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Elder Scrolls IV - Oblivion Character Build-up
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Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Character Build-up & Development Guide
Version 1.3.8 2007/12/08
Copyright 2006-2007 Thomas "Sajin" Bergmann
Creative Commons by-nc-sa, see Copyright Notice
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was developed by Bethesda Game Studios,
published by Bethesda Softworks and 2K Games and is copyright 2006 Bethesda
Softworks. This guide is not endorsed by, nor is the author associated in
any way with, Bethesda Game Studios, Bethesda Softworks or 2K Games.
Oblivion is a great game, a huge game and at least on hard difficulty a
really challenging game. Since large parts of the game involve fighting,
and your enemies scale with your level, it can easily get over challenging.
So if you don't want to move your difficulty slider, or if you just want
to know how you get most out of your character and the game, read on !
If you have further information or corrections, please write me:
sajin(insert at)gmx(a dot here)net
I try to avoid quest spoilers in this guide, so i cannot include e.g.
training tips directly related to certain quests.
A note to pure role players: This guide explains how you optimize your
character both statwise and in terms of possible quests/guilds, so
don't take offence and read it as background info. I don't force you
to do anything.
Intro & contact infos
Table of Contents
Choose your Race.................................................CBDG02
Choose your Birthsign............................................CBDG03
Choose your Skills...............................................CBDG04
Character development............................................CBDG05
Appendix A: Sample character builds..............................CBDG0A
Appendix B: General game play tips...............................CBDG0B
Appendix C: Spell Discussion.....................................CBDG0C
Appendix D: Fast overview for Morrowind players..................CBDG0D
Version History
Quick jump to a section: Copy & paste the Code into your search box
(in windows CTRL-F)
After playing TES3: Morrowind for a long time and basically sitting in
front of Oblivion since it came out, i noticed how many people seem to
confuse game lore character ideas with actually good character builds.
Something like: A good fighter has all weapon skills, weapon specialisation
and The Warrior Birth sign. Or: Bretons are ideal mages but bad fighters
and thieves. All wrong except the part about ideal mages.
Lets take a quick look at the Attributes before we go in-depth. Starting
Attributes have scores between 30 and 50 (exception: female Orc 25
Personality), depending on your Race and Sex. You can modify them slightly
with Birth signs and the choice of favoured attributes. The maximum score
in-game is capped at 100, so while high starting scores will get you to
the maximum faster, they don't modify the cap. The Attributes are:
Strength (STR)
Related skills: Blade, Blunt, Hand To Hand
Determines: How much you carry, Fatigue score, melee damage
Intelligence (INT)
Related skills: Alchemy, Conjuration, Mysticism
Determines: Magicka, spell effectiveness
Willpower (WIL)
Related skills: Alteration, Destruction, Restoration
Determines: Fatigue score, resistance to Magicka, Magicka regeneration
Agility (AGI)
Related skills: Security, Stealth, Marksman
Determines: Bow damage, Fatigue score
Speed (SPD)
Related skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Light Armour
Determines: Movement speed
Endurance (END)
Related skills: Armourer, Block, Heavy Armour
Determines: Fatigue score, Health gain on level up
Personality (PER)
Related Skills: Illusion, Mercantile, Speechcraft
Determines: NPC reactions
Luck (LCK)
Related Skills: None
Determines: how lucky you are
| Directly derived from attributes are the following |
The amount of damage you take before dying. Starts with 2x Endurance, add
10% Endurance per level up.
Power to cast spells. 2x Intelligence + Race/Birth sign Bonuses.
Regenerates constantly over time, regeneration speed is tied to Willpower.
Jumping and Power attacks (and other things like blocking & bow at low
levels) use Fatigue. The Formula is STR + END + AGL + WIL. Regenerates
constantly over time.
| Resistances & Weaknesses |
They are not displayed on the attribute screen, you have to access them
via the magic tab.
You can have resistance versus certain types of damage or effects.
Magnitude 50 resistance to fire = only half (50%) fire damage from spells
and attacks. Types: Fire, Frost, Shock, Magic (except elemental), Poison
and Disease
The opposite of resistance. Magnitude 50 weakness = 50% more fire damage
If you reach 100 % resistance, you are immune to that type of damage or
effect. You won't gain health for more than 100% resistance.
First off, starting attributes are not important for your choice. Why ?
The difference between 30(min) and 50(max) Strength is only four levels.
And the maximum Attribute score is the same for all races. So one race
will have max Strength at level 15, the other already at level 11. Imho
this is no big difference, max. level is about 50. Same for skills, but
here the difference is max. one level (10 skill points). Since beauty is
in the eye of the beholder, lets take a look at special abilities.
Resist Disease (magnitude 75, constant)
Immune to Poison (Resist Poison, magnitude 100, constant)
Water Breathing (constant)
Three positive constant effects - not bad. But Disease and Poison
is rare, and one potion or spell can heal it. Water Breathing is a
cheap spell, so then main advantage of Argonians is their cool
lizard look.
Rating: B-
Fortified Magicka (Fortify Maximum Magicka magnitude 50, constant)
Dragon Skin (Shield magnitude 50, duration 60; once a day)
Resist Magicka (magnitude 50, constant)
Resist Magicka 50 constant ! This is a constant master level spell,
which is absolutely great. Its easy to get magic immunity with this
Race. Fortified Magicka is also good for all casters, but Resist
Magicka this high is really priceless for all classes.
Note: this does not include resistance/immunity to elemental
magic and effects: fire, frost, shock (by Priyesh)
Rating: A
Dark Elf
Ancestor Guardian (Summon Ghost, duration 60 once a day)
Resist Fire (magnitude 75, constant)
Resist Fire 75 is nice, especially since this game is called oblivion
(which is Tamriels hell). Fire damage is common and fire immunity is
close for Dark Elves. The Ancestor Guardian is good for Atronach
players (see Birth signs) for early mana regeneration.
Rating: B+
High Elf
Weakness to Fire, Frost and Shock (magnitude 25, constant)
Resist Disease (magnitude 75, constant)
Fortified Magicka (magnitude 100, constant)
Ok race for Mages, 50 more Magicka bonus than Bretons. However,
instead of Magic resistance you get weaknesses to the most
common magic damage types. The weaknesses don't hurt too
much, but you have a far way to go and probably won't get more
than one full immunity in one of them. Pick High Elf if you like
pointy ears or if you really need the high Magicka.
Note: (by Stefan Lindberg & Reimer the_maestro) If combined with
the Atronach Birth sign and some Spell Absorption Items for 100%
Spell Absorption, High Elves Weaknesses are turned to immunity -
the magic is absorbed before it could hurt you more than normal.
So what's left: the highest possible Magicka score without items
and Resist Disease 75 (easy immunity).
Rating: C- (B for Mages, A+ for 100% Absorb Atronachs)
Star of the West (Absorb fatigue, magnitude 100; once a day)
Voice of the Emperor (Charm, magnitude 30; once a day)
Two once per day abilities, both equivalent to low spell levels ?
Well... not so well.
Rating: D
Eye of Fear (Demoralize, magnitude 100, once a day)
Eye of Night (Night Eye, duration 30, unlimited uses)
Demoralize is quite strong and works quite well. Good if you are
outnumbered. Eye of Night is good for dungeon crawling without
a torch, but equivalent to low level illusion spells.
Rating: D+
Nordic Frost (Frost Damage, touch, magnitude 50; once a day)
Woad (Shield, magnitude 30, duration 60; once a day)
Resist Frost (magnitude 50, constant).
Resist Frost is ok, but only 50. Its not as common as fire, but
its all right. Woad is a medium shield spell once per day, Nordic
Frost is a combat starter for the first 4 levels.
Rating: C
Berserk (Fortify Health 20, Fortify Fatigue 200, Fortify Strength 50,
Drain Agility 100, duration 60; once a day)
Resist Magicka (magnitude 25)
Resist Magicka is always nice, but 25 is not much. Berserk includes a
50 strength Boost and the Fatigue Boost helps your power attacks
greatly. Very nice for melee fighters, but only once per day.
Rating: c+ (A- for fighters)
Adrenaline Rush (Fortify Agility 50, Fortify Speed 50, Fortify
Strength 50, Fortify Endurance 50, Fortify Health 25; duration 60)
Resist Poison (magnitude 75)
Resist Disease (magnitude 75)
Four Attribute Boosts of 50 ! This is a really great ability for melee
and ranged fighters. Sure, only once per day - but the boost is just
incredible. Poison and Disease Resistance are nice, but you will find
enough potions for a cure anyway.
Rating: B- (A for fighters)
Wood Elf
Beast Tongue (Command Creature, magnitude 20, duration 60, once a day)
Resist Disease (magnitude 75)
Well, er. magnitude 20 ? You don't even summon your beast ? Bad joke !
Resist Disease - or just keep a potion ready.
Rating: D
|||| Conclusion ||||
Breton is a good race for anybody, followed by Dark Elves and Argonians.
For Atronach players, High Elves might be a good Idea. Redguards and Orcs
are interesting for their once a day attribute boost, but i honestly
prefer good constant effects over great once a day effects.
There are four basic kinds: Attribute Birth signs, which are not really
necessary: you can max your all attributes and then some. They do
provide a nice boost for the first few levels however. Spelllike Ability
Birth signs to get you one or more abilities. Magicka Birth signs, to get
higher Magicka. And The interesting Birth sign(tm) - the name says it all.
| Attribute Birth signs |
The Thief
(Fortified Agility 10, Speed 10, Luck 10)
High Boost, since Luck +10 is worth 50 Attribute points,
all in all you get the equivalent of 70 level-up Attribute
points - see character Development Section for explanation
Rating B
The Warrior
(Fortified Strength 10, Fortified Endurance 10)
Equals 20 more starting hit points and one more hit point at level up
until Endurance is at maximum. 10 Str is not bad either, both for
encumbrance and dishing out damage.
Rating C
The Steed
(Fortified Speed 20)
You will be able to outrun most enemies at early levels, which is
good to get Magicka and Fatigue back up, for hit and run tactics
etc. However, this effect wont last long.
Rating D+
The Lady
(Fortified Willpower 10, Fortified Endurance 10)
20 more starting hit points and one more hit point at level up until
Endurance is at maximum. (Barely) faster Magicka regeneration. Not
as good as The Warrior, but might be a better choice for a mage.
Rating: C-
| Spell like Ability Birth signs |
The Lord
(Restore Health 6/sec for 15 sec
Weakness to fire magnitude 25, constant)
Well, this is bad. Restore Health is good for the first 10 levels,
weakness to fire is bad forever.
Rating: F
The Shadow
(Invisibility 60 sec, once per day)
Invisibility is a useful spell, but it IS a spell - and you wont even
need illusion as a major skill to get it...
Rating: D+
The Serpent
(As a single ability
Damage Health touch, magnitude 3 for 20 sec
Dispel (magnitude 90
Cure Poison
Damage Fatigue self, magnitude 100)
60 damage over 20 sec is nothing. Cure Poison and Dispel are ok, but
nothing special. And you pay 100 Fatigue.
Rating: D
The Lover
(Paralyse 10 sec, touch, damage 120 fatigue on self)
10 Second duration, that's the paralyse spell on master level, quite a
treat i think.
Rating: B-
The Tower
(Open Average Lock 1/day
Reflect Damage 5 points for 120 sec 1/day)
Might be a sign for you if you are bad in the lock picking mini game
(its reaction based after all) and don't use illusion. A 5 Point
Reflect Damage is nice only at the start.
Rating: D+
The Ritual
(Restore Health 100, 1/day
Turn Undead (100 for 30 sec, 1/day)
Expert level Restore Health is nice, but you can use potions and spells
instead. Turn Undead is ok, too. If you don't have high restoration,
this might be interesting - but once per day is simply not enough.
Rating: D
| Magicka Birth signs |
The Mage
(Fortified Magicka 50)
The standard Birth sign for casters. But all classes that use magic
will benefit from this sign. No strings attached, this is a safe
Rating: B (A- for mages)
The Apprentice
(Fortified Magicka 100
Weakness to Magicka 100)
50 more magicka than The Mage is not worth dying for. For you will die
with this birth sign. You might pick Breton for a combined Weakness to
Magicka 50 and Maximum Magicka +150, but i don't recommend it.
Rating: F (C for mages)
| The interesting Birth sign(tm) |
The Atronach
(Fortified Magicka 150
Spell Absorption 50
No Magicka regeneration! )
This sign is just great. And I'm not talking about the Magicka bonus.
I would pick it even if it had a Magicka malus - the real special is
the 50% Spell Absorption - imagine this: You get hit by magic in only
50% of all cases, the rest gets absorbed completely. If you get items
or spells that add another 50% Spell Absorption, that's like immunity
to fire, frost, shock and magicka all in one ! For pure fighters, there
is no downside, But you might think, no Magicka regeneration really
gimps a caster ? The obvious solution - Potions - costs time and money.
Shrines and the like replenish Magicka, but wont help in the middle of
a dungeon. Your Spell Absorption will do the trick: If your enemies
don't cast spells on you anyway, summon a wraith (or ghost), hit it
three times and it will start to attack you with magic only. Full
Magicka guaranteed (low level ghosts may damage you a little and take
three or four summons)! If you foresee a tough fight, you can take the
ghost with you to keep your Magicka up. It also works with other
summoned casters, but the ghost/wraith/gloom wraith line works best.
A possible downside: In big fights, pure destruction mages may run out
of Magicka if all opponents are melee without any magic weapons. This
should not happen very often if you followed my "focus on prime damage
skill and attribute" rule - but keeping some self-made Magicka potions
just in case won't hurt. Also, if you are first level and your
summoning skill is 25, summoning the ghost might be more expensive
than the mana returned. This won't happen later on (later as in level
3 and more).
[Clarification: Unlike Resistance, Spell Absorption 50 absorbs 100%
of a spell - and it will work on 50% of all spells]
Note: The Summon Ghost spell or better is essential for this build,
so first thing out of prison should be a quick trip to Chorrol. If you
don't have enough money, sell the Mage Guilds Alchemy equipment & potions.
Rating: A+
|||| Conclusion ||||
The Atronach is the best birth sign, but it also has a huge impact on
game play. If that's not your cup of tea, The Mage is good for all
spellcasters, The Lover is a good ability sign and The Thief is a great
attribute sign.
| [CBDG04] Choose your Skills |
Shouldn't this section be called 'Choose your Class' ? No. Classes are
just a selection of major skills, two favoured attributes and a skill
package. Take a look at the Skill descriptions here, and if you find
a good predefined class in game pick it accordingly. However, the
existing classes don't have luck as favoured attribute, and most have
stupid skill combinations from a game play perspective - they are
ok from the lore perspective, but that's not the point of this guide.
First, lets take a quick look which favoured attributes we pick -
favoured attribute equals a one time +5 bonus. The first one is
obviously luck, since its hard to raise (see Character Development for
more info). The other one is up to you, although endurance would be
a natural choice, since later endurance changes are not retroactive
(your starting health is 2x your starting endurance, not 2x your
level 50 endurance).
Secondly, pick a skill package. This affects you in two ways: You get
a +5 bonus to all package skills (packages are Combat, Magic, Stealth)
and you will increase those skills even faster. A major package skill
will rise faster than a normal major one, a minor package skill will
rise faster than a normal minor but still slower than a normal major.
I normally pick stealth or combat, since magic is so easy to raise
anyway. Some hardcore power gamers think one should get the package
with the least major skills, since your maximum level is determined
by (700-(sum of starting major skill points))/10 - but that's not
true since you can decrease your skill points in prison. And its not
Thirdly, pick your major skills. The 7 major skills rise a lot faster,
they start at apprentice level and 10 skill rises in any combination of
major skills gives you one level-up. However, you can also raise minor
skills, actually as far as major ones - its just slower. Skills give
you certain perks at 25 (Apprentice), 50 (Journeyman), 75 (Expert) and
100 (Master) Skill points. The Spell casting skills have no real perks,
but the perk levels allow you to cast different spells. Ok lets start...
| Combat Skills |
Block (Endurance)
Essential Skill for melee. Some good timing is required, but
especially later on it will mean the difference between winning
a fight barely scratched and loosing badly. Its easy rise, so
no need to pick it as major - but DO spend time or money on this
Novice: fatigued by blocking
Apprentice: not fatigued by blocking
Journeyman: shield/weapon takes no damage from blocking (!)
Expert: chance to do a knock back counter-attack
Master: knock back counter-attack has chance to disarm
Rating A-
Armourer (Endurance)
Repair your stuff to keep it effective. Get it at least to Journeyman
if you use armour and weapons so you can repair magical equipment.
Good overall skill, but since it just saves some money for repairs
and rises fast its not worth a major pick.
Novice: cannot repair magic items
Apprentice: repair hammers last longer (2x)
Journeyman: can repair magic items
Expert: Can improve items to 125%
- yes they get more effective that way !
Master: never breaks repair hammers
Rating C
Heavy Armour (Endurance)
Either pick this or Light Armour if you wear armour at all. Somewhat
cosmetic choices, since both types do not encumber at master level &
Light Armour has 50% AC bonus later on. However, the best non-unique
Heavy Armour has better enchanting capacity than the best Light Armour
and until you reach master level, Heavy Armour is the better choice -
encumbrance is not that much of a problem - staying alive is better
than carrying more. The third choice, no armour, is hard - especially
in many vs one battles. So pick this skill, and pick it major.
Novice: 150 % degration rate
Apprentice: normal degration
Journeyman: 50% slower degration
Expert: encumbers only 50%
Master: encumbers not at all
Rating B+
Blunt (Strength)
Maces, Axes, Mauls, Staffs... you name it. A little stronger than
blade, but also a little slower. There are more unique Blades than
Blunt Weapons, and since effects are an important factor later on,
speed wins over damage. If you don't need Blunt for style reasons
(Mage Staff, Maul Barb), get Blade.
Note by Aerenel: Blunt is stronger against certain creatures, e.g.
Skeletons & Slaughterfish
Novice: basic power attack
Apprentice: Standing Power Attack damage bonus
Journeyman: Left/Right Power Attack have chance to disarm
Expert: Backwards Power Attack has chance to knock-down
Master: Forward Power Attack has chance to paralyse
Rating B+
Blade (Strength)
Daggers, Short Swords, Long Swords, Claymores, Katanas & Dai-Katanas -
something for every range and speed requirement. It wins speed wise
over Blunt. It has more variety. It has more unique weapons. And they
look cool. So if you want to get into melee at all, pick Blade.
Novice: basic power attack
Apprentice: Standing Power Attack damage bonus
Journeyman: Left/Right Power Attack have chance to disarm
Expert: Backwards Power Attack has chance to knock-down
Master: Forward Power Attack has chance to paralyse
Rating A
Athletics (Speed)
Well you run & swim faster - and since you run all the time anyway,
this skill will go up. Swimming will raise it if you don't get any more
raises out of running. Don't take it as major, it will give you gimp
levels en masse.
Novice: running = slow fatigue regeneration
Apprentice: 25% faster fatigue regeneration
Journeyman: 50% faster fatigue regeneration
Expert: 75% faster fatigue regeneration
Master: running does not reduce fatigue regeneration
Rating D
Hand to Hand (Strength)
Hand to Hand is fast - very fast. Knock-downs are abundant. But that's
about it. Both damage and reach are minimal. And all those cool weapons
won't make you smile in your sleep, and you cannot enchant your fists.
(by GTPoompt) Also usefull if your weapon is destroyed by spell or
heavy usage.
Nordic Boxing (by Isaiah Ari): I think you undervalued hand to
hand combat, though. My main character is a Nord and I set him up as a
sort of boxer. He wears no armor, just enchanted clothing. It makes him
much faster, and the clothes are enchanted to give shield, which
compensates for the lack of armor. I also stole an item from Branwen
outside the Arena, it gives +20 hand to hand. Combined with paralyze,
the whole build works great.
Novice: basic power attack
Apprentice: Standing Power Attack damage bonus
Journeyman: Left/Right Power Attack have chance to disarm
Expert: Backwards Power Attack & Block has chance to knock-down
Master: Forward Power Attack has chance to paralyse
Block has a chance to disarm
Rating D+
| Magic Skills |
Higher magic skill equals lesser spell costs - so if you find one
of those "Call me Death Star" spells with high Magicka cost, raise
the fitting magic skill. There are no perks, just access to new
spells. Alchemy is the exception, it works just like the other
non-magic skills.
Destruction (Willpower)
Magic Damage for all your needs: fire, frost, shock, health, Magicka,
equipment, attribute or skill - if it has a rating, you can damage it
with destruction. Just destroy your enemy's magic, disintegrate his
stuff and enjoy Mr. Superarchmage fighting naked with his fists. Pick
it !
Rating: A
Alteration (Willpower)
Open locks with magic, alter encumbrance on self and others and water
walking are the not so good parts of Alteration, but Water Breathing is
essential for your underwater expeditions (or Alchemy) and the
shield spells (vs normal/elemental damage) are nice, too. Ok, but not
really worth a major pick.
Rating: C
Illusion (Personality)
Let your enemies fight against each other, while you watch invisible or
join the fight under a chameleon spell. Make them love you, make them
fear you. Paralyse them. And this school has the most effective spell
versus casters: silence. Its fun, however not absolutely necessary as
a major.
Rating: A-
Conjuration (Intelligence)
Well, turn undead and summon weapons/armour is worthless (you want your
stuff enchanted and at 125%) . But summoned beasts are nice, willing
training dummies, and the best Magicka potion for you atronachs (see
birth signs). In fights, you get most damage for your magic from
summons, and they also take damage for you.
Rating: B (A for Atronach Birth sign)
Mysticism (Intelligence)
Dispel and Life Detection are not that important, the basic apprentice
soul trap is completely sufficient, you don't need telekinesis for
most thefts. The real goodies are Spell Absorption & Spell Reflection.
On the other hand, both are better used as constant effect items.
Not worth the major pick.
Rating: C+
Restoration (Willpower)
If Destruction allows you to destroy anything with a rating, restoration
allows you to absorb all those (health, Magicka, fatigue, skills,
attributes), or fortify them, or restore them. You will use this power
often - so often in fact that you will be at 50 skill points very fast.
50 is sufficient, so its a must have, but not must have major.
Rating: A
Alchemy (Intelligence)
The jack of all trades magic skill. Make your own potions and poisons for
every occasion. Creating new crazy potions is a great game on its own.
If you like to try out new stuff, this is for you. Can jump in for any
magic school except conjuration.
Novice: recognises 1 of 4 properties of substances
Apprentice: recognises 2 of 4 properties of substances
Journeyman: recognises 3 of 4 properties of substances
Expert: recognises 4 of 4 properties of substances
Master: make potions from a single ingredient
Rating: A-
| Stealth Skills |
Security (Agility)
Open locks. Well, you can open a very hard lock with one lockpick and
skillevel 5, so its not really worth it. If you don't like the mini
game, you are better off with Alteration than with high security
skill levels. There is also an independant-one-quest item that will
remove the last bits of usefulness from this skill.
Novice: up to 4 tumblers fall on fail
Apprentice: up to 3 tumblers fall on fail
Journeyman: up to 2 tumblers fall on fail
Expert: up to 1 tumblers fall on fail
Master: no tumblers fall on fail
Rating D (F with special item)
Sneak (Agility)
Move unseen, backstab and pick pockets. This skill is great. There is
no substitute for pick pockets, Backstabbing is the best way to start
a fight and nothing gives you better heart attacks than sneaking into
the treasure chamber (or out of prison). Additionally, you wont draw
attention if you sneak while lock picking. Pick it major if you are
interested the thief guild / heists / assassin methods in general.
Novice: 4x back stab, 2x marksman undetected critical
Apprentice: 6x back stab, 3x marksman undetected critical
Journeyman: no penalty for weight of boots
Expert: no penalty to chance of detection for moving
Master: back stab ignores armour rating
Rating A-
Acrobatics (Speed)
Jumping and Falling. This skill gets interesting on higher levels:
Since there are no levitation spells in Oblivion, high Acrobatics is
the only way to reach certain places - for example, there are hidden
areas only reachable by water (aka lava) jumping (submitted by Aerenel).
The dodge ability is nice against enemy power attacks, real blocks are
better to break a normal attack sequence with their counter attack.
Also good for getting out of sticky situations in late game (by
LtKerensky). Probably no major pick, but you should train this.
Novice: no attack when jumping/falling
Apprentice: normal attacks when jumping/falling
Journeyman: dodge (block & jump to avoid hit completely)
Expert: 50% less fatigue loss for jumping
Master: jump off the surface of water
Rating C+
Light Armour (Speed)
Pick this or Heavy Armour. Light Armour means less encumbrance early
on, Heavy Armour better defence - but on Master level they are
almost equal (no encumbrance, about same defence). Even then, Heavy
Armour is better for enchantment. However, until master level Heavy
armour is a better, since encumbrance is less important than armour
Novice: degrades at 150% of normal rate
Apprentice: degrades at normal rate
Journeyman: degrades 50% slower
Expert: does not encumber at all
Master: 50% bonus to armour rating (only for full light armor)
Rating: B
Marksman (Agility)
You want to show Legolas how one REALLY uses a bow ? Pick this skill.
Double enchantments (bow & arrow are added) with zoom, knock-down &
paralysing chances + 3x critical if you use sneak - your enemies
will be in a bad condition when they reach you - if they reach you at
all. Drawback: It uses ammo (so what?) and requires some tactical
planning in battles against multiple enemies.
Novice: fatigued when holding bow drawn back
Apprentice: not fatigued when holding bow drawn back
Journeyman: block with bow = zoom ability
Expert: chance of knock-down
Master: Chance of paralysing
Rating: A-
Mercantile (Personality)
High Mercantile = better deals. Since money is lying on the streets
anyway, you don't need better deals.
Novice: value is reduced by worn condition
Apprentice: value is not reduced by worn condition
Journeyman: buy and sell any object to any vendor
Expert: invest in shops (shops available gold +500)
Master: all shops have +500 gold for barter
Rating: F
Speech craft (Personality)
Persuade others. Ok if you don't use illusion, but bribes are working
all right in most cases. You can get the disposition up about 30 points
in the mini game without any training - add illusion and/or money and
you will be all right. Not worth a major pick.
Novice: offer bribes to increase Disposition
Apprentice: free rotation of a wedge in the mini game
Journeyman: timer in mini game is 50% slower
Expert: disposition loss by bad choices in mini game is reduced
Master: bribes for half price
Rating: C-
|||| Conclusion ||||
Good major skills are Block, Heavy or Light Armour, Blunt or Blade,
Destruction, Illusion, Conjuration, Alchemy, (Restoration), Marksman
and Sneak.
The best starting character is worthless if you don't level him up
correctly. And the game punishes you severely for not doing so. If you
don't plan ahead a little, you will not be able to play beyond medium
difficulty, and if you seriously screw up, even medium may get impossible.
| Level-Up Game Mechanics |
So lets take a look how a level up works: As soon as you have gained 10
skill points in any combination of major skills, you will get a level
up. Upon level up, you gain 1/10th of your endurance in Health and can
select 3 attributes to be increased. Sounds easy ? Well there is a catch:
Skills are tied to attributes, and for every 2 skill points tied to a
certain attribute you get a better increase for this attribute on
level up. The maximum increase is +5.
An example:
Your mage has gained 4 Points Mysticism, 5 Points Conjuration & 1 Point
Alchemy - all those skills are tied to Intelligence. So if you pick
Intelligence on level up, you will get a 5 points boost instead a one
point boost. If you had 5 Points Conjuration,, 1 Point Alchemy and
4 Points Destruction, you would get Intelligence x3 and Willpower x2.
It does not matter whether the skills are major or minor, all increases
add to the stat increase modification. You probably know where this
leads: For every level, use a combination of minor and major skill
points that give you a +5 increase to two attributes - Luck is not tied
to a skill, so it will go up one point per level. You could also just
leave luck at 55 and try to get three +5 increases. And don't get any
other skill points which will not contribute to those attributes. And
don't get all 3 skills tied to one attribute major, since you will
have to use them exclusively or not at all that way (remember, 10
points to level up AND 10 points for +5).
Obviously, this is horrible. Forget immersion, forget normal exploring,
just say "I will be God, and this is necessary". Well... Or don't.
I recommend to get one of the many level-up mods that give you x5 for
any skill gain since the last level. You still gain your levels
honestly, so i consider this to be a fix. If you consider it cheating,
say "i will be God, so this is necessarily fun. It is... really !".
[Note: I got quite some emails stating its hard to find the mod, and
indeed i couldn't find a "one change only" mod any more, So i posted
one that just gives you +5 for any skill gains since the last level,
nothing else. Its on
Someone deleted it. I found it again on
If you read this guide and the last update was some time ago, it might
be a better idea search the web for "plus5always" or "plus5always.esp" ]
| Character Development |
I will assume you got your +5 increases in one way or another. But
its still a good idea to keep focused, At level 14, you can have
60 in every attribute (and Luck 68). Or you can have 100 Endurance
and 100 in your main attribute: Strength for melee fighters,
Agility for archers, Intelligence for mages. The first character
will be lost on hard, and difficult on medium, the second will be
easy on medium, and sometimes challenging in hard.
|||| So, first rule of fight club ||||
Maximize Endurance first ! Endurance = Health, and Health you
need. The only stat that does not work retroactive.
|||| Second rule |||||
Maximize Endurance first ! And focus on it. Its really important
to have enough health to stay alive in a hard 6 vs 1 battle on
maximum difficulty. It still won't be enough health, but
less health is suicide.
|||| Third rule ||||
Maximize one important attribute ! - And I'm not talking about
Personality. The attribute tied to your damage dealing skill should
be max. For melee, that's Strength, for Archery Agility, for
Magic Intelligence or a mix of Willpower and Intelligence.
|||| Forth rule ||||
Some focus on the damage dealing Skill is important. You don't
need to hurry as much, and maxing out is not the prime goal,
but your prime damage dealer should be in the upper seventies
rather sooner than later.
|||| fifth rule ||||
Don't forget your minor support skills.
After you got a decent prime damage skill, your further skill
development is really up to you. You are safe now.
| Training Skills |
Learning by doing - and learning more by doing more, or how
you train specific skills outside normal combat.
Spellcasting Skills:
Most schools have training cantrips, cheap spells you can
cast onto yourself while running to the next town / quest.
Illusion has Light, Alteration has Protect, Mysticism has
Minor Life Detection. Conjuration and Destruction are best
trained together: Summon Skeleton and blast it away with
------Liq writes------
for destruction training, getting to the spell maker
allows one to make a self nuke that drains fatigue
Create some endurance potions made of common food - its
lying around everywhere.
------Adam Stasiak writes------
Since the potions usually sell for more than the
ingredients, you can go to all the ingredient sellers you
choose, and buy up all their cheap ingredients (2-4g). Then
pretty much just make whatever you can with all that. Once
you sell it all you will probably have made a profit. As
you get to 25,50,75 it gets easier and easier since it's
easier to find valid potion combinations. But this can be
a lot faster and less tedious than wandering through the
Fighting Skills:
Hit your summoned Skeleton for Hand to Hand, Blade, Blunt and
Marksman, let it hit you for Light and Heavy Armour, and block
its attacks for Block. (by Reimer the_maestro:) You could also
get yourself some rats - lets call them Martin, Davis and
Sinatra - for some rounds of block and armour. They hit fast
without much damage and thus increase defensive skills much
better than any summoned creature.
------Adam Stasiak writes------
For training combat skills and destruction, basically anything
where you need a victim. The Zombie seems a much better victim
than the skeleton. He has MANY more hitpoints, and attacks a
bit slower. So you can hit him that many more times per
summoning. I would also recommend using bad weapons to train
(iron club, iron dagger, iron bow) since they are both cheap
and do less damage. You can also let these wear down in quality
so their damage rating is down to 1 or 2. The skill gain seems
to be based on the number of hits, not the damage you do, so
there's no point in killing them too quickly, only to have to
summon another one. This also makes it easier if you want to
avoid raising conjuration.
------Morph writes------
For marksman skill, if you hit the pickup button right after
the fire button, you can pickup the arrow right as it bounces
off your summoned critters. It works mighty effectively for
conserving arrows!
------Gessie writes------
Heavy/Light Armor can be trained very easily. Simply drink
some Shield potions to get your rating up to 85, then drink
another restore health potion, and get beaten up by a bunch
of guards. The Imperial Prison is a good place to find guards,
since there won't be any other NPC's who will join the fight.
Imagine 5 guards constantly using swift blade attacks on you,
meaning about 3 hits every second, more if you stand in the
right place.
Repair everything, repair hammers are cheap and you gain
skillpoints fast. (by Adam Stasiak:) The amount of skill gained
is not per repaired damage, but per repair skill application.
So repair everything every time its damaged, even if its only
one point. Using the fact that bows are damaged for every
fired arrow, use e.g. five bows to fire an arrow into the
grass at your feet, pick em up, repair the bow, repeat.
------Joseph Carmona writes------
create a destroy armor spell that works on yourself :-)
Picking locks, this way:
------Michael Grazier writes------
Well, the best way I've found to do it is to lock a tumbler or
two in place, exit out, and then re-attempt the lock. Repeat
ad nauseum and your lock picking should go up relatively quick.
Go into a room with a person inside, go to a corner of the room,
sneak. If you keep walking (even if you just walk against the
wall), your Sneak skill will rise.
-----Stephen(vitamin dew) writes:------
At the bottom you give training tips. Another good, maybe even
better, way to raise sneak is to finish the arena and get your
fan. Then tele to a cave and go inside, he will appear in front of
you and you can just sneak and pick pocket for as long as you want.
Another way to do it, but I don't know if it works right away or if
you need a few levels. You can sit in front of a bed at an outside
camp(Kvatch) and just pick pocket him to his face and sleep after
each level.
Like athletics, you dont have to be present to raise sneak:
------Chase writes------
get arrested and when ur in jail go into a corner and put a rubber
band on the left thumbstick so that you walk into the corner and
just come back in about 30 min and you will go from like 1 sneak to
maybe 100 i did this from less than 40 and i went all the way up to
100, its just a lot less work you need to do
Swimming raises this one fast, far faster than running which
you do all the time anyway.
------Adam Stasiak writes------
Hit Q to go into auto-run mode, find a pool with a steep edge in
a corner, face into that corner, and go grab a cup of coffee while
your character swims their way to a brand new body.
Jumping around, especially this way:
------Brett Johnson writes------
hey for acrobatics i found it really easy to get your head close to
the top of a wall by jumping on places like a shelf in the cloud
ruler temple armoury...
Another very good way:
------Chris Raine writes------
Great guide! Here's a faster way to train acrobatics: Find a
place to fall just enough to take damage without getting killed
(I used one of the terrace walls in Bruma because stairs are so
accessible). Jump off, groan with pain, heal yourself while
running back up the stairs, jump again. Taking damage from falls
does much more acrobatics training than just jumping.
The same idea, improved some more:
------Morph writes------
Chris Raine has the right idea, but it's too slow ~ the best way
is to go up to "Gnoll Mountain" which is somewhere to the right of
Bruma (above the county of bruma and under the big M of mountain).
Then, from there, run toward imperial city, jumping all the way!
Eventually, you'll come up the same elevation as the Imperial City.
At this point, fast travel up to Gnoll Mountain, and jump and
fall again! Works great =)
Speech craft:
Play the persuasion mini game with everyone.
------NightStik writes------
In order to quickly train the Speechcraft skill, what you should
do is talk to someone about whom you don't care (say a guard)
and go to the Persuade option. Every time just click the smallest
wedge on each block as it goes around the circle. The disposition
will eventually hit zero, but your speechcraft will continue to
raise when you do this.
Buying/selling stuff. But how you sell is important, too:
------Ender writes------
OK, so Mercantile raises by how many transactions you do with the
other person, Not by how much you've earned or how many things
you sell. So, a good way to raise Mercantile and Alchemy at the
same time is:
Grab all the food you find
Make Restore Fatigue potions
Sell the Restore Fatigue potions one at a time
There are also trainers who charge money for increasing your
skill - might be interesting for high Athletics and Security. You
will need a recommendation from the medium trainers to train with
master (70+) trainers, who normally also want you to complete a
------Aerenel writes------
Each new level still only has 5 points. So to get important skills
up to a perk fast, such as HA to reduce weight, armourer to repair
magic items, alchemy to make better potions, etc, it is technically
best to use all 5 trains starting at level one and never failing.
I think he has a point. Lvl 10+ money is abundant, and high skill level
training without a teacher gets slow. On low levels, getting the money
uses far more time than some rats gnawing on your boots for a minute.
Race: Breton
Birth sign: The Atronach
Skill package: Combat
Favoured Attributes: Luck, Endurance
Skills: Blade, Heavy Armour, Illusion, Destruction, Conjuration,
Alchemy, Sneak
Normal Combat looks like this: After the initial 6x critical power
attack with a blade imbued with self-made poison, the spellcatcher
tries to keep the attention of his enemy while his pet happily
whacks on the unprotected back. If the enemy is humanoid, he will
fight with bare fists after a few Corrode Weapon spells.
Magic combat is where the fun starts: Instead of avoiding enemy
spells, the Spellcatcher tries to catch them, using the gained
Magicka to play Fireball ping-pong. Alas, most times the
Spellcatcher is the only one with a racquet.
In times of peace, he lets friendly summoned ghosts replenish his
magicka while he's searching ingredients for stronger poisons and
combat drugs.
Battlemage (by Stefan Lindberg)
Race: High Elf
Birth sign: The Atronach
Skill package: Magic
Favoured Attributes: Luck, Endurance
Skills: Blade, Heavy Armour, Illusion, Destruction, Conjuration,
Alteration, Mysticism
(explanation by myself)
Highest possible Magicka, and 5 immunities are easily reachable:
Magicka, Frost, Fire and Shock by additional 50% Absorption
items/spells, Poison by additional 25% items/spells. Add Heavy
Armour and a damage shield, perhaps some resistance to mundane
damage items and this guy will eat damage like dragons do (and
then some).
Thief Lord (by GigaFire)
Race: Breton or Dark Elf
Birthsign: Atronach or Thief
Skill Package: Stealth
Favored Attributes: Strength/Luck
Skills: Blade, Light Armor, Illusion, Destruction, Sneak,
Marksman, Conjuration
The point of this build is to take out some enemies with a sneak
blow, then be prepared to handle more guys without sneak or
handle your initial target if he survives the sneak multiplier.
Light Armor should protect you for the duration of the battle,
especially at master level. If it's too light where your target
is and you can't get a sneak blow with your blade, then you
simply pull out your trusty bow and fire an arrow or two. With
Illusion, you can stalk through dungeons binded to the shadows,
possibly with invisibility, and see twice as clearly as your
foes. If your foe happens to be Umbra or something, summon a
Xivilai, blast away her armor and weapon with a destruction
spell, and watch the fireworks. Also, for Atronach players, you
can summon a ghost so it can "share" its magic with you.
Invincible Chameleon (by Gessie)
Race: Breton
Sign: Thief
Attributes: Endurance, Luck
Skills: Marksman, Light Armor (an archer wearing ebony simply
looks lame), the rest: Whatever you want, really.
Tactics: Get the Ring of the Kajiit (35% chameleon, 10 speed)
and enchant 3 other items with Chameleon, giving you a total
of 95%. Cast 6% Chameleon for 120 seconds. Nothing can see you,
you get infinite stealth hits. If you have higher Illusion skill
you should be able to cast 30% or 50% Chameleon for such a
duration, meaning that you need less enchantments, meaning more
skill/attribute buffs. [...] An alternative is drinking Chameleon
potions like mad. [...] Bloodgrass has Chameleon as the first
effect, so a master can create 0.1 weight Chameleon potions
using just bloodgrass.
(Comment by me)
Pro: You are invincible!
Con: You are invincible...
(Your Character build could be here - only requirement is hard
difficulty capability)
Early money:
Sell all this free alchemy equipment and those silver daggers from
the mage guild. Do some arena fights.
Pick any lock:
After the tumbler went up very fast, it will go up at constant
speed next time, so just click as soon as its up.
Another way is to listen for the additional click sound that only
happens if the tumbler is slow.
-> Very hard locks with one lockpick
Move while fighting:
If you see one of those sloow attack moves, that's a power attack -
move back to avoid it or sidestep and attack yourself. Blocking
is good to break an normal attack sequence, but enemy power
attacks should be dodged. Circling around an enemy also helps
if he is using slow weapons/attacks in general.
Everyone needs the Mages Guild (Andrew Harris):
2 very important options are only available in the Mages Guild
in the Capital:
1) Spell making - 100 charm for 2 seconds is better
and cheaper than 50 for 30 seconds, since time stops on
conversations anyway!
2) Item enchantment - you can hope to find the perfect item,
or you just create it for yourself
Resist the Guards:
But don't fight, just run like hell. After two or three areas
they will stop to run after you. Now travel to the Thieves Guild
and pay half price fines while keeping all your stolen stuff.
------Scheherazade writes------
Dodging fines doesn't require entry into the Thieves' Guild.
When you arrive at a city, make a point of fawning on all the
guards. When their disposition is in the eighties or nineties,
you're set. If you get caught stealing or such, guards who like
you will often waive the fine for you. It'll hurt their
disposition towards you, but it's usually cheaper to bribe them
than to surrender your stolen goods. In the off chance that a
guard decides to press the fine, resist arrest. You can yield
to them by blocking and activating them. It will buy you a few
seconds to make a getaway.
------Joseph Carmona writes------
Found a decent way to avoid small fines with the guards. Create
a 100% Charm spell @ 5 seconds, if you get caught, and they
arrest you, resist arrest, cast the spell then yield they will
almost always pay for the fine (I think it works for anything
small, haven't tired it with big fines such as murder yet)
Faster Spellcasting:
It's essential to hold down block as you cast... for much
faster casting! Also, create your own spell for less mana
usage. ie, I created a 1 second 1 magnitude shield to cast
over and over!
Save on different slots:
Quick save can be too quick sometimes. If you didn't save for days,
don't forget you could temporarily turn difficulty down in
special situations (No Magicka/no potions to summon battery ghost
in Oblivion).
Utilize Alchemy for power...:
Hard fights will get easy with the right combination of potions.
Trust me, as soon as you start to fight high, you don't want to
miss it. And you can use your magic for the important things
like testing whether your enemy will strip if you magically
burden him enough.
...and profit:
One last thing, a good tip about making money:Get your Alchemy to
100 (yes, I'm an Alchemy freak) and pay a little visit to the
swampland East of Leyawiin. You'll find mushrooms all over the
place, 20 minutes of picking will result in hundreds of shrooms.
That translates to hundreds of potions, and each will be worth 30
to 60 gold, depending on your alchemy equipment.Oh, and I guess
it wasn't the last, 6) This is a great way to train Alchemy as well.
Create items:
With Soul gems, money and a mundane weapon or a piece of
armour/clothing/jewellery, you can create your own magic items. Try
to get constant effects. An example:
I'm guessing you already know this, but another alternative for
the Water Breathing spell besides potions is a filled Petty Soul
Gem, 2000 gold, and whatever piece of jewelry fits your fancy. I
suppose the 2000 gold might be a little hard early on, but that's
what I do.
Take your time:
Oblivion is not just beautiful, it has really interesting and
well thought out quests for a change. E.g. the rat problem,
the painter, the dream. Good stats are nice, but don't miss
this other world called Tamriel.
I decided to do a spell discussion here later on, i think a pure
spell list won't help much. Until i find the time to do it, a
good spell list can be found in Bon "Brynne" Cottle Oblivion
Balanced Character Creation Guide on Gamefaqs (although i think
its too big for a chargen guide, its a great piece of reference
- Perks for 25, 50, 75 and 100 skill points
- new Minigames for persuasion and lockpicking
- you cannot wear clothes over/under your armour
- no Unarmoured skill
- no Medium Armour (by LibraScythe)
- no Thrown Weapons (by LibraScythe)
- No chance to fail: if your skill is too low, you cannot learn it,
if you know a spell, you always cast it successfully.
- Spell maker is seriously gimped
- No levitation/flight spells
- no teleport spells
- Enchantment as a school is out
- fast mana regeneration !
- no magic mushroom tower
v.1.3.8 2007/12/08
- I was told the "i dont care bout copyright" line was stupid.
Guess thats right, so the guide is now licensed under
Creative Commons -> See new copyright notice
v.1.3.7 2007/09/18
- since i dont play Oblivion anymore, i didnt update my
guide. But i got some emails about the plus5always mod
missing and some other imput i want to share.
- Added new location for plus5always and exact mod name
for websearches
- Added Create your own stuff tip
- Heavy/Light Armour training by Gessie
- Invincible Chameleon by Gessie
- Alchemy for Profit by Gessie
- Sneak training coffee break by Chase
- Thief Lord by Preetham Ganupuru
- Water breathing jewellery by esmonkeyboy
- Nordic Boxing (Hand to Hand Update) by Isaiah Ari
- Changes to Morrowind update (by LibraScythe)
- had nice holidays -> no update / email answers for quite
some time. I didn't and won't answer all mails, just got
too much also from other projects (311 for this quide
- fixed error stating major skills start at Journeyman,
they start at apprentice level (by Digital Terror)
- Destruction training by Liq
- Light armor master bonus for -full- light armor (GTPoompt)
- Hand to Hand as backup (by GTPoompt)
- Security made useless by special item (lots of people)
- fast spellcasting (by Morph)
- improved Marksman training (by Morph)
- improvement for the improved Acrobatics (by Morph)
- tip for armour training (by Joseph Carmona)
- Guards best friend (by Joseph Carmona)
- fixed error in levelup example (by Stephen Gates)
- fixed even more typos (hooray for spellcheckers!)
- Atronach / High Elf combination (by Stefan Lindberg &
Reimer the_maestro)
- 3 skills for one attribute major = bad (by Stefan Lindberg)
- Battlemage (by Stefan Lindberg)
- restoration is tied to WIS, not INT (by ben hopkins)
- Rat Pack (by Reimer the_maestro)
- Security training by Michael Grazier
- Mage guild for everyone by Andrew Harris
- improved combat training by Adam Stasiak
- improved Alchemy by Adam Stasiak
- improved Armourer by Adam Stasiak
- improved Athletics by Adam Stasiak
- added download location for +5 mod
- changed spell chapter
- Location of Summon Ghost for Atronach players
- Added explanation for resistances/weaknesses
- Changed Athletics description and rating
- Some typos, different wording (by Duncan)
- clarified 100 % Magic resistance does not apply
to elemental magic - fire, frost, shock (by Priyesh)
- even better mana batteries by Daman Bouya
- lockpicking while sneaking by The Admiral
- Added improved Speechcraft Training by NightStik
- Dodging fines by Scheherazade
- Jumping out of sticky situations by LtKerensky
- Added improved Acrobatics Training by chris raine
- Another way for Acrobatics Trainig by Brett Johnson
- Added improved Mercantile by Ender
- Alternation should be Alteration typo by john
(i thought it was derived from alternative, thanx!)
- light armour gets a 50% boost at master level, i wrote
150% in the heavy armour description (fixed by Aerenel)
- example for useful high acrobatics (by Aerenel)
- changed The Mage birthsign rating (by Aerenel)
- expanded Atronach Example (by Aerenel)
- enchantment capacity light vs. heavy (by Aerenel)
- expanded paid trainer section (by Aerenel)
- fixed some typos, most glaring Atronach = 0% spell
absorbtion (corrected by Gar Hong)
- High Elf Magica is 100 (corrected by Comazon)
- Explanation Spell Absorbtion
- Corrected Atronach Example
- Added Sneak Training by vitamin dew
- Translation to English, first publication on gamefaqs
- tuned down bad language for general public
- Added Appendices B, C, D
- added quick jump to table of contents
- indenting for better overview
Fixed errors:
- High Elf Magicka bonus is 50, not 100
(this is an error, no fiy see 1.3.1
- fixed Level Up Game Mechanics example
German publication
Contributors to this guide:
Bethesda - they made the game
Me - precious hours outside Tamriel were sacrificed for this
The guy - who created the ascii-art aeons ago in IRC
Daniel - he showed me how good alchemy is
Cat - she told me to translate it, and I cannot say no to her.
Actually she just mentioned it casually.
Brett Johnson - better way for training arcobatics
Chris Raine - a different better way for training acrobatics
Ender - better way for training mercantile
Aerenel - lots of major and minor points on HtH/Blade/Blunt,
secrets with acrobatics, skill training...
Pryesh - brought attention to the magicka / elemental resistance
difference - resistance section
Daman Bouya - wraith/gloom wraith for high level atronach
NightStik - better way for training speechcraft
Scheherazade - different way to dodge fines
LtKerensky - jumping in fights
Andrew Harris - importance of enchantment / spell making
Adam Stasiak - several training improvments (Combat, Alchemy,
Armourer, Athletics)
Stefan Lindberg - High Elf & Atronach + game mechanics
Reimer the_maestro - also High Elf & Atronach, Rat training
Michael Grazier - better way for Security training
Liq - better way for Destruction training
GTPoompt - light armor master bonus only for full light armor,
point on HtH
Morph - faster spellcasting, improved Marksman training, very
fast acrobatics
Joseph Carmona - Dodging Fines and Armor training tip
Gessie - Invincible Chameleon, Alchemy Money and Armour Training
Chase - Sneak coffee break
GigaFire - Thief Lord
Esmonkeyboy - Constant effects with soul gems
Isaiah Ari - Hand to Hand Update
LibraScythe - More Changes to Morrowind
Friendly Typo Monkeys: Gar Hong, Jonathan Mann, Duncan
Error fixers: Comazon, Aerenel, Duncan, Priyesh, The Admiral,
Ben Hopkins, Digital Terror, Stephen Gates
This document is distributed under the Creative Commons by-nc-sa
license. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/
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With a dream, a rented building and only $2,000 in savings, Tamara Hudson turned in her two-weeks notice at her job as a manager for Victoria's Secret.
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Scotiabank Theatre Saskatoon and VIP
Galaxy Cinemas Saskatoon
| 11 votes and 9 reviews Rate Theatre
347 2nd Ave. South, Saskatoon, SK S7K 1L1
Scotiabank Theatre Saskatoon and VIP
Once a Galaxy Cinema, this theatre opened in September 2006 and paved the beginning of Saskatoon's South Downtown renaissance. It is now owned by Cineplex Entertainment. Nearby Restaurants: A & W, Dairy Queen, Edo Japan-Edo International Food, Taco Time and Tip Top Lunch. Best places to park: Street parking around theatre or Pay at Parkade on 2nd Avenue and 20th Street.


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Top flight deals to Basel (BSL)*
Press the Enter/Space key to load more items on the list or press the TAB key to continue
Fly to Basel with KLM
Together with our global network, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines offers flights to Basel, serving EuroAirport Mulhouse Basel Freiburg (EAP/BSL). We pride ourselves on our ability to get you where you need to go and our commitment to getting your there on time. In fact, we have been recognised for our punctuality in the past, and we intend to keep it this way. Book your next flight to Mulhouse/Basel with us today!
Top Basel attractions
- Basel Minster: a stunning red sandstone Protestant church built between 1019 and 1500, formerly a Catholic cathedral.
- Jean Tinguely Museum: an art museum in the city centre with a fantastic permanent collection.
- Rheinfähre: take a ferry trip along the River Rhine for a different perspective on the city.
- Solitude Park: a beautiful urban park located on the bank of the Rhine River.
- Spalentor City Gate: one of the most impressive surviving gates to the old walled city of Basel.
What's the best way to get around Basel?
Much of the old city is closed off to vehicles because the streets are narrow and steep, so Basel is best explored on foot. If you're heading further out of Basel, you can catch the tram. There are many inexpensive and reliable services operating day and night to assist you in reaching your destination. Car hire is not recommended to visitors as the roads can be difficult to navigate for those unfamiliar with them.
What's the weather in Basel?
Basel's climate is warm and humid during the summer, with temperatures reaching highs of 26°C (79°F) in the hottest month of August. Temperatures drop during winter months as frost and snow begins to set in, making it the perfect time to visit for skiers and mountain climbers!
*All amounts are in CNY. Taxes and surcharges are included. No booking fee is applicable, but a payment surcharge may apply. Prices shown may vary depending on fare availability. You will see the final amount when selecting your payment method.


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Please go back and read Part 1 of the Def Leppard discussion here.
Retro-Active (1993) – A thirteen song collection of B-sides and soundtrack songs. Top song and single here is 'Two Steps Behind' that was featured on the movie soundtrack for Last Action Hero.
I never gave this album much thought because I was never into Def Lep B-sides (some people make a point to seek them out) and I wasn't floored by the lead single. I never reach for this album, never. The last listen was for this article and I will put it back in the CD case for another lengthy stay. For me, it's a cash grab from a band that needed a much deserved break.
Vault (1995) – Def Leppard's first greatest hits record spanning the years 1980-1995. Too bad it doesn't really cover all those years! The only track pre-Pyromania is 'Bringin' On The Heartbreak' (from 1981's High'n Dry). We get six songs from Hysteria, three from Pyromania, and three from Adrenalize. I'm shocked that Hysteria's lead single, 'Women' isn't on here, as well as, Pyromania opener 'Rock Rock (Till You Drop)'. I don't remember 'Two Steps Behind' and 'Miss You In A Heartbeat' (both from Retro-Active) being huge hits for the band but they are included too. Overall, a good representation of the band's "golden era" for the casual fan but the diehards almost always will make their own mix. Sold over 5 million in the U.S. last time I checked.
Slang (1996) – Another four years in between studio albums and the band releases their most controversial record to date. If the discussions about the change in the Def Lep sound were big around the Hysteria release, then they were huge come Slang.
Slang is a totally different record than anything the Leps have ever put out. It's a "grown up" record, the band spreading their collective wings and channelling a new energy. At this point, Def Leppard is an ultra-successful band, every album so far has turned multi-platinum and their tours are big sellers. The boys are now men, seasoned vets of the music industry, they've grown.
Every band has an experimental record…..some are more experimental than others. Taking from the current trends in Rock in the '90s and adding that to their own interests in British Rock/Prog from the 1970s, the band fashion a modern sounding album. Songs like 'Slang', 'Work It Out', 'Pearl Of Euphoria' are departures from the '80s Leppard sound but they do retain key characteristics: good guitar solos and backing vocals, but not as overblown.
I like this album but I don't reach for it that often. I see no problem in a band experimenting with their sound and, in Def Lep's case, they still sound like Def Leppard. This is the time where you may notice that the band was shying away from the "80s Metal band" cliche and trying to be taken seriously. Competing with bands like Rage Against The Machine, Tool, Pearl Jam, and Stone Temple Pilots for sales and chart position, Slang bombed in the U.S. I don"t even remember if they toured in my area. My copy is the two disc limited edition with the six song Acoustic In Singapore.
Euphoria (1999) – Where Hysteria and Adrenalize left off, Euphoria continues. Hot on the heels of the '80s Hard Rock revival that kicked off with the KISS reunion in 1996, the band crafts a very 1980s sounding album. I heard the lead single, 'Promises', on the way to Burgettstown, PA to see the Poison reunion tour. Great song, would have easily fit on Hysteria. Big choruses, guitar solos, harmonies…..the album is like a trip back in time to the mid-80s heyday.
I really like this album even though the band seem to have regressed to their "old" sound after denouncing it during the Slang era. Favorite songs here: 'Promises', 'All Night', 'To Be Alive', 'Guilty'…..actually, I think the whole album is strong. I saw the tour in Mansfield, MA at the outdoor Tweeter Center, it was sold-out. The openers were nobodies and Def Leppard played a solid two hours with an acoustic interlude in the middle of the set. Great album, sold-out show, I figured that big sales for a big band were in the making. Radio didn't latch on to the album and sales were around 300,000 in the U.S. last time I checked. Almost Gold isn't bad for a band that isn't in the top tier anymore.
This album and Slang are the forgotten records. Even the band forgets Euphoria now. I just saw the show with Journey last week. On the big screen, Def Leppard had graphics depicting all of their albums. Every single one was represented EXCEPT Euphoria. No songs from the album were played live, they did play 'Promises' on the X Tour in 2003.
X (2002) – Hard to believe it's been four years since Def Leppard released and album of original material…..OK, I'm kidding. This is the formula the band follows: release album, tour for 2 years, take a year off, write and enter studio for a year, album released. No wonder the band gets forgotten about! At least the Leps decided that they would release quality material and X is exactly that: a quality album. Take 1996's Slang and add it to 1999's Euphoria and you get X. It's an updated sound (like Slang) while retaining the band's signature sound (Euphoria) and getting the proper mix. I think this album is what they were trying to get when they made Slang.
It's a lighter Leppard, a mid-tempo/ballady Leppard, a Leppard that tried to change it's spots, went back again, and found a happy medium. It's not traditional Hard Rock, X is more Pop-oriented Rock, more radio friendly and not lumped totally into the '80s Hair revolution. Actually, the guys really start to hammer home that they ARE NOT a Metal band or a Hard Rock Band. The promotion for X saw Joe Elliot almost denouncing the band's '80s heyday and influence. Obviously trying to do what they want while keeping the fanbase intact, the album is good nonetheless. First single 'Now' and the follow-up ballad, 'Long Long Way To Go', were tailor made for Rock radio. Here in Rhode Island, both songs got serious airplay as did 'Four Letter Word' when the concert was announced.
Overall though, the record label (Island/Def Jam…part of Universal/Mercury) didn't do much to really promote the album. I wonder if it was because the band was switched to a new subsidiary and the label didn't know how to promote them. I do know that the band barely drew 2000 people to the Providence Civic Center, a 12,000 seater, that they had sold-out every tour so far. I was in the 3rd row and they played over 2 hours. An excellent show where they played the full High'n Dry album to start and then played all the hits with four songs from X. A very professional and energetic performance from the band. There was no radio promotion except for the occasional mention, no posters or adverts, no buzz.
Favorite songs here: 'Now', 'You're So Beautiful', 'Long Long Way To Go', ' Torn To Shreds', and 'Love Don't Lie'. Actually, I like the whole album, it's different but really good.
Best Of (2004) – A two-disc greatest hits set with one new track, 'Waterloo Sunset', that was a taster for the upcoming covers album, Yeah!. Every song from 1995's Vault greatest hits is here EXCEPT for 'Miss You In A Heartbeat'. Of the 34 songs, some great inclusions here:
- Rock Brigade
- Women
- Let It Go
- Wasted
- Die Hard The Hunter
- Rock Rock (Till You Drop)
My version is the limited edition European version. This was released in the U.S. officially as The Definitive Collection (2005) seven months later with a different tracklisting, changing five songs, the running order, and the album artwork. I reach for Best Of more than Vault, it's a better representation. The Definitive Collection is also a better overview of the band's career than Vault is.
Yeah! (2006) – I reviewed this album back in June, please go here to read it.
Now that you've read my initial review, my opinion stays the same: I don't really like it. I just saw the live show this past Saturday and I admit that both '20th Century Boy' and 'Rock On' were pretty good live. I would still rather have an album of original material than a covers album but I am not a member of Def Leppard and they can do what they want after such a successful career. From what I've seen online, as of July 4th, 2006, Yeah! only sold about 100,000 copies in the U.S. With the tour ongoing, I'm sure that's gone up a little but not too much.
I really hope that the band comes back with a solid album of original material and abandons the "we're not a Hair Band/Metal Band/Hard Rock Band" schtick. If they embraced their past rather than discredit it, I think they would be seen as less of a footnote and more of a success. I'm still a fan and I will still support their career.


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Reality TV pop quiz: Which of these is an actual TLC show – "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" or "Super Quick Weddings?"
The inspiration for the question comes from a recent TLC spoof promo touting such non-existent (at least so far) shows like, "Little People, Tricky Fridge," "12 Wives, 12 Problems" and "Hasty Home Surgery."
The video, posted on Funny or Die, works because the network – which somewhere along the line morphed from cable's answer to PBS to the round-the-clock Reality TV version of "The Jerry Springer Show" – has become a parody of itself.
It's a multi-ring circus of large families, little people, polygamists, hoarders and bakers (full disclosure: we do love the "Cake Boss"). What can you say about a network whose biggest stars range from Kate Gosselin to Sarah Palin to the woman hooked on eating detergent on the hard-to-watch "My Strange Addiction?"
TLC, at times, seems like one big cry for help – or at least for comedy.
That's why we're tickled by the Funny or Die spoof and a new viral video from Tom Hanks, lampooning TLC's "Toddler & Tiaras."
In the short, which premiered this week on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and is approaching 1 million YouTube hits, Hanks plays himself as the kind of scary kiddie-pageant parent that populates the often frightening "Toddlers & Tiaras."
Hanks exhorts his 6-year-old "daughter" Sophie (rhymes with "trophy") to dance with "sexy feet" as she trains for the "Miss Ultimate Sexy Baby Nevada" pageant. He plops a fright wig on her and gushes that she looks "just like a Bratz doll!" He squirts her with water anytime she makes a misstep or tries to eat, as if training a dog.
"I know what it's like to be a kid," he notes. "I played one in 'Big.'"
The video has some fun cameos, including one that plays into the surprise ending. Speaking of (possible) surprise endings, "I Didn't Know I was Pregnant" is a real TLC show while "Super Quick Weddings" is a joke from the Funny or Die video, whose tagline is: "TLC – The Learning Channel, for some reason..."
Mull over that lesson as you check out the parody videos below:
U.S. & World
Hester is founding director of the award-winning, multi-media NYCity News Service at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. He is the former City Editor of the New York Daily News, where he started as a reporter in 1992. Follow him on Twitter.


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2D to 3D Conversion Anaglyphs (Red/Blue)
If you are coming from a Google search, you are probably wondering, "What in the world are these pictures?"
These are stereo conversions from regular photographs. The original left eye image was changed to create the new image for your right eye. When viewed properly the stereo effect will be created by your brain as it puts the two images together and fuses it into one stereo or 3D image. They can be viewed as either cross-eyed, parallel, or anaglyphic. My personal preference is the cross-eyed method. The easiest is the anaglyphic, assuming you have a pair of red/cyan glasses.
If you have any questions or comments, please write.
Jim Long
Put on your red/cyan (blue) glasses
If you are in need of red/cyan glasses, you can get them from:
Rainbow Symphony
Steve Berezin
. I would recommend the Anachrome set for best viewing results.
3D Glasses - American Paper Optics
1778 John Singleton Copley - Brook Watson and the Shark - anaglyph version
Next Art Anaglyph
People 3D video
Messiah 3D video
Art Anaglyph Gallery
Comments and Suggestions
Home Page
Copyright �2002-
Did You Know That Housing is Cheap!
"Considering the decline of home prices in recent years and the decline in mortgage rates to historic lows, housing looks like an extremely attractive investment opportunity."
Buying or Selling homes in Riverside or Moreno Valley California? Jim Long can help you now! 92506,92508,92503,92509,92501,92551,92553,92555,92557...
whatever your zip code in the Riverside area,
I can help you buy or sell your home.


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Course Description
ED 408 Curriculum and Methods for Teaching Students with Emotional Impairment 4 cr.
- Offered: Winter
- Prerequisite: ED 407, junior standing or instructor's permission.
Instruction and education structuring for teaching students with emotional/behavior disorders. Students will obtain knowledge of teaching strategies, service units and educational assessment unique to the needs of this population. Various roles and strategies used by teachers will be studied as well as prescriptive parent planning.


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Once hunted almost to the brink of extinction, humpback whales (megaptera novaeangliae) are a species of baleen whale, one of the larger rorqual species ranging in size from 39 to 52-feet long and weighing up to 79,000-lbs.
Before the 1966 moratorium on whaling, its population fell by an estimated 90%, but during the last half a century it has made a dramatic recovery and is among the favourite quarries for whale-watching expeditions all round the globe, as it likes to indulge in acrobatic dsplays of tail and pectoral fin slapping and 'breaching' out of the water. To see one of these monsters of the deep breaching is truly an awesome sight.
Humpbacks are sometimes spotted off the Pembrokeshire coast during their 16,000 mile annual migratory journeys from polar waters to tropical or sub-tropical regions. They are frequently seen from ferry boats and also from cruise ships, passengers particularly watching out for them in the Bay of Biscay.
The town of Milford Haven owes its very existence to the whaling industry as it was founded just over 200 years ago to accommodate loyalist Quaker whaling families from Nantucket Island, who were anxious to escape the aftermath of the American War of Independence. It was a 'proprietary town' founded by Sir William Hamilton, husband of Nelson's inamorata Emma, who had property locally, and the Quakers, whose presence is still commemorated in street names such as Nantucket Avenue, Starbuck Road, Barlow Street, Warwick Road and Hamilton Terrace, moved their base there in 1798. But the whaling industry was beset by problems, which included the loss of ships during the war with France, and whaling became a thing of the past in Pembrokeshire before 1820, the general fishing industry taking over the role of Milford Haven's staple industry. The Quakers' main quarry was the Sperm Whale, but other large whales were taken, the Quakers voyaging for a year at a time to distant waters as far afield as the Falklands and the Cape of Good Hope.
There are now an estimated 80,000 humpbacks worldwide, and these huge creatures feed only in summer time in polar waters, migrating south in winter when they fast, living on their fat reserves, until they reach tropical and sub-tropical waters to breed. They feed mainly on small crustaceans called krill and small fish, and the species was first identified in 1781, around the time the Quakers were leaving Nantucket. Their Latin name 'novaeangliae' stems from the fact that they were first identified off the coast of New England, where they were numerous. They can be easily identified by their stocky body and obvious hump and the wavy trailing edges of the large flukes. The long black and white tail fin, measuring up to a third of their body length, and the extra-long pectoral fins, have unique patterns which make it easy for experts to identify individuals. The pectoral fins are proportionally the longest of any cetacean, and enhance the humpback's manouevrability.


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EXCLUSIVE: Dania Ramirez and Queen Latifah Launch CoverGirl's Clean Makeup for Clean Water Campaign
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin; Bennett Raglin/WireImage
Being a Covergirl spokesperson has some serious perks, but none of them beats the opportunity to give back in a major way. As the latest addition to the makeup giant's team, actress Dania Ramirez has already had the opportunity to travel to her native Dominican Republic to participate in the brand's new CoverGirl Clean Makeup for Clean Water campaign and deliver a year's supply of drinking water to villages in need, as part of the cosmetics company's pledge to donate $500,000 to the Children's Safe Drinking Water charity. "This program is especially important to me as I know firsthand that unsafe drinking water is a matter of life or death. When I was growing up in the Dominican Republic, we had to boil our water before drinking it so we didn't get sick or worse," the 30-year-old actress tells PEOPLE. "It means so much to me to give back such a simple gift as clean water!" Fellow CoverGirl spokesmodel Queen Latifah has also joined Clean Makeup for Clean Water mission, announcing a rare opportunity for fans to win the chance to join the campaign trip to Africa next year. "Log on to covergirl.com and submit a video entry telling us how you give back to make the world a better place and why this makes you beautiful, inside and out," she explains. "The winner of the contest will get to be part of the next CoverGirl Clean Makeup for Clean Water mission trip to Africa later this year where we will help deliver clean water to people who desperately need it." For more info, visit covergirl.com. –Emily Hsieh


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...No, literally truckloads. Our friends at demonocracy.info have been kind enough to put together an infographic that explains the European bailout in simple, visual terms, that even the most innocent of FTL truckers can grasp without much exertion, for the simple reason that it shows all the bailouts amounts in terms of trucks of cash. And here is the kicker: one would need a 13 lane highway, filled with trucks bumper to bumper, stretching for about 3 kilometers to represent the €2.91 trillion in total amounts owed by the PIIGS and their citizens (whether voluntarily or not... actually make that involuntarily) to Europe's largest banks. What is most frightening is what is not shown: just how it is that the world's central banks are keeping all of these banks propped up. Because sooner or later all this money will be discovered to have been fatally misallocated. Then the real bailout cost will become all too evident, and just like in the US, it will be in the double digit trillions. Which means the metaphorical highway of trucks full of cash will stretch on for kilometers and kilometers and so on (or miles, for the naive US-based truckers). But since that day is in the future, there is no reason to worry about it.
From Demonocracy.info


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Honoring the Picket Line (Part I)
Strike Breakers Only Add Fuel to the Fire
By Dave Arnold
While we may think of violent labor struggles as being ancient history, I'm here to tell you different. The bloody struggle I'm talking about took place during a factory strike in 1970. I know because I was there.
I've never talked much about the unseemly events that took place on factory grounds in Effingham, Illinois. People who weren't there probably never had a chance to read about it in newspapers. Factory owners pulled some strings and swept the violent aspects of the strike under the rug. To this day, I expect that officials will deny everything.
Contract Over
At that time, I worked as union carpenter building prefabricated houses. After a few years, I advanced to a more skilled job and reached the top of the salary scale. Things were going well. Labor and management had gone through several contract negotiations that resulted in a reasonably good benefit package.
Then the housing market dropped and the company started making cuts. They quickly started laying off employees. Production dropped to less than half of what it had been. When we thought things couldn't get much worse, the Teamsters Union contract involving a company that employed truck drivers who delivered the houses came to an end.
Take It or Leave It
The company's offer to the Teamsters was simple; take a 50 percent cut in pay or lose your job. This was an obvious slap in the face. When labor and management negotiators came to an impasse, labor had no choice but to go on strike. My co-workers and I were members of the Carpenters Union.
We voted not to cross any picket lines. So, the plant shut down. We had anticipated that the company would back down and return to the negotiating table. We were wrong about that and the strike continued.
The Carpenters honored the Teamsters' picket, but then the company announced they would employ anyone who would cross the Teamsters' picket line. Within minutes scabs started going in and taking our jobs despite the Teamsters' efforts to stop them. Tempers flared and violence ensued. Cars owned by scabs got their tires sliced. Windshields were shattered.
Union Busting
When one scab retreated, another one or two would step up and take their place. The company made it known that it was within their power to break two unions, the Teamsters and the Carpenters. They then brought in strike busters. A bad situation got worse.
The strike busters first made their presence known by simply standing aside. It was a show of force. When they were in view of Carpenters or Teamsters, they would display their guns, knives and clubs.
However, when the police were called, the union busters tried to look as innocent as choir boys. To instill more fear and show more force, the company brought in an additional bus load of "security guards" just to fuel the fire.
Bad Movie Tactics
The company's henchmen went from posturing to bold action when they forced several union members' cars off the road while they were on their way home. Other union members reported that their houses had been shot at in the middle of the night.
The strike breakers went from posturing to bold action, though they weren't very original. They probably saw these tawdry tactics in a movie or learned it at union busting school.
The important thing for us was not to show fear, even though we may have been shaking in our boots. At times, I was as scared as I have ever been in my life. But we were fighting for worker's rights and were determined to stand our ground not matter what.
In my next article (Part II), I will tell of the tactics my union brothers and I used and how the company failed in their efforts. The lessons I learned from that experience have served me well as a member of the Brownstown ESP Association and the Illinois Education Association.
More Dave's columns.
More articles about ESPs.
(Dave Arnold, a member of the Illinois Education Association, is a custodian at Brownstown Elementary School in Southern Illinois. He can be contacted at email@example.com.)
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NEA or its affiliates.
Dave's View has been discontinued following the retirement of its author, Dave Arnold. Even though new columns will not be posted, we encourage you to review past columns.


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After working on the migration of my Place Names to the new format, I have a couple of observations and "warnings", and an adjustment if the data records.
I have a number of Historical Place Names in Maryland. A number of Place Names include "Parish". But I also have Churches that end in "Parish".
WARNING: Don't just move a lot of Place Names to the New Format, especially if you have Parishes and Parishes.
As I usually do, BEFORE I use the TreeSync™ feature, I use the Compact File, using the Back Up feature, then SyncNow. This process has saved me several times during this clean up process.
CHANGE: Making sure that the Place Name, which is a Cemetery or Burial Ground, has either of those words in the Place Name.
In the past, prior to the 704 patch, I Cemeteries were in the Description Field.
I also use the Find-A-Grave website as a resource. So what I have decided, is to use the Find-A-Grave Cemetery Name for my Cemetery name in FTM2012. The biggest reason, is that each Cemetery in Find-A-Grave is unique, in Cemetery Name. I have not run into the SAME, exact, Cemetery Name listed twice. They may be there, but I haven't found them. So, the biggest change is using the Find-A-Grave Cemetery Name. I'll share my reasoning in a moment.
Each Find-A-Grave entry will help get the term Cemetery or Burial Ground as part of the "Description" now the Cemetery Name for the Place Name.
That is the first update.
Here is an example of how this change kept me out of trouble.
I have:
Saint Anne's Parish, Maryland
Saint Anne's Parish, Annapolis, Anne Arundel (county), Maryland
Saint Anne's Burial Ground, Annapolis, Anne Arundel, Maryland
The first is a Place Name. It may have been located in an area of Maryland where there was a Parish by that name, but it is a Historical Place Name.
The second two places are Churches. The same church with a burial ground surrounding that Parish.
What is important to review, is the Events that take place in these three places.
BEFORE I make a change, I make sure that I have NO Burial Facts for "Saint Anne's Parish, Annapolis, Anne Arundel, Maryland". I should NOT have any other Facts in "Saint Anne's Burial Ground, Annapolis, Anne Arundel, Maryland" but Burials.
I will individually edit those person entries that are not right.
AGAIN, I do NOT Resolve this type of Place Name until AFTER the review of the Place Names.
For example:
Although this screen capture is after the fact, I review that Right Hand Panel FIRST.
Once the place has been Resolved, I will do ONLY a couple of place name resolves, then I will Back Up, Compact, and do the SyncNow.
When the Review of the Changes screen shows (TreeSync Log), I review that screen carefully. I want to make sure that the Expected Changes are there.
Those changes are, as expected. I will continue the Sync Process.
What IF I get this far and see something isn't right. I CANCEL the Sync Process, then use the Edit, UNDO (the last transaction) to get back to where I was. IF that doesn't get me back to where I want to be, that is the data isn't right, I will do a File, Restore from the Previous Back Up.
Summary: Review the existing Place Name details, Do a small number of Resolve (moving Description to Place Name, Review AFTER the Resolve, Review the change after the Resolve was done, Back Up and Compact file, SyncNow and Review what is about to be done.
Remembering, that with 704, the Restore will link the restored file to the existing Ancestry Member Tree.
Copyright © 2012 by H R Worthington


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Ducks, T-W, schools
I left work at noon on Friday. I hadn't expected to leave quite so early, and I had packed my usual lunch. I grabbed that and drove to Perinton Park
, where I would eat my lunch next to the canal and watch people. The parking lot was 90% full.
A large number of ducks, dozens of them, were resting between the parking lot and the canal. Shortly after I arrived, I saw some fowl-ish activity, and over a half hour I saw a few adults, sometimes with children, feeding the ducks
. This excited the ducks, of course, but I guess I'm just a bleeding heart liberal fuddy duddy because I think it's unwise. It turns a section of the park into a minefield of duck droppings and encourages an unnatural relationship between wildlife and people. I suppose the ducks and park wouldn't be there if people hadn't built the canal in the first place, but I think the separation between wildlife and people should be maintained, and the closer relationship we see today isn't doing much good for either side.
I went home and grabbed my Time-Warner cable box
and exchanged it for a replacement. Once a week or so, we experience brief (but annoying) audio cut-outs, every couple of minutes. This is resolved (for a week) by rebooting the cable box (which takes five minutes). So, before requesting a service call, we'll try the new box. Time-Warner reps didn't acknowledge that this is a widespread problem, so if any of you readers have experienced this, let me know if you resolved it.
I happened to have my GPS
with me, and I needed to drive from the T-W office in East Rochester to Garnsey Road near Bushnells Basin. The GPS wanted me to turn right out of the Piano Works lot, towards Rochester. It was so much quicker to backtrack a half mile to the 490 on-ramp than to take a more direct route on town roads. The GPS is teaching me all sorts of neat tricks about driving around town.
As we approach the new school year
, we continue to hear that the Rochester city schools show a low graduation rate and poor academic performance. When students leave the city school system, many are unemployable, make extensive use of public assitance programs and have children who repeat the cycle. This is not a problem of motivation; it's a problem of poverty and segregation. American schools remain largely segregated. Poor kids go to school with poor kids, affluent kids go to school with affluent kids, and each side blames the other for the continued problems. The 11% of Fairport students who receive subsidized lunches
do OK because they go to school with other students who do OK. The solution is not just money. We spend more than enough money on all our kids, and we pay our teachers enough. The solution must involve a regional approach to desegregation.


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New York, NY – March 22, 2011 – Modest Mouse hits the road this May with four shows including three just announced headlining dates leading into the sold-out Sasquatch! Music Festival on May 29th in George, WA.
Tickets for the band's headline dates go on sale at 10 AM local time on Friday, March 25th. Please head over to www.modestmouse.com for more information.
Opening on the band's headline dates will be Talkdemonic.
Modest Mouse players: Isaac Brock, Eric Judy, Jeremiah Green, Tom Peloso, Joe Plummer & Jim (Kirby) Fairchild.
Modest Mouse Tour Dates:
May 26 Boise, ID Knitting Factory
May 27 Missoula, MT Big Sky Brewery
May 28 Spokane, WA Knitting Factory
May 29 George, WA Sasquatch Music Festival (SOLD OUT)


text: WAINWRIGHT Posted December 30, 2013 I often came to SB to learn in the past,though many things have changed and members have come and gone the essential core and wealth of knowledge is still here.We are the here and now and most importantly the future.I would like to set up this section as a place for you to share your own personal knowledge for others to learn from and also enjoy.Dave Ziegler has done a wonderful job here so far. I'm not looking for anything that in depth,but more so a brief overview of iconic names of the past and their contribution towards our native spirit of today. J.W.Dant 1820-1902 J.Dant like so many other bourbon icons was not born into the lineage of a distilling family,instead he started his journey as a lowly blacksmith.His English family roots was actually proceeded by multiple generations of farmers.Dant turned to distilling in 1836 in what is to be later be known as Dant Station.He used and produced his own grain from the nearly 200 acre farm apon which he had settled.Joseph was also best know for using the "Log Method" of distilling versus the far more common yet more expensive Pot Still.The "Log Method" is essentially a section of a tree trunk that is hollowed with a copper pipe running through the length of it,the open cavity would be filled with mash and steam fed through the pipe would start the distillation process. Dant remained in the family for many years as George his son was the last to operate the distillery into the early 1900's,of course it has since been bought and sold several times until Heaven Hill made the final acquisition in 1993.The Dant name has made it a long way,from 1836 until present day. I personally truly enjoy this aspect of bourbon and the roots from which this humble spirit began,add as you see fit with the names,legends and history of some of these often long forgotten men. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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By Rae Padilla Francoeur
By Rae Padilla Francoeur
Laird Hunt
Little, Brown, New York, September 2014. 256 pages. $26.
Constance Thompson leaves her Indiana farm and her husband, Bartholomew, to take the Union's side in the Civil War. She has a stake in the cause, but she's keen for a change and it's that motivation that drives her to conceal her gender and take up arms against the Confederacy.
Constance becomes Ash Thompson who then becomes Gallant Ash after an act of gallantry witnessed by fellow soldiers. Author Laird Hunt has created a heroic, intrepid warrior with superlative skills as a sharpshooter and a survivor.
But this is not a war novel about a woman trying to pass as a man. Ash's identity is not the central issue, though it's certainly the underlying premise for this book. And Ash's struggles are not gender-based. Ash is a complex, mysterious character we never entirely trust even though she's speaking to us directly and candidly throughout "Neverhome." We wonder: What aren't we seeing? What is she withholding?
Ash passes easily for a man, trains with other enlistees until deemed battle ready at which time they all march South to battle. She has a running dialogue with her dead mother. "I won't run," she vows. There is something about fear that Ash must test and investigate.
Among the most interesting aspects of this spare, lovely novel is the beautiful relationship Ash develops with her colonel and commanding officer. It's clear he sees more of Ash than most have taken the time to see, and he enjoys conversing with her. Some vilify Ash, perhaps because of her bravery, seeming good luck in battle and her wits. False accusations limit her advancement.
Ash's adventure turns horrible and harrowing when bounty hunters kidnap her and a couple of other soldiers. An adroit chameleon and, by now, accustomed to killing, she escapes and eventually finds her way back to her company.
The savage war breaks everyone down eventually. The colonel and his handsome cousin/brother are no exception, and neither is Ash. Injured and left for dead after yet another round of carnage, she frees herself from under a fallen tree trunk and, half dead, finds shelter and a return to health in the home of a nurse who takes a fancy to her. When Ash makes plans to leave and head home, the nurse betrays her and Ash is committed to a madhouse.
The real story, however, is between the lines of the narrative Ash delivers so convincingly. Ash has something to prove that's greater even than her powerful love for Bartholomew. We learn about her mother's death and find that, in the end, there are limits most human beings cannot surmount.
Laird Hunt, the author, had written a previous story about two women who passed as male soldiers during the Civil War. In the end, Constance's gender did not determine the course of this narrative nearly as much as her inner struggles — common to men and women alike.
Rae Padilla Francoeur is a former Portsmouth Herald editor. Her memoir, "Free Fall: A Late-in-Life Love Affair," is available online or in some bookstores. Write her at email@example.com. Read her blog at http://www.freefallrae.blogspot.com/ or follow her @RaeAF.


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The WY-CO Regional Job Fair 2013 is scheduled for Tuesday, May 7, at the Larimer County Fairgrounds in Loveland.
The job fair will be open to veterans only from 9 to 10 a.m. and then open to the general public from 10 to 1 p.m. Last year's event featured more than 40 businesses, and drew some 200 veterans and 500 other job seekers.
The event is being co-sponsored by various Workforce centers in northern Colorado and Wyoming.
Job seekers don't need to pre-register but if any businesses would like more information or to register, call Bob Benson at Workforce Boulder County at 303-827-7428.