text:
For many b-school hopefuls, we're in
the thick of crunch time. Application deadlines are already upon us (Round 1) or right around the corner (Round 2), and people are diligently putting the finishing touches on their essays (okay, some people) and taking that final GMAT to give them the score they need. With the GMAT still "in play" for many prospective applicants, the news that GMAC was coming out with TWO new full-length practice tests for GMATPrep an unqualified boon. Well, it started out as an unqualified boon. The reality has been a little more qualified.
Many of our students have purchased the new GMATPrep exam pack to get in one or two more full-length tests before game day. Unfortunately, some ran into technical issues that they shared with us, and which we though we should share with everyone else so that they're aware of the possibilities.
Here are a couple of the problems we've heard about:
Installation Issues
Difficulty installing the new Prep packs, despite following the directions to the letter. The difficulties were such that outreach to GMAC tech support were required.
Functionality/Tech Issues
A functionality issue that requires users to exit and reenter the test to access each question. Time is only lost (at least on the test) if you're not aware what has to happen to get to the next question, but it's surely an annoying waste of time overall.
Data Retrieval and Test Review
Naturally our team jumped at the opportunity to test drive the tests. You can read the full review here, which was largely positive. But when we tried to go back to review questions and data there wasn't any of either to be found. Apparently if you don't uninstall previous versions of GMATPrep you won't be able to see the data or review the questions from the exam pack.
We contacted tech support and they told us about needing to uninstall older versions. You can read the full message from GMAC at the bottom of our review here.
So what does all this mean? Just that you should know that things
might not go smoothly. Many people experience no issues at all, but like a new rollout of any technology, there are bound to be some bugs. GMAC is surely collecting feedback and fixing them, but perhaps not in time for many people with test dates in the next few weeks. Consquently, just be aware that your testing experience may be less than ideal. If that should be the case, have a contingency plan, whether tests from other sources, or time to allow a fix or solution to be found. There's no better testing software available than from the folks who make the test, so most people will want to get the tests, regardless of the possible tech issues.
That's the scoop from us. Just trying to keep everyone aware of developments. Happy GMATing!
-The BC Team


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Last night I had a marketing interview, which finished ahead of schedule. So as I got in my car I picked up the phone and said "Siri, send a text to Mrs. Grumpy: I'm done, the interview went fast."
Upon getting home I found out she received "I'm done. The interviewer and I went to France."

subset: commoncrawl


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Rizzo homers in Cubs' 6-4 loss to Cardinals
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Chicago first baseman Anthony Rizzo says his club has a new, positive attitude this season, and
it begins with first-year manager Rick Renteria.
"He's very upbeat, very positive," Rizzo said. "We've been staying in games and we know we're good and capable of winning them."
Rizzo hit a two-run homer in the first inning of the Cubs' 6-4 loss at St. Louis on Sunday.
Chicago has dropped eight of its first 12 games, but Rizzo says the team is more aggressive than last season, when it got off to a 5-13 start and never recovered.
"A lot of it is guys improving," Rizzo said. "And we've got some new faces. You've got to keep grinding in close games and eventually we're going to flip it around and win some close ones.
"I'm still very positive," Rizzo said.
Chicago rallied from a three-run deficit and put the tying runs on base against St. Louis closer Trevor Rosenthal.
"Every day we're in it until the end," Renteria said. "If we keep pushing, at some point, it's got to turn. I think if we were playing really bad baseball, I'd be concerned. But the reality is, we're showing a lot of fight and we're picking each other up."
St. Louis right-hander Michael Wacha overcame a 46-minute rain delay and Matt Carpenter drove in three runs, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to victory in the rubber game of the series.
St. Louis has won four of six.
Rain has figured in all three of Wacha's starts this season. He actually seemed to embrace a third-inning downpour that halted play against the Cubs.
"I'm used to it," he said. "You just have to accept it and you've got to stay focused. I tried to stay loose and just keep my mind in what I needed to do."
Wacha (2-0) allowed three runs and five hits in 6 1-3 innings Sunday. He gave up a two-run homer to Rizzo on the 16th pitch of the game, but yielded just one run on three hits the rest of the way. He struck out eight and walked one.
"At the start, I was a little erratic, but I was able to settle down a little bit," he said. "I got some quick innings and some quick outs."
Carpenter hit a two-run single in the second inning and added a sacrifice fly in the fourth that put St. Louis ahead to stay at 4-3. He is tied with Yadier Molina for the team lead with nine RBI.
"It felt good to get the job done," Carpenter said. "When you get up in those situations, you just try and put a good at-bat up there and I thought I did that."
Rosenthal gave up a run in the ninth, but retired Luis Valbuena and Emilio Bonifacio with the tying runs on base to pick up his fourth save in as many opportunities.
Chicago starter Edwin Jackson (0-1) allowed four runs and eight hits in six innings. He struck out five and walked three in a grueling 114-pitch effort.
"I didn't feel too bad," Jackson said. "I threw a lot of pitches. I was behind in a lot of counts. They were aggressive, that's a good hitting team."
Jackson also likes the makeup of the team.
"We definitely have a lot of fight in us," he said. "We might come up short sometimes, but we'll give 110 percent as a team."
Jhonny Peralta highlighted a two-run eighth with an RBI double that put St. Louis up 6-3.
After Carpenter singled in two runs in the second, he stole second and scored on Kolten Wong's single for a 3-2 lead.
The Cubs tied it in the fourth on a run-scoring single by Welington Castillo.
Carpenter then gave St. Louis the lead for good with a sacrifice fly to left that brought in Peter Bourjos, who began the fourth inning with a triple.
"We did the things we had to at the right times to win," Carpenter said.
Trailing 4-3, Mike Olt led off the seventh with a double off Wacha. Castillo struck out and reliever Kevin Siegrist retired Darwin Barney and Bonifacio to end the threat.
Siegrist retired all five batters he faced.
"We had some chances, just couldn't get hits at the right time," Rizzo said.
NOTES: The Cubs are winless in their last nine series. Their last series win came in September when they won two of three in Cincinnati. .... St. Louis begins a 10-game road trip Monday with the first of a three-game set in Milwaukee. Lance Lynn (2-0, 6.55 ERA) takes on Matt Garza (0-1, 2.57) in the opener. ... The Cubs conclude a five-game road trip with two games against the New York Yankees. Jason Hammel (2-0, 2.63) faces Masahiro Tanaka (1-0, 3.21) in the first game on Tuesday. .... St. Louis C Yadier Molina has 11 hits in his last 22 at-bats, including two hits on Sunday.


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Britain's Prince Harry charmed dozens of dignitaries, British expatriates, students and military officers at a cocktail party welcoming him to Colorado Friday night and then joined the crowd in singing "Happy Birthday" to Olympian Missy Franklin, who was celebrating her 18th birthday.
Harry went table-to-table for about an hour at the party at the Sanctuary Golf Club south of Denver. He asked Franklin, attending with her parents, for a rundown of her medals while he took some ribbing about the shrieking female fans who greeted his arrival in Washington from U.S. Reps. Cory Gardner and Mike Coffman.
At one table on the patio looking out over the rolling hills toward Pike's Peak, Harry said he was glad to see a group of Americans and Britons having Pimm's Cups, summery English drinks, together.
Deborah Read Fowler, a Briton living in Colorado, said the prince had obviously done his research about the company they all worked for.
"And he goes to Afghanistan. How can you not respect that?" she said.
His effect on the ladies was on display in a more muted way here.
Several men brought their 20-something daughters to the reception. And when Harry went over to meet members of the band, two members acknowledged they were too overwhelmed to really carry on a conversation.
University of Denver students Jenna Bainbridge of Castle Rock and Samantha Barrasso of Aurora said the prince jokingly asked them what performers they were better than.
"He's very charismatic. He obviously doesn't hide his personality. And he's handsome, so that doesn't hurt," Bainbridge said.
Harry is in Colorado to attend the Warrior Games this weekend in Colorado Springs. More than 200 wounded servicemen and women from the U.S. and Britain will participate.
The visit is part of a weeklong visit to the United States that will also include trips to parts of New Jersey damaged by Superstorm Sandy. He'll end his trip by playing in the Sentebale Polo Cup match in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Harry recently spent 20 weeks in Afghanistan as co-pilot gunner on an Apache attack helicopter and has been a big supporter of charities to help wounded service members.
On Saturday he'll attend the opening ceremonies for the Warrior Games at the Olympic Training Center. That event is closed to the public but spectators are welcome to attend the event competitions, which are free, starting Sunday. Harry is scheduled to attend Sunday's public cycling event at the Air Force Academy.
He plans another outing with wounded military personnel later this year when he participates in the South Pole Allied Challenge. Teams from Britain, Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States will race 208 miles to the pole.


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Wednesday, May 30, 2007
A-Rod Seeks Answers to Yankees' Woes At Brass Rail
That bastian of serious journalism, the NY Post reported today that Alex Rodriguez was spotted in Toronto hanging with a blonde who is not his wife. To add to the intrigue, the unnamed witness also saw the pair have dinner together and slip in to the infamous Brass Rail strip club on Yonge Street. Almost as wise a move as playing the bunt that was obviously going foul in last night's game.
4 comments:
- Unknown said...
Maybe John McDonald asked him about the Brass Rail during their ninth-inning discussion.
- May 30, 2007 at 10:47 PM
- Jim Briggs said...
Just as I was about to relent, my conviction that A-Rod is a giant prick has been renewed. And it has nothing to do with blondes and everything to do with his gamesmanship - tonight and in the purse-slap play in the '04 ALCS.
- May 30, 2007 at 10:56 PM
- Tao of Stieb said...
Do you suppose A-Rod went to the Brass Rail to borrow some lip gloss?
- May 30, 2007 at 11:26 PM
- Mike Mattatall said...
- May 31, 2007 at 7:52 AM
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bw(redirected from b/w)
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Financial, Acronyms.
butt joint
1. A plain, square joint between two members, where the contact surfaces are cut at right angles to the faces of the pieces; the two pieces are fitted squarely against each other rather than lapped; Also see oblique butt joint.
The country code for Botswana.
bandwidth(1) Computer people may use the term for capability and time. For example, "not enough bandwidth to get the job done" means not enough staff or time to do it. Its true meaning follows.
(2) The transmission capacity of an electronic pathway such as a communications line, computer bus or computer channel. Digital bandwidth is the number of pulses per second measured in bits per second (bps). For example, Ethernet transmits at different speeds, including 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps and 1000 Mbps (see Mbps and baseband).
When transmitting alternating frequencies, as with all wired analog, many wired digital and most wireless communications, the bandwidth is the difference between the highest and lowest frequencies, measured in cycles per second, or Hertz (Hz). For example, 802.11n Wi-Fi transmits in 20 MHz and 40 MHz channels within the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. The 20 and 40 MHz channel frequencies are the bandwidths, and each channel is divided into subchannels.
From Hertz to Bits - A Complicated Process
When using alternating frequencies for digital transmission, the frequencies are modified (modulated) by the digital input. Using the 802.11n Wi-Fi example, the resulting bit rate can range from 6.5 Mbps to 600 Mbps. This extremely wide range is determined by the signal strength and interference in the environment at any given moment. Any one of more than 30 combinations of channel bandwidth (20, 40 MHz), modulation scheme, error correction rate, channel spacing and number of antennas may be selected, on a packet-by-packet basis. See modulation, video bandwidth, space/time and bandwidth junkie.
|Bandwidth in Hertz to Bandwidth in Bits
|This quadrature PSK (QPSK) example is one of the simplest modulation schemes. Each set of two input bits modifies the carrier into four phase angles. The amplitude remains constant, unlike QAM modulation, in which the amplitude is varied (see QAM).


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by Shannon
Queen from Snow White Costume
Rate this costume:
28 votes
|add a comment
The Evil Queen
|Costume type:
|Costumes for Women
This homemade costume for women entered our 2012 Halloween Costume Contest.
A word from Monique, the 'Evil Queen' costume creator:
This is a photo of myself in a costume of the Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I made the costume by getting a purple long robe and I got a crown and painted it gold and glued ruby's and jewels on it. I did my makeup with dark lips and eyes and white face makeup. I bought a plastic sword and added a rope that I added glitter to and used as a belt.
I got tons of compliments on this costume. The total cost was about $30 including the makeup.
Similar costumes:


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The Bravo reality TV show entitled Silicon Valley is ruffling a few feathers throughout the tech world, and now the show's executive producer, Randi Zuckerberg has stepped forward to defend it.
Zuckerberg, who is Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's sister, responded to a firestorm of criticism on Facebook, making the point that people are taking this reality TV show way too seriously:
Will there be drama? Of course! Silicon Valley is full of exciting drama. Will there be conflict? Of course! Entrepreneurs face conflict daily. Will we showcase every single painstaking detail of startup life? Of course not. This is reality TV, not a documentary. The show isn't meant to represent all of Silicon Valley, but to authentically follow the lives of a few young people trying to blaze their own trails.
All these hot responses to the show, and not a single episode has even aired yet — those making these criticisms have only seen previews.
What do you think? Is it too early to start criticizing a program that hasn't been aired yet? Has Zuckerberg attached herself to a bucking bronco? Perhaps the outsized egos in Silicon Valley aren't quite ready for the superficial reality show treatment.
One thing's certain: This whole dustup amounts to a tremendous amount of free publicity for the budding reality show.


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Four teenagers accused of raping a University of Massachusetts student in her Amherst dorm room in October have pleaded not guilty in Hampshire Superior Court.
Justin King, Adam Liccardi and Emmanuel Bile, all 18 and from Pittsfield, and 17-year-old Caleb Womack of Windsor Locks, Conn., were arraigned Monday on aggravated rape charges. They had pleaded not guilty earlier in district court, and had been indicted by a grand jury last week.
The judge continued the same bail and conditions imposed earlier. All four have posted bail. They are to return to court March 19.
None of the defendants is a UMass student.
Authorities say the woman knew the teens, but asked that they not visit. They were signed into the dorm by another student.


text: Thanks for looking at my hand embroidery designs! This PDF file includes the hand embroidery design that you see in the image. Transfer onto your desired fabric for embroidery or redwork. Of course, feel free to modify any colorings that you desire. Enjoy and be creative. Pattern is included in 4 sizes, ranging from full page to down to about 3 inches (sizes vary according to pattern). Color and stitch suggestions are not included (only the line art patterns) so you can use your creativity to make it your own personal creation. Also included are a few basic embroidery tips, but a basic embroidery knowledge is helpful. :) BASIC SKILLS NECESSARY Basic Embroidery Skills


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Jem: ATO's latest Welsh signee
Jem, the latest signee to ATO records, the label founded by Dave Matthews, reveals she'd never heard of the Seattle-Charlottesville superstar until earlier this year. Shopping for a deal, the Welsh-born singer wound up in the New York office of Bruce Flohr, the man credited with signing Dave. Seems Dave's not such a big hit back in the British Isles.
"He'll break me in America," jokes just-signed Jem, "and I'll break him in England."
Jem visited Starr Hill restaurant November 15 to meet media and record industry players, such as radio station WNRN's Mike Friend, shown here.
"There are a lot of people around with talent, but there aren't too many with ATO's attention," says Friend, whose station has been playing "Just A Ride," a track from Jem's first disc, a five-song EP. Her first full-length record, Finally Woken, is set for release in 2004. ATO has helped rev the careers of such acts as David Gray and Ben Kweller.
In other news about Dave Matthews Band, the massive concert at New York's Central Park in late September has already been released as a triple audo disc. On November 18, along with the CD, the band's record label, RCA, also released a double DVD. According to a release, 30 high-definition widescreen video camera's captured the benefit show on the Great Lawn.
New Friends: Jem and Mike
Another one for your collection?


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Miriam Margolyes to Return as Professor Sprout for "Deathly Hallows"
Sep 25, 2008
Great news Hufflepuff fans! Actress Miriam Margolyes has confirmed in a new interview that she will reprise her role as Head of Hufflepuff House and Herbology Professor Pomona Sprout for the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows films. Mandrakes Ahoy! 🙂


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The Arizona Law Fights Phantom Problems
The Supreme Court will probably judge the Arizona immigration law as constitutional, given the sad state of American constitutional law, even though it infringes on the economic liberty of Arizonans and expands the government's role further into their most intimate economic decisions.
The law modifies a mandatory E‐Verify provision that makes all Arizonans ask the federal government for permission to be hired. Worse, E‐Verify falsely labels about 1 percent of legal Americans as unauthorized workers, sending them on a bureaucratic odyssey when they should be gainfully employed. As a result, E‐Verify is not being used for about 30 percent of new hires in Arizona, moving much of that state's workforce into the informal economy.
The Arizona law also strengthens the so‐called business death penalty. This two‐strike policy — under which second‐time business offenders that hire an unauthorized worker or don't use E‐Verify for all hires — essentially kills a business by taking their business licenses. E‐Verify and the business death penalty make hiring workers more expensive and uncertain, which diminishes job creation.
Arizona passed this law intending to aid the economy. It likely had the opposite affect. Roughly 100,000 unauthorized immigrants have been driven from Arizona by the immigration law — bringing their businesses, labor, and purchasing power with them. The unemployment rate in Arizona has been at or above the national rate for years partly because of this law.
A major justification for the law was the so‐called "illegal immigrant crime wave" in Arizona. But according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports, the violent and property crime rates in Arizona on the eve of its passage were the lowest since 1971 and 1965, respectively. County and jurisdictional crime rates vary a little, but they tell the same general story: There was no immigrant crime wave.
Arizonans want to hire, rent to, and sell products to peaceful immigrants who are, unfortunately, unauthorized. Millions of Arizonans make that choice daily despite their actions at the ballot box. The Arizona law regulates Arizonans, harms their economy, and was created to fight phantom problems. It's tempting to blame Arizona, but the source of the problem is restrictive federal immigration law that makes laws like Arizona's possible. Our immigration laws and Arizona's prevent most peaceful and healthy people who want to move here from doing so legally. They are both bad public policy regardless of their constitutionality.


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Kevin White's FBI files released
It was 1971, and trash companies were angling for a lucrative prize: a new round of contracts with Boston. A representative from one outfit, eager to bolster its chances, spoke with a friend of Mayor Kevin White, who suggested that a contribution to White's upcoming campaign would "be a good move.'' The contract, the friend added, did not have to go to the lowest bidder.
When the individual met with White in his City Hall office, according to allegations detailed in the former mayor's newly released FBI file, he allegedly gave White an envelope with $5,000 cash and a promise of $5,000 more.
White took the money, the individual told FBI investigators, and noted that other contractors had not done the "right thing.'' Calling them "sons of bitches,'' White vowed that he would "fix them.''
White was never charged with wrongdoing. But the allegations, which spurred a 1975 FBI inquiry into alleged bid-rigging by the White administration, emerged in new detail Wednesday after MuckRock, a website devoted to open records, posted White's FBI file.
The group, which is independent but works in The Boston Globe's media lab, received the 500-page file after lodging a public records request in February. White, who served as mayor from 1968 to 1984 and is credited with leading the city through the school busing crisis, died in January at age 82.
White's administration was the target of a wide-ranging federal corruption investigation, and the FBI file details inquiries on several fronts.
The FBI also looked into claims that White pressured the John Hancock life insurance company into donating more than $4 million to Boston University in exchange for changing a development agreement with the city, and that he misused his office in a dispute with the City Council. Several lesser claims were also explored.
The documents are often heavily redacted, and most names are blocked out. They feature source testimony, internal memos, handwritten notes, and copies of newspaper stories. They span more than a decade, from the launch of the bid-rigging inquiry in 1975 to the conclusion of the Hancock investigation in 1987, when the US attorney's office declined to prosecute "due to a lack of evidence to substantiate and prove a federal violation.''
Much of the file is devoted to the alleged payoff scheme, which came to light in the press in the mid-1970s. At the time, White denied wrongdoing and said he had been vindicated by an FBI inquiry.
In the dossier, FBI officials wrote that the US attorney's office in Boston was "extremely reluctant'' to investigate the claims "in absence of specifics that would develop prosecutable violation.''
In a memo to the FBI director, an investigator wrote that federal prosecutors felt the evidence was "not solid enough'' to proceed without "possibly harming White's chances in the forthcoming mayoralty campaign and a possibility of White's obtaining a slot on the national Democratic ticket.''
White was considered a contender for vice president in 1972.
Prosecutors who worked in the US attorney's office in Boston during that era could not be reached for comment. White's lawyer at the time also could not be reached.
Lawrence DiCara, a Boston city councilor through most of the 1970s, said he was unaware of the allegations detailed in White's file. But he noted that authorities did not file charges, much less prove them, and doubted that the allegations would alter his legacy.
"Had charges been filed, it might have been different,'' he said. "But there obviously was not enough evidence. History will still be good to Kevin White for a host of reasons.''
DiCara noted that at the time, the limit for campaign contributions was far higher, and the FBI memo noted that a Sanitas official considered the payments to White as political contributions, rather than direct bribes, and that campaign records from 1971 had been destroyed, as was legal at the time. Investigators later noted "wide discrepancies'' between the testimony of two witnesses to the alleged payoff.
But a representative of Sanitas "readily acknowledged'' to the FBI that the firm paid $10,000 to White at his request. In a 1977 memo, a Sanitas representative claimed that when he met with White at his office, White said he needed money and asked for "ten big ones.''
Sanitas Waste of Massachusetts received a contract that included an additional $150,000 in profit, the documents allege. "Anyone knowledgeable in the disposal business reviewing the prices should have known the bids contained unusual profit factors,'' a 1975 memo stated.
In a report on the John Hancock investigation in 1986, the agency described a meeting where White was said to have taken a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to company representatives. He had written "$4.0,'' to indicate that $4 million was the acceptable donation, the report stated.
In 1983, Hancock gave $4.5 million to BU, the largest contribution it had ever made to a university. A representative told the FBI the money was not a contribution, but "an expense.''
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SappyFest 8
It's been my first winter back in Montreal after a decade-long hiatus & and the coldest one in 115 years. I left my tuque at home on purpose yesterday and the offensively pale underbelly of the city blinded me under its cold March light. The early signs of spring are upon us; a mixture of preemptive relief, dogshit and dollar store perfume. Throw in some decaying cigarette butts, half a dozen shorts sightings and some brown lake-sized puddles.
Did some spring cleaning of the hard drive and came across this batch from a dreamy time in Sackville a couple of summers ago. I can only tell what year it is based on the outfits and the haircuts. By the looks of it, I must have only had my 50mm on me. The camera becomes more portable but the framing becomes uncharacteristically tight. A nice reminder of the colours and lightness of my Maritime times. And how beautiful August feels no matter where you are.
It'll be a few weeks still before collarbones are exposed & I plan to remain patiently impatient until then.
P.S. Here are some even older shots (on film!) from SappyFest 6 ❤


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text:
Avo Uvezian
Posted 21 March 2001 - 11:15 PM
Wherever the agreeable Uvezian appears, with his characteristic straw hat and white Brioni-suit, his cigar is always a part of him. As musician and witty communicator, Avo Uvezian is a show talent and effective public relations man for the cigar. Not only for his own ones. His cigars will also be available in Europe in fall 1998. Davidoff included the series Trio and Quartetto XO in their product range and they are produced by Hendrik Kelner, the Davidoff partner and cigar mentor of their Dominican joint venture Tabadom.
Uvezian started his cigar career in 1987 at Kelner's with several thousand cigars that were exclusively distributed and sold by Davidoff, at first in their own shops. In 1995, Davidoff supposedly bought the distributing rights of his brand at an estimated sum of 10 million dollars. The number of Avos exploded. Today more than 3 million cigars are sold annually, mainly in the US. The deal seems to have paid off.
Uvezian, born in 1926, originated from a Beirut musician family. His father was a composer and directed a symphony orchestra, his mother a talented singer, and the young Avo very soon dreamed about a great career as a musician. As a young pianist with his own jazz trio, he cruised the Middle East from one success to another.
The Shah Reza Pahlevi became interested in him and brought the 21-year-old to Teheran. However, he was soon drawn back to Beirut and, again with the aid of the Shah of Persia, the young Uvezian emigrated to New York in 1947 during the riots in Palestine. There he studied at the famous Juilliard School of Music and played with some of the best jazz pianists of that time, among them Teddy Wilson. He overcame business problems successfully, again in a bar at the piano. For a long time Uvezian was also successfully involved in the real-estate business. In the early eighties he moved to Puerto Rico and opened an Italian restaurant there, but then withdrew into the bar business again, addicted to his passion as a pianist.
In Puerto Rico he developed his affection for cigars, had his own cigars rolled there and sold them in his piano bar.
The enthusiasm of Americans for cigars was especially strong. One day a tourist came to him at the bar and asked for a cigar. His five-year-old daughter watched, shaking her head when Uvezian gave away a cigar for free. When the visitor was gone she said snappishly to her father: "Daddy, if the man likes your first cigar and asks for another one, then he should buy it". For Uvezian, this was an unforgettable statement, which set the direction for the future. Music and cigars have something in common. Uvezian is living in this sensuous symbiosis between musical joy and enjoying a fine cigar. Many lovers of his music also turn out to be aficionados themselves. Both for his and the public's pleasure, Uvezian let his own cigars produced. When looking for a suitable producer, he was
referred to Hendrik Kelner and between them a friendly and economic cooperation began. "He not only enjoys cigars, but all of life to the fullest", raved Henk Kelner of him. "In that he is very similar to the legendary Zino Davidoff, who also esteemed good life and a passion for the cigar."
Uvezian is modest and rather underestimating of himself: "There are people who speak of me as a cigar guru, but I am no guru. I am not a great man of the cigar like Zino Davidoff was. No one like him exists anymore." But he knows
that he is a convincing ambassador of the fine cigar, and is not using his image to his or Davidoff's disadvantage.
The cigars entered the US market in a XO series of the top range, and in a traditional line. The ones produced for Europe are connected to the XO-series by musically-inspired names, the Trio and Quartetto, seven formats in total. Compared to the American Avos, the "European" are spicier, more substantial and finer in aroma. The tobacco blends seem to be other than that of the American Avos.
The fillers consist of Cuban seed, grown in the Dominican Republic, the binder is from Dominican Olor tobacco of the Villa Gonzales region in the Cibao valley, the premium planting area - comparable with Pinar del Rio in Cuba -and the filler comes from Connecticut (Shade).
The spiciness and rich taste, especially of the Trio series, are probably coming from a higher proportion of Ligero tobacco which contributes to strength and fullness. The European Avo XO-series is mild to average in taste, very fine in aroma, spicy, substantial and rich taste, experienced as mild but full-bodied without coming across as grassy, as the taste of Dominican cigars often does.
Posted 21 March 2001 - 11:23 PM
Another Armenian in the cigar industry is Paul Garmirian. His brand which carries his name PAUL GARMIRIAN (PG) is not as renowed as AVO, but is still relatively well known.
Posted 22 March 2001 - 08:26 PM
Btec - Another Armenian in the cigar industry is - GARO -
Posted 05 July 2001 - 01:02 PM
Posted 05 July 2001 - 03:50 PM
euff! how disgusting it sounds... something like non-stop duzz-duzz
Posted 29 January 2008 - 01:34 AM
"There are people who call me a cigar guru, but I'm no guru. I'm not a great man in the cigar world, as Zino Davidoff was. There is no longer anyone like him."
Avo Uvezian loves understatement and leans back with an AVO cigar between his forefinger and middle finger.
Nevertheless, Avo Uvezian and Zino Davidoff are similar in many respects...
Avo Uvezian was born in 1926, the son of a family of musicians in Beirut.
His father was a composer and conductor of a symphony orchestra, his mother a gifted singer.
The talented young pianist's dream was a great career as a musician. Talent and commitment, which still distinguish him today, soon brought him success.
After he had travelled the Near East as a teenager with his jazz trio "Lebanon Boys", he also had great success in the Middle East. The contacts which he made there led the young jazz pianist to the USA in 1947.
In New York Avo studied classical piano and composition at the famous Julliard School of Music. During his studies Uvezian played in various bands with great success. The Korean war interrupted his career, as he served with the US Army as a musician until 1953.
After that Avo played with the great jazz musicians of the 50s and 60s. Avo Uvezian's dream had come true - he had established his career as a musician.
The polyglot businessman and jazz musician went to Puerto Rico and in the early 80s opened a restaurant and piano bar.
In Puerto Rico Avo discovered his love for cigars they were to become his great passion.
As a perfectionist par excellence he very soon had his own AVO brand rolled and gave this away to his guests, who increasingly demanded his cigars. The road from connoisseur to cigar composer was but a short one.
So the musician and composer set out to look for a virtuoso of the cigar who could bring his creations to life in the form of cigars. In about 1982 he met the master cigar producer Hendrik Kelner in the Dominican Republic and by 1988 the first AVO had been sold in New York. Two passionate aficionados had found each other and the synthesis could have only one result: cigars in perfect harmony.
Hendrik Kelner and Avo Uvezian had started with 100,000 cigars in the first year, and in the third the number had already risen to 750,000. Today each year three million cigars bearing the name of the jazz pianist are enjoyed by aficionados all over the world.
Also in his second career, the world of premium cigars, his striving for perfect harmony has brought him great success.
Posted 29 January 2008 - 12:43 PM
his my Doctor Garo Bouldoukyan
Posted 29 January 2008 - 05:29 PM
Posted 29 January 2008 - 05:42 PM
Posted 29 January 2008 - 07:33 PM
Posted 29 January 2008 - 07:33 PM
Posted 29 January 2008 - 09:32 PM
Posted 29 January 2008 - 10:06 PM
Posted 25 February 2008 - 12:38 AM
also - Avo is the original composer of. Stranger in the Night song
inch lav e che Hye Linel@
Posted 25 February 2008 - 02:17 AM
Strangers in the night - amena shat lsvogh yev sirvats yerqerits mekna!!!
Posted 26 February 2008 - 10:38 PM
Strangers in the night - amena shat lsvogh yev sirvats yerqerits mekna!!!
Not to be outdone!
Paul Garmirian is a top-notch cigar maker too!
Paul, Garo, Avo our pride and national treasures!!! (Azeris can suck on eggs)
If you want to see Paul in silhouette click on my usename!
As for Avo, Ah he's my hero!!
The prolific, 78-year-old composer, who was the genius behind the marvelous 1960s ballad Strangers in the Night created his cigar brand in 1987. Now known as Avo Classic, the reddish-brown-wrapped original was, in fact, gentle with a marvelous spiciness on the finish. The brand, distributed by Davidoff of Geneva, quickly became a favorite during the Cigar Boom of the 1990s.
Like The Griffins brand before, Davidoff acquired total distribution of the brand in 1995 and now has a complete hand-full of brands under the Avo banner:
> Avo Classic, introduced in 1987 > Avo XO, in 1994 > Domaine Avo, in 1998 > Avo Maduro, in 2000 > Avo Signature, in 2001
Edited by Z'areh, 26 February 2008 - 10:45 PM.
Posted 26 February 2008 - 11:24 PM
Posted 30 December 2015 - 08:37 AM
The New York Times
December 28, 2015 Monday
By MICHAEL WILSON
The story of the thief who walked out of an expensive Manhattan cigar
store with four boxes of medium-blend Dominicans last month actually
begins decades earlier, before he was born. It starts in the 1960s,
with an encounter between two men that would change both their lives.
One of those men was Avo Uvezian, an Armenian jazz musician living
in New York City. The other was also a musician, from New Jersey,
named Frank Sinatra.
Mr. Uvezian was born in 1926 in Beirut. He became an accomplished
musician who traveled the Middle East, speaking multiple languages
along the way.
"I usually count in Armenian in my head," he told Cigar Journal in an
interview this year. "I find the best language to swear in is Turkish,
and when dreaming of pretty women, French is the best language."
Playing piano, he led a jazz combo that performed in Lebanon, Iraq and
Iran, where he became the personal entertainer of the shah. In 1947,
he moved to New York and entered the Juilliard School.
By the 1960s, he had written his own music. One melody stood out.
"The song itself is a very simple song," Mr. Uvezian, 89, said this
month by telephone from his home in Orlando, Fla. "You take the
thing and you repeat it. 'Dah-dah-dah-dah-daaaah.' It's the same line
repeated throughout."
He had a friend who knew Sinatra. The friend set up a meeting and told
Mr. Uvezian to bring along his music. Someone else had put lyrics to
the melody, and called it "Broken Guitar."
Sinatra gave it a listen.
"He said, 'I love the melody, but change the lyrics,"' Mr. Uvezian
recalled. The task was given to studio songwriters, and they came
back with new words. Sinatra, legend has it, hated it. "I don't want
to sing this," he said when he first saw the sheet music, according
to James Kaplan's new book, "Sinatra: The Chairman." Nonetheless,
with his last No. 1 single several years behind him, he was persuaded
to record the song in 1966.
The title was new, too. "Broken Guitar" was out. The new name was
"Strangers in the Night."
In Mr. Uvezian's telling, what should have been a monumental triumph
and breakthrough turned out to be a source of great grief. He did not
receive credit for the song. Before Sinatra ever heard the music, Mr.
Uvezian, a novice, had sent it to a friend, Bert Kaempfert, an
established German composer, to be published there, he said. Mr.
Kaempfert is credited with the composition, a snatch of which was
first heard buried within the title song of a James Garner film called
"A Man Could Get Killed."
Mr. Kaempfert, who died in 1980, did not seem to hesitate in listing
the song as among his highest achievements, but Mr. Uvezian said
that Mr. Kaempfert had given him credit for its creation many times,
including in a written letter.
A reporter ran this version of the events behind "Strangers in the
Night" past the New York City radio personality Jonathan Schwartz, an
authority on Sinatra. "I haven't heard it before, but I wouldn't doubt
it," Mr. Schwartz said in a recent interview. "It sounds authentic
to me." Mr. Kaplan, in his book, credits Mr. Kaempfert as the composer.
The experience soured Mr. Uvezian on the music business and on New
York City, he said. "It's a painful thing for me. I want to forget it,"
he said. "I have a hell of a lot of better music."
He moved to Puerto Rico and started over. He played piano at a resort.
He had smoked a pipe in the past, but he was introduced to good cigars
on the occasion of his daughter's christening in 1982, he said. A
friend ordered him one, and Mr. Uvezian could not believe what it
cost when the bill came. He saw an opportunity that would lead to a
flourishing second career.
He traveled to the Dominican Republic and visited a cigar
manufacturer. He met a master blender named Hendrik Kelner. "He made
10 or 12 different blends," Mr. Uvezian said. Mr. Uvezian sampled
them over a month or so, and came back with his favorite. It would
become a brand called the Avo Classic.
"The beginner or longtime smoker, he could find satisfaction in that
Classic," Mr. Uvezian said.
The musician handed out his cigars from his piano bench at gigs.
People came back for more. He sent samples to Davidoff of Geneva,
a worldwide distributor. Davidoff bought the Avo line of cigars in
1995 and now sells some two million a year, said Scott Kolesaire,
the brand manager.
"The construction, balance and palate stimulation were just top notch,"
Mr. Kolesaire said of the Avo Classic.
Another blend, stronger in taste, was created, the Avo XO. The Davidoff
store on Avenue of the Americas just below Central Park, which contains
a smoking lounge, keeps its Avo line in the climate-controlled,
walk-in humidor it installed in January. It was into this humidor
that an unidentified man in his 30s walked, alone and unnoticed, on
Nov. 23 at 4:20 p.m. He scooped four boxes of cigars into a big Bed
Bath & Beyond bag and left. They were Avo XOs, each box worth $261.22.
Mr. Uvezian, informed of the theft by a reporter's call, was unfazed.
He's had bigger headaches than 80 of his two million cigars going
missing. "It can happen," he said.
A salesman at the store, Rafael de los Reyes, pulled a similar box
off the shelf in mid-December and pointed to the name on the cover.
"This guy," he said, "wrote 'Strangers in the Night.' "
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and sign up for the New York Today newsletter.
Posted 25 August 2016 - 09:24 AM
90-year-old Avo Uvezian wishes to visit Armenia
Avo Uvezian, one of the symbols of American music and the author of «Strangers in the Night" hit as we as a the creator of the Avo line of premium cigars confessed that for a complete happiness he needs to visit his fatherland and see Ararat Mountain.
He is proud to be Armenian. Uvezian has made numerous accomplishments and gained international recognition in a life full of hardships, yet he has a dream unfulfilled - to be in Armenia.
"I will undoubtedly visit Armenia," Uvezipn recently said at the ceremony of receiving a medal on the occasion of his birthday anniversary on behalf of Armenia's prime minister
Singer Arman Hovhannisyan has posted footage from the award ceremony on his Facebook page.
Avo Uvezian was born in 1926, the son of a family of musicians in Beirut, after the family survived the mass slaughters of the Armenians in Turkey.
Uvezian's success in business activity was as noticeable as in music. Recommended by his friend Jacque Melqonyan, who has experience in cigar production and marketing, Uvezian initiated his cigar business under Avo brand, which translated into Armenian as "good new".
According to reports, Fidel Castro personally used to call Uvezian to ask for several boxes of "Avo" cigars. George W. Bush reportedly approached Uvezian in a hotel to get acquainted with the producer of his favorite cigars.
Posted 25 March 2017 - 08:31 AM
ORLANDO, Fla. (Cigar Aficionado)—Legendary Armenian-American jazz pianist and cigar manufacturer Avo Uvezian passed away on March 24, two days after his 91st birthday.
Avo Uvezian (Photo: Cigar Journal)
Known in the cigar industry for his Avo brands and his sharp sense of style, Uvezian was long a vivacious part of the cigar industry, touring in support of his cigars even at 90 years old. A showman and cigar lover, it wasn't uncommon to see Uvezian play piano at a cigar event while puffing on one of his cigars and waxing poetic about the joys of smoking.
Uvezian first came into cigar prominence when the Avo line was born in 1987, but his cigar story started long before that.
Born in 1926 in Beirut, Lebanon, Uvezian formed a musical group called the Liban Boys in 1945 right after the end of World War II. They managed to get a contract playing in a hotel in Baghdad, where the group lasted a year before moving on to a hotel in Tehran. Uvezian quickly made a name for himself as a pianist and eventually received an invitation from Shah Reza Pahlevi, at the time the leader of Iran, to play at his palace. Uvezian stayed in Tehran for a year, and made such an impression on the Shah that he recommended that Uvezian go to America, and personally paid for his trip.
Uvezian arrived in New York City in 1947, playing in various bands while studying at Juilliard. After two years in the U.S. Army, he eventually found himself in Puerto Rico in the jewelry business. But music called him back, and by 1974 he was playing piano at the Palmas del Mar resort. During this time, he made a crucial observation: people not only came to hear his music, but they also liked smoking cigars. Uvezian would purchase a few local cigars each night and place them on top of the piano for anyone who wanted to smoke.
"Customers and friends used to write me and ask me for the cigars," Uvezian told Cigar Aficionado in an interview. "That's when I said to myself that I better look at getting serious about this."
Uvezian was introduced to Davidoff's cigarmaker Hendrik "Henke" Kelner, and in 1987, his first cigars from Kelner were sold under the Bolero label in San Juan. Shortly after, he changed the cigar name to Avo and debuted them in New York City. The brand was created exclusively for the Davidoff shop.
Uvezian launched Avo across the U.S. in 1988, and in 1995, Davidoff purchased the distribution rights for the brand. In 10 years, Uvezian saw his brand grow from about 5,000 cigars in 1987 to about 3.2 million in 1997.
"He's like family," said Jeff Borysiewicz of Corona Cigar in Orlando. "He was family. He's the godfather of my kids. He brought charisma and charm to the industry and people were attracted to him. He had the kind of magnetism I'd never seen. Avo spoke so many languages and had such an international life. He was incredible."
Since the early-2000s, Uvezian has celebrated his birthday with a special, limited-edition cigar and a cigar party as well as a national tour. Though tour dates decreased as he got a little older, he usually made time for New York. Last year, Uvezian made an appearance in Manhattan for his 90th birthday.
"People always ask me, 'Avo, what's your secret?' " Uvezian said at the time. "And I tell them that every time you smoke cigars, you have given yourself another day of life. I think I'm going to be doing this until I'm 99 years old. That way, when I get to 99, I'll say, 'Well, I might as well go to 100.' "
He almost made it.
Avo Uvezian is survived by his wife, Nivia, his sons Robert, Jeffrey and Ronnie, and his daughter Karyn.
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Padres reinstate five players from 60-day DL and designate LHP Josh Spence and OF Blake Tekotte for assignment
SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Padres today announced they have reinstated five players from the 60-day disabled list, including left-handed pitcher Cory Luebke, right-handed pitcher Joe Wieland, catcher Nick Hundley and infielder/outfielders Kyle Blanks and James Darnell. In addition, the club has designated left-handed pitcher Josh Spence and outfielder Blake Tekotte for assignment. Executive Vice President/General Manager Josh Byrnes made the announcements.
Luebke, 27, made five starts for the Padres in 2012, going 3-1 with a 2.61 ERA (9 ER/31.0 IP). The southpaw was placed on the 15-day disabled list on May 2 with a strained left elbow and was transferred to the 60-day disabled list on May 20. He underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery on his left elbow on May 23.
Wieland, 22, made his Major League debut for the Padres in 2012. Over five starts for San Diego he went 0-4 with a 4.55 ERA (14 ER/27.2 IP). The right-hander also made two starts for Triple-A Tucson to start the year. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list on May 10 with a strained right elbow and was transferred to the 60-day disabled list on June 26. Wieland underwent seasoning-ending Tommy John surgery in July this past season.
Hundley, 29, played in 58 games for the Padres this past season, hitting .157 (32-for-204) with three home runs and 22 RBI. The right-handed hitter was optioned to Triple-A Tucson on June 30 and recalled on August 9. Hundley was placed on the 15-day disabled list on August 17 with a right knee bruise and transferred to the 60-day disabled list on August 27. He underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on August 29.
Blanks, 26, played in four games for the Padres in 2012 before being placed on the 15-day disabled list on April 14 with a strained left shoulder, missing the remainder of the season. The right-handed hitter was transferred to the 60-day disabled list on May 2 after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder on April 24.
Darnell, 25, played in seven games for the Padres in 2012, hitting .235 (4-for-17) with a double and a home run. He began the season with Triple-A Tucson, hitting .267 (31-for-116) with six doubles and seven home runs in 31 games. He was recalled from Tucson on May 11 before being placed on the 15-day disabled list on May 18 with a subluxation of his left shoulder. Darnell was transferred to the 60-day disabled list on May 28 and underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder on August 29.
Spence, 24, has played in 51 Major League games for San Diego from 2011-12, going 0-3 with a 3.15 ERA (14 ER/40.0 IP) and 41 strikeouts against 24 walks. After being selected in the ninth-round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft by the Padres, he has gone 9-5 with a 2.98 ERA (40 ER/120.2 IP) and 120 strikeouts against 38 walks in 76 games, nine starts, over parts of three minor league seasons.
Tekotte, 25, has hit .163 (8-for-49) in 30 Major League games played over parts of two seasons, 2011-12, with San Diego. He was selected by the Padres in the third-round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft. The left-handed hitter has hit .269 (519-for-1929) with 112 doubles, 17 triples, 65 home runs, 242 RBI, 326 runs scored and 110 stolen bases in 502 minor league games played over parts of five minor league seasons (2008-12) in the Padres organization.
With today's transactions the Padres have reinstated all remaining players from the 60-day disabled list and currently have a full 40-man roster.


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Segments Accelerator becomes partner of KIC-Europe's Startup Autobahn Program
Brussels/Vienna - On March 3-4, 2016 we visited our friends and partners from the Korea Research & Innovation Center (KIC-Europe) in Brussels.
The reason: the launch of the Startup Autobahn Program
KIC-Europe has the task to to strengthen the cooperation between European and Korean startup ecosystems and to channel the deal-flow of the Korean CCEIs (Centres for Creative Economy & Innovation) by connecting them with European early stage investors, business angels, VCs, and accelerators.
The Startup Autobahn Program's mission is to create the next generation of Korean tech success stories. From business validation to the internationalisation phase, Startup Autobahn will help Korean companies develop and scale up their ideas and businesses, advancing a truly pan-European softlanding program.
The two-day event was the first of its kind in KIC-Europe and we had the pleasure to participate together with selected investors and experts from leading european organisations like the EBAN, EBN, Oxygen Accelerator, Startupbootcamp Barcelona, Connector and more. We will provide growth development and promotion of innovative technologies exhibited by the Korean startups.
20 young Korean entrepreneurs presented exceptional pitches and innovative technological ideas during the online pitching sessions. We have the pleasure to support the promotion of their innovative technologies and setting up a runway for entrepreneurs to start and scale up their businesses in Europe and grow internationally. The Segments Accelerator will match Korea's most creative, innovative and ambitious startups with corporate partners, early stage investors and benchmark our initiatives with your networks.
Further calls to attract the most innovative Korean companies and European startup experts will be launched in the coming months. Help us match Korea's most creative, innovative and ambitious startups with corporate partners, early stage investors and benchmark our initiatives with your networks.
Some background: The Republic of South Korea's economy counts as one of the most innovative economies in the world. In fact, a recent study showed that they are the most innovative country in the world. This is not a big surprise. The South Korean government invested significant amounts in order to become a regional tech startup hub. 8 trillion won will be spent in forms of direct investments, while it will loan 49 trillion won and stand surety for 23 trillion won. The ministry will continue its Center of Creative Economy and Innovation (CCEI) program, which runs startup incubators with support of local conglomerates to foster local talent. Home to Samsung, LG and Hyundai, the country has been on a path pivoting from big industry and manufacturing to transformative technology. As a new Silicon Valley is on the rise in South Korea, the need for expansion and international representation is today's top propriety.


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Target and FEED Projects Collection | Pictures
FEED the World: Celebrate Target's 10 Millionth Meal by Shopping the Collaboration Now!
FEED the World: Celebrate Target's 10 Millionth Meal by Shopping the Collaboration Now!
When Target announced that it had teamed up with FEED Projects, Lauren Bush Lauren's do-good social business, for its next designer collaboration, a lofty goal was established. Following FEED Projects' ethos, every product sold from the limited-edition collaboration benefited Feeding America, the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity. The goal? To ultimately donate 10 million meals.
Just a few months after launching, it seems that shoppers took well to the exclusive 50-piece lineup, which highlights a range of clothing, accessories, housewares, and sporting goods featuring an Americana motif codesigned by Lauren herself. FEED + Target has announced that its lofty goal has been met!
But just because 10 million meals have now been donated to Americans in need doesn't mean the collection is going anywhere — you can still limited-edition collaboration and in stores, knowing that with each purchase, you're helping FEED achieve its goal of eradicating hunger.
— Additional reporting by Melody Nazarian, Robert Khederian, and John Soper


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CLEVELAND (AP) The Cleveland Indians did not tender Jack Hannahan a contract. Third base now belongs to Lonnie Chisenhall.
Hannahan, who played with a nagging back much of last season, is now eligible for free agency. Also, pitchers Rafael Perez and Chris Seddon were non-tendered after being designated for assignment earlier this week.
Hannahan made the Indians as a non-roster invitee in 2011 and started the past two seasons at third. He batted .244 with four homers and 29 RBIs in 105 games last season, a drop in his offensive production from 2011. He went on the disabled list in May with a calf strain and sore lower back.
The 32-year-old provided exceptional defense during his two seasons, but Chisenhall is viewed as the team's future at third.
After starting the season at Triple-A Columbus, Chisenhall batted .268 with five homers and 16 RBIs in 43 games. He broke his right forearm when he was hit by a pitch in June and was thought to be done for the year. But he came back and played in September, giving the Indians a chance to see him before they had to make a tough decision on the well-respected Hannahan.
The Indians tendered contracts to outfielder Shin-Soo Choo, closer Chris Perez, pitcher Justin Masterson, infielder Mike Aviles, catcher Lou Marson and relievers Tony Sipp and Joe Smith before Friday's midnight deadline.
Also, right-hander Corey Kluber, who is expected to compete for a starting job at spring training, underwent arthroscopic knee surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. The Indians said Kluber's knee locked up on him while he was playing with his young daughter at home in Jacksonville, Fla.
Kluber went 2-5 with a 5.14 ERA in 12 starts last season.
Earlier, the Indians and right-hander Blake Wood agreed to a $560,000, one-year contract - a raise of $58,000 - and avoided salary arbitration. Wood was claimed off waivers from Kansas City on Nov. 2. The 27-year-old had elbow ligament-replacement surgery in May and missed the entire season.
Cleveland has not gone to arbitration since 1991.


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This is the last of the series of photos from my day in Victoria last weekend. Tomorrow, I'm off to the mainland for a few days. My friend Margaret will be staying here to care for the dogs and cat, while I visit my mom and Emma, and hopefully get in a quick visit to Hearts on Noses to see Janice and the piggies. I'm also looking forward to breaking bread (ok, drinking wine.....) with my long time friends Ann and Ken with whom I'll be staying. It's been far too long.
Hmmmm... if I can take 348 photos and get four blog posts out of one day in Victoria, how many photos will I take and how many posts from several days on the mainland? Check back next week!
Meanwhile, may these photos hold you for a few days:
|Stone bridge in Beacon Hill Park
|From the trail along Dallas Road
|Flying high
|Windy day
Bye for now!


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So for awhile now, I have been considering making a clean definitive break from the SBC by sending a formal letter to the organization rejecting and "rebuking" them. I have also considered making this letter an open letter, to be published online for the entire world to see as a declaration of independence in defiance of their oppressive control on freedom of thought, and justice and equality for all.
My reasoning for this is that at the start of my associate pastorship (now coming up on two years ago starting in March) I was asked to sign in my contract of employment with them their declaration of faith - a declaration devoid of any compassion, and bogged down in theological legalities that these same people claim to be otherwise. At the time, the idea of signing such a document threw up red flags because I knew that as I grew in my understanding of life, theology, and the world around me so too would my worldview and theological outlook. In other words, I knew that the process of life was a journey of learning, unlearning, and re-learning, yet there was something about their statement that said otherwise. Even so, I rationalized their demand to sign the document against my own judgment and now I feel as though I need to redeem myself and reclaim my so-called "sovereignty" and dignity as a human being.
Is this all necessary? Am I over the top on this - being silly? What do you think about it? Obviously, the wounds are still healing from my experience at the SBC church that my family and I were a part of, so there is still a lot to be said about that - even though a great deal of healing has already occurred.
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I would first do a draft letter and give the wording plenty of consideration for a week or so. Reedit as necessary. It is important to get across you points with enough emphasis to let them see that you are being very serious. You should not make it too emotional by letting any anger be so obvious as to be taken by them as being offensive even when it is not. That is the reason for drafting it first.
Explain you points to them with passion to show your concern but with respect to show your sincerity. List them on separate paragraphs. Refrain from any ad hominem and they will have no comeback other than to address your points. I would be as direct as possible and word it so that they cannot misrepresent what you are saying. I would ask for a reply in writing within 2 weeks.
If the reply is not forthcoming or does not adequately address your points then I would consider going online with it. Post the link here and we help it go viral for you.
Barry, you weren't meant to be put in a box.
The best revenge is success.
Why don't you start your own church?
I joined a local Lutherian church recently, mostly because I like the self abuse, and my gal friend sort of expected it. I thought that I really needed to try and find away to 'fit', because learning to live together in peace shoud be a prerequesite to civility.
They are good people, and generally accepting, but I try not to make tsunamis of theological conflict. My attempts at contribution to the church intellectual climate has meet with some toleration, and I have had some quiet freethinkers and young exploring/budding intellectuals take me aside to discuss their misgivings and non-church interests, IE Science/Philosophy.
One young man came up to me today to discuse my 'Pale Blue Dot' presentation from a few weeks ago and details of how to approach his coming post-HS graduation world exploration. I gave him some pointers, small warnings about cult exposure, and to keep an open, but cautious mind.
Sadly my attempt at 'fit', might be fraying at the edges, mostly in my own mind. 'Double think' seems to have slitely intruded, and my ability to both stay true to myself, and be respectful of other's is taxed.
Tomarrow I turn 59, and will spend most of the day as a volunteer at the church food bank. The need here is so very high, with this one bank having served atleast 1300 people this month so far. I see myself as a good man, with a good mind, and a deep soul, but I can not enter the land of 'true belief' without betrayal of my self honesty and hard won understanding.
I so wish the good of others and all to be my banner, but standing before that deep pit of 'ideological aggreement' might preclude inclusion into 'doing good'. So I stand before that abyse, that could cause my deeper marginalization, and know that I am walking a fine line between honesty and rejection.
Sometimes all I have left is my courage, I am near this at present...
James, that last sentence gave me goosebumps. It says so much in just a few words. I wish the people in your church could read your whole post.
I give snipets of who I am, but the whole package is likely hard to take. I find myself looking at religion through a very large lense of experience and disapointment. So much of the symbolic and metaphorical trappings seem to be very juvenal and unenlightened. I in some way have fallen into the trap of humoring them, while at the same time recognizing the humanity that remains hidden below the seeming pretence. It feels as if they confuse their contrived religion with their humanity, as if their humanity actually 'needs' the trappings and pretense to be real.
Several years ago I wrote a satirical paper about the 'Physics of Angels', as an attempt to decribe 'angels' as if they existed as virtual particles. At the end of the paper I suggested that the simple equation "(-a) + (+a)= EI + R" might offer an insight. An evil angel (-a) interacting with a good angel (+a) releases the Energy of Imagination (EI) and the Heavy particle of responsibility (R).
I'm sorry to hear this James. It's no secret, I've said lots of times before, my "atheist morality project" was inspired by an evangelical Christian lady. I'm a dedicated anarchist. If I was a family man (i.e. if I was employable) and not already married to someone in my heart, I would have pursued her to the ends of the earth to marry me and have kids.
We share our core moral values. Honour, courage, integrity, compassion, humility. This is what gave me a way in to being able to accept religion. Before that, I hated religion like Richard Dawkins. This lady was an interrogator in the US army, although she never saw service. If you were in trouble, she'd fight to the death to save you. She'd take off her little glasses and pick up a length of lead pipe. What's not to love? We're great friends to this day.
I remember readings I found by Benjamin Franklin and Voltaire concerning their positions on religion. They seemed to both think that church offerings were a good idea in that, while churches are not the highest example of moral rectitude, they are atleast a human attempt at moral example. They seemed to not offer any more details...
I just see a lot of similarities between radical politics and fundamentalist Christianity.
That is all the SBC really is: a radical political organization. There is really nothing more to them than that. Sure, they use Jesus Christ as their banner, but their intention is to be a sociopolitical force with the only intention of creating a theocratic society in the guise of democracy.
So I just realized that the title and some words in my opening remarks were misspelled. Guess that's what you get when you write this up late at night after a long day.
Anyway, I am not interested in throwing emotional stones at them. I've gone through that whole process by (as Strega knows) writing unsent letters to the individuals (supposed stalwarts of SBC doctrine and faith) who hurt me and my family. The process was very therapeutic, and in the end, necessary for me to sort through all the pain, resentment, fear, anger, and disgust. So I am done with that. However, as I mention, the wounding is still there, and the passion that I hold towards truth, towards healing, and towards helping those who have also been harmed by their ignorance seems to be the drive compelling me to this endeavor. That's why I've been wanting to do it, and the fact that my signature exists on a document that I do not agree with makes me ruinously churn inside. I guess, all I want to do is set the record straight - to right what I consider wrong, which is of my own action, and to stand correctly where my heart has always been.
As for addressing the question of starting my own church, no, it's not for me. I'd rather spend time with like minded individuals teaching Wing Chun on a Sunday than preside over a so-called worship service.


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O's Pick Up Miller From A's
Baltimore Trades Snyder To Texas
The Baltimore Orioles have obtained outfielder Jai Miller from the Oakland Athletics, who parted with the part-time player for cash considerations.
Miller was designated for assignment by Oakland on Dec. 23 after the A's received four players for pitcher Gio Gonzalez.
The 26-year-old Miller went 3 for 12 with a homer and two RBIs for Oakland last season after being called up in September. He played in 110 games with Triple A Sacramento, battiing .276 with 32 home runs and 83 RBIs. Miller also stole 16 bases without being caught.
Orioles president of baseball operations Dan Duquette says Miller will compete for a roster spot this spring.
In another deal Tuesday, Baltimore traded infielder Brandon Snyder to Texas for cash. Snyder played in six games with the Orioles last year.


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Houston has been hampered by injuries all year but is finally receiving some good news: Bring Ching hopes to return to the Dynamo lineup Saturday against Chivas USA. Ching hopes that if he can show he has returned to form in the next week, he will earn an invite to the United States' pre-World Cup training camp.
After the thrashing of Kansas City, the Dynamo climbed to fourth in Goal.com's Power Rankings.
Forbes.com ranked the top ten American players playing abroad. Think you know who they ranked number one? Think again.
Thousands camped out to see the World Cup trophy this weekend in Houston. The trophy is on an 83-country, 225-day tour on its way to Johannesburg, South Africa.
Speaking of the World Cup, one might wonder if the new Arizona immigration laws could have an effect on whether or not FIFA grants the United States either the 2018 or 2022 World Cups.
It's a problem that few countries have to face but one that plagues the United States. With a number of Mexican-Americans living in this country, U.S. Soccer has to compete with the Mexican national team for popularity. On top of that, many Mexican-American players are faced with the decision of which country to represent.
With all that is wrong in the world today (i.e. bomb threats, oil spills, etc.), it's nice to read stories such as this one from Seattle.


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David Smith blocks against Italy during their World League match on June 15 in Lyon, France.
B.J. Hoeptner Evans
Manager, Communications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
E-Mail: email@example.com
DataVolley Match Statistics * Official Match Statistics
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 15, 2012) – The U.S. Men's National Volleyball Team returned to FIVB World League action on Friday with a 30-28, 28-26, 25-22 victory over Italy in Lyon, France.
After a four-week competition break, the U.S. Men evened their World League record at 2-2. Italy suffered its first World League loss and now has a record of 3-1. The U.S. will play Korea on Saturday (June 16) at 8 a.m. PT and host France on Sunday (June 17) at 9 a.m. PT.
The last time the two teams played, on May 20 in Florence, Italy swept the U.S. Men. However both teams made some lineup changes on Friday as Italy went with a young lineup, save for team captain Simone Buti.
In fact, both teams were without their head coaches. On the U.S. side, John Speraw (Irvine, Calif.) took over for Alan Knipe (Huntington Beach, Calif.), who is dealing with a family issue. Paolo Montagnani took over for Italy's Mauro Berruto.
"We didn't have a lot of information about this young Italian team," U.S. team captain Clay Stanley (Honolulu, Hawaii) said. "In the first set maybe we start too slow, but we were very focused, point after point."
The U.S. took advantage of 26 Italy errors, including 11 service errors, while committing only 15, including just one service error. Italy led in attacks, 47-42 and aces, 8-5. The U.S. Men led in blocks 10-6.
The U.S. Men came back from a seven-point deficit to win the first set. In the second and third sets they kept the score close and pulled out the victories at the end.
"The future of Italian volleyball will be good," Speraw said. "Early in the first set we had some trouble but we stayed focused. Our objective is to continue to improve. We need to play."
U.S. outside hitter Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.) led his team with 17 points on 13 attacks (59.1 kill percent, .545 hitting efficiency) , two blocks and two aces. Outside hitter Sean Rooney (Wheaton, Ill.) added 13 points on 10 kills (47.6 kill percent, .333 hitting efficiency) and three blocks. Middle blocker Russell Holmes (Fountain Valley, Calif.) contributed 11 points on nine kills (75.0 kill percent, .750 hitting efficiency) and two blocks.
Giulio Sabbi paced Italy with 17 points on a match-high 15 attacks and two aces. Jiri Kovar and Buti each added 11.
Among other U.S. scorers, Stanley scored seven points on five attacks and two aces. Middle blocker Dave Smith (Saugus, Calif.) added seven points on four kills and three blocks.
Outside hitter Paul Lotman (Lakewood, Calif.) scored a point on an ace. Setter Donald Suxho (Korce, Albania), scored a point with a kill.
Suxho was credited with 27 assists. He set the team to a 47.2 kill percent and a .360 hitting efficiency. Italy had a 46.1 kill percent and a .235 hitting efficiency.
U.S. libero Rich Lambourne led the team in digs with 12 and added 11 excellent receptions. Anderson led the team in excellent receptions with 13. Rooney also had 11.
Speraw started Anderson and Rooney at outside hitter, Holmes and Smith at middle blocker, Stanley at opposite, Suxho at setter and Lambourne at libero. Lotman played as a substitute along with opposite Gabe Gardner (San Clemente, Calif.) and middle blocker Ryan Millar (Alpine, Utah).
Italy took an 8-4 lead in the first set, scoring on five attacks and an ace along with two U.S. errors. The U.S. got kills from Holmes and Anderson. Italy got four straight points off the serve of Simone Buti to go from a 7-4 lead to 11-4, including two aces. Anderson got a kill to end the run, but the U.S. struggled to get more than one point in a row and Italy led 16-10 at the second technical timeout (TTO). With Italy leading 20-13, Stanley scored on a kill and Italy hit the next ball out and Anderson followed with an ace. Italy called timeout, but the U.S. scored three more points, including a Smith kill and Rooney block, to pull to within one at 20-19. Italy scored with a kill, but the U.S. got the serve back with an attack followed by a Stanley kill and Rooney block to take its first lead at 22-21. The U.S. reached set point first at 24-23 on a Stanley ace. But Italy held it off with an attack. The U.S. would reach set point four more times. At 28-28, Rooney scored on a block and followed it with a roll shot that Italy couldn't return to give the U.S. the 30-28 set victory.
Italy jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set but the U.S. fought back, getting three straight points on a kill and block by Holmes and a Rooney attack to lead 5-4. Three straight Italy errors gave the U.S. an 8-5 lead at the first TTO. Italy tied the score at 10-10 and the teams battled back and forth. With Italy leading 13-12, it served in the net and Stanley took the serve. The U.S. scored on two straight quick kills by Holmes to lead 15-13. Italy called timeout, but Stanley responded with an ace to give the U.S. Men the 16-13 lead at the second TTO. Italy tied the score at 16-16. The U.S. Men came back with a Rooney kill and Holmes block to lead 18-16. Team USA still led by two at 23-21 when Italy scored on a U.S. hitting error and kill by De Togni to tie the score. The U.S. Men came back with a kill to reach set point. Italy fought it off with a De Togni kill. The U.S. reached set point two more times as Italy fought it off. The U.S. took a 27-26 lead on a block by Smith and Anderson finished it with an ace.
Italy took an 8-7 lead at the first TTO of the third set while the U.S. led 16-15 at the second TTO. Leading 17-16, the U.S. got three straight blocks from Suxho, Anderson and Smith to increase the lead to four. Italy pulled to within one point at 21-20, but the U.S. held it off for the 25-22 victory.
To reach the FIVB World League web site, click here.
To reach the USA Volleyball World League web site, click here.
U.S. World League 14-Player Roster for June 15-17 in Lyon, France
1. Matt Anderson (OH, 6-10, West Seneca, N.Y., Penn State)
2. Sean Rooney (OH, 6-9, Wheaton, Ill., Pepperdine)
5. Rich Lambourne (L, 6-3, Tustin, Calif., BYU)
6. Paul Lotman (OH, 6-7, Lakewood, Calif., Long Beach State)
7. Donald Suxho (S, 6-5, Korce, Albania, USC)
8. Reid Priddy (OH, 6-5, Richmond, Va., Loyola Marymount)
9. Ryan Millar (MB, 6-8, Alpine, Utah, BYU)
11. Brian Thornton (S, 6-3, San Clemente, Calif., UC Irvine)
12. Russell Holmes (MB, 6-8, Fountain Valley, Calif., BYU)
13. Clay Stanley (OPP, 6-9, Honolulu, Hawai'i, Hawaii)
15. Gabe Gardner (Opp, 6-8, San Clemente, Calif., Stanford)
16. Jayson Jablonsky (OH, 6-5, Yorba Linda, Calif., UC Irvine)
20. David Smith (MB, 6-7, Saugus, Calif., UC Irvine)
Assistant Coach: John Speraw (Irvine, Calif.)
Team Manager: Rob Browning (Newport Beach, Calif.)
Assistant Coach: Gary Sato (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Assistant Coach: Ron Larsen (Lafayette, Calif.)
Assistant Coach: Mike Sealy (Santa Monica, Calif.)
Technical Coordinator: Chris Jackson (Phoenix, Ariz.)
Medical Support: Aaron Brock (Storm Lake, Iowa)
U.S. World League Schedule/Results
(All times PT unless noted)
In Florence, Italy
May 18: France def. USA, 17-25, 25-20, 26-24, 25-17
May 18: Italy def. Korea, 24-26, 27-25, 21-25, 29-27, 18-16
May 19: USA def. Korea, 20-25, 18-25, 25-17, 25-23, 17-15
May 19: Italy def. France, 20-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-22
May 20: France def. Korea, 25-18, 24-26, 25-20, 21-25, 15-11
May 20: Italy def. USA, 25-16, 25-20, 25-16
In Lyon, France
June 15: France def. Korea, 21-25, 25-15, 31-29, 25-16
June 15: USA def. Italy, 30-28, 28-26, 25-22
June 16 at 8 a.m. USA vs. Korea
June 17 at 9 a.m. USA vs. France
In Gwangju, Korea
June 22 at 12:30 a.m. USA vs. Italy
June 23 at 12:30 a.m. USA vs. France
June 24 at 12:30 a.m. USA vs. Korea
In Dallas, Texas – BUY TICKETS
June 29 at 7:30 p.m. CT: USA vs. Korea
June 30 at 7:30 p.m. CT: USA vs. France
July 1 at 7:30 p.m. CT: USA vs. Italy


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All Posts Tagged Tag: 'information explosion'
How to Avoid Information Overload – Separating Signal from Noise
Publishing of all sorts is now easier than ever. Books, music, web sites, blogs, video and film, audio podcasts, visual design…many forms of expression are now supported by powerful, yet relatively easy to learn, software tools. The Upside: Freedom of Expression Now more than ever […]Read More →


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"There ought to be a law requiring buyers to read this outstanding book."
— BOB BRUSS, Syndicated Real Estate Columnist
"Buying your first house can feel overwhelming. Not only is it likely to be your first really big investment, it requires understanding a litany of complex issues from appraisals and credit reports to loan-to-value ratios and mortgage insurance. In her easy-to-read, 'let-me-tell-you-girlfriend' style, Ilyce leads readers through all the things you need to know."
— KATHY KRISTOF, author of Investing 101


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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Sean Penn remembers smelling dead bodies when he arrived in Haiti after the earthquake.
But now there's music in those same streets even as the country faces many years of rebuilding, the Academy Award-winning actor said Tuesday.
Penn said "extraordinary" changes have happened since the Jan. 12, 2010, natural disaster killed more than 300,000 people and left about 1.5 million homeless.
He also called the Haitian people resilient in his remarks in a forum at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
The actor is an ambassador-at-large for Haiti's president and CEO of aid group J/P Haitian Relief Organization, which started with a goal of bringing painkillers to earthquake victims. It became an agency that manages a camp for displaced people and works to resettle them. It also does other aid work such as clearing rubble, repairing damaged homes and running a community center and clinics.
Former Haitian Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis and Ken Keen, the Army lieutenant general who commanded the U.S. military relief effort in Haiti, joined Penn as panelists to discuss the progress in Haiti since the earthquake.
Pierre-Louis spoke of the strength of the Haitian people but also of promises, including from the government, that haven't been kept.
"Today there is reason for hope, but at the same time, there is a lot to be done," she said.
The former prime minister also spoke about the need for the international intervention when it comes to helping middle-class Haitians who lost homes get loans so they can rebuild.
Keen said stabilizing security will be a major factor in the country's recovery, with everything else becoming more difficult without effective policing.
Penn said investment in manufacturing and jobs in Haiti would help solve the challenges because displaced people need work. He also said relief organizations can make a difference by helping with education initiatives because the first thing parents ask before resettlement is where their children will be going to school.
The actor dressed casually in cowboy boots and jeans, his dark straight hair combed back and falling below his collar. He also wore a scowl for some of the evening and criticized some media coverage he said misrepresented what was happening in Haiti.
In particular, Penn took issue with some reporting on his organization's work to demolish the National Palace, the presidential home in Port-au-Prince that became a symbol of the scale of devastation and government inertia following the natural disaster.
He said that it wasn't him and a bunch of "white guys" with "jackhammers" who did the demo and that nearly all his agency's workers are Haitians.
But the actor grinned after answering an audience question about how to bring visibility to Haiti's reconstruction effort. He said the country wouldn't triumph over its problems next year, but it would happen.
"It's coming in 15 years," Penn said, "and I hope I see you there."


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PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) Brock Motum scored 23 points and Mike Ladd had a season-high 19 points as Washington State beat Fresno State 59-50 on Sunday.
The Cougars (6-4) led 48-47 with 4:43 to play. Motum made two layups and Ladd scored on another and Washington State was up 54-48. Royce Woolridge, who scored 11 points, made five of his six free-throw attempts to wrap up the win. The final score matched Washington State's largest lead.
Jerry Brown scored 12 points while Robert Upshaw and Allen Huddleston each scored 10 for Fresno State (5-4). Upshaw also had seven rebounds and six blocked shots.
The Bulldogs trailed most of the first half, but ended it on an 11-5 run to lead 25-24 at the half.
Fresno State shot only 26 percent in the second half and 30 percent for the game. Washington State shot 47.8 percent in the second half and 40 percent overall.