text:
Monday, July 14, 2008
Ryan Burr Handles "The Roundtable" Live
Allen Bestwick is off on a scheduled vacation, so ESPN veteran Ryan Burr stepped-in to host the Monday one-hour edition of NASCAR Now.
Burr is known for his fast-pace on-the-air, which he learned from hosting the thirty minute "wheels" of news on the ESPNEWS Network. Putting the Chicagoland highlights on hold, Burr led his three panelists into a candid discussion of Ryan Newman being released from Penske Racing.
The panel this week consisted of first year ESPN commentator Ray Evernham, NASCAR Now contributor Boris Said and veteran ESPN reporter Mike Massaro. This group struggled to get some energy and excitement going last week with Bestwick at the helm. Burr was determined not to let that happen again.
There was a sharper edge to this program because of Burr's rapid-fire style. He had the panelists answering his questions quickly and then he would just pick right up where he left off. Rarely has a Monday panel run through the Sprint Cup highlights at such a quick pace.
The key to this program was that Burr was well-prepared. While Bestwick is one of the most experienced NASCAR TV veterans, Burr clearly took the time to get his ducks-in-a-row where highlights and questions were concerned. Sometimes, hearing Burr ask questions that were slightly naive was a bit different. It gave the panel the opportunity to address more fundamental issues than would normally be discussed.
"It wasn't the most exciting race from start-to-finish," said Burr about Chicagoland on Saturday night. He pointed the panelists to the issue of whether Kyle Busch had won the race on the last two laps or Jimmie Johnson had lost it. Burr hammered the point that Johnson was clearly upset that he could not handle Busch in a shootout.
One interesting aspect of this entire hour was Burr's effective handling of Boris Said. Burr used a very "short leash" with Said, aiming specific questions at him that called for specific answers. Burr worked Evernham and Said in tandem where racing issues were concerned and it paid-off.
The program used "soundbites" from Chicagoland throughout the broadcast to reinforce the topics Burr was referencing. NASCAR Now's use of this "sound" was perhaps the best of the season and showed a wide variety of drivers, not only the top finishers.
Bestwick is not a big fan of loud music, so apparently the staff decided to take advantage of his absence. The "music bed" was screaming under the announcers almost every time any shred of video hit the air. The generic music was eventually tough to take.
Massaro once again was a integral part of the show with his comments on a wide variety of topics. Many times, it was Massaro that stepped-in to take the heat off Evernham and Said on tough topics like who was going to make The Chase. Still flying well under the TV radar, Massaro has been the quiet rock of NASCAR on ESPN for many years.
If there was a better-edited highlights feature than the Chicagoland mid-show piece, I have not seen it this season. Featuring the voices of the NASCAR radio announcers combined with team radios and "natural sound," there may be nothing more effective on TV. These are the type of features fans deserve to see again during the off-season.
Since February, Kyle Busch has enjoyed being on NASCAR Now quite often. He has spoken with all three hosts and genuinely seems to enjoy himself with the crew. Busch joined the program from Joe Gibbs Racing and Burr pinned him down right away about the final restart and finish.
Burr had some stumbles with Busch because of his lack of in-depth NASCAR experience, but kept the interview on track. His question asking Busch what he would have done if Johnson had gone high is a classic. "Go low," calmly said Busch.
Sometimes, NASCAR Now has to interview their guests when only the show host is available. That is the reason the three panelists sometimes do not get to ask questions. There is little doubt that this interview would have been a tad better if Massaro had been allowed to step-in and help. Busch was pleasant, but there were not a lot of smiles and very little joking around.
Kudos to NASCAR Now for presenting a full highlight package of the Nationwide Series race from Friday night. The program made sure to add-in the classic post-race comment from Clint Bowyer saying "a monkey could win" in the Gibbs car. Nice touch to make sure and include the JD Gibbs response to Bowyer in the show and then let the panel discuss it.
Many Daly Planet readers wondered if Allen Bestwick would ever take a day off, and who would step-in to fill the void. With Bestwick finally on vacation, the choice of Ryan Burr to host seems to have paid-off. His news experience in handling live interviews and being well-prepared was obvious.
In the show, Burr also announced that NASCAR Now would be moving to 5PM. We will have more info when it becomes available. For East Coast fans, the program is now quickly becoming a DVR or TiVo property. Currently, the series repeats at Midnight Eastern Time.
Bestwick returns next week and will handle the stretch-run to the finish. Please give us your opinion of Ryan Burr and this edition of NASCAR Now.
The Daly Planet welcomes comments from readers. Simply click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy instructions. The rules for posting are located on the right side of the main page. Thanks for taking the time to stop by.
25 comments:
- RPM said...
It was a good show, but it definitely was missing the AB touch. There was no "fun" in this edition of NN. It was strictly buisness.
- July 14, 2008 at 7:15 PM
- Anonymous said...
I enjoyed it. I know for example that lots of people like Johnny Benson, but I find him very boring and at other times the show just drags too.
This group had alot of energy from beginning to end. As for Ryan not having the years of experience and knowledge that AB has...I can live with it.
I look to this show for info and entertainment. I feel like it delivered both. And lets face, it was another race that was only made exciting because of the ending.
- July 14, 2008 at 7:31 PM
- Dot said...
I thought Ryan did a good job. If AB takes any more time off, I'd like to see him fill in.
Who really needs to go is Boris. He can offer no real racing information (as in being in the race). He did make a qualifying comment today though. Ray and Mike are fine.
I would like to see a rotating "racing" driver every week. Sprint, NW or CTS, it doesn't matter.
- July 14, 2008 at 7:34 PM
- Anonymous said...
Ryan Burr has improved quite a bit in my mind. I might of had some harsh comments about him early this season, but I really feel that he has worked hard at his NASCAR homework and therefore has shown credible improvemment.
Boris should simply move on to something other than ESPN, until he can start making every Cup race and lend some knowledgeable insight. Right now he's talking in circles and making an attempt at being a comedian.
The suits and ties STILL gotta go. That dress code has looked odd all year.
Finally, I'm surprised they haven't moved the wall mounted Plasma TV on the set.
(that is in the background - in the work bench area).
That TV needs to be moved to the BACK WALL where that hokey DAYTONA poster is. Replace the poster with the NASCAR NOW TV and the set would be more useful.
- July 14, 2008 at 7:56 PM
- Anonymous said...
Ryan did a pretty good job. He's really come to become a fan favorite over the last year. He's grown on me :)
Agree about Boris. I like him enough (well I'm still upset over the cold shoulder he gave Marcos) but with what he's "contributed" any of us could have contributed, heck maybe even more :).
I wonder if Allen was kicking and screaming when they said he had to take vay cay. IIRC, short of when he broke his leg, I *think* there was only one IWC show he wasn't there at least the years I watched. I even have one where his voice wasn't behaving and he was still there :).
- July 14, 2008 at 8:17 PM
- Anonymous said...
- This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
- July 14, 2008 at 8:41 PM
- Anonymous said...
Good program tonight. Mike Massaro was especially good. I don't ever feel like the roundtable is much fun even with Allen, but it is usually interesting and watchable.
I'm not surprised the daily airing of NASCAR Now is being bumped back, but I'm surprised Ryan said it's going to air at 5 PM every day. Last year they bumped it from its original spot of 6:30 PM and moved it to 6 right when college football rolled around. Now they're bumping it all the way back to 5 so the College Football Live show can be on at 6 PM. I guess it's about that time again, when college football rules on ESPN2.
- July 14, 2008 at 8:42 PM
- Anonymous said...
Ray talked about the Budweiser deal almost as an afterthought at the very end of the show, did he and Ryan Burr even spend 10 seconds on it? I realize Ray says nothing to worry about and it's all taken care of in the contract. But didn't Tony Stewart have a contract with Gibbs through 2009? Didn't the Navy unexpectedly tell Brad K and Junior they're not coming back for 2009? Junior said he was wasn't expecting that announcement.
Contracts can change quickly and options are probably written in on both sides for opting out or for modifications. Somehow I didn't quite believe Ray tonight when he so quickly stated nothing will change. I thought he was using NN to present a quick "everything is great" owner image rather than a true analysis. The deal is less than 24 hours old, how does he know what the new company will do?
- July 14, 2008 at 9:02 PM
- TexasRaceLady said...
While missing the light-hearted touch of AB, this show was alright.
I was happy that Ryan kept Boris on the subject at hand. Boris can get carried away.
I was surprised that the sale of Budweiser wasn't brought up, since Ray was sitting there. But then again, it may be too early to know if anything will change.
Mike Massaro was his usual quiet, authoritative self.
I'm getting used to the suits and ties, but why not let the men sit in proper chairs?
The time change has me baffled. Four in the afternoon will be hard for this old lady to remember.
All in all, a good show.
- July 14, 2008 at 9:09 PM
- Newracefan said...
Ryan did a nice job but the pace was a little fast for me and not enough fun but good show no the less.
- July 14, 2008 at 9:12 PM
- Daly Planet Editor said...
There is a new post up about This Week In NASCAR.
Click on The Daly Planet header to refresh your browser.
- July 14, 2008 at 9:18 PM
- Sophia said...
TRL they did briefly mention the Bud takeover but if you sneezed, you missed it. Ray said those things are covered in the contracts>!? Tell that to NEXTEL SPRINT Cup or whatever it's called now.
Will Beck beer be on the car by the end of the season? I was disappointed that was glossed over as well but it's early yet.
I thought Ryan did ok...I had some distractions but liked he kept it at a fast pace but maybe too fast for some things. Ryan did better than I expected but honestly, I think Nicole could do an hour fill in as well and she has an easier going personality.
Also get rid of the high schools and give them real man chairs. I can live with the suits if they can put them in adult chairs that sit on the floor. :)
I must say, if given a choice between a show that's too slow and drags...I prefer this snappier pace.
But the earlie time of 5pm STINKS...dinner time prep or folks not home from work yet..and good luck finding the replay without a court order and a search warrant. ESPN RARELY plays it when scheduled!!
- July 14, 2008 at 11:04 PM
- Ritchie said...
I enjoyed the pace of the show. Mr. Burr was able to get everyone in on the conversation and kept everything on track. Nice job by Mr. Burr
The show reminded me a lot of the other sports shows such as Baseball Tonight. It definitely was stamped with the ESPN mold and that is not a bad thing. No channel can pack so much information into a short amount of time and still make it interesting. My wife, who absolutely hates ESPN and everything it stands for, even stopped to watch some of it. I am currently waiting on the apocalypse.
As for Boris Said, I don't know what else to say. I'm sure he is a nice guy, but this is business. He simply adds no value to the show. His answers make no sense and sound like jibberish. There are a lot of people who could fill that seat besides him.
- July 14, 2008 at 11:07 PM
- Anonymous said...
What is so great about Ryan Burr is that he actually became a fan of NASCAR. What started out as a temporary job for him has now become an interest, and a bit of a passion and it shows in his work for ESPN.
- July 15, 2008 at 12:31 AM
- Haus14 said...
I too liked the pace...I have absolutely nothing against AB, but this is certainly something Ryan could do every week and I would be fine with it.
- July 15, 2008 at 1:22 AM
- Anonymous said...
I thought Monday's show was fantastic. Everybody on the panel had some good points and Burr did a great job directing the conversation towards all of the guests appropriately.
It was also nice to have a host who doesn't pontificate constantly. Bestwick drives me nuts.
- July 15, 2008 at 9:05 AM
- chase said...
Hey John! Boy, did it seem strange without AB. I realize that everyone needs some time off but I think the 'powers-that-be' should have let Mike M. take over instead of using Burr. Burr grates on me and always has. Mike M is very knowledgeable and knows exactly the points to bring up for discussion and the questions to ask. Said has got to go -- Marcos Ambrose would be a great person to take over that spot - he has zeal, is a real racer, and obviously loves the sport. Said is too grumpy and I don't feel he has what it takes to be on camera at all. I will be glad when AB returns! And those suits have got to go . . .
- July 15, 2008 at 9:21 AM
- Daly Planet Editor said...
I think they wanted to make sure that Ryan has someone like Mike on the panel for help an reference.
If you noticed, Massaro would step in quickly if the show missed a beat. He provided some good timely answers for Burr during discussions.
I do agree that Massaro deserves the chance to host, it would have been fun if Marty Smith were on the panel with Massaro hosting.
- July 15, 2008 at 9:39 AM
- Anonymous said...
I thought Ryan did a nice job; though I'll be glad when Allen is back. I didn't find it lacking in 'fun' and the pace seemed good.
As for Ray/Bud, I think what he meant was that the new company has to complete what they have contracted for (whenever that runs out) unless both parties choose to negotiate otherwise. After that it would be up in the air like any other sponsorship (although Bud is a strong brand and I suspect they will be around a while). The Navy works very differently--I believe they have to complete the yearly bidding process, which is different from most sponsors.
I like Boris, but I don't think he's quite right for TV. However, Boris is a 'real' racer with passion and knowledge, he just doesn't express it well on TV. His team isn't *trying* to make all the races, like many other teams he lacks full time sponsorship and resources. Personally, I think Craven has been excellent, and he isn't racing in NASCAR at all now...not sure that's a requirement for this type of analysis show. You're looking for a perspective on how a driver feels about situations, and I think that's still relevant. I think we need to be realistic that finding a current full time driver who has time to do the show and also has excellent broadcasting skills would be an ideal, but is asking a lot.
- July 15, 2008 at 2:30 PM
- Anonymous said...
I prefer AB to Ryan Burr, but I find Burr OK on an occasional basis. I think ESPN needs to be more careful with the composition of the panel when Burr hosts to make sure he has the proper support.
I would like to see Johhny Benson and Ricky Craven appear regularly, perhaps on a rotating basis, to represent the driver's point of view. Both have wide experience in NASCAR, and both are observant and thoughtful. Their comments are always worth hearing. I don't consider it necessary that the driver's viewpoint be provided by someone who currently drives in the cup races himself. It isn't necessary to perform the act yourself in order to be knowledgeable. If it were, there would be no male obstetricians.
In stick and ball sports, it is usually the journeyman players or those fighting to hang on who make the best managers and coaches. I think those who have to struggle more are better students of their sports than those who reach star status. Benson and Craven are two examples from NASCAR, and I would like to see more of them.
Michigan fan
- July 15, 2008 at 5:54 PM
- Dot said...
To Glenc1& Michigan Fan,
After I posted earlier, I realized that a current driver couldn't be on NN. No time to get to CT (they really need to rent space in NC). Both of you brought up good points with Benson and Craven. I do like them better than Boris. At least they have raced longer.
To JD,
Mike as host and Marty in the reporter seat? Heaven.
- July 15, 2008 at 8:20 PM
- Anonymous said...
I enjoyed the show with Ryan Burr, but not nearly as much as with Allen B., as it seemed shallower. With Allen B, I believe he is better able to follow up a subject and go in an unplanned direction. At the same time, if I had not become accustomed to Allen I would have been very pleased with the show.
Since I have been a fan of Boris Said for many years, I enjoy hearing what he has to say. I still believe he is getting a bad rap for standing up for principle- and obviously lost the PR battle to Ambrose.
- July 15, 2008 at 9:20 PM
- Anonymous said...
those drivers have not raced longer--they've raced longer in *NASCAR* series.
I think a driver's perspective is relevant no matter what the series.
I just have to wonder how many 'race fans' even know that sports car racing even exists. Give it a try, you might find it interesting. ...lots of the NASCAR people do, and they're even looking there for talent.
- July 15, 2008 at 11:34 PM
- Anonymous said...
It matters to me where drivers have gained their experience. I have been following NHRA drag racing for many years. If you were to bring Don Garlits, Bob Glidden, and John Force together to tell drag racing stories, I would be glued to the TV. If they switch topics and start talking NASCAR, I will start channel surfing to find something better. Kenny Bernstein is the only drag racer I can think of with any real NASCAR relevant experience. Besides piloting top fuel cars and funny cars to championships, he also owned a NASCAR cup team some years back (1980's ?). Beyond that, I would put my own knowledge of NASCAR against theirs any day.
The experience of Juan Pablo Montoya and other prominent names from open wheel racing shows that even great drivers have a lot to learn when they change the type of cars and racing. It doesn't reduce my admiration for their accomplishments in other series, but it does show that heavy "stock cars" with small tires are an altogether different animal.
Michigan fan
- July 16, 2008 at 3:17 AM
- Anonymous said...
I like Boris on the show ... And how funny people are in complaining about the PR stunt with Marcos Ambrose, but I bet all of them tuned into the Cup race at Sears Point to see IF there'd be any kind of incident between Boris & Marcos ... And you'll tune into the Nationwide races at Montreal and Watkins Glen ... It was a fabulous PR stunt that worked ... And ESPN will be reminding people about it as well as Montoya & Harvick's dinner discussion from last year's race at Watkins Glen ...
I like Ricky Craven, but he's never raced in the COT ... Same with JohnnyB (He hasn't been in a Cup race this year, but has a strong biased toward Toyota) ... Boris has actually been in two Cup races this year in that flippin' COT ...
The problem with this week's Monday roundtable was when they were showing the in-car footage from Jimmie's car ... but they either drowned out the audio with MRN VO or music ... You couldn't hear that Kyle had jacked up Jimmie's rear end and was in essence spinning his tires (as they weren't on the ground) ...
Bowyer's monkey in the 20 car was from the Daytona race ... Not Chicagoland ... Unfortunately, the panel didn't seem to have a problem with JD & Joe Gibbs talking smack about Bowyer, et al ... But, they had a problem with Bowyer making the monkey comment ... Double standards of hypocrisy are not flattering to a show that's NOT supposed to show bias ... The way the 18 car ran on Friday, I'm pretty sure it was a 20 car that was just repainted ...
The overt use of loud music has to go ... The 15-34yo single male demographic is NOT the main demographic of NASCAR races ...
Ray couldn't say much about the Anheuser-Busch sale affecting his sponsorship contract ... He's hopeful that InBev won't get it thrown out as InBev's MO is to dramatically cut ad budgets ... He's probably also hoping the Grupo Modelo rejects the InBev offer & the merger goes away ...
- July 16, 2008 at 8:23 AM


text:
Brian will be one happy boy come October 4. That's when the Wii Fit Plus (announced at E3) will be arriving. Good news: looks like it'll be only $20 if you don't need a Balance Board.
The Wii Fit Plus will introduce 15 new mini-games and come as either a standalone disc for $19.99, or as part of a bundle with the original Wii Fit and Balance Board for $99.99. It also looks like Nintendo will be releasing black editions of the Wii remote, nunchuk and MotionPlus, so those concerned about matching their toys to their furniture will finally breathe a sigh of relief.
We're happy to get the release info, but one question remains: will the Wii Fit Plus mean more pictures of Brian in his boxers? [USA Today via kotaku]

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Syntax, like
government, can only be obeyed. It is
therefore of no use except when you
have something particular to command
such as: Go buy me a bunch of carrots.
— John Cage[i]
Translation is the ultimate humanist gesture. Polite and reasonable, it is an overly cautious bridge builder. Always asking for permission, it begs understanding and friendship. It is optimistic yet provisional, pinning all hopes on a harmonious outcome. In the end, it always fails, for the discourse it sets forth is inevitably off-register; translation is an approximation of discourse — and, in approximating, it produces a new discourse.
Displacement is rude and insistent, an unwashed party crasher — uninvited and poorly behaved — refusing to leave. Displacement revels in disjunction, imposing its meaning, agenda, and mores on whatever situation it encounters. Not wishing to placate, it is uncompromising, knowing full well that through stubborn insistence, it will ultimately prevail. Displacement has all the time in the world. Beyond morals, self-appointed, and taking possession because it must, displacement acts simply—and simply acts.


text:
As summer approaches, Hamptons real estate is on everyone's mind. If the weather during the winter was any indication, 2012 promises to be a hot summer. And in the more figurative use of the word, the real estate market also seems to be headed in that direction.
"I wouldn't be surprised if, at the end of the year, sales were substantial and rentals were just OK," says Andrew Saunders, founder of Saunders & Associates, a concierge real estate service. Saunders has been involved in the Hamptons real estate scene for over 15 years, and he has built his company, which prides itself on supporting its brokers, to become one of the most successful firms on the East End.
Saunders, who sees the 2012 market as being very healthy, points out that the sales and rental markets have an inverse relationship. When the sales are strong, as they are today, the rental market loses a bit of steam. And vice versa.
"This could be our best selling season in five or six years," said Saunders. However, despite the market's strength, Saunders is also quick to point out that it is still influenced by outside events, and as such is always vulnerable. Prior to 2008, the Hamptons were not as impacted by macro, external events as they are today. But the "flash crash" of 2010 and the U.S. credit downgrade in 2011 had a significant and negative impact on Hamptons real estate transactions.
"Any event that undermines confidence (in the market) will undermine Hamptons real estate," says Saunders. This year, however, the strength in buying is a telling sign as to the strength in the market that hasn't been seen in years.
"All areas of the market are selling, which is the definition of a healthy market," says Saunders, who sees activity in both the extreme luxury properties and the more popularly priced pieces. The upper echelon of buyers seems to be leading the charge, and there is extraordinary strength in high-end users, particularly the professional investor class. However, the majority of transactions in the Hamptons are $2 million and under.
And, as per usual, Saunders affirms that South of the Highway is still the place to be, particularly Bridgehampton South, Southampton South, Wainscott South and Water Mill South. But if any place rises slightly about the rest, it's Sagaponack South.
"People who have a really big budget tend to gravitate to something different than a village," says Saunders, referring in particular to the landscape of places like Sagaponack. "They want something that is less closed-in, with wide open spaces and fields."
As to the type of places that sell well, Saunders emphasizes that the product needs to be well-conceived, well-executed and well-priced.
"Some developers make the mistake that it's all about a formula out here," says Saunders. A project needs a sense of style, and can't just look like it was pre-designed. At the same time, that doesn't necessarily have to mean that the product carries a substantial price tag, relatively speaking. But it does need to be great for what it is.
Traditional homes still rule the lay of the land, but the instance of modern design is increasing, particularly with oceanfront or waterfront homes. However, not everyone's perception of "modern" design is the same. Within the genre, there are so many things that people can do.
As the future of Hamptons real estate increasingly shows conviction, it seems that buyers and sellers will continue to believe in the viability of having property on the East End.


text:
Apple officially announces iPhone 4
While most of the world have already seen the prototype iPhone 4G earlier in April, what the next gen phone was exactly capable of remained a mystery. Well we no longer have to speculate as Steve Jobs finally showed off the upcoming wonder at the WWDC keynote event. Aside from the prominent design changes, the iPhone 4 features some new impressive specs, including the all new Retina Display, which has 4x as many pixels as the 3GS. Here are the notable highlights:
- Apple A4 Chip (more power, less battery consumption)
- Design: Optical quality, scratch-resistant glass, surrounded by stainless steel rim
- More juice: 7 hrs 3G talk, 6hrs 3G browsing, 10 hrs Wi-Fi Browsing, 10 hrs video, 40 hrs music, 300 hrs standy
- Retina Display: 960 x 640 pixels, 326 pixels per inch, 800:1 contrast ratio (4x better than 3GS)
- Front Facing Camera
- 5 megapixel sensor, LED flash, 5x digital zoom, backside illuminated sensor
- HD Recording: 720p at 30fps, tap to focus video,
- Thinnest smartphone ever
- Gyroscope (detects pitch roll and yaw. Together with Accelerometer, users will have 6-axis motion sensing)
- Video Chat
- MicroSIM
- 802.11n Wi-Fi
The new hardware specs, coupled with the features that are expected of the OS 4.0 (now called iOS 4), certainly make the iPhone 4 THAT much more appealing. Not sure about you, but I can't wait to get my hands on one when it's released.


text:
News & Notes: Game 41
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 (1:05 p.m.) – Victory Field
Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com
Buffalo Bisons (17-23, T4th(-6.5), North)
LHP Casey Fossum (0-3, 5.87)
Indianapolis Indians (16-24, 4th(-11.0), West)
RHP Brad Lincoln (3-3, 5.03)
TODAY'S GAME: This afternoon, the Bisons take on the Indianapolis Indians in the second game of a four-game series from Victory Field (1:05 p.m.). The Indians struck first in the series with last night's 10-1 win. Buffalo is now 2-3 on their eight-game roadtrip that began with a split of a four-game set in Louisville. Following Friday's game, the Bisons will return home for an eight-game homestand against Charlotte and Gwinnett.
VS. THE INDIANS: With last night's 10-1 win, the Indians took the first game in the season series with the Bisons. Dating back to the end of the 2008 season, the Herd is now just 6-14 in its last 20 games against the Tribe. The last time Buffalo won a season series at Victory Field was when they took three of four over Indianapolis on June 28 – July 1, 2004.
TODAY'S STARTER: LHP CASEY FOSSUM will make his sixth start and ninth appearance for the Bisons today. The southpaw is still in search of his first win with an 0-3 record and a 5.87ERA. Fossum is looking to rebound from his shortest start of the season as he allowed nine runs in three innings on Friday night in Louisville. Fossum has been much better in his three day games this year with a 1.38ERA in 13.0 innings of work in afternoon starts.
CATCHING ON: C MIKE NICKEAS enters today's game on a five-game hit streak. After collecting just one hit in his first six games with the team, Nickeas is hitting .353 (6-17) since May 11. The catcher has also driven in runs in back-to-back games.
DEBUT CONTINUES: INF LUIS FIGUEROA has hit in all five games he's played as a Bison. The 37-year old was signed as a free agent on May 13 and has averaged .389 (7-18) with a pair of runs scored. Five of the hits have come in nine at-bats against left-handed pitchers (.556).
EVANS ALMIGHTY: The Mets announced last night that INF NICK EVANS will have his contract selected prior to their game against the Nationals tonight. Evans was hitting .248 (35-141) with five home runs and 16RBI in 36 games with the Herd. He has posted a team-best 14 multi-hit games in 2011.
METS UPDATE: The Mets and Marlins were postponed due to rain last night. The club announced that they will place INF DAVID WRIGHT on the disabled list with a lower back stress fracture tonight (retroactive to 5/16). Former Bisons LHP JON NIESE will start for New York tonight against the Nationals at 7:10 p.m. from Citi Field.


text:
Guest poem submitted by Bill Whiteford
(Poem #1781) To Autumn
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; Conspiring with him how to load and bless With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run; To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees, And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core; To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells With a sweet kernel; to set budding more, And still more, later flowers for the bees, Until they think warm days will never cease, For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells. Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store? Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find Thee sitting careless on a granary floor, Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind; Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep, Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers: And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep Steady thy laden head across a brook; Or by a cyder-press, with patient look, Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours. Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they? Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,-- While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day, And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue; Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn Among the river sallows, borne aloft Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies; And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn; Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft; And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
I'm not a great fan of the romantic poets, but was struck that colleagues didn't know where the phrase "season of mists and mellow fruitfulness" came from . I think quite a lot of Keats is not great, but some of the images here are memorable. Here in Scotland the twittering swallows are long gone, but the barred clouds sometimes bloom the soft-dying day. There's lots of other analysis you could do here (the erotic language of the second verse, the sense of impending loss of the third), but mainly I would just enjoy the turn of phrase and the images. Bill Whiteford.


text:
February 21, 1942 - May 28, 2005
(the young, handsome fella is my brother. He's 6'2" - I'm 5'0". How does that happen?)
And since this is a quilting blog, and I haven't done any quilting lately (STILL no machine!), here's the quilt I made with his t-shirts after he died. It has been making the rounds, hanging first on my Mom's wall, then one sister's, then my father's best friend's wall, then the other sister's, and it finally made its way back to me last month so I can enjoy it for a while.
Who are YOU remembering this Memorial Day?


text:
Tween Reads
August 2019
As always, if the library does not own one of the books on this list, please feel free to place a request. We will contact you when your book is available.
Request a book
In this Issue
Recent Releases
For Fans of Raina Telgemeier
Recent Releases
The Usual Suspects
Maurice Broaddus
best friends Thelonius Mitchell and Nehemiah Caldwell, two prank-loving, so-called delinquents from Mr. Blackmon's seventh grade special education class.
What happens:
After a gun is found near the school, the principal is eager to blame the special ed kids, prompting Nehemiah and Thelonius to search for the real culprit.
Why you might like it:
If you've ever felt boxed in by unfair labels and rules, you might relate to the characters in this honest, realistic read.
Zenobia July
Lisa Bunker
What it's about:
After a family tragedy,
transgender tech geek Zenobia starts over in a new town, where she
finds quirky new friends, an unexpected mystery, and the freedom to finally be herself.
Why you might like it:
Though Zen is dealing with some tough stuff, she's still funny and determined -- coders will especially enjoy how she uses her skills to expose a hacker.
Try this next:
M.G. Hennessey's
The Other Boy
or Dana Alison Levy's
It Wasn't Me
Queen of the Sea
Dylan Meconis
Welcome to:
the kingdom of Albion in the 16th century, where young orphan Margaret lives among the nuns in a tiny island convent.
What happens:
When exiled Queen Eleanor arrives on the island, Margaret finds herself questioning everything she knows about her home, her past, and her country.
Who it's for:
his historical graphic novel (inspired by the true story of England's Queen Elizabeth I) will intrigue s
ophisticated readers in search of dramatic events and detail-rich illustrations.
Up for Air
Laurie Morrison
What it's about:
Although 13-year-old Annabelle has trouble keeping up in school, she's the fastest girl on the swim team. Naturally, she jumps at the chance to swim with the high school team for the summer. But is fitting in with her new teammates worth letting go of her old friends?
Why you might like it:
Annabelle is a realistically confused character, and you might see something of yourself in both her triumphs and her mistakes.
Me and Sam-Sam Handle the Apocalypse
Susan Vaught
What it's about:
Jesse Broadview -- a clever, capable girl on the autism spectrum -- is having a stressful week: her dad's been accused of stealing from the school
there's a tornado heading for their town. But with support from her new friend Springer and her talented Pomeranian Sam-Sam, Jesse's ready to face both challenges head-on.
Read it for:
an entertaining mystery (who
steal from the school?) alongside Jesse's memorable descriptions of living with an "itchy" brain.
For Fans of Raina Telgemeier
Raina Telgemeier's new book,
, will be on shelves in September, but if you're looking for inviting cartoon art and lifelike characters, you don't have to wait -- just check out one of the books below.
Be Prepared
Vera Brosgol
Frustrated misfit Vera hopes that she'll finally fit in among the other Russian kids at a Russian American summer camp.
From mean girls to a terrifying outhouse, camp is nothing like Vera expected.
Why Raina fans might like it:
Just like Raina often writes about her own life, this relatable graphic novel is based on the summer camp woes of author Vera Brosgol.
All's Faire in Middle School
Victoria Jamieson
homeschooled 11-year-old Imogene "Impy" Vega, who's just been promoted to squire at the Renaissance Faire where her parents work.
What happens:
Impy's ready for a quest, and going to public school seems like just the thing. But will it transform her into a brave knight or a spiky dragon?
Why Raina fans might like it:
This tale of friends and "faire-mily" is just as amusing and authentic as
, or
All Summer Long
Hope Larson
What it's about:
With her best friend Austin ignoring her texts while he's away at soccer camp, Bina has a lot of free time for playing her guitar and hanging out with Charlie, Austin's surprisingly cool older sister.
Why Raina fans might like it:
All Summer Long's
expressive cartoon art and truthful take on friendship are a good fit for fans of Raina's realistic books.
Series alert:
Keep an eye out for sequels -- there are two on the way!
The Witch Boy
Molly Knox Ostertag
What it's about:
Now that he's 13, everyone expects Aster to shape-shift like the other boys in his magical community. Aster's true skill, however, is witchcraft...which is taught only to girls.
Why Raina fans might like it:
With colorful art and characters you'll root for, this graphic novel fantasy will grab readers who love Raina's
Series alert:
This series opener is followed by
The Hidden Witch
The Midwinter Witch
(due out in November).
Short & Skinny
Mark Tatulli
What it's about:
In the summer of 1977, scrawny, bullied 7th-grader Mark abandons his plans to bulk up in favor of a new goal: making a spoof of the new hit movie,
Star Wars
Read it for:
exaggerated cartoon illustrations, inventive homemade props, and hilarious, true-to-life awkwardness.
Why Raina fans might like it:
Similar to how Raina writes about being a comics-obsessed kid, author Mark Tatulli offers a peek into how he made his first big creative project.
Phillipsburg Free Public Library
200 Broubalow Way
Phillipsburg, New Jersey 08865


text:
Phone directory of Aluksne (Latvia), sorted by street names
Phone directory, sorted by street names — is a phone directory where showed list of streets names in current city. If you select one street name, you can see list of persons, who live on this street. If you select one of listed people, you can see full information about this person (such as phone number, name and address). Sometimes it is very useful to find out phone numbers of your neighbours or people, who live not far from you.
Dir: Latvia → Aluksne → Anna / Straumeni
List of inhabitants, who live on this address:
Aluksne, Anna / Straumeni: showed persons 11 from 1 (0.00 sec)
|Lastname, name
|Skipsna Inara
|Anna / Straumeni
Other phone directories of Aluksne (Latvia):
- Phone directory of Aluksne (by custom parameters)
- Phone directory of Aluksne, sorted by phone numbers (view by phone numbers)
- Phone directory of Aluksne, sorted by lastnames (view by lastnames)
Same phone directories of another cities Latvia:


text:
From Nemco Restaurant Equipment - Nemco Bar Heater - 6151-48 - Bar Heater, infinite control, 48-1/4" x 7" x 2-3/4", calrod heating element, indicator light, aluminum shell, 120 volt, 1100 watts, UL listed - Your Source for Quality Restaurant Equipment and Supplies.
Est. Del. :14 to 21 days
Create a "Quote List" by clicking "Add to Quote" next to an item, and your list will appear below. When you are ready click "Submit Quote", and our sales team will work on getting you the deepest discounts possible!


text:
[UPDATE] Encountering Celebrity, a panel at (dis)junctions Grad Conference, Apr 5-6. DEADLINE EXTENDED to Feb 22
Studies of celebrity, fame, notoriety, and stardom have become increasingly complex and important in our media saturated society. Beginning with studies of fame--which focused on a wide variety of figures that operated in the public sphere, including politicians, religious figures, and military heroes--and studies of stardom--which interrogated stars like Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Diahann Carroll and Lucille Ball as symbols of societal fears, prejudices, and desires--the field of celebrity studies has continued to evolve, accommodating the changes in media and the relationship between the individual and the public sphere in the 21st century. The term celebrity, and the field of celebrity studies now includes a wide array of figures and phenomenon, from historical heroes, to pop culture icons, to political leaders. This panel invites papers that explore these fields as sites of "encountering." Topics may include, but are not limited to, readings of specific celebrities as spaces where the individual encounters societal forces, fame as a process that requires the process of encountering to exist, or textual instances of celebrity encounters. Papers form the wide variety of disciplines celebrity studies draws from (like English, sociology, history, media studies, race, ethnic, sexuality, and gender studies) are encouraged.
Abstracts of 250-300 words should be submitted at www.disjunctions2013.org or mailed to email@example.com no later than February 22nd, 2013.
This is a panel call for the 20th Annual (dis)junctions Humanities and Social Sciences Graduate Conference at the University of California, Riverside. This year's general theme, "encountering with(in) texts," examines the impact of situatedness, unexpectedness, and/or unpreparedness on "face to text" encounters with media objects, embodied encounters negotiated through or overdetermined by texts, and representations of "encountering" within texts. Please visit www.disjunctions2013.org for more information on this year's theme, our other subject- and discipline-specific panel calls, and Keynote Speaker Dr. Nicholas Mirzeoff.


text:
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the UK police's use of stop and search powers granted under terrorism legislation is illegal.
The case was brought by two people who were stopped and searched under the Terrorism Act of 2000 while on their way to an arms fair.
The law grants police the power to search anyone regardless of suspicion. A senior police officer can grant the power for a defined area; this must then be confirmed by the secretary of state within 48 hours.
Since the law was passed in February 2001 there has been a rolling programme of applications and authorisations for the whole of the Metropolitan Police area all of the time.
The court objected on several grounds. It found the searches interfered with the right to a private life and that, unlike airline passengers, people had in no way consented to be searched. It found a lack of basic safeguards in use of the powers - no minister has ever objected or sought to change the terms of such an order.
The court was not impressed with the independent reviewer who has complained since May 2006 that the law is being over-used.
Finally the court objected to the lack of any controls on the individual police officers - they only have to say they had a hunch rather than show reasonable grounds for a search.
In summary the Court found the powers "were neither sufficiently circumscribed nor subject to adequate legal safeguards against abuse".
The court also found from statistics that black and Asian people "were disproportionately affected by the powers".
Between 2004 and 2008 total searches recorded went up from 33,177 to 117,278.
Kevin Gillan, a 32-year old student and Pennie Quinton, a 38-year old reporter and photographer, were on their way to a demonstration at an arms fair being held in Docklands when they were stopped.
The two applicants share €33,850 in costs and expenses.
The verdict is another blow for the Home Office which has had its wrists slapped over the DNA database, prisoners' rights to privacy in recent months.
Policing and Security Minister David Hanson MP said: "Stop and search under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 is an important tool in a package of measures in the ongoing fight against terrorism.
"I am disappointed with the ECHR ruling in this case as we won all other challenges in the UK courts, including at the House of Lords. We are considering the judgment and will seek to appeal." ®


text:
Elliott Franklin Sears, a World War II veteran who later worked as an assistant chief engineer for the Navy Department in Washington, died Sept. 5 of heart failure at the Charlotte Hall Veterans Home in Southern Maryland. The longtime Woodmoor resident was 86.
Born in Baltimore and raised near Druid Hill Park, Mr. Sears graduated in 1943 from City College. He was 17 when he enlisted in the Navy and was assigned as a pharmacist's mate aboard the light aircraft carrier USS San Jacinto in the Pacific.
After the war ended, Mr. Sears worked for Westinghouse Electric Corp. until 1948, when he began studies in what was then a new field, television, at the New York Institute of Technology.
He returned to Baltimore in 1951, and joined his father-in-law, Maurice Morganstein, selling appliances and repairing televisions, and also was employed at the old Glenn L. Martin Co. in Middle River, where he worked on sonar projects.
In 1954, Mr. Sears worked for WBAL-FM and as a cameraman for its TV station, until 1960 when he took a job at the Defense Department in Washington as a civilian employee for the Air Force.
He later moved over to the Army and then the Navy, where his job as an assistant chief engineer was traveling around the world setting up TV studios aboard naval vessels and at bases. He retired in 1990.
Because he was a civilian employee at the Pentagon, he wasn't required to follow a military dress code or wear his hair according to military regulations.
"Dad had mutton chop sideburns, hair that touched his collar, and often wore blue jeans and orange Hush Puppies for shoes, because there was a lot of walking in the Pentagon and they were very comfortable," said a daughter, Lynn Dee Sears of Coral Springs, Fla.
"He was often referred to as 'The Hippie Engineer,' and was even used as an example by Gen. William C. Westmoreland when the Army was bringing out their new Army regulations, as an example of 'hair too long,' " said Ms. Sears.
Mr. Sears was a member and board member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars' Odenton post. He was also a model airplane enthusiast and built and flew remote-controlled planes for years.
His wife of 60 years, the former Ansella "Ann" Morganstein, died in 2006.
Services were held Sept. 7 at Sol Levinson & Bros.
Also surviving are a son, Dr. Bobby Sears of Ashburn, Va.; another daughter, Laurie Sears of Crofton; a brother, Malcolm Sears of Pikesville; six grandchildren; a great-grandson; and several nieces and nephews.


text:
Active Hunter
Hey guys, Been off the forums for while now since my Jango was complete. I had a friend ruin my guns so I need to start over. Is anyone making kits? Are there any good links I should look at? I have searched the forums but did not find too much in the search engine.


text:
Today's giveaway is courtesy of Retro Threadz, who is offering one of my lucky readers a $50 credit to their store! With their exceptionally affordable prices, you could easily get more than one item!
To enter, simply visit Retro Threadz and then leave a comment below.
Up to TWO bonus entries - leave additional comments with the following:
+ Follow Retro Threadz on twitter
+ Add Retro Threadz to your favorites on Etsy
Entries will be accepted until 9 pm EST on Monday, July 19th. You must leave a valid email address or some way for me to contact you in order to win. A winner will be chosen at random and announced in this post. Good luck!
-Keiko Lynn
p.s. Check out the Retro Threadz blog!
The winner is Debbie. Thanks for participating!


text:
PORTSMOUTH — While their neighbors to the north were getting blanketed by snow on Thursday, residents on the Seacoast saw rain and sleet for much of the day.
The storm brought wet weather and strong winds in the morning and early afternoon, but residents in Portsmouth and surrounding communities were spared from inches of snowfall.
AccuWeather Meteorologist Mark Paquette said the lingering warmth of the Atlantic Ocean is responsible for the lack of snowfall in the southern Seacoast region.
"It should be all snow for Portsmouth, but they get this persistent wind off the water with just enough marine air to be warm enough for rain instead of snow," Paquette said. "But just inland, it is cold enough for snow. We see this trend in New England all the time. It is classic."
The temperature was hovering at about 34 degrees in Portsmouth shortly after noon, as rain and sleet doused the area. The precipitation changed into snow later in the day as temperatures dropped, but the total accumulation was low, according to National Weather Service Meteorologist Chris Kimble.
Portsmouth police reported residents had few problems maneuvering the roads as of noon Thursday.
In Hampton, the noon high tide sent water spilling onto some coastal roads, including Ocean Boulevard. Aside from localized flooding, Hampton residents experienced few storm-related problems, according to a dispatcher at the Police Department.
"We're all rain, so it's just the typical coastal flooding," she said.
Rye police asked residents to exercise "extreme caution" while traveling along the boulevard. The tide washed away some shale piles near of the road, leaving behind debris.
"There are several sections under water at this time," a police representative wrote on the Rye Police Department's Facebook page. "Take your time and do not travel out there if you do not have to!"
Foster's staff writer Michelle Kingston contributed to this report.


text:
Diabetes rates nearly doubles in 20 years0
ST. PAUL (March 25, 2013) — The Minnesota Department of Health estimates that about 80,000 adults in Minnesota may have diabetes without knowing it.
Given the seriousness of the disease, the Minnesota Department of Health is encouraging Minnesotans this Diabetes Alert Day, Tuesday, March 26, to ask themselves whether they are at risk for diabetes and to take steps to improve their health.
The percentage of adults in Minnesota who are living with diabetes nearly doubled between 1994 and 2010 and these numbers under-represent the true number of people living with the condition. About 290,000 adults in Minnesota, or 7.3 percent, say they have been told by their health care team they have diabetes.
National data show that only 75 percent of adults with diabetes know that they have the disease. Given Minnesota's population, about 80,000 Minnesotans might have the disease without being aware of it.
"Given the alarming increase of diabetes, we are encouraging Minnesotans to use this day to think about whether they or someone they love might have diabetes or prediabetes and not even know about it," said Minnesota Health Commissioner Dr. Ed Ehlinger. "Diabetes is a very treatable disease and it is important that everyone with diabetes takes steps to get their blood sugar under control and lead a healthier life."
Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes and often does not have symptoms. Risk factors for type 2 diabetes include being overweight, being older, and for women, having had gestational diabetes during a pregnancy, and having prediabetes. People of color and American Indians also have a higher risk of developing diabetes.
As a first step, Minnesotans can take a simple paper or online test to see if they are at risk for diabetes or prediabetes, at the website http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/prevention/diabetes-risk-test/. If you have a score of five or more talk with your health care provider to decide if additional tests are needed. Prediabetes is a warning sign for diabetes and occurs when blood sugar is high, but not high enough to be considered diabetes. People with prediabetes are at increased risk of developing diabetes. National studies suggest about one-third of Americans have prediabetes, which translates to around 1.4 million adults in Minnesota. Most people with prediabetes do not know they have it.
For overweight people with prediabetes, losing even a small amount of weight and increasing physical activity can make a big difference. These steps can reduce diabetes risk, delaying or preventing onset of the disease. MDH also encourages people at risk to get involved with the Diabetes Prevention Program. Individuals can participate in this year-long program that helps people to make lifestyle changes that can reduce diabetes risks. Many organizations in Minnesota offer this program. Listings can be found at: www.icanpreventdiabetes.org.
The Minnesota Department of Health's Diabetes Program works in partnership with organizations throughout the state to prevent type 2 diabetes and improve care for people with diabetes. MDH increases awareness about diabetes and prediabetes, supports health care providers to identify and care for people with diabetes and prediabetes, offers effective programs like the Diabetes Prevention Program, and, through the Statewide Health Improvement Program, creates environments that make it easier for Minnesotans to eat healthfully, be physically active and not use tobacco. Together, these approaches support a healthier Minnesota and reduce the risk for developing diabetes and other chronic diseases.
Diabetes is a set of diseases with many different causes. All people with diabetes have high levels of blood sugar. Diabetes develops when the body cannot make insulin, a hormone that helps cells to use blood sugar (glucose) for energy, or if the insulin cannot be used properly.
Most people talk about three main types of diabetes: type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes. Both type 1 and type 2 tend to be life-long conditions, but the causes differ. Gestational diabetes occurs during pregnancy and goes away after pregnancy for most women. However, women who had gestational diabetes are likely to develop type 2 diabetes after pregnancy.
Over time high levels of blood sugar from diabetes can damage the body and lead to problems like heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, eye problems, dental problems, and many other conditions. For people with diabetes, controlling blood sugar is a powerful way to prevent these health problems.
To learn more about diabetes and prediabetes in Minnesota, visit the MDH website and recently released fact sheets on diabetes and prediabetes at http://www.health.state.mn.us/diabetes/.


text:
In the months preceding the invasion of Iraq, Norman Solomon invited actor Sean Penn along with him on a trip to Baghdad. A syndicated columnist and Executive Director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, Solomon went to Iraq three times during this period—with members of Congress, NGO executives, and former UN officials—but it was the trip with Penn that got the public's attention; and Penn alone who got both the resulting credit and scorn. But a lot of the impetus for their trip was Solomon's notion about war, detailed in his last two books. Solomon argues that we weren't being told the real reasons for the invasion; and that, despite the administration's claims to the contrary, war would be costly to Iraqi civilians and could certainly be avoided. But in his most recent book Solomon takes this argument further—arguing that the American war machine has been rolling over the truth for many decades.
Solomon's columns have appeared in the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Newsday, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and USA Today. His book, War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us To Death, appeared in 2005 and is due out in paperback in summer 2006. Detailing a process firmly entrenched since the Vietnam War, War Made Easy examines why it's easier for a president to attack a foreign country than to launch virtually any other major policy initiative you could imagine. It is a primer on how presidents from Johnson to George W. Bush keep getting away with enormous lies about war; and how the media act as their enablers, often even their cheerleaders. Jim Hightower writes, "If you want to help prevent another war (Iran? Syria?), read War Made Easy now."
[Interview by Joel Whitney]
Guernica: What are the main forces that make it so easy to go to war?
Norman Solomon: We can talk about the drive for geopolitical advantage in various parts of the world; we can talk about the desire to open up or expand markets to gain stable access to raw materials, to line the pockets of huge military contracting corporations; the role of lobbyists in Washington, on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue; and the way in which the military-industrial complex that Dwight Eisenhower warned about almost half a century ago is now a military-industrial-media complex.
Guernica: What is the military-industrial-media complex?
Norman Solomon: This refers to the corporatization of mass media, which has meant that the profit-driven apparatus of disseminating news and information is largely drinking from the same corporatized trough as the governmental war-makers in Washington.
So I don't think it's an easy question that you've asked. I think that war has been made easy in the current era for reasons that keep accelerating each other. Once an attack starts—this is one of the key dynamics—once the president gets over the hump and the U.S. is at war, stopping the war becomes extremely difficult. This so-called "War on Terror" is a dream-come-true for those who believe that the U.S. should be at perpetual war.
The media send a very powerful message to people in the United States that, when it comes right down to it, these world events are really about us.
Guernica: There are a number of myths you look at in your book—myths that we as Americans tell ourselves, largely through big media, which make it easier to go to war. The first—that "America is a fair and noble superpower"—is surely the most difficult myth to navigate. Isn't this a core American belief, that our experiment is a good one and that our motives are for the greater good?
Norman Solomon: Frequently we'll see statements in a reportorial voice, without attribution, just matter-of-factly on the front pages, that go something like this: "In its effort to promote democracy in the Middle East, the Bush Administration…." You know, fill in the blank. Well, if we accept the premise, there's not much left to talk about except the tactics. Any untoward or ugly motivation is filtered out; since the desire, we're told, is to fulfill that mission, as a fair and noble superpower. What could be more noble than trying to create democracy in the Middle East? And this is a very common thread of news coverage, more effective probably than the Op-Ed pages—how the front pages convey a framework through which we're encouraged to see the world.
I think related to the myth of America as a fair and noble superpower is the tacit assumption that, when you come right down to it, the United States is really the center of the world. I sometimes think of it as "jingo-narcissism." That assumption is very psychological. Unless you're Anne Coulter or something, you're not gonna say it point blank. The contempt for the rest of the world is much more blatant and extreme coming from the current White House. But it's always been fairly implicit and infuses a lot of the punditry that we get. So it's the combination that the U.S. is so noble and the maybe kind of sheepish belief that, when push comes to shove, we're the ones who matter most.
Guernica: So what are the effects of this myth?
Norman Solomon: I think a kind of manifestation is, when we hear about civilians being killed by U.S. firepower in Iraq or other actions that make the U.S. "look bad," the emphasis in U.S. media accounts is so often on what it means for our image. I'll give you an example. Just a day or so ago, here in late December, 2005, I heard an NPR news account of the U.S. earthquake relief effort in Pakistan. And the emphasis of the report was that the supplies and the mass units that the Pentagon had set up in Pakistan after the devastating earthquake there were important because it was improving the poll numbers for Uncle Sam in Pakistan. So, the people who were suffering from the aftermath of the earthquake, they become like abstractions or widgets or poll numbers. The media send a very powerful message to people in the United States that, when it comes right down to it, these world events are really about us.
You would think that the law of averages would mean that we would have some wars lately that weren't just based on lies.
Guernica: Another myth you expose is the assumption that American leaders don't lie directly to the public.
Norman Solomon: The most powerful lies are often omissions. So, we don't hear about the cluster bombs that the U.S. misused in its last wars, totally gratuitous even from a military standpoint, in terms of possibilities for a U.S. "victory;" the depleted uranium; the now widely discussed deceptions, driven by the White House, about the supposed weapons of mass destruction and links to Al Qaeda of the Hussein regime. Going back, there was the incubator story leading up to the Gulf War, where tremendous impact came from this lie basically about the occupying Iraqi troops reportedly throwing large numbers of babies out of their incubators in Kuwait City.
There was also the bait and switch lie where President George Herbert Walker Bush claimed that the Iraqi troops in Kuwait were being positioned to invade Saudi Arabia. And, when you look back, you see that the media coverage in August, September and October of 1990 was that these quarter-million U.S. troops were being sent to the Persian Gulf region to defend Saudi Arabia. That prevented a lot of opposition that might have otherwise materialized in the United States to deployment, since it seemed to be a defensive move. The U.S. news media parroted fairly uncritically—in the case of the 1965 invasion of the Dominican Republic, the 1983 invasion of Grenada, the 1989 invasion of Panama—the White House's claims that these actions were necessary to protect U.S. citizens in those countries. Looking at the last 50 years of U.S. wars, every single one of them was based on lies pushed by the president and largely echoed by the U.S. news media. You would think that the law of averages would mean that we would have some wars lately that weren't just based on lies.
Guernica: What about, say, Somalia? What do you say to those who say we wanted to prevent another Rwanda?
Norman Solomon: If we assume there were some real positive motivations for the intervention, we also need to look at the actual disaster that occurred—for Somalis—as a result of that intervention. The U.S. chose up sides among warlords and gave support to the warlord Mohammed Farah Aideed, but ended up making war on him and his militia. American forces got into a mode of killing Somali people, including civilians in residential areas. The figures I've seen indicate that the U.S. intervention may have killed about the same number of Somali people as it saved with humanitarian aid. And, in the process, the U.S. belief that problems could be solved with military force actually exacerbated the clan warfare that was plaguing Somalia. The U.S. intervention was touted as being a solution but it became part of the problem. We could plausibly conclude that, from the standpoint of Somali people, the motivations that led to the U.S. military intervention were ultimately irrelevant.
Guernica: The rampant government lying that you detail—is it a process endemic to one political party over another? Somalia of course was one of Clinton's wars.
Norman Solomon: This is definitely a bipartisan phenomenon. The scams are, I think, more subtle or intricate from Democrats. The Bush administration has been more flagrant. There's more contempt for anything that approximates intellectual coherence from this administration. So it's more jaw dropping. This is reflected in the claim made to a New York Times magazine writer a couple of years back by a Bush Administration official that they don't have to be so concerned with "reality-based politics"—that they rearrange reality on the ground, presumably with their bombs as well as their economic and geopolitical leverage. I think this is part of a trend. All of this has been jacked up to such an extent that these phenomena, including deceptions—which were at play from Vietnam and the Dominican Republic through the less direct interventions in Central America in the 1980s, to the bombing of Yugoslavia and the present-day—this has all become greatly accelerated and become more shameless; and I think now we're experiencing a kind of backlash to some degree (that was always present on the left and among some libertarians). In the last year or so, it has moved into the mainstream of media and politics where you now have war enthusiasts like Chuck Hagel or John McCain making somewhat strong statements against the Bush administration.
I'm not saying it's in any way dependable. But still it reflects this backlash. So I think the breathtakingly mendacious arrogance of this White House to wage war on Iraq is both continuity and exponential magnification of something that all of us have seen time and again in our own lifetimes going back many decades.
Guernica: Since Vietnam, have the U.S. media ever come close to slowing or preventing a drive toward war?
Norman Solomon: I don't think that, in the last 50 years, any president who was determined to start a war has been thwarted, whether by Congress or the news media.
Guernica: Are the reputations of presidents made on the battlefield? Are the "minor" presidents generally those presidents who were unable or disinterested in making a war?
Norman Solomon: Oh, definitely. You know, it's difficult to enact landmark domestic legislation—overhauling the national healthcare system, for instance. It's really tough to do, whether in a progressive or reactionary direction. But, you know (laughing), when it comes to a war…you know, Ford just wasn't in the White House long enough to start a new one. But this has been a benchmark of purported greatness. And media outlets who, according to Phil Graham of the Washington Post a few decades ago, are propagating "the first draft of history." They set the tone. There are many examples in War Made Easy of the media actually goading presidents into war. The invasion of Panama was preceded by a lot of derision, not only from people on Capitol Hill, but from media outlets [which wrote things like] "The President Blinked." A lot of goading comes from people like George Will, Charles Krauthammer, Richard Cohen—these are the syndicated columnists who mocked President Clinton for not "punching out Saddam Hussein's lights." That's an important dynamic. And then you get the acclamation when a war takes place, or a missile strike. Soon after Clinton moved into office there were missiles launched into Baghdad, and Time magazine called it one of his finest moments.
Guernica: What are the motives for this cheerleading?
Norman Solomon: You have the individual reporters who are part of the adrenaline rush that a move toward war brings. It's good for careers. We can list many reporters—Neal Conan, for example, a host on Talk of the Nation—their careers, their visibility is enhanced by covering a war. NPR news, as an institution, gained a lot of traction and stature from the Gulf War. That's just a reality. I'm not saying it's a motivation; I'm just saying it's a dynamic. And I think attitudes toward the powerful really infuse the process. Journalists who are players in media outlets that are significant in Washington are in synch with the move towards war.
Let's flip it over. In the so-called "War on Terror," what if there was a major questioning by the news media of the fundamentals? I wrote a column a couple of years ago on a question that I also deal with in the book: the double standards of the term terrorism. And I urged that there should be a single standard for what is called terrorism. As Colin Powell said on the day of September 11th, "If people are going to blow up buildings and kill people for political purposes, then that's to be condemned as terrorism." Well, what if we apply a single standard? Then U.S. military actions could come under that description as well.
Guernica: By our own definition.
Norman Solomon: Yeah. But since a significant degree of Orwellian haze envelopes our daily media discourse in this country, there's never really any sharp point put on that. When I raised that point in my column I got an email from a columnist, who wrote, "I agree with you but if our paper were to adopt that single standard of language about terrorism in our daily reporting, the repercussions would be immediate and massive in terms of economic effect. Advertisers would cancel; there would be outrage from readers." And I think he was right. Can you imagine front-page stories that refer to Pentagon terrorism, and the helicopter gun-ships and cruise missiles that are attacking residential areas in Iraq? I mean, it's just not gonna fly. And that's kind of the flip side to your question about what are the motivations. I think there's also a lot of fear in the newsroom. And after a while people don't even think about it.
Guernica: The questioning ceases?
Norman Solomon: No individual journalist, or, for that matter, media outlet, is apt to want to be too far out on a limb. They wanna be a little bit ahead of the curve, but they also want to be within shouting distance of what is considered to be professionalism and good news judgment. Well, professionalism and good news judgment, whether it's covering economic issues or U.S. military policy, is all about what other professionals consider to be quality journalism; and so it's self-imitation that parallels self-censorship.
Guernica: Tell me about your trips to Iraq. I know you went with Sean Penn on one of them. Tell me, what were your reasons for those trips? Was it to remedy this notion you mentioned earlier, that people in other places are widgets or abstractions in U.S. media handling?
Norman Solomon: That was key, as far as I was concerned. At the governmental level, in the fall of 2002, I thought that it was really important to shatter the assumption that "you can't talk to these people." There was no governmental communication between Washington and Baghdad. There were just threats and rhetoric being spewed from each direction. When [Congressman] Nick Rahall went, he was the first member of U.S. Congress to visit Iraq during the presidency of George W. Bush. So I thought that sort of communication was important. And, also, exactly what you said: when people who live in other countries are abstractions—unseen, unheard—then it is easier to say, "Oh, what the heck, they're unfortunately going to have to suffer a bit," because of this overarching profound need to engage in military action. You're reminding me that, as I quote in War Made Easy, Christopher Hitchens wrote, "It can now be proposed as a practical matter that one is able to fight against a regime and not a people or a nation." And this is just a preposterous claim, belied by what we know—
Guernica: Didn't Bush just admit to 30,000 civilian casualties in Iraq? That's an enormous civilian toll.
Norman Solomon: Oh yeah, and it's probably a low figure. If you look at the Lancet study (October 2004), when they estimated 100,000 Iraqi civilian deaths as a result of the invasion and occupation, they attribute a large proportion of it to the U.S. air war—which is directly contrary to the mythology of these so-called "smart bombs." As we speak, the U.S. is taking lives essentially every day, with an air war that goes largely unreported. And it's easier to keep doing that because of its abstraction quality. So, whether it's before an invasion or during this ongoing war, the psychological invasion—the emotional numbing of war propaganda—is, I think, really important. If you look at the quotes of what Sean Penn said when he was in Baghdad, he talked a lot about how, if his country was going to attack Iraq, then he wanted to see the people there beforehand; and he acknowledged that blood would be on our hands, as Americans, if that took place.
Guernica: Your book gives the impression that, as horrifying as it is to think that we're killing and dying for lies, it's a pretty well entrenched process, with little room for redress. Is there anything you're hopeful about? If this is really how it works, can it be stopped?
Norman Solomon: Just as there's no one cause for this enormous undertow of American militarism, I think that stopping it would require a multi-faceted groundswell. In media terms, that involves sustaining and building independent media outlets at the same time that we challenge the very dominant mainstream media. So, whether it's community radio, community-access television, pod-casting, web sites, independent print newspapers and magazines, film projects, all sorts of multi-media efforts that are not tethered to the corporate pole, there's a real synergy going on; and I think that it's tremendously promising.
Guernica: Do you think an attack on Iran is likely?
Norman Solomon: I believe that a U.S. (or Israeli) air strike against Iran is quite likely in the next year, [which] would be counterproductive, strengthening the hold that extreme hardliners have over Iranian institutions and public life. There is still a political struggle underway in Iran, and although reformers suffered a serious setback in the presidential election last summer, the struggle continues. The more aggressive that the U.S. government gets, the worse it is for human-rights advocates inside Iran.
Guernica: Tehran's WMD program is pretty well documented. The Iranian leader has made some pretty strong statements lately about wiping Israel off the map. Shouldn't our government be concerned?
Norman Solomon: The U.S. can't bomb its way out of this problem. An attack is likely to backfire and make the situation much worse – and even more dangerous. Overall, "do as we say, not as we do" has never been very convincing. With U.S. support continuing for Israel and its nuclear arsenal estimated at 200 bombs, the fact is that Israel has never signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has never submitted to international inspections.
Guernica: If your theory from War Made Easy holds true, we're likely to hear a number of lies in the buildup to an attack on Iran. What are some lies you anticipate?
Norman Solomon: We're very likely to hear that Iran's leaders are: sure to destroy Israel if we don't stop them; certainly developing nuclear weapons; only X number of years or months away from the point of no return for developing nuclear weapons; trying to engage in diplomacy only to stall; have no legitimate right to develop nuclear energy because they were dishonest in the past; sure to prevail against grassroots efforts for reform inside Iran.
A lot of the lies we're going to hear will be in the form of omissions. What goes unmentioned. Such as: Iran has been much more open to inspection (to put it mildly) than the nuclear powers of Israel, Pakistan and India, none of which have signed the NPT. Hostile rhetoric from Washington strengthens the Iranian hardliners. The U.S. government had a historic role in promoting nuclear power under the Shah. The U.S. government made itself the enemy of Iranian democracy through its coup in 1953 and its subsequent support for the torturing regime of the Shah until he was overthrown in 1979. History matters, including the long history of U.S. efforts to suppress democratic possibilities in Iran. Iran is a U.S. target largely because of its enormous reserves of oil and natural gas. If Iran had no oil or natural gas, this "crisis" would not be nearly so hyped by Washington.
To comment on this piece: email@example.com


text:
Discover More
Welcome to bonfire-fan.com! We collected a lot of sexy video for every taste. Horny Cock, Submissive Sluts, Huge Dildo Pussy, Blue Haired, Assylum slut, My Wife the Whore.
There are thousands of galleries in each category. Everyone will find photos or videos of their interests. So if you like our website, come and check it everyday. We'll update videos every single day. Hope you enjoy! Watch and have fun! Thanks.
You are about to enter a website that may contain
content of an adult nature. These pages are designed for ADULTS only and may include pictures and materials that some viewers may find offencive. If you are under the age of 18+, if such material offends you or if it is illegal to view such material in your community please bonfire-fan.com now!


text:
Topic: iRedAdmin-Pro-MySQL-1.5.1 has been released.
Dear all,
iRedAdmin-Pro-MySQL-1.5.1 (AKA iRedAdmin-Pro for MySQL backend) is now available for your upgrading and purchasing. It addresses a bug and updates two translations.
Fixed bug
Normal users will be listed in Admins page.
Updated translations
German translation (de_DE). Thanks "Sascha Wolski | cognitics GmbH" <wolski _at_ cognitics.de>.
Brazilian (pt_BR). Thanks "Julio C. Oliveira" <julioc _at_ paranet.com.br>.
Download the latest iRedAdmin-Pro
All customers can get download link with below steps if you have iRedAdmin-Pro-MySQL-1.4.0 installed:
Login to iRedAdmin-Pro as global admin
Click "License" on the top-right corner, it will show you basic license info and a "Download" button if new version is available for upgrading.
If you're running older release, please mail to support @ iredmail.org to get download link of the latest release.


text:
Sept. 27, 2010 — Learning a mind-body technique called "mindfulness meditation" seems to help people with multiple sclerosis cope with the depression, fatigue, and anxiety associated with the disease, a new study indicates.
Researchers in Switzerland signed up 150 people with mild to moderate multiple sclerosis and randomly assigned them to receive usual types of care for the disease or to take part in an eight-week mindfulness meditation training course.
Patients in the training program focused on mental exercises that were aimed at developing non-judgmental awareness of the present moment, or mindfulness. Classes of 2.5 hours were held weekly, along with an all-day retreat and 40 minutes daily of homework assignments.
Meditation Technique Works
The researchers say people who took the meditation training managed to reduce fatigue, depression, and anxiety and report improvements in overall life quality, compared to people who received usual medical care. And the positive effects of the training, the researchers report, lasted for at least six months.
"People with MS must often confront special challenges of life related to profession, financial security, recreational and social activities and personal relationships, not to mention the direct fears associated with current or future physical symptoms and disability," study author Paul Grossman, PhD, of the University of Basel in Switzerland, says in a news release. "Unfortunately, the treatments that help slow the disease process may have little direct effect on people's overall quality of life, fatigue, or depression. So any complementary treatments that can quickly and directly improve quality of life are very welcome."
MS an Unpredictable Disease
Grossman mentions in the study that MS is an unpredictable disease, that some people can feel good for months and then have an attack that can reduce their ability to work or take care of their family.
"Mindfulness training can help those with MS better cope with these changes," Grossman says. "Increased mindfulness in daily life may also contribute to a more realistic sense of control, as well as a greater appreciation of positive experiences that continue to be part of life."
Only 5% of participants in the meditation class dropped out during the study, compared to 9% of participants in the usual care group. Those in the meditation group showed improvement in nearly every measure of fatigue, depression, and quality of life issues. Those who received standard medical care showed declines in such life quality measurements.
At the start of the study, about 65% of participants in the meditation group had serious levels of depression, fatigue, or anxiety, but meditation training reduced that by a third at the end of training, and the positive effects were still evident six months later, according to the study.
The authors say it's unclear whether mindfulness meditation helps because it increases the sense of control of patients or increases their tolerance, acceptance, and courage to deal with the effects of the disease.
The study is published in the Sept. 28 issue of Neurology. An accompanying editorial concludes that because there was no active control group of patients using a different type of intervention, it's unclear that the apparent good results were specifically due to training in the meditation techniques.
Grossman and some fellow researchers report having received fees from several foundations that are studying the disease as well as from pharmaceutical companies.


text:
COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — After missing out on the playoffs for the first time in three years, the Colorado Rapids front office came under fire by a portion of fans for an underwhelming 2012 season.
That came on the heels of a 2011 campaign that saw the end of manager Gary Smith's tenure with the club. But technical director Paul Bravo, who oversaw the MLS Cup championship run in 2010, believes the criticism levied against the club is at least partially unjust.
"What people fail to realize is I've been around this club for a long time as a player, as an assistant coach, and now as a technical director," Bravo told MLSsoccer.com last week. "We don't make decisions here for our own personal good. We're here to do what's best for the club.
"I don't think that anyone can question my loyalty to this club and my willingness to put everything into this club. This club will always be the most important thing to me. It's given me a great opportunity; if people want to criticize me, they have their right. But they don't know the true me then."
Apart from the results, the midseason trade of defender and fan favorite Kosuke Kimura proved a lightning rod for supporters. Despite the fact that it was Kimura who asked for the trade, fans expressed frustration about the move, but Bravo thinks the Rapids came away better off in the deal.
"We don't make personal decisions," Bravo said. "Now, what [the Kimura] deal netted us is Hendry Thomas [due to the allocation money acquired], at the end of the day is the way I look at it."
But any heat from the fans, which this year included a large sign with a message targeting Bravo that was later taken down during the Rapids' Sept. 5 match, only serves to fuel the former MLS forward.
"I'm the only one who's here of the previous decision-makers, so I understand where that criticism is coming from, and why. We're sitting here in the same spot as we were in 2009 after our first year together in searching for answers," Bravo said. "That criticism, as a competitor, is the thing that drives me and will drive us to building another championship team. That's the bottom line."
Chris Bianchi covers the Colorado Rapids for MLSsoccer.com.


text:
Gymnastics Australia is pleased to provide Technical Members with a range of membership benefits in 2017.
All Technical Members receive free access to a digital version of the Australian Levels Program manual, or equivalent, for each Gymsport they hold an accreditation in. To access this member benefit, or to update your contact details and view a list of your accreditations and updating history, log on to Gymnastics Online (GOL) by clicking the Sign In link in the top right hand corner of the GA website.
New from February 2017, your Technical Membership includes free access to a large collection of gymnastics videos relevant to your Accreditation level.
Click here to log in and visit your Benefits page.
Alternatively, log on to Gymnastics Online (GOL) by clicking the Sign In link at the top right corner of the GA website. After logging in, go to your My Account page and click Benefits to view your available video collection.
Through JLT Sport, Gymnastics Australia's national insurance partner, all members receive insurance coverage via the National Risk Protection Program. Full details can be found at www.jltsport.com.au/gymnastics.
Members now have access to a huge range of fantastic lifestyle and financial member benefits at thousands of locations throughout Australia and internationally through our new provider Where To Enjoy.
Purchase gift cards, cinema tickets, theme park tickets and a multitude of other offers through the website www.wheretoenjoy.com/ga and also via the downloadable app on your smartphone or tablet.
You don't need a membership card to access your Where To Enjoy benefits. Simply visit the Where To Enjoy website and register at the 'First time register' link using your Technical Member ID and email address, and you can begin to access the offers provided online. Access to the app will be provided six hours after your initial registration within which a digital card will be available to show as required.
Members also receive bonus purchase offers from Gymnastics Australia's corporate partners as they arise.
All Coaches who become Technical Members of Gymnastics Australia also receive additional benefits from their State Gymnastics Association.
All members are encouraged to read the 2017 Technical Membership Handbook which provides all the necessary information regarding GA's membership. Access the handbook here.
To access your Technical Membership record online log on to Gymnastics Online (GOL) by clicking the Sign In link in the top right hand corner of the GA website.
Your initial login details will be setup as follows:
Username: Enter your Technical Member ID number
Password: Enter the combination of your surname and your four digit Year of Birth (no spaces)
If you are required to show proof of your membership for technical purposes, you can display your digital membership card via your smartphone, or show your letter of approval, sent with your membership renewal.
For enquiries about your membership, please contact our Membership Services department at email@example.com.


text:
Yesterday's big headline was the Obama Administration's new policy (which was already announced months ago, if you'll remember) on medical marijuana:
"Federal drug agents won't pursue pot-smoking patients or their sanctioned suppliers in states that allow medical marijuana, under new legal guidelines to be issued Monday by the Obama administration."
I want to advise my fellow libertarians not to get too excited about this development. I'm certainly not.
This is neither a step forward for advocates of marijuana legalization, nor "states' rights" proponents who want to see the Federal government staying on its side of the line drawn by the 10th amendment.
Michelle Malkin calls this out for exactly what it is:
The "clarifying" memo that will be sent out today, seven months after Holder first announced the "shift," makes clear that the Obama administration will actually retain the same discretion the Bush administration exercises to prosecute someone whose activities are deemed legal in states that allow medical marijuana use.
In other words, they will continue Bush-era policies when they find it expedient to do so in the future — but they want praise and obeisance from the Left for paying lip service to Transformative Change now. It's the Obama way!
Exactly! I could not have summarized it better myself. The American Spectator also does a roundup of all the gleeful opinions that see this move as an advance for federalism- and solidly refutes them.
It's interesting to see some hardened libertarians and pot-activists excited about this while two pretty conventionally conservative publications aren't being fooled at all. Another thing that both Michelle Malkin and Joseph Lawler at The American Spectator point out, is that even if this is a teeny-tiny step forward in one direction, the Obama Administration is taking gigantic leaps backward in other areas of policy.
Okay, so what if you're allowed to use marijuana with a doctor's prescription, in strict accordance with your state's laws? Will that matter if the government will get to decide if your insurance will pay for that? Or if the government foots the bill itself with funds extorted from taxpayers? On a more related note, what does it say when the government makes a symbolic gesture toward drug legalization and federalism on pot, but literally bans the sale of clove cigarettes while hiking taxes on all other cigarettes?
Let me make this very, very clear. If you are a 10th amendment proponent, civil libertarian, advocate for drug legalization, or supporter of medical marijuana laws: Barack Obama IS NOT your friend.
We need to call this new policy out for what it is...


text:
Contact Us877.823.3669
Remember White Out? It's not as prevalent today, but it was a staple for covering up mistakes back when things had to be typed out. Well, there's no real White Out for work mistakes. In fact, we all make mistakes at work – however it's what you do after a mistake, intentional or not, that can set you up for long term success. Whether you're a new employee or a seasoned manager, here are some tips to bounce back the next time it happens.
"My company has NOTHING to do with irrigation, HOW IS THIS GOING TO HELP ME?"
Trust me. This information will help you – whether you run an irrigation company or you do something entirely different. Often times what matters is the person(s) behind the business. Here is how a local irrigation company owner grew a successful local business by listening and adapting to his customers' needs.


text:
G by GUESS Silver-Tone Rhinestone Ring Set (Size 7)
When your looks need a little extra shine; slip on these silver-tone rings. Their textured designs and rhinestone embellishments make for truly glam appeal.
Browse all deals at G by GUESS
See more in Rings
* This offer may contain time-sensitive information and offers. Please check with G by GUESS to confirm actual price & availability.
Please enter your name
- Be the first to comment!


text:
'Solennial' was recorded and mixed by Chris Fielding at Skyhammer Studios, England and mastered by Greg Chandler at Priory Recording Studios, England. The album features guest appearances by Charlotte 'Chipper' Nicholls (Crippled Black Phoenix, Portishead) and Rich Harris (Oily Toys). Artwork was created by Adrian Baxter.
1. The Dying Soil
2. Light of Winter
3. Feast of Torches
4. The Reckoning of Time
5. Fire of Thornborough Henge
6. Petrichor
7. Lugh's Assembly
8. A Forest (originally written and performed by The Cure)


text:
Images of Industry
Two Men Squaring Stone
THOMPSON, Mary Elizabeth (1896 - 1981)
(We are not able to provide an image for this item at this time. This is either due to copyright restrictions, or because the item is awaiting digitisation. We apologise for any inconvenience.)
Date: 1951
Media: pencil on paper
Acquired: 1954; Gift
Accession Number: 54.426/45
Broad Croft Stone Quarry, Portland.


text:
There's no two ways about it: The Sleepy Jackson are great. In the classic sense of the word.
Unlike many of their fellow young antipodean talents, Luke Steele's troupe owe little or nothing to Nirvana or the '70s garage rock movement. Their spectrum of inspiration is hugely colourful and diverse, encompassing everything from '60s and '70s west coast pop, lush Phil Spector-style pomp, Scott Walker and sulky '80s goth-pop. Considering the amount of influences that are thrown at the wall, it's amazing just how many stick.
'Lovers' doesn't exactly manage to fulfil the giant-sized promise of their eponymous mini-set, but instead throws a magnificent curveball. It's the perfect soundtrack to poignant Lynchian moments; all surrealist flourishes and heavenly choirs, fitted ambitiously to Steele's macabre lyrics ("These roads they sing like bats I know/Their eyes are tightly sewn, like some priests I know" – 'Vampire Racecourse').
The Sleepy Jackson deal most well in lush, hook-heavy country pop of the likes of the sublime 'Good Dancers', 'This Day' and 'Miniskirt'. Despite what their previous releases may have hinted at, the band also have a talent for less organic songcraft. 'Rain Falls For Wind', 'Don't You Know' and 'Tell The Girls I'm Not Hangin Out' spiral off into skewed electro-rock, with oddly pleasing results.
It seems inevitable that The Sleepy Jackson will soon make a splash, if perhaps solely in an understated manner. This album is destined to command the hearts of many a troubled youth and young optimist alike. 'Lovers' never demands your attention; neither is it terribly insidious. Like all real beauty it simply _is_ - honestly, wholly, perfectly formed and irresistibly seductive.
8Tom Edwards's Score