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This is a basic synopsis of a story that Steven Spielberg had for his '80s television series Amazing Stories that was never filmed. In many ways Amazing Stories was an updated version of the seminal The Twilight Zone; an anthology series focussing on fantasy, science fiction, and horror stories, taking its name after a classic magazine from a time when radios were considered the pinnacle of technology.This story also serves as the basis for what would ultimately become LucasArt's The Dig, a science fiction adventure game released in 1995 whose history and development started in 1989 as acclaimed filmmaker Steven Spielberg took an idea he first had for an Amazing Stories segment, further developed to be a feature film, before finally deciding that it would be best suited as a computer game.
READ HISTORY BOOKIt's no secret that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg are close friends, and one wouldn't be surprised if they both wore matching lockets with pictures of each other inside and the acronym 'BFF' blazoned in a Star Wars font across a star-filled background. Or at the very least wore matching friendship bracelets.Spielberg, an avid gamer since the days of arcade classics like Donkey Kong and Missile Command, also enjoyed playing the games coming from his friend's company, Lucasfilm Games, throughout the 1980s. Being close friends with George Lucas naturally came with perks, and when he found himself stuck in any of their games he would have direct lines to the developers who were more than happy to pass on hints and tips to the director of Jaws and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
As the release of Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade was making its theatrical debut in 1989, so was the adventure game from Lucasfilm Games, a release that Spielberg enjoyed discussing with the team during development and playing upon release.
The Dig was released a full six years after development began... and everything from the story and the art, to the core mechanics, the project leads, and even the game engine, had changed.During a call with Ron Gilbert, creator of Maniac Mansion and the soon to be in development The Secret of Monkey Island, he told him about an idea he had for a movie that never eventuated but may work as a game. This particular idea wasn't The Dig but it did open the door for face-to-face discussions at Skywalker Ranch with designers Noah Falstein, Ron Gilbert, and Dave Grossman. And it was during these sessions, with George Lucas also present, that the foundations for what would eventually become The Dig were laid.
In 1989 the development time of an average computer game was around about 12 months, give or take a few in either direction. Now, with The Dig being released in 1995, a full six years after development began, and coupled with the hype surrounding it due to it being 'the Steven Spielberg game', its development was anything but straightforward. In fact, over that length of time, everything from the story and the art, to the core mechanics, the project leads, and even the game engine, would change.
THE DIG – VERSION 1.0In distilling the initial idea that he had for The Dig, Spielberg would say that the story was a cross between two classic films: The Forbidden Planet (1956); in which a crew sent to investigate the disappearance of a prior expedition uncover the remnants of a super-intelligent alien race, and The Treasure of Sierra Madre (1948); a tale of treasure hunters who uncover lost gold and in turn begin to doubt each other's motives as greed takes hold.Spielberg's story would incorporate elements of both, but focus on separate teams of archaeologists working on an alien planet, who - under the influence of what they find - begin to turn on one another.
The first of what would eventually become four separate project leaders on The Dig was Noah Falstein, who oversaw the first version of the game that bore more resemblance to this initial idea of blending The Forbidden Planet and The Treasure of Sierra Madre. For those that have played The Dig the details of this version will be as alien as the aliens on the alien planet it takes place on. Translation: it's very different.
First off it was to be set in the distant future when mankind has developed faster-than-light travel and begun exploiting planets for their natural resources. That's exploiting and not exploring, as in this future resource hungry corporations treat interplanetary exploration like they're BP or ExxonMobil. In space. Where nobody can hear you raping a planet's resources. They only get excited when they see ores and minerals of the sellable kind, in other words.
The Dig quickly became a huge undertaking requiring a pre-production process more akin to a big budget sci-fi film with writing, concept design, art, and even animation technology, all being worked on simultaneously.Just such a planet is where the game would have taken place; one teeming with ore and mineral-free primitive alien life but also one with the good stuff - ore and minerals. Oh, and also some ruins from an advanced and ancient alien civilisation that seems to have gone the way of the space dodo. At this point the game was to feature more RPG-like elements, where after being stranded on the planet players would have had to find ways to keep alive by sourcing food and energy supplies.
Traditional puzzles in the mould of those established in previous SCUMM-based adventures would be present but players would also be in control of separate characters as they explored the planet's ruined cities across jungle, desert, frozen, and beachfront landscapes.
Development on this version of The Dig continued for well over a year with only incremental progress being made and the game never actually being in any sort of playable state. But it wasn't a case of squandered time, the sheer number of different environments to explore was something that far exceeded anything the studio had released up to this point.
The Dig quickly became a huge undertaking requiring a pre-production process more akin to a big budget sci-fi film with writing, concept design, art, and even animation technology, all being worked on simultaneously.
THE DIG – VERSION ZORK.0Before joining Lucasfilm Games Brian Moriarty came from the world of text adventures, in which a release was typically designed, coded, and debugged by a single person. Beginning as a hobbyist he later made a name for himself working at Infocom, where amongst other titles he created Beyond Zork, a 1987 text adventure that blended RPG elements with the traditional interactive fiction that players had grown accustomed too.
At Lucasfilm Games he released his first graphical adventure in 1990, Loom, which was notable for its experimental interface that had all player interaction be through the use of musical phrases called 'Drafts'.
Hailed as an artistic achievement in many circles, Loom unfortunately failed to gain as much commercial traction as other titles from the still relatively small studio. Even though it was conceived as the first part of a trilogy, plans for the subsequent sequels were ultimately cancelled.As Lucasfilm Games became LucasArts and in the process its own independently run company, there were many changes made at all levels that naturally resulted in projects being green-lit, cancelled, and reshuffled, in addition to some company-wide downsizing. As with many changes made at the highest levels, speculation seems to replace fact, but at some point Noah Falstein was let go, leaving The Dig without a project leader.
Already in trouble due to its boundary-pushing animation techniques and VGA graphics, all signs pointed to The Dig's eventual cancellation. But with the personal involvement of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, development would continue, with Brian Moriarty taking over as project lead.As a creator who always worked within the confines of his own singular vision, as seen with his text adventures and in Loom, Brian Moriarty pretty much threw out all of the work and progress made on The Dig and started fresh.
This meant that the story would change, this time being set in present day (well, 1998) with a team of astronauts set to embark on a mission to save humanity from a large incoming asteroid just like in that other '90s classic, Michael Bay's Giant Asteroid Movie starring Famous Actors. Which notably, was released a few years after The Dig.
But unlike that film the story didn't end here or with Bruce Willis marrying off his daughter to Ben Affleck, as upon closer inspection the asteroid turns out to be a camouflaged interplanetary spaceship of sorts. And after finding some sort of ancient geometric device, the asteroid takes flight and sends the surface team to a distant planet where they discover ancient ruins and the remnants of an alien race that has somehow achieved a form of immortality.
Due to the technical limitations of the SCUMM engine, this version of The Dig was being developed on a new engine called StoryDroid that would feature sophisticated scrolling, animation and pre-rendered videos from Industrial Light & Magic. Being the early '90s, having computer animation from one of Hollywood's top effects houses was a big deal, so naturally early press on the game began hyping it as a release that would bridge the gap between games and big budget movies.Although this description of the story could be applied to the version released in 1995, minus an additional astronaut character that apparently was going to die in a uniformly gruesome way, this version of The Dig was also going to be very scientific and almost metaphysical in its description of events and character dialogue. So much so that numerous people at LucasArts apparently couldn't really understand a lot of what was happening.
The Dig was going to be almost metaphysical in its description of events and dialogue. So much so that numerous people at LucasArts apparently couldn't really understand a lot of what was happening.It was pretty simple really: an ancient advanced civilisation that has discovered immortality via sub-atomic manipulation of genetic material has decided to send unmanned craft flown by artificial intelligence to the far reaches of the galaxy in search of sentient life forms in order to put them through some tests, all whilst observing them from a plane of existence that encompasses all known dimensions and some new ones too.
See, baby stuff.
With all the background artwork being hand-drawn and going through constant revisions, in addition to the dialogue and story continuously changing shape, the planned release date of 1993 and key milestones along the way were missed entirely or delayed indefinitely. It's unclear as to exactly why, but Brian Moriarty departed LucasArts during development of The Dig, yet again leaving it in a state of limbo.


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Cory's Corner: Consistency Resides With RBs
Is this really the No. 2 team in the NFC?
I cannot believe it. I figured that Matt LaFleur would bring stability along with more innovation as long there was complete buy-in. And after 13 games, the Packers sit 10-3.
This team has defied expectations and continues to churn out wins. And when you reside in the NFL, wins are all that matter because rankings don't matter.
Still, there is this.
"It's defintely going to make it difficult to beat those teams, let's just put it this way...We're going to need to be better," said Packers right tackle Bryan Bulaga.
Bulaga isn't wrong. The next two weeks mean a lot. Chicago, who somehow still has a playoff heartbeat, and Minnesota which will ultimately determine an NFC North title.
The inconsistent Packers cannot get play inconsistent ball against division opponents and expect to beat them again. In the last two weeks, the Packers have gone 10-for-27 on third down and Aaron Rodgers is averaging 6.7 yards per pass.
The Packers have the weapons to advance to the NFC Championship. They have an excellent runing back in Aaron Jones, who has 19 carries that have gone for 10 yards. The problem is usage. Jones has proven that he can be the focal point of this offense. Remember when rookie head coach Matt LaFleur said in the offseason that the running game would be stressed again?
Well, it's time. It's December. The weather has turned and it's time for Jones and Jamaal Williams to not just get carries, but targets as well. Jones and Williams have 28 percent of the team's receptions, which is good for second and third on the team.
In order for Green Bay to be more consistent, it needs to grasp who it really is. That's a team that leans on its running game and uses it nicely with a deadly play-action game.
The Packers aren't this far along without the impressive jump by their third-year backs and they are going to need them once the postseason gets here.
Being the No. 2 seed is a big deal, but without consistency, the next two weeks will reveal who the Packers really are.
Cory Jennerjohn is a graduate from UW-Oshkosh and has been in sports media for over 15 years. He was a co-host on "Clubhouse Live" and has also done various radio and TV work as well. He has written for newspapers, magazines and websites. He currently is a columnist for CHTV and also does various podcasts. He recently earned his Masters degree from the University of Iowa. He can be found on Twitter: @Coryjennerjohn
Comments (15)
December 10, 2019 at 07:02 am
"Is this really the No. 2 team in the NFC?"
Yes we are. The truth is every team is flawed. Every team has issues. The 49ers were supposed to have one of the best defenses in the league just gave up 46 points. The Saints gave up 48 points. The Seahawks just got blown up by the Rams. The Vikings lost to the Packers, Bears, Chiefs, Seahawks.
Speaking of the Vikings they beat the Redskins 19-9. They beat the Lions 20-7. They barely beat the Broncos.
All teams in this league have flaws!
We were talking a lot about the Redskins game and how bad the offense looked overall. But there was 2 deep throws that were just off. If Rodgers hits Jones he has a long TD. If he hits Graham that sets them up in the Redzone. How different does that game look if we score 10 more points.
Right now GB's biggest flaws are the inconsistent passing game. Whether its Rodgers or the WR's or whatever, there just seems to be a bit of a disconnect. Also the pass blocking has a tendency to have a miscue at the wrong time. The Running game has been terrific. Getting the ball in the RB's hands definitely has to be the top priority.
Another thing that I think this offense needs to do is to start using more TE's. Look at how Baltimore's offense is ran. Look at the Eagles offense. Look at some of these offenses that use the TE's a lot. We have Graham and Lewis who may not be big time play makers but they can consistently make plays. They also have Sternberger and Tonyan who can stretch defenses a little more.
There are 3 more regular season games. All of which are against division opponents. This will be a tough stretch but one that they can get what they want if they win each of the games. Win all 3 and they will have a bye.
December 10, 2019 at 04:15 pm
If the RB and TE have the burst to get to the ball. Nothing wrong with Rodgers deep tosses, just the receivers.
December 10, 2019 at 08:18 pm
Watch the deep balls to MVS and you'll notice he has up to 2 steps of separation every time, has to slow down for Rodgers's under thrown ball. The opposite is true for everyone else, as the ball is over thrown.
December 10, 2019 at 09:14 am
This week is key. Beat the Bears, the Vikings game won't matter as much. Lose to the Bears...and the Vikings, the seeding becomes a lot more problematic.
So can the Packers sweep the remaining season? Sure they can, but as everyone who has ears or eyes can tell you that the Packer's strength, Aaron Rodgers, isn't playing that good. Can he turn it around? Sure, but will he? This week will tell us more about the team than the past month's performance.
I have one bone to pick that I keep bringing up this time of year when the Packers get close to the playoffs....is Rodgers ready for the playoffs? Sometimes hes off because he's leading a beat-up team with little LOFT left on the active list. This year his starters are ready, for the first time in many years, and he has all his weapons ready and able. There are no excuses for this team not to go far into the playoffs, except for the experience factor. That experience of being in the playoffs, first year with the current coaching staff, first year with the offense, etc. It shouldn't be an issue, but all the players are human and nerves are unpredictable. That is why I keep thinking next year is their year, but hope I'm wrong about this year and the Lombardi trophy comes home.
December 10, 2019 at 09:30 pm
We do not have all the weapons.
We have a 4th rounder and the rest are UDFA WR's. They do not get a ton of separation. AR is 36 years old and is not as accurate as he once was.
In the playoffs, teams will key in on the running game and RB's out of the backfield. They will make AR and the WRs beat them over the top. Good luck with that when you have what we have. Adams is all we have for a WR.
This rebuild will take one more year, maybe two. Alright, I am ready for all the thumbs downs I will get for posting this.
December 10, 2019 at 09:54 am
Talent is probably a bigger factor although experience is also key. The talent at wide receiver is now proven to be as thin as many feared in the pre-season. Inside linebacker is constantly exploited by offensive game plans. the secondary has more talent than these previous two spots but boy do they get lit up sometimes. At least special teams, punt returning specifically, looks like it is turning around. In the end though GB just does not have the horses on this roster to go deep in the playoffs. In fact it remains possible that an 11 -5 record does not even get them in. All that said this season is a lot more fun than the last two.
December 10, 2019 at 09:58 am
Bulaga apparently looks inside the numbers or couldn't care less about them but seems to be reality based. He knows this team isn't close to being what the record or any other stat implies.
Most here will cling to the Parcells mantra of " You are what you're record says you are " but pertains merely to the record of 10-3 and NOT how or why you have it. Which demands immediate reply from the blind optimist ' A win is a win ' which also demands ignorance of the reality that even Bulaga speaks to.
Yes,the Packers are 10-3 and I'm more happy about it than most here as I got to cash in on a very nice bet which had them winning over 9 games. But I must confess, I had no idea that most of those wins would come as sloppily played and that even in the wins, this team seems to take sedatives either at games start or at halftime and worse,after the scripted plays for each game.
Unless this team awakes faster or cease to take the sedatives, from which ever moment in games each week the sedatives are induced, don't expect this team to be nothing more than they have been, a weak, one and done playoff team, and the cheerleaders of such success continue calling anyone who isn't satisfied with that demeaning success with Rodgers at the helm, a non fan....like me.
I guess Bulaga isn't a fan either of such disparaging play and limited success either,but one based in ' reality '....like me.
And Rodgers goes home and drinks his scotch in smugness believing the team is fine because they're 10-3 and in spite of him and his play,which doesn't seem to bother him, since he plays poorly the vast majority of the time.
Does Rodgers have scotch in his locker, as it could explain his play.
December 10, 2019 at 11:02 am
It is what it is. We know they can be better. So while everybody thinks rbs. Tes. OL. Even Defense. Rodgers is thinking Wrs. Yes to Adams. But his biggest Yes, is to Allison. Allison is Rodger's target! He knows he has to get both going before the playoffs. Lafleur may have the game plan. But Rodgers is the winner that can make it happen. Don't expect Rodgers to see what works. His fire to win depends on Adams and Allison. And he knows it. The second 1/2 collapse of the skins was do to targeting. Targeting the WRs. To be successful he must get them going. So while you look to the obvious. Rodgers wants his Wrs to be feared. And the success of this team is with them.
December 10, 2019 at 11:40 am
In order for the WR's to be ' feared ' to the standards of Rodgers belief, the sparring,training that has been employed is a total failure. Since after numerous weeks of such sparring/training, for a few multiple seasons, our WR's cannot deliver a knockout punch,but rather look punch drunk and the team awarded dubious decisions/wins, via the ability of the defense to prevent a Hail Mary uppercut from landing squarely but grazing the Packers chin with enough vim and vigor to question the legitimacy of the record.
The Packers are Rocky Balboa after defeating Spider Rico but they're not getting whatever training/sparring that transformed Rocky into...ROCKY!
The Packers will be invited to fight the fight (playoffs) for the Championship,but unlike the movie, the Packers won't be there because they'll lose to a better Spider Rico in the elimination bout.
Our ROCKY is hanging out with Paulie drinking scotch as the training is obviously being ignored.
December 10, 2019 at 02:06 pm
Were you drinking scotch amd watching Rocky when you wrote this?
December 10, 2019 at 05:38 pm
The Packers have exceeded my pre-season expectations for Wins to date
With 10 wins and a shot at a 13 win regular season, or even a reasonable 11 or 12 Win season the Pack hold their own keys to the playoffs and a bye week.
They are overall pretty healthy for this late in the season, and now is the time Rodgers and one of his receivers not named Adams connect and re-connect during the next 3 games, the next 2 in particular.
Jones and Williams can keep a defense honest by making them have to defend against the run on every play, while Rodgers must connect with his receivers over the middle and on mid-range plays.
That includes the TEs too.
We are fortunate to have a talented, consistent pair of RBs.
Now we need a comparable consistent pair of WRs and a comparable consistent pair of TEs and that W column will keep rising.


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Imagine you play an MMORPG. Imagine your character reached level 99, which means you've been playing for many years, and you've invested quite a bit of money. Imagine the developers want to change the name of your favorite world, or even your province… What would you do?
It's your world too
You've been paying for upgrades, sequels, prequels, patches and more. Hell, even changing a character name costs you money! Sometimes you'll pay up to $15 to change one. Imagine they'd change the name of the world though. It would become less your own. All forum entries about it would be obsolete. Even that blog post you wrote about it once would be referring to some fantasy word you just made up for fun! Complete madness!
Imagine the government would want to change the name of the province you grew up in…
Well, in Belgium, it is a fact that many people are confused about why the Flemish (northern) province of Antwerp has nothing to do with the city of the same name. Still, I think it's way too costly to even consider renaming it. Especially while the government's policy is otherwise based on a cuts frenzy. Imagine having to change everything from local opinion to international interest. It'd take years.
Then there's the historical arguments. The area was part of the Duchy of Brabant during the middle ages, that much is true, and cool. But we live in 2014 and we have a constitution nowadays, which says that this area is called Antwerp. Besides, Belgium has also been a part of France in the meantime, which renders any pre-French Revolution charters obsolete because of discontinuity.
(For Dutch speaking visitors: the opinion of a historian)
So, while I understand they'd want to change Antwerp in the light of contemporary clarity, I am just angry our tax money would be just used for a lousy name change. The term "Midden-Brabant" doesn't even make sense! Now let's enjoy the Gif.
Would you pay a developer $15 to change the name of your favorite game world?


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April 21, 2010 | 09:19 am
Wednesday: Resurrection as Affirmation of Life
Tuesday we took a detour around the main thrust of the story of Tabitha in Acts 9. Though she was a person devoted to doing good works and acts of charity, her biblical fame comes from being raised from the dead. I know this is going to sound strange, but I wonder why this is good news. If after death there is no more pain. If after death we find eternal peace. If after death we enter paradise with God. Why does the Bible celebrate Tabitha's return to an earthly existence? Whatever answer we give, it must include the affirmation that life is worth living. Otherwise it would be a cruel act of God to delay heaven to spend a few more years in this world.
Our spiritual journeys are about centering on those things that make life worth living. If we look at Jesus' instructions for prayer, it emphasizes the potential of life today. He said we are to pray "your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Life is not part of a heavenly installment plan to collect after death. There is a heavenly dimension to our earthly existence, and following the way of Christ leads us into this dimension.
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Used 2003 GMC Envoy XL Consumer Reviews
Most reliably vehicle to date
I love this truck. I purchased it in 2008 with 58k. The truck now has just about 169k. In town ave. 15 as estimated, freeway (70mph) with my family & luggage it pulls 21-22mpg average. Runs and rides great! I stay up on all maintenance: fluids, S-belt, brakes pads & rotors, coil overs, shocks, fuel filter, ball joints& driver front wheel bearing (I consider maintenance). The only non-maintenance repairs have been replacing plastic upper molding on rear door the power steering pump (reservoir leaking, did not fail), tensioner pulley & water pump, all just this year 2014. I really cant say enough good about her. One of the best SUVs ever built!
Used Purchase
I've only had my Envoy for a couple of months & did not buy from a very reputable used car dealer, but I love this vehicle. It's got enough get up & go off a stop to keep me from laying my foot into the gas too heavy. The previous owner seemed to not care much about the mechanical integrity of this vehicle since I had to make the dealer replace the wiring harness, then I ended up having to have the transmission completely rebuilt a couple months later. Despite that, this engine is as solid as a tank. There is nothing like an inline 6 motor! I fancy myself a shade tree mechanic and this is by far one of the easiest engines to work on. With 162k miles on it, & counting, I plan to keep her around for another 162k now that she's got a new transmission & a solid engine. As a short-waisted woman, I LOVE the adjustable driver seat. I can see all around me, I get proper lumbar support, I don't have to be on top of the steering wheel to reach the pedals, & don't need an extra pad to raise my short self up to see past the end of the hood. As a Lyft driver, I get a lot of compliments on how comfortable my vehicle is & how easy it is to get in & out of, even from the rear set of seats. I plan to use this beast to do some beach camping this year. Update: she's still going strong with 190k miles on her now. The cables for the odometer, speedometer, & gas gauge need to be replaced. Her age is starting to manifest in the little things, but still a very solid ride. 2and update: still love my girl, but damn these emissions sensors! Haven't been able to get the damn check engine light to shut off in 3 years. Replaced every single sensor in her. Most likely due to the two broken bolts in the exhaust manifold which you can't get to without special tools or pulling the engine. Neither of which is an option for me. Even tried using right angle drill. Broke a bit & stripped two extractors to no avail. Thank god for high temperature gasket seal, but my stupid self only sealed around those two bolts thinking the normal gasket would be fine around the rest. Soooooo, I have to pull the whole thing a third time & seal the whole mess this time. Hopefully that will buy me time to save to fix her up since I'm in the process a conversion for camping. Ripped out the two rear seats & built a small bed frame, cut down my old tempurpedic mattress & now have a very comfortable but tiny RV for my trips. Solar on the roof with battery & converter for powering my laptop for business on the go from wherever I want to be.
- Safety
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- Performance
- Interior
- Comfort
- Reliability
- Value
I LOVE my ENVOY
I'm the second owner but I've had for the last 4 years and I LOVE my Envoy. I've never loved a car before but this rides smooth, is so quiet, shifts like a dream, makes tight car-like Uturns, plenty of interior room, nice leg room, has 86,000 miles. I've had to replace the fan clutch ($600), the arm rest (my fault - $70) and something else that I can't remember the name of but it may be called the driveline (?). Anyway, it's the part that causes your vehicle to shift into gear ($200). It's just been a dream to ride and drive. This is a vehicle that you want to take care of because you want it to last forever.
Most reliable vehicle I have ever owned
Vehicle runs smooth and quiet. Railroad tracks and speed bumps don't bother this GM SUV. Just under 100k miles at this time and no major repairs needed. A couple batteries, sets of tires, windshield wipers, oil changes and air filters and that is all. Fuel mileage is not great, especially at this time when we pay $3.00 a gallon. I rate this vehicle a 10 because it is the most reliable and comfortable vehicle I have ever owned.
2003 Envoy XL SLT 4WD
Love the Envoy, have had it for about 6 years and at 79000 miles no major problems. I have 5 kids and it is a great fit for us. I have thought about getting an Enclave but love the Envoy too much. It could do a little better on gas but its still not bad, we take a long trip every year and the is lots of room for us and our stuff. Buy one!
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Solihull A Level resultsAdd to Cart Download
© Licensed to London News Pictures.16/08/2012. Solihull, West Midlands. Pupils at Solihull School celebrating their A level results. Pictured, Twins, Hanah, left, Lara, right, Jesani, who both celebrated their 18th birthday today with 5, A's, A levels between them. Both girls, whose father is a heart surgeon will follow in the family traddition and go to to Cardiff University to study Medical Science. Photo credit : Dave Warren/LNP
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Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, a legendary professional wrestling manager who also made a name for himself as a wrestler and color commentator, has died at the age of 73, WWE confirmed on Sunday.
Heenan had suffered from health issues beginning with a 2002 bout with throat cancer. Since that time, he had endured a series of physical hardships, including reconstructive jaw surgery and multiple falls resulting in injuries to his hips and shoulder.
A dominant personality in pro wrestling for more than three decades, Heenan possessed a sharp wit and an uncanny knack for timing -- both dramatic and comedic. He was also one of the most versatile high-level performers in wrestling history, adept at stirring fans into fits of laughter, anger or concern at will, as either a manager, TV host or in-ring competitor.
Heenan is probably best remembered as the wise-cracking, sneering manager of villains in the WWF (now WWE), and prior to that, the AWA and other territories. His radiant charisma instantly helped anyone he managed become a bigger name. The wrestlers he managed often landed in the main event picture, benefitting from Heenan's incredible knack for talking on interviews to help drum up fan interest.
The "Heenan Family," as his stable of wrestlers was often known, included a who's who of big-name heels (bad guys) over the years. Heenan managed The Blackjacks, Ray Stevens and world champion Nick Bockwinkel in the AWA. In the WWF, he did the dirty work of Andre the Giant, Big John Studd, King Kong Bundy, Ken Patera, "Ravishing" Rick Rude, "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig, Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, Haku, The Barbarian, Hercules and Paul "Mr. Wonderful" Orndorff. And that's a short list.
Heenan was a central player in numerous all-time classic wrestling storylines.
When the beloved Andre the Giant turned heel to challenge Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania III in 1987, it was Heenan who convinced Andre to turn to the dark side. A year earlier, when Orndorff betrayed Hogan, it was Heenan who became his manager, culminating in a Hogan vs. Orndorff grudge match at the Big Event in Toronto. That match took place in front of one of wrestling's largest live crowds in the days before WrestleMania was held in football stadiums.
When NWA world champion Ric Flair jumped ship to the WWF in 1991, Heenan broke the news to viewers in dramatic fashion, boasting that he had brought "the real world champion" to the WWF, shockingly displaying Flair's NWA title on a WWF television program. And when Flair won the WWF title at the 1992 Royal Rumble, Heenan gave one of the most memorable color commentary performances in history, completely beside himself with panic each time Flair was in danger during the match.
Heenan's fame extended beyond pro wrestling on occasion. He was friendly with many big names in sports and entertainment. One year, he was even named an honorary member of John Madden's All-Madden Team.
From the time he debuted in wrestling in 1966 using his real name, Ray, Heenan split time between wrestling and managing, eventually gravitating toward a primarily outside-the-ring role. He started out in Dick the Bruiser's Indianapolis-based World Wrestling Association, managing the likes of the Assassins, Chris Markoff and Angelo Poffo (whose sons Lanny and Randy would one day become famous as The Genius and Randy "Macho Man" Savage).
Heenan would use his wit and his arrogant attitude to make fans root for his men to get beat. Frequently, feuds involving Heenan's wrestlers would culminate in Heenan stepping into the ring himself -- sometimes as a prize of sorts to the babyface, who would earn the right to get Heenan in the ring by beating the men he managed. Once he stepped into the ring to pay off a feud, Heenan often gave gutsy and selfless performances in order to send the fans home happy with his comeuppance.
Sometimes, particularly in the 1970s, that meant bleeding profusely from the face to pay for his misdeeds. Heenan's crimson-drenched mug adorned the cover of many wrestling magazines in those days. In later years, he favored comedic humiliation, like being stuffed into a weasel suit by Greg Gagne or the Ultimate Warrior in a nod to the nickname fans often chanted at him.
No wrestling manager in history could take a flying bump over the top rope like Bobby Heenan. Whether it was Hogan throwing him over the top or Heenan voluntarily taking a flying leap to escape a beating, Heenan could propel himself out of the ring in such wild fashion that it became a cornerstone of his act.
As impressive as Heenan was as a manager, his transition to television hosting in the WWF made perfect use of his quick wit and his knack for improv. As co-host of WWF Prime Time Wrestling with Gorilla Monsoon, Heenan shamelessly hyped up the men he managed and wisecracked about jobbers or babyface wrestlers he disliked.
Monsoon and Heenan had incredible chemistry on screen with Heenan rattling off one-liners as an exasperated Monsoon begged, "Will you be serious?" Heenan would later acknowledge that his chemistry with Monsoon was due to them being very close friends behind the scenes.
In late 1993, Heenan ended his run in the WWF due to his desire to slow down and heal old injuries, particularly a broken neck suffered years prior. As it turned out, World Championship Wrestling made him an offer too good to pass up, so Heenan changed his plans. He went to work for WCW in 1994, spending six years as a commentator on shows such as WCW Monday Nitro, WCW Saturday Night and Clash of the Champions.
His next appearance in WWE wouldn't come until the WrestleMania X-7 gimmick battle royal in 2001, shortly after WWE purchased WCW, where Heenan reunited with "Mean" Gene Okerlund to do commentary for the match.
Heenan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004. Despite having increased difficulty speaking due to his battle with cancer, Heenan was in rare form, zinging wrestlers in the audience and clearly enjoying his first chance to entertain friends and fans since his health had declined. In a touching moment, he ended his speech with a heartfelt statement. "There's only one thing missing," he said. "I wish Monsoon was here."
Heenan's legacy in the wrestling business is rock solid. Numerous performers point to him as the greatest manager in history. His one-liners and pratfalls live on in wrestling lore. There will truly never be another like him.


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Summer at Loop!
Over the past couple of weeks, we have seen how the social distancing guidelines have had an impact on when we are in the shop with customers. As the government's advice continues to change, we have been able to get a better idea of how the summer is going to look for us...
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Eat To Perform & Macros Inc have partnered up to bring a fitness & nutrition conference that is designed for you, Practical topics, practical solutions.
Evidence based fitness & nutrition recommendations presented in a practical way for the average person.
The Flexible Fitness & Nutrition Summit (FFNS) is the most entertaining, fitness filled weekend, in Chicago. We're bringing the best names in evidence based fitness & nutrition to Chicago August 24th - 25th, 2018.
Friday evening & all day Saturday, you'll hear from the top presenters in fitness & nutrition, presenting on how to make fitness fit into your life. During the evenings…the fun really happens! You'll be able to go out and meet, chat, eat with, & have a drink with your favorite fitness professionals. This conference not only includes the presentations, but we have activities planned throughout the weekend!.
Most of us have followed these people for years online. We've talked to fellow attendees online for what feels like forever. This is a great way to finally get to hang out with people you know & trust. It's a great way to enjoy what will already be a fantastic weekend with great friends.
Speakers for the Flexible Fitness & Nutrition Summit:
Hosted by Jay Woith
Alan Aragon
Brad Dieter
Eric Trexler
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Tim Arndt
Justin Parel
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Welcome to Monroe Woodlands in Snohomish. This New Community, nestled away in the hills just west of Monroe, is beautiful & breathtaking. The "Olympic" floorplan offers 3,745 sq ft, 5bd, 3.5 bath, with a Dining Room, Bedroom & 3/4 bath on the main level and Loft upstairs. Whether you are looking for 3 bedrooms or 6 bedrooms with plenty of room for your loved ones to spread out. Don't miss this opportunity - communities as fabulous as this don't come around everyday!


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The President of the United States, Donald Trump, commuted the prison sentence of his friend and former adviser Roger Stone, who was sentenced in February to 40 months in prison, the White House announced Friday.
Roger Stone had been convicted of lying to Congress, obstructing and manipulating witnesses in the context of the investigation of Russian interference during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign.
The former councilor's trip to prison would be scheduled for next week.
"Today [sexta-feira], President Donald J. Trump ordered executive clemency to commute Roger Stone's unjust sentence, "White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement.
Roger Stone, he added, "has suffered a lot. He has been treated very unfairly, as have many others in this case. He is now a free man."
Unlike a presidential pardon, which would free Stone from the crimes for which he was convicted, Trump's action in committing his sentence only lifted his 40-month prison sentence.
The White House statement states that Stone faced "an unfair charge, imprisonment and trial" and that, despite the conviction, "maintains his innocence", for which he deserves, according to the White House, the opportunity to defend again your case in court.
In addition, the White House cited Stone's health risks that would be posed by his incarceration due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Stone was convicted after weeks of internal strife at the Justice Department, with US Attorney General William Barr issuing a recommendation urging that the initial request for punishment be reduced.
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Barr's recommendation prompted several prosecutors who dealt with the case to resign and denounce pressure from senior Justice Department officials to treat Stone "differently and more condescendingly" during his trial due to his relationship with Trump.
Characterized by his provocative style, Stone is a veteran Republican political consultant whose clients included former presidents Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) and Richard Nixon (1969-1974) and whose favorite motto is "Nothing to admit, deny everything, and fight back".
Stone, who has advised Trump for years and worked until August 2015 on his election campaign, was arrested by the FBI in January 2019 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
According to the U.S. Attorney General, Stone acted as a link between the Trump 2016 campaign and the WikiLeaks platform, which released stolen emails from the Democratic National Committee, detrimental to Hillary Clinton's presidential candidate's campaign.
Stone was convicted as part of the investigation conducted by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller of the Russian conspiracy, which exonerated Trump from conspiring with Russia during the 2016 election process, but cast doubt on the President's ability to obstruct the investigation.


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Nancy LaMott Follow
The Music That Makes Me Dance lyrics
I add two and two
The most simple addition
Then swear
That the figures are lying
I'm a much better comic
then mathematician
Cause I'm better on stage
Than at intermission
And as far
As the man is concerned
If I've been burned
Well I haven't learn
I know he's around
When the sky
And the ground
Starting ringing
I know that he's near
By the thunder
I hear in advance
His words
And his words alone
Are the words
that can start me
Heart singing
And his is
The only music
That makes me dance
He'll sleep
And he lies in the light
Of two eyes
That adore him
Oh, bore him it might
But he
Won't leave me sight
For a glance
In every way
Every single day
I need less of myself
I need more him
More him
And his is
The only music
That makes dance
Yes, his is
The only music
That makes dance
Part of these releases
- Track 7 on Ask Me Again Disc 2
- 6 You'll Never Know
- 8 No One Is Alone / Not While I'm Around
Popular Nancy LaMott Songs
- P. S. I Love You
- Autumn Leaves / When October Goes
- Talk to Me Baby
- Hit the Road to Dreamland
- Moon River
- That Old Black Magic
- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
- Accentuate the Positive
- On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe
- The Days of Wine and Roses / Whistling Away the Dark
- see all by Nancy LaMott
The Music That Makes Me Dance Video
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for submitting the lyrics.
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Family Capital: The evolution of the family investment model: Pritzker's committed club structure
May 23, 2019
PPC is in many ways, a classic deployer of family capital in a patient way. But it mixes this with a team of savvy private equity investors to help it come out top in its deal-making in a competitive market. Read the full story.
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A special thanks to Tina Heitman, library media coordinator for Davis-Townsend Elementary, for this blog post on the Give 5 Read 5 campaign.
"The NCDPI first launched the statewide Give Five - Read Five campaign in 2013 to address summer learning loss. As a part of this annual campaign, parents, business leaders and community members donate five or more new or gently used books to local elementary schools so that students have books to take home at the end of the school year because research from Harvard shows that reading five books helps students to better retain literacy skills over the summer." http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/give5read5/
This will be the second year that Davis-Townsend Elementary School has participated in this statewide initiative! Here are the steps we take:
by Tracy Varner, Library Media Coordinator, Reeds Elementary
On Friday, March 11th, the Reeds Battle of the Books Team took on some wonderful seniors at the Davidson County Senior Services in another battle—"Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?'' What an awesome day it was!! The seniors had no mercy on our EBOB students, and our EBOB students gave it right back!
Seeing the interaction between young and old was such a great experience! As they began each round, they shook hands and the battles began. Team members were allowed to collaborate with one another to discover and work out the answers to each question or problem. I have to admit, some of these were really hard. The competition was fierce, but in the end, it was a tie score! Afterward, the Davidson County Senior Services treated our students to a pizza lunch.
This was such a great learning experience for our students. The people at the Davidson County Senior Services were so welcoming and kind to our students. I would highly recommend letting your students participate in an event similar to this, if not with this particular organization, maybe another one where they could interact with seniors.
The Top Ten - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires
Register at: www.scholastic.com/bookfairs/reading-summit/concord-nc
Thanks to Brene Duggins and Sheila Allen for this post about FREE YA audiobooks from SYNC.
When someone on the Internet tells us that we can receive something for free, we have learned to be skeptical and rightfully so. But SYNC Audiobooks for Teens is totally free, no strings attached. SYNC started in the summer of 2010, to introduce the listening experience to a teen audience and to demonstrate that Required Reading can be completed by listening. Sponsored by AudioFile Magazine, the titles are delivered by OverDrive, the same program the Davidson County Public Library uses to deliver audio titles.
We have been with Audiobook SYNC since the beginning, Brene (1st year) and Sheila (2nd year). Through these past 6 years we have learned a lot, the biggest takeaway is that this is a wonderful opportunity to share the love of books with students and teachers, especially those reluctant readers that are more open to listening to a book rather than actually reading it. Some of the titles that are available each year are the beginning of a series, personally we have found that after listening to these we end up finding the rest of the series to read.
The great thing that you can share with students and staff is that this FREE resource is available to EVERYONE! No strings, just download the books each week. Remember to get them when they are available because once they are gone, they are no longer available to download! We listen to them in the car, doing yard work, in the bed, and even when taking a walk or run! Another tip is that you can download them on multiple devices. Laptop, iPad, Phone, etc.
So how do we get started….
Starting May 5th - August 17th, 2016, SYNC will give away two audiobook downloads each week (30 titles). Each week one contemporary title is paired with a similar classic title. These books are selected for students 13+ and cover a wide range of topics.
It's easy to start, go to www.audiobooksync.com and signup for alerts when a new title is available. Titles change each week at 7am ET on Thursday mornings. Download the Overdrive app on your device(s) and follow the onscreen prompts.
To help you spread the word, SYNC has an Educator Toolkit with posters, bookmarks, and trifolds ready to use. By starting the downloads in early May, we can help students find and download the audiobooks on their personal devices.
Download them all, download a few, they are yours to keep.
"Teen Tech Week is a national initiative sponsored by YALSA and is aimed at teens, their parents, educators and other concerned adults. The purpose of Teen Tech Week is to ensure that teens are competent and ethical users of digital media, especially the nonprint resources offered through libraries, such as e-books, e-readers, databases, audiobooks, and social media.
Teen Tech Week encourages teens to use libraries' nonprint resources for education and recreation, and to recognize that librarians are qualified, trusted professionals in the field of information technology. Teen Tech Week began in 2007 and has a general theme of Get Connected @ your library.
Millions of teens do not have access to a home computer and, were it not for libraries, would miss opportunities to gain important digital literacy skills. Libraries offer a bridge across the digital divide.Libraries also recognize that digital media plays an important part in a teens' life. That is why more libraries than ever are helping teens build critical digital literacy skills, which they will use to obtain scholarships, secure jobs, effectively manage their online identity and more." - From http://teentechweek.ning.com
Several DCS high schools are participating. Here is Lorie Steed, Library Media Coordinator at Central Davidson about #TTW16 in her library:
This is our school's first time celebrating Teen Tech Week, and I wanted to share what we're doing because looking at what other librarians have done really helped me when I was trying to come up with ideas. We decided to come up with a different theme each day:
Augmented Reality & Quiver: I wanted to start with something quick and easy that also incorporated the "Create It at Your Library" theme, and the Quiver app fit the bill. After printing off free sheets from the Quiver website, I loaded the app onto a few iPads so students could scan their colored pages once they completed them. I then partnered up with Wendy Lewis, who had her students color their sheets ahead of time so that when they visited the library between class changes as they usually do, other students could watch them bring their creations to life. I really like this activity because even if students don't have time to complete it at school, they can pick up the sheets and download the app onto their phones to use at home. It's also a fun way to take the popular coloring trend to the next level, and to illustrate how technology can be used to create something rather than just consume what others have created.
Book Trailers: One of the suggestions from 50 More Ways to Celebrate Teen Tech Week that I really liked was to have students make their own book trailers and post them online, and since Junior Library Guild is currently sponsoring a book trailer contest, I decided to get the word out about this contest and invite students to participate. Students can come to the library during our 30-minute activity period on Tuesday to view examples of movie and book trailers, learn what makes a good book trailer, and get introduced to Animoto and WeVideo, two free web-based video-creation tools. This is also a great digital citizenship lesson since students must use royalty-free images, which they can do by taking their own pictures or video, or by finding royalty-free content through Creative Commons or limiting Usage Rights under Search Tools when performing a Google search. Learning to create an effective book trailer is not only fun, but also an opportunity to develop a skill that could turn into a business opportunity as more and more authors are hiring freelancers to create book trailers to help them promote their books.
The Rest: The rest of the week's activities are more low-key, and that was intentional. As I understand it, part of Teen Tech Week is to inspire students to create with technology, but it's also about highlighting resources and getting kids into the library. The retro video games on Wednesday and the Google Cardboard demo on Friday, as well as Thursday's bottle-cap necklace kits, are meant to help us make connections with students we might not have made connections with yet. We're also including quick technology tips on the daily announcements to remind students of resources they have access to here at school, including World Book Online and Ancestry K12, as well as free online resources available to them through the Davidson County Public Library system, including five free song downloads a week through Freegal, and ebooks through North Carolina Digital Library. We want to help students build a lifelong relationship with the library and one way to do this is through our partnership with our wonderful public library system. You can find detailed information about the multitude of digital resources available through the Davidson County Public Library system here.
Lexington Library and Makey Makeys: We actually kicked off Teen Tech Week a couple of days early, on Friday, March 4, as Joanna from the Lexington Public Library brought a Makey Makey for students to try out when they visited the Bookmobile, which comes to our school the first Friday of every month. Students learned about how electricity works while also having fun playing Mario using bananas as a game controller! This activity was a great success and resulted in the highest number of Bookmobile visitors we've ever had; a couple of business and science teachers even brought their classes in to try out the device. You can find out more about Makey Makeys at the Lexington Public Library in this article from Lexington Dispatch, and about a special program going on this Saturday at the Lexington Public Library from 12 - 2, in which students can experiment with the Makey Makey devices and create mosaics that will utilize conductive inks to make their art interactive.
What activities have you have planned for your students during Teen Tech Week? Please share them here!
According to openeducationalresources.pbworks.com,
"Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials that are freely available online for everyone to use, whether you are an instructor, student or self-learner. Examples of OER include: full courses, course modules, syllabi, lectures, homework assignments, quizzes, lab and classroom activities, pedagogical materials, games, simulations, and many more resources contained in digital media collections from around the world."
You may already know about LearnNC, CreativeCommons or Khan Academy which are great examples of OER. However not all educational resources are "open" or "free". Although OpenEd resources have been around a few years, only in the last few weeks did NC officially announce the #OpenEdNC initiative. See the original article from NCDPI here: http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/newsroom/news/2015-16/20160226-01
For more information about the #OpenEd initiative, visit this website from the U.S. Department of Education: http://tech.ed.gov/open-education/
What are the 5 R's of OERs?:
See the video below for a 3 minute explanation about OERs.
What are the benefits of OERs?: see full article here.
About Us
Welcome to the official blog just for DCS library media programs. Enjoy new posts from one of our many contributors and follow along to see the amazing things happening in Davidson County school libraries.
April 2019
April 2019


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On The Streeter – 10 Thoughts on AEW Fyter Fest 2019
I decided to wait a little bit before putting my 10 thoughts on this show up, as we had the far better live reports from Harrak and Howard which deserve to get the attention. But, as I am old and have no life, I still watched the show and I still decided to write about it.
First, the name. Yes, the Fyre Festival is something that happened and to those of us with a fine sense of the absurd, it was freakin' hilarious. However, this name will be bizarre in 5 years and the mannequin jokes and the rest will make no sense except to those who have pop culture memories longer than the attention span of a goldfish with Alzheimer's. Just sayin'.
Anyway, here's ten thoughts on the second AEW show I've seen after Double Or Nothing. Apparently, they've had three – does anyone know where I can see the first show? I don't even know what it is or when it was. Sorry, but Australia is a nasty little Fascist theocracy at the arse end of the world and I'm lucky I even knew what this AEW thing was in the first place…
Okay, enough of my bullsh*t – here's 10 thoughts!
1) The buy-in started with the first match at 2 ½ minutes in! Private Party v SoCal Uncensored v Best Friends was a 3-way tag team match-up… and what a way to start the show! This was not an all-in spot-fest, but a good match to start with some nice looking spots. Quen might just have the best looking SSP I have seen. That rana into a cutter double team move! Holy crap! Best friends win with a strong zero after a little over quarter of an hour. Great opener!
2) I said in my Double Or Nothing 10 Thoughts that the librarian gimmick sucks. Well, Leva Bates as a wrestler also sucks. Allie tried hard, and looks like she has the goods. Well, based on this match, the WWE is still ahead in its female wrestlers (though with Lacey Evans and Alexa Bliss, you have to wonder). Bleh. Allie won after about 8 minutes.
3) Apparently this person named Alex Jebailey is the organiser of the gaming convention happening at the same time, and so he was put into a hardcore match against Michael Nakazawa. After 10 minutes or so of what I guess was a version of a "celebrity" match, Nakazawa won with a fluke pin. Okay, kudos to Jebailey for doing it and taking some nice bumps and shots, but… Hey! The crowd liked it. I thought it was rubbish… but better than the match it followed.
[3a) The Buy-in started so well, and finished so badly. Not a good way to start.
But then the main show started with a frankly awesome video package!]
4) First match of the main show saw Christopher Daniels battle Cima. This was not a high-flying spot-fest, but a good ol' fashioned wrestling match with solid moves being hit. Sure, there was some flying, but it was more about making the moves hit and hit hard. A good match, maybe not so much for the fans of spotfests, but I really enjoyed it. After about 10 minutes, Cima picked up the pin with a meteora that looked like it connected with all his weight, giving him momentum going into a fight with Kenny Omega at the next show.
5) Riho v Nyla Rose v Yuka Sakazaki was okay. Okay. There were some great moves and some hard hitting, but there were also some awkward spots and some laziness. It was watchable, but nothing great. Having said that, Rose's top rope guillotine on a draped Riho was pretty damn impressive. Riho won after almost fifteen minutes by cradling Rose. I will also say, I do like the female ref officiating female matches.
6) MJF v Jungle Boy v Jimmy Havoc v Hangman Adam Page was a good match. It was not a high-flying spotfest and, much like Daniels-Cima, relied on wrestling to entertain the crowd and get the job done. And that they did. 10 minutes of fast-paced wrestling. It didn't become just a series of one-on-one matches ( though that did certainly happen at times) because there was always some-one there to make sure that it was changed up. Ending came with Page pinning Havoc while the other two were outside. Cool match. And the Page/MJF feud looks set to be a good one.
7) This was Cody showing the WWE just what they have let go. Why didn't the WWE let this Cody have a go on the main stage? Morons. Sorry. Let's start again…
Cody Rhodes v Darby Allin went to a 20-minute time limit draw and it would not have been out of place in a late 1980s, early 1990s NWA(WCW) show. This was 20 minutes of wrestling. There were a few rest-holds, but not that many. The pace was deliberate, sure, but it was a good match. And, more than that, the crowd was into it. They were into what was a wrestling match! They didn't need the 400 flips or the overdone false finishes – they got in-ring action and they loved it. There were a number of highlights, but Allin is insane – missing a coffin drop to hit the ring apron was, well, stupid! And Cody sold the hand injury all through the second half of the match. Maybe not everyone's cup of tea, but I damn well enjoyed it.
The post-match chair shot to draw blood on the back of Cody Rhodes' head… was this what we wanted? But sh*t a brick, what a way to end the match and ensure there was no overtime…
8) The Laredo Kid, Pentagon Jr & Rey Fenix v The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega was a gymnastics display. I do enjoy me a bit of this style of wrestling and what awesome booking – this is the only match of this style on the card! The crowd isn't jaded into seeing more and more flips and matches aren't designed to out-perform one another – if it's the only one on the card, they stand out for that reason and no-one else has to compete with them. There were too many spots to call properly. It was insane. The start when the Elite all came out dressed as characters from Street Fighter (Akuma, Ryu & Ken) was amazing. "Round 1 – fight!" Brilliant! Yes, I loved this match. My favourite match of the night, and I don't care what anyone else says. No story-telling, minimal selling, but so much fun. So sue me. And, after 20 minutes that hardly felt that long at all, Kenny Omega pinned the Laredo Kid for the win for the Elite.
9) This is apparently a non-sanctioned match, Jon Moxley v Joey Janela. It was basically an extreme match – halfway between the hardcore matches of early 2000s WWE and truly insane ECW/CZW. This was just violence for violence sake, and it was, again, something different to everything else on the card. Barbed wire, tables, tables with barbed wire, chairs, chairs with barbed wire… you get the idea. This goes for 20 minutes and it was really just spot after spot, but isn't that what this sort of match really is? There is blood – not as much as Dustin at DoN, but some – and there is a lot of pain. In the end, Moxley hits a move (the Paradigm Shift) onto thumb tacks to pin Janela. The crowd's chant of, "You sick f*ck!" was deserved, by the way.
10) Post-match Kenny Omega comes out and gets revenge for Double Or Nothing by beating the snot out of Moxley through the arena to the stage, giving the crowd even more violence, leaving Moxley lying helpless on the stage while Omega stands tall. But Moxley smiles and it's creepy, and the match these two is going to eventually have (at All Out, I believe) should be off the freakin' charts.
So… the show. Not as good as Double Or Nothing, I will say that from the outset. Better than any WWE show this year, I will also say that. A great show, let down by a huge chunk of the pre-show and yet only one match on the main show did not resonate. This is another show worth catching. 2 AEW shows, two absolute corkers (I'm Australian – deal with it). I am loving AEW.
And that's how I saw Fyter Fest 2019.
Tags: AEW, Alex Jebailey, All Elite Wrestling, Allie, Best Friends, Christopher Daniels, Cima, Cody Rhodes, Darby Allin, Fyter Fest, Hangman Adam Page, Jimmy Havoc, Joey Janela, Jon Moxley, Jungle Boy, Kenny Omega, Leva Bates, Librarian, lucha bros, Michael Nakazawa, MJF, Nyla Rose, Pentagon Jr., Private Party, Rey Fenix, Riho, SCU, The Laredo Kid, Young Bucks, Yuka Sakazaki


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Paul Martens's new haircut (updated August 2020)
Everything you need to know about his shocking new style.
First of all, how do you like his new look? Vote right here:
Submit your vote
Check out Paul Martens's current and previous haircuts:
Paul Martens has had a variety of different hairstyles in recent years. He is widely known as an outstanding sport cyclist. However, the Racing cyclist is particularly known for his unique fashion sense and his likable character. Rumors and gossip about the 37-year old's hairstyle are constantly a focus of attention of celebrity magazines and tabloids. Check out Paul Martens's former and current haircuts in the image box below:
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© Cs-wolves / cc-by-sa-4.0
Which haircuts would you like to see on him?
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Only people with an IQ above 160 know what these 5 celebrities have in common with Paul Martens.
Ai Ueda
Francisco Liriano
Julien Arias
Katy Tur
Lauren Tamayo
How to get hair like Paul Martens?
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MarketBeat 4+
American Consumer News, LLC
- Free
MarketBeat empowers individual investors to make better trading decisions by providing real-time financial data and objective market analysis. Whether you're looking for analyst ratings, corporate buybacks, dividends, earnings, economic reports, financials, insider trades, IPOs, SEC filings or stock splits, MarketBeat has the objective information you need to analyze any stock.
The MarketBeat app allows you to create a watchlist of your stocks, which enables you to see a live feed of the most important headlines and information for the companies you follow. You can also see a historical summary of ratings changes, earnings announcements, dividends and insider trades for stocks on your watchlist.
What's New
Version 2.0.1
Bug fixes
You can now sync your marketbeat.com watchlist successfully
Ratings and ReviewsSee All
With the new update, we are unable to change the default view. Before the update, I was able to keep the analyst rating as my default view. Any updates to fix this? Other than that, it's an awesome app.
Market Beat
Quick, concise and, so far, extremely useful and accurate up to date information on stocks, funds, insider dealing, etc. and even some guidance on where to put your money most wisely and safely.
Very Useful
When trying to determine a new buy or a sell of an existing stock, this app gives me a clear snapshot of what (or who) is driving the stock price up or down.
- Seller
- Matthew Paulson
- Size
- Category
- Finance
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 8.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
- Languages
- Age Rating
- 4+
- Copyright
- © 2018 American Consumer News, LLC
- Price
- Free
Family Sharing
With Family Sharing set up, up to six family members can use this app.


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Price: $9.99
Quantity: 1 available
2 1/8 x 5 3/8".
Dimensions given, if any, are approximate. Condition as shown. Defects not visible in scan[s] are described. Item is complete as issued unless otherwise stated. NO facsimiles, copies, reprints or reproductions unless specifically stated in description above. Pictures show actual item, never a stock image.
Title: Barnett Bros Special Courtesy Reserved Seat circus ticket 1938
Categories: Circus,
Item: 0.50 Item
Seller ID: 1480362


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Nvidia GTX 460 details leakedBy Tom Manners 4 June 2010 | Categories: news
Specifications for Nvidia's GTX 460 GPU, a performance card based on the company's upcoming GF104 core, have been leaked at the annual Computex conference in Taipei.
According to sources on the conference floor the card will ship with considerable overclocking potential despite the reduced complexity of the GF104 core when compared to the current and more advanced GF100. This should however work in Nvidia's favour by reducing overall production costs for the GTX 460.
Fudzilla reports that the upcoming GPU should feature a 180W TDP (thermal design power) at stock frequencies and will incorporate just 768MB of GDDR5 memory. Despite this the card's 192-bit memory bus should enable the GTX 460 to deliver more bandwidth than Radeon HD 5770, which will arguably be the unit's closest competitor.
In addition to this the GTX 460 will feature 240 cores – half of that found in Nvidia's flagship GPU, the GTX 280. As a result this should place the GTX 460 solidly within the mid market graphical range.
The GTX 260 is reportedly expected to be released in July and will mark Nvidia's most recent addition to its Fermi range which incorporates a 40nm manufacture process as well as DirectX 11 support.
No indication at which pricing point the GTX 460 will retail has yet been given.
Although the company appears to be forging ahead strongly with its new product line it is important to bear in mind that it has been somewhat behind in delivering DirectX 11 compatible GPUs. As a result Nvidia's closest, and arguably only competitor AMD has succeeded in capturing a greater portion of the market share by delivering the world's first DirectX 11 GPUs, the HD 5800 series, as early as September 2009.
In contrast Nvidia released its GeForce 400 series in April 2010.
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New smartphone announcements (5 votes)Technological breakthroughs (9 votes)Launch of new consoles, or notebooks (7 votes)Innovative Artificial Intelligence solutions (4 votes)Biotechnology or medical advancements (9 votes)Better business applications (3 votes)


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Job Description:
About the 3CX team
3CX's sales team is a global, multicultural and highly motivated team who take pride in ensuring consistent growth. The team's key role is developing and maintaining relationships with our 25,000 channel partners worldwide by providing them with the tools to sell and support our 250,000 customers around the globe.
Must have knowledge on music instrument specifically with Piano Must have an experience with tuning and repairing Piano or at least can play piano to be able to sell it easily
Paint fingernails and toenails Clean, cut and shape nails
JOB DESCRIPTIONS: Sell and promote the sale of all products of the company Understands the products by studying the characteristics, specifications and features of it Create and maintain a positive customer-friendly sales environment and holding sale
Purchasing agents and officers purchase general and specialized equipment, materials, land or access rights and business services for use or for further processing by their establishment. They are employed throughout the public and private sectors.
Performing maintenance activities related to cleaning Cleaning of sump pits, grease trap, ducts and pipeline Carry out heavy cleaning tasks and special projects Operates cleaning machines (sewage suction, pumps etc.)
JOB DESCRIPTION Clean, stock and supply designated facility areas (dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, mopping, cleaning ceiling vents, restroom cleaning etc) Maintain and upkeep of all cleaning equipment, supplies, and products
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Lookingglass Theatre presents The Little Prince
Nov 6, 2013
Continuing its 26th Season, Lookingglass Theatre Company presents The Little Prince, produced in Association with The Actors Gymnasium, by Rick Cummins and John Scoullar, based on the book by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, and directed by Ensemble Member David Catlin. The Little Prince runs December 5, 2013 - February 2, 2014 at Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson. The Press Opening is Saturday, December 14, 2013 at 7:30 p.m..Stuck, thirsty and alone. A pilot stranded in the Sahara Desert meets an enigmatic, charismatic young prince fallen from the sky who regales him with tales of life among the stars: tales with earthly importance. In this visually arresting, fully immersive theatrical interpretation of the beloved French novella, director David Catlin (creator of Lookingglass Alice) illustrates the story with fantastic characters and gravity-defying, awe-inspiring physical feats.The Little Prince speaks - in breathtaking splendor - to the castaway in all of us: challenging our perspective, opening our eyes and bringing us back to the heart of what truly matters."Everyone who saw and thrilled to David's Lookingglass Alice will remember his penchant for creating stories that are full to bursting with spectacles of pure delight and inventiveness, " says Artistic Director Andrew White. "He'll be bringing all of that unmatched creativity and passion to this internationally beloved story, creating a show that truly will appeal to audiences of all ages -- to parents as well as their kids, to grandparents and grandchildren, to anyone who, as David puts it, has found themselves at some point in their lives stuck, thirsty and alone - and who hasn't?.""I love The Little Prince because it has something for everyone. Kids will dig the strange characters and the intergalactic story. Teens and college kids will connect with the impending responsibility of becoming a grown-up. And grown-ups will identify with our lonely Aviator who crashes in the Sahara Desert a thousand miles from anyone and anywhere with barely enough water for a week," comments director David Catlin. "In this crisis, our Aviator needs the wisdom of a child-a Little Prince-- to remember that 'what is essential is invisible to the eye' and the importance of cultivating ties with others." The cast includes Ensemble MemberRaymond Fox (King), Artistic Associates Lauren Hirte (Desert Rose) and Louise Lamson (Rose) with Ian Barford (Aviator), Amelia Hefferon (Little Prince), Kareem Bandealy (Snake), Adeoye (Lamp Lighter) and Kasey Foster (Fox).The design team includes Artistic Associates Rick Sims (sound) and Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi (acrobatic/circus choreography) with Courtney O'Neill (set), Salley Dolembo (costumes), William Kirkham (lighting),
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I recently posted this graph on Twitter which suggests that Covid-19 mortality is related to latitude:
There's a particular type of person on the internet who sees a graph like this and reaches deep into their data science boot-camp memories to exclaim "Correlation doesn't imply causation!" or "There's no randomized clinical trial!" or even "There are differences in testing strategy!"
These responses are stupid not because they're wrong but because they ignore how decision-making works. It would be great if we had several high quality clinical trials for every decision. But clinical trials are difficult, expensive, and take a long time to complete, so we usually have to make medical decisions without clear clinical direction. Even in cases where there is a lot of clinical data, that data may not map perfectly onto a doctor's actual decision. A drug may have been approved based on a large, multi-center randomized trial, but maybe they have to treat a pregnant diabetic patient, and the trial didn't include any of them. As a result, doctors usually have to make decisions with vague, provisional information.
This is especially true in the case of Covid-19. The disease has only existed for 9 months, so obviously we're not going to have a randomized clinical trial for most medical interventions. It would be a kind of malpractice to wait to treat patients, or engage in public health interventions, until we have clear guidance from a large, multi-center clinical trial. Medical personnel have to make medical decisions today with today's knowledge, even if that knowledge is provisional.
The way to make these decisions is by combining prior knowledge with risk assessment.
Prior knowledge
For example, we have a lot of prior knowledge about treating acute respiratory distress with ventilators.
Since Covid-19 looks like a respiratory disease, doctors have a prior expectation that mechanical ventilation will help Covid patients when they enter respiratory distress.
Note that we do this without a clinical trial. It's entirely possible that Covid-19 patients are not helped by mechanical ventilation or that it's even harmful. But we shouldn't wait to put people on ventilators until we have a Covid-19 ventilation study because patients would die in the time it takes to conduct such a study. Similarly, public health interventions were put in place without perfect certainty about how Covid is transmitted. Public health officials didn't wait for a large clinical trial on social distancing; instead they relied on their prior knowledge about how viruses like Covid are transmitted and decided that the risks of letting the virus run wild are probably higher than putting in overly stringent public health interventions.
Risk assessment
The second consideration is how the risk of action compares with that of inaction. Given that we don't know much about this virus, what's the downside risk if you're totally wrong about the intervention? If the risks of intervention are very low and the upside is high, it's often worth pursuing even if there's a low probability of success. For example, we don't really have good evidence that widespread mask usage prevents Covid-19, but since masks are very unlikely to be harmful and there's a plausible way they could reduce transmission, we might decide to promote them. Similarly, we don't know that closing playgrounds reduces transmission, but closing them isn't going to put anyone at major risk so it's probably a good bet.
Prior knowledge about Vitamin D and Covid
Our prior knowledge about vitamin D and Covid should be based on the same logic as mechanical ventilation: Covid looks like a respiratory virus, so until we learn otherwise we should treat and prevent it like a respiratory virus. A meta-analysis found two important facts about vitamin D supplementation and other respiratory conditions:
- Overall. vitamin D supplementation reduced the incidence of respiratory distress by 20%.
- For the very deficient, supplementation reduced the incidence by around 70%.
These results aren't that impressive for most respiratory viruses, which have a low rate of complication. I might not get that excited about reducing my risk of dying from a cold from 0.05% to 0.04%, but those are big numbers for Covid because the baseline risk is higher. If we could reduce the rate of Covid respiratory distress by 20% - 70% that would not only save a lot of lives but also allow us to relax certain types of social distancing.
Again, this is just a prior. As we learn more about the virus we might discover that Covid is different from other respiratory viruses and vitamin D has no real effect. However, so far almost everything we've learned has supported a connection between vitamin D and Covid outcomes. For example:
- A re-analysis of 107 Swiss blood samples found that PCA positive patients had 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations half that of PCA negatives. This finding held after stratifying for age and gender.
- A restrospective study in the Philippines found a significant association between vitamin D status and severe Covid-19 infections.
- An Indonesian study of 712 people found that after controlling for age, gender, and co-morbidity, vitamin D deficiency was associated with a twelve times higher risk of death.
- Hospitalized male Covid-19 patients were found to have lower vitamin D levels than controls.
- A study out of Northwestern University found that the vitamin D status of a country's elderly population was associated with the number of severe cases of Covid-19 in that country.
None of these data points are particularly strong, but they all point in the same direction and reinforce the prior expectation that vitamin D reduces incidence of Covid infection in the same way it does other respiratory conditions.
Risk of action and inaction
What happens if we supplement everyone with vitamin D and it doesn't help Covid patients one bit?
First, people are unlikely to be harmed by supplementation. Vitamin D supplementation is extremely safe. The above meta-analysis found that supplementation didn't increase death or adverse events from any cause. Second, even if widespread vitamin D supplementation doesn't mitigate Covid, it will still help prevent other respiratory conditions, which is positive. In the scenario where supplementation is not helpful to Covid, it would help decrease infection and hospital visits from things like non-Covid pneumonia, and as a result there would be more ventilators and hospital resources for Covid patients. Similarly, it probably improves Covid outcomes indirectly because people who get Covid-19 after an unrelated respiratory ailment probably do worse.
So the upside of vitamin D supplementation is a significant reduction in Covid-19 transmission and mortality.
The downside is that we don't change Covid-19 rates at all but reduce the rate of other respiratory conditions, which in turns helps our Covid-19 response.
The upside is large, the downside is also positive: therefore we should supplement with Vitamin D.
This argument should sound familiar because it's exactly the same one that convinced so many people to wear homemade masks. There are no clinical trials testing mask use among the general population, and indeed it's pretty difficult to imagine such a trial ever being done. There aren't even any observational studies of populations in real world conditions. All we have are a few laboratory studies that show that masks can trap viral particles, and an association between a small number of mask-wearing countries and low Covid rates. Despite that, we have a prior expectation that since Covid mostly comes out of people's mouths, covering those mouths probably has some protective effect. Since mask use is basically risk-free, any protective effect is worth the effort. The clinical data on vitamin D is quite a lot stronger than universal masking because we have high quality randomized clinical trials demonstrating that vitamin D protects against other respiratory viruses, and we have at least a few observational studies showing that vitamin D deficient patients are at a high risk for severe Covid. Even if vitamin D has no effect on Covid, we can be fairly sure that supplementation will free up health care resources by reducing other illnesses, and we can be very sure that it won't cost much or cause any harm.
There are a number of clinical trials for vitamin D in Covid-19, but it would be a mistake to wait for the results of these trials because there's substantial upside to supplementation, and no real downside.
- If you are vulnerable to low vitamin D you can get safe sun exposure or start supplementing with vitamin D.
- Facilities such as prisons, long term care facilities, and hospitals where sun exposure is limited should provide vitamin D supplementation.
- Governments should develop vitamin D plans for winter months. Argentina and New Zealand should start doing this now; Canada and Europe should plan for the fall.
- Health care workers, especially people of colour, should be tested and treated for vitamin D deficiency.
Again, these things may do nothing but reduce the number of non-Covid respiratory infections. But as interventions go, they are cheap, safe, and easy to implement. If there's any chance they can reduce Covid transmission, they are worth doing.


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Beastie Boys, "So What'cha Want"
Today is one of those cosmological coincidences so uncanny it may be no coincidence at all: the Beastie Boys' Mike D and Cypress Hill's Sen Dog were both born this day in 1965. (Scorpios represent!) In the late '80s and early '90s, from opposite sides of the U.S., no two groups were more responsible for spreading hip-hop culture beyond its roots in black American inner-city neighborhoods and into suburban middle-class neighborhoods, marijuana-clouded college dorm rooms and el barrio, then onto MTV and Lollapalooza and beyond.
Cypress Hill, "Ain't Goin' Out Like That"
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Both groups are nominally still around, though shadows of their former selves, so let's remember the good old days when every white kid in your high school would either get in your face yelling "whatcha, whatcha, whatcha want" or snuck out to the parking lot during lunch and came back muttering something about being "insane in the membrane." Better to just remember them as they were when the world was young and no one had heard of T-Pain yet. - Chris Gray


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Camino updated!¶ by Rob Friesel
My most favoritest of browsers on the Mac has been updated!
Camino arrives at version 1.5 today. Download it here. An upgraded rendering engine, integration with the Mac's spellchecking services, better/tighter integration with Keychain, and (one of my favorites) RSS detection and badging in the address bar a la Firefox.
As if you didn't already have every good reason to be on Camino… Well, now there is simply no excuse.
currently playing: Josh Wink "Back In Tha' Day"


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They are playing great team ball.
That is the takeaway I have from the Cardinals blowing up a good Green Bay team on Sunday afternoon. They cut down on most of the mental errors from previous weeks and played as close to a complete game in a 38-8 blowout win over the Packers. 9 sacks of Aaron Rodgers, two of which were returned for scores, was the story of the day. Green Bay didn't crack the 200 yard mark in total offense. The question coming into the season about James Betcher taking over as defensive coordinator for Todd Bowles, has clearly been answered.
They are 13-2, they have a first round playoff bye. Head coach Bruce Arians could decide to rest his starters in next weeks regular season finale against Seattle. He could give Carson Palmer an extra week to heal up his injured finger on the passing hand. I would doubt that he would do that. This is a coach that still had Palmer in the game with a 30-point lead, throwing the football. Carolina plays their season finale against Tampa Bay the same time next Sunday as the Cardinals play the Seahawks. Scoreboard watching will be part of the fun.