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The definitive spaghetti western. Director Sergio Leone's epic end to the Clint Eastwood "Dollars" trilogy is a stunning, panoramic view of the West during the Civil War. THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY is a deceptively simple story detailing the efforts of three drifters, the "Good"
(Eastwood), the "Bad" (Lee Van Cleef), and the "Ugly" (Eli Wallach), to find a fortune hidden in the unmarked grave of a man named Bill Carson.
Leone's narrative structure is incredibly complex: the characters' paths intersect and intertwine repeatedly until the Civil War impinges upon their lives and dwarfs their petty crimes. The war eventually involves Eastwood and Wallach in a massive battle for an unimportant bridge in which hundreds
of soldiers march to pointless doom. The scale of violence shocks these two violent men; Eastwood, whose character begins to show a humanity only hinted at in the previous two films, states that he has never "seen so many men wasted so badly."
This is Leone's most violent film, but also one of his most compassionate. One of its most memorable scenes shows the Union troops organizing an orchestra of Confederate prisoner-musicians to play in order to cover the noise as Van Cleef tortures his prisoners. The effect is haunting, and recalls stories of similar incidents in Nazi death camps. A touching moment occurs when Eastwood comes across a dying young soldier, covers the shivering man with his duster, and helps him smoke his final cigarette. Though not up to the standards of Leone's masterpiece ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, in which the director synthesizes scale, narrative, casting, and style, THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY is a massive, many-faceted film that continues to hold up, viewing after viewing that features one of Ennio Morricone's finest scores.
In 2003, a new version of the film restored sequences cut for the film's original US release; the restoration was funded by American Movie Channel. The 19 minutes of cut footage, obtained from Italy's Cineteca Nazionale and other sources, includes the legendary grotto scene in which Tuco recruits three outlaws who later attempt to shoot Joe, and a sequence in which Angel Eyes visits a Confederate Army fort. Since no English-language dialogue elements existed, the 35-years-older Wallach and Eastwood dubbed their lines, while voiceover artist Simon Prescott was hired to impersonate the late Van Cleef. This version of the film debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival and was shown on AMC and in select art-film venues.
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- Review: The definitive spaghetti western. Director Sergio Leone's epic end to the Clint Eastwood "Dollars" trilogy is a stunning, panoramic view of the West during the Civil War. THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY is a deceptively simple story detailing the efforts of… (more)
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Meet Our Senior Minister
Rev. Jay Leach was called as Senior Minister to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte in 2003. He offers spiritual leadership and pastoral presence to the congregation and a progressive voice in the larger community.
Jay has been active in North Carolina's "Moral Monday" movement and has served on the Clergy Advisory Committee for Mecklenburg Ministries and the Charlotte Mecklenburg School Superintendent's Interfaith Council.
Born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina, Jay graduated from Furman University and holds two Master of Divinity degrees. Among Jay's many interests are poetry, photography, baseball and "music of all kinds."More about Jay Leach »Video Introduction »Senior Minister blog »
What's Happening at UUCC
Tuesday, October 6, 7:00 PM
LAST CHANCE TO SIGN UP: Lessons of Loss
Saturday, October 10, 6:30 PM
Follies: "Deeper Spiritual Greening"
Sunday, October 18, 10:30 AM
"Meet the Minister"
Sunday, October 25, 10:30 AM
Credo: A Personal Spiritual Journey
Sunday, November 1, 10:30 AM
"Getting to Know Us"
Sunday, November 8, 10:30 AM
Second Sunday Topic Discussion
Listen to the Latest Sermon
Transience: "Walk around feeling like a leaf."
Speaker | Rev. Jay Leach, Senior Minister
Sunday, October 4

subset: commoncrawl


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|By Shelly Palmer
Article Rating:
|July 25, 2014 12:18 PM EDT
The "right to be forgotten" is already having a huge impact on Google's search results. Since the landmark May ruling, Google has removed "tens of thousands" of links — potentially over 100,000 — pertaining to Europeans who've filed to have that information hidden from web users. According to a Wall Street Journal source, 91,000 people have so far asked Google to pull down links for 328,000 URLs. But the company hasn't yet gotten around to processing all those requests. Of those it has, Google says it's removed results in over 50 percent of cases. That suggests Google is working in broad strokes as it responds to the European Union's controversial decision, which critics say has ushered in a new era of internet censorship. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales recently joined that chorus, saying that Google shouldn't be "censoring history" with the decisions it's being forced to make.
Read the full story at The Verge, and the original report at The Wall Street Journal (paywall).
Read the original blog entry...
Can call centers hang up the phones for good? Intuitive Solutions did. WebRTC enabled this contact center provider to eliminate antiquated telephony and desktop phone infrastructure with a pure web-based solution, allowing them to expand beyond brick-and-mortar confines to a home-based agent model. It also ensured scalability and better service for customers, including MUY! Companies, one of the country's largest franchise restaurant companies with 232 Pizza Hut locations. This is one example of WebRTC adoption today, but the potential is limitless when powered by IoT.
Oct. 7, 2015 03:30 PM EDT Reads: 7,405
WebRTC is about the data channel as much as about video and audio conferencing. However, basically all commercial WebRTC applications have been built with a focus on audio and video. The handling of "data" has been limited to text chat and file download – all other data sharing seems to end with screensharing. What is holding back a more intensive use of peer-to-peer data? In her session at @ThingsExpo, Dr Silvia Pfeiffer, WebRTC Applications Team Lead at National ICT Australia, will look at different existing uses of peer-to-peer data sharing and how it can become useful in a live session to...
Oct. 7, 2015 03:30 PM EDT Reads: 550
SYS-CON Events announced today that Luxoft Holding, Inc., a leading provider of software development services and innovative IT solutions, has been named "Bronze Sponsor" of SYS-CON's @ThingsExpo, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Luxoft's software development services consist of core and mission-critical custom software development and support, product engineering and testing, and technology consulting.
Oct. 7, 2015 03:15 PM EDT Reads: 601
"In the past year we've seen a lot of stabilization of WebRTC. You can now use it in production with a far greater degree of certainty. A lot of the real developments in the past year have been in things like the data channel, which will enable a whole new type of application," explained Peter Dunkley, Technical Director at Acision, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at @ThingsExpo, held Nov 4–6, 2014, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
Oct. 7, 2015 03:00 PM EDT Reads: 6,886
NHK, Japan Broadcasting, will feature the upcoming @ThingsExpo Silicon Valley in a special 'Internet of Things' and smart technology documentary that will be filmed on the expo floor between November 3 to 5, 2015, in Santa Clara. NHK is the sole public TV network in Japan equivalent to the BBC in the UK and the largest in Asia with many award-winning science and technology programs. Japanese TV is producing a documentary about IoT and Smart technology and will be covering @ThingsExpo Silicon Valley. The program, to be aired during the peak viewership season of the year, will have a major impac...
Oct. 7, 2015 02:45 PM EDT Reads: 170
"Matrix is an ambitious open standard and implementation that's set up to break down the fragmentation problems that exist in IP messaging and VoIP communication," explained John Woolf, Technical Evangelist at Matrix, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at @ThingsExpo, held Nov 4–6, 2014, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
Oct. 7, 2015 02:00 PM EDT Reads: 5,844
Developing software for the Internet of Things (IoT) comes with its own set of challenges. Security, privacy, and unified standards are a few key issues. In addition, each IoT product is comprised of at least three separate application components: the software embedded in the device, the backend big-data service, and the mobile application for the end user's controls. Each component is developed by a different team, using different technologies and practices, and deployed to a different stack/target - this makes the integration of these separate pipelines and the coordination of software upd...
Oct. 7, 2015 02:00 PM EDT Reads: 196
You have your devices and your data, but what about the rest of your Internet of Things story? Two popular classes of technologies that nicely handle the Big Data analytics for Internet of Things are Apache Hadoop and NoSQL. Hadoop is designed for parallelizing analytical work across many servers and is ideal for the massive data volumes you create with IoT devices. NoSQL databases such as Apache HBase are ideal for storing and retrieving IoT data as "time series data."
Oct. 7, 2015 01:45 PM EDT Reads: 479
There are so many tools and techniques for data analytics that even for a data scientist the choices, possible systems, and even the types of data can be daunting. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Chris Harrold, Global CTO for Big Data Solutions for EMC Corporation, will show how to perform a simple, but meaningful analysis of social sentiment data using freely available tools that take only minutes to download and install. Participants will get the download information, scripts, and complete end-to-end walkthrough of the analysis from start to finish. Participants will also be given the pract...
Oct. 7, 2015 01:45 PM EDT Reads: 103
Clearly the way forward is to move to cloud be it bare metal, VMs or containers. One aspect of the current public clouds that is slowing this cloud migration is cloud lock-in. Every cloud vendor is trying to make it very difficult to move out once a customer has chosen their cloud. In his session at 17th Cloud Expo, Naveen Nimmu, CEO of Clouber, Inc., will advocate that making the inter-cloud migration as simple as changing airlines would help the entire industry to quickly adopt the cloud without worrying about any lock-in fears. In fact by having standard APIs for IaaS would help PaaS expl...
Oct. 7, 2015 01:30 PM EDT Reads: 607
SYS-CON Events announced today that ProfitBricks, the provider of painless cloud infrastructure, will exhibit at SYS-CON's 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. ProfitBricks is the IaaS provider that offers a painless cloud experience for all IT users, with no learning curve. ProfitBricks boasts flexible cloud servers and networking, an integrated Data Center Designer tool for visual control over the cloud and the best price/performance value available. ProfitBricks was named one of the coolest Clo...
Oct. 7, 2015 01:00 PM EDT Reads: 748
Organizations already struggle with the simple collection of data resulting from the proliferation of IoT, lacking the right infrastructure to manage it. They can't only rely on the cloud to collect and utilize this data because many applications still require dedicated infrastructure for security, redundancy, performance, etc. In his session at 17th Cloud Expo, Emil Sayegh, CEO of Codero Hosting, will discuss how in order to resolve the inherent issues, companies need to combine dedicated and cloud solutions through hybrid hosting – a sustainable solution for the data required to manage I...
Oct. 7, 2015 01:00 PM EDT Reads: 453
Mobile messaging has been a popular communication channel for more than 20 years. Finnish engineer Matti Makkonen invented the idea for SMS (Short Message Service) in 1984, making his vision a reality on December 3, 1992 by sending the first message ("Happy Christmas") from a PC to a cell phone. Since then, the technology has evolved immensely, from both a technology standpoint, and in our everyday uses for it. Originally used for person-to-person (P2P) communication, i.e., Sally sends a text message to Betty – mobile messaging now offers tremendous value to businesses for customer and empl...
Oct. 7, 2015 12:15 PM EDT Reads: 193
SYS-CON Events announced today that IBM Cloud Data Services has been named "Bronze Sponsor" of SYS-CON's 17th Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. IBM Cloud Data Services offers a portfolio of integrated, best-of-breed cloud data services for developers focused on mobile computing and analytics use cases.
Oct. 7, 2015 12:00 PM EDT Reads: 673
Scott Guthrie's keynote presentation "Journey to the intelligent cloud" is a must view video. This is from AzureCon 2015, September 29, 2015 I have reproduced some screen shots in case you are unable to view this long video for one reason or another. One of the highlights is 3 datacenters coming on line in India.
Oct. 7, 2015 12:00 PM EDT Reads: 255
Nowadays, a large number of sensors and devices are connected to the network. Leading-edge IoT technologies integrate various types of sensor data to create a new value for several business decision scenarios. The transparent cloud is a model of a new IoT emergence service platform. Many service providers store and access various types of sensor data in order to create and find out new business values by integrating such data.
Oct. 7, 2015 12:00 PM EDT Reads: 468
Apps and devices shouldn't stop working when there's limited or no network connectivity. Learn how to bring data stored in a cloud database to the edge of the network (and back again) whenever an Internet connection is available. In his session at 17th Cloud Expo, Bradley Holt, Developer Advocate at IBM Cloud Data Services, will demonstrate techniques for replicating cloud databases with devices in order to build offline-first mobile or Internet of Things (IoT) apps that can provide a better, faster user experience, both offline and online. The focus of this talk will be on IBM Cloudant, Apa...
Oct. 7, 2015 11:45 AM EDT Reads: 489
As a company adopts a DevOps approach to software development, what are key things that both the Dev and Ops side of the business must keep in mind to ensure effective continuous delivery? In his session at DevOps Summit, Mark Hydar, Head of DevOps, Ericsson TV Platforms, will share best practices and provide helpful tips for Ops teams to adopt an open line of communication with the development side of the house to ensure success between the two sides.
Oct. 7, 2015 11:00 AM EDT Reads: 559
The enterprise is being consumerized, and the consumer is being enterprised. Moore's Law does not matter anymore, the future belongs to business virtualization powered by invisible service architecture, powered by hyperscale and hyperconvergence, and facilitated by vertical streaming and horizontal scaling and consolidation. Both buyers and sellers want instant results, and from paperwork to paperless to mindless is the ultimate goal for any seamless transaction. The sweetest sweet spot in innovation is automation. The most painful pain point for any business is the mismatch between supplies a...
Oct. 7, 2015 11:00 AM EDT Reads: 148
As more and more data is generated from a variety of connected devices, the need to get insights from this data and predict future behavior and trends is increasingly essential for businesses. Real-time stream processing is needed in a variety of different industries such as Manufacturing, Oil and Gas, Automobile, Finance, Online Retail, Smart Grids, and Healthcare. Azure Stream Analytics is a fully managed distributed stream computation service that provides low latency, scalable processing of streaming data in the cloud with an enterprise grade SLA. It features built-in integration with Azur...
Oct. 7, 2015 10:00 AM EDT Reads: 736


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Top Shop Awards
Upper North Island, Central North Island, Lower North Island and Lower South Island Winners have been announced!
We are working our way from North to South announcing the winners across 13 Top Shop Categories in five regions. Check out our winners tab for the latest updates.
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Phone 0800 24 25 24 or email: email@example.com


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Here's a cool Factory Tour vid from one of our sponsors, Southern Classic Cigars you all should enjoy
Dujo, Cuey , Coabey & Cucubano 2015 Factory Tourby Bryan Glynn, June 21, 2015
Truth In Advertising, In Our Beloved Cigar Industryby Bryan Glynn, March 18, 2015
The cigar industry as a whole is a benevolent, trustworthy, straightforward passionate lot. Filled with astounding personalities, deep generational ties, immense amounts of pride and fantastic work ethic. All working in tandem to produce some of the most enjoyable and coveted product on the planet to the most diverse range … Continue reading →
CigarsDirect.com is looking for College Basketball fans and Cigar Aficionadosby Bryan Glynn, March 13, 2015
CigarsDirect.com is once again hosting a free contest to get in on some WICKED cool prizes worth thousands of dollars! Get your brackets in and good luck!
Brown Safe Introduces The CigarSafeby Bryan Glynn, March 4, 2015
The special-edition Cigar Safe features a custom sealed Spanish cedar interior for storing and aging cigars, in addition to state of the art security features Brown Safe is known for. The Cigar Safe is a celebration of everything the modern man cherishes….and often wants to keep to himself. Ballistic steel, … Continue reading →
How To Retrohale A Cigar For More Flavorsby Bryan Glynn, February 13, 2015
How To Retrohale A Cigar For More Flavors David Blanco of Blanco Cigars runs cigar tours down at his facilities in Nicaragua and Honduras. Part of that experience is a series of classes and one part that I thought would be helpful to everyone is his presentation on how to … Continue reading →
How To Ship Cigars Safelyby Bryan Glynn, February 11, 2015
I get this question frequently and have answered it many times but another reminder can't hurt. It doesn't take much but here are some do's and don'ts for getting your cigars to the destination safely!
How To Clean Your Cigar Cutterby Bryan Glynn, January 31, 2015
I had a request for this vid so here you go! This is how I clean mine and I give tips on how to clean others plus what not to do.
Short Promo Film For Frank Correnti Cigars By Notion Boulevardby Bryan Glynn, January 9, 2015
Zak from Notion Boulevard up in Canada sent in this cool promo film they just finished on Canada's only Cigar Manufacturer and I thought it was really neat so I'm sharing it with all of you!
Press Release: Cigar Rolling Services Contestby Bryan Glynn, October 31, 2014
Cigar Rolling and Hookah Catering Company, Cigar Stud, is pleased to announce their first giveaway contest taking place from October 1st through November 15. For the first time ever, Cigar Stud is making their professional cigar rolling and hookah catering services a giveaway. The 2-Hour Cigar Rolling/Hookah Catering Services is … Continue reading →
Feedback Wanted On Aged Cigarsby Bryan Glynn, July 19, 2014
Since most of the aged stash I sent out to you guys a few weeks ago were one off's, I never had the opportunity to try them in the aged state. I have a selection here that I kept, and will get to sometime but for the most part everything … Continue reading →
Prometheus Triple T Table Torch Failure Teardownby Bryan Glynn, July 12, 2014
I talked to LightersDirect.com who is sending a replacement lighter, no worries there of course. So I thought I might as well tear it down, take a look inside and see if I can confirm my thoughts on what failed. Hey, might as well show you guys too!
Money Saving Cigar Humidification Tipsby Bryan Glynn, July 6, 2014
I've talked about and reviewed in depth, pretty much every humidification option. What I haven't talked about are some tips on saving big bucks on some options. So here's where I show you!
Is It Mold?by Bryan Glynn, July 5, 2014
Yes, yes it is. Remember when I mentioned (a few times) that I prefer to bring my own cigars to a lounge to smoke? Well here's another great example of why. I met with a manufacturer and buddy today at a shop that will remain anonymous to protect the guilty. … Continue reading →
Is It Plume?by Bryan Glynn, July 2, 2014
I have seen this asked for what seems an eternity on the internet and nine times out of ten someone is showing an oldie & moldie, not plume. Or bloom, as you prefer to call it. What the heck am I talking about you might ask? I'm talking about the … Continue reading →
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|Publication number
|Publication type
|Application number
|Publication date
|25 Oct 1994
|Filing date
|27 Sep 1993
|Priority date
|27 Sep 1993
|Fee status
|Also published as
|Publication number
|Hwa-shan Ho
|Original Assignee
|Ho Hwa Shan
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (15), Non-Patent Citations (14), Referenced by (50), Classifications (12), Legal Events (4)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing a more realistic and flexible interpretation of measurement-while-drilling data in order to better predict the direction of advance of the drill and provide better evaluation of the mechanical properties of the formations encountered.
To develop oil and gas resources, the drilling industry employs drill bits to bore the well. Traditionally, the long drill string is rotated at the surface location to drive the drill bit. The drill string is rotated either by the rotary table or a direct drive system, called the top drive. Alternatively, the drill bit may be rotatably driven by the employment of a downhole mud motor. Factors strongly influencing the rate of drilling the formation include the axial load and the torque by the bit on the formation, called WOB (weight-on-bit) and TOB (torque-on-bit) respectively.
The drill string also carries many tools and instruments, mostly downhole near the bit, particularly since the development of MWD (measurement-while-drilling) technology. These MWD subs are capable of measuring various drilling and formation property information, manipulating the information into compacted data, and transferring this data to the surface through various means, most typical of them is the mud-pulse telemetry. This transmitted data, while drilling or during tripping, provides great benefits by improving the drilling trajectory and drilling condition monitoring, and also by providing improved formation physical property evaluation when compared to the more traditional wireline logging, since the formation is freshly drilled and not as altered by the invasion of the drilling mud.
Due to various reasons such as misalignment, mass imbalance, inhomogeneity in the physical properties of the rock drilled, side-cutting of the drill bit, and/or the drill string's excitation due to contacts with the borehole wall during drilling and tripping, a drill string will exhibit dynamic vibrations which may have a combination of the following modes: axial, torsional and lateral bending vibrations. The lateral bending vibration under rotation of the shaft results in a "whirling" motion of the center of the drill string's cross-section.
Severe vibrations in such systems are very undesirable for many reasons. First, severe torsional and axial vibrations are transmitted to the surface, and may adversely affect the operating safety. Secondly, it will increase the repair and maintenance cost of the drill pipes, the downhole tools and subs, and may adversely affect their useful lives. Thirdly, it may adversely impact on the drilling efficiency leading to increased drilling cost. Fourthly, it may adversely impact on the quality and the trajectory of the well bore, resulting in increased risk of drilling crooked holes leading to stuck pipes and major drilling difficulties. This aspect is particularly important in directional (including horizontal and extended reach) wells. And finally, it may adversely affect the accuracy of the data measured by the downhole subs, complicating their interpretation, reducing and in some cases destroying their usefulness.
For these reasons, the drilling industry has had long-standing interest in the dynamic behavior of the drill string, and has carried out research through mathematical modeling and through measurements. The measurements have been carried out both at the surface and downhole. The pace of study on drill string dynamics has increased tremendously in the past ten years, coinciding more or less with the development of MWD technology. The current trend is toward intelligent monitoring of the downhole dynamic behavior of the drill string through downhole measurements, processing and data compaction, and appropriate interpretations.
To achieve these objectives, it is essential for the industry to perform the following tasks: (1) Place effective and sufficient sensors at desirable locations in the bottomhole assembly and/or at the surface; (2) Properly sample the data and correct for any significant errors in order to arrive at correct desired physical quantities describing the dynamic motion of the assembly; (3) Develop suitable analysis and recognition software models/routines that will enable downhole (and/or surface) processing of the above mentioned data; (4) Generate significant compacted downhole data describing key dynamic parameters that can be transmitted in real-time to the surface; and (5) Using the key transmitted downhole data or the interpreted surface data, modify the drilling program, if necessary, to ameliorate the downhole dynamics of the assembly, or to use this data for other modeling purposes.
In particular, the present invention emphasizes the measurements of the following parameters: (a) the torque and/or rotating speed (RPM), whether time-averaged or instantaneous; and (b) the whirling motion (describing the trajectory of the center of the shaft within the plane transverse to the axis of the shaft), which will induce bending stresses in the drill string.
The current measurement technology is, essentially, based on "separately" measuring either one or both of the above quantities. This is to say, when torque and/or RPM are measured, we assume the shaft does not whirl. Likewise, when shaft whirl is measured, we assume the shaft to be rotating with constant RPM and torque. In some situations, where vibration is mild, these may be reasonably good assumptions.
In the more general situations, a drill string will exhibit both rotating speed (and torque) fluctuations as well as whirling. Under such circumstances, two scenarios may happen: (a) The current methods may result in significant errors in the measured data, which may lead to erroneous interpretations of the observed behavior of the drill string; or (b) The current methods may result in insufficient information for the proper inference of the needed data describing the complex motion.
Various U.S. patents have issued in the recent past concerning the development of measurement-while-drilling (MWD) technology. Originally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,458, issued on May 5, 1987 to the present inventor. This patent describes a method and apparatus for obtaining complete loading on a drill bit at an end of a drill string in a borehole. At least three rosette strain gages were uniformly disposed on an instrument sub to measure torque and axial force on the sub, two bending moments in mutually perpendicular directions, and two shear forces in mutually perpendicular directions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,263, issued on Sep. 27, 1988, to Lesage et al. teaches a method of analyzing vibrations from a drill bit in a borehole. In this patent, the frequency distribution spectrum of a vibrational quantity is measured from the impact of cutter teeth of the bottom of a bore. Spectra are obtained from the product of signals indicative of torque and torsional acceleration. Tooth wear is then indicated by the shift upwardly in frequency of peaks in the spectra.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,245, issued on Feb. 20, 1990, to Close et al. describes an apparatus for monitoring vibration of a bottom hole assembly which includes at least one accelerometer mounted in the bottom hole assembly to generate data in the form of electrical signals corresponding to the acceleration experienced by the assembly. The computer in the assembly is programmed to collect data from the accelerometers and compute magnitude of the assembly acceleration. Means are included for selecting from the collected data a value which exceeds a preset limit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,517, issued on Sep. 25, 1990, to R. Maron shows an apparatus for measuring weight, torque, and side force (bending) on a drill bit. This apparatus includes radial holes which do not pass completely through the wall of the drill collar sub, but instead, pass only partially through the wall of the drill collar sub. Strain gages are located in the partial radial openings. These strain gages measure each of the three parameters of weight, torque and bending. For torque and bending measurements, the strain gages are arranged with symmetry of position between diammetrically opposed holes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,077, issued on Oct. 15, 1991, to J. R. Twist provides a technique for generating a corrected well log. Sensor signals are generated at time intervals of less than one-half the period of the highest frequency of the periodic movement of the drill collar. Discrete sensor signals are averaged to generate an average sensor signal as a function of borehole depth. Discrete sensor signals are also are also recorded to generate a time-varying sensor signal profile, the magnitude of frequency components of the time-varying sensor signal profile is determined, and the average sensor signal is corrected as a function of the determined magnitude of the frequency components. The corrected sensor signals are preferably recorded as a function of borehole depth to generate a corrected well log.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,061, issued on Aug. 25, 1992, to H. Henneuse teaches a device for the auditory and/or visual representation of mechanical phenomena in the interaction between a drilling tool and the rock being drilled. A mechanism is provided for picking up a vibratory signal representing the vibration of the tool at the cutting face. An accelerometric sensor is provided at a specific point on the drilling stem. Processing equipment is provided for filtering the signal and the frequency band of 10 to 200 Hz.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,159,577, issued on Oct. 27, 1992, to J. R. Twist shows a technique for correcting signals from a downhole sensor on a drill collar eccentrically rotating within a borehole. The corrected sensor signal is used to generate a well log which more accurately represents the conditions which the sensor would have generated had the tool been rotating such that the spacing between the sensor and the borehole wall remains constant. The sensor signals are generated at time intervals of less than half the period of the rotation of the drill collar. The frequency components of the time-varying sensor signals are plotted, and the frequency component attributable to the eccentric rotation between the drill collar and the borehole may be determined. The techniques of this invention are used to determine actual rotational speed of the drill collar and the spacing between the sensor and the wall. This technique is used to determine a whirling condition in real time and to alter drilling parameters in response thereto.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,429, issued on Dec. 29, 1992 to Hall, Jr. et al. teaches a device for increasing the accuracy of measurement-while-drilling systems. A secondary measurement system is provided for determining the tool displacement from the borehole wall for calculated compensation of measurement data.
This aforestated technology is inadequate in determining the whirl motion. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,245 includes three eccentrically-mounted accelerometers along different axis, and two-axes magnetometers, in addition to the measurements of two-axes bending moments, the axial force, and the torsional moment.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method that is suitable for measuring kinematic and force resultant measurements.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an method and apparatus that allows calculations to be carried out which take into account the coexistence of both the torsional vibration and the whirling motion of the drill string.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an method and apparatus that includes measurements required to calibrate for various sensor elements.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an method and apparatus whereby measurement of rotational movement and whirling behavior of a drill string can be used for optimally controlling the speed and operation of the drill string.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appended claims.
The present invention is an apparatus for use in determining drilling conditions in a borehole in the earth that comprises a drill string, a drill bit connected to an end of the drill string, a measurement means positioned in a cross-section of the drill string axially spaced from the drill bit, and processing means interactive with the measurement means so as to produce a humanly perceivable indication of a whirling and rotating motion of the drill string. The measurement means is suitable for kinematic measurements and force resultant measurements of the drill string. The processing means serves to determine an instantaneous rotating speed and an instantaneous position of a center of the drill string. The measurement means, in one embodiment, comprises a plurality of accelerometers positioned at the cross-section. Alternatively, the measurement means can includes a plurality of orthogonally-oriented triplets of magnetometers. Still further, the measurement means also includes no less than three distance-infering sensors having a source and a receiver at each location of the sensor. Specifically, four of the distance-infering sensors are placed ninety degrees apart from one another at a circumference at the cross-section. Each of these sensors has a different carrier frequency. A second measurement means can be positioned on the drill string in spaced relation to the first measurement means along the drill string. The second measurement means is interactive with the first measurement means so as to infer a tilting of an axis of the drill string. A plurality of strain gage rosettes can be positioned at the cross-section of the drill string at generally equal intervals from each other. Not less than three strain gage rosettes are employed on the drill string.
The measurement means is positioned on a collar on the drill string at a single cross-section of the drill string. The kinematic measurements are distance, orientation, velocity, and acceleration of the drill string. The force resultant measurements are two-axes bending moments, two-axes shear forces, axial load, and torsion moment. The processing means serves to analyze the kinematic measurements and the force resultant measurements so as to determine a whirling motion and the dynamic behavior of the drill string.
The method of the present invention serves to measure and control the drilling of a borehole in the earth. This method includes the steps of (1) positioning a first plurality of sensors at a cross-section of the drill string axially spaced from the drill bit; (2) measuring an instantaneous rotating speed of the drill string with the sensors; (3) measuring an instantaneous position of a center of the drill string with the sensors; and (4) processing the instantaneous rotating speed and the instantaneous position so as to indicate a rotating motion of the cross-section of the drill string.
The step of positioning includes placing at least two accelerometers at diametrically opposite ends of the cross-section. The accelerometers serve to measure a rotating speed of the drill string. The step of positioning also includes placing four distance-infering sensors at equal intervals around a circumference of the cross-section, and setting each of the distance-infering sensors to a different carrier frequency. A cross-coupling effect can be determined between the distance-infering sensors on the drill string.
The method of the present invention further includes the steps of: (1) positioning another plurality of sensors at another cross-section of the drill string axially spaced from the first plurality of sensors; and (2) processing another instantaneous rotating speed and another instantaneous position of a center of the drill string at the other cross-section so as to determine a tilting of an axis of the drill string,
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a well being drilled and controlled in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic representation of the interior of a borehole showing the whirling motion of a drill string therewithin.
FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of a downhole assembly incorporating the teachings of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a portion of an equipment sub showing the sensor locations placed around the circumference of the sub.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a force sensor ring showing the location of the strain Gage rosettes.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a kinematic sensor ring showing the location of the accelerometers and distance-infering devices.
In order to completely define the dynamic behavior of a bottom hole assembly, it is necessary to complete the measurements of two groups: (1) kinematic measurements and (2) force resultant measurements. The kinematic measurements include distance, orientation, velocity, and acceleration measurements. The kinematic measurements are obtained from a combination of the following sensors: magnetometers, velocity sensors, accelerometers, acoustic sensors, optical sensors, resistivity or electromagnetic sensors. The force resultant measurements include two-axes bending moments, two-axes shear forces, and axial load (otherwise known as WOB, the weight on bit), and the torsion moment (called TOB, the torque on bit). The manner of obtaining force resultant measurements are fully described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,458, by the present inventor, and is incorporated by reference hereto.
In addition to the taking of the kinematic and force resultant measurements, it is also necessary to link these two groups in a manner that allows the interrelationship to be inferred in an unequivocal manner. In order to achieve this objective, it is preferable that these two groups of data be measured at the same cross-section axially spaced from the bit. Under such a situation, it is possible to use the axial location as a reference point. As a result, the relevant dynamic parameters can be inferred at other locations axially spaced from this reference location.
Current technology uses the following common type of sensors: strain gages; accelerometers; and magnetometers. The strain gages are used to infer the force resultants, namely the axial force, the shear forces, the torque, and the bending moments, at the cross-section of the drill string. The accelerometers are used to measure the three-component accelerations. The magnetometers are used to infer the orientation angles of the drill string's axial direction and the tool face angle. In the prior art, attempts have been made to infer the whirl motion from the bending moment inferred from the strain gages. The key to whirl determination is displacement measurement/inference. To accomplish this, several techniques are possible. It is possible to use any of the following types of sensors for this purpose, resistivity sensors, acoustic sensors, optical sensors, or electromagnetic sensors.
The diagrammatic representation of FIG. 1 shows a land-based drilling rig 10 used for drilling a borehole 12 and from which rig a drill string 13 is suspended with a bottom hole assembly 15 at the lower end. The present invention is equally adaptable to offshore drilling and is not restricted to a land-based configuration, which is used for illustration purposes only. The actual drilling can be accomplished by either of two known methods of drilling, namely driving the drill pipe 13 from the surface or having the bottom hole assembly 15 provided with a motor so as to drive the drill bit. In the present example, the downhole assembly 15 is shown as including a bit 20, a motor to drive the bit, an instrumentation sub, an orienting sub or stabilizer, and a transmitter. The data is transmitted by telemetry means, which may be through hard wire, mud pulse, sonic wave, or electromagnetic wave, or radio frequency to a surface receiver 22 which, in turn, is connected to a data processing unit 24 and a rig operation system 26.
The borehole will have three components, X, Y and Z. X is the direction, Y is the inclination, and Z is the axis of the borehole. The forces and moments are measured on the bottom hole assembly 15 and the bit 20 by an array of strain gages. These measurements are transmitted to the receiver 22 at the surface and then to the data processer 24. The measurements will show the side forces and moments and, by knowing the components, the amount the bit will cut sideways in the next length of borehole drilled can be determined. The actual measurement of the forces can show many things to a driller. For example, a high side force on the bit could indicate high curvature in the hole, the possibility of a transition zone or the start of a dogleg situation, all of which would require corrective action.
Referring to FIG. 3, the details of the downhole assembly 15 are particularly illustrated. It can be seen that the downhole assembly 15 is positioned within the borehole 12. The drill bit 20 is affixed to the ends of the drill string 28. In normal use, a motor will be connected to the drill bit 20 so as to rotate the drill bit for the purpose of drilling the borehole 12.
In normal operation, the resistances and impact made by the drill bit 20 at the bottom 30 of the borehole 12 will create forces on the drill string 28. In the prior art, these forces have been measured through the use of strain gage rosettes. The forces that are measured include the axial force, the torque, the two-axes shear forces and the two-axes bending moments. Unfortunately, the measurement of these forces does not completely model and show the movement and action of the drill string 28. In normal use, the drill string 28 will have a "whirling motion" within the borehole 12. The "whirling" motion causes the drill string 28 to rotate and flex within the borehole 12. At certain points during the rotation of the drill string 28, the walls of the drill string 28 will come into proximity with the walls of the borehole 12. The distortion of the drill string 28, caused by this whirling, can distort the data that is being transmitted from the formation evaluation sensors including gamma, resistivity, neutron density, porosity and sonic sensors, located on the bottom hole assembly 15. In order to properly measure and model the action of the drill string 28 within the borehole 12, it is necessary to incorporate the whirling motion of the drill string 28 into the data that is transmitted to the surface receiver 22 and the data which is processed by the data processer 24.
In FIG. 3, it can be seen that an instrumentation sub 32 is positioned adjacent to the drill bit 20, and to the motor associated with the drill bit 20. Stabilizers 34 and 36 are provided on the drill string 28 so as to urge the drill string 28 into a generally centered position within the borehole 12. A transmitter 38 interconnected to the instrumentation sub 32 is provided so as to transmit the data to the surface. The transmitter 38 is illustrated as located within the drill string 28 and provides downhole processing and telemetry to the surface. As used herein, the instrumentation sub 32 is considered to be part of the drill string 28.
Referring to FIG. 2, it can be seen that the borehole 12 is diagrammatically illustrated. The drill string 13 is shown as positioned within the borehole 12. FIG. 2 serves to describe the whirling geometry of the drill string 13 at the cross-section where the sensors are to be placed. As shown in FIG. 2, ro the radius of the shaft. Rc is the radius of the confining circle, such as the outer casing of the motor or the bearing of the shaft or the borehole of a drill string. Essentially, Rc is the eccentricity (or the radius) of the whirl motion. X and Y are the referenced fixed lateral directions. The letters x and y are the rotating lateral directions attached to the shaft at points a and b (where the sensors may be placed). The whirl motion is described by the eccentricity Rc and the whirl orientation angle Θo (t). The torsional motion of the shaft is described by the rotating orientation angle Θ(t) between the rotating x-axis and the fixed reference X-axis. A complete description of the rotating dynamics of the shaft requires the inference of the three time-dependent quantity Rc, ΘO, and Θ, through appropriate measurements.
The simplest situation for the drill string 13 is a steady-state rotation represented by the following: Rc (t)=O, and Θ(t)=A+ωt; where ω=constant is the rotating speed of the shaft. In this situation, the whirl orientation angle Θo(t) is immaterial, and the shaft is concentric to the confining circle. Under such ideal dynamic motion, the only sources of measurement errors are the sensor placement error and the timing error.
In situations where the torsional vibration is excited, (t) =dΘ(t)/dt will be fluctuating in time. In order to identify both the whirling and vibrational vibrations, it is necessary to have sufficient data and the types of sensors that are located appropriately. It is necessary to apply appropriate measuring techniques and to correct for any intrinsic errors as well as cross-coupling effects, in order to have physically correct quantities. For the purposes of the present invention, the ability to properly measure the whirling and rotational vibration of the drill string 13, it is necessary to not assume constant angular rotation, to not assume non-whirling configuration, to provide a means of measuring instantaneous rotation, to provide a means of measuring and inferring instantaneous whirling motion which is itself dependent on the instantaneous rotation, to provide a means of separating any cross-coupling effects, and to provide a means of eliminating and/or reducing the inherent errors.
In FIG. 4, there is particularly illustrated the instrumentation sensor sub 32 in accordance with the present invention. The instrumentation sensor sub 32 includes a force sensor ring 50, and the kinematic sensor rings 52 and 54. The kinematic sensor ring 52 and 54 serve to provide complete kinematic measurements and interpretation. The rings 52 and 54 serve to determine simultaneously the instantaneous rotating speed and the instantaneous position of the center of the drill string. The location of the proper sensors in the kinematic sensor rings 52 and 54 will fully describe the rotating and whirling motion of a cross-section of the drill string to which the instrumentation sub 32 is attached.
It can be seen that the instrumentation sensor sub 32 is essentially a collar that is fitted to the drill string 13. Although two kinematic sensor rings 52 and 54 are illustrated, it is possible to carry out the present invention with a single kinematic sensor ring. The axially displaced and parallel arrangement of the kinematic sensor rings 52 and 54 serve to allow the inferring of the tilting of the drill string axis.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the force sensor ring 50. It can be seen that the force sensor ring 50 includes insert areas 60, 61, 62, and 63 for the attachment of strain gage rosettes. In the preferred embodiment, a total of four strain gage rosettes are positioned at equally spaced intervals around the circumference 64 of the instrumentation sub 32. However, in keeping with the present invention, it is possible that three strain gage rosettes can be placed around the circumference 64. The strain gage rosettes should be compensated for temperature and pressure through commonly known methods, such as a Whirstone bridges. The force sensor ring 50 serves to measure the axial force, the torque, the two-axes shear forces and the two-axes bending moments. It can be seen that the strain gage rosettes are placed in a single cross-section of the drill string.
The complete load measurement by the force sensor ring 50 is made spaced from the bit 20 but will enable determination of the bit moments and the force components by standard structural mechanics. In accordance with the present invention, these measurements can be made in an instrument sub adjacent the bit, as shown, or at a point above an orienting sub or stabilizer 36.
The purpose of making the force sensor measurements is to enable computation of the bit side forces and bit bending moments while drilling. This cannot be done by simple bending moment measurements or simple shear force measurements alone, as taught by the prior art. Bit bending moments are particularly significant when drilling into changing lithology or when building or dropping the borehole direction during directional drilling. Knowing the bit side forces is important in predicting the bit advance direction during directional drilling. In a measurement-while-drilling environment, successive comparisons of the measured side forces to the calculated side forces will provide the driller with a great deal of information about the formation being drilled.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the kinematic sensor ring 52. The kinematic sensor ring 52 is positioned in a location generally parallel to and axially spaced from the force sensor ring 50. The kinematic sensor ring 52 includes a plurality of openings 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, and 77. The openings 71, 73, 75 and 77 receive accelerometers therein. The openings 70, 72, 74, and 76 serve to receive distance-inferring devices. As can be seen, the accelerometers and the distance-infering devices are arranged along the same cross-section of the instrumentation sub 32.
The accelerometers are positioned at four locations around the circumference 78 of the instrumentation sub 32. However, it is possible within the scope of the present invention that a minimum of two accelerometers can be placed at diametrically opposite ends of the cross-section of the drill string or the assembly. The use of the accelerometers allows the instantaneous value of rotation speed to be deduced through known formulations in the dynamics literature. Alternatively, instead of the use of accelerometers, the rotation speed may be determined by the placement of orthogonally-oriented triplets of magnetometers in the openings 71, 73, 75 and 77. Alternatively, the magnetometers can be placed on the instrumentation sub 32 or at the center of the bore 79. In such a situation, fluid will pass around the magnetometers. This is otherwise known as the "Sonde" configuration. Each of the magnetometers can be supported from the interior diameter 80 at the bore 79. The accelerometers or magnetometers can properly be used so as to measure the instantaneous rotating speed of the drill string.
In order to obtain an instantaneous measurement of the center of the drill string, it is necessary to incorporate the distance-inferring sensors into the openings 70, 72, 74, and 76 of the instrumentation sub 32. Although a total of four of the distance-infering sensors are illustrated in FIG. 6, it is possible that a minimum of three sensors can be used. If three sensors are used, then the sensors should be spaced at equal intervals around the circumference 78 of the kinematic sensor ring 52. These distance-infering sensors are known in the prior art. These sensors can be resistivity sensors, sonic-type sensors, or optic sensors. In each of these circumstances, a source and a receiver are placed in each of the sensor locations 70, 72, 74 and 76. The use of the distance-infering sensors essentially transmits a sensor signal to the wall of the borehole so as to provide information as to the distance between the sensor and the wall of the borehole. Ideally, each of the sensors should have a different carrier frequency so as to facilitate the determination of the cross-coupling effects between the various sensors. If sensors of the same frequency are used, then it can often become difficult to properly sort the signals or to overcome the cross-coupling effects for the purpose of creating accurate data. Also, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a total of four distance-infering sensors are placed at ninety degrees apart from one another around the circumference 78. Through the use of the distance-infering sensors, and instantaneous position of the center of the drill string can be determined. Under the present invention, it is important to realize that the inference of the center of the cross-section of the drill string does not assume a constant rotation speed.
With reference to FIG. 4, it can be seen that the kinematic sensor ring 52 is placed in parallel relationship to a second kinematic sensor ring 54. The kinematic sensor ring 54 can have a configuration similar to that shown in FIG. 6. The kinematic sensor ring 54 should be identical to the kinematic sensor ring 52. This arrangement allows the tilting of the drill string axis to be properly inferred.
In the present invention, any intrinsic errors due to sensor misalignment and timing differences are accounted for through prior calibration and by automatic correction. The timing error may further be avoided by true simultaneous signal sampling through the use of sample-and-hold circuits whenever practicable. The data processor 24 and the surface receiver 22 will receive the transmitted signal from the transmitter 38 so as to produce data and to manipulate data capable of generating the instantaneous rotating speed at location of the center of the drill string section. Other signal processing may be carried out in both the frequency domain and the time domain in order to yield further important characteristics of the kinematic of the drill string motion. The data manipulation may be performed either at the sensor collection sub or at the surface, when possible.
In the present invention, the force sensor ring and the kinematic sensor rings are combined so as to facilitate analytical and/or numerical modeling. The present invention serves to further clarify the interrelationship of these dynamic quantities and to enable evaluation of the dynamic behavior at other locations axially spaced from the sensor locations. The present invention is an integrated system of drill string dynamics measurement, analysis, and diagnosis. The present invention is an advisory system wherein all of the above information is processed and monitored on a real-time or quasi real-time basis. The present invention allows the drill string operator to avoid excessive vibration of various kinds, including stick-slip, whirling, parametric excitation, and resonance. Whenever any such adverse conditions are detected, the drilling parameters, particularly the revolutions per minute and the weight-on-bit may be varied to achieve a reduction or elimination of these adverse phenomena.
The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention is illustrative and explanatory thereof. Various changes in the details of the illustrated construction, or in the steps of the described method, may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the true spirit of the invention. The present invention should only be limited by the following claims and their legal equivalents
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|U.S. Classification
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|International Classification
|Cooperative Classification
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|23 Apr 1998
|Fee payment
Year of fee payment: 4
|14 May 2002
|Maintenance fee reminder mailed
|25 Oct 2002
|Lapse for failure to pay maintenance fees
|24 Dec 2002
|Expired due to failure to pay maintenance fee
Effective date: 20021025


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Since 1905, Ateco has supplied fine restaurants and bakeries with quality built, specialty baking tools. Ateco products are internationally renowned for their high quality. And now you can enjoy them at home. When you use Ateco products, you're not only enjoying quality craftsmanship, you're also enjoying quality design; the products are a result of over one hundred years and four generations of innovation and development. Use Ateco's Hexagon Form while preparing your favorite baked goods and you'll see why Ateco products are found in fine restaurants and bakeries, worldwide! This professional quality form is made of stainless steel and measures 2 X 1.5 inches high.
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This cookie cutter is sturdy, doesn't stick, food doesn't get in seams. We made Settler of Catan edible game with it and it came out wonderfully. Read morePublished on December 8, 2012 by Maggie-Marie Thies


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An Illinois appellate court recently held in St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co. v. City of Zion that coverage under a law enforcement liability policy for a malicious prosecution claim is triggered when the wrongful...more
Powerpoint Presentation by Jeffrey Lewis on tips for litigating Malicious Prosecution actions in California...more
On February 24, 2014, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court's grant of summary judgment dismissing DAW Industries' claims of conspiracy to restrain trade and attempted monopolization, once again...more
The Affordable Care Act has dominated the headlines of employment newsletters (justifiably) for the last six months. It will continue to be an area of focus for all employers. But don't lose sight of the fact that all the...more
The related torts of malicious prosecution and abuse of process both vindicate the important personal rights to be free from unwarranted or abusive litigation tactics. There are some important distinctions in the elements of...more
When a client has obtained a defense verdict, judgment or arbitration award, they will frequently ask what recourse they have to recover attorney's fees and costs obtained in defending against the claims. In California,...more
When a party prevails in a legal proceeding, he or she sometimes will seek further vindication by way of a malicious prosecution action. However, no matter how frivolous the prior action was, not all legal proceedings are...more
Malicious prosecution actions in California are complex. Filing and defending such actions require the handling attorney to have a deep understanding of the interplay of anti-SLAPP law, SLAPP-back actions and malicious...more
The complex tort of malicious prosecution is frequently threatened yet rarely fully understood. The elements of the claim are that a prior action (1) was commenced by or at the direction of the defendant and was pursued to...more
The complex tort of malicious prosecution is frequently threatened yet rarely fully understood. One of the trickier elements to establish is that the prior action was filed and/or continued without probable cause. Just...more
The complex tort of malicious prosecution is frequently threatened yet rarely fully understood. One of the trickier elements to establish is a "favorable termination" of the prior action. Just because you won the prior...more
In this tort case, the appellate court affirmed a dismissal order finding a pro se plaintiff to be a "vexatious litigant," which according to Florida Statute § 68.093, includes a pro se litigant "who, in the immediately...more
Litigation Privilege: litigation privilege, which protects actions taken in the course of and related to judicial proceedings from civil liability, applies to causes of...more
In February, I wrote about a particularly fake-haired boneheaded lawsuit that Donald Trump brought against comedian Bill Maher. As you may recall, Trump accused Maher of breach of contract based on a joke that Maher had made...more
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text: http://news.softpedia.com – On January 14, Canonical published in a security notice details about an NSS vulnerability for its Ubuntu 12.10, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, Ubuntu 11.10, and Ubuntu 10.04 LTS operating systems. According to Canonical, fraudulent security certificates could have allowed sensitive information to be exposed when accessing the Internet. It was discovered that two intermediate CA certificates were mis-issued by the TURKTRUST certificate authority. If a remote atta... (read more) (General)


text:
What the Manolo Is…
Manolo says, here is what the Manolo is…
Puro Sinaloa!!
Manolo says, here is what the Manolo is…
Puro Sinaloa!!
Manolo says, here is the beautiful, elegant, classic pump from the Judith Leiber, best of the all, it is 50% off of the regular price, saving the smart girl over $250 of the American dollars.
Manolo says, the Manolo's internet friend the LaBellaDonna, she has written the most amusing poem on the occasion of the appearance of the shoes of the Iceman.
Behold the shoes of the Oetzi!
For keeping warm the footsie!
Safe from rocks, the tootsie!
Protected from rain and schmutzie!
– although their owner is kaputzie.
Ha! This it has made the Manolo laugh much.
Manolo says, behold! The Shoes of the Iceman.
Lined with hay and held together by a net of rough string, the leather shoes look bulky, itchy and downright uncomfortable. But if they were good enough for Oetzi, the 5,300-year-old man found in an alpine glacier in 1991, they're good enough for the modern foot, insists Petr Hlavacek, a Czech shoe expert who has created replicas, taken them out for a walk and pronounced them far better than most modern footwear.
"These shoes are very comfortable. They are perfectly able to protect your feet against hard terrain, against hot temperatures, against cold temperatures," he said, showing off the replicas in his office at Tomas Bata University in this eastern Czech town.
Despite their flimsy leather soles, the shoes offer a good grip and superb shock absorption, and are blister-free, Hlavacek said.
It's like going barefoot, "only better," he said. "In the Oetzi shoes, you feel something like freedom, flexibility."
Like going barefeeted, only you look like the dork.
Manolo says, this shoe it could be the bestseller with the hippies of the crunchiness, but only if the hay it is replaced with the hemp.
Manolo says, here is another round-toed velvet pump, this one from the Robert Clergerie. It, too, is 65% off of the regular price, a savings of over $230 of the American dollars.
Manolo says, many months ago, the Manolo he recommended this most attractive shoe, and now it is on the deep discount sale! It is 65% off of the regular price, saving the smart girl over $270 of the American dollars!
Manolo says, nothing makes the Manolo smile like the visit from the funky little fashion troll, John Galliano.
Yes, the Manolo he likes to poke the gentle fun at the Galliano himself, yet at the same of the time, the Manolo he must confess that there is in some of the creations of the Galliano the ridiculous, ethereal, unwearable beauty.
For the example.
It is ridiculous! It is beautiful! It is Galliano!
The Manolo he is so confused.


text:
Top Definition
After pooping, the male dips his dick in the poop and uses it as a paintbrush to paint on his partner.
After giving my girlfriend a Cleveland steamer, i got creative and dick painted my name on her chest.
by Bvaughn June 05, 2013
paint guys use to paint their dicks so that they're mate will find them more attractive when they have sex
Girl: You lied to me! You told me you stopped painting it...
Boy: What did you expect, baby? We met at a Dickpaint
Boy: What did you expect, baby? We met at a Dickpaint
by 69isthemagicnumber December 11, 2010
lipstick once applied to your lips
that girl has some dick paint on her cock sucker
by drunkjeremy October 16, 2004


text:
Laguna Woods, CAUSA
Hometown: Laguna Hills
July 14, 2012
I can understand lot. It is speaking Spanish that I don't do well.
I am currently taking a Spanish class. It's the third time to get through spanish 1. I need people to talk to in Spanish. I am hispanic, but was never taught as a child. No one spoke Spanish at home.
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Lindsay Boswell
Lindsay Boswell is chief executive of Big Lottery Fund programme the Fare Share Trust which aims to build stronger communities. He joined the Trust after ten years as chief executive of the Institute of Fundraising from 2000 to 2010.
Prior to joining the Institute Boswell worked with Raleigh International as director of operations and, before that, as country director for Chile, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Malaysia.
Previously, Boswell was London director for the Prince's Trust Volunteers.
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text:
George Macdonald's The Princess and the Goblin
The human journey often leads travelers astray who are misled by darkness of the night or by darkness of the intellect.
Many who travel lose their way because they wander far from the sources of light, lose themselves in a labyrinth of passages and doors, or take a false turn. In The Princess and the Goblin many characters that lose their way experience a sense of helplessness in the midst of lurking enemies and hidden dangers. Children and adults, princesses and servants, the daughter of a king and the son of a miner all experience the same fear of unknown evil that threatens when the darkness overcomes the light.
For example, Princess Irene wakes up one evening and decides to go out the door of her room and up the stairs of the castle only to discover that all the passages and all the doors look the same: "She ran for some distance, turned several times, and then began to be afraid." On another occasion when the princess and her nurse Lootie have taken a walk during the evening, they wander too far from home and find themselves lost in darkness: "We've taken the wrong turning somewhere, and I don't know where we are," cries Lootie. "We are lost! lost!" One evening Irene, terrified by the hostile eyes of a goblin staring at her through a window, runs outside to escape from the ugly beast. Lost in the night and far from the castle, Irene again finds herself in a state of dread: "But how was she to find her way back?" In a similar episode Curdie, the miner's son who relies on his clue (the rope tied to his pickax) to lead him out of the underground realm of the goblins, loses the rope and finds himself trapped in the mazes of darkness. Also a long time ago Curdie's mother recalls that she too experienced this terror when she traveled at night and was intimidated by the violent goblins. The gloom of the night and the darkness of caves loom as deadly powers that threaten everyone in the story.
However, in all these incidents of being lost in the dark, wandering in a maze, and straying into desolate places, the characters are not abandoned. A beam of moonlight, a thread from a ring, the flight of a bird — all streams of light originating and ending in the grandmother's upper room in the castle — provide a way out of the darkness or out of the maze. When Irene loses her way among the many halls and doors in the castle ("Rooms everywhere and no stair!"), she hears a humming sound, sees an old woman who identifies herself as "your great-great-grandmother" and who explains "I came here to take care of you." This kind grandmother with luxurious gray hair and sparkling blue eyes — both young and old like wisdom "ever ancient, ever new" — leads Irene safely down the right staircase to her familiar bed: a leitmotif that recurs throughout the story in which rays of light always penetrate the darkest places. When Irene and Lootie in their evening walk realize the night will soon descend upon them and expose them to the goblins, Lootie panics: "It was enough they had lost the way. They had been running down into a valley in which there was no house to be seen." But a source of deliverance mysteriously leads them safely home: Curdie appears from the mines reciting nonsense rhymes that befuddle the goblins. He reassures Irene and Lootie, "If you're not afraid of them, they're afraid of you," "they won't touch you if we don't run," and "They won't touch you as long as I am with you." These words come as a source of light in the form of truth to lead the princess and her nurse out of the darkness.
When Curdie is trapped in the mines and loses pickax and clue, Irene wakes up night and obeys the grandmother's instructions: Irene must place the gift of the grandmother's ring under her pillow, place a forefinger on the ball of thread under the ring, and then "follow the ring wherever it leads you." Awakened one morning by the pull of the thread, Irene follows it on a circuitous course that leads to the mine where Curdie lies trapped by stones. As she descends "farther and farther into the darkness of the great hollow mountain," Irene finds Curdie imprisoned in an underworld. Asking "how did you ever come here, Irene?" and mystified at her knowledge, Curdie does not comprehend Irene's simple answer: "My grandmother sent me after her thread." These images of light beams from the sky, threads from a ring, and pigeons flying on their course have not only many variations but also a recurring pattern.
George MacDonald
The grandmother is a constant in the world, an unchanging law that governs from above (the highest storey of the castle) the world below the stairs. She rules human lives — princesses, miners, children, and parents all tell similar stories about sudden flashes of light. There are many lights, many threads, and many messengers sent by the grandmother all for the purpose of delivering the lost from evil. When Curdie disbelieves Irene's explanation of the thread, his mother recalls an episode from her own past that verifies Irene's narrative. On the way home from the mines in the night she was tormented by goblins tearing her clothes "when suddenly a great white soft shone upon me light" and "from the globe of light came a bird, shining like silver in the sun." Mysteriously present, the grandmother does not allow the forces of darkness to put out all the light.
From delicate, imperceptible threads that lead to and from the grandmother's apartment, from beams of light that shine like the light of the moon from the grandmother's window, and from the pigeons that come and go in lines entering and leaving by the illumination of this lamp, the grandmother exerts a divine providence in the world and in the lives of all the characters. Their stories also resemble one another. Irene felt lost on the stairs, but the grandmother showed her the right steps leading to her bedroom. Lootie was lost in the night, but Curdie appeared reciting his rhymes that repelled the goblins. Curdie was lost in the mazes of the mines, but a princess following a thread led her to his rescue from the lower world. A young wife attacked by the goblins beheld the streaks of light from the sky that intimidated the goblins. Thus the grandmother — like the mystery of Divine Providence — is ever present but ever hidden. Princess Irene goes to the grandmother's room but sometimes imagines that she is a dream. Lootie and the King-Papa do not take seriously Irene's invitation to take them to the grandmother's room because she is inventing "stories." Even though the mystery of the grandmother is an open secret, only Irene goes upstairs to discover her.
Indeed the grandmother is as real as light, thread, pigeons, the moon, and the words of a child. Even though Lootie calls the grandmother "make-believe," Curdie considers Irene's "thread" nonsense, and Irene herself first calls the grandmother a "dream," the fact that the grandmother's mysterious ways form a familiar design in the lives of the characters testifies that she is not a dream but a reality. As Irene knows from experience, the beautiful grandmother attracts; the motherly grandmother protects; the wise grandmother provides; the mysterious grandmother surprises; the sovereign grandmother rules; and the tall grandmother on the highest level of the castle brings the light from the world above to the people below and leads the people below to the divine realm in the heavens by way of a child who follows a thread and shows the way upstairs.
Mitchell A. Kalpakgian. "George Macdonald's The Princess and the Goblin." Crisis Magazine (August 5, 2013).
Reprinted with permission of Crisis Magazine.
Crisis Magazine is an educational apostolate that uses media and technology to bring the genius of Catholicism to business, politics, culture, and family life. Our approach is oriented toward the practical solutions our faith offers — in other words, actionable Catholicism.
The AuthorMitchell A. Kalpakgian was Professor of English at Simpson College (Iowa) for 31 years. During his academic career, Dr. Kalpakgian received many academic honors, among them the National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar Fellowship (Brown University, 1981); the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship (University of Kansas, 1985); and an award from the National Endowment for the Humanities Institute on Children's Literature. He is the author of The Marvelous in Fielding's Novels and The Mysteries of Life in Children's Literature. His favorite activities include writing, long distance running, and coaching soccer.Copyright © 2013 Crisis Magazine
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Enjoy "Dinner in the Diner" aboard one of Smoky Valley Railroad's special Dinner Trains.
Savor varying entrees served by some of the Midwest's finest restaurants while enjoying a relaxing rail excursion through the Smoky Hill River Valley.


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