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FLINT, MI – Winning games this month is all that matters to the Flint Monarchs.
With four games left in the season, every game is equally important for the women's semi-pro basketball team.
"July to me is the biggest challenge for the Monarchs," Monarchs coach Deonta McChester said. "If we want to win the regional and national tournament, then the next three weeks will be about us getting better and having the will to win every game."
Flint (3-2) will play in back-to-back games this weekend on the road.
On Saturday, the Monarchs will drive to Motown for a matchup
against the Detroit Black Hawks at 7 p.m.
The Monarchs will travel to Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday for a game versus the Columbus Hidden Gems at 5 p.m.
"I'm not going to say that these games will make or break us in any type of way, but we definitely want to win and get better," said Latisha Luckett, Flint's third leading scorer who averages 13.0 points per game.
"We've still got a couple of kinks and it's taking a little longer for us this year to get where we think we need to be, but I wouldn't say it's do or die with these games. We definitely need to keep improving."
The Monarchs have had two weeks off since their last game.
They are currently tied for eighth place in the Women's Blue
Chip Basketball League standings and are sitting at the No. 2 spot in the North
East Region.
Columbus snapped Flint's three-game winning streak with a 69-65 victory against the Monarchs on June 23 at Hill Road Hoops.
Since the majority of the team members are newcomers, the Flint players are still
learning how to play together and close out games.
The Monarchs have had no flow to their schedule.
Unlike last season, the WBCBL has spread their games far
In 26 days, the Monarchs have had only one game.
Due to the lack of playing, Flint's teammates has had a hard time getting to know each others' tendencies.
"This year has not been the typical season for us due to the schedule, but we're still excited and hungry," said McChester. "We're still playing with the fire, and intent on winning a regional title and competing for a national championship."
An important piece will be missing from the Monarchs this
Former Syracuse forward Troya Berry returned to New York to finish up
a few summer courses and won't come back to the team until the regional tournament at
the end of the month.
Berry was posting eight points and started in three of five games.
Monarchs guard Natasha Morris plans to pick up the slack in
Berry's absence.
Morris has been Flint's most consistent player, according to
She leads the team in scoring with 16 points per game and dishes out a team-high 3.0 assists.
"Becoming a point guard from a shooting guard was a little hard for me to transition, but I've got the hang of it now," said Morris, who was named the Co-MVP of the league's Northeast region as a rookie in 2011.
"At the end of the day, the point guard runs the show and I'm looking to control the tempo and to make sure that the game is going at our speed and we're doing what we need to do."
Morris landed two international pro contracts in Turkey and Cyprus in the off-season. Luckett has noticed that she has become more committed to the sport because of that international experience.
Morris agrees.
"I've been able to take my game to another level because I actually got the chance to play professionally ,which is what a lot of people don't do," said Morris.
"As you play professional basketball, you begin to see that it's a different type of game. It's actually hard work and effort and that's what I bring to the table this year."


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however one thing i do see missing is an acknowledgement that the population in question is one that very few researchers care to objectively investigate.
until we can actually settle on a definition of obesity that has zero subjective content the question is moot.
someone said it is about health.
My truth is the healthy human CANNOT be obese... period... if you have one ounce of (measurable) improper fat, you are diseased somehow.
otherwise the human body self regulates to the appropriate ratio of protein to lipids....everything else is unexpended waste
Optimum Health powered by Actualized Self-Knowledge.
Predator not Prey
Paleo Ketogenic Lifestyle
Current Jeans 46 | Starting Jeans 66
Contact me: firstname.lastname@example.com

subset: commoncrawl


text:
CNJ staff
The Play Inc. youth football season wrapped up last weekend with championship games in three tackle divisions and "bowl games" for teams which did not finish in the top two in their league.
In games at Jim Hill Field, the Clovis Gators defeated the Hereford Hostile Herd 28-6 in the fifth-sixth grade division while the Clovis Trojans blanked the Clovis Gators 32-0 in the third-fourth grade bracket.
For the Gators, it was their third consecutive title. They won the third-fourth grade division two years ago as fourth-graders, then stepped into the higher division last year and won that.
At Marshall Middle School, the Farwell-Bovina Red Raiders took the first-second grade division title with a 28-12 win over the Hereford Little Heard.
The three championship games were played on Sunday, while the other games — two in each division — were played on Saturday.
Sammy Herrera, who has served as the league's director since its inception 15 years ago, said 36 teams participated in the program this year with more than 1,400 players, up from around 900 players a year ago.
"When we first started, it only had four teams," Herrera said. "Now we're getting a lot of teams from out-of-town."
Play Inc. also sponsored three divisions of flag football for ages 3 and up, with a total of 20 teams taking part.
This weekend, the fifth-sixth grade league is sending six teams to the "Top of Texas" tournament in Amarillo. Meantime, several of the third-fourth grade teams will participate in the "Turkey Bowl" tourney in Farwell with teams from outside the immediate area.


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This deal has ended.
These Rkya Desire Fitness Shoes drop from $74.99 to $49.99 to $37.49 with code TAKE25 at Shoes.com. Plus, shipping is free. This is the best total price we found for these shoes (limited sizes go for $36 at one other site). They come in feature a cushioned Ortholite insole and laceless design. Returns are free, too, and there is no sales tax (except IL, CA, KY, MO, TN, GA).No longer available


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By Ted Lee Posted Dec 22, 2012 If by BearInsider Staff or Contributor, this article is Copyright © 2016 BearInsider.com
Ex-assistant McQueary wins PSU defamation suit
Wilson (foot) out for Florida State vs. Clemson
DB sees LSU defense 'dominating' No. 1 Bama
Harbaugh's salary tops college football coaches
Former B.C. DE Holloway, 26, dies in car crash


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MUSKEGON, MI – The Lakeshore Art Festival will take place for the first time ever from noon to 7 p.m. on July 5 and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on July 6 in downtown Muskegon.
The new art fair is a replacement for the long-running Art in the Park event, which had been attached to Summer Celebration for decades before it was spun off into a standalone event organized by the Lansing-based Meridian Entertainment Group last year.
This year's event is organized by the Muskegon Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce and includes a brand new layout as well as new activities said Festival Director Carla Flanders.
"I think it's going to be festive and fun and just a really good time," she said.
Almost 300 fine art, craft, food and children's activity exhibitors will be part of the inaugural event, Flanders said. The festival will encompass Hackley Park and extend into the downtown area, mostly on Western Avenue between Fourth and Jefferson Streets.
Vendors will also be placed on Clay Avenue, Third Street and Fourth Street where they surround the park.
Around 100 fine art and fine craft exhibitors from around the country will display their wares, Flanders said.
"Fine art," as defined by the festival is "a high-quality medium that is unique and artfully made with a conscious intent to engage in the tradition of art-making and a resulting object that is for its own sake," according to a press release about the event.
"Fine craft" is any object "that can have a functional intent, but are made or decorated as to be singular or rare objects. These objects tend to be luxury items and extraordinary or quite unique," the release said.
The artists featured in the section were selected by a blind jury. The festival will give out cash awards to the top five artists, as selected by guest juror Brett Colley.
Colley is an art professor at Grand Valley State University, who has served on the curatorial board of the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts in Grand Rapids since 2004. His work has been displayed 30 states and 6 countries.
"We are pleased to have a highly regarded art teacher and curator as our lead juror in the prize selection process," Flanders said.
The first-place winner will win $1,000, the second-place winner $800 and the third-place winner $600. There will also be a $400 honorable mention award and a $200 "committee's choice" award.
Winners will be announced at the end of the day on Friday to give visitors a chance to decide if they want to purchase the pieces, according to the release.
Crafts vendors will be found on Western Avenue, Flanders said, and will compete for the "People's Choice" award, organized by MLive and the Muskegon Chronicle. Attendees can vote for their favorite exhibitor by texting the number that will be found on each booth, she said.
Visitors can also cast their ballot by voting on a poll that will be on www.mlive.com/muskegon. The winner will be announced at 1 p.m. on July 6 at the Olthoff Street Stage.
"We have a number of new participants, and lot of the old favorites came back," Flanders said.
She said information booths in Hackley Park and on Western Avenue near the Sidock Building will have brochures that list all the participating vendors so that visitors can find the vendor or item they're looking for.
Other sections of the festival include the Michigan Food Market, located on Clay Avenue, which will sell edible items made in the state, as well as an area for local food vendors on Third Street.
Festival food favorites like elephant ears will be available from concessionaires, Flanders said, as well as items from restaurants like Fatty Lumpkins Sandwich Shack and Gnarley Varley's Righteous Cuisine, which is run by the Coffee House and Café on Seminole Road in Norton Shores.
The Lakeshore Art Festival will also include a "Children's Lane" area for kids and their families, on Western Avenue between First and Jefferson streets. The special kids' zone will include bounce houses, a rock wall and various crafts, shows and activities.
In addition to the new layout, the festival will also have plenty of entertainment. Singers, magicians and dancers will perform on the Olthoff Street Stage on Third Street as well as on a stage set up in the Children's Zone.
Some street performers will also roam around the festival grounds and a few local businesses have opted to book entertainment outside their front doors as well, Flanders said.
"We're going to have the street performers performing between noon and 6 on Friday and Saturday and with that, you can turn around the corner and see someone do something exciting and entertaining," she said.
For more information on the festival, visit www.lakeshoreartfestival.org or call (231) 724-3176.
-- Email Lisha Arino at firstname.lastname@example.com, and follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.


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text:
I was tempted to do this piece earlier in the year, but it still didn't feel right to me. As I considered the subject matter for this latest installment of Through The Rear View, I was still thinking of the upcoming world series and the drama that it took to get a team like the Rockies to the fall classic. How it seemed, that down the stretch, there was a strange sense of destiny for the Rockies to get where they are now. Every hit that they needed, and every out that they had to have somehow seemed to fall the way of the Rockies. I remember that I felt the same way in 2003 when I felt that the Cubs were riding the same sort of mystical wave into the playoffs and beyond. All they way up until those fateful nights in October, versus the Marlins. My look back on those days will always include certain players and certain events. One of those players is Samuel Sosa Peralta. Sammy Sosa. Slammin' Sammy.
Sammy represents the paradox of my Cubs fandom. My love for the Cubs blinded me for a while with Sammy. It was hard to look past his incredible late life growth spurt, but I did it. It was hard to not cheer for the guy who seemed to always be smiling and enjoying his time at the ball park. The guy that tried his hardest to steal the home run race away from the Goliath, never mind that it was another extension of the Cubs-Cards rivalry. I was admittedly caught up in it.
Little by little though, it grew harder to not look past his antics, corked bats, and everything else. I became aware that I had become one of those fans. One of those fans who conveniently looks past the problems at home to complain about guys like Barry Bonds and other alleged cheaters. These revelations and realizations are part of the reason that I am (kind of) against the potential sale of the Cubs to one Mark Cuban. I just don't want to become THAT organization to the rest of the world, if Cuban becomes the owner and the Cubs suddenly win a championship. I don't want anything to taint the organization more than history already has. I honestly don't know what would be worse. The scenario that I laid out above, or the Cubs becoming the Washington Redskins of baseball. People giggling, while the organization and owner spends boatloads of money and still can't build a winner. I almost can't help to think that it would be door number two, if I had to choose. While Dan Snyder's prowess as a shrewd businessman may not have translated into success with the Redskins, he does at least dress and act the part, while maintaining some dignity and respect. In a way it's a catch-22.
Yet, I digress…
I'm not going to get into the whole statistical analysis of Sammy's 17 year career or his rise to the professional ranks. There are half a dozen statistical web pages that will do that for you. I am simply going to wonder aloud about what might be next for Sammy Sosa. I genuinely hope retirement.
Seriously. Because of the love I once shared for Sammy with the majority of the Cubs Nation, I hope the man retires. Despite all that has transpired with his relationship with the CUbs he is still an indelible part of our history.
Think about it. His walk away now, would be a pretty storybook ending to a colorful and not always storybook career. Look at it. Sammy comes back after a mysterious year off to cleanse his…soul. He comes back to the team where it all started for him. Then he battles back from the minor leagues to get another shot at the big leagues. Showing the talent and ability that he always had, a smaller Sammy comes back to post pretty decent numbers
Not a statistical bonanza by any means, but definitely a victory for the sake of his legacy. A milestone year in which he became the first player to hit a home run off of every team in the league. A feat he reached in conjunction with becoming only the fifth player in baseball history to hit 600 home runs. His 600thoff of the team he had built his legend with and doing it while batting against the pitcher wearing his former number. There is something strangely poetic, ironic, and almost scripted about all of that. Isn't there?
So, why not put the whole thing to bed and retire. While I doubt that Sammy will do it, I wish that he would. There were certainly enough times in Sammy's life that he did what I wished him to do, why not this?
As we drive on, that's my View Through The Rear View.
Through the Rear View appears every Wednesday. If you have a topic to suggest, send Tony an E-mail.


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On Tap Today: Post-election diversions
Welcome to the first day in more than a year without political commercials. See? Told you we'd get there.
We can finally put all the bickering and posturing aside -- at least until the 2016 presidential campaign starts up, which should be, oh, sometime tomorrow. Till then, here's some stuff that'll take your mind of politics. »Read Full Blog Post
Bright lights outshine Trans-Siberian Orchestra in ho-hum show
Taking on Christmas staples with a blend of symphonic bombast and progressive rock drama, Trans-Siberian Orchestra brought a much needed edge to the pleasant, ho-hum holiday music landscape beginning in 1996 , and in the process TSO has become one of the highest-grossing touring acts in North America.
But right before the start of the first of two TSO shows at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on Sunday, there was a curious sound, or really a lack of a sound. Following some meek applause when the lights went dark, the crowd strangely grew quiet, to the point that the only noise was the awkward, quiet hiss of fog machines. »Read Full Article(14)


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Cruelty to animals, Richmond Park Drive West:
Officers responded to an apartment Jan. 6 for a report of a dog that had been left out on a balcony for a long period of time. They spoke with the dog's owner, who said the dog had only been outside for a few minutes. He was told the dog had to be let inside because it was too cold out and that he would be charged with animal cruelty if anyone reported him doing it again.
Burglary, Chestnut Lane:
Just after midnight Jan. 5 a woman reported someone broke into her apartment and stole a computer, TV, DVD player and video-game system. She said she suspected her ex-boyfriend may be responsible because the man, 29, was at her apartment the previous day to visit her and she noticed one of her keys was missing after he left. She said she purchased all the items herself. Officers told her they would contact the man and if he admitted to taking the items but said he purchased some of them, it would be a civil matter between the two of them. Initial attempts to contact the man were unsuccessful.
Criminal damage, Richmond Park Drive East:
A woman reported Jan. 1 someone shot out the passenger side front and rear windows on her SUV while it was in an apartment parking lot. Officers verified the SUV had been struck by at least three bullets. Nothing reported missing from inside.
Disturbance, Royal Oak Boulevard:
Officers responded to a residence Jan. 4 for a report of an argument that ensued into an scuffle and resulted in a man receiving a cut on his hand from a knife. A woman, 76, was charged with suspicion of aggravated menacing for cutting the man over an argument about rent.
See more Richmond Heights news at Cleveland.com/hillcrest.


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Preparing leaders to bring about positive change
Leadership & Engagement
The Rural Center undertakes a number of efforts to ensure that rural communities are equipped with skilled, committed and informed leaders.
Our leadership development program is committed to building a base of strong, capable leaders to help improve the economy and quality of life of rural North Carolina. More than 1,000 North Carolinians have participated thus far, primarily through the program's signature Rural Economic Development Institute. Advanced training programs help institute graduates and other leaders further hone their skills.
The New Generation Initiative provides rural communities with $3.6 million in resources to engage rural youth and young adults in the life of their communities, while fostering the next generation of rural business owners, skilled workers and economic and community leaders. The initiative includes programs encouraging entrepreneurship development, on-the-job training, leadership development and community service.
Misty Herget, Director of Leadership
N.C. Rural Economic Development Center
4021 Carya Drive
Raleigh, NC 27610
Telephone: 919-250-4314
Fax: 919-250-4325


text:
"The shortages that food banks are currently facing are well documented, making these funds all the more important. With so many of our friends and neighbors still looking for work, any kind of assistance we can provide is desperately needed," said Sweeney.
"Not only will these funds help restock our food banks, but they will do so by providing fresh, healthy New Jersey fruits and vegetables. It is a win-win for all those involved," said Burzichelli.
"South Jersey has been hit especially hard by the current economy in the state, which makes these food pantry foods sorely needed. We are working on creating jobs in the state, but as we do so, it is good to know that we are able to provide this kind of assistance to those who need it," said Riley.
The Food Bank of South Jersey, which serves Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Salem Counties, will receive $28,212. Southern Regional Food Distribution, which services Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Mercer Counties, will receive $9,535.
This funding is made available through the Department of Community Affairs' Division of Housing and Community Resources' administration of the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), a federal, anti-poverty block grant which funds the operations of a state-administered network of local agencies. The focus on food banks addresses the nutrition component of the CSBG program.


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BiographyI was born on June 11, 1994. I do not know when I will die so I can't tell you!
Interestsstar wars
lord of the rings
Tak series
Sly series
Jak series,
My favorite TV shows are House, Bernie Mac, The Simpsons, and Everybody Hates Chris. As well as ... American Idol!
Playing Music (Violin)
Listening to music Rock, Country Rock and Country pop, I'm not a big rap fan but some of it is pretty good. So my favorite artists are:
Green Day
Bon Jovi
Toby Keith
Kenny Chesney
Blake Shelton
Rascal Flatts
Keith Urban
Weird Al
Jimmy Buffet
My favorite books are Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and Harry Potter.
My favorite movies include Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Pirates of the Carribean!
At a place called Vertigo!
Platforms Owned
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- Joined Jan 23, 2007
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- Skool Kid
- Profile views 1,798
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Alchemy in Color
If you've been wondering what Scott Salsbury has been up to lately, well, you're not alone. But even better, you're in luck.
That's because more than two dozen new paintings by Salsbury, whose distinctive use of color and shape has earned him many an admirer over the years, will be on display when a month-long exhibit by the uniquely talented San Juan Island artist debuts in the lobby of San Juan Community Theatre on the longest day of the year.
"I'm really, really glad that he's having this show," said longtime friend and fan Trinley DiMarco, an accomplished sculptor in her own right. "His art come from a very deep personal place. I'm excited to see what he has that's new."
Better yet, the artist will be in the house to offer insight about this latest compilation of creativity, entitled "Dreams of Color," at the exhibit's opening reception, June 21, 5-8 p.m.
Salsbury says several pieces in this new collection, which includes 22 oil pastes and five acrylics, may seem to some like a bit of a departure from his previous work.
"I think there's some new and interesting work in it," he said of the 28-piece exhibit. "I guess you might say it's a lot more evolved, and in some ways more of a compact design than I've worked with before."
Born and raised in Edmonds, Salsbury got bit by the art bug early in life and has been putting color to canvas since his teens. He studied art through a California College of the Arts extension program and in Patzquaro Mexico as well, and his artwork has been featured in several earlier exhibits, locally and in Seattle and in Mexico.
He hails from an artistic family as well. His father, Allen Salsbury, was one of the most highly acclaimed interior designers Seattle has ever known, and brother Stephen and sister Susanna are gifted artists in their own right, he says.
While creativity may be in the blood, Salsbury, now 60, finds inspiration in the bold, bright works of ground-breaking Latin American artists such as the late Rufino Tamayo and Wifredo Lam, as well as in the simple, ordinary images, elements and artifacts of everyday island life. In fact, he describes the creative process that propels his art as a modern-day stroke on the ancient art of alchemy, the transformation of something common into something special.
"I'm a spur of the moment kind of guy, I like to do things spontaneously," Salsbury says, "but with this show coming up I've been planning a bit more. I don't know really how to describe the paintings. I guess maybe something like 'crazy jazz art'."
In the end, however, it's not a label that defines a signature "Salsbury", its the unique blend of images and shapes, and without question, it's in the color.
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Patent application title: Method for Manufacturing Ceramic Honeycombs
Thomas James Deneka (Painted Post, NY, US)
Andrew Charles Gorges (Addison, NY, US)
Daniel Edward Mccauley (Watkins Glen, NY, US)
Daniel Edward Mccauley (Watkins Glen, NY, US)
Anthony Nicholas Rodbourn (Bath, NY, US)
Patrick David Tepesch (Corning, NY, US)
IPC8 Class: AB29C4792FI
USPC Class:
264 404
Class name: Plastic and nonmetallic article shaping or treating: processes with measuring, testing, or inspecting measuring a weight or volume (e.g., level-responsive, etc.)
Publication date: 2010-03-04
Patent application number: 20100052197
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Methods for making extruded ceramic products meeting set dimensional
specifications comprise subjecting a small firing sample taken from a
first unfired product preform to a rapid firing treatment to determine a
value for firing shrinkage or growth, and then adjusting the dimensions
of succeeding unfired preforms based on that value, e.g., by adjusting
wet extruded product dimensions, so that the succeeding preforms will
meet the set dimensional specifications.
1. A method of manufacturing a fired ceramic product within a set
dimensional specification comprising the steps of:subjecting a section of
a first unfired product preform for the ceramic product to a rapid firing
treatment to determine a value for a firing shrinkage or growth for the
preform;adjusting at least one preform dimension of a second unfired
product preform based upon the value so determined; andfiring the second
preform to manufacture the fired ceramic product; whereinadjusting the at
least one dimension of the second preform is effective to cause the
firing shrinkage or growth to produce the fired ceramic product within
the set dimensional specification.
2. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the ceramic product is an extruded ceramic honeycomb.
3. A method in accordance with claim 2 wherein the set dimensional specification includes a specification for a maximum honeycomb cross-sectional dimension perpendicular to a common channel axis of the ceramic honeycomb.
4. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the section of the first unfired preform for the product is a section of a dried ceramic honeycomb extrudate.
5. A method in accordance with claim 4 wherein the value for the firing shrinkage or growth is determined by a measurement of a dimension of the section aligned perpendicularly with or tangentially to a common channel axis of the section.
6. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the rapid firing treatment comprises at least one of:heating the section at a rate in excess of 200.degree. C./hr. during a heating phase of the treatment, andcooling the section at a rate in excess of 300.degree. C./hr. during a cooling phase of the treatment.
7. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the step of adjusting the at least one preform dimension of the second unfired preform includes a step of adjusting a dimension of a wet ceramic honeycomb extrudate used to form the second unfired preform.
8. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the ceramic product is an extruded cylindrical ceramic honeycomb of circular cross-section composed at least predominantly of aluminum titanate or cordierite ceramic.
9. A method in accordance with claim 8 wherein the set dimensional specification limits the variation of the diameter of the cylindrical honeycomb to .+-.0.5% of a target cylinder diameter.
10. A method for manufacturing a fired ceramic product having a contour within a specified dimensional tolerance comprising:(a) forming a wet green ceramic extrudate having a target extruded dimension;(b) drying the extrudate to produce a first dried green product preform;(c) cutting at least one firing sample from the first dried green preform, the sample being of a size sufficiently reduced to prevent thermal or mechanical cracking of the sample during a rapid firing treatment;(d) subjecting the firing sample to a rapid firing treatment to produce a fired sample;(e) determining a sample dimensional change for the fired sample resulting from the rapid firing treatment;(f) adjusting the target extruded dimension in response to the sample dimensional change to produce a second dried green product preform; and(g) firing the second dried green product preform to produce a fired ceramic product having a contour within the specified dimensional tolerance.
11. A method in accordance with claim 10 wherein the wet green ceramic extrudate is a plasticized blended mixture comprising a liquid vehicle and a ceramic powder, said blended mixture including ceramic precursors convertible to aluminum titanate or cordierite upon firing.
12. A method in accordance with claim 11 wherein the fired ceramic product is a ceramic honeycomb body incorporating a primary crystalline phase of aluminum titanate or cordierite.
13. A method in accordance with claim 12 wherein the ceramic honeycomb body is a cylindrical body of circular, oval or elliptical cross-section incorporating a plurality of parallel channels aligned with a common channel axis of the body, and wherein the specified dimensional tolerance is .+-.0.5% of a maximum cylinder diameter perpendicular to the common channel axis.
14. A method in accordance with claim 13 wherein the firing sample is a section of a slice of the first dried green product preform, said slice having plane parallel opposing faces lying in planes perpendicular to the direction of the common channel axis.
15. A method in accordance with claim 14 wherein the sample dimensional change resulting from the rapid firing treatment is determined by a measurement of a change in spacing between the plane parallel opposing faces.
16. A method in accordance with claim 15 wherein the rapid firing treatment comprises heating the firing sample to a temperature and for a firing time at least sufficient to convert the ceramic precursors to aluminum titanate or cordierite, and wherein the firing time does not exceed about 120 hours.
17. A method in accordance with claim 16 wherein the firing time does not exceed about 60 hours.
18. A method in accordance with claim 16 wherein the firing time does not exceed about 24 hours.
CROSS-REFERENCE To RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001]This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. provisional application No. 61/092,260, filed on Aug. 27, 2008.
[0002]1. Field of Invention
[0003]The present invention is in the field of ceramic honeycomb manufacture, and more particularly relates to methods for manufacturing ceramic honeycomb products that provide improved product selection rates and thus reduced manufacturing costs.
[0004]2. Technical Background
[0005]Ceramic honeycombs useful as catalyst supports and filter substrates for the removal of pollutants from combustion engine exhaust gases are well known. Such honeycombs comprise a plurality of parallel channels or cells bounded by thin intersecting ceramic walls or webs, all channels lying parallel to a common channel axis. Honeycombs of rounded prismatic or cylindrical shape, having cross-sections of circular, oval, elliptical, or "racetrack" shape transverse to the common channel axis, are common. The ceramic walls of the channels provide surfaces for exhaust gas filtration and/or for the support of catalysts to neutralize the pollutants. For filtration applications, the channel walls are highly porous and the channels are selectively plugged to provide wall-flow filtration flow paths through the honeycombs, i.e. exhaust flow paths that force the exhaust gases to traverse the channel walls.
[0006]Current processes for the large-scale manufacture of porous ceramic honeycomb substrates useful in the construction of wall-flow particulate filters for the removal of particulates and other pollutants from combustion engine exhaust gases are complex and expensive. Plasticized batches of ceramic powders are continuously blended in large extruders, extruded through dies to form wet green honeycomb shapes comprising a plurality of parallel channels aligned with the extrusion direction, dried to remove liquid vehicle constituents, and finally fired to high temperatures in large kilns to convert the ceramic powders to reaction-sintered ceramics. The resulting strong, porous, refractory ceramic honeycomb substrates may be selectively plugged either before or after firing to provide wall-flow filter structures that efficiently remove particulates from engine exhausts. Such structures can be coated with catalysts to remove other exhaust pollutants if desired, and are sufficiently durable and refractory to provide long-term service in the harsh environment of heavy duty combustion engine exhaust systems.
[0007]The high costs of honeycomb manufacture require that product selection rates for the honeycombs be as high as possible. Customer requirements typically include strict tolerances for the dimensions of the honeycombs. Fired honeycomb products that do not have sizes or contours meeting these dimensional tolerances are not saleable and must be scrapped or recycled at considerable additional expense.
[0008]The economic production of extrude-to-shape honeycombs meeting strict contour tolerances for exhaust filters and other product applications requires an ability to control the dimensions of the fired honeycombs, and thus the dimensions of the wet extruded honeycomb shapes and dried honeycomb preforms. Control is complicated by the fact that firing shrinkage (or growth) is variable and subject to change as the result of raw material variability, batch processing inconsistencies, and other factors.
[0009]A typical filter contour specification for a filter substrate might require, for example, that the substrate cross-sectional shape match a target cross-sectional shape to within ±0.5%, i.e., that all cross-sectional dimensions of the fired part transverse to the common channel axis be within 0.5% of the corresponding target cross-sections. In the case of a circular cylindrical substrate, for example, the fired shape must have a cylinder diameter within ±0.5% of the specified filter diameter. More generally, the maximum honeycomb cross-sectional dimension perpendicular to the common channel axis must meet the same ±0.5% specification. Meeting such contour specifications thus requires that the firing-induced shrinkage or growth of the dried honeycomb substrates consistently fall within ±0.5% of the expected shrinkage/growth value.
[0010]Achieving effective firing shrinkage or growth compensation through control of extruded shape is further complicated by the fact that the firing cycles required to achieve high fired honeycomb yields are extremely long. Cycles of many days duration are required to fire the larger honeycomb types because gradual heating and cooling rates must be used to avoid firing cracks resulting from uneven reaction and phase changes, sintering shrinkage, and thermal stresses within the honeycombs. Long firing cycles mean that the time required to receive firing shrinkage feedback for ware in process is prohibitively long. Several days of production can be at significant risk of being out of dimensional tolerance, and significant fractions thereof can be lost in the event that unanticipated firing shrinkage or growth causes the final dimensions of some of that production to be out of customer contour specifications.
[0011]The present invention provides a rapid method for collecting firing shrinkage/growth information from dried honeycomb shapes. The method thus permits timely compensating adjustments to be made to the dimensions of wet extruded honeycomb shapes early in a production run, in order that the dried ware thereafter produced will meet the final required dimensional tolerances when fired. As an example of the benefit of the method, the invention reduces the time required to determine firing dimensional changes from a standard firing cycle for the dried honeycomb shape, e.g., 10-14 days for some honeycomb compositions, to one-half of the standard firing cycle or less, e.g., not exceeding 120 hours, or not exceeding 24 hours in some cases. The result is a considerable improvement in overall product selection rates and a corresponding reduction in filter production costs.
[0012]While the invention has wide application to the production of ceramic honeycomb substrates of essentially any of the known honeycomb compositions, e.g., cordierite, aluminum titanate, silicon carbide, silicon nitride or the like, it offers principal economic advantages for the production of high-performance cordierite or aluminum titanate filters. Raw materials costs for the latter filters are relatively high, the firing cycles needed to produce defect-free honeycombs are particularly long, and consistently meeting customer contour specifications for the finished filters requires particularly close attention to firing shrinkage variations.
[0013]In broad summary, the invention solves the problem of prolonged delays in obtaining firing shrinkage data feedback by measuring the dimensional changes exhibited by small samples of dried extruded honeycombs after processing through a highly accelerated, time-compressed firing cycle. The result is that data for projecting the firing-induced dimensional changes to be expected for any production run of extruded honeycombs can be generated in much shorter times than required to collect data from honeycombs fired through the conventional cycles, e.g., within firing times not exceeding 120 hours, or not exceeding 60 hours, or in some embodiments not exceeding 24 hours from the time the ware has completed the drying portion of the manufacturing process.
[0014]In a first aspect, therefore, embodiments according to the invention include a method of manufacturing a fired ceramic product such as a ceramic honeycomb to meet a set dimensional specification. That method comprises, first, subjecting a small section of a first unfired product preform for the product to a rapid firing treatment to determine a value for the firing shrinkage or growth for that preform.
[0015]Based on the value thus determined, one or more dimensions of a second and succeeding unfired product preforms are adjusted as necessary to compensate for the observed firing shrinkage, and the preforms with adjusted dimensions are fired to manufacture the ceramic products. Adjustment of the dimensions of the second and succeeding preforms is in an amount and direction effective to insure that the ensuing firing shrinkage or growth of the latter preforms, as projected from the firing shrinkage of the section of the first preform, will bring the fired ceramic products within the set dimensional specification.
[0016]Superior results are realized where the time between the production of the first dried ware for firing and the collection of firing shrinkage/growth data for that production is as short as possible. Accordingly, the rapid firing cycle used to generate that data is advantageously kept to the minimum time consistent with the need to secure results that are fairly predictive of the shrinkage or growth to be encountered during a standard firing of the same ware.
[0017]In another aspect, therefore, embodiments according to the invention include a method for manufacturing a fired ceramic product such as a ceramic honeycomb to provide a product contour within a specified dimensional tolerance, the method comprising the initial steps of: (a) forming a wet green ceramic extrudate of a target extruded dimension; (b) drying the extrudate to produce a first dried green product preform; (c) cutting at least one firing sample from the first dried green preform; (d) subjecting the firing sample to a rapid firing treatment to produce a fired sample; (e) determining a dimensional change resulting from the rapid firing treatment of the sample; (f) adjusting the target extruded dimension in response to the sample dimensional change to produce a second dried green product preform; and (g) firing the second dried green product preform to produce a fired ceramic product having a contour within the specified dimensional tolerance.
[0018]In some embodiments, the extrudate is formed from a plasticized blended mixture including ceramic precursors convertible to aluminum titanate or cordierite upon firing. Importantly, the firing sample or samples cut from the first dried green preform in accordance with step (c) above will be of a size sufficiently reduced from the size of the original dried green preform to prevent thermal or mechanical cracking thereof during the ensuing rapid firing. Many of the thermal and mechanical forces that arise in the course of reaction-sintering dried extruded honeycombs are proportional to the size of the structure being fired. Hence heating and cooling rates and temperatures that would cause the total destruction of large honeycomb structures can easily be tolerated by smaller samples.
[0019]The fact that the firing shrinkage or growth values resulting from the rapid firing of small samples may not precisely match the values exhibited during the prolonged firing of large honeycomb structures does not impact the utility of the inventive methods. That is because the differences in values are consistent and determinable, and thus easily factored into the adjustment of target extruded dimensions that may be carried out in accordance with the above procedures.
[0020]The invention is further described below with reference to the appended drawings, wherein:
[0021]FIG. 1 is schematic perspective view of a slice section of a dried extruded honeycomb shape;
[0022]FIG. 2 is schematic perspective view of a small honeycomb sample of a size and shape suitable for determining rapid firing shrinkage or growth; and
[0023]FIG. 3 is a graph correlating fast firing shrinkage/growth data with conventionally determined shrinkage/growth data.
[0024]The methods herein described are generally applicable to a wide range of honeycomb compositions exhibiting variations in shrinkage or growth during firing, but may be applied with particular advantage to the production of ceramic products of current commercial interest including ceramic honeycomb bodies incorporating primary crystalline phases of aluminum titanate or cordierite. In general, these are first formed as wet green ceramic extrudates from plasticized blended mixtures comprising a liquid vehicle and a ceramic powder, which mixtures include ceramic precursors convertible to aluminum titanate or cordierite upon firing, and the extrudates are then dried to remove liquid vehicle components.
[0025]The procedure for generating rapid feedback of information relating to firing shrinkage/growth in accordance with the invention does not require the extrusion of special sample configurations. Dried green honeycomb preforms for sampling are simply taken from normal production at the conclusion of the drying cycle, in some embodiments being randomly selected from production parts at regular and/or frequent intervals, and slices are cut therefrom to provide sections for further cutting into small firing samples.
[0026]The cutting of sliced sections or so-called "cookies" from dried green preforms is carried out in such a way that opposing plane parallel faces provided reference surfaces that facilitate accurate slice thickness measurements. The sections are advantageously cut from interior sections of the dried honeycomb shapes to insure surface flatness and good surface quality. The slicing direction may be perpendicular to the common channel axis (i.e., the direction of extrusion of the honeycombs) or tangential thereto, depending in part upon whether or not the firing shrinkage or growth for the particular ceramic material of the honeycombs is expected to be isotropic. However, a convenient slice orientation is perpendicular to the common channel axis, providing plane parallel opposing faces lying in planes perpendicular to the channel axis or direction of channel orientation through the slice.
[0027]FIG. 1 of the drawings presents a schematic illustration of a typical slice 10 of a dried honeycomb shape, not in true proportion or to scale. Arrow C indicates the common channel axis or direction of channel orientation for the slice 10, with opposing plane parallel faces 12 and 14 of the slice being perpendicular thereto. In some embodiments slices such as illustrated in FIG. 1 are then further sectioned to produce small firing samples. The cross-sectional shapes of the small firing samples are not critical; cylindrical, square, rectangular, or other cross-sections are all useful. Exemplary suitable locations for extracting small cylindrical firing samples from a slice 10 are numbered 1-5 in the honeycomb section of FIG. 1. Of course, firing samples may be extracted from locations other than those shown in FIG. 1.
[0028]An example of a firing sample obtained as above-described is schematically illustrated as sample 20 in FIG. 2 of the drawings. A particular advantage of these slicing and sampling procedures is that firing samples such as sample 20 will retain opposing plane parallel surfaces 22 and 24, coincident with surfaces 12 and 14 in FIG. 1, that are disposed in planes perpendicular to the direction of channel orientation or common channel axis C in FIG. 2. A specific example of a sample size appropriate for rapid firing is a roughly cylindrical sample 1/2 inch in diameter and about 5/8 inch in height, height being the dimension between the opposing planar faces 22, 24, those surfaces lying perpendicular to the channel direction. The most dependable values for firing shrinkage or growth can be determined from the change in sample dimensions as measured between these two robust and consistent faces.
[0029]Rapid firing of samples such as described is suitably carried out in small kilns capable of rapid heating and cooling rates. Actual rates of heating and cooling are not critical, depending in part on the size, configuration, and composition of the samples, but will preferably be set as high as possible consistent with the need to retain sample integrity. In some embodiments, the rapid firing treatment involves at least one of: heating the sample at a rate in excess of 200° C./hr. during a heating phase of the treatment, and/or cooling the sample at a rate in excess of 300° C./hr. during a cooling phase of the treatment. In some embodiments the selected treatment will satisfy both of these requirements; however the most rapid yet effective heating and cooling rates for any particular sample composition and configuration can readily be determined by routine experiment.
[0030]An illustrative example of a suitable rapid firing schedule for firing dried preform samples for aluminum titanate-based ceramics having sample configurations as above-described comprises heating the samples at a ramp rate of 315° C./hr from ambient temperatures to 1425° C., holding the samples at 1425° C. for 16 hrs, and then cooling the samples to ambient at a cooling rate of 500° C./hr. Micrometer measurements taken before and after firing of the distance between opposing parallel faces of the sample, e.g., faces such as surfaces 22, 24 in FIG. 2, provide accurate and consistent measurements of the firing shrinkage or growth of this ceramic material.
[0031]The rapid firing schedule described above permits firing of samples in less than about 24 hours. However, even for samples that are unable to retain their integrity (i.e., not crack) in such a rapid firing schedule, longer rapid firing schedules, such as firing schedules about one-half of the standard firing cycle or less, may be beneficially employed. For materials utilizing days-long standard firing cycles, rapid firing schedules not exceeding, e.g., about 120 hours, about 90 hours, about 60 hours, etc. are beneficially employed.
[0032]There is a high degree of correlation between firing shrinkage/growth data as determined by a rapid firing method and that determined from ware processed through a standard commercial firing cycle. FIG. 3 of the drawings is a graph plotting shrinkage/growth data as collected by both methods over a production period of approximately 8 months. The values plotted in FIG. 3 are average daily firing shrinkage/growth values, with the rapid firing shrinkage for each comparison point being shown on the horizontal axis and the standard value being shown on the vertical axis. The degree of correlation shown confirms the value of rapid firing shrinkage/growth information as a strong predictor of the firing shrinkage/growth to be expected as the ware is processed through the commercial firing cycle.
[0033]The numerous advantages secured through the practice of the methods described herein are apparent from the foregoing description and examples. Rapid firing can reduce typical shrinkage data feedback from 10 days or more for standard production methods to less than 24 hours where rapid firing is used. Thus the quantity of ware at risk for being out of dimensional tolerance after firing is significantly reduced. These methods enable shrinkage variability to be managed on a day-to-day basis, thereby substantially increase average daily selection rates for ware within required dimensional tolerances.
[0034]As a consequence of the reduced delay in obtaining firing shrinkage feedback information, rapidly correcting for firing shrinkage variations by simply altering the wet dimensions of extruded honeycombs becomes practical. Such adjustments can easily provide dried unfired preforms having dimensions that will compensate for the firing shrinkage projected from the most current feedback data. In fact the shrinkage projections obtained from rapid firing shrinkage data are sufficiently accurate that the frequency of sampling production ware for adherence to dimensional specifications can be reduced.
[0035]Of course, the foregoing descriptions and specific embodiments according to the invention are intended to be illustrative rather than limiting, in that alternative embodiments and variations of the procedures particularly described above may readily be adapted to address the requirements of specific applications for the invention within the scope of the appended claims.
Patent applications by Andrew Charles Gorges, Addison, NY US
Patent applications by Daniel Edward Mccauley, Watkins Glen, NY US
Patent applications by Patrick David Tepesch, Corning, NY US
Patent applications by Thomas James Deneka, Painted Post, NY US
Patent applications in class Measuring a weight or volume (e.g., level-responsive, etc.)
Patent applications in all subclasses Measuring a weight or volume (e.g., level-responsive, etc.)
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Top stories:
A 28-year-old man fatally stabbed during a domestic dispute on Cleveland's east side late Thursday night has been identified. (cleveland.com)(WOIO Channel 19)
A water main break has forced the closing of RTA's Windermere Station in East Cleveland. (cleveland.com)(WKYC Channel 3)
A man was taken to the hospital after a piece of iron crashed through his windshield on Interstate 90 eastbound in Rocky River Friday. (WJW Channel 8)(WEWS Channel 5)
Area crime news:
Two people, charged in connection with the beating death of a 9-month-old Geneva boy in Pennsylvania, are now in a Pennsylvania Jail. (Ashtabula Star Beacon)
Federal agents have arrested two Canton women accused of retaliating against a witness in the Bennie Angelo homicide case. (Canton Repository)
A Grafton man who barricaded himself in his father's shed, leading to a 17-hour standoff last year, was indicted by the Lorain County grand jury. (Lorain Morning Journal)
Warren police are investigating an armed robbery Thursday night at a BP gas station. (Warren Tribune Chronicle)
Two suspects are in jail following a month-long investigation into reported drug trafficking out of a Geneva home. (Ashtabula Star Beacon)
Canton police are looking for the man who followed a teenage girl through a local store before groping her in the parking lot as she tried to get into her car. (Canton Repository)
A false report backfired on a Bellevue man when Sandusky police discovered cocaine in his possession Sunday night. (Lorain Morning Journal)
Local news – east:
A special Ashtabula Area City School Board meeting Monday at Lakeside High School will decide the future of the school's wrestling coach, whose actions have pinned him to a bullying case. (Ashtabula Star Beacon)
Lake County commissioners Thursday approved a $50.943,204 permanent General Fund Budget for 2014 that is about 2 percent higher than last year's spending plan. (News-Herald)
A new collaboration between two Euclid leaders will keep city residents informed just by turning on their TV. (News-Herald)
Local news – west:
Westlake City Council Thursday approved legislation officials hope will wrap up a years-in-the-making deal for American Greetings to relocate its headquarters from Brooklyn to Crocker Park. (cleveland.com)(WJW Channel 8)
A long-standing Brunswick tradition – a donkey basketball game fundraiser - is coming under fire by an animal rights organization. (WEWS Channel 5)
Kyle Delligatti, the junior class president of Keystone High School, was unconscious and in critical condition after a two-car crash Wednesday and his classmates are rallying around him. (Elyria Chronicle-Telegram)
Akron-Canton area news:
A 2-year-old Akron boy who police suspect was beaten by his mother's boyfriend in late January remains in critical condition. (Akron Beacon Journal)
At least 15 children were on board a Perry Local School District bus when it was hit from behind just before 9 a.m. today, but none of the students were injured. (Massillon Independent)
Christ Community Chapel in Hudson is asking for media patience as Tom Randall, a church pastor recently freed from a Filipino jail "acclimate(s) to being back home." (Hudson Hub-Times)


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First meeting of the Group of Friends of Paragraph 47 on Corporate Sustainability Reporting (September 17, 2012)
In Rio de Janeiro, on June 20th, a group of governments came together in an initiative to commit to corporate sustainability reporting, in support of Paragraph 47 of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development – Rio+20 – outcome document. Brazil, Denmark, France and South Africa formed the 'group of friends of paragraph 47' to advance corporate sustainability reporting. They invited the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) to support them.
Paragraph 47 states :
We acknowledge the importance of corporate sustainability reporting and encourage companies, where appropriate, especially publicly listed and large companies, to consider integrating sustainability information into their reporting cycle. We encourage industry, interested governments as well as relevant stakeholders with the support of the UN system, as appropriate, to develop models for best practice and facilitate action for the integration of sustainability reporting, taking into account the experiences of already existing frameworks, and paying particular attention to the needs of developing countries, including for capacity building.
The Group held its first (telephone) conference on Friday 31th of August, with the participation of:
Member countries:
Brazil: Ms. Ana Maria Vieira dos Santos Neto, Ms. Carla Miranda, Ms. Mariana Roberta da Silva (Ministry of Environment)
Denmark: Mr. Victor Kjaer, Rune Gottlieb Skovgaard (Ministry of Business and Growth - Danish Business Authority)
France: Ms. Catherine Larrieu , Ms. Genevieve Besse (Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy), Mr. Michel Doucin (Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Ambassador for CSR)
South Africa: Ms. Dorah Nteo (Ministry of Environment) had to apologize due to a sudden private problem but asked GRI to express the strong support of her government to the initiative
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI): Ms. Teresa Fogelberg, Mr. Pietro Bertazzi
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP): Ms. Elisa Tonda, Ms. Garrette Clark, Ms. Livia Pagotto, Ms. Yuki Yasui, Mr. Jacinto Coello
The participants adopted the following conclusions:
1. To elaborate of a common vision document
They recognized that, belonging to different regions of the world and representing different levels of economic and social development, they share a common vision: corporate transparency and accountability are key elements to enhancing the private sector's contribution to sustainable development, and making sustainability reporting standard practice among companies will contribute to monitor the impacts on and the contribution to sustainable development by the corporate sector. They are convinced that the role of the Governments is essential in ensuring the effective application of laws and regulations so as to foster a culture of compliance with the law. Therefore they consider that the Governments have a key role to play "to develop models for best practice and facilitate action for the integration of sustainability reporting", as stated by Paragraph 47 of the Rio + 20 Declaration.
The Group acknowledged the importance of the recognition of the topic by UN Member States in Rio+20 and the opportunity of implementing what was agreed in Rio, with a positive, constructive and forward looking approach. The group also underlined the need of public policies giving impulse to Corporate Sustainability Reporting, and aims at going beyond the current wording of paragraph 47 in its results.
They considered that, before enlarging the group to other governments and organizations, they wanted to shape these considerations in their common vision, which would become the Charter for the future membership. A draft, presented by France, was discussed and will be later commented and improved, with the aim of being adopted during the next meeting.
2. The objectives of the Group of Friends of Paragraph 47
They agreed that the main purposes of their initiative are:
to keep the attention on Corporate Sustainability Reporting high on the International agenda;
to share lessons learnt between governments and other organizations actively promoting Corporate Sustainability Reporting;
to identify best practices and to promote them; and
to invite any government and organization convinced of the importance of the topic to join the group, bearing in mind that it should be geographically balanced .
3. The adopted agenda and road map
The participants agreed that the next meeting of the founding members of the Group of Friends will be held at the margins of the GRI Governmental Advisory Group taking place in New Delhi on September 27th. The document of the common vision and of the rules of procedure should be adopted in this occasion
The second physical meeting, enlarged to States having expressed their interest and sharing the common vision, could be organized on 15th November during the World Forum Lille – Responsible Economy (to be held on 14th-16th November 2012 –www.worldforum-lille.org). On 16th November a meeting with "Alliance Network" (composed of business sector representatives of different countries) convened by the Forum, could give an opportunity for launching the outreach to non-governmental participants of the Initiative. A press-conference could also be organized.


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MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- The Capri Theatre will be the home to "Carnage" this week, starting tonight at 7 p.m.
The 79-minute film, directed by Roman Polanski, follows two sets of parents during one night of discussion. The characters are brought together by a fight between their sons, and the cordial discussion dissolves throughout the film.
The movie starring Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly is based on "God of Carnage," the Tony-winning play by Yasmina Reza.
The play premiered in Zurich Dec. 8, 2006 and was performed in Paris before premiering in London's West End March 25, 2008; Ralph Fiennes was a part of that cast.
The play premiered in the United States on Broadway Feb. 28, 2009, starring Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Harden.
The film
will run at the Capri beginning tonight through March 7.
"My Week with Marilyn" will premiere at the local theater March 9.


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Episode: Great Tales from the Psychedelic Age: May 3, 2011
Tonight's guest, Prof. Paul Austerlitz, discusses the altered state of conciousness known as trance that sometimes occurs during religious ceremonies in Africa and the New World. While relating this type of trance to meditative states and the psychedelic experience, Paul talks about his own encounter with trance during a ceremony associated with Dominican Vodu.
Host: Richard Hill
Episode Hosts
None listed


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Capt. Scotty Hilliard has been impressed with catches of large porgies made on his Prowler V from Atlantic Highlands. Sea bass opened again today to provide an additional target. He noted that the 3:30 p.m. trips have been loading up on big blues at the Mud Dump -- though I understand that those jumbos have moved out to Shark River Reef.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar had good bluefishing today plus a bonus of little tunny and even pollock.
The northrast wind may be a problem tomorrow with gusts to 20 mph forecasted. The surf at Bay Head was rough, but fishable this morning. I only had one hit on a Daiwa SP Minnow, and it was from a 16 1/2-inch bluefish.
Northeast winds should be good for the pocket at Island Beach State Park, but only scattered small blues have been reported so far.
The Jamaica from Brielle will be in the canyons over the weekend, but the Jamaica Star will be covering its day and night bluefish trips.


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Tuesday, 16 November 2010
Outfit | Polka dot dress
14 comments:
Why is this a win win outfit all together? :) WIN.ReplyDelete
Fingers crossed at your lottery attempts! Haha. You've certainly been on a winning streak. No fair! This dress is beautiful by the way. It looks so versitaile too.ReplyDelete
Such a lucky girl! (No pun intended).ReplyDelete
You must have the biggest Models Own collection ever.
wow, good luck with the lottery hope your luck continues! hahaReplyDelete
Love the way the dress looks, it's so pretty and delicate looking.
Gorgeous outfit sweet. Ooh get you and your winning streak, v jealous and happy for you though! (:ReplyDelete
Such a cute polka dot dress! Love it with the pink clutch!ReplyDelete
This outfit is super cute, i love your little heart ring.ReplyDelete
i love this outfit - the dress and cardie go fab together! good luck with the lottery :P xReplyDelete
ee I love that little heart ring!! Congrats on your winning, remember us bloggies if you win big ;) xxReplyDelete
love the ring on your right hand;)!ReplyDelete
Lovely outfit lady, love the huge ring. Congrats on all your wins lately. I won a tenner on last weeks lottery but that's as far as I ever get!ReplyDelete
L x
Wow, I love your outfit and your dress with coloured pois is so sweet!ReplyDelete
I red that you come from UK! wow, lucky you!
I was in London 2 years ago, and I fallen in love with her.
Now I'll come back next January and I can't wait to go! I must see better the city and I must do shopping!
I hope to see you in my blog. ;)
wow.love this dress and the cardigan matches in so well. you look adorable, and 'sweet' hehe.ReplyDelete
Scrapbook de la Emma
you have a hint of Cheryl Cole - its a good thing!ReplyDelete
Helen, x


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February is Stout Month at Fort George:
Bourbon Aged Cavatica & Coffee Girl Espresso Imperial Stout released
Stout Month, a celebration of dark, rich, bold beers begins February 1st at the Fort George Brewery & Public House in Astoria, Oregon. There will be eight eclectic and extremely coveted stouts within the craft beer community on draught.
These specialty stouts are some of the hardest to find in the nation, made in very small batches, due to the expensive ingredients, and extra time that makes the beers so good.
For example, in the bourbon barrel conditioning process, brewers order barrels from Kentucky, age the beers in the barrels, and then have to get the beer back out of them. Barrel conditioning of stouts develops extremely complex flavors.
You can try this style of stout for yourself with the Fort George's new Bourbon Barrel Aged Cavatica Stout.
"It has a very subtle, oak and peaty bourbon flavor, layered into the ordinarily fabulous flavors you'd find in our Cavatica Stout," said owner, Jack Harris.
The Fort George Brewery will also be unveiling in February, Coffee Girl Imperial Stout, an espresso stout. The union of coffee and beer was only a matter of time: pub regulars have been lobbying co-owner Chris Nemlowill to celebrate his marriage to the owner of a local coffee house, and Coffee Girl Imperial Stout is the answer.
"Dark, rich, and malty, balanced with a rich espresso aroma and an aftertaste of roasted dark chocolate, you just might fall in love with the Coffee Girl too," said Nemlowill.
Ask for a taster tray so you can try all the stouts on draught at the Fort George:
Bourbon-Barrel-Aged Cavatica Stout
Coffee Girl Imperial Stout
Stone Russian Imperial Stout
Deschutes Abyss Stout
Caldera Old Growth Imperial Stout
Lucky Lab Bourbon-Barrel-Aged Stout
Rogue Chocolate Stout
Fort George Brewery & Public House 1483 Duane Street Astoria, 1-503-325-PINT


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By RICH FLORENTINO
Robert Scamardella asks "What does fairness say?" ["Why increasing tax rates is a bad idea," Advance, Feb. 19].
Fairness says the great shift in income to the wealthiest is unfair.
To summarize: If the income distribution stayed the same as in 1980. the average family today would have $8,000-$10,000 more income than they do. That's income redistribution of trillions of dollars UP. And not only is it unfair, it's unhealthy.
Mr. Scamardella says that it is "self-evident" that low taxes stimulate growth.
However, it is common sense that if the vast majority of people have more income, that increases demand which is what stimulates investments to meet that demand — Economics 101: Supply and demand. Henry Ford knew he had to pay his workers enough to purchase what they made to keep business going
Capitalism's essence is to assemble investments to bring benefits to paying customers at a profit to investors, certainly. The balance between wages and profits, fairness, is fundamental. The balance has tipped too far towards concentration of wealth.
Seeking to restore a fairer balance is always called class warfare by the "haves." Hopefully, democracy is still strong enough to redress our grievances and give us something resembling the "general welfare" sought by our Constitution.


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lol'd at the fire extinguisher part.
Though if I did, I don't see the issue with that. The Game Theory videos I've viewed are decent, (though everythin' else from that channel is, from what I've seen, shit).
Midgets putting a cannon ball into a washing machine twice their height. I really don't know why they are trying to..
Watched most of the Hunger games last night
It was sooooo boring, why its likened to the awesome Battle royal I dont know.
Battle royal was gritty and bloody, this, you dont see any blood or somebody getting stabbed
total cack
Spoiler Alert!@TNightsOfGaming - My inane prattle
Steam tags are one of my favorite features of the platform.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFCNVvvmxNwHAHAAH don't think this is all I watch but man is it fun. I can't explain how hard I laughed when the last midget ran omfg baton passing better than a freaking blaziken
Last edited by DG~X; 06-27-2014 at 12:23 AM.


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Daniel Radcliffe might be finished with "Harry Potter," but he's apparently not finished battling evil forces. At least, that's what the trailer for his new film, "The Woman in Black" suggests.
The first teaser trailer for the film -- Radcliffe's first post-"Potter" venture -- bowed online today (Aug. 17), and it's creepy stuff, built around muted blues and grays, some nice cinematography -- and the recitation of one haunting poem. Check it out in the embedded video below.
Boasting a very H.P. Lovecraft vibe (at least in the trailer), "The Woman in Black" is a period horror-thriller based on a novel by Susan Hill.
The IMDB.com blurb: "A young lawyer travels to a remote village to organize a recently deceased client's papers, where he discovers the ghost of a scorned woman set on vengeance."
"The Woman in Black" co-stars Ciaran Hinds and Janet McTier, and is directed by James Watkins. It's planned for a Sept. 23 release through CBS Films.


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Nexen shareholders get their say on $15.1-billion takeover offer from CNOOC
CALGARY - The results of a shareholder vote on a proposed Chinese takeover of Nexen Inc. (TSX:NXY) are expected today, although it's unlikely investors will reject the $15.1-billion offer from China National Offshore Oil Company.
Even if they approve the offer of $27.50 per share in cash, which was well above the stock's market price when the friendly deal was announced July 23, the transaction will require approval from the Canadian government.
Nexen shares closed Wednesday at $24.67 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The large gap between the market price and CNOOC's offer, so close to the vote, reflects investor uncertainty that the deal will be completed as contemplated.
Canada's junior finance minister, Alberta MP Ted Menzies, said earlier this week he's getting a lot of negative feedback about the takeover of such a large Canadian oil producer by a state-owned Chinese firm.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper also said earlier this month that China needs to show its state-run enterprises can be trusted to play by the same rules as Canada.
He made the remarks before meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao at an economic summit for leaders of countries in the Asia-Pacific region — an area with great trade potential for Canada.
Harper said he wants Canada to deepen economic relations with China but that relationship must be a two-way street, or "win-win to use the Chinese expression."
A special meeting of the oil and gas producer's shareholders is scheduled to begin in Calgary at 8 a.m. local time (10 a.m. Eastern Time).


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Regent University has a proven track record of excellence in the area of communication and the arts with numerous alumni working successfully as screenwriters, directors, producers, journalists and actors. As the original school at Regent University, the School of Communication & the Arts has experienced tremendous growth since its founding in 1978. Our academic offerings now include Ph.D., MFA, M.A. and B.A. degree programs.
In keeping with Regent University's motto, Christian Leadership to Change the World, our school is focused on coaching the next generation of communication professionals. Students are prepared to redeem the fields of communication, cinema-television, journalism and theatre. They are trained in one of the finest education facilities in the nation with emphasis on leadership and Christian values. To make a profound difference in the lives of our students, we invite your help and support in several areas.
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By partnering with Regent University's School of Communication & the Arts, you will help us remain at the forefront of our field with cutting-edge equipment, state-of-the-art facilities and industry-proven faculty. Your contribution will dramatically open opportunities for students to gain hands-on experience while advancing their educational and professional endeavors. Together, we can influence the future of media and cultural arts.
To learn more about giving opportunities at Regent University's School of Communication & the Arts, please contact our dean directly at 757.352.4916.


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Comments about Walkerswood Jerk Marinade, Set of 2:
I cannot keep this in my pantry longer than one or two weeks. Either my friends or I am always wanting a batch of jerk chicken. After a trip to Jamaica, I tried relentlessly to replicate their seasonings and failed. Then I stumbled across Walkerswood in World Market one day and I've been [mentally] in Jamaica ever since. Spices are potent, so it takes a few tries to get the heat to your preference, but once you do...it'll be all she wrote!!
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I was looking at LGA 775 motherboards when I saw a notification on one of them saying that 800 FSB CPUs only support 800Mhz DDR3 RAM. Since it is basically impossible to find DDR3 800 memory, will my CPU not work at ALL with memory higher than 800Mhz? This puzzles me because no other motherboard on Newegg has this notification.
i think you can put 1066mhz ddr3 ram in there but it will only work at 800 speed
It will work but the memory will downclock it's frequency to 800MHz.
Incorrect, the 2nd gen. Sandy Bridge CPUs only support upto 1333MHz. However, we've seen 1600MHz and above speed at the time.
Yes, the mobo will automatically downclock the speed to 800MHz, but if you go to the BIOS and manually change the speed that matches what your RAM stick says on the package it will work at that speed :)
Copyright 2016 © Godem Online Inc. | Web and server solutions by NewTech Solutions.


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Ndamukong Suh, fresh from his Rookie of the Year award, is also being labelled the best rookie defensive tackle ever. He put up a truly dominant display, and helped the Lions defensive line go from zeros to heroes in just one season.
However, there are plenty of well-established defensive tackles who take over games as much as the Pride of Detroit does, even with Albert Haynesworth regressing in Washington.
Defensive tackles will be graded on their ability to stuff the run, penetrate and split double teams, and their overall level of play.
I hope you enjoy.
For more articles in this series, go to


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St. Tammany Parish officials and others held a ceremonial ground breaking Thursday (May 22) for Kids' Town, a small-scale railroad town designed for interactive play. The event was held at the project site along the Tammany Trace, across from the Kids Konnection playground on Koop Drive north of Mandeville.
Participants included Parish President Pat Brister, Parish Councilman Jerry Binder, Schools Superintendent Trey Folse and Tammany Trace Foundation President Bruce Wainer.
Kids' Town is slated to include a fire station, sheriff's office, a bank and general store. Funded by the Tammany Trace Foundation as well as private investors and donations from the public, construction on the phased project is expected to be completed within two years, according to a news release from parish government.
"Our greatest treasures are our children," Brister said in the release. "We look forward to its completion when kids from every corner of St. Tammany can come to expand their minds and pretend that they're a fire fighter, a policeman, a banker, a shop owner, and much more."
For more information on Kids' Town, or to become a volunteer or sponsor, visit: kidstownsttammany.org.


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IRONDALE, Alabama - An Irondale man died early Sunday when the car he was working on fell on him in the parking lot of his apartment complex.
The Jefferson County Coroner's Office identified the man as Quintin Demetrius Curry, 40. Deputy Coroner Bill Yates said Curry lived at Enclave apartments with his wife. His mother-in-law and other family members also lived at the complex.
Curry on Saturday night was working on his 1991 Honda Accord trying to fix an exhaust leak. Various family members saw him working on the car, and spoke with him throughout the night.
His wife looked outside and saw he was still working on the car so she went to bed. His sister-in-law and her boyfriend both saw him alive and working on the car later in the night, and early into Sunday.
When Curry's mother-in-law got in from work about 7:30 a.m. Sunday, she discovered him dead beneath the car. Yates said the scissor jack Curry was using had slipped and the car crushed him.
Curry was pronounced dead on the scene at 7:41 a.m.


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By Polly Keary, Editor
Joe Spark hasn't been a police officer for long, and he's been on the Monroe force less than a year, but already he knows one thing about the town; there's a lot of avoidable property crime.
Spark graduated from the criminal justice academy Jan. 31 and has been on solo patrol in Monroe since April.
In order to complete his training, he was required to devise a community project involving the community in an effort to combat crime.
Having spent many 12-hour stretches driving Monroe's streets, Spark knew the problem he wanted to address, and last week he demonstrated the issue on a map of the city showing the locations of recent property crimes.
Property crimes common
"You can tell from the maps that we have experienced a great number of vehicle prowls; burglaries, both residential and commercial and motor vehicle theft," he said.
In July, there were 15 car prowls reported, 11 in August and 10 in September. July also saw eight vehicle thefts, as did August, and there were four reported in September.
And there were three residential burglaries in July, soaring to eight in August and nine in September.
As Spark looked at the data, he noticed some trends.
Most of the prowls took place in the downtown and in the Fryelands. But that's not all they had in common.
"No one locks their car anymore," said Spark. "And the people who didn't lock their cars tended to leave stuff that was easy to grab, and it became apparent that a lot of people don't think about these things."
Some people chose to leave cars unlocked in order to avoid having windows smashed by would-be thieves, but it's important to make sure there aren't tempting and portable items in the car, said Spark.
Monroe Police Department Spokesperson Deb Willis agreed.
"I think that, until you are a victim, you don't understand how often this is happening," she said. "We have people wandering parking lots looking for valuables that can be sold or pawned."
One thing people tend to leave in the car is tech gadgetry, she went on, quite frequently GPS units that thieves can easily swipe and sell for $5-$10 on the street.
"Those are like a beacon to guys running around at night trying door handles," said Spark.
Protecting yourself
"My overall hope is to get community awareness to a growing issue," said Spark.
One way he hopes to empower residents is by sharing what he learned about property crime.
For one thing, old town Monroe and the business district is hit the hardest, along with the Fryelands area. Of the 11 prowls in August, 10 took place either near the downtown or in the business parking lots on the north side of U.S. 2.
When the time of the prowl was known, it typically was in evening or late night, and nearly all of them involved cars that had been left unlocked or with windows partly down and valuables visible in the car.
Of the cars stolen, one thing that struck Spark was how many of them were Hondas.
"Almost half in each month were Honda or Honda and Acura combined," he said. He chalks that up to their popularity, some issues with earlier models that make them easy to break into, and their desirability for street racing.
The easiest way to protect yourself from prowls is to take everything of value out of the car before leaving it.
Park under streetlights, and resist the temptation to leave your purse and just take in a wallet or card to the store.
At home, consider leaving an exterior light on all night near your car, or installing a motion detector light.
And avoid parking with foliage or trees between your car and the house.
To avoid burglaries, secure sliding doors and windows. Keep shrubs trimmed back near the house. Don't leave a spare key someplace obvious, like under a rock by the door or under the mat.
Signs warning that there is a dog or an alarm system on the house have been shown to be effective deterrents.
If you're going away on a trip, let your neighbors know who, if anyone, is authorized to enter your home, and ask them to call police if they see anything out of the ordinary.
Consider installing a burglar alarm, and check to see if your homeowner's insurance might then give you a break on your rates, which might help you recoup some of the cost.
And above all, if something doesn't seem right, call the police, said Spark.
"One thing I hear people say is that they don't want to bother us calling in something suspicious, but I always tell people not to hesitate," he said. "If people call, we can go and look and hopefully cut down on some of this crime."


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Out of print.
West Emperor Script from Photo-Lettering. Original alphabet by Dave West, digitized by Ken Barber.
Even though we're located in Delaware, the great state of Michigan is near and dear to our hearts. All of our alphabet block collections are made from Michigan-grown replenishable basswood by a Michigan-based company; our screen printing, prototyping and production studio is in Grand Rapids, Michigan; and we use paper from the family owned French mill in Niles, Michigan for several of our new Serigraphs. And did we mention that the hands (and, as a consequence, the rest of him) of squeegee master David Dodde hale from and rarely leave the Wolverine State.


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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Former Staten Islander Kenneth Morrill, 67, of Pleasant Mount, Pa., a retired oil worker, died Monday at home of cancer.
Born on Staten Island, Mr. Morrill lived in Eltingville before moving to Lawrence Harbor, N.J., in 1951. After his retirement 12 years ago, he moved to Pleasant Mount.
He had worked for Sipco Oil Co. in Port Richmond and for Petro Oil, with locations in Lakewood and South Plainfield, N.J., for over 30 years. He retired in 1999.
He was a member of the Redman group and the Pleasant Mount Historical Society.
In his later days, Mr. Morrill "loved being on the farm with the tractors," said daughter, Deborah Pruitt. "He loved his family and they always came first to him."
He was a parishioner of St. Juliana's R.C. Church, Pleasant Mount.
In addition to his daughter, Deborah, surviving are his wife of 47 years, Bonnie Urbanski Morrill; two brothers, Fred and Richie Morrill, and two grandchildren.
Arrangements, including cremation, are being handled by the Kevin M. Lesjack Funeral Home, Forest City, Pa.


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EUGENE -- Oregon's second scrimmage of the fall is in the books and all that separates the Ducks and Week 1 of the regular season is a Fan Fest.
While Oregon fans will get the chance to meet their favorite players on Saturday afternoon, the focus of said players on Thursday was the scrimmage.
Marcus Mariota called the scrimmage encouraging. Coach Mark Helfrich said it was an improved effort over the one Oregon held last week.
"Our intensity off the bat was remarkably different than it was last week and that was a positive sign," the second-year head coach said. "...We wanted better energy overall and we got that for sure."
Helfrich said the offense got off to a much quicker start than the defense did on Thursday, but the guys trying to keep points off the board were able to right the ship later in the scrimmage.
-- With that scrimmage in the books, now the coaching staff can focus on picking their team. Helfrich said he and the coaches will take a look at the freshmen over the next day or two and make their decisions on who to redshirt. While there are some obvious candidates for playing time – see Freeman, Royce – Helfrich said there are still some tough choices.
"Tonight, this afternoon, tonight, tomorrow are all kind of big picture evaluation discussions," Helfrich said.
-- It's never a surprise when Mariota is in the spotlight, but with the season rapidly approaching the Oregon quarterback is finding his face on newsstands across the country. Most recently, Mariota was the focus of a large USA Today story. At this point, it's more of a surprise to file through a college football story and not see a mention of Mariota, but the Hawaii-native said it still sometimes feels surreal.
"Coming from Hawaii, a small island in the middle of the Pacific and now being on the top of the USA Today, it's an experience and it's an awesome journey," Mariota said. "...I just try and take it one moment at a time. Some of this stuff is once in a lifetime and I just try and enjoy it."
-- Offensive coordinator Scott Frost said Wednesday that the tight end position battle remained too close to call, and Thursday final scrimmage of fall camp did little to help the tight ends themselves figure out where they stand.
Sophomore Johnny Mundt and junior Pharaoh Brown each weren't sure whether they or sophomore Evan Baylis would start Aug. 30 against South Dakota.
"The truth is one of us has got to step sooner or later and each is working on something," Mundt said. "Until then it really is up in the air."
-- One player who wasn't able to make an impact in today's scrimmage was receiver Johnathan Loyd. The basketball-star-turn-footballer has been sick with strep throat this week and has been limited in practice. I talked a little bit with Loyd after the scrimmage and asked him what he thought his contributions to this team could be.
"I can make plays and I can catch the ball," Loyd said. "I can make plays in space. Wherever they need me that's where I'm going to go, but I love to punt return and hopefully I'll get some time in the slot."
-- Tyson Alger | @tysonalger and Andrew Greif | @andrewgreif


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Syracuse, N.Y. — As promised, this is your space and your space only. Which means I plan to sit back, put my feet up and let you do the heavy lifting.
Have you got something that you'd like to say ... um, write? Well, here's your chance and here's your forum — every Monday.
All you have to do is send along your correspondence (with your name and the identity of your hometown) to firstname.lastname@example.com. Do that, and more likely than not your words will see the digital light of day in this thin patch of cyberspace.
Today's subjects? Syracuse University football and Syracuse Chiefs baseball. Oh, and my weekly NFL picks.
Enjoy ...
The Syracuse University football team's fortunes this year remind me that a huge part of pleasure and pain in life comes from one's expectations. Both pleasure and pain become more poignant when the person(s) or thing(s) we get it from are completely outside our control — like said Syracuse University football team.
Unlike many, I expected that offensive tackle Justin Pugh would be the player we would miss the most this year (and Zach Chibane with him). I was wrong. The line may be a bit shakier than last year, but it has come together reasonably well. I expect we'll miss Macky MacPherson next year. I hope I'm wrong then, too.
I expected that if our line was good, it wouldn't matter who started at quarterback, because he would have so many weapons to get the ball to. I was wrong again, in multiple ways.
All last year I lauded now-Houston Texan Alec Lemon's ability to catch and catch and catch again. But I did not grasp how, without Lemon, the new quarterback would have no sure thing, no security blanket, like Ryan Nassib always had (with Nick Provo, too, before Lemon).
I likewise had no idea how little the wideouts on our roster (except for Ashton Broyld) would develop. These receivers are all, apparently, fairly talented targets who as high-schoolers were chased by other middle-of-the-herd power-conference schools like SU. But at some point, unlike Lemon and Marcus Sales, they seemed to have stopped growing up.
And though I did not expect the new quarterback to put on the legend-making heroics that Nassib did last year (may we ever salute the victory at Missouri), I failed to grasp how much credit Nassib deserved just for being able to run a sophisticated, multifaceted offense, period. Drew Allen and Terrel Hunt can't — not enough to pick up their teammates.
At least, not yet. I did not expect that Hunt would be so smooth as a runner and have a strong arm, too. If — if — deep and sideline throwing accuracy emerges, we may have Cam Newton on our hands in two years. Really.
At the beginning of the year I expected our defense to be really good. I expected that our linebackers would be outstanding and that our secondary would hold its own.
But as with Lemon and Nassib, I did not understand just how good Shamarko Thomas was. Of course, he was a fearsome hitter and run-stopper. Of course, he was a great leader. But he was also lightning-quick and quite sharp in coverage, qualities he is already demonstrating in the NFL.
Shamarko made his mates in the Orange secondary better and covered their errors. And now he can't. Thus, the secondary can't make the defensive line's pass rush sufficient and cover its errors.
And yet I also did not expect the flashes shown by the young players in both the defensive line (like Ron Thompson) and the secondary (like Julian Whigham). The defense's future is bright.
I expected that we would be happy on special teams if we made a whole lot of field goals, had so-so punting, started our possessions at the 25, and didn't completely embarrass ourselves all that often.
I didn't expect that we couldn't make a field goal, that Riley Dixon would blossom as a Rob Long-in-the-making, that we would get some modest return yards, and that despite a collapse here and there we would also be embarrassing other teams by blocking their punts and faking our kicks.
Despite all these flagrantly foiled expectations, there is one preseason expectation I had that is basically true. I thought that at this point the Orange would be 4-3. It is, instead, 3-4. Big whoop.
The reason that SU is so teeth-gnashingly vexing isn't its record; it's that the Orange has arrived at it in flamboyantly expectations-defying fashion. What Syracuse squad in recent memory would humiliate an opponent one game and get humiliated the next?
We have no idea what to expect from this team week to week. That might be the only expectation an Orange fan should have. But this team also reminds me of the previous post-Pinstripe Bowl sag in 2011. I think this team is better than that one. So perhaps against my better judgment, I'm expecting a heck of a 2014.
— Cory Hartman
Hollidaysburg, Pa.
I have turned to your Thursday-afternoon postings this year, wherein you entertainingly "predict" the result of each NFL game, to help me out while making my picks for the weeks ahead. I like your wit and enjoy reading what you have to say.
I also enjoy very much watching the NFL. My wife and I are going to see our first game, in person, next month in Arizona if we can muster up some tickets.
Anyhow, you had a stellar week last week, as you went 12-3 with your predictions. But then I noticed that those were just straight-up picks. If you had been picking against the spread, I believe you'd have had five wins, not a dozen.
Not there's anything wrong with that. Keep up the good work.
— Kevin Armstrong
Canmore, Alberta
Thanks for your recent story on the Syracuse Chiefs and their publicly-announced decision to allow members of the military to attend ball games for free at NBT Bank Stadium. This is a step in the right direction and will cost the team nothing.
My suggestion to the Chiefs' new general manager, Jason Smorol, is to allow kids accompanied by at least one adult free admittance also. I'm sure that the hot dogs and sodas purchased by Mom and/or Dad would more than offset the cost of a ticket.
Personally, as a grandfather to 16, that would work for me ... although I could only handle three or four of those kids at a time.
Just a thought.
— John Dunn
Baldwinsville N.Y.
As a retired military reservist, I have, on several occasions in recent years, gotten a free ticket to attend Chiefs' games. I only had to show my military ID card at the box office. This even included an Opening Day contest several years ago when I was in town.
The Simones, who were previously in charge of the Chiefs, were very supportive of the military. To imply otherwise is totally false and unfair. Are you also unaware of the volunteer work Wendy Shoen has done in the establishment and operation of the military hospitality center at the airport?
I have already welcomed Jason Smorol, who has succeeded John Simone as general manager, to the team and I look forward to the energy and innovations he will bring to the Chiefs' operation. At the same time, I take exception to your implication that the military ticket policy is an innovation on his part. The Simones were showing the military similar treatment for years.
You need to set the record straight.
— Dave Hardwich
Tucson, Ariz.
(formerly of Eastwood, N.Y.)
Coming Tuesday morning: My usual 7 a.m. column/commentary. Tuesday afternoon: The weekly visit to the BudBlog's "Video Store."


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