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Today, on the Eighth of December, for Catholics the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, memories bring me back to another December the Eighth forty years ago. For me, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception has become something of a day of atonement. Please let me explain why.
In a recent post I mentioned my unhappy college experience in the late 1960s and early 1970s at Niles College Seminary, the former college seminary (campus closed 1994) of the Archdiocese of Chicago, and specifically cited a beer party on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8, which the students had given a mocking and vulgar name.
This name was the "Immaculate F_ _ _ Party," and this party began on December 8, 1972 at one of the Niles College residence halls, Thomas Merton Hall. Chicago's John Patrick Cardinal Cody learned of this party in 1979 due to a dispute among the clergy when someone leaked the word to him, and ended it.
But for a time this party drew a few from around the Chicago seminaries and the archdiocese to stage a beer blast at the college seminary on a rather theologically inappropriate night, a night intended for the mystery of faithful love, the feast of the Patroness of our country, Our Lady, as Vatican II called her, the Mother of the Church.
Drinking by seminarians and some priest faculty at Niles College was always problematic for me. The young priests in my own boyhood parish had "taken the pledge," as did many newly ordained priests of the 1950s and early 1960s, not to drink alcohol until the age of thirty.
The multiplication of alcohol in rectories was one of the unacknowledged changes of the Vatican II era. Witness the account from Margery Frisbie's biography of late Msgr. John J. "Jack" Egan, when he was assigned as pastor of Chicago's Presentation Parish in 1966:
There were some surprises for Jack, even in himself. "I'll never forget the first night. I went up to (Father) Jack Gilligan's room. Father Tom Millea and Father Jack Hill were there. I can't imagine myself doing this or saying this. They were having a drink and there was a bottle of Scotch on top of the dresser. Now, we're on the third floor of the rectory and here's the new pastor, saying, 'Fellows, do you think we should have a bottle out in public like this?' I turned them off. I remember them looking at one another, thinking who the hell let him in. They had just got rid of Monsignor McCarthy, an old conservative, and now this guy comes along, Jack Egan, whom they know!"
Jack describes his reversion to prototype domineering Irish tyrant as "a certain type of rigorism that did occupy my life when I was given positions of authority up to the time I was at Presentation. I think I've lost it. I hope I've lost it, he says now. He had exploded at his surprised young associates in their own rooms on their own time. "Here was a man trained in YCS, YCW, the Christian Family Movement, and in community organization all through the fifties and sixties. Now I go into that parish as a pastor. I practically forget all my training. Why? Because I was scared." Jack admits. He was scared of the huge responsibility he'd been given. Driven by that fear and by his gut hankering to succeed, he momentarily parodied himself. But he didn't please himself. His bona fide style was eliciting cooperation, not demanding conformity. Jack Hill, now resigned from the priesthod, doesn't remember the Scotch story. He remembers Father Egan greeting his new associates, "Well, guys, I'm home."
Margery Frisbie, An Alley in Chicago: The Ministry of a City Priest, 1991, Sheed and Ward, Kansas City, pp. 183-184.
The moral argument to allow the 1960s young priests to drink hard liquor seems to be, "Can't a guy have a drink in peace on his own time at the end of the day?"
But imagine what the Church would be like if Mother Teresa gathered her nuns together each evening, not for an hour in the presence of the Holy Eucharist, but around a bottle of Scotch. This contrasting, non-liquor ridden ideal of holiness never seemed to have taken root among a certain number of Chicago clergy of the 1960s and 1970s: "Sometimes, a guy just needs a stiff drink."
For some among the post-Vatican II clergy, being free to drink alcohol was an essential expression of independence and freedom.
But this freedom only went so far. One friend has told me that a priest close to him left the priesthood for the very reason that he tired of coming back to his room and drinking alone each night.
The anti-authoritarian attitude of a few of the faculty in control of Niles College in the late 1960s and early 1970s, was similar. Although officially there was not supposed to be liquor in Niles College seminarians' rooms, this rule in time was ineffectively enforced, and in some cases, and at some times, a faculty member's refrigerator might provide beer to whomever among the older students wished to pop open a can.
It is difficult to reconstruct, after the word "enabler" permeated the culture in the 1980s, the prior particular attitude of "concerned let-be" inspired by the work of psychologist Carl Rogers in the 1960s that would let alcohol and some drug abuse run rampant through a college seminary. When coupled with Niles College's late 1960s idiosyncratic interpretation of the humanistic psychology of Abraham Maslow that assumed that young undergraduate men, left unimpeded by any significant authority structure or limits, would grow inevitably to maturity without any pathology, seems to us today as incredibly naive.
But the formations approach at Niles College during the late 1960s and early 1970s was inspired by the highest ideals then current on the freedom of the human spirit.
A close reading of Eugene Kennedy's contemporaneous contribution to the 1970s "priest study" (Heckler, Victor J., and Eugene C. Kennedy. 1972. The Catholic priest in the United States: psychological investigations. Washington: United States Catholic Conference), reveals such a strong focus on maturity and self-actualization, that pathology, outside of immaturity, was hardly considered as a possibility. But pathology is precisely among those things that we would up inheriting from the 1960s and early 1970s Niles College.
It is true that no authority was just about the only authority that the Viet Nam era young man, even the seminary young man, would accept. Hindsight is indeed 20/20, so it is easy to compute now that, if one mixed dozens of young undergraduate men into a seminary that at the time offered a deferment from Viet Nam military draft (and did not ask young men who no longer intended to study for the priesthood to leave the seminary in any systematic way, but let them stay for four years during which a few did little else but party), coupled with the widespread availability of alcohol and drugs, in rooms that offered little privacy, among formations faculty some of whom were still in their young 30s, and placed very few limits on the young men, with some students obtaining liquor from the faculty themselves, that literally all hell would break loose.
The high ideals of the seminary faculty, formed amidst a deep and resentful reaction against their own authoritarian pre-Vatican II training, were contradicted regularly by the disordered reality of the seminary they shaped.
I prefer not to recall how many times at the college seminary that I found a classmate retching with his arms wrapped around a toilet, or passed out on the floor near his own vomit or pee, or hovering at the door of another student in a state of buzzed obsession, or stiff and stupefied unable to walk, or crouched weeping in a stairwell in inebriated panic, or worse, in a state of soused rampage seeking to beat another student. Indeed, our only Latino classmate was driven from the seminary by the relentless, intoxicated vendetta of a bully whom to my knowledge was evidently never disciplined, because, apparently, he was one of the "boys." I recall first meeting a noted theologian as he collapsed, "drunk on his arse," on a nearby couch in the seminary rectory. I remember hearing of one fellow so drunk–perhaps this is apocryphal–that he could not find a part of his anatomy–"It's gone!"–and who broke down in grateful tears when someone helped him "find" it. I particularly remember the "crying in his beer" soliloquy of a student whom decades later was jailed for pedophilia–not the misnamed abuse of a teen or a young adult–but real pedophilia with young children. How he was ever ordained I will never know.
When the press picked up on the "Woodstock" or "blame the 1960s" aspect of the John Jay study, Sr. Mary Ann Walsh, RSM, of the USCCB reacted strongly against this analysis. Fortunately, Sr. Walsh cannot be expected to know even a fraction of what went on at the late 1960s/early 1970s Niles College, which did at times did indeed vie to out-Woodstock Woodstock.
One night working at an apostolate for troubled teens, I cleaned up a drunken young man's vomit off the floor, and returned to Niles College only to find the dorm faculty on vacation and the dormitory filled with drunken and carousing seminary students and female guests.
I recall in particular one Spring day in 1970 when no priest appeared to say the morning Mass at Niles College, and a number of us enlisted our holy teacher of dear memory, the late David J. Hassel, SJ, who walked at our request directly from teaching us in his classroom to the chapel and celebrated Mass. (I highly recommend Fr. Hassel's book, Radical Prayer: Creating a Welcome for God, ourselves, other people, and the world.)
Perhaps the most infamous "prayer service" at Niles College of that era was the Easy Rider-inspired ritual, which culminated with a motorcycle barreling up the aisle. I remember opening the windows to release the fumes from the chapel. At Niles College, aggiornamento apparently meant opening the windows of the church to let the smoke out.
Niles College of the late 1960s and early 1970s was in many ways a social experiment in the establishment of a free, permissive environment, an experiment–based upon an incorrect reading of John Henry Newman and a probably correct reading of Jean-Jacques Rousseau–that not only failed, but that had terrible and costly later consequences in the number of abusers who arose from that environment.
Theoretically, it appeared that the students were expected to develop leadership by being cast into a chaotic and disordered maelstrom. In reality, some forms of order were never established, and great damage was done to some. (By the grace of God, a few other amazingly holy priests somehow survived Niles College). While many of the academic faculty of Niles College were proven, scholarly, and holy men, the formations faculty included men just a few years older than the students, some of whose perplexed attitude toward authority and alcohol mirrored that of the late Monsignor Egan in 1966.
One of the most difficult decisions I made was to remain at Niles College after my first week in the Fall of 1969, a week of what seemed endless carousing and partying by the students long into the night, making study all but impossible unless one hid in a remote corner of the seminary.
I remember sitting in the yard a few hundred feet opposite my dormitory and praying for a long time about my decision, since the college I had chosen was the most contradictory of seminaries. (One of my dear friends, now a missionary priest, was actively discouraged by his father from entering Niles College because of its reputation, so a number of us had advanced warning about what we called "The Niles Experience.")
During my time of prayer, I reasoned that if I was called to be a priest in Chicago, and if Niles College was the pathway, and if the Devil himself had scrambled the seminary, I would ask God for the strength to persist and to live on to change the seminary for the better. (I was indeed blessed to return to much quieter though still troubled Niles College as a lay faculty member years later, 1992-94, until the day it finally closed and moved to another location under a new name.) I coped at Niles College during my own college days by throwing myself into volunteer work at mental hospitals, and at child care and correctional institutions.
Although it was in many ways unfortunate for me that I decided to remain at Niles College in 1969, by three years later, in the week of early December, 1972 when I had the opportunity to graduate early in the upcoming January, and I had made the decision to leave the Chicago seminary, I remember finding a flyer announcing the December 8, 1972 beer party and showing it to a friend. I debated with myself whether I should throw away the flyer, and simply purge myself of the memory. I first threw the flyer out, but later retrieved and archived it. I have never been able to purge myself of the memory, because of what such a beer party on such a holy feast represented for a seminary.
The Immaculate F_ _ _ Party served as a metaphor for me of how a seminary could go almost completely awry, and dishonor its very purpose and the source of its integrity.
With the passing years I came to view the choice of the evening of the feast of the Immaculate Conception for a beer party as an intentional "poisoning of the well" within the seminaries, a not so subtle rejection of Marian devotion and the place of Our Lady in Catholicism, part of a vain attempt by change agents within the seminary to form the illusive "unclerical clergy."
By attempting to wipe out traditional "clericalism," which included certain lifestyle practices meant to sustain clerical virtue, seminary change agents opened the doors to clerical vice.
I recall the mockery at the time that both students and faculty had for things Marian, such as the rosary, the color "Blessed Mother Blue," Marian hymns, prayers, novenas, the Pilgrim Virgin, Lourdes and Fatima, and such organizations as the Blue Army. Seminary students in the early 1970s, unless they were Latino or Polish, where overt piety was tolerated as ethnic heritage, were mocked if they prayed the rosary. Earlier, one pious one close to me was purged from the seminary because of his "authoritarian personality" and Marian devotion by a priest who was finally almost 50 years later revealed as an abuser.
Niles College was quite a change from our early high school days in 1965 at Quigley Seminary North in Chicago, where as freshman (called "Bennies" because Benjamin was the twelfth son of Jacob, and the cycle of high school seminary in Chicago to priesthood took twelve years), we were encouraged to pray the rosary at least once a day. Quigley even had a club called the Beadsmen, who prayed the rosary after school or in between classes.
A seminary friend from that era of the 1970s tells the story of how he placed a statue of the Blessed Mother five separate times in an empty niche in the hallway near his room at the then St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, IL, the major seminary of Chicago, and five times it was removed, despite his public pleas to the contrary. He finally painted Mary's image in the niche, where it reputedly remains to this day.
As a student at Niles College of the late 1960s and early 1970s, I like other students served as subject, whether witting or unwitting, in someone else's social experiment: the construction of an experimental seminary "without rules" in which the students had to form their own social order.
A long-time and holy faculty member at Niles College, Fr. Stanley R. Rudcki, penned in 1995 an article on Niles College in the New Oxford Review entitled, The Tale of a Dead Seminary. I recommend this first-person account by a man of prayer, music, and culture who taught at Niles College from its beginning in the early 1960s to its end in 1994.
In an "Catholic samizdat" article entitled "Deconstructing the Seminary" on the Chicago seminaries that I privately circulated in 1996 and 1997 after years of reflection and after my own return to teach at a later (1992-4) Niles College when I interviewed key witnesses, I wrote:
If it is not an old proverb, it should be–that you should never poison a well, because one day you may desperately desire to drink from it. This adage brings to mind something of a Prometheus in reverse: while it takes a powerful titan to steal fire from the heavens and free humanity from the gods, any trickster can poison a well and sicken a village. In [recent] decades, a number of American seminaries have seen their wells poisoned–by intent, by neglect, by hubris, or by circumstance–and have become for a time sickened villages. These sickened villages have contributed to the many problems besetting the Church. During these decades, some unfortunate American seminaries have been run by faculties including titans and tricksters: titans who sincerely and tragically embraced bad ideas, and tricksters bent on the eradication of a lifestyle which they hated. From year to year bright-eyed young men called to priesthood by the example of Jesus of Nazareth have been forced to maneuver their way through the subtleties and hidden agendas of sickened seminaries. For the sake of these young people, one task of our age is to rebuild the sickened, deconstructed seminary. . . .
What happened? Nothing less than the continual deconstruction of what once was the largest and arguably the finest Roman Catholic seminary system in North America. This deconstruction, far from being the solely the result of demographic and cultural change, was also the result of conscious change-agency in Chicago seminary education. This change-agency included a reduction of the perennial or classical tradition and the by-passing of canonical requirements for seminary activity and conduct. This reduction was accomplished by a subtle dialing down of the thermostat of seminary tradition. . . .
Enough. I now take a big step back from my 1996 words above, and consider, with the perspective of the aging grandfather that I now am–and I never wish to claim to be anything other than a sinner–that while the Catholic seminaries of Chicago have in many ways been reformed thanks in great part to Francis Cardinal George, OMI, Archbishop of Chicago–and thankfully Our Blessed Mother is honored again in the Chicago seminaries–we as a culture have still not learned the "sobering" lesson of the corrupting effects of alcohol abuse on both the young and the old, and the importance of confronting this deadly disease as the public health challenge that it is.
Alcohol abuse provides a turbulent gateway to violence, to sexual abuse in particular–the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism estimates that each year "97,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape"–to injury to hundreds of thousands of young adults and to death for over 1,800 young adults in the USA annually, with 25% of college students reporting that alcohol abuse interferes with their studies.
The scope and scale of the college-age alcohol abuse statistics today are dumbfounding. See them again here.
Alcohol and other drug abuse has not changed greatly over the past decades among the young. Alcohol and drug abuse helped lead to the wild late 1960s, early 1970s days of buzzed stupidity at Niles College Seminary. It was in this environment that a few ill–later to be abusive–men were educated and later unfortunately ordained. The Catholic generation of today, and the generations of tomorrow, will continue to pay the price.
While others debate many of the liturgical or doctrinal changes of Vatican II, few concentrate on the cultural changes, like the proliferation of useless meetings, or the introduction of microphones and sound systems, or especially the impact of alcohol abuse among the clergy and in seminaries.
Much has happened in the seminaries since the 1970s that led these church institutions to come to terms with alcohol abuse among seminarians and clergy. But the damage has been done.
So I agree in this respect with Sr. Walsh: The problem with Niles College during my years there, 1969-1973, was not so much the Woodstock culture. It was the alcohol abuse culture, one of the most powerful forces in human civilization, that still directly today affects by illness about one in thirteen adults and about one in four college students. Think of the wasted energy, resources, and all those student loans taken on by those with this terrible affliction. . .
Forty-some years ago, an idealistic group of change agents shaped, for what they were convinced were the best of reasons, a seminary without rules, but they instead succeeded in releasing one of the most familiar scourges known to man and to woman.
Although colleges and universities still struggle with widespread alcohol abuse to this day, seminaries are among the few institutions, if properly led and structured, that can minimize it.
Earlier this year, we buried a seminary friend from those days, who died, fifteen years earlier than his life expectancy, from the damage that the disease of alcoholism did to his internal organs. Binge drinking sneaked up on him in his later years, in a familiar progression for lifetime drinkers.
As he lay dying and we prayed at his side, I had time to reflect on the past five decades of his life, from a young, bright, promising teen, to an aged and broken physical wreck. His drinking habits were laid down, quite early in his life, in the Chicago seminaries.
"Albert," he asked me, when he woke from a prolonged sleep, "Am I dying?"
"Yes, (his name), you are," I said. "We're here with you (and will pray with you, I thought)."
The disease of alcoholism and alcohol abuse is an attribute of the culture of death. This culture, and its effects, must be systematically eliminated from seminary and priestly life, for the sake of the bright and idealistic young men who begin the journey to priesthood, and for those whom they will serve.
The Immaculate F_ _ _ Party at Niles College Seminary on 12/8/1972 came but a few months after Pope Paul VI stated on 6/29/1972, "Da qualche fessura sia entrato il fumo di Satana nel tempio di Dio (The smoke of Satan has penetrated the Temple of God through some crack)," and expanded upon his remarks on November 15, 1972. But a few of us in 1972 were not then prepared to "put on the armor of God" because we had not yet learned our struggle was not with mere "flesh and blood" but with "Principalities and Powers," as St. Paul warned the Ephesians (6:10-17). We were confronted then not only with the culture of death, but with the power of sin and evil.
So indeed, December 8 will again be for me, a sinner, a day of prayer and atonement, and also a day in which I am happy to report that Chicago seminarians can honor Our Lady once again, and learn from her who is so filled with grace that her "yes" to God helped promise us eternal life. May seminarians especially continue to turn to Our Lady as a paradigm of grace!
And may the Lord forgive our sins from the old, now dead, Niles College. . .
PS: Here is a link to the Office of Readings second reading for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, by St. Anselm. It was these truths that were denied to many of the seminarians 40 years ago —
From a sermon by Saint Anselm, bishop
(Oratio 52: PL 158, 955-956)
Blessed Lady, sky and stars, earth and rivers, day and night – everything that is subject to the power or use of man – rejoice that through you they are in some sense restored to their lost beauty and are endowed with inexpressible new grace. All creatures were dead, as it were, useless for men or for the praise of God, who made them. The world, contrary to its true destiny, was corrupted and tainted by the acts of men who served idols. Now all creation has been restored to life and rejoices that it is controlled and given splendor by men who believe in God. The universe rejoices with new and indefinable loveliness. Not only does it feel the unseen presence of God himself, its Creator, it sees him openly, working and making it holy. These great blessings spring from the blessed fruit of Mary's womb.
Through the fullness of the grace that was given you, dead things rejoice in their freedom, and those in heaven are glad to be made new. Through the Son who was the glorious fruit of your virgin womb, just souls who died before his life-giving death rejoice as they are freed from captivity, and the angels are glad at the restoration of their shattered domain.
Lady, full and overflowing with grace, all creation receives new life from your abundance. Virgin, blessed above all creatures, through your blessing all creation is blessed, not only creation from its Creator, but the Creator himself has been blessed by creation.
To Mary God gave his only-begotten Son, whom he loved as himself. Through Mary God made himself a Son, not different but the same, by nature Son of God and Son of Mary. The whole universe was created by God, and God was born of Mary. God created all things, and Mary gave birth to God. The God who made all things gave himself form through Mary, and thus he made his own creation. He who could create all things from nothing would not remake his ruined creation without Mary.
God, then, is the Father of the created world and Mary the mother of the re-created world. God is the Father by whom all things were given life, and Mary the mother through whom all things were given new life. For God begot the Son, through whom all things were made, and Mary gave birth to him as the Savior of the world. Without God's Son, nothing could exist; without Mary's Son, nothing could be redeemed.
Truly the Lord is with you, to whom the Lord granted that all nature should owe as much to you as to himself.
© Copyright 2012, 2013, Albert J. Schorsch, III
All Rights Reserved


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Southwest Airlines said Thursday afternoon that it has joined the Transportation Security Administration's Pre-Check program, and that select Rapid Rewards members would be asked to opt in to the program.
Participants will see a Pre-Check logo on their boarding passes, allowing them to more quickly pass through the security checkpoint. The program allows those who have undergone pre-screening to leave light jackets, belts and shoes on as they pass through security. Laptops and the quart plastic bags holding their liquids can remain in their carry-on baggage.
The TSA officially unveiled the Pre-Check program at Albany International Airport late last month, although features were being phased in as early as mid-October. Albany is one of 100 airports nationwide to offer the expedited screening program. Southwest is the largest carrier at Albany, with more than 40 percent of the market.
Participants in the Customs and Border Patrol's trusted traveler programs also are eligible to use the Pre-Check lanes.

subset: commoncrawl


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Summary: Over the past several months we've been keeping a monthly journal of the first year on our homestead with all of the high points, as well as the trials and tribulations of transitioning from life in the city to life in the country.
In March, our fourth month, my husband took a leave of absence from our computer consulting business to see if full time work on the homestead was a possibility.
We have been working since January to have enough produce to sell both wholesale to a small local grocery and at the local Farmer's Market. If you want to read our entire journey from month one up to this point you can find all of the posts listed here.
Month Six was entitled reality check. Month seven was basically a continuation of that as we made our first sale to the local co-op and made our first appearance at a few local Farmer's Markets.
Expectation: The Farmer's Market Community with the vendors and market managers is a friendly community. Everyone works to help each other and everyone observes the rules and regulations. The manager is there to see that everything runs smoothly.
Reality: This is only partially true. Some markets did have a friendly feel amongst the members, and the market manager was supportive and helpful to potential new vendors. But there were those that were not. We learned (the hard way) that it is entirely possible to show up on time, registration papers in hand, market fee paid in full, set up, and then be asked to move some of our stuff to accommodate a returning member ~ even though that member had arrived late after the market was open. We also learned it is possible that said member will proceed to ignore the rule of having prices set before the market opens, thereby undercutting you and keeping you from making a sale for the first few hours. It is also possible that the market manager will fudge certain details to save face with said returning member, never take the time to introduce himself, make sure you are comfortable, or learn your name; preferring instead to smoke and hobnob with fellow long standing vendor buddies.
I left our first farmer's market feeling like I had been shunned from a middle school clique.
Expectation: Everyone loves locally grown, striped tomatoes in funky colors.
Reality: The majority of the people who stopped by our booth could have cared less where our stuff came from or how we grew it. We were later told that this crowd preferred round, red hybrid tomatoes. And many want them out of season. I was shocked and saddened to overhear a conversation between a prospective customer and vendor in the neighboring booth:
Customer: What makes your garlic different from what I can purchase in the store?
Vendor: It is healthier for you!
Customer: I don't care about healthy.
Expectation: Fellow local growers are knowledgeable about cultural practices and have no problems visiting with their customers about how their produce is grown.
Reality: When I was a potential customer scouting out a local market I was taken aback when I asked about some radishes.
Me: Can you tell me about how these are grown?
Grower: I'm not sure I understand. What do you mean?
Me: I mean are they organic or conventionally grown?
Grower: What does conventional mean?'
Me: Do you use pesticides?
Grower: Oooooh! Oh no. No. We don't spray at all. If we have to, we start with something mild like Sevin, and then work our way up to something much stronger such as a pyrethrin spray.
Expectation: All the growers sell produce they have grown themselves.
Reality: In Oklahoma the only requirement for selling at the farmer's market is that 70% be grown by the vendor. The remaining 30% can be purchased from someone else.
It is very difficult to set your table loaded with your own vegetables you've struggled to grow in wonky weather next to someone else's who purchased out of season produce from a much larger grower.
No one is really enticed by baby kale when they can get 12" cucumbers, chard the size of elephant ears, or red tomatoes that have apparently been grown in a green house. Although the vendor was upfront about the fact that they were not hers and she did not think they were organically grown, hers was the busy booth that morning. We didn't make a single sale.
Expectation: A pretty booth will draw people in.
Reality: We went to a lot of trouble to put together what we thought was an attractive booth
with a tablecloth, pretty baskets, chalkboards, cut flowers, and recipes for our produce. I even bought a cute gingham pinwheel and stuck it in a tin milk pail.
However, few people paid attention to our display.
While we did get customers who eventually came our way, they immediately bolted from their cars to those who had little more than a table set in front of their pick up.
Expectation: Home grown heirloom produce commands a much higher price than conventionally grown in the grocery store.
Reality: Farmer's Market products were, relatively speaking, priced much cheaper than I had anticipated; and most customers will only purchase a few small items at a time. Where we live, customers have not really seen the value of paying a higher price for better food. If you don't price your products comparatively, they won't sell no matter how healthy or unique.
Expectation: It would be more advantageous to sell full price at the Farmer's Market that to be the middle man selling wholesale to the co-op.
Reality: The local co-op was more than willing to give us a fair price for our lettuces, a price that was only slightly less than the going rate at the Farmer's Market. They were also willing to take whatever we could give them while at the market we have yet to sell out.
Expectation: Once we figure out the right combination or hit upon the right series of events this endeavor will take off. We have the technical knowledge, so all it takes is hard work. One year, or even two, will be sufficient to establish a thriving little produce business.
Reality: Given the opinion of our general public towards locally grown, this will take a marketing strategy that includes educating those around us about why we do what we do.
Given the going rate of products sold both at the market and wholesale, this will take a much larger infrastructure and much more volume than we had originally planned.
We were not given the advantage of inheriting the family farm. We purchased an empty pasture with a pond and have literally started from the ground up.
All of these things will take more time. Much more time.
Expectation: It's just vegetables. You don't take it personal.
Reality: We have invested much blood, sweat, and tears in what we sell. We personally selected varieties that were favorites of ours for significant reasons. While harvesting, we thought often of those we hoped to bless with what we'd grown.
When someone takes a passing glance and wrinkles their nose, it really does sting.
But at the same time, when someone lovingly takes a bunch of your rosemary, inhales deeply, and says wistfully "This reminds me so much of my grandmother…"
…it totally makes your day.
Takeaway from Month Seven:
In spite of the harsh reality, we still believe in what we do.
We love yellow cream sausage tomatoes.
We think Forellenschluss leaves are the most beautiful things we have ever seen.
We still love our over-decorated booth with the chalkboards and the obnoxious pinwheel.
We believe naturally grown, local, in season, is the best thing you can put on your table.
We believe that if we persist, others will come to love and believe in those things too.
We may need to adjust our plan, it will take much longer than we expected but we intend to keep at it.
And anyhow, the chickens will be here next week.
Find this post and others like it linked to: Clever Chicks Blog Hop, The Homestead Barn Hop, The Scoop, Tuesdays with a Twist, The Backyard Farming Connection Hop Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Wildcrafting Wednesday, The HomeAcre Hop, Down Home Blog Hop, Simple Lives Thursday


text: my regulator was a little loose so i unscrewed my trigger frame and i tightened the screw, and now my regulator is very nice and tight. One thing i notied when i screwed it all back togheter is that there is a very small gap between the trigger frame and the body, but the gap is where the trigger frame meets the foregrip. Every other part of the trigger frame is tight, and you cant see thru it. When i look at this i can see he other side, but its not that big of gap either, so i was wondering if you guys have a little gap, and if you dont, how can i fix mine?


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Please update your bookmarks to point to the current Eau Claire Area School District website: www.ecasd.us
My name is Mr. Burns and this is my fifth year teaching Special Education/ Transition here at Memorial High School. I am located in room 1860 also known as the "Old Copy Room" near the library.
Myteaching class schedule is as follows:
1st Hr- Consumer Math (Room 1860)
2nd Hr-Current Events (Room 1440)
3rd Hr- 5th Hr- UWEC / Community Job Skills Program Supervisor (Off-Campus)
6th Hr- Career Exploration (Community Sites and or 1860)
7th Hr- PREP
I continue to be involved with extracurricular activities at MHS as an Assistant Football Coach for the Old Abes. .
Outside of school I enjoy spending time with my wife Tessa and our two sons; Carter (7) and Blake (4) and our 5 year old Weimaraner named Molly. As a family we like to spend as much time outside as possible going for bike rides, spending time on the boat, swimming, spending time at our camper on the Chippewa River, or an occassional campfire accompanied with S'mores. Individually I like to spend time coaching, golfing, hunting, fishing, and playing just about any sport that has to do with a ball and physical movement of the body!
Due to my class schedule and travel to UWEC each day, I can be contacted easiest by email at email@example.com or by leaving me a message at 852-6394.


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I like the "Brad in the wild" picture.
The Roundest of the Epic ConFusion Roundups
For some reason, everyone seems to be succumbing to oneupmanship over their recollections of this particular con. It seemed a bit silly at first, but now that I'm reflecting on the con, I think I understand why.
ConFusion runs every year and from what I understand changes themes every year. This particular year was epic fantasy.
Wait… Let me take a step back.
Last year I went to WisCon. Unlike most years, I had actually booked a room at the hotel early. I was excited, you see. It was the first con after the release of my debut, The Winds of Khalakovo. I was damn sure going, and I was damn sure going to have a hotel room at the con. So a few months before the con I noticed that Saladin Ahmed (whose own debut, Throne of the Crescent Moon, is about to hit the shelves) was looking for a WisCon roomie. I said I had a room, we made plans, and then a month or so before the con he asked if I minded if Scott Lynch roomed with us. I said hells yes, Scott can room with us.
So the con arrives and I hang out a bit with Saladin and Scott, and Saladin starts talking up Epic ConFusion. It's local to Saladin, but the reason he mentions it to me and Scott is that it's focused on epic fantasy, which Scott and I both write (as much as any of us truly write in any of the genre buckets). A few heavy hitters were going to be there, Saladin says. Pat Rothfuss, Brent Weeks, Peter V. Brett, and Joe Abercrombie. So I was like, hells yes I'm going to go to ConFusion, the Epicest of all the Cons!
See, I've been to quite a few cons. But every one I've been to has either been a generic, welcome-one-and-all kind of con or has had themes that I might like but don't necessarily specialize in, like, say, Steampunk. This con, though, Epic ConFusion, I was really looking forward to because I'd be with people living and working in my neck of the woods.
As the con approached, I was being lazy about getting my flight and hotel, and I saw that Doug Hulick, author of the great debut, Among Thieves, was looking for a roomie, so I said hells yes, I'll share a room. Luckily, Doug agreed.
So when we get there on Friday, I basically didn't have anything to do. Friday was a free day. All my stuff was on Saturday and Sunday. But the fun got going really quickly. I hung out and talked to folks at the bar, including Al Bogan, Amy Sundberg, Doug Hulick, Saladin, Scott, and plenty more. Then I went to the I, Suck panel, which featured Pat Rothfuss, Joe Abercrombie, Scott Lynch, John Scalzi, and (moderator) Jim Hines. Now listen, any panel with Pat Rothfuss is going to be interesting. As is one with John Scalzi. But with Jim moderating and Joe and Scott providing one liners and Britishisms along the way? It was damned funny. And, strangely enough, it was grounding in a way, listening to these greats in the field talk about all the ways in which they suck. I don't want to slip into schadenfreude, but it's strangely encouraging to realize your're not alone in all of the little things that plague you as a writer.
Then came the opening ceremonies, a thing I had never experienced at any con. It was pretty fun. Jim Hines, the toastmaster, had prepared some nice and humorous comments about everyone, poking a bit of fun, but not in a mean way.
I hung out in the bar that night, but I was fairly tired, and called it quits kind of early. Midnight-ish.
On Saturday, my highlights included hanging out with Al Bogdan a bit, participating in a mass autograph signing, and hanging out with Saladin and some others to celebrate the debut of THRONE.
Al is a great photographer, and he took a number of photos. The scenery at the hotel wasn't the greatest, and I didn't have the best clothes on for formal pics, but they still turned out nice despite that. I've got on of his photos at the top of the post, and this one, which I call: Brad, Caught in the Wild!
The signing was a lot of fun because, as I'll talk about in a bit, it was the start of the feeling that I was part of this crowd. A lot of people came to the signing, and Pat Rothfuss, as usual, created line envy in all the other authors. Even so, Peter V. Brett, Brent Weeks, Robin Hobb, and Scott Lynch all had respectable lines. I sold three books and signed three more. And I also signed a few programs and also someone's tee shirt!
I also hung out with Justin Landon, of Staffer's Musings fame, and Patrick Wolohan, from Yeti Stomper. It was cool to meet up with these guys, reviewers, who have their finger on the pulse of the industry in a way that's different from my own.
I had only one panel on Saturday, but three on Sunday. One personal highlight, not just of the con, but of my young writing career, was the panel I moderated, a panel that was graced by the presence of Brent Weeks, Doug Hulick (standing in for Jason Sanford), Pat Rothfuss. And Robin Hobb. I've looked up to Robin Hobb for a long time now. To moderate a panel with her on it was, wow, just wonderful. It was a very special experience for me.
Beyond that, though, the con was special for me because, by the time Sunday rolled around, I felt like I'd stepped through a doorway of sorts. Robin Hobb was one thing, but meeting the rest of these epic fantasy authors was special because they were where I was not so long ago. I'm not claiming that I'm going to enjoy their level of success any time soon (though who knows?) but it did feel—not sure how best to describe this—like a brotherhood of sorts. As though I could hang with these guys. I came away optimistic in a way I haven't from other cons I've attended.
I'll also admit to feeling a bit daunted. They've all set the bar terribly high for those of us coming up behind. But I'm always up for a challenge. And though you may not guess it from talking to me, I'm competitive as hell, so I'm looking forward to this challenge. I want to write the best books I can and to try to break out, or at least to maximize my readership.
Here's hoping…


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by Law Murray
The NBA Draft is this week, and the NBA Finals was decided last week, but next week will be what changes the league.
Tags: 1SKILLZ, 2015 NBA Draft, Amir Johnson, Andre Iguodala, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Cameron Payne, Carmelo Anthony, Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, Chris Bosh, Cleveland Cavaliers, Courtney Lee, D'Angelo Russell, Dallas Mavericks, Damian Lillard, Danilo Gallinari, Darren Collison, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Devin Booker, Dirk Nowitzki, Emmanuel Mudiay, Evan Turner, Gerald Henderson, Golden State Warriors, Gorgui Dieng, Harrison Barnes, Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Jahlil Okafor, Joakim Noah, John Wall, Jordan Hill, Jrue Holiday, Justise Winslow, Karl-Anthony Towns, Kelly Oubre, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kristaps Porzingis, Kyrie Irving, LeBron James, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Marcus Morris, Mario Hezonja, Markel Brown, Matt Barnes, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Michael Carter-Williams, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, NBA Finals 2015, NBA offseason 2015, NBA Offseason Maintenance Report, New Orleans Pelicans, New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic, Patrick Beverley, Paul Millsap, Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, R.J. Hunter, Roy Hibbert, Russell Westbrook, Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs, Stanley Johnson, Steph Curry, Steve Kerr, Tim Duncan, Tobias Harris, Tony Wroten, Toronto Raptors, Trey Burke, Tyus Jones, Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards, Willie Cauley-Stein
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Pharaon Island
Egyptian Antiquities Organization
Word File
The Secretariat of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Heritage Centre do not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement or other information or documentation provided by the States Parties to the World Heritage Convention to the Secretariat of UNESCO or to the World Heritage Centre.
The publication of any such advice, opinion, statement or other information documentation on the World Heritage Centre's website and/or on working documents also does not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of UNESCO or of the World Heritage Centre concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its boundaries.
Property names are listed in the language in which they have been submitted by the State Party
It is Island in Aqaba Gulf in the north. There are many different structures datings. Saladin built astrong outpost to protect land and sea routes between Egypt, Syria and Hejaz. It consists of north and south fortifications. In the central plain between them there were built the storehouse, the rooms, and the mosque. The north fortifications include several buildings for different uses and rooms for over night stay, kitchen and the oven and bath-rooms.


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NEW DELHI, India (Aug. 5)
The United Arab Republic Embassy in New Delhi has expanded its anti-Israel propaganda in this country, issuing new publications and organizing an all-expense paid tour of Egypt and Syria.
While UAR propaganda is falling on fertile soil in this country, the absence of diplomatic relations between Israel and India has prevented Israel telling its story to the Indian people and their political leaders. An Israel trade mission, the only representation here, is not in a position to educate Indians about Israeli life and Middle East politics.
After the subsidized tour, newspapers and magazines around the country sprouted anti-Israel articles. For example, the Communist Bombay weekly "Blitz" has begun publishing unsupported "reports" of secret negotiations for a Turkish-Israel alliance and "closer cooperation" between the two states in the production of arms. Even Prime Minister Nehru recently spoke in Parliament of "ominous sounds" from Israel.
The most recent UAR publication, a press release from the UAR Embassy here, contains such "reports" as: negotiations between the Israelis and the West for inclusion of Israel in the Bagdad Pact and the issuance of "orders" by the New Iraqi Government that Radio Bagdad, an implacable foe of Israel, should "cease cooperation" with the Israeli radio network.


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Valencia, Week 1
Running a schedule
We had not been keeping time for days and having lost our phone charger back in Kenya the only item we had capable of keeping time was my camera. A little foolishly we had set it from the church bells the night before which in Madrid seem to go off without any respect to time. When I woke up in the morning I was painfully aware that in all probability our clock was wrong and we were possibly late for the bus. With this in mind we didn't waste too much time getting to the met station where the clock on the platform was over 30 minutes ahead of ours and translated to "Unless you are lucky you're not going to make it". For some reason I should have been panicking but I just couldn't bring myself to care. We arrived at the bus station 35 minutes later and were greeted with a clock showing the same time as my camera, it had been right all along.
The bus ride was unnecessarily slow as we were restricted to 80km/h by law. Add to this a break for food at 11 in the morning and we had somehow turned a two hour bus ride into four. The landscape was pretty desolate for most of the trip but some quaint hillside villages along the way added charm to an otherwise drab scene. The bus dropped us just metres from our apartment in Valencia but because we had no keys and didn't know the address we were forced to travel across town before without dropping our bags off. After a bit of huffing and puffing we got our keys and found our apartment. Inside we were greeted by Gabriella from Sweden and we later met Else from Holland and Annette from Germany.
The apartment was spacious and homely if a little old and under-furnished. Our room had two twin beds and a private en suite to boot. It was flooded with natural light and had built in wardrobes. After having a quick chat to our new house mates we decided to go shopping. To our dismay we were told that the nearest full sized supermarket that was open on a Sunday was a 20 minute bus ride away, our only other option was the oddly stocked supermarket downstairs which seemed to sell only Ukrainian products. We found a few ingredients which looked like they might belong in a pasta and for the first time in months cooked our own meal.
Posted by jaredlking 21:33 Comments (0)


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Sasha Grey or James Deen), or who at least have earned SAG cards.
Sasha Grey or James Deen), or who at least have earned SAG cards.
- No, seriously. Pay for your porn.
I see a lot of people telling they don't like this or that because "people don't fuck like this". But I think you guys miss the point : porn is not supposed to be realistic. Porn is supposed to be about fantasies. That's why you have girls with D-cup (or bigger), that's why you have all those giant penises, that's you have so many girld with jhuge asses, that's why very few pornstars don't do anal, that's why you have all these 40 years old men fucking 25 years old girls, that's why there' very few pornstars who don't do lesbian scenes (or FFM threesomes), etc.
If you're looking for realistic on camera sex, go watch amateur porn.
What I don't like in porn :
- The lack of male talents : There's hundreds of girls but only somethings like 20 guys. And some of them are just everywhere. Damn, I'ml tired of seing Keiran Lee's face
- The standardized scenes : blow job, pussy-eating, pussy fucking position 1, 2 & 3, ass-fucking position 1, 2 & 3, blow-job, ejaculation. Please; porn directors, don't do thing exactly in that order...
- Shots on the guy's face.
I'm 6.5, about 220 pounds and I second that.Originally Posted by cestmoi 2010
Many good points made so far I'm agreeing with.
I think the whole step family thing has gotten a little out of hand. I just find this genre a little weird and creepy.
Some of these have been said already:
**Cowgirl position - shot BEHIND her. NO! The very best part about Cowgirl is the ability to see her facial reactions and to be able to kiss her lips/breasts/etc. Porn is geared to men so why do we see Cowgirl shot from behind? Shoot from the Guy's P.O.V. Show us the front of HER! She me Ariella Ferrera's eyes rolling into the back of her head and the violent way she cums. Show me THAT! // Great cowgirl scene with Jenna and Brad Armstrong, in the one where she imagines herself as characters in different books. It is shot from Brad's POV, and is fucking HOT!
Spitting - ALL OF IT! Even for lube. Really - the performers can't find lube on a porn set?!? Come on! I read somewhere they have gallon containers of it!
Women who don't have make-up touch up their rectums.
"Fake" squirters. Again - really? You see a THICK, YELLOW stream - and expect us to NOT think you're urinating???
Bad camera-work: like, doggie-style, and it is from the side with the woman's arms blocking her tits. And/or focusing from above the performers, so you have no visual of the penetration.
CONSTANT moaning...
(To name a few)
About half the porn I watch is American, while the other half is JAV. They are opposite in virtually every way, except for the basic premise of hardcore sex. Almost everything I like about one, I dislike about the other. Certain things I dislike about both.
1. They do a better job with clothing, hair and makeup by far than American porn. Not overdone. Nice hairstyles. Real world sexy clothing instead of thongs and 5 inch heals. Their women are attractive in a believable, non cheesy way.
2. Fewer implants and obvious work done.
3. No tattoos on basically any of their women. Maria Ozawa finally got one tat. I think it's the only one I've ever seen in JAV.
4. They take the time to build up scenes and tease the viewer.
5. Their sex scenes don't follow a laundry list of check the box positions and activities. The scenes vary a lot. In one, it might just be BJ. In another, it might just be fondling. The content of the sex scenes actually relates to the story lines, which they take more seriously than we do.
6. The acting, especially the women, is better than American porn.
1. While it's nice that they like to draw things like clothing removal out to tease the viewer, some things get drawn out too long. You might be treated to 10 minutes straight of breast play in one scene, three minutes of just watching the guy suck her nipples. There has to be a happy medium between the American concept of rushing to the ultimate acts as fast as possible and the sometimes plodding nature of JAV scenes.
2. The clothing is great, but pantyhose? I think in the US we think of pantyhose as something our moms used to wear. Japanese men obviously have a huge fetish for them.
3. Vibrators? Boring. Virtually every movie has a least one lengthy vibrator scene.
4. Pissing and other odd fetishes are mainstream, and so they occur not just in fetish themed movies, but all the time, and when you don't expect it. If you're into watching a chick piss, there should be themed movies for that. It shouldn't be in every third porno movie with no warning.
5. Virtually no anal sex ever. I like to watch anal.
6. Small dicks. I like to watch chicks being fucked by guys with big dicks.
7. Genitalia is censored/blurred. Awful.
8. It's in Japanese and I can't understand the dialogue. This is a problem because their porn is more story and dialogue oriented.
9. JAV focuses a lot on breasts, while American focuses more on ass. I like both but generally prefer ass.
For American porn, just invert everything above. The pros are cons and the cons are pros.
The camera work is a little better in JAV, but honestly, it sucks in both.
Every post so far is a valid point, and I have nothing to add...
Except a question: Does anyone who can change these things actually read threads like this? I've seen more than one thread which asks the same question, some with hundreds of replies. It amazes me that at least one producer or performer hasn't taken a few pointers from the fans to try to improve their product - and consequently, their income.
Can't a mod make some calls or something?
It's also weird in several ways, like how they usually will show an asshole but not a pussy, as if somehow pussies are offensive but assholes are A-OK. Also, no restrictions on showing cum. You can watch a woman literally lap up cum off the floor but you can't see a dick or pussy.
I don't understand the unecessary plots. Why put effort into writing a script, when the vast majority of viewers are only tuning in to jerk off anyways?
I don't like facials at all, if i have to cum on her, i'd rather cum on her tits or on her back. I don't mind cum shots in porn, but in real life i'd prefer to cum inside her or in a condom.


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From the beginning, Wai Lana® has always made an immediate impact on their audience. Starting with the television shows that aired internationally, all the way up to the modern-day instructional videos and DVDs. Along with directing and hosting her own shows, Wai Lana has designed her own clothes and recorded albums. Needless to say, her creativity is a driving force in the Wai Lana yoga product line.
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Juneau police, fire officials and state troopers reported:
Capital City Fire and Rescue reported a fire aboard a 26foot Uniflite off North Douglas about noon Wednesday. The fire was caused by a fuel overflow from a heating and cooking unit. Three people who were aboard put out the fire with a dry chemical fire extinguisher and returned to the North Douglas boat ramp. They were met by Capital City Fire and Rescue personnel. One person was transported to Bartlett Regional Hospital for treatment of possible smoke inhalation.
A woman reported about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday from Seventh Street that a portable CD player had been stolen from her Subaru.
A woman reported about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday from Riverside Drive that her Black Diamondback bicycle had been stolen.
Vandalism and criminal mischief:
A man reported about 5 p.m. Wednesday from Lemon Creek Road that he discovered a 3-foot gouge on his car's bumper.
Vehicle accidents:
Police responded to a two-vehicle accident about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday near the intersection of Channel Drive and Egan Drive. A 1988 Chevrolet driven by a man, 44, sustained an estimated $8,000 damage. A 1994 Chevrolet driven by a man, 39, had an estimated $200 damage. The driver of the 1994 Chevy was cited for failure to maintain safe distance. Both vehicles were driven from the scene.
Police responded to a two-vehicle accident about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday near the intersection of Willoughby Street and Egan Drive. A 2000 Pontiac driven by a boy, 16, was totaled. A 1996 Dodge driven by a man, 36, also was totaled, and the driver was transported to Bartlett Regional Hospital for treatment of minor injuries. The 16-year-old driver was cited for failure to yield after stopping.
Hit-and-run incidents:
A man reported about 5 p.m. Wednesday that his Chevrolet Cavalier was struck at an unknown time and place, damaging it on the passenger side.
Animal encounters:
Police received a report about 12:30 a.m. today of a bear rubbing against the sliding glass doors of a house on Mendenhall Loop Road.
A man, 43, was arrested for trespassing about 4 p.m. Wednesday near South Franklin Street. He was lodged at the Lemon Creek Correctional Center.
Alcohol-related calls: 1
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text: Sideline and Event Management in GolfWadsworth, L. Tyler MDCurrent Sports Medicine Reports: May-June 2011 - Volume 10 - Issue 3 - p 131-133 doi: 10.1249/JSR.0b013e31821d040b Sideline and Event Management Abstract Author Information Article Outline Golf has great popularity as a spectator sport, as well as a participation sport. Providing coverage for golf events can range from mass event coverage for large professional tournaments to provision of injury care at local golf events. This article provides a brief introduction to the game of golf for those unfamiliar with its play, an overview of the types of injuries seen, and consideration in providing care for a variety of golf competitions. Department of Family and Community Medicine; Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship, Saint Louis University School of Medicine; Athletic Training Education Program, Doisy College of Health Sciences, Saint Louis University; and Saint Louis University Athletics Department, Center for Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, Belleville, IL Address for correspondence: L. Tyler Wadsworth, MD, Saint Louis University Athletics Department, Center for Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, 180 South Third Street, Suite 100, Belleville, IL 62220 (E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com). Abstract Introduction Basics Injury Patterns Treatment Event Coverage Conclusion References Back to Top | Article Outline Introduction Golf is a popular participation and spectator sport in the United States. One of the appeals of the sport is that it can be enjoyed throughout the life span by both young and old. It is a sport with modest physical demands, although injuries do occur. Acute injuries tend to occur from carelessness causing the club or ball to strike someone, from the sometimes violent effort used by some golfers attempting to hit prodigious shots, and occasionally by falls on slick or steep surfaces. Chronic injuries are frequently caused by overuse during repetitive practice or play. Environmental and age-related concerns are important to keep in mind when providing medical coverage for golf events. Golf tournaments range in complexity from simple fundraiser half-day events to multimillion dollar, 4-d Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) Tour events. Back to Top | Article Outline Basics The goal of golf is to get the ball into the cup in the fewest strokes possible. Each swing, or attempted swing, is considered a stroke. "Par" is the number of strokes the course designer intended to be taken on a given hole. Tournament courses have 18 holes, predominantly comprising holes that play to a par of four, usually with two to six par three and par five holes, for a total course par of 70 to 72. Most tournaments are played according to "stroke play," in which the winner of the competition is the golfer who takes the fewest strokes. Some competitions consist of a single 18-hole round, whereas others occur over several days. Most PGA Tour events are 4-d tournaments played according to stroke play. "Match play" is a competition between two golfers or two teams. The side that holes the ball in the fewest strokes wins that hole. If both sides take the same number of strokes, the hole is tied. The winner of the competition is declared when one side has won more holes than are remaining, or if tied at the end of 18 holes, typically the match continues until one player wins a hole. A system of handicapping golf competitors is in place to allow golfers of different skill levels to compete equitably. Many amateur tournaments use the Golf Handicap Information Network to equalize the field. Handicap systems are not used in professional competitions. Several different swing techniques are used to advance the ball to the cup. "The full swing" refers to longer shots, generally greater than 60 yd in distance, in which the goal is to hit the ball to a target down the fairway or to the putting green, which contains the cup. Putting, chipping, and pitching are types of shots used for shorter distances. These swings are different in technique from the full swing and require lower-intensity muscle firing. Most acute and overuse golf injuries occur as a result of the full swing. Although the golf swing varies considerably, even among professionals, the swing is broken down into basic components common to all techniques: the preswing routine, setup, or address; the backswing; the downswing; impact; and follow-through. The golf swing is asymmetrical and places different demands on the dominant and nondominant sides of the golfer's body. (When referring to "dominance" in the golf swing, references to "dominant" versus "nondominant" refer to the side the golfer is playing from, swinging right-handed versus left-handed, rather than right- versus left-brain dominance). Back to Top | Article Outline Injury Patterns Amateur and professional golfers display somewhat different injury patterns. Injuries to the nondominant wrist and to the lower back are common in both groups (10). Amateur golfers have a higher incidence of elbow and shoulder injuries than professional golfers (2). Male professional golfers experience more injuries to the left shoulder than their female counterparts, while female professional golfers have more injuries to the left wrist than male professional golfers have (11). Regarding elbow injuries, lateral elbow pain occurs at a much higher frequency than medial elbow pain in amateur golfers, whereas professional golfers have a similar incidence of medial and lateral elbow pain. As with the shoulder, the nondominant hand and wrist are most commonly injured. While most injuries of the hand and wrist are overuse injuries, the wrist and hand is the most common acutely injured body segment in golf (15). Generally, acute injuries occur when striking the ground, a root, or tree on follow-through, or in thick weeds. Hook of the hamate fractures are not uncommon in golf, similar to those seen in baseball, occurring due to both acute and chronic stress injury (3). DeQuervain's disease of the nondominant wrist is seen in golfers. Some authors relate this to the ulnar deviation of the nondominant wrist that occurs at impact (12). Other tendinopathies that have been reported in golfers include the flexor carpi radialis and extensor carpi radialis. Older golfers also are at risk for osteoarthritis of the wrist and hand, including the first metacarpal-trapezium joint. Injuries to the shoulders primarily involve the nondominant shoulder (7). At the end of the backswing, the nondominant shoulder is horizontally adducted and internally rotated, a position of impingement that also stresses the acromioclavicular joint. Rotator cuff injuries are common in golf and are generally chronic in nature (8). Golf-related back injuries include soft tissue injuries (acute and chronic muscular strain, muscular spasm), acute disk injury, and exacerbation of the myriad causes of back pain unrelated to golf. Countless hours on the driving range allow most professional golfers to hone and maintain smooth, efficient swings but also are a risk factor associated with overuse injuries. Professional golfers have the highest incidence of back injury of all professional athletes (14). Frequently, sedentary golfers have limited strength, endurance, and/or flexibility. The inefficient and sometimes violent swings of these golfers may result in acute or repetitive trauma to these weak, tight structures. "Overswinging" occurs when brute strength is used to compensate for biomechanical inefficiencies in "weekend golfers'" attempts to hit prodigious drives. Unfortunately, these attempts usually involve intemperate effort rather than a well-coordinated, athletic movement, and also can cause injury. During the golf swing, amateur golfers generate 80% greater torque and shear loads than those produced by professional golfers (7). These loads have been implicated in disk injury. Back to Top | Article Outline Treatment Treatment of injuries in golfers involves the same techniques used in other athletes. The exquisite timing and coordination required for an elite swing is vulnerable to maladaptation to accommodate injury, and can be difficult to reestablish. For this reason, one must be cautious when advising an injured competitive golfer to "work through" a painful swing. Swing changes may cause improvement or worsening of scores, and much thought must go into the decision to make a conscious change in swing technique. However, evidence exists that adapting swing technique can allow resolution of chronic back injury in the elite golfer (5). Because improving the biomechanical efficiency of the golf swing can result in better shots and a smoother, less physically stressful swing, advising golfers to seek advice from a teaching professional will enhance success of a treatment program. Advising the golfer to work on less physically demanding shots, such as putts and chips, while an injury heals will result in better play when they are ready to resume playing matches and results in a less frustrated patient. Be aware that although putting is not physically demanding, the posture required to putt is stressful to many lumbar spine injuries. Return-to-play issues are influenced by the same principles considered when advising athletes in other sports. Functional range of motion, strength, and endurance and the emotional readiness of the athlete must be assessed (6). A progressive return-to-play starting with putting, chipping, and pitching followed by advancing through longer clubs using the full swing has been recommended (1). Back to Top | Article Outline Event Coverage Provision of medical services during a golf tournament presents unique challenges compared with other mass spectator events and is more similar to marathon or road race coverage than stadium- or arena-based mass spectator events. Bleacher seating is available near some holes, but fans are allowed to walk around the course. Over a 4-d PGA tour event, each round starts early in the day and frequently lasts until the late afternoon or dusk. This exposes fans to prolonged contact with environmental conditions and, in some cases, prolonged consumption of alcohol. Golf courses typically cover more than 100 acres, and fans may be situated nearly anywhere on the course, so access to all parts of the course is necessary to provide adequate care. Weather-related injuries are common, especially heat injuries on hot days. When planning for mass-spectator events, it is advisable to have a medical area staffed and equipped to handle minor emergencies in order to avoid overwhelming local emergency facilities. The medical team should consist of physicians, nurses, certified athletic trainers, emergency medical technicians, medical assistants, clerical staff, and others as needed. If large crowds are anticipated, more sophisticated capabilities should be provided. Many summer events are crowded with deconditioned individuals. Arranging for a dedicated medical communications network and mobile response teams on bicycles, golf carts, or other methods is advisable if large crowds are anticipated. Automated external defibrillators should be available at strategic locations or rapidly available via mobile carts to the far reaches of the course. Having areas for emergency cooling and oral and intravenous fluid resuscitation is advisable when large crowds are anticipated in hot, humid weather. Emergency transport for people who are too numerous or too severely injured or ill to be managed onsite must be planned in advance. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of data regarding the types, incidence, severity, or other details of injuries observed at large golf events. Likewise, there is little literature describing details of medical coverage provided at these events. In the one published survey of medical coverage of PGA Tour events, Ma et al. found that a variety of providers were present at 97% of tour events (9). These included physicians, nurses, emergency medical technicians, and paramedics, with at least one Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS)-certified provider with ACLS equipment. Ambulances were onsite at 89% of events. Fan fatalities have been reported at PGA Tour events. Ma indicated that three fan fatalities were reported at 36 PGA Tour events (4), although causes of death were not reported. More golfers die from being struck by lightning than participants in any other sport other than fishing, and in some years outnumber fishers, despite fewer participants (4). Weather is a variable that can be planned for but not controlled. It is important to establish a weather policy in advance of competition. Some courses are equipped with lightning detection systems. The old adage "If you hear it, clear it" is conservative but wise, as lightning is typically most intense along the leading edge of the storm. Death by lightning has occurred among spectators at PGA Tour events, so contingencies must be made with these possibilities in mind whenever large crowds are anticipated at a golf event. Lightning can travel as far as 10 miles in front of or behind a storm, so waiting for rain is foolhardy. Lightning detection systems are advisable when large crowds are expected. Lightning detection systems are installed at many golf courses, and portable lightning detection systems also are available, which can be rented for courses that do not have permanently installed systems. Typically, sirens or airhorns are sounded to warn competitors and spectators about potential lightning and to suspend play. Competitors and spectators should be advised of proper precautions to take when lightning is a threat. Avoiding open areas, single trees, power lines, bodies of water, golf carts, clubs, and umbrellas are important safety strategies. Clubhouses, protected shelters, and closed vehicles are the best options. Courses vary in the protection afforded to players. When large crowds are anticipated, plans for orderly evacuation of the course should be made in advance and evacuation information provided in the form of signage and/or information provided in the event program. Some events provide buses at locations around the course for temporary shelter during storms. For courses and events without lightning detection systems, the old adage regarding thunder and lightning is proposed as a guideline: "If you can see it, flee it; if you can hear it, clear it." An excellent review of lightning safety and treatment of lightning injury has been published in Annals of Emergency Medicine (16). Most fatalities from lightning strikes occur due to cardiac arrest, so ACLS protocols should be followed, with rapid defibrillation a key goal in resuscitation. Those who survive a lightning strike without cardiac arrest generally survive but must be followed closely for neurologic injury. Contrary to popular belief, lightning victims are not "charged," and resuscitation should be immediate without fear of being electrocuted by the victim. However, care should be taken to remove the victim and rescuers to safe shelter from further lightning strikes. Lightning victims should be evaluated for injuries related to falls or barotrauma that can occur close to a direct lightning strike, including neurologic, musculoskeletal, and internal injuries. Neurologic injury is typically the most profound long-term injury sustained by lightning victims. Information about lightning injury and prevention can be found at a Web site sponsored by the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration, www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov (13). Medical care for athletes involved in high-level professional competition is provided in a secure area, away from the general public. Physical therapy trailers are available at PGA, Champion's Tour, and Ladies' Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour stops, which are staffed by physical therapists, chiropractors, and certified athletic trainers. As the overwhelming majority of injuries among highly competitive golfers are overuse injuries, medical facilities emphasize treatment of these types of injuries over evaluation of acute injury. Back to Top | Article Outline Conclusion Golf events, like golfers, come in all sizes and forms. The care of the golfer involves the customary approach to sport-related injuries: making an accurate diagnosis, maintaining or restoring musculoskeletal and cardiovascular functioning, and providing sport-specific assessment and conditioning. Return-to-play is driven by degree of recovery, emphasizing the health and safety of the athlete, and can be enhanced by professional instruction. The level of medical coverage provided at golf events is related to the number of anticipated participants and/or spectators, weather conditions, access to local health care facilities, and tournament resources. If large crowds are anticipated, greater resources are necessary to provide adequate onsite medical coverage and avoid overwhelming local emergency facilities. A formal lightning safety policy should be an important part of preevent planning when large crowds are predicted.Back to Top | Article Outline References1. Andrews JR, Wilk KE, Harrelson GL. Physical Rehabilitation of the Injured Athlete, 3rd Edition. Philadelphia: WB Sanders, 2004. Cited Here... 2. Batt ME. A survey of golf injuries in amateur golfers. Br. J. Sports Med. 1992; 26:63-5. Cited Here... 3. Bishop AT, Beckenbaugh RD. Fracture of the hamate hook. J. Hand Surg. 1988; 13:135-9. Cited Here... | PubMed | CrossRef 4. Cherington M. Lightning Injuries in Sports. Sports Med. 2001; 31:301-8. Cited Here... | View Full Text | CrossRef 5. Grimshaw PN, Burden AM. Case report: reduction of low back pain in a professional golfer. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2000; 32:1667-73. Cited Here... 6. Herring SA. The team physician and return-to-play issues: a consensus statement. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2002; 34:1212-4. Cited Here... 7. Hosea TM, Gatt CJ. Back pain in golf. Clin. Sports Med. 1996; 15:37-53. Cited Here... 8. Jobe FW, Moynes DR, Anonelli DJ. Rotator cuff function during a golf swing. Am. J. Sports Med. 1986; 14:388-92. Cited Here... 9. Ma OJ, Millward L, Schwab RA. EMS coverage at PGA Tour events. Prehosp. Emerg. Care. 2002; 6:11-4. Cited Here... 10. McCarroll JR. The frequency of golf injuries. Clin. Sports Med. 1996; 15:1-7. Cited Here... 11. McCarroll JR, Gioe TJ. Professional golfers and the price they pay. Phys. Sports Med. 1982; 10:54-70. Cited Here... 12. Murray PM, Cooney WP. Golf-induced injuries of the wrist. Clin. Sports Med. 1996; 15:85-109. Cited Here... 13. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [Internet]. [Accessed 27 March 2011]. Available from: www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov. Cited Here... 14. Watkins RG. Lumbar disc injury in the athlete. Clin. Sports Med. 2002; 21:147-65. Cited Here... 15. Wiesler ER, Lumsden B. Golf injuries of the upper extremity. J. Surg. Orth. Adv. 2005; 14:1-7. Cited Here... 16. Zimmermann C, Cooper MA, Holle RL. Lightning safety guidelines. Ann. Emerg. Med. 2002; 39:660-4. Cited Here... © 2011 American College of Sports Medicine


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The hotel brings modern luxury intersecting Pittsburgh's commercial and cultural corridors. The 185-room hotel celebrates the city's industrial past and current art scene, revitalising downtown Pittsburgh.
The design team's task was to deliver an 'exceedingly' green hotel, showcasing artifacts excavated during construction and creating an authentic Pittsburgh experience. Guided by the theme 'Art and Industry', the design team created interiors that are reflective and respectful of the local community. The 202,000 sq ft hotel features a restaurant, bar, lobby lounge, a 77,000 sq ft spa and fitness centre and 12,000 sq ft meeting space, including a 6,000 sq ft divisible ballroom while guest rooms and suites are situated on the top ten floors of the 24-story-building taking advantage of the surrounding views of downtown Pittsburgh, Mount Washington, PNC ballpark and the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers.
The designers used local steel and glass details throughout the hotel and featured works by local artisans such as dramatic ballroom chandeliers and glass pendant fixtures in the lobby and bar. Strategic 'homes' were created to showcase the 100% artwork by local Pittsburgh artists throughout the hotel including every guest room and suite. An 18-foot-tall organic wooden sculpture welcoming hotel guests at the entrance, adding an unexpected element in juxtaposition to the sleek modern lobby interior.
A unique project feature is the integration of historical artifacts, connecting the modern guest experience with a glimpse of what life was like on this site 150 years ago. The design team distributed these artifacts throughout 'pause' points in the hotel, educating and entertaining guests as they wait for elevators, transition from lobby to bar or relax in their suites. At this LEED Gold certified hotel, the guests will broaden their hotel experience as modern luxury, sustainability, art, history and authenticity are all well blended.
The Fairmont Pittsburgh
Three PNC Plaza
800 - 17th Street PNC Place
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Hydro Shoot Box 40
Temporarily out of stock Choice available
- Variations
Unit price
49.95 € *
apx. £44.13
incl. 19% VAT plus shipping"
from 7 €
- Availability
- Item number
- 11332
- Group:
- Growboxes
- Base area:
- 40 x 40 cm
- Height:
- 120 cm
- Degree of reflection:
- 95 %
- Volume:
- 192 m³
- Material:
- Metal, Synthetics
- Colour:
- Black0,50, Silver0,50
- Brand:
- Secret Jardin
- Type:
- 40
The Hydro Shoot Series is a entry level grow box series for beginners and gardeners with limited budget. Secret Jardin, the makers of the popular Dark Room, have nevertheless ensured that besides the price the quality is right as well.
Thus, while such comfortable accessories as a carrying case have been removed, there has been no compromise on the quality of the box itself.
Therefore, a Hydro Shoot Box, as usual for Secret Jardin, is easy to set up. Other quality features include sturdy zippers and a strong frame (up to 10kg).
Also, the inner coating of the tent with a reflectance of 98% (Mylar 70D) leaves nothing to be desired. The Hydro Shoot Box is also 100% light proof, of course.
Technical details:
- Dimensions: 40 x 40 x 120 cm (length x width x height)
- Weight: 3 kg
- Diameter of the opening for the air hoses: 150 mm
- Light-tight and waterproof
- Stable frame, up to 10kg load capacity
- Quickly and easily set up
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Relationship Spotting: How to Communicate With Your Lover Without Words
Gary October 28, 2012
They say that 93% of communication is nonverbal, so it stands to reason that in our relationships (the most important place in which we communicate) we should pay special attention to the messages we are sending. These greeting cards from Walkup Press are a great way to send a message to your special someone without having to say it out loud. Do you expect your boyfriend to know what you are thinking without you having to say it? Give him a little hint. Are you super pissed off at your girlfriend, but she is blissfully unaware? Send her the cunt card. That will get the message across loud and clear, and in a totally nonverbal way.via ]
By Gary
Gary is the gay guy that every girl wants to be, and every guy wants to be with (Mostly because he can't get pregnant). He is based in Manhattan, but loves traveling to exotic new people, and sleeping with interesting new places. He is an adventurous writer, digital artist, and game designer that will try almost anything if it makes a good story. --Instagram: @garyadrianrandall --Twitter: @gadrianrandall


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Ever have trouble seeing your Nintendo DS' screens in bright light? Think the handheld system could be a little more, you know, smaller? Good news - the thinner, redesigned DS Lite is coming to the US on June 11 for a suggested price of $129.99.
Above: The latest object of your affection will launch in one color - Polar White.
When it launched in Japan earlier this year, there were massive, instant sellouts across the nation. Why are people so damn excited about a piece of hardware they technically may already own?
We suggest you check out ourdetailed breakdown of why the Lite is totally worth the cash. We're not usually ones to rave on and on about reissued goods, but this time we'll make an exception.
May 4, 2006


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20 March 2017
For immediate release
Reducing the risk of self harm at Woodhill Prison
CNWL has introduced new staff with new ways of working at Woodhill Prison to support the early identification of prisoners with mental health concerns - before these reach crisis levels.
The Trust, which provides both mental and physical healthcare, has hired four new associate practitioners with a fifth to start soon, to reduce levels of self harm and suicide at the prison and to improve mental health generally.
The initiative allows the Clinical Psychologist and Mental Health Nurses to concentrate on more serious and complex cases, while still enabling the concerns of prisoners with lower level mental health problems, such as anxiety or depression, to be supported, potentially preventing such conditions becoming worse.
Before their introduction, staff could only realistically concentrate on prisoners with complex mental health problems without having the time to help those with lower level problems such as anxiety or depression. This risked the condition worsening increasing the risk of self-harm or suicide.
Clinical Psychologist Dr Rachel Edwards, who co-designed the model, said: "With high levels of self harm and suicide we felt that if we could see people early on we would be able to avoid crisis level interventions.
"Our new practitioners are skilled in this field and are already very busy.
"Informally lots of people are saying that they are finding it really useful that mental health feels more approachable. It makes it easier for people to flag up needs while prison officers are saying they can flag up concerns."
The practitioners are allowed to carry out a variety of roles, but a new part includes each practitioner being exclusively linked to a house unit and spending time with the prisoners in each unit's association area.
This means prisoners get to know and trust the staff while the practitioners can provide information and supportive materials to inmates or to just sit and discuss issues.
Other parts of the role involve:
Carrying out basic primary mental health assessments of people referred to them by the Early Days in Custody Nurse to consider whether they need referral to the Primary Mental health Network or whether they can be helped using self-help literature;
Conducting time-limited psychological-based interventions or CBT-based interventions and help people to develop strategies to manage their feelings;
Following up people who are on the case loads of the nurses and Clinical Psychologist.
Staff plan to start an audit of the initiative to evaluate its success and to make adaptations if required.
Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
Stephenson House, 75 Hampstead Road, London NW1 2PL
Tel: 020 3214 5756 e-mail:firstname.lastname@example.com


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well i managed to install osx 10.4.5 on my pcdl with prestonias (2x2.666ghz) but after the installation and the reboot it always panics... have a look at the screenshot below. does anyone know what this means and how i can fix it? i tried 10.4.6 but it didnt even install (the same acpi error message every prestonia user gets) ... well i hope someone can help me
im workin with vmware !
greets and thx!


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Professor Sid Watkins: A Very Special Man
Professor Sid Watkins was buried during a private ceremony in his beloved Borders region of Scotland on Tuesday. A lone piper played a lament, a haunting sound that spoke for thousands of people around the world who had the privilege of knowing this wonderful character. And a few of the racing drivers among them can honestly and thankfully say they are alive today because of the efforts of the man known affectionately as 'Prof'.
As one of the world's leading neurosurgeons and a motor sport fan, Prof Watkins was perfectly positioned to drag motor sport medical resources from the crude standards that would be totally unacceptable today. Having spent spare weekends as a doctor on corner duty at places such as Silverstone and Brands Hatch, Prof become more closely involved with medical support at Watkins Glen in the 1960s during an eight-year stint at the medical centre in nearby Syracuse. His return to Britain coincided with the beginnings of an awareness that something needed to be done about moving medical back-up beyond haphazard systems that were often an after-thought.
The problem was, no one had enough clout to steer the necessary upgrades through the warren of political and personal egos infesting the race tracks of the world. That changed in the 1970s when Bernie Ecclestone's influence moved beyond marshalling the teams and making money. It was Ecclestone and the Formula One Constructors' Association (FOCA) rather than the governing body (then known as FISA) that came to call on Professor Watkins at his post as Head of Neurology in The London Hospital.
"In 1978, Bernie asked me to take an interest in the welfare of the F1 drivers and go to all the Grands Prix. Because this was FOCA and not the FISA, it provoked a great deal of reaction. The manoeuvre was deeply resented by some circuits and their chief medical officers. They saw this as criticism of their standards. But Ecclestone was absolutely marvellous, particularly when I was in great difficulties in the early days."
That quote comes from an interview I did with Prof in his office in The London Hospital in February 1984. By then, he had established a high standard for medical facilities at each F1 circuit, as well as introducing the medical support car trackside at every Grand Prix. Yet to come was pioneering work with the FIA Institute of Motor Sport Safety that drove all manner of innovations ranging from cockpit surrounds to the HANS device which is universal throughout the sport today.
Talking to Prof was always a joy. His gentle English accent was accompanied by a twinkle in the bespectacled eye, Prof's wicked sense of humour helping him cross numerous hurdles as well keeping stroppy drivers and officials in their place. Being F1's Chief Medical Delegate should have been enough to tax anyone 24/7. But you only began to appreciate Prof's enormous energy and range when he explained that each of the 23 files by the side of his desk represented a hospital committee on which he was playing a part.
With this position of authority came a degree of procedural abandon which Sid would exercise with very little inhibition. Following in his wake along a well-polished hospital corridor, it was with a mixture of alarm and amusement that I noticed the overhead 'NO SMOKING' sign in big red letters become wreathed in smoke from his ever-present cigar as he swept past.
You would never get away with that now, of course. But, in many ways, Sid was a gentleman of his times, one for whom political correctness was an anathema. Beneath the sometimes gruff exterior beat a benevolent heart. I am not alone in successfully asking the Prof to use his knowledge and contacts to help out friends in despair over finding a cure or hamstrung by medical bureaucracy. As F1 regulars, we were fortunate to have on hand this leading physician to tend to the minor ailments that affect any travelling circus.
At Hockenheim, I once awoke on race morning to find I had developed conjunctivitis; not ideal when you need unrestricted vision to commentate on the race. This was in the days of the race morning warm-up and I knew where Prof would be located 10 minutes or so before the start. I found him, cigar in hand, by the medical car.
After a quick consultation in this open-air surgery, he ordered me to get on my knees while he dived into his extensive medical bag. In the bizarre juxtaposition that followed in front of a couple of thousand bemused people in the grandstand, the simple act of applying ointment was carried out by a professional who, later in the day, could be saving a driver's life.
Professor Watkins has been widely recognised for his close relationship with Ayrton Senna. In fact, he had a quiet and warm regard for most drivers. When meeting in London in 1984, we spoke about the loss of Gilles Villeneuve less than two years before at Zolder. I asked if, despite the inherent danger and a medical man's necessary unemotional response, it was privately distressing to arrive at an accident scene where nothing could be done.
"I was very upset by his (Villeneuve's) death," he replied. "Not because it was in any way avoidable once the circumstances operated to produce the accident but because, firstly, I knew him very well. And, secondly, because he was always rational and reasonable and a thoroughly nice person to deal with. I was fond of him. When I first met Gilles, he was extremely polite; a gentleman. He said: "I hope I'll never need you." As I identified his car when we arrived at the accident, I thought about those words..."
In many ways, that reflection on Gilles and his relationship with him sums up how a great many of us feel about the passing of Professor Sidney Watkins OBE, FRCS; a very special man indeed.
Maurice Hamilton , a freelance motor sport writer and broadcaster since 1977, is the author of more than twenty books and contributes to websites and magazines worldwide.
His weekly column for Grandprix.com was Highly Commended in the 2011 Newspress New Media Awards.
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