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Natural Resources
Download Natural Resources Standards (PDF)
|Content Standards
|Performance Standards/Performance Indicators
|NC1.0 SCIENTIFIC PROCESSES AND SYSTEMS: Use the scientific method to analyze natural resource systems and subsystems.
|Inquiry process and Investigative Skills
|• NC1.1 Apply knowledge of systems of biological and physical processes to demonstrate how dependent organisms are on one another and their environments using the inquiry process.
The following steps are included in the inquiry process:
1. Determine the problem
2. Formulate a hypothesis
3. Determine what materials and equipment will be needed for testing the hypothesis
4. Design and conduct the experiment to test the hypothesis
5. Record the data
6. Analyze the data
7. Evaluate the entire process and make a conclusion
o a. Explain fundamental concepts of communities (e.g., limiting factors such as habitats, food, population dynamics, population and community interactions and others).
o b. Illustrate biogeochemical cycling (e.g., nutrient and materials cycling; hydrologic cycle).
o c. Explain the importance of biodiversity, interdependence of organisms, and ecosystems for life.
o d. Describe basic population dynamics and the importance of diversity in living systems.
o e. Describe the major physical processes that shape the Earth and relate these processes to characteristics of the Earth.
f. Account for environmental characteristics based on how matter and energy interact in living systems.
|Content Standards
|Performance Standards/Performance Indicators
|NC2.0 TECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY: Apply appropriate technology to maintain or improve natural resource systems.
and Impacts of Technology on society and the environment.
|• NC2.1 Investigate technologies in the context of larger systems that have shaped the course of human history as well as human relationships with the environment (e.g., agriculture, industry, transportation, communication, etc.).
o a. Describe how past and present technologies and innovations have been used to change environments or the use of natural resources throughout history.
o b. Illustrate the use of biotechnology, chemical technology, mechanical and electrical technology, and environmental technology are used in a natural resource industry (e.g., agriculture, enhancement of crop production and resistance; genetic manipulation; micropropagation of rare/ endangered species).
o c. Analyze issues related to technology such as biotechnology from various points of view (e.g., economic, political, governmental, social, religious, local/global, generational, etc.)
d. Evaluate the social, economic, and environmental costs, benefits, risks, and possibilities associated with technologies through which humans shape and/or control their environment.
Information and Communication Technology
• NC2.2 Identify and apply ways in which information technology helps, or has helped expand knowledge, values, and behavior patterns/practices in relation to natural resource systems.
|Content Standards
|Performance Standards/Performance Indicators
|NC3.0 NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: Assess for balanced management of natural resources.
|Effective Management Practices
|• NC3.1 Evaluate management practices for the use, maintenance, and restoration of natural resources.
o a. Analyze the status of natural resource(s), its distribution, management, and consumption patterns and appraise the strategies for the conservation of natural resources (e.g., sustainable approaches, value-added, farmland enhancement, waste management, energy sourcing, forest fire control, etc.).
o b. Evaluate the conditions and motivations that lead to conflict, cooperation, and change among individuals, groups, and nations on the control of natural resources (e.g., urban development or habitat for local endangered species or lumber industry; restoration versus preservation; organic versus non-organic controls, etc.
o c. Develop and defend a cooperative strategy for appropriate action to change a current relationship between ecological/ cultural preservation and economic development.
|Content Standards
|Performance Standards/Performance Indicators
|NC4.0 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION: Analyze and develop strategies to protect natural resources in accordance with environmentally sound practices and policies.
|Issue Analysis
|• NC4.1 Investigate local, regional, and global environmental issues
o a. Define and clearly articulate an issue or concern and its connection with other issues (e.g., length of time, breadth of applicability, the pervasiveness of its effects).
b. Discuss the social, political, economic, and ethical implications of an issue and alternative courses of action.
|Decision Making
|NC4.2 Defend a position on an environmental concern and decide on action needed .
o a. Evaluate viewpoints that differ and information that challenges the position taken.
o b. Assess alternatives such as potential for success; legal, social, economic, and ecological consequences; and skills and resources needed.
o c. Select an action based on research/analysis and develop plans to implement the action to address the concern or issue.
d. Evaluate the effects of the action, identifying intended and unintended effects.
|NC4.3 Explain the need for protective measures to sustain environments.
|Content Standards
|Performance Standards/Performance Indicators
Evaluate ethics, legal responsibilities and practices in the natural resources environment.
|Political Processes, Compliance and Enforcement
|NC5.2 Assess how citizens influence natural resources through the political process.
o a. Analyze the process of creating, enacting and changing laws, and give examples of local and national laws that impact the sustainability of natural resources/environments.
o b. Compare and contrast current and/or historical environmental issues from cultural, economic, and political perspectives to formulate long-term and short-term solutions.
c. Describe the individual's responsibility in complying and/or implementing the expectations of laws or ethics (e.g., professional conduct, decision making, work ethic).
|Ethics and Behaviors
|NC5.1 Examine how ethics and behaviors impact natural resources.
o a. Evaluate and discuss how own beliefs about the environment were developed (e.g., learning, culture, economic vitality, experiences, personal well-being, social and environmental welfare).
o b. Compare and contrast personal ethics and behavior.
o c. Evaluate how personal behavior affect the environment, humans, and other living things.
d. Debate conflicting viewpoints and discuss alternatives for conflict resolution.
|Content Standards
|Performance Standards/Performance Indicators
|NC6.0 SOCIOECONOMIC AND CULTURAL AWARENESS AND RESPECT: Analyze the effects of economic, social, and cultural systems on natural resources.
|Economic Systems:
|• NC6.1 Explain the concepts of scarcity and uneven distribution of resources.
o a. Illustrate the relationship between supply and demand.
o b. Examine the uneven distribution of natural resources and its economic implications.
|Cultural Systems:
|• NC6.2 Describe how people's culture (e.g., religious, economic, political, social, and other) influence the environment.
o a. Explain how the environment is perceived in various cultures.
o c. Use a familiar (e.g., Hawaiian) culture and discuss its core values and practices in relation to the use and protection of natural resources.
o b. Identify ways different cultures develop practices/policies related to the management of natural resources.
o d. Compare and contrast the impacts of traditional and contemporary cultural practices on the environment.
|Social Systems:
|NC6.3 Analyze how social systems account for,manage, and affect natural resources and environmental quality.
o a. Analyze how social institutions (e.g., educational, religious, financial, business, non-profit, lobbying, government, and legal) perpetuate societal values and impact the environment.
|NC6.4 Discuss the interconnectedness of present world political, economic, environmental, and social issues.
a. Identify a variety of local, regional, national and international environmental issues and the ecological and cultural implications of these.


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The Asian insect cutting a swath out of the city's urban canopy could soon be taking a bite out of homeowners' wallets. Toronto residents are on the hook for the removal of dead ash trees killed by the Emerald Ash borer on their property. A recent city map shows the beetle has infected trees throughout the… Read More
Ash borer beetle could take a bite out of your wallet
How did The Goof restaurant get its name?
Episode 346 of the Toronto Real Estate Musing daily video blog. George O'Neill is in front of the Garden Gate Chinese Restaurant, a Chinese-Canadian diner that has been gracing the corner of Queen Street East and Beech Avenue in The Beaches for 48 years. But ask anyone around here what the restaurant is called, and… Play Video
Asian food is just 5 minutes from The Beach
Episode 309 of the Toronto Real Estate Musing daily video blog. George O'Neill is at the T&T Supermarket on Cherry Street near downtown Toronto to show you that if you have a hankering for Chinese, Korean or other Asian groceries, it's only a five minute drive from The Beach neighbourhood. We were also at T&T… Play Video
The hot 'n spicy T&T Toronto Waterfront Night Market
Episode 241 of the Toronto Real Estate Musing daily video blog. George O'Neill braved BBQ squid and fish balls to film the Downtown Toronto Waterfront Night Market last Saturday night. Held at the T&T Supermarket on Cherry Street in the Toronto Port Lands, this is the first time an Asian night market has been held… Play Video

subset: commoncrawl


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The First Real Look at Quantum Break
Finally, a nice meaty preview of the next game from the makers of Max Payne and Alan Wake. »
Finally, a nice meaty preview of the next game from the makers of Max Payne and Alan Wake. »
Been waiting to hear more about the Xbox One exclusive action drama Quantum Break? Well, here's something new. It's not much but it is something. »
Time stands still and stutters after an experiment gone wrong in Quantum Break, the first next-gen title from Remedy, the makers of Alan Wake. The studio showed off the game with a trailer at tonight's VGX. Here it is. »
Microsoft considered delaying some Xbox One launch games and even holding Halo 4 for their new console before committing to last week's unusually diverse and rich day-one Xbox One line-up, the company's head of game development told Kotaku. And now Microsoft is planning to give early adopters a lot more to… »
In the midst of frozen time and shattered glass, you might have forgotten that Quantum Break—the recently-announced new game from Alan Wake's creators that was shown off again at Microsoft's Xbox briefing on Monday—has a TV show that plays out alongside the game experience. »
The next game from the makers of Alan Wake and Max Payne was one of the few games that Microsoft showed at the Xbox One reveal. But details were scant. Now, at today's E3 press event, Remedy Entertainment's Sam Lake showed a bigger glimpse of the game. »
Remedy Entertainment showed off a mind-warping glimpse into their next-game during today's Xbox event and it looks utterly stunning. »


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Jordan CP3.VII SE
December 4th, 2013 by Brendan Dunne | 1 comment
Is it the Jordan CP3.VII SE or the Jordan CP3.VII AE? Unfortunately no official word has arrived surrounding this next pair of Chris Paul shoes, so we're not 100% sure how they're technically christened. But a name only means so much-it's the shoe you care about. And with good reason, this model ends up one of the more interesting team Jordans of recent years thanks to that inventive use of Dynamic Flywire. Get some more angles on the shoes with us after the break and stay tuned to Sneaker News for the official release info as soon as it's available.
Source: luvmykicks
this shoe is HOT...... almost looks like the lebron x low.


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I was told in a dream that Owl Meat Soup goes well with a Reuben sandwich.
NIST dudes trap patterns of light in a cloud of rubidium atoms for tens of microseconds! Can quantum porn be far behind?!
Embedding the name of a god in other names.
GDC 2012 leak of Maxis' presentation of their new Sim engine running in debug mode. Interesting use of AI agents to represent social and environment behavior. Agent-based ecosystems are packaged into components called bundles which act as a unit of gameplay.
Easy point-of-reference: Watership Down in Iraq
Bloody 'ell, I want to go to there!
Amplify your waning stock of genetic material with this little paint-by-numbers PCR unit! Sequence your own genome! Science for the common man!
Instructions are available for the curious and wary without purchase @ http://openpcr.org/instructions.
Brian Michael Bendis is the Aaron Benjamin Sorkin of comics.
Modern web design and usability principles inform a re-think of the command-line interface, including the use of MIME-types to augment piped commands, support for asynchronous operations and predictive cues (like auto-complete) for shell commands.
A list of un-licensed data sets available for public consumption via Amazon EC2 instances.
"Mountain Saw", Ekibastuz, Kazakhstan (via Gizmodo)
A Rice University grad student has demonstrated extending the range of ISM spectrum (WiFi) transmissions from a few hundred feet to a mile+ by pushing the signals into adjacent unused TV channels ("white spaces").


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Canada News
Palestinian media mad over Harper visit
At the site of a what many believe is the birthplace of Christ, it was a decidedly unholy episode — Palestinian news crews, incensed and not shy about expressing it when Prime Minister Stephen Harper's videographer entered the Church of Nativity ahead of them.
Harper was visiting the Bethlehem church when the melee erupted on a sunny Middle East morning. The videographer trailing his every move during his inaugural visit to the region was hustled into the Church of Nativity right behind Harper as his advance team asked media to hang back until the prime minister was settled inside the sacred structure.
Canadian media obliged.
Palestinian news crews, however, grew irate, believing the videographer was a Canadian news reporter who was getting preferential treatment. No amount of reassurances could calm down one cameraman, in particular, as Harper's beleaguered advance man finally threw up his hands and allowed the media into the ancient church.
"You wouldn't do this in Israel!" the cameraman shouted before he was allowed inside.
Outside the church after Harper's visit, a Canadian cameraman told the Palestinians not to feel badly. Canuck media, too, he said, are routinely kept far away from the prime minister.
Nonetheless within the hour, the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms released a statement condemning what it called an "attack" on TV cameraman Amer Hijazi.
The group cited another journalist, Mousa Al Shaer, who alleged that the incident took place once they were allowed inside the church. A bodyguard punched Hijazi "by a metal piece on his fist to Hijazi's chest."
The pool reporter for The Canadian Press, in the middle of the fracas, witnessed no assault.
The Prime Minister's Office wouldn't comment, referring the matter to the RCMP, the employer of the prime minister's bodyguards.
"We are aware of reports of the alleged incident. We can confirm that the RCMP was not involved in this alleged incident," the Mounties said in a statement.
Comments on this story are pre-moderated and approval times may vary. Before they appear, comments are reviewed by moderators to ensure they meet our submission guidelines. Keep it clean, keep it civil, keep it truthful, stay on topic and be responsible. Comments are open and welcome for three days after the story is published. We reserve the right to close comments before then. Comments that appear on the site are not the opinion of Castanet, but only of the comment writer.
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Categories > Celebrities > My Chemical Romance > Memento Mori
New Hope7 Reviews
Gerard gets to spend a day out.
A few more weeks passed, but no change or progress was seen. Gerard continued to throw tantrums and have random fits of anger.
Mikey eventually did come to visit, and Gerard did seem a small amount calmer in his presence. Mikey brought with him a large plastic back when he came.
"I brought some toys." Mikey explained, seeing Frank's look of confusion. They were seated in the living room couch, as Gerard sat in the kitchen watching Jamia cook.
"Toys? Seriously?" Frank shook his head, "He acts a bit childishly, but -- "
Mikey held up a hand to stop him. "I know it sounds silly, but the first doctor we took him to said they might help his cognitive functioning. And its learning toys too like puzzles and stuff."
Mikey dug through the bag and handed Frank some of it's contents. There was a couple of coloring books, and jigsaw puzzles that were ridiculously basic. It did not take Frank more than a few seconds to know that Gerard was not going enjoy any of these for a single second. Still, he smiled politely and nodded his head in agreement.
"We were shopping for Doug." Mikey said abruptly.
"Yeah, that's what we decided to name him. You know, like Doug Funny." Mikey grinned eagerly.
Frank's eyes lit up, "You're having a boy? Seriously?"
Mikey nodded, and Frank laughed, "Woah, way to go Mikes! The first son amongst us! Gerard would be so proud!"
Mikey's smile instantly faded at that last remark. Seeing this, Frank realized what he just said, and he too became deflated. "Sorry.", he muttered.
"Its okay." Mikey sighed, although he certainly did not look okay. Mikey lifted his head to make direct eye contact with Frank, and eye contact was always something he only made when he was being very serious, and thus only wanted a very serious answer.
"Now that you've stayed with him for a while... do you think he's going to get any better?" he asked in a low voice.
Frank sighed. While he was still upset at Mikey for not properly preparing him for Gerard's state of mind, he still could not bring himself to crush the boy's hopes. At least, not during what should be such a happy time in his life. How would could Mikey ever truly celebrate a new life, when something he had known all his life was falling apart?
"Yeah Mikey, I think he will." Frank nodded, encouraged by the smile that those words triggered. He was not sure if Mikey really believed him, or simply wanted to hear a morsel of false hope. Either way, Mikey seemed in better spirits after Frank's reassurance.
That night at dinner, long after Mikey had gone, Frank watched Gerard trading his food with Lily. Lily laughed, shook her finger at him, and changed the food back. She stuck her tongue out at him, and Gerard just smiled at her.
"They've been warming up to each other." came Jamia's voice from the other side of the table. Frank turned to look at her as she continued. "I saw them playing with the bouncy ball earlier this morning."
"Oh." was all Frank had to say, and it was evident by both of their expressions that neither parent knew what to think of the friendship. Not many parents would trust a fully grown man as a playmate for their toddler. However, it was Gerard they were talking about...
...but was it really?
"Well I'm sure they're just interacting with each other like they would with you and I." Frank said uneasily. Jamia did not reply.
Frank did want to acknowledge the issue any further, but did not avert his gaze from their direction for the rest of the evening. Still, he pushed for a change in the topic.
"Are we still going to Best Buy tomorrow?" Frank asked a question he already knew the answer to.
"Yeah, I don't see why not." Jamia shrugged, "We can have lunch at Sakura."
Sakura was a little Japanese restaurant that Jamia particularly enjoyed, and they often ate there whenever the family was on an outing. This tradition brought Frank to his next question.
"Should we bring Gerard?"
Jamia stopped eating her rice pilaf for a moment and stared at Frank. "I don't know hon, do you think that's wise?"
"I think a day out would do him some good." Frank explained.
"Well, what if he goes berserk again?" Jamia asked, "Maybe if we bring him in a leash..."
"No!" Frank immediately protested, "God that would be so fucking degrading!"
"Sorry!" Jamia threw her arms up, "So how do you propose we restrain him then?"
"...I'll, I'll keep a hold on him." said Frank.
"What, are you going to hold his hand the entire way?" Jamia scoffed, as though it was a rather silly idea.
"If I have to." was Frank's instant reply. However, unlike his wife, Frank did not find it silly or amusing the least bit. He did not take any pleasure in imagining himself dragging Gerard around the streets, struggling to keep him from running off or throwing a fit at strangers. It was not at all like the hand holding he and Gerard used to do during a time that now seemed a million years ago.
Jamia saw a subtle blush growing on Frank's cheeks, and she looked away, not even bothering to contemplate on what he was thinking about. She looked over at Gerard, who had stopped interactig with Lily, and was now staring down at his plate in a subdued manner. He had a pout on his lips, as though he felt wronged.
Jamia was familiar with this frown, and it was very much like the old Gerard's frown whenever he was feeling as though something was unfair. Jamia even thought she saw his eyes darting in her direction, and she wondered if he knew they were talking about him. She smiled at him, and his gaze returned quickly to his untouched plate.
The next day went almost just like Frank had envisioned it. He literally did hold Gerard's hand the entire time they stayed in town, but luckily Gerard was relatively quiet the entire way.
They went to Best Buy to retrieve the new modem that they needed for their house, and they went to eat at Sakura. Frank was required to chop up Gerard's fish for him so he would not get any of the spines, as he always did for Cherry and Lily.
Afterwards, they simply strolled around for the pleasure of window shopping. At one point, Gerard nearly walked into the street while Frank was distracted. It was Jamia who saw it just in time.
"GERARD!" she screamed, and Frank turned around to see that Gerard had in fact taken three steps into the street, and was merely one step away from oncoming traffic.
"NO!" Frank ran towards him, fear rising inside him like bile. He grabbed Gerard by the waist, pulling him away just in time. A few cars honked at him as they sped past, seeing nothing more than a very clumsy jaywalker.
"You don't do that!" Frank yelled at him once they were safely back on the sidewalk, "You don't walk away without me, do you understand?!?"
But Gerard did not understand, which was evident from his lost expression. Frank realized this quickly, sighed, gripped Gerard a bit tighter this time, and they continued their trek.
The next, and thankfully last, incident of the day happened at a supply store, where they arrived to pick out new paint for their porch furniture. They were just going through the aisles, when an employee approached the family, looking nervous.
"Excuse me, sir." the adolescent interrupted them. He was looking at Gerard as he talked, "You'll need to pay for those."
Frank looked over to see that Gerard was using a pencil and a sketchbook that he had obviously found in the store. He smacked Gerard on the shoulder lightly and made a grab for the pencil.
"Gerard! We don't take things from places without asking!" Frank scolded him.
"No, wait.." Jamia silenced her husband. "Look."
She pointed at the sketch that Gerard had drawn out. Frank leaned in to get a better look. His eyes went wide.
It was a sketch of himself, looking particularly angry, almost like he was a few moments ago when he yelled at Gerard for crossing the street. Yet that was not what took him by surprise.
No, what caught him off guard was how good the sketch was.
Every detail was there, and well executed. This was very strange, as they had tried to get Gerard to write before, and that had always resulted in nothing more than blank sheets of paper. How could he not know how to write, yet still be able to draw? Frank had not a clue, but it was one step forward.
"I'll buy it. I'll buy four of them." Frank told the employee with a grin.
Next chapter: Frank begins to realize that Gerard might not be completely gone after all.


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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Here's a solution to pets attacking traps or any other crowd controlled mob for that matter. Give the mob a crowd control flag thats sets to true anytime it gets any sort of cc, then simply have the pet check for that prior to every attack it performs against a target. They could add it into the lua for us.... 'is_target_cc' returns true/false
Superwombat said...
They already have this. The problem is that the things that YOU consider CC, are not the things the GAME considers CC.
The game considers CC as an effect that removes control from a character AND breaks on damage. That is why your pet will continue to attack feared, frost novaed, Imp Wing Clipped, and Druid Rooted targets. Because even though all of those things "CC" a target at least to some degree, they do not break on damage, and therefore do not trigger the pets "Stop attacking this" flag.
They hoped it would just be as simple as removing the "Breaks on damage" portion, but they didn't realize that this would also cause the spell to no longer be viewed as CC by the games mechanics.
Furthermore, to those of you who think that you can control you pet so it's not that big a deal. It's likely much more problematic than that. There are other things in the game that have been changed to avoid CC, Avengers Shield and Summoned Elementals come to mind. Both of those would also shoot right through your trap and break it.


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We are glad to bring you to ringtone download service Audiko.net, where you can easily find epic ringtones for your smartphone. Today we have a ringtone of "Jump Around" by House Of Pain as well as 351 other ringtones by House Of Pain. "Jump Around" is a hit from the "House of Pain" album that was composed by House Of Pain at their major label together with other 17 tracks. You can listen to all 223 House Of Pain – "Jump Around" ringtone variations available here and download it for free in few seconds. You can also look at other 4 albums produced by House Of Pain for all time. "Jump Around" is referred to Hip-Hop, and Audiko offer a huge amount of Hip-Hop albums absolutely for free. And finally, we have collected lyrics for this track and you can view it here as well. So feel free to browse, listen, download ringtones at Audiko.net. Make your phone sound cool!
House Of Pain - Jump Around
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Clashes break out as Israeli army raids another West Bank city
Clashes broke out in the central West Bank city of el-Bireh between young Palestinian men and Israeli troops who raided the city early Saturday morning, witnesses told Ma'an.
The invading Israeli forces surrounded the Burj al-Sheikh building and broke into the Noon Center for Islamic Studies, where they confiscated computers and damaged furniture.
Young men attacked the soldiers with stones and empty bottles, while the Israeli soldiers showered them with tear-gas canisters and rubber-coated steel bullets.
The troops also stormed the offices of PalMedia, a company for TV production and broadcast services in the al-Balou neighborhood. Witnesses said the soldiers assaulted a security guard in the building before they locked him up in his booth. The soldiers confiscated computers and other equipment.
Several houses were also ransacked in al-Balou but no detentions were reported.
Top Headlines
- Israel arrests over 30 Palestinians in West Bank raids
- West Bank: At least 20 wounded in clashes with Israeli forces
- Israeli forces kill Palestinian woman in West Bank
- West Bank: Palestinian boy killed during protest againt wall construction
- West Bank: At least 10 Palestinians, including girl, killed during Israeli raids


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Today, LEGOLAND® announced the park's new attraction for 2014. Ghost – The Haunted House is an 800-square-metre haunted gold-digger's mansion hiding a nerve-racking interactive LEGO® experience. Visitors will encounter spirits from the afterlife, and take part in a crazy floating experiment ending in an exhilarating free-fall. All in a fascinating LEGO setting, the likes of which have never been seen before in LEGOLAND.
The moment you step inside the hall of the almost deserted gold-digger's mansion on the outskirts of LEGOREDO® Town, you realise that here there is more between heaven and earth. LEGO® creatures led on by Dracula spread rumours of a crazy scientist performing crazy experiments in the building's cellar. As courageous visitors large and small move through the long, dark corridors, they encounter realistic LEGO scenes concealing even more of the mansion's occupants. Silly mice, scary werewolves and monsters behind the old shelving take the haunted house experience to completely new and hair-raising levels.
Along the way, visitors are enticed into a 50-square-metre mirror labyrinth before finally ending up down in the cellar. Here the crazy scientist is waiting, and before visitors have a chance to think twice, they find themselves playing leading parts in a tremendous floating experiment in two drop towers eight metres above ground level, before finally hurtling downwards in free fall.
"Ghost will be a unique attraction, unparalleled in every way. The combination of a completely new and fascinating journey through an interactive LEGO universe coupled with a stomach-churning trip in the scientist's floating machine strikes a perfect balance between laughter and sheer terror," says LEGOLAND Billund's CEO Henrik Höhrmann.
Chilling experience on three floors The intense 800 square metres are distributed across two floors, where more than 140 unique LEGO models specially designed for Ghost bring the experience to life. Once inside the mansion, visitors will feel in no doubt that the plot is thickening, but details on the building's exterior also reveal that you need to keep a watchful eye: The timber-clad outer walls are dark and imposing, several windows are boarded up with large planks, and statues of bats dot the façade. The top of the roof towers 15 metres above the ground, which in itself is enough to give you butterflies in your tummy.
"Ghost will be a new element in our almost legendary LEGOREDO Town. Even though the haunted house is a classic amusement park attraction, Ghost will raise the bar for what has previously been seen in similarly themed north European amusement parks," explains Henrik Höhrmann.
Biggest investment ever in LEGOLANDWith investments totalling DKK 80 million, 2014 will be the biggest investment years in LEGOLAND Billund's history. Ghost - The Haunted House alone is costing DKK 36 million, in addition to which Hotel LEGOLAND is building yet another LEGO themed wing for DKK 27 million. The 24 new rooms will be designed with a new 'Knights' theme, increasing the hotel's total capacity by 12 per cent to 223 rooms.
In 2014, LEGOLAND is also opening the doors to newly renovated and LEGO themed accommodation in the form of the LEGOLAND Holiday Village. Here, the former FDM Billund Camping and the LEGOLAND Village hostel have been extensively refurbished and themed at a cost of DKK 17 million.
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The western suburb of LaPlace boasts ties to lucrative industries. The town is headquarters for the Port of South Louisiana, and major petrochemical plants are situated midway between here and New Orleans. LaPlace is a convenient base to explore the area's riverfront plantations. The three bodies of water around LaPlace offer prime opportunities to see swampland flora and fauna.
If you're interested in experiencing a healthy dose of local character, the top LaPlace hotels are the spots for you. Situated close to some of the best New Orleans treasures, these charming properties are just a stone's throw from the best boutiques, eateries, and must-see entertainment options.
Book a stay at one of the elegant hotels in LaPlace to bask in the gorgeous surroundings, or scope out the smaller hotels in LaPlace, New Orleans, if you want something slightly more intimate.
Plus, when you plan your trip with Expedia.ca, you might even find a few cheap LaPlace hotel deals and discounts that let you explore the neighbourhood's personality without spending your entire travel budget on hotel rates. Pack your weekender, grab your local map, and get ready for a trip you won't soon forget.
Thanks to the hotels near LaPlace, you can score a seriously cheap deal on the vacation you've always wanted to take.


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Bar & Bat Mitzvah Favor BagsOur custom favor bags feature contemporary designs that match our bar and bat mitzvah invitations, making it easy to carry your theme all the way through your event. Available in three sizes, these bags can hold food items, candy and small gifts.
*Offer valid for new email subscribers. Promo code will be delivered via email.


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CUNY Creative Arts Team (CAT) is a nonprofit organization at The City University of New York that uses the power of drama to inspire youth to learn…more.
Drama as a Catalyst for Change
CAT uses theatre as a medium to promote social, emotional, and intellectual growth in communities throughout New York City. Working from early childhood through the adult years, CAT offers interactive dramas that explore curricular themes and social issues such as literacy, inter-cultural understanding, peer pressure, violence, sexuality, substance abuse, and HIV/AIDS prevention. Students become participants in fiction-based group improvisations. Questions emerge from dramatic conflict, and participants are challenged to find their own answers. Through theatre conventions, reality is viewed afresh, prejudices revised, and conflicts seen from many points of view. Throughout, professionally trained actor-teachers process these experiences so that participants are able to transfer the new skills and insights into their real lives.
CAT's in-school projects support the New York State Common Core Curricular standards, and enhance students' literacy skills from early childhood through high school.
Let's Talk
Yvonne Roen
Program Associate
(212) 652-2857
February 21, 2014
Save the date: Our 2014 Youth Theatre show starts on February 21st!


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Another city drops from Calif. bike tour
City has no money to dish for cycling event
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -
Days after Bakersfield announced it would not be hosting a leg of next years Amgen Tour of California... A Bay Area City is pulling out as well.
The City of Livermore says it will not dish out the money to have the premier cyclying event roll through town.
Earlier this week..Bakersfield announced it withdrew its bid because of fundraising difficulties.
Livermore has been a start and finish point for legs in the race for the past two years.
Livermore officials say because the city is facing hard times financially it would not make sense to pay money to host the race.


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The Preparation Gap
Many in Hawaii remain unprepared for the workplace, but education programs are making progress
(page 2 of 2)
Education is for Everybody
Just over a year ago, the Hawaii Institute for Public Affairs released a study called "Hawaii Construction Workforce Action Plan," which suggested Hawaii would need thousands more construction workers over the next decade to keep up with military construction and private development. "In the last 5 or 6 years, we've had the biggest boom probably since statehood," said Kyle Chock, director of Pacific Resource Partnership, a coalition made up of contractors and the Hawaii Carpenter's Union. "Contractors have had to turn away jobs. We just have had too much work and not enough people to do the work."
The quality of kids coming into the industry was a "big problem," Chock says. Many couldn't read a tape measure or ruler and 40 percent of high school graduates failed their apprenticeship entrance exam.
A few years ago, several high schools started a Construction Academy pilot program with Honolulu Community College. Today, nearly 30 schools participate, preparing students statewide for the construction trade. "I think it's a little early to put a grade out on it yet because it's only been a couple of years," Chock says. But several thousand students have been through the program so far, and anecdotally, it seems to be accomplishing its goal of helping prepare students for a career in construction.
Another problem in the construction industry has been the dropout rate from apprenticeship programs. The Hawaii Carpenters Union offers a three-day program for prospective apprentices. It allows them to go into the field and see what, exactly, they'd be doing. Education director Leonard Hoshijo says some people realize then that the work simply isn't for them, saving the worker and union time and money.
The Building Industry Association's work force development arm in 2005 started the Pre-Apprenticeship Training Program for a broad base of construction-related fields. So far, it's trained more than 100 people and boasts a 75 percent placement rate of its graduates into union and nonunion jobs. Barbara Nishikawa, coordinator of the program, says the dropout rates and poor math skills have long been issues in the industry. Programs like these weed out the unqualified and uninterested, as well as giving a head start to those who are ready for such a career.
"Let's go back to the foundation," Nishikawa says. "Let's go back to grassroots. We have to start from scratch and build."
|Time will tell if the flurry of programs aimed at correcting it will close Hawaii's preparation gap.
Windward Community College's Employment Training Center (ETC) has a similar mission for a broader cross-section of Hawaii residents—providing short-term training opportunities to people of all ages, including adults who want or need to change careers. The center offers courses in several fields, including office skills and management, auto body repair, nurse's aide and culinary arts. Often, counselors or agencies refer displaced workers to the program to retrain for new careers. Sometimes, people decide on their own to enroll, simply to make themselves more marketable in the workplace. Classes range from a week to 16 weeks and cost from $250 to $1,300.
"What I notice the students doing is jumping from training to training and building on their skills," says Michael Moser, coordinator of ETC's internships and work experience. They might start with introductory keyboarding, then move to 10-key, then PowerPoint and end with an office administration and technology course, Moser says.
Once they finish, the students go to Moser, who may coach them if needed on "soft skills," such as the importance of dressing properly, showing up on time every day and looking colleagues in the eyes when speaking. Then, he'll try to set them up with a work experience. Many of the internships don't pay, but they give the student valuable experience in a new field and the employer extra help. Plus, if it's a good fit, it could turn into a full-time job.
The work experience portion of the ETC has only been around since fall, but already more than a dozen students are completing various stages of the 160-hour program. "The employers just absolutely love it," Moser says. "We don't have enough students coming out of the programs to meet their requests."
One of the first students to take advantage of the work experience program is Angelique Shields. The 41-year-old Honolulu woman formerly worked as a flight attendant and later as a waitress and bartender at a local hotel until she injured her lower back on the job. Unlike some students, she already had years of practice in dressing properly and speaking comfortably in front of others. But she lacked the technical skills to enter a new career.
The state workers' compensation program paid for her to go back to school to train for something that would be easier on her back. Last summer, she began a battery of business-related courses that ended in November. "I enjoyed everything immensely," she says. "The teachers were very helpful and hands on."
She recently started an internship with the Department of Taxation, which is rotating her through different departments to determine what her strengths are. "The most important thing to me is nobody should ever just let something happen and think there's nothing else," she says. "When God shuts one door, he opens another."
From recent high school graduates who can't convert fractions to percentages to middle-age parents looking for a career change, sometimes, it's simply a matter of training. Businesses, nonprofits and government agencies seem to understand the scope of the problem. Time will tell if the flurry of programs aimed at correcting it will close Hawaii's preparation gap.
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I like Pizza Pizza the best, but it is not on this poll because this topic is clearly anti-Canadian XP
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I like Pizza Pizza the best, but it is not on this poll because this topic is clearly anti-Canadian XP
I can't decide! I mean the inner parts of Dominos is good, but the crust of Piizza Hut is good too!!!
Pizza Cucina in Oswego, IL (and in Bartlett, IL, I think). HGSS1 pre-release was there, and the pizza was amazing!
Girodano's Stuffed Pizza in Elgin, IL, Algonquin, IL, and Chicago, IL. BEST DEEP DISH EVER!!!!!!! I SWEAR TO GOD IT IS THE BEST I HAVE EVER TASTED. EVER.
Pizza Hut and Dominos. I'm torn between those two. They make some pretty awesome pizza.
Hells pizza in new zealand. I can't eat half the pizza's cause we don't eat beef or pork cause of religeon or some shit.......
I picked Digiorno cause i like frozen pizzas. I think they are better than delivery pizzas actually. Id pick frozen or homemade pizza hands down. its the best
All corporate pizza sucks compared to the independent pizza places here and in NJ/NY.
There is a local chain of pizza places where I live, they are the best.
I don't care for pizza. Too much grease and cheese for my taste.
Big pizza chains aren't good. If you can't pick up a slice without folding or supporting it, then it doesn't count as pizza.
There aren't any local pizza places in my area that I know of, so I'm stuck with the big pizza chains. Although there is a place that is like 2 hours away from where I live called Burke Street. I think it's only a local place, but I'm not sure. They have good pizza there. Probably the best I've had in a while... or ever.
Dominos used to be good, but they changed the recipe in a horrible way (onion juice or something like it in the sauce, which is the biggest factor for flavor in pizza). It was so bad, it was hard to even look at, and one bite was like biting into a whole onion. Even my dog, who'd eat three-day-old bird meat if he could, was disgusted. He ate it all, but kept smaking his lips and going over for water.
Anything that can disgust a dog is bad. And afterwards, Domino's made TV ads that attacked their previous recipe (saying the crust tasted like cardboard, et cetera), and since then, the one here's had practically zero customers. And because of the advertising, they can't go back to the previous way that everyone "hated".
The only other kinds are Papa Johns (with poor ingredients compared to the then Domino's) and Pizza Hut (and this one in particular always burns our orders, so they suck too. I vote for none.
This local micro chain (we're talking about maybe five stores in total) does a killer white pizza. They serve it to you super hot so the cheese/Alfredo sauce gravy stuff is sloshing around on the top, so you open the box for about five minutes and it congeals just enough for you to pull apart and eat. Oh god... it's amazing... so amazing...
Then, this summer, I went to a small Italian place in South Padre and they had the best pizza I have ever eaten. Made in a brick oven with super fresh ingredients and served piping hot. Oh lawd. I had one that had Italian sausage, tons of basil leaves, sun dried tomatoes, and instead of covering the thing in cheese like a traditional pizza, they scattered dollops of ricotta across the pizza in random spots, so you could see the sauce and the toppings and then you'd get some of the ricotta, which at this point was super melted and had absorbed all the flavors from the toppings... heavens above...
Here is a shot of one of their heavenly pizzas.
So yeah. If you're ever in the South Padre area of Texas and craving a good pizza, make sure you get one from Gabriella's.


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Julian Moore said...
Gary Gigax dies, respawns
In an amazing story of fantasy meets reality, the late Gary Gigax, founder of the legendary Dungeons And Dragons adventure game, was found wandering The Barrens of Azeroth last night looking slightly worse for wear. 'It was a wipe, and I just couldn't take it any more' said Gary, 69. 'I decided to rez at the graveyard when I realised just how far away I was from the instance. I'm sorry for the distress this may have caused but I accidentally deleted my mount while picking herbs and now I'm going to have to walk back'.
Gary is expected to be back with us shortly, once he's altered the game code to make himself invincible. 'I don't see why I have to die like everybody else' said Gary, 'you'd think I'd get a special buff or something'.
(In Memorandum Gary Gygax 1939-2008)


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Company Uses Leaked Pics to Build and Patent iPhone 5
Apple may face some trouble if it tries to launch the iPhone 5 in China. Why? Because someone has already built it.
Apple is in the middle of a massively public patent infringement battle with Samsung. The Cupertino-based company claims that Samsung stole some aspects of the iPad and iPhone's design for its own Galaxy line of tablets and smartphones. In fact, Samsung isn't the only company that Apple has filed suit against for patent infringement, and considering its history with filing suits, we imagine it will be pretty upset by the actions of a Chinese company that has built a phone based on leaked images of the iPhone 5. Not only that, but this company has also patented the design of said device.
BGR points to an article on GizChina that says a Chinese manufacturer has thrown together a phone based on Apple's rumored iPhone 5 and patented the device. The company said it plans to sue Apple if it tries to put the iPhone 5 up for sale in China. GizChina reports that the GooPhone i5 is an Android 4.0 smartphone based on a Tegra 3 processor and 1GB of RAM. In keeping with iPhone 5 rumors, the GooPhone i5 features a 4 inch screen, smaller dock connector and larger external speaker grills.
Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 5 at an event next Thursday, so we'll have to wait until then to see how the real iPhone 5 compares to the GooPhone i5.
Follow @JaneMcEntegart on Twitter.
Create a new thread in the News comments forum about this subject
45math1337 , September 7, 2012 8:04 PMCan't say i'm surprised. I wonder why no one else has thought of this idea, considering how bad design patents are, and how many leaks come out for all new products.
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha. I can only laugh at the patent system.
I LOL'd. such irony. man. they put that out fast. HAHA
43akopp21 , September 7, 2012 8:15 PMHaha! Wait..patents actually matter in China?
43Vorador2 , September 7, 2012 8:19 PMKarma hurts like a bitch.
akopp21Haha! Wait..patents actually matter in China?
Methinks only if you're chinese. Or in bed with the government. Or both.
41igot1forya , September 7, 2012 8:21 PMI'm glad to see this, not because I hate Apple or anything, but because things like this highlight how STUPID these types of patents are. How are round corners on a rectangle or the placement of a button patentable? Sure it makes sense to be unique, but come on already!
24amdwilliam1985 , September 7, 2012 8:23 PMakopp21Haha! Wait..patents actually matter in China?
Yes, kind of.
Remember that Chinese company that got 60(or 600 millions) from selling the brand name iPad to Apple a little while ago?
Love this idea.
Someone should patent something like "communicate with your phone/pda using Chinese languages" in China, haha, wait and get rich.
36shahrooz , September 7, 2012 8:26 PMwell deserved
0kcorp2003 , September 7, 2012 8:37 PMI didn't know the china have a patent system. If they do, they certainly not obeying it with all the counterfeit they replicate.
29dormantreign , September 7, 2012 8:39 PMbest thing i herd all day....go goo phone i5.......or whatever its called.
29matt_b , September 7, 2012 8:40 PMigot1foryaI'm glad to see this, not because I hate Apple or anything, but because things like this highlight how STUPID these types of patents are. How are round corners on a rectangle or the placement of a button patentable? Sure it makes sense to be unique, but come on already!
Yeah, the entire patent system could not be more screwed up. MAJOR overhaul/reform needed.
29MageVortex , September 7, 2012 8:43 PMHAHAHA, thats freaking hilarious! What goes around, apple. what goes around.
22dalethepcman , September 7, 2012 8:48 PMThis is why apple should have manufacturing jobs in America, because the korean and chinese will have a much harder time stealing a warehouse full of parts and assembling a working model phone and getting it to market before Apple.
If all the parts are made in China, then its a simple matter of logistics that the phone could be ready for sale in China faster than anywhere else in the world. Especially if you are going for a global launch, someone who is targeting only China could certainly beat you to the punch locally.
But no.. paying an American worker $20 in labor to make an iPhone is $19 less profit than paying a Chinese worker $0.10 and paying $0.90 in shipping.
You reap what you sew....
3sundragon , September 7, 2012 8:49 PMIt would be ironic if only this weren't China who breaks patent rules almost every hour each day... MS, Cisco, so many companies have issues with China RE this...
It's hilarious.
12reprotected , September 7, 2012 8:54 PMOh crap, they patent a leaked pic! Surely now Apple can't sell the iPhone 5!
24Anonymous , September 7, 2012 9:00 PMHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Apple deserves this!
23A Bad Day , September 7, 2012 9:13 PMI wonder why the politicians don't give a damn about the patent system.
24airanp , September 7, 2012 9:15 PMmatt_bThis is sad. I know that there are a lot of anti-Apple fans on this site, but replace the Apple name with the name of another company (the list is quite big). This happens too often and too much in China and stacks against the company that actually innovates/invents/sells the product. Anyone wish to buy a non-Ford F150? Or how about a Seasonic power supply not made by Seasonic at all? I really don't care what company it is that is being affected, It would be refreshing to find a way to stop this country from encouraging such reckless piracy, thievery, and downright (although admittedly very good) copying. Too many OTHER good companies pay a far higher price from this kind of crap. Everyone realizes China is mocking other countries, the people, and their laws and laughing at you as they do this right?
It's not about being anti Apple, or applauding a company for stealing a design, it's about making people aware of just how broken the patent system is. Unfortunately, apple has played a big part in it with all of the misc., industry standard patents that they have applied for and been awarded. There is a big difference between innovation, and building upon someone elses work and patenting the end result. Not every patent apple has been given is truly innovative if you take the time to read through them and realize that many they have just expanded on someone elses work.


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Brian Williams Raps "Rapper's Delight".
From The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Brian Williams Raps "Rapper's Delight".
From The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
I was born at 1:15 in the morning on February 20th, 1976 in a Kaiser hospital that overlooks the Willamette River on the East Side of Portland. After insurance wiped out much of the costs associated with my birth, I'm told that the out-of-pocket expenses for my parents came to a grand total of just one dollar. Not bad.
About six months later, we left Oregon for Iowa. Even at that age, I probably had some inkling that we were headed in the wrong direction along the Oregon Trail. But in truth, my dad just wanted to return to the state where he grew up.
At some point in Iowa, my parents divorced. From then on, I lived with my mom and brother in a 2 bedroom apartment at Hillside Courts in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Cedar Falls is a university town. The neighboring city is Waterloo. Combined, the 2 towns had a population of around 100,000 people.
You may think of Iowa primarily as a farming state. And you'd be right. But where I lived, I didn't know anyone with a farm. We had people from literally all over the world living in our apartment complex who went to the University of Northern Iowa. My brother and I had friends from India and Uganda. I went to school with a Russian and a couple Australian boys. That being said, Cedar Falls was overwhelmingly white. And it was still very much Iowa. There was a large crop of corn within a two minute walk from our apartment. There was also a creek nearby and train tracks, which made for a perfectly fun location for a kid who could easily find other kids in the area to play with.
Hillside Courts was a very large apartment complex, even by big city standards. Hundreds of people lived there. But as common as new kids were, it was just as common for a friend to leave after their parent graduated from UNI.
Hillside Courts had an interesting story as well. One of the property managers we had, who was really nice to me, and once gave me a whole handful of cashews, ran over his wife, quite intentionally. Hearing that as a kid, you just think, "huh…" Thankfully, it was not my fate to be run over while I was there.
As a baby, I had casts on my feet. In pictures, it looked like gangsters had broken my legs after my parents refused to pay the ransom. After a slight correction, my feet were as good as new.
Apparently, after my feet were corrected, I needed to break something else to fill the void. So, one day I stuck my hand into a fan with a metal blade. I'm told that 3 of my fingers were dangling from their stumps. But again, even that was fixed and I have perfect use of all my fingers and toes.
My first childhood memories are of Jimmy Carter on television towards the end of his time as president, and being in a Radio Flyer near a jungle gym.
I had a little red tricycle and brown shoes I referred to as "my peanut butter shoes". They acted as excellent brakes for my tricycle.
I was largely a child of the 80s. It was an era of burgeoning entertainment, minus the internet, DVDs, digital cameras, and iPods. Instead, we had records, tapes, WalkMen, cable television, Transformers, Legos, Micro Machines, Smurfs, Nerf Basketball, Pogo Ball, Slip N' Slide, Speak and Spell, Lite Brite, Monopoly, Connect Four, Rubik's Cube, Teddy Ruxpin, Battleship, Risk, Stratego, Simon, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Candyland, Uno, Operation, Mad Libs, Slinky, friends, baseball games, cap guns, yo-yos, toy planes made of balsa wood, rubber bouncy balls, frisbee golf, and Garbage Pail Kids!
In the 80s, everything was turned into a cartoon and a cereal. Mr. T? Cartoon and a cereal. Pac-Man? Cartoon and a cereal.
In the early 80s, you had to put down a deposit to rent a VCR. They were just that expensive. Full-sized VHS camcorders cost about $1000 when they became available, and you had to rest them on your shoulder because they were so big.
The CD had been invented in 1981, but they cost about 50 percent more than records and tapes. That's my guess as to why they took off so slowly and why most people don't remember CDs until the late 80s. But, I was amazed by the idea that there were lasers used to play CDs. "Lasers? Cool!"
Only the wealthy had cell phones, and they were about as big and heavy as a man's steel-tipped work boot.
This was a time when people only recycled cans and bottles. A time when, at the end of the broadcast day, they played the star spangled banner on television before it went to static. A time when you went to the drive-in movie theater and bought a foot long hot dog at the snack bar. A time when scores of kids ran through the neighborhood gathering candy on Halloween.
I went to school at Orchard Hill Elementary. I was the only kid in kindergarten who couldn't tie his own shoelaces. They marched us up to a large wooden shoe one day to see that we could do it. It was the age of Velcro shoes and that skill just wasn't a necessity at that point. I figured it out eventually.
Computers were brought into our school around 3rd grade. It was very exciting. Each class was brought into the library to play with a handful of Apple IIes with 5.25″ floppy disk drives. Some of the computer "monitors" were actually full-sized television sets.
Trapper Keepers and Friendship Pins were big at my school. I don't know if Friendship Pins were known throughout the U.S., but they were safety pins with beads on them that we put on our shoes. Both girls and boys wore them. I remember they would occasionally come undone in gym class when you'd kick a ball and beads would fly off everywhere.
And speaking of gym class, I loved when the gym teacher would break out the parachute! Pure magic. That had to be the coolest thing ever at school. My favourite part was when we would all lift the parachute way up, then run underneath and sit on our portion of the parachute and smile and look around at this giant air filled bubble we had created. I could have done that all day.
Sometimes, when we were jump roping in circles around the gym, the teacher would put on a pop record. I remember jump roping to Party All The Time by Eddie Murphy. At the time, it was really cool.
We also square danced! It wasn't as boring as it sounds. I remember touching a girl's hand for the first time while square dancing. It was amazing. I held onto this cute and sweaty little hand as I felt both nervous and excited.
Like many others, I took the bus to school. There were two elementary schools in our area. Ours was Orchard Hill. The other was Southdale. You were generally considered retarded if you went to Southdale. Our only basis for this assumption was that our bus dropped off a retarded boy at the school before the rest of us went to Orchard Hill. Only one kid I knew ever transferred from Orchard Hill to Southdale. He knew about the assumption. Poor kid. He was totally freaked out. I remember him saying, "I don't get it! I've been getting gold stars on my math tests!" Apparently, that wasn't enough to save him from the tragic fate of being shipped off to Southdale, never to be heard from again.
There was an unusual kid who rode our bus. Unlike the rest of us, who carried backpacks, he took a briefcase to school and wore a glove on one hand. It's not what you think. It was a woolen winter glove, and it was duct taped around his wrist. I asked him, "Why do you have a glove taped to your hand?". He told me, "My mom taped it to my hand because she doesn't want me sucking my thumb. She dipped the thumb of my glove in vinegar too." I wonder what measures his mom would've taken if she ever caught him playing with himself?
My first kiss was from a girl on the playground in first grade. Her name was Leah. She was the pee girl. You know, the girl in class who, for whatever reason, smelled like pee? She came up to me and said, "I have a secret to tell you." She then leaned in and kissed me. It was quite a surprise! I remember wiping it off like she had somehow personally offended me.
On a side note, there was a group of girls in our neighborhood who we referred to as the Kissing Bandits. A group of them would run through the neighborhood, hunt down boys, and kiss them against their will. My sister thought it was hilarious that I wanted her to protect me from the Kissing Bandits.
School picture day was very come-as-you-are, as I often forgot about it until the day of the event. I'm happy I did. I have one picture where you can see I'm wearing an E.T. shirt. In another, you can see the ear of a Gremlin. However, my mom also gave me bowl haircuts. She didn't actually place a bowl on my head or anything, but it seemed to be the only style she knew. Strangely, I don't recall but maybe one incident where kids at school teased me about it.
I didn't read many books as a kid. Only a few really come to mind. There was: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, McElligott's Pool, Green Eggs and Ham, Wacky Wednesday, The Fat Cat, 7 Chinese Brothers, Aesop's Fables, and some collection of famous fairy tales. There were several other short books, but I can only remember fragments of them.
For a few years, I remember my teachers would occasionally read the Little House on the Prairie books to us. That may sound funny being that I grew up in Iowa, but I always really enjoyed those readings.
There's a small historic chapter of my childhood. My 3rd Grade teacher was one of the final 12 candidates in consideration for the Challenger flight. I remember when he told us he might go up into space. He handed out these little space shuttles made of thick paper that you were supposed to throw like a paper airplane. You placed a coin in the middle for some kind of weight balance. I seem to recall that they didn't fly so well. Apparently that was a sign of things to come. After the accident, I never thought to ask him what he thought about dodging that bullet.
I was hardwired to like girls as early as I can remember. In the first grade, my friend told my crush that I liked her. She walked up to me on the playground, threw a fit, and told me she hated my guts. It crushed my little heart. But there were plenty of fish in the sea. And many of them wore leg warmers!
I had my first girlfriend in the fifth grade. Her name was Gwen. She was cute, with freckles and the sweetest smile. Her eyes sparkled. I had a huge crush on her before we became a young couple of sorts. I remember it was the most amazing thing that she actually liked me too. I even thought, "Is this what it's always going to be like? If I have strong feelings for a girl, is she always going to strong feelings for me in return?"
If I was hardwired to like girls, the same can be said of music. I remember when cable was first installed at our apartment complex. I was there for MTV, Prince, and Michael Jackson. I remember when Thriller and Purple Rain came out. Michael Jackson's videos were at the apex of coolness. Plus, there was Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, and a slew of the weirdest and funnest one hit wonders, like The Safety Dance and She Blinded Me With Science.
If you didn't have MTV, and could stay awake long enough, Friday Night Videos on NBC would give you your fix of Pat Benatar, Billy Idol, or "Weird Al" Yankovic.
One of my first 45s was Prince's Let's Go Crazy. The B-side was Erotic City. Me and the neighbor girl, Lisa, would sing along to Erotic City. Maybe you know the lyrics and can envision the strange image of an 8 year old boy and 7 year old girl singing to each other, "We can funk until the dawn, makin' love 'til cherry's gone." Neither one of us could have told you what a cherry was, but we had the best time singing that song together.
My mom and brother bought me the Thriller LP one day and I was so excited. My friend, Paul, and I would grab my record after school and race down to his place to listen to it over and over again. He also had The Making of Thriller video that we watched several times with rapt attention. Michael Jackson's moonwalk blew everyone away, kids and adults alike.
Paul claimed his father was George Brett, the famous baseball player. I don't think any of us believed him, but it was great to go to his place, because there was rarely adult supervision.
Actually, that describes much of my childhood. My mom was attending UNI for her masters in the fine arts, had to work, and raise two boys. However, we were mostly well-behaved boys. Still, I was left to my own devices a lot.
My mom was a very open-minded parent. I don't think any subject was ever off the table. We were raised without religion or prejudice. We could watch R rated movies too. Interestingly enough, neither of my parents ever sat me down for a "sex talk".
I saw my dad every other weekend, and took a Greyhound bus a couple hours away to see him.
My mom encouraged anything I showed an interest in, especially art. She loved when I would draw hot air balloons. My drawing skills haven't improved much since then, but a few years ago, I drew a hot air balloon again for the first time since I was a kid.
My dad was a social worker, was always nice to me, and sent me an allowance of $1.00 a week.
I made the most of my allowance. At one point, I actually saved up for a $50 savings bond. That's tough to do when you're a kid. But I knew that I didn't want to be poor the rest of my life.
On Saturday mornings, I'd let our hamster out of it's cage, watch it race around a corner, and then I'd watch cartoons. I was a fan of: Muppet Babies, Snorks, Dungeons & Dragons, Monchichis, Shirt Tales, The Littles, Galaxy High, Kissyfur, The Gummy Bears, Mr. T, Looney Tunes, Smurfs, Pac-Man, Thundar the Barbarian, Laff-a-Lympics, Super Friends, Transformers, and Spiderman.
Saturday morning breakfasts were from a specially designed menu I'd come up with on my own. I'd often eat Trix with a Capri Sun. If they were in the freezer, I loved popping Toaster Strudel in the oven. Fruit Roll-Ups and Jell-O Pudding Pops were also staples.
On Sunday mornings, my mom would often take us to McDonald's, where she would have a Danish and a coffee and read through the classifieds. I was probably snacking on one of those deep fried apple pies McDonald's used to make.
We might also go to Donutland, where my favourite donut was the snowball, which was a wonderful cream filled donut with a powdered sugar exterior. Two donuts and a chocolate milk were pretty standard for me.
I grew up poor. We received food stamps, section 8, and occasionally went to the food bank. I also had free lunches at school. My mom convinced me one winter that a pair of boots at Goodwill weren't actually women's winter boots. They were. I was teased. It sucked.
Even though we were poor, somehow my mom scraped together enough money to buy us an Atari 2600. It was the coolest thing. I remember being one of the only kids in the neighborhood who had one. It meant that we had friends show up often. Even kids we didn't know would somehow end up at our place for video games. Even though Pac-Man on Atari was a far cry from the arcade version, we could play it for hours on end. We might also enjoy Asteroids, Pitfall, Frogger, Missile Command, Combat, or River Raid.
My friends and I spent a lot of time at Hyper Space arcade near the UNI campus. I loved the original Mario Brothers, Super Mario Brothers, Space Ace, Mr. Do, Galaga, Track and Field, Karate Champ, and 1942. Gauntlet was awesome too, but it would drain you of quarters in no time. I had to make my quarters last, so I had to choose wisely.
Next to the arcade was a little store called Hill Street News where we could buy a wealth of candy. They had candy for as little as a penny. Some of my favourites were the Ferrara Pan varieties, like Lemonheads, Mr. Melon, and Cherry Clan. Those little boxes were 10 cents apiece. Life Savers had lollipops I loved. I also had a thing for Zots, Fun Dip, Gummy Bears and Gummy Worms, Drumstick Ice-Cream Cones, Jolt Cola, Like Cola, Mr. Freeze, Push-Ups, and Choco Taco. I had quite a sweet tooth.
I remember that I once stuffed a fistful of Gummy Worms in my mouth and rode off on my bike. What a sight I must have been.
There were also two kinds of candy cigarettes at the time. One version came in a fake cigarette pack and was a brittle candy with a wintergreen flavour. The other was a tube of bubble gum wrapped in paper. The cool thing about that kind was that, for just a couple seconds, when you blew on one end, powdered sugar smoke would puff out of the other end.
Like many kids, I sold chocolate bars and chocolate Easter bunnies door to door in my neighborhood for school. I once knocked on the door of a man with an Electro Larynx. I couldn't understand a single word he was saying. It would have been easier for me to understand him had he just given me a dollar bill and a smile, or just given me the finger.
Summertime in Iowa is hot and humid. I loved it. My friends and I would go to Ray Edwards Pool to cool off. The first time I saw man boobs was at the pool. I was shocked. "Oh my god! That girl's topless! Then I quickly realized, "Wait, that's a boy!" It was quite the mind twister. Why did this boy have boobs and why were they so misshapen?
As strange as it may sound, a few of us kids in the neighborhood would regularly dumpster dive for cans, bottles, and Playboys. Money from cans and bottles turned into arcade money. Playboys were pored over and studied like the Torah.
Between school, hanging out with friends, and studying Playboys, I managed to fit in a lot of television. Our family would often sit down for dinner in front of one. It's hard to believe that I would've watched the Dukes of Hazard, Little House on the Prairie, and Knight Rider, but so many of us did.
And who can forget the big 80s movies? Raiders of the Lost Ark, Back to the Future, E.T., War Games, Splash, Tootsie, Crocodile Dundee, Tron, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Footloose, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Gremlins, Cocoon, Scarface, Ladyhawke, Amadeus, The Karate Kid, Police Academy, Top Gun, Trading Places, Romancing the Stone, The Sword in the Stone, Flashdance, Starman, Repo Man, Nightmare on Elm Street, Poltergeist, Vacation, Dead Zone, Rambo, Firestarter, Weird Science, Caddyshack, Stripes, Ghostbusters, Revenge of the Nerds, Desperately Seeking Susan, Witness, The Color Purple, Red Dawn, The Outsiders, The Hitcher, Bladerunner, Brainstorm, Road Warrior, The Sure Thing, On Golden Pond, and Gotcha!
It's funny, one of my classmates called me E.T. for a while because my neck was apparently a little long. It's interesting to note that the kid's last name was Elliott. I guess we made a perfect team.
In the 5th grade, I had the misfortune of getting pneumonia and missed a whole month of school. I must have thrown up a few times a day for a couple weeks. It was horrible. I spent my days on the couch in my underwear coughing, sleeping, watching cable, eating, and throwing up.
Pneumonia was probably the worst of my memories from life in elementary school. I had a really good childhood in Iowa. My teachers, friends, and adventures were all great.
At 22, I went to visit Orchard Hill on a weekend to wander the grounds and think about my youth. At one point, I thought, "Before this time, I wasn't here. I didn't exist, and then I did." When you arrive in this world, it's like someone drops the needle of a record player randomly on a record. You start playing in the middle of it all, and at some point, the record ends. But at age 6, I never thought about there ever being a beginning. I was just on my way somewhere. Nothing was old news. There were only new discoveries to be made. The whole world and my entire life was on the horizon.
P.S. This paper is being graded, so cross your fingers that I'll get an A.
* * *
If you're interested in indulging in a little 80s nostalgia, check out the I'm Remembering! blog.
Also, there was a fun short film put out recently on 30 years of Garbage Pail Kids here.
Photo on Silly Boy Artistry


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Rich, also, to the mere thrill of no one and the chagrin of everyone, I feel Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, and Bobby LaBonte's Losses are more personal for the more seasoned NASCAR and Stock Car Fan despite the fact Only Bobby LaBonte won Sprint Cup and Busch Grand National. Carl Edwards was the Busch Series(sans the Grand National and making the informal formal), with his Sprint Cup Split, and Brad Keselowski won Nationwide and Sprint Cup. Mark Martin will always and forever be "The Best Never to Win a Cup Title" 5 Sprint Cup Runnerups (1990,1994,1998,2002, AND 2009) and 2 Series Titles that don't exist no more (ASA and IROC). Jeff Burton, even though I'd prefer him to be owner later, but, I am not his agent. And the B Side of this 6 Pack and A Pound of Retirements is Ken Schrader, who had a similar win arc to Michael Waltrip and Sterling Marlin where the fact that those 3 are the Greatest Cup Winners without A Short Track Victory. Mike Wallace, even though he's at the autumn of his career, is one of the Greatest Stock Car and NASCAR Racers sans National Championship or Sprint Cup Racer Without A Win, Kenny Wallace, I would say the same, except his touring days began in 1986 in the ASA as Mike Wallace's Touring Days began in 1991 in the BGN. Todd Bodine, I don't know if he's retired, but the hole in his legacy is a Cup Win, and from what I've stated, that's 7 Drivers who might not be back by Next Spring's Speedweeks. And even though multiwins a year are good and fun, but, they dry out quicker than the 1-2 Win A Year or Win An Ever.
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Mark Martin, Bobby Labonte and Jeff Burton have served NASCAR well
By admin | November 15, 2013
By Richard Allen
Sunday's race at the Homestead-Miami Speedway will mark the end of an era for NASCAR to some degree. With no one seemingly in any sort of hurry to sign Mark Martin, Bobby Labonte and Jeff Burton to a full contract for 2014, this will likely be the end of these three championship caliber drivers as full-time campaigners on the Sprint Cup circuit.
Finding three drivers who have conducted themselves better on behalf of the sport would be difficult to do.
Martin stopped racing full time in Sprint Cup back in 2006 when he left long time employer Jack Roush. However, he came back as a full timer for Hendrick Motorsports between 2009 and 2011. Since then, he has campaigned for Michael Waltrip Racing(and Stewart-Haas Racing after Tony Stewart's injury) on a part-time basis.
Over the course of his career, Martin has compiled some impressive statistics. He has won 40 Sprint Cup races since his entry into the sport in 1981. Add to that, the Batesville, Ark. native has scored 271 top-5 and 453 top-10 finishes. He has also amassed 56 poles in that time.
All of that doesn't even take into consideration the 49 Nationwide(Busch) Series wins Martin racked up over the course of his career.
Labonte is the only of these three greats to have won a Sprint Cup title. He achieved that feat in 2000. Along with that ultimate accomplishment, the Corpus Christi, Tex. driver has won 21 races in NASCAR's top division along with 115 top-5 and 203 top-10 finishes. He has earned 26 poles during his career.
Among his victories, Labonte took checkered flags from three of the sport's biggest events. In 1995, he scored his first career win in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. While driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, he won the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis and the Southern 500 in Darlington during his championship effort of 2000.
Burton won 21 Sprint Cup events while driving for Roush and Richard Childress Racing. He also piled up 134 top-5 and 254 top-10 results. The Virginian has finished in the top-10 of the final standings ten times throughout his career. Two Coca-Cola 600 and one Southern 500 crown jewel wins are on the driver's resume.
But perhaps more important than the wins and top-10s has been the way these drivers have conducted themselves on and away from the race track.
Martin is considered one of the most respected figures to ever occupy a NASCAR garage area. Other drivers have long looked up to the example he has set and have sought his counseling. Fans too have been drawn to this driver's character and work ethic. His Twitter conversations with fans regarding work out and conditioning routines have become somewhat legendary.
While Martin came close on occasion, he was never able to win a Sprint Cup championship. However, that did not diminish his competitive nature nor his fighting spirit. Whether a champion on paper or not, his many fans will no doubt consider him so for many years to come.
Labonte was always the picture of consistency and class. Rarely was his name ever heard among those who were listed as bitter rivals of another driver or team. But still, this has been one of the sport's longest running competitive forces. Earning most of his accolades while driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, the younger of the Labonte brothers seemed to always be in the mix for race wins and championships throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Burton has garnered so much respect among his fellow competitors that he is commonly referred to as 'The Mayor' due to the fact that he is often looked up to as a voice of reason from within the garage area. While acting as a very competitive driver, he has been one of the sport's strongest advocates for safety innovations. His contributions to racing have been far reaching and will continue well beyond his driving career.
Burton, as of now, seems to be the only one of these three drivers who may be called upon to compete next season as rumor indicates he may start a handful of races for Michael Waltrip Racing.
Sunday's race at the Homestead-Miami Speedway will likely be the final time in which these three strap into a car as a full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup driver. However, their legacies will be long lasting within the sport. And no doubt, the Hall of Fame will come calling at some point in the future.
Topics: Articles |
3 Responses to "Mark Martin, Bobby Labonte and Jeff Burton have served NASCAR well"
Tony Geinzer Says:
November 16th, 2013 at 12:06 pm
Chris Fiegler Says:
November 16th, 2013 at 5:22 pm
Which Driver between Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Bobby Labonte & Ken Schrader will Retire after the Ford Eco Boost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway?
Pokey Says:
November 17th, 2013 at 12:42 pm
I think Ken Schrader needs to be added to this list. What a happy warrior. This guy has raced everywhere against everyone and he has done quite well overall. He has a big name, but he also has the biggest heart ever born for racing in the USA. Next time you go to your local track, where the kids are trying to make a name for themselves, you may see them racing against Schrader. They usually lose to him but he has added so much to the resumes of young drivers that he will be around forever as a legend at the best level of our sport. By the way, this Spring, go to your local track and support these kids. At least you can get in to the track for about a sawbuck and you can usually find a real snow cone while you are there. I am at the I-25 Speedway at least five times a year and it has been a great place to find other race fans like me.


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Giant Talon 27.5 Hardtail
|(6 Reviews)
Store PriceBuy Now
Product Description
- Fram: ALUXX-grade aluminum
- Handlebar: Giant Connect XC, low rise, 31.8mm
- Seatpost: Giant Connect, 30.9mm
- Shifters: Shimano Deore
- Brakes: Shimano M395, hydraulic disc, 160mm
Review Options: Sorted by Latest Review | Sort by Best Rating
|Reviews 1 - 6 (6 Reviews Total)
User Reviews
Date Reviewed: August 22, 2014
Strengths: 1. Lightweight for the price
2. Air fork and great components
3. The brakes are amazing
Weaknesses: Crank arms will need loctite to stay on
Seatpost bolt isn't very good and also required loctite
Bottom Line:
Over the span of a few weeks I test rode many bikes including the Salsa El Mariachi 1, The Specialized Crave, and The Trek X-Caliber 8. These were legit test rides and not just a few laps in a parking. I can honestly say that, apart from the Salsa (which I did not purchase due to price and not wanting to wait for an order), this bike outperformed every other model I test rode. The componentry, wheel size, and performance make it a great buy that will provide many years of enjoyment.
I entered the market searching for a 29er and ending up leaving with a 27.5. Now, I don't have enough experience with 29ers to lay claim to a defensible position for any wheel size but I can say that I've been tremendously happy with my bike thus far.
I ride it a least two times a week over North Florida trails that feature roots and sandy conditions in abundance. Compared with my old 26 inch wheels, the 650b platform is a godsend. I am able to comfortably roll over obstacles that were much more disconcerting on my old bike. The cornering ability of this bike compared with a stellar braking system allows much quicker entry into turns and I find that Talon will hold the line confidently.
Florida trails are obviously much different than what other parts of the country may offer, but I feel the technical challenges that do exist may often be disregarded by more mountainous states. Floridians must contend with frequent wet conditions as well as sand and roots being present in nearly every trail that I ride. These elements combined with steep if short climbs require a bike that maintains its composure in dynamic enviroments. This is where the Talon shines. The Schwalbe Rapid Robs have served me well. They are very grippy and VERY fast. I have only popped a tube once and it was a pitch flat from a botched bunny hop that was more my fault than the bike.
The two issues that have occurred are as follows.
The crank tends to loosen from the bottom bracket quite frequently. I have ensure that it was torqued to spec by both myself and bike mechanics at the store where I bought it.
The seatpost bolt (the one under the saddle) also comes loose and I have also ensured that this was torqued to spec as well. Both of these have been fixed with loctite blue thread locker, however, the bottom bracket issue was disconcerting as the time first time I noticed it I was pretty far out in the woods and walked it back to avoid damaging anything. My park tool allen wrenches were not enough to to supply sufficient torque.
Other than these two issues, the bike has been amazing and I can't recommend it enough. It has been describe as an entry-level bike but it feels like so much more. Deore and XT components, hydraulic brakes, bleeding edge wheel size, and amazing tires deliver great performance at a cost that doesn't require a mortgage or auto loan.
Date Reviewed: April 17, 2014
Strengths: Hey guys, in early fifties, lifetime surfer world wide, got into MTBiking again! I wanted performance, speed for on- road, strength, reaction for off- road, this bike flies and performs, best of both worlds if you push it ( not extreme! ). Great bike so far! Price matches bike. 27.5"- just right! Off to risk my neck, on my SkateB! Stay well.
Weaknesses: Pedals are crap (???). 6'2" and feet to match! If your budget can cope, whack on ' Shine ' PD-MX80 pedals, remove spacer's and you will feel it. Giant, if you read this, you owe me £60 smackers!!!
Bottom Line:
Date Reviewed: January 21, 2014
Strengths: The Rock Shox fork has great travel at 100 mm. It has a lockout system with a whole range of travel options.The bike is incredibly light for its cost and take quite a hit.The hydraulic Disc brakes from Shimano stop smoothly and fast. I ride mine faithfully and beat it up hard on the trail. For this price this is a quality bike!
Weaknesses: Only weakness is the components.
Bottom Line:
Expand full review >>
Date Reviewed: September 13, 2013
Strengths: tough frame, great brakes, tracks like its on rails and eats up almost everything ive thrown at it
Weaknesses: front fork is a little cheap feeling
Bottom Line:
ve riddent this thing hard and it takes all the punishment i can give. The 27.5 wheel size isnt as dramatic as I thought it would be but thats a good thing. as I feel no weight difference from the 26 inch. I can navigate terrain that would make me flip over the handlebars with my walmart special. I got the Large frame and im 6 ft 210. It fits like a glove. The seat feels great and the bars are wide and make me feel planted. Shifting is flawless so far.
In summarry, if your getting int othe sport, this is a great option. The new wheel size is much better than the traditional 27.5 size yet the weight is not noticable. I recommend!
Date Reviewed: September 3, 2013
Strengths: Excellent for speed light weight good for up hill dirt riding
Weaknesses: I could not find a weakness
Bottom Line:
Date Reviewed: August 18, 2013
Strengths: climbs like a champ
fairly light weight
responsive while climbing
generous tubing
rugged and durable(trust me im a noob and i beat the SH** out of it)
awesome brakes
Weaknesses: the fork. it doesnt match how good this bike is and i didnt realize how it compared until i got on a couple bikes with good forks. it holds the bike back a lot, but im gonna keep it until it breaks.
the seat...seriously horrible. i swapped it out for the stock seat of a specialized hard rock
the tires. maybe its just me but i always get flats with any air pressure
Bottom Line:
raceface bashguard
wellgo mg1 flat pedals
specialized hardrock seat
5.10 free riders
camel back
my noob set^
|Reviews 1 - 6 (6 Reviews Total)
Review Options: Sorted by Latest Review | Sort by Best Rating
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