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A few weeks ago I wrote about the best hitters against each team. The concept is the same here, only different. Certain pitchers, for a whole host of reasons, have had better results against certain teams. Certain pitchers go further still and outright own some teams. Beyond even that, every team seems to have one pitcher (and if you're the Mets, maybe more than one!) who has dominated them over his career. This article is about that one pitcher, the one who has pitched better than anyone else, against one team.
These selections cover entire franchise histories, meaning that, for example, the Boston and Milwaukee Braves are included in the Atlanta Braves' history. As in life, we have to set limits. We're sticking with pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched against the team in question, and we're focusing mostly on ERA as a measure of domination.
Arizona Diamondbacks
Best Opposing Pitcher: Brad Penny
The Diamondbacks have been dominated by many a quality pitcher in their time. When it comes to getting their butts kicked, they have impeccable taste. Tim Hudson, Adam Wainwright, Roy Oswalt, Kevin Brown, Clayton Kershaw and Tom Glavine have all had their way with the teal and gold or mauve and maroon, or whatever their team colors are this season. At the top of the list, free and clear from the game's greats in more ways than just one, sits Brad Penny. Penny faced Arizona repeatedly over 12 seasons as a member of the Marlins, Dodgers, Cardinals, Tigers and Giants. Making it all the more dreadful, Penny's 1.97 ERA against Arizona was compiled while he posted a 4.26 ERA overall during the same time period. The irony is that Penny was drafted by the Diamondbacks and then dealt to Florida for Matt Mantei, reminding us yet again that the best deals are often those we don't make.
Notes: Second place belongs to Kevin Brown, who also dominated the D-backs for the Padres and Dodgers from 1998 to 2003. He's followed by Kershaw, whose 2.61 ERA against Arizona is 0.01 lower than his ERA against everyone else. So much for being special.
Atlanta Braves
Best Opposing Pitcher: Whit Wyatt
As an older franchise, you might think the Braves would be beaten better and more often by a bigger name, but the name John Whitlow Wyatt was as big as the Braves would get. It's been almost 70 years since Wyatt tortured the Braves, and the organization has fled from Boston to Milwaukee and then Atlanta without seeing the likes of Wyatt again. Oddly, Wyatt was a mediocre pitcher from 1929 through 1937 in the American League with the Tigers, White Sox and Indians, meaning he never faced the Braves. He was so mediocre that he ended up spending the 1938 season in the minors. Having pitched well there, he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers at right about the time America's involvement in World War II was ramping up. Wyatt stayed with Brooklyn through the war, a peroid when the quality of competition dropped across the league due to many of the best players being away serving their country. Wyatt either took advantage of that or used his new-found slider to transform from a 12 percent below-average pitcher to a 24 percent above-average pitcher (by ERA). It was the lucky, lucky Braves that took a portion (219.2 innings of 1.60 ERA ball to be exact) of that on the chin.
Notes: Second on the list was Al Demaree, a pitcher for the Giants, Phillies, Cubs and Braves in the teens, but more interestingly, third belongs to Andy Messersmith. Along with pitcher Dave McNally, Messersmith's lawsuit effectively ended baseball's reserve clause, which bound players to their teams regardless of contract for their career. After beating up on them with the Dodgers, Messersmith joined the Braves in 1976 and '77, no doubt signed as a defense mechanism by the Braves front office.
Baltimore Orioles
Best Opposing Pitcher: Connie Marrero
Look, I was hoping as much as you were to see some interesting names here. How about Babe Ruth (fifth) or Rollie Fingers (eleventh) or Walter Johnson (sixteenth) for crying out loud? But no. We get Connie Marrero. Fine. Whatever. [cracks fingers] Let's do this.
Marrero was a Cuban pitcher for the Washington Senators (version 1.0). Really, he was "El Duque" before Orlando Hernandez was El Duque. Marrero joined the Senators (best motto ever: "First in war, first in peace, last in the American League.") in 1950 and immediately took it to the then-St. Louis Browns, posting a 1.71 ERA in 21 innings. Things only got worse from there for the not-yet-Orioles, as Marrero ended his career with a 1.50 ERA in 101.2 innings against St. Louis/Baltimore. Even when he was 43 years old in 1952 and just about finished (with a 4.75 ERA overall that season), Marrero went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 12 innings against finally-Baltimore. Marrero died this past April at the age of 102. Not so much as a card from Baltimore.
Notes: A member of the infamous Chicago Black Sox, Eddie Cicotte was second with a 1.89 ERA against the St. Louis Browns, compiled in the teens. The pitcher with the best ERA against the Orioles specifically was Tom Burgmeier, who pitched for 17 years for a bunch of teams, but mostly Kansas City, Minnesota and Boston. For someone you've never heard of, Burgmeier was a surprisingly good pitcher (career 119 ERA+), but he had by far his most success against the Orioles. As for active pitchers, you won't find anyone until David Price at number 56 on the list (career 2.82 ERA against Baltimore) and then not again until Jon Lester at number 70 (2.92 ERA), though that's likely a function of the era of big offense we're just exiting.
Boston Red Sox
Best Opposing Pitcher: Reb Russell
Often the best pitcher on these lists happened to pitch against the franchise during a down period. This makes sense as there are two sides to the batter-pitcher relationship, and nothing makes a pitcher look better than a lousy batter. Not so with Reb Russell. Russell faced the Red Sox during a stretch when they were winning three World Series in four seasons, a feat unmatched in organizational history. Didn't stop Reb, though. He held the Red Sox to a 1.51 ERA in 227 innings, the best by a fair bit.
Notes: Even so, Walter Johnson should probably be at the top of the list. I'm sorting by ERA, which is why Russell has the top spot and Johnson's ERA is 0.66 higher than Russell's. But here's the thing: Johnson did his in 340 more innings, a number which, judging from the time, was probably achieved in an afternoon.
As this is a list of players pitching their best in small sample sizes, you don't often run across a pitcher who pitched worse against the team in question than he did against the whole of the league. Mariano Rivera, the amazing relief pitcher for the Yankees, accomplished that feat (among many others) by holding the Red Sox to 40 earned runs in 126 innings (with 120 strikeouts). That's a 2.86 ERA against a strong offensive team in a high offense era, good for the 36th best pitcher against the Red Sox in history. Quite good, in other words, but at the same time Rivera posted a 2.21 ERA against the league over the same time period. The Red Sox were slightly less grist for the mill than most, something that speaks well for the team, but considering the numbers and the era, for the future Hall of Fame pitcher as well.
Chicago Cubs
Best Opposing Pitcher: Randy Johnson
Randy Johnson doesn't have the lowest ERA against the Cubs, but ERA isn't everything. Johnson is hiding out at the not-so-lowly position of fourth, so he's not chopped dog meat either. The Big Unit and Rick Reuschel (who also pitched for the Cubs) are the two who could reasonably be put in the top spot based on competition, and the baseball-y-ness of baseball at the time, so let's compare. Johnson threw 103.2 innings against the Cubs, while Reuschel compiled 130.1. Advantage: Reuschel. Reuschel had a 1.66 Cubs ERA, while Johnson's was higher at 1.91. Advantage: Reuschel. But Johnson struck out 143 Cubs in those 103.2 innings, while Reuschel K'd just 75 in his greater innings total. That's enough for me. Johnson was typically a dominating presence on the mound, but he was even more so against the Northsiders. Poor Rick Reuschel. So close.
Notes: Frank Allen has the lowest ERA against the Cubs (1.02 in 106.1 innings) but he played in a different era. As evidence I will cite the teams for which he played, among which are included the Brooklyn Suberbas, the Robins (actually the same team as the Superbas), the Rebels and Braves (Boston version). To Allen's credit, it didn't matter which arcane uniform he was wearing when it came to dominating the Cubs, but it matters to us, which is why he's under the Notes section instead of the Best Pitcher section.
Also on the list, at 12th, is Andy Messersmith (2.28 Cubs ERA). This may become a theme.
Chicago White Sox
Best Opposing Pitcher: Dave Stieb
Joe Boehling has the best ERA in 100 or more innings against the White Sox, 1.72 in 115 innings. But three things: (1) He did it in the pre-Babe-Ruth-as-hitter low offensive era of the teens (i.e. it was much easier to keep runs off the board then). (2) he did it in fewer than half the innings Stieb put his 1.92 ERA together in. (3) I like Dave Stieb better. You just can't deny a bushy mustache like his when he's already this close to the finish line. Stieb also went 21-5 against the White Sox in his career, for those who place stock in pitcher wins. That's pretty good for a guy whose upper lip was weighted down to such an extent.
Notes: There's some irony, though perhaps it's Alanis Morissette-style irony, in the fact that Whitey Ford dominated the White Sox. Clearly Ford was supposed to have played for Chicago in the same way U.L. Washington was denied playing for the Nationals and Red Schoendienst was supposed to play for the Reds. Clearly something must have happened, a tear in the space-time continuum perhaps, and Ford was thrown to the Yankees, setting the White Sox up for 526 innings of hardly scoring any runs. Thanks, universe. Thanks a ton.
Cincinnati Reds
Best Opposing Pitcher: Ron Perranoski
Perranoski was a relief pitcher in the 1960s and 1970s for the Dodgers, Twins, Tigers and Angels. Despite the at-the-time handicap of relieving, Perranoski was, for the time, dominating, and especially so against the Reds, whom he faced 70 times. His timing was good as he caught them just before the Big Red Machine got rolling, but even so his 1.71 ERA in 131.1 innings would probably have played even a few years later.
Notes: Second on the list is Nate Andrews, a starter who had two particularly strong seasons for the Boston Braves during World War II, and managed to chop the Reds up in the process. Further down the list (ninth) you get Jim Brewer and Hall of Famers Dizzy Dean, Grover Cleveland Alexander and Christy Mathewson. who spent their careers dominating everyone. In fact, despite being the twelfth-best pitcher against the Reds in baseball history, Mathewson's Reds ERA (2.27) was actually higher than his career ERA (2.13). That's silly. is what that is.
Cleveland Indians
Best Opposing Pitcher: Jim Scott
Perhaps the most interesting thing about Jim Scott is that he was born in Deadwood, S.D., in 1888. That's two years after the death (also in Deadwood) of Wild Bill Hickok, which is like being born on a set just after the filming of a movie. As for baseball, Scott pitched his whole career for the Chicago White Sox and was pretty good, or in numerical terms, he posted a career ERA 21 percent above average. Against the Indians he did a bit better than that, putting up a 1.11 ERA in 145 innings (despite going 8-9).
Notes: Second on the list is Hoyt Wilhelm and his 1.44 Indians ERA. Fourth on the list is Pedro Martinez and his 1.77 ERA. Martinez went 11-1 against the Indians in his career and in his one loss, suffered in 2000, he went eight innings, giving up one run while striking out nine and walking one. Pedro, man. Pedro.
Colorado Rockies
Best Opposing Pitcher: Randy Johnson
As Fugazi would say, Repeater! It's Johnson again, this time against the franchise that was hardest to pitch well against, because for much of their history, infield pop-ups went for three run homers (whether there were men on base or not). Johnson's 2.47 is the only ERA below 2.50 that anyone has ever posted against Colorado in 100 innings or more. He and Tom Glavine are the only two pitchers to get below under 3.00. and Glavine just barely did it with a 2.97 ERA.
Notes: The Rockies list is pretty amazing for lots of reasons, but one notable one is simply that pitching to your career ERA against Colorado makes you one of the best ever. That's more or less what Kevin Brown, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, John Smoltz and Jason Schmidt did to make the top 10. Pitching in Colorado isn't hard. Pitching well in Colorado is damned near impossible.
Detroit Tigers
Best Opposing Pitcher: Rube Foster
The only pitcher in history to pitch at least 100 innings against the Tigers with an ERA under 2.00 is Rube Foster. Of course, it helps that Foster gave up 16 unearned runs to go with his 24 earned runs. Unearned runs used to be much more common than they are today (not that they're that uncommon today), but the best pitchers either strike the batter out or keep the contact weak, thereby giving their fielders the best possible chance to make an out on a batted ball. Foster didn't quite do that, yet by ERA, he's at the top of the list. If we were to throw that out the window though (for now), who else would we pick?
Best Opposing Pitcher (2.0): Roy Halladay
There are a couple good options (Jim Bibby, a pitcher for the Rangers and Indians in the '70s is right there), but Halladay managed an ERA of 2.19, just under a third of a run above Foster's Tigers ERA with more strikeouts, fewer walks, and one supposes, weaker contact, because, come on, this is Roy Halladay. Fun fact: Halladay was better against the Pirates, Blue Jays, Astros, Rockies and Dodgers than he was against Detroit, but if you're looking at 100+ innings (and we are) Halladay was at his best against the Tigers.
Notes: Ninth on the list of best pitchers against the Tigers is Babe Ruth who, it turns out, was pretty good on the mound before he was inexplicably moved to the outfield.
Houston Astros
Best Opposing Pitcher: Joe Gibbon
These are my favorite kinds of pitchers to lead these lists. Gibbon was a league-average pitcher who moved to relief as his career went on. In other words, even with the help of pitching out of the bullpen (a move which generally improves pitchers ERAs) he was still only league average. Gibbon was fine and had a fine career, but he shouldn't be the best at anything, except he is the best pitcher against the Houston Astros. His 1.24 ERA and 7-1 record made him look the ace rather than the mediocre innings-eater he was.
Notes: Adam Wainwright is second on this list with a 1.57 ERA, subject to change of course as he's still active, and fourth on the list is Sandy Koufax. Koufax put up a 1.90 ERA against the Astros while putting up a 1.95 ERA against the league during the same time period. So he was pretty good, and further down the list at number 18 we fine Andy Messersmith. I thought you'd want to know.
Kansas City Royals
Best Opposing Pitcher: Roger Clemens
The Rocket struck out 276 Royals in 301.1 career innings against them. He was 25-7 in his career versus Kansas City. Clemens dominated a lot of teams, but it makes sense that he dominated the Royals more than anyone, because he was very good during his career, and the Royals were very, very not.
Notes: You could also make a case for Teddy Higuera, who had a better ERA by 0.23, but in 200 fewer innings. The most innings ever thrown against the Royals were thrown by Bert Blyleven who pitched 503, 150 more than second-place Mark Buehrle. Despite having to pitch a lot and thus not getting the benefit of the gods of small sample size, Blyleven has the fifth-best ERA against the Royals ever, which, sure, is kinda like finishing fifth in the Peoria hot dog eating contest, but we take our victories where they come in life.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Best Opposing Pitcher: Hoyt Wilhelm
You just don't find a whole lot of kids named Hoyt anymore. Listen up, expecting parents! It's time to bring this one back. Hoyt is a perfectly wonderful name, and what's more, you can say your little bundle of [makes unnecessary finger quotes] "joy" got his (or her!) moniker from the best pitcher against the Angels ever in the history of the Angels. Wilhelm held the Angels to 16 earned runs, and actually that brings up an interesting point: The answer to this question might not be Wilhelm. So, let's try this again.
Best Opposing Pitcher: Pedro Martinez
Martinez doesn't have the best ERA against the Angels (that's Wilhelm), but he pitched against them during one of the highest runs-scoring periods the game has ever seen. It doesn't hurt that he struck out 114 in those 100.1 innings while walking just 24.
Notes: You could make a case for Blyleven, who threw 389.2 innings against the Angels with a 2.45 ERA, based on quantity with a slight degradation in quality over Pedro. If you were to make that case though, you'd be better off making it for Jim Kaat, who threw the most innings of anyone against the Angels, 424.1, about two seasons worth. That's a lot of time sitting in Southern California traffic, though he made them count with a 2.45 ERA.
Also good against the Angels were Bob Locker and Wes Stock. Sadly Phil Barrel never made it to the majors because he's not a real person, thus denying me an easy joke which, as you can see, I've made anyway.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Best Opposing Pitcher: Hod Eller
Hod Eller was not just the best pitcher against the Dodgers ever, he was the originator of wearing your baseball cap at a jaunty angle (as seen here). Nothing wrong with a little pizzazz from time to time, right? But more to the point, Eller's 1.28 ERA in 155 innings against the Dodgers was so much lower than second-place Jon Matlack's 1.81, I had to go with the really old guy, even though they may have been playing with rolled up socks instead of baseballs at that point, I'm really not sure. Eller struck out 53 while walking 33 and giving up 12 unearned runs as well, so again with this unearned run business. Even so, I'm going with Eller here, partly because of the cap thing and partly because his first name is Hod, which is totally sound reasoning what?
Notes: If you're looking for a leader who played more baseball-y baseball (rather than rock hit with a wet newspaper baseball), you might look to J.R. Richard. Richard put up a 1.86 ERA in 208.1 innings for the Houston Astros. During those innings he struck out [uses calculator], well, basically everyone. Also quite good against the Dodgers was Hippo Vaughn, who was probably a great pitcher, but I can't get past his first name to actually check. Hippo. Turns out his real name was Hipponelius. Okay, it was really James, but that's much less funny.
Miami Marlins
Best Opposing Pitcher: Denny Neagle
Nobody has ever dominated the Marlins like Denny Neagle. Though John Smoltz came close. And Greg Maddux came close too. OK. Oh, and Tim Hudson. Also Pedro Martinez while we're at it. Fine. The Marlins have been dominated by lots and lots of pitchers, but by a slim margin, Denny Neagle was the best. The pitcher who will forever be known by the free agent contract he signed with the Rockies was actually a good pitcher before… you know, the Rockies thing. During that time he took it to the Marlins with a 2.66 ERA in 122 innings. Pretty good for facing them in Colorado occasionally.
Notes: Other than Neagle, the top of the Marlins list reads like a who's-who of the best pitchers in the National League over the last 20 seasons. Which it should, I suppose, though there aren't any Hod Ellers which is a bit disappointing. The closest we can come is probably Russ Ortiz at number eight (3.54 ERA) or Kyle Kendrick at 11 (3.75 ERA). There are only four pitchers with sub-3.00 ERAs (again, with at least 100 innings pitched) and only 15 with sub-4.00 ERAs, one of whom is Steve Trachsel, who is as close as we'll get to Andy Messersmith, I'm afraid.
Milwaukee Brewers
Best Opposing Pitcher: Roger Clemens
Another repeater. That's two for Clemens, who adds the Brewers to his stable of teams he crushed in his long career. An ERA of 2.17 and 291 strikeouts over 228 innings, is worthy of being the best against someone, and it was frankly kind of the Brewers to volunteer for the job.
Notes: Adam Wainwright's Brewers ERA is 0.07 lower than Clemens' but it came in a smidge more than half the innings. Still, Wainwright's performance is inning-for-inning as good as Clemens' which, whenever a pitcher is as good as Roger Clemens in any pitching category or subset of a pitching category, or subset of a subset of a pitching category, speaks very highly of them. Unsurprisingly, the pitcher to throw the most innings against the Brewers was Bert Blyleven, who threw the most innings against everyone ever, so we'll just assume that going forward and dispense with any more mention of it.
Minnesota Twins
Best Opposing Pitcher: Jim Scott
Now we come to the portion of our article when we're turning the TV on again and seeing that same damn episode of Saved By The Bell that we saw like six months ago and we hate that show. But there it/he is again, Jim Scott, standing tall against the Twins who weren't the Twins at the time and, as has been previously noted, were pitching dirt clods to players who were hitting them with different larger dirt clods. So it wasn't the same game, but Scott was still good so there he is. I can't say no to old people, OK?
Notes: Also on the list are Babe Ruth, just 0.06 points of ERA behind Scott, and Spud Chandler, who was named Spud. Felix Hernandez is the highest ranking active pitcher and you could make a case for him for the top spot, as his 2.08 ERA is about as good ,and he's struck out 101 actual baseball players rather than 45 part time shoe repairman or dirt clod swingers or whatever they were back then.
New York Mets
Best Opposing Pitcher: Sandy Koufax
Finally. One of the games all-time greats dominated one of the game's all-time teams like only an all-time great (or Jim Scott) can. We'll ignore that Koufax faced the Mets from 1962-66 when they were the Casey Stengal-Marvelous Marv Throneberry trip-over-your-own-feet-and-fart-loudly Mets, as opposed to, say, a semi-competent major league team. But at least for Koufax, domination was domination, so we'll credit his domination which was dominating domination, as has been noted in this sentence. Koufax struck out 173 Mets in 162 innings, though we must admit there's a fair chance that at least half of them mistakenly showed up at the plate without a bat. Not that it would've helped much anyway.
Notes: Second on the list is your friend and my friend Bob Friend, who put up a 1.61 ERA in 145 Mets-oriented innings. Further down at 11 you get future Met Pedro Martinez, who in a very Metsian way dominated the team he later joined at the tail end of his career so he could make money. Thanks, Mets!
New York Yankees
Best Opposing Pitcher: Hoyt Wilhelm
There are lower ERAs than Wilhelm's against the Yankees (Harry Coveleski and Rube Foster are first and second on the list) but again with the throwing of the dirt clods, so we're going with Wilhelm here. Plus, Wilhelm faced the Yankees in the late 1950s and 1960s when they were mostly quite good, though the team declined as the 1960s progressed. So quality of competition maybe wasn't quite as high as it would've been at other times, but still 209 innings of 1.98 ERA ball isn't anything to sneeze at, even if it comes against the Hillsboro Hops. That it came against the New York Yankees makes it more legitimate though.
Notes: In my previous piece about the best hitters against every team, it was noted prominently that the best hitter against the Boston Red Sox was Babe Ruth. That created a bit of a stir. The former Red Sox pitcher -- widely held to be the greatest player in baseball history, whom the Red Sox essentially handed to the Yankees for nothing, ushering in almost a century of New York greatness and a corresponding almost-century of Boston futility -- was also the single greatest thorn in the Red Sox side. Now we come to the other side, and we see that not only did the Red Sox create their biggest problem when they sold Ruth, but they also gave up their best solution to the Yankees. Ruth seriously was the gift that kept on giving.
Oakland A's
Best Opposing Pitcher: Carl Mays
Pitcher wins are archaic, but so is Carl Mays, so I'll note that Mays went 35-3 against the then-Philadelphia A's between 1915 and 1923. Can you imagine such dominance? It's silly. Mays put up a 1.88 ERA in those 344 innings as well, which also is silly to imagine. It was a different time, a different era, and different things were the norm. It should probably be mentioned that, great as he was, Mays will forever be remembered as the only person to kill another player during a game. He hit Ray Chapman in the head with a fastball (fastclod?) in the time before batting helmets. Chapman would be taken to the hospital for surgery after the pitch fractured his skull. He didn't survive.
Notes: Bert Gallia put up the actual lowest ERA against the A's of 1.68, but it was in about half the innings that Mays threw. Since the A's moved to Oakland in 1968, the best pitcher against them has been Ervin Santana. Santana has put up a 2.12 ERA in 178 innings. Also on the list, Eddie Cicotte (ninth), Jim Scott (19th) and Babe Ruth (25th). It's almost like if you're good you're good.
Philadelphia Phillies
Best Opposing Pitcher: Whit Wyatt
You remember Wyatt from his supremacy of the Braves, but it turns out he was even (marginally) better against the Phillies. His 1.54 ERA is the lowest of anyone with 100 or more innings against the Phillies, and he's one of only nine pitchers to put up a sub-2.00 ERA against the Phils.
Notes: Coming in after that are probably-shouldn't-be-Hall-of-Famer Bruce Sutter, should-be-and-is-Hall-of-Famer Steve Carlton, and John Tudor who was kind of tall. Carlton, you'll recall, pitched most of his career with the Phillies, but he came up with the Cardinals and was dealt to Philadelphia at the age of 26 in the biggest reverse lock deal of all time. It was a deal that proved the Cardinals don't always make the right moves and the Phillies don't always make huge painful mistakes. It just seems like it.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Best Opposing Pitcher: Hippo Vaughn or maybe Tommy John
Vaughn threw 333.2 innings of 1.67 ERA ball against the Pirates, thieving (if you will) a record of 26-10 from them. It's the lowest ERA of any pitcher (100 inning requirement met) but if you're looking for a more modern pitcher, Tommy John might be the answer. John pitched against the Pirates between 1972 and 1978 while with the Dodgers. His 1.80 ERA makes him one of five with a sub-2.00 ERA against Pittsburgh and the fact that it came in exactly 100 innings means I have to tell you it came in exactly 100 innings because neat-o!
Notes: Johnny Cueto's name isn't spelled with a Q, though I keep trying. Whether or not it's spelled with eight Xs and two Zs or not, Cueto (or QXXXXXXXXZZeto as I call him) is one of the best against the Pirates. He's got the lowest ERA of any active pitcher against the Pirates at 2.18, along with 139 strikeouts in 157 innings so maybe I should be spelling his name KKKKKKKto.
San Diego Padres
Best Opposing Pitcher: Gaylord Perry
There are many funny things about Gaylord Perry. He was the Pen and Teller of pitching, for one. He could use an electric sander to the mound to scuff up the baseball and then when the umpires went to check him it would be gone, extension cord and all. It was probably much like the scene out of The Naked Gun when Frank Drebin is pretending to be an umpire and goes to the mound to check out the pitcher (Dave Spewak, and I didn't even have to look that up). Drebin is rooting through this carpenter's toolbox of stuff without really noticing any of it. That's Gaylord Perry. Thing is, Perry knew what to do with that stuff. He could make a scuffed ball dance like a ballerina from the Russian Ballet company and nobody wants to hit a Russian ballerina with a baseball bat so it worked. As for baseball numbers, Perry put up a 1.73 ERA in 156.1 innings against San Diego, though had he not been able to make use of the deck stripper and the body butter who knows how things would've gone.
Notes: To paraphrase Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick from the Big Show back in the day, Andy Messersmith finished fifth.
San Francisco Giants
Best Opposing Pitcher: Clayton Kershaw
Normally I'd give you some old dead guy who threw pebbles past blind men and then went home to find out that to his shock the Titanic had sunk. Then I'd search down the list to try to find someone you've heard of, and maybe I'd find someone like Russ Ortiz who you kinda sorta know but in actuality probably wouldn't notice if he came up to you and said, "Hello, I'm Russ Ortiz." This time, though, we're lucky. This time though we get Clayton Kershaw. It's fitting that Kershaw, one of the greatest pitchers of our time if not the greatest, has feasted upon the carcass of his team's bitterest rival, the San Francisco Giants. Remember that we've just spent the last decade in one of the better eras for hitting in baseball history when I tell you that Kershaw has posted a 1.48 ERA against the Giants in 164 innings with 164 strikeouts because we all like symmetry. Thanks, Clayton Kershaw!
Notes: Kent Tekulve comes in second with an ERA 0.02 behind Kershaw, but he's Kent Tekulve and he's 106 Ks behind Kershaw and so it's not happening. Sorry Kent Tekulve.
Andy Messersmith finished 26th.
Seattle Mariners
Best Opposing Pitcher: Pedro Martinez
Who is the only player with a sub-2.00 ERA against the Mariners? Don't peek! Oh, you peeked. It's Pedro Martinez. His ERA is more than half a run better than second place Matt Harrison (Matt Harrison?), and in a similar number of innings Pedro struck out twice as many batters. So Pedro is better than Matt Harrison, is the point I appear to be making, but Pedro was also better against the Mariners, which is a thing we're talking about now. Pedro was 13-1 against the team with no discernable nickname in his career, and that brings back memories of the Indians above. It's almost as if Pedro loses to each team once just so they won't feel so bad.
Notes: Rounding out the top three is Tommy John... the pitcher, not the amazing ligament replacement surgery.
St. Louis Cardinals
Best Opposing Pitcher: Lefty Tyler
Tyler threw 192 innings against the Cardinals in his career, which ran from 1910-1921. But a full fifth of the runs he gave up were unearned, presumably because, at the time, baseball was played on fields of rocks by players who ran and fielded like they belonged in fields of rocks. So we'll move on to…
Best Opposing Pitcher (2.0): Dennis Martinez
Martinez had quite the kempt mustache, so he deserves recognition on that alone. But in terms of actual pitching, Martinez was quite good when it came to the Cardinals. He spent most of his career in Baltimore, but a fair bit came in Montreal as well, and he dispensed with the Cardinals from that geographic locale. His 2.18 ERA against the Cardinals ranks third all time, a quarter of a run behind Tyler, but a stat composed in an era when real baseballs were used against real baseball hitters. It was glorious. Except for the Cardinals, who probably hated it.
Notes: Gary Gentry started for the Mets, so you'd think that right there would disqualify him from one of these lists, but apparently not. Statistics have a way of ignoring things like garish orange letters on blue hats. Silly I know, but we'll go with it. Gentry's 2.04 ERA in 101.1 innings puts him second on the list or third if you bump Martinez to first like I did so, yes, third.
Tampa Bay Rays
Best Opposing Pitcher: Mariano Rivera
You knew the Great Rivera was going to be atop one of these lists. And here he is. During his time with the Yankees, Rivera faced the Rays an astonishing 103 times. He gave up 20 earned runs in those 106 innings while striking out 113 for an ERA of 1.69. The Rays are happiest of anyone he finally retired.
Notes: However, a case could be made and submitted to the judge that it should be Pedro Martinez in that top spot. Martinez put up a 1.99 ERA against the Rays, a third of a run higher than Rivera, but in 30 more innings and with 60 (!) more strikeouts. That's right, Pedro Martinez, a starter, struck out 172 Rays in 135.2 innings in his career. That's just… Wow. Pedro. So I leave it to you the reader whom to mentally put at the top spot against the Rays when you memorize this list, which I know you're totally doing.
Texas Rangers
Best Opposing Pitcher: Dick Hall
The neat thing about the Rangers is they didn't come into existence until 1972 (they spent their first decade as the Senators) so there is no Whit Wyatt or Lefty Tyler here. Instead, we get the 1960's version of Wyatt in Dick Hall, a pitcher for the Orioles, Pirates, Phillies and A's. The neat thing about Hall is that he wasn't just a pitcher. Early in his career, he played some outfield as well. Judging from his hitting numbers he must have played some incredible defense. Hall ended his career with an ERA 11 percent above average, as you'd expect from being placed in such an exalted position as here on this list. But Hall was even better against the "Rangers," against whom he put up a disgusting 1.21 ERA from 1961 through 1971. It's to the point where you're not even allowed to shout the name Dick in the stands of Globe Life Park (formerly The Ballpark in Arlington). Seriously, if they hear you yell "Dick!" they'll throw you out!
Notes: The second-best pitcher ever against the Rangers was Moe Drabowsky. Drabowsky is probably better known for the pranks he pulled than the pitches he threw. I wrote about Drabowsky in this space a few months back. Here's part of what I wrote then:
Perhaps the most famous example came when he was playing against the Kansas City A's in Kansas City. Having played for the A's, Drabowsky knew the intricacies of the stadium's bullpen phone system. He also knew the number for the home team's bullpen. So one day, while A's starter Jim Nash was pitching a dominant shutout, Drabowsky, seated in the opposing bullpen, summoned his gruffest manager voice, grabbed the bullpen phone and called the A's pen. "Get Krausse up!" he bellowed, and slammed the phone down. "You should've seen them scramble, trying to get Lew Krausse warmed up in a hurry," Drabowsky said later.
Toronto Blue Jays
Best Opposing Pitcher: Alex Fernandez
There was a time when Alex Fernandez was an amazing young pitcher. Then he was just a pitcher. Then he wasn't even that anymore. Still, the White Sox starter never looked less than amazing against the Blue Jays. Fernandez posted a 1.80 ERA against the Jays in 18 starts against them. Interestingly enough, he only went 5-5 during those starts which probably says more in the way of not nice things about his White Sox teammates than anything else.
Notes: Literally just behind him was Mariano Rivera, whose 1.81 ERA came in 94 games but 26 fewer innings. Dennis Martinez (2.35) and David Price (2.45) round out the top four.
Washington Nationals
Best Opposing Pitcher: Jose Rijo
Like Hall and the Rangers, the best pitcher against the Nationals never faced the Nationals. That's just one of those fun little things that baseball gives us. Jose Rijo ran the Nationals ragged before they were the Nationals, back when they were the Montreal Expos. It probably didn't matter much to Rijo though, who shut whoever those guys were down with a 1.60 ERA in 106.2 innings pitched.
Notes: Just behind Rijo is a pitcher who faced the Nationals as recently as last season, in Anibal Sanchez. Sanchez has a 1.98 ERA against the Nationals, a team he faced more frequently when he was with the Marlins in the National League East. Perhaps the Tigers should have considered that by signing him to a free agent contract as they did, they were denying him his biggest mark. Or perhaps this is all a random grouping of happy accidents, chopped up for fun. Either way, really.


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Refining is an essential part of meeting the growing demand for energy.
An oil or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful products such as petroleum naphtha, gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas. Oil refineries are typically large, sprawling industrial complexes with extensive piping running throughout, carrying streams of fluids between large chemical processing units.
Major processes which use Dresser-Rand equipment —
- Naphtha Hydrotreater Unit – uses hydrogen to desulfurize naphtha from atmospheric distillation. Must hydrotreat the naphtha before sending to a catalytic reformer unit.
- Catalytic Reformer Unit – is used to convert the naphtha-boiling range molecules into higher octane reformate (reformer product). The reformate has higher content of aromatics and cyclic hydrocarbons. An important byproduct of a reformer is hydrogen released during the catalyst reaction. The hydrogen is used either in the hydrotreaters or the hydrocracker.
- Distillate Hydrotreater desulfurizes distillates (such as diesel) after atmospheric distillation.
- Fluid Catalytic Cracker (FCC) unit upgrades heavier fractions into lighter, more valuable products.
- Hydrocracker unit uses hydrogen to upgrade heavier fractions into lighter, more valuable products.
- Coking Units (delayed coker, fluid coker, and flexicoker) process very heavy residual oils into gasoline and diesel fuel, leaving petroleum coke as a residual product.
- Alkylation Unit uses sulfuric acid or hydrofluoric acid to produce high-octane components for gasoline blending.
- Steam Reforming Unit – produces hydrogen for the hydrotreaters or hydrocracker.
- Liquefied Gas Storage Vessels – store propane and similar gaseous fuels at pressure sufficient to maintain them in liquid form. These are usually spherical vessels or "bullets" (i.e., horizontal vessels with rounded ends).
- Amine Gas Treater – Claus Unit, and tail gas treatment convert hydrogen sulfide from hydrodesulfurization into elemental sulfur.
- Utility units – such as cooling towers circulate cooling water, boilerplants generates steam, and instrument air systems include pneumatically operated control valves and an electrical substation.

subset: commoncrawl


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Finally Installed Wheatstone A-50 in studio, YL was less than thrilled when she came home from work and saw that large board in place of my small broadcast tools promix12
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dmoop1yl8rts ... wTusa?dl=0
some of the off bulbs are still out any suggestions on cleaning the bulb contacts?
i think that's all it is, i jiggle the bulbs and they come on but don't stay on, so i am thinking dirty contacts.
Finally installed wheastone A-50 in home studio
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Finally installed wheastone A-50 in home studio
"The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane."
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A day in the life of: A woman in tech
Piriform has grown a lot in the past year. Our London team has grown from 10 at the end of 2014 to 30 and counting today. That's 200% growth! Over the last two years, 40% of our new hires have been women.
We could say we are a company actively trying to level the playing field but the reality is, we simply recruit the best person for the job, regardless of gender. Nowadays women are more and more likely to possess the essential skills needed to work in tech.


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Is there a topic that you are an expert in? Something that you've learned about, studied and now would like to share that knowledge with others? Maybe you want to learn more about a topic.
I've pointed out GuideSpot as an online learning spot. It's a great site for sharing what you know. But did you know that Google also has a similar platform?
"Knol" (Google's made up term for "a unit of knowledge") has been around since 2007, and came out of beta in 2008.
Knol makes it easy for you to write and share your knowledge with the world.
- Ease of use
All you need is an account, a name and a desire to write and we'll take care of the rest.
- Control
You specify the level of collaboration you want with the community. Your knol, your voice.
- Community
You can connect with other experts in your area of interest to share and grow knowledge.
- Visibility
We value and promote authorship. Great content will be visible on popular search engines.
- Growth
Sharing your knowledge with the world is rewarding for everyone.
Watch this video for tips on creating a Knol:
Some Knols to get you started:
- Scavenger Hunts – How to Write Fun and Challenging Clues
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 101
- How to Save Somebody's Life
- Apple Bliss Cookies
Lightbulb Image courtesy of Jacci Howard Bear http://desktoppub.about.com/


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Remember that exhibit we mentioned a few weeks ago? Well, in case you aren't able to visit Olin Library, you can now view Thrill Seekers: The Rise of Men's Magazines online.
Like the in-person exhibit, the digital companion features the original artwork, tear sheets, and whole issues of mid-century magazines like Esquire, Playboy, Sports Illustrated, and Fortune, as well as lesser-known pulp fiction titles and girlie magazines. The exhibit draws on several of MGHL's collections and includes items like Robert Andrew Parker's illustrations for Vladimir Nabokov's fiction, Al Parker's take on the Monaco Grand Prix, 1930's ads from Esquire, Robert Weaver's illustrations for James Bond stories, and Ernest Trova's version of the Playboy bunny. The digital exhibit contains over 60 images -- some of which we weren't able to include in the in-person exhibit -- as well as a few additional features like recommending reading and relevant digital resources.
Below is one of our favorites -- an original Robert Andrew Parker watercolor for a Nabokov story that appeared in a 1965 issue of Playboy. To see more, check out Thrill Seekers online.


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This is part of the MHTP core curriculum. Modules 1, 2, and 3 must be completed before taking this Module. For more details, learn more about registering for classes.
Saturday's class time starts at 8:30 and ends at 6:30.
Sunday's class time starts at 8:30 and ends at 3:30.
These times are subject to change, in which case registered students will be notified via email by the Area Coordinator or the Teacher.
Etiquette & Independent Practicum (10 hours)
A Certified Music Practitioner (CMP) working in healthcare facilities must have some basic medical knowledge and must understand how to conduct themselves in clinical situations. This class gives an overview of appropriate deportment and etiquette in various healthcare settings. MHTP students arrange their own Independent Practicum settings. This class presents detailed information on contacting approved types of healthcare facilities, preparing for interviews, following up, and completing the 45-hour Independent Practicum. Role-playing is a vital component of this module; all students are expected to participate fully in role-play situations at their own level of musical skill.
Profession of Music Practitioner (5 hours)
The profession of Certified Music Practitioner is relatively new. CMPs need to be able to clearly explain to healthcare organizations what services a CMP provides. This class gives instruction on marketing and obtaining a CMP position. It presents promotional strategies and sample documents to use in setting up a practice as a CMP. Role-play is used to help students learn how to contact healthcare facilities.
Pre-work for Module 4
Students are required to view the Nick Jacobs video The Future of Healthcare➚. And, as always, keep up with your reading. Read any two books from the Module 4 list in the Student Handbook.
Important considerations for module registration
A student must register for each Module at least one month in advance of the Module date. There is a $30 late fee for registrations and tuition payments after the one month deadline, except for first-time registrations. Please also note that MHTP classes are limited to 15 students so that our Teachers can best serve our students. Submitting an application well in advance of the scheduled Modules will ensure your place in the program.
Questions about taking Module 4 in Baltimore, MD? Contact the Area Coordinator:
Catherine Maglaras, CMP


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Landon Donovan has a knack for doing away with platitudes and aphorisms in postgame interviews. Sunday night, when ESPN's Rob Stone spoke with the Galaxy captain after LA's 3-0 loss to FC Dallas, was no different.
"We started the game well," Donovan said. "In soccer, I guess in hockey, too, a goalie can always be a great equalizer."
FCD 'keeper Kevin Hartman wasn't just a great equalizer Sunday night. He was a force whose presence loomed over the entire game from the first whistle to his save of David Beckham's free kick in second-half stoppage time.
In between he demoralized the Galaxy, inspired his teammates and led his club to its first-ever MLS Cup final.
The Formations
FC Dallas came out in their soon-to-be-copied-everywhere 4-1-3-1-1, a formation very similar to that of the Columbus Crew in 2008. The centerpieces are defensive midfielder Daniel Hernandez, who sweeps in front of the back line, and "attacker" David Ferreira, who plays a free role just underneath one center forward.
We have to call Ferreira an attacker because he's not really a midfielder, and he's not really a forward. He's as likely to be dropping back to help in possession as he is to be in the box, finding space for a shot on goal.
The Galaxy came out in their standard 4-4-2. Juninho and Dema Kovalenko were twin central midfielders, Kovalenko tasked with the responsibility of destroying higher up the pitch while Juninho is mainly asked to distribute and fill gaps. Neither plays the role of a typical d-mid, and as a result good teams can find a seam between the midfield and center backs to exploit.
FC Dallas did just that.
The First Half
While Hernandez and Ferreira are the keystones for FCD, central midfielder Dax McCarty is the litmus test. You can tell how well Dallas is playing by where McCarty is on the pitch. If he's dropped deep, alongside Hernandez, chances are Dallas are chasing the game.
This is where McCarty lived for the first 25 minutes. LA peppered Hartman's goal, attacking effectively down both sides of the field. They alternated combining down the left with short passes and sending in deep crosses from the right, courtesy of Beckham and Sean Franklin, and only a series of highlight-reel saves kept the Galaxy off the board.
Things changed when the visitors found the score sheet. Ferreira's turn-and-shoot from the top of the 18 was a superb bit of individual skill that was aided and abetted by inexplicably bad defending from LA's Omar Gonzalez. The big defender had done everything right up to that point, staying in the central channel even though Atiba Harris — usually a right midfielder, but used as a battering ram of a center forward on the night — had drifted out to the right side in pursuit of a long-ball.
Even with LA scrambling, they had numbers back to defend. Gonzalez should have been in Ferreira's shorts on that play, but he gave the Colombian time and space to turn, and like that it was 1-0 to the visitors.
Five minutes later, Donovan burst into the box and controlled a very nice pass from Mike Magee, then lashed a left-footed shot that seemed destined for goal. Hartman somehow got down to tip it around the back post.
It was almost a mirror-image of the save Oliver Kahn made on Donovan in the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals. And that's appropriate, because just like Kahn in that game, Hartman wouldn't be beaten.
The Second Half
With FCD holding the lead and the Galaxy looking demoralized, the visitors started to take more risks in the second half. This may seem counterintuitive, since most road teams that go up 1-0 simply bottle up and protect that lead, but clearly FCD coach Schellas Hyndman is made of different stuff.
The key change was making sure McCarty stayed higher up the field, harrying Juninho and Beckham. Dallas weren't going to allow LA to build through possession, and the Galaxy succumbed — perhaps a bit too easily — to repeatedly launching long-balls.
That lapse, combined with their inability to draw set-pieces around the box, doomed LA.
The night's second goal came in the 54th minute when defender George John tapped in Brek Shea's perfect cross. This wasn't a goal that happened because of tactics; this was a goal that happened because of effort, sharpness and will. The Galaxy hadn't been able to clear a corner kick, or control in the scrum that followed.
FCD took the opportunity with both hands, pushing back up into the box and executing perfectly.
Down 2-0, the Galaxy attempted to adjust, but the writing was all over the wall at this point. Even when Hartman made a mistake — a poor punch-out saw the ball fall to Donovan, whose full-volley went just over a wide-open net — Dallas weren't punished.
The cherry on top came in the 73rd minute, when Ferreira again found time and space in the attacking third. This time he split the Galaxy defense and found Marvin Chavez, who slotted calmly past Donovan Ricketts. The last 20 minutes of the match were academic.
Final Thoughts
The Galaxy were never quite the same after the World Cup, though it's Gonzalez's loss of form that should be of most concern heading into 2011. There's also a lack of creativity from the central channel that needs to be addressed, as LA almost never score goals like FCD's first and third on the night.
That said, they have every reason to be happy with 2010. The Supporters' Shield — in a balanced schedule year, no less — is a fantastic accomplishment, Beckham's return to health is promising and Buddle and Donovan remain in their primes. Galaxy fans should be looking forward to 2011 already.
But FCD fans should be looking forward to next week. It's clear now that their late-season dip of form, which was slight, was due almost entirely to the absences of Hartman and Hernandez. With them back and mostly healthy, the team have now comprehensively handled the two best regular-season teams in the league, and they are playing with a confidence that seems to scream "We want the Cup."
If they play like they did in Los Angeles, chances are they'll get exactly that.
Matthew Doyle can be reached for comment at email@example.com and followed at twitter.com/mls_analyst.
Think you know the game? Test your powers of prediction with MLSsoccer.com's new fantasy game, Pro Soccer Picks. Play NOW!


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Estes Park's free shuttles will launch their eighth season on Friday, June 21, offering visitors and residents convenient, environmentally responsible transportation. Shuttles transport riders to more than 55 stops throughout Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. Operating daily from June 21 through Sept. 8, and September 14-15, shuttles make it convenient for residents and visitors to leave their vehicles at a lodging facility or park-n-ride lot and travel around town during the busy summer season.
The 2013 shuttle system offers several significant changes. Increased hours, new stops, and dates of service have been added to the regular shuttle season, as well as a new fifth route using the new town trolley. The shuttles will continue to feature the real-time tracking. Passengers will be able to determine actual arrival times by visiting the Town's website at estes.org/shuttles and entering a "stop code" for their location.
The Estes Park Free Shuttle system consists of five routes, all of which bring riders to the core downtown area. The Silver Route services the Park-n-Ride at the Fairgrounds at Stanley Park. The Blue Route services Big Thompson Avenue (U.S. 34 east of downtown) and three new stops along Dry Gulch Road. The Red Route services Fall River Road (U.S. 34 west of downtown), the Brown Route services campgrounds and other establishments in outlying areas to the south and west of town and the new Gold Route serves the Elkhorn Avenue downtown with the new town trolley.
Beginning June 21, the Silver Route shuttle leaves the Fairgrounds Park-n-Ride for the Estes Park Visitor Center every 20 minutes from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. From there riders can enjoy a short walk into downtown or connect with other shuttles and the trolley. Convenient for motorists on U.S. 36 and residents who work downtown, the Fairgrounds Park-n-Ride is on Manford Avenue and has more than 400 paved parking spaces and a bus shelter. The Silver Route makes additional stops at the Estes Park Conference Center, Graves Avenue, and Solitude Cabins.
When necessary during special events, overflow parking and extended shuttle service is available at the Estes Park Middle School/High School parking lot, 1500 Manford Ave. This additional parking is just two blocks from the Fairgrounds Park-n-Ride. Signs will be posted at the Fairgrounds Park-n-Ride when the overflow parking with shuttle service is activated at the Middle School.
Starting June 21, the Blue Route shuttle leaves the Estes Park Visitor Center every half-hour, operating from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Blue Route shuttle travels east down U.S. 34/Big Thompson Avenue with stops at the Budget Host Four Winds Motor Lodge, Best Western Plus Silver Saddle, Grumpy Gringo, Lake Estes Marina, west of Olympus Lodge, Estes Park KOA, Good Samaritan Estes Park Village, Salud Family Health Center, Crossroads Ministry, Rodeway Inn, Lake Front Street at Ranch Meadows, Lower Stanley Village, the Stanley Hotel.
The Red Route shuttle leaves the Estes Park Visitor Center every half hour, operating from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Red Route shuttle travels west along Wonderview and Fall River Road with stops at Timber Creek Chalets, McGregor Mountain Lodge, Fall River Visitor Center, Estes Park Condos, Aspen Winds on Fall River, Boulder Brook on Fall River, Stonebrook Resort, Nicky's Motor Lodge, Riverwood on Fall River, and Maxwell Inn.
The Brown Route shuttle leaves the Estes Park Visitor Center every hour, operating from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Brown Route shuttle travels southwest with stops at Mary's Lake Lodge, Mary's Lake Campground, National Park Village, Alpine Trail Ridge Inn, Elk Meadow Lodge and RV Park, YMCA entrance on Rt. 66, Estes Park Campground, Hempel Auditorium – Estes Park Center YMCA of the Rockies, Glacier Lodge, Rockmount Cottages, Beaver Meadows Visitor Center, National Park Village, Riverside Drive at Prospect Park Drive east of Worldmark, Riverside Drive at Crag's Lodge entrance, Piccadilly Square, and Barlow Plaza.
The Gold Route trolley leaves the Estes Park Visitor Center on a continuous loop beginning at 9 a.m. and ending at 10 p.m. The Gold Route travels west into downtown with stops at Bond Park/Town Hall, Local's Grill, The Ore Cart Rock Shop, Tregent Park, West Park Center, and Maxwell Inn before turning around and stopping at the Elkhorn Lodge, Mrs. Walsh's Garden, The Grubsteak Restaurant, The Trading Post, and Barlow Plaza.
A map of the shuttle routes and the full schedule is now available at estes.org/shuttles. For more information about Estes Park's shuttle routes, please contact Estes Park Visitor Services at 970-577-9900.
A committee comprised of citizens, representatives from the business community, Town Trustees, and staff met through the winter to review suggestions to improve and enhance the free shuttle system. Among other recommendations, the group's efforts resulted in additional service hours and days, as well as additional stops to better meet the needs of both residents and visitors.
Also in 2013, from May 25 through Sept. 2 (daily), and weekends (Saturday and Sunday) from Sept. 7 through Oct. 13, the Rocky Mountain National Park Hiker Shuttle will stop at the Fairgrounds Park-n-Ride and the Estes Park Visitor Center before traveling to the National Park. The Hiker Shuttle will operate beginning at the Fairgrounds Park-n-Ride from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and every 30 minutes between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. For more information on the Hiker Shuttle, please contact Rocky Mountain National Park at 970-586-1206.


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Payroll tax cut row threatens gov't shutdown
WASHINGTON - A Republican payroll tax cut bill that sailed through the House despite a White House veto threat is dead on arrival in the Senate, and it will soon be time for talks on a final package, the Senate's top Democrat says.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., made the remarks Tuesday shortly after the House used a near-party line 234-193 vote to approve the measure. The bill has drawn nearly universal Democratic opposition because it would force work to begin on the 1,700-mile-long Keystone XL oil pipeline, which President Obama would rather postpone, and would trim federal spending without forcing the wealthy to contribute as much as Democrats want.
The measure would keep 160 million workers from seeing their payroll tax jump on Jan. 1 from this year's 4.2 percent back to its normal level of 6.2 percent a $1,000 difference for a family making $50,000. It would also renew expiring extra benefits for long-term jobless people and head off a cut in doctors' Medicare reimbursements, a reduction that could prompt some to stop seeing elderly patients who use that program.
Reid says he will schedule a vote shortly on the House-passed bill to underscore its irrelevance a vote that should start the clock ticking on what stands as the year's final, high-stakes partisan faceoff.
"It was dead before it got to the Senate," Reid said of the House legislation. "The Senate will not pass it. The sooner we demonstrate that, the sooner we can begin serious discussions on how to keep taxes from going up on middle-class Americans."
But the payroll measure isn't the only one lawmakers plan to tackle before beginning their year-end vacation, presumably before Christmas.
Bipartisan lawmakers have reached agreement on a $1 trillion measure financing scores of government agencies through next September, a bill that would avert a federal shutdown this weekend when temporary funding expires.
Democrats, though, are refusing to let the legislation move through Congress until the two parties broker a deal on the payroll tax measure. Democrats hope that will build pressure on Republicans to quickly reach agreement on the payroll tax bill, a tactic House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, called "outrageous."
Boehner taunted Senate Democrats after the House passed its payroll tax legislation.
"The Senate can take up our bill, they can pass it, they can amend it, they can move their own bill," he told reporters, standing beside a video clock counting down the seconds until the payroll tax boost that would otherwise occur Jan. 1. "But it is time for the Senate to act. Democrats who run the United States Senate can't continue to hide and sit on the sidelines."
Boehner also said that when the Senate acts, "we'll begin to then take a look at where we can find common ground."
Meanwhile, the House also planned to debate a $662 billion defense bill on Wednesday that charts policy for military personnel, weapons systems and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, plus national security programs in the Energy Department. House and Senate negotiators wrapped up the bill Monday night after including revisions that address administration concerns over handling of terrorism suspects.
The bill would require that the military take custody of a suspect deemed to be a member of al Qaeda or its affiliates who is involved in plotting or committing attacks on the United States, with an exemption for U.S. citizens. The legislation also would deny some suspected terrorists, even U.S. citizens seized within the nation's borders, the right to trial and subject them to indefinite detention.
Also Wednesday, the Senate was expected to reject proposals to amend the Constitution to require a balanced federal budget.
The Senate seems sure to fall short of the two-thirds majority required to amend the Constitution, a margin the House failed to muster several weeks ago as Republicans there failed to push a similar amendment to passage. The Senate will vote on dueling Republican and Democratic proposals.
Republicans say work on the Keystone oil pipeline, proposed to run from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, to Texas oil refineries, would create 20,000 or more jobs. Opponents say the real figure is more like 3,500.
Obama cited a need for studies of how the pipeline could avoid harming fragile lands in Nebraska when he announced last month that work would be delayed until after next year's elections. The GOP bill would give the president 60 days to act or the needed work permit would be automatically granted.
Another provision that Republicans say would create jobs would derail a proposed federal environmental rule aimed at curbing some industrial pollution.
To cover the payroll tax bill's overall cost, which exceeds $180 billion, the measure ignores Democratic proposals to slap a surtax on people earning more than $1 million annually.
Instead, Republicans would raise the money by continuing a pay freeze on civilian federal workers and requiring them to contribute more to their pensions; making higher-earning seniors pay steeper premiums for Medicare; cutting funds from Obama's 2010 health care overhaul; raising some federal fees; and selling portions of the broadcast spectrum.
The Senate version of the payroll tax legislation may also renew some tax provisions that would otherwise expire Jan. 1, including one providing tax breaks to mass transit commuters.


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State lawmakers won't be the ones under fire, so to speak, should a shooting occur on a college campus.
State lawmakers won't be the ones under fire, so to speak, should a shooting occur on a college campus. University chancellors and police forces will be, because they are responsible to ensure the safety of their students, faculty and staff. The Honorables need to let those officials determine the best way to ensure that safety.
Instead, Republican leaders in the General Assembly seem determined to push through legislation putting more guns on campus, a proposal that University of North Carolina system officials, including UNCW Chancellor Gary Miller, worry could make their campuses more dangerous places.
UNC President Tom Ross has asked the General Assembly to remove public universities from a bill that would expand the number of places where concealed weapons are permitted. House Bill 937 also would allow guns into establishments that serve alcoholic beverages – not a smart combination. At least in that case the sponsors would grant restaurant and bar owners the option to prohibit concealed weapons on their property.
But university officials responsible for the security of tens of thousands of college students and employees would not have that right. The bill, which was on Wednesday's House calendar, would allow guns locked out of sight in cars on all state government property, including public universities and community colleges.
Ross' objections are shared by other UNC system chancellors including Miller, who issued a statement making his position clear:
"The potential increase in gun-related incidents on campus is simply not worth the minimal convenience this bill would offer concealed-carry permit holders," Miller said in a written statement. "Allowing people to store weapons in their cars does not in any way benefit their personal safety while on campus; the idea of people having the time and capacity to retreat to their vehicles to arm themselves during a threat has very little chance of occurring."
He's right, as is Ross.
Moreover, public colleges and universities have thousands of people coming and going each day. Campuses are open to the public, and there is no automatic buzzer that points out the potential troublemakers. Car break-ins are common on college campuses. Do campus police need to do a better job preventing property crimes, including car break-ins? Absolutely. But what about the student or employee who forgets to lock the car and has a gun stolen? "Oops"?
The Second Amendment says the government can't prevent Americans from owning weapons; the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the right to keep and bear arms does not preclude the government from asserting reasonable gun control laws to protect the unarmed public.
Every time an incidence of mass violence occurs, many Americans corral themselves into two camps: one that would arm everyone to the teeth and relax gun laws, and another that wants tighter controls such as background checks and limits on the type of weapons that are considered legal. The right to keep and bear arms is not going anywhere, but its existence doesn't mean that guns have to be everywhere.
The House bill contains some acceptable provisions, including one that increases penalties for using or displaying weapons while committing a crime, and a measure making it illegal to have a weapon that is easily accessible to a child under age 12 to handle or possess a firearm without adult supervision. But the part that would unwisely allow guns on campus needs to go.


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WASHINGTON — The 1972 Miami Dolphins have finally received their White House moment, 40 years after their historic undefeated season.
It was a long wait for a Super Bowl championship team whose feat of 17 games without a loss has been unmatched in the NFL.
President Barack Obama welcomed former team members and their then-coach, Hall of Famer Don Shula, at a White House ceremony Tuesday in recognition of their perfect season. Among those present was the team's star fullback, Hall of Famer Larry Csonka, who made the trip from Alaska.
The '72 Dolphins beat the Washington Redskins in the January 1973 Super Bowl. But in 1973 President Richard Nixon was preoccupied with the Watergate scandal, and White House salutes to sports teams were less of a tradition than now.


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A New Branch of Life?
Researchers investigate a microorganism that may warrant a new eukaryotic kingdom in the classification of life.
May 1, 2012
Jef Akst
It's not a plant. It's not an animal or fungus. Collodictyon is an algae-eating protozoan found in the sludge of a Norwegian lake. And, sequencing bits of its genome, including its ribosomal DNA, Kamran Shalchian-Tabrizi of the Microbial Evolution Research Group (MERG) at the University of Oslo and colleagues discovered that it's not like anything else on earth, falling on the tree of life somewhere between single-celled parasites called excavates and amoebas. The organism could thus represent a new kingdom of life, the authors suggested.
"The early and distinct origin of Collodictyon suggests that it constitutes a new lineage in the global eukaryote phylogeny," the authors wrote in in the journal Molecular Biology Evolution.
Among its obscurities, Collodictyon has four flagella, as opposed to the one of mammals, fungi and amoebae, and the two of algae, plants, and excavates. Furthermore, it has the internal structure of a parasite, but hunts like an amoeba. The researchers suggest that the bizarre organism may represent ancient morphologies among eukaryotes, and thus provide clues of early life. "Overall, this shows that Collodictyon is a key lineage to understand early eukaryote evolution," they wrote.
(Hat tip to GenomeWeb.)


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Welcome to the new year! It is a time for new beginnings and for your business to plan and execute on goals for the future. It is also the time to deal with your tax obligations, so that you can quickly refocus your attention on higher priority goals.
In general, companies that were open at any point during the previous calendar year probably have tax filing obligations for that year. Stripe Atlas has built tools to help founders navigate these obligations. We know that taxes are stressful and something which most entrepreneurs do not consider themselves experts on, so to save entrepreneurs anxiety (and eliminate a major reason why people don't go into business in the first place), we have set out to make the process better. We wrote a guide to U.S. business taxes. Companies which incorporated with us can use Atlas tools to help collect data about their business, connect to an accountant for advice about their corporate income tax, and pay their Delaware franchise tax.
Your tax season is likely to include the following steps, in order:
- Gather data about your business
- Consult with your accountant, on the basis of the data
- Review the return(s) prepared by your accountant
- Submit the return(s) and pay any required tax
Tax filings you need to make
Delaware corporations generally need to file returns for:
- U.S. federal income tax
- the Delaware state franchise tax for corporations or annual fee for LLCs
Depending on circumstances, some companies may have state income tax filing obligations. Founders of U.S. companies may personally have federal and/or state income tax obligations, or tax obligations outside the U.S., especially if they lived or worked outside of the U.S.
If you incorporated your company using Stripe Atlas, you can pay your Delaware state franchise tax from your Stripe dashboard, and you can also use Stripe Atlas to get introduced to experienced startup accountants to help advise with regards to your U.S. federal income tax return and other U.S. tax obligations. If you lived or worked outside the U.S., you should also engage a local accountant regarding the tax issues in your other jurisdiction(s).
Before you speak to an accountant
Accountants are, effectively, the engineers of money. Just like engineers don't spend most of their time typing in data, accountants generally do not personally do the underlying recordkeeping and math which supports tax returns. This is generally done by bookkeepers or by entrepreneurs using bookkeeping software. (More on the difference between these two functions.) Your accountants will generally not be able to start working on filing your taxes until your books are prepared and your financial statements are finalized.
Your accountants will want your financial statements, specifically:
- general ledger: a list of all transactions for the corporation
- balance sheet: a summary of what the company owns and owes
- income statement: a calculation of profit (or loss)
Your general ledger (sometimes described colloquially, with supporting documentations, as your "books") is a list of transactions your business has made. Your ledger will be prepared by your bookkeeper on the basis of primary evidence such as receipts, invoices, credit card statements, and the like. Each transaction will generally be associated with a day, an amount, the two accounts involved in the transaction, a category, and a brief description of what the transaction was. Businesses may have only a few dozen ledger entries per month or millions, depending on the level of activity in the business and choices they make regarding recordkeeping granularity.
The balance sheet and income statement are summary documents prepared, generally by software, on the basis of your ledger.
A balance sheet lists your assets and liabilities at the start and end of the tax year. It will look something like this:
|At start of year
|At end of year
|Checking account
|Total Assets
|At start of year
|At end of year
|Accounts payable
|Unearned income
|Total Liabilities
|Shareholder equity
You will get your balance sheet from the bookkeeping software you (or your bookkeeper) uses. Your accountant will use it extensively in preparing your corporate income tax return(s) and, additionally, your total assets will be used to calculate your Delaware franchise taxes.
A fun fact about balance sheets: a company's shareholder equity will always be the difference between its total assets and its total liabilities. (This is interesting as an accounting matter, but in startups, the value of a company on its balance sheet generally bears no relationship to how it is valued by investors.)
Your income statement (also known as the profit and loss statement or P&L) simply sums your revenue, expenses, and income (revenue minus expenses) for the year, broken down into coarse categories. It will look something like this:
|Revenue type
|SaaS subscriptions
|Total Revenue
|Expense type
|Total Expenses
|Net Income
You will also get your company's income statement from your bookkeeping software.
Federal corporate income tax
The first step in working with your accountants to prepare your federal corporate income tax return will be providing them with data, including your financial statements. This will help them drill into ambiguities or places where they need additional information, advise you on the correct tax positions to take, and ultimately prepare your return correctly.
Stripe Atlas can recommend an accounting firm appropriate for your business from among our hand-picked providers. We have a tool in your Stripe Atlas dashboard which will walk you through a brief questionnaire to simplify data collection. If you work with other accountants, they will advise you what information they need and what format they expect to get it in.
You should expect to be asked about:
- who owns the company and in what percentages
- where does the company have physical operations
- what are the main lines of business the company operates
- does the corporation have depreciating assets
We have attempted to streamline this process as much as possible if you use the Stripe Atlas tax tool to be introduced to one of our tax partners.
The cost of preparing your taxes will depend on a variety of factors, including whether your financial statements are complete, whether your records are well-organized, what level of complexity your business is exposed to, and the degree to which special circumstances expose you to additional reporting requirements.
Stripe Atlas has negotiated a range of packages appropriate to your business' circumstances; just use our tool to get an estimate. We can get a better price for better services because we can negotiate volume pricing with our partners, use technology to streamline data collection and reduce human effort required, and allow our partners to specialize in only the parts of tax compliance which are relevant to most internet companies.
Your corporate taxes filing and payment are due on April 15th this year. If you have an LLC that is treated as a partnership for tax purposes, your taxes filing and payment are due on March 15th.
Delaware franchise tax and annual report filing
Stripe Atlas can assist corporations with filing and paying your franchise tax and annual report filing fee, directly from your Stripe Atlas dashboard.
You will need four pieces of information:
- number of authorized shares
- number of shares issued
- par value of shares
- gross assets of the company
The gross assets that Delaware requires you use for this calculation are listed on Schedule L of your form 1120, and they're sourced off of your company's balance sheet.
Your initial number of authorized shares and par value of shares was set at incorporation; if you haven't done anything to change these, Stripe Atlas can remind you of what they were.
You need to check your records or speak with your professional advisors to see how many shares have been issued. If you used Stripe Atlas' tool to issue your founder stock, we will remind you of how many shares you signed documents to issue to the founders using our tool. (As a reminder, founders must purchase their shares to finalize the issuance.)
Companies incorporated using Stripe Atlas will generally owe the minimum tax which is presently $450 ($400 for franchise taxes using the Assumed Par Value method and $50 for the annual report filing fee) per year. You can file your Delaware Franchise Tax and Annual Report directly from your Stripe Atlas Dashboard.
Stripe does not charge you any additional fee for the use of this tool.
Your franchise tax filing and annual report, and the payment for them, is due by March 1st each year.
LLCs formed using Stripe Atlas will generally pay an annual Delaware LLC tax of $300, which is due on June 1st of each year. We will connect you with one of our partners if you need assistance with paying your LLC tax.
Need help?
We are not accountants and we can't give tax advice, but we're happy to help Stripe Atlas companies with an introduction to qualified accountants. Drop us a line at firstname.lastname@example.com or ask your question on our forums.
We have also written extensively about business taxes for Internet companies.ガイド一覧に戻る


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Loading some great jobs for you...
Shore Haven Veterinary Hospital
Experienced Veterinarian
(an awesome companion-animal general practice!)
East Haven, CT 06512
Company Overview
Shore Haven Veterinary Hospital offers high quality, affordable, and convenient veterinary care to pets in the East Haven area. We boast an enjoyable environment with a family-like team of ardent professionals that takes a no-nonsense and progressive approach to veterinary medicine.
Bring us your penchant for excellence and your passion for outstanding medicine but be sure to also bring your sense of humor because we enjoy ourselves at work!
Job Summary
Whether you are an experienced veterinarian or a new graduate, our hospitals are built around the skills of the people we hire, and we look forward to meeting you!
Responsibilities and Duties
Benefits and Perks
What Makes Us Special
Shore Haven Veterinary Hospital is part of a growing group of state-of-the-art hospitals with locations in New England, South East, and Mid-Atlantic states and future growth across the U.S. We offer our veterinarians competitive compensation packages as well as equity for individuals interested in ownership.
Shore Haven's exam and basic medical fees are low and transparent to encourage client engagement, which has proven to ensure increased comprehensive care decisions and compliance of owners, and healthier outcomes for our patients!
Shore Haven's philosophy is simple: hire a superstar medical team that takes a straightforward and progressive approach to veterinary medicine. Shore Haven provides the team with a full complement of technology-driven diagnostic equipment including digital radiography, dental radiography, on-site laboratory analyzers, and a range of the best medical equipment available.
Vitality Veterinary and affiliated hospital locations include:
Launch your career - Upload your resume now!Upload your resume
Loading some great jobs for you...


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Welcome back! Today is the first day of classes for the 2017-2018 school year!
Quick Links
Special Features
The Take 5 to Save Lives program outlines 5 things that we can all do to work together to prevent suicide.The campaign encourages everyone to take five minutes out of their day to complete five prevention-focused action steps: 1. Learn the Signs: Take a few minutes to learn the warning signs of suicide. 2. Know How to Help- Know what to say and do if someone you know is struggling.3. Practice Self-Care- MLearn More
Online registration is now open for new students entering the Southern Columbia District. Please use this link to begin the process, or choose the About SCA tab on our main webpage. We encourLearn More
The PSSA Idol is one example of the enthusiasm Southern Columbia's students and staff have for learning! Click the play button to watch G.C.Learn More


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Glenn Wilson
An Automotive Engineer with more than 35 years' industry experience. He is part of Shell's Engine and Vehicle Technology team and has been working with Shell V-Power fuels since the early days of the development programme.
Just as you and I need our "five a day" to stay healthy, your car or bike's engine also needs a good diet.
Glenn Wilson is an Automotive Engineer who has worked for Shell for over 25 years. His wealth of experience has made him something of an engine nutritionist, and he knows exactly what their diets should consist of.
The key to developing our best performance fuel is the understanding of what goes on right at the heart of the engine: the interaction between the fuel and the engine components. You want your car to perform and fuel choice can play a big role.
But how does Shell V-Power Nitro+ work? We asked Glenn to guide us through the anatomy of an engine.


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Haroldw1 necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 124 diseños de 24 diseñadores freelance.
Weiss Tech Solutions
Full Profile - http://www.weisstechsolutions.com/i…2_About-Me
Ex-Compaq / HP and now running my own small business to provide outsourced IT services / Virtual CIO
There are two segments of the small-to-medium business market that I target:
1) Companies that have an internal network, likely a server or several servers, and about 10 - 250 employees. They need outsourced IT and helpdesk service.
2) Small small businesses. These companies are likely sole proprietorship or have a small staff, less then 10. They may have an internal network or it may just be a bunch of computers in a store that aren't connected. Probably no server. They are looking for a cloud solution.
I want the logo to include the initials of the company in a stylized way. I would like to see ideas that use all three letters (WTS) and also some that use just the first two (WT) and have Solutions as a linked word to the logo.
I would like to see the option of having the motto with the logo or perhaps even as a separate graphic in the same style so I can have it elsewhere on the page. Our motto is "Problems solved and miracles worked."
This is for use on our web page, stationery and brochures, a desktop icon, a system tray icon, embroidered shirts, and maybe even a vehicle wrap. So I need it in various sizes and formats best suited to these situations.
I like bold colors and designs. If you look at http://www.labtechsoft.com/ you can see the icon they have on their web URL, I like how the L and T fit together.
Also, my current website http://weisstechsolutions.com is temporary. Once the logo is complete, I will be having a redesign of the site in Wordpress 3.x probably by another design contest here.
I'm following the marketing templates of Robin Robins and will be changing the format of my website to look like this: http://www.localcomputerrepair.com/
It won't be an exact copy but will be heavily leveraged.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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It never did make sense that the Miami logo showed a dolphin wearing a football helmet, when a dolphin is the one NFL mascot that would be suffocated by wearing a helmet. But as part of a rebranding effort to leave behind years upon years of losing—Gloria Estefan! Stadium renovations!—the Dolphins will be introducing new uniforms and a new logo for the 2013 season.
Last month, the Dolphins held a web weekend for bloggers, and CEO Mike Dee spoke a little bit about the new logo. It would be "a mix of modern and retro," and navy would be an accent color.
Fast-forward to this past Sunday. DolFansNYC, a site for expat Miami fans, posted a blurry cellphone photo of a potential new design. It's of unknown provenance, but when shown to a friend who works for Nike, that friend confirmed that it was "very very close" to what the final logo will be. And this morning, Paul Lukas of Uni Watch, posted the clean version of the logo that you see above.
Lukas doesn't know if it's legit, but the fact that he's obtained the same design that DolFans did, presumably from another source, at least points to this being more than a fanmade logo circulating on Facebook. There hasn't been a team logo in recent memory that hasn't "leaked" before its official release date. With the Dolphins season ending in four days, it's almost time to start selling merchandise and season tickets for 2013. Expect a formal unveiling within a few weeks.
Update: Reader and Dolphins fan Greg, who doesn't care for the leaked logo, finds it a little more palatable when photshopped onto a helmet:


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Wow.. this is so cool. I've never seen a better and more detailed tutorial before. Excellent work guys. Keep it up. You are my first choice for icons
Looking forward for more such tutorials guys
I just added your blog to my bookmarks. I'm an Icon designer myself and never thought of this approach. This Tutorial is genius, very well explained and detailed. TOO detailed maybe:) Only a moron could not follow it. Keep up the good work!
Another good toturial from IS!!!!
absurd tutorial, can't be the real way that icon was created.
I don't know where to turn to contact the admin of iconshock. I've paid for the full subscription package a week ago and have not received any notification as to anything that is happening with my membership. I have sent emails to the email address as well as filled out the form on the website a number of times.
If your the admin, please look at your emails and set me up. The pdf said it would take up to 48 hours. Because of this delay, I'm now in a time crunch.
Paul, please contact me at jp at iconshock . com
It's really weird we haven't answered yet, we have full time support. I'll be pending
Nice Tutorial mate.
wow, so detailed. What an outstanding tutorial, great job!
thanks Matthew
great job! thanks for the tutorial!
Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case I'll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!
This was a nice tutorial. I will be sure to use what I learned in the future.


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anti tragus.... take two
Getting my first "real," or needle piercing at the mere age of 16 led to a new fascination of mine. PIERCINGS! I am always aching for more. My mom hates how I love getting pierced so initially when I must have a new one I ask my father. With the same response from him each time I am always referred back to my mom. I propose the idea of a new piecing to her and she instantly says "No!" "You have so many holes soon water will pour out of you when you drink." Months pass and I continue to nag her and eventually she caves. Now this time I was quite pleased with myself. I only asked her 3 times and she said yes.
Three days had passed since she said yes and I went to a local piercing shop that I usually go to. Johnny, the piercer knows me quite well. I walked through he door with my friend and he said "what is it today?" "I want my anti tragus pieced," I said. By that time I was all worked up and full of anxiety. Johnny had confirmed my anxiety when he told me "its a bitch to pierce" He gave me the paperwork to fill out, copied my id, and quickly went through the aftercare with me. I signed the waiver, paid $45, and worked my way to the piercing room.
Johnny set up his equipment and I started to nervously laugh. Once his stuff was set up he began the process. He cleaned my ear, marked the spot where the needle would go, then moved it a little bit, asked for my verification, he moved it a little more upon my request, and then checked again with me. I said perfect!
At this point I was beyond excited but also very nervous. He told me he was going to do it freehand and to take a big breath in, and then exhale. DONE. I never heard the cartilage crunch, it did not hurt, and it barely bled. Afterwards I fell in love with it.
I generally heal piercings very well and fast. About 5 days went by and my ear began to swell and it was very uncomfortable for me to clean.
I went to another piercer in the area I trust very much and asked him his opinion. He told me that the piercing was hard to heal, it will be sore for quite some time but also that it was pierced at a very weird angle. It was placed as half snug half anti tragus. Nick helped me make the choice to take it out and redo it again. Nick took it out for me and told me I had to let the cartilage heal for 1-3 months. I was upset when I heard that, I love instant gratification. About a month had passed and I went back and said i'm ready to do it, can you let me know if the cartilage is healed?
He felt my ear, said it was fine, but then asked his co piercer her opinion as well. Both said it was fine to pierce, I will thrilled. Nick walked me through all the routine steps:informing me about the piercing, how long it takes to heal, what to expect, the type of jewelry used, and after care. I signed all the needed forms and set off for the piercing room.
Once in the room Nick cleaned my ear, marked it with some purple dye with a toothpick and showed me the placement. I agreed with what he had done. He then took out all of the materials he needed, showing me all of the sterilized packages that each object came from.
Now for the piercing. Nick asked how I felt about the piercing the first time I had it done, I told him it didn't hurt. He said very good, this one might feel a little bit different because it is the second time being pierced. He then told me to tilt my head, then to take a deep breath in and then to exhale (in the needle went) he asked how I was doing. I assured him I was good. He then said one more inhale, and now exhale (in the jewelry went) I was all done. He cleaned the piercing, and pushed my surrounding skin to help with the healing and bring the skin together easier. I was pleased with everything. I paid $45 and was on my way.
I was thrilled with my new piercing and even more pleased with how professional and sterile Nick was. I would recommend him to anybody in the area looking for a piercing. And I would also recommend the anti tragus. The piercing is so neat. I have yet to see anyone in person with it.
submitted by: Anonymous
on: 21 Dec. 2009
in Ear Piercing
Artist: Nick+Giordano
Studio: Dorje+Adornments
Location: Rochester+NY


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Comedy Writer Hal Kanter Dies at 92
Nov 8, 2011 9:57 AM EST
Hal Kanter, the Emmy-winning comedy writer behind the groundbreaking series Julia, has died. He was 92.Kanter died Sunday of complications from pneumonia at California's Encino Hospital, his daughter, Donna Kanter, told the Los Angeles Times. See th… Read more


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Ookla's enterprise solutions provide the most expansive view of worldwide network performance available through a suite of products trusted by Fortune 500 operators, governments, trade groups and other businesses around the world.
Global performance data and analysis
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Smoothly integrate your brand and our test using fully-customizable CSS. Self-edit and publish changes to your test at anytime.
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Interactive mapping platform
Simple and easy-to-use, CellMaps provides effective tools to:
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The Speedtest Network
The accuracy and high-quality performance of Speedtest® is made possible through the 8,000+ servers around the world that host our Speedtest server daemon. Join thousands of others in helping us provide the world's most popular and comprehensive internet test.


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Research firm Gartner has revealed its list of the 10 most important strategic technologies for 2009, which includes cloud computing and business intelligence.
The majority of the technologies on this year's strategic technologies list are the same as the ones included on last year's list, such as green IT, mashups, Web-oriented architecture and unified communications. Among the most notable additions this year is cloud computing, which Gartner has in the past defined as "a style of computing where massively scalable IT-enabled capabilities are delivered 'as a service' to external customers using Internet technologies."
In other words, cloud computing is a way for companies to have key services delivered to them through the Internet rather than through an in-house data center. Gartner says that the biggest benefits of cloud computing are its "built-in elasticity and scalability, which not only reduce barriers to entry, but also enable these companies to grow quickly."
Other additions to the strategic technologies list this year include:
--"Beyond blades" servers, which Gartner describes as the next step in the evolution of the blade server. Essentially, blade servers in coming years will see advancements in storage technology that will let companies create storage-area network pools that will provide more flexible storage options; a deeper integration with virtualization; and blade server aggregation that will join together two blade severs to serve as a single logical server.
-- Business intelligence systems that are used to report on and store key performance indicators to help managers and knowledge workers make smarter and more informed decisions about their businesses. Gartner says that good BI systems can help business leaders "make faster, better and more-informed decisions."
-- Heterogeneous systems that Gartner says will "mix processor types in a single system under one operating system to deliver higher performance than monolithic systems." In other words, heterogeneous systems will incorporate the functions of several different appliances into one server system.