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Languages, like genes, evolve by a process of descent with modification. This striking similarity between biological and linguistic evolution allows us to apply phylogenetic methods to explore how languages, as well as the people who speak them, are related to one another through evolutionary history. Language phylogenies constructed with lexical data have so far revealed population expansions of Austronesian, Indo-European and Bantu speakers. However, how robustly a phylogenetic approach can chart the history of language evolution and what language phylogenies reveal about human prehistory must be investigated more thoroughly on a global scale. Here we report a phylogeny of 59 Japonic languages and dialects. We used this phylogeny to estimate time depth of its root and compared it with the time suggested by an agricultural expansion scenario for Japanese origin. In agreement with the scenario, our results indicate that Japonic languages descended from a common ancestor approximately 2182 years ago. Together with archaeological and biological evidence, our results suggest that the first farmers of Japan had a profound impact on the origins of both people and languages. On a broader level, our results are consistent with a theory that agricultural expansion is the principal factor for shaping global linguistic diversity.
1. Introduction
Considerable controversy surrounds prehistoric factors that shaped the patterns of linguistic diversity. On the one hand, farming/language dispersal theory argues that agricultural population expansions since the end of the last Ice Age played a critical role in shaping major patterns of linguistic diversity [1]. This theory posits that geographically uneven opportunities to domesticate wild plants and animals allowed some Holocene societies to acquire agriculture, which subsequently brought about technological advancements based on social stratification, and ultimately led to the outward population expansions of farming societies, thereby shaping both human genetic and linguistic diversity into the areas in which they settled.
On the other hand, diffusion/transformation theory argues that agricultural population expansion and the patterns of linguistic diversity are not closely linked [2]. This theory posits that agricultural social intensification is merely one of the many factors that influence biological and linguistic diversity, and cultural/technological innovations can diffuse between societies [3]. According to this view, it is perfectly possible that diffusion between societies allowed hunter–gatherer societies to adopt cultural innovations from the farmers and gradually transform themselves into modern societies, while maintaining their own genetic and linguistic make-ups.
Until recently, however, it was difficult to investigate which of these two theories has more explanatory power in a systematic manner, owing to the lack of a suitable methodology to study languages. Early attempts to study the patterns of linguistic diversity such as lexicostatistics and glottochronology did not survive scientific scrutiny. This was because these methods not only failed to distinguish shared innovations from shared retentions, but also misconceived that rates of linguistic change both within and between languages were universally constant. Consequently, these methods were often found to produce misleading inferences about divergence times as well as topological relationships among languages [4,5].
Fortunately, recent progresses in phylogenetic methods and their application in studying languages were found to provide adequate solutions for these problems [6]. Accumulating empirical evidence suggests that languages have, astonishingly, gene-like properties in numerous aspects and they also evolve by a process of descent with modification (for review, see [7]). This implies that once the shared innovations among languages are revealed by converting linguistic signals (i.e. presence or absence of homologous words) into discrete binary characters, various stochastic phylogenetic techniques for modelling biological evolution can be used to adequately reconstruct the history of language evolution. During the last decade, therefore, these techniques were quickly adopted to critically examine, and subsequently corroborate, instances of farming/language co-dispersal for Bantu [8], Indo-European [9] and Austronesian speakers [10].
Nevertheless, the debate about the major prehistoric factors that shaped linguistic diversity on a global scale is yet to be resolved. In order to settle this controversy, rigorous and systematic investigations need to be carried out for the remaining language families around the world and the overall coherence of the results must be made available.
The evolutionary history of the Japonic language family that consists of mainland Japanese, Ryukyuan and their dialects [11] provides an invaluable opportunity to examine the predictions made by the two competing theories. According to the farming/language dispersal theory, a significant number of farmers from the Korean peninsula expanded into the southwest Japanese island of Kyushu around 1700–2400 years before present (YBP) bearing their pottery styles, agricultural tools and weapons [12]. Also, the evidence from cranial, dental and Y-chromosome analyses suggests that modern Japanese people derive primarily from a hybrid population between dominant farmers and peripheral hunter–gatherers [13–15]. The farming/language dispersal theory thus predicts that time depth for the root of Japonic languages would go back to the time when the first farmers arrived in the Japanese archipelago.
In stark contrast, the diffusion/transformation theory argues that the major settlement of the archipelago occurred sometime between 12 000–30 000 YBP and that the modern Japanese populations are more or less direct descendants of these initial settlers [16]. This theory is supported by genetic data [17] and posits that the apparent transition from hunter–gatherer lifestyle to that of agriculture, as indicated by the archaeological evidence, is a result of cultural diffusion. Accordingly, this theory predicts that the evolutionary history of Japonic languages is not critically linked with the arrival of the farmers.
In this paper, we used a Bayesian phylogenetic method to reconstruct the evolutionary history of 59 Japonic languages. It was hypothesized that if the recent agricultural population were responsible for shaping the diversity of Japonic languages, then the time depth of Japonic origin would be located within 1700–2400 YBP. Conversely, if the older Pleistocene population made the majority of contribution to the linguistic make-up of this region, then the time depth may be found within 12 000–30 000 YBP. In order to estimate the root divergence time, the posterior probability distribution of Japonic language trees was inferred with probabilistic sampling dates for two ancient languages and a probabilistic divergence time calibration for a pair of extant languages. In addition, four different ways of modelling language evolution were evaluated with Bayes factor (BF) tests in order to find an optimal evolutionary model for the current data.
2. Material and methods
(a) Lexical data
Lexical data consist of 59 lists of 210 basic vocabularies (figure 1; a full list is in the electronic supplementary material, figure S1). The basic vocabularies are words for body parts, kinship terms, basic verbs, numbers and pronouns [18]. These words are known to be resistant to change and unlikely to be borrowed between languages [19]. Wordlists were extracted from previously published etymological dictionaries as well as lexicons published in the linguistic literature. More specifically, the wordlist for Old Japanese was extracted from Jōdaigo Jiten Henshū Iinkai [20] and Yasumoto & Honda [21]. The wordlist for Middle Japanese was obtained from Muromachi Jidaigo Jiten Henshū Iinkai [22]. The wordlists for the rest of the Japonic languages and dialects were extracted from lexicons compiled by Hirayama [23,24].
We made cognate judgements by (i) relying on previously identified sound correspondences that were used for reconstructing proto-Japonic ([25]; B. E. Riley 2003, unpublished PhD thesis; J. B. Whitman 1985, unpublished PhD thesis); (ii) working out systematic sound correspondences based on the comparative method [26]; and (iii) consulting previously published cognate judgements in glottochronological studies on Japonic languages [27,28]. For example, there is a known systematic sound correspondence between Tokyo dialect /j/ and Yonaguni /d/. In addition to this, we identified that the mainland Japanese vowel /u/ following affricative consonant /t∫/ systematically corresponds to the Ryukyuan /i/ following the same consonant. With these corresponding patterns, it is clear that Tokyo dialect jaQt∫u (eight), joQt∫u (four), joru (night) systematically corresponds to Yonaguni dat∫i, dut∫i, duru, respectively. This means that each pair of words is cognate despite their difference at the phonetic level. The cognate sets were encoded into binary states showing presence ('1') or absence ('0') of a cognate, which resulted in a 59 × 675 matrix (see the electronic supplementary material, tables S2 and S3).
(b) Phylogenetic analysis
Phylogenetic analyses were conducted with Bayesian Evolutionary Analysis by Sampling Trees (BEAST), v. 1.6.1 [29]. BEAST uses Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling methods to approximate the posterior distribution with sample frequency distribution. This particular application was chosen because it can construct phylogenies without specifying an a priori outgroup (which is uncertain for an isolated language family like Japonic) by using a strict clock model or a relaxed clock model. BEAST and its evolutionary clock models have previously been used to make inferences about the origins of Semitic languages [30].
In order to search for the most appropriate model of evolution for our data, we constructed phylogenies with four different ways of modelling language evolution, all of which adopted a single time-reversible substitution rate for cognate gain and loss; accommodating for rate variation within language with gamma correction [31] or covarion model [32]; and accounting for rate variation between languages with a strict clock or a relaxed clock model [33]. A full description of these models can be found in the electronic supplementary material.
The evolutionary rate and time depth of root were estimated by incorporating calibration priors. This was done with two relaxed sample date calibrations and a probabilistic divergence time calibration. The relaxed sample date calibrations were assigned to Old and Middle Japanese with lognormal priors in which their 95 per cent of the distributions lie between the upper and the lower bounds of each era; 1216–1300 YBP for Old Japanese [20] and 437–674 YBP for Middle Japanese [22]. These time-dated tips were used in a manner similar to how a leaf-dating method is applied to ancient DNA data in order to deal with uncertainty in temporal information [34]. This is deemed to be more appropriate than assigning point calibrations because the wordlists for Old and Middle Japanese are compilations of the lexicons from a range of sources collected over a period of time.
A probabilistic divergence time calibration prior was assigned to Tokyo and Kyoto. From historical records, it is clear that the city of Kyoto has been the political centre of Japan from around 1200 YBP until the Tokugawa military regime took control of the country and moved the government to the city of Edo (present Tokyo) 407 YBP. In addition, both the historical records and linguistic evidence suggest that following the shift of power, the governing elite, merchants and craftsman settled into the new capital, and their languages (ancient western language spoken in the old capital of Kyoto) fused with native dialects spoken by the original inhabitants of Edo to give rise to a distinct dialect, which later evolved into Tokyo dialect [35,36]. Accordingly, we incorporated this prior information into our analyses by assigning a normally distributed prior to the Tokyo–Kyoto pair with the mean of 407 YBP (i.e. the year the Tokugawa regime was established in Edo) and the standard deviation of 135.2 years. This means that 95 per cent of the distribution lies between 142 and 549 YBP, with a 2.5 per cent percentile at the lower bound of the era and a mirroring range towards the 97.5 per cent percentile. The mirroring range was incorporated to introduce some amount of uncertainty into the calibration.
For tree topology, we used a constant coalescence prior informed by Jeffrey's prior (or 1/x prior) as this prior makes the simplest assumption and has the least amount of influence on the evolutionary rate.
All four models were run for 30 000 000 steps, with samples taken every 3000 steps. This produced a sample of 9000 trees for each model after discarding the first 1000 trees as burn-in. Post-run inspections using Tracer v. 1.5 [37] indicated that all chains reached convergence after the burn-in and all parameters obtained sufficient effective sample sizes in all four models (greater than 100; chain length divided by the autocorrelation time).
In order to select the most suitable model of evolution for our data, BF was estimated from each pairwise model comparison via importance sampling [38,39]. This method uses the smoothed harmonic mean of sampled likelihood distribution as a means to estimate marginal likelihood, and then produces BF from the difference in the marginal likelihoods between two models in comparison. Significance of BF from each model comparison was evaluated according to a conventional benchmark [40].
3. Results
(a) Model selection
A series of BF tests indicated that a model using a relaxed clock with the covarion model (uncorrelated lognormal distribution (UCLD) + Cov) was the best fit for the data. According to the conventional benchmark [40], BF greater than 12 means a model is strongly favoured; BF between 12 and 3 means a model is slightly favoured; and BF between 3 and 1 is considered trivial. The UCLD + Cov model's BF was consistently well beyond 12 when compared with other models (BF ranging from 92 to 538). Thus, all reports of the results hereafter are based on the UCLD + Cov model.
(b) Date estimation
It was predicted that if the farming/language dispersal theory were correct, then the estimated time for the root of Japonic language phylogenies would be found within 1700 and 2400 YBP. On the other hand, if the diffusion/transformation theory were correct, then the root would be found anywhere between 12 000 and 30 000 YBP. As it can be seen in figure 2, the median age of the root, 2182 YBP (the mean: 2398 YBP; the standard error: 47.21 years; 95% HPD: 1239–4190 YBP), is clearly in concordance with the age range of the farming/language dispersal theory. All node heights in the tree are scaled to match the posterior median node heights since some of the node height distributions are slightly skewed. Figure 3 is a histogram of the estimated time for the root of Japonic languages. The root time estimates were consistent across all four models and reasonably robust even when the Tokyo–Kyoto calibration was removed.
To investigate the reliability of the result, another set of analyses was carried out with an independent set of Japonic language data compiled by Starostin [41] (available from http://starling.rinet.ru/main.html). We acknowledge that Starostin's data are considered controversial by some scholars, as he made debatable reconstructions of proto-Japonic and used them to argue for genetic relationships to other equally debatable proto-languages (e.g. proto-Tungusic). However, this was not deemed to be a major problem for the current purpose, as those controversial reconstructed lexicons are excluded from our analyses. The data consist of 110 basic vocabulary lists on nine Japonic languages. After the cognate sets were converted to binary codes, a series of model testing was conducted. The maximum clade credibility tree from the best fitting model indicates that the median root divergence time is 1976 YBP (the mean: 2080 YBP; the standard error: 9.13 years; 95% HPD: 1232–3279 YBP), clearly in agreement with the estimation from our data (see the electronic supplementary material, figure S2).
(c) Phylogenies and networks
The maximum clade credibility tree from the posterior distribution of 9000 samples is shown in figure 2. A value on each branch of the tree is the posterior probability, which shows the percentage support for the following node (i.e. subgroup). The posterior probability close to 100 per cent implies that there is a strong support for the subsequent node. Any values below 50 per cent indicate weak support and are thus not shown in the figure.
The tree topology correctly reflects the expected two major subgroups in the Japonic family: the Ryukyuan group (purple and pink circles) and the mainland Japanese group (yellow, orange, blue and red circles) [11,24]. Within the Ryukyuan group, the tree correctly reflects that there are two minor subgroups: northern (purple circles) and southern Ryukyuan (pink circles). Also within the mainland Japanese group, all of the blue circles (Kyushu) and most of the orange circles (western Japanese) cluster with those of the same colours, in addition to these two clusters forming a minor subgroup in accordance with their geographical proximity (figure 1 or the electronic supplementary material, figure S1).
However, our phylogeny fails to recover the entire eastern and western Japanese, and node supports are generally low (below 70%) among mainland Japanese dialects. The cause of this outcome may be explained at two levels: proximate and ultimate. At the proximate level, low node supports among dialects occurred because the isoglosses that separate dialects are small and they do not overlap together; therefore, the algorithm ended up exploring several potential subgrouping patterns with similar probabilities (i.e. dialect chains; [26,42]).
This also means that the relationships among mainland Japanese dialects are non-tree-like, in which its extent can be visualized with NeighborNet analysis [43], as shown in figure 4. It might be expected that under the 'dialect chain formation/break-up' model of lexical evolution [44] in which the intermediate dialect chains would be pruned and produce a tree-like linguistic relationship as a function of time [45], one should see more or less the same amount of reticulations from both mainland Japanese and Ryukyuan dialects, as they are both descendants of a 2200-year-old common ancestor. However, the split graphs in figure 4 seem to suggest that mainland Japanese on the left side has a significantly higher level of conflicting signals than Ryukyuan on the right. If correct, one possible cause for relatively low node supports among mainland Japanese dialects may be found at the ultimate level; the difference in the degree of internal linguistic contact [42] within mainland Japanese and Ryukyuan. An obvious difference between the two groups is that whereas each Ryukyuan dialect is contained within a geographically isolated island, mainland dialects are connected to their neighbours via land routes. Thus, the lack of geographical barriers might have slowed down the pruning process among mainland Japanese dialects (either by allowing horizontal transmission or complex population diffusion), and this could potentially be the cause of low node supports in that part of the tree.
If geographical isolation really did play a role to moderate lexical evolution of Japonic, then the same process may also be observed for other language families; subgroups of the same language family spoken in plains would be slower to achieve tree-likeness than those spoken in mountainous terrains or islands, given that both do not differ significantly in their divergence times.
4. Discussion
The results presented here indicate that the origin of Japonic languages is closely bound with the arrival of the first farmers around 2400 YBP. Together with the archaeological and biological evidence [13–15], these results imply that the first farmers had a profound impact on the origins of people as well as languages in the Japanese archipelago. These observations support the farming/language dispersal theory, which posits that agricultural expansion is the principal factor for shaping the patterns of human genetic as well as linguistic diversity [1].
If our results are correct, one surprising aspect of prehistoric Japan becomes apparent; the hunter–gatherer population, which settled in Japan around 12 000–30 000 YBP, managed to fend off the farmers for thousands of years until being abolished suddenly and dramatically with the arrival of proto-Japonic-speaking farmers around 2400 YBP. To place this in perspective, it should be noted that the hunter–gatherer societies and their languages in Europe began to be abolished by those of the farmers as early as 8500 YBP [9]. Even some of Japan's closest neighbours such as China had started agriculture since 9000 YBP [1], which progressively brought about fully fledged kingdoms equipped with metal tools fighting each other for political unification. During all this transition outside, the hunter–gatherers of Japan continued to prosper by using simple stone tools and without adopting full-scale agriculture, despite knowledge of cultivation of many crops [12]. There are probably two reasons that explain their unusually long survival. First, the population size of the hunter–gatherers may have been too large to be invaded by nearby farmers. The hunter–gatherer of Japan was perhaps one of the most affluent hunter–gatherers known to humankind, endowed with a large range of plants, animals and sea foods [46]. This vast availability of food resources is probably related to the fact that the world's oldest known pottery was made by the hunter–gatherers of Japan [47]. The development of pottery meant that unlike other hunter–gatherers around the world, they had a means to cook and store the foods that were available abundantly in their environment, and such could have triggered a population explosion to the extent that it prevented the farmers asserting any force over the hunter–gatherers for a long time. The second reason behind their long survival could be that it probably took a few thousand years for the farmers to modify rice, one of their main food sources, to grow in cold climate [48]. The archaeological evidence suggest it was not until around 3500 YBP that rice farming of warm southern China spread to the much colder Korean Peninsular [49], which is thought to be the most recent homeland of proto-Japonic-speaking farmers. A combination of these two factors might have contributed to the unusually long occupation of the hunter–gatherers in Japan.
Our Japonic phylogeny seems to imply that the arrival of the farmers did not necessarily lead to a burst of language diversification, or if it were the case, our tree would have a series of short branches following the root leading to the tips. This demands an explanation because (i) soon after their arrival, the proto-Japonic farmers were already divided into several chiefdom-like political units fighting each other to gain access to resources, as indicated by archaeological evidence of defensive moats surrounding settlements, arrowheads and skeletons damaged by sharp objects [50], and (ii) a fully fledged centralized government makes its first appearance 1000 years after the arrival of the farmers; the Nara era that spoke Old Japanese. If we are correct to assume that languages separated by political barriers may take different evolutionary paths [42] and that political power in Japan was not unified for a long time, then there could have been more linguistic diversity in early Japan. Our source for Old Japanese also acknowledges that there could have been some linguistic variations in the Nara era [20]. At present, we do not know the fates of those ancient languages, if there were any. There are two possibilities. One possibility is that the early linguistic diversity could have been wiped out with the emergence of a strong centralized political power in the Nara era, and hence leaving no traces behind. The other possibility is that the early chiefdom-like political units were not able to maintain their states long enough to give rise to any detectable language splits. Further research would be required to clarify this matter.
A synthesis of evidence from linguistic phylogenetics, biology and archaeology can potentially provide a powerful framework for testing the plausibility of hypotheses regarding possible genetic relationships of Japonic to other language families. For example, if we are correct to think that the agricultural population and their languages dispersed from the Korean Peninsula 2400 YBP, then the hypothetical Japonic-Austronesian family (e.g. [51]) seems implausible because (i) the hypothesis fails to provide neither archaeological nor biological evidence, demonstrating that Austronesian speakers travelled through China and Korea for thousands of years to make their appearance in Japan, and (ii) even if we assume that Austronesian farmers arrived in Japan via the islands of Ryukyu around 2400 YBP and gave rise to Japonic languages, it still cannot explain why the agricultural lifestyle introduced by Austronesian farmers was based on the models found in the Korean Peninsula [12]. Similarly, a hypothesis of linking Japonic with Altaic languages also seems problematic because it contradicts biological evidence that more distant ancestors of Japonic-speaking people are likely to be found in Sino-Tibetan-speaking Southeast Asia, rather than in Altaic-speaking Central Asia [15,52]. The search for genetic links of Japonic to other language families is an area that deserves more attention, and the integrated framework presented here may play an important role in this respect.
A potential problem with any phylogenetic approach to lexical data is a horizontal transmission of words between languages. This is particularly problematic since it is difficult for one to be absolutely sure that every single borrowed word has been detected. However, a recent simulation study suggests that the amount of undetected borrowing needs to be unrealistically high (greater than 20% per 1000 years) to invalidate time estimation or tree topology [53]. We thus argue that our results would withstand some amount of undetected horizontal transmission that may exist in the data. But at the same time, we also acknowledge that high levels of horizontal transmission do occur in some cases [54], and our results would be seriously affected if this turns out to the case. Another potential criticism is that our method cannot accurately distinguish between two theories because the proposed time depth of the diffusion/transformation theory (12 000–30 000 YBP) lies beyond the limit that many linguists consider recoverable from linguistic data (8000–10 000 YBP). However, it should be noted that this limit is estimated under an assumption that all words evolve at the same rate, which is very unrealistic. A recent work suggests that a more realistic model of cognate evolution, which is similar to the models used here, allows linguistic ancestry to be detected even after 20 000 years [55]. Therefore, if our data had any signals indicating deep evolutionary relationships in support of the diffusion/transformation theory, then our method would have accurately reflected such signals to the node heights.
A phylogenetic approach is one of the most notable endeavours to produce insights into the mode and tempo of language evolution. But this approach alone cannot reveal all the details of language evolution and there are other Darwinian approaches that are making great contributions to advance our knowledge of the phenomenon. A few examples are: languages tend to evolve in a punctuational burst-like manner following speciation events [56]; frequency of word-use in everyday speech contributes to evolutionary rate heterogeneity within languages [57]; frequency of use also gives rise to regularity in verb forms [58]; and both the genetic drift-like process [59] and adaptation [60] may regulate vertical transmission of language from a generation to the next. It is needless to say that a complete understanding about why linguistic mutations arise, accumulate and give birth to different languages still lies in the future. Be that as it may, a Darwinian framework holds great promise for further elucidating the intertwined history of physical replicators like our genes and non-physical replicators like our languages.
We thank Tom Currie for helpful comments at the early stage of this work and Teresa Romero for constructive feedback on the manuscript. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for their enlightening comments and Simon Ho for providing useful information on technical issues. S.L. was supported by the University of Tokyo Fellowship.
- Received March 9, 2011.
- Accepted April 15, 2011.
- This Journal is © 2011 The Royal Society


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Vanessa Hudgens - Golden Globes 2009
High School Musical royalty Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens hit the red carpet at the 2009 Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday (January 11) in Beverly Hills, Calif.
If you use this fashion info, please credit JustJared.com: Vanessa worked it out in an intricate floor-grazing Alberta Ferretti gown. Zac looks handsome in his Burberry suit, Ferragamo shoes and IWC watch.
Zac and Heroes hottie Hayden Panettiere presented the "Best TV Drama Actor" award to In Treatment's Gabriel Byrne.
On the red carpet, Zac admitted he was nervous to present. He said, "I can't believe it. [I] 100% [get nervous before presenting at awards shows]. Absolutely. Plus, you have to sit in a car for 1/2 hour before and just dwell on what you're' going to do at the show… I got out of the car to stretch because we were waiting so long."

subset: commoncrawl


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Kanarraville Canyon
Sharon Day 8/31/2004 7:30:23 AMBeautiful! Wonderful colors and composition!! Every bit as pretty as Antelope Canyon which I understand is heavily visited. #164054
Lori Ditlefsen 8/31/2004 10:26:05 AMVery nice shot Allan! Love the composition and clarity! #747560
Ralf Lukovic 8/31/2004 2:41:36 PMReally nice captured Allan! #747923
Allan Farnsworth 8/31/2004 5:10:50 PMThanks for the comments. #748054
Isabel L 9/13/2004 7:52:22 PMWow!! I love the colors in the shot! Congrats. #775676
Cathy Barrows 9/13/2004 10:07:53 PMCongrats!...beautiful #776511
Debra Booth 9/14/2004 3:06:12 AMGreat shot, Allan! Congratulations! #776917
Kasia Elser 9/14/2004 4:47:46 AMCongrats! Great shot! #777320
Allan Farnsworth 9/14/2004 7:24:55 AMThanks, everyone. Appreciate it. #778157
Jill Battaglia 9/14/2004 12:12:02 PMExcellent! Congrats! #779385
Nancy Grace Chen 9/14/2004 6:51:33 PMA unique shot of this spot! I love the rocks and water below. Beautiful. Congrats, and good luck.
Nancy #780819
Susana Matos 9/18/2004 1:25:17 AMCongratulations, absolutely beautiful!
Sandy Landon 11/4/2005 8:32:49 AMThis is the one my sister keeps telling me about but we have yet to go there!! After seeing your pic, I have to go!!! Fantastic shot and you have a beautiful gallery!! #2034765
A little visited canyon in southern Utah.
Uploaded on 8/31/2004 7:22:30 AM
Copyright for this gallery photo belongs solely to Allan Farnsworth. Images may not be copied, downloaded, or used in any way without the expressed, written permission of the photographer.
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The iPhone 5, announced tomorrow, is something even the most gadgetophobic gent has heard of, such is the excitement surrounding it. Gadget fans are champing at the bit for details of Apple's latest handset.
For the time being, they'll have to content themselves with this leaked photo (from a Brazilian Foxconn factory, compliments of Gizmodo) of what is clearly more an iPhone 4S, or budget iPhone 4, than an iPhone 5. But with photos of both iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S specs revealed online, we're expecting an all-new design for Apple's new iPhone.
October 4 announcement for iPhone 5


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862 New Jersey Car Coasters
Car Coasters drop in cupholder of car, truck, boat absorbing all moisture. Each coaster is an original carving with embossed dimension. Say goodbye to paper towels and napkins!
• Set of 2
• Measures 2.5" diameter
• Handmade in the USA since 1995
• Highly absorbent all natural bisque clay
• Clean with any mild bleach product
(2.5") $12 set of 2
Have you met the artist?
Shayne McCarter is the artist and creator behind McCarter Coasters.
Latest Blog Posts


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Access a collection of unique meeting, event, and production spaces for you or your team. Easily book undiscovered venues in the most exciting and trendy neighborhoods in Burbank, CA.
See how our community is bringing their ideas to life in creative venues.
Whether you need assistance selecting a space or arranging additional services like hiring a private chef or security, we'll do everything we can to ensure your event is email@example.com


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by Tim Young, KF15, Senegal
To paraphrase an ancient Chinese proverb:
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Give a man a donkey and you feed him for at least five years, providing the donkey is well treated and doesn't get sick.
At the Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust ("GHDT" or the "Trust") this proverb has been turned into a reality and what started as a compassionate intervention to save a suffering horse has grown into a fascinating project combining animal welfare and poverty alleviation.
Located in the small village of Sambel Kunda in the heart of the Gambia, the GHDT was founded in 2002 by sisters Stella Marsden and Heather Armstrong, both at that time long-term residents of the Gambia. It was in 2002 that Stella first met and rescued Lazarus from among the local villages and bought him to live with her near her chimpanzee rehabilitation project in the Central River section of the Gambia.
Stella and Heather realised that a healthy working equine is an extremely valuable asset for a poor Gambian family. Their website estimates that it can increase the income of a family by up to 500% and the loss of such an asset would clearly be a serious blow to the finances of the people who make their living farming the fertile soil alongside the Gambia river. However, as I mentioned in a recent blog post, families living in poverty often do not have the training or education to provide proper care for a working animal, no matter how much they might depend on it. Neither do they necessarily have the resources to purchase the necessary medicines or veterinary care at the time when they are needed, even if they are available. Add to this the many diseases, harsh climate and (often) poor food that Africa throws at its animal residents, and life as a Gambian donkey is challenging to say the least.
Enter the Donkey Project, an innovation of the GHDT which since it first started operating in 2006 has put 122 healthy donkeys into the field, working alongside Gambian farmers to improve their incomes. A donkey provides not only essential power to till the fields and help with other laborious tasks such as transporting firewood, it also improves a farmer's ability to access markets, allowing him to travel further distances to get better prices for his produce and providing another potential source of income from transportation.
Taking a short break from the hard work of a Kiva Fellowship in Senegal, I decided to visit the Project, its workers, donkeys and beneficiaries, to better understand how this interesting organisation has helped combat poverty in this tiny West African nation. Travelling through the rural villages around Sambel Kunda I was fortunate enough to meet a number of the farmers who are proud custodians of one of the Projects' donkeys. As we talked over how the donkeys contributed to their lives, the economic benefits were emphasised alongside important social work. "If a family member is sick, he can help us take him to hospital" says one farmer, fondly stroking his donkey's ears.
What interests me about the Donkey Project are its many similarities with microfinance. In both a large upfront capital investment is required to provide or improve a revenue flow. The investment needs ongoing maintenance, either in the form of interest payments or in food and care. The investment allows the recipient to greatly improve production, lower production costs and access markets that might previously have been out of reach. The loans are administered by a Loan Officer, the donkeys by Saloum, who every month travels by motorbike to visit each and every donkey in the project, making sure that they are receiving the appropriate care and are healthy and happy.
In order to best allocate scarce resources, the Donkey Project undertakes a thorough due diligence of its potential beneficiaries. Applications are received and reviewed and potential candidates visited to make sure they are who they say they are and that they do not already possess a donkey or equivalent beast of burden. Farmers who proceed past this part of the process are then invited to come to the GHDT for a 2/3 day course on donkey care and management. They learn how to feed and keep their animals, how to harness them correctly and how to identify certain illnesses. Finally they are asked to sign an agreement, undertaking to properly care for and manage their donkey and to build for it a thatched stable. As Heather says "we don't mind the animal working hard, but it must have shade to rest away from the heat and flies."
As with microfinance, the Donkey Project also has a strong social focus. One farmer tells me how the additional income the donkey provides allows him to send one in two of his children to school. Realising that promoting animal welfare and conservation requires the engagement of the local community, the GHDT has approached local development holistically, providing local villages with boreholes for water, schools and a clinic.
By engaging with the local population, the GHDT has better helped them in turn to engage with their working animals. Noticing that equines are almost always cared for by children, the GHDT organises an education programme, visiting local schools fortnightly and offering classes in equine welfare. As I look through the list of where the Project's donkeys have been located, I am also struck by how many are located in schools. Here, Saloum tells me, they serve not only to educate the children about equines, but also to work the school's fields, providing additional income to support and expand educational programmes in the area.
Alongside the Donkey Project and education, the third focus of the GHDT is on providing veterinary care to all the local animals. The absence of qualified veterinary care is one of the biggest impediments to animal welfare in the Gambia and one of the most important and highly rated benefits that the GHDT brings to the local area. The Trust has its own resident local vet as well as frequent volunteers from abroad who spend time visiting the local markets and providing much needed veterinary care and advice. On average they treat some 2,700 animals a year, excluding those treated in vaccination campaigns. I have the chance to travel with the vets to visit one such market and when a Senegalese man approaches with a gaunt looking horse, I am called on to translate. "Your horse has Trips (*1)" I tell him, "and needs rest and food. The vets want to give him two injections, one for the Trips, one of vitamins, it will cost you 100 Dalasis (roughly $4), do you agree?" The man smiles at me, "and the horse will be ok?" As long as he has enough rest and food I emphasise; the man smiles again. "I can't tell you how much this horse helps me. I was so scared of losing him. Please thank the vets for me, tell them they are tres sympa".
Weighing in at about 4,000 Dalasis ($150), a donkey is a significant investment for any poor African farmer and at the moment the Trust's donkeys are financed entirely by charitable donations, mainly from the UK. However, $150 is easily within the capacity of a microloan and the economic benefits of donkey ownership make this project a tantalising proposition for microfinance. Not many cars would be sold in the West without credit arrangements, so why not specific financing arrangements for purchasing donkeys and for their ongoing care? As project staff are already visiting clients every month it would be easy to collect repayments and additional services, such as collecting savings could be neatly added on. Providing a sustainable source of financing would allow the Trust to greatly expand its operations and to bring the benefits of donkey ownership to many more African farmers.
As I bounce along on the back of Saloum's motorbike through the green fields of the Gambia, my mind is awash with the possibilities for financing donkeys. I see pictures of donkeys appearing on the Kiva website with descriptions of the people they will help and the work they will be asked to do. But as we travel onwards and Saloum introduces me to donkeys called Kent, Moses and Sue, and the proud Gambians who care for them tell me how they fared in this year's donkey beauty contest (*2), my wayward thoughts desert me. There really is nothing else to do but smile.
*1: Trips: trypanosomiasis is also known as Equine Sleeping Sickness, an insect borne disease which is common in the Gambia.
*2: The Annual Donkey Show is organised by the GHDT and is designed to reward donkey owners who care well for their animals and to encourage those who need help. The Judge, smartly dressed in a suit and hat, explains to the audience the criteria that he is using and the things that he is looking for. The Show is televised and so reaches a large audience in the Gambia and provides a talking point for the local villagers the whole year round.
General: Kiva's policy regarding publishing photos of people without their express permission has meant that I have not included any photos of farmers benefitting from Project Donkey. Sadly none of them are Kiva borrowers and so have not expressly consented to the use of their photos on the Kiva Fellow's blogsite.
Tim Young, KF15, is a Kiva Fellow currently working with one of Kiva's Senegalese field partners, UIMCEC, in the Cassamance – the southern most region of Senegal (just below the Gambia). He has always been interested in donkeys. Infact, he loves donkeys; they're such sturdy, willing little fellows with their long ears and their thoughtful faces. While he does not yet currently know of a way to directly finance donkeys through microfinance, he does know that if you help a farmer in the developing world with a microloan, you will be helping their animals as well. Join Kiva. Make loans. Help donkeys! www.kiva.org


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The NZRGPN National Rural Health Conference 2017 Wellington has been endorsed by The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP) and has been approved for up to 17.25 credits CME for the General Practice Educational Programme (GPEP) and Maintenance of Professional Standards (MOPS) purposes.
|8.00am - 5.30pm
|Conference registration desk open
|Doctors' and nurses' dinner
|8.30am - 1.30pm
|Rural hospital medicines update
Room 4
Click here to view the programme
Click here to view the AGM agenda
|Kaumaatua Hui
|NZRGPN board meeting
Room 3
|10.00am - 4.00pm
|Royal NZ College of GPs Rural Chapter research day
Cost: $20 for students and registrars, $80 for everyone else, includes catering
Intercontinental Hotel
To download a full programme of the day please click here.
To view abstract for the day please click here.
|9.30am - 12.00pm
|Corticosteroid injections workshop
Ruth Highet
Cost:$50 includes morning tea
APW room
There are many musculoskeletal conditions whose management can be accelerated with well-directed injections. Its important though in most circumstances, that the patient understands, the injection if recommended is to allow full rehab to occur and is not the magic bullet to get rid of their musculoskeletal problem on its own. Used on its own, in most circumstances will lead to very shortlived improvement and possibly result in more significant injury once the CSI has worn off. A diagnostic local anaesthetic injection can be used in the consultation room to confirm your clinical suspicions and in appropriate conditions, a corticosteroid injection may be added with the intention of alleviating pain, improving ROM and allowing more comprehensive rehab afterwards.
For many conditions, they do not require radiological guidance.
During the workshop, we will outline injection techniques and modalities for common sites such as the subacromial bursa, glenohumeral joint, common extensor origin, elbow joint, wrist joint, knee joint, ITB insertion, ankle joint, sinus tarsi, etc. Managing a patient with for example, an appropriately diagnosed frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis), early, and in your rooms with a capsular corticosteroid injection will have a very happy patient, able to sleep again, able to do up their bra, carry out normal ADL again, and happy to take on your recommendations re ongoing management required.
|1.00pm - 5.00pm
|Suicide Risk Assessment and Suicide Prevention- safeTALK workshop
Dr Annette Beautrais
Intercontinental Hotel
The workshop will focus on suicide risk assessment and suicide prevention strategies for rural communities.
In this workshop, participants will be presented information about the incidence and risks of suicide in rural New Zealand
They will develop skills to help them:
|2.00pm - 5.00pm
|Tinnitus management from an Audiologist's perspective
Jason King MNZAS Senior Audiologist Christchurch
Bay Audiology
(CME accredited)
Cost: $50 includes afternoon tea
APW room
Often sounding like ringing, buzzing or pulsing in ears, tinnitus is a group of symptoms with a myriad of causes that creates the perception of a noise in the ears or heard in the absence of an external sound source. While most people may experience momentary tinnitus at some point in their lives, 10–15% of the general population are affected by chronic bothersome tinnitus, with 1% of the population experiencing extreme levels of distress. Research suggests that 70–85% of people with a hearing loss will experience some level of tinnitus. While no coverall 'cure' for tinnitus exists, the annoyance and negative effects on a person's life can be successfully managed.
This tinnitus management workshop will cover:
- what is known about the potential causes of tinnitus
- how a health professional can participate in the assessment and management of tinnitus
- considerations for triaging and referrals
- the assistance that an audiologist can provide
Time will also be spent discussing the counselling and management plans that can be offered to patients who are significantly affected by decreased sound tolerance for loud or even soft sounds, often referred to as hyperacusis or misophonia.
|2.00pm - 5.00pm
|Free yourself from paperwork
Celia Tymons, GP Docs
Cost: $50 including afternoon tea
VGM room
Don't we all just love writing documentation for general practice policies and procedures? With Cornerstone and Foundation standards now driving us to ensure we have accurate, adequate, and articulate policies and procedures, we all know that it's impossible to run or hide from them. How can you fit this extra work into your already stretched work schedule? How can you ask your work colleagues to take on some of this workload when they are just as busy as you are? How do you know that what you're writing is going to meet the required standards? How do you manage the process long-term? Where do you start?
All is not lost. It is possible to learn effective and efficient ways to document your policies and procedures. This session will help you understand how secure, collaborative, quality assured, and best practice online documentation is the solution.
Streamliners are subject experts in producing the highest level of industry-specific documentation in NZ, Australia, and the UK. Streamliners is the company that has brought you HealthPathways, HealthInfo, SchoolDocs, and GPDocs (www.streamliners.co.nz). Let us help you understand how to take the pain and the unknown out of writing your policies and procedures, and how to make them useful and usable to improve your business. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Cornerstone becomes a lot easier to tackle if you get your documents working well. How can you afford not to find out more?!
Policies and procedures – After this session you'll understand the need to:
|2.00pm - 5.00pm
| Nurses forum
Room 4
How can rural nurses network, communicate and plan action in a collegial way?
Lorraine Ritchie and Julia Anderson, NZNO
It is well recognised that nurses working in rural and remote areas of New Zealand face specific challenges. These challenges include: isolation and reduced opportunities for education, professional development and supervision. Attempts have been made over the years to address these issues and to bring rural nurses together formally into an organised, connected group which would provide a forum for identifying, documenting and acting on their concerns.
Such a group does not exist currently, but the desire to discuss and problem-solve collective issues, gain professional and clinical guidance and to support each other appears to be strong among rural nurses. How can rural nurses network, communicate and plan action in a collegial way, which also ensures substance, relevancy and longevity?
This presentation to rural nurses will pose this question and others, with the goal of defining what rural nurses express are their needs and wants. The presentation is intended to pick up on discussions which have occurred at other rural nurse forums and encourage the continuation of dialogue with a plan for action as an outcome.
The presenters/facilitators will begin by introducing the NZNO context and professional nursing framework as an example of formalised collegiality.
Attendees at this workshop should come prepared to participate by sharing stories and ideas.
The educational experience of student nurses' ability to improve rural community health care and reduce health disparities
Jean Ross and Laurie Mahoney, School of Nursing, Otago Polytechnic
Rural communities in New Zealand are not immune to experiencing health disparities, which are also felt internationally. Health disparities can be experienced in rural areas related to limited access and the availability of a varied supply and provision of care by an array of health professionals. This presentation focuses on the health disparities aligned with the rural Otago region in which the authors are connected with the education and clinical supervision of student nurses' in the primary health care component of the Bachelor of Nursing programme. The educational component aligns with the School of Nursing at Otago Polytechnic's philosophy that the principles underpinning primary health care are the fundamental bases of nursing practice. Therefore, practice that promotes these principles recognised as community partnership, community participation and health promotion are captured as a component of the third year student nurses' clinical practice experience which is aligned with their primary health care placement. During 2016 student groups completed four individual rural community clinical projects, aligned with four separate rural geographical locations situated within the region. Each student group identified three health needs, totalling 12 health issues and when compared across the four groups and regions, similarities were noted with reference to inadequate health care services for the rural youth, the older adult and access to mental health care services. This presentation discusses these health needs, their similarities and the unique health promotion resources that were developed which had a positive impact of improving the populations' health needs.
|7.30am - 6.00pm
|Conference registration desk open
|8.30am - 9.15am
|Mihi whakatau and official conference opening
|9.15am - 9.30am
|Opening address
Sharon Hansen
|9.30am - 10.15am
| Keynote address
Chair: Dalton Kelly
Is General Practice funding sustainable and equitable? Are Health Care Homes our salvation?
Peter Moodie
|10.15am - 10.45am
|Morning tea
Kindly sponsored by RHAANZ
|10.45am - 11.25am
|Concurrent session 1
| Accessing fertility treatment
Dr Simon McDowell
|Travel Medicine: Current Concerns & Updates
Jenny Visser
|Sport and exercise medicine for GPs
Ruth Highet and Simon Kim
| Advanced care planning
Geoff Annals
Twin careers: medicine and farming
Dr William Rolleston, Dr Tanya Quin and Dr Tim Malloy
|Effective financial planning – pulling the pieces together
Sue Stewart and Hamish McPhail
|11.30am - 12.10pm
|Concurrent session 2
|The human gut microbiome and human health – the role of probiotics
Anders Henriksson
|Wilderness medicine - here and afar
Tristan Sames
|Biologics and Biosimilars: Why should GP's should to be interested
Bryan Betty, PHARMAC
|The Cook Islands: developing capacity and a training programme - linking to rural remote practice in NZ and beyond
Kati Blattner, Dr Nini Wynn, Cook Islands MOH, Dr Joel Pirini , Rural Registrar, Kaitaia
Understanding the biomechanics and physical demands of one of the toughest rural industries - shearing
Laura Hancock
| Climate change and the effect on the rural sector and on health
James Renwick
|12.10pm - 1.15pm
|1.15pm - 1.55pm
|Concurrent session 3
|Oh no not another new one?……. negotiating the multitude of new inhalers for COPD
Andy Davies
|Implementing Virtual Consults in Rural General Practice
|Community placements for interns (PGY1s and PGY2s)
Andrew Connolly, Medical Council of NZ and Helen Morgan-Banda, Royal New Zealand College of General Practice
Point-of-care testing to improve access and improve outcomes in rural and general practice
Catherine Beazley, Kati Blattner and Geoff Herd
Framework to improve rural mental health and addictions outcomes for rural New Zealanders
Michelle Thompson
|The Hidden Talent Quest. There may be more opportunities for your beneficiary patients than you realise
David Bratt, Ministry of Social Development
|2.00pm - 2.40pm
|Concurrent session 4
|So you drive a petrol tanker? That's just great! Managing sleepy drivers.
Andy Davies
|Cxbladder: Empowering GPs for evaluation of haematuria
David Darling
Establishing a network for rural hospital nurses
Panel- Mark Emmerson, Rhonda Johnson, Debi Lawry
Farm Related Suicides in New Zealand, 2007 – 2015: A review of coroners' records
Annette Beautrais
|The Orkneys and recruiting rural GPs
Pat Farry Trust Education Scholarship report
Anna Charles-Jones and Jono Paulin
|2.45pm - 3.15pm
|Afternoon tea
|3.15pm - 4.00pm
| Keynote address
Chair: Jeremy Webber
Health policy and visions of the good life
Eric Crampton
|4.00pm - 4.45pm
|Keynote address
PRIME review - panel discussion chaired by Dalton Kelly, CEO, Rural General Practice Network
Panel: Kate Stark (NP, MN Clinical, PRIME), Jared Stevenson (Portfolio Manager NASO), Tony Smith (Medical Director, St John), Dr Tim Malloy (President Royal New Zealand College of GPs and rural GP).
|4.45pm - 5.30pm
|Awards ceremony
Peter Snow Memorial Award
Rural General Practice Team of the Year Award
|5.30pm - 7.00pm
|Welcome reception among the exhibition area
Kindly sponsored by Pacific Edge
|7.00pm onwards
|Student dinner
|8.00am - 5.30pm
|Conference registration desk open
|7.30am - 8.45am
|Breakfast sessions
ManageMyHealth breakfast session (Medtech)
Digital tools for delivery of healthcare services in Rural Health settings
AbbVie breakfast session
New horizons for your hepatitis C patients: offering treatment in the community
|9.00am - 9.45am
|Keynote address
Chair: Jeremy Webber
Rural mental health and wellbeing
Matt Shirtcliffe
|9.45am - 10.30am
|Keynote address
Chair: Jeremy Webber
Bullying and family violence in New Zealand
Norm Hewitt
|10.30am - 11.00am
|Morning tea
Kindly sponsored by RHN
|11.00am - 11.40am
|Concurrent session 5
|Caring for older people in rural aged residential care homes
Maree Todd, BUPA
|Dental emergencies
Akash Kota, Masterton Dental Clinic
|Connecting New Zealand's telehealth services with rural communities
Andrew Slater, Homecare Medical
Keeping Kaipara Families Safe: the Violence Intervention Programme in a Rural Hospital Setting
Paula Anderson and Jen Thomas
|What excites us about rural: showcasing the best of rural health
|Sanofi workshop
Managing travel and sick days for diabetics
John Wilson
|11.45am - 12.25pm
|Concurrent session 6
|Resisting Resistance and the Antimicrobial Apocalypse (or Tales of Antimicrobial Stewardship)
Jared Green
|Medtech User Group – Tour of Medtech Evolution
|Rural Medical Immersion Programme (RMIP) ten years - are we making a difference?
Branko Sijnja and Melody Curle
Unknown Unknowns in New Zealand Rural Health
Garry Nixon
|Career pathways in rural health
Student panel
|Sanofi workshop
Approaches to insulin intensification
John Wilson
|12.30pm - 1.10pm
|Concurrent session 7
| Multidisciplinary training
Sue Pullon
|Telehealth - From Here to There and Back Again
John Garrett
| Exploitation for the greater good- making sure everyone gets the most out of student placements
Buzz Burrell, John Burton, Katelyn Thorn and Blair Mason
Rehabilitation - rural hospital outcomes leading NZ
Rhonda Johnson
|Capacity assessments for legal purposes
Dr Zarko Kamenica, MPS
|Cardiology Update for GP's from the Heart Foundation
Fraser Hamilton, Heart Foundation
|1.10pm - 2.10pm
|2.15pm - 3.00pm
|Keynote address
Does NZ need a rural school of medicine?
Garry Nixon and Ross Lawrenson
|3.00pm - 3.45pm
|Keynote address
Chair: Jeremy Webber
Water quality in New Zealand
Marnie Prickett
|3.45pm - 4.15pm
|Afternoon tea
|4.15pm - 5.00pm
|Keynote address
Chair: Jeremy Webber
Fat Science: Why diets and exercise don't work and what does
Robyn Toomath
|Conference close
|5.15pm - 6.00pm
Room 1 & 2
|7.00pm onwards
|Medtech informal dinner and dance
|9.00am - 12.00pm
|Network members breakfast forum
|10.00am - 12.00pm
|Student breakfast forum
with presentation from Victoria Catherwood


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FullScreenMario.com has been found in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and on Friday, November 1st, 2013 was taken down by an official DMCA complaint from Nintendo. The website allowed players to play an open source HTML5 remake of Nintendo's 1985 Super Mario Bros, containing the original 32 levels, a random map generator, and level editor. This was in violation of Nintendo's copyrights and trademarks.
Full Screen Mario was enjoyed by nearly 2.7 million unique visitors during almost a month of popularity, across 6 continents and dozens of languages. I'm glad so many people got to enjoy the game, and look forward to working on new and exciting (and legal) projects.


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WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) - November 15, 2012 --A Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to death for killing and dismembering a 16-year-old boy in a drug dispute four years ago.
Family members of the slain teen reacted with relief and thanks when a Chester County jury announced its verdict Wednesday night.
Thirty-three-year-old Laquanta Chapman was convicted last week in Turner's October 2008 killing after his cousin Bryan Byrd testified that he helped Chapman dispose of the teen's body.
Authorities say Chapman forced Turner into his basement and killed him before cutting his body up with a chain saw. Turner's remains were never found.
Byrd pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and is awaiting sentencing. Chapman's attorney argued Byrd's testimony was suspect.


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watch the big boys crash skulls!
Check out this article about bare knuckle boxing and how historically its less dangerous than boxing with gloves. Interesting, huh?
This was in my google reader right next to your post. Doesn't relate to cartooning, but it relates to fighting!
hey, thanks for the schedule
YEAH! Crushing skulls!
Lesnar is a sick bastard!!!!
OK time for some UFC drawing. It's been a while since I tackled the manmeat (as it were). I'll have forgotten how. Your Brocks are getting better and better!
That first drawing looks great!
Lesnar is quite scary, really. A bout between him and Fedor would be quite interesting.
That was a great fight last night. I'm glad Lesnar won!
I'd like to see you do some line work on Nikolai Valuev's beastly mug.
So damn cool to see this on your blog.. I blogged about it on my blog, and told joe, mike and ufc about it.. Do you have a twitter acct? I'm a fight photographer- shoot all the fights and was there cageside that night.. Amazing fights!
Holy shit that was a good fight! really nice drawings man, is that joe rogan?


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By agreeing to undertake a highly dangerous mission in Iran, disgraced congressman and former Marine Nick Brody (Damian Lewis) gets an opportunity for redemption on "One Last Time," Episode 309 of Showtime's "Homeland."
Wrongly accused of the Langley bombing and the object of a global manhunt, Brody is transported by the CIA from his Caracas, Venezuela, hideout to a Virginia military base. Sadly, he's suicidal and drug addicted.
Brody once managed to rebuild his life after Al Qaeda terrorists tortured and brainwashed him. Can he rebuild one last time?


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Auburn football press conference: with head coach Gus Malzahn, defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson and offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee (December 7, 2012)
Malzahn: I told you I was going to take my time hiring coordinators and it took me about 48 hours. I'm really excited today with the two guys who are here as offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator. That was part of our priority.
Our defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson is one of the best defensive minds in all of college football. I've gotten a chance to coach against him numerous times and when you coach against somebody, you really find out a lot about him. He's very familiar with the SEC, he's a man of character and we're tickled to death to have Ellis Johnson as our defensive coordinator.
Johnson: It's an honor for me to be here. I want to recognize my wife Caroline here today. We've been dating for 15 years and married for 13 years and I've moved her seven times now. She's a trooper, a fan, a good football mom, a good recruiter and I appreciate all her support.
The thing I have to mention is how proud I am to be at Auburn. This is a university I've competed against at East Carolina, Southern Miss, Alabama, Mississippi State, South Carolina. It's a place I've always admired and respected. Just a great tradition - the tradition of defense – I think it's something we've got to try to uphold. I'm very honored to have an opportunity to work with Coach Malzahn. As he just said, when you coach against people, you begin to have a great respect for him as a coach and I know what a great person he is also. Our friendship doesn't go back very far, but we have mutual friends that I've known for many years. He's one of the finest people in our profession and he's what coaches should represent in our profession.
I'm also glad to be in the state of Alabama. The high school coaches and the high school football in this state are fantastic. I've been coaching college for 32 years, all of it in the Southeast, recruited all over the Southeast, been in a lot of high schools and I think the high school coaches and football in the state of Alabama is just tremendous.
And obviously I have to talk about the Southeastern Conference. It's an honor to be back in the Southeastern Conference. College football is one of the most entertaining things today in our sports world and the Southeastern Conference is leading the way in showing how to do college football; it's the blueprint.
I'm very fortunate, very proud to be here and excited about working with Coach Malzahn. It's a home run for me to have this opportunity at this time in my career.
Malzahn: Our offensive coordinator is Rhett Lashlee. I'm very familiar with Rhett. He's one of the bright, young up-and-coming offensive minds in all of college football. He's been my right-hand man at three different stops. At Arkansas, he was my right-hand man and I relied on him a lot. Here at Auburn, he deserves a lot of the credit for the offensive success we had. This past year at Arkansas State, he just did a phenomenal job. I know exactly what I'm getting. He's going to give me the flexibility to help with the offense and at the same time, be a head coach and do the things a head coach has to do. He's a great example for our players and he's a man of character.
Lashlee: First things first, War Eagle! I want to thank someone I have a lot of respect for – Jay Jacobs – for giving me the opportunity to come back, and Coach Malzahn for entrusting me with this opportunity. And just like Coach Johnson, I've got to thank my wife Lauren. Coaches' wives in this profession sacrifice more than anybody. She's my rock, with our twin boys; they allow me the ability to do what God's called me to do and I appreciate that. Also, my parents are here today – love them too and they've helped shape me into what I am.
When I realized I had the opportunity to come back to Auburn, the first thing that came to my mind was the fans. I think about Tiger Walk home or away, and that student section and I get goosebumps just thinking about it. I can't wait to get back out in front of our fans. They're the best fans in the country and that excites me.
Offensively, I think people have some familiarity with what they're getting. We're a two-back run play action team that's going to no-huddle and play at a quick pace the entire game. Our identity as an offense will be fast and physical. That will be ingrained in our guys from day one. You can't have one without the other. We will play extremely fast, and we want to be very physical at every position. We'll have a physical downhill running game, and we'll also be explosive in the passing game, and be very aggressive taking vertical shots down the field and stretching the field horizontally.
That's our philosophy. We want to make teams defend the whole field. I think the biggest intangible we've got to instill as an offense is discipline. We've got to be the most disciplined team on the field every time we take the field. That's our philosophy – we must not put ourselves at a disadvantage offensively. We've got to take care of the football – that's a discipline thing.
We've got to eliminate undisciplined penalties, things we can control that stall drives and negative plays. Those things hurt us. And we've got to have discipline off the field and in the classroom. That will be the number one thing we stress to our guys.
I am thrilled and excited to be here. It's going to be fun for our guys to practice and play in this system. I've got a lot of great memories here. Just two years ago before I left, our twin boys were born after the second game of the national championship season, so they're 12-0 with a national championship on their record. I'm glad they're going to be able to learn how to say War Eagle now that they're back.
What is your comfort level in working with Lashlee?
Malzahn: Rhett's been my right-hand man at three different stops, two of those stops in the SEC, and we've been successful. He's one of the brightest young up-and-coming minds in college football and we're tickled to death to have him.
Will Coach Johnson's experience free you from handling the day-to-day details on defense?
Malzahn: There's no doubt. We're talking about one of the best defensive minds in all of college football. I got a chance to coach against him, so I know exactly what we're getting. He's very disciplined. When you play against his teams, you'd better have your A game. It gives me a lot of comfort and security to have him running our defense.
How will the offensive game plan and play-calling work?
Malzahn: He's been my right hand man. He's going to take care of the game plan throughout the week and that will allow me to be a head coach. I'll be in every special teams meeting, I'll be on top of everything, it will give me a chance to go on the defensive side during practice because those defensive players need to see the head coach with them. He gives me a lot of security. I know exactly what I'm getting.
How quickly will the entire staff come together?
Malzahn: I wanted to hire coordinators first and give these guys ownership in our assistant coaches. At the end of the day, I'll make the decision, but being a former coordinator, I know how important it is to get guys that you can work with, get guys that fit in with your philosophy, and are hard workers.
Is there pressure defensively because of the fast tempo of the offense?
Johnson: I don't feel that way. I feel like that is one of the biggest trends to come into college football, so if you have a difficult time handling it, you're going to have a difficult time stopping people. The thing I've always liked about the offensive attack Gus has had is it has an element of physicality to it. It is a power offense that has speed and execution in the tempo and it also spreads the field in the throwing game.
College football is unique. The professional teams can go have exhibition games, high schools can have scrimmages, but college football, you work against who you are on both side of the ball. If your offense is missing an element of the option, missing an element of tempo, missing an element of power, then your defense is going to suffer.
It's not about how fast you go – it's how fast you go well, and Coach Malzahn has proven he knows how to do that. That is going to help our defense in the long run.
Will familiarity with some of the personnel help the offensive transition?
Lashlee: It's nothing but a plus with Coach Malzahn and myself being familiar with some of the guys when we install this offense. But we'll install it from the ground like it's day one, like they've never heard it before. But it's a plus and it will probably help some of the other guys understand why we do what we do. It's a big positive.
We'll implement it like it's never been here before, and then it's the added bonus of those guys who already have some familiarity with it.
About the quick naming of the coordinators…
Malzahn: I think you can tell by how fast it happened that I was very interested in these guys. Coming in, you have an idea of names, and I thought it was important to get the coordinators in place as soon as possible for recruiting, for everything, but you've got to get the right guy. I'm tickled to death to have both these guys with me.
Who are the leaders on defense?
Johnson: I've not yet had a chance to meet any of the players and my understanding is that they're finishing up exams today. I will be anxious to meet with them. I think that player leadership, especially during transition, is absolutely critical.
What style of defense do you run?
Johnson: I'm more about players than plays. I have a core principle of how you start with your defense, because I think it has to be adaptable to what you have to stop today. We will originate out of a four-man front, with two inside linebackers and five defensive backs. It's a three safety defense, and from there, we will build packages that we add to that based upon personnel. I feel like today in college football, if you base your principles on substituting players and matching up, there will be teams on your schedule that will not allow you to do that, so I want to start from a base that allows us the most flexibility with the starting eleven.
From there, I think the coaching staff brings ideas. It's going to be Coach Malzahn's blueprint – we're going to do what he wants done from a principle of on the field and off the field. It's going to be a disciplined football team in execution. It's going to be a disciplined football team off the field. I think you base it on what your players can do and put players in a position to make plays.
What do you want from your third safety?
Johnson: It's the key to the flexibility and the effectiveness of the defense. You've got to be able to do so many things and do them well. He's got to be able to blitz off the edge, he's got to be able to cover a third wide receiver, most of the time with some help over the top, and he's got to be physical enough to play on the edge of the box. It will be a very important identification of personnel on that position.
How much will you play in the 4-2-5?
Johnson: It will be our foundation. Coach Malzahn wants an attacking, multiple defense and that's what we're going to be. You can only be as multiple as your talent level allows you to be, and as we evaluate personnel on this football team, we'll find ways to create packages that compliment that 4-2-5.
We've always been able to create an odd front, a 3-4 type of philosophy, out of it – it can be done with a hybrid defensive end or maybe another player in the defensive line, so we've got to find a way to do that and give him the multiplicity he wants in that package. I'm sure we've got the personnel here we can do it.
How is he shaping his staff?
Malzahn: It started with the coordinators. We have a plan and we're trying to put the pieces to the puzzle to get the right people for Auburn and the right people moving forward. That's what we're doing at this time. (Was it hard to talk with members of the previous staff?) There's no doubt. You get extremely close to people when you work with them and it was extremely tough. We're still working through some of that (support staff hires). Our plan was to hire coordinators and give them ownership. We're open to everyone. We just want to get the right fit and that's what we're working on right now.
Johnson's thoughts on his latest career move…
Johnson: I'm very fortunate. I talked about all the things I admire about Auburn University and the Auburn family and this program and its traditions. Having coached at so many different places in the Southeast, this is absolutely one of the finest. I'm very fortunate and just tickled to death to be here.
On his development as a coach during the last two years…
Lashlee: It's been huge. I've had the opportunity to be with Coach Malzahn as a player and then as a coach at several different stops, and you get to the point and time in your career that you've got to go do it to continue to grow and develop. Coach Sullivan at Samford gave me that opportunity – it was a great opportunity – and I will always be indebted to him for that. And to get back together with Coach was great and we were able to continue working together in a little bit of a different role than we had in the past as far as our relationship goes. I think it was a positive. We were successful and worked well together. That's a positive moving forward.
There is a change when you have a player-coach relationship, that's different than an assistant coach-head coach relationship. I think the length and the depth of our relationship helps, and the multiple times in my career that I've worked for him since I played, and then this past year working for him as his offensive coordinator, I've learned how to transition.
Does his experience playing in Malzahn's system help him coach it?
Lashlee: No question, probably one of the most beneficial things is that I have played quarterback in this system and now coached in it. When I'm coaching the quarterbacks, I can identify with them even more than most because I know what they are seeing. I know what they're thinking. I've done those drops. I've thrown those routes. I've run that play. I know all that. So not only am I telling them, hey here's what you should do, and it may be right, I can also tell them from the standpoint and they know I've done it. It sometimes helps add some credibility and resonate and maybe I can explain it better too because I kind of get what they are going through. It's a big positive.
What position will Johnson coach?
Johnson: That is going to be flexible based on who Coach [Malzahn] wants to hire and how that best fits together as a group of coaches on that defensive side.
What challenges will the offense face?
Lashlee: I didn't get a chance to watch much (this past season). I always keep up with Auburn, because the people here are important to me. I do have some familiarity with the guys, especially the quarterbacks that are coming back. I know them all to some degree. I think the bottom line is starting day one from ground zero instilling our philosophy. We don't care about what happened in the past, because we can't do anything about that. We are all looking forward and what we can do moving forward to put the best product on the field for Auburn and the Auburn fans.
It's probably similar to when Coach Malzahn first got here a couple years back and I was with him. It was a similar situation. We were able to come in here and didn't really focus on ourselves and these kids and making sure they buy into what we want them to do and buy into the discipline, the structure, the culture of our offense and our football team. Once we get that, we will be in good shape. That will be the mindset. It won't be 'hey, here's what happened last year.' We will be focused on us moving forward and I think we will be fine.
On the quarterbacks changing systems…
Lashlee: For some it may be more of an adjustment than others. You look at it, you've got Kiehl Frazier who played in this kind of system in high school and has obviously worked with Coach Malzahn for years. Jonathan Wallace – similar style offense. I know Jonathan, too. He understands what we do. Clint Moseley has been here. Those are all guys who either have a background in this system here or something similar. There will be a transition, because they've gone through a whole 12-month cycle of something else. But it's like anything else. We went in this year to a place and we put in a whole new system. The guys adapted. The kids are resilient. They will be fine and they will pick it up.
On recruiting in the next few weeks…
Malzahn: We are still working through all the peripheral things about getting other people on the road. Right now, we are trying to touch base with the commitment and really try to reach out and develop relationships. (Has he spoken with every commitment?) Pretty much. There are a couple that we have had trouble with, but for the most part, yes.
On Lashlee's youth in being an SEC coordinator…
Lashlee: I think Coach Malzahn would probably say a similar thing in that I've been blessed to be with good players on good teams with good coaches. That's a big part of it. I think it's a great opportunity. I'm blessed to have it. I feel like I'm more than ready for it. I'm excited about it. I think when you look at how you get to certain points, if you're ready at a certain age, I don't know if that's that big of a deal.
I feel like with the background I have in this system with Coach [Malzahn], over 15 years as either a player or a coach, I think that's probably the most the most valuable thing I have. Then, being familiar with Auburn, with the fans, with some of the players here and how things work, I think that will be a big plus. It has happened quickly. I can't explain it other than I've been blessed to have good players and good people with me along the way.
Malzahn: I've very proud of Rhett. He was a phenomenal player. He set national passing records. You knew early on he was special. He was like a coach on the field. He was with me at Springdale High School and helped coach Mitch Mustain. He went with me to the University of Arkansas. He deserves a lot of credit for that year. I really relied on him as my right-hand man. Then we came to Auburn, and he was the first guy I wanted to have with me. He deserves a lot of the credit for the success we had here. Then, when we had the chance to go to Arkansas State, he was the first guy that I called. He did a phenomenal job, top 20 offense. I said it before, he's got the 'It' factor. The best thing about it, I know exactly what I'm getting. We work extremely well together. He's got a bright future. He'll have a chance to be a head coach at this level someday. He's got everything it takes.
I believe Rhett would probably tell you, our offense is unique. It's the offense he knows, because he played in it. He probably doesn't know other offenses and that's a good thing. We want to be experts in what we do. He knows this offense like the back of his hand. We worked extremely well together. He's battle tested, even though he's young. We've been through some big games together. He deserves a lot of the credit for our offense's success.
How will they handle play-calling?
Malzahn: We will do it exactly like we did last year. We will do it together. He will get the game plan together during the week. Then on game day, it will be similar to exactly what we did last year.
Is there a lot of interest from other coaches in learning his offense?
Malzahn: Well, coaches talk football. I'm a former high school football coach, and I'm always looking to talk football with high school coaches and develop those relationships. We talk with a lot of people about our offense and I think that's a good thing.
What will be the makeup of the defensive staff?
Johnson: I do not (know). I just know there will be four guys on defensive side of the football and that's up to Coach Malzahn. Even that could change. I have some feelings about that. But I think if we find the right guys that fit in and are the right people, the kind of people we want here, and Coach Malzahn feels comfortable with, we've got some flexibility in that. I'm not stuck on any one way to do it.
On how his stance on the hurry-up, no-huddle offense has changed over time…
Johnson: Did I say that? If you will look up, that's translated into Latin for 'Somebody help us, we can't stop this stuff.' We have all as defensive coordinators complained over the last five to 15 years. Gus wasn't the first one, but he kind of put it in warp speed. There are difficult things about it, but the rules are the rules; just like you pulling on an official's sleeve all the time on the sideline, you are begging for somebody to tweak this thing a little bit.
As a head coach, I tried to implement almost the same system. We are going to do that, because I think it has all the elements that will put a defense under stress. It has power, it has option, and it has the ability to speed up and slow down. It spreads the ball around the football field in the throwing game. It can make your defense better, because you're going to be prepared to play it. When you don't have that system in your football team, it makes it extremely different on Saturday to be prepared to play it.
How are he and Lashley compatible in play calling?
Malzahn: As a play caller, you get in a rhythm, no matter if you are going slow or going fast. The way we do it, you have to make quick decisions, extremely fast. You've got to go with it. You've got to know it ahead of time. What are they giving you? You've got to have your answers already prepared. That's definitely what I mean by Rhett being my right-hand man. We think alike.
How will they improve tackling?
Johnson: I think what happens sometimes is you get caught up in being an assignment football team and you don't work fundamentals. It's up to a coach to make sure you focus on that during the period of time you've got to do it during the day. One thing that's changed about college football is that it's a more spread out game. There are faster athletes. There are guys doing a better job with the systems, such as Coach Malzahn, and it exposes tackling more now. Tackling used to be more of a physical collision, strength versus strength, back when I first started coaching. Now it's about angles, it's about speed. It's about a lot of factors to be a good tackling team. You do have to put a lot of attention in it and be careful about getting too much into X's and O's and you forget about the fundamentals.
INFORMATION SOURCE: Auburn Athletics Dept.


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By Brian Cullen
If you made a Venn diagram between "jocks" and "nerds," sports video games would land in the perfect, gooey center, along with statistics and a love of all things fantasy. Now, with any list about the best video game athletes, you'll have your usual entries: Bo Jackson, Michael Vick, Jeremy Roenick, etc. But this list? This is about the other guys. Here's our top 5 favorite underrated video games athletes.
5) Tracy McGrady – NBA Street
For those who have never wasted their freshman year investing hours into NBA Street, it's essentially a souped-up, modern version of NBA Jam. Every time you defeat a team, you can take a player from that team. Throughout the game, it's up to your created player — and the players you gain along the way — to rise to street ball dominance. Now, just so we're clear, the willing suspension of disbelief is pretty high here (one of the unlockable characters is a Yeti. A YETI). But that said, one of the best characters in the game — and one of the characters I kept with me to the bitter end when I hit the reset button against my stupid roommate — was T-Mac.
He was awesome by every metric, and helped give you a team with a solid offense and defense. What's heartbreaking, however, is that retrospectively, this might be one of the highlights of his career.
4) Tony Amonte – NHL '95
People who are wrong will argue that the Kings or Red Wings were the cream of the crop in NHL '95, thanks to the Gretzky/Robitaille and Yzerman/Federov pairings. But they forget that that the Blackhawks were solid in every position: Jeremy Roenick, Steve Smith, Steve Larmer, Chris Chelios and Ed Belfour were monsters. I didn't need to look up that lineup, but I don't know my brother's birthday. I've had several decades worth of chances to remember. Still, no dice.
However, you'll notice that that lineup is one short. That's because the original Blackhawks lineup started off with Michel Goulet — who was a 67 overall — on the wing. If you're playing without line changes (like a cheater, like me), the obvious choice was to swap out Michel Goulet with Tony Amonte, who was a 74 overall. This boost brought the Blackhawks from Death Star level (dangerous, but with one key exploitable flaw) into unbeatable digital juggernauts.
3) Chris Mullin – NBA Jam
Don't come at me claiming Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant or Larry Johnson or even "Thunder" Dan Majerle were the best that NBA Jam had to offer. Besides, only a fool would track down slam-dunking glory, rather than chasing the real gold: the 3-pointer. Especially with the "On fire" powerup, you want someone who can constantly drain buckets from behind the line all day, every day. And that's Chris Mullin.
Unlike tiny Tim Hardaway, Mullin was a giant. His stats eschewed driving the lane in favor of pure, sweet follow-through. And with Mullin as your go-to man, you could go toe-to-toe with any team in the NBA.
2) Vinny Testaverde – Tecmo Super Bowl
Sure, all the quarterback attention in Tecmo Super Bowl goes to QB Eagles, QB Bills and Joe Montana. But don't sleep on Vinny Testaverde (which I can't help but say in the same way you would say: "It's a-me, Mario!"). Nobody picked the Bucs because they were lousy and wore a creamsicle-color uniform. But clever players could get away with picking Tampa Bay and relying on both Testaverde's command of the field, as well as his surprising speed, to give them the edge, before ultimately losing. Because c'mon. It's Tampa Bay.
1) Lefty O'Doul – Baseball Stars
Baseball Stars didn't totally employ a real life cast of characters. They featured fake teams like the SNK Crushers and the Ghastly Monsters (who had Hollywood monster names, like "Zombie"). But one notable exception was the American Dreams. They were by far the best team in the game, and they were almost all named after great American ballplayers. For instance, Willy (Willy Mays), Babe (Babe Ruth), and Cy (Cy Young).
But the best player on the American Dreams was Lefty. Lefty was named after Lefty O'Doul, a name that probably isn't familiar to casual baseball fans. O'Doul was a pretty great player and a pretty great manager. So why is he the best player on the team? Probably due to his popularity in Japan.
See, O'Doul served as something of a goodwill ambassador to Japan before and after the war. He's credited with spreading the popularity of baseball in the country. In fact, Japan's "New York Yankees" — the Tokyo Giants — were named after the New York Giants, where Lefty spent some time as a player.
In Japan, Lefty O'Doul is very highly revered. Meanwhile, the producer of Baseball Stars — SNK — was located in Japan. Is it any wonder, then, that they programmed him to do this?
So there you have it. Our top 5 underrated video game athletes. Now, if you would be so kind, please take to the comments section and tell me how I'm wrong and some slanderous things about my mother.
Check out more of our Top 5 Lists.
Brian Cullen writes vaguely sad comedy articles for Tailgate Fan and Man Cave Daily. Follow him on Twitter @bucketcullen.