text:
From day one, the idea behind Modern Mouse was to subject the 5.3L LS to all manner of testing, including everything from bolts-ons to blowers. Nitrous, a stroker upgrade, and even old-school carburetion helped round out the battery of tests, but the LM7 (now stroked to 383 cubic inches) emerged not only unscathed, but begging for more.
Subjecting Modern Mouse to all this abuse helped demonstrate the gains offered by various modifications. This in turn helps readers make informed decisions about which route to take when it comes time to modify their own ride. The impressive power output offered by the stock and modified 5.3L also makes a compelling case for choosing the little LM7 for your Chevy-powered hot rod in the first place. You might think that after six different installments, we would run out of things to test, but we have just scratched the surface. This month, we decided to introduce not just Modern Mouse, but a pair of LM7s to turbocharging. Confused? Read on!
Test 1 Single Turbo: Stock 5.3L LM7
Though Modern Mouse was currently sporting no less than 383 cubic inches, we decided to take a step back and illustrate the gains offered by turbocharging to two different 5.3L combinations. We were lucky enough to secure a second stock LM7 to run our first test this month. We figured running both stock and modified combinations would help our readers--after all, not everyone is going to build a duplicate of Modern Mouse.
The stock 5.3L was purchased from a local wrecking yard at an exceptional price, but we soon found out why. The LM7 take-out was advertised as complete, but was actually missing the throttle body and exhaust manifolds. It also had a cracked oil pan.
We cured this situation with an Accufab throttle body and a Moroso F-body pan we had from a previous test. The stock motor was run with a set of QTP long-tube headers and an electric water pump. For the single turbo, we got a set of JBA shorty headers. Tuning was provided by a FAST XFI/XIM management system and a set of 36-psi injectors. Run in stock trim (after optimized tuning), the 5.3L produced 361 hp at 5,400 rpm and 386 lb-ft of torque at 4,600 rpm. Torque production exceeded 350 lb-ft from 3,200 rpm to 5.400 rpm.
The 5.3L was then subjected to boost from a single turbo kit from HP Performance. The kit was designed for a Chevy truck, but it illustrated the potential of boosting a stock 5.3L perfectly. The kit included a dedicated Y-pipe that hooked directly to the stock exhaust manifolds (or our shorty headers). Though available with different turbos, we chose a 67-mm T4 HPQ turbo from Precision Turbo. It was capable of supporting nearly 800 hp on the right application, so it had no trouble on this otherwise stock 5.3L.
The kit from HP was available with and without an intercooler, and we elected to try it both ways. Run on pump gas at just under 8 psi in non-intercooled form (with a safe tune), the turbocharged 5.3L produced 510 hp at 5,400 rpm and 521 lb-ft of torque at 4,700 rpm. Adding the intercooler allowed us to increase the boost pressure to 11.3 psi, where the turbo 5.3L pumped out 608 hp at 5,700 rpm and 641 lb-ft of torque at 4,700 rpm.
Test 2-Twin Turbo-- Modern Mouse
Unlike the stock 5.3L, we built a custom twin turbo system for Modern Mouse. Though custom, the system illustrated what is possible with properly- sized turbos on an already powerful normally aspirated LM7 combination. The twin turbo system featured a pair of 76-mm turbos combined with a twin-core, air-to-water intercooler that featured dual 3-inch inlets and a single 3.5-inch outlet all from CX Racing.
Additional components included a pair of 45mm Hypergates and a single RacePort blow-off valve all from Turbo Smart. The exhaust system featured shorty truck headers from JBA connected to the turbos using short tubing sections designed to adapt the stock exhaust flanges to the T4 turbos. The Turbo Smart Hypergates were positioned inline on the adapter tubing, while the single RacePort blow off valve was welded to the single 3.5-inch aluminum inlet tube.
CXRacing also supplied the necessary 3-inch aluminum tubing, couplers and clamps to connect the turbos to the intercooler as well as the 3-inch stainless tubing, v-band flanges and clamps used to complete the exhaust. In addition to offering complete kits, CXRacing was a one-stop source for our do-it-yourself turbo kit. The final upgrade was to replace the 36-psi injectors with a set flowing 75 lbs per hour.
With Modern Mouse ready to rock, we first dialed in the air/fuel mixture at just seven psi before working our way up in power. Even at just over 7 psi, Modern Mouse produced nearly 750 hp. Eventually the boost was increased to nearly 13 psi (12.8 to be exact), where Modern Mouse pumped out 963 hp at 6,500 rpm and 868 lb-ft of torque at 5,000 rpm. Torque production exceeded 800 lb-ft from 4,650 rpm to 6,300 rpm, but never dipped below 700 lb-ft.
Being so close to 1,000 hp, it took all of our will power to stop from cranking up the boost. In the end, we decided to limit the boost to a reasonable level.


text:
I have a general love of antiquities, from period furniture and architecture, to music, to costume. I began creating costumes about 10 years ago. I also design traditional marquetry designs for hardwood floors which are handcut by my husband, in 2000 we won Floor of the Year.
My first corsets were built into my gowns as a means of comfort, we attend costume balls in New Orleans for Halloween and you never know what the weather will be like. I created my first corset (the Victorian Button Corset ) for a friend for a wedding and from there develped a basic line of corsets and officially launched my custom corsetry business, which has expanded over the past 4+ years into a wide range of styles.
Each custom corset made by Isabella Costumiere is individually patterned to each customers own measurements . Since no two bodies are exactly the same this means you will get a corset that fits YOUR body. I use a rather long list of measurements and double check each pattern to insure the perfect fit. For long distance customers I can construct a muslin mock up of your corset and mail it to you to try on in the comfort of your own home to make certain your corset is just right. These are inlcuded with every overbust corset.
All corsets are constructed from three layers of fabric, the outer decorative fabric, an inner lining layer of strong 100% cotton fabric, and lined with strong 100% cotton fabric. You have a choice of black, natural or white cotton lining. For additional reinforcement a strip of cotton twill tape is sewn into the waistline. Corsets are inner boned with an average of 20 individually cut and tipped spiral steel bones and 6 spring steel bones. Unless otherwise noted, all corsets come with a front busk closure, are laced up the back with satin ribbon in a complimentary color, (cotton lacing available upon request, black or white only) and come with a separate lacing protector and an optional two pair of detachable garters in either black, white or ivory. Please see the fabrics page for some samples of fabrics currently in stock.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Leadership: New Overseer, Reappointed Dean
Christine Burnley Bucklin '84, a Dartmouth Trustee from 2001 to 2010, has been elected to Thayer School's Board of Overseers. An independent consultant, Bucklin has served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategic Planning for Sun Microsystems, Chief Operating Officer at Internet Brands Inc., and as a consultant and partner with McKinsey & Company. She earned her A.B. in mathematics summa cum laude and her M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Joseph J. Helble has been reappointed to a third four-year term as Dean of Thayer School. During the first eight years of his leadership, Thayer established research focuses in Engineering in Medicine, Energy Technologies, and Complex Systems, initiated the nation's first Ph.D. Innovation Program [see "Engineering Entrepreneurs"], launched three international engineering exchange programs for students, increased the faculty from 34 to 55, taught record numbers of undergraduate and graduate students, and doubled the number of patent applications among faculty and students.
Categories: The Great Hall, Leadershipcomments powered by Disqus


text:
Baked raspberry & lemon cheesecake
A rich and creamy baked cheesecake that makes a great dinner party dessert
Nutrition and extra info
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal611
- fat38.8g
- saturates23.4g
- carbs53.6g
- sugars37.2g
- fibre1.4g
- protein11.3g
- salt1.2g
- 200g digestive biscuit
- 75g butter, melted
Butter is a dairy product made from separating whole milk or cream into fat and…
- 600g full-fat soft cheese
- 250g golden caster sugar
- 150g tub natural yogurt
- 3 medium eggs
The ultimate convenience food, eggs are powerhouses of nutrition packed with protein and a…
- finely grated zest 2 lemons, juice of 1
Oval in shape with a pronouced bulge on one end, lemons are one of the most versatile…
- 50g plain flour
- 200g raspberry
A member of the rose family, raspberries have a wonderfully intense, sweet taste, and many…
- icing sugar, to decorate
Heat oven to 120C/100C fan/gas and line the base of a 20cm round springform tin with greaseproof paper. Crush the biscuits in a food processor or in a food bag using a rolling pin. Tip into a bowl with the melted butter and mix well. Push the biscuits into an even layer into the base of the cake tin and chill until needed.
In a separate bowl use an electric whisk to beat the soft cheese with the sugar. Next beat in the yoghurt then the eggs one at a time. Finally beat in the lemon zest, lemon juice and flour. Fold through two thirds of the raspberries crushing them very slightly so they start to bleed into the mix then tip the mix on top of the biscuit base and smooth over the top. Bake for 45 mins to an hour, then turn off the oven, leave the cake inside for another hour then cool at room temperature. Chill overnight. To serve, remove from tin, scatter with remaining raspberries and dust heavily with icing sugar.


text:
As the name would suggest this is a texture pack based off the popular MMORPG RuneScape.
Cool texture pack it's like the best one i have ever been on
I am dying to check out this texture pack! It seems like it would make villages and other buildings look pretty "prehistoric" I guess.
Very good but some plants like pumpkins don't look very good.
Very good looks alot like runescape :)
this is a cool textur pack =) =3
Think I Might Make Lumbrige Now :3
i remember runscape days until eoc
You can still play Oldschool. You just go on the Oldschool website and login with your regular account.
Damon before EOC wasnt the old rs old rs is a more updated version of the original before EOC was that dumb new attack tactics u can do thats what ruined it plus lvls that changed and the hp :( miss itbefore the eoc update
this is a great texture packs it makes staff pretty!
This is a cool texture pack i really like it
It does look a lot like runescape… but why… why is gold, green? redstone, pink? and pumpkins… the pumpkins are cabbage!! It's not a cabbage'lantern!
Amazing texture pack. Brings back memories.
This texture pack looks beautiful!
You should definitely make another.
brilliant pack perfect for castles and churches
Awesome but to dark


text:
South Dakota Has Its Own Confederate Flag Controversy
Usually when we hear about a controversy surrounding the Confederate Flag we assume it must be somewhere in the South. Maybe Alabama, Mississippi or one of the Carolina's.
Well, this one is in the South alright...but it's South Dakota.
According to the Associated Press, the Stars and Bars is flying again in Hot Springs.
Two confederate flags were removed from historical displays at the southwestern South Dakota hospital last week after some patients complained that they represented racism.
VA Black Hills Health System Director Steve DiStasio tells the Rapid City Journal that the flags were returned to the displays Tuesday as "a reflection of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for America." He says the original purpose of the Hot Springs hospital was to care for Civil War veterans.
The outcry so far in South Dakota has been suprsisingly muted, opposite to the protests that have been seen in states like South Carolina, which saw considerable outcry both for and against the removal of the Confederate flag from the state capitol.
Desert Storm veteran Craig DeMouchette says he understands the historical value of the flags but still objects to their display in a government building. He says they belong in a museum.
It remains to be seen if the return of the flags brings out future protests.


text:
DOVER — Strong winds during Thursday's storm made conditions tough for the fire crews battling a two-alarm blaze that heavily damaged a multifamily structure at 26 Horne St. Thursday afternoon.
"The wind really pushed the fire from one side of the building to the other," Fire Chief Richard Driscoll said. Firefighters would no sooner knock the blaze down, he said, and the wind would "bring it back to life."
Reported by the neighbor who also owns the home at 26 Horne St. and was clearing his driveway of snow when he noticed flames there, the fire was initially called in around 1:49 p.m. He reported flames and heavy smoke coming from the attic.
Driscoll said upon arrival, firefighters discovered flames throughout both floors of the home as well as the basement.
No one was home at the time of the fire and there were no injuries reported. According to Driscoll, the residence is occupied by a couple on one floor and four tenants on another.
Thick, black smoke billowed from the home repeatedly while firefighters attacked the blaze from all angles.
At about 2:40 p.m., all crews were ordered to vacate the structure and flames were attacked from the outside with fire hoses.
"It was definitely a tough battle," Driscoll said, due to the wind. He said the fire was intense when crews arrived and there were numerous hot spots throughout the balloon frame structure. The frame runs continuously from the basement to the attic giving the fire a direct route to travel along the frame of the home.
On Thursday, a storm dropped about a foot of snow in Dover and sleet and snow continued to fall while crews worked at tearing away the roof of the home and breaking windows for ventilation.
"They were working in pretty adverse conditions," he said of the men and women from nearly a dozen departments. On scene were Dover, Rochester, Somersworth, Rollinsford, Rochester, Durham, Lee, Newington, and Portsmouth. All off-duty Dover firefighters were also called to the scene. The Red Cross arrived once the fire was under control and Public Service of New Hampshire was also on scene cutting power from lines in the area.
The fire was under control at 3:15 p.m. and crews were beginning to organize for an investigation into what caused the intense blaze.
By Thursday night fire officials had not determined a cause and the fire was still under investigation, according to Fire Capt. Troy Brown.
Brown said there was significant damage on each of the floors.


text:
Facebook is in full-on pitch mode, trying to get its ad revenue growth accelerating again.
To that end, it flew ad products boss Gokul Rajaram from California to New York to speak at a conference this morning put on by AdExchanger.
Throughout his presentation, Rajaram kept putting up slides listing "common mistakes" people trying to market their brands and products on Facebook make.
One way to interpret the list was as a list of things Facebook believes marketers who say Facebook suck keep doing and should stop doing.
So here goes:
Acquiring low-quality fans through incentives or gimmicks. Rajaram said it's very important for brands to have a well-maintained brand page that has fans, but that those fans shouldn't be fans because of tricks.
Focusing on pure quantity of fan acquisition. The point of having fans is that they are supposed to amplify your brand messaging. If focus on getting a huge horde of fans that don't actually care about a brand's products or brands, no way will they share that brand's message.
Using the same post type across all marketing objectives. It's easier to explain what he meant with a picture:
Not thinking deeply about feed and mobile distribution. Rajaram said marketers are focusing on those crappy ads on the right side of Facebook.com pages. He would like them to stop it. He says they should buy ads for the News Feed, which is where users are actually looking, and works on mobile too.
Focusing on posts, but not on user stories. The advantage of Facebook ads in the News Feed is that when a user interacts with them, it creates a new kind of ad unit that user's friends will see. These are "user stories." Rajaram says those units actually perform better than the original ads, but some brands don't pay up to spread them around. Mistake!
Relying purely on organic distribution. Translation: some brands use Facebook brand pages but don't buy Facebook ads to promote them. He would like these brands to stop that.
Thinking that Facebook ads don't drive performance. Rajaram says everyone assumes Facebook is only good for awareness marketing. He says that's not true. There is a company called PetFlow which Rajaram says gets 20% of its transactions and 30% of its new customers directly from Facebook.
Ignoring targeting and optimization. Through the new Facebook Ad Exchange, marketers can target, on Facebook, users who have visited their Web page in the past. Rajaram thinks marketers don't do that enough.
Focusing on short term performance. At one point, Rajaram told the audience it was their "job" and their "duty" to figure out how to make social marketing work. Do not give up so quickly!


text:
commence with (someone or something)
commence with (someone or something)
To start something with a particular person or action. The presentations will commence with you, Michael, so go on up to the podium. Once the band is ready, we'll commence with the dancing!
See also: commence
commence with someone or something
to start a procedure affecting a number of people or things by choosing a particular person or thing first. Each meeting commences with a reading of the minutes of the last meeting. The doctor interviews with Lynn and took everyone else in the order in which they had arrived.
See also: commence


text:
Karl Rove: GOP Needs Better Message, Machinery
Republican strategist and Wall Street Journal Op-Ed Contributor Karl Rove says Republicans need both a better message and a better machine for turning out voters: "I've got a foot planted firmly in both camps." Also, the faces that are most promising for the GOP now. Photo: Getty Images.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... to the big interview at WSJ dot com on Jerry Sithe ... and were joined today by Karl Rove former deputy White House chief of staff Republican strategist Yes Wall Street Journal columnist ... is with us from the heart of Texas Austin Texas Karl thanks for being with us ... thanks for having during ... they will start with Election retrospective obviously enough so it within the Republican Party in the wake of of what happened it on November six the hapless schools of thought one says basically we need a rethink of our message particulate a younger voters and minorities ... another school seems to say what we really is a better machinery that that's what the Democrats do so well reach voters ... and turn them out ... which can for us ... dedicating a team ... of the foot planted firmly in each camp I think we do need to go back ... to look the mechanics ... but we do have some issues when you get an election which fifty nine percent of the voters ... say the economy is their number one issue but the break from Republican but only fifty one forty seven ... we need to look at how or messages being perceived ... how it's being heard ... and take our conservative principles of without surrendering them ... out and finance shares in and laid waste it will reach the American working class and the rising young voters because ... it didn't you know we did better this time around we did last time around among millennials ... and we got a ... you need ... we had a better still just strength among some key voter groups ... who were not one of the message in a war with the Democrats among Latino as ... we need to do a heck of lot better with the ... conservative economic message we got ... in and here are the cayenne and an election and called out for ... a bigger was startling statistic when you re and George W Bush's re-election campaign in two thousand and four ... he lost the Hispanic vote by nine percentage points according to exit polls ... Mitt Romney lost it by forty four percentage points what went wrong there ... well our language in it you know the language adopted a primer a was not while welcoming the general action ... due to talk about self deportation ... was reading some of the Hispanic community even among of ... Latino students who ... were passion about border security ... it was read as a lack of respect for the community and ... this is first and foremost an issue of ... making them understand let them know of making it clear to them that you respect the contributions of Latino community to America's great ... economy and culture and society ... and then there were welcoming ... of of the lead of illegal immigration and that descended like you know very unwelcome so ... the first thing that we need to do is we need to be ... up in a four lane on immigration and that we need a campaign aggressively in the Latino community ... what taxes is a big state ... we just elected our first ... Hispanic United States senator in history the state ... and guess what his Republican that's that's what the message can do ... if we aggressively fallen is a party ... but but the first ever is getting right immigration is at this point ... well I think the first point is is getting written rhetoric that is distinctly un welcome it is perceived in the community ... has been disrespectful we need to find practical ways to secure our borders ... to ... resolve the question that people are here the United States illegally and are provided ability for people to come here to work ... and then return home those things are all important are all part of George Dubya Bush is ... conference of immigration plan which I can sell in a minute President Brock Obama as US Senator ... voted to gut when he was in the United States Senate ... but though those were important element and aggressively campaigning and the community is important ... president Bush did so in two thousand and four nation state ... lost a community by nine percentage points ... Carl what other things that struck me at the end of this campaign was I really think that Mitt Romney's people believe they were going to win ... you you predict that a Romney win what was wrong with the Republican model at that point at the end ... well ... for Saul it didn't and we have a narrow victory here so I mean you don't ... get out when we call the wrong eye color on I was wrong I didn't see that we would have I thought Hispanic turnout was flat line because the enthusiasm inside ... the Hispanic community towards present Obama was lukewarm in the US ... they knew that he is the elderly nonprofits an immigrant reform the economy adversely affected Latino community ... enormously ... not only because it costs and jobs but because the Hispanic community is among the most offered her own groups in American society ... Annie kept them from starting their businesses are growing their businesses ... saw underestimated add up ... and in that would've made a closer but the other thing is we have a large number of white working class voters who simply said I can't bring myself to vote for present Obama may have voted for him last time around ... I can't bring myself to vote for him this time ... but they also said by the end of the campaign I can't bring myself to vote for ... Mitt Romney in the grand that as of June the scene of the Obama campaign manager depicted in post election interviews ... of irradiated Mitt Romney during the summer with a massive TV blitz ... in retrospect was a brilliant strategic maneuver and work because of depressed turnout ... your little while ... four hundred and fifty thousand fewer ... a white voters on and and an election turnout was down by nearly three hundred thousand from where was ... off four years ago even though there was a larger African American turnout ... and I mean Pres Obama who won the state with two hundred some odd nearly three hundred thousand votes four years ago ... was among hundreds seven that says something about ... what was going on in this community that was deeply conflicted one of the vote for somebody ... had largely voted for present Obama into thousandeight ... have been disappointed by his policies but could not bring themselves to vote for me ... well they get rougher go back eight years ago to two thousand for campaign ... you guys did a pretty good job of getting precisely those voters to turn out for George Dubya Bush was that the candidate or was it the machinery ... well I think it's it's a it's a combination message and ... campaign ... all look George Dubya Bush got a quarter more votes ... in two thousand for then again in two thousand we re not merely at turning out the faithful but about growing the universe ... neither candidate that a particular good job with this ... as of ... as of ... Monday afternoon ... of this week ... of all ... met Romney has ninety nine point nine percent ... of the boats that that ... that of John McCain had four years ago and will eclipse McCain's total four years ago ... at this point Pres Obama has ninety one point eight percent of what he got four years ago ... you will not eclipses photo this is only the six election ... in the history of America's six present election in ... history in which the number of presidential votes ... drop from the previous election ... and will drop by the largest number and I think ... the second largest percentage ... in the history of the country in peace ... Schiff or low but let's talk about where the Republican party goes from here ... who are the faces who are the names that you're going be paying a lot of attention to in the next couple years ... well there's the obvious ones of Paul Ryan ... Marco Rubio Rob Portman Chris Christie ... odds are good Susanna Martinez Kelly idea that Bob McDonald Enobia lumber a moment that there'd be some names ... pop up here in the next couple of years and we are talking about ... because the opportunities for advancement we got this true riffic generation of younger leaders ... who are gonna come to the forehand and Hal ... the next couple years play cell from a policy perspective ... and who sort of Ramsey imagination Republicans and of the American people who does her homework and turns out to be a ... workforce not show horse ... those things are going to cause some names to pop to the surface ... and again cause some these other names Rise and Fall ... of ... in a pretty exciting ways to be a wonderful time to watch the the the next generation Republican leadership over ... yet I listen they wish that takes is an intriguing ... point Elise what I consider to be a tricky point ... the states the governors you mention Virginia Ohio Wisconsin those are states Republicans won at the state level in twenty ten ... that was at the presidential level how to explain the disconnect between ... IPO doing well in those ... purple states ... in Pres in state elections and not doing well in presidential elections ... part has to do with the presidential election ... on turning out to ... impress election President selection electorate ... and versus a midterm but also look ... each candidate has his own strengths and weaknesses in Scott Walker ... and John Casey Moldova were governors in ... purple states that voted ... Republican in tan and voted presidential Medal and in twelve ... balls of them I suspect are going ahead are gonna be ... people are going there will have to watch it cuz they're going to be ... rising again significance ... simply nickel leaders do have the ability to change and mold their states ... and success of the state level and also those states ... will cause blue states be more competitive in the presidential election ... as a war this year remember Ohio highway from ... high yield nearly three hundred thousand vote victory for Obama four years ago to one hundred and seven thousand vote victory ... it was a blowout I think fourteen points ... four years ago in Wisconsin and much closer a systemic ... and I think in part that's a testament to the success of those together ... yet yet yet or the other factor that you pointed you in in your column last week in a journal ... is damage done to date to the candidate in the primary process and you know both parties to talk about this over time you raised in that piece something that's been discussed periodic Lee over the years which is somehow shifting ... to regional primaries as opposed to this ... debilitating series of ... you know state thus far flung state primaries ... is there a realistic prospect that the system can shift to that the next four years ... well actually I didn't put them in my column I see ... a number of ranking as difficult as can be so I mean ... the primary calendars can be with the primary calendar as Amplats Republican party leadership ... for attempting to move the process a little bit later so it doesn't begin right after New years ... and two I enjoyed Santa buys States ... but to be a little bit later in the process ... I think that two things about which party can do something is ... taken control do something to reduce this extraordinary number of debates ... that are dominated by the media ... that is your frequent have been featured in the moderators to seem far more interested ... in social issues than in the economic issues ... I think some may not be done to sort of restraint that number debates in crude on the campaign ... too much they they they they provide an opportunity for the media to set the tone ... and so the Republican National Committee on a cake or take a role ... in trying to in essence certified debates from for candidates to participate in ... the other thing is we gotta move the convention from ... at the end of the summer to back to where it used to be in June or July ... the only reason was moved to late was when we had general of public collection fall out of public financing for the general action ... nobody's getting ever except that I can ... and will we did is we had our candidate essentially ... selected on April levels with Rick Santorum of reducing the falls out of the race ... but were not nominated until August twenty eight which means a candidate stock ... through that period time trying to raise money for the June for the general action they can spin until the fall ... and try to raise money from new people for the primary ... to get him sell through that through that period between ... April eleven and August twenty eight to be better if we if we had a ... more workable system ... we estimate the other force that was on the scene this year you are part of it is the Super PAC phenomenon started twenty ten really ... I came to full flower in twenty twelve ... you you have found one American Crossroads lot of debate post election bellwether the Super PAC ... phenomenon really help Republicans as much as people thought ... did it did not with money missed and how do you think of that process means going forward ... well look there's always had super PACs on the Democratic side for years we call them the unions ... and liberal interest groups like the League of conservation Voters Sierra Club the animal ACP voter Fund ... that you know the ... planned Parenthood ... of the National abortion rights action legal much other liberal groups ... and they have the wherewithal ... to be there in the good years in the bed we had a good year were super PACs in two thousand and ten and help to ... help Republicans win alot erases that they would not otherwise of of one ... this year we obviously didn't have ... that same success of the polls but nonetheless Super PACs played for World for example in Ohio ... present Obama outspent the Romney campaign on TV seventy nine made a forty nine ... in a while seventy five into the whole Florida seventy five and a forty eight million ... Nevada twenty four made it well mean Colorado thirty one May and eighteen in New Hampshire ... twenty three million to seven made ... it back on spending and balance had been allowed to to exist without any ... you know without any super PAC purchase patient ... than we would've had a complete blowout from top to bottom but as it was ... the Super PACs particular Euronet interregnum when Romney was out of money in a June and July and August ... hell even the Recep and may make it close to that one of the otherwise been ... but the important thing is for the Super PACs ... to be was one of the officially American Crossroads overhead was less than three percent ... it paid it were to be less than the less than one point seven percent ... he paid the media guys only three percent with what a better than ninety five cents ... and of every dollar raised on the target ... groups the wrong themselves with the strict accountability and transparency to the dollar is like that ... are getting continue to be around on the center right side and well they should be because ... the unions are not going away the liberal groups are not going to go away ... they they go way up to two thousand for that in Norway after two thousand ten ... we should go away after two thousand and twelve and believe you me ... talking to the benefactors of American Crossroads we will be gone away ... they're in for the long haul their attitude is be the next ... it ... was the last question Carlaw to Washington always my press pass the baton ask about the fiscal cliff so one STT questions about the fiscal cliff ... one how do you think Republicans wanna play this into ... I do think it's going to resolve the tree now in the end of the euro would give result between now and the end of the year ... well I think the Republicans on to do everything they can to strike a ... reasonable compromise ... without surrendering fundamental principles ... they agreed that the Fed to find additional revenue ... but they've agreed a great year for agreed that any increase in revenue as the tide entitlement reform ... and not raising tax rates but to close in closing loopholes and fundamental tax reform ... I think that's a good place to be ... I frankly have long been dubious that we're able to get this thing done by the end of year think about this ... week as well with the lesson ... of less than seven weeks to go before the end of year and we've got ... the expiration of Bush tax cuts ... the expiration of long-term unemployment insurance benefits the expiration the adult tech six tenders ... the expiration of the ... of payroll tax holiday ... of Battle Over ye last year's attacks extend ears and a debt ceiling vote ... and and we can get that all done in a few days are left ... and intricately censors been nowhere for by the White House ... and congressional Congressional leadership of cheaply in the Senate ... to attack this problem since since the ... debt ceiling agreement came about in July two thousand eleven so I ... think the best thing to do is what speaker banner suggested which is ... by the way to carry over some of the same status quo ante ... and resolve these issues as much as possible ... in a thoughtful fashion ... with congressional hearings Congressional Committee action ... and action on the floor of the House and Senate that result in a conference committee ... in a reasonable amount of time in two thousand and thirteen ... it is ... so much distress assist about to trying get this all done ... here in forty one or forty two days ... with Thanksgiving ... Hanukkah Christmas and New Year's intruding into the process ... well some of us would like to preserve our Christmas in Nyrstar hope you're right one small step now one big stuff later we'll see if it works out that way ... when Jerry you know what when it comes to a come to the fiscal cliff ... of ... what we were one one ugly Christmas in one one only has to happen to us ... the freighter to say that well will will suffer through to get a ... wig is a tax cut if SNE Road Ahead Karl Rove thanks for joining us today ... place your appreciated


text:
Jump to navigation Jump to search
About Me
I am a 16-year information technology professional, historically (and now back to) specializing in Enterprise Support for the Macintosh OS X platform. My work includes developing long term support strategies as well as the tactical implementation of those strategies.
History and Usage
I first started with Emacs in the late 1980's and am back to using Emacs for everything for about 2 years now. I use Org-mode extensively.


text:
Medical care accounts for 18 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product — and it is taking up at least as much of the mindshare of plenty of American entrepreneurs and business owners.
At this very moment, the economic basis of the entire health-care system is up in the air, as a result of the imminent U.S. Supreme Court opinion in the health care reform law cases. Court observers expect the decision any day now, and most likely before the end of June.
"This is going to be one of the biggest decisions to come down in our lifetime," said Robert Litan, vice president for research and policy at the Kauffman Foundation. "The economic impact could be tremendous."


text:
On a more reassuring note, I want those of you that either already are or especially those that are considering cycling in DC: it really is safe. It has come to my attention recently that many folks out there feel that cycling is a dangerous activity. It really isn't. It is unfortunate when incidents like mine and the cyclist's in the video happens, but it doesn't mean it will happen to you.Many of you might have already read this, since it comes before the paragraph in which K. far too graciously recommends that you visit this blog in order to "get a good idea of what it's like to ride a bicycle every day." As far as the sentiment above is concerned, she's absolutely correct. It is safe to ride your bike in the city. (Could it be safer? Sure. But that comes with more people riding). And it absolutely does reduce stress. For all of the ancillary benefits (carbon reduction, health benefits, cost savings), the primary benefit is one that's entirely selfish: it's the only time during my day that I really feel belongs to me and for as much as drivers and pedestrians and other cyclists impact my travel, I still have the overall impression that I'm the one dictating my own pace and my own route, something that I can't say I've ever felt while driving in rush hour traffic, when the entire world seems to be against me.
I ride a bicycle *every day*. For many days, I ride a bicycle between 4-6 hours a day in various parts of the city. I would say that 98.9% of the time, it is without incident. Since I have taken up cycling, my stress levels during my commute (and at work) have dropped significantly. You know who are stressed? Motorists! Drivers are disgruntled. From the impolite gestures to the impatient honking, I wonder how some of them simply don't collapse from heart attacks. Luckily they tend to aim their frustrations at each other. The best cure for a bad mood is a good, long bike ride. There have been plenty of times I've woken up & dreaded going to work--but by the time I arrived I felt a million times better. I've never, ever heard a motorist make the same claim. I can't imagine that being stuck in the morning rush hour is a mood-booster. Sure, I encounter the annoying/aggressive motorist or fellow cyclist (and even pedestrian). But they are the minority. Most of the people I encounter while I'm riding simply fall off my radar because they aren't doing anything to draw attention to themselves. Most people know how to behave. It's when people misbehave that you notice them, and it only takes one arsehole to ruin your day. The best remedy for that is to simply get back on your bike and ride.
Ok, enough waxing.
[Breaking the fourth wall alert: I got a little distracted by the new Ken Archer on GGW. Frequent readers of this blog know how that my world stops any time K-Dawg (not an officially sanctioned nickname) lets a new one drop. This one's on Georgetown University (that college everyone hates) and streetcars and branch campuses and jobs. It has nothing to do with bicycles, but don't let that stop you. Also, read the comments.]
A gentle breeze and a gentle ride down the wide boulevards of central Arlington. Rode behind a gentleman on a beautiful Trek bike, the frame a color somewhere between Bianchi celeste and British racing green, with an internal hub, mustache bars and hammered metal fenders. This guy was definitely going for a look, especially since he was also sporting green canvas panniers and an old-timey looking bell shaped, tweed and canvas saddle bag. It might have been Ken (not K-Dawg), but I don't know for sure. Anyway, I rode behind him off and on down the R-B corridor and soon we were joined by some superbiker type in QuickStep jersey, who soon rode past when I decided to begin to stop at a yellow light. If I'm not sure that I'm going to make it through the intersection before the light turns red, I'm not taking any chances. I caught up to QuickStep on the other side of Court House and we parted ways again in Rosslyn. I guess he wasn't a true superbiker since he had a backpack (a real superbiker can't actually be going anywhere, much less commuting. And yet, they always seem to be on the roads and trails during peak commuting times).
Has anyone seen any new bike lanes lately? I haven't, but admittedly, I ride in only one small corner of the city. Sharrows? Has anything been striped at all this summer? Will we get our mystery 10 miles before the year ends? Will I keep harping on this and maybe even more now that I'm actually a DC taxpayer? You betcha!
There has been a parked police car in the middle of the Key Bridge each day this week. Lights flashing and officers standing on the upstream sidewalk. That seems odd. Maybe some traffic control mechanism? Not that the traffic needs controlling since the inbound gridlock gets that done anyway. Maybe the police are there to try to prevent DC residents from sneaking out and trying to vote for Congress. I don't know.
Work locker rooms. They're great because they make showering and changing super convenient. But like workplace kitchens, things can get bad. Real bad. I submit the following:
|You thought dirty dishes were bad.


text:
And Voila! I have my new favorite necklace.
Here's what you'll need…
If you have a long chain …or preferably, two long chains that you can hook to each other, then all you need to buy are the tassels {$3-4.99 each}…{or you can make your own out of leather!}
… but the craft chains are only {$3-4.99} each
…they're the FRYE Women's Emily Slingback Platform
& finally went on sale at Victoria's Secret {now sold out} but I'm not sure I like the way they make my legs look.
…but clearly I'm in love with my new Helmut Lang Silk Romper!
…I knotted the black one twice to shorten the length between chain & tassel
* Update * I sent the shoes back
Click the images or dates below to see how I wore them


text:
Last week I had a fairly bad cold (or at least I think it was a cold) with the normal cough, lots of junk in my throat, lots of postnasal drip. I had a terribly sore throat for five days which probably had a lot to do with the drainage. There was blood also in what I was blowing out of my nose as well as the stuff that I was coughing up from my throat and it hadn't gotten any better by the end of the week either. On Friday I woke up with fairly sore lymph nodes on both sides of my neck and on the left side of the roof of my mouth I had a lump or a swollen spot or whatever you want to call it. It felt about the size of a dime and was just there when I woke up. I decided to go to see my GP about the soreness in my lymph nodes and because I still had quite a bit of blood in my mucous. He did all the routine stuff and said that he thought it was probably just a virus but because of the blood he was going to prescribe me some antibiotics just in case a bacterial infection tried setting up. I forgot while I was there to ask him about the roof of my mouth, but called back later to let him know about it and he said that it was probably from the virus as well and wasn't anything to worry about and to let him know if it didn't go away in a week or two. Of course, like everyone else I started looking online to see if I could find out why it might have been swollen and everything I have found is SCARY! Just about the only thing I can find associated with a swollen area or lump on the roof of your mouth is cancerous but since this occurred fairly rapidly at the same time as my cold I just don't know. I can see using a mirror and flashlight that it is just a sort of raised spot that was fairly red or at least a hotter pink than that of the lining around it. I don't really see a spot in the middle or anything like that and it sort of hurt when I ate and pressed against it on the first couple of days (Friday and Saturday) but it doesn't hurt so much anymore and I really can't tell if it has gone down any or not. Sometimes I think that it has and sometimes I think it hasn't. I just wanted to know if you guys could give me a little bit of insight with this. Is this something that can happen with a cold virus or do I need to be a bit more proactive and go to an ENT?Reply Follow This Thread Stop Following This Thread Flag this Discussion
Recognize the risks associated with Crohn's disease.
Did you know that one in six US adults has high cholesterol?


text:
@livingdeadgurlz Kerry Hopkins
The Whale
The Whale
Michael Fredman 1998
Every August the whales return. They come here to birth the calves which are conceived far out to sea.
Now it is their season once more, I hear them in the evening. Their low song, seemingly melancholic and sombre, rolls across the waves to the land.
Sometimes, when I'm fucked up on booze and grass and pills I sing back to them, I holler until my throat cracks and hurts. Then I cry and I cry.
I live in a bungalow that stands alone on the beach, sheltered by the rising rock of the cliffs. I rented it originally after finishing school, my plan was to spend a gap year surfing, having parties, getting high.
After my accident there was much discussion over my living arrangements, it was thought best for me to relocate to the city where amenities would be more accessible. I was stubborn and refused to leave my home by the sea, even though the sand was almost uncrossable by my wheelchair.
I took for granted many things that I now have lost. I get by, but I am sick with bitterness sometimes and other times I am broken with despair.
I am slowly learning to appreciate life again but it is like building a tower of cards and too often it collapses.
When my friends come and visit we have a fire on the beach and we get wrecked and I forget that I am unhappy.
We don't talk about motorbikes though, ever.
Last August I was a different person. I was eighteen years old and I was taller for one thing. I walked along the shore watching the whales. I remember with such sadness, something simple I will never again experience, the hot sand sluicing through my toes.
I used to thrive on danger, the thrill of pushing myself and my existence to the limits. We used to burn along the coast, along the wide open roads, riding crazy-fast.
Then I turned my last corner and was embraced by the white hot arms of oblivion, the next thing I knew my shattered body was being cut free from the wreckage of my bike and a truck.
The driver of the truck died. I killed them. It was a million to one chance that I would survive and they would die. The impact did more damage to me than they, but they had a weak heart. They died of shock.
I don't know anything about the driver, I don't want to. They never existed, to me.
They, like my legs, are no more and that is that.
The sand outside is a quiet turquoise beneath the bright and whole moon, the sea is black but with cutlass flashes of light where the moonlight strikes it. I am sat in my wheelchair on my veranda nursed by a bottle of anti-depressants. They make me feel sad, but not care.
It is cold and late. I am shivering but that is as distant to me now as my pain, as the moon.
The waves are swollen and break upon the shore with a roar that fades to a hiss, as if the sea is a Chimera - part lion, part snake.
Around the wooden posts and floor, grow flowers. I am no gardener. They grow in spite of my neglect. Now they are dormant in the moonlight. Bats occasionally fleck the night.
I see a shooting star stretch across the night to burn and fade in a blink.
I wish I were dead.
I used to surf this ocean, I was a master of these waves. I stood and I commanded the water beneath me.
I can still paddle out on my board, but it seems pointless - paddling out and then paddling back. I have a kayak too, but mostly I just stay on the beach and watch the sea now, watch it slink back and forth.
To move around I have a sand buggy on which I can drive the ten kilometres along the beaches to the shops. A couple of weeks back I deliberately drove into a grocer's display, scattering fruit everywhere, and then claimed that I had lost control of the buggy. People were very understanding, and no-one mentioned that I stank of whisky.
My dick is still intact. That wasn't cut from me. I had a girlfriend before my crash but we weren't that serious.
'You understand, we're not that serious', she had said to me in hospital.
There is a prostitute who comes over once a week. Very professional. Sometimes she acts out any fantasies I've had during the week. A couple of nights back she was the nurse who had looked after me directly after my crash.
When she asks me what my fantasy is I hear, in my head, my voice saying; "Having my legs again", but I never say this.
To pass the time I started to learn Origami. I can make little cranes and frogs, butterflies and boats. It is a meditative pastime, I find my mind travels far away from me when I am making my paper animals.
I read a lot now, and listen to the radio. There's a whole world out there, drifting to me in waves.
One night the the radio waves brought to me the story of a young Japanese girl, Sadako Sasiki, who was two years old when the Atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Sadako developed Leukemia ten years after, when she was twelve.
In Japanese folklore there is a legend that if you make a thousand paper cranes, the Gods may grant you your wish.
The worst thing is how I tear myself to pieces living and reliving the past, right up to my accident.
It is as if there is no more time now, I am in limbo and only the past is real.
Behind my closed eyes I can feel myself whole once more, with all the optimism and arrogance of my youth, strutting and racing my way. But before my open eyes, it has all gone from me.
All the mistakes I ever made, the people I hurt, the chances I never took, they are like the scars that adorn my body in gruesome, permanent ribbons, they will never fade.
The only path from the beach to the cliff top is far from wheelchair friendly, but I have a winch to which I can be hooked. It has a portable engine and generator more than powerful enough to draw me up and down the cliffside. At the top is a road which leads to the city.
I can still go out drinking with my friends but I cannot dance and there are many places I used to go to which I cannot any more, because of stares and because of stairs. So I tend to remain here, by the beach, often alone.
Some nights I mix the pills and the booze so much I don't expect to wake up and when I do it is with some disappointment.
There. There's a whale now, a male calling for his mate. The whole air is shimmering with his call. And there is his jet, a fountain of water lit by the moonlight.
I can hear him splashing out in the sea, waiting for his mate's response.
Silence passes and he calls again.
Then there is another call on the wind, a different tone. She has found him.
It touches me, hearing these creatures. I have read that they are faithful to one another until death. They will travel across the oceans to be together. They have no wars, no nuclear bombs. They have one another and the vast realms of the deep where they raise their young.
I don't suppose I will have children. No woman I've met so far has found my self loathing and self pitying personality an adequate compensation for my lost limbs. I look at my stumps with revulsion, and they are mine, how they must look to others, I can't imagine.
It's early days yet. Thats what my parents say, but they grow more absent as they provide more gadgets for me. The winch, the buggy, the wheelchair were all their gifts. In a few months I may get false limbs. So far I have refused them in sheer disgust.
They are calling together now, she is pregnant with his child. They are nuzzling one another as they sing. I can see their thick, lined backs and their fluked tails and two sprays of water that pass one another and then sink.
The sky is cloudless and a sheer black, there are many stars garlanded around the moon and I shake off these gloomy thoughts, a strong sense of wonder grips me.
I swiftly skirt over the sand, to the lip of the sea. The moonlight casts the whole sea directly before me in silver light. I drive along the slick sand by the edge of the sea with the tips of the waves occasionally nipping at my thighs.
I can see the whales clearly, one of them rises head upwards out of the water and then crashes back to the sea.
She is birthing.
Her song swells once more, long and low. I ride out onto a pier of flat black rock raised above the wave's reach and make a joint.
In this moment, as I cloud my mind with smoke and watch nature's beautiful struggle, I feel that I am alright. The sea is turbulent beneath me and the night sky is unfathomable above me, but I, I am inbetween. Calm.
In the summer even this secluded beach gains a mass of sunbathers, surfers and general beach heads but now, in winter, there are only the whales and me.
I smirk to myself, thinking we are all mammals, none of us have legs, we are alike in these ways. We are kindred.
As the mother labours, she wails and the male sings to her. I will them well from my rock perch.
After half an hour the calf is born. I watch it rise to meet its parents for the first time. I feel some aspect of the relief that they must feel.
The whale calf rolls in the water, its first ever moon is wide above it.
Then they all three start to move on and I rev up and ride along the shore alongside them. Then they are gone from me. Into the other world below.
I ride around the beach for a while, feeling a brightness and elation that makes me laugh aloud. I skid around the dunes, my heart pumping loud and strong and then I return home and go to sleep, without anti-depressants, painkillers or tranquilizers.
In dreams I am always running...
The morning is bright and clear and I am woken first by the sunlight which has crept through my window to fall on my eyes, I lie awake but with my lids closed, bathing in the warm orange of my eyelids. Then I hear the whale song. A lament. It stirs me up, and into my chair.
Once in my wheelchair I roll out onto the veranda. The day is bright and crisp, but there on the beach before me lies a Southern Right Whale calf, drying in the sun, breathing and occasionally wriggling weakly.
I ride down to it on my buggy and check it out. Then I drive back to my bungalow and, with some difficulty, collect my bedding and tie the sheets to the back of my buggy so they trail out behind me then I drive along the edge of the sea until the sheets are soaked. Finally, and with some difficulty, I drape the sheets over the stranded whale, I meet the mournful gaze of the dark blue eyes, before I cover them with the wet cloth - as if I am some helpless priest or doctor, closing the eyes of the departed.
The damp sheets soothe the poor creature, but still it pleads to the air.
I think of what I can do, It is too large for me to push into the sea by myself, even using the buggy. I fret.
I could ride to the shops along the beach or try to stop traffic on the road on the cliffs above. It would take at least an hour to get help from further up the beach and, optimistically, half an hour back if I got a lift. Some days no traffic comes along these cliff roads, especially in winter.
Also, obstinately I do not want to seek other peoples help. I felt that I should be capable of solving any problem myself. It is this obstinacy which means I do not have a phone.
Suddenly the whale bucks in a hopeless effort and its flipper knocks me from my buggy to land painfully on the wet sand. I lie there, gasping as the sea covers my face and then retires. I see the whale's tail flapping desperately by me, it is heavy enough to crush me to death.
This twenty foot scramble away from the sea and the thrashing tail leaves me exhausted and unable to clamber back into my buggy. I lie, parallel to the whale, on the hot sand. Both of us gasping and stranded. The whale saddens the air with its bone-flute call once more.
After a few minutes I have composed enough strength to be able to mount my buggy once more but then I am unable to decide what to do. The whale is dying before my eyes.
I swear loudly and impotently.
Why isn't the world fair? In the dreary mournfulness of drunkeness I have asked myself that question many times. Boring myself and whomsoever was with me.
I find myself shouting, in anguish and in rage, about the whale. About my legs. About the dead driver, about all the nameless dead.
"It's not fair".
It isn't fair that hope be born to this world simply to wither and die. Why should hope be born at all, just to suffer?
The whale moans and I scream. The seabirds rise from the neighbouring rocks and flit into the air, whooping around us.
I recall that I was wild in school, I used to set fire to my jeans to win money in stupid bets. I was always fighting the other boys and chasing the girls. I once let a poisonous snake loose in the teachers' lounge.
I never cared much for the whole thing, the order and the authority. It seemed absurd and stifling to me. I was always more interested in the world outside and how I could have the most fun in it.
Up until the age of eighteen I managed to live that way but now, nineteen and broken, I can not. I was chaos, but staring at this huge, dying creature before me, I hate what chaos does to hope.
I decide I must try something. So I decide I will use the electric winch to raise myself up to the road on the off chance of stopping some traffic.
It seems now that everything has taken more energy and concentration than I was aware of. As I hook myself into the harness of the winch from my buggy, planning to rise up to the top of the cliff, I find that I am sweaty, tired and clumsy, I fiddle with the straps with increasing irritation.
I feel defeated. I realise it is hopeless and I sink into submission, I am just tired. I am too tired.
The whale is going to die. So what.
Things die all the time. So what? How many children were born, even in this minute, in to war ravaged lands, to starve into silence, to fade away like shooting stars, in the blink of an eye?
More birds are gathering on the rocks and cliffs, they sound gloating, harping noisily in anticipation of the feast to come.
I wriggle from the harness, which is tight and irritating around my shoulders. I shrug it off in a tantrum of movements. My only plan now is to draw my blinds and to drink myself to sleep.
I press the button to drive the buggy away and I speed off when, with a jarring pain, I am abruptly reminded that one of my arms is still caught in a harness strap. The winch draws out behind me and then yanks back at me. I hear the metal above squeak with the strain and my shoulder stings with the wrench.
This winch, my umbilical link to the road, to the world I once belonged to. There is the answer.
With a renewed vigour I tie the harness to the back of my buggy and then I speed away from the cliffs towards the sea. The first two times the jarring stop throws me from the buggy and so it is a protracted process, but the third time the winch breaks free from the metal brace that had held it to the top of the cliff and it falls down to the beach with a flickering slither.
I then hook the engine and generator that power the winch to the back of my buggy and drive them down to the shore and then onto the outcrop of flat rock which juts out into the water. This is relatively easy as they are mounted on a wheeled trailer.
Finally I take the winch, connect it to the engine, and drive the harnessed end down to near the whale.
I take the sheets from around the whale's thick body and tie two of them together in a large loop. I know that I cannot tie them around its tail without risking death, but I know how to make a basic lasso and I am relying on this in order to complete my mission. I tie the other, long, end of the lasso to the buggy, so that I can draw it closed using the thrust of the vehicle.
With each attempt I am thankful for the strength of my arms, the soaking lasso I have made from the two sheets is painfully heavy to draw back in after a failed throw and heavier still to cast back out.
Time passes, I don't know how long, I must have thrown the lasso about fifteen times now. My arms ache, my breath is rasping. I see clearly that this idea is not going to work. Furthermore, I see starkly that I have ruined my best chance of saving the whale, there is no way for me to reach the road now.
I have a strange tightness in my throat, like I used to get when my father would beat me as a child. He would stare down at me, waiting for me to cry and I would fight furiously against the hot tears welling behind my eyes. I was determined that I would win that one battle. He could hit me as hard as he wanted, but he would not see me cry.
I am not religious, but now, now I feel absolutely that there is a God, there is a God who is cruel and I feel that He is looking down on me, waiting for me to cry, drawing back his omniscient hand to deliver one more blow.
My final throw is fuelled with defeat and bitterness, the loop landing on the shallow water behind the whale to dance limply there. Tears well in my eyes, I shudder, defeated.
The whale is too weak to thrash in protest but wriggles in weak defiance.
Then, from the rocky pier, I carefully winch the whale from the beach. The generator smokes and complains but it perseveres.
The enormous animal is pulled from the hot dry sand into the water, further and further until it is feeling waves crash over it, then it is covered by them.
Now back in the water it is too weak to swim and is still caught by the winch. I realise I have to release the whale from the lassoo. Again, the problem is the whale itself, which could snap my spine with an unfortunate movement if I get too close.
I sit helpless in my buggy while I try to work out what to do, the whale groans and blows water into the air.
I drive back to my home and find a knife and a kayak oar. I tie the knife to the end of the oar with rope and then return to the rocks.
The unhindered whale turns weakly in the water, to face out to sea. Then swims, wearily at first but then with gathering speed into the deep and far away.
I watch it leave and I feel, over and above the blisters, cuts and welts that cover my body, a surge of well-being.
Whatever else, however useless I am to this world, however much my misery wishes me dead, whatever else, today I saved the life of another creature. Nobody helped, I received no recognition or reward. My actions were even to my own detriment, I have destroyed many of the things I relied upon, I cut myself off from the road above and ruined the winch in the process. I am stranded.
But I am freed too. I hate myself because of what I once was, but today I am proud of what I am.
I gave another the one thing that I can never have, I gave another freedom.
It was just me and the world, and I won.
The day is at an end. The sun is setting and from a distance the sound of whales can be heard.
I am sure I can make out, against the ceaseless whispering of the sea, three voices, together.
Maybe one August in the future I shall become an unspoken Godfather.
Maybe. I shall wait for this, here on this simple beach, where I feel whole.


text:
Well friends, the time to say goodbye has arrived.
Let me begin by saying that I've enjoyed every day that I've spent on the blog talking about the national team & Argentine football with you all.
My decision to no longer blog was not a rushed decision or have anything to do with Argentina's latest world cup failure, as humilliating as it was.
I made the decision before the world cup.
And it is due to personal and work considerations. Mostly work considerations.
I am embarking on a new career in marketing and it is going to require alot of my time and focus.
It's really been an immense joy and wonderful experience to have maintained this blog. I will miss it alot as I will miss talking to you all.
The blog was a part of my daily life and it is difficult to end it after all the time & effort that I've devoted to it.
Thank you all for your participation, for making the blog a really fun place to meet up to talk about Argentine football and Thank you for your love and passion for Argentina.
Gracias Amigas y Amigos.
Hasta Siempre.


text:
- Industry Left Col
- Industry Right Col
Engineering and R&D Services
Great Engineering is all about Phenomenal Product Experiences
Customers Seek Best-In-Class Product Experiences
Today, the most successful organizations across industries have a few things in common. They strive to improve customer experiences, align to tech trends faster, and are extremely efficient in their R&D investments. It is no longer sufficient to simply design products that meet customer needs. It's now imperative to create an engaging relationship as well. With products having shorter lifespans and customers having more options to choose from, the real lifetime value of a customer can only be realized by companies who are consumed with a determination to provide differentiated and flawless customer experiences.
Enabling Next-generation Enterprises
In an environment of increasing product complexity and dynamic markets, the success of a global organization will be defined by its ability to control product costs, leverage productivity gains, and enable seamless intersection of embedded software and hardware. The Next-generation Enterprise must also facilitate the success of smart products and enable efficient calibration of all operations for a smooth transition from asset-led to information-driven processes.
As a global engineering services provider, we help organizations maintain their competitive advantage, through an integrated strategy that facilitates continuous cost improvement across the product realization value stream, while accelerating revenue growth through innovation. Leveraging combined strengths in mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, and electronics and engineering IT, we bring together a blend of traditional and next generation global engineering services and global engineering solutions, enabling customers to achieve productivity targets. That's why we are the preferred global engineering consultancy firm and engineering services provider for leading organizations. Read More
CTO Straight Talk - A Meeting of Minds
CTO Straight Talk is a part of the HCL Straight Talk program, our award-winning thought leadership platform. Winner of 2016 BMA Award for Best Custom Published Magazine, it provides a practitioner-led editorial platform for product engineering professionals to leverage technology across industries and domains.
Join the exclusive Straight Talk Community of CTOs and other senior product engineering executives now!
The modern IT landscape is driven by innovation, a strong focus on customer-centricity, and future-proof strategic blueprint. We adopt research as an 'approach', garnering tangible outcomes and paving new business pathways. We combine our passion for engineering with extensive experience in technology implementations to ideate successful products. Our dedicated Engineering R&D Services (ERS) lab proactively governs Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) processes with state-of-the art digital solutions. Our solutions embrace modular frameworks, tightening the SDLC via reusable components and customized blueprints. Our 'fail-fast' approach for prototype development enables swift and accurate demand-production alignment.
Automates the manual test processes of electronic devices to expand test coverage, reduce time-to-market, and lower costs. Read More
Intelligent Sustenance Engineering (ISE)
Deploys the power of product intelligence, big data and analytics to ensure that product sustenance is efficient, responsive, and cost effective. Read More
Intelligent Tech Support (ITS)
Expands the scope of tech support and ensures improved operational efficiency of existing infrastructure through its advanced analytics capabilities. Read More
Platform Acceleration Suite (PAS)
Offers a foundation on which global software application can be architected by leveraging reusable software components, packaged application frameworks, and automation tools, employed by testers and developers. Read More
Platform for Acceleration of NexGen Engineering Analytics (PANGEA)
Enables product managers to take intelligent decisions on multiple aspects of product development, sustenance support, and management. Read More
Integrated Lifecycle Management (iLCM)
Provides a unique service delivery platform for systematically integrating people, processes, tools, and technology across the product's lifecycle. Read More
Test Automation Framework (TAF)
A test automation service delivery platform, providing end-to-end solutions for application testing across mobile, web, desktop, and embedded platforms. Read More
Client Success
Latest Thinking
Insights & News
Explore more
Today, HCL partners with a majority of the global top 100 R&D corporations. The largest and longest engineering outsourcing partnerships in the world are with HCL Engineering and R&D Services.


text:
Ben Meadows: 160702-12D
- Price:
- $263.96
- Description
- Specifications
- Reviews (1)
Hard working boots at a great value. Features include imported 5.5-6.5 oz. leather, 9 iron leather insoles, 9 iron Vibram rubber midsole, Vibram® sole, leather shank, leather heel base, and nylon laces. UL Classified. Meets the requirements of NFPA 1977-2011 31DR Protective Clothing and Equipment for Wildland Fire Fighting.
1 of 1 would recommend this product to a friend.
Write a review for this product.
We encourage our customers to let us know what experiences they have had with our products, whether good or bad. By submitting a review, you can share your experiences with others and also provide valuable feedback to us as well. With just a few simple steps, you can add your review of this product.
Ask a Question
These boots are available in three widths: D, EE, and EEE(F). The boots we stock are D width. To order a wider width boot please contact our customer service department at 1-800-752-8460 or firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Danny Garcia and Matt Costa, Glasgow, 2012. Photograph by James Anderson
So what are you up to?
D: It's Matt's record. It's pretty much fully his thing. He lined it up, and figured it all out, and just invited me out. We've been out here for a couple of weeks. We went to Amsterdam, for a week, just to hang out, then hit it here.
Amsterdam can be cool if you avoid the centre.
D: It was crazy. We didn't know it was 'Queen's Day' out there. It's basically their big national holiday. The reputation is that you can do whatever you want in the street, but one this one day people go really crazy. It's packed, and everybody's fucked up. It's pretty interesting! We were gonna leave that day, and we couldn't leave, because you can't move around.
How do you two know each other?
M: Through Raymond.
D: Yeah, through Raymond Molinar.
M: Raymond would always show me stuff that Danny was working on, and he'd be all "Yeah, Danny, he's pretty good", and then we ended up being in the same place at the same time and we just sorta got along, and gradually started hanging out.
Is this the first time you guys have played together?
M: The last record that I'd done was the first time we'd done any playing and recording together. Actually, we played together with Mothers' Sons, a band Danny was in. They're not together any more.
Why did you come all the way to Scotland to record?
D: Matt talked to a load of different producers. I think he talked to the guy who works with the Flaming Lips in upstate New York or something, and he knows Tony (Dougan), so he passed the songs over to him. He thought Tony would dig it, and that it'd work out.
It's a long way to come. It must be expensive to stay here, just because it's where one producer is.
D: Yeah... I think when you get into it, that's the thing though. You get the opportunity to be somewhere else and work with different musicians. We're recording with a few of the guys from Belle and Sebastian - Bob (Kildea), Stevie (Jackson) and Chris (Geddes) are playing too. Matt's a big fan of the music that's come out of this area. He's a big Donovan fan.
Donovan was born in Glasgow, but I don't think many Glaswegians think of him when they talk about Glasgow musicians.
D: Maybe Bert Jansch?
Yeah, more so. I think Bert Jansch fits with what people think of as Glaswegian music more. But anyway, are you going to be touring this record with Matt?
D: Probably. For the last couple of years it's been pretty easy for me to get in when I want, and get out when I need to.
So it suits your skateboarding?
D: Yeah. It's kind of the other way around. I make music to suit the skateboarding. But I've been concentrating on music more lately.
Danny Garcia and Matt Costa, Glasgow 2012. Photograph by James Anderson
Your Habitat shoe is out. Does that mean you're gonna have to be deep into skateboarding as soon as you go back?
D: The Habitat thing was pretty easy. I had a conversation with Joe Castrucci, and I said I didn't want to go crazy with it, and skateboard all day every day... I mean I skateboard every day, but I mean more like doing the whole thing, playing the game, although I still want to be a part of it it. Basically the conversation went, "We'll give you a shoe, and here's the very minimal list of things you have to do", you know? They're not going to pay me a bunch of money, it was a minimal agreement. Which was nice, because that's why I did it. And because I had left éS to free up my time.
So you'd left éS before 'the announcement'?
D: Yeah. I didn't know if they were gonna can it or not.
So had it been discussed?
D: Yeah... I dunno, I think they were probably struggling, but I always hear that - that companies are struggling. So you never know what's gonna happen. So I'd left to free up that time, and when Joe asked about the shoes I was like "Nah, I feel pretty good right now, where I'm at". But then... Not that he talked me into it! But he kinda talked me into it. And it's Habitat, so it's kinda the same sponsor I've had all these years. It's not a weird shift, or some shock to get used to new people or anything. It was easy.
Easy to skate for your board sponsor's shoe division.
D: Yeah, I'd just dealt with them before. You start stacking up sponsors, and then you have like four or five jobs. Not like it's crazy, but you're dealing with four or five different groups of people, and you have different responsibilities to them, and sometimes they get in the way of each other. It's always been easy riding for Habitat. I've always been off on my own thing, you know?
What did you think about the reasons behind why Sole Tech pulled the plug on éS, and about Nike and adidas being in skateboarding?
D: It's interesting. I don't know what to think about that. It's kind of happening now, that shift, into those big brands. I don't know if I like the idea of it, but it seems to be happening nonetheless. I think you can keep peeling the layers back, and find positives and negatives about it. There's multiple sides to that coin. They're supporting a lot of good skateboarders, and keeping them in the game, keeping them around. It's a difficult one.
So you left éS without a shoe sponsor to go to. Was that not difficult?
D: No, it was kinda nice. I wanted to make time to tour, and just play music. I just wanted a little bit of time for myself, and financially I was able to get by. It's nice to get those pay cheques and things, but I'd gotten them for a few years. I wasn't completely well-off, but I was able to get by.
Talking of money, do you predict changes at Habitat now that Dyrdek's bought DNA?
D: I don't know. I wonder. I just had a conversation with Joe, and he said something about how it's back to Carter, Hill and Dyrdek. I think it'll still be a year or so before they fully transfer the thing over. I don't even understand how these things work, or how much change there's going to be. I didn't notice any change when Burton came in, you know? I'm kind of detached anyway. I think it's cool though. I'm backing the story. It's a good story. And I like Dyrdek, so it's alright.
Matt, you're signed to Brushfire Records, which is Jack Johnson's label. How did that come about? He's pretty big.
M: I met him through Emmett Malloy, who does music videos and films. More music videos, really, but he did some surf films too. They wanted to use one of my songs for the soundtrack to one of their films, which led them to hear more of my music, and then they asked me if I wanted to go on tour. At the time I didn't know what I was getting into, because I didn't know we'd be going and playing these huge outdoor shows. I didn't know how big he was. So anyway, it was after that that he asked if I'd want to put the record out through their label. Up until then I'd just planned to put stuff out on my own. I'd even put it out myself, independently. Before that I'd just done local shows around LA, around Orange County. But it afforded me so much opportunity. Which is what you want when you're making music, but you never expect it to happen.
D: Was the label new?
M: It was relatively new. It was maybe a year or two old. They've expanded a bit since then, they have a load of different artists now.
What's your background in skateboarding?
M: Oh man... I started skating in Florida, when I was about twelve. Eventually I moved out to Huntington Beach which - at the time - was like the Mecca. It was at the time when the park was there, so it was like the meeting point for the whole world. I ended up meeting a lot of people, and I wanted to get sponsored and do the whole thing, and I guess I did. I worked my way through some different sponsors, and filmed a bunch and everything. I think I even met Danny at the Brea park, around by his house...
D: For some reason I thought we first crossed passed at that gap...
M: What gap?
D: In San Diego, the parking lot to parking lot one. Maybe it wasn't.
M: The big one?
D: Yeah, the big one. Have you never been there?
M: Yeah, I've been there. Maybe we did. I don't remember. So anyway, I just wanted to skate a lot. I dropped out of school to skate, and it kinda kept me out of trouble. I eventually broke my leg skating, so I couldn't skate any more.
More time to play the guitar?
M: Yeah... I'd gotten an electric guitar when I was twelve as well, and when I moved to Huntington and was skating a bunch I actually ended up trading my guitar to Brian Sumner for a pair of shoes and a board, 'cause he wanted to learn how to play guitar. The shoes and the board lasted about two weeks... When I finally broke my leg he'd been playing a bunch and he'd got a nicer guitar. Mine was just a janky Japanese guitar, and the frets would fall out if you got too high up. So it was kinda useless. But when I broke my leg, he'd call me up and ask me over to show him how to play certain songs. I think, randomly, he gave that guitar to Jim Greco, and it ended up somewhere, God knows where.
D: It probably ended up at the Whiskey A-Go-Go.
In pieces.
M: In pieces, or burned or something. But yeah. Of all people.
Is there a tour planned for this album? Is that something the label would deal with?
M: Touring and stuff is more at my end, with my manager and stuff. It's up to us to sort that out, but it is much easier when the label's there to help with promotion, and to let people know that you have a record out. That you exist. There's no tour planned, but it's in the works. I didn't get a chance to travel to the UK with the last record. It'd be nice to do that this time, especially since we made the record here.
If you could have a band made entirely of skateboarders, who would be in it?
D: Based on the music or the skating?!
Based on the music! So you can't just say "Cardiel on drums" or whatever.
M: Ha! It could be fun, if it wasn't based on the music...
But look at, say, Blacktop Project. Or 'Blktop Project', as they're actually called.
D: Who's that?
It's Tommy Guerrero, Ray Barbee, Matt Rodriguez and Chuck Treece. And they're awesome.
D: Ah, that's their thing? I didn't know that's what they'd called it. Those are some of the guys that are pretty awesome. Umm... Stefan Janoski can play. He's a pretty creative guy. He plays the same way he skates. He just tries it, and just stumbles into being good. He played a little bit when I was staying with him in Sacramento, and I was like "Just buy a guitar!" He'd kinda mess around with my guitar but we went one day and got him a guitar. He's pretty good. Raymond can play. I'm just naming the Habitat team for you! I don't know Leo Romero that well, but he plays music.
M: I know Don (Nguyen) has a full rock band, they put something out.
D: Don, really? I know Ethan Fowler can play, of course.
L'il Wayne or J. Cassanova?
D: (Immediately) L'il Wayne. Do you know who J. Cassanova is?
M: No, I don't know who that is.
D: Jereme Rodgers. It's like his rap pseudonym.
M: Oh, man. I'm not up to date.
It's so bad you could almost believe it was a joke. If it was somebody else, you might believe he was... I mean, you might think it was a pastiche.
M: Were you about to say "taking the piss", but you didn't? You adjusted it for the Americans.
Ha! Yeah.
D: The music's pretty screwed.
TNT or Rob Welsh?
D: I'd go Rob Welsh. From years ago, I was into that, Mad Circle and everything.
M: "There's panhandlers in the street", from that Mad Circle thing. He was doing this whole Kerouac thing. That was rad. Remember the screen was all green, it looked like night vision or something?
D: What, in 411?
M: Yeah, it was the Industry section. With Justin Gerard in it.
Talking of something like Mad Circle, what companies just now do you think are doing things right?
D: I don't pay too much attention to stuff like that... Slave, I like that. Not so much the company, but some of the artwork's pretty cool. Some of the Roger stuff's cool, I like some of their riders. It's cool how they splice together all the video clips. It's a kinda Workshop vibe.
D: Timecode.
M: There's a Vonnegut short story that springs to mind. A story in Welcome to the Monkey House. Sorry I can't elaborate any more than that!
Hieroglyphics or Gang Starr?
M: Oh, Hieroglyphics. But they're close.
D: I think I listen to Gang Starr more. But yeah, it's close.
Matt Costa and Danny Garcia, Glasgow 2012. Photograph by James Anderson
What skate videos do you think have really benefited from the music? Or are there any where the music ruined it? Like the Rhythm video, maybe...
D: Yeah, that's the one that popped into my head. But it's funny, because now that I'm 'in' skateboarding, you can be biased towards certain things but when that video came out I was totally fine with it. I was just a fan, and I don't think I latched onto the music, but I still didn't question it. (FTC's) Penal Code is a reference for great music. That turned me on to a load of stuff. But the Rhythm video, it hung around - we're talking about it now, you know? You either want to be offending somebody or pleasing somebody. Maybe you need to go either hard left or hard right.
I thought it was weird at the time, but at the same time I figured they had a reason to do that, and therefore it must be the right thing to do.
D: Yeah, it doesn't always have to agree with you. Skateboarding's so abstract that you sometimes forget you can do whatever you want. Even on a skateboard. But it's human nature that you create these walls, and these rules, almost to a pinpoint where it's like, "This is it." I might not agree with it, but I don't mind widening those rules, and opening it up a little bit.
Everybody just skates to indie now.
D: Yeah. It's just... Rock. And even on your skateboard. Not that I'm backing it, or that I would do it, but it's funny that you just can't push mongo. It's just an unwritten rule. These rules are just kind of created out of the air.
Or like 360 flips, if your back foot's too far off, then you're doing it wrong.
D: Yeah, you're wrong! There's tons of rules like that,
M: Going back to what we were saying, I think a by-product of Penal Code was kids listening to their parents' record collections. They had two Procul Harum songs, right?
Yeah, 'Conquistador' and 'Whiter Shade of Pale'.
M: And Van Morrison. That was how I found out about 'And It Stoned Me', because I was looking for 'Caravan'. I went through my dad's records and I found that. The first time I heard 'Domino' was in an old Sophisto video. It was the first video I bought.
That was Andy Howell's company?
M: I don't know... Jamie Thomas was on them, and I think Drake Jones was on 'em. They had that 'Get Thy Bearings' song on the video too, way before it was on Reynolds' part in the Baker video. I thought that was, like, a reggae song! Eventually when I got that record, 'Hurdy Gurdy Man', I was like "Holy shit, this is that song!" and I freaked out.
Plan B videos were good for music. Like the Steve Miller Band in Virtual Reality, that was rad.
D: Plan B got me turned on to Cream. Jeremy Wray in Second Hand Smoke.
M: It's a crazy one, but Aerosmith for Rodney Mullen! I remember loving that!
Why do you think that people are so pedestrian with their music choices these days?
D: It's hard now because everybody has to pay for everything. It's trickier to get what you want. Video makers these days can't even get half way with it. It's just "Shit, we can't use Cream". Even if they have permission, they're just scared to do it. These big companies like Nike are so scared of lawsuits. Even if it was agreed they'd need signatures, they'd need pictures of the artist signing it... They're so scared to do it that it's not worth it. Like, "Who cares if it's a good song? We just don't want to get sued".
You skated to a Françoise Hardy song in one of the Habitat Field Logs. Are you a fan? Are you a fan of any music that people might consider 'exotic'?
D: I didn't choose that song, I didn't know we were gonna do that. But I listen to a lot of British stuff, sixties British stuff, and a lot of American stuff, and a little bit of South American. The Brazilian Tropicalia thing.
You're South American.
D: I was born in California, but my Mom was born in Peru, yeah.
Is there any music you love that you'd never skate to?
D: Probably most of the music I listen to. I've never been able to have the ability to hear songs in the skateboard video context. I don't think like a video editor, things just appeal to me sonically. Most of the music I like wouldn't be proper for skating.
John Lennon or Jim Morrison?
M: John Lennon.
D: John Lennon. I never got into Jim Morrison. It's cool, but I never got down with it.
Sonic Youth or The Sonics?
M: I don't even really know The Sonics.
D: The Sonics are a garage band, sort of like a 'Nuggets' band. I never really got into Sonic Youth.
M: I'd say Sonic Youth, because I've heard of them. Just from Ed Templeton.
What do you guys think of composed music for skate videos? Obviously there was the Flip video, but it goes back to Mr. Dibbs doing the music for the Habitat section in Photosynthesis. Do you think there's a future in that?
D: Yeah, why not? Especially if it was skaters. I've even talked about doing it. It'd be fun to really do it. I've never gotten the chance to make music for a video, it's always just the case that you get a call one day before they need it. If you're a skateboarder who is a musician, and understands a little bit about the video thing, it might be interesting to see. If they took it seriously and had time.
You skated to one of your own tracks in a shoe ad, didn't you?
D: Yeah. But once again, everything that's ever been in a video, they needed it so quick. Usually I don't even 'do' it, I just find something that I've recorded already. I've never actually had an opportunity to actually spend time with it and think about it.
Do you think there's too much music available, on things like Soundcloud? It was much easier to be selective with MySpace.
M: Yeah, but I think the ratio of good and bad is still going to be the same, because it's still humans making it. There's always going to be taste, and there's always going to be reaction to things that are popular, or other things that have been done. The idea of what constitutes 'music' is the same thing that makes humans human. It's something that comes from us. Even if it's just pushing a button or something.
Do you think there's more of a nobility to being a musician than to being a skateboarder? A lot of people would.
D: Like it's a hierarchy? No, I don't think so. Maybe it's more romantic. But it's the same thing. You're just playing with a toy, you know? That's really it. You're trying to create something out of this piece of wood, and people connect to it, and that's why they'll back you. Somehow they connect to it because they do the same thing. Who knows? It's a funny idea when you step back and look at it.
M: For me, personally - yes. I remember skating with people who were just really natural at it, and I always felt I had to work extra hard to do some things that maybe someone could learn in a day. As far as songs go, I feel a lot more comfortable doing it.
Skateboarding's dangerous, and it's hard. Do you think that's an equivalent value to the emotion that goes into writing a song?
M: Obviously there's an artistic side to skateboarding, but it's more of a physical strain than music. Physically, you could be really dexterous and play lots of crazy scales, but writing songs takes a much more introverted approach than skateboarding. I find that anyway. But there are so many parallels. It has a different validity to each individual. I definitely have less anxiety when I'm about to write a song compared to rolling up to a handrail!
But being signed to a label is similar to filming for a section. Now people are expecting something good from you.
M: Oh yeah. The expectations are always being raised.
D: It's internal stuff. It's always made up by yourself. You kind of give yourself those pressures. It's nice to do that, but I find the with the people who are a little more carefree, it comes out more naturally. Delivering something with less anxiety seems to be a little bit nicer. More natural.
So how does the satisfaction vary between writing a song and learning a new trick?
D: It kinda is the same thing. It's that funny sense of accomplishment. I don't know why the hell I strive for it. Most of us need a little bit of that every day, whatever it is we do. I get the same feeling if there's a big load of dishes and I finish the dishes. I just feel that I can go to sleep at night and feel comfortable. It's the slight obsessive compulsive thing that everyone has. I little amount is healthy, a crazy amount not so much.
It's a healthy thing to have if you're a musician or a skateboarder. When you need to discipline yourself to get stuff done.
D: That's the thing. I've seen it in people where it's so too much. If you're so obsessed with making music where you stay in all day, it's like being in jail. There's a certain point where I feel bad for people who are so obsessive, because they're kind of imprisoned in that obsession.
Danny, do you see yourself - at the moment - as a professional musician?
D: I don't know. I don't think so. Trying to make a living off it is kinda tricky. Any time I'm doing something like this, I'm paying for it. I spend a lot of money, you know? Skateboarding kinda allows me to do it. I could do it, but I don't know if it could be a living. I mean, that's a living for a really small amount of people.
Do you think you will, eventually?
D: It's kinda hard. I don't know. I mean, I could do. I don't have any ties, you know? I'm single, I don't have a family, so as far as going out on the road, I could do that. To make it as a musician you have to constantly do that. It just depends if you could be away most of the year. I guess I could do it for a little bit.
But you were just talking about the parallel between being a professional musician and a professional skateboarder. Would that not make the transition easier?
D: Yeah, maybe. Maybe with the lifestyle. Yeah, it's really similar, so it's just a matter of if I want to do it. Maybe that's why I find myself playing with the idea, and being here, experiencing it. I'm benefiting from my skateboarding, which allowed me to do it; and benefiting from being able to do it because of my friend doing it. It's the experience that I'm comin' after.
What things inspire you to make music, besides music?
M: One thing I'll say, is that when I was growing up, watching skate videos, that was the first time I actually 'placed' music with movement. I think that spending so much time watching sound and motion together played a lot into how - when I started writing - it was more of a visual thing than it was an aggressive thing, or whatever. I was always going to this visual place for it. I think that had an impact on why I started songwriting.
A visual sound...
M: Yeah. That was the goal.
D: I've never thought about it like that. For me it's the feeling of accomplishment, the need to get something done, day-to-day, and feeling kinda good for the day. Not just to get it done and out the way, but to feel good about something. Almost posterity too, for some reason. To log these things, and have 'em. Just like how you would take a picture.
That's the skateboard mentality talking.
D: Yeah. I would go out and shoot a photo, just because it felt good and it would put me in a good mood.
M: It makes your place on the Earth feel worthwhile for a little bit longer.
D: Because we're humans, everybody's doing something all day. Pecking away at something, whatever the hell it is. Everyone's got their own version, but that's my version.
The basic need to create and evolve.
D: Yeah, that's it. Especially to kind of pass along some sort of tradition. And to live longer. We all know we're going to die, so in a weird way, I think that informs the way we act sometimes. We're going to die fairly soon, so in a weird way you're always trying to live a little bit longer by fuckin' painting on walls or things like that. Trying to communicate longer.
M: For me it's almost like a barometer of who I am. Like I'm getting to know myself every day. Placing yourself and gauging yourself. If I don't have it I almost have a self-crisis. I need it to reflect myself, almost like a mirror. Even just to know how far you've come. It's the closest thing to perceiving yourself from the outside, and a lot of times it helps you learn what you need to improve about yourself in other parts of your life. Interpersonally, or maybe things about yourself that you've neglected in the past.
D: Gaining perspective, and being able to look at yourself objectively.
Who inspires you musically?
D: There's been a lot, and it changes over the years.
M: I like Dando Shaft a lot. I've been listening to them a lot lately. We're gonna go see some Chopin today.
D: I get into stuff sonically, like the way things sound, and sometimes I get into songwriters. Sometimes you just get into the attitude of something. It's usually American music of the last hundred years. That's what I always go back to.
Danny's solo album - as Reverend Baron - is available on Amazon, iTunes and Spotify right now, and it's great.
Thanks to Danny and Matt for the drinks. See you guys next time. Massive thanks to James at North Colour for taking the photos.
Thanks to Danny and Matt for the drinks. See you guys next time. Massive thanks to James at North Colour for taking the photos.