processing.
The most serious constraint, though, is natural gas supplies. Production of oil from tar sands requires between 400 and 1,000 cubic feet of natural gas per barrel of oil produced, depending on the extraction method used. Natural gas production, despite a near doubling of drilling activity, is flat or decreasing both in Canada and in the United States--which has prompted prices to triple over the past few years. Given these high gas prices, it almost makes more sense just to sell the natural gas directly rather than use it to produce oil from tar sands.
Extracting oil from the 3 trillion barrels of oil shale cited in the Outlook presents its own challenges. The term "oil shale" is also quite misleading, since there is no oil in this mineral, but rather an organic material called kerogen, which is a precursor of petroleum. To extract oil, the shale (typically between 5 and 25 percent kerogen) must first be mined, then transported to a plant where it is crushed, then heated to 500 degrees Celsius, which pyrolyzes, or decomposes, the kerogen to form oil. After processing, most of the shale remains on the surface in the form of coarse sand, so large-scale mining operations will produce immense amounts of waste material. An estimated 1-4 barrels of water are required for each barrel of oil produced, both for cooling the products and stabilizing the sand waste. To satisfy these water requirements, petroleum companies once contemplated diverting the Columbia River--a feat that can be excluded today on political and environmental grounds.
With non-OPEC oil production reaching a plateau and frontier resources not viable, ExxonMobil proposes that increased demand be met in two ways. The first is greater fuel efficiency. (That alone should convey the seriousness of this report: When have you ever heard a petroleum company make a plea for vehicles that use less gas?) New cars in the United States are expected to go 38 miles on a gallon of gas in 2030, instead of the current value of 21 miles per gallon. This goal is actually quite modest, as new cars sold in Europe since 2003 already achieve 35 miles per gallon.
The other way ExxonMobil believes demand will be satisfied is from vastly and rapidly increased OPEC production: "After 2010, the call on OPEC increases quickly, requiring OPEC to add more than 1 MBD [million barrels per day] of capacity every year," notes the Outlook. "OPEC's resources are large enough to achieve this rate of expansion, and we expect that investments will be made in a timely manner."
This assessment is somewhat ominous. OPEC has not expanded production capacity much at all recently. Moreover, such production increases are only possible from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. For these countries, and indeed for most OPEC members, petroleum and petroleum products are their only significant export. As such, they have a vested interest in obtaining the best possible price for their non-renewable resources. OPEC nations would be quite unlikely to increase production as rapidly as needed unless compelled to do so. To put this shortfall in perspective, in 2003 Algeria produced 1.1 million barrels per day; a new Algeria would need to be brought on line in the Persian Gulf each and every year beyond 2010 just to keep up with the projected increase in demand. Consequently, once non-OPEC production reaches a peak, conventional world oil production could peak shortly thereafter, and prices (never explicitly mentioned in the Outlook) would rise in accordance with the laws of supply and demand.
What all this means is that the petroleum industry is approaching a turning point. Conventional petroleum production will soon--perhaps in five years, ten at best--no longer be able to satisfy demand. For their part, American consumers would do well to take a cue from their Western European counterparts, who enjoy a comfortable lifestyle despite a per capita use of petroleum that is half of that in the United States. The sooner the United States begins this transition away from oil, the easier it will be. That's a far more attractive option than trying to squeeze oil from stone.


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This time of year, I'm pretty over snow. Just as the mounds of snow taking up valuable parking space on the street started to melt away, we got another snow storm. It started that evening with a crazy wind storm, with wind blowing almost 80 miles per hour, and late that night the wind carried in the snow. Denver awoke to a nightmarish commute the next day.
And I'm just over it! I'm looking for a reason to get a pedicure, but with all this snow, my toes are too cold to even bother making them pretty.
Also fortunate this time of year, is that as quickly as a storm can surprise us with a new blanket of snow, we'll get some gorgeous sunny weather the next day that will melt it right away. We are experiencing just one of those days, although with way too much wind for my liking. Hopefully all this wind will hurry up and blow a little spring my way.
Saturday was warm for February (mid-50's) and just a little windy, so we worked on a project in the garage that day. I want a bigger chalkboard to write our weekly menu on, and after seeing how expensive (at least the ones I liked) were, we bought all the supplies to make one. As it turns out, after buying wood, chalkboard paint, trim for framing, etc... it's really not cheaper. Oh well. I took a break to make a quick trip to the grocery store for some dinner ingredients, scallops and shrimp, and in walking down the grassy bank to my car, slipped on the slushy melting snow and landed right on the seat of my pants. Wet pants and all, I went to the store, hoping they would dry by the time I got there and I wouldn't look like some homeless person who wet her pants. They weren't really dry by then, so I avoided eye contact with other people as much as possible.
But in spite of the end-of-winter blues, I'm happy that at least we still have citrus in the winter. After making orange curd the other day, I kind of want to put orange curd on everything. Or just eat it with a spoon from the jar. I dropped some off at my parents' house the other day, and my dad said he had a hard time not just digging right in with a spoon.
With salmon on the menu for dinner one night, I just knew I would be putting orange curd on the salmon. I squeeze lemon on just about every seafood dish I make, but rarely oranges, and the orange curd turned the salmon into something even more delicious than it already is. The sweet, tangy buttery-ness of the orange curd, melting into the salmon filled the kitchen with its rich citrusy scent - and it tasted even better. A wonderful antidote to winter blues.
Orange Curd-Glazed Salmon with Roasted Lemon Parmesan Cauliflower
printable recipe
- 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
- 1 shallot, or 1/4 sweet yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- chives, for garnish
- 1 1/2 pounds salmon, portioned into 4 (6 ounce) fillets
- 4 tablespoons orange curd
- salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 400 F, and position two racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray.
Place the cauliflower and shallot or onion in the baking dish. Drizzle with the olive oil and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Roast the cauliflower on the upper rack for 30 minutes, stirring twice for even roasting.
Meanwhile, prepare the salmon.
(Note, if you don't have orange curd, you can make a similar version of this recipe by drizzling the salmon with a little olive oil or melted butter, sprinkling with fresh orange zest, and topping the fillets with orange slices before baking.)
Line a baking sheet with foil. Rinse the salmon in cool water and pat completely dry with paper towels. Place the salmon skin-side down on the foil. (I usually don't bother trying to cut off the skin, as it will stick to the foil after baking and will easily come off when you slide a spatula under the fish, just above the skin. If using skinless salmon, then be sure to spray the foil with non-stick spray.)
Brush half the orange curd over the salmon and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 7-8 minutes for medium-rare doneness. Before serving, brush each fillet with the remainder of the orange curd.
After 30 minutes of roasting the cauliflower, and the salmon is done, remove the salmon from the oven. Sprinkle the cauliflower with the Parmesan cheese, turn the oven on to broil, and broil the cauliflower for several minutes to melt the cheese and get a little color on the cauliflower. Sprinkle with the chives and serve with the salmon.
Yields 4 servings.
WW Points Plus: 13 points per serving
Recipe from Curly Girl Kitchen


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A beef has popped off between Soulja Boy and Lil Scrappy. The two Georgia rappers have been going at each other on Twitter. The reason behind the beef could be female rapper Diamond, who is Soulja's current girlfriend. She is also Scrappy's ex.
Soulja makes mention of smashing Scrappy's girl, but Scrappy says it has nothing to do with a female. Check out their Twitter exchange below.
We'll see where this goes.
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One of the things I really wanted to do while in the Historic Triangle was see the new museum exhibit at Jamestown Settlement. Technically, the exhibit isn't that new; it opened in time for the 400th anniversary of Jamestown's founding. But it was still under construction last time I was there, so I'm going by NBC's logic. If I haven't seen it, it's new to me.
Just to make sure we're all on the same page, Jamestown Settlement is distinct from "Historic Jamestowne," the NPS-run site of the original colony that we visited in the last post. JS is a living history museum next door to the historic site, operated by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation and the Commonwealth of Virginia along with Yorktown Victory Center. The old JS museum was extremely impressive, so I had really high hopes for the new exhibits. I wasn't at all disappointed. They really knocked it out of the park. The new galleries merit a good half-day of touring on their own, besides the reconstructed Powhatan village, colonial fort, and ships that make up the rest of the site. I spent about four hours inside, and probably could've stayed longer. You can't take pictures in the galleries, so I don't have any pics, but you can see some of the artifacts by clicking here.
The tour starts with an introduction to the three cultures that collided in colonial Virginia: American Indian, English, and African. Museum figures, reconstructed dwellings, and artifacts offer a glimpse at the material cultures of these three groups, their religious beliefs, their forms of government, their languages, and the ways they earned a living. You then move on to early modern Europe's maritime development and the motives for English colonization, including a look at the investors who made up the Virginia Company. You'll meet some of the most important figures in Jamestown's early history, check out the types of things the first colonists brought with them, and get a glimpse at a couple of items supposedly given to Pocahontas on her visit to England. Interactive maps demonstrate the spread of white settlement and the loss of Powhatan territory over the years.
The sections on Virginia's development into a plantation society are particularly strong. The exhibit covers the emergence of the tobacco colony, the importance of Atlantic trade, the changes in Virginia's government, and the impact of the shift toward slave labor on African material culture.
Whereas the exhibits at the NPS site focus on excavated objects, the JS galleries' strength is seventeenth-century Anglo-American furniture, art, and personal belongings. I had no idea that the foundation's artifact collections were so extensive, but there are hundreds of original items on display. The galleries feature audiovisual elements and immersive environments, too, but each gizmo and set piece serves a purpose. You don't get the gratuitous overuse of technology and effects for their own sake that mar some big-budget exhibits. The museum strikes a good balance between original objects and interpretive artistry. You can walk along a ca. 1600 English city street, step inside a Powhatan home, and look around the bedroom of a wealthy planter, but there are plenty of exhibit cases full of original objects.
My favorite piece of audiovisual gimmickry is in the first gallery, where handsets allow you to hear spoken dialects similar to those of the Powhatans, Africans, and English who made up seventeenth-century Virginia's population. (By the way, if you think Jamestown's English settlers sounded like modern-day Shakespearean thespians, you're in for a surprise.)
The exhibit is so comprehensive that any visitor who spends a few hours inside should get a pretty solid overview of Virginia's seventeenth-century history and its larger Atlantic setting. Whether you want to see artifacts, experience some modern museum showmanship, or get a grounding in the subject matter before heading over to the NPS site, you'll get your money's worth.
Now I'm even more excited to see what's in store when the foundation's new museum opens at Yorktown next year.


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Metamorphosis Day Spa in Manhattan is an unassuming spa hidden away on the eastside of Midtown Manhattan. It was a girl's spa day, a much needed treat for me and a friend.
As is the story of so many of us in the Manhattan we arrived at the spa extremely stressed and in need of some TLC. I'd just come off of a few frantic nonstop weeks of work and deadlines. My friend had a spree of family tragedies which left her exhausted and down. As the elevator doors open into the spa we were warmly greeted. Our coats were whisked away and we were offered fresh lemon water. We were then led into a relaxation room where our spa specialist came in to collect us for our afternoon of bliss.
We had signed up for the "Head to Toe Package" - three hours of body polishing, muscle kneading and facial glowing delights.
"Sweet Escape" body scrub - a soothing and creamy brown raw sugar mixture which is rubbed into your skin as it gently and thoroughly scrubs away dead skin cells. Body scrubs open up pores allowing for a deep cleanse, while improving circulation and aide in your skins detox. Both our spa specialist had feathery light touches and we drifted away into a relaxed and nurtured zone. After the scrub we were given a fresh robe & brought to a shower to rinse off & then gently slathered in moisturizer. The results of the "Sweet Escape" was days of silky soft skin.
"European Facial" a gentle relaxing pampering facial. We caught ourselves drifting in and out of consciousness, drifting off and then aware of warm steam vapors whispering softly and caressing our face in a unique juxtaposition with the sounds of the city fading in the background. Drifting away, being brought back to the room with the exfoliation and extractions. Only to drift off again as the fragrant organic masks, (which were specially designed for our unique skin types), were applied to our faces. While these organic ingredients were penetrating into our skin, a very soothing massage of the face neck and shoulders brought us into a Zen like state.
"Head Trip" scalp massage designed to improve circulation and ease tension, in an often overlooked area. It was here that I felt my body finally offer up its complete resistance to relaxation as layers of tension began melting away. I found this to be a bliss inducing service as my body responded to a release in areas, I didn't even know were tense. My companion did not receive the benefit of this service.
"Playing Footsie" foot massage is designed to relax your entire body through stimulating acupressure points on your feet. My spa companion and I had differing reactions to this service. For her this was one of her favored services. She felt that the pressure was ideal and it left her extremely relaxed and happy. For me not so much.
" 50-minute Swedish massage" - Swedish massage is known for its benefits of oxygenating the blood, moving out muscle toxins, easing tensions and improving circulation. The unique style is a precise blending of Swedish massage along with a technique of myofascial release, (a soft tissue therapy for the treatment of skeletal muscle immobility and pain). This is was my personal favorite service. The spa specialist David is an expert at this incorporating his intuitive wisdom of areas which were knotted with tension and expertly untying those knots. His knowing of exactly where my body was holding onto tension and pain coupled with his abilities to release this tension; left me in a puddle of content relaxation.
As an interesting side note, both my spa friend and I shared a favorite frame that had to do with our hands. Mine was during my Swedish massage, when it came time to massage my hands. As David opened up my palms to massage, I was very aware of how I seem to walk around with my fists clenched. I felt David uncurling my fingers around some imaginary object and a visceral out breath as I relaxed deeply into the tension being eased out of my hands. My friend commented to me at how she began to tear up when David was holding her hand open and supporting it during the massage. This act of her hands being literally supported was just what she needed to realize that she was always the one whose hands supported others. It allowed her to let herself go and be given the gift of support from someone else.
My spa companion and I both enjoyed our afternoon of a "Head to Toe" sampling of services offered at Metamorphosis Day Spa. Their menu of service is extensive and there is much to explore on future visits.
We left Metamorphosis Day Spa completely in that blissed out relaxation zone from the top of our heads to the tips of our toes, with our skin soft and polished, our muscles relaxed and our minds quiet.
127 E 56th St New York, NY 10022
(212) 751-6051


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Remember that your own stress level and emotional state are readily transferred to your child. Lower your expectations for the "perfect" Christmas holiday and be prepared to "go with the flow" when your child's needs call for flexibility. Keep her emotional tank full during the holiday season by scheduling daily one-on-one time to play, read, or do an activity together.
Shorten the Countdown
An extended period of anticipation can feel overwhelming to a young child. Consider waiting until mid-December to begin your holiday decorating or to use an Advent Calendar to track the days until Christmas. To defuse children's mounting excitement about presents, let them open a few smaller gifts during the countdown to Christmas.
Don't Make Santa Your December Disciplinarian
The anticipation, bustle of activity, and excessive stimulation during the weeks preceding Christmas already create stress and anxiety for children. Threatening that Santa will bring fewer presents if your child misbehaves only adds to the pressure and worry she feels, and ultimately proves to be an empty threat. Don't abdicate your essential parenting role of consistently enforcing your rules and limits for appropriate behavior year-round.
Allow Children to Let off Steam
Arrange opportunities for your child to be physically active each day by playing outdoors or visiting an indoor children's play center.
Schedule Some Quiet Time
Periodically allow your child to retreat and unwind from the excitement of holiday festivities by watching a favorite DVD or playing quietly with arts and crafts or Play-Doh.
Don't Force Children to Sit on Santa's Lap
While parents relish the time-honored photo of their youngster happily smiling on Santa's lap, young children often perceive Santa as strange and scary and may violently recoil at the idea of being held by him. While waiting in line at the mall, show your child exactly what will happen if she chooses to greet Santa. If she is terrorized by the sight of a big stranger in a red suit, respect her emotional distress and show your support by not forcing her to sit on Santa's lap.
Do you find your children to be a little stressed during the holidays? How do you schedule downtime while still participating in traditions?
Marianne Neifert, M.D., M.T.S., also known as Dr. Mom, is a well-known pediatrician, professional speaker, and author. Visit her web site, www.dr-mom.com.


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Years ago, I was issued a compelling challenge by my friend and colleague, Dr. David Braddock, executive director of the Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities. He asked me to consider examining the right to web access for people with cognitive disabilities—and I was intrigued.


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Digital technology has made its way into PCR, allowing researchers to perform absolute quantification of a target sequence by simply counting the number of reactions that contain a positive signal. Digital PCR (dPCR) instruments partition a DNA sample into millions of droplets of such small volume that essentially all of the droplets contain either zero or one molecule of target DNA. Probe-based (5' nuclease) quantitative PCR (qPCR) is performed to endpoint within each droplet using primers and fluorescently labeled probes (e.g., PrimeTime qPCR Assays from IDT).
The dPCR instrument interrogates each droplet for probe signal, identifying whether one of the target sequences is present—essentially a yes or no answer (Figure 1). The numbers of positive and negative droplets are counted in a simple digital format for a quantitative readout. The technique is highly sensitive, allowing scientists to perform single molecule analysis and levels of multiplexing that are not possible with standard qPCR.
Figure 1. Digital PCR workflow.
Picodroplet-powered dPCR is the latest innovation
RainDance Technologies is one of the companies at the forefront of dPCR innovation, having introduced their RainDrop™ Digital PCR System in March 2013. Built on RainDance's patented and proven RainStorm™ picodroplet technology, the RainDrop System generates up to 10 million picoliter-sized droplets per lane. Since each droplet encapsulates a single molecule, researchers can quickly determine the absolute number of droplets containing specific target DNA and compare that to the number of droplets with background wild type DNA. The RainDrop System also shifts the current dPCR paradigm from a single-color-per-marker approach to a "two color with varying probe intensity" method that is capable of multiplexing up to 10 markers.
"The RainDrop System represents the third generation of instruments built on our proven picodroplet technology and provides researchers with a new solution for generating digital answers across a number of important applications, including low-frequency tumor allele detection, gene expression, copy number variation, and SNP measurement", said Darren Link, co-founder, and vice president of research and development at RainDance Technologies.
The dPCR assay
A typical RainDrop dPCR setup uses standard qPCR assay reaction mix that includes a master mix, PCR primers and hydrolysis probes, DNA sample, and the RainDance proprietary drop stabilizer. The reaction mix goes into the RainDrop Source Instrument which creates the droplets. Starting with a 50 μL reaction, 10 million droplets are created, each a separate 5 picoliter reaction. After thermal cycling, the samples are loaded into the RainDrop Sense instrument which reads out results in a digital format.
Coren Milbury, a senior scientist at RainDance Technologies, clarified, "dPCR is very different from a standard qPCR readout, where you measure the cycle number when the fluorescence intensity passes a critical threshold (Cq). To get good qPCR results requires standard curves and calibration, and, in general, it is a lot more difficult to get precise reproducible results using standard qPCR. Of course, with dPCR, you still need positive and negative controls, but you don't need them to determine the actual concentration of target in the reaction. Standard qPCR is just much more finicky and ultimately does not have reliable day-to-day and lab-to-lab reproducibility. dPCR is straightforward and highly reproducible."
Double-quenched probes provide an advantage
Probes of different types can be used for dPCR as long as they provide specificity. RainDance Technologies has collaborated with IDT, making use of the IDT ZEN Double-Quenched Probes in RainDrop dPCR assays. In addition to the standard 5' fluorophore and 3' quencher, these double-quenched probes contain an internal ZEN quencher. While traditional probes consist of approximately 20–30 bases between the fluorophore and the quencher, the internal ZEN quencher decreases that length to only 9 bases. This shortened distance leads to more thorough quenching with much less background.
Double-quenched probes have been an important reagent for RainDance Technologies as the digital counting requires counting both populations of droplets where there is no target sequence present to amplify as well as droplets where the target is present. The company's researchers use a strong fluorophore (typically FAM, VIC, TET, or MAX) with their probes to generate well-defined clusters of positive signal. "Including the ZEN molecule as a second quencher has contributed significantly to increasing our signal-to-noise ratio. When using dual-quenched probes, the negative drops emit less fluorescence than typically observed using standard probes with a single quenching moiety," notes Milbury. "This provides a greater degree of separation between positive and negative clusters allowing for more precise counting of droplets in each population."
For rare allele detection applications, RainDance Technologies has been working with IDT to develop an locked nucleic acid-modified ZEN double-quenched probe. The locked nucleic acid modification increases the Tm of the probe and thus provides greater probe specificity over target regions as short as 14 nt. "As shown in Figure 2, using this new locked nucleic acid-modified ZEN probe design has enabled us to increase our sensitivity and drop our lower limit of detection (LLOD) by as much as a factor of two," said Milbury. "These probes allow us to improve our positive calling, improve the degree with which probes are correctly binding to the desired target, and to limit amplification of false positives."
Figure 2. Locked nucleic acid-modified PrimeTime ZEN Double-Quenched Probes improve lower limit of detection on RainDrop dPCR System. The incorporation of locked nucleic acids within IDT ZEN Double-Quenched Probes (obtained as Affinity Plus qPCR Probes) have demonstrated strong performance within the RainDrop digital PCR platform. It is widely recognized that sequence-specific features make assay design challenging for the EGFR T790M mutant allele target (c.2369C>T). The use of these IDT probes improved the lower limit of detection by a factor of 2, from 1 mutant in 5000 WT alleles to 1 mutant in 11,000 WT alleles (data provided by RainDance Technologies and available upon request from email@example.com).
Promising opportunities
With the new era of digital PCR, scientists are already noticing how this exciting new technology is transforming the performance of molecular assays across many important applications. For example, the combination of superior sensitivity, unprecedented multiplexing, and flexibility in experiment design provide a powerful genomic analysis platform for new research in cancer, including rare variant detection, absolute quantitation of biomarkers, tumor profiling, and the ability to monitor residual disease.
Early efforts with digital PCR have also reported the ability to detect low, single digit percentage changes in copy number variations (CNVs). Until now, identification of small CNV changes with high confidence has been an important measurement challenge in translational and diagnostic research. Additionally, the binary nature of dPCR means that the precision is more independent of variation in assay amplification, making it easier to optimize and standardize between laboratories.
dPCR converts exponential, analog qPCR data to a linear, digital readout that makes highly precise analysis of the PCR product possible, opening up new opportunities for genetic analysis, and simplifying single cell analysis and CNV studies. The technology's capacity to obtain reliable and quantitative measurement of low frequency sequences will also produce real benefits for samples that contain rare alleles or biomarkers in a mixed cell population and for detecting low level pathogens.


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The idea of Hillary Clinton starring alongside Jason Segel is not as far-fetched as it may sound.
The writer-actor had mentioned his desire to work alongside the U.S. Secretary of State on numerous occasions, citing her comedic talents as the reason. In a recent note to the "How I Met Your Mother" and "Muppets" star, Clinton politely declined Segel's offer … for now.
"As you can imagine, I am a little occupied at the moment, but perhaps someday I can help you forget Sarah Marshall... again," Clinton wrote. "My only condition is that there be Muppets involved, and that is non-negotiable," she added.
U.S. & World
If Clinton does one day join Segel onscreen, she would not be the first White House regular (or wannabe) who has surfaced in a cameo role in a fictional movie or television series. "SNL" outings aside, these appearances are often brief, but rarely forgettable, with politcos turning up in everything from B-movie horror flicks to reality fishing shows and satirical sitcoms. Remember these?
All the President's Cameos
Bill Clinton – "A Child's Wish" (1997) The President played himself in this tear-jerker/made-for-TV movie about the passing of the Family Medical Leave Act through Congress. After Clinton signs the act into law, the fictional family (based on real characters but played by actors John Ritter and Anna Chlumsky) pay a visit to the White House and meet Clinton as per the child's dying wish.
George W. Bush – "Fishing with Roland Martin" (2004) Taped at the same time a cease-fire was being negotiated in Iraq, the President was filmed fishing with a professional bass angler at a pond on his Crawford, Tex. Ranch. The commander in chief landed a four-pound fish.
Bush was also on the game show, "Deal or No Deal" in 2008, and featured alongside his wife Laura and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the 2006 video short, "Barney's Holiday Extravaganza," starring Barney, the Bush's Scottish Terrier.
Jimmy Carter – "Home Improvement" (1994) In a videotaped message, Carter commended Tim (actor Tim Allen) for his help with the Habitat for Humanity project. Much to Tim's disgust, the President went on to joke that his wife Rosalynn would like a picture of Tim's colleague Al (Richard Karn).
Gerald Ford – "Dynasty" (1983) The President made a walk-on appearance in the prime-time soap about the super wealthy of Colorado. According to EW, the cameo happened by chance as the producers had arranged to film the series' characters mingling with the real crowd at Denver's Carousel Ball. As they made their way through the throng, the Carringtons (actors John Forsythe and Linda Evans) bumped into guests Gerald and Betty Ford. "Dynasty" producers encouraged Ford to participate in the filming. The couple agreed and Ford even had a line, greeting Blake Carrington by name.
Fun fact: Henry Kissinger was also in attendance and filmed a scene in which Joan Collin's character greets the former Secretary of State with the following line, "Henry, hello. I haven't seen you since Portofino. It was fun."
Bizarrely, Ford also turned up onscreen in the 1978 when-nature-attacks B-movie "The Bees." IMDb lists the President in the un-credited role of "politician on float."
When "30 Rock" Calls
The show about the making of a show at an actual television network (NBC) has played host to a quorum of real-life political movers and shakers.
In 2011 former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appeared as herself playing the ex-girlfriend of Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin). The pair argue and then battle musically – she on the piano, he on the flute.
Former Vice President Al Gore proved he has acting chops during a stint on a "30 Rock" episode in 2007. In his scene, Gore utters the following line before running offset: "A whale is in trouble. I have to go!"
In 2008, New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg appeared as himself on the sitcom and presented a subway hero with a medal. No stranger to making this type of onscreen appearance, Bloomberg is featured below in Mayors Making the Most of Themselves.
Wannabe the President (or an Actor)
John McCain – "Wedding Crashers" (2005) Playing himself, the Senator and White House hopeful turned up as a non-speaking guest at one of the wedding receptions featured in the bawdy flick. Fun fact: In the film McCain appears alongside democratic strategist James Carville.
John Kerry – "Cheers" (1992) Bar habitués Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger) and Norm Peterson (George Wendt) mistake the senator for an anchorman in the episode. Upon discovering their mistake, the two rapidly lose interest in the then Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts.
Newt Gingrich – "Murphy Brown" (1994) In a ratings ploy during the show's eight season, the then Speaker of the House plays himself and confronts TV journalist Brown (played by Candice Bergen) after she mocks him at a Washington Roast.
Mayors Making the Most of Themselves
Rudolph W. Giuliani – It could be argued that the former New York City mayor and 2008 presidential candidate never missed a chance to appear as himself onscreen. He parlayed his mayoral role into guest spots on the following: The N.Y.-centric sitcoms "Seinfeld" (1993) and "Mad About You" (1994); Whoopi Goldberg's feature film comedy "Eddie" (1996); "The Cosby Show" spin-off, "Cosby" (1997); "The-Out-of-Towners" alongside Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin (1999); "Law & Order" (2000); Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler movie "Anger Management" (2003); and as an animated version of himself on "The Simpsons" (2007).
Michael Bloomberg – Aside from his "30 Rock" spot (see above), the current Mayor of New York City appeared in the 2011 "Curb Your Enthusiasm" season finale. In the episode, Bloomberg defends actor Michael J. Fox when he believes the show's star, Larry David, has unwittingly offended the "Family Ties" actor during a fund-raiser for Parkinson's disease, from which Fox suffers.
Bloomberg's other credits include "A Muppets Christmas: Letter to Santa" (2008); a scene in "Sex and the City 2" that was ultimately cut from the final version; and like Giuliani before him, has appeared in "Law & Order" (2004).
Other notable mayoral cameo walk-ons include Antonio Villaraigosa (Los Angeles) in the daytime soap "All My Children" (2010). And if you look closely, former White House chief of staff and current mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel can be seen briefly in the background of scene from 2000 of what is perhaps the most fitting show for a political cameo – "The West Wing."