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$1.28B Mega Millions jackpot single winning ticket bought in Des Plaines
By DON BABWIN | Associated Press
Update: Lottery officials say the jackpot increased to $1.337 billion.
CHICAGO (AP) — Someone in a Chicago suburb beat the odds and won the $1.28 billion Mega Millions jackpot.
According to megamillions.com, there was one jackpot-winning ticket in the draw Friday night, and it was bought at a Speedway gas station and convenience store in Des Plaines.
The winning numbers were: 13-36-45-57-67, Mega Ball: 14.
"We are thrilled to have witnessed one of the biggest jackpot wins in Mega Millions history," Ohio Lottery Director Pat McDonald, the current Lead Director for the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a statement on the lottery's website. "We're eager to find out who won and look forward to congratulating the winner soon!"
The jackpot was the nation's third-largest lottery prize. It grew so large because no one had matched the game's six selected numbers since April 15. That's 29 consecutive draws without a jackpot winner.
The $1.28 billion prize is for winners who choose the annuity option, paid annually over 29 years. Most winners opt for the cash option, which for Friday night's drawing was an estimated $747.2 million.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302.5 million.
According to the Illinois Lottery, the store that sold the ticket is a pretty big winner, too; it will receive half a million dollars just for selling the ticket. A clerk at the Speedway store who answered the phone but declined to give his name, said the store has not been officially notified officially that it sold the winning ticket and that he learned about it from reporters calling for comment.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The game is coordinated by state lotteries.
Illinois is among the states where winners of more than $250,000 can choose to not reveal their names and Camelot Illinois spokeswoman Emilia Mazur said the vast majority of those winners do just that.
Even lottery officials may not know for a while who won because winners don't have to come forward straight away. And the winning ticket may have been bought by a group of people.
"We won't know whether it's an individual or its a lottery pool until the winner comes forward to claim their prize," National Mega Millions spokeswoman Danielle Frizzi-Babb said.
Emily Irwin, managing director, Advice & Planning, at Wells Fargo's Wealth & Investment Management, said Friday that the winner should consider keeping a low profile and resist going on an eyebrow-raising spending spree that everyone knows the winner cannot afford.
"This is not the time to start calling everybody you know, saying, 'Hey, I have big secret. Can you keep it?'" Irwin said.
This is necessary to avoid being inundated with requests for money.
"There are scammers and others who follow big winners," she said, admitting that sudden wealth can put a lottery winner in physical danger.
"Privacy equals safety," she said.
One thing the winner must do immediately is sign the ticket. That's because if the ticket hasn't been signed then it really isn't yours. If the winner loses an unsigned ticket and another person finds it and signs it, the ticket now belongs to them.
Irwin suggests a step further to survive a legal battle over ownership.
"Take a Polaroid of you holding it and (put) it in a safe deposit box or somewhere else safe," she said.
Pratik Patel, the head of Family Wealth Strategies at BMO Family Office in Chicago, said the winner should work with a financial planner to map out their future.
"I would run a Monte Carlo market simulation," Patel said, explaining that this is an analysis of what a winner's annual income might be and what the proceeds from various investments might be. "What you're doing is using analytics to inform your spending."
Frizzi-Babb agrees that talking to a financial planner is a good idea.
"I would suggest that you do that before you even set foot in a lottery office," the national lottery spokeswoman said.
There is also a question nobody wants to answer at that particular time: What happens to the money when you die?
Irwin said don't leave this unanswered; you must take action to ensure the bulk of your estate goes to your beneficiaries rather than the government.
"You need a manager who specializes in this and understands this world," said Patel. "Someone making $60,000 a year might need a certain type of professional manager and they may want to switch to someone who does ultra wealth."
Whatever the winner does, it is important to do it slowly.
"You can absolutely indulge but let's be smart about it," Patel said. "It's a lot of money but until you figure out what you can afford, there are still limitations."
For example, he said, consider chartering a private jet before diving in and buying one.
"You may be interested in owning your favorite basketball team," he warned, "but maybe that isn't a good idea if it uses up all your money."
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Welcome to the web site. Examine paintings in the Gallery. Look for original published art for sale at Book Plates / Covers and Illustration Art. Investigate works in various states of completion at In the Studio. Check into News and Events to find out what programs and citizen science opportunities are happening in the New York City area. Find these following in-site page links on the site or click them here: Archive European Cities Oregon Sketches
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Enjoy and Salud!
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Job Title: Search Marketing Specialist
Job Reference #: Unknown
Position Type: full time
Name of employer: Hairy Lemon Web Solutions
Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
Date Posted: 7 March 2012
Position description:
Hairy Lemon are looking for someone who is passionate about search marketing and is keen to be an active contributor to their online visibility group (which includes their digital strategist and UX specialist), and work with a small team of SEO specialists.
You will love keeping up with and analysing the latest trends and developments in SEO, SEM and mobile search, and be open to adapting client recommendations to keep up with trends.
The ideal candidate will have a web development background or else a strong grasp of the technical aspects of SEO, as well as an understanding of how search fits into the overall online marketing picture.
Strong communication skills are a must, both with internal and external clients, as well as the ability to help train and nurture younger team members.
Technical Competency:
- Web development background, particularly in PHP, HTML and CSS
- Experience with social media and blogging, and have strong existing networks
- Google Analytics skills to advanced level
- AdWords qualified
Person Specification:
- Strong communication skills, written and oral
- Confident presentation skills
- Must work well as part of a high performing team
- Ability to self-manage and manage team members
- Committed to ongoing learning and professional development
- Comfortable in a client facing role
Ideally you will come from a solid agency background where you have been working with multiple B2B and B2C clients at any one time.
About hairyLemon
Based in Christchurch, New Zealand, they are a team of web and digital professionals committed to delivering the best results for their clients. Located in safe premises outside of the central city, they are all committed to living and working in Christchurch and being involved in the rebuild of the city, which is presenting a range of commercial opportunities and tremendous growth over the next decade. The company currently has 31 staff and continues to expand in response to client demand. If necessary, they may be able to assist you to find accommodation in Christchurch.
If this sounds like a company you would fit into perfectly, please apply with a cover letter telling them why you would like to work for hairyLemon and a current CV which should also include your social media contact details.
Salary range: negotiable
Closing date: Unknown
More info from: http://www.hairylemon.co.nz or phone 03 377 0031
Contact: Send resumes to jobs[at]hairylemon.co.nz
For more search industry job vacancies, or to post a vacancy, visit Search Engine College Jobs Board.


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Hello friends, this is Melissa. We just wanted to thank you all so much for the sweet comments you left here and on our facebook page for Kellie! We have been so blessed to have met and gotten to know so many amazing people. I just wanted to let you know that I have taken some time to really think about what I am going to do and I have decided to step away from Icing Designs as well. Kellie and I both have had such a wonderful time creating our shop and sharing our designs with you. We have also loved having this blog to share our ideas, projects and parties with you. We have created so many lasting memories that we will cherish. It is so bittersweet to be saying good-bye to the last 4 years. But we are excited to see what the future holds and so excited to continue to follow our favorite blogs and all of the people that have given us such inspiration along the way. We will leave our blog up and we hope that you may be able to still draw some inspiration from it. Again, thank you so much to all of our friends and family that have supported us. It has meant so much to us and we are so thankful to you all.
We thought since we had a few parties that we never did get a chance to share with you, we would leave you with a few photos {from my twins Japanese tea birthday party and an 25th wedding anniversary party we threw for my mom and step dad!}
Best wishes to you all!
Melissa and Kellie
paper goods, styling, diy projects: icing designs
handmade cake topper: katie pietraszak
cookies: cookies with character
frosted photos, styling, cake, paper flowers: icing designs
desserts: cacao sweets and treats
tassel garland: flair exchange


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A-Poem-a-Day Until Resurrection Day
Image credit: italianways.com |
After the earthquake
the peals of thunder
the flashes of lightening across the sky
After the curious crowds dispersed
Mary sat in ominous dimness
upon a mound of earth
at the base of the Cross
holding the body
of her Son
She cradled Him
in the hollow of her lap
close to her bosom
as she had
when he was
her baby boy
Mary removed
thorns of mockery
that encircled His forehead
and tossed it to the side
Straining to see in the shadows
she carefully picked
fragments of thorn needles
still stuck in His lifeless flesh
although they couldn't hurt Him
any longer
With her fingertips
she tenderly closed the lids
over His dark, vacant eyes
and smoothed
the disheveled, matted hair
…then she kissed Him
O my beautiful Son…
Tears flowed
down her face onto His cheeks
mingling with dried blood
With the edge of her garment
she wiped some blood away
John came
and rested his hand
upon her trembling shoulder
He was now her son
She was now his mother
too deep to comprehend
swirled in her mind
like the flap and flutter
of wings and overshadowing
Son of the Most High
and David's throne
like pregnant Elizabeth's joy
when the baby leapt in her womb
and the Baptizer himself, when grown
proclaiming his younger cousin
"The Lamb of God, Who
takes away the sin of the world"
and Simeon's prophesy
that Jesus would be
a Light of revelation
to the Gentiles and the glory
of the people of Israel
Where is the Light?
Where is the glory?
Where is the throne?
Overwhelmed by sorrow
so intense it stabbed her
deep, deep in her inner parts
Mary cried out in anguish
and rent her robe
Was this what old Simeon meant
long ago in the Temple
when he held Jesus in his arms
and said a sword would pierce
my very soul?
O my Son, my beautiful Son…
I cannot fathom the ways of God, but
I do know this cannot be the end
Maude Carolan Pych


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Cash Management is more secure than ever.
Introducing Security Tokens.
First State Bank & Trust is proud to deliver the highest level of security for our Cash Management customers. We are adding an additional layer of security to our log in process called Security Tokens. This helps ensure that your information is secure, protecting you from fraud and identity theft. Click & Learn
How it works - Security Tokens verify your identity in two ways. Every time you log in to Cash Management, the Bank identifies you, and it lets you identify the Bank.
Activate your Token.
Activating your token only takes a few minutes. Just follow the steps below. Click & Learn
- Once you have received your token, log in using your regular Access ID and password.
- Click LOG IN.
- From the menu, select ACCOUNT SERVICES, and then TOKEN ENABLEMENT.
- Complete the form.
- Enter the token's serial number located on the back of your token.
- Press the gray button on your token to generate a ONE TIME PASSWORD.
- Enter in the ONE TIME PASSWORD into the ONE TIME PASSWORD field on your screen.
- Type in any 4-digit PIN number you choose. You will need this PIN each time you log in.
- Enter your EMAIL ADDRESS. If your token is ever lost or damaged, a temporary password will be sent to this address.
- Select a SECRET QUESTION and ANSWER.
- Click SUBMIT.
Your token should now be activated.
Log in using your Token
Follow the steps below to log in using your token. Click & Learn
- Once your token is activated, log in using your current ACCESS ID.
- Press the gray button on your token to generate a ONE TIME PASSWORD.
- Enter the ONE TIME PASSWORD into the PASSWORD field on your screen.
- AFTER YOUR TOKEN PASSWORD, enter the 4-digit PIN number you selected during activation to complete your password.
- Click LOG IN.
- The SITE AUTHENTICATION screen appears.
- Press the token's gray button a second time to generate the SITE AUTHENTICATION VALUE.
- The 4-digit number on your token must match the site authentication value displayed on the screen. If they match, click SUBMIT to log in
- If the site authentication numbers DO NOT MATCH, DO NOT CONTINUE. Start over or contact First State Bank & Trust for assistance.
You are now securely logged in.
Completing Secure ACH and Wire Transfers
Follow the steps below to complete ACH and Wire Transfers. Click & Learn
- Press the gray button on your token to generate a ONE TIME PASSWORD.
- Enter the ONE TIME PASSWORD into the ONE TIME PASSWORD field on your screen.
- Click SUBMIT.
Your transaction is now complete.
If you have questions, please visit our Help Center, or contact us for assistance.


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Page content
Peyton Randolph House
Looking from Market Square toward the Peyton Randolph House. A carriage passses in front of the house as visitors enjoy the sights, including the cannon on the square.
The original structure of the Peyton Randolph House was built in 1715. Colonial Williamsburg's primary restoration of the home began in October 1938 and was completed in April 1940. More restoration of the main section was undertaken in June 1967 and was finished 12 months later. The center and west portions of the house opened for exhibition on July 1, 1968.
- Original structure located at the corner of Nicholson and North England Streets
- Built in 1715 by William Robertson
- Sir John Randolph purchased the west wing in 1721
- House willed to son Peyton Randolph
- First restoration 1938-1940
- Further restoration began in 1967
- Center and west portions opened in 1968
- Construction of outbuildings began in 1997
- Rochambeau, Lafayette, and Washington among notable guests at the home
The deep red Peyton Randolph House is one of the oldest, most historic, and without doubt most beautiful of Colonial Williamsburg's original 18th-century homes.
The west wing of the impressive house has stood at the corner of Nicholson and North England Streets since about 1715. Among the historic figures that took shelter in the house were General Rochambeau and the Marquis de Lafayette.
Three structures became one
William Robertson built the house that eventually became the west wing of the Peyton Randolph house. Sir John Randolph purchased the west wing in 1721. He bought the east lot for £50 on July 20, 1724 and had a home constructed there as well.
Sir John's son, Peyton Randolph, built a spacious and well-appointed two-story central section between the two houses. A hall with a large roundheaded window and a grand staircase connect single rooms on each floor. The first-floor parlor measures 19 feet square, and the bed chamber above has the same dimensions.
Lines of roof vary
The southern face of the center section matches the appearance of the 29-foot-square clapboard house that makes up the west wing. The low-pitched hip roof of the west wing was extended across the addition but ends abruptly when it reaches the high gable of the dormered roof on the east wing.
East wing not connected to the rest of the house
Although the west and center sections of the house were connected by doors on both floors, there was no opening through the brick wall to the east wing. The east wing may have served as an office or a service building, or it could have been rented out. Demolished in the 19th century, the east wing was reconstructed by Colonial Williamsburg after the property was purchased in 1938.
The roof of the west wing was designed to funnel rain to two concealed two-log gutters, which apparently carried the water to a cistern. Only traces remain of this contrivance that may have leaked and was later covered by the roof. A chimney rises through the center of the wing, venting corner fireplaces in three rooms on each floor. The stairway passage is located in the southwest corner of each floor.
Peyton Randolph House dining room. Diners are enjoying a post-dessert course of fruit and nuts. A servant fills glasses in the background.
The center section contains some of the best surviving paneling in the city — some of it walnut — while unusually fine brass hinges and locks trim the parlor doors. The floor is mostly made of original edge-cut pine
Outbuildings supported household activity
A full complement of outbuildings stood to the north (in back), including a two-story brick kitchen, a stable for 12 horses, a coach house, and a dairy.
Peyton Randolph inherited home
Sir John Randolph, the only colonial born in Virginia to be knighted, died in 1737. He left the house to his wife, Susannah Beverley Randolph, until their second son, Peyton, reached the age of 24. Their first son, Beverley, inherited property in Gloucester County; their third son, John, inherited acreage on the city's southern edge; and their daughter, Mary, received a dowry of £1,000. Susannah Beverley Randolph remained in the home until her death sometime after 1754.
Peyton Randolph, Speaker of Virginia's House of Burgesses in the years leading to the Revolution, brought his wife, Betty Harrison Randolph, to the home by 1751. It became a hub of political activity, and its owner Peyton Randolph was elected the presiding officer of the First Continental Congress at Philadelphia in 1774. An inventory taken at Peyton Randolph's death in 1775 indicates how the house was furnished and equipped.
Widow Betty Randolph opened her home to French general Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, when he arrived in Williamsburg with General George Washington to prepare for the siege of Yorktown in 1781. The house served as the French headquarters until they moved to the field.
Home auctioned to highest bidder
Peyton and Betty Randolph had no children and, after her death and according to directions in Betty Randolph's will, the house was sold at auction on February 19, 1783. A newspaper advertisement described it as "pleasantly situated on the great square." It was conveyed to the highest bidder, Joseph Hornsby, on February 21, and the proceeds were divided among Betty Randolph's legatees.
By 1824, the house was in the possession of Mary Monroe Peachy. She had the honor that year of lodging Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette, when he visited the city on October 20 and 21 during a tour of America.
The Peyton Randolph House restored
Colonial Williamsburg's primary restoration of the home began in October 1939 and was completed in April 1940. More restoration of the main section was undertaken in June 1967 and was finished 12 months later. The center and west portions of the house opened for exhibition on July 1, 1968.
For further reading:
Reconstruction of the Peyton Randolph House:
- Reconstruction underway at Peyton Randolph House
- Smokehouse reconstruction
- Dairy reconstruction
- Storage building reconstruction
- Kitchen frame raising
- Kitchen covered way frame raising
- QuickTime panoramas of the reconstruction site
Other related links:


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9. Death Proof (2007)
It speaks volumes to the quality of Tarantino's filmography that Death Proof ranks as his worst film. Holding back Death Proof's reputation is a lack of longevity. Among a career of memorable hits which have permeated the public consciousness years after their release, Death Proof is the sole film that slipped through the cracks. Death Proof is an entirely skillfully made, economic exploitation flick. It's solidly entertaining, and there's never a dull moment. Apart from an overabundance on exposition, it doesn't have any glaring weaknesses either. Still, something has to be at the bottom, and the only thing keeping it from reaching higher on this list is its competition.
8. The Hateful Eight (2015)
The Hateful Eight is a perfect example of too much of a good thing. An ambitious project, The Hateful Eight seems like it was poised to be a huge milestone for Tarantino, both personally and professionally. Initially planned as a sequel to Django Unchained, Tarantino continued his trend of historical revisionism in The Hateful Eight. It still has that fast-paced mesh of creative dialogue that contributes to the "whodunit" tension. The cinematography is gorgeous – especially when coupled with the harsh winter landscape – the acting is stellar, and Ennio Morricone's score is transcendent. But there's the lingering, niggling sensation of "been there, done that." Not as flashy as Kill Bill, as well-paced as Reservoir Dogs, or as cleverly written as Pulp Fiction, at an impressive 168 minutes (or 187, depending on the version), The Hateful Eight's nihilistic sensibilities wear out its welcome by the intermission.
7. Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004)
I considered grouping the two Kill Bill films together, since they were initially supposed to be a single release, and I don't have a strong preference towards either one. But if Tarantino decided to split them up, then so will I. The second and final part to the Kill Bill story is slightly weaker if for no other reason than it lacking the emotional connection to the character of the first one. It has the immensely satisfying payoff, reaching fever pitch levels of catharsis watching the Bride finally get her revenge. But while the final 35 minutes make the entire saga more than worth it, there were certain moments in Vol. 1 that stood out more.
6. Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003)
Pretty much more of the same as Vol. 2, but the slow buildup and character establishment seemed much fresher in my mind. The introduction of the Bride's story seemed much more satisfying than the conclusion (as glorious as it was). Also, this film has a truck called "Pussy Wagon." 'Nuff said.
5. Django Unchained (2012)
It's unfortunate Django Unchained was released immediately after Inglourious Basterds. The revenge fantasy of a minority hero overcoming the bonds of prejudice in a glorified crescendo of gore and gutsy violence felt like it was already encroaching on familiar territory. However, it's not fair to dismiss Django as a lesser Basterds. The strength of Django Unchained lies with its titular protagonist, and how the film builds his character up. Furthermore, Django Unchained makes a pretty compelling statement about racism in American history. While echoes of this statement were found in Inglourious Basterds, the World War II/Nazi Germany setting was too distant in the minds of the audience for it to be as potent. This film has pacing issues, and features Tarantino doing one of the worst Australian accents to ever disgrace the screen. But Django Unchained earns its spot this high up by embracing a classic, old-school Western aesthetic while simultaneously bringing the genre into the 21st century; its good, its bad, and its ugliness.
4. Jackie Brown (1997)
Jackie Brown is the only adaptation Tarantino has ever made, and it's surprising how much it feels like a breath of fresh air. Unlike every other lengthy film of his, Tarantino knows when to reel himself in and let a moment speak for itself with Jackie Brown. He once again embraces exploitation, but also allows for genuine human drama. Perhaps it's because this film doesn't feel as Tarantino-esque, it isn't as remembered as it should be. And it's true, Jackie Brown just feels different. The crime thriller element of the story takes back seat to relationships between the titular flight attendant and the gun smuggler Ordell. With Jackie Brown, Tarantino proved he wasn't a one-trick pony, and displayed a versatility in style he wasn't previously known for.
3. Pulp Fiction (1994)
What can be said about Pulp Fiction that hasn't already been said? Widely regarded as one of the best movies (or just things in general) of the 1990s, Pulp Fiction features every Tarantino-esque hallmark, and cements him into the upper echelon of directors with a distinct style. It's a movie that has such a cemented legacy that even when watching it for the first time, it seems familiar. It's a classic, plain and simple. It blends heartbreak with humor, crime with justice, and tragedy with brevity. But is it actually his best? Conventional wisdom says yes; it has received the most acclaim, and its scores of imitators give testament to its greatness. But while Pulp Fiction is great because of its significance, its storytelling isn't as tight as some of his other films.
2. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
It is astonishing that Reservoir Dogs is Tarantino's first film. The non-linear story structure Tarantino is now famous for never feels disjointed or gimmicky, but serves to strengthen the story rather than undermine it. How did the robbery go wrong? Who shot Mr. Orange? At the time, this structure was revelatory and heightened the audience's fascination with finding the answers to these questions. Reservoir Dogs features some of Tarantino's most memorable and authentic dialogue, and introduced some of his filmography's most iconic and memorable characters (several of whom, ironically enough, don't have names at all). One thing is for certain: after watching the infamous ear scene, you'll never be able to listen to Stealers Wheel the same way again.
1. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
There are so many ways to appreciate Inglourious Basterds. Exploitative revenge fantasy? Check. Tight dialogue? Check. One of the most chilling, tense opening scenes ever? Check. Check. Eli Roth playing a character named "Bear Jew" who beats Nazis to death with a baseball bat? Check, check, and check. Inglourious Basterds' attention to detail is so intense and jaw-dropping that even long sequences of characters speaking to one another in multiple languages are more exciting than some of his action sequences, and that's saying something. With stellar performances across the board and dialogue so taut it puts other directors-turned-screenwriters to shame, Inglourious Basterds is Tarantino's best movie.
Image Sources: comingsoon, IGN, justwatch, Cassava Films, Brain Junk Food, Miramax, Miramax, Wallup, MovieGuys


text:
Bon Echo Planning CenterThis was a starting point for planning and design information for the Firefox 2 "Bon Echo" release, including schedules, feature sets, and branch process information. Project StatusThe Bon Echo project ended with the successful shipping of Firefox 2 on the Gecko 1.8.1 Platform on October 24th, 2006 (release notes). Security and bug fix releases (Firefox 184.108.40.206, etc.) continued as part of Mozilla 1.8.1 branch maintenance. See the Firefox 3 (Gran Paradiso) Planning Center for information on the next release. Project DocumentationNote: the Firefox Feature Brainstorming page has been moved to reflect the fact that it's not locked to a specific version.
(original versions of Product Requirements Document (under review) and Feature Plan (to be removed?) are being reworked into above categories) Any proposed changes to these project plans should be written up and submitted to the Bon Echo steering committee for discussion, and the Product Management team will make the appropriate changes to this document. To bring attention to a bug which is not covered by the requirements, but which should be fixed as part of the Bon Echo project, mark it as blocking-firefox2? (for browser modules) or blocking1.8.1? (for gecko modules). MiscellanyTheme of Firefox 2Firefox 2 will aim to build on the success of Firefox by addressing issues related to the problem of managing the vast amounts of information available on the Internet. Our goal is to provide a browser that helps users manage and organize their online information channels. About Bon EchoContinuing the tradition, Firefox 2 will use a pre-release code name taken from a public park. Bon Echo Provincial Park is located in Ontario, Canada. The name literally translates to "good echo", and reflects how our goal echoes that of Firefox 1, once again focusing on improving the browsing experience for our users, making it simple, effective, fast and useful. |


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Tips on Elderly Nutrition/Super Foods
It's no secret that we are all supposed to have a healthy, well-balanced diet. This means we should all be consuming a variety of fruits, vegetables, proteins and whole grains. Easier said than done, right? Of course we know what we should be eating the question is are we doing it. We all know that it is important to eat healthy when we are young because we are growing. But it's just as important the older we get.
Our diets affect everything from our mood to our overall health. As we age things start to change: our memories fade, our immune systems deteriorate, our mobility decreases, and the list goes on. Our diets can help us to stay in our best condition, longer. Eating well improves our mental acuteness, resistance to illness, and our energy levels, as well as helping us to maintain our blood sugar and pressure levels.
So what's "healthy eating" look like when we get older? We still need to stick to varieties of fruits and vegetables, and whole grains but there's a few things we can add/ change to get the most out of our diets.
Here are a coupe tips to consider as we get older:
Add Some More Fiber
As we age, our digestion becomes less than efficient, which is why it's so crucial to add more fiber to our diets. An easy way to add more fiber is our breakfast, oatmeal, whole grain cereals, or simply adding dried fruits to what we already eat. Other good sources of fiber that can be added throughout the day are whole grains, beans, nuts, vegetables such as carrots, celery, and tomatoes, and fruit
Don't Cut Fat- Focus on Healthy Fats
Not all fats are bad fats, healthy fats can protect your body from diseases and support brain function and activity. Omega 3 are fatty acids found in salmon or anchovies, and monounsaturated fats are found in foods such as olive oil, avocados, nuts: healthy and delicious!
High- Quality Protein makes a High Quality Life
Low quality proteins like hot dogs, salami, and bacon (processed red meats) can increase the likelihood of heart disease, cancer, or other health conditions. Having a higher quality protein can improve moods, stress levels, and though clarity. Don't rely on only meats, fish, nuts, and eggs all make for great sources of proteins that are often overlooked.
Your diet doesn't have to be outrageous, keeping a consistent, well-balanced diet can change our lives for the better making them last even longer. If we pay attention to what we're putting in our bodies we'll see results in our health and overall lifestyles.


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In demonstration of its responsiveness to global trends and the dynamics in the Information and Communications Technology ecosystem, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has initiated the process for the review of existing licensing structure in the Nigerian telecommunications industry. An important step towards achieving this was taken recently by the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta when he inaugurated an in-house Standing Committee to carry out the task.
Danbatta, while inaugurating the Committee, said the need for the review of the existing license structure was informed by the wide range of technological advances, convergence of technologies and services which have characterized the global telecoms space over the years, and which impact is increasingly being experienced in Nigeria. According to him, the current license structure is almost 20 years old, hence the need for an urgent review of the existing license pattern to reflect new licensing trends in line with international standards while providing opportunities for improved revenue for government.
"Therefore, it is evidently clear that this Standing Committee, drawn up from competent hands in various departments of the Commission, is perfectly suited and capable of addressing the enormous task of reviewing the existing license structure of telecom licensees in Nigeria," he said. While noting that the work of the Standing Committee will be carried out in phases, Danbatta said effective delivery of the Committee's task will help the Commission to institute a process, which will culminate in the review of the terms and conditions of the various license categories. These, he said, will include licensing fee, as well as identification of the limitations of the various license categories, with a view to clearly determining licenses that should be phased out or amended.
Specifically, Danbatta outlined Management's seven-point deliverables from the Committee to include a comprehensive review/report on existing licenses; report and recommendations on consultative fora; and report on recommended new license undertakings. Others include a report on recommended amendment to license fees and durations; a report on benchmarking of license with similar jurisdictions, a report on the impact of certain licenses on other license holders. The Committee is also expected to recommend solutions as well as the develop updated regulatory framework for new and amended licenses as the case may be; and a final report on the project with all recommendations.
Also speaking during the inauguration of the Committee, the Director, Licensing and Authorisation, NCC and Chairman of the Committee, Mohammad Babajika, assured the Commission's Management of the Committee's resolve to deliver on the terms of their assignment. At the end of the Committee's assignment, and following due consultations with industry stakeholders, the Commission envisages a new draft framework for new and amended licenses.


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A former Ohio State University linebacker is asking people who are protesting Nike's decision to use Colin Kaepernick as the new face of its campaign by burning their shoes and activewear to donate them instead.
In a series of tweets, Joshua E. Perry asked those who feel the urge to burn perfectly good Nike gear and shoes to not destroy them.
To all of the jerks destroying there @Nike wearables- you're missing a wonderful opportunity here. You could easily take your newly unwanted items and donate them to people who would appreciate them. Because destroying your still doesn't create social change either folks!
— Joshua E Perry (@RIP_JEP) September 4, 2018
Perry who called those destroying their clothing and shoes "jerks," clarified his statement by saying they're not jerks for their opinions, but for ruining products that could be donated to people who could really use them.
He mentions how many children will go to school this fall with battered, worn shoes and clothes that don't fit.
Perry asks anyone who is willing to donate gently used items, even ones that are not Nike brand, to send them to his address at:
Joshua Perry | P.O. Box 164, Lewis Center, Ohio, 43035
After Nike announced Kaepernick would promote the 30th anniversary of its "Just Do It" campaign, people who were upset by the move started destroying anything with a Nike symbol.
First the @NFL forces me to choose between my favorite sport and my country. I chose country. Then @Nike forces me to choose between my favorite shoes and my country. Since when did the American Flag and the National Anthem become offensive? pic.twitter.com/4CVQdTHUH4
— Sean Clancy (@sclancy79) September 3, 2018
While Nike has received a lot of criticism, others have come out in support.
After seeing Nike's announcement that names Kaepernick the face of the "Just Do It" campaign, venture capitalist Arlan Hamilton bought a pair of Nike shoes.


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A blend of lavender and vanilla opening with notes of dewy, fresh air, followed by a kiss of herbal lavender, jasmine, cyclamen, geranium, marigold and star anise and finishing with a vanilla, woody, twig-like base-note.
Flashpoint: 200°, Vanilla Content: 1.38%, Phthalate Free
Bottle and/or label may vary from picture shown
Suggested usage of flavoring oil in lip balms range from 0.4-2% in the finished product.
For use in lip balms, massage oils, body sprays, perfumes, bath/body products, and pet bath products. Phthalate Free. None of our flavorings contain any gluten, formaldehyde, or formaldehyde releasing agents.
Flavoring oils are different from fragrance oils.
Flavoring oils are regulated by the FDA because they are designed to be used for consumption or for cosmetic products that may be ingested. The ingredients contained in flavorings are considered GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) by the FDA. Flavorings developed for lip balms smell, but do not taste. It is only when sweetener is added to the flavoring that you can taste the flavoring. Since lip balm, lip gloss, and lipstick are worn on the lips, flavorings are used to scent them. Our flavoring oils are created using distilled, fractionated coconut oil as their solvent. Some of the ingredients in our flavorings are natural, while other ingredients are not considered natural. Flavorings typically do not have as strong of a scent throw as fragrances do. Therefore, it is not advisable to use flavorings in candles, poopourri, or smelly jellies. Some people choose to use flavoring oils in their pet bath products as opposed to fragrance oils because flavoring oils are considered safe for consumption.
Fragrances are regulated by IFRA (International Fragrance Association), and typically are not safe to use in applications that are worn on your lips. However, if a fragrance oil is listed as safe to be used on the lips under category #1 of the IFRA Compliance sheet for that particular fragrance, it can be used in lip applications. Fragrances are made using solvents which allow for better scent throw than flavorings. Therefore, we suggest using fragrances, as opposed to flavorings, in candles, smelly jellies, potpourri, soap, and most other bath products.
EXTENDED LEAD TIME NEEDED FOR 2 oz or more


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It's Giveaway time again! I've been slacking the last two months and I'm sorry! Since it's November I want us to talk about what we're most thankful for. I'm so thankful for you all for without you I wouldn't be able to create so many wonderful items.
There will be two winners who will be selected using Random.com -each will earn a $15.00 credit to any of our items.
There will be many ways to earn extra entries so PLEASE read the directions first or you will be disqualified:
Please Read & Follow Directions 1st
Please leave a separate comment on the blog for each entry. If it's not separate it won't work for you for the random drawing since all the comments here are numbered :)
1.Comment on this blog post Telling me what your most Thankful for. (1 entry)
2.Follow my blog (1 entry)
3. Like me on Facebook (1 entry)4. Go to my Artfire shop and tell me your favorite item (1 entry)
5. Follow me on twitter (1 entry)
6. Share this Giveaway on your blog and/or Facebook ( 2 entries) - Make a separate comment for each one.
(be sure to share the link blog link or tag @callieghsclips on facebook so I know your shared it :)
7. Purchase an item(s) from Calleigh's Clips (10 entries) (Starting with orders placed after Nov 1st)
8. Add our blog button to your blog (1 entry) it's at the top of our blog ask me if you need help!
9. Sign up for Swagbucks - would love some new referalls. (don't know what swagbucks is? see my post here) - I'll know if you signed up because it shows me names) (1 entry)
10. Vote for our pink-a-boo puppy (VOTING IS NOW CLOSED and We Won 1st - thanks)


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REVIEW: Tony Christie glitters brilliantly on Golden Anniversary Tour
This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement.
(Is This the Way to) Amarillo isn't even the highlight. But it comes close.
His tour includes a return date to his native Yorkshire at Grimsby Auditorium, November 11. Full details and of all remaining tour dates below.
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdNational treasure Christie proved at Leeds City Varieties that his repertoire is the gift that keeps on giving and growing, with hit after hit - yet still only scratching the surface of his new 50-track album 50 Golden Greats.
Avenues and Alleyways, I Did What I Did for Maria, Las Vegas and Solitaire were all on show, plus other golden oldies including Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast and Don't Go Down to Reno, celebrate an incredible half a century as a recording artist.
We also got his own amazing versions of Like Sister and Brother, Jezebel and Mr Bojangles, complete with a whistling old soft shoe routine, more than good enough to give Sammy a run for his money.
The 73-year-old is still ready to reinvent himself, as we are reminded with his fabulous delivery of Walk Like a Panther, written for him by Pulp's Jarvis Cocker.
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Hide AdBut it was his amazing vocal delivery of even more contemporary tracks, The Key Of U, Damned and Now's The Time, from the 2011 album of the same name, which were my own personal favourites, and proof if needed that our top living crooner has got more unfinished business.
VIDEO: Watch Tony, on our embedded YouTube player, performing Damned, from his 2016 new album recorded in Nashville, on The Carmen Nebel Show..
Watching the elder statesman of popular music perform live is something to behold.
Not unlike a panther he prowls the stage and owns it.
He characteristically bends his knees and slightly arches his back to create notes a man half his age would be proud of and the master of the microphone technique knows just how to shape a tune to perfection.
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Hide AdThe white-haired Godfather of show business, dressed immaculately in a three piece suit and open neck white shirt, also delivers wonderful anecdotes.
We hear how Anthony Fitzgerald became Tony Christie after watching Julie Christie in 1965 film Darling; how Tom Jones was fuming to hear his management had turned down Las Vegas, which he loved, but which gave Christie his big break and how 'fifth' Beatle Billy Preston and Jimmy Page, who went on to form Led Zeppelin, performed on his first recording.
In the first half he even eludes to his Irish roots as guest vocalist with the mesmerising Celtic quartet Ranagri, who enthralled with harp, flute, bodhran, guitar to reproduce some of the hits from last year's album together, The Great Irish Songbook.
So here we have the epitome of showman. And no show is complete without a signature tune.
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdJust as Sinatra was know for his closing offerings - My Way and New York, New York - there is only one way to close a Tony Christie show.
Amarillo and Tony Christie will always be mentioned in the same breath and rightly so. A great song needs a great singer. And as he admits, it was a blessing not a curse. The song was a global hit 45-years ago and topped the charts as the best selling single of 2005 when Peter Kay turned it into a music video for Comic Relief.
Even The Hobbit and Sherlock star Martin Freeman - spotted in the Leeds crowd during a break filming Ghost Stories - was up out of his seat to sing-a-long. It's elementary why... like the rest of us, he wanted to see the legend in action.
Pure gold.
AUDIO: Listen to Graham Walker's fascinating exclusive interview with Tony Christie - talking frankly about his faith, career, new album and tour - CLICK HERE.
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Hide AdBUY: Tony Christie's 50 Golden Greats album is available to download now on iTunes or Amazon. Also visit the official Tony Christie site at www.tonychristie.com, follow him on Twitter @TheTonyChristie and like his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/TheTonyChristie.
Tony Christie's Golden Anniversary TourNovember 2016
4 – Lighthouse Theatre, Kettering10 – Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton
11 – Auditorium, Grimsby
12 – Playhouse, Weston Super Mare17 – Tullamore Court Hotel18 – INEC - Gleneagle Hotel, Co. Kerry19 – Cork Opera House21 – Millennium Forum Theatre, Derry22 – Ulster Hall, Belfast23 – Carrickdale Hotel, Dundalk24 – Armagh City Hotel26 – Shanklin Theatre, Isle Of WightDecember 20164 – Ennepetal, Leo Theater6 – Erfurt, Kaisersaal7 – Schwabach Markgrafensaal9 – Bonn, Brückenforum


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[rev_slider wrajdefault]
Welcome to WRAJ Internet Radio, a free online soft rock station, playing the best variety… all day, everyday. We play artists such as Billy Joel, Elton John, Celine Dion, Rod Stewart, and many more of your favorites. And with our no repeat workday, we promise you that you'll never hear the same song twice while at work or at home! To begin, click the listen live link below to listen. We work with Windows Media Player, iTunes, VLC, Real Player, WinAmp, and more!


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CRS: The U.S. Financial Crisis: Lessons From Sweden, September 29, 2008
From WikiLeaks
About this CRS report
This document was obtained by Wikileaks from the United States Congressional Research Service.
The CRS is a Congressional "think tank" with a staff of around 700. Reports are commissioned by members of Congress on topics relevant to current political events. Despite CRS costs to the tax payer of over $100M a year, its electronic archives are, as a matter of policy, not made available to the public.
Individual members of Congress will release specific CRS reports if they believe it to assist them politically, but CRS archives as a whole are firewalled from public access.
This report was obtained by Wikileaks staff from CRS computers accessible only from Congressional offices.
For other CRS information see: Congressional Research Service.
For press enquiries, consult our media kit.
If you have other confidential material let us know!.
For previous editions of this report, try OpenCRS.
Wikileaks release: February 2, 2009
Publisher: United States Congressional Research Service
Title: The U.S. Financial Crisis: Lessons From Sweden
CRS report number: RS22962
Author(s): James K. Jackson, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
Date: September 29, 2008
- Abstract
- In the early 1990s, Sweden faced a banking and exchange rate crisis that led it to rescue banks that had experienced large losses on their balance sheets and that threatened a collapse of the banking system. Some analysts and others argue that Sweden's experience could provide useful lessons for the execution and implementation of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 20081. The banking crisis facing the United States is unique, so there are no exact parallels from which to draw templates. Sweden's experience, however, represents a case study in how a systemic banking crisis was resolved in a developed country with democratic institutions. The Swedish central bank separated out good assets, which it left to the banks to oversee from bad assets, which it placed in a separate agency with broad authority to work out debt problems or to liquidate assets. Four lessons that emerged form Sweden's experience are: 1) the process must be transparent; 2) the resolution agency must be politically and financially independent; 3) market discipline must be maintained; and 4) there must be a plan to jump-start credit flows in the financial system. This report provides an overview of the Swedish banking crisis and an explanation of the measures Sweden used to restore its banking system to health.
- Download


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Shopping for and purchasing an off-road vehicle can be an exciting adventure all on its own—especially when you're deciding between an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) or a utility task vehicle (UTV). Review and compare their features below to determine which of these vehicles may be best for you.
Definition of an ATV
An ATV is an all-terrain vehicle—commonly called a four-wheeler or quad—designed for a single rider and typically used for recreation.
ATV characteristics
- Seating capacity: ATVs are meant for single riders.
- Steering: Operators use handlebars to steer and a thumb or twist throttle to accelerate and decelerate.
- Wheels: ATVs have four wheels. Sales of three-wheeled ATVs have been banned in the U.S. since 1988.
- Cabin: Four-wheelers are most commonly open-topped vehicles, but cab enclosures are available.
- Speed: ATVs can reach a maximum speed of 85 mph.
ATV safety features
Every off-road vehicle comes with safety risks. Since ATVs don't come with attached safety features, we recommend wearing additional safety gear—such as a helmet, protective footwear, and clothing—to help keep you safe.
Uses for an ATV
An ATV is intended for recreational riding, and as its name suggests, can handle all terrains. So, getting from one place to another over rough ground is its specialty.
ATV pros and cons
Depending on the year, make, and model, you can expect to spend anywhere from $1,000 to more than $25,000 on your new ride. The cost of ATVs may be a pro for you since they're typically less expensive than a UTV. In addition, ATVs are easy to operate, especially if you've driven a motorcycle or snowmobile. Since an ATV is open-topped and typically smaller than a UTV, you can just hop on and hit the trail—even rough ones. The smaller size may be a con for you if you like to ride with passengers. You can still enjoy group trail rides, but keep in mind, your ATV is designed for one rider at a time.
Definition of a UTV
A UTV is a utility task vehicle used for work or recreation. Designed with a cabin for two to four riders, it's often called an SxS or side-by-side.
UTV characteristics
- Seating capacity: UTVs usually have space for more than one rider—typically up to four people.
- Steering: Driving a UTV is like driving a car—it has a steering wheel and foot pedals to accelerate and decelerate.
- Wheels: UTVs have four wheels, but some models have more wheels for specialized purposes.
- Cabin: UTVs are equipped with a cabin or bars for added protection.
- Speed: Depending on the model, a UTV can reach a maximum speed of 85 mph; however, a UTV is generally slower than an ATV.
UTV safety features
A UTV is built with seat belts and a cabin or bars that surround you and your passengers to help protect you in the event of a rollover. Although UTVs come with safety features, we recommend helmets and other protective gear for additional protection.
Uses for a UTV
A UTV has added storage space, making it a great tool to haul and transport materials. Considering UTVs have space for more than one rider, they're also an option for recreational riding when you want to share your love of off-roading with family and friends.
UTV pros and cons
You may find UTVs have several pros for you—room for more riders, more options for customization, and more included safety features, such as seat belts, a windshield, and a roll cage. These additional features mean UTVs typically have a higher price tag than ATVs, which may be a con for you. On the plus side, you can enjoy rides with your buddies by your side and have a convenient work vehicle to haul materials or roam your property.
Which one is best for you?
Whether you're mud boggin' or hitting granny trails, your off-road adventures will be memorable on either an ATV or UTV. Ultimately, the decision on which type of off-road vehicle to buy comes down to you, your comfort level in operating it, and your primary plans to use it.
Enjoy the ride!
Related links
Here's a closer look at off-road insurance coverages to consider when adventuring on your ATV or UTV.
Perhaps you're considering two-wheeled, off-road riding. Dairyland offers dirt bike insurance as well.
Dairyland® is affordable insurance that works for you.
No matter what journey you're on, we're all driving down the same road. And we're here to help protect you when you need us most. For decades, customers like you have trusted Dairyland® for:
- Car insurance
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We offer customized coverage, money-saving discounts, flexible payment options, SR22s, and outstanding customer service.
Contact Jones Insurance Services today to experience the Dairyland® difference for yourself.


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The Air Science Vent-Box ductless filtration system is designed to protect laboratory personnel from chemical vapors found inside of standalone chemical safety cabinets.
The Vent-Box utilizes the Air Science Multiplex Filtration System, a configuration that includes a pre-filter and main filter to create a chemical, physical, or combination architecture to absorb, neutralize, or trap the target chemicals or particulate while constant negative pressure removes vapors and particulates from the cabinet's interior. Fumes are pulled via a flexible hose connected to the cabinet and clean, filtered air is returned to the laboratory, eliminating the need for external ducting and minimizing loss of treated, conditioned air from the facility.
The Vent-Box is available in a variety of configurations to match the vapors or particulate removal requirements.
Source: Air Science


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U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris' trip from Singapore to Vietnam was delayed several hours Tuesday by an investigation into two possible cases of the so-called Havana Syndrome in Hanoi, administration officials said.
The investigation was in its early stages and officials deemed it safe for Harris to make her scheduled stop in Vietnam, which is part of her trip across Asia meant to reassure allies about American foreign policy amid the tumultuous evacuation of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. The Havana Syndrome is the name for a rash of mysterious health incidents first reported by American diplomats and other government employees in the Cuba capital beginning in 2016.
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U.S. officials "take any reported incident of Havana syndrome seriously," press secretary Jen Psaki said at a White House press briefing later Tuesday.
U.S. officials had not yet confirmed the latest reported case, and it did not involve anyone traveling with Harris, Psaki said. In light of the reports, "there was an assessment done of the safety of the vice president, and there was a decision made that she could continue travel along with her staff," Psaki said.
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There have been two separate cases of unexplained health incidents reported by U.S. personnel in Vietnam within the past week, the officials said. It was not immediately clear who was impacted by the syndrome, though officials said it was not someone who worked for the vice president or the White House, according to the officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing investigation.
The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi issued a statement saying the delay was because Harris' office learned about a report of a "recent possible anomalous health incident" in the Vietnamese capital. The embassy provided no details, but said Harris' office decided to travel to Hanoi "after careful assessment."
The U.S. government uses "anomalous health incident" to describe the syndrome. Some of those impacted report hearing a loud piercing sound and feeling intense pressure in the face. Pain, nausea, and dizziness sometimes followed.
U.S. & World
Similar, unexplained health ailments have since been reported by Americans serving in other countries, including Germany, Austria, Russia and China. A variety of theories have been floated to explain the incidents, including targeted microwaves or sonic attack, perhaps as part of an espionage or hacking effort.
Particularly alarming are revelations of at least two possible incidents in the Washington area, including one case near the White House in November in which an official reported dizziness. Administration officials have speculated that Russia may be involved, a suggestion Moscow has denied.
Harris was set to depart for Hanoi on Tuesday evening after delivering a speech in Singapore, castigating China for its incursions into the South China Sea, and a discussion of supply chain issues with business leaders.
But the flight was delayed for more than three hours and Symone Sanders, Harris' chief spokesperson, refused to explain. Unprompted, Sanders volunteered that Harris was "well" although reporters had seen the vice president several times Tuesday and had no reason to be concerned about her health.
Congress has raised alarms over such attacks, finding rare bipartisan support in House and Senate for continued government-wide investigation into the syndrome, response as well as millions in support for American personnel medical monitoring and treatment.
The Biden administration is facing new pressure to resolve the mystery as the number of reported cases of possible attack has sharply grown. But scientists and government officials aren't yet certain about who might have been behind any attacks, if the symptoms could have been caused inadvertently by surveillance equipment — or if the incidents were actually attacks.
Whatever an official review concludes could have enormous consequences. Confirmation that a U.S. adversary has been conducting damaging attacks against U.S. personnel would unleash calls for a forceful response by the United States.
For now, the administration is providing assurances that it takes the matter seriously, is investigating aggressively and will make sure those affected have good medical care.
One key analysis identified "directed, pulsed radio frequency energy" as the most plausible culprit. Published in December by the National Academy of Sciences, the report said a radio frequency attack could alter brain function without causing "gross structural damage." But the panel could not make a definitive finding on how U.S. personnel may have been hit.
And a declassified 2018 State Department report cited "a lack of senior leadership, ineffective communications, and systemic disorganization" in responding to the Havana cases. The report says the cause of the injuries was "currently unknown." The document was published by George Washington University's National Security Archive.
Chris Miller, the acting defense secretary during the last months of the Trump administration, created a Pentagon team to investigate the suspected attacks. That was after he met a soldier late last year who described how, while serving in a country Miller wouldn't identify, he had heard a "shrieking" sound and then had a splitting headache.
Lemire reported from Lowell, Mass. Additional reporting contributed by Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Lisa Mascaro in Washington


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INSIDE THE JOURNEY FROM PROTOTYPE TO PRO V1- By Eric Soderstrom
It's the last day of October, just after 7 o'clock in the morning, 15 miles west of the Las Vegas Strip. The sun that spotlights the outlying mountain range has yet to spread over the driving range at TPC Summerlin. It's cool and calm, so far a run-of-the-mill PGA Tour Monday, tuned to the soundtrack of intermittent golf cart engines and the chitchat of five tournament volunteers, each recounting their brushes with fame over the years here at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
They're stationed under a tent on the far side of the range, where they will spend the week distributing practice balls and stockpiling stories for next year.
None of them are looking for Waldo, that's for sure. Yet there he appears, in familiar fashion – red-and-white-striped hat and shirt, bright blue pants, Coke bottle glasses – plodding toward the middle of the range. Waddling in behind him, there's a man in a penguin costume, followed by three others dressed as characters portrayed by comedian Will Ferrell in "Anchorman" (Ron Burgundy) and "Semi-Pro" (Jackie Moon), and on "Saturday Night Live" (Spartan Cheerleader Craig). Unmistakably, this is Las Vegas week on the PGA Tour.
Still there is more to the story, as one of the range volunteers admits: "I forgot. Today is Halloween."
- Bill Morgan, SVP Titleist Golf Ball R&D
Inside the TPC Summerlin clubhouse, meanwhile, at the back of the players' locker room, Todd Harris, a Titleist Tour Representative, is surrounded by stacks of cardboard boxes, each sealed with distinct white packing tape. He pulls a small utility knife from his back pocket and slices one open, revealing a case of plain, white golf ball dozen boxes – each of them clearly out of costume, but full of treats nonetheless.
For history's sake, this moment, however unspectacular, officially marked the debut of the 2017 Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf ball models on the PGA Tour. It's a holiday of sorts that you'll hear tour players, anxious to put the new golf balls in play before anyone else, liken more to Dec. 25 than Oct. 31.
But this holiday only happens once every two years and means different things to different people. On the other side of the country, at Acushnet Company World Headquarters in Fairhaven, Mass., Bill Morgan, Senior Vice President of Titleist Golf Ball R&D, is in his office with a couple members of his team, discussing a possible new development for 2019. Or perhaps 2021.
"For us, there is no beginning or end to this process," Morgan says. "We have something we've been working on since 2015 that may or may not make it into the next product. I honestly don't know. But when I do, I'll tell you."
he doors to the TPC Summerlin locker room open. In walks Billy Horschel, travel bag in tow, sunglasses hanging from his front collar, greeting everyone that he passes. Horschel finds the locker with his name on it and flips open the door. Inside, there are a couple clothes hangers, a box of FootJoy golf shoes, a putter leaning against the back panel. On a middle shelf sits two white boxes of golf balls.
Todd Harris, head down, is jotting down notes on a folded sheet of paper when Horschel arrives from around the corner. This time, there's no time for pleasantries.
"Which one is the black triangle?" Horschel says. "Tell me these are black triangle."
Eight months earlier, during a practice round at the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral, Horschel set up over a golf ball that was unmarked except for a single black square. A second ball, marked only with a black triangle, was a foot away. Fordie Pitts, Tour Consultant for Golf Ball R&D, stood off to one side with a couple white boxes tucked under his arm, watching intently as Horschel sent the black square skyward down Doral's third fairway. Horschel reached over to the black triangle with the head of his 5-iron and rolled it into position. Thwack. He waited for Pitts to join him before starting his walk down the fairway. They stopped about 35 yards from the green, where Pitts dropped two golf balls to the ground. One black square, one black triangle. He asked Horschel to hit a pitch shot with each ball, then tossed over a couple more. This process continued for a few more holes, Horschel hitting the prototypes side-by-side on different types of shots and providing Pitts with his feedback on their performance, remarking on things like distance, flight, spin and feel.
For the first seven months of 2016, this is how Pitts and colleague Jeff Beyers spent many of their Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, tagging along with tour pros for a few holes during PGA Tour practice rounds and testing a variety of prototypes, most of them marked only with a square or a triangle in three different colors: black, gray and white.
Over this same period, Frederick Waddell, Senior Manager of Titleist Golf Ball Product Management, mailed out six different double-blind prototype tests to more than 12,000 members of Team Titleist, Titleist's community of avid golfers and brand fans, featuring the same squares and triangles in white boxes being tested on tour. Those golfers also received a note instructing them on how to test the two golf balls side-by-side, and requesting their performance results and comments through an online survey.
"I used both balls until I lost them," one Team Titleist member wrote at the end of the survey. "Both are great, but the triangle ball is the best ball I have ever hit. I snap hooked it out of bounds, it hit the road and I looked but could not find it. Went back later after the round (it was my last one) found it, put it on a tee the next day and shot 68. I am very interested if you are coming out with this ball and if not, which of your balls is the closest to this ball now."
- Team Titleist Member
It was at the Titleist Performance Institute in Oceanside, Calif., during the week of the 2016 Farmers Insurance Open, where the square and triangle prototypes were first tested by Jimmy Walker.
Adam Scott also made a February trip to the Titleist Performance Institute, where he spent at least an hour testing the prototypes, hitting drivers and irons on the range with TrackMan before moving to the short-game area to hit what he described as "fuller wedge shots" (95 yards with his Vokey SM6 54º) and then 50-60 yard pitches.
During a practice round at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, fans hooted, hollered and hurled questions as Pitts, standing in the middle of The Stadium Course's second fairway at TPC Scottsdale, tossed a couple square and triangle prototypes over to Rickie Fowler.
After only a few holes of testing at Doral, Kevin Kisner was sold on white triangle. "For the next few months, there were many times someone would walk by me saying 'Triangle, triangle, triangle!' I'd turn around and it'd be Kevin," Pitts says. " 'When can I play the triangle, Fordie?' "
An internal document titled "Acushnet Company R&D Test Results," dated March 9, 2016, with the title "2017 Pro V1 prototype," includes the following abridged notes on Kisner's feedback: "That Triangle flew great and went a long way!!! That felt like 20 yards longer than my ball. The Triangle felt great with the irons and I hit it close. Feels great. I even mis-hit it on the Par 3 (4th hole) and it should have gone in the water but it carried just far enough to stay up. I like the Triangle."
Jordan Spieth's first encounter with the early prototypes came during The Players Championship. Spieth walked with Pitts on Nos. 2-4 at TPC Sawgrass, testing black square and black triangle.
- Jordan Spieth
"It's a very unique experience. It takes time," says Spieth of the prototype testing process. "They're very patient. You get to hit shots in a practice round of an event, so you're at a tour quality course in tour conditions and you get to see the difference off a driver, iron and wedge shot, that you wouldn't necessarily have that experience at home. I feel very fortunate that R&D are so committed to being out there having us try these out in practice rounds at tour events, just messing around a couple holes. It's very, very helpful for us and I think it's very helpful for Titleist."
Six months later, Spieth went on to win the Australian Open playing 2017 Pro V1x for the first time in competition, followed by three consecutive top-10 finishes and a win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The black triangle, it turns out, was a close cousin of 2017 Pro V1x.
Great news for Billy Horschel.
From the first tee at TPC River Highlands, it's about a 15-yard walk through a clubhouse backdoor that leads into the bottom floor of the building. It's there, in a corner room, where members of Titleist Golf Ball R&D spent Tuesday at the 2015 Travelers Championship, sitting around a table scattered with bottles of Dasani, Styrofoam coffee cups, notepads and pens, talking with PGA Tour players about golf balls. Particularly, Pro V1 and Pro V1x. A video camera was running.
Throughout that summer, with the 2015 Pro V1 and Pro V1x models only about six months old, Titleist R&D collected more than 50 hours of recorded focus groups, featuring more than 100 participants from the PGA Tour, European, LPGA, Web.Com and Champions tours, as well as amateur golfers and members of Team Titleist. The participants ranged from major champions to double-digit handicappers.
But on that Tuesday in Connecticut, one particular moment stuck out, at least for Doug Jones, a Project Manager in Golf Ball R&D who has been developing tour-played golf balls at Titleist for over 20 years.
During an afternoon session with Troy Merritt, Zac Blair and Luke Guthrie, the following question was posed by Matt Hogge, R&D's director of product implementation: "If you could change the golf ball that you're currently playing, what would you like to see?"
Merritt was quick to chime in: "More birdies, that would be nice." Blair chuckled, nodding in agreement.
- Matt Hogge, Director Product Implementation
Merritt continued: "I'm really happy with the ball (2015 Pro V1). Distance isn't huge for me. I know I'm not a bomber, so I just play to my strengths, which is get the ball in play and get it around the green and get it up and down. With the courses we're playing these days, five extra yards could be nice off the tee, but I'm not looking for 20 extra yards off the tee because I know I'm not going to get that. A little bit extra distance would be fine but I don't want to sacrifice the feel I have with the irons, the wedges, being able to flight it, and being able to hit the knock down shots..."
Hogge: "Five free yards would be all you'd want?"
Merritt: "Five free yards, yeah. If I don't have to pay for them, if I can stay in the fairway, then we're golden."
Later that evening, on the car ride home to Massachusetts, Jones broke a couple minutes of silence with a thought that was more a hypothesis: "Matt, I think we have those free yards."
Jones had been working on a new core formulation, which, according to preliminary testing, was producing a combination of lower spin and higher ball speed, two improvements that don't typically come as a pair.
"Whether it was in our focus groups, at our ball fitting events around the country, or in our many surveys to Team Titleist, we started to hear the same thing from golfers about Pro V1," Hogge says. " 'I'd like a little more distance but I still want a Pro V1. I love the feel, I love how it performs around the green, the trajectory is right where I want it. If you can maintain those things but make it as long as, say, Pro V1x, that would be perfect.'
"It's a simple thought. Who wouldn't take more distance? But the difference between 'more' yards and 'free' yards is night and day. If your only objective is to make a longer golf ball, that's easy. If your objective is to make a longer golf ball without sacrificing other performance characteristics? That's where it gets complicated. Fortunately, we already had some testing results that supported what Doug was saying. It really was about just making that next step and getting to work."
- Adam Scott
About 15 months later, a week before the 2016 Australian Open, Adam Scott arrived at his home on the Gold Coast of Australia, where a shipment of final 2017 Pro V1 prototypes sat waiting for him. He spent the week testing them during afternoon rounds at Sanctuary Cove Golf & Country Club. The following Thursday, on the first tee at the Australian Open, he teed up a 2017 Pro V1.
"I think the remarkable thing with the new Pro V1 is how far it goes now," he said that week. "I'm hitting it longer than I ever have but I also have that soft feel like when I grew up playing a balata golf ball – it's incredibly soft. For me around the greens, that's a sound and a comfort thing that I really like about it. I don't have that clicky sound, I have that kind of melt-on-the-face soft feel."
While most of the focus groups conducted by Golf Ball R&D during the summer of 2015 consisted of three, four or five golfers, and lasted no more than an hour, Padraig Harrington's session at TPC River Highlands was a one-man show featuring more than 70 minutes of insightful and often impressive commentary on golf ball and player performance.
The three-time major champion is, quite unabashedly, fascinated by the quest for constant improvement and optimal performance, not unlike the golf ball makers sitting around him that day.
"I want to know why everybody hits the golf ball the way they do," Harrington says about 20 minutes through the discussion. "You would struggle to name too many players out here on tour I couldn't tell you their swing speed and ball speed… I want to understand what keeps me long or not long. So if I see a guy who's hitting it outside me, I want to know whether he's doing it on pure speed or whether he's doing it with efficiency."
- Padraig Harrington
Twenty-five minutes later, Harrington leans over, placing both of his palms flat on the table. Watching the tape back, you can almost see the memory pop into Harrington's head as he interrupts what has been at least a half-hour straight of highly technical back and forth. "You haven't heard this story before…," he says with a grin.
Late Sunday afternoon at the 2007 Open Championship at Carnoustie, as it became clear that Harrington was headed to a playoff against Sergio Garcia, the nerves really started to kick in for Ronan Flood, Harrington's caddie. Flood's father, along with two sleeves of Pro V1x, had gone missing.
That morning, Flood, trying to keep his boss' bag as light as possible, handed the golf balls over to his father in the gallery for safekeeping, two sleeves of insurance in the event that Harrington needed them for the Open's 4-hole aggregate playoff. "Obviously," Harrington says, "he was thinking right."
Yet when Flood went to claim them about five hours later, amid the chaos of fans hurrying back onto the course and jostling for position around the first tee, his father was nowhere to be found.
That's when Harrington sent his manager, Adrian Mitchell, through "the melee" and into the Carnoustie pro shop. When Mitchell walked out, he was holding two sleeves of Pro V1x. "Probably the best thing about Titleist is what we play on tour is exactly what you're going to get in the shop," Harrington says. "I was going to tee it up on the first playoff hole of the Open with a Titleist Pro V1x with the Carnoustie Golf Club logo on it."
Only then, Flood found his father. Four holes later, Harrington was presented a Claret Jug to go along with those six, now commemorative, golf balls.
"That story really gets to the essence of the Titleist brand," says Waddell, watching the tape back in his office a year later. "Consistency and performance go hand in hand. The last thing a golfer needs to worry about when teeing up a new golf ball is whether or not it's going to perform the same as the last one."
The Country Club of New Bedford, a classic Donald Ross design, sits right off Route 6 in North Dartmouth, Mass., in the middle of a bustling business area, surrounded by see-through wire fencing. It's easy to spot as you drive by, perhaps on the way to Titleist Ball Plant 3, which is no more than 15 minutes away.
It was at CCNB, one Sunday in 1930, where Phil Young, the owner of nearby Acushnet Process Company, a precision molded rubber company, lost a match after missing a short putt on the final hole. Young, an avid golfer, took many swings that day that produced both inconsistent and bewildering results, and gradually became convinced the problem was not his swing. As he told his playing partner, Dr. Bonner, over and over as they sat in the clubhouse after the round, the problem was his golf ball. Something was wrong with his golf ball.
So they took it to the hospital. Dr. Bonner, by good fortune, was the head of the X-Ray department at St. Luke's Hospital, located less than three miles from CCNB. When they got there, they put Young's ball under the X-Ray machine. The X-ray showed the ball's core was indeed off-center, a construction failure that would have caused the ball to fly erratically and, on the putting green, roll off line. X-rays of many other brands available in the CCNB pro shop, which they retrieved from the head pro later that afternoon, revealed similar results – inconsistent cores sizes that were off-center and out of round.
It was then, at the start of the Great Depression, amid the excitement of Bobby Jones winning the Grand Slam and a prevailing opinion that golf balls were as good as they can be, that Young decided he would enter the golf ball business. He convinced his former MIT classmate, Fred Bommer, a chemical engineer already with years of golf ball manufacturing experience, to join him.
"Phil Young knew that by implementing a better design and manufacturing process he could set the standard for golf ball performance and quality," says Bill Frye, Senior Vice President of Titleist Golf Ball Operations. "Those are the values, of leading-edge innovation and process excellence, that have inspired and driven our people and our processes for the last 80 years."
The first Titleist, a revolution in both golf ball development and performance, was introduced in 1935. Golf balls at that time were three-piece constructions featuring a solid or liquid center, wound core and cover. The new Titleist had a liquid center that was about 40 percent smaller than other balls on the market, resulting in a significantly larger core.
To create the core, Young and Bommer used a proprietary elastic thread and winding pattern that produced both high compression and improved adhesion between the wound core and cover. They also introduced a new procedure that would be used for decades to come: The liquid center was frozen, ensuring it stayed perfectly round during the winding process. It allowed the thread to be wound tighter, as well, producing the fastest golf ball engine to date.
At the end of the process, there was an X-ray, a quality control check intrinsic to Young's vision that is still in practice today. Every single Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf ball is X-rayed before being packaged. It's the last of more than 90 product and process quality checks (120 for the dual-core Pro V1x) executed throughout the process to ensure each golf ball delivers consistent performance, whether shipped to a PGA Tour locker room or the pro shop at CCNB.
"Phil Young's mission was to make the best golf ball in the world," says Dan Gendreau, Senior Director of Titleist Golf Ball Manufacturing. "He chose to do that right here in the greater New Bedford area and tapped into that work force and the strong work ethic and commitment to a purpose that our people showed 85 years ago and they still show to this day."
Gendreau, who oversees operations at Ball Plant 3, is entering his 30th year with the company, a statistic that is equal parts impressive and ordinary.
"You think about the things that have made us successful over the years and distinguish us from our competition," says Gendreau. "It's that we only make Titleist golf balls to Titleist specifications in Titleist owned facilities with Titleist associates. I can't emphasize that last point enough, the wealth of golf ball making knowledge that we have from literally generations of families that have been employed with the Acushnet Company. In greater New Bedford, we average over 21 years of service."
Gendreau's two most senior associates began working for the company in 1965. (That's 52 years, and counting.) One of them, Diane Medeiros, spent her first 35 years winding golf balls. Then came Pro V1.
The Titleist Golf Ball R&D department is located on the first floor of company headquarters. Only those with specific credentials are allowed access, mostly due to the confidential nature of the work, thankfully because it's very easy to get lost in there. At first, it seems like an everyday office setting, a large room filled with offices, cubicles, water dispensers and coffee makers. Turn the corner, however, and it starts to take on the structural qualities of a great old pub, full of surprising nooks and crannies, one room you weren't expecting after another.
There are chemical labs that feel like the set of "CSI." There are rooms that act as a small-scale Titleist ball plant, filled with some machines that look like golf-ball making machines and others that would look more suited for NASA. There's a machine shop, where technicians not only build and maintain the machines that make golf balls but also the machines that test them (like the brand-new Titleist short-game robot, affectionately known as "Black Widow"). There's a durability testing room where earplugs are mandatory, in order to muffle the sound of golf balls being fired against metal plates repeatedly at high speeds. Inside a caged-in hitting bay, there's a souped-up mechanical golfer and a launch monitor you wouldn't recognize, both constructed by R&D, plus another built-from-scratch apparatus that ensures launch monitor readings are accurate.
- Matt Hogge, Director Product Implementation
Everywhere, there are golf balls. Parts of golf balls, pieces of golf balls. People, too. There are about 80 associates that make up the Titleist Golf Ball R&D team, including chemical engineers, mathematicians, materials scientists and physicists. There's also, literally, a rocket scientist.
Mike Madson, who has Master's Degrees from both Dartmouth (Engineering Management) and Penn State (Applied Statistics), is the department's Senior Engineer of Aerodynamics and Tooling. Walking past his workspace provides just a small glimpse into the overall R&D process.
Tacked to a wall are at least a dozen printouts of golf ball dimple patterns. Within each pattern, every dimple is color-coded, offering a Cliff Notes version of the overall dimple layout and quantities of different dimple sizes. On his computer screen is a 3-D model of a golf ball, zoomed in to a specific area of dimples.
This year, for the first time in three product generations, both new Pro V1 and Pro V1x were introduced with new dimple patterns. The improvements, simply put, take the aerodynamic consistency of both models to another level.
"What I noticed immediately was the improved flight. It held its line in the crosswinds'," Jordan Spieth said last November after winning the Australian Open, where he put the new Pro V1x in play for the first time. "A couple shots that were going off-line stayed closer to the fairway or closer to the green, which allowed me to save par when I may have been in trouble."
During his pro-am round at the Australian Open, Adam Scott, playing 2017 Pro V1 for the first time in competition that week, hit a 360-yard drive down the 15th tee of Royal Sydney Golf Club with the wind at his back.
"I just launched it a little bit higher and I couldn't believe how far it went," he said.
Three holes later, on No. 18, the wind now directly in his face, Scott hit his drive 295 yards down the middle of the fairway.
"I hit my more flat ball flight and the wind just didn't touch it. The versatility of that, to be able to really control what I'm doing, to be able to know that if I make this swing this will happen. That's a very nice feeling when you step on a tee."
Madson estimates more than 80 dimple patterns were evaluated during the development process for 2017 Pro V1 and Pro V1x, though how we define "evaluated" in this instance requires further exploration.
"For Mike to get excited over something means he has to beat his benchmark, and the benchmark is Pro V1 and Pro V1x," Hogge says. "We're not going to introduce something unless it's providing a real, discernible improvement. And that takes time. 'Better' takes time."
It starts in front of the computer. Madson, drawing upon years of knowledge and data while keeping the overall design goals of each model clearly in mind, experiments with layouts and dimple sizing through CAD (computer-aided design) modeling. Eventually – "Some of the experimental patterns that we looked at have been in the works since 2012," Madson says – he lands on a viable pattern. Next, that pattern is used to create a "family" of patterns. Each pattern in the family has the same overall layout and dimple sizes but incorporates variations such as different dimple depths and edge angles.
The designs are then sent to the Titleist Tooling team, which is tasked with making the dimple molding cavities. That process starts inside an unmarked building just a short drive from Titleist HQ. It's there, amid flying sparks and the smell of burning metal, where Titleist manufactures every single one the golf ball mold cavities that are used in the process that forms the cast Urethane Elastomer cover and dimple patterns for Pro V1 and Pro V1x, as well any prototypes that R&D designs for those models. The mold cavities for every other Titleist golf ball are also made here.
"I can be at my desk in R&D working on a new pattern in CAD, send the file up the street, and 20 minutes later be there with the technicians to start making the hobs," Madson says.
A "hob" is the machine tooling used to create a cavity. Every hob is also manufactured in-house through a process that utilizes advanced machining technology. To make one hob, it takes 24 hours.
"There are many examples of our teams having to, for lack of a better phrase, make the stuff that makes the stuff," says Waddell. "At Ball Plant 3 alone, tens of thousands of golf ball cavities are needed to supply the urethane casting lines for Pro V1 and Pro V1x. And they all have to be the same. If you don't have control over every part of your process, the consistency of the final product is always in question."
Once prototypes are produced, they are run through series of extensive aerodynamic tests within the "ITR," an indoor test range located deep within Titleist's custom golf ball facility. You would need a map to find it. Once those tests are complete, they repeat the same tests two more times.
"And while you can do a lot of testing indoors, you have to validate it outside, because golf is an outside game," Hogge says. "Once we've gone through the initial screening process, we start to take a deeper dive on what we think might have real promise and then spend a lot of time iterating within those designs. When we think we have something, we marry it up with different constructions that our other teams have been working on, and then start to hit them outside."
"Outside" begins at Titleist's Manchester Lane Test Facility, just down the road in Acushnet, Mass., as well as the Titleist Performance Institute in Oceanside, Calif., where robotic golfers test each prototype, providing exacting measurements that even the best swings in the world can't duplicate. In these tests, the variables related to how a golf ball is struck are eliminated, providing results that truly identify the relative performance of various products. Pass those trials, if you're a prototype, and you're likely headed for a white box, ready for human testing.
The driving range at TPC Summerlin does not look much different today than it did the week of the 2000 Invensys Classic at Las Vegas, more than 16 years ago. It was here, on Monday, Oct. 9, 2000, where the original Pro V1 golf ball appeared in white boxes, available to PGA Tour players to use in competition for the first time.
In the months leading up to that event, members of the Titleist Golf Ball R&D, Leadership and Executive teams set out on what became known as the "100 Man March," with the objective of testing the Pro V1 prototype with at least 100 tour pros. They walked with many players during tournaments practice rounds, asking them to hit shots side-by-side with their current model (most likely a Titleist Professional or Titleist Tour Balata) and provide their feedback.
While the reviews were promising, expectations within Titleist headquarters remained modest. Mac Fritz, Senior Vice President of Tour Promotion for Titleist, was tasked with placing the golf ball orders for the Invensys Classic, with Pro V1 scheduled to hit the USGA conforming list that week. He went with about 60 dozen Pro V1. That would account for about 20-25 players immediately converting to the new ball, he thought.
"I missed the forecast by about 50 percent," says Fritz. By Tuesday afternoon in Vegas, the word was out and so was his stock.
"Players would come in the locker room and say, 'Hey, I'm definitely going to play Pro V1 this week,' and I would say, 'OK, well, hang on a second,' " says Fritz. "Then I'd go over to two other players I'd already given dozens to and snag a couple sleeves from each of them. We had guys going to the first tee with half-empty boxes."
Fritz kept clear of Davis Love III, knowing his stash was closely guarded. "I remember one player who played a different brand trying to steal them out of my bag on the range because there was so much buzz about it," Love says.
It was about three months earlier that Fritz boarded a plane with a white box full of 12 prototypes in his carry-on, and a straightforward request from Golf Ball R&D reverberating in his head: "Please return with all 12." Fritz, along with a couple members of the Golf Ball R&D team, including Fordie Pitts, were headed to Sea Island, Ga., to introduce the new ball to Love and perform some extended on-course testing.
They met at Ocean Forest Golf Club, near Love's home on next-door St. Simons Island. Love guided them out to the middle of the course, stopping around one green to test short-game shots, particularly a specific type of flop shot that he liked to hit. Eventually, they found themselves on a hole with a cross ditch about 340 yards from the tee. Fritz walked to the end of the fairway, about 300 yards out. Pitts stayed on the tee with Love, who pulled a Titleist 975D 6.5º driver from his bag.
"I told Fordie to raise his right hand when Davis was hitting (his current ball, a Titleist Professional), and left hand when he was hitting Pro V1," Fritz says. "I remember the Pro V1's rolling up to my feet at the end of the fairway. The Professionals didn't come close."
The shot was into a slight breeze, so Love was teeing the ball down and hitting his "into the wind shot." It was the type of shot Love was accustomed to hitting with the Professional, knocking down the spin in order to maximize distance off the tee.
After about six shots with each ball, Pitts suggested that Love "tee it high and let it fly" with Pro V1. Pitts raised his left hand in the air, then watched the Pro V1 sail over Fritz's head, into the ditch. Next into the ditch was Love, who dug through the mud trying to find what would soon become the first lost Pro V1.
Fritz returned home with 11 golf balls. Love returned to the ditch the next day with his son, Dru, to keep looking for the twelfth.
"We all went looking for it. Because, there's one, you know where it is, and you could have it to goof around with, and we wanted to try it," Love says. "It was just an exciting time. You knew you had something that was going to make a difference in your game, and that's always fun."
Three months later, when Pro V1 debuted in Vegas, Love was one of 47 players who put it immediately in play, Fritz having made the absolute most of his limited stock. To this day, there has never been a greater shift in equipment usage at a PGA Tour event.
t's 7 o'clock Wednesday morning at the 2016 Shriners Hospital for Children Open, just minutes away from the start of the pro-am tournament. Jimmy Walker's caddie, Andy Sanders, walks up to the 10th tee, lowers the staff bag from his back and rests it on the ground. He reaches into a side pocket, where there are a couple white sleeves filled with 2017 Pro V1x models.
A day earlier, Fordie Pitts joined Walker out on the course for an initial trial session with the final prototype. Following more than a year of testing and feedback, hundreds of shots with unidentified prototypes, this ball was complete with the familiar Titleist Script, play number, and Pro V1x sidestamp. A couple holes later, after hitting his second shot at the par-5 fifth to about 12 feet, Walker looked over at Pitts and nodded, confirming that he'd be putting the ball in play Thursday.
Around this same time, about 20 miles across town on the other side of the Vegas Strip, Ben Clabaugh, a financial services professional who plays as much golf as he can, checked his mail to find a small, cardboard box, just about the size of a sleeve of golf balls. He ripped open the box to reveal a plain, white sleeve filled with three Titleist golf balls with a black play number and "TEST" sidestamp. Included was a note from Titleist R&D, encouraging him to "test these golf balls along with the golf ball you play most often."
More than 80,000 golfers from countries around the world, all members of Team Titleist, received a similar package and note last November. While the note did not divulge the exact objectives of the test, Clabaugh, like many of his fellow test participants, knew it was no different than what was happening on the PGA Tour. The final validation process for the new Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls for 2017 had begun.
The next day, Clabaugh pulled into the parking lot at Boulder Creek Golf Club, just outside Las Vegas, not too far from the Hoover Dam. He loaded his clubs onto a cart, drove to the range to hit a few balls, then rolled up to the first tee of the El Dorado, one of club's three nine-hole layouts.
- Ben Clabaugh, Team Titleist Member
On the first hole, a par-5, he followed a first-shot-of-the-day type of drive with a 3-wood that went further than expected, stopping just in front of the green. "Really, 275 yards? Hmm," he said, looking back down the fairway. He pitched on and rolled the Pro V1 prototype in for birdie. Later, after striking his tee shot into a slight headwind on the par-3 7th, Clabaugh immediately shook his head and said, "Short." But the ball kept going, sailing over a right greenside bunker and landing just in the short rough, 10 yards from the pin.
"I can't believe how far that carried," he said. "That's different."
t's early Monday at the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open, still not a tour player in sight. Todd Harris, in a back corner of the players' locker room at Torrey Pines, is taking inventory of stacks of boxes. One stack is clearly different from the rest, distinguished by the white packing tape that holds each of the boxes together.
When Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls leave Titleist headquarters en route for the PGA Tour, they are specially packed and sealed with white packing tape. Harris inspects every box to make sure the white packing tape has not been compromised in transit. If a seal is broken, that box is returned to Massachusetts.
A few hours later, Billy Horschel arrives at Torrey Pines. He enters the locker room, finds the locker with his name on it and flips open the door. Inside, there are three dozen golf balls. The boxes are clearly not plain or white. He holds one of them out with his left hand and snaps a picture with his iPhone. He then tweets the picture, with a message.
Love the new design of the @Titleist boxes and sleeves! #ProV1X #2017 pic.twitter.com/zJSQkxIQJK
— Billy Horschel (@BillyHo_Golf) January 23, 2017
Two days later, at the 2017 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Fla., Michael Mahoney, Titleist's Vice President of Golf Ball Marketing, walks on stage to more than 1,000 people gathered inside the Linda Chapin Auditorium at the Orange Country Convention Center.
"Today, we couldn't be more excited to introduce New Pro V1 and Pro V1x," Mahoney says, "The best performing and most advanced golf balls we've ever made."
At the same time, at golf shops around the country, golfers are walking in to find new 2017 Pro V1 and Pro V1x sitting on the shelf for the first time.
In every box, 12 golf balls, the end of one journey, and the start of another.


text:
Paris Museums Put 100,000 Images Online for Unrestricted Public Use
Paris Musées, a collection of 14 museums in Paris have recently made high-res digital copies of 100,000 artworks freely available to the public on their collections website. Artists with works in the archive include Rembrandt, Monet, Picasso, Cézanne, and thousands of others. From Hyperallergic:
Paris Musées is a public entity that oversees the 14 municipal museums of Paris, including the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Petit Palais, and the Catacombs. Users can download a file that contains a high definition (300 DPI) image, a document with details about the selected work, and a guide of best practices for using and citing the sources of the image.
"Making this data available guarantees that our digital files can be freely accessed and reused by anyone or everyone, without any technical, legal or financial restraints, whether for commercial use or not," reads a press release shared by Paris Musées.
What a treasure trove this is. I was particularly happy to see a bunch of work in here from Eugène Atget, chronicler of Parisian streets, architecture, and residents and one of my favorite photographers.
(via @john_overholt)