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Tickets: $15 ($18 at the door)
can be purchased online at www.FringeNYC.org
or by calling 866-468-7619
Friday, August 9 at 3:00 p.m.;
Monday, August 12 at 4:15 p.m.;
Friday, August 16 at 7:45 p.m.;
Saturday, August 17 at 9:15pm;
Sunday, August 25 at 5:45 p.m.
(No late seating.)
Review by Alyssa Simon · August 9, 2013
Truth: An American Opera About Sojourner Truth is a deceptively simple title for an opera about an extraordinarily complex human being. Composer and conductor Paula Kimper and librettist Talaya Delaney reveal to us so much more about the self-name given American heroine than what is written in schoolbooks, in this fascinating, entertaining and heartfelt show.
Born into slavery as Isabella Baumfree, Truth escaped bondage to become the first African-American woman to win a court battle for recovery of her son against her former owner and went into history as an outspoken abolitionist and women's rights activist. A passionate advocate of non-violence, she later actively recruited African-American men to fight in the Union army during the Civil War.
Never taught to read or write, she traveled the country to preach stirring speeches, the most famous one, the rhetorically rigorous "Aren't I A Woman" at the 1851 Ohio Women's Rights Convention. Yet her convictions may have come not only from her experience, but a fervent belief that she was personally spoken to by God.
Mari-Yan Pringle as Truth uses her majestic soprano voice and charismatic stage presence to show us all the facets of the fiery preacher, religious zealot, fierce woman and mother suffering the unspeakable heartbreak of losing her child. Her Sojourner Truth is a character of mythic proportions as large as life but she also shows us sweet moments of sweeping tenderness and small quirky flashes of Truth's personality and humor. It's delightful and a tribute as well to directors Lori Holmes Clark and Linda McInerney when we see those bits of self-doubt and wry observation.
The ensemble cast is equally great. Baritone Jorell Williams plays a smoothly assured, if slightly condescending at first, Fredrick Douglass who Truth swiftly puts in his place. Their chemistry is unbeatable on stage, making their debates lively fun to watch. Tenor Stephen Biegner is John Dumont, Truth's former owner who, in a brilliant touch by costumer Jill St. Coeur, wears a planter's hat at least two sizes too big for his head, making him look like the insufferable petty tyrant he is. Biegner later softens his physicality and voice to portray a completely different type of character, the abolitionist and journalist William Lloyd Garrison.
Soprano Heather Michele Meyer sympathetically and movingly portrays Mary Brown, the widow of abolitionist and armed resister John Brown killed at Harper's Ferry, Virginia as well as Olive Gilbert, to whom Truth dictated her memoir, The Narrative Of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave. Jaylen Fontaine, boy soprano, plays Peter, Truth's child who she had to leave behind but later fought for and won. He is a very young actor who lights up the stage with his presence.
The seven-piece music ensemble of Gina Izzo, Rich Johnson, Deryck Clarke, Josh Henderson, Meaghan Burke and Sophia Vastek, combine traditional Western instruments as well as African percussion masterfully played by Tony Vacca. The powerful orchestration combined with the saga of our American history make for a wonderful opera. Go see it!
We are thrilled to announce our venue for #fringeNYC2013 It's historic Theatre 80, at 80 St. Marks Place, between 1st and 2nd Avenues.
Soprano Mari-Yan Pringle stars in TRUTH, a new American Opera about Sojourner Truth. Music by Paula M. Kimper, Libretto by Talaya Delaney, Conceived and Developed by Linda McInerney, Commissioned by OLD DEERFIELD PRODUCTIONS. With Damian Norfleet, Chad Kranak, Heather Michele Meyer, and Henry Allen Belin IV, and a seven-piece orchestra conducted by the composer.
A scene from TRUTH, a new American opera about Sojourner Truth that premiered on February 16, 2013 at the Academy of Music Theatre in Northampton, MA featuring Mari-Yan Pringle as Sojourner Truth. Music by Paula M. Kimper and Libretto by Talaya Delaney, commissioned by Old Deerfield Productions.
GET YOUR TICKETS NOW AT: www.academyofmusictheatre.com or (413) 584-9032, $30 orchestra, $20 balcony and $15 for student/senior.
THIS IS THE OPERA YOU LOVED LAST YEAR NOW IN A CHAMBER VERSION TO TAKE ON THE ROAD WITH GREAT SINGERS AND MUSICIANS FROM NYC. Composed by Paula M. Kimper, with a libretto by Talaya Delaney, projections rendered by Amy Johnquest and staging by Linda McInerney, TRUTH illuminates the life and legacy of this complicated, brilliant woman who, though illiterate, was a relentless and articulate champion of those deprived of justice and freedom. The score is accessible and down-to-earth, much of the music derived from folk themes and spirituals, and many of the words Sojourner's own. With five singers and a chamber orchestra of seven players conducted by the composer.
Sojourner Truth is an African-American heroine of extraordinary scope whose life story will be an inspiration to many. She lived a life of bravery in the face of unfathomable adversity and never wavered in her faith and hope for a world where all would experience the birthright of freedom. A former slave who became an influential Abolitionist, Truth advocated nonviolence to Frederick Douglass and other leaders even as the Civil War overtook them. Her little known story, filled with astonishing events and accomplishments, is for the first time told in a new American opera.
Enjoy John Thomas as Sojourner's father, Bamufree playing the bonjar, an instrument that Paula Kimper built for the opera.
There will be lots more to come on this. We are presently in rehearsal for a performance of Chamber TRUTH, our touring version of TRUTH on February 16, 2013 at 8 pm at the Academy of Music Theatre in Northampton MA. Tickets will be $30, $20 and $15 student/senior and available at www.academyofmusictheatre.com
OLD DEERFIELD PRODUCTIONS announces OPERA AUDITIONS FOR: TRUTH, a new folk opera about the life of Sojourner Truth
Music by Paula M. Kimper, Libretto by Talaya DeLaney
Conceived and Developed by Linda McInerney
National Opera Center, 330 7th Avenue, New York, NY
Saturday, October 27, 2012 – 10am to 2pm
African American Singers needed for 3 roles:
Dramatic Soprano for Sojourner T
Bass-Baritone for Baumfree (Sojourner's father)/Frederick
Boy Soprano, 10 years old for Peter, Sojourner's son
Caucasian Singers needed for 2 roles:
Lyric Soprano for Olive Gilbert/Mary Brown
Tenor for John Dumont/William Lloyd Garrison
OLD DEERFIELD PRODUCTIONS is currently producing a chamber version of TRUTH, for 5 singers and 7-piece orchestra, for a recording in 2013 and premiere performance on February 16, 2013 at The Academy of Music
in Northampton, MA. The cast of 5 consists of one lead singer as Sojourner Truth, a black soprano, and four supporting roles: a white mezzo-soprano,
a white tenor, a black bass-baritone, and black child, male (~age 10). The orchestra of 7 is: flute/piccolo, clarinet/bass clarinet, horn, violin, cello, piano and percussion.
For Consideration please email résumé, headshot (pdf), contact info and links to performance videos to:
Please prepare three selections, at least two of which are in English. Pianist provided but you may bring your own accompanist.
CONTACT: Linda McInerney
Old Deerfield Productions readies premiere of Sojourner Truth opera
It began with a dream.
While trying to imagine how she could follow Old Deerfield Productions' original opera "The Captivation of Eunice Williams" with another success, artistic director Linda McInerney dreamed she was sitting in Northampton's Academy of Music with composer Paula Kimper. They were watching singer Evelyn Harris, who was onstage, wearing a mid-19th century costume and about to sing.
She'd seen both women earlier that evening in a theater lobby and when she awoke, realized she'd envisioned Harris portraying 19th-century abolitionist Sojourner Truth in her next collaboration with Kimper.
"Whoa! That's perfect!" thought McInerney, who felt like she'd been given marching orders by her subconscious.
"Truth" was born that night in the summer of 2009. Now the world premiere of the opera, with Harris in the title role, is set for Feb. 16 through 18 at the Academy of Music.
But the work could as well be called "Trust."
"It's a leap of faith because I have no doubt that if this came in a dream, this is what it wanted to be. … I've lived as if this is what it wants to be for those 2½ years," said McInerney, who describes herself as a "53-year-old, middle-aged housewife who's pretty white."
Producer-director McInerney set off on that "leap" - or "bushwhacking," as she describes it - along with Kimper, Harris and award-winning playwright Talaya Delaney, whose Harvard doctorate focused on transforming historical characters into theater scripts.
This was a true collaborative, artistic journey of discovery for these women.
"This has been the largest production I've done in my entire life," McInerney said. There's a larger cast than the 2004 opera "Captivation," a more sweeping span of time, a full orchestra … "and, I have to say, bigger ideas, too."
Along the way, McInerney raised $64,000 with the help of the online fundraising site Kickstarter and by reaching out to private and corporate donors and winning six grants. Right from the get-go, Kickstarter's pump-priming was supercharged with a video of Harris presenting Sojourner Truth's powerful 1851 "Ain't I a Woman?" speech to the Ohio Women's Rights convention.
"That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! … I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman?"
Harris, a thin, red-haired woman with penetrating eyes and a deep, soulful voice, is best known for her years in the women's a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock. She has lived in the Pioneer Valley for a dozen years, singing, leading choruses and teaching voice at Northampton Commuton Community Music Center.
She feels comfortable depicting Truth, but says acting doesn't come easy.
"I know how to be hired to sing, but being paid to act and sing is daunting for me," said Harris, who lives in Easthampton. She hadn't done any acting since she was in college. "Sojourner ages in the piece also, so there are a lot of emotions that have to be covered. It's a lot of work. I rely on my instincts because I'm black, I'm a woman, I'm a singer, I'm 61 years old, so I've been doing it a long time. But I've never done an opera before, so I want to be as good as I can."
Then again, Harris makes clear this opera is a folk opera, which Kimper has based on spirituals and other African-American traditions. And she doesn't let the term "opera" get in the way any more than her liberating character would have.
"I don't ask those kinds of questions," Harris says. "I leave it to the creators to make it work. Once you know a medium is out there, it's for everyone to use. You use what you need to save your own life and you save the rest for the next person."
Truth was born into slavery in 1797 as Isabella Baumfree. She escaped slavery, and in the 1840s, while advocating women's rights and abolition as Sojourner Truth, joined a utopian community in Northampton.
"It feels like me," Harris said. "It feels like all the other black women I know. When someone says, 'Oh, wow! This thing's been written for you!' I say, 'I'm just one of the many black woman who could play this part.'"
Harris, like McInerney, says she'd known "just the peripheral things" about Truth, like her role as someone born to slavery who became a pioneering, liberated woman.
As an actress, she says, "You have to be on the whole time and show your growth, your maturity, and be a mom and a fighter, and be an individual. She was all of that. She was born with it and, for her, there were no models and she was definitely making it up as she went along."
Gathering treasures
The same step-by-step discovery has been true for McInerney, who began by searching for the 40 cast members and simultaneously researching the life of Truth. She'd buy three copies of whatever biographies she could find, including children's books, and send them to composer Kimper and librettist Delaney. They would explore and discuss the materials at weekly meetings, developing a script that began with Truth as a 20-year-old slave near New Paltz, N.Y.
"We spent a solid eight months just reading and talking every week," said McInerney, who drove to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where Delaney was teaching at Vassar College. Kimper took a train from New York.
"We'd just imagine it through, sit with a cup of tea and came up with a structure, ideas, scenes from material we'd read the week before. We'd say, 'Could you believe that part? What must have that like been like?' "
Kimper, McInerney says, specializes in composing opera "embodying the idiom of the story in time." Kimper began developing the musical score after the first scene was written.
"There had to be a few pages of the first scene written before I could begin writing the music," Kimper said in a recent interview. She continued orchestrating the work right up until Martin Luther King Day.
Harris, too, says she was interested in being involved from the moment McInerney first told her about her dream. "But I told her, 'I need to see the music,' " she recalled with a laugh. "We were around a year and half before we saw the first sheet of music. I wasn't going to commit …"
Kimper's score is written specifically with Harris' almost baritone voice in mind, rather than that of a more typical operatic soprano, the composer said.
"Evelyn has a very, very deep voice, and Sojourner Truth was famous for having a deep voice. She's basically singing an octave lower than I'm writing it," Kimper said. "One of the first concepts before any music had been written was that she'd be allowed to improvise. She's felt free to move within that and we're only at the very beginning of what she can do with that. There are a few places in the score where it's noted 'ad lib,' with a few cue notes, but I've told her to take it wherever she wanted to take that, since she's really creating the role. And I've transcribed some of the things she's doing into the score for a permanent record."
As the script was being developed, rehearsals began with a cast - whose members in some cases had auditioned for parts that hadn't even been written yet.
Harris' insight into the title character has seemed "astonishing" for someone with no acting training, McInerney said.
"I've been able to work with Evelyn as a master actor because of the depth of her approach and the way she works. It has to do with the way she embodies a song as her way of working and her way of being. She uses so much of her physical self, her spiritual self, her psychological self."
McInerney may have contemplated having to teach the untrained actress a lot, but says, "If anything, she's taught me. And it's been really great."
Kimper, McInerney and Delaney pored through multiple accounts of Truth's life, from sanitized books to bloated articles that dealt with isolated incidents. Then, in the middle of their search, McInerney spotted in New York Review of Books the release of a new, definitive biography of Truth by Cornell University historian Margaret Washington.
Another discovery was when the three women stumbled on Pinkster, the African-American spring festival - the word derives from a Dutch word for Pentecost - held in the Northeast during the early-19th century, when slaves were allowed time off from work and given a chance to enjoy music, dance and food that harkened back to their African heritage.
"It was essentially an African fertility ceremony, translated into a celebration for the enslaved," McInerney said. "It's Mardi Gras, a frenzy of activity, dancing and food, with a Pinkster King, who was voted for."
In the opera, Pinkster became a metaphor for the spiritual turmoil that slaves experienced in the days before emancipation in New York State in 1827 (Massachusetts had emancipated slaves more than 40 years earlier). Pinkster was incorporated into the opera as a "time to turn things upside down," which Truth would probably have experienced when she was growing up. The scene - with help from Whately percussionist Tony Vacca and African dancer Abdou as the Pinkster King - draws on the first-hand experience of McInerney and Kimper, who last May visited a recreated Pinkster ceremony in New York's Hudson Valley.
"It was just one of many surprises along the way," McInerney said. Then, sounding a little like the opera's title character, she added, "I just feel so guided and protected in this. That's why the 'leap of faith' piece has been really simple."
That serendipity applies even for the timing of the upcoming premiere, which was originally planned for last November, but which had to be rescheduled for February. Only in January did McInerney learn that this February's Black History Month theme would be African-American women's contributions to the making of America.
"It's been like that every step of the way," McInerney said. The synchronicity with which "Truth" has fallen together "is changing my life. I've never had it where I've done [a project] without question, with a deep, open heart, with no idea of what the payoff's going to be. You let it all go, and I feel like I'm about 4 years old right now, maybe 2. I feel I know absolutely nothing. And it's very freeing."
'I take my freedom'
The folk opera opens in 1817 near New Paltz, where 20-year-old Baumfree, as Sojourner Truth was known then, confronts her master, who's tried to renege on his promise of her early freedom.
She sings:
"The master will keep his promise. I am strong where he is weak. I'll make truth of his lie … Lord, true as you made me, I take what you've given me, I take my freedom."
Carrying her infant daughter, Sophie, on her back, Baumfree escapes to her freedom, leaving behind three other children who would not be legally free under the 1827 emancipation order. The opera follows her pioneering court battle in 1827 to protect her young son, Peter, from being sold out of state.
The opera follows Baumfree two years later to New York City, where she tries to protect her son from getting in trouble with the law. There, the abolitionist preacher, who in the opera sings, "I hear God in the night, in my sleep … I hear God in the halls, in the streets," is drawn in by religious charlatan Robert Matthews, who's renamed himself the Prophet Matthias. She joins his religious cult - "The Kingdom of Matthias" and works for him as a housekeeper from 1832 to 1833. He's arrested for a murder; Baumfree is arrested as an accomplice and is accused of trying to poison a white couple in the cult. Baumfree is found innocent and files and wins a slander suit against the couple - the first black person ever to win such a suit.
In 1843, "the voice of God" gives her the name Sojourner Truth, and she walks to Springfield and then Florence, where she joins the utopian Northampton Association of Education and Industry. She becomes an outspoken abolitionist and feminist working with Boston abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, David Ruggles, Frances Gage and others.
The new opera, parts of which have been previewed in Deerfield, Northampton and New York City, concludes in Washington, D.C., where in 1865, Truth is seen bandaging the wounds of black Civil War veterans at Freedmen's Hospital and bemoaning the wounds of her own son.
"The war is won. The freedmen come by the thousands. … Smallpox! Typhoid! Nowhere to live! Nothing to eat! … Is this our freedom. What war has been won?"
McInerney said the hardest part of building the opera was deciding how to end it. To leave its powerful main character losing her vibrancy as her life trails off toward its end - at age 86 in 1883 - would not have been right, she said.
Instead, it's a child - a fictional character - who appears to tell a dispirited Truth:
"My mama was born a slave, oh Lord. Says you sang her free when you sang, 'I see the same moon; I see the same stars. When we die, we shall both go to the same heaven.'"
Shouting "a little louder," as she does at the beginning of the opera, Sojourner Truth proclaims that "Yes, we'll get to heaven, but first, there's work still to be done."
McInerney got tearful as she described how the opera's ending comes together, much as the creation of this work has been realized, as an act of faith.
"It was very important to us to end the piece in a way that 'The Work Must Still Be Done,'" she said. "One of things that we don't think about Sojourner Truth: She really built the foundation along with those people, she built the cornerstones of the edifice that is the Civil Rights movement, (which) still is building, as we know so well. She built some serious cornerstones. …. We wanted to express that: That happened then, and here we are now."
Tickets for "Truth" are available on the Academy of Music website, www.academyofmusictheatre.com or by phone at 584.9032, ext.
To: All media, for immediate release
Northampton, MA – TRUTH IS HERE! Sojourner Truth, fiery abolitionist and ex-slave, has inspired others for nearly 200 years. TRUTH is the fourth opera composed by Paula M. Kimper, whose previous works earned accolades from such prestigious publications as The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Opera News, USA Today and New York Magazine. It is somehow fitting that this opera have its debut in Massachusetts as, following the publication of Truth's book, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave, in 1850, Sojourner spoke at the first National Women's Rights Convention in Worcester, MA. Her query, "Aren't I a Woman?" inspired 19th century Americans as it still inspires 21st century Americans. Eyewitness contemporary reports of Truth's speech told of faces "beaming with joyous gladness" as Truth was warmly received by the convention-goers, the majority of whom were long-standing abolitionists, friendly to progressive ideas of civil rights. Evelyn Harris, who portrays Sojourner Truth, had an18-year tenure with the internationally acclaimed Black women's acapella ensemble, Sweet Honey In The Rock. An artist, performer, arranger, she recorded and co-produced ten albums on the Warner Brothers, Redwood, and Flying Fish labels for Sweet Honey. For more information please visit www.truthopera.com or email Linda McInerney firstname.lastname@example.com.
"It has been a great pleasure to work on another opera with Linda McInerney and Old Deerfield Productions. I said "Yes" to the idea in 2009 even though it seemed the world was crumbling around us and there would never be any money for the arts again. We began working on it because that is what we were inspired to do. As Talaya Delaney's poetic, revolutionary, stark libretto emerged, the three of us worked in psychic lockstep with the spirit of Sojourner Truth guiding us. She is demanding. She goes in for agitating, but that's because she is God's voice. I wanted the opera to convey the life of this complicated, brilliant woman who, though illiterate, was a relentless champion of those deprived of justice and freedom," Kimper explained. "She lived a life of bravery in the face of unfathomable adversity and never wavered in her faith and hope for a world where all would experience the birthright of freedom denied her.
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I remember last year when I found out that my hometown of Keizer was starting up their first Turkey Trot, the Keizer Turkey Dash, and how excited I was. I also remember wondering just how well a Thanksgiving Day race would do, considering that there are a lot of great and well-attended Turkey Day races in nearby cities (Albany, Corvallis, Portland). I shouldn't have worried as I was blown away that the 1st year event brought almost 600 runners!
The 2nd year event is back and I expect it to be even bigger and better. The race begins at Keizer Station (just off the freeway) and there is PLENTY of parking. Race check-in will be in the giant Lowe's and offers a warm place for runners to hang out until the race starts. The race will start and end right on the streets right in front of Lowes.
Check out a race map here. It still is labeled as 2012, but the route will remain the same as last year's event. Runners will run briefly through the mall area before taking a detour and entering the Gubser neighborhood. Runners will complete a full circle around the neighborhood before returning to the mall area.
This year, runners will receive a commemorative shirt in addition to the logo coffee mugs enjpyed last year. I loved this unique approach to a race gift, as my shirt collection is just piling up to ridicluous heights! Age group winners also receive pie instead of ribbons! Proceeds from the event will help benefit the Boys & Girls Club of the Willamette Valley.
Last year, I ran with my wife, brother, and two kiddos. The race is stroller friendly, as we can attest to. Just beware that within the first half mile or so, there is a spot where you take a small tunnel under the railroad tracks, which can become congested. There is a lot of opportunity to pass strollers in this section, but just beware. However, there are no pets allowed.
If you want to check out a new turkey trot or find yourself in the area for the holidays, get registered for this great race. There is a cap on the race this year, and registrations are already ahead of last year at this time, so don't delay.
Keizer Turkey Dash 5k Run/Walk (Keizer)
When: 8a
Where: Keizer Station
Register: Online here; $25 adults/ $12 Youth until 11/10, $30/$15 11/11-11/27, $35/$20 DOR

subset: commoncrawl


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found out discontinued after ordered
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Arena Pharmaceutical's (NASDAQ:ARNA) Weight-Loss Pill Wins FDA Approval – ARNA, VVUS, OREX, GSK
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc's (NASDAQ:ARNA) weight- loss pill has been approved. The pill is the first cleared in the United States in 13 years. With the possible breakthroughs in the treatment of obesity, the approval may encourage other major drug makers to enter the marketplace.
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Corporations will be watching sales of Arena's Belviq and VIVUS, Inc's (NASDAQ:VVUS) Qnexa, in line for a Food and Drug Administration decision by July 17, as a gauge for possible pacts.
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The previous session traded volume of Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) was 90.05 million shares compared with its average volume of 25.08 million shares. Shares of the company traded within the price range of $1.23 – $13.50 during the earlier traded session.
Arena Pharmaceuticals price to sales ratio was 189.31 compared with the 97.22 and 2.66 of Orexigen Therapeutics and GlaxoSmithKline respectively. The P/E ratio of a stock is a measure of the price paid for a share relative to the annual earnings per share. The stock offers -45.61% as returns on assets while return on equity was -160.96%.
Last month, Arena Pharmaceuticals stock price volatility remained 12.03% while stock price volatility for the week was 29.87%. Arena Pharmaceuticals has 182.50 million shares outstanding in its share capital and 181.28 million shares have been floated in market.
The company generated revenue of 10.98 million in the previous twelve months and had -$98.73 million in earnings. The stock reported a net profit margin of -873.19% whereas operating margin was -718.27%.


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From Paula's Home Cooking/Savannah Country Cookbook/Paula Deen Celebrates
5 stars based on 17 Reviews
Servings: 6 servings
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 35 min
Difficulty: Easy
6 ears of corn, cut in half
6 4-inch smoked sausage link sausage
12 red new potatoes, cut in half if large
3 lb fresh shrimp, unpeeled
Crab boil, 2 teaspoons per quart of water
Fill a large pot with enough water to cover all of the ingredients. Add the crab boil and bring to a boil. Adjust the crab boil to suit your taste. When the water boils, add the potatoes and sausage. Cook on medium heat for 20 minutes. Add corn and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Add shrimp and cook for no more than 3 minutes. Drain and serve with warm bread.
Recipe Courtesy of Paula Deen


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Easter is a time to celebrate so many things – and we plan to make it fun for you too. There are so many Easter activities that you can do with your family and friends not to mention lots of gift ideas that don't cost a fortune. You will find everything you need to enjoy the holiday with your family and friends right here at 'Easter Made Easy'
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Name: Gunda
Considering Gunda as a baby name?
Below you find information gathered from our name survey where we asked people named Gunda if they like their name. Parents can use this feedback when considering Gunda as a baby name.
In total 20 people used the name survey for Gunda.
Would you advise parents to name their baby Gunda?
20 Responses
Do people often mispronounce the name Gunda?
16 Responses
Tip: It can be irritating and stressful if people have difficulty reading your name. Therefore, try to choose a name that is easy to pronounce. Read more »
Do people often misspell the name Gunda?
17 Responses
Tip: Names that are difficult to spell can be a stumbling block for a child when they have to explain it's spelling repeatedly. A name with an apparent spelling is better. Read more »
Is Gunda easily pronounced in other languages?
16 Responses
In our rapidly globalizing world, children will come in contact with friends, co-workers or family from other countries. Thus, it is advisable to choose names that are easy to pronounce in other major languages as well as your own. Read more »
Descriptions on how Gunda can be used for name bullying
5 Responses
Do you like being named Gunda in general?
20 Responses


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|17 Jun 2011
RAID Question...
I'm going to be installing a RAID 0 array in my system soon and I came across a potential problem: I only have six SATA ports and four of them can be configured into RAID. The issue here is I'm only going to use two hard drives for said RAID. I have five other drives to consider, two extra hard drives, two laptop hard drives, and a DVD burner. If I take four SATA ports away, I can only have two other drives running, which is a problem.
I'm kind of thinking is it possible to put a DVD drive in a SATA RAID? And, can I use the extra remaining SATA RAID port to perhaps use for a laptop drive without it being in part of the RAID 0? I'm slightly lost here....
|My System Specs
|17 Jun 2011
W7x64 Ult.
If you have esata on the back panel, could you use a seperate multi bay RAID enclosure and solve your issues?
|My System Specs
|17 Jun 2011
Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Well, if you are using 2 drives for a RAID, and 5 other drives...that's 7 total ports and you only have 6 on the machine...so that's not going to work.
If you use the ports that support RAID, you should be able to just pair up 2 of them for that RAID0 array. This would leave the other 2 ports as standalone SATA ports. Thus, you could plug a DVD into one and a hard drive into the other, etc. And obviously you would still have the other 2 ports on the other controller which don't support RAID.
Can I ask why you are going to do a RAID0? If it's for speed, get an SSD instead and really have some speed. It's a much better idea than RAID0. With RAID0 if either hard drive fails, you lose everything on both drives.
|My System Specs
|17 Jun 2011
Agreed. RAID 0 is a gamble. If you are going for more storage space, just buy a bigger drive. Speed, go for SSD like pparks1 said. Redundancy go for RAID 5
|My System Specs
|18 Jun 2011
I plan a RAID 0 mostly for speed and storage. I'd rather spend 350 dollars on four terabytes of storage than for less than 200 or so gigs. Also, my madreboard supports SATA II, so I'd be almost capping it out with a RAID setup. But at the same time, I'd like redundancy because yeah, it is rather risky. Then again, I really don't know if I will be using the other hard drive bay. Hmmm, a RAID card perhaps?
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Grieving Suter glad to be back on ice with Wild
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) Training camp for Ryan Suter will be more than a tuneup for the season. Practicing with the Minnesota Wild will bring some respite, too.
Suter's father, a Wild scout and former U.S. Olympic team member, died Sept. 9 of a heart attack. Bob Suter was 57. His son, the star defenseman who hasn't missed a game and has spent more time on the ice than any other NHL skater since signing with the Wild two years ago, was naturally still having a hard time with the sudden loss.
"We were really close. Just a really good guy, a hard-working guy. I'm going to miss him," said Suter after pausing to for composure when his voice faltered and his eyes welled.


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Observations as someone who is trying to climb the ladder
By dantey 6 Comments
I started playing Hearthstone a few weeks before Blizzard moved it into the open beta, making it early December. Now it is the end of June, so that makes it about 6 and a half months playing this game. Now, I am no amazing player and I don't put it the countless hours a day into this game like other people tend to. But I also think I am not horrible and maybe can reach the oh-so-sweet legendary status. As of this writing, I am rank 3 with only two decks that have a chance of carrying me to the top. Also, they will reset the ladder in five days, two of which I am busy, so I have to hope for some good matchups.
The deck that I am using is a mage deck taken from a player by the name DuckwingFACE and it is almost the exact copy. I had to substitute Bloodmage Thalnos for Loot Hoarder, because I don't have Thalnos in my collection. This deck has served me well so far, getting me from rank 15 or 14 to my current rank 3, and I hope it will get me to legendary. The other deck that I have and could achieve this task is warlock-zoo, but I am not a big fan of playing it. I will give you some statistics and observations I have made playing this deck and also just general thoughts on the game itself (if you are not interested into matchup analysis, then I advise to skip to the last part.).
On the scale of aggro decks (the ones that try to win the game quickly) to control decks (tries to keep the board relatively safe for the first half of the game and then pops a couple of big threats that could end the game in one or two turns), this mage deck leans to the aggressive side, while having some late-game potential. The goal with it is to establish a good board presence early on, so that, coming into mid-game, you are hard to stop. It is advised to hold on to some of your cheap spells for Archmage Antonidas, the Fireball generating machine.
Warrior (6:6, 50%)
In the current meta the most used warrior deck is the control warrior, but overall it is not a popular deck right now. That is a good thing, since my mage deck has a hard time dealing against it. This deck can stop me from establishing the board and generate enough armor for my Archmage and Fireballs not to matter. The 50% win ratio is just me being lucky, having won those 6 games because of good draws or horrible play by my opponent.
Shaman (8:7, 53.33%)
I think shamans have a slightly better chance of winning this matchup (though my stats would suggest otherwise). Lightning Storm and Feral Spirit are cards that can easily stop this mage deck from winning, with Fire Elementals and Doom Hammers coming in as close seconds.
Rogue (11:16, 40.74 %)
In today's meta, if you are playing against a rogue, then it is a miracle rogue. This matchup lives and dies by the speed of the rogue playing Gadgetzan Auctioneer, after which you might have a turn or two before the inflicted pain of Leeroy Jenkins, Shadowstep, Cold Blood and Edwin Vancleef.
Paladin (10:5, 66.67%)
For the past week or so I have noticed a rise in aggroish paladin decks, which is different from seeing the more standard, control type paladins. These more aggressive paladin decks have a slightly better time against this mage deck, than the more typical paladin deck, but they don't make this class a counter. Consecration and Truesilver Champion are still the cards to watch out for, but beyond that paladin has no really good tools to deal with this deck.
Hunter (7:2, 77.78%)
The recent increase in mana cost for the Unleash the Hounds helps this matchup quite a lot, giving you one more turn to deal some damage. As long as your Violet Teachers does not flood the board with 1/1 tokens, you should be fine. Also, since hunters have very little protection against spells, Fireballs to the face are extra great here.
Druid (30:11, 73.17%)
Because zoo and miracle rogue are popular decks right now, the more classic ramp druid decks have fallen out of favor,since they are too slow. This gave rise to the Force of Nature + Savage Roar combo that can deal 14 damage on it's own. But I find that still a bit too slow against this mage deck, because the druid still needs to use the early-game to gear up for the later stages of the match. At that point I can already have a couple of minions dealing damage to the enemy player.
Warlock (18:23, 43.9%)
When playing against warlock there are only two options:
1) Your opponent is a hand-lock. This means he is too slow for you and you are most likely to win. Just don't burst him down too quickly and give him free Molten Giants that can be taunted.
2) You opponent is a zoo warlock. If that is the case, you are close to boned and have to hope for some great top-decking. If you cannot deal with first few turns of your opponent playing monsters, you have lost.
Mage (9:3, 75%)
In a case of a mirror match, the best case scenario for the opponent is to have the same deck as you do. If they don't, then you should be OK. The now popular freeze-mage does not do so well against this deck, since you should be able to burst them down fast enough for it's late game tricks not matter.
Priest (7:6, 53.85%)
It is all very simple against a priest, really. If it goes into late-game, you are probably gonna lose, because priests can be very good at playing the mid-range role and keeping a check on you.
At this point I don't think these stats are going to change, unless a new, before unseen type of deck becomes popular in the meta. As it is right now, the popular decks now have been around for quite some time, shuffling around as one becomes more popular than the other. This is why everyone is waiting for new cards to mix things up in this somewhat stale meta.
Looking at all these statistics made me realize one thing: at some point every match becomes a numbers game of how much are you likely to win. Hearthstone is a game where the lows are not that low, but in return the highs are not that high. Sure, there is a place for comebacks and upsets, but in a lot of cases the outcome can be predicted in 6 or 7 turns. Sometimes even faster.
To the games credit, a typical match is not that long and it lends itself to short bursts of play extremely well. So even knowing, that you are playing a lost match is not that bad, since you are gonna be playing a new one in couple of minutes. But, as I said, I have only two decks right now, that could take me to legendary. If the meta shifts and my mage deck will no longer be viable, then I will be forced to grind for new cards until I can make a deck that can compete. Unless I devote myself to zoo, which I don't really want to do.


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text:
Petition of Benjamin F. Shenk of Colerain township who was married to Barbara Barr one of the daughters of Christian Barr of Bart township, shows that Christian wrote his will the 13th of Nov 1816 and died short time after - will proven Dec 16 same yr.
He left a widow named Susanna who has since died and the following children some of who have died intestate and without issue to wit
Michael B. Barr of Adams County, state of Illinois
Susanna married Samuel Kendig both dec'd leaving three children viz Ann married John Metzger city of Lancaster, Susanna Married Henry Breneman and Amos kendig the said Susanna & Amos being minors over who Benjamin Barr is guardian
Christian who died after the father intestate and without issue
Mary married to John Neff now living out of the United States and traveling to California
Ann widow of Abraham Bitner living also out of the United States and traveling to California
Elizabeth who was married to Jacob H. Smith of Lebanon Ohio and the said Elizabeth now dec'd leaving her said husband and five children viz:Christian B, Franklin B., Susanna, Mary Ann, and Newton all minors and over whom A. Herr Smith Esq. City of Lancaster is guardian.
Jacob B Barr of Bart
Amos Barr of Lebanon , Warren County, Ohio
Benjamin Barr who died intestate after his father, and without issue
Judith married to Joseph B. Groff , both of the state of Iowa
Barbara married to Benjamin F. Shenk - your petitioner- she being now dec'd and leaving her said husband and three children Viz: Emma B. Martha Ann, and Francis Marion over whose estate Samuel P. Bower of the borough of Strasburg is guardian
The will leaves land to Benjamin when he turns 21 But this was never received because he died proir to that age
The remaining heirs want the land viewed


text:
(via drawology)
Source: jordamnparrish
(via drawology)
Source: jordamnparrish
Ooooh man, I've been there. That stage at night when you notice everything, and appreciate it all.
THose are fun times.
(via nudityandnerdery)
Source: karasaurusrex
Coachella Stop Motion by Sam O'Hare. After my recent post on Die Antwoord, I noticed there first performance in America was at Coachella, I decided to check out this epic event. Sam O'Hare has produced this stop motion for their website in preparation for Coachella 2011. Wait till it changes from day to night, Beautiful!
Oh holy goodness, Bog and all his angels and saints.
Edit: Oh dang. Not Stop motion, tilt shift. 0__0
Gracias, Avery. :)
My Christmas gift! 8D
My "days" are not restricted to 24 hours.


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I talked to Paul Postma during the Prospect Development Camp, along with Daulton Leveille and Eric O'Dell, earlier this month so we would have something to blog about this summer.
It looks like Postma should start the year in Chicago. He did have some standout moments at camp.
"I think I will be in Chicago probably," Postma said. "We'll see how long I have to play there for but whatever it takes I'll do."
Here are his stats from last season playing for Calgary in the WHL. He had 84 points, 23 goals, 61 assists in 70 games. He set team records for single-season goals and points by a defenseman. He was also a league-high plus-67. In 18 playoff games he had 13 points, five goals and eight assists. He was a plus-9.
He was named a WHL first-team all-star in the East.
He really fits the Thrashers' future. He's big – 6-foot-2 – and is an offensive defenseman. Like most of the Thrasher prospect, he needs to add some weight. He's listed at 175 pounds.
"It's awesome for me," Postma said of the Thrashers' system. "As good as I like to play defensively, I like to contribute a little bit offensively as well. The type of system they run here, they let their defense do that. That's something that's huge for me. I'm going to take the time to show off the best part of my game."
The Thrashers thought enough of him to sign the 20 year old to a three-year deal in April after drafting him in the seventh round (205 overall) in 2007.
On his experience at the prospect camp – his second – he said: "It's in the middle of summer and helps to get your legs back. Mentally, you have to stay in the mindset of working hard to get to the next level and this is a real reminder of what you need to do to get there."
July 27th, 2009
10:09 am
First… good stuff.
July 27th, 2009
10:09 am
I like seeing guys excited about the Anderson system and working hard.
July 27th, 2009
10:42 am
Postma was the best player at Prospect Camp by far on the Sunday scrimmage. I could easily see him in a Thrashers uniform very soon.
July 27th, 2009
10:44 am
Those WHL stats are incredible. I'm really excited about this kid…hopefully he keeps up the numbers in Chicago
July 27th, 2009
11:38 am
I know we never talk about it, but how do you assess the Chicago Wolves chances of winning the Calder Cup this year? That team, if it keeps the 'tweers, looks to be pretty good. And will presummably have Pavelec in net.
Nice blog, Chris Vivlamore. I'd like to get Nathan Oystrick's reaction to splitting time between the ice and the pressbox.
July 27th, 2009
12:32 pm
He may be pushing a vet for a job at training camp. Combination of size and offensive skill.
July 27th, 2009
12:58 pm
Brendan- I agree. The Wolves look good this year. I'm sure all the fans in Chicago will be happy to see Krog playing along side Sterling, again.
July 27th, 2009
12:59 pm
He may be pushing a vet for a job at training camp. Combination of size and offensive skill.
He's only 175 lbs.
July 27th, 2009
1:01 pm
Late round draft pick could always create a surprise. Do we really need Valabik? If he can't turn up as a Chara type player, I will get rid of him and use Postma instead. Our defensive squad will be really impressive in a near future, with a long term contract to Kovy, emergence of Little and Kane, without forgetting Morin and Klingberg we will be a threat really soon.
Keep an eye on Lasu, Denny (so mean!!!)and O'dell as well, they will have an impact in coming years
Nouah, the only Thrashers fan in Montreal
July 27th, 2009
1:47 pm
Can Postma clear oppposing forwards from the crease? Thrashers have a history of letting in too many goals from close in. We already have some lightweight Dmen. This is why everyone keeps talking about Boris making the final roster, he will play the physical style we need. This guy needs to put on some bulk, THEN see where his game is.
July 27th, 2009
2:07 pm
Well, I'm just glad Kari is taking care of it now, so that he can return to the team in time for training camp. Or, at least, not miss much of it.
July 27th, 2009
2:11 pm
Jameson, do you happen to have a rough configuration of the forward lines and defensive pairings for the Chicago Wolves? I'm interested in seeing how they stack up against the rest of the AHL. The Wolves may just turn out to be as competitive for hockey tix in Chicago as the Blackhawks surely will be this year. I do think Kevin Chevaldayoff benefits from having Don Waddell as the GM of the Thrashers. Waddell signs "depth" guys and puts them in Chicago, and almost every trade deadline, he acquires a minor league guy for Chicago. I hope Chevaldayoff sends Waddell a nice fruit basket every year at Christmas time.
July 27th, 2009
2:38 pm
Sounds promising and at least 2 years away. If he can keeps his numbers in the AHL to 50+% of his WHL numbers (especially +/-!) and eat lots of Italian food in Chicago, he may be a good find for DW.
July 27th, 2009
4:06 pm
Brendan- They don't have the roster posted on the team site, yet, so I'm not really sure how the lines will shape up. I would think the top line, which will probably look like Sterling-Krog-Machacek will be quite the force in the AHL, though.
July 27th, 2009
4:57 pm
Jameson, I can't argue about that. And they'll have Grant Lewis on D, along with Chad Denny, with Pavelec in net. Krog, Sterling, Machaceck … if Holzapfel there? Who's that player we got from the Leafs in the Exelby/C. Stuart trade? Will he be there, too? Was it Stapleton? Or some name like that? Imagine if the Wolves still had Darren Haydar.
July 27th, 2009
7:18 pm
Great article Chris. Given that Oystrick and Valabik are going to fight for the last spot, there's no problem with this kid starting out in Chicago.
I think this guy will fit perfectly with Anderson's puck moving defensemen. I will be very happy if a 7th rounder pushes some of these vets for their job. As Toby and Polskidawg said, let's see him post some big numbers at the next level up.
I am mad that Lehtonen didn't get the surgery sooner if it's from/due to last year. But if that creates a window for Pavelec to shine, then it can be a good thing.
Brendan, Stapleton is not making this squad. He better be in Chicago. He is small to begin with and at 27 has less than a dozen career NHL games. He spent a couple years playing in Europe and I'm not sure of the story there but I don't interpret it as a good sign when you are American born (vs. say Salmella or Nikulin). I think Waddudley took him to make it an even player exchange since in essence we were giving up two mediums to get one good one. He did average a point/game in his one year in the AHL though (79 pts in 70 games). Could be a good fit in Chicago then for them to make a run at the Calder Cup as you say.
July 27th, 2009
7:22 pm
Brendan, I just double checked his stats to see if my memory served correct and while one source does have him at 79 pts in 70 games, another source has him at 54 pts in 51 games last year. Either way it is a pt/game.
July 27th, 2009
10:49 pm
If there's a hardcore AHL fan out there, I'd like you to post a ranking of the AHL teams, once one is published, for the 2009-10 season. I'd have to think the Wolves are at the high-end of that list. Postma, Kulda, Kaip, the names go on and on. And Stapleton, too. I think it's been done when a Stanley Cup Champion and an AHL Champion have come from the same team in the same year. I can't remember when it happened, though. I'm thinking Detroit Vipers and Detroit Red Wings?? Or Denver Grizzlies and Colorado Avalanche. Uhh, I could be wrong. I might be mixing a defunct IHL league Champion (Turner Cup) for a Calder Cup (AHL). Nevermind.
The segue I was looking for … is that the Blackhawks and Wolves might do it this year. I guess they'd hold TWO parades down Rush St.???
July 27th, 2009
10:59 pm
Ay, ay, aye. I was going for … two hockey championships for the same city. Not same team/organization. The "literal crowd" will appear any moment now to ravage me. Speaking of which, how is the weather in Kalamazoo, Michigan, these days? Are they experiencing a lovely "Indian Summer?"
July 28th, 2009
8:13 am
Since you spoke with Dub the other day, any hints as to how the Kovy negotiations are going?
July 28th, 2009
11:01 am
Brendan, the NBA and NHL champs have never come from the same city. But, in '04 the owner of the Pistons and Lightning was the same guy when they both won it. Given that there is no basketball in Canada (sorry Raptors) and major expansion didn't come until the 70's, Edmonton and Montreal pretty much eliminate the chance. You can go off of memory pretty much as to when you came close (one team won and the other lost from the same city). My guesses would be the year Keenan took the Blackhawks was right in the middle of the Bulls run, so that was once. I think Keenan did it again with the Rangers only to see the Knicks lose. I have to think all the years the Celtics won it that the Bruins at least once went when it was still an original 6 league. Or when the Bruins were winning it that the Celtics might have gone once.
July 28th, 2009
11:04 am
Gotta remember to close that italic.
July 28th, 2009
12:27 pm
@ Chris V,
Would you mind asking Don Waddell next time you get the chance about the supposed open offer to Manny Malhotra that was reported by the Columbus Dispatch, who apparently got the information from his agent?
It would be nice to hear that DW is in fact interested in a player like MM or someone of his ilk. But then again, I guess Don very rarely tips his hand although he did not hide the fact that they had every intention of making a trade to get a top 4 blueliner.
Of course, the most interesting thing about the rumor is the amount of the offer (which is too high and too long in my opinion) and the ASG NEVER discusses anything of that nature.
July 28th, 2009
1:00 pm
Smoothie, how much would you offer MM if he just finished a contract getting paid $1.5 mil? You have to offer him something extra to beat out the other teams who apparantley are interested in him and he probably wants a raise on the $1.5 mil on top of that. So $2 mil/year doesn't seem like too much considering what his market value is. 4 years for a guy who hasn't hit 30 yet isn't too long either.
July 28th, 2009
1:28 pm
vinny prospal was just bought out. weird, i would take him here, he's a good veteran who will be cheap coming off of a bad year. Hes typically known for being like kozlov- good one year bad the other. maybe they could pick alternate bad years?
July 28th, 2009
1:32 pm
He doesn't fix Atlanta's problem which is constantly being out-shot and scored on. Last year he was a -20. No help there….
July 28th, 2009
1:46 pm
2 years at an avg of $1.75 M. He didn't exactly live up to that last contract as he had one really good year after underperforming for 3 years. With that in mind, I'd give him 2 years at most, maybe three if he was okay with only a moderate raise to $1.6 M or so.
But anyway, I'd rather go after Pyatt because he is younger and cheaper with still more upside than his last season indicates.
July 28th, 2009
2:12 pm
Toby, Altanta's problem is the PK. MM can fix that as he was Columbus' leading PK forward and they were in the top half of the league.
Smoothie, is $1.6 mil going to get MM here instead of the other teams that are seeking his service? Do you really think that he was not given at least a $100 thousand raise by them as well? Should we "outbid" the other teams?
Pyatt was on 3 teams so far and all 3 have decided to cut ties with him. They didn't see the upside.
July 28th, 2009
2:16 pm
Smoothie, I was also going to say, I think the reason we have to pay $2 mil instead of $1.6 mil is because we have to outbid Detroit, Edmonton, etc. When I reread my last post it was not as clear.
July 28th, 2009
2:49 pm
In that case, then we should be looking to our prospects and younger players who can do the job for less which is what I think we will do.
While we may have offered Malhotra a contract, I'm not so sure I am willing to take the 4 year, $8 M details as fact. Anyway, how in the world is a guy who has never scored more than 12 goals suddenly worth $1.5 M let alone $2 M??
Obviously CBJ overpaid for him coming out of the lockout. However, why would you overpay by that much even if you are at the bottom of the FA featured destination list when you have some young players ready to fill the void? I just don't think we're that desperate.
$1.75 M is more than FMV if you ask me. As to the whole overpaying argument, you are prolly right. My argument isn't whether we might have to pay that, but more along the lines of why would you pay that when it's not worth it? In this day and age of shrinking cap space, let's hope that guys like Malhotra are forced to come back to earth w/r/t their lofty expectations in FA.
July 28th, 2009
2:55 pm
Sorry man…should of been more specific…I meant Prospal. I would take a pass on him.
On the other hand, I think MM would be an upgrade on the PK and would love to sign him. Then Kane can spend another year in juniors and pack on some more muscle. I feel like Dub has already granted him a spot on the team and is rushing him in. MM would look great as our third line LW
July 28th, 2009
3:19 pm
"Anyway, how in the world is a guy who has never scored more than 12 goals suddenly worth $1.5 M let alone $2 M??"
Easy. You are a checking line forward, your job is not to score but stop the other team's best line from scoring. And you do a fantastic job on the PK. Granted Jere Lehtinen probably gets around 20 goals, but he is also getting paid around $4 mil/year. Todd Marchant got 20 goals once in his career, but he is getting over $2.5 mil/year.
July 29th, 2009
12:15 am
Hugs all around. Hope all is well. I concede. Saw glorious photo on Thrasher page. Nice shot. Energetic looking player. I am sure he will do well this season. Seems to possess a world of potential. Surgery or no surgery. Wish him best on brain operation. What? Well, whatever kind of surgery it is. This guy is a future NHL Hall of Fame shoo in! Voted for Kari Lehtonen (even spelled his name right gol durn it) in poll. Know how much of a fan favorite this netminder is. Potential star if ever I saw one. Fans got what they by God wanted. Hockey intellectuals these fans! Hope these same folks will not be too disappointed when team fails to reach playoffs this season. Falcons will be there. Some solace. Thrashers will probably average around three goals per game but other teams will score at a 4.5 goals per clip average. Defense does win championships and equates to playoff appearances. Oh well. Sports is not life. I really do not give a LaLa Land petunia. Have officially switched allegiances to Pittsburgh Penguins! Should be another fantastic WINNING season. God bless. Peace. Amen. Good night.
July 29th, 2009
6:22 am
Stendec….how boring, howewver, I did see your "rant" on the Falcon blog yesterday, enjoyed it. God Bless you too.
July 29th, 2009
8:14 am
EOB-Marchant would have been a perfect fir for the Thrashers.
July 29th, 2009
8:43 am
Pronger would look good in Thrasher Blue, what kind of $$, player package deal would it take?
July 29th, 2009
12:19 pm
I'm interested in seeing what happens with Zherdev on Friday (arbitration hearing)… if the Rangers decide to walk away, there's gotta be some teams willing to jump all over that.
I hope Atlanta is one of them.
Kovalchuk Antropov Zherdev… awww yeah!
July 29th, 2009
12:32 pm
GaVa-Zherdev; only if Kovy can movtivate him to play every night. Your suggested line combination is very interesting!
July 29th, 2009
12:38 pm
He played pretty hard in NY… can't believe he's not signed long-term already. Plus, he's got a little experience playing with Antropov now (with the Rangers).
He's among the league leaders in shots.
I'd give him 4 years $16 million in the blink of an eye.
July 29th, 2009
12:38 pm
GaVaHokie, I am just as torqued to see Kov-Pev-Antro. World Be Free nailed it that Zherdev doesn't show up night in and night out. Maybe an all-Russian line can change that. Although Peverley and Little together can be some magic. But I don't want White on the 3rd line although he can log more PK minutes and may do quite well there.
July 29th, 2009
3:22 pm
White and fill in the blank to rangers for Zherdev….maybe a sign and trade??
July 29th, 2009
4:00 pm
So, what are Frank Kaberle's plan, now that he's been bought out by Carolina?
July 29th, 2009
7:11 pm
dwayne, good chance the Rangers will walk away from Zherdev's abitration award, if he gets anywhere close to what he is asking for. Then we can potentially get him for nothing.
That's if we want him.
July 30th, 2009
6:12 am
This could be the Wolves defense this year:
Kulda, Postma, Vernace, Lewis, Welch and?
Denny and Lehman will be back with them. But I am not sure yet if either will be back playing forward or defense, or playing a bit at both positions. Denny and Lehman both played quite a bit at forward last season.
D-men not returning to the Wolves include: Wilson, Skinner and Rivers. Also possibly not returning is Brooks, Sipotz and Insana.
July 30th, 2009
6:14 am
Excuse me, I meant "Brendan" instead of Brandon. Oops!
July 30th, 2009
9:00 am
Interesting if Jason Williams signs with Detroit… that'll be 2 years in a row he's been asked to replace Marian Hossa on a team.
July 30th, 2009
10:34 am
GaVaHokie, Williams isn't going there to replace Hossa though. Franzen will take Hossa's top line RW spot with Datsyuk. Cleary will be the 2nd line RW. That leaves Williams going there to replace Samuelsson (free agent to Vancouver).
July 30th, 2009
11:17 am
… and Hudler.
July 30th, 2009
12:06 pm
Williams was a bust here, why would Detroit sign him? and Andy Delmore?
Delmore is a total stiff.


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Bringing Communities Together!
"The best part about our Love Your Block event day was having the opportunity to work with a diverse group of volunteers of different age groups, backgrounds and organizations".
-Juan Castellanos, The Kinglsey Association
Creating Community Involvement!
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Building Partnerships, Strengthening Communities
"Our neighborhood has extended beyond our building, thanks to the [Love Your Block] grant. Unseen lines that had been drawn between our Hi-Rise and our neighbors have been erased, as a result of the work that the residents were doing to fix up the property. Working outside our building has erected a whole new sense of neighborhood for us."
-Janice Myers, Carrick Regency Tenant Council
Love Your Block Fall 2014 Grantees Orientation a Success!
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I've been requested to do gifs of Friends catchphrases. This includes:
Ross: Hi & On a Break
Chandler: Could __ be? & Asdjkflj!
Joey: How you doin'? (has been done!)
Rachel: Nooooo!
Monica: I know!
Phoebe: Oh no & (Regina) Phalange
Janice: Oh My God!
… This is my challenge before school break is over!


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The third How To Train Your Dragon movie moves from 2016 to 2017, avoiding a clash with Pixar's Finding Dory.
On top of LEGO: Ninjago and The LEGO Movie 2, a further pair of LEGO films are on the way...
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text:
Where Next for This Protein Play?
Lee is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.
Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ: CALM) gave results recently, and I felt it was time to reassess its prospects. The stock is unusual in that it has a number of profit drivers which can come together positively to give the prospect of generating non market correlated returns. This is interesting in itself, but investors should understand the underlying dynamics before buying. And it is not as simple as it appears.
Cal-Maine Recession Resistant?
As the world demands ever more protein consumption, it stands to reason that cheap protein options like eggs will see demand increase. Moreover, egg demand does tend to be price inelastic because as its input cost prices go up (pushing egg prices up) so will the prices for other proteins. Consumers will then be pushed into buying cheaper options like eggs. The downside is that gross margins will be affected.
Indeed, this was exactly the case with its recent results where revenues and profits went up (partly due to contributions from acquisitions), but gross margins declined thanks to higher feed costs. The longer term picture can be seen here.
The relationship is clear. As feed costs go up, so does the average selling price and gross margins fall. The relationship holds the other way too. So is Cal-Maine just a play on feed costs?
The Specter of the Financial Crisis
2008-09 did some funny things to certain industries. Cal-Maine is the largest single egg producer in the US, and when the recession hit it became very hard for its much smaller competitors to get financing, particularly as soft commodity prices were going through the roof. A combination of these issues negatively affected industry hatch numbers, and Cal-Maine found itself in a fortunate position.
The paragraph above hints at what I think is the key to understanding the company. While egg demand is price inelastic, the key factor deciding margins for its normal eggs will be egg supply. As financial conditions are slowly getting better, I wouldn't expect a '2008' effect any time soon unless corn prices really go through the roof.
Consolidation and Specialty Eggs
If market dynamics are reducing Cal-Maine into being a kind of black swan play for cautious investors (although there is nothing wrong with that) then what are the other potential upside drivers?
There are two obvious reasons to be optimistic. The first is that its specialty egg sales are rising as a proportion of the total and that it has long term consolidation prospects.
Alas specialty eggs don't refer to chocolate Easter eggs but rather a range of eggs that offer consumers some added benefits. The range includes eggs that are believed to lower serum cholesterol levels, or hatched from naturally reared layers fed on natural grains or even omega-3 rich eggs. The benefits of expanding specialty egg sales is that they tend to be higher margin and less cyclical. A nice way to de-risk the stock.
The plan appears to be working, but as the first graph demonstrates it hasn't offset the threat of margin contraction given rising feed costs.
Industry consolidation also offers long term prospects, and the company does tend to be highly cash generative (even after paying a third of net income in dividends), so we should expect more acquisitions going forward. Indeed, rising feed costs could create conditions where smaller producers are more willing to sell up. Cal-Maine's scale gives it the opportunity to produce at a lower cost and obtain financing easy.
What Is the Industry Saying?
I class the company as a protein play. In that vein Smithfield Foods (NYSE: SFD) is worth looking at. It is a major pork producer, a relatively cheap meat option which has the attraction of long term demand increases from the emerging Chinese middle class. While this presents good growth prospects, it also exposes it to the variance of internal Chinese pork production. In other words, you will not escape cyclicality with this stock. For example, export demand of pork carcasses was stronger overall this year but substantially weaker in China. This isn't a stock that you buy purely on a macro view.
Sanderson Farms (NASDAQ: SAFM) offers exposure to the poultry market, however (a bit like Smithfield) it is reliant on export markets. Rather like Cal-Maine it is subject to the vagaries of feed input prices, but unlike the egg producer its poultry is not as price inelastic. Furthermore Sanderson's heavy exposure to the food service market (which is still weak according to the company) means that it has more need of a return to dining out by consumers.
Where Next for Cal-Maine?
As discussed above, it represents an attractive proposition, especially compared to its peers. The US focus and ability to grow end demand in a weak environment means it should command a premium in its sector. The problem is in calculating what that premium should be and where the cycle is going.
CALM EV / Revenues TTM data by YCharts
If you accept that its earnings and margins are cyclical then price/sales might a better way to look at the company, and on that basis the stock looks like decent value but not special enough to pile in just yet. However, black swan (or should that be black chicken) worriers might want to buy some.
Lee Samaha has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Sanderson Farms. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Is this post wrong? Click here. Think you can do better? Join us and write your own!


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I am a Software Engineer from R.H Inst. of Tech. I have been interested in EF1 mapping since I was a Freshman in High School, and have a continued interest in the mapping scene. I am not the greatest at brush work, but entity work is one of my stronger points. I have also attempted to expand outward, and have succeeded in most cases. Currently doing Skyrim modding via the Creation Kit.
This is a promotional I created in the creation of a collection I made on the Steam Workshop. It includes my immersion expansion mods, or that I think expand it. Here is the collection: Steamcommunity.com


text:
Jeremy Clarkson's Incidents with Punches and Pies
- Season: 14 |
- Episode: 7 |
- Date: 12/04/2013
Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson has strong opinions... opinions which sometimes spark hostile reactions, including a pie in the face, unwanted "fertilizer" for his bed of roses and an infamous fist fight.
Watch an all-new Graham Saturday at 10/9c.
Find Your Local Channel


text:
Question: I thought I would ask you this question as I really respect the way your family deals with issues like holidays and consumerism.
What do you do for Easter Baskets? In my family we did just candy, but in my husband's family they did candy and presents. My concern with this is that Easter is already becoming very consumerist (almost like Christmas), and I think that it takes away from the religious aspect of the holiday. What do you do in your family? Thanks so much and Happy Easter!
Just a few days to go before Christmas. If you're stumped for some last minute gift ideas try these.
Annette's Christmas Pumpkin Bread
Question: How have you dealt with extended family giving gifts to your children. A good friend of mine has a struggle with her mother-in-law giving expensive presents to her son. My friend and her husband are on a budget and they want to teach their son that Christmas isn't about presents but about traditions, family, and charity. But this is difficult with a grandmother who wants to indulge their son.
Question: I really enjoy reading about how your family enjoys holidays like Christmas without spending a lot of money (we all know what the reason is for the season, right?), but unfortunately my mother in law spends too much and expects others to do the same. My husband comes from a big family, so it can get expensive. I suggested doing a Secret Santa gift exchange to my mother in law, but she did not seem very enthusiastic. I would love to give homemade presents (cookies, bread, crafts, etc.) but worry that they will not be enjoyed. How would you "do" the holidays?
Question: I know that I'll be invited to several holiday parties this season and will need to get dressed-up. I don't have money for new clothes right now. I want to look good, but also want to break my credit-card habit. What should I do?
Answer: Take a breath and don't worry — there are probably more solutions than you realize. Spending money is not your first nor your only option. Our suggestions will take some time, but the results will amaze you.
Help! We've been married 4 years and this will be the first time I'm hosting Thanksgiving. We've got relatives coming from out of town. I'm panicked over the cost!
Listen to this interview which aired on the John and Ken show on KFI Radio in Los Angeles on February 7, 2009.
We all know about the economy spiraling downward. We all know about companies laying off workers. And, we all know we should be preparing for Christmas.


text:
9 tips to help you save on home staging
This month's market spotlight: Finding a deal in Santa Fe
A few years ago, Santa Fe was a tough market for first-time buyers to break into. But the housing-market crash and recent low interest rates have changed that. Real-estate agent Lauren Sato says she has helped many first-timers purchase homes in the city, which is best-known for its artists, tourists and adobe homes.
She says two-bedroom condos and even a few single-family homes are now on the market for less than $200,000. "There's no question that our prices have adjusted, just like all over the country," she says. "We are probably still adjusting a little bit more." (Bing: What's the best month for home sellers?)
Overall, prices have probably dropped 20% to 30% from where they were at the peak, she says. That translates into deals for buyers at all price points.
She says a popular area for first-time buyers is the Airport Road area, which has quite a few foreclosures and short sales. "I get contacted a lot by first-time homebuyers because those (distressed properties) are the best deals," she says, adding that nearly 30% of all sales in the past year have been distressed properties.
On the other end of the price point, a popular area for high-end homes is Las Campanas, which has seen a 40% reduction in the average sale price since 2006, she says. The average price in 2011 was $973,000, compared with $1.6 million in 2006.
If a buyer wants a single-family home with a lot of land at a price between $300,000 and $500,000, Sato recommends Eldorado, about 20 minutes outside of downtown Santa Fe. Every home is on at least an acre of land.
But what about homes in the heart of historic Santa Fe, near the Santa Fe Plaza. Can a buyer find a deal there? A deal, yes, but not a steal.
"People will call and say, 'I want to be in walking distance to the plaza, but I don't want to go above $200,000,'" Sato says. "That's just not going to happen. If you're near the plaza, you're going to have to pay a little more. But compared to six years ago, you will still get a great deal."
She says that you could find something small that needs some work in the $300,000s but that those finds are rare.
One of Santa Fe's unusual housing characteristics is that most neighborhoods are mixed when it comes to home sizes and values. "In any given area, you could find a jewel," Sato says. "A little starter home just down from a much higher-priced one. It's very varied."
That's one reason Sato says it's essential to find an agent or broker who really knows the market. That's particularly true if you're looking for a home that costs $500,000 or more.
"There are a lot of what we call 'pocket listings,' which means the sellers for whatever reason don't want the home in the (multiple-listing service), but they would be willing to sell," she says. "You need a broker who is well-connected, knows what's going on and can look for all opportunities."
Like many other markets, Santa Fe has its share of fixer-uppers, which Sato says are popular with investors. It also has quite a few condos, but they're not what you would think of when you hear the word condo. Many are old adobe homes that were split in two because a lot couldn't be divided. Some are even multiple little homes on a single property with one driveway.
"There's been a moratorium on any new 'condo-izing,' but for a while, it was pretty rampant," Sato says.
Questions? Comments?
Do you have a question about real estate on the cheap, a suggestion for a future column or a story about how you saved money? Submit them in the comments section below or on MSN Real Estate's Facebook page, or email them to firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
This is the re-release of the popular GEL-452 N.O. midsole/outsole. Demand from our loyal cricket devotees meant that the GEL-Gully 2 has been added to the range. A lightweight image in the upper makes this a great alternative to the GEL-180 N.O. with a more responsive feeling under the foot.
• Full SpEVA midsole for comfort
• DuoMax and Trusstic offer midfoot support
• Rearfoot GEL for shock attenuation
• Removable moulded sockliner with SpEVA 55 lasting


text:
This apartment is in the Eureka Valley / Dolores Heights / Castro neighborhood in San Francisco. Nearby parks include Eureka Valley Recreation Center, Eureka Valley Playground and Public Parklet.
Eureka Valley / Dolores Heights / Castro San Francisco CA has a Walk Score of 97 out of 100. This location is a Walker's Paradise so daily errands do not require a car.
Nearby schools include Harvey Milk Civil Rights Elementary School, Sanchez Elementary School and Everett Middle School.
The closest grocery stores are Mollie Stone's Markets, A.G.Ferrari Foods and A.G.Ferrari Foods.
Nearby coffee shops include Cafe La Taza, Five Star Chocolate Truffles & Coffee and Starbucks. There are 82 restaurants within a 15 minute walk including Taqueria Zapata, Thai Chef and Curry Boyzz.
Eureka Valley / Dolores Heights / Castro San Francisco CA is near University of San Francisco, San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Wells Fargo Headquarters.
There are excellent bike lanes and the terrain has steep hills. Eureka Valley / Dolores Heights / Castro San Francisco CA is very bikeable, biking is convenient for most trips.
3BR / 2Ba, 1500ft2, flat laundry in building, detached garage, no smoking. Castro Village-where it's happening! This magnificent Edwardian flat has been completely refurbished, yet maintains its original flavor with period moldings, anaglypta wallpaper, ceiling rosettes and rep fixtures. This unit consists of three bedrooms, two full bathrooms, living room with gas fireplace, kitchen with dining area and office/den. There refurbished hardwood floors throughout. The kitchen FEATURES granite slab counter tops and back splashes, stainless steel stove, refrigerator, dishwasher and garbage disposal. The bathrooms have beautiful italian marble. The flat is cable ready and has 5 wiring for Internet connection. The unit has central heat and mini blinds. Private garage included with this unit. Coin operated washer and dryer in the building. Close to Castro and Market shopping, dining, and night life. Pub within one block. No pets or smokers, please.


text: Editorial: The Power of the Zeitgeist By Julian 'SiliconNooB' Taylor 2011.05.26 12 Comments To what extent is our experience of gaming subjective? Can we ever truly appreciate any given work when viewing it from outside its original context? Join SN as he pussy-foots around this very important issue in gaming!


text:
Taste the Pain
And yet, they were a necessary means to an end - as the following piece explains. Also, on the topic of pain – and since it's been a while since I've included any music video here – there's a very fitting old-school rock video at the end of the article.
Chasing Roger Bannister
Part 6: Taste the Pain
Reporter (to Clubber Lang): "Clubber, what is your prediction for the fight?"
Clubber (long pause, staring at camera, scowling): "Pain."
- from Rocky III
Runners are accustomed to dealing with pain. Even those of us who are passionate about our sport would have difficulty arguing that, for the vast majority of the time, running is an inherently uncomfortable activity.
Everyone has heard of the "runner's high," or being in a zone where running becomes effortless and the miles just float by - but let's be honest: the percentage of time spent in such a zone is extremely small in comparison to any runner's overall mileage. The predominant physical satisfaction of running only comes afterward- whether it's the immediate relief of being finished, the satisfaction of achieving a goal, or the more gradual rewards such as an enhanced body shape or higher energy level for our daily routines.
Unfortunately, in order to reap these rewards, there is a price of pain to be paid.
After a great race or exceptional effort, muscle soreness seizes us for the next few days, reminding us of the damage we inflicted upon ourselves. Hard workouts leave us sore and fatigued, and several weeks of conditioning take a cumulative toll on the body. When I'm training for marathons, one of the first indicators of my improved overall conditioning is a constant lingering soreness in nearly every muscle group, lasting for several weeks or more. Those aches tell me that I've been working hard, and that once I finally start tapering, I'll be primed to race.
(In fact, dealing with pain has become such a constant fact of life that when I periodically take a long layoff from running, it strikes me as strange when my legs don't hurt if they are touched. Runners live a somewhat deranged existence sometimes.)
All athletes deal with pain. In any sport, on almost any level, pain is a factor in how events transpire and which competitor prevails. What distinguishes runners and endurance athletes is that our pain is entirely self-inflicted, whether in training or in competition.
Part of the strategy in team sports (think football) or contact sports (martial arts) is to inflict pain on your opponent while trying to avoid it being repaid. Compare this to running a 10K, where any individual's actions are basically independent of everyone else. The only thing that allows us to succeed is the ability to override the constant pleas of our rational brain to stop the senseless physical assault on our bodies. Some competitors handle this factor better than others.
Therefore, in addition to high VO2 max and anaerobic threshold, an athlete's intrinsic capacity to cope with pain is a prime factor in becoming successful. For example, an abnormally high pain tolerance is the reason many cyclists cite when discussing what sets Lance Armstrong apart from the rest of the peloton (although the fact that he has the highest recorded VO2 max on record certainly helps).
As a marathon runner, I was a bit ignorant of the physical toll taken in training for shorter races. I thought that since I would be running shorter distances and fewer days, my body would handle the strain without significant problems. I very quickly learned that running fast hurts. A lot. And it's a really good way to injure yourself if done foolishly (that lesson only took me a few weeks to understand).
Throughout this season, I've had more aches and pains throughout my entire body than during any marathon buildup. My elbows hurt from pumping my arms so fast. My abdomen hurts from stabilizing my flailing limbs during interval after interval. There's soreness in all of my leg muscles that feels like I'm continually on the verge of a muscle strain. And that's just the pain that occurs between workouts, when I'm not actually running.
On the track, I'm never certain that I'll summon the willpower required to make myself run fast. It's an entirely different type of pain than experienced when running long distances.
Think of it this way: imagine that running a marathon is like developing a severe sunburn on a hot day. The pain doesn't feel too bad to start with, but after several hours, it can become excruciating. By comparison, racing a mile would be like stepping into a shower of scalding hot water, and staying there for (in my case) about five minutes. The resulting burns to your back would be the same, but the manner in which they are acquired is dramatically different. Either way, you're going to get fried – but which method would you prefer?
During my warmup for each track workout, my stomach gets queasy with dread, and it feels like I'm staring at the burning water, steeling myself to jump in. Almost immediately after I start an interval, I wish I could just quit, to refrain from torturing myself. On most days, I've somehow been determined enough to finish the workouts, only to spend the rest of the day dealing with the post-exercise soreness while recuperating. For this novice miler, such experiences are the new normal.
It all begs a question – namely, what is it that drives us? Why do otherwise rational people inflict such misery upon themselves day after day, for no recognition or immediate reward?
Sports psychologists have a field day with this question. Some say that the pain is a form of physical penance for earlier excesses (of food, alcohol, etc), and that the ritual suffering cleanses our conscience until the next time we indulge. Others compare the cycle of suffering and pleasure to that of drug or alcohol abuse - except that we experience the painful component in advance of the euphoria, instead of afterward. There are numerous other theories of how athletes continually drive themselves into repeated bouts of discomfort, but I honestly don't think it's that complex.
For me, the main reason that I toil the way that I do is because it is the only way to get better. Despite what many advertisers and product manufacturers want us to believe, there is no easy path to becoming a faster runner. It takes the dedication of hour after hour, hard mile after hard mile, and in many cases, agony after agony.
Sure, I would much rather do easy runs, take days off, and avoid discomfort as much as possible - the problem is, I could never be a 3-hour marathoner that way, or a 5-minute miler, or accomplish any other goal that is truly meaningful to me. I suspect that anyone - from Olympians to back-of-the pack runners – will offer a similar justification.
Finally, here's the good part. Even though we anguish in striving strive toward meaningful goals, the satisfaction and reward we reap upon accomplishing them is usually worth all the suffering it took to get there. Above all else, that's the reason we can inflict pain upon ourselves: because a small part of us knows the pleasure we will eventually gain is far greater.
On some days, it's hard to convince ourselves of this, but then we start to see progress. That's where I am right now with my mile training - seeing improvements in small doses that encourage me to continue this training cycle towards its eventual conclusion. I've slowly forged a sense of confidence that I can break through the five-minute barrier. I also know it will be enormously painful.
So to properly prepare myself, I just have to maintain the motivation to keep jumping into that hot water.
"Walk away and taste the pain-
Come again some other day -
Aren't you glad you weren't afraid?
Funny how the price gets paid."
- Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Taste the Pain" (click to play):
See previous installments of this series on sidebar at right.


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From the larger, louder half of the world-famous magic duo Penn & Teller comes a scathingly funny reinterpretation of The Ten Commandments. They are The Penn Commandments, and they reveal one outrageous and opinionated atheist's experience in the world.In this rollicking yet honest account of a godless existence, Penn takes readers on a roller coaster of exploration and flips conventional religious wisdom on its ear to reveal that doubt, skepticism, and wonder ? all signs of a general feeling of disbelief ? are to be celebrated and cherished, rather than suppressed. And he tells some pretty damn funny stories along the way. From performing blockbuster shows on the Vegas Strip to the adventures of fatherhood, from an ongoing dialogue with proselytizers of the Christian Right to the joys of sex while scuba diving, Jillette's self-created Decalogue invites his reader on a journey of discovery that is equal parts wise and wisecracking.?People who say that libertarians have no heart or atheists have no soul need to read this book. Because Penn Jillette has a lot of both.? ?MATT STONE and TREY PARKER, creators of South Park and the award-winning Broadway musical The Book of Mormon?There are few people in the country who question more boldly, brashly, and bravely than my friend Penn Jillette. This book is funny, provocative, and profane. But is it right? God, no ? ?Glenn Beck?This planet has yielded exactly one mutual friend for Glenn Beck and me and that friend has written a brilliant book called God, No Penn reveals ?the big secret of magic, ? tells you why tattoos are perfect expressions of atheism and exactly what to eat when you know you?re going to vomit later.? -Lawrence O?Donnell?Penn Jillette is a twenty-first-century Lord of Misrule: big, boisterously anarchic, funny, Rabelaisian, impossible?and unique. There isn?t ? couldn?t be ? better not be ? anybody like him.? ?RICHARD DAWKINS, bestselling author of The Greatest Show on Earth and The God Delusion
A scathingly funny illumination of the 10 Commandments from Penn Jillette, the bigger, louder half of world-famous magic duo Penn & Teller.
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Arts and Entertainment » Humor » General