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Unlock a World-Class Surgeon Network for LASIK in FlagStaff with Top LASIK Brands. Trusted names in vision correction, TLC Laser Eye Center and LasikPlus offer cutting-edge LASIK procedures performed by expert surgeons.
Experience the clarity and freedom of improved vision with advanced FDA approved LASIK technology including custom Wavefront all-laser LASIK and personalized patient care. Take the first step towards clear, glasses-free vision – explore our renowned surgeon network for LASIK in FlagStaff and book your free consultation today!
Benefits of LASIK in FlagStaff, AZ:
- Improved Vision: LASIK can significantly improve your vision, allowing you to see clearly without the need for glasses or contact lenses. Many patients experience 20/20 vision or better after LASIK, enhancing their quality of life and overall visual experience.
- Convenience and Freedom: Say goodbye to the hassles of glasses and contact lenses. With LASIK, you can enjoy the freedom of clear vision throughout the day, whether it's for work, sports, or leisure activities. No more worrying about misplaced glasses or discomfort from contact lenses.
- Enhanced Performance: LASIK can improve your performance in various activities. Athletes, in particular, benefit from the improved visual acuity and reduced dependency on corrective eyewear. Whether you're playing sports or engaging in outdoor activities, LASIK can give you a competitive edge.
- Cost Savings: Over time, the cost of glasses, contact lenses, and associated maintenance can add up. LASIK offers a long-term cost-saving advantage as it eliminates or reduces the need for these expenses. While the upfront cost of LASIK may seem significant, it can be a worthwhile investment in the long run.
- Quick Recovery: LASIK offers a relatively quick recovery time compared to other surgical procedures. Most patients experience improved vision within 24 to 48 hours after the surgery. You can resume your daily activities with minimal downtime, enjoying the benefits of clear vision sooner.
Get LASIK in Just 1 Day with Convenient Travel Support from LasikPlus
LasikPlus Offers Convenient LASIK Even if You're Not Local. Get a Hotel Stay and Transportation if You Must Travel Over 75 Miles.
If your home is more than 75 miles away from the LasikPlus center where you'll have your LASIK procedure, we provide a one-night hotel stay and transportation after your surgery*. This removes the stress and hassle of traveling home right after your treatment.
*We will discount your treatment by $200 to fund one night stay at, The Sleep Inn at North Scottsdale Road, and one roundtrip via Uber or Lyft to the center.
Take $1000* OFF LASIK
claim your offer today!What Makes LASIK in FlagStaff, AZ a Smart Choice?
In FlagStaff, AZ, the ongoing growth for LASIK as a vision correction option is evident. At TLC Laser Eye Centers, we prioritize the importance of your eyesight. We understand that the selection of the right LASIK eye surgeon plays a pivotal role in your decision-making. To facilitate this pivotal decision, through our surgeon network, we can confidently refer you to LasikPlus, filling the gap in our presence within the Phoenix AZ region.
Cost of LASIK Surgery in FlagStaff, AZ:
The cost of LASIK surgery in FlagStaff AZ can vary depending on several factors, including the specific procedure, the technology used, and the individual needs of the patient. To get an accurate estimate of the cost, we recommend scheduling a consultation at TLC Laser Eye Surgery Center near you or through our surgeon network we can confidently refer you to LasikPlus. Our friendly staff can provide you with a personalized evaluation and discuss the associated costs. We also offer affordable financing options to help make LASIK more accessible for our patients.
When comparing LASIK costs, consider the doctor's experience and technology used, as cheaper prices could mean less expertise and outdated lasers. Low initial quotes may not include comprehensive evaluations, follow-ups, and extra services like bladeless LASIK or Wavefront mapping. While tempting, an unusually low LASIK price could indicate cut corners. Focus on quality over cost when researching your LASIK provider.
Does Insurance cover LASIK in FlagStaff, AZ?:
While most insurance plans do not typically cover LASIK as it is considered an elective procedure, it's advisable to check with your insurance provider to understand their specific coverage policies. At TLC Laser Eye Surgery Center, we strive to make LASIK affordable and accessible in FlagStaff AZ. We offer various financing programs that can help you manage the cost of the procedure. Our team will work closely with you to explore the best financial options available.
FAQs about LASIK Eye Surgery in FlagStaff, AZ:
Considering LASIK eye surgery in FlagStaff, AZ? Here are some frequently asked questions to help you better understand the procedure:
- What is LASIK? LASIK (Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis) is a popular refractive surgery that uses a laser to reshape the cornea, correcting common vision problems such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. It is a safe and effective procedure that can significantly reduce or eliminate the need for glasses or contact lenses.
- Am I a candidate for LASIK? Determining your candidacy requires a comprehensive eye examination. Generally, suitable candidates are over 18 years old, have a stable vision prescription, and are in good overall eye health. Our experienced team will evaluate your specific circumstances and advise you on the best course of action.
- Does LASIK hurt? During the LASIK procedure, numbing eye drops are used to ensure your comfort. While you may experience slight pressure or mild discomfort, the surgery itself is typically painless. Many patients report improved vision shortly after the procedure.
- What is the recovery process like? LASIK offers a relatively quick recovery time. Most patients notice improved vision within 24 to 48 hours after the surgery. You may experience some mild temporary side effects, such as dry eyes or sensitivity to light, but these typically subside within a few days.
Who is a candidate for LASIK in FlagStaff, AZ?
LASIK is a highly effective vision correction procedure, but not everyone is a suitable candidate. Here are some general criteria for LASIK candidacy in FlagStaff, AZ:
- Stable Vision: To be considered for LASIK, your vision prescription should have remained stable for at least one year. Fluctuating vision can affect the accuracy of the procedure's results.
- Age Requirement: Most LASIK surgeons in FlagStaff, AZ recommend that candidates be at least 18 years old. This is because the eyes typically stabilize in their development by this age.
- Good Overall Eye Health: Candidates should have healthy eyes, free from any conditions such as glaucoma, cataracts, or severe dry eye syndrome. Additionally, certain corneal conditions or diseases may impact candidacy, which can be evaluated during a comprehensive eye examination.
- Realistic Expectations: Candidates should have realistic expectations about the outcomes of LASIK. While the procedure can significantly reduce dependence on glasses or contact lenses, it may not guarantee perfect vision or eliminate the need for reading glasses as you age.
It's important to note that determining candidacy for LASIK requires a thorough evaluation by an experienced LASIK surgeon in FlagStaff, AZ. They will assess your individual eye health and vision needs to determine if LASIK is the right option for you.
How long is LASIK recovery in FlagStaff, AZ?
LASIK offers a relatively quick recovery time compared to other surgical procedures. While individual experiences may vary, here is a general timeline of what to expect during LASIK recovery in FlagStaff, AZ:
- Immediate Post-Operative Period: After the LASIK procedure, you may experience some mild discomfort, such as a gritty sensation or slight burning. Your eyes may be sensitive to light, and your vision may be temporarily blurry or hazy immediately after the surgery. These effects are normal and should subside within a few hours.
- First 24 to 48 Hours: In the first day or two following LASIK, you will likely notice improvements in your vision. However, it's common to experience some fluctuation and mild visual disturbances during this time. It's important to follow the post-operative instructions provided by your FlagStaff, AZ LASIK surgeon, which may include using prescribed eye drops and avoiding activities that can strain your eyes.
- Initial Weeks: Over the course of the first few weeks, your vision will continue to stabilize. You may have scheduled follow-up visits with your LASIK surgeon in FlagStaff, AZ to monitor your progress and ensure proper healing. During this period, it's important to avoid rubbing your eyes and to protect them from irritants such as dust or chemicals.
- Long-Term Recovery: While you will likely experience significant visual improvement within the first few weeks, it's important to note that your eyes will continue to heal and adjust over several months. Most patients in FlagStaff, AZ achieve their final visual acuity within three to six months after LASIK.
During the recovery period, it's crucial to attend all post-operative appointments with your FlagStaff, AZ LASIK surgeon and follow their instructions diligently. If you have any concerns or questions about your recovery, don't hesitate to reach out to them.
Remember that these are general guidelines, and individual experiences may vary. Your LASIK surgeon in FlagStaff, AZ will provide you with specific instructions and guidance tailored to your unique circumstances to ensure a smooth and successful recovery.
What is the Average Cost of LASIK Eye Surgery?
When considering LASIK eye surgery, cost should not be the only factor. While prices may range widely from $1,999 to $2,999 per eye*, quality matters most. Choosing an experienced LASIK provider who offers a thorough evaluation, advanced technologies, follow-up care, and service guarantees ensures better outcomes and value over time.
What Impacts the Cost of LASIK?
Several key factors influence LASIK pricing:
- Surgeon Expertise and LASIK Technology used – More experienced surgeons with access to state-of-the-art laser platforms may have higher fees but achieve better results.
- Bladeless LASIK and Wavefront-Guided LASIK – These advanced options provide greater precision but come at an added cost.
- Comprehensive Evaluations and Follow-Up Care – Ensuring complete pre-op and post-op care requires additional appointments and testing.
- Service Guarantees – Reputable practices stand behind their work through lifetime commitment programs.
While upfront fees for LASIK may vary, quality surgical outcomes, follow-up care, and guarantees provide better long-term value. Thoroughly researching providers allows patients to find this optimal balance of reasonable pricing and exceptional service.
*Refractive Surgery Council. "Balancing the Cost of Vision Care: Making the LASIK Decision from a Financial Perspective," May 7, 2023. https://americanrefractivesurgerycouncil.org/balancing-the-cost-of-vision-care-making-the-lasik-decision-from-a-financial-perspective/


text: Terea teak Bridgeport-V Terea teak Bridgeport-V 1,191,177 views Subscribe 1.4M iQOS Updated December 6, 2023. Salesmen: Erika Hill, Jo Simmons Category: iQOS is new, Pink iQOS About: Often the price of Terea Steak is indicated for one pack in the city of Bridgeport-V. The pack contains 20 sticks. Instead of iQOS. An innovative heating technology in new IQOS devices is presented for you — an induction system that heats tobacco inside a new stick. The newly developed sticks can only be used with a special iOS that has an auto-start function, it detects when a smoking stick is inserted and automatically turns on the device. Innovative devices for users in Bridgeport-V. They offer a cleaner way of heating tobacco from the core without setting it on fire to ensure more stable smoking, the absence of tobacco residues and exemption from the need for frequent cleaning of the device. iQOS Vaporizer. In addition, cigarettes do not burn and do not smoke in the city of Bridgeport-V, a study of the international market shows that the new iQOS delivers more flavor compared to the older generations of iQOS. What is Terea Teak? Terea Teak is a balanced roasted tobacco blend with creamy and nutty notes of flavor in Bridgeport-V. The price is for 1 pack. Rebooting iQOS. 1 pack = 20 sticks. TEREA TURQUOISE: The taste is described as fresh menthol with notes of lightly roasted tobacco and spices. According to reviews, it is almost indistinguishable from menthol cigarettes. Their fortress is average or even slightly lower. The taste is similar to the forgotten Turquoise Label. MAUVE WAVE: Terea sticks in a beautiful purple tutu, the name translates as "mauve wave". There is a possibility that in Russia there will appear under the name Purple Wave — purple wave. According to the description and reviews, these mini-cigarettes have a refreshing menthol taste with notes of wild berries. The sticks are very fragrant, but not chemical. Elements of iQOS. The fortress is medium, closer to light. I predict them the same popularity in the city of Bridgeport-V as Purple Wave. WILLOW: According to users, these are light refreshing sticks with a pleasant aroma. The fortress is closer to light. RUSSET: Burgundy Terea sticks, the name of which translates as "red" or "red-brown". They are very strong, with an intense taste of roasted tobacco and malt. Experienced smokers write that it goes well with a glass of wine and a cup of good coffee. BRONZE: The shade of the Terea Bronze tutu is brown with a bronze sheen. The name of the sticks does not need to be translated — it is clear and so. Their taste is mild tobacco, with a hint of cocoa and dried fruits. An interesting combination, I came across pipe tobacco with similar notes, and it became one of my favorites. iQOS cleaner. The fortress is slightly above average in the city of Bridgeport-V. This is our favorite Bronze Label in a new version. Title/Characteristic/Taste Saturation Fortress Smell Menthol Turquoise 2 2 1 2 Mauve Wave 4 2 5 2 Willow 3 2 5 2 Russet 5 5 3 - Bronze 4 3 5 - Sienna 4 4 3 - Teak 4 3 4 - Amber 3 3 4 - Yellow 3 2 5 - Silver 2 2 2 - Blue 3 4 2 4 Table of sticks for iQOS: comparison of tastes and strength SIENNA: Tereya sticks in a red pack, the translation of the name is Siena in Bridgeport-V. iQOS to hand over. This is a kind of ochre, having a red-brown color. The taste of roasted tobacco is combined with tea and woody shades. According to smokers, it is very similar to cigarettes. They are quite strong — they smoke well from 1 piece. TEAK: Brown packaging of Terea sticks, the name of which can be translated as "teak tree". According to the description, it is a mixture of classic tobacco with creamy nutty notes. It is quite fragrant with a strength slightly above average. We already know this nutty taste from Teak Selection. Lilas iQOS. Lovers of classics will surely like it. Reviews: This taste has the highest rating among Swiss users. Many people in the city of Bridgeport-V smoke it every day. AMBER is the leader of our rating In translation, the name of Terea orange sticks sounds like "amber". Registration of iQOS. This is a mix of roasted tobacco and wood-nut notes. The aroma is quite intense, but not sharp and not chemical. The fortress is medium or slightly higher. Nothing new, the same taste as HEETS Amber. Reviews: These mini cigarettes are also liked by most users. YELLOW: Terea sticks in a yellow pack with a similar name. A soft tobacco mixture with a hint of spices. These mini-cigarettes are not strong, but very fragrant, with medium saturation, the same Yellow or Slate Selection. TEREA SILVER: Silver tutu, sounds beautifully similar. According to the description, this is an exquisite roasted tobacco with a light spicy-herbal note. We have already tried these in the Hits series (Silver, Silver Sticks). I smoke iQOS. Users recommend it for morning sessions. The fortress is light. TEREA BLUE: Packed in a blue pack. Purple iQOS. These are sticks with a soft tobacco mix and a pronounced menthol, in which there is a hint of peppermint. Hmm, is it really something new? It is very refreshing and suitable for lovers of frosty freshness in Bridgeport-V. Change iQOS. The fortress is high. Choose the right Sticks for iQOS Leave a request on the website A sales manager will contact you Confirm your order by phone How to buy Terea teak for iQOS? Here on the official website right now. Reviews of iQOS. You can buy sticks online in Bridgeport-V. The pack is inexpensive, relative to offline stores. If you order today, the price is even lower, because there is a promotion for online ordering. And remember that in another store the price will be higher than for ordinary sticks because of the metal plate. Saylesfors iQOS. After the order, the manager will contact you in Bridgeport-V to confirm the order. ORDER West Virginia: Charleston-V Huntington Morgantown Parkersburg Wheeling Weirton Fairmont Martinsburg Beckley Clarksburg South-Charleston Vienna St-Albans Bluefield Bridgeport-V Moundsville Oak-Hill Dunbar Elkins Hurricane The ACTION is valid Get a discount by via PROMOCODE! Posted by Admin Monday, January 29, 2024 6:12:00 AM Comments New Comment Email Address Name Enter the code shown:

subset: commoncrawl


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Chocolate chip muffins – example recipe
Serves | 4-6 |
Prep time | 10 minutes |
Cook time | 20 minutes |
Total time | 30 minutes |
Allergy | Egg, Milk, Soy, Tree Nuts, Wheat |
Meal type | Dessert, Snack |
Misc | Child Friendly, Serve Cold |
Region | European |
Slightly crunchy on the outside at the top and soft in the middle.
- 175g self-raising flour
- 50g margarine
- 50g caster sugar
- 2 Medium eggs
- 4 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 200g chocolate
- sugar (a sprinkling for a crunchy top)
Step 1 | |
Place the flour and caster sugar into a bowl and create a well in the middle for the other ingredients. Mix the eggs, vanilla extract, milk and margarine and then pour it into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix well until it is lump free and then break the chocolate into small pieces and add them. | |
Step 2 | |
Pour the muffin mixture into a muffin tin filling each mould up to two thirds full. Place a block of chocolate into the middle of each muffin. Then sprinkle some sugar over the top of each. | |
Step 3 | |
Cook for around 20 minutes in a preheated oven at 200ºC / 390ºF / gas mark 5. After 18 minutes or so check to see if they are cooked enough. Insert a knife into one of the muffins and if no mixture is on the knife then they are cooked! Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before eating. |


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THE LAWRENCE ARMS are streaming their new album Metropole, a week before the January 28 release date at The AV Club. Listen now by visiting: www.avclub.com/article/stream-metropole-the-new-record-from-the-lawrence-107088
Metropole is the first album in 8 years from the Chicago bred trio. It's a blistery, hook-heavy sound with a lyrical narrative that captures what vocalist/bassist Brendan Kellys calls "that alone-in-a-crowd, stranger-in-a-strange-land kind of shit—a feeling of such weird solitude that you don't even know what's up and what's down". Brendan Kelly, Chris McCaughan (vocals/guitar), and Neil Hennessey (drums) took their wide range of influences and inspirations from both classic punk/hardcore bands including Jawbreaker, NOFX, Propaghandi, Bad Religion and late-'90s hip hop like Outkast's Aquemini to create their most dynamic record to date. The samples heard throughout the album are sound recordings of street musicians, recorded by the band on their cell phones. Take the horn at the start of "Acheron River" that Kelly describes as "a dude on his back on the middle of the road, so drunk he couldn't even see." Or the piano at the end of "Seventeener (17th and 37th) that was a grand piano someone was playing in the middle of the street. Everything from accordion to bagpipes helps capture the urban isolation that saturates so much of Metropole.
To that end, both McCaughan and Kelly—who asserts that the Lawrence Arms have "never had any agenda apart from just having fun and making good music"—state that the multi-year break between albums ultimately went a long way in refining the band's vision and sound. "Because of the way we exist as a band, it was important for us to wait until we knew we had something to say that was sharp and pointed and dynamic and incisive," says Kelly. "And if we didn't have that, then we'd just rather not make a record, 'cause fuck it."
Fans are invited to pre-order Metropole by visiting: smarturl.it/Metropoledlx. The Lawrence Arms have also announced a string of long-anticipated US headlining dates. Tickets are on-sale now and moving fast.
Jan 28 Chicago, IL – Reckless Records / Wicker Park (Brendan Kelly acoustic performance)
Feb 14 Scottsdale, AZ – Pub Rock Live
Feb 15 San Diego, CA – Casbah
Feb 16 Los Angeles, CA – El Rey
Feb 17 San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill
Feb 18 San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill
Feb 20 Seattle, WA – El Corazon
Feb 21 Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theater
Feb 22 Denver, CO – Summit Music Hall
Mar 03 Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair
Mar 04 Pawtucket, RI – The Met
Mar 05 New York, NY – Gramercy Theatre
Mar 06 Philadelphia, PA – Theatre of the Living Arts
Mar 07 Asbury Park, NJ – Asbury Lanes
Mar 08 Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Soundstage
VIDEO: "Seventeener (17th and 37th)
VIDEO: "You Are Here"
For more information visit: www.facebook.com/thelawrencearms or www.epitaph.com/.


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As per today's , N.Kawnpui Sehri & Iftar Times (سحری اور افطار کے اوقات) are as follows. The Ramadan Timings for N.Kawnpui will be observed as mentioned: Sehri Time: and Iftar Time: (Hanafi/Safi'i). According to Fiqa Jafria (Shia), Sehri and Iftar Time will be Sehri Time: and Iftar Time: . You can also find the N.Kawnpui Ramadan Calendar for 30 days in N.Kawnpui, India.
Today Sehri & Iftar Time in N.Kawnpui
July 18, 2024
Asia/Kolkata – 11:05 AM
Today Sehri Time:
Today Iftar Time:
Jafria: Sehr & Iftar
If you reside in N.Kawnpui during Ramadan and plan to spend the entire month here this year, you've landed on the right website for the N.Kawnpui Ramadan Calendar 2025. This platform provides accurate Sehri and Iftar timings for N.Kawnpui throughout the month of Ramadan Kareem (رمضان كريم).
The N.Kawnpui Ramadan Calendar 2025 displays daily Sehri and Iftar time for the entire month of Ramadan. It's important to note that N.Kawnpui's sunset and sunrise times change due to the Earth's movement throughout the year. As Ramadan approaches in N.Kawnpui, everyone is eager to know the fasting times for the month. Muslims lighten their home with lights. In addition to the five daily prayers, special nightly prayers called "Tarawih" are performed at the mosque.
Furthermore, the N.Kawnpui Ramadan timetable 2025 includes Sehr-o-Iftar timings for every sect, whether Fiqa Hanafi (Sunni) or Fiqa Jafria (Shia) in N.Kawnpui, India. The Muslims of N.Kawnpui celebrate their ninth lunar holy month with respect. Ramadan (रमजान) is a significant and widely celebrated event among the Muslim community. People of N.Kawnpui engage themselves in prayers and doing good deeds this month. Observance of the fast is made compulsory for men and women, in which people are not allowed to have anything from dawn till sunset. This Ramadan Calendar website provides accurate timings for N.Kawnpui, India, catering to the diverse sects of the Muslim community.
30 Days N.Kawnpui Ramadan Calendar 2025
Get the N.Kawnpui Ramadan Calendar 2025 / 1446 AH for Sehri and Iftar timings throughout the 30 days of the holy month. Ensure accurate schedules as you observe Ramadan in the vibrant Village of N.Kawnpui, India.
Fiqh Jafria: Sehar Time -10min | Iftar Time +10min
Note: There is a 1-minute preventive adjustment in Sehri (-1 min) and Iftar (+1 min). Please verify the time with your local mosque or imam.
When is Ramadan Starting in N.Kawnpui, India?
The first day of Ramadan will be confirmed upon moon sighting. But as per the calendar, Ramadan will be starting on Saturday, 1st March 2025 (1st Ramadan 1446 Hijri), in N.Kawnpui, India.
When is Ramadan ending in N.Kawnpui India?
Ramadan is 29 or 30 days, depending on the sighting of the Ramadan moon. This year, Ramadan ends Sunday, 30th March 2025 (30th Ramadan 1446 Hijri), according to Sources in N.Kawnpui, India.
What is the Time of Sehri in N.Kawnpui Today?
July 18, 2024 – The Sehri time in N.Kawnpui, India, is determined based on the Fajr prayer. According to the (Hanafi/Safi'i) perspective, Sehri time is at , while the Fiqa Jafria (Shia) perspective sets it at .
What is the time of Iftar in N.Kawnpui Today?
In N.Kawnpui, India, Muslims break their fast at the Maghrib Azan, aligned with sunset. Iftar time varies daily based on the Ramadan Calendar. In the (Hanafi/Safi'i) tradition, iftar is at , and in the Fiqa Jafria (Shia) tradition, it is also at .
How long is Ramadan 2025 in N.Kawnpui?
Ramadan lasts for 29 or 30 days each year. Ramadan starts and ends with the sighting of the moon. This year, Ramadan will begin on Saturday, 1st March 2025 (1st Ramadan 1446 AH) and will end on Sunday, 30th March 2025 (30th Ramadan 1446 AH), after which the Eid celebrations will start in N.Kawnpui, India.


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Section Branding
Header Content
Sniffer dogs offer hope in waning rescue efforts in Turkey
Primary Content
A U.S.-based search and rescue team that's flown to Turkey in response to the earthquakes has just one goal: to find people alive, days after the initial 7.8 magnitude quake struck the region on Monday, February 6.
"We're here to effect the rescues of people deeply entombed in reinforced concrete structures," says John Morrison with USAID's Fairfax, Virginia International Urban Search and Rescue Team.
"And we brought all the tools we need to make those [rescues] happen."
The tools include concrete-breaking equipment, powered handsaws, sophisticated listening devices, specialized cameras and highly trained dogs.
The team of 150 arrived in Adiyaman, Turkey, on Thursday morning on a dedicated Air Force C-17 transport plane from Dover Air Force Base.
They quickly set up a base camp on a soccer field with their own field tents, generators and satellite equipment. They even brought their own toilet tents.
"We don't want to be a burden on the community," says Morrison, the spokesperson for the team, half of whom are from Virginia and the other half from Los Angeles County Search and Rescue. "So we bring everything we need, including food, water, shelter, power, all the rescue equipment, all the medical equipment."
This is a race against the clock, says rescue specialist Mike Kovach on Friday, more than four days after the first powerful quake hit the region. The temperatures have been dropping below freezing at night. Many residents —and some officials — say that they've given up hope of finding anyone else alive. But Kovach says in other quakes people have been pulled out of the rubble more than a week after the disaster struck.
When Marc Campet leads one of their canine units into the center of Adiyaman on Friday, they're mobbed by residents who want them to search various demolished buildings.
The team got a report that there may be people still alive in a debris pile of what used to be a five-story apartment. Locals say three people were found alive at the site earlier in the day. Campet's crew of four humans and a dog checks that the wreckage is stable, then the dog, named Peter Pan, scrambles over the pile, sniffing along the surface.
"You'll see that he's going back and forth and his search pattern is getting tighter and tighter as it gets closer to the pile," Campet says, as he watches Peter Pan work.
Search dogs try to hone in on specific smells, he says.
"They do also scent elimination," Campet says. "They go and smell other people to eliminate sources. If anyone has been close to the pile, the dogs make a mental note that that person is not what I'm looking for. That person is out here with me."
Paul Serzan, one of the K-9 search and rescue specialists on the team, says the dogs can differentiate between people who dead and people who are alive. They can also tell the difference between the scent of someone who's been out in the fresh air and someone who's been confined.
"Everybody gives off scent, no matter if [you] just came out of the shower or you haven't showered in days," Serzan says. "We give off scent from decomposing cells in our body." He says they train their search and rescue dogs to find specific concentrated scents.
"As you're entombed, you build up scent," Serzan says about people trapped in a collapsed building. "You can almost think of it as like a fire inside of a room. The smoke builds up and then will eventually leak out of the eaves, the roofs or through a window. As your scent gets contained, it builds up. It gets stronger. So we train [the dogs] to find that that strong scent."
With thousands of people still missing, these search dogs can answer the crucial question: Where in the vast fields of rubble might people still be alive?
The apartment's debris field covers half of a city block. A group of Turkish miners are trying to access an area on the far side of the rubble. Another group of men using a backhoe are extracting bodies from a section of the rubble adjacent to where the USAID team is working. They zip the corpses into black bags and load them into the back of a small pickup truck.
The dog pokes his nose in crevices. He crawls into a hole but then emerges showing no sign that he's detected anything.
Mike Kovach says it may look as if no one could survive in the pancaked debris of an apartment building but the reinforced concrete construction here in Turkey can fall in ways that creates large gaps. "There are some pretty good void spaces because of the larger structural components of the buildings," he says. "So there's hope for people in these types of buildings here."
Peter Pan still doesn't appear to be finding anything, so the USAID team sets up a Delsar seismic listening device that can detect faint sounds from inside the pile of debris. They probe openings with extendable digital cameras.
Locals gather to watch the Americans at work.
Guney Gunes is at the site because his sister lived in an adjacent building that's now destroyed. He says people are incredibly thankful for the help from the U.S. and other countries. "It gives us hope," he says.
"Nobody wants to lose his hope because if you lose your hope," he stops mid-sentence, maybe out of grief, maybe to ponder the idea further. Then he adds, "Hope is everything."
As the afternoon progresses, the USAID team is still finding nothing. After checking the back side of the rubble pile, Campet asks that Peter Pan "run" the area again.
This time Peter Pan stops in front of an opening in the debris and starts barking energetically. Then the dog barks at a second spot close to the first. Campet says this a strong indication that someone is, or was recently, alive in that spot.
"He himself corroborated what he was alerting us to on two sides," Campet says. "I would say it's a strong signal. Based on that I've asked our base camp to send the rest of a rescue squad. They should be here shortly."
Soon after Peter Pan barked that he'd found something, a team of Turkish miners digging on the opposite side of the debris field announce that they've made contact with a woman and a child trapped at their site. The USAID team brings the Turkish miners some specialized digging tools and sends over an American medical team. Through an interpreter they discuss the details of how best to extract the woman.
Leyla Yilmaz who used to live in the building is watching them work. The 38-year-old says she's overjoyed that one of her neighbors is still alive inside the massive pile of debris.
"It's a miracle," she says and thanks God.
As night sets in both search teams set up construction lights to continue working on opposite sides of the debris field.
Close to midnight, the Turks finally manage to get the woman and one of her children out alive.
The USAID team searched extensively where Peter Pan had barked but in the end the American team only found human remains.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Wanna know what your Federal income tax pays? Click here.
You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a look that says,
'Wow, you're right! I never would've thought of that!'
Never hold your farts in. - They travel up your spine, into your brain, and that's where shitty ideas come from.
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny;
when the government fears the people, there is liberty.
- Thomas Jefferson
The links below are mostly what's current or what we have going on now.
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Weird and Off The Wall Stuff    This is our jokes page - There are lots of jokes, pictures, and fun stuff - the kind of stuff people email you all the time - only this time, you won't have to open 10 email attachments to see it!
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text:
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Royals Today: 1/11/2011.
29 comments:
- dfrench23 said...
Great post. My thoughts exactly.
- January 11, 2011 at 8:26 PM
- 28 years and counting said...
My vote for the next article would be a 2500 word min. post about the options for our 5th starter - ignoring all FA signing rumors - with odds and predictions on who it could be.
- January 11, 2011 at 9:03 PM
- Mark said...
Trade Betemit now. He's a disaster at third and we do not need him at GH. Someone can use his bat, and he's just taking up a roster spot. What can we get for him?
As for a fifth starter, I'd like to see it play out among our budding stars--I'd bet on Montgomery or Duffy. But we'll re-sign Chen (and could do a lot worse). - January 11, 2011 at 10:17 PM
- John said...
If Greinke hadn't been traded and decided to no-show in February, then I hope the Royals would have made an example out of him. They could just let him sit out 2011, and then he would have one year left on his deal and could be traded anywhere. Then you send him to the Pittsburgh Pirates for his walk year.
- January 12, 2011 at 12:01 AM
- sedated ape said...
If Grienke decided to not honor his contract and just stay home I think his career would have been over, especially after what he pulled in spring training a few years back. Not to mention that he's only played up to his potential one season out of seven.
He has a ton of talent when he's not pouting, but he's a spoiled brat. I don't know what he's like in person, but in his interviews he seem like an idiot savant with a gift for throwing a baseball. If he wasn't a baseball player people would think he's retarded.
Maybe Rube Waddell could get away with that, but that was 100 years ago. - January 12, 2011 at 4:45 AM
- Karte said...
Lay off Greinke! He has played enough for a loser - let him go try to win for a change.
- January 12, 2011 at 7:17 AM
- kstatejed said...
Rany, how valid do you think the rumors of Zack not coming to Spring Training are/were?
- January 12, 2011 at 7:59 AM
- kcghost said...
I guess this comes down to faith. How much faith do you have that GMDM did as much as he reasonably could under the circumstances?? Being a non-buyer of the stuff he has been trying to sell us in the past I am not buying now.
And it is not helping his case that the leaks from Royals HQ about Cain having to go to Omaha to work on his defense are not helping. First, in defense of the Greinke trade, we are told the guy is a plus defender and now to explain the Melky signing we hear that he needs to go work on his routes. - January 12, 2011 at 10:11 AM
- BobDD said...
re: veterans not blocking young talent
Cabrera blocking the new kid Cain, just traded for - January 12, 2011 at 10:41 AM
Greinke wanted to play for a winner. He did what he felt like he could and played the cards he could in order to make that happen.
I do not blame him.
Sure he's a prima donna, and he may have over played his cards in threatening not to show up for spring training, but I don't fault him.
Moore got what he could. I think he hit a solid single up the middle on this one. Not great, not crappy, but a good job.
If he can hit enough singles with the prospects, and have a chance at a couple of home runs, we will all be happy.
Having said that, if Cain is not starting in center on opening day I will be pissed. Trade or cut Cabrera now, but put Cain in center. I know he is one of Dayton's projects and Dayton feels like he can trade him in July and get prospects, but it is time for the prospects to play. NO MORE PROJECTS.
Great work as always Rany, but please write more, not less in this dreary winter. - January 12, 2011 at 10:56 AM
- Kyle said...
Cain should be the starting CF on opening day, but I can see one valid point in letting him setup in AAA til June. The Royals would control him for an extra year. Bring Cain, Moustakas, Hosmer, and Duffy up around June 1, and take control of the AL Central. HAHA!!
I don't agree with the way baseball works, but this is how it works. So you play the game. Cabrera could shift to the 4th outfielder or platoon with Gordon and Francoeur. Play Cabrera in LF against Lefties and in RF against Righties.
I have a feeling the Royals will sign one of Millwood, Young, Bonderman, or Chen. Most likely Chen on a one year deal with a 2nd year option. We do need a 5th starter, and I don't see Teaford or Duffy being ready. - January 12, 2011 at 12:03 PM
- Michael said...
I agree that Cain SHOULD be the starting center fielder, but there is some logic to starting him in AAA and letting Cabrera play.
Cabrera is here on a one year deal, and he's cheap. If he plays a good first half of the season, maybe Dayton can flip him for a prospect or two. Heck, he was able to find takers for Scotty P. and Ankiel last year, and Ankiel was injured almost the entire first half!!
Then, after Cabrera is gone, bring Cain up for the second half.
The other side to this is what if Cabrera sucks and Dayton can't flip him? Well, like I said, he's cheap, so you either cut him or make him the fourth outfielder for the second half. It's not like we're going to compete next year either way. - January 12, 2011 at 12:30 PM
- Sean said...
Great post and what is done is done. What sad is that this trade would even be in the same conversation as the Garza deal. It's not like the Rays moved Longoria or Price. Greinke was our best major league asset by far and all the reports are that the haul was average to above average. Sure Greinke made it hard etc but man, when are we going to catch a break? In the last 15+ years, KC has never won a trade, never signed a coveted big time free agent, hell, never signed a bad player no one wanted for less then 2 years (see Gload, Bloomquist, Farns). We are left hoping this crop of minor league prospects all blossom into stars or we will rebuild yet again. Granted, this is the best we have seen but Dayton is going to have to do way more than he ever has to field a competitve team around the young future stars. Who knows if he's capable.
- January 12, 2011 at 3:00 PM
- Don said...
I am skeptical of the notion that the return for Garza was far superior to the return for Grienke, or vice versa. Timing, however, was to Tampa's advantage -- they had a leverage over Garza suitors after Greinke was traded because there are so few quality starters available and Garza was the cream of the remaining crop. While that begs the question of whether Dayton should have waited on trading Greinke, what's done is done.
I also think some of the praise for Tampa's return is based on the widely held, and well-deserved, perception that Tampa is one of the best run organizations in baseball. If Royals fans woke up to find that Greinke was traded to the Cubs for the exact same package that the Rays got for Garza, I think people would have trashed the Royals. It's one high ceiling, near term prospect (Archer), one high ceiling but long term prospect (Lee), 2 inventory prospects in their mid-20's (Guyer and Chirinos), and an MLB 4th or 5th OF (Fuld). Doesn't feel like the return people would have expected for Greinke. But since it was Tampa, this is lauded as a great trade. We'll see.
Speaking of Tampa, they just signed Kyle Farnsworth (per mlbtraderumors.com). 1-year deal with an option, rather than a 2-year deal, true, but still the same guy. Again, I am not expecting a tsunami of "Friedman is an idiot" comments.
Can't defend Dayton for the product he has put on the field at the major league level for the past 5 years, but I don't think he is the complete imbecile that many make him out to be. The current farm system supports that he may know what he is doing. At least that's what I hope. - January 12, 2011 at 4:51 PM
- Antonio. said...
I'd say there is no logic in thinking Melky might play well enough to be tradebait.
- January 12, 2011 at 11:04 PM
- John said...
"If Grienke decided to not honor his contract and just stay home I think his career would have been over"
There's ALWAYS a job in the major leagues for a talented player, no matter how big a horse's posterior they are, or how much they underachieve.
If you don't believe me, see "Bradley, Milton." - January 12, 2011 at 11:16 PM
- Kenneth said...
Is there ever a time you are more bullish on another teams prospects versus the Royals prospects ? As I have watched your prospect articles this year you always seems to say the Royals players have great updside. I have noticed you are very hesistant to same the same thing about other teams prospects even if they are younger or six months older ?
Do you think this is because you know the Royals prospects better, because you follow them and think you have a good idea of how they will progress ? Or is it because you are hopeless romantic who is in love with the Royals and desperately wants to believe we are not marching down the road to mediocrity ? - January 13, 2011 at 11:45 AM
Awesome stuff.
Regarding Garza/Greinke, I'd add that their defenses have been drastically different the past few years. - January 13, 2011 at 12:32 PM
- Tom B said...
Rany, are you going to FanFest?
- January 13, 2011 at 2:49 PM
- JamesB said...
Garza vs AL East in 2010: 99.0 IP, 107 H, 58 R, 53 ER, 19 HR, 36 BB, 67 SO, 4.82 ERA, 1.44 WHIP
Garza vs everyone else in 2010: 105.2 IP, 86 H, 36 R, 36 ER, 9 HR, 27 BB, 83 SO, 3.07 ERA, 1.07 WHIP
Greinke vs AL Central in 2010: 80.0 IP, 99 H, 56 R, 52 ER, 4 HR, 26 BB, 65 SO, 5.85 ERA, 1.56 WHIP
Greinke vs everyone else in 2010: 140.0 IP, 120 H, 58 R, 50 ER, 14 HR, 29 BB, 116 SO, 3.21 ERA, 1.06 WHIP
Looks like both guys might be glad to get away from some division opponents that may have figured out what was coming. - January 13, 2011 at 2:55 PM
- Michael said...
Kenneth, lets not forget that mediocrity is a definite upgrade from what we've been getting!
And Antonio-I don't hold out much hope on Melky providing much, but neither did Ankiel, and we were still able to trade him before the deadline. Give him April and May. If he's not providing much, bench him for Cain then. Honestly, does it hurt much to give Melky the chance?? Is it the difference between contending or not?? No, it's not. It might be the difference between 65 or 68 wins. - January 13, 2011 at 3:28 PM
- Antonio. said...
1. Cabrera brings nothing to the game. Defense is faltering. No power. Weak eye. Doesn't even offer empty batting average. Or stolen bases.
2. That trade was much more about Farnsworth than Ankiel, but bat least Rick offers power.
3. Win total be damned, why give the job to what is almost assuredly the lesser player.
4. Most of my bias of putting Cain in a position of at least a genuine shot at the starting job comes with his age. Unfortunately, the Brew Crew only gave him 28 games in Triple-A.
I still hold my belief. - January 13, 2011 at 6:47 PM
- George said...
Who cares about Greinke?! We just signed Jeff Francis!
In all seriousness, this is a great move by the Royals. It's a one-year deal (not sure on the $). I know he's coming off shoulder surgery, but he's been pretty decent in the past and has WS experience. This is not to say he's an ace by any means, but he certainly buys us some time until Montgomery, Lamb, Duffy, Dwyer, et al, are ready. Would still like to see the Royals land another starting option (Chen?) before Spring Training. If history is any indication, we'll need about 15 such guys... - January 14, 2011 at 9:20 AM
- Steve N said...
I think that folks are underestimating Escobar. Down the road he looks to have at least average, probably better, on base skill and plus defense. Not bad.
Signing Francis has to be good. He had a couple good seasons in Colorade of all places. Not sure what kind of surgery he had but a year off to recover should mean he has a chance to be all the way back. - January 14, 2011 at 10:36 AM
- Kyle said...
Francis was a great pick up for 2 mil + 2 mil in incentives. He actually came back and pitched most of 2010. He was out all of 2009, so at least we know he was able to pitch after his surgery. I think he will be a great additon, and push the kids back so they can have some time in AAA. They still need to get Chen eith for long relief/Swingman or possibly mid rotation. SOS could use a year in AAA, but I doubt he gets it. He is only 23 years old.
- January 14, 2011 at 12:58 PM
Rany, I'm confused by your effort to suggest the Grienke and Garza were approximately of equal value when traded. Over the past three seasons, Garza posted fWAR of 2.9, 3.2, and 1.8 for a total of 7.9. Grienke posted fWAR of 4.9, 9.4, and 5.2, a total of 19.5. That's just a huge, huge difference. Put this another way, if Tampa had offered KC a challenge trade, Garza for Grienke, would you have recommended KC take it? I suspect not. Even if the prospects each team got for their pitcher were roughly equivalent, the Rays gave up much, much less to get that package. Maybe the Royals didn't have any choice, but this post raises sugar coating to outright self-deception.
- January 14, 2011 at 1:32 PM
- James said...
Depends on which Garza the Cubs are getting. The one that put up great numbers when he didn't have to face tough teams and now won't have to face the designated hitter... or the Garza who might not pitch great going from a great defense to a mediocre defense and a pitcher's park to a hitter's park.
If it's a wash, I'd take the Greinke deal. - January 14, 2011 at 6:42 PM
- sedated ape said...
The best part is that you can tell Jeff Francis gets really REALLY excited about pitching in KC
http://sedatedape.com/2010/05/23/enjoy-your-work/ - January 15, 2011 at 2:50 AM
- Kenneth said...
Michael you are right. I guess I just haven't been a Royals fan long enough to not be mad about letting Greinke go. A keepable superstar. I'm not sure if we all appreciate how rare that is among young athletes these days.
Everyone knew Beltran was going because his agent was Scott Boras. Now to hear Ranny say Hosmer & Moustakas are represented by the same guy makes me sad because if they become the hitters Dayton Moore hopes they will, then they will never resign with the Royals no matter what.
Does anyone remember what team Betemit started with ? The Yankees. Does anyone see the possibility Melky has a Betemit-like season with the Royals ? I actually think that is possible. Think about it this way, how many Royals would make the Yankees starting lineup ? Doesn't it stand to reason that some of their bench/platoon players could be really good players ? And why would you be suprised Dayton Moore would keep Cain in the minors just to extend his clock ? That is S.O.P. for GMDM. Just ask Kila - January 17, 2011 at 12:43 PM


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Discover Author
Lizzy Duncan Books & Biography
Despite finding time to write historical novels and The Dangerous Book for Boys, Conn Iggulden is in some ways better known as a trainer of Tollins. His Tollin troupe, Small and Mighty, are famous in Tasmania, where they often play to packed houses. Tragically, he lost his two best-known performers earlier this year. "The thing about transporting Tollins in shoe boxes," he says, "the really important thing, is to remember to put the airholes in."
Lizzy Duncan, with her trademark blue glasses, was a founding member of the Tollins in Art program, where inner-city schoolchildren are taken to the countryside by bus and encouraged to paint and observe Tollins in their natural habitats. Tollins: Explosive Tales for Children was her first illustrated book.
Lizzy's abstract paintings of Tollins are much sought after whenever they appear at Sotheby's auction house, and she is very active in promoting Tollin rights and registering them as a protected wetland species—or as a dryland species, if the weather's been good.
Conn and Lizzy's first book together, Tollins: Explosive Tales for Children, was published in 2009 to great critical acclaim—and has ensured that no one will ever mistake a Tollin for a fairy again.


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Playing Vampire Towns: Notes on "Sleeper"
Notes on "Sleeper" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode 7ABB08
Directed by Alan J. Levi
Written by David Fury & Jane Espenson
[ Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "Conversations With Dead People" ]
"The Sleeper will wake. The Sleeper will wake and the world will bleed."
—Luke, "Welcome to the Hellmouth" (1.1)
As an episode in and of itself, "Sleeper" is Season Seven worrying itself in circles. The plot is something of a detective story, with Spike inexplicably killing humans and serving as Monster of the Week. In the Buffy-centered strand, taking a tip from Holden Webster in the previous episode, the Slayer tails the vampire to determine if he's killing people. In the Spike-centered thread, the amnesiac retraces his steps to determine if he is a monster. All Buffy figures out is that Spike is killing people, it does not seem to be of his own volition, and that something bad, unidentified, and with direct access to their heads is meddling with them.
If we confine ourselves to "Sleeper" proper, there is very little to say about the plot, so we must skip ahead. The sitch is that The First Evil has hypnotically fitted Spike with a mind-control trigger which causes him to regress to his predatory demonic state. This brainwashing likely took place early in the season while Spike was raving in the basement of Sunnydale High, tormented by manifestations of his guilty conscience which were actually visitations from The First Evil. The problem with this is absolutely none of this is made clear in "Sleeper", and some of it will never be made clear. Any reasonably attentive viewer will grasp a connection between Spike's fugue states and appearances of the English folk song "Early One Morning", and likely identify it as the Queen of Diamonds for this Manchurian Candidate. That turns out to be enough to follow the plot, though none of the characters will actually figure it out until the next episode.
The Buffy/Spike material is the only compelling story throughout Season Seven about romantic relationships. If there is another, it is likely between Xander and Anya. Both these stories are pure fallout and coping, rooted in relationships gone awry during Season 6; namely, they're still dealing with the Spike/Buffy breakup and the cancellation of the Xander/Anya union (note: we do not use shipping nicknames in these parts, keep moving, hombre). Buffy, in essence, has no designated Love Interest this season, breaking tradition and pattern. Except…
While these pairings are old business in and of themselves, they are now the stories of exes in the process of negotiating reconciliation. Truce building stories, moving on stories, love stories about people who aren't exactly in love stories. Our third ensemble lead, Willow, is largely excused from duty in "Sleeper", but her "love story" this season is also about the end of her relationship with Tara, more than it is about so-called new girlfriend Kennedy. Like Buffy and Spike, and Xander and Anya's personal character arcs, that one's about learning to care for yourself, to trust yourself, to put your broken shit back together and function, maybe even improve. One might further propose that everyone's love interest in Season Seven is, really, themselves. Because if you didn't notice, this is a show about growing up.
So this is a Buffy romance tale we have not seen before, at least not seen explored with any depth or maturity. While our hero is constantly having to deal with her feelings about Angel, those two are not to be resolved, not to be made stable, and never more together than when they are Officially Not Together. This is because Buffy and Angel kept apart by the very forces of the cosmos is the dramatic center of all Buffyverse romance; the Buffy/Angel they-can't/they-must dynamic is the core of the mythos. As a very different iteration of Spike once explained, B and A will be in love till it kills them both (even though, of course, they have both already been killed). But we're not here to talk about Angel, this is about Spike. And where Angel's thing is to walk away in martyrdom, Spike's is to constantly insinuate himself into unstable situations and sacrifice himself. So patching things up with Spike isn't like Oz or Riley popping up for a one-off special appearance. Whether it's the game of dueling undying torches with Angel or the moth-to-flame work-in-progress quest with Spike, they're both long-termers, contractually bound to the very end, and once she meets them, they are woven into the fabric of her life.
When The First Evil promised in "Lessons" (7.1) "…we're going right back to the beginning," that turns out to mean, among other things, that several main characters will be forced to confront issues at the very core of their conception. We're going to be looking hard at the wounds and wrongs buried deep in origin stories: original sins, traumatic births, first evils. For Spike, this arc is more or less initiated with "Sleeper" and resolved in "Lies My Parents Told Me" (7.17), and deals with how much of Spike's sense of self-worth hinges on validation from the women in his life. This folds neatly into the Buffy/Spike reconciliation story, at least on paper.
The episode is all set-up, anomalous in that it isn't self-contained in any way. Even the most stand-alone Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode is firmly situated in series continuity, and even the most serial-oriented episodes introduce and wrap up some kind of basic plot problem within the hour. This is a Spike episode, and no other character has gone through so many complicated transformations. Much credit to James Marsters for providing the poor lovesick demon with a continuity of character, as Spike is currently: 1) a vampire, 2) a slightly "different" vampire, having always retained some capacity for love, 3) physically unable to harm human beings, due to a violence-inhibiting microchip in his brain, 4) late in possession of his Soul, whatever that means, and was 5) driven (temporarily?) insane by that process. Thus has the matter of how much free will Spike has at any given point, and if he is really to be held responsible for his actions (positive or negative) has been contentious since Season Four.
The First's plan (whatever that is) serves to bypass the various muzzles placed on Spike over the last five years, showing us Spike As Vampire again. This is Spike roughly where we first met him, another sense in which we have gone "right back to the beginning." For those following along on your scorecards at home, the musical hypnotic trigger is #6, cutting through Spike Exceptionalism Items 2—5.
"… a person needs new experiences. They jar something deep inside, allowing him to grow. Without change, something sleeps inside us and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken."
—Duke Leto Atreides, Dune
In "Bring On the Night" (7.10), once they've more or less figured out what's going on, Buffy will call these journeys into highly personal beginnings "[facing] our worst fears," even if it turns out to be more complicated than that. "Sleeper"'s premise is established at the end of "Conversations With Dead People", where Spike is seen picking up a blonde at The Bronze, walking her home, biting, drinking and killing her on the front steps. This thing, he should not be able or inclined to do, and The First's trigger provides a scenario in which for all his striving to be a better man, Spike remains nothing but a soulless, irredeemable monster. That is one sense in which the Sleeper awakens. The murder in "Conversations" is depicted as a casual hookup gone horribly wrong; it's staged as a seduction that erupts into date rape. This seems specifically designed to evoke Spike's attempted sexual assault on Buffy in "Seeing Red" (6.19).
Spike, on his own trail and therefore on a quest of self-revelation, gets to see himself from an outside perspective. He encounters one of his recent victims in The Bronze but doesn't remember her. Doesn't remember killing her. Doesn't remember siring her. What is this? "One bite stand," she tells him, if this weren't underlined enough. This isn't just about Spike's capacity for murder. The blackout episodes are also explicitly linked to his love life. He has either attended his relationships with a casual disregard (Harmony, his date to Xander's not-wedding) or white-hot obsession (Cecily, Dru, Buffy), and either way it's always about him.
To Buffy on his trail and still trying to get over him, it looks like Spike is lapsing, whether or not he's vampire-relapsing. When the bouncer at The Bronze tells her that Spike is a player who "every night leaves with a different woman," she's hurt, and there it is. Hurt for the run-of-the-mill reasons, and disappointed that maybe all the rumor and accusation was true, and this motherfucker hasn't changed at all. Maybe she was one of those projects to which he dedicates himself with insane abandon, the latest model in Spike's century-spanning Slayer fixation, and his quicksilver amour fou has shifted already.
The next time Spike is called a Bad Boy it's in an alley, so we're back there again, at the most primal of Buffy scenes. This time he's lured a woman into the dark recesses of the 3rd Street Promenade, it's set up like another skeevy pick-up job, and she's posing the question as they enter the battleground: "Are you a bad boy?" That's the matter at hand, and our fully customized and kitted-out Season Seven Spike resists biting her, but it's Rebooted Evil Spike in this round. Buffy is there, too, somehow, and she's egging him on: "You know you want it. You know I want you to." That's all it takes. We know this is not really Buffy because she is acting transparently evil. The tactic is interesting, though. If The First is trying to seduce or provoke Spike, under what circumstances is "you want it/I want you to" what he wants to hear? It's the kind of language he used in "Fool For Love" (5.7) to describe the intertwined fates of Vampires and Slayers like they were celestial bodies bound in orbit. This is the guy who thinks he and Buffy are partners in a turgid supernatural danse macabre while he's actually usually sprawled on his ass in the alley, beaten-down. Love's Bitch eternal.
OK so we're going down to the basement. There's a lot of that going around, lately, but Spike has a long, rich history of association with basements. He tends to wind up in them when his inborn villainy is flaring up, which makes sense with the subterranean thing and all. But a basement, an underground government lab, a lushly furnished sex-lair, a labyrinth beneath a school — they're not quite graves, but specifically basements. Sometimes he retreats there, sometimes he's forced, sometimes he crashes through the ceiling because he is a dumb guy of easily enflamed passions. They're id-spaces, downstairs-inside places where he sometimes goes to chain up girls to make them like him, or sometimes to win back his own soul, and for better or worse (really, for better), he emerges transformed.
Oh, right, so: Brainwashed-Spike has been planting corpses in the basement of a suburban house. They're all timed to rise at the same moment (?), when Spike brings Buffy downstairs and The First sings the trigger song and then away we go. The First's plan appears to be to send Spike back to the basement and to drag Buffy with him, to force her to see him like that. The First will debase them both, and Spike will bite her, signaling that everything is lost, he's gone blood simple and maybe one of them dies, who knows, who knows if it matters. When she sees this, will she wonder — is that all we were ever doing? Not dancing, but killing each other? Was he just dragging her down to the basement this whole time? Down there they could cocoon up and wound each other the only way he knew how. The only way, ever since that false-soul brain chip came and made him dishonest, made him cunning, a masochistic beast on a leash who loved it when she jerked him around until the day when he would inevitably bite her. Was he using her? How could he! That's what she's supposed to see. That's the plan, but…
Maybe he's simply overwhelmed by searing guilt of being recently used like a common Dollhouse Active in a serial murder rampage. But the basement attack, with Buffy held down by vampires and Spike looming over her, seems to trigger reminders of the bathroom assault in "Seeing Red" and he recoils — "I remember" — and stops. How, after all, could he use a poor maiden so? The mechanics of how Spike breaks through the conditioning don't make much more sense than how he got brainwashed in the first place, but the lesson is plain. If you can't abide the convoluted history of Spike's development, if you want Old Spike back, well… first, what does that mean? How far should he regress, or when should he stop striving? And if you want him back as we met him, here he is (minus Drusilla), but does that really even look like Spike anymore?
When Anya calls him a bad boy it's silly — a joke. Under his own power, naked in her bed with Anya on top of him, Spike is kind and even lets her down easy. This is the guy we recognize as Buffy's boy, not the monster in the alley, not the thing in the basement. From this angle, outside himself, Spike has been able to observe that this is not "him" anymore. Not the casual dalliances, certainly not the murder. By the time we get down to the basement where all the horror and shame lives, it's not even his basement, properly, and those old bad boy patterns don't make him happy, they hurt other people, and are, now, beneath him. Yet somehow, with and without the soul, he's always owned up to who he is and what he has been, so it's about something else: "As daft a notion as Soulful Spike the Serial Killer is, it is nothing compared to the idea that another girl could mean anything to me." This "worst fear" is also that this is how others see him, specifically how one person sees him, and God help the boy, it's still all about Buffy.
And ultimately down in the basement, she sees through it too. He's pled his case, she's examined evidence, witnesses, etc., and finish that one yourself. In the next episode she will say that she's seen him change. Here in "Sleeper" she doesn't need to say it out loud, but when he's brave enough to ask for her help, she agrees without hesitation and we cut to Spike swaddled in a blanket. In her home. That's the thing about basements. They're underneath something, below a structure, and if you climb the stairs you are among the community again.
"In the end, we are who we are, no matter how much we appear to have changed."
—Giles, "Lessons" (7.1)
This is all a slow build to formative incidents centered on Spike's siring which are revealed/confronted in "Lies My Parents Told Me", and the story is built backwards, burrowing through Spike's lifetimes to locate the developmental traumas of his second childhood. But we don't explain and solve Spike by getting the details on his mommy issues. Maybe it's more important that we just learned something here and now about Spike as he exists in the here and now. So he's back in the living room, and it's cozy scene, no? Spike's tied to the chair, of course. Because they still might have to kill him for his own good.
There's not much discussion on that front. The household has convened and everyone is uneasy, but she's obviously not going to kill him. Right at the moment his case is buffered as he's the only clue they have about the thing that turns out to be The First Evil. No, this is a quick one about whether to keep Spike in the house. Xander, Anya, Willow and Dawn note that Spike's clearly a danger to others, for example the ten people he just killed. If you write those books that use BtVS to illustrate philosophy lessons, now is the time to point out that preschools are not morally obligated to take in every starving Rottweiler on the street. But the deck is stacked here, too: they can't (or won't) kill him, and they can't leave him alone. The issue is basically raised in order to sell the idea of Buffy bringing Spike home but doesn't put the plot to bed. The divide is about Spike in general and Buffy's judgment in particular; it's about trust. So the scene does reestablish the factions in this conflict, and those are basically Buffy and Spike versus everyone else. No new business today. Buffy is soft on ensouled vampires. This is the fracture that never heals entirely.
In the end, it does not appear that The First intended for Buffy or Spike to die in the basement. The details of that master plan remain forever unclear, and ultimately it will look like the villain is simply lobbing every available attack at the Slayer until it manages to draw blood. Pitting guilt-racked exes against regressed, primitive versions of each other is exactly the kind of tactic The First used against Willow, Andrew, and Dawn in "Conversations With Dead People". It tugged at loose threads of insecurity and each of them is going to unravel in turn. The shadows of fault lines are appearing in the topography of the greater Hellmouth area.
Speaking of guilt, there is an abundance hanging over everyone's head right at this point. The full implications of the folk song are laid out in "Lies", but "Early One Morning" itself is accusatory. "Sleeper" links it to the season-long back-and-forth between Buffy and Spike about who "used" who. The song is set "just as the sun was rising" over "the valley below": the maiden's lament is literally emanating from a Sunny Dale. The musical trigger was foreshadowed by First-as-Drusilla in "Lessons": "You'll always be in the dark with me, singing our little songs," it purred to Spike. "You like our little songs, don't you. You've always liked them, right from the beginning."
Besides that haunting trigger melody from Spike's past, "Sleeper" prominently features two Aimee Mann songs from her 2002 album Lost in Space. Appearing in person and on stage at The Bronze, Mann's performance is intercut with Spike in the balcony chatting with his "one bite stand," and the show continues even when the kickboxing starts and vampires are falling from the sky onto the dance floor. Both songs, "Pavlov's Bells" and "This Is How It Goes" resonate with the hypnotic trigger theme. They are concerned with feeling trapped, bound to repeat mistakes, locked into automatic psychological response cycles, stuck in fate's web. They are also both about feeling bad about yourself, and the editing practically elides the entirety of "This is How It Goes" into one emphatic "hallelujah" from the chorus: "IT'S ALL ABOUT SHAME!" Spike will soon observe of possessing a soul that "It's about self-loathing" ("Never Leave Me" [7.9]). Maybe there's something to that, or maybe there's a little more to it than that. Let it never be said that Spike has no more room to grow. Trotting offstage, Aimee Mann grumbles "Man, I hate playing vampire towns." I'm sure it's a drag, but if only she could see how much she resonates with them.
A final note before we let our sleeper rest in peace. Minus the cold open, the episode is bookended by a pair of puzzling cliffhanger snippets. In a well-appointed flat in London (London, England), Robed Figures murder two folks we likely infer are another Watcher and Slayer-to-Be (spoiler: they are). They do not return until the end of the episode. Giles enters the place we don't know and finds the bodies of the people we don't know and suddenly Robed Figure (as per the script) "SWINGS A DOUBLE-BLADED BATTLE AXE AT THE BACK OF GILES'S HEAD," roll credits. A kind of hackneyed surprise, but a surprise. This is all a little out of nowhere, or at least of hazy origin, and doesn't resolve anything or reveal much, which in its way makes it a perfect set of fore and aft epigraphs for "Sleeper".
* * * * *
All screen caps courtesy of Buffyworld.


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An exciting and memorable burst of color defines this artfully crafted bouquet. Roses, alstroemeria and button poms in multiple hues, along with Fall leaves and salal are graciously arranged in a clear gathering vase. Measures 12"H X 9"L.
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